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Tears in Hell (UPDATED OCTOBER 11th)
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<blockquote data-quote="Puppy Kicker" data-source="post: 2109489" data-attributes="member: 20284"><p><strong>Carrots and Sticks</strong></p><p></p><p><em>6:15 PM, Tuesday, July 20th</em></p><p><em>Riverside General Hospital</em></p><p></p><p>“Not right now.” </p><p></p><p>Devin lifted his head. He’d been dozing off and on, utterly exhausted. The slightest whisper, though, had woken him. </p><p></p><p>Lisa’s eyes were open, staring at the opposite wall. Devin leaned forward.</p><p></p><p>“Lisa?”</p><p></p><p>“I will. But not right now.” Lisa paused, then giggled. “OK.”</p><p></p><p>“Who are you talking to, sis?”</p><p></p><p>“I can’t right now. You know that. After sunset.”</p><p></p><p>Devin looked around the room. Empty except for the two of them. “Lisa? Who are you talking to, sweetie?”</p><p></p><p>“I’ll meet you after sunset.” Lisa stopped for a moment, as though she was listening. “You can send someone if you want, but I won’t need help.” Lisa’s eyes closed.</p><p></p><p>Devin called a nurse then went to the lobby to tell the others. They were gone.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">●</p><p></p><p>Rebecca, Meadow and Armani were in the Grand Am on the way back to the hospital. Gallivan had taken the book with him and said he was going to go study the tome he had taken from the coven. “I’ll call the police, but I need to look at this tome. I’ll call you if I find anything. You all do the same.” They’d parted ways then and everyone was anxious to get back to the hospital to see how Lisa was doing. </p><p></p><p>“Oh, I have a message.” Rebecca looked around. “Guess I missed it in the confusion.” The car swerved dangerously as she dialed up her voice mail. “It was Devin. Lisa woke up.”</p><p></p><p>She sped the rest of the way to the hospital - <strong>she </strong> didn’t get pulled over.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">●</p><p></p><p>“All I know is that she said she was meeting someone at sunset.” The others crowded around Devin in the hospital room as he explained what had happened. “It was like she was possessed. She wasn’t talking to me.” He squeezed Lisa’s hand but she didn’t respond. She hadn’t moved since her earlier episode. “It sounds like someone might be coming to get her too.”</p><p></p><p>“Sammy?”</p><p></p><p>“Maybe.” Devin looked at Armani. “I want us to be ready in case. I don’t know what we’re up against, but sunset is any minute now, and Lisa isn’t going anywhere.” He stood up, dizzy but strong. “I won’t let her be taken again.”</p><p></p><p>The sun dipped below the horizon.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">●</p><p></p><p>Quin reeled as the man smashed him in the face with an open palm. Quin’s nose was bleeding and he had several small cuts on his arms. His abductor alternated between smacking him and cutting him with a vicious dagger and asking questions about Armani and some diamond that had apparently been stolen.</p><p></p><p>“He sold something to someone, that’s all I know.”</p><p></p><p>“To who?” Another smack and Quin’s head rocked backward, but he stayed quiet. He knew that the moment this criminal had all the information he needed he would have no reason to keep Quin alive. Quin clenched his teeth.</p><p></p><p>“You know that Armani stole the diamond. You know that he sold it.” The man ran the tip of his dagger along Quin’s arm drawing a sizzling stream of blood. The dagger seemed to cauterize as it cut. The pain was excruciating, but there was little blood – just an instant scar. “And I know that you know who he sold it to.”</p><p></p><p>Quin didn’t talk.</p><p></p><p>“I’m weary of this game.” The man picked up Qin’s driver’s license from the table. “Quinton Stark III.” He stood and looked at the license, brow furrowed. “Where do I know that name from…” He paced. “Jonathon Stark.” The man looked at Quin’s face for a reaction. He got it.</p><p></p><p>Quin choked through cracked lips. “Uncle John.” Blood oozed down his chin. “My uncle.”</p><p></p><p>“Killed.” The man chuckled. “Jonathan Stark was assassinated.” He sat down again, knife in one hand, driver’s license in the other. “Did you know that?”</p><p></p><p>Quin nodded. He had moved from New York to Virginia to find his uncle’s killer. Other things had since taken over in his life, but this one thing still drove him. “You?”</p><p></p><p>The man smiled. “I didn’t kill him.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t as good back then, Mister Stark. Someone else got to John first.”</p><p></p><p>Quin raised his eyebrows, all pain forgotten. “Who was it?”</p><p></p><p>“Ah, just some hit man. There are a lot of us and we just do a job.” He poked Quin in the chest with the knife – sizzle. “The hit man isn’t important, Mister Stark. But who arranged the hit… now THAT is something you probably want to know.”</p><p></p><p>Quin nodded. “Please… tell me.”</p><p></p><p>“So this is the carrot and stick.” The man drew the blade of the knife across his own palm. Quin smelled the burning flesh. “The carrot. You tell me where the diamond is, and help me get to Armani. I tell you who is responsible for your Uncle John’s death.” The man placed the knife gently on Quin’s left hand, drawing the blade across the back of the hand. “The stick.” He rested the blade on Quin’s left wrist. “You give me the wrong information, or you try to hold a single f**king piece of information from me again…” With all his strength the hit man wretched the knife down and across.</p><p></p><p>Quinton Stark screamed as his gold Rolex fell to the floor. It didn’t crack because it landed on the soft flesh of his severed hand.</p><p></p><p>“Carrot and stick, Mister Stark.” The man set the knife on the table. “Let’s talk.”</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">●</p><p></p><p>Lisa sat up without a word and kicked her feet over the side of the bed. Devin leapt to his feet and put his hands on Lisa’s shoulders. “Sit down, sweetie.”</p><p></p><p>Meadow stepped up to Lisa as well. “Careful. You don’t want those wires to come off.” She put her hands on the wires attached to Lisa’s chest to keep them from coming unattached. “Rebecca, get a nurse in here.”</p><p></p><p>Rebecca was already in the hallway, calling for a nurse. Armani was in the doorway, looking up and down the hallway. “I don’t see no motherf**kers coming to get her.” He looked back at Devin, whose muscles strained. “You need help holding her down?”</p><p></p><p>“No… I can... do it...” Devin grunted. <em>Lisa was never this strong</em>. Lisa took a step towards the door and the IVs in her arms ripped free. Devin staggered back, trying to push her back into bed. “Come on... sweetie. We need..." Grunt. "...to get you back in bed.” Lisa took another step towards the door and Devin slid backward, shoes squeaking along the floor as he slid. “Ok, maybe some help.”</p><p></p><p>Meadow stepped behind Lisa and wrapped her arms around the little girl. Armani pushed Devin aside and put his hands on Lisa’s shoulders. The 70 pound girl threw Meadows arms off, grabbed Armani by the waist and hurled him across the room. The huge man fell to the floor amid a pile of broken glass and hospital equipment.</p><p></p><p>“The motherf**kin’ chick’s on crack!”</p><p></p><p>Meadow stepped out of Lisa’s way as the little girl advanced out the door and into the hallway. Devin had his arms around her shoulders and was being dragged across the floor. “HELP ME!” he screamed. “Don’t let her go…”</p><p></p><p>A nurse and two orderlies were sprinting down the hall towards the commotion. Rebecca stepped out of the way as they passed and the orderlies latched onto Lisa. She grunted only slightly as she hurled the healthy youths away from her. They careened off the adjacent walls. One collapsed to the floor, unconscious. The other scrambled to his feet and stepped back as Lisa passed, dragging an ineffective (but valiant) Devin behind her.</p><p></p><p>Armani pulled himself from the mess of debris and sprinted out of the room, down the hallway, and skidded to a stop in front of Lisa. She was advancing at a walk towards the elevators and Armani was walking backward, staying a few feet in front of her. “You ain’t leaving here, girlie.” </p><p></p><p>Lisa was 30 feet from the elevator doors when they dinged open. “Hola, esse!” Rough Eddy stepped out of the elevator. “I think the girl wants to come with us.” He punched an open palm with his fist. “Don’t make me get physical.” A mohawked crony, the same one who had accompanied Eddy at Sergent Richardson's apartment, stood to his side, trying to look tough.</p><p></p><p>Devin readjusted his grip and tried to stop Lisa – unsuccessfully. “Don’t let them take her…” he groaned.</p><p></p><p>Armani looked over Lisa’s shoulder at Devin’s straining face. “I’m sorry to have to do this sh*t, but we can’t stop her no other way.” Armani stopped, squared himself, and punched Lisa in the face with the full strength of his 240 pound, muscular frame. </p><p></p><p>Lisa’s nose crunched and her head bounced backward where it smacked Devin in the face. He released his grip and fell to the ground. She continued walking, unfazed. Armani’s jaw dropped at the utter lack of damage he had done. He had felt the nose crunch, but there was no visible damage a second later.</p><p></p><p>Rebecca rummaged in her purse looking for anything to stop the seemingly unstoppable Lisa from escaping with Sammy’s thugs. Armani turned his back to Lisa and looked at Rough Eddy. “I may not be able to stop her.” His fingers searched in his jacket for his brass knuckles. “But you motherf**kers are goin' down.”</p><p></p><p>Rough Eddy’s crony reached into his own jacket and pulled out a 9mm. He leveled it at Armani, but he never got a chance to fire. </p><p></p><p>Armani sprinted towards the crony and rammed his knuckles into the man’s stomach. He keeled over and collapsed to the elevator floor. Rough Eddy stepped away from Armani and leveled his Colt Python. The sound of the explosion echoed through the halls of Riverside but the oversized slug scored only a glancing blow on Armani’s left arm. “You f**ked up my jacket,” Armani said.</p><p></p><p>Lisa was almost to the elevators when Rebecca pulled out her pepper spray. She was fairly confident it would be ineffective, but she was out of options. She was wrong. As the spray coated the side of Lisa’s face the little girl screamed in agony and stopped her advance. She turned to Rebecca, a look of animal fury in her eyes.</p><p></p><p>“Now now, Lisa,” Rebecca pleaded. “You know I had to…”</p><p></p><p>Lisa lashed out at Rebecca, fingernails digging furrows in her face and all the way down her chest. The force of the blow slammed Rebecca against the opposite wall. She slid down it, unconscious and bleeding profusely from her facial wounds. Lisa continued towards the elevator and stepped on the body of the fallen thug.</p><p></p><p>Meadow rushed to Rebecca’s aid. She screamed at the orderly for help. He broke his horrified stasis and rushed over to help stop the bleeding. Devin pushed himself up from the floor, cradling a broken nose, and sprinted towards the elevator. He spared no more than a glance at the battle between Armani and Rough Eddy and looked only at his little sister. “Lisa, please. Stop.”</p><p></p><p>As the elevator doors began to close Lisa whispered to Devin through narrowing space. “Let me go or I will kill you, brother. I will kill you all.” The doors dinged shut and Devin barely heard the explosion of another gunshot as Rough Eddy ran down the hallway towards the stairs, firing blindly backward to stop Armani.</p><p></p><p>“Devin… Rebecca needs our help.” Meadow was servicing the wounds on Rebecca’s face and chest, but the damage was severe.</p><p></p><p>“Yeah…” Devin stumbled over towards Rebecca. “Needs my help. Needs my help. Need help…”</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Puppy Kicker, post: 2109489, member: 20284"] [b]Carrots and Sticks[/b] [I]6:15 PM, Tuesday, July 20th Riverside General Hospital[/I] “Not right now.” Devin lifted his head. He’d been dozing off and on, utterly exhausted. The slightest whisper, though, had woken him. Lisa’s eyes were open, staring at the opposite wall. Devin leaned forward. “Lisa?” “I will. But not right now.” Lisa paused, then giggled. “OK.” “Who are you talking to, sis?” “I can’t right now. You know that. After sunset.” Devin looked around the room. Empty except for the two of them. “Lisa? Who are you talking to, sweetie?” “I’ll meet you after sunset.” Lisa stopped for a moment, as though she was listening. “You can send someone if you want, but I won’t need help.” Lisa’s eyes closed. Devin called a nurse then went to the lobby to tell the others. They were gone. [CENTER]●[/CENTER] Rebecca, Meadow and Armani were in the Grand Am on the way back to the hospital. Gallivan had taken the book with him and said he was going to go study the tome he had taken from the coven. “I’ll call the police, but I need to look at this tome. I’ll call you if I find anything. You all do the same.” They’d parted ways then and everyone was anxious to get back to the hospital to see how Lisa was doing. “Oh, I have a message.” Rebecca looked around. “Guess I missed it in the confusion.” The car swerved dangerously as she dialed up her voice mail. “It was Devin. Lisa woke up.” She sped the rest of the way to the hospital - [B]she [/B] didn’t get pulled over. [CENTER]●[/CENTER] “All I know is that she said she was meeting someone at sunset.” The others crowded around Devin in the hospital room as he explained what had happened. “It was like she was possessed. She wasn’t talking to me.” He squeezed Lisa’s hand but she didn’t respond. She hadn’t moved since her earlier episode. “It sounds like someone might be coming to get her too.” “Sammy?” “Maybe.” Devin looked at Armani. “I want us to be ready in case. I don’t know what we’re up against, but sunset is any minute now, and Lisa isn’t going anywhere.” He stood up, dizzy but strong. “I won’t let her be taken again.” The sun dipped below the horizon. [CENTER]●[/CENTER] Quin reeled as the man smashed him in the face with an open palm. Quin’s nose was bleeding and he had several small cuts on his arms. His abductor alternated between smacking him and cutting him with a vicious dagger and asking questions about Armani and some diamond that had apparently been stolen. “He sold something to someone, that’s all I know.” “To who?” Another smack and Quin’s head rocked backward, but he stayed quiet. He knew that the moment this criminal had all the information he needed he would have no reason to keep Quin alive. Quin clenched his teeth. “You know that Armani stole the diamond. You know that he sold it.” The man ran the tip of his dagger along Quin’s arm drawing a sizzling stream of blood. The dagger seemed to cauterize as it cut. The pain was excruciating, but there was little blood – just an instant scar. “And I know that you know who he sold it to.” Quin didn’t talk. “I’m weary of this game.” The man picked up Qin’s driver’s license from the table. “Quinton Stark III.” He stood and looked at the license, brow furrowed. “Where do I know that name from…” He paced. “Jonathon Stark.” The man looked at Quin’s face for a reaction. He got it. Quin choked through cracked lips. “Uncle John.” Blood oozed down his chin. “My uncle.” “Killed.” The man chuckled. “Jonathan Stark was assassinated.” He sat down again, knife in one hand, driver’s license in the other. “Did you know that?” Quin nodded. He had moved from New York to Virginia to find his uncle’s killer. Other things had since taken over in his life, but this one thing still drove him. “You?” The man smiled. “I didn’t kill him.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t as good back then, Mister Stark. Someone else got to John first.” Quin raised his eyebrows, all pain forgotten. “Who was it?” “Ah, just some hit man. There are a lot of us and we just do a job.” He poked Quin in the chest with the knife – sizzle. “The hit man isn’t important, Mister Stark. But who arranged the hit… now THAT is something you probably want to know.” Quin nodded. “Please… tell me.” “So this is the carrot and stick.” The man drew the blade of the knife across his own palm. Quin smelled the burning flesh. “The carrot. You tell me where the diamond is, and help me get to Armani. I tell you who is responsible for your Uncle John’s death.” The man placed the knife gently on Quin’s left hand, drawing the blade across the back of the hand. “The stick.” He rested the blade on Quin’s left wrist. “You give me the wrong information, or you try to hold a single f**king piece of information from me again…” With all his strength the hit man wretched the knife down and across. Quinton Stark screamed as his gold Rolex fell to the floor. It didn’t crack because it landed on the soft flesh of his severed hand. “Carrot and stick, Mister Stark.” The man set the knife on the table. “Let’s talk.” [CENTER]●[/CENTER] Lisa sat up without a word and kicked her feet over the side of the bed. Devin leapt to his feet and put his hands on Lisa’s shoulders. “Sit down, sweetie.” Meadow stepped up to Lisa as well. “Careful. You don’t want those wires to come off.” She put her hands on the wires attached to Lisa’s chest to keep them from coming unattached. “Rebecca, get a nurse in here.” Rebecca was already in the hallway, calling for a nurse. Armani was in the doorway, looking up and down the hallway. “I don’t see no motherf**kers coming to get her.” He looked back at Devin, whose muscles strained. “You need help holding her down?” “No… I can... do it...” Devin grunted. [I]Lisa was never this strong[/I]. Lisa took a step towards the door and the IVs in her arms ripped free. Devin staggered back, trying to push her back into bed. “Come on... sweetie. We need..." Grunt. "...to get you back in bed.” Lisa took another step towards the door and Devin slid backward, shoes squeaking along the floor as he slid. “Ok, maybe some help.” Meadow stepped behind Lisa and wrapped her arms around the little girl. Armani pushed Devin aside and put his hands on Lisa’s shoulders. The 70 pound girl threw Meadows arms off, grabbed Armani by the waist and hurled him across the room. The huge man fell to the floor amid a pile of broken glass and hospital equipment. “The motherf**kin’ chick’s on crack!” Meadow stepped out of Lisa’s way as the little girl advanced out the door and into the hallway. Devin had his arms around her shoulders and was being dragged across the floor. “HELP ME!” he screamed. “Don’t let her go…” A nurse and two orderlies were sprinting down the hall towards the commotion. Rebecca stepped out of the way as they passed and the orderlies latched onto Lisa. She grunted only slightly as she hurled the healthy youths away from her. They careened off the adjacent walls. One collapsed to the floor, unconscious. The other scrambled to his feet and stepped back as Lisa passed, dragging an ineffective (but valiant) Devin behind her. Armani pulled himself from the mess of debris and sprinted out of the room, down the hallway, and skidded to a stop in front of Lisa. She was advancing at a walk towards the elevators and Armani was walking backward, staying a few feet in front of her. “You ain’t leaving here, girlie.” Lisa was 30 feet from the elevator doors when they dinged open. “Hola, esse!” Rough Eddy stepped out of the elevator. “I think the girl wants to come with us.” He punched an open palm with his fist. “Don’t make me get physical.” A mohawked crony, the same one who had accompanied Eddy at Sergent Richardson's apartment, stood to his side, trying to look tough. Devin readjusted his grip and tried to stop Lisa – unsuccessfully. “Don’t let them take her…” he groaned. Armani looked over Lisa’s shoulder at Devin’s straining face. “I’m sorry to have to do this sh*t, but we can’t stop her no other way.” Armani stopped, squared himself, and punched Lisa in the face with the full strength of his 240 pound, muscular frame. Lisa’s nose crunched and her head bounced backward where it smacked Devin in the face. He released his grip and fell to the ground. She continued walking, unfazed. Armani’s jaw dropped at the utter lack of damage he had done. He had felt the nose crunch, but there was no visible damage a second later. Rebecca rummaged in her purse looking for anything to stop the seemingly unstoppable Lisa from escaping with Sammy’s thugs. Armani turned his back to Lisa and looked at Rough Eddy. “I may not be able to stop her.” His fingers searched in his jacket for his brass knuckles. “But you motherf**kers are goin' down.” Rough Eddy’s crony reached into his own jacket and pulled out a 9mm. He leveled it at Armani, but he never got a chance to fire. Armani sprinted towards the crony and rammed his knuckles into the man’s stomach. He keeled over and collapsed to the elevator floor. Rough Eddy stepped away from Armani and leveled his Colt Python. The sound of the explosion echoed through the halls of Riverside but the oversized slug scored only a glancing blow on Armani’s left arm. “You f**ked up my jacket,” Armani said. Lisa was almost to the elevators when Rebecca pulled out her pepper spray. She was fairly confident it would be ineffective, but she was out of options. She was wrong. As the spray coated the side of Lisa’s face the little girl screamed in agony and stopped her advance. She turned to Rebecca, a look of animal fury in her eyes. “Now now, Lisa,” Rebecca pleaded. “You know I had to…” Lisa lashed out at Rebecca, fingernails digging furrows in her face and all the way down her chest. The force of the blow slammed Rebecca against the opposite wall. She slid down it, unconscious and bleeding profusely from her facial wounds. Lisa continued towards the elevator and stepped on the body of the fallen thug. Meadow rushed to Rebecca’s aid. She screamed at the orderly for help. He broke his horrified stasis and rushed over to help stop the bleeding. Devin pushed himself up from the floor, cradling a broken nose, and sprinted towards the elevator. He spared no more than a glance at the battle between Armani and Rough Eddy and looked only at his little sister. “Lisa, please. Stop.” As the elevator doors began to close Lisa whispered to Devin through narrowing space. “Let me go or I will kill you, brother. I will kill you all.” The doors dinged shut and Devin barely heard the explosion of another gunshot as Rough Eddy ran down the hallway towards the stairs, firing blindly backward to stop Armani. “Devin… Rebecca needs our help.” Meadow was servicing the wounds on Rebecca’s face and chest, but the damage was severe. “Yeah…” Devin stumbled over towards Rebecca. “Needs my help. Needs my help. Need help…” [/QUOTE]
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