Post by Zoralee on Oct 16, 2005 11:26:03 GMT -5
Thought I'd start a new thread to continue her creation story, as opposed to her travels.
A Night Off, Part 1
"Get out."
Joo-eun sat staring at the pile of parts that had been her duty, her prison for the past five nights. It took her a moment to realize that Gribbitz had even spoken.
"What?"
"It's your night off. Get out. Unwind." Gribbitz had just come in from hunting. Joo-eun shuddered at the idea and at the telltale drop of blood at the corner of his mouth.
"My night off?" Joo-eun stood up and walked toward him. She was used to the raving, delusional, and sometimes violent man that she had been imprisoned by. Now, he sounded almost like a gruff but kindly boss.
"You understand the concept, Mr. Bix." Suddenly, Gribbitz cocked his head, listening. Joo-eun had come to realize that this was when her Sire was hearing voices and he wanted to mark every word. "Yes, that right, she did. Government job. Uh-huh. Two days a week," he answered to the unseen. "Slacker." This last was directed to the small Korean woman in front of him, but with a hint of a joking smile.
"Where can I go?" she asked. She didn't want to trust this and then be let down. Or worse, punished.
"If you leave the city limits, King Derwin will have you killed. Or the Captain of the Guard. Either way, it's bad for you. Now go. I have things to do." He started off toward his corner, slowly, lost in thought, mumbling to himself.
"But- " Joo-eun was thoroughly confused. "How do you know I'll come back?"
Without breaking his shuffling stride, Gribbitz pulled a handful of small papers from his pocket and tossed them over his shoulder at her, chuckling briefly as he did so. Joo-eun picked up a few and grew deathly pale. The quickly gathered the rest.
They were pictures of her family members taken outside their apartments. Mother, father, sisters. Some of the pictures had the eyes X-ed out or red marker lines of blood along the necks. There were also pictures of various police officers similarly defaced. She slid the unmarred pictures into her pocket and left the rest on a table.
"See you by dawn," said Gribbitz, almost sadly, not looking at her. "Don't forget your key and allowance." He pointed toward some bills and a key on a table by the front door.
"Yeah, sure." Joo-eun trudged toward her $50 allowance. She was more than happy to leave, even just for a little while, but where would she go? It obviously wasn't safe to seek out her family or the cops. Food perhaps. She hadn't eaten in days and-
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't leave."
Already lost in making plans for the night, Joo-eun hadn't noticed Gribbitz run up. Now he had her by the arm. It had all been just a cruel.
"I need your opinion on something before you go," he said with a smile. He let her go and pulled off his grey mock-turtleneck. "You have read some of the Prophet Geisel, yes? You are familiar with his pictorial metaphors?" Joo-eun tried to answer, but Gribbitz didn't wait for a response. "Of course you have. That is how I found you. Anyway, I wanted to honor the prophet with a tattoo of the Lorax. It is said that the Lorax was the Prophet's favorite allegory." Joo-eun was taken aback and slightly amused by Gribbitz's mixture of religious fanaticism and adolescent enthusiasm.
Gribbtiz turned his left bicep to her and there was the Lorax. Kind of. "I discovered an art major from Wayne State. He is studying to be a tattoo designer. He said he would grant my wish for free so he could practice." Gribbitz seemed proud of himself for finding a bargain. "I was glad to find one of the enlightened among the heathen kine. He said he was a great fan of the Prophet Geisel." Gribbitz was smiling like a kid in a candy store. "Please, give me your honest appraisal. I will know if you are lying." He said it without obvious malice, but Joo-eun grew nervous.
"Well ..." she began. Hopefully, he wouldn't direct his anger at her. "The proportions seem a little off, especially in the legs and the eyes. And I thought the Lorax was orange, not red."
Gribbitz's grin turned to a grimace, like an oil spill marring the waters of the Detroit River. "Red?" He was quiet, controlled. "RED?!" He lost it.
Joo-eun cowered under the table by the door, ready to use it as a shield if need be. But Gribbitz rushed off to find a shard of broken mirror. Ignoring the fresh blood on his hand, he adjusted the fragment so he could examine the work himself. Slowly, his anger seemed to abate. "Well, this won't do. It looked different under the yellow lights in his studio. But I cannot be seen with this perversion of the Prophet's work adorning me. It'll have to be removed."
Joo-eun cam out, slowly, from under the table. She was impressed that Gribbitz knew about laser surgery for tattoo removal. Then his fist went through a pane plate glass.
This was hardly what Joo-eun considered an emergency, but out came the fire axe in her Sire's supernatural grip. Joo-eun dove under the table again. She was unable to stop screaming: first because she thought the axe was meant for her; then because she saw Gribbitz use it on himself, removing his arm with a few vitae-fueled whacks.
"What the hell are you screaming about?" he asked as he hung the axe back on its hook after wiping the blade clean on his shirt. Joo-eun was hyper ventilating in panic.
"Your arm. You cut off your arm!" She had emerged from her shelter and was walking to him in an almost motherly way. "Because you didn't like the tattoo?"
"Well, I suppose I could have just cut off the skin, but I didn't want to take the time to find a knife. This was faster," he stated as he dropped his severed (and now largely decayed) arm into the garbage can with a sickening thud.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Joo-eun said before remembering she had eaten nothing to vomit back up in days. Her nausea soon turned to morbid fascination as she watched an arm sprout and regrow from Gribbitz's bloody shoulder stump. "How- how are you- ?" was all she could manage to ask.
"Ignorant Childe," was all her sire could be bothered to respond with, ignoring his own responsibility in the matter. He walked away, left arm perfectly restored, sans red Lorax. "All right, show's over. Go have fun." His back was toward her, his thoughts rapidly moving elsewhere.
Joo-eun didn't stick around for a second horrifying display. The Detroit night was hers to explore. But upon entering it, she felt alone like never before.
Check
A Night Off, Part 1
"Get out."
Joo-eun sat staring at the pile of parts that had been her duty, her prison for the past five nights. It took her a moment to realize that Gribbitz had even spoken.
"What?"
"It's your night off. Get out. Unwind." Gribbitz had just come in from hunting. Joo-eun shuddered at the idea and at the telltale drop of blood at the corner of his mouth.
"My night off?" Joo-eun stood up and walked toward him. She was used to the raving, delusional, and sometimes violent man that she had been imprisoned by. Now, he sounded almost like a gruff but kindly boss.
"You understand the concept, Mr. Bix." Suddenly, Gribbitz cocked his head, listening. Joo-eun had come to realize that this was when her Sire was hearing voices and he wanted to mark every word. "Yes, that right, she did. Government job. Uh-huh. Two days a week," he answered to the unseen. "Slacker." This last was directed to the small Korean woman in front of him, but with a hint of a joking smile.
"Where can I go?" she asked. She didn't want to trust this and then be let down. Or worse, punished.
"If you leave the city limits, King Derwin will have you killed. Or the Captain of the Guard. Either way, it's bad for you. Now go. I have things to do." He started off toward his corner, slowly, lost in thought, mumbling to himself.
"But- " Joo-eun was thoroughly confused. "How do you know I'll come back?"
Without breaking his shuffling stride, Gribbitz pulled a handful of small papers from his pocket and tossed them over his shoulder at her, chuckling briefly as he did so. Joo-eun picked up a few and grew deathly pale. The quickly gathered the rest.
They were pictures of her family members taken outside their apartments. Mother, father, sisters. Some of the pictures had the eyes X-ed out or red marker lines of blood along the necks. There were also pictures of various police officers similarly defaced. She slid the unmarred pictures into her pocket and left the rest on a table.
"See you by dawn," said Gribbitz, almost sadly, not looking at her. "Don't forget your key and allowance." He pointed toward some bills and a key on a table by the front door.
"Yeah, sure." Joo-eun trudged toward her $50 allowance. She was more than happy to leave, even just for a little while, but where would she go? It obviously wasn't safe to seek out her family or the cops. Food perhaps. She hadn't eaten in days and-
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't leave."
Already lost in making plans for the night, Joo-eun hadn't noticed Gribbitz run up. Now he had her by the arm. It had all been just a cruel.
"I need your opinion on something before you go," he said with a smile. He let her go and pulled off his grey mock-turtleneck. "You have read some of the Prophet Geisel, yes? You are familiar with his pictorial metaphors?" Joo-eun tried to answer, but Gribbitz didn't wait for a response. "Of course you have. That is how I found you. Anyway, I wanted to honor the prophet with a tattoo of the Lorax. It is said that the Lorax was the Prophet's favorite allegory." Joo-eun was taken aback and slightly amused by Gribbitz's mixture of religious fanaticism and adolescent enthusiasm.
Gribbtiz turned his left bicep to her and there was the Lorax. Kind of. "I discovered an art major from Wayne State. He is studying to be a tattoo designer. He said he would grant my wish for free so he could practice." Gribbitz seemed proud of himself for finding a bargain. "I was glad to find one of the enlightened among the heathen kine. He said he was a great fan of the Prophet Geisel." Gribbitz was smiling like a kid in a candy store. "Please, give me your honest appraisal. I will know if you are lying." He said it without obvious malice, but Joo-eun grew nervous.
"Well ..." she began. Hopefully, he wouldn't direct his anger at her. "The proportions seem a little off, especially in the legs and the eyes. And I thought the Lorax was orange, not red."
Gribbitz's grin turned to a grimace, like an oil spill marring the waters of the Detroit River. "Red?" He was quiet, controlled. "RED?!" He lost it.
Joo-eun cowered under the table by the door, ready to use it as a shield if need be. But Gribbitz rushed off to find a shard of broken mirror. Ignoring the fresh blood on his hand, he adjusted the fragment so he could examine the work himself. Slowly, his anger seemed to abate. "Well, this won't do. It looked different under the yellow lights in his studio. But I cannot be seen with this perversion of the Prophet's work adorning me. It'll have to be removed."
Joo-eun cam out, slowly, from under the table. She was impressed that Gribbitz knew about laser surgery for tattoo removal. Then his fist went through a pane plate glass.
This was hardly what Joo-eun considered an emergency, but out came the fire axe in her Sire's supernatural grip. Joo-eun dove under the table again. She was unable to stop screaming: first because she thought the axe was meant for her; then because she saw Gribbitz use it on himself, removing his arm with a few vitae-fueled whacks.
"What the hell are you screaming about?" he asked as he hung the axe back on its hook after wiping the blade clean on his shirt. Joo-eun was hyper ventilating in panic.
"Your arm. You cut off your arm!" She had emerged from her shelter and was walking to him in an almost motherly way. "Because you didn't like the tattoo?"
"Well, I suppose I could have just cut off the skin, but I didn't want to take the time to find a knife. This was faster," he stated as he dropped his severed (and now largely decayed) arm into the garbage can with a sickening thud.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Joo-eun said before remembering she had eaten nothing to vomit back up in days. Her nausea soon turned to morbid fascination as she watched an arm sprout and regrow from Gribbitz's bloody shoulder stump. "How- how are you- ?" was all she could manage to ask.
"Ignorant Childe," was all her sire could be bothered to respond with, ignoring his own responsibility in the matter. He walked away, left arm perfectly restored, sans red Lorax. "All right, show's over. Go have fun." His back was toward her, his thoughts rapidly moving elsewhere.
Joo-eun didn't stick around for a second horrifying display. The Detroit night was hers to explore. But upon entering it, she felt alone like never before.
Check