Your Worst Fear [cryptozoo]

[bachjones]

 Mrs Gordon had told him that he wasn't welcome anymore in her building, as a neighbor of hers. Bach had tried to get his explanation in, how he was still losing large patches of memory and that for once he wasn't being selfish, but thinking of Isaac, but she had bulldozed him like she was paid for it. For a second he suspected Essie, maybe his father, but he was pretty sure that neither of them would pay for something that they'd do themselves all too gladly. He just hoped that Robert wouldn't discover about all this before Essie could become Isaac's legal guardian..

Either way, it was him and Alfred, his guitar and a huge suitcase right now.  Mrs Gordon paid him for the few pieces of furniture he had and that was it. On the street, like nothing had changed in five years. Except for now --now he missed people. Loud and painfully and almost impossible to ignore. Stuff was all so unfair. You'd think Bach was used to that now.

It was at the beach (swimming lessons with Iris, fooling around with Essie, so many parties) that he sat down, gathering courage to make the leave permanent. How dramatic of him.

So when Isaac ran past him, he was half sure that it was just something his mind cooked up. A This Is Your Life moment that would show him what he would miss, or something. It could happen, this was Siren Cove. But Isaac circled and ran past again, yelling at him to catch him, and Bach got up, followed. The boy was fast, faster than usual, and it became weird, fast.
The first time he told him to stop, Isaac snarled at him. The second time parts of his skin seemed to peel off, showing scales. Too many, too bright scales. "Why aren't you coming, daddy? Why aren't you following me? Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?" It became a cadence like a stuck disk, humming through Bach's until he gave up, closed his eyes, wanted all of it gone, finally discovering a sound too loud.
Something hit him, scales ripping his skin. Just before losing his consciousness, he felt waves crashing into him. Fucking ocean.



ooc: find Bach half in the water, roughed up and more than a mess than usual, with a confused cat by his side and his stuff on the beach

Comments

[bachjones]

"Mrs Gordon threw me out." It was all coming back to him. "Essie did. Isaac did. And then he turned into a monster. So much scales and teeth and.. He was too fast. I couldn't reach him. Catch him." It felt like he was playing two truths and a lie, but Bach was unsure if that info was even his to share.

"Who are you?" He got up, winced when his leg strained. "Fuck. This is why I leave. Left. Have to leave."

[cry_reaper]

Lily didn't know who any of those people were and really didn't care. The man was raving and that was never a good sign. "I'm Lily." She didn't move to steady him, not wanting to get close enough for him to grab if it came to it.

"Do I need to call someone? The police? An ambulance?"

[bachjones]

"Fuck the police." He struggled to stand up straight so he could look her in the face. "Lily."
There was something very vaguely familiar to her. "You're the girl that didn't drink, are you? You're not one of them, are you? I just wanted to leave, but now I don't know any more."

He laughed, the sound brittle in his throat. "Since I met the guy, I don't know anything for sure any more."

[cry_reaper]

"I don't.." She wasn't sure if she'd met him before. Maybe? But certainly not like this and she wasn't sure she wanted to know the guy. She was supposed to be making positive moves in her life, not picking up apparently homeless guys on the beach. Homeless guys that were making no sense whatsoever.

"No police, check, what do you need? Tell me."

[bachjones]

"My baby." Bach choked it out. "No, no, leave him alone." He clawed at her to keep upright. "Sleep. Just a wash and a sleep. My stuff is ..somewhere. My cat! My cat is somewhere. Alfred. Lily .."

He looked at her, tried to calm the both of them. "Just a little help, right now, Lily. Just to be sure that this is still the world it is, and everything else a dream. Nightmare."

[cry_reaper]

"Sure, uh, I think there's a hotel near here, I can put you up for a night?" She wasn't sure she wanted him at her place. Although, if she took him home, she could call Lara. Something like this, she'd probably want to know.

"And the world's still the world, don't think it's disappeared anywhere." He wasn't making a damn bit of sense. "And there's a couple of bags, right over there. They yours?"

[bachjones]

"They took my guitar?" Bach fell to his knees. "My guitar?!" It had been the only thing keeping him alive for a very long time, the only reason for living for a long time. He wasn't complete with his gui-

"Maybe Is-" No, that didn't make sense. Isaac wasn't that interested in instruments, he was more of a singer. And a big instrument like this. "You didn't see any kid walking around with a guitar? Old black bag? Fuck, that's my money." He rubbed his face. "Why not just fucking kill me."

[cry_reaper]

"Haven't seen anyone but you, buddy." She extricated herself from his grasp and took a few steps back, debating pulling her phone and calling the police anyway. Guy was raving and she didn't know if she had the patience to deal with it.

"But you're alive and you need to get indoors. So. Hotel? My treat for the night?"

[bachjones]

"Your treat? That won't be hard for you, you're already one." For a second his eyebrow and the corners of his mouth lifted, a wink followed and Bach's body lashed onto 'someone wants me' instead of staying in the present situation. It was instinct.

It also disgusted him. "Alive. Yes, yes, that's about it." He stumbled to his bags, missing his cat as well. "Even Alfred is gone."

[cry_reaper]

Lily snorted, "Maybe skip the flirting until you're making sense again. C'mon, car's this way."

She paused only long enough to make sure he saw her heading out before she runed and headed up to the street, but waves hissing behind her. So much for a nice calming night, she only hoped he'd get more even before the night went completely off the rails.

"Sure there's no one I can call for you?"

[bachjones]

"Es-" He swallowed her name, the addition of 'my wife' his brain added. Addled brain, addled everything. The wound on his leg was burning, and wouldn't it be the way to die, slowly burning up?

Bach followed her up the beach, gathering his bags on the way. "I'm all alone, sweetheart. How it's supposed to be."

[cry_reaper]

Awww, he was a kicked puppy. Tough shit. Rolling her eyes, Lily headed over to her car and unlocked it, popping the trunk for his bags. Whoever Es was had probably done herself a favor if this was how he operated.

"We'll stop on the way to get you something for that leg. If you won't go to the hospital, you need to at least clean and cover that thing."

[bachjones]

"No shit. You really think I'm too dumb to worry about half a beach lounging in my thigh?"

Fuck, Bach couldn't help this happening either, he had just wanted to sneak away. "No news about a gas leak or something? Poisoned water? Because I really thought I saw something that isn't ..wasn't supposed to happen. You know."

[cry_reaper]

"I'm sorry, dude, how am I supposed to know what a raving maniac on the beach does and doesn't know about first aid." At least now he was making more sense. Marginally. Getting in the car, she started the engine and started figuring out whathotel was the closest, cheapest and nearest to a shop or something she could get some supplies at.

"Haven't been listening to the news tonight, but around here, I wouldn't be half surprised."

[bachjones]

"Raving maniac? You're really a fairy godmother, aren't you?"
He let himself sag all over the backseat, biting back tears when he felt something warm blossom on the low of his back. "I think I'm bleeding over your seats. Sorry, ma'am."

That meant that there was a possibility there was something wrong, not just with Bach. "This place. No hallucinations for you or loved ones?"

[cry_reaper]

"I'm no one's anything." She wasn't really inclined to be any more generous than she needed to be.

Especially since he was ruining the upholstery on the heap she was driving these days. "Not since I stopped popping pills. Might just be you today. Might not be. I don't like to assume around here. I hear that's a bad idea."

There was a drug store up ahead and she headed to pull into it.

[bachjones]

"Oh, you're that kind of addict. Now I hear it." Bach had to check with Isaac. And with Essie, just to make sure that if Isaac had been turned into something, she wasn't getting hurt by it. It was just ..just the right thing to do. That the thought of the both of them hurting each other made his body hurt.. well, his body was hurting already anyway. It could be everything.

"All ideas are bad here." He pushed the car door open. "You have money?"

[cry_reaper]

"No, I have a .45 and though we'd just rob the place. Spice up the evening." Lily watched him get out of the car, hoping he didn't look at ragged to the employees as he did to her, or they might have the cops called anyway.

Oh, well. At least she was the good samaritan here.

"Maybe you should stay put?"

[bachjones]

"You're not going to rob the place." He used the car roof to support himself. "You're lying." He was pretty sure, at least. There was a beep in his ear that messed up with his hearing, another thing he couldn't completely trust.

"What are you going to get me? I need stuff to clean this up. Painkillers, at the least. Good thing I still have pants."

[cry_reaper]

"You're not the first not-drunk I've patched up after a night out." Hell she'd patched herself up a time or two, if she was honest. "But as for painkillers, you'll have to do with aspirin. I don't have anything stronger than that."

And she was legally required not to have anything stronger than that at hand, as a provision of her bail for the charges she was facing back in New York. She wasn't going to let some not-drunk fuck that up for her.

[bachjones]

"Can't you go get anything stronger than that? Tell them I'm dying and I just want something to send me off without pain." If Bach would be by voice, properly, he'd just demand her to try a little bit harder, but his throat was still aching.

"The sooner I'm out of pain, the sooner you're rid of me?"

[cry_reaper]

"I'm rid of you as soon as I drag you up to a hotel room and I'm not singing for your drugs. The aspirin will have to do." She was dammned if she was going to get herself busted for a stranger. She was helping him, but to a point and right now, he was sounding like a junkie.

The last sort of persons he was supposed to be associating with. If her mother found out, there would be hell to pay.

Heading inside, she didn't care if he followed or not as she started gathering up some bandages, ointments and the promised OTC painkillers.

[bachjones]

"I didn't say sing- fuck, you're a siren. I hate you fucking people and you can't leave me alone." She walked inside. "Hey, talking to you!"

Bach stumbled through the doors, smiling at the few other people around. "Am I even allowed to leave this town or are you preparing to serve me up to Lara?"

[cry_reaper]

"I don't give a shit what you do. And It's not like I was looking to pick up some not-drunk on the beach tonight. You're paranoid, dude." Although it wasn't paranoia if they were out to get you, and she really didn't know how Lara handled things. She was just keeping her own damn head down and trying not to gather too much attention.

Which was going to be a problem if this guy was on Lara's shit-list.

"All I was going to do was get you off the street for the night, but if you want to bail, at least let me get you the bandages and shit."

[bachjones]

"You're a nurse or something? A nun? No, definitely not a nun, too hot for one." He grabbed some sweat pants, slinging it over his shoulder. "Get me those as well, no-one's going to come close to me if I look like a car got me."

He saw her face. "Please. For the paranoid not drunk dude you picked up because you're some cute Samaritan or whatever your mistake is."

[cry_reaper]

"No shit, mistake." Sighing, Lily grabbed the sweatpants from off his shoulder and headed towards the check-out clerk who looked only slightly less enthusiastic about the situation than she did. PIling the bandages, rubbing alcohol, antiseptic gel, aspirin, and a couple of protein bars on the counter, she turned to look back at the guy.

"Last call. I'm checking out."

[bachjones]

Okay, he didn't want her gone before he could get the things necessary off her. Wow, Bach continued to find new lows. Was it seriously so hard to just be a decent human being? How much of this was his fault?

"That's all I can think of right now", he grumbled. "Thank you, Tinkerbell."

[cry_reaper]

"You're welcome, Wendy. Next time you jump out a window, maybe make sure you can fly first, k?"

Lily paid for all the the supplies and she headed back out to the car with the bag. Now she just had to get him into some kind of motel room for the night and she could wash her hands of the guy and maybe start the night over if it wasn't too late.

[bachjones]

"Why not Peter?" Realisation sank in. Shit, because Bach was Peter. Just with less children following him around.

"I can .." He followed her out. "I can find some place, if you need to go. It's clear you're super over and done with me being here, just saying. Don't need to hear your song for that. And if I'm patched up .."

[cry_reaper]

"I told you I'd get you a night somewhere. But if you don't want it..." She shrugged. She kinda felt for him, but mostly didn't. It was clear that some shit had gone down and she really wasn't supposed to be getting involved in that kind of thing.

And then there was the fact that he was a siren. And Lara would probably have her head if she just abandoned one of her precious subjects. But fuck it. If he wanted to take off, she wasn't a baby-sitter.

[bachjones]

"I do!"

He was such an ugly embarrassment. No wonder everybody left him, gave up on him. Bach rubbed at his eyes. "Fuck." Asking help from grumpy strangers. "I do. A bed, a shower, I'll do whatever you need."

"Not that you would accept it, probably."