Fandom [CLOSED] Tokyo Ghoul: Dead Enmity

[yaint]

"No - C-Caleb, listen, this is important!" Jackson could not help but put a hand to his forehead. This was not going as well as he had hoped. At least Kedin had taken little Nathan out of the picture, but now there was another girl here to stick her nose in and ask questions - and if what Dane said was true, she would be nowhere close to as useful as Caleb. She was only there to interrupt and interfere.


Still, Jackson could not let something as small as that get in the way of his interrogation. Rachael could be dealt with, but Caleb... Caleb was another question. Yes, it was frustrating that the boy had refused to come out with a straight answer, but even more off-putting was how careful Jackson felt he had to be. It had been two months... And the whole issue with Mari still made that relationship between them rocky and rough. It was not going to be easy to get across to this guy without messing up in one way or another. 


What made things worse was the fact that Caleb seemed to flat-out refuse to even look at him. Damn it, the man thought, the hand on his forehead dropping to play with the soft bristles of his beard. Look at me, Caleb! "Caleb, look - just... Look, I'm - I'm not asking to try and hurt him. Or you - or a-anyone here. But this is important, they've - they've done something to Adrian, and, well... I - I d-don't know what to do. Okay? I don't know what to do, something's happened and I can't help. Well..." Jackson stopped. He swallowed his words, rubbed at his chin again and let his eyes close. He needed this to work. If Caleb didn't tell him anything, he would have to go out looking with only a name as a lead and person upon person standing in his way to interfere. "Caleb. I n-need you to tell me everything you know. You can help me undo whatever the hell happened, but not if you don't tell me who these ghouls are. I need - I - Adrian needs your help, yeah?"


Eyes still closed, Jackson finally let his head drop down in a slouch. Please, Caleb, he prayed silently, hands clasping together over his lap, Just work with me before Adrian comes back down.

 

[Yoki]

Caleb didn't like Jackson's tone, he didn't like how persistent he was about this... Did he not realise the danger? Did he not realise how hurt he could make Adrian? Or how stupid it would be to go after Zeplin? Caleb was pretty sure at this point that the man was insane...and he'd met some goddamn crazy people in his life. 


"Mmn...." Caleb shifted uncomfortably, "You don't understand..." He mumbled, curling himself up a bit more. Jackson didn't know what he knew, he couldn't expect someone that impulsive to understand that he shouldn't go after people as dangerous as that. They were going to slice Jackson to bits, did he not get that?


Still...he was dead set on it and keeping the information would only caide something to go down with that man and Adrian, he'd hurt the boy by bringing up something he just shouldn't have. Jackson didn't know what Adrian had been through. Neither did Caleb...but he had an idea... 


There was some more hesitation before Caleb spoke again, "Don't...don't go after them..." His voice was extremely quiet, "That...That collar it reminds me of..." The male put a hand over his mouth, shaking his head, it was disgusting to think about. "The...leader...Sh-Shania...she um...she keeps pets...Adrian was...probably that." He pulled his knees to his chest, keeping himself turned away, "They...make them fight and...hurt them and stuff..." He grated his teeth, "Zeplin are...c-cannibals...a lot of them...anyway... So..." Finally he turned his head to Jackson, "Don't be surprised if he's..." He dropped his gaze, "Y'know..." 


It was for Adrian, if he didn't do this Jackson would ask Adrian and he wouldn't want to talk about it...not at all.


"They...keep prisoners too...mostly just fodder..." 

 

[yaint]

"Fodder!?" The word fell spluttering out of Jackson's mouth before he had even realised the meaning of what had been said. Fodder... No, that was wrong. It had to be wrong. He wracked his brain for some alternative definition, but either he was too tired or too blinded by his own shock and hatred to find one. So it was true... Zeplin, whoever the hell they were, kept people in their walls as a food source. It made Jackson feel sick to think about it.


But it's not just that, he thought with a strained grimace. Adrian might have been a prisoner, but if Caleb's guess was right then that was even worse. Adrian, an eighteen year-old kid - barely more than a child - was being kept as a fighting dog. How the hell was he alive? Of all people, Adrian surely would not have survived a battle to the death... No, he couldn't have - right? He hesitated at the battle with Prince, the man remembered solemnly. Oh, how many times the boy must have had to look death in the eye...


"That's... That's so fucked up," he commented suddenly, his voice having turned somewhat husky and yet loud at the same time. There was a ruddy flush of red darkening his otherwise-pale face, which had been screwed up with the corners of his mouth turned down in disgust. "Why? What the hell did he do to them? God, he's a kid... He hasn't done shit for it!"


The way the man's voice was rising to a shout signified that something destructive was brewing within the fire of his hammering heart. There was no mistaking that glint in his eye, but before there was time for anybody to react or move out of the way, Jackson had already begun his rampage. "Bastards!" he spat at nobody in particular, seeing only the shadow of this mystery witch named Shania before him. One arm swept back to one side and hit at the wall behind with a fist, leaving a small dent. His other arm went up to grab at a lamp on the table to his other side. There was a swishing noise, then a thunderous crash as tiny fragments of a shattered glass bulb skittered across the floor. "No way, no, no, there's no way... God... I'm going to kill those - those bastards. Caleb, you need to tell me where they are. Tell me, tell me right now wherever the hell they're hiding their cowardly arses!"

 

[Yoki]

As soon as Jackson started to raise his voice slightly Caleb's eyes widened, he froze up, swallowing. He didn't want to hear him shout, he didn't want to be yelled at by some random guy asking him about a past he didn't want to remember. He didn't even want to talk to Jackson in the first place, he wanted to ignore this whole thing. He knew Zeplin hurt people, he'd watched them do it, they'd made him ruin people's lives...


Then there was the slam and glass was everywhere, he struggled backwards practically pressing himself into Dane's side. He turned his head away, shaking it, he didn't like this. He seriously couldn't be yelling right now, this was the last thing he'd wanted. They didn't need to discuss this anymore, he knew that Jackson would be mad.


"Stop yelling at me!" Caleb yelled back, his voice breaking, "Don't!" He hated being raising their voices at him, he couldn't concentrate properly if Jackson started shouting. "I'm not telling you! I'm not, I'm NOT! YOU'LL GET Y-YOURSELF KILLED!" He took a deep breath in and simply held on to Dane, who now had his arm around the boy. 


"Jackson. Chill for a minute, damn." Dane was quick to snap at the other for starting to yell, he leaned his head down to Caleb to whisper something in the guy's ear. Caleb shook his head a few times, then Dane looked up, looked down, and whispered something else. It took Caleb a few moments to actually answer this time, but then he nodded. "Okay, alright." Dane leaned back up, "Stop yelling, and he'll write it out for you." The man really wasn't impressed with Jackson's behaviour, "Just take a moment to calm down man."

 

[yaint]

In the few seconds it took for the bloody redness to seep from his rage-blinded vision, Jackson's fiery eyes turned round and soft again. He glanced worriedly to the left and right, noticing that his fists were still clenched at the positions he had left them; one hand nested in a dent in the wall, the other frozen in the air. There was a broken lamp still rolling on its spot on the carpet.


A jerking movement in the corner of his eyes brought the man's attention downwards. He quickly removed his hands from their place; firstly so that he could push up his glasses and then so that he could reach down and uncoil the wire which had wrapped around his leg and made his foot start to twitch.


He moved slowly, taking his sweet time to remove the wire and then cast it aside on the floor - in a way, he was stalling his response. Idiot, a spiteful voice said inside his head. Complete blundering idiot, bastard, are you proud of what you did? He was supposed to be taking care about talking to Caleb, but as usual his sense of willpower was too weak to drown out that sudden burst of anger. It wasn't even Caleb that had done anything wrong, he was just a messenger... And now Jackson had gone and yelled at the poor kid and upset him. This was not going well, and Dane looked less than impressed about the outburst. He had a right to...


Eventually the man pushed himself back up and forced a stiff glance back at the boy. "Yeah. Sorry," he said quite tautly, his eyes blinking and straying from Dane's face as he spoke. "Caleb, are - are you sure? I m-mean, do it... Please, as quickly as you can. They're... Zeplin, th-they're just going to keep going for as long as we wait, so - so we need help now. Uh, thanks, by the way. Do - uh, do you have paper?"

 

[Yoki]

Seeing Jackson calm down, Dane relaxed, it was easy to tell that he was very protective over Caleb, if Jackson had kept shouting he probably would have gotten yelled at right back. The man sighed, rubbing his eye with one of his hands, this was crazy, he didn't know why Jackson wanted to go find Zeplin, but it wouldn't be a good idea...not for anyone. They were vicious ghouls, if he went there, in his state, they'd most likely kill him and eat him afterwards. Was that really what he wanted? 


"Uh. I don't know." He turned to Bella, who nodded and got up, leaving the room to collect both paper and a pen. Rachael was keeping oddly quiet, she knew that it just wasn't a time for her to get involved, nothing she could say would add to the conversation, and whatever Jackson was planning to do, she wasn't going to be much help. 


During the time Bella was away Caleb managed to compose himself slightly and turn back around, although he never looked directly at Jackson, and his arms stayed wrapped around his stomach. He didn't look like he wanted to do this at all, Jackson didn't understand the risk he was taking, they were both taking... If...If Zeplin found out about this... The boy closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath in, who was he kidding, they weren't going to find out... They didn't even know where he was. They wouldn't know it was him, there was no possible way they could. 


When the red haired woman returned the room was silent, she didn't break this, passing Caleb the pen and paper and proceeding to sit back down in her seat and stay quiet. Then there was more silence as Caleb started to write, once he was done he leaned forwards and slapped the piece of paper down on the opposite arm of the sofa. 


"D-Don't...ask me for any more." 

 

[yaint]

Jackson reached out to grab the piece of paper almost before Caleb could even put it down. He slid his hand down to the side, creased it in the middle with a flick of the wrist and then held it out in front of his hungry eyes. Yes, he thought as he skimmed over the hand-drawn lettering. Yes, this is what he needed. Ideally there would be more here, but he could not allow himself to get carried away and start harassing the boy. Dane would not like that, and his luck had already met its boundary.


For a moment he forced himself to look up. There was another twinge of guilt when he realised that Caleb was purposely trying not to meet his eyes, and his heart sank back down with his nut-brown gaze. "Thanks," he said quickly, taking another moment to read properly through the notes. "This... This is all we need."


So, Zeplin had a warehouse. There wasn't much else worth mentioning here, but even this was a big break. It would help if he knew what and who went there, and even when - that would be even more useful. He could scout for lone stragglers, take them out one by one, make them talk about the rest of their group's sick secrets until there were clues pointing all the way towards the bitch who did this. 


The first thing he needed to do was find where this place was. How? There was an address, but no map. He would need to use the internet to find the directions now; the thought of it made him laugh. The internet. He had all but forgotten about such a thing's existence, the idea of something so huge and useful felt like a fantasy now, but that was the point. It was useful, it was a tool and that tool was very much real. He just needed a gateway to the web to use it.


A phone, he thought, glancing around. Surely everyone here owned one, no? Jackson did, of course, but he had left his back at the apartment. Just as well. Bringing it would only allow the police to track his location. He would have to try someone else... What about Rachael? "Err... Ah, Rach? Uh - Rachael. I mean. Do you know where this address is? Because I - err, I was th-thinking maybe I could use your phone to find it... If that's okay. Just so I can get some directions, I want to..." No, he thought, stopping himself before he could say anything stupid. If he wanted to go and check the area out then he would have to keep it a secret - the way things were going now, Caleb would throw a fit. "I want... To see if there's anything else nearby. On the map."

 

[Yoki]

"Hm?" Rachael looked up, blinking a few times, it took her a second to take in what Jackson had said, but once she did she nodded profusely. "Yeah, sure." The girl rummaged around in her back pocket, before taking out her phone and passing it over to Jackson, "There's not a password, Nathan keeps taking it off, here." She didn't mind the man using her phone, and she couldn't say that she was one hundred percent listening when he mentioned what he needed it for, she'd been wrapped up in her own head.


The minute she held out her phone Caleb shifted his position and got up off of the sofa, he kept his arms wrapped arm himself, head down, as he hastily exited the room. He didn't want anything to do with their idiotic adventures, they didn't know who they were getting involved with. He'd already worked out what Jackson was going to do and he wanted absolutely no part in it, he wasn't going to risk anymore. 


"Caleb!" Dane called, getting up, but he just ended up sighing and shaking his head, "Shit." He muttered, moving around the back of the sofa to go after the boy. 


"Dane. Just leave him." Bella butted in, looking up to the male, "He'll come back down if he wants to talk."


"But-" The man interjected, he didn't feel comfortable leaving Caleb on his own when he was obviously upset. 


"Don't worry. Kedin's up there, so is Nathan, and Daryl will probably go up soon enough. He'll be fine." She sighed, crossing one leg over the top of the other. 


"Fine, okay." Dane turned back to look at Jackson, pointing a finger in his direction, "You better not do something crazy. If your shit goes wrong, it's his head on a spike. Just remember that." He sat back down, a little irritated, but other than that, seemingly fine. His main worry was Caleb. 

 

[yaint]

That last warning had spun Jackson's head into an endless, teetering dance. Naturally he had eventually coughed out a meek ageement when he found the words, but how he was going to keep whatever he was doing a secret was out of his mind and hands. If Zeplin had eyes and ears in as many places as he was afraid they would, they would have to be even more careful. It's his head on a spike, Jackson remembered Dane's words with a shudder. Caleb... How would he keep Caleb out of this mess? And, more importantly, Adrian needed pacifying or else he would want to try and get involved...


These were the thoughts that kept the man busy that night. He had finished checking through Rachael's phone after having found the warehouse on an online map, and having found nothing there he returned the girl's device just as people began to head back to bed. Naturally Jackson spent many minutes pestering Daryl about Adrian, and despite the reassurance that the boy was being taken care of, he was only silenced when Bella helped him into bed as she always did. But even after that, when the door closed and he was plunged into darkness once more, his mind did not turn quiet. Those thoughts, those ideas and hopes and worries and fears... They kept Jackson awake for hours into the morning.


***


It was morning... Wasn't it? Even after so long, every few days Jackson would peel his sleep-crusted eyes open, expecting to see shafts of golden sunlight from his window barred across his bare chest. But today when he opened his eyes only to peer into darkness again, he remembered where he was. He remembered when he was, what he was, and everything that had happened the night before. Adrian came back, the man thought as he grabbed at a cushion to his front and dragged it back to his thorax. It had been a passing day like any other until that boy had shown up at the front door, stood behind Daryl in a soaked jacket and metal collar...


It felt like a dream, and whether it was the challenge of the doubt or simply the fact that he could feel that his throat was parched, Jackson's head was beginning to hurt. It was time to stop thinking about whatever had happened, whether it was real or not.


A few seconds were spent fumbling blindly in the darkness, but after smacking his hand down on his glasses, the floor and the front wheel of his chair, his hand found that familiar weight of a long, plastic remote control. With the click of a button the television screen flared into life, rattling out the gravelly voice of a news reporter whose face he could not stand whilst flashing grainy images of a war he did not care about. 


09:13. That was the time displayed at the bottom of the screen, the only thing that Jackson had wanted to see. A soft groan escaped through his lips, and he pressed his face further into the pillow rolled up under his head. He had overslept... There was nowhere to be, but if he had not at least tried to make himself look ready then there would probably be sighs coming from Bella in a matter of minutes.


The room lit by the television's flashing images, Jackson ran his fingers through the mop of short brown hair atop his head, brushing out the knots as he went. He rubbed at his eyes to get rid of all of that remaining tiredness, then found his glasses again so that he could slide them up along the bridge of his nose.


It had to be a dream, he thought as he rested his head again in wait. Adrian was out there somewhere. If he was really okay... No, that wasn't right. That would be too good to be true.

 

[Yoki]

"Seen Caleb this morning?" Bella asked as she prepared herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen, Dane was already rushing around, most likely late for work. She watched the man as he ran backwards and forwards, grabbing his coat and shoes, then walking over to the woman. 


"No, he's still sleeping I think." He replied. Bella had put her mug on the counter just as Dane reached her, the minute she put it down he picked it up and sipped it, placing it down only seconds later. "Keep an eye on him for me." 


"Mh- Hey!" All Bella got in response was a cheeky grin and a salute as Dane made his way out of the kitchen and towards the front door, she crossed her arms out of slight frustration, "Cheeky bastard!" There was a laugh and then seconds later the sound of a door opening and closing as Dane exited the house. 


After rolling her eyes, Bella took a sip of the coffee herself and then headed over to the room to her left to collect Jackson. The man must be up by now, she thought she could hear the television coming from inside his room anyway. As she reached the door she made sure to knock, she wouldn't just want to walk in on Jackson if he was actually asleep or something. Then she waited, speaking loud enough for the man to hear, but not too loud, "Hey, you awake?" 


====


Adrian didn't get why he'd been messed around so much last night. Daryl had kept telling him they needed to do this and that before he could go back downstairs to Jackson, he hadn't been too bothered about it at first, but...changing clothes felt good... He didn't feel as...disgusted with himself anymore, and...he felt more relaxed. It was strange. He didn't think that that would be the result of a simple shower and change of clothes. They clothing he'd been given was slightly big for him, but it was mostly alright, he liked it, it was warm and snugly. 


Having that collar off of his neck was great too, he finally felt like he could break when Daryl got it off, it had been itchy and irritating, it was good to know it wasn't coming back. He'd thought that after that he would have gone back down to Jackson...but...once Daryl showed him the room he was sleeping in, well, he'd passed out. There was a bed, and covers, and it wasn't a floor, and the room wasn't dirty. It was the best thing he'd been given in months. 


Unfortunately, the euphoria that came with sleep and this new, clean, place didn't last all that long. He'd woken up a few hours after falling asleep, and after that he hadn't been able to sleep again. The boy had spent most of his time rolling around or inspecting the room, waiting for movement downstairs, and once he'd heard people get up he'd decided to also leave the room. 


Adrian had travelled down the first set of stairs with no problem, he was light on his feet, it was unlikely anyone heard him. When getting to the second floor he'd made sure to look around, check no one was watching, he didn't know them...what if they wanted him to stay in there? He...just wanted to find Jackson. 


He'd crept across the landing of the second floor, eyes darting from left to right as he walked, and then he'd reached the stairs. He was just about to step down them when he heard a noise that made him turn, the sound of someone opening a door. It was a girl, he'd seen her the day before, the one with blue hair. 


The two had made eye contact for an awkward five seconds, and Adrian had forgotten all about the fact that he needed to actually balance to stay at the top of the stairs when one of his feet was half way towards the other step. He'd leaned forwards a little too far and then toppled forwards, rolling down the flight of stairs head first. 


There was a scream from the girl on the floor above and then the opening of a door and rushing footsteps from the ground below in response to the loud noise and the thudding. 


The next thing he knew he was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, legs out straight, blinking in confusion. People might mix the look on his face with shock, but that wasn't the case, Adrian wasn't in shock about falling down the stairs, in fact he wasn't really bothered, he was just baffled at how he'd fallen in the first place and ended up at the bottom when he thought he was just standing before.


Bella was standing in front of the boy, looking down at him with a mix of worry and shock on her face, Kedin was at the top of the stairs, hands over her mouth, and other people seemed to be coming out of their rooms now to see what had happened. 


Did he do something wrong? 

 

[yaint]

Jackson had barely even had a chance to pick up his own feet when the entire house seemed to be shaken by that sudden, heart-stopping crash. Down, down, down, it went - there was no mistaking the direction, not when he had heard the shuffling and clapping noises of people going up and down countless times over. But those were not footsteps.


"Bella! What was that!?" the man cried out, slamming a palm into the door to send it rocketing open after the woman. Eyes darting left and right, he raced through the hallway and skidded to a rather abrupt halt behind Bella's back. "Who just-"


There was no need to finish that question, because as soon as he had begun to ask it his eyes had found the answer. On the floor, legs stretched out, was a rather confused-looking black-haired boy. Like the girl standing atop the flight of stairs, Jackson cupped his hands to his mouth and croaked Adrian's name into his palms. It wasn't a dream. Adrian was here, and he was okay... Except that he wasn't. What the hell had just happened!? Oh God, the man thought, his eyes worried and round, he could have seriously hurt himself. What if he had broken something? His arm, his neck - surely his wrist would still be fragile after the incident with Prince.


It took him a moment to get his thoughts together and to push away that strange, horrific dizziness that he got whenever he looked at the boy on the floor. But once he had recovered from the initial shock and bewilderment, a pair of arms extended down to meet with Adrian's own. His body bent forwards so that his legs pressed up against his chest, Jackson linked elbows with his younger friend and began to lift. He had to get Adrian back on his feet to check that he was okay, if he could even stand at all... Oh no, what if he had broken a leg or something? He wouldn't be able to walk for a fortnight, surely... A leg, a foot, his own skull... The thought made Jackson shudder. He had to know what had happened.


"Adrian," he said quite firmly and quickly, his eyes flashing behind those round lenses, "Oh God - that was you, you fell, you - I - shit. Are you okay? Did you hurt something? Come on, try to stand up, I need to check. Goddamn it..."

 

[Yoki]

"Mmn...Jackson..." Adrian shuffled his feet when Jackson started trying to pick him up, was he worried? Did he do something wrong and make Jackson upset? The boy quickly picked himself up, in fact he didn't look like he was hurt at all, he looked absolutely fine. He stood up with ease, and looked around at everyone watched him, before his eyes landed back on his friend. 


He looked a lot better than the day before, clean clothes, a lot less dirty, his hair was still a mess, but it was a clean mess, the only thing that was the same was that look in his eyes... The look that hadn't been there before Zeplin took the boy. After a few seconds of staring Adrian smiled, closing his eyes, "I'm fine!" He assured. With someone has small and fragile looking as Adrian he was more expected to be hurt than not, but he didn't seem at all bothered, instead he was just rocking on his heels and giggling. 


"You're...sure?" Bella decided to ask, her eyebrows furrowing, this kid had just fallen down a flight of stairs and he was...laughing? Oh wow. Okay. 


"Mn." Adrian turned his head to the woman, nodding his head. He moved one of his hands from his side to inspect it, "Maybe...I hurt my finger...but...it doesn't really...hurt..." Looking at his hand, he took hold of his index finger, which seemed slightly bent out of place, then snapped it backwards and forwards without making so much as a squeak. It looked painful, but Adrian wasn't showing any signs of it being painful for him. 


Bella wanted to stop him, she even moved her hands to do so, but she stopped, deciding it was best not to touch the boy. They knew he'd come from Zeplin, but how long he'd been on his own, or what they'd done to him were unknown. Right now he seemed calm, if she touched him there was a possibility he wouldn't be, which was why she decided to leave it to Jackson. 


The boy stopped upon seeing people's expressions around him. He seemed confused by them, grey eyes scanning each person individually, before turning back to Jackson. "What..? Why're you all looking at me like that?" His tone was practically a whine, like that of a child who wasn't in on something, "Whaaatt?" After a few seconds of staring with furrowed eyebrow, his expression dissipated and he turned back to Jackson, "Did I...do something wrong?" His voice was awfully monotone as he spoke to the man and he dropped his hands so that they were in front of him, still keeping hold of his finger. 

 

[yaint]

For a few seconds, it seemed to Jackson as though everything Adrian was doing was ticking off his fears one by one. The boy had risen to his feet, leaving his friend reaching out and grabbing at thin air until he sat himself back up. Okay, so he could stand on his own without any apparent issues. That wiped away one concern that had made the man's face turn red. And now Adrian was answering questions, too... He still had that strange look in his eye, and that unsettled Jackson somewhat, but at least he had not hit his head too hard. 


He had been about to release some sort of sigh, but the relief did not last. Instead of calming down and blinking placidly at Adrian as he collected his thoughts together, Jackson found himself flinching at that rather unexpected noise. It was horrible, that cringe-inducing cracking and snapping that gave the man chills which ran all the way through to his bones. Whatever that had been, it did not sound good. What was it? His finger - Adrian had said something about hurting his finger.


"Let - let me see," he gulped finally, forcing himself to look at whatever had made that terrible sound. Thought guided his eyes to Adrian's hand where, sure enough, there was a very broken-looking finger held outwards. Jackson's own hands curled around the boy's wrist and gently held it down in front of his bespectacled face so that he could inspect it.


It didn't look good. Even having the body that he did with those incredible healing capabilities, he would have to see to this injury. It would take days to heal... And what if it healed wrong? They would have to break it again and put poor Adrian in yet more pain. God, it must hurt, the man thought. Surely that had to. If that were Jackson's finger, he would be crying out in agony - a clean snap of the arm a few months ago had been bad enough, but this looked like some sort of twisted fracture.


A few more moments were spent with Jackson craning over Adrian's hand before he finally raised his head again. He did not let go of his friend's wrist as he searched for someone nearby. Lots of people were starting to emerge now to see what the noise had been, but the closest and most trustworthy person nearby was... Bella? "Bella," Jackson said finally, casting another quick and worried glance down at Adrian's hand. He had ignored the boy's question entirely. "Bella, look - i-it's broken, I don't... I think it - Adrian, don't move for a moment. Bella, have you got stuff for it? Like, uh, I mean - medical - a splint, or something? A pencil could work..."

 

[Yoki]

"Uh, oh yeah." Bella shook her head and sighed, backing up a little bit, she found it hard to take her eyes off of the pouting boy in front of them. He didn't look in pain, but there was obviously something very wrong with his finger... It didn't matter, whatever, she broke her gaze away, walking towards the kitchen to go and collect bandages and a splint for his finger. Playing around with it like that was going to make it heal all wrong, did he not know that? 


"Is everything okay?" Rachael headed down the stairs past Kedin, tying her hair back as she went, "I heard the commotion and came straight out." After finishing with her hair, she looked to Jackson, then the small wrist he had hold of. "Oh, hello." The girl smiled at Adrian, then looked at his hand, "What did you do?" 


"Fell." Adrian's reply was quick and sharp, he looked at Rachael for a moment, but hastily returned his gaze to Jackson. He didn't mean to attract so much attention with one little mistake, and Jackson still hadn't answered his question, but he didn't ask again, it might be annoying. Instead he just waited, his arm now grasped by the male in front of him. Did they have to stand like this? He didn't want to have to stay still, he'd had to stay in the same place for so long... Jackson wasn't going to make him do that right? It drove him crazy when he just had to sit and do nothing. "It doesn't matter Jackson," Adrian gently tried to pull his arm backwards slightly, "It's only hurt. It'll heal." He really wasn't bothered by the injury, despite how nasty it looked. 


His eyes started to wander, looking for something to mess with, being extremely bored really wasn't fun... He wanted something to do. Rachael had her back to him by that point, Kedin still hadn't moved much, and whoever was upstairs seemed to be staying up there, or so he thought. 


Whilst he'd been busy looking at other things another male had descended the stairs. Adrian was staring at Rachael's back, particularly her hair, he felt something bump into the side of his shoulder. There was the sound of stumbling as he suddenly turned his head to view this new individual. Grey eyes met with blue as both boys looked up at the same time, for a moment they both seemed to hold the same expression of curiosity, before Adrian's gaze turned a little more demented, whilst the other's turned more fearful. 


Adrian was used to seeing fear in people's eyes when they saw him, it was something he'd become very accustomed to, what he didn't expect was the look of guilt that hid behind that fear. Why did he look guilty? What had he done? 


The other male's gaze dropped and, just as quickly as he appeared, he'd disappeared into the room to their right again. Adrian's gaze followed him the whole way, he didn't get it... Why did he look like that? 


It was quickly forgotten as Bella appeared again, holding the items that Jackson had asked for not too long ago. Adrian still didn't get why they thought this was necessary, but...whatever....he didn't question it. Jackson knew better than him anyway. 

 

[yaint]

Completely transfixed after his second time spent observing the injury, Jackson did not make any attempt to tear his gaze away from Adrian's hand until he could feel a new presence looming beside him, standing in the empty space to the side of himself and the black-haired boy with the broken finger.


"Caleb?" Jackson murmured, but the other boy had already disappeared again by the time he had found his voice. The name dissolved into silence again, and that silence seemed to tighten around the man's throat, restricting his breaths to tiny gasps. It's not me, he had to remind himself, the fear in those blue eyes seeming to pound through his heart. It's Zeplin. Jackson had messed up so badly for the thousandth time and upset poor Caleb... He could not help but feel guilty whenever he saw the boy, but this time he was struggling to convince himself that it was not his own fault. It wasn't. It was those sick bastards who had done whatever the hell this was to Adrian - whatever this was... Something was different. Jackson could still not put his finger on what had changed, but something was definitely off.


Brutes, Jackson thought again. His hands were about to tighten and tense, but after remembering that he had hold of Adrian's fragile wrist he had to calm himself again. No, he had done too many stupid things lately; he could not afford to become angry again. His wrath would have to be saved for whatever was going on with Zeplin... He had an idea, but he would need Adrian to cooperate. That would not be too difficult to achieve, but first he had to fix this finger.


The heat of Bella's arrival made the man look up again. He muttered a quick, "Thanks," before reaching out with one arm to grab at the supplies that had been brought to him. It was no hospital-level equipment, for sure, but it would have to do. At least there was a proper splint here. He had surely been expecting to receive the chipped end of an over-sharpened pencil and some string.


"A-Adrian, hey - can you, uh, keep still for a bit?" Jackson asked suddenly, pulling the hand gently down towards him again. He had to keep Adrian from moving somehow, and if the boy had not lost his little habit of constantly twitching and ticcing and fidgeting around then mistakes might end up being made. 


The handful of supplies having been dropped down into his lap, Jackson took Adrian's wrist in both palms again and wracked his brain to try and remember the procedure for situations like this. He was no medical professional to say the least, and three months of mindlessly existing had not done wonders for his memory. It took him nearly a full minute to shake off that outer layer of rust and come to the conclusion: I have to check the bone.


It made him flinch to even look at that injury, but with teeth gritted and forehead creased in a deep frown he forced himself to prod at the fracture. He hoped that touching it wasn't going to make it worse... If only Adrian could see a doctor. That would never work, though; not only was he a missing person, but a ghoul and nothing less. Jackson would have to do.


"Sorry," he kept mumbling as he touched at the bone and pressed down against the flesh with his thumb. "Sorry - sorry..." It probably hurt like hell, and if it was getting worse then it was no fault other than Jackson's. It was terrible, this pressure to do things right... But for some reason, nobody else seemed to want to touch Adrian. It was like they were afraid. Caleb had an excuse, but what about Rachael? Bella? Everyone else?


Realising that he was going to flinch himself into delirium if he prodded at the injury for any longer, Jackson let go for a moment so that he could cut away a strip of bandage. Before Adrian could move again he grabbed at the boy's wrist once more and then wrapped the bandage around, afterwards slipping the splint on over the top to keep it in place.


It did not look professional. It looked tatty and tacky, like a child's work, but he had to trust that it would work. If Adrian ate, then maybe it would get better soon... That was if Jackson had done anything good at all. It's my fault if something goes wrong, the man reminded himself with another horrible twinge of guilt and worry. But no, he had to stop being selfish. This was not about him being a scapegoat. Adrian needed help. "Er - sorry - Adrian, do you... D-does it feel right?"

 

[Yoki]

Caleb. Was that the boy's name? The one that had just walked past him? Adrian heard Jackson say it, and he wasn't called Caleb, Jackson knew his name, and there weren't any other males around, so...that had to be right. What else could he be apart from that? Oh well, he'd find out later, once Jackson was done messing around with the finger he'd hurt. Which he still didn't think was a big deal. 


Even after Jackson told him to stay still Adrian was shifting his feet back and forth, he tried not to move his wrist too much, watching as the man poked at his finger. It felt strange, but it didn't really hurt too much, not enough for him to be bothered about it. It didn't gain much reaction from him, even though it probably should have, and he would have been fine with leaving it how it had been... It just would have healed and been fine. 


It took the man awhile, but eventually Jackson was done, Adrian's attention had been totally lost by that point, but upon hearing his own name he turned back, blinking a little. Did it feel right? Well, what was right? Like good? Because he didn't know whether it ever felt all that bad in the first place... 


"Mmn." He tilted his head to one side, staring down with large, grey eyes at his hand, "Feels...fine." The boy replied, nodding, "Am I...not meant to bend it?" There was some kind of stick attached to his finger, a stick that didn't really allow him to bend it that well, obviously his first thought was that he wasn't meant to be bending it. That didn't seem to go down too well with him however, as he furrowed his brow and bit on his lip upon thinking about it more.


He was going to wait for an answer from Jackson, but he'd become too intrigued by his surroundings. His main concern, as always, was whether or not Jackson was near him, but now that he knew that he was, and that the male could move to any part of the house downstairs, he was taken by what was around him. His expression still wasn't clear, it wasn't easy to decipher what he was thinking or feeling, but what was definitely obviously was that his mind was elsewhere. 


"Where's...that go?" The mumble was quiet, and soon enough Adrian had removed his hand from Jackson's grasp, moving around him and bounding into the room that Caleb had disappeared into not too long before. 


To his surprise he actually recognised the room, it was the same one that Jackson had brought him into the day before. He imagined them all sitting there like that night, soaked and talking about...


Suddenly Adrian's attention was gained by a sound in the corner of the room. He'd thought it was empty, but now he saw someone huddled to the side of one of the sofas, rummaging through something. What...were they doing? It was that same boy from before, Caleb, he had the same red hat on, and although that's all Adrian could really see he wasn't forgetful enough to not remember something from literally five minutes ago. It didn't seem like he'd been noticed by the other either. 


With a playful smirk Adrian ran forwards, diving onto the sofa and landing with a thud, as he did this he reached out, grabbing at the boy's hat and pulling it off. He giggled, rolling over and holding it up in the air, placing it on his own head. "Whatcha doin'?" His head hung off over the edge of the arm rest as he sprawled out on the couch, upside down gaze immediately meeting with the other male's as he turned around. 


He seemed startled, he probably hadn't expected someone to jump out at him that quickly, and as soon as he realised just who it was that look Adrian had seen before returned. Caleb jumped up, taking a few steps backwards, hands holding something to his chest as he did so. Though, he wasn't watching where he was going and ended up backing into the table behind himself. 


"What's with that look?" Adrian turned his head to the side, well as much as he could with it upside down. He waited a few moments, but he didn't get an answer. "Are...you...mute? Or...do you just not have a tongue or something? ... I could fix that!" He rolled over again, scrambling onto his knees and gripping the arm rest with his small hands, "I know a buncha places to get tongues!" 

 

[yaint]

"No, you're not," Jackson explained quietly, his voice suddenly low and monotone as he examined his work through squinted eyes. Like he had concluded before, it was less than impressive. He likely would have grabbed at the boy's finger again to try and tuck in those stray flaps of untidied bandage, but before he could even blink the hand had disappeared. "Adrian!" Jackson wheezed, taken aback by the sudden movement. "Adrian, that's-"


Click.


Too late. The door had been closed before the man had even had a chance to turn around and look. Had Adrian really just wandered off, sloping into the lounge like he had lived in this house for years? A day, he had not even been here for one day... The kid probably had no idea what he was doing.


Forgetting about the scissors and the roll of bandages nested in the crevice of his lap, Jackson began to move along through Adrian's footsteps. He nearly backed straight into Bella after forgetting that the woman was there, but for once he did not feel quite the panic needed to utter anything more extreme than a quick, "Sorry."


The man rushed to the living room door. His mind was ticking now, not racing like it had been before, but there was still concern buried inside. Adrian couldn't be left on his own anywhere around here... He could wreck the room if he wasn't thinking about what he was doing. There was a lot worse that kid could do than break a lamp and dent a wall, and what about that finger? Had Adrian even been listening when Jackson confirmed that the boy was not to move it? Oh God, he could be doing anything...


Had he not hesitated for a moment with his hand on the door knob, Jackson would have rammed straight through into the lounge. But then he heard a voice.


'Watcha doin'?'


Jackson froze and sat forwards to listen. That was Adrian's voice, there was no mistaking it. But he was talking to someone. Who was that? It could only be... Oh no. For a moment the man's eyes flashed with a shock that quickly dissipated into worry. Caleb was in there. That wasn't good, that was not good at all. All manners of things could happen if Adrian was left alone with the blue-eyed boy, and Jackson could not bear to imagine the look on Caleb's face when he saw the result of what his kin had done. But for some reason, the bespectacled man sat petrified in his chair, fingers curled around the door knob and completely unable to move.


For the longest time he simply sat and listened. There didn't seem to be any response from Caleb, and by the sounds of things Adrian was beginning to notice. He could not see what the boy was doing, but Jackson could only imagine the other male to be bent over, circling Caleb as he chirped out question after comment. But what Adrian said made Jackson freeze. His blood felt like it had curdled, the hairs on the back of his neck had risen and his eyes had widened with horror.


'I know a buncha places to get tongues!'


Eventually the man's own gasping breaths rocked his body back into movement, but he remained on the hall side of the door. No. He had misheard that, surely. Tongues? That was wrong; it made him feel sick. They wouldn't... Nobody would, surely. It had to be a misunderstanding, but there was no alternative that seemed to fit.


Disgusting. Horrific. Jackson could barely control the look on his face now, but eventually he forced his hand down and pushed the door open. "Adrian!" he croaked, his own voice splintering as he searched for the boy with the black hair. Eventually he found him, sitting on the sofa with a red hat on his small head. Okay, Adrian was here - where was Caleb? On his feet, backed against a table. There was something against his chest. For a moment Jackson wondered what it was, but then he saw the look in Caleb's eyes.


"Adrian, you - just-" It was hard to think of what to say. There were things to ask. He wanted to know about the tongues, or at least what Adrian had really meant, if he had meant anything else at all. Jackson hoped that he had misheard it. The idea of taking somebody's tongue would make the man want to vomit if he could. But... He could ask about that later; despite how horrifying that idea was, he could not let Adrian confront Caleb like this. "Adrian," he said again, "Come - come out of here, y-you need - look, give the hat back and come out, I want to look at your hand again. Caleb... Sorry, he's - he doesn't know better. Err, I'll do something - Adrian! Are you coming?"

 

[Yoki]

Adrian couldn't help but stare at Caleb with even more interest when he didn't speak to him,  made him more mysterious, the boy wanted to know why he didn't speak. He wasn't usually so pushy with people, more often that not he was a little more laid back, seeing signs of discomfort and backing off, but...he didn't understand that anymore. His mind was twisted, he might understand sometimes, but those times he just wouldn't care, although his intentions usually weren't malicious...


Usually.


"Hey...heeeeeyyyyy..." He pouted, whining like a little child, "Please talk to me, no one ever talks to me unless they want something...or...want me to find some guy named Tom." He grunted, shaking his head then looking back to Caleb, "Do you...not like me?" Furrowing his eyebrows once more, the boy pushed himself into a sitting position, "Do I-" 


Before he could say anything else there was a click and someone came through the door, he snapped his head in that direction, smiling enthusiastically when he noticed Jackson. "Jackson! Jackson, look, I-..." He'd cut himself off when he heard the man talking, what was he saying? He was stuttering slightly.. He wanted him to go back? "But my fingers fine..." He grumbled, holding his hand to his chest. 


Jackson was apologising for him, but he wasn't really paying attention. Instead he just got up, like he was asked, took the hat off, and walked over to Caleb. The other looked a little nervous when he did so, but he was looking down, so he didn't notice that, he didn't even look Caleb in the eyes again was he held the hat out in front of himself, instead looking overwhelmingly disappointed.


"I-It's okay..." Caleb's voice was no more than a whisper, he took the hat back and managed the smallest of smiles, "Thanks..." The male hunched his shoulders slightly, not moving much until Adrian had moved back over to Jackson and held his hand out for the other to inspect. 


"Do you think he hates me?" Adrian stage whispered to Jackson as he reached him, his eyes were wide, and he didn't really look or sound like he was disappointed anymore. "I don't think he likes me."

 

[yaint]

It was with horrified bug-eyes that Jackson watched the confrontation continue. He could not lie and say that he was displeased with Adrian's eventual compliance, but it looked like approaching Caleb with the boy's hat was only making his nerves worse. That in turn made Jackson feel like somebody had tightened their fist around his own heart. He should not have felt guilty, this time it wasn't his fault. But there was something about that look of genuine fear in the kid's blue eyes that made Jackson's ears burn red.


Making some kind of weak attempt to remove those thoughts from his mind, Jackson fixed himself on Adrian's hand again. He spent a few moments muttering quietly to himself whilst fiddling about with the bandaging, tucking the bits of strayed paper back into the frame of the splint so that it would not hang out and catch on things as Adrian moved around. Whatever had happened whilst he was away, it was apparent by now that the younger male had picked up some habit or another of sticking his nose where it didn't belong. All that moving around could hurt him even more.


Something happened to him, the man thought as he continued to feel at the injury and tuck in bits of bandage. Whoever it was that had been keeping him as a fighting dog had done something to this boy. He was... Different. Strange. It was unsettling, and if Jackson had to be honest with himself, he was frightened.


He would kill the whole of Zeplin with his bare fists if he had to.


***


Jackson gulped down a rather large mouthful of coffee and then slammed his mug down on the table just as a shudder passed through his body. Even now the bitterness was overwhelming; he had never gotten used to the flavour's sheer potency, but he needed the caffeine buzz for his mind to start working like he needed it to. There was thinking to do, and lots of it - deciphering what had happened to Adrian, thinking about what Caleb's tellings of Zeplin had meant, planning for the next action... Now that he knew people were out there and in need of a fist in the face, there was no time to waste. 


He took another quick sip of the coffee, shuddered and then slid the mug across the table. A pair of brown eyes flitted over to the spot where the person in question had been sat. It had been quite an effort to get Adrian out of the room with Caleb as he had not been acting in a way that Jackson remembered to be normal. Everything about this childish young man was odd and new now. It felt like trying to talk to a stranger... Like the real Adrian was still locked up somewhere with a collar around his neck. This guy was an imposter - except that he wasn't. Jackson knew it and he could not deny that he did. It made him feel uneasy.


Calm down, he told himself after closing his eyes for a brief moment. It was okay. Adrian had changed, but he could be fixed. He just had to be patient and keep trying, and the first step towards getting the boy back to normal was being able to face him and talk to him. It was time to start adding the clues together.


"Err - Adrian," he began after attempting to clear his throat, but the movement just brought the scent of coffee fuming up through the back of his nose. He had to splutter and choke the smell out before he could carry on again, but he wouldn't let the little hiccup derail his discussion now that he had started. "Uh, I was going to - to ask you about something. Are you listening? P-pay attention for a moment. So... Zeplin..." He paused for a moment to scratch nervously at his beard. He hoped that Adrian would not become upset or frightened like Caleb had warned him, but Jackson had to trust that the boy would just listen and answer like he needed him to. "Uh, yeah. I was - talking. To Caleb. He told me that they have a w-warehouse, right? Are you with me? Oh, uh, I was just wondering - if you knew anything about it."

 

[Yoki]

Adrian never really got to understand why Jackson kept him away from Caleb, it wasn't like he was trying to upset him or anything, he was just trying to talk...but it didn't seem like he was allowed to do that. Maybe he should just stay quiet then, that always got him in less trouble. He knew Jackson wouldn't hurt him, but he might get annoyed at him for doing something he'd been told not to time and time again.


The boy swung his legs back and forth, holding his hands out in front of him on the table and playing with the splint on his finger...he shouldn't have been doing that, but he really wasn't bothered. He didn't need it, he'd told Jackson that, it didn't hurt, but still he insisted It'd be better for him. Why though? Why couldn't he just keep it off? Adrian sighed, letting go of his finger and tugging on his sleeve instead, he needed to entertain himself somehow. 


"Uh." Upon hearing Jackson's voice the boy looked up, dull eyes meeting the male's in front of him. He nodded in response to Jackson asking whether he was listening, and he would have been...if the man didn't mention Zeplin. 


Adrian looked down for a moment, his eyes glazed over, he just didn't look like he was paying any attention at all, but he could still hear Jackson. Warehouse...yeah, they had a warehouse... He knew where their warehouse was...but... Once the older of the two stopped talking the room fell silent, nothing was said in response, Adrian had ceased all the movements that he'd been doing before, all the fiddling, all the playing, even the swinging of his legs. He didn't want to...they'd...they'd...


"Mhm?" His head jolted back up and a rather peculiar grin formed on his face again, his eyes lit back up, all in all he looked exactly like he had moments before zoning out. "Yeah, they keep people there..." He laid his cheek on his hand, "There's a lotta people there though... Why?" There wasn't much said by Adrian, even Jackson would probably be able to tell he knew more than that, but he didn't go into any of it. "Did you wanna find someone or something?" 

 

[yaint]

Jackson winced as he watched his world come to a skidding halt. His heart had almost stopped when he saw Adrian's reaction to the mention of Zeplin; maybe Caleb was right. Maybe those memories of whatever kind of fighting they had forced him to do were still raw, and he had just gone and opened up those scars again. No, he thought, watching and waiting for a movement or an answer. 


When that answer came, it came with a grin. The sight of it made the man lurch back in his seat, he had not been expecting to see such a disturbing expression appear so suddenly. But despite the sensation Jackson got of something unpleasant crawling on the back of his neck, he found that Adrian's words gave him back the ability to breathe. There had been a pause, but that was it. He had not upset the boy. Oh, he would have hated himself to his very core had Adrian started to shed pearly tears, but everything was okay. He was not crying. He was fine.


"Oh, uh..." Jackson pursed his lips for a moment in thought, then managed a shallow nod. Should he tell Adrian? There were so many things to consider, coming to a decision in the moment was close to impossible. In truth the man did not know entirely what his plan was yet. Yes, something, he wanted to do whatever 'something' Adrian had been thinking of, but as of yet there was nothing to go on. He could just say that he had no plans; it wasn't like it was a lie. Just a half-truth. "Well - n-no, not really," he said finally, building the tracks as he went, "I'm just really interested, yeah? Oh, uh..."


Damn it, the man thought. He needed to find something else to ask, or do, or anything like that. It would help so much if Caleb could get over whatever stigma he saw in sharing his knowledge, it would save Jackson from having to decrypt Adrian's whimsical responses. If anything, what would really help would be to scout the warehouse area. But who could take him there? He didn't even know where he was right now. Should have checked that on Rachael's phone... And it didn't look like anybody here but Adrian owned a car. That car happened to be miles away, likely behind yellow tape whilst police officers poked around inside for evidence. Maybe Bella could drive him. Or Dane... He didn't really feel like asking Daryl, but if there was no other option, the guy could probably drag him through the city like he had done before.


It was a few moments before Jackson realised that he was going off track. Oh, right - Adrian was still there, sitting next to him and expecting some kind of conversation. Well, he didn't mind the first time the man asked... So maybe Adrian could tell him more. It was the least he could do to gather knowledge of Zeplin whilst he was stuck indoors with no physical connection to the group. "By the way," he began with a quick swallow, "Uh - who do you mean by 'they'? Is it - what was the name..." Shan... Shannon was wrong. Shauna. Something like that. "Oh, I dunno - do you know who it is? I think it was something like Shauna, but that doesn't sound right. Well, uh, whoever it is, is it her? Who do they k-keep in the warehouse?"

 

[Yoki]

"Oh. Okay." Adrian smiled and went back to looking at the table, drawing lines in it with his finger as he went. If Jackson didn't plan to do anything, then why did he want to know? He said he was just really interested...but there had to be a reason, right? The boy shrugged to himself, it wasn't any of his business, he could speculate, but there was no point trying to work anything out when Jackson would tell him if he wanted to...and Jackson didn't lie to him anyway, so...it probably was nothing.


He continued to draw until he was asked another question. Who did he mean by...'they'? It probably would have been safer for Jackson to stop there, Adrian could have answered that, he guessed, but the man just had to go on...he had to mention someone else, a name... 


Again in the boy ceased his activity, falling silent, but this time he just looked up at Jackson, blinking. He was trying so hard to keep that unnerving grin on his face, to not let his eyes waver, but it was hard... It was hard when someone who did know brought up the person who had made his life a never ending nightmare for the last three months... Jackson didn't know, and he wouldn't know, it'd only make him angry.


"Oh..." Finally, Adrian found his voice, he bit down on his cheek and swallowed, attempting to keep up his grin at he spoke. "They keep plenty people there...she's there sometimes, and like...people trapped in the basement..." He was doing his best. "A-And...I...I think you mean M-...I-I mean, Shania." Each word he forced out of his mouth caused him to bite down on his cheek just that little bit hard, and by the time he got to the end of his sentence he felt it split. 


The boy brought his tongue up to the right side of his cheek, he could taste blood, he could feel where he'd sliced through his flesh with his teeth...he hadn't meant to, but...oh well. He rubbed his cheek on the outside, not that that would do any good, the cut was only small, or small enough, it would heal in a few minutes or so... Jackson didn't need to know about it. All he wanted was for this conversation to be over.


His legs had gone from swinging to kicking the legs of the chair, his free hand tapping the deak, he was becoming awfully uneasy with every passing second, but he masked it completely with that grin and the eager, over enthusiastic look in his eyes.


"Is...Is that it?"

 

[yaint]

"Oh. Shania," Jackson corrected himself quietly, echoing Adrian's words with a quiver in his voice. As much as he wanted to nod and thank the boy for the information, there was something about the way his words were slowing and catching and falling out of place which made his older friend want to look away. I thought... I thought he was okay, Jackson kept hearing in his own voice. But it had only taken a few seconds of forced conversation for Adrian to begin stuttering and stumbling. Maybe Caleb had been right after all, he had just been too blind to see the truth when it was blatantly placed in front of his face.


After running a hand through his short brown hair, Jackson spent a few moments thinking and wondering what he should do. It was not enough information, he was going to need more, whether it came from Adrian or from his own experience. But when he looked up again, that smile was still there. It was stronger than it had been before, and the next request to come from the younger of the two sounded far steadier than what he had tried to say before. 


Jackson blinked a few times, thinking about what had been said. Adrian seemed to be okay suddenly. What was up with that? Had he just recovered? Maybe... But that felt unlikely. If Jackson's memory had not failed him, he remembered that it often took far longer than a few seconds for Adrian to get over things that truly upset him. But then again, it could all have just been his imagination. Maybe his fears were playing tricks with his perception, or equally likely, Adrian had just been stuttering for the sake of it. Now, that wasn't so unusual, was it? Of course not. Everyone stuttered from time to time, and he himself should know that as well as anybody, being someone who could barely get a sentence out without tripping up a few times.


Whatever had happened, there was still a question lingering in the thick silence between man and boy that was in need of an answer. He could carry on. If he felt like he wanted to, he could keep on interrogating, but that little slip-up had made the man wary of his own words. Even if Adrian was still fine, that trick of the mind should have been a reminder not to go too far like he had done so many times before. He would not push Adrian. 


"Yeah," he confirmed with a quick, shallow nod. "Yeah, that's it. You - you can go, if you want. Uh..." That coffee cup found its way into Jackson's hands again, and he raised it up to take a final gulp before sitting it down on a coaster. What now? "I'm... Gonna go and find someone. Err, just - just stay out of trouble, okay? Try not to scare Caleb. Actually, you could go sit in my room if you want to watch TV, it's the little door under the stairs."


With a final glance at Adrian, Jackson gave the boy a nod and then backed away from the table, making an attempt not to clash with a misplaced dining chair on the way out. Find someone, he thought again. He was going to try and find someone and see if they could help him get to that warehouse. Someone around here had to have a car, surely. He hoped so; being dragged backwards through London by Daryl's single hand did not sound like a pleasant idea now. He would have to ask whoever happened to be downstairs.

 

[Yoki]

"Great!" The minute Adrian heard Jackson say that they were done he jumped out of his chair, slamming his hands onto the desk. He kicked his chair away a little so that he could move, he wanted to go and see what else there was in the house, this place seemed a little bigger than he'd originally realised. It seemed he was getting a little too confident in the house, without Jackson around it was a lot easier for him to relax and not worry about things that could potentially happen if he did something he wasn't meant to. Most of the time Adrian didn't think of the consequences until after the actions had been completed anyway. 


He nodded when Jackson told him not to frighten Caleb and although the offer of watching television was nice, Adrian wasn't ready to just sit in a room and not move around yet. He'd watch later, once he'd worked the whole place out. After all, he was stuck on the third floor for a bedroom, and he hadn't managed to see that much of the house the day before, it was time he did some more looking around. 


"Okay!" With that last word to the man before him, he bounded out of the room, heading back towards the living room. Sure, he'd just been told not to scare Caleb, but he was probably upstairs right? There was probably someone else in there by now, someone who would actually want to talk to him... Or...he hoped so... 


The boy got to the door and put a hand on it, leaning his ear against it to listen for voices. There was the sound of the television, someone mumbling, but that way it... Probably just one or two people there. That was good, they might actually talk to him if they were alone, and if there was two of them then...hmmn...he'd work that out once he got inside. With another grin Adrian pushed on the door and burst into the room, nearly falling over as he rushed inside. 

 

[yaint]

The first thing that Jackson did after turning his back on the room filled with the bitter stench of coffee and the looming remnants of stuttered words was reach out to the sides with his arms. One hand gripped at the edge of the doorway, the other extending upwards into the air, and he stretched out until the thick muscles beneath his skin shuddered and turned weak. It was an odd movement, but every stretch he did strengthened the flow of blood through his veins. He could feel it pulsing in his fingertips, and the throbbing in his ears woke him up again.


The man cracked his neck from side to side and then took a deep breath. Okay, he was finished with Adrian, but there was still so much more work to be done. During the time that it had taken for the small black-haired boy to skid out of the room, Jackson had decided that perhaps he should not ask somebody to drive him to the warehouse. This household was large, but tight-knit; word would surely get around to Caleb's ears, and worse yet, Adrian's. He did not need someone quite as careless and unstable as him taggling along, if Zeplin saw them then they would either kill him or take him back.


All other options erased, Jackson now had a choice: Bella, Rachael, Daryl or Dane.


Daryl was easily the bottom choice of all four available ghouls. Loud-mouthed, hot-headed, an ego too swollen to ignore... Knowing that guy, he would just snort and turn up his oversized nose before telling Jackson that he could drive himself. Oh, he could almost imagine the look on the guy's face... Definitely a last resort. When given some thought, however, Dane would not be much better. He was certainly an improvement in terms of being less of a dickhead, but those words still rang in Jackson's mind: It's his head on a pike. One slip-up and it would not be Zeplin doing the killing.


Jackson released a long sigh and stared over at the door to the living room. Who else was there? Caleb had gone upstairs, most likely - not that he would blame him. Adrian was acting oh so strangely as of late, he likely scared the other boy away. Maybe one of the girls would be in there. Maybe both if he was lucky. Bella certainly looked old enough and responsible enough to tag along, but perhaps her younger housemate would be more useful on foot. If enemies showed up, Jackson would need somebody quick and strong to help him get away in time.


There were so many things to consider, so many factors to take into account, all of which could easily make or break the whole plan. He needed somebody to go with him to the warehouse. But... Jackson released a sigh and carefully began to move along the hall so that he could place a hand on the door behind which Adrian had disappeared. His mind was ticking, but the decision just was not coming to a close. Maybe he had to see his options with his own eyes for something to click.


Creak, went the door. Jackson swung it open, quickly dropped his arms to his sides and rolled on inside, hoping that perhaps the girls were already inside.