+Anima the Roleplay part 2 (Because part 1 was burried alive.)

Amanda shook her head again, looking down at the floor that they sat on.

"I-I... I can't. You will care, Carter. And that's why we can't... we can't..."

Again she tried to stand, but she was feeling so exhausted. Was there a way out? She knew Carter wasn't lying about not letting her leave. And she felt so weak now.

"C-Carter... Damien and I... w-we.... I..."

Tears returned to her eyes. There was no way out.

"I think I might be... pregnant," She choked on the word. Saying it, made the possibility so much more real. And there was the sinking feeling that it was exactly as she feared. She stiffened, wanting to move out of Carter's arms, wanting to leave and pretend nothing ever happened, between her and anyone, but there was no way.

She didn't want to see what happened next, she didn't want to know Carter's reaction. It was over, it was all over.

((Leah, you are not permitted to quote this over the phone. Ever.))

"I think I might be... pregnant."

Out of everything Amanda had said earlier, that was the only thing that stayed in Carter's mind afterward. She was... with Mr. Blake... his... it would be... his....

Carter didn't know how to react. He felt angry-- furious, in fact-- but he was also in shock because he couldn't believe that Amanda of all people would do that. With a teacher. Ever. It was so... opposite of everything. In the moment Amanda had told him that, the universe had spun out of control.The earth no longer rested on its axis. They were spiraling toward a black hole.

"I..." He didn't know how to continue.

((Oh, Aly, since your note specifically says that I can't quote this over the phone, I have no such restrictions over the internet. "Tears returned to her eyes. There was no way out." "It was over, it was all over." I lost no Blasian points over this, because I didn't break the rules. B-)))

Amanda knew it was the complete opposite of everything she'd thought she'd stood for, stood on, complete opposite of everything everyone ever thought of her. And it was so wrong, that she could barely comprehend it herself. She had blocked it out of her mind, denied the truth for those three long weeks, and now it was coming back. Weakly, she pulled herself away from Carter, and stood unsteadily. She leaned against the wall, making her way to the door, and stepped out.

She walked into Carter's room and picked up her jacket, and started for the stairs, making sure her hair concealed her face. It was entirely over.

((Leah, get out of my house forever. I lied, not forever... but still. Pwned.))

Carter didn't even try to stop Amanda when she pulled away and walked to his room, getting her jacket. He didn't attempt to stand as he heard her make her way to the stairs. She had been right about him caring. There was no way for him not to care about this news. He had expected anything but this. Anything. Any news would have been better than this. Anything that didn't involve Amanda and Mr. Blake doing... that.

Carter looked at the floor, wishing that he hadn't just heard that news.

((Note: Any past, present, and future actions or thoughts from my characters are my character's and not always mine.))

Amanda hung her head as she walked up the stairs, ignoring the brief, concerned glances of the Landons as she made her ways out the door. She left in time to hear Mrs. Landon's steps toward the stairs she had just come up.

Oddly enough, at this time, Amanda thought of the +Anima. So hurt, so despised. For something they couldn't even help. And yet they pressed on, against all the odds. This was her own fault, though the lines were blurred. She had been reluctant to take the drink, she was talking to fill the silence and her nervousness, and she'd wanted to leave at first. But it all happened so fast, too fast for her control.

Amanda knew all the signs were there. She didn't want to believe them still, but the very tiny, still-logical part of her mind told her to make sure of it. And not only that, but she knew she was on her own here. There was no way that she could leave Damien in the dark, however. But that would only get him in trouble. And her, even more trouble.

She was on her own. She had to be strong, even after destroying her own world. Through the storm, Amanda walked, grateful for the cool rain that concealed her tears and shed that shell of idealism and optimism that had once existed around her.
---------
Mrs. Landon hurried down the stairs, concern etched in her forehead. She peered into Carter's bedroom, and found him not present, and noted that he wasn't in the living room downstair either. The bathroom door was shut.

Tentatively, she knocked.

"Carter?" she asked, quietly. Without an answer, she entered.

"Carter, is everything alright? What happened?"

((BTW: Pageclaim. I would be all happier usually, but... bleh... too sad.))

"Carter?"

He didn't answer.

"Carter, is everything alright? What happened?"

Carter looked from his mom to the toilet that had still not been flushed. He looked back to his mom.

"She got sick," he said, offering no other explanation. He flushed the toilet, washed his hands, and left the bathroom. He didn't know where to go after that, though. He didn't want to go to his room, where he and Amanda had been so happy just minutes ago. But the living room was too open for his parents to corner him and talk to him. Carter headed for his room, intending to escape through his window.

((That gory pic for Caesar's apprentice: http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/052/3/2/Kyoufu__The_Horror_by_GreyOrion.jpg ))

Mrs. Landon nodded slowly. It certainly appeared that was the case.

"Shouldn't we give her a ride home or..."

She didn't finish, watching as Carter walked toward his room. She guessed not. Mrs. Landon started back up the stairs, and glanced out her window. Amanda was still walking in that rain. She felt bad about letting her go like that, especially since she was sick.

"Are you feeling sick, too, honey?" she said as soon as she was back downstairs. "I was thinking maybe we should give Amanda a ride home, if you want to come."

She knew she would feel a little strange taking this unfamiliar girl home all by herself. And there was something strange about the whole situation now.

"Shouldn't we give her a ride home or..."

"She's getting picked up at the corner. She called her parents from my cell," Carter answered.

"Are you feeling sick, too, honey?"

"Yeah. I'm going to... rest. For a long time. I want to be alone for a couple hours," Carter responded, noting how easily all these lies came. He closed his door, clicking the lock so his parents couldn't walk in whenever they felt like it.

Carter waited a few minutes, then eased his window open, glad that it wasn't very loud. The sound was completely masked by the heavy rain and thunder. He crawled out of his window, closing the window after him. Hopefully his parents would never notice his absence.

Mrs. Landon nodded. It seemed to make sense, though she still felt a little suspicious.

"Alright, then," she replied quietly. "Feel better. Tell me if you need anything, I'll be right upstairs."

She then proceeded back to where she had been, feeling a bitter relief that she didn't have to bring the girl home. Mrs. Landon decided to go do some laundry on the other side of the house, the window in the laundry room focused on their neighbors' backyard.
------
Amanda continued walking in the storm, hands stuffed in her pockets. She could hardly see, vision blurred by tears and rain, and yet, she didn't seem to care very much. Her foot slipped on the curb, and she was startled for a moment. But being on the street didn't really make that much of a difference. She didn't know which direction she was supposed to go to get home or to the store, but it didn't matter to her now. Amanda continued walking across the street, barely paying attention to where she was going.
-------
Ramone was pissed off that he had to drive in this crazy storm, having gone to his job without even needing to after school. No one had told him that work had been cancelled. He blasted his radio so he could ignore the rain rattling against his truck, and sped up. He just wanted to be home now. The only good thing about this day was that school let out early.

His thoughts and the radio and his slow windshield wipers kept the pedestrian from being visible to him as his vehicle advanced toward her. There was a strange thump against the front of the truck as he reached the end of the block. He felt his his heart jump in his chest, as realization surged through him. Immediately, he stopped the vehicle and with a shaking hand, he unlocked his door and stepped out.

His victim was on the ground, blood and water matting her hair where she'd hit her head on the pavement. She was still breathing, the ragged breaths of someone in a dangerous amount of pain. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and he couldn't tell if she was concious or not.

Finally, he recognized the girl on the ground. Amanda Rivvers. He hated her, but he had never imagined actually hitting her. His eyes were wide with realization and shock, unable to move. He could drive away; no one seemed to be out there watching. Or he could take her to the hospital, where this event could possibly haunt him forever, or get him in jail... she was still breathing. It was flight or... something worse.

He knew it was wrong, but he could not face that. He got back into his car, panicking, and carefully driving around the girl, and speeding up immediately after he'd passed her.

Brian had worked on Owen all by his lonesome that day, and decided he should call his new goon. He picked up the phone and dialed the number he had been given. He got the answering machine. "Damien, where the hell are you? I need you to grab some surgical shit and bring it here now. I don't care what you bring, just bring a lot of it. Oh, and it's time we moved forward with our new subject. I was thinking that weird volunteer at the hospital you're into. Anyways, knock her out, bring her here and I'll tinker with her. Call me when you get this, bye." he said, and hung up. Now, back to Owen.
___

Roger dragged an unconscious Aidan inside, and down into the basement headquarters. He wanted to use the operating table, but Brian was already there, and he had marked it on the schedule. Roger didn't want to break the schedule, so he just brought Aidan to one of the rooms and started to patch him up.
___

Jade was lying on his bed with his arm around Caresa, who was lying beside him. Jade stared at the ceiling, lost in thought after the awkwardness in the bathroom. After a moment he spoke. "Caresa why are you with me?" he asked, turning to look at her. "I'm essentially everything you hate, and I don't have any redeeming qualities, so why?" he persisted.

(Deleted)

(Deleted)

Carter was about to cut across his backyard when he saw a square patch of light illuminate the yard. He looked up and saw that his mom was in the laundry room. Swearing under his breath, Carter edged around the house and broke into a sprint when he reached the front. He ran past the houses, just trying to escape. Carter skidded on the wet grass, but kept moving. He reached some mailboxes when he had to stop and catch his breath. Looking out to the road, Carter saw a shape on the ground. He cautiously walked forward and crouched over the figure. Taking a closer look, Carter saw that it was his girlfriend-- Mary Sue Amanda. It almost looked as if she was sleeping, but Carter saw the blood that hadn't yet been washed away by the rain.

"No."

He looked around, trying to find the vehicle that had hit her, but none was in sight.

Carter ran to a neighbor's house and pounded on the door until some one answered. Without a word, he bolted in and grabbed their phone, calling the police.

Cecilla felt slightly more at ease as the other passenger left the car. She glanced over at Damien and, since he didn't seem like he was about to start a conversation, decided to check that text from earlier. She pulled out her phone and fiddled around with it until she reached her inbox. It was from Nikolai.

hey blondie. need a ride home? not safe in the storm ya know.
She opened the phone to the qwerty keyboard and texted back,
nah. i got a ride from a teacher.

She wondered what he was up to now. He had only been her friend for the time she'd been in Humbleton, but he was quickly becoming the older brother she had always wanted.

She was jerked from her memories when Damien's phone rang. Her eyes snapped over to him, she was completely riveted.

Damien watched Cecillia in the corner of his eye, still paying attention to driving, when his phone jarred him out of his focus. He pulled out his phone, his eyes narrowing briefly at the number, before sticking the cell back into his pocket. He could deal with whatever Brian was concerned about later. The reasons for why he had gotten involved with this group again still evaded him. He managed to keep his cool, trying not to give away any effect the message had on him. He felt her attention boring into him.

"So, how's Humbleton High been treating you?" he asked, as casually as possibly.
----
Aidan vaguely felt the sensation of being moved again, but disregarded it, being far too unconcious to really process it. He fell back into his comfortably numb state.
----
Caresa was silent for a few moments after Jade spoke.

"I... I don't hate you, for any reasons. The Crusaders have done some... terrible, terrible things, but... well, honestly, I can't explain it. I just can't hate you. Even after everything... I just... I can only love you, Jade."
----
Amanda was barely concious, the pain being the only thing keeping her there. Her head throbbed, her chest, her ribs, and everything just seemed to hurt. The rain seemed to pound upon her now, the drops paining her and yet the cold helped numb her. She tried to open her eyes, but the rain just poured down and everything was even more unclear.

She groaned, and tried to move. It sent more pain shooting through her, and she gasped.

Sirens rang.

Carter stood by Amanda, trying to use his long gingery hair to stand out in the downpour. He wanted to crouch down by her side, but couldn't risk Amanda being hit again.

A person jumped from the ambulance and pulled a stretcher behind him. Soon, Carter was pushed out of the way to make room for all of the medical personnel attending to Amanda. Carter looked around for something to do when he noticed that a lot of the neighbors were standing on their porches or watching out their windows. He hated them. They felt pity for him and Amanda, yes, but they were glad that it wasn't them that were in that situation. Carter wanted them all to leave, to turn their backs on them and let them be. But they wouldn't. It would be tomorrow's gossip.

Carter turned in time to see Amanda's stretcher being put in the back of the ambulance. He ran over to it.

"Kid, just go back home," said one of the EMT's.

"No. I'm going with you." Maybe it was the look on his face, but something made the EMT change his mind. He nodded and moved over for Carter.

"Alright, since you're here, you're going to tell us everything you know."

"Humbleton High is just like my last high school, albeit smaller. Cliques, snobs, jocks...It's all the same no matter where you are." Cecilla responded in a bored tone. "Although, I liked my Latin teacher better at NS High than here. The teacher hear could probably make a snail fall asleep from how purely boring she is."

She smiled at the thought of a snail falling asleep, all tucked up in it's bed like Jerry from Tom and Jerry in the matchbox furniture. It was such a silly image that she started giggling. 'Note to self, draw that later.'

(Hey Batella you need to post with Cara! Just to let you know. For now I sit in silence wondering what to do with Peter, the weirdo, next.)

((Ambulance Driver: Whoa, what is that?! Is that a fire?! No wait, it's just that kid's hair...
Peter should be all awesome like he is. And... yeah. ))

Damien nodded along to what Cecillia had to say about the school, smiling a little at her comment about the Latin teacher. Damien had to agree--he was about the most unengaging teacher in the school. High school seemed so long ago. He racked his brain for some fond memories of it, but there were very few. It only reminded him of that unanswered call from Brian.

Now Cecillia giggled. It coaxed another smile from him, and he glanced at her curiously.
---------
The ambulance started toward the hospital, as the EMT waited for the boy to tell him something.

Cara blinked hazily, she had hit her head on her arm when she fell. Luckily she hadn't started bleeding. She turned to the girl.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm alright. I'm fine. I.... want some food."
She started walking again. She was determinedly headed toward her house. She wanted pizza. Badly.
__
Cecilla turned to Damien in time to catch the strange look. She replied with:
"It's the idea of snails falling asleep. It comes up as a cartoon snail in matchbox furniture. The snail must shop at the same store as Jerry." She smiled, "I suppose I just think differently than most people..."

Damien continued looking at her that way, before laughing only a slight bit.

"Nah, that's alright. I think that's very... creative," he said. Cecillia was an interesting girl. He halfway hoped she would be in another one of his classes sometime. She seemed like she would have a lot to contribute.

1313 Dead End Drive was nearing, and Damien began to slow down as he arrived in front of her house.

"Well, here we are."

"You know my house is closer," Antha said before she could stop herself. "Why don't you get something to eat from there?"

"Well, here we are." Damien said. Cecilia looked out the window, and sure enough they were in front of her house. She turned back to face him.

"Yeah. I guess we are," She sighed and placed her hand on the lever that would open the door. "Thanks for the ride. See you around?" She hadn't meant to make it a question, but she couldn't take anything back. So she quickly opened the door and got out.

She walked up the sidewalk to her house and turned back to wave goodbye, giving a small smile before entering the house and kicking off her shoes.
__
Cara, in a very rare moment of perceptiveness, recognized her companion's words as verbal vomit.

"Nah, I can wait. I have cold pizza waiting for me at home, all nice and ready to be consumed!" She started singing 'OMNOMNOM' to herself as she walked along the road.

((Omnomnom...))

Damien nodded, offering a half-smile back at her question. He watched her walk up the sidewalk, making sure she got inside safely, before driving off. With a sigh, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialing his messages.

"Damien, where the hell are you? I need you to grab some surgical sh*t and bring it here now. I don't care what you bring, just bring a lot of it. Oh, and it's time we moved forward with our new subject. I was thinking that weird volunteer at the hospital you're into. Anyways, knock her out, bring her here and I'll tinker with her. Call me when you get this, bye."

He cursed under his breath. But Damien knew better than to disregard anything that Brian told him to do. That didn't mean he was going to let him do anything to Amanda. He called Brian through his incoming calls.

Carter hesitated before telling the EMT's what he knew about Amanda. If he told them anything, he would have to tell them everything. Sighing, he started telling them.

"She's seventeen or eighteen. It looks like she was... hit by a car.... I'm not entirely sure because I wasn't there when it happened. I found her maybe five minutes after it happened because there was no vehicle in sight. And she...." Carter stopped, throat closing up so he couldn't say any more.

"And she... what?" the EMT urged. "Look, kid, if you don't tell us, we could do something to her that could hurt her bad."

Carter nodded, glaring at the floor because his eyes were burning.

"She's... she might be... pregnant," he choked out. The words hadn't left his head since Amanda had told him, and now saying them out loud just made it so much more possible that she was.

"Thanks, kid," said the EMT, patting Carter's knee.

Carter couldn't look at them. He looked from the floor of the ambulance to Amanda. He almost had to look back at the floor. There was still blood matted in Amanda's wet hair, but most of the bad cuts on her head had been covered with gauze. Carter looked away.