[M]Austere IC

[AliceMalice15]

Austere:
Rated M for gore and violence

1895
Gideon gripped tightly to the little girls shoulders as he ran toward the tree line. Her soft whimpers reached his ears through the howling winter and he glanced down at her. Tears ran down her small face and she clung tightly to his trench coat.

"Don't worry Yvette darling," he said to her without stopping or slowing, "daddy won't let them have you."

Gideon looked behind them. No one was there. Gideon continued to run. He knew they were still coming for her. They would want him to stop. Whether they were visible or not they would.....Gideon fell down as he tried to stop. The trees stop tall in front of him, and so did they. Their shadowy figures were positioned between every tree standing silently watching waiting. Gideon covered the small girl with his arms and crawled away from them.*

"Y-you can't have her," he gasped, "I won't let you use her. Anything but Yvette. You can't have my daughter."

A collective laugh issued from them, an eerie sound being that their laughter was soft and amused.

"Whether we take her or not is not up to you Master Gideon," their voice was calm and alluring, "you did promise us a new host. We chose her. Is that not an honor? Come Gideon give us the girl."

"Her name is Yvette," Gideon growled, "and you can have her over my dead body!"

They laughed collectively and moved in closer. Gideon crawled back a little more.

"That Master Gideon," they chuckled, "can be arranged."

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

Gideon raised his arms over his face dreading what was coming..........
.................................................. ..........................................
"Open your eyes now dear child," they said their voices soothing to the frightened child, "we will take care of you now. Everything will be just fine. We promise."

Yvette opened her eyes and looked up. Even her fathers lifeless body below her couldn't deter her from trusting the tall, gentle talking people around her. A smile appeared on their faces as they all reached out for the girl. She was theirs.

2011
Yv sat on the roof if her home staring toward the upper side of Austere. Something was changing. The way they were acting told her that. She could feel them moving excitedly beneath her skin and let out an uncomfortable sigh which became visible in the cold, late November air. Standing up she slid down the roof and swung into the open window. No doubt she only had a few more hours of relative freedom before they tool over. Maybe she could find something interesting to read in the library.

[Epostle]

“Aaaaaaahhhhhh, how I love the new senery” Remy said as he was driving into Austere. He was just outside the town. He was looking at how small it was. “You have to be kidding me… this is it?” Remy didn’t like small towns because usually there was no opportunity for jobs, entertainment, but most of all, women. Though he isn’t a man-whore who will sell out to any woman, he still felt the necessity of needing a good, kind, and successful women (he didn’t see that happening here.)

He finally made it into the town. He was driving around looking at the all it had to offer. There were a few grocery stores, a pub, some fine dining and locally owned restaurants, and even a park “Well… it isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I still wonder about the locals though and how they like people from out of town.” Remy was from a small town, so he knew that most the time, locals weren’t always friendly to strangers, or overly friendly. Hopefully they wouldn’t figure out that he struck it big with some of the top CEO’s of TOPEC (a company that bases its foundation around new technologies that can revolutionize the world.) The was going to most likely going to be his hometown for a while from what they told Remy, but that is ok, because he’s now rich.

He finally drove up to the home that was being sold. There awaited the the couple that was selling the home. He waved at them as they waved back at him. He looked at the home “Eh, it’s not too bad… a little bit of well placed money would really shape up the place to be amazing.” He then stepped out of the car and shut the door. He then stretched cause it was a long drive and he needed to limber up some. “Hello there, I take it that you’re selling the home?”

[Samara]

-Local Pub-

Orianna sat behind the bar staring blankly at the empty pub and smiled as she saw the small fire licking at the freshly placed logs. The fire gave the empty pub an eerie light to it that made Orianna comfortable. The round wooden tables were polished and cleaned as the chairs sat in perfect order around the tables.

Then a sharp piercing noise came from the bar and a smooth chuckle was aroused from the sound. Orianna's small hand ground her dagger against the whetstone. The knife was something that was special to her and at times it seemed to be more than a knife and her only friend.

However as comfortable as she was this morning a mild worrisome thought tugged at the back of her mind. The house for sale would indeed attract the outsiders like vultures and she loathed having to speak to them, but such was her job.

[Azazeal849]

The trees to either side bent overhead like arches, their naked branches forming a criss-crossing canopy through which the anaemic sunlight struggled to break. A single car was making its way up the narrow dirt road, winding steadily through the trees until they opened up into the houses at the upper end of Austere. In town the roads were just as narrow, the buildings hemming the car in closely from either side. It was a strange assortment of buildings; very old wood-panelled houses were crammed alongside more modern buildings of grey stone, and here and there were terraces of brick and shale, some of them whitewashed, some of them painted in garish shades of yellow and pink. Beneath the high walls of the mismatched buildings a few people walked the narrow pavements, wrapped up in long coats against the late-autumn chill. They looked up curiously at the car as it passed, heads turning to follow it and its two occupants as it continued through the town.

The car's occupants were tired from travelling, even though the mid-afternoon sun was keeping the worst of the jet-lag at bay for now, and so they sat in relative silence with the only sound coming from the low hum of the engine and the occasional interjection from the robot-voiced GPS on the dashboard as it told them to go left or right. The driver, a handsome woman in her late 30s with copper hair and a long, honest face, had her eyes fixed on the road as she navigated the unfamiliar town. Sitting next to her was a girl with the same dark red hair and the same pale blue eyes, and she didn't notice the scrutiny of the locals either as she tapped away at the touchscreen of the phone in her hands.

Georgina Wright was transferring her contacts onto her new, American phone purely to give herself something to do. In truth she didn't expect to ever use them. Skype or MSN maybe, or some other way of contacting the UK without racking up an insane phone bill, but even then she knew she was probably wasting her time. As much as she and her old friends back in Leicester had vowed to contact each other every week, in her heart of hearts she knew it wouldn't last. They were all 18, all about to leave school and head off to work or college or uni, where they would all meet new people and establish a new network of friends. Sure, they'd probably be happy to hear from her, but with 4000 miles separating them they would inevitably drift apart. They would move on.

Georgina was expected to move on too. But it was one thing to leave home for Manchester or Birmingham, and quite another to just up roots entirely and start again in a completely different continent. In truth Georgina could probably have handled it if it hadn't also meant leaving her dad behind. Divorces were never pretty things, but it had seemed to Georgina like her mum had simply wanted to cut all ties and expected her daughter to do the same. When the offer had come through for the new job in Pennsylvania, she had practically jumped at it.

Georgina glanced up at her mum in the seat next to her. It was easy to blame her, call her selfish. God knew that both Georgina and her dad had spent the last two months doing exactly that. But now they were actually driving up the street towards their new house it hammered home what Georgina had known all along: this was happening, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

“Well this is us.” her mum said as she pulled the car to a halt, making a valiant effort to sound cheerful despite her own tiredness and her daughter's gloomy demeanor, “What d'you think?”

Gina popped the door and swung her legs out of the footwell, her boots crunching on gravel as she climbed out of the car into the chill November air. She slipped her hands into the pockets of her cream jacket and looked up at the front side of the house. She had seen the pictures, and the real thing wasn't much more promising. It was closely sandwiched between the newer buildings either side, and the old wooden building itself seemed squashed, as if its frowning neighbours were marching inwards and squeezing the house out of shape. A small conservatory jutted from its narrow frontage and there was a single window on the second floor below its sharply slanted roof. Georgina supposed that to some it emanated a kind of rustic charm, but to her the stained wooden walls looked old and rickety.

“It looks like a house from the 1800s, mum.” she said doubtfully. She heard her mother sigh as she walked round the back of the car towards the house.

There were three people standing in front of it – a middle-aged couple, and a young man dressed in a casual black shirt and jeans. Georgina guessed that the couple were the previous owners waiting to hand over the keys, and she thought the young man might be the courier who had been sent ahead with the rest of their luggage until she saw that the vehicle parked round the side of the house was not a moving van but an ostentatious black sports car. The strange young man was talking to the older couple in a soft southern-states accent, and the couple themselves seemed slightly uncomfortable. Wondering what was going on, Georgina followed her mother up to join the other three by the front door.

[The Imposter]

In the rather quaint town of Austere on the upperside stood the towns only library. The old building stood sandwhiched between others with its pale coloured exterior which was sort of ironic because the inside of which was probably the most colourful place in all of Austere. The inside walls were murals reflecting the vibrancy of the books that stood on its shelves, some in fact even captured certain scenes from various classics.

The place normally had a pretty steady flux of vistors returning or taking books but today was rather slow. So much in fact that Adam had decided to use the place for its acoustics rather than enforcing the quiet rule. A few friends had joined him for the quick jam session during the afternoon lull. Coughing weakly and clearing his throat Adam rocked back and forth keeping time before getting into a song. The melody was slow with his voice holding the words in the air.

'One.....Two....Three....Four...
If its revenge that you seek
You won't find it with me
All the mistakes I ever made
They sank...with the Pequod

All my hate and rage are in the depths
Tied to the harpoon noose around Ahab's neck
Every burden resting on that whale
Leaving me alone so call me Ishmael

Whoa...whoa...whoa..ooooh.'

Adam smiled and looked to his friends wanting their opinions of the new song. He understood that it was still in its early stages and would need some work but was eager to hear from the others. They conversed as a group and began forming a set list for tonight's gig at the pub.

'So looks like Orianna there has things finally worked out at the pub. Real shame about her old man. Glad to see stuff worked out so we can play again though.'

Adam chimed in before the conversation could progress.

'The real strange part is he left her in charge. She is hardly old enough to drink let alone run a pub. Now I know that it is hardly the cream of the crop for a pub's sake I mean it is Austere we are talking about. Not to mention she isn't the friendliest sort either...shouldn't complain though you are right at least she is letting us play there still.'

Before more gossip and backbiting could ensue the doors into the library opened ringing the bell handing above them. Adam put his guitar down and went to the desk hoping over it and looking down the hall to see who had arrived.

[G]

Jenny Wright gripped the steering wheel tightly, hoping her daughter wouldn't notice the white of her knuckles from doing so. She threw Georgina a reassuring smile, then fixed her eyes firmly on the road again.
The redhead kept silent as they entered Austere, saying nothing of her doubts at the sight of the small, scanty-looking town. How good of a job could this be, in a town like this? She let out a quiet sigh. The pay was good enough, and that was the important thing.
She smiled again at her daughter as they pulled up to the curb, glancing only momentarily at the house before she spoke.
"Well, this is us. What d'you think?"
She hoped she sounded enthusiastic.

Her daughter gave the house a critical once-over. "It looks like a house from the 1800's, mum," she said, her voice unsure.

Jenny let out a sigh, not sure how to respond. She couldn't force her daughter into enthusiasm about the new life they were about to begin. She could only hope things turned out well for them both here.

She stepped out of the car, smoothing her trousers as she approached the people standing outside their house. Our house, she thought, and smiled. It was all up from here! It had to be.
She reached the three people and stopped.
"Hi," she greeted them with a smile, "I'm Jenny Wright. My daughter, Georgie," she gestured to the girl, who was close behind her.
"Are you the owners?" she asked.

[Epostle]

Remy was going to get a response until he heard another vehicle pulling up. In the car seemed to be 2 girls… a slightly older women and a younger one. They looked similar, so he took it that they were somehow related. He saw them getting out of the car and heard the younger girl’s response as the mother was trying to cheer her up. “Well that was shitty” Remy said to himself in his head.

He saw the woman walk up and began to talk to the owners. After telling her name and asking the question, Remy said “I’m hoping so because I’m interested in buying it.” He said as he turned to her with his arms crossed and a friendly smile on his face. “I take it that you’re new here to? As am I. I just came all the way from Tennessee for a better job that’s going to be somewhat… enjoyable. I know I heard your name, but may I ask it for formality and ask your… sister… daughters… or whatever kin she may be to you?” Remy puts a hand out for a friendly hand shake.

[Azazeal849]

"My daughter, Georgie..." she gestured to the girl, who was close behind her.

Georgina resisted the urge to grind her teeth. You’d think that four years after everyone else had dropped the childish nickname her mum would have gotten the hint. Then again, embarrassing their kids was every parent’s prerogative.

"Are you the owners?"

“I’m hoping so,” interjected the young man, “Because I’m interested in buying it.”

Georgina looked at her mum, who looked in equal confusion at the young man.

“I think there’s been a mistake.” said Jenny, “We already bought this house.”

She looked at the older couple, who nodded a nervous confirmation.

The man frowned for a second, but he rallied quickly. He turned to Jenny with his arms crossed and a friendly smile on his face.

“I take it that you’re new here to? As am I. I just came all the way from Tennessee for a better job that’s going to be somewhat…enjoyable. I know I heard your name, but may I ask it for formality and ask your…sister…daughters…or whatever kin she may be to you?” Remy puts a hand out for a friendly handshake.

Georgina stared at the man, nonplussed. Did all people from Tennessee talk like that? The man was only a few years older than her; tall, with short blonde hair and well-defined muscles underneath his black shirt. Attractive even. But he was also self-confident to the point of arrogance, and there was something about the way he talked about his ‘new and better’ job that said that he was successful and knew it. She disliked him almost immediately. She tried not to let it show as she shook the man's hand.

“Gina.” she told him carefully, deciding that she might as well nip her mother’s mistake in the bud before the rest of the town started calling her Georgie as well, “And I’m her daughter.”

[Samara]

-The Pub-

Orianna smiled as she stocked up the alcohol, had procured food and other refreshments that would be stored in the pub, as well as chop the firewood. It was hard work that most would have wanted to avoid but she enjoyed it as it as what she worked with never talked. Once inside the pub again she remembered the deal she had made and sighed with a slight tone of irritation.

Orianna didn't hate people and had found herself starting to get a small inkling of a friendship for the locals but outsiders were not to be trusted, in her opinion. And outsiders always talked too much for her liking. They never listen or take any interest in anyone but themselves. As she thought about this prospect she glanced at a bottle filled with a green liquid and smiled a sick grin. This alcohol was called Abenithe(sp) was considered illegal in the US but that bottle had been in the family for years and she thought that prehaps it might be...interesting to see what it would do to a milly-mouth outsider. The very thought bought joy to her mind as she found herself looking at the bottle closely before directing her attention to the door, waiting for her...guests to arrive.

[G]

"I think there's been a mistake," Jenny said firmly, in response to the young mans' words, "We already bought this house." Had she somehow been mistaken, and this was the wrong house? Had they been the victims of a scam?
But the owners nodded in agreement, albeit a bit nervously, and obviously there was no point in any further discussion on the matter.
The mother gave a little laugh at the man's compliment, and after her daughter had introduced herself, she held out her own hand for him to shake.
"Jenny," she smiled, "and your name is...?"