The trip to wherever it is that we're going - "we" being Sam, and now, me - takes longer than I expect it to. The entire time that he is driving, I keep trying to work up the nerve to pipe up and let him know that I'm there. No matter how hard I try, I still can't seem to get the lump in my throat out long enough to make some words form. In my head, I can see what I want to say pretty clearly: Sam, you forgot your weapon! Look, I brought it so you'd have it!
Now please don't be too mad at me for following after you when you told me to stay, and also then jumping into the trunk of your vehicle!
Admittedly, it sounds a lot better than what I do end up saying to him. Thankfully for me, the "trunk" area of his vehicle is an open-concept type of thing - I can see him from where I am hiding, and I can see some of the area surrounding us as well. Which means that when I peek through the stuff in the back and clear my throat, my face is lit up a little bit by street lights shining in through the windshield as we pass them by. Hopefully, making my actions just a little bit less startling to Sam - since he is driving, after all.
"Sam," I start, biting my lip. At first, he seems not to have heard me. Assuming that his mind is lost in thought, or just focusing on the mission that he's been called out for, I try again. Just... louder... this time. A lot louder.
"Hey, Sam!" I call at him this time, my heart pounding in my chest so hard that I can hear it in my ears, as I internally wince as the fact hits me: that yelling at him like I just did...might not have been the best thing in the world to do right now. Understandably, Sam is startled by my voice and jerks a bit. Looking up at the rear-view mirror, Sam does a double-take and frowns at my reflection.
"M-Maggie?!" Sam stammers in what I assume to be disbelief, before taking in a slow breath and letting it go, just as slowly. Shaking his head, he looks forward again. I swear that I see his jaw move in irritation, before he glances back up at the mirror, using one hand to move it so that he can see me better.
"You had better have a good reason for this," he warns, almost making me forget why I had even come in the first place - I can't help it. I just can't stand when someone sounds like they are telling me what to do!
Odd, how that's apparently something that I can remember about myself - and nothing else really is?
It takes me looking back down to his weapon in my hands, to remember that the reason why I came along with him to begin with, was because I didn't want him getting hurt. So, almost directly mimicking his previous actions of taking in a breath and then letting it go, I do the same in order to try and keep from losing my temper.
"I do," I nod to him, then holding up my hands. "You forgot your weapon." The object that I brought with me, along with my statement, seems to settle the argument for the moment: the rest of the way is quiet and only filled with my occasional questions to break the awkward silence between us. Thankfully, I seem to have gotten myself a front row ticket into going the rest of the way there with Sam. And, even getting out of the vehicle too, if I'm lucky. Although, I don't believe that Sam looks too happy about it…Oops?
***
An unknown amount of travel time later, we arrived at the place that Sam's partner had called him to. From my spot in the back, I couldn't see too much of it. It took me time to convince Sam that I might be able to help him and to let me go with him. In the end, really, I just had to go with telling him that if he didn't let me go with him I would just probably find a reason to follow after him anyways, like the last time. While that's not necessarily what really happened, and I did it because I was worried about him, my tone and words seemed to be persuasive enough to Sam to get him to let me follow him to go and meet his partner.
"Alright, Jojo, I'm here.." Sam sighed, his forehead creasing in slight irritation as I trail behind him, still carrying his weapon to prove that I have a point in tagging along.
"Good, they're hiding inside--" the other person - a young man who looks to be on the shorter, to mid-height range for a guy - started. From where I am standing...he doesn't look like he gets a lot of sun to me. Mostly because of the way his skin looks, every time he shifts to stand in the dim glow of one of the very few lights sitting around. To me, they nearly make him look like he's giving off light! Then again, that could just be me..?
"Sam.." Jojo begins again, his voice pinching in unmistakable frustration. The only thing making him sound bad at all right now, if you ask me...Otherwise, he has a very nice voice.
"This is an important mission. Why in the hell did you bring a tagalong with you?" Jojo asked this, his attitude lessening in quality from the very moment that he lays his dark green eyes on me.
"Jojo," Sam frowns, momentarily side glancing at me. He seems to be taking a moment to think up an answer for his partner, who is still glaring at us both through his black framed glasses. Instead of telling him the truth - that he forgot his weapon and that I decided to bring it to him, then also figured out a way to basically make him let me come along - Sam decides to come up with something else. Which, doesn't really seem to make Jojo any more happy about my presence here.
"I left her back at the house all day, and she was lonely. I felt bad about it, so I told her that she could come, if she didn't make trouble." Sam replied simply, shrugging his shoulders. The subtle look and almost barely perceptible shake of his head that Sam gives me tells me not to try and say otherwise on the matter. Given how Jojo is reacting, I won't have the time to anyway.
"Wait, wait, wait. You..you what?" Jojo snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose and making his glasses slide up in the process. "Okay, first off..since when do you have a little housewife, or girlfriend, or..or whatever the hell she even is to you?!" Jojo asked this in disbelief, shaking his head. He leaves no time for Sam or I to answer him or his statements, however, because he just continues on, with "You know what? Doesn't matter. I don't care, you do what you're going to do, as long as it doesn't impede on our mission. Got it? That means that I'm not going to be held responsible for her, or her well being - something happens to her," he nods to me, then to Sam, as he is speaking. "...then it's on you. I'm not going to be taking any fallback for this. You can keep her safe."
Sam sighs heavily, clearing his throat. He seems to be as eager as I am, to get off of this subject, and onto something else. Anything else, actually, because it's making me feel uncomfortable. Not that Sam's not a great guy and all, but I just met him! I don't even have my memories back..and he's trying to say that I'm tagging along like a housewife or something? Who the heck does this guy even think that he is, anyway?
"Yeah, she's my responsibility. Got it, Jojo." Sam answers Jojo flatly, clearly tired of his continued attitude towards him, and towards me. "And I will. Now, can we get on to why you called me here? It sounded pretty important on the phone. And if it's as dire as you made it sound, then we really shouldn't be standing around here and arguing about Maggie-- about her, and whether or not she should be here, right now--" he stops, apparently correcting himself to try and stop any further harassing comments being made by his partner, before shifting his weight and continuing. "--Should we?"
While Sam and Jojo are continuing to fuss with each other over me and what their mission is, I look around. It takes some time before they finally sort everything out, so I take a moment to look around. From the corner of my eye, I swear I can see movement in one of the nearby windows. Thinking it's just a trick of the light because of how late it is, I hesitate on whether or not I should say anything.
Unknown to me right now, behind those windows is lurking a set of eyes. More than one - and all belonging to the very same ghouls that are behind the reason for Jojo's call to Sam.
***
"Look!" an excited voice calls to the others in the room, waving them over. "It's her! It's her, she's come back!"
"Are you sure? She looks human, Zach…" Another voice says, heavy with skepticism. Arms folded, the ghoul shakes his head. "I think you're seeing things. You just want it to be her." Waving Zach off, he goes to move away from the window. Irritated, Zach catches the other ghoul by the arm and drags him back over.
"No, it IS her! It's Willow Shainsu, it's our queen!" Zach insists, his eyebrows creasing together. "See? That's no human."
"You're crazy. If it was, why would she be down there with two humans, huh? Zach, you're seeing things. If that was Willow, she'd be attacking them both right now."
Getting his breath hard, Zach smacked the other ghoul, who he thought wasn't listening to him, against the window to make his point. "No. That's her. That's Willow. We all look human until we're made to fight..you know that." A smirk crossed Zach's face, as he finally let the other ghoul go. "That's her, and I'll prove it to you. Just you wait, I will prove it."
"Just because you're in charge when she's away, doesn't mean that you get to treat me like that. Underling." The other ghoul muttered, yanking his arm away from Zach, to go and straighten himself up. He paused, though, thinking it over.
"If you're right, though..and it is her? We have work to do. This place looks like crap."
***
After things are finally at least mostly settled with Jojo, Sam pulls me off to the side. Now that he knows why we are here, it seems like he has had a change of heart - he doesn't want me out in the open with them.
"We need to find you somewhere to hide, Maggie. This is more dangerous than he was letting on like it was on the phone." Sam frowns; he is obviously annoyed with Jojo, even I can see it as he is looking around for a place for me to hide. "Aha, here looks good. Okay, stay here Maggie, and don't leave for any reason. No matter what you might hear, don't move. Alright? I'll come back for you as soon as I can, I promise." Sam states this with a stern look, before he then takes me by my shoulders and ushers me off towards a really big bush. Before I can respond, he has his weapon and is gone - leaving me with nothing to do but to sit behind this really big bush and wait.
What feels like close to ten minutes goes by as I am sitting behind the bush, hugging my knees and chewing the inner part of my cheek. I don't know what else to do with myself, and I haven't seen any signs of Sam coming back yet, or even of Jojo coming over here to tell me that they're done and we can leave. To pass the time, I start twirling my hair around my fingers. Starting to wonder, how my hair had gotten to be this color, and if it had always been this color. This is only entertaining for a short time, though, and I can feel myself getting both increasingly more bored, and more worried, as the time continues to slip by without any signs of either of them coming back.
Time is going by so slowly; after awhile, I start to consider leaving my spot t go and see for myself what is going on. Just a small peek, maybe then I can come back...and no one will ever know that I even moved?
As I am debating on if to get up and sneak away, I hear the first sound I've heard since Sam put me here, and it doesn't sound like a good one. It continues on for a long time: what sounds like a lot of fighting, some yelling that I can't really understand, and a lot of sounds of pain. Loud ones, too. Loud enough to make me curious, and start to look out from behind the bush anyways. Despite my pounding heart, and the fact that I think I might be panicking about it.
I can't see much, when I am trying to look around the bush. The size of it makes it hard to get a good view of what might be going on, so I try to lean out just a tiny bit more to see if I can see anything. It's a bad idea, obviously; which I am quickly reminded of when I hear footsteps coming towards my hiding spot. They sound nothing like how Sam's did when he was walking away earlier, so I know it's not him - and it is most likely not Jojo, either, because he was dressed almost just like Sam was.
The sound of the strange footsteps and unfamiliar voices getting closer is enough to make me duck back into my spot behind the bush. Not without getting my hair caught on it, though I am trying to solve that without making too much noise.
"She has to be here," one of them says, sounding annoyed.
"Are you sure?" the other voice asks, sounding skeptical. I can hear an audible grunt from the first one, before he snaps back with "Yes! I know she's here, because I can smell her, you idiot. I just can't see her.." this last part is muttered, but I can still vaguely make it out enough to hear what he is saying. A small argument passes between them, before they get quiet and I don't hear them talking anymore. They aren't walking around anymore, either, because I don't hear their footsteps. For a moment, just as I am getting most of my hair untangled from the bush, I almost feel relieved.
Although, that unfortunately doesn't last long…
"Willow!" the man, who I assume to be a ghoul, grins and calls the other one over. "See, look! I told you that she was here." Letting his wounded arm go, he returns his attention back to me. I can feel myself shaking, though, and my eyes are definitely wide in fear.
"Don't eat me!" I blurt out, still trying to pull the last bits of my hair free, more frantically now. My vision starts to blur as I fight with the bush, tears of fear falling from my eyes. "I'm not food!" I protest again, though he sounds confused when he speaks again.
"We're not here to eat you, Willow.. We're here to keep you safe from the humans that took you. We've been looking all over for you! Haven't we?" he asks, looking to the other ghoul, who is now also standing in front of me. He nods, but it gives me little to no reassurance at all that they're not just lying to me to get me to stop being afraid. The fact that I can't tell if all the blood on them is their own or not, is also not helping.
"Why?" my voice cracks, and I am mentally cursing this bush for snagging my hair while I desperately try to make my fingers work. "Why me, and why do you keep calling me Willow? My name is Maggie!" my voice sounds a lot worse now, even I can tell how scared I am by hearing it. For some reason though, they just look sad.
"Because, Willow..we.. I'm Zach and that's Shi," he motions to the other ghoul. "Don't you remember us?: Zach frowns, looking at Shi in what seems to be concern, before he starts to hold his hand out to me. Certain he's going to hurt me, I shake my head and yell as loudly as I can.
"Sam! Sam, help! They're over here!" I scoot back from them as much as I can with my hair caught, my heart thumping loudly in my ears. Just when I think I am going to die, I hear Sam calling out, louder than I had yelled for him.
"Get away from her!"
I take this opportunity to finally rip my hair free from the bush, and to try and run away from the two ghouls that had been keeping me there. Right as I start to actually get away, my hair proves to be a problem again - a sharp tug on it from behind me brings me backward, where I'm caught by two less than friendly arms.
"Let me go!" I protest, trying to make Shi let go enough for me to get away. As I am doing so, I see the reason why Shi grabbed me: Sam had his weapon raised and was about to attack him with it. He's using me as a human shield?!
"Let her go," Sam demands, a look in his eyes that says he is obviously not happy with the situation. In fact, he actually looks kind of pissed off. "I am not going to let you hurt her, you monster!" Sam grits his teeth, though he knows he can't hit Shi without hitting me, so he doesn't move yet.
"Not a chance, human. The way we see it, you are the only monster here." Shi smirks, squeezing my arms tighter. "Besides, do you really think that we would want to hurt her? I wouldn't dare. Neither would Zach," Shi says, as Zach walks over, sounding a bit out of breath, presumably from all his visible injuries.
"He's right," Zach states, standing straighter. "She's far too beautiful to hurt," Zach says, gently cupping my cheek. The way he's looking at me makes it seem like he has some kind of attraction to me - something that only apparently makes Sam madder. "Bringing her any kind of harm would be all over the news..all over every social media platform there is. She's a very important person to us, detective." Zach said, turning his attention back to Sam.
By now, Jojo is walking over as well. I am getting tired of the banter, and my arms are getting sore, so the moment I feel Shi's grip on my arms begin to loosen up, I wriggle my way out of his grip and take off. Tonight has been far too confusing to me, far too dangerous. All I really want to do is get away from everyone and have a moment to calm down. But because of this, I am not looking where I am going.
My feet carry me far away, as far as I can get myself and farther; after awhile, I can tell that someone is coming after me, so it just spurs me onward. Continuing forwards, until I reach a point where I have to stop and breathe. Not realizing where I am at, the sight of Zach coming into view again startles me.
"Willow," he pants, also out of breath from running after me. "Please, stop! We just want you to come home with us," he tries to convince me again to go with him, but I don't want to hear it.
"Stay away from me!" I snap, standing straight to start running away again. Zach seems more panicked now, though, because he's trying to get closer to me more quickly now.
"No, Willow, you don't understand! Stop moving, the ground there is--"
"I said no!" I insist, backing up further. Cutting him off with my fear and frustration, I fail to notice that I have backed myself up to a ledge, and the ground here isn't stable. It is a realization that I make far too late - I can feel the world falling out from under me as the dirt crumbles away. Apparently, Zach was trying to tell me that the ground here was weak. That I was close to a ledge of some kind.
The last thing I hear as the final bits of dirt crumble beneath my feet, is what sounds like Sam, yelling for me. In my head, though...I have one, single, terrified thought come through.
I'm falling.