It's been hours since she's seen Chloe. Hours. The sun is still up, though, which means someone is likely to be around her phone. Far from where she's staying, for safety's sake, Faith pulls out a new prepaid cell phone. She sits on a swing as she holds it, debating whether or not to actually place this call. Eventually she takes a deep breath and dials the numbers that should connect her with Hope.
Ring-ring-ring-ring.
Poor Hope. Bobby went out for some reason, so she's on her own again. But! She's on her own with ice cream. Ice cream makes everything better. Though when the phone rings, the spoon goes flying out of the newest bowl of icy treat, and flies up onto the coffee table. Which means the phone has a few more rings before she reaches it.
"I'm still okay," she says with a grin. "You haven't been gone that long."
Blink.
Well, obviously someone doesn't much seem to mind what's going on. Not if she's already got something else going on. "Hope?" The wind is blowing in the background, almost masking the voice at first. "Hope, it's Faith." See? She even used her real first name! She's got to be alright.
The phone is dropped with a loud clatter. Hope hops off the couch, diving for the phone. "Faith? Faith, sweetie, you should be sleeping. You're a vampire," she says, her voice sounding shocked and filled with disbelief. "The sun is going to hurt you."
"That's funny, because I've got a pretty good view of the sunset right about now." She kicks at her feet slightly, causing the swing to move. It's a nervous act that her sister can't see. "But I'm not a vampire. I thought I was, I did, and that's why I'm not home." Faith sighs, letting herself go silent for a moment. "I'm okay. I'm… I'm okay."
"You're not a… but I saw the video. Mom and dad saw the video. Faith, they're /livid/. They've hired a private investigator. They're going to press charges against whoever has you." Pausing, Hope sighs. "Or, well, they will now when they find out you're alive. Where are you? What's going on?"
This doesn't surprise the recently insane twin at all. She breathes heavily into the phone at what she hears. "No offense, but Mom and Dad can butt the hell right out of my business." There are several key things to that sentence that should raise flags, including the fact that she actually referred to them as her parents. "I know what's on the news, I do. It's a pain to do anything right now because of it, but it isn't true. It's all an evil plot by some sort of manipulative group." Just how much more she should tell her sister is unknown, yet Faith will keep talking for now. "Please don't tell them anything yet. It's not safe yet. And don't worry, I'm somewhere safe."
"I can't not tell them something. They're worried, Faith. I held off telling them you were missing, and they threatened to stop paying for school. They're scared. They think you're a vampire." A heavy sigh, and she rights herself. "Hell, Faith, /I'm/ scared. So scared that I have a friend staying with me. You should at least call them." Please, please don't let her have to deal with them, because if her twin is where she suspects her twin is… she's going to tell them where to look. Because Mr. Fontane is an ass.
She shouldn't have called and she's realizing this. "Just give me time, Hope. I -can't- call them right now. Some bad stuffs going down. I'm not safe. It's better for people to think that I'm dead." There's no sense of insanity to her tone, or even joy. She sounds almost like the cold twin from years back. "I only called you because you're the only one I care about. You were there for me when I was sick, they weren't. They can get bent." She's never felt like this, but Faith is finding herself to be very angry with her parents. "I just need a little more time. Those people who caused the attack? I know it wasn't your church. They were the people who took me."
She can't lie to her parents, she can't. Hope is at a breaking point herself, and she just starts to cry. The cry is silent, but it adds a slight choke to her voice. "You're my /sister/, Faith. I'm there for you no matter what. I didn't even tell the Fellowship that you were a vampire. I didn't, I promise. The Fellowship would /never/ do something like that, hurting all those innocent people… the children… who took you?" The reason she asks is that the figures that if they can't find Rose, they'll try to get her next.
"I know it wasn't them. I know. Believe me, I know." Faith sighs again as she stops the swing. "There's a different group, one that has both humans and vampires. I don't know anything about it or what it's called. I only know it exists because of what happened." That's a story she doesn't exactly what to retell, so she'll skip right over it. "After the attack I was found by a group who is going to try and fix everything, but they realize how dangerous it is for me. I think they took me because the news told the entire city that I was crazy. Don't go outside alone, Hope. I'm not sure how upset they are that they lost me."
"I'll be okay," Hope says. At least she hopes she'll be okay. "I've got a Bobbyguard." Yes, she most definitely just said the word incredibly long, and she very-nearly giggles. Except that she's crying so it comes out as an extremely choked little noise. "If you need somewhere to stay, I do have a spare room, Faith. You can always come and stay here. Any time. Even if I'm not home, alright? At least if you were here, you could pretend to be me, like when we were kids. It would give you some normalcy."
She's not taking this seriously. The sound that Faith makes portrays her thoughts. "Hope, do you believe me? I mean, do you honestly believe what I'm saying right now? Because it's the truth. More people are going to die from all of this. And Bobbyguard? What the hell is" Oh. "Keep your boyfriend around. You might need him." This isn't like Rose, not at all. Yet how can Faith explain to her sister that she's just magically fixed? "And I am normal, Hope. Normal. Sane. And I remember. Everything." Maybe that will bring home the fact that this is serious business.
Oh, but Hope /is/ taking this seriously, she's just a bit off her rocker at the same time. Losing a sister twice in a month, going on the assumption her twin is a vampire, and everything else that's been going on tends to make one feel like that. "Wha- Faith! He is /not/ my boyfriend. He's just a friend. Like Tripp." For a long while, she's quiet. Just letting everything her sister says sink in. She's hopeful. She wants to believe her. She's not sure if Faith is truly normal, but it's likely what she needs to hear. "I believe you."
"Bobbyguard? Sounds to me like you're hooked on him." Yes, she's actually kind of picking on her sister. It's an attempt to get her to forget the tears and the pain for now. They both need to be strong. When Tripp's name is mentioned, Faith flashes back to the image of all of his blood and she makes a gagging noise. She will not throw up. Again. "I remember, Hope, what I wanted to tell you that night. I wanted to talk to you about Tripp, about… No, it's not important. Not now. But what would he do right now? He'd want to take care of you, to protect you. Let Bobby do that. Hopefully everything will be over soon."
"It's not…" Hope realizes it's a tease, which just chokes her up all the more. "It's a joke, since his name is Robert, and he offered to be my bodyguard." See? All nice and innocent. The gagging noise doesn't go unnoticed. "Faith, are you /sure/ you're okay? You don't sound like you're very well." She sniffles once, and then sighs. "No, no. Don't worry about it, sweetie. History and all that." It's not important anymore, and it seems really childish. Something Hope will carry the guilt for forever. "He'll do what he can, but I don't want to ruin his life either."
At the concern for her, Faith mumbles into the phone. It takes a minute but the mumbles actually become words. "I just see all of the blood, see what he looked like, and it almost makes me wish I didn't remember. But it's giving me strength, the strength to protect my loved ones." Faith stands from the swing and begins to walk, most likely made obvious by the way the wind reaches the telephone. "I'm going to fight this. I'm not going to be weak anymore. So I'll be somewhere that no one can find me, just for a little while." She pauses but immediately remembers to add something. "I heard from someone else that you were blaming Ivan. He's not involved and it's not safe for me to see him, either." It's a lie, but a very good one. She can't be found yet, not just yet.
Hope knows her sister well, and figures it for a lie. "You were fine where you were until he got involved with you. You wouldn't have been taken if you weren't out shopping for a /date/ with him." Nothing will convince her that Ivan isn't at least partially to blame. "I'm not going to tell you what to do, Faith, I just worry that he's maybe not as good for you as you think he is." Faith may have seen a good side of Ivan, and Hope has every belief that each human has one /somewhere/, but she's never been granted a viewing of it.
This she knew was going to come up eventually. "That's not true." It isn't an argument but rather an explanation. "I was a target, Hope. I could have been out with you and they would have taken both of us. Or they could have broken in to my home at some point. They were going to make it happen no matter what, but it isn't like I'll be out shopping for a date any time soon." Faith is actually feeling far too involved in things for her sister's own good. "Maybe before all of this I might have let a date take a priority, but I can't now. I know better, and you were right. I didn't see the world for what it was. I'm also not going to take anything else for granted. You and I have both lost too much for that." Man, this is getting serious. "But your boyfriend would probably love the chance to share a place with you for a while. It could be like one giant week long date."
"Or," Hope says, offering an alternative to what Rose is saying, "they could have really just been laying in wait, and were going to grab the next person that came by." Which is what she has convinced herself it is. Otherwise, she'll be more paranoid and that won't make things any better within her own mind. "I'm glad you're trying to understand what I've been telling you." Even if she doesn't believe for an instant that Rose will ever be on her side, what with vampire friends. "He is /not/, I repeat, /not/ my boyfriend. We're just friends."
Here comes the sigh of disappointment. "I know what they put me through, what they did. That wouldn't have worked on any sane person, Hope." Faith then washes her hands of the whole thing. She tried to warn her sister, she did. "I don't know what I can do to convince you about what's going on. You should talk to your boyfriend's sister. She knows. She's probably the only person who has seen me lately, and even she doesn't know where I'm at." This is true: no one really knows where Faith is standing at the moment. Somehow, through all the negativity, she finds a smile. "Diagnose the situation as you would any other, sister dear." Wait, did she call her a sister and not a clone? "Think of what he's doing, and how he's doing it. I bet he likes you."
"Even if he does, we're just friends." Hope is done trying to correct her twin now. "It could have worked on anyone," she says sternly. "They could have used drugs, or worse… V. Things like that tend to make a person crazy, and believe whatever they're told." Despite the gravity of the situation, and the fact she can't tell if Faith is actually /Faith/ again, or if it's just another ploy of some sort, Hope feels that she should be honest with her. "I won't run to them and tell them where you are, but if they involve the police I can't lie to them. You probably have a few days, and if you come here after that we can explain it to them together, okay?"
Ah-ha. This is going to go over well. "I was forced to drink blood without knowing it." Maybe that shouldn't have been said, but maybe it will explain at least some of what was happening. "I overheard what they said, even if I didn't know it at the time." Just as Hope is done trying to correct Faith, the same is true of the whole situation. Hope just won't believe her. "Either way, I pissed them off right good when I killed one of them. They're mad, and you look just like me." Maybe -that- tidbit of information will make her sister take things seriously. Still, she needs to give her something. "I'm going to go back to my place soon. I'll tell them everything, every last thing, and show them that I don't need to be there anymore. I promise, Hope, that is what I plan on doing. It's just not safe right now."
About as well as when Hope realized she was in her pajamas while crying on Robert's shoulder. That's to say, it doesn't go over well at all. "I'll kill them," Hope says, almost sounding quite serious as she does. "That they would force you to… that they'd do that… Faith, are you /alright/?" Not the first time she's asked that this conversation. "You killed a vampire?" Hope is grinning now, despite the still silent tears that course down her cheeks every once in a while. "Go you! One less creature of darkness in the world." There's a bit of pride in the way she says that, like her sister probably couldn't have given her any better news. It's short lived, since there's still more to be said. "Please call me before you go to explain. I want to be there for you. Even if it's just to keep mom and dad calm."
Rose says, "No, Hope. You will go back to being the sweet and innocent sister you always were. I'll get back at them, all of them." Perhaps now Hope can see why she's saying that it is dangerous. She's about ready to hiss at her sister but she does see some bit of a point to her words. Not all vampires are evil, she truly believes this, but she does have a hell of a grudge against them. "I staked it right in the heart. Not everyone in that group is a vampire, so I can't stake them. But I will make them pay for killing all those innocent people." Yes, she said people. The last thing Faith wants to do is set off Hope. Finally she just sighs loudly. "Mom and Dad can piss off. I'll just go back there now before they can get there. And if they want to fight me I will sue them for my independence. The -only- person who has any claim to caring for my well being is you."
"Don't." Hope's voice sounds weary. "Don't go back there now. They've got people waiting there for you. They've been there since that video came out." So as much as she wants her sister to be deemed alright, and normal she doesn't want to see her locked down before she's able to explain things. "You promise me you're safe, Faith? Promise me that you're okay right this very moment. Promise me that you'll call me if you need me, or if I can help you. Promise me, and I'll try to explain things to them. I'll let them know that you remembered everything, and that you need time alone to think. I don't know if they'll back off, or that they won't check the few places we did last time, but you have to promise me."
"I don't know what else to do, Hope. No one will believe a damn word I'm saying right now, and all of the friends I have will be interrogated because of it. I'm not with any of them. Right now? I'm standing out in the middle of a field." Okay, it isn't a field, but she is outside. "I can't actually be in the city right now because our face is all over the news. I'd still go back to prove to you that I know what I'm doing." Faith sighs deeply again as she watches as the light begin to fade. "But you know, if you're saying not to go back, I won't. I'm perfectly fine right now. You won't be able to call me but I can call you again, from a different number." Because she's going to destroy this particular phone as soon as this call is over. "Just tell me when I can go there and Mom and Dad aren't there. I'm serious. I won't let them try to lock me back up. I think that would break me."
"Tell you what," Hope replies, "I'll get word to Mr. Fontane somehow." Her voice actually is rampant with anger as she says the name, but for her sister? She'll do anything. "/I/ believe you, Faith. You wouldn't be talking so lucidly if something didn't happen to make that brain of yours go back to normal. I guess trauma is the trigger, and I sincerely hope that further trauma doesn't send you catatonic again."
How does someone explain what really did happen to her? "It's complicated. I'm not exactly sure how it all works. But things will be okay now, Hope. I met some people that are going to make everything okay." Again Faith is using the word people, and she's doing it deliberately. Her confusion is clear on the phone, though. "What's Ivan going to do about anything?" She's not trying to throw her sister off this time, but is seriously just misunderstanding. Hopefully it plays in her favor. "But I should go. It will be dark soon. I won't have time to get back into the city but I can get somewhere safe."
"If I can't call you, he'll likely be able to find you. Seems to me that he wanders around just /looking/ for you." Anger in her voice again, but she tries to let it slide. She really does. Hope doesn't want to let the conversation end, but she can't really force her sister to stay on he phone either. "Call me sometime tomorrow. It's silly, but just check in with me to let me know you're still okay and that this isn't all some delusion."
At that Faith actually chuckles. "That's because he doesn't know what's good for him. Looking for me never leads to good things, not right now." It's true, though! So she isn't really lying to her sister. "That's how I got away from him." Again, not another lie at all. "Hope, do me a favor. Whenever you see the next person you see, show them your phone. Show them the call log and let them prove to you that I did call. You're not imagining things and I don't want you to believe that you are." There's a pause as a bird sounds overhead. See? She really is outside! "I'll find a line to call you on tomorrow, or at least a way to get word to you. Goodnight, Hope." Then she disconnects the phone and chucks it as far away as she possibly can.
