Topic: Kidnapped?

Annabeth Caldwell

Date: 2016-02-23 17:41 EST
The after party often left the rest of the theater feeling abandoned. or mostly so. Annabeth's progress however was scrutinized very carefully. Silent footfalls walked with haste, the steps exaggerated in such a way that little more than a whisper ever emanated from them. Whomever it was paralleled her, a flash of black and white here, a gust of wind moving a curtain there. These could be normal though, right'

On a normal night perhaps, tonight that was not the case. Those eyes watched her judged her path and moved to get in front of her. There was a place, one that would leave him in concealment and allow him to simply reach out and take her hand. A quick move it would be, and by one possessing strength far greater than his would-be victim.

There were more voices, the party goers were getting louder, but there was still time. Sound carried in a place like this. When he made his move, that sound would go the other way. Any pursuit would be far too late. All evidence of either of their passing would be gone. Even curtains that swayed with movement so easily would have settled back into normalcy.

She was close....a whispered few words. the sweetest words to any ear...her own name. "Annabeth..." He would wait for the pause, and the turn. Then he'd be behind her and together they would flee.

Annabeth turned as she heard Kruger's voice, "Kru -" She blinked as she realized he was behind her again. The she felt his hand grab hers and pull. No longer in control, she probably should have screamed, scratched, pounded at her assailant. But it wasn't an assailant. It was Kruger. Curiosity pumped through her veins rather than fear.

The way had seemed to be predesignated. Where it seemed like there should be walls, there was open air, at least until they passed through, then there was a distinct clicking sound as though whatever opening had been there no longer existed. The further they went the darker it got.

At one point the floor disappeared. Kruger's impact with the floor below could be heard, the speed he'd kept as he pulled her along combined with its surprise appearance making it impossible to avoid. Annabeth dropped through the trapdoor some ten feet before being caught by Kruger. Again there was the clicking sound as the door above closed and locked.

He hadn't said anymore than her name, and he also did not pause long in their flight. Kruger set her on her feet, took her wrist in his hand and moved forward into the darkness. There was a decided slant to the floor, and a sound that said they were no longer walking on the wooden floors of the theater. The sounds of vermin echoed all around them as their passage scared of who knew what.

His grip was tight, it was born of the same hand that could grasp a hammer's handle all day without tiring. He stopped short though, turned to her at last, but rather than say a word, he lifted her up and carried her. The sound of liquid sloshing around his feet could be heard in the darkness. "Almost there....still a ways to go, but each step takes us closer." His voice was a hiss in her ear. Far above the sounds of cars on the street could be heard.

Being dragged trough sewers in the middle of the night wasn't exactly Annabeth's idea of a good time. The fall through the trapdoor startled her and she felt her ankle wrench as she tumbled. He was there to catch her when she came down though, and as he lifted her up there was a gentleness buried just under the surface.

Then his grip bit into her wrist once more and they were off again. She wasn't anywhere near as scared as she should have been. As she would have been if he hadn't been throwing hints her way the last couple of days. Still, she wasn't exactly sure of what was going on in his mind, so she just tried to stay alert. Oh there's no way she could find her way back now, but anything can happen.

"Kruger when I said give them hell. I didn't think you were planning to take me there." She tried to bring some humor into this crazy situation, but she couldn't eliminate the tiny quiver to her words.

((This was taken from game logs between Kruger's player and myself. It's been posted with permission.))

Annabeth Caldwell

Date: 2016-02-23 17:41 EST
He wanted to laugh, but was afraid of how it would come out. He had no idea why the woman hadn't started screaming. It didn't really matter, the further they got before reality set in the better. Not too much further and any shouts would be lost to the darkness and only heard by the rats.

Turns and half turns, intersections that held five separate directions all of these came and still he moved on without stopping long enough to decide which tunnel he would take. He hadn't let her down either, there had been miles of sewer passed between the time he'd picked her up because of the water and when they'd passed beyond it. Now he stopped though, a faint glow had appeared well ahead, and Kruger seemed to be making a beeline right towards it.

A heavy iron door blocked their way, it's curved arch rose upwards the peak standing easily twelve feet above the floor. With his right hand Kruger released Annabeth and grasped the door handle. The fairy light that ran along the archway brightened at his touch, somewhere deep in the door a lock opened and the door swung easily inwards. Kruger carried Annabeth across the threshold and closed the door behind them.

The light within burned his eyes. It wasn't really bright, or wouldn't be considered so against places on the surface, but they'd been in near darkness for quite some time. As the door closed the fairy lights around the door flickered twice and went out completely. There would be no guiding light for any pursuit should it come. Not that Kruger expected any. He'd have been more concerned had Annabeth made even a little noise. Maybe she wanted to be here" Kruger shook his head at himself arguing silently within. How could she, how could anyone really"

Around her the walls were now lit, there were carvings in the wood and plaster, signs and symbols that ran from floor to ceiling nearly a hundred meters over head. The ceiling was arched as well. The entire place while obviously rectangular had the feel of one continuous circle until the flattened floor was taken into account.

"Hell, I suppose that's it in a way isn't it' I'd say I'm sorry, but clearly I'm not."

He'd borrowed Eregor's mask, behind it his eyes were hard, perhaps a little cold. Certainly this wasn't his usual attitude, and it was a far cry from the person she'd spent the evening of the disco ball with.

She nodded more from habit than anything. She was taking the place in now. It was huge. She tried to make out any of the signs and symbols, but nothing made a lot of sense to her. Finally she turned her attention to him. Dark clothing, his face partially covered with the mask Eregor would don for Phantom tomorrow night. It didn't seem like the usual Kruger, even though it was definitely him. She had spent too much time with him the past several months not to recognize him. "Well, are you holding me for ransom or something a bit more nefarious?" Honestly, she figured she'd be paying her own ransom if any was needed, but she knew deep down that this was deeper than money. She knew he was struggling with something, but she hadn't exactly expected it to come out like this. She focused on him, trying to figure out his motivation. That and staying strong, what was the line, "a pillar of strength."

"You don't suppose the city would come to its knees over you do you?" She was looking at the signs and symbols, and so many of them were mathematical formulas. Others were spirals done in gold leaf. His mind knew what he meant. The golden spiral. Fibonacci would have been proud, or horrified. "Some would pay, I'm sure but I have never needed money that badly Annabeth."

More nefarious then" "You worried that I may just wish to harm you? To put my hand to your throat and see what?s inside?" Kruger's hand went into the air and closed, as he described taking her throat, his other hand seemed to use an invisible blade in a cutting motion that would likely eviscerate any thing it slid across.

His smile was cruel beneath the edge of the mask. "No my dear, or at least not yet. I've many plans....but only you to know that I had begun thinking of them. Only you to know the truth. This is who I am." If she'd understood any of what he meant then the other indicators would become more obvious. The place was huge, but empty. Maybe there was something to it being 'only her'"

Why would have been a good question for either of them to ask. Kruger wouldn't be able to tell her because he only knew it had to be her. That much he felt deep inside. He did turn his back on her, he walked forward deeper into this place, echoes of his passage reverberating back to her. It didn't seem to matter how far he went his steps seemed to be right next to her. "You should come inside my dear. There's no going back, unless you take my hand from me."

Her lips twitched at the line about the city, he took that about as seriously as she did obviously. Then as he lifted his hand and mimicked slicing her throat open she swallowed a bit hard, but it's the cruel smile that chilled her. Only her" That confused her almost as much as it intrigued her. She was so curious it was eating her up inside. So she followed him, but as she did she whispered a prayer. She's going to need a lot of guidance going forward.

She continued to take in her surroundings as she walked alongside him. Anything might help.

"So do you want to tell me why' Or do you even know?" She tried to keep judgment out of her voice, but she was beginning to wonder what it was about the 13th of February that hated her.

Annabeth Caldwell

Date: 2016-02-23 18:24 EST
The wide passage way opened up into an even larger area. Over head a huge dome rose revealing a painted mosaic on the ceiling of the night sky, a very good approximation of that sky too as the moons above were in perfect unison with those outside. In the center of the dome, a pedestal rose some ninety meters it's top even with the base of the dome. A platform rested atop the pedestal, though what was on it was shrouded in darkness. The only way to see for certain would be to ascend the staircase that spiraled up from the floor around it.

Here the air quality had changed, most would say it had worsened, but most weren't Kruger. That hint of sulfur was home to him. The dome was supported by eight pillars at the compass points. Chaos and order symbolized in the structure.

"Why' I love and hate that word. Why here" Why you? Why now?" His head turned towards Annabeth, one wheat colored eye taking in her expression.

"I know some things, and not others. Why now" Because now was when I chose to let my guard down. Why here" Because this place is important, this place is me."

Why Annabeth though' He couldn't really wrap his head around what it was about some people that drew the best and the worst out of him. "You'd prefer someone else? Maybe that's why you after all?" He considered the words and shook his head denying it. "No, if that were the case this place would be full of people who preferred it be someone else."

It wasn't though, the place was vast, and empty. In this room the sound of a pendulum's swinging could be heard in long slow audible clicks. They were loud, indicating that where ever it was the pendulum was immense.

"Actually, I'd say that I'm here, because I'd rather it be me than put someone else in this situation." came her reply.

The architecture appealed to her if the smell of sulfur didn't. Letting his guard down" Perhaps a little but at this point he still had lots of masks on. Not just Eregor's.

She heard the pendulum and her mind pictured a huge tower clock. "I hope the alarm doesn't go off." She had a strange sense of humor at times.

"Ah, nobility....You don't find it tedious" Maybe even a waste of time" What good shielding others they'll only find harm some other way. They'll only be taken, and all control lost in the process." Bitter words falling from him. "It'd be a mercy if it all ended now, if everything were swallowed, spaghettified never to return." Reacting to his description, the domes ceiling changed. Everything moved, the very center became a black hole gobbling up all light in a swirling blaze that ended abruptly.

Kruger didn't look up, the scene was simply a mirror of the turmoil he was feeling inside, the same that he always felt. So why had he bothered to give her even a hint of it' She wasn't plain by any means. Beauty had never been the thing to catch him the way she had at the ball. Perhaps it was how similar they'd been. He didn't know, and that was part of the problem. He'd find out or push her so hard from him that there would never be a need to worry if she laid eyes on him again. This pleased him even as he was caught up in the horror of his thoughts. Kruger ground his teeth. He turned away so hard that the air stirred in his passing.

"Maybe you should tell me why you. I can't seem to think straight." He put several paces between them, fingers curling into a fist that gripped the twisted spiraling rail that went upwards. He was shaking, why was control so difficult. Why did it always exist just beyond his own grasp"

"Tedious" Maybe if I thought about it. As for it being a waste of time" Depends on what I think is a waste of my time wouldn't it' I'd like to think that God can make use of the good I try to do even if it's not obvious here and now. But that's my view."

She watched the dome fascinated and disturbed, but then she turned to watching him again. Anger, pain, frustration, she understood all that, but there was more, she was sure of it.

"Why me" Personally, I'd attribute it to God, but again that's me. If I had to give a pure guess, I'd say that you sensed something in me that you think will help you. And you couldn't let that pass."

God" He put no stock in any of them. Believe they exist' Sure, but they would always be on opposite sides of a gorge.

"Perhaps, or maybe I just need a witness. Someone to do all these things in my head for. To terrify you with exquisite horror as I do things unfathomable. Maybe I need someone to remember what it's like to be pure." There was acid in his voice as he spoke the words, that seemed to rise and then quickly fell away.

"It's so hard to remember what that's like," The last was barely a whisper as Kruger sat down on the lower steps.

Annabeth Caldwell

Date: 2016-02-23 18:25 EST
Arguing at this point would be useless; she walked over to the stairs and sat at the bottom one looking up at him. She picked a relaxed pose, rather than a defensive one. Nervous " a bit " curious " a lot " but she also wanted to help him if she could, and that meant staying relaxed and open.

"All right, we've exhausted why for the moment. I'm here, and I know I'm here for a reason, even if neither one of us is exactly sure what the reason is. Perhaps we better get started?" A smile tugged at her lips. "Just be lenient with me, I lost my script so I'm ad libbing here."

"You needn't worry, I've never hurt a friend. We are that, aren't we" The world would seem pretty empty if I couldn't think that way."

Kruger played with the mask on his face. "I'm no good at this, not really. I don't know how to be truly cruel. If I were to take this off, I'm not sure I would know who to be right now." For a moment he contemplated doing that and just as abruptly changed his mind.

"There's little difference between chaos and me. Chaos is beautiful, dangerous. I like beautiful dangerous things. Too much maybe."

He slid down a step, still above her but closer. "You're dangerous, at least to me. And something that I should just leave alone."

He wasn't making any sense, he knew that much. Problem was that his thoughts were disjointed right now as was his sense of purpose. "This place, it came from inside me. I couldn't stop thinking of the numbers or the need. Everywhere you look or touch you'll find a spiral, perfect. Somehow I got lost though. I'm no longer certain which direction I am going."

"You're still my friend, Kruger." She watched him toy with the mask as she listened to him ramble. She sensed a lot of truth in it, and more than a little confusion. Chaos indeed.

"Up, down, light, dark, chaos, order, which way am I going, which way do I want to go, and what happens when I get there?" She reached out a hand to him. "I don't like to hurt my friends either."

"I don't know how to be me anymore. I don't have what it takes to give everything all the time."

He saw the hand, hesitated for an instant as he considered taking it. Instead he pulled the mask off and put it in her hand.

"But I can't be real either. I am afr " I just can't. I'd rather be empty." Like the building around them. He'd tried to tell her but the closest he could come was to say that the place was him. He didn't look at her as he was speaking, if he had then he would close up again, become the person he'd been when he'd stolen her away from Lirssa and Josette.

"I don't need the mask, not really."

She took the mask and put it in her lap. "Well, there's one mask off at any rate." The words were soft almost as much to herself as to him.

"I'm not sure you mean it, though. That you'd rather be empty. There's pain in emptiness too. It's not the great numb everyone wants to think it is. Thoughts, feelings, good and bad echo in emptiness, they swell rather than shrink." The authority in her voice spoke of experience.

"It lies, emptiness," she stared at him as she continued. "It lies a lot. But it also tells the truth. It's not that different than the rest of us in that regard."

"Every waking moment is pain Annabeth." He looked at her, it was a mistake and he knew it. He looked anyway. It pushed itself across his face, the crooked smile and the projection of the face that he gave the world. "I'm sure you already know that though." It was difficult to sustain that in this place when there was too few to perform for. He'd do his best though. "Empty I don't have to lose what?s close to me. I don't have to worry because my control is so....limited."

The words didn't match the expression. They were direct opposites and perhaps that was a testament of how deeply embedded his facade really was.

Annabeth Caldwell

Date: 2016-02-23 18:29 EST
"You've lost you though, and control is just another mask." She reached out to touch his arm. "You took off a mask tonight. I guess, maybe I should too. I've been dying inside all night. Hiding it deep down, because, well you know the saw, "the show must go on." I couldn't even stay to the end of the party tonight, I had to get home. I lost my mother a year ago today." There was a catch in her breath but no more words came.

Kruger didn't stop the touch, it seemed to him she needed it more than he did at the moment. "I'm sorry, I didn't know about her." He slid down another step, and sat next to her. He put an arm around her to give her access to a shoulder if she needed a place to cry. "You managed to bury it pretty well. I doubt anyone would have guessed there was something wrong." That had a familiar feeling to it. These things couldn't last though. They would chew a person up much as they had for him. How many years since he'd begun it'

"Everything will be okay, I'm sure where ever she is she's looking at you and smiling to see how well you've turned out." She might be, just because he didn't follow the ideas didn't mean he was right. "Did you get the chance to say goodbye?"

She leaned against him taking the shoulder and nodded.

"I know, but I miss her, I miss her every night I go out on stage and know she's not out there, and won't ever be out there, at least on this side of life. Yeah, I got to say goodbye. It was cancer. I'm sorry, Kruger, we're supposed to be talking about you."

Kruger shook his head. "No, there's no list of what we are supposed to do. I'm not the only one who needed something. It would be selfish to do that to you." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Noting to keep the walls up for now. "I'd say it lessens over time, but I just don't know. It does and then you remember and feel guilty for not remembering sooner." Not that his mother had passed, he honestly didn't know one way or the other. But others had, and he felt those now for her.

"What do you think she'd say to you if she were standing right there?" He pointed to a spot not far from them.

She continued her lean against him, but glanced toward the spot. She could almost see her standing there with her hands on her hips and upturned lips.

"She'd probably say to cry, to get it out, and that she loves me, and she's proud of me. And that she nearly laughed when I had to rewrite one of my last lines tonight because the right word went on vacation. Then she'd probably ask if there was something going on between you and me."

Kruger laughed a little at the last part. "She wouldn't be the first to wonder I'm sure." He looked at her more seriously than he had probably ever. "So, you should cry, and get it out. I won't say a thing. It's good that you can know something like that." He wasn't going to talk about family, this was not the time. "I doubt anyone else in the audience even realized you missed a word. Heck I didn't and I was standing right there every night." He winked once, and pushed a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. "You know you're not really my prisoner, more's the pity. I don't have a dungeon to keep you in and you really wouldn't want my cooking. It pretty much tastes like sulfur." Likely something to do with cooking over an open forge but sometimes you had to grab your meals where you could right"

"I could cook for us, if it came to that. And yeah I guess I know I'm not a prisoner. I just hope I can help you come out from behind the bars occasionally."

She buried her head against his shoulder again. "As for crying and getting it out, yeah. That might start soon. I just, I wanted to say thank you."

"You're helping, I may not come out but I might let someone in for a bit." He wanted to say it couldn't hurt, but he knew it could. He figured eventually it would.

"I'll spring for the fixings if you're doing the cooking. Maybe that will make us even?" He gave her a squeeze, trying to get her to laugh a little.

"Annabeth....I'm sorry I felt like kidnapping you tonight. But, at least you have a good reason for missing the rest of the party." Kruger bit his lower lip to keep the grin that he had prepared from popping out again.

Her laughter rang out in the large chamber. "I do at that. And don't worry about it. I didn't exactly fight you, and in a weird sort of way I gave you permission. Sort of. It's cool, K. I gotcher back. I might need an arm though if I break down." There was a slight pause as a thought occurred to her. "Oh and come to my party Wednesday, at least for a few minutes and we'll call it even."

She reached out to give him a hug as she whispered, "We're good, Kruger.?

"I've got arms to spare whenever you need one, or both." He proceeded to use both of them as she hugged him.

"I'm glad we're okay. I'll be at the party, house warming slash birthday party right' I'll have to figure something really good out for a gift."