ZRP-2: Chapter 5: Pariah's Warning

Eve froze. She didn't know the man, but she heard rumors. No guard...no, it had to be.
Or was she just scared?
What Elite guard would sit there eating an apple and say that?

Eve took a step inside and closed the door behind her. He'd have the knife thrown becore she could draw her Ruger.
"Are you...him?"

(Pariah)
=I simply smiled at her=
"'Him?' My, is that what they call me nowadays? Used to be I was just 'The Pariah.'"

=I bit into another piece of apple, chewed quickly, and spoke again=
"But to answer your question. Yes, I am him. So nice to see you Eve, after all this time."

Eve shakily knelt on the floor. With all her training, she was no match against him. Especially not alone.
So she took a deep breath.
"You are just the Pariah." Eve finally said it. This was real.
"Are...are you here ro kill me?"

(Pariah)
"Kill you? Why would I do that? I'm here to applaud you on your initiative Eve. Embedding yourself here with Elites, right at the heart of this little rebellion. Your father, while necessary, would be so proud if he could see you now Eve."
=Standing up, I walked over to her, placing a hand on her head=

"You are without doubt the most effective tool we have crafted, besides me of course."

Eve shook a bit.
"I...am not here for the Shepherds." She didn't look up. "I...am here...because I found a real family."
Eve slightly cringed a bit. She just felt she'd be killed.
Eve was a traitor to the Shepherds.
Otherwise known as a target.

(Pariah)
=I gripped her chin, and pulled her face to look up at me=
"But that's where you're wrong Eve. You never left. You simply did your job as a triple agent. Killing your father, helping these people, it was all an act to place an agent right where she could do the most damage. And you will do damage Eve."

Eve had to look up. She...had to deny him. She had to.
"I am not yours anymore. I belong to my mommy. My daddy. My....friend. not you. Never you again."
Eve still couldn't look defiant...only scared.

(Pariah)
=His voice took on a stone hard tone, and as cold as a blizzard=
"Your little whore of a mommy will be dead Eve. And your friend. And your father. Especially your miserable, pathetic excuse for a father. You will do as your told, do what is commanded of you by your Lord God, or I will slit their throats before the week is out."

"Mommy is not a whore. She is more then my friend. And daddy will kick your ass before you touch mygirlfriend. No. You touch my girlfriend, I'll kill you." Her voice grew more brave. "I chose my family. My. Family. Never you bastards. Never again."

(Pariah)
"Heh, so the little bird has finally grown her own talons. I suppose it was worth a shot though, to bring you back over to us. But it changes nothing about why I'm here. I have a message for you, and everyone else here. And you shall be the lips from where it comes. Tell them that we are coming, that the Pariah is also gathering his own army. And that we shall crush you all. If they continue this, we won't spare anyone, not even the women and children. But surrender now, and they will be spared while we put down the men."
=He began to walk for the door, but stopped=

"Oh, and give a personal message to James. From me. Tell him......Mikey says hello."
=He then walked for the door again=

"Wait!"
Eve sobs. She doesn't rise.
"I'll do whatever you want. Please. Just don't take mommy and the one I love away. I'll do it. Just please. Keep your deal."
She started to shake a bit more...praying silently.

(Pariah)
=He turned to look at her=
"It's strange. I can tell that you mean it. That you will do whatever I say. But you know what?"

=There was the sound of a blade unsheathing, and then he walked up behind her and held the tip against her cheek=
"I'm going to have to say no, and you know why? You killed your father, and betrayed us already. And I can bet that was because you had your family with you. So instead of sealing the deal, and living with the risk of you putting a knife in my back I'm going to cancel the deal. You're going to sit there, with that all too familiar fear, knowing that now, as punishment for your actions, I'm going to rip your world away."

=He started speaking as if to a baby=
"Your wittle mommy, your pwecious daddy, and your wery pretty girlfriend. I'll even have some fun with her. And it will all be because you didn't do what you were told."

"Please. I'll listen. Don't touch her. Please. I'll do whatever you want. I swear."
Eve sobbed again. "Please."

(Pariah)
"Oh shut up with the begging Eve, it's so pathetic, even for you."
=As if to shutter up, he drew the knife down her cheek, cutting a long, shallow line that went from her cheekbone to just above her jaw. Then he stood up and walked away, opening the door=

"Remember Eve. My message. Be sure to give it to them."
=And then he left. Despite being ordered to kill both Eve and Sarah, he liked this more. Sarah was bound to have a panic attack when she learned who was here, and he enjoyed leaving her and Eve with the fear of anticipation, knowing that at any moment he could come in to this safe haven of theirs and kill them, and all they held dear=

Eve whimpered...and once five minutes past...she didn't care. Ahe lost it.
Running out, she just screamed at the top of her lungs.

"MOMMY! DADDY! SAAAAAAAM!"
That girl had some amazing lungs. And she was running outside, just shouting her all she held dear.

(James)
=I was finally about to fall asleep, before I heard screams, very familiar screams=
"Eve!"

=I jumped out of bed, and started shaking Hibiki=
"Hibiki, wake up! Something's happening with Eve!"

=And without waiting for a response, I went running out of the room for my daughter=

=Outside, people began looking at the girl who was screaming, startled by her entrance. One of the women in the group ran for Eve, attempting to calm her down. They grabbed her wrist and attempted to stop her=

Hibiki was running after him and witnessed Eve...judo-throw the woman. Her cries of wsnting the three people most important to her never stopped, her voice full of fear as she moved to run, crying and screaming as she tried to go back to where she last saw Sam.

(James)
=I was stunned by what Eve did to the woman, but it looked like she was okay, just had the wind knocked out of her. Running past her, a stream of "sorry" spurting from my mouth, I grabbed Eve, arms wrapping around her waist and lifting her up, robbing her of leverage=
"Eve, it's me! It's your dad, calm down Eve!"

(Sam)
=I started to hear something, screaming. Suddenly worried about who it may have been, got up and ran back to the hotel, and saw James holding Eve, who was screaming, her limbs flailing=

Eve continued crying and screaming, but finally went limp.
She just cried, some blood having flicked onto James' face.

Hibiki came from the front, sandwhiching Eve between them.
"I'm here baby. I'm here."

(James)
=I saw the blood on her face, and with a free hand wiped some of it away=
"It's okay Eve, we're here."

=Suddenly, I was aware of the crowd around us. We had certainly caused quite the commotion=

(Sam)
=When I saw Eve, with blood on her face and clearly just done screaming my first instinct was to run to her. But I saw that James and Hibiki had her in a hug, and felt they should have their time with her first=

"It's not ok. It won't be ok."
Sobbing, she spied Sam.
Then the struggles resumed.
"SAM!"
Hibiki backed away as Eve began flailing, nearly kixking her in the mouth.
"James, let her go!"

(James)
=Despite the fact that, as her father (or at least father in training), I didn't want to let go, I figured it was better that I let her go before she kicked me somewhere valuable. She immediately went running to Sam=

(Sam)
=The moment she rammed into me, my arms wrapped around her head as I held her close=
"Eve, calm down. It's okay. Hat the hell happened?"

"He's coming. He's making an army..."
Eve sobbed into Sam. "He's going to kill us. He can come anytime. He's going to rape you Sam."
She sobbed harder. "He was in our room. He was sitting there eating an apple. He tried to get me to join again. He tried to make me betray you again."

Eve clung tighter.
"The Pariah's come." She finally cried out, again breaking down as she clung to Sam with a vice grip.

(James)
=The air pressure in the area suddenly quadrupled, as people became tense. I doubted anyone knew what Pariah meant, but judging by how Eve was reacting, and the way she mentioned an army, people became tense in the span of a few seconds=
"Eve, common lets go somewhere else. Lets go somewhere private."

=I gave Sam a look, and she understood. She started to guide Eve back to the hotel, and I motioned for Hibiki to come with=

Hibiki followed, keeping close to Sam and Eve.

Eve wouldn't let go of Sam, holding her tightly and desperately, like if she let go she'd never see Sam again.
And she wouldn't stop crying.

(James)
=Once we were inside and Sam got Eve sat down in a chair, I knelt down in front of my daughter, a hand on her shoulder=
"Eve, look at me. What happened? What do you mean the Pariah was here?"

Eve clutched Sam's hand to her chest tightly.
"He was there. He's the Shepherd's assassin. He executes traitors. Executes anyone. He was here."
She recounted what he told her. Her geip on Sam tightened a bit when she said he would rape Sam.
"He has a message...a message for you daddy."
She looked up. "Mikey says hello..."

(Sam)
=Even as Eve had my hand pressed against her chest (something that had me go a little red in the face) I saw James' face go white, all the blood draining from it=

(James)
"Yo-you're sure? Th-that's what he....what he said?"
=Please God, this had to be a joke. Some sick joke. This couldn't be happening=

"He cut my cheek and told me to tell you that..."
She let up on Sam but did not let go. She still was shaking.

(James)
=She wasn't the only one shaking. I was barely able to keep myself from shaking=
"What else did he say Eve?"

"He left after his threats. He just said Mikey says hello. Nothing else."
She sobbed. "He said he'd rip everything from me..." she whimpered. "Then...I tried to take his deal. I wanted to take the deal. Maybe I could have beaten him if he saw me as an ally. But now... I only could kneel there and shake."
She looked at her knees, tears falling.

(Sam)
"Deal? What deal Eve?"

"He'd spare the women. Mommy. You. I was hoping...if I failed to stop him...I'd be able to save...who I could."
Eve sobbed. "I'm sorry. I tried to be a triple agent. I tried and now he'll kill everyone."

(James)
"Eve, what about this army? Are the shepherds building an army?"

"The Pariah is. He said he'd rush us." Eve started to calm down a bit.
She looked at Sam. "I'm sorry." She said.

(James)
=Dammit, this was not good. And it didn't sound like she knew when they were going to hit us, or where=
"We need to tell Cooper, now."

(Sam)
"James, I know this isn't the time....but it looked like you knew what this Pariah was talking about."

(James)
"Sam.....look, this isn't something I want to talk about. So drop it."

(Sam)
=Oh, I wasn't going to drop this. But for the sake of Eve, I stopped talking=

Eve sniffed.
"Sam. I don't want to sleep in our room. Can we sleep somewhere else?" She looked at her pleadingly.

(Sam)
"Uh....uh, sure, I guess."

(James)
"Hibiki and I will be close by Eve. We won't leave you alone."

Eve pressed Sam's hand to her cheek.
"Please don't leave my side Sam. Dont leave me." She whispered, shaking as a new wave of crying was coming.

(Sam)
"Eve, it's okay. I won't leave you. But please, don't forget your own mother, or your father. I'll be there for you, but they need to be with you more. Let them."

Eve started to sob. She didn't know what to do.
She coulsnt even do the right thing here.
Letting go of Sam's hand, she just covered her face and cried.

(James)
=In a sudden surge of protective nature, I wrapped my arms around her and crushed her against me in a hug=
"It's going to be okay Eve. Okay? It's going to be okay."

=I looked up at Hibiki, and shot her a look that said get down here=

(Sam)
=Before Hibiki could do anything, I wrapped my arms around the both of them, hugging her=

Hibiki was halfway there when Sam went in.
With a small smile, Hibiki hugged her family.
"We're here for you Eve. No matter what. It'll be ok baby."

Eve merely cried harder as everyone hugged her.

(Sam)
"Eve....it's going to be okay. You don't have to cry anymore."

(James)
=We all knelt around her, hugging her tightly. I knew that more than anything, that we needed to tell Cooper. But my emotions overruled my rationale, and I kept hugging her=

Eve slowly calmed down.
"Mommy...daddy...Sam?"
Shemanaged a weak smile. "I love you."
She gave them each a hug acter she extracated herself before reaching for Sam's hand. "I'll be fine...but...you need to tell Cooper. Pariah had an Elite uniform."

(James)
=That, more than anything, made me stand up and nearly yell in a panicked voice=
"Say what? He's got a uniform?"

(Sam)
"Eve.....you really need to start prioritizing information."

Eve cringed. Then well.
She just snapped.
"IM SORRY IM SO FUCKED UP THAT I CAN BARELY SPEAK. I AM SORRY I CAN ONLY LOVE YOU LIKE YOU ARE MY GIRLFRIEND. IM SORRY I CANT DO A FUCKING THING RIGHT."
She flailed to get everyone away from her. "IM SORRY IM ME!"
With that, Eve ran. And clocked anyone who touched her in the pelvic region. No matter who touched her.
Included her family or Sam.

She just ran and ran, not caring where she ended up.

(James)
"Dammit Sam!"
=I got up, about to run after Eve. But I stopped to talk to Hibiki and Sam=
"Hibiki, you're with me. We're going after our daughter. Sam, find Cooper, tel him what Eve told us."

=And with that, I ran after my daughter=

(Sam)
=Honestly, I needed to learn when to shut up. Turns out all I ever did was say the wrong thing=

(Andrew)

=I overhear the screaming and see Eve bolt like a bat out of hell=

That can't be good...

=I simply watch from a distance, not encouraged by what I was seeing=

(Sam)
=Shaking my head, I followed James order and ran for the stadium, hoping that Cooper was still there. The crowd broke up, but even as I ran I could make out quite whispering. People were already starting to become nervous, and it was bound to snowball into fear. Cooper was the only one in the compound who could get control of the situation, maybe calm people down. As those thoughts and others rushed through my head, I realized that I had crashed through the doors of the stadium and into the armory, where I found Cooper, standing with a walkie in his hand and talking to three other people, a map before them on a table. He looked up at me, stunned=
"Cooper, something's happened."

*Cooper*
=His face took on a worried frown=
"What?"

(Sam)
"It's Eve. She says a Shepherd agent was in her room, and that he had a message for us."
=I quickly divulged the key notes of the warning, the parts that Cooper needed to hear=

*Cooper*
=He was silent for a moment, clearly going over the information in his head=
"Does anyone else know about this?"

(Sam)
=With a grimace, I nodded=
"Yeah, when Eve was telling us she had attracted some attention. She was practically screaming this stuff out, and I could already tell that people were getting afraid."

*Cooper*
"Dammit.....alright, men, go out there with a strong presence, make sure the people know we're still here. Keep the public calm, until we can deal with this in a controlled manner. And have teams search for this Pariah. If he's wearing a guard uniform, I want to know which. Check for any new faces wearing a uniform, and try and find a body. He had to get the uniform off of one of our people. And Sam, where is Eve now?"

(Sam)
"She....she ran off. I said something that set her off, and she ran away with James and Hibiki chasing after her."

*Cooper*
"Shit.....try and track her down, and bring her back to the hotel. Whoever the pariah is, they may come after her. And men, send someone for Andrew and his sister. Chances are they'll also be in danger. Move people, now!"
=Everyone, even Sam, jumped into action. There was a reason Cooper was in charge=