Finding Ellie

[Halle]

Ryan clumsily unbuckles and flies out of the car.

[B.L.]

Damien get out of the car quickly and heads into the thick maze of tree's ahead, he gestures for Ryan to follow.

[Halle]

Ryan trips over the branches littering the floor constantly. Her curls are spilling loose of her ponytail, so she has so keep pushing them out of her eyes.

[B.L.]

Damien helps Ryan over a fallen tree and asks 'are you alright?, we're not far from the waterfall'

[Halle]

Ryan shrugs, "I'm fine. Just clumsy I guess."

[B.L.]

Damien lets go of her arm and continues through the forest. Damien ha always liked places like this, he says randomly 'i used to come here, to the forest and the waterfall when i was younger, it was my place'

[Halle]

Ryan asked, "Here specifically? Like where we are?" She looked around. 'Too quiet,' she thought. 'I need to be around people.'

[B.L.]

'Yeah in the woods and by the waterfall, i liked to come here to read or think, it was the only time i had truly to myself, i would have to skip class to come here' Damien admits 'i was busy mostly looking after Xavier and training otherwise'

[Halle]

"You skipped class?" Ryan gasped, teasing. "Not Damien, model citizen."

[B.L.]

Damien stops and turns to Ryan, his face is dark but secretly amused, he looks directly into her eyes and says 'i've never been a model citizen, rules dont tend to like me and to be fair i never really like them, and yeah i skipped because i had to be free of it all being trapped is my worst nightmare, but i had to grow up fast when my parents died'

[Halle]

Ryan blinked. "Uh, sorry," she mumbled. She wasn't feeling very witty.

[B.L.]

Damien just nods and leads the way forward. When they reach the end of the forest, Damien feels himsef smile at the familiar sound of the water crashing down over the rocks. The smell of fresh everything hit his superior senses, he wondered how strange it would be if he human and therefore unable to trult apreciate the sounds, smells and general feelings of the world. He pushes some bushes out of the way for Ryan and looks out over the massive opening, with a sky blue lake and waterfall.

[Halle]

Ryan almost gasps when she sees the waterfall. "Ellie?" she calls. No one answered.

[B.L.]

Damien points over to a rock at the far side of the lake, Ellie is still sat on it, just like in his vision.

[Halle]

Ellie looked up, her pupils dilating in fear. "Ryan?" she said.

[B.L.]

Damien moves slowly towards Ellie, he doesnt want to frighten Ellie in her state.

[Halle]

Ellie shrinks back. "Who are you?" she shrieks hysterically. "Get away!"

[B.L.]

Damien looks back at Ryan and says 'Ryan, i think she needs you, i'll be right behind you if need me ok'

[Halle]

Ryan swallowed. "Uh, m'kay," she said uncertainly. She walked forward slowly. "Ellie," she said softly. "You need to come back to school with us, okay?"

Ellie's lip trembled. "I don't want to," she whispered.

[B.L.]

Damien follows Ryan and waits to see if Ellie will do anything dangerous.

[Halle]

Ryan flinches when Ellie stands up, expecting the worst. Instead, she bursts into tears and sobs while hugging Ryan.

[B.L.]

Damien says 'whats going on Ellie?'

[Halle]

Ellie chokes out, "I want to go home!" She cries harder. "I miss Cali."

Ryan gapes. She looked at Damien. "She wants to go home to California. That's all," she said.

[B.L.]

Damien relaxes, but only slightly 'Well we can go back whenever your both ready alright' he says.

[Halle]

Ellie glares. "I'm not going back," she says.

[B.L.]

Damien asks 'why not Ellie?'

[Halle]

"Bad things," is all she says.

Ryan shrugs. "Well you need to get your stuff from our room anyway."

[B.L.]

Damien thinks for a second and hesitates before saying 'if you need a place to stay...i know of one out here'

[Halle]

Ellie stares at him. "I don't know you."

[B.L.]

'and i dont know you, but Ryan knows me, and you trust her' Damien says.

[Halle]

Ryan shrugs. "He's okay, I guess," she said, but she was smiling.

Ellie's lip twitched with the ghost of a smile.

[B.L.]

Damien smiles slighlty and says 'if you dont want to go back then, like i said, i know a place you can stay out here'

[Halle]

Ellie nodded.

[B.L.]

Damien nods back and smiles encouragingly. He starts to walk towards the place.

[Halle]

Ellie satnds up, still clutching at Ryan. "Thanks, Ry," she whispers.

[B.L.]

Damien leads them past the waterfall and half a mile through the forest, eventually they come to a clearing, Damien smiles at the familiarity. A blue house is in the clearing. Damien turns to them and says 'this is the place, it's abandoned, i used to come here all the time, nobody else knows about it'

[Halle]

Ryan frowned. "Why were you here? Alone?"

[B.L.]

Damien looks over at Ryan, his smile gone, a dark look replaces it 'i needed time to be by myself, after my perants died looking after Xavier and training could be...straining, so i came here to relax' he answers.

[Halle]

Ryan felt bad about bringing a topic up that was obviously not cool. "Oh," she said.

[B.L.]

Damien only nods in response. He shakes himself out of his memories and walks up to the front of the house, the door is still not locked but is slightly stuck just as it always had been. Damien pushes it open an goes inside, he gestures for the girls to follow.

[Halle]

Ryan and Ellie walk lightly through the doorway after Damien.

[B.L.]

Damien takes them into the living room.

[Halle]

Ryan looked around. "It's... cozy," she offered. Ellie nodded in agreement.

[B.L.]

'It's not much' he gestures to the cottage styled room 'but it's safe and warm' says Damien with a smile.

[Halle]

Ryan frowned again. "Safe against what?" she asked. "There's nothing and no one around for miles."

[B.L.]

'Exactly' says Damien. 'There's a bedroom upstairs if you want to use it and the water does still actually run' Damien says.

[Halle]

Ryan walked around looking at various points in the house.

[B.L.]

Damien ges over to the window that over-looks the back garden and puts a hand up to the window, his favourite place to sit was at the window seat upstairs and read. It was the only calm moments he got to have.

[Halle]

Ryan watched Damien. "You really like it here, huh?" she noted.

[B.L.]

'It's the only place i ever felt safe' says Damien, he looks over at Ryan.