In the blink of an eye.

[Zarina Kassir]

Characters Appearing: Zarina Kassir, Sally Smithson
Location (s): Barrenwood
Previous Thread Name.: Hanging by a moment.
Plot Summary.: Zarina meets yet another killer from the Entity's realm. But she is not what she expects.

[Zarina Kassir]

With Caleb gone on his trip to the badlands to enter some sort of bad guy card game Zarina was left to her own devices. So, she spent the time cleaning up the barn, knowing not to touch any of the tall cowboys things. She smiled to herself as she swept the floor of the barn. For such a big rugged man if something even a small screwdriver was moved, he would know. It was funny how she was getting to know all of his little mannerisms, and such.

She paused mid sweep thinking about him. Everything in his profile said he was aggressive, hot tempered, prone to outbursts of rage. But the entire time she was with him they haven’t had a single heated argument. Oh, there were times when they would disagree, and heaven knows Zarina can hold her own in a fight. But that unbridled rage…she didn’t see it. Then again when you steal someone’s life’s work and constantly rip them off would make anyone angry…

Heading up the ladder to the second story she looked at their sleeping arrangements. They were both still sleeping in hay and while he had his blanket and she her sleeping bag it was still not going to work. The weather was getting colder and while his new heater worked wonders it was still chilly. What if he catches cold? Zarina bet in the Entity’s realm he hasn’t had to worry about getting sick. But here, getting medicine might be hard. It was then she made the decision as she dropped the broom and headed down the ladder. Grabbing her bag she was determined to put her plan into motion as she headed to Barrenwood.

[Sally Smithson]

This is silly. There's no guarantee that the cowboy here is the same one I know. Sally thought to herself as she 'walked' the town's alleyways, passing through walls and positively spoking the living hell out of the locals. But still, if there's even a chance it could be him, I owe it to myself to find out. Caleb had been one of the few killers in the Realm that was still. . . mentally intact. Mostly anyway. Though they couldn't speak he always remained cordial and polite with Sally, and she had always done the same in return. Mutual kindness like that was so rare in the Realm.

Sally turned down the main road only to find it mostly deserted. My, my. Word travels rather quickly in this town. Clutching the saw in her hand she continued to float quietly down the street, keenly aware that some of the locals were spying on her for the safety of their windows. Perhaps he really isn't here.

It was then that a melodic sound seemed to emanate from the one building that didn't seem totally lifeless. The saloon. A piano. Playing a bar song. Aside from her own home in Crotus Prenn, Caleb's world was the only one that had a functioning instrument. A piano. She remembered listening to him play for hours, and the man knew how to tickle the ivories, far better than she could play the organ. Floating up to the Saloon's door she simply passed through the swinging doors.

"Caleb. Is that you?"

[Zarina Kassir]

Approaching the town Zarina sighed slightly. She could already feel eyes on her from nearby windows as she walked into town. During the day the main road was pretty deserted. She knows that Caleb has had run-ins with the people here before. In fact, he most likely instigated the run-ins. The big guy did like to make his presence known after all. When she came to this town, he did have most of it in the grip of fear. Of course, a lot of the people here were rather rude so they most likely deserved it. But that also made shopping here a project since they most now run from her just because she lives with him at the barn. Passing by the saloon she heard screaming from inside as she rolled her eyes.

“Oh, come on! I don’t even go to the salo-..” Knotting her eyebrows however she stopped as a few of the townspeople ran through the doors. They weren’t running from her and Caleb was out of town, so then who..?

"Caleb. Is that you?"

Hearing a voice with an odd accent calling his name she pushed the saloon doors open and froze in place. A small woman wearing a nurse’s uniform was floating above the ground in front of her. A very familiar looking nurse…

Zarina’s eyes widened and now with her memories returned to her she could recall running from this particular killer as well! Only it wasn’t the ghost town, it was some dilapidated asylum. Not only did she remember her but she remembered her abilities and her weaknesses. Reaching into her bag slowly she took hold of her flashlight.

“….The scary nurse lady,” Zarina muttered as she backed up to the doors. “It is you, isn’t it…Sally?” Zarina said as she took an offensive stance.

“I don’t know how you got here, but Caleb isn’t one of the Entity’s puppets anymore and neither am I. I know all your moves so unless you want to get hurt, you’ll leave…” She said preparing for an altercation unknowing that her visit was not what it appeared.

[Sally Smithson]

Instead of being greeted with the familiar hulking form of the tall cowboy, she was greeted with the sight of a terrified local who shakily rose his hands in surrender as he eyed her bone saw. Her heart sunk a bit as her shoulders slumped. Damn. The nurse opened her mouth to ask for the cowboy but was interrupted as she heard a voice from behind her. An oddly familiar voice that caused her to grip her saw just a little bit tighter. Slowly she turned around to see a face she thought she'd never see again. Now this feels like deja vu.

Raising her free hand she pointed at the woman. "You. I remember you. You were one of them, correct? You were one of the survivors." She said in a low voice as she faced the woman. She couldn't recall her name, but she could recall the woman being quite the thorn in her side. She had always lacked the fear that others did, and on top of that, she was horribly clever. She had slipped away from Sally more times than she cared to admit.

"I'm going to ask you this one time and one time only." The nurse threatened as she rose her free hand, a small ball of light forming in her palm as she prepared for a blink. "Where is Caleb? I know he's here. There were rumors of a tall, dead-looking cowboy roaming around these parts. I know you're a smart girl, so let's not make any rash decisions, yeah?"

Sally fell silent as the woman yelled at her. So much fire. A shame I'll have to snuff it out.

"I know he isn't with the Entity anymore, neither am I." It was a relief to hear that the Entity hadn't followed Caleb in this world. "There weren't many killers in the realm I could talk to, most of them were, well, you know. Less than mentally well. But not Caleb. He's my friend you see. I just want to see my friend."

Her voice dropped to a growl. "Now either tell me where he is or step aside! Or you can suffer the consequences."