![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Stephie paced up and down the length of her room, kicking at the bean bag lying on her floor each time she passed it. She had the cordless phone cradled between her chin and shoulder, growing more and more impatient with every ring. Sure, it was past eleven, but surely someone at Deirdre's house would still be awake to pick up. Ry, at least- she knew what hours he kept. Stephie growled into the phone, twelve rings and still nothing, but she'd stay on the line all night if she had to. No way was she sitting on this information all night.
"ARGH! For fucks sake, someone pick the hell up!"
"-the hell up!"
Ry wasn't slow on the uptake. With that kind of agrivation in the voice, it could be only one woman.
"Yes Slink? What can I possibly do for you?"
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 04:24 am UTC (link)
"You can go bang down Deirdre's door, that's what." Stephie snapped. "I need to talk to her- and stop being so sarcastically polite at me, you make me sound like a spaz."
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-24 04:27 am UTC (link)
Ry rubbed his forehead wearily, wondering what on earth had possibly brought this on. Deirdre and Renee's break up had been days ago already. It couldn't be that which had her so annoyed right now. His sole purpose of this week had been laying low in this new home of his. It had been working spectacularly well... up till now.
"Deirdre? Sure. I'll check it out."
Putting the phone down for a moment, he wandered towards her door and knocked softly. Her light wasn't on, and he certainly wasn't walking on in without an answer. After a moment or so of standing there, he walked back to the phone.
"You there? She's not answering. What's gotten you so antsed up anyway?"
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 04:32 am UTC (link)
"Call it PMS, argh." Stephie kicked at the beanbag again and the sat down hard on it, effectively killing it. It brought some very, very small satisfaction. "So where is she?" she demanded.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-24 04:34 am UTC (link)
"Well, one assumes, asleep in her room? I'm not her keeper, Slink. If you're so eager to see her, why don't you come over here and 'bang down the door' yourself?"
PMS week. Well, that certainly explained all of the women around him. All he could hope for now was a swift ending to this week and everything would go back to normal again.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 04:36 am UTC (link)
"Her cell phone better not be off too" Stephie muttered down the phone. "Thanks, Rybread, talk to you later, I really gotta get hold of her."
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 05:00 am UTC (link)
Deirdre came out of her bathroom still dripping from the shower. Almost immediatley she heard the annoyingly highpitched chirp of her mobile phone letting her know she had a missed call.
"Phone. Where the hell did I put my phone..." Deirdre rummaged through the rubble, one hand on her towel. Finally she found her pink phone with the damn cheery purple shiny buttons and backlight. She pressed the phone record button. Missed call from Slink? Deirdre's brow furrowed.
Jude.
Panicking and almost dropping her towel, she pressed options and then send, waiting for the other girl to pick up.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:09 am UTC (link)
She'd hurled the phone across the room after it had failed her, and had crossed her arms and glowered at it, sitting dejected on the floor under her window. Her head was full of anger, anger at herself for being so helpless and fear for Jude because she knew what kind of things could have happened. Anger was easier, she knew her way around anger.
The phone yanked her out of her head when it started ringing, not five minutes later, and she all but threw herself across the room to pick it up. "Hello?" she demanded, picking up half way through the second ring.
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 05:10 am UTC (link)
"Steph, it's Deirdre. What's wrong...is...is it Jude, is she okay?!" Deirdre couldn't keep the panic out of her voice.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:14 am UTC (link)
"No, she's missing." Okay, the fear was starting to win over the anger now. Stephie took a deap breath and tried to quell it. Her voice was a little shakier than she'd like but... "she never came back from Manchester, her parents called the police in the weekend. Shit shit shit."
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 05:19 am UTC (link)
Deirdre froze. It was if all breath left her. She sat in silence for a second, staring at the pile of shattered glass in front of her. Everything was so fucked up. Why was everything so breakable?
Before she turned blue, she breathed in again..gasped, "She-we have to find her! Anything could have happened. We have to go.."
That was crazy. What were they going to do, go to Manchester and ask random people if they'd seen a Jude lying around? Or just run around screaming her name randomly until she answered or they were arrested? She knew it was dumb, but suggesting it felt better than sitting around doing nothing.
"I-I could call the people she went down with...see if they know anything?" She breathed again, raggedly, "Oh god, Steph, I'm so sorry..."
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:24 am UTC (link)
Stephie swallowed hard and nodded, completely forgetting that Deirdre couldn't see her nodding. "Um, uh, yes. Call them. See if they know anything. See if she showed up there or not. Um, I should have asked her father if she'd actually shown up to the editorial but it didn't cross my mind. Um." Stephie shook her head as hard as she could and swallowed her babbling. "If you have any kind of contact with the people she might have been with, you call them. I'll... sit here and hit things."
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 05:34 am UTC (link)
Deirdre made a noise that she meant to sound like agreement. She didn't know if the message got across.
"I know some people I can call. She told me the name of her agency too. They'd be closed now, but I can try anyway. If...if you want to come over, that'd be okay. We can...I don't know..be horribly worried together?"
Deirdre waited.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:42 am UTC (link)
"I know one things, sure as hell I'm not sleeping tonight." Stephie heaved herself off the floor and dug her coat out of her wardrobe. "Give me half an hour and I'll be at your door."
At least they were doing something. At least they were trying. It crossed Stephie's mind that the police had probably rung the agency already but... she shooed the thought from her mind, it underminded their efforts anyway. "Try them, and let me know when I get there. See ya, Deirdre, it'll be alright."
'It'll be alright'? Where the hell had that come from? No, it probably wouldn't be alright and why the hell hadn't her mouth contacted her brain before saying that. She hated it when people said that kind of thing, it was just hollow hope.
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 05:47 am UTC (link)
Deirdre said something like "yeah" into the phone before she hung up. Then she went over to her computer and clicked it on, swearing at it impatiently as she waited for it to boot up. Jude had mentioned her agency on her journal. She had to find it first. Then she'd try calling some of the people from the show. She had NO idea if they'd gone to Manchester or not, but there was no harm in trying.
Growling at her computer for taking so long, she ran downstairs, still towelclad, and unlocked her front door. At least if she was still busy when Steph arrived, she could just come in. If she would. Then she ran back upstairs and connected to the internet.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:59 am UTC (link)
Stephie scribbled a note for her parents and dumped it on the kitchen table on her way out. Might as well at least try and soften the blow when her parents found her bed empty in the morning. Her Dad had kind of blown up at her when she hadn't come home the night of Ry's house warming, no matter how much Stephie tried to explain that they hadn't done anything (except pass out on the same bed and maybe make out for extended periods of time before that, although that wasn't something she mentioned.) They'd probably at least try and understand that this was an actual emergency and she shouldn't be grounded for running off in the middle of the night.
She was about half way to Deirdre's when the text from Jude came through. [i'm okay. i'm sorry steph.]
Stephie swore out loud and replied as fast as she could.
[You better be! Where the hell are you!?]
Jude didn't reply immidiatly. Stephie swore again, and started running. Deirdre's place was only a couple of blocks away and she needed to be there with someone if Jude texted her back.
There was still no reply when she reached the front door- found it open and barreled into the house, rocketing up to Deirdre's room.
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 06:07 am UTC (link)
Deirdre looked up, shocked when Slink ran into her room. She was still only wearing a towel and her shit was still scattered everywhere. She'd swpt all the glass into a pile, so you could safely walk around, but it was nowhere near clean or presentable. She figured that Steph could probably handle it. If she even noticed.
She was on the phone to a very sleep very cranky model that she had seen at the 2 runway shows she'd attended. Deirdre gave the girl a shy smile and said, "Mind the glass...." before shouting into the phone, "Okay..fine, just...STOP TALKING!" And she hung up.
Deirdre sighed. "Jude posted on her journal! I couldn't read it, but her calendar says she posted! And Lisa...a model said that Jude did get to Manchester. She didn't tell me anything else though, just yelled at me..." Slink looked like she had something to say. "Sorry...I'm just nervous...is something ELSE wrong?" she said, as she slid into her closet to get dressed.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 06:15 am UTC (link)
"Yes-no, I don't know. She just sent me a text. She's done this on purpose." Stephie handed Deirdre her phone so that she could read the message, then sat down on the side of Deirdre's bed -rather, on a pile of clothes and bedclothes that were strewn across the bed. She's wasn't bothered about the mess; her own room had looked like this on quite a few occasions, but she was a little surprised, and maybe even a little distrubed, to think of Deirdre doing this. She didn't look like she had it in her.
Well, not usually. Stephie looked over at her and could read it plainly in her face, especially while she was yelling down the phone line.
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 06:24 am UTC (link)
Deirdre slipped out of her closet wearing her snowman pajamas. She looked quite ridiculous. She slid on her her bed and took the phone being offered to her. She read the text and sighed.
"It's good to know she's still...that...you know. She didn't say where she was. Or why. I don't get it...you've known her longer, but I'm guessing this hasn't happened before because you wouldn't be so scared. Why would someone just disappear on purpose?"
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 06:32 am UTC (link)
"It's called running away, and people do it all the time." Stephie said, frowning at her phone. She almost jumped off the bed when it buzzed again.
[london. can't tell you more. can't go home.]
Stephie took a deep breath and exhaled. "See?" she held the phone over at Deirdre, "running away from something."
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 06:41 am UTC (link)
Deirdre nodded. She'd run away once, but she'd only run to a house 300 meters from her own.
"It says she can't go home. Is...is it her family? Did something seem weird there?"
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 06:49 am UTC (link)
Stephie ran through the encounter again in her mind. "Um, her house was bigger than I expected and it looked like her father didn't trust me. Or like the look of me. But that's it, though I was only there for a couple of minutes." She chewed on her lip, thinking. "Or it could be something at school, she's been acting a bit weird recently. Or it could even be that guy who she got in a fight with last week, what if he came back and freaked her out?"
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-24 01:50 pm UTC (link)
The front door had been pushed aside as though it had been left unlocked. Ry had looked up from his computer, through his closed door, as though he would somehow be able to see how had just walked in. He'd heard as Deirdre's mobile phone had gone off, unanswered, only to ring again five minutes later, with a sharp answer on this side.
He'd ignored it, of course. None of his business. But then, with the way Slink had been on the phone, and then hearing muffled tones from Deirdre, he had been able to assume that the two things might be connected. When the rushing person entered the house and went straight to Deirdre's room, he stood up, turned off his monitor, and wandered out towards the hallway.
"It's called running away," he heard Slink's voice say in a rush. "And people do it all the time."
Then the sound of a mobile. Ry almost turned and went back to his room. More female dramatics.
"Is... is it her family?" he heard Deirdre's quieter voice say as he'd already started to head back to his room.
'Her family'. Ry ran his mind quickly over what he knew. A girl, of those two's aquaintence. Couldn't be Renee. Someone whose family might be questionable. Jude? It had to be. He'd always supposed there was more to that family background than she'd been telling. He moved closer for more.
"Um, her house was bigger than I expected..." Ry appeared in the open doorway to Deirdre's room. By the end of Slink's desperate-to-explain setences, Ry was slowly shaking his head.
"No mere 'high school guy' is going to freak her out this much," Ry murmured.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 04:42 pm UTC (link)
Stephie looked up when she heard Ry's mumble. "They were in a fight, he could be following her or threatening her or anything, and maybe there's more than one, you don't know. I'm just trying to cover all the options, is all."
Besides, jumping to the conclusion her mind wanted her to jump to was too scary at the moment. Too much to quite deal with.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-24 04:59 pm UTC (link)
"Fine. Cover all the options. But one of those options could be that there's a reason she didn't go to her family and house that was, how did you put it, 'bigger than expected'."
A lot of the tensenses suddenly fell out of his shoulders. He didn't want to argue, especially not here while Deirdre was just watching on what went between them. That, and the look in Slink's eyes that said she'd already thought of what he just said stayed him.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:07 pm UTC (link)
Stephie shook her head. "Maybe she'll get in contact again. She says she's all right for now. I wish we could trace, this." She looked at the unresponsive mobile phone and sighed. "Okay, so what do we do now?"
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 09:21 pm UTC (link)
Deirdre sighed taking it all in. Could Jude's family be...like her father? Oh god, not someone else. Not Jude. She was distracted by Steph asking what to do next.
"I could...make something to eat? Hot chocolate or anything else. Calm the nerves. Unless there's something else we can do action wise. I don't..." She trailed off. She didn't want to think about anything happening to Jude.
"I won't be able to sleep."
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 10:55 pm UTC (link)
Stephie nodded, "hot chocolate? Coffee?" she felt suddenly tired, like she'd been running on adreniline since this afternoon when she'd turned up at Jude's house and it had finally run out. "Coffee'd really help, I think. Shall we?" She stood up, offering Deirdre her hand to pull her off the bed.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-25 12:37 am UTC (link)
Ry headed out of the room first, headed towards the kitchen. Hot drinks were a good idea; some general menial task to get the mind off other things.
He picked up the kettle and filled it with water, before pressing the button so it would boil.
(Reply to this)
jamieskyler
2006-01-25 12:55 am UTC (link)
Jamie had dozed off at his desk sometime in the late evening while doing some research for his stock trades he does for fun. He had awoken with a jolt after a dream he didn't really want to dwell and and realized he was thirsty and also figured getting up and moving would help shake off the dream even better.
As he got up from his desk, he heard the sound of someone rushing into Deirdre's room and vague voices, though he intentionally tried to tune them out to honor deirdre's privacy and was a success to the degree that he didn't know what was going on. After logging off his various programs and throwing a T-shirt with the expression "Shh.. I am hiding from the voices" that he had gotten as gag gift from misty at some point, he headed out his door and went into the kitchen.
He noticed a guy in the kitchen already but was still groggy so he went to the fridge and got himself a Mountain Dew and was throwing together a snack when he noticed the coffee pot was empty and so he decided to brew some up for whoever might have use of it. He noticed the guy was making tea so Jamie wouldn't have to do that. He started the coffee and went back to his sandwich and also layed out on the table some of the various snacks Deirdre kept around like those scones and those things she always had with tea. He thought they were called biscuits or something but would always think of them by their american equivalanet.
So with the coffee being made and this new guy making tea, he sat down with his Mountain Dew and sandwich at the table but left the other snacks out on the table. He figured he could always put them away after he was done, if he didn't end up eating them.
Jamie sat back in the chair and looked over at the guy and said in a friendly voice "Hi. I take it you are Ry ?"
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-25 01:02 am UTC (link)
Ry glanced up in surprise. He raised his eyebrows. "I've been living here a week now," he replied.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-25 01:08 am UTC (link)
Stephie was just behind Ry as he went into the kitchen (deliberately behind him- the veiw was nice) and hadn't been expecting anyone else in the house. "My god, if there are so many people in this house then how come it took half a hundred rings before anyone picked up the damn phone?'
(Reply to this)
jamieskyler
2006-01-25 01:08 am UTC (link)
Jamie smiled slightly. "Yeah, I heard you had moved in but we just haven't met yet so I thought I would ask, just in case."
"So, how do you like it so far ?" Jamie said with a look of interest and then took a bite of his sandwich while he awaited a reply.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-25 01:11 am UTC (link)
"Maybe we just don't like you," Ry said it to Slink with a friendly flash of teeth, before the kettle clicked behind him. He glanced at Jamie. "I like it here. Better than my last place anyway. I guess you also like to hermit in your room?"
Again, to Slink, "What do you want and how do you take it?" he asked, reaching up for a mug from the shelf.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-25 01:15 am UTC (link)
"What do you want and how do you take it?"
Stephie stored that comment away to think about later. She grinned, and then smacked him in the chest. "Next time answer the phone or I'll box both those pretty ears in. Now, get me some coffee, stat."
(Reply to this)
jamieskyler
2006-01-25 01:18 am UTC (link)
Jamie laughed. "Yeah, I guess someone could say I am a hermit in my room. People are welcome to come and see me, though. Of course, deirdre is still the only person to actually do it, but I still mainatain that I welcome vistors." Jamie said with a warm smile.
He glanced over at the girl who had walked in. "Let's see. Our age, attractive and has red hair, is not Deirdre and is wandering around the house late at night. Wild guess that you are Stephie or Stephanie, whichever form of the name I allowed to use since we have never met." Jamie said with an apologetic shrug.
"Coffee is being brewed right now. Didn't know you would be looking for it or I would have started it earlier." Jamie apologized.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-25 01:23 am UTC (link)
It wasn't a large kitchen. Ry glanced around. Deirdre wasn't even in here yet. Had she stopped into the toilet on the way? It was already getting crowded enough in here without her that he was considering abandoning the hot drink making to Slink and heading to his room, closing the door behind him.
Of course, that would defeat the purpose of the calming, general menial task. He sighed. No win situation.
"Sugar, milk?" he asked Slink, resisting the urge to to rub the bridge of his nose.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-25 01:29 am UTC (link)
"I'm Stephie. Sugar, no milk. Who are you?" Stephie flicked from one boy to the other as she talked to them. "And it's cool, coffee's worth waiting for."
(Reply to this)
jamieskyler
2006-01-25 01:35 am UTC (link)
Jamie nodded. "Thank you for the understanding, kind lady. I don't actually drink coffee very often, but on the rare occasion I see the pot is empty, I try to make some for those who do. Or if it is late night and no one is awake, I set the timer and have it brew a little before I estimate people will be waking up. It is a rarity but figure it is the least I can do." Jamie said with a shrug.
Jamie glanced down and then raised his bottle of mountain dew in the air in a toast. "To new acquaintances, Ry and Stephie." Jamie gave the toast and then took a drink.
"Oh, and as for who I am ?" Jamie shrugged. "I am the hermit roommate. I also go by the name Jamie."
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-25 01:57 am UTC (link)
Stephie looked at Jamie sideways. "Are you always this weird?"
(Reply to this)
jamieskyler
2006-01-25 02:16 am UTC (link)
Jamie shrugged. "If I was, would it be weird, or simply normal for me ?"
Jamie paused. "You would have to ask Deirdre, to be sure. But my guess is that no, I am usually serious and somber and come off a little cold. If I had to guess at how people might see me. Of course, I guess it depends on who you ask since weird is in the eye of the beholder, just like beauty. But Deirdre would probably be a better one to ask if you want the opinion of the person who has interacted with me the most in this house." Jamie said in a matter-of-fact tone.
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-26 04:00 am UTC (link)
Deirdre entered and heard Jamie describing himself and raised an eyebrow.
"My opinion? You tend to describe yourself really a lot and it can come off weird. But you're a nice guy." She was still having trust issues and now it was even harder to be around him since Renee was gone and all he did was remind her of her. But she tried to be nice anyway.
"Look, we didn't mean to disturb you, Jamie. We have sort of...an issue so we're up kinda late. But can you and I talk soon or something? That'd be nice..." To Ry and Slink she said, "Did you guys want to watch a movie, or play a video game or hell, even talk? The lounge room or the library are bigger. We could move in there once you're all coffeed up." She set about making herself a hot choclate. She didn't want to be rude, but Jamie didn't know Jude and she really didn't feel like explaining who she was and what was going on. It was too painful at the moment. once her hot chocolate was ready, she waited at the kitchen entrance to see if she'd be followed.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-26 05:39 am UTC (link)
"Y'know, coffee and just talk'd be good, I'm not in the mindframe for movies or anything." Stephie said, picking up her coffee and making to follow Deirdre.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-26 05:41 am UTC (link)
"It really is too late for you to head back to yours tonight anyway," Ry added. "You're welcome to crash the night in my bed again if you want."
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-26 05:43 am UTC (link)
Stephie grinned at Ry, quite a lot. "Sounds better than the couch, but I'm no way near tired yet." Stephie nodded in the direction of her coffee. "And plus, late night talking, usually a sight to behold. Or behear. See, I'm getting into the spirit of not knowing what the hell is going on already."
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-26 10:10 pm UTC (link)
Deirdre snorted at Slink's "Behear" comment and then felt dumb. But slightly better. It was good to know that even when things sucked, people were still people. At least she assumed... SHe lead the three of them into the library. It was bigger and nicer to talk in than the loungeroom. She sat in one of the cooshy chairs and put her hot chocolate on the side table.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-27 06:37 pm UTC (link)
"Oh my GOD- you have a LIBRARY!" Stephie exclaimed, gobsmacked. "This is incredible! How do you afford the rent on this place?!"
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-29 04:26 am UTC (link)
Deirdre even laughed at that, if only a little.
"My stupid father bought a couple of flats and paid a small fortune to renovate them into a house. Then he fucked off to America and left it to me. Completely paid for. We just have to pay for utilities. It was a bribe, though. He didn't do it to be kind. I payed for it, just not in money. Either way, I do love my library."
(Reply to this)
"ARGH! For fucks sake, someone pick the hell up!"
"-the hell up!"
Ry wasn't slow on the uptake. With that kind of agrivation in the voice, it could be only one woman.
"Yes Slink? What can I possibly do for you?"
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 04:24 am UTC (link)
"You can go bang down Deirdre's door, that's what." Stephie snapped. "I need to talk to her- and stop being so sarcastically polite at me, you make me sound like a spaz."
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-24 04:27 am UTC (link)
Ry rubbed his forehead wearily, wondering what on earth had possibly brought this on. Deirdre and Renee's break up had been days ago already. It couldn't be that which had her so annoyed right now. His sole purpose of this week had been laying low in this new home of his. It had been working spectacularly well... up till now.
"Deirdre? Sure. I'll check it out."
Putting the phone down for a moment, he wandered towards her door and knocked softly. Her light wasn't on, and he certainly wasn't walking on in without an answer. After a moment or so of standing there, he walked back to the phone.
"You there? She's not answering. What's gotten you so antsed up anyway?"
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 04:32 am UTC (link)
"Call it PMS, argh." Stephie kicked at the beanbag again and the sat down hard on it, effectively killing it. It brought some very, very small satisfaction. "So where is she?" she demanded.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-24 04:34 am UTC (link)
"Well, one assumes, asleep in her room? I'm not her keeper, Slink. If you're so eager to see her, why don't you come over here and 'bang down the door' yourself?"
PMS week. Well, that certainly explained all of the women around him. All he could hope for now was a swift ending to this week and everything would go back to normal again.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 04:36 am UTC (link)
"Her cell phone better not be off too" Stephie muttered down the phone. "Thanks, Rybread, talk to you later, I really gotta get hold of her."
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 05:00 am UTC (link)
Deirdre came out of her bathroom still dripping from the shower. Almost immediatley she heard the annoyingly highpitched chirp of her mobile phone letting her know she had a missed call.
"Phone. Where the hell did I put my phone..." Deirdre rummaged through the rubble, one hand on her towel. Finally she found her pink phone with the damn cheery purple shiny buttons and backlight. She pressed the phone record button. Missed call from Slink? Deirdre's brow furrowed.
Jude.
Panicking and almost dropping her towel, she pressed options and then send, waiting for the other girl to pick up.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:09 am UTC (link)
She'd hurled the phone across the room after it had failed her, and had crossed her arms and glowered at it, sitting dejected on the floor under her window. Her head was full of anger, anger at herself for being so helpless and fear for Jude because she knew what kind of things could have happened. Anger was easier, she knew her way around anger.
The phone yanked her out of her head when it started ringing, not five minutes later, and she all but threw herself across the room to pick it up. "Hello?" she demanded, picking up half way through the second ring.
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 05:10 am UTC (link)
"Steph, it's Deirdre. What's wrong...is...is it Jude, is she okay?!" Deirdre couldn't keep the panic out of her voice.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:14 am UTC (link)
"No, she's missing." Okay, the fear was starting to win over the anger now. Stephie took a deap breath and tried to quell it. Her voice was a little shakier than she'd like but... "she never came back from Manchester, her parents called the police in the weekend. Shit shit shit."
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 05:19 am UTC (link)
Deirdre froze. It was if all breath left her. She sat in silence for a second, staring at the pile of shattered glass in front of her. Everything was so fucked up. Why was everything so breakable?
Before she turned blue, she breathed in again..gasped, "She-we have to find her! Anything could have happened. We have to go.."
That was crazy. What were they going to do, go to Manchester and ask random people if they'd seen a Jude lying around? Or just run around screaming her name randomly until she answered or they were arrested? She knew it was dumb, but suggesting it felt better than sitting around doing nothing.
"I-I could call the people she went down with...see if they know anything?" She breathed again, raggedly, "Oh god, Steph, I'm so sorry..."
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:24 am UTC (link)
Stephie swallowed hard and nodded, completely forgetting that Deirdre couldn't see her nodding. "Um, uh, yes. Call them. See if they know anything. See if she showed up there or not. Um, I should have asked her father if she'd actually shown up to the editorial but it didn't cross my mind. Um." Stephie shook her head as hard as she could and swallowed her babbling. "If you have any kind of contact with the people she might have been with, you call them. I'll... sit here and hit things."
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 05:34 am UTC (link)
Deirdre made a noise that she meant to sound like agreement. She didn't know if the message got across.
"I know some people I can call. She told me the name of her agency too. They'd be closed now, but I can try anyway. If...if you want to come over, that'd be okay. We can...I don't know..be horribly worried together?"
Deirdre waited.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:42 am UTC (link)
"I know one things, sure as hell I'm not sleeping tonight." Stephie heaved herself off the floor and dug her coat out of her wardrobe. "Give me half an hour and I'll be at your door."
At least they were doing something. At least they were trying. It crossed Stephie's mind that the police had probably rung the agency already but... she shooed the thought from her mind, it underminded their efforts anyway. "Try them, and let me know when I get there. See ya, Deirdre, it'll be alright."
'It'll be alright'? Where the hell had that come from? No, it probably wouldn't be alright and why the hell hadn't her mouth contacted her brain before saying that. She hated it when people said that kind of thing, it was just hollow hope.
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 05:47 am UTC (link)
Deirdre said something like "yeah" into the phone before she hung up. Then she went over to her computer and clicked it on, swearing at it impatiently as she waited for it to boot up. Jude had mentioned her agency on her journal. She had to find it first. Then she'd try calling some of the people from the show. She had NO idea if they'd gone to Manchester or not, but there was no harm in trying.
Growling at her computer for taking so long, she ran downstairs, still towelclad, and unlocked her front door. At least if she was still busy when Steph arrived, she could just come in. If she would. Then she ran back upstairs and connected to the internet.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:59 am UTC (link)
Stephie scribbled a note for her parents and dumped it on the kitchen table on her way out. Might as well at least try and soften the blow when her parents found her bed empty in the morning. Her Dad had kind of blown up at her when she hadn't come home the night of Ry's house warming, no matter how much Stephie tried to explain that they hadn't done anything (except pass out on the same bed and maybe make out for extended periods of time before that, although that wasn't something she mentioned.) They'd probably at least try and understand that this was an actual emergency and she shouldn't be grounded for running off in the middle of the night.
She was about half way to Deirdre's when the text from Jude came through. [i'm okay. i'm sorry steph.]
Stephie swore out loud and replied as fast as she could.
[You better be! Where the hell are you!?]
Jude didn't reply immidiatly. Stephie swore again, and started running. Deirdre's place was only a couple of blocks away and she needed to be there with someone if Jude texted her back.
There was still no reply when she reached the front door- found it open and barreled into the house, rocketing up to Deirdre's room.
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 06:07 am UTC (link)
Deirdre looked up, shocked when Slink ran into her room. She was still only wearing a towel and her shit was still scattered everywhere. She'd swpt all the glass into a pile, so you could safely walk around, but it was nowhere near clean or presentable. She figured that Steph could probably handle it. If she even noticed.
She was on the phone to a very sleep very cranky model that she had seen at the 2 runway shows she'd attended. Deirdre gave the girl a shy smile and said, "Mind the glass...." before shouting into the phone, "Okay..fine, just...STOP TALKING!" And she hung up.
Deirdre sighed. "Jude posted on her journal! I couldn't read it, but her calendar says she posted! And Lisa...a model said that Jude did get to Manchester. She didn't tell me anything else though, just yelled at me..." Slink looked like she had something to say. "Sorry...I'm just nervous...is something ELSE wrong?" she said, as she slid into her closet to get dressed.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 06:15 am UTC (link)
"Yes-no, I don't know. She just sent me a text. She's done this on purpose." Stephie handed Deirdre her phone so that she could read the message, then sat down on the side of Deirdre's bed -rather, on a pile of clothes and bedclothes that were strewn across the bed. She's wasn't bothered about the mess; her own room had looked like this on quite a few occasions, but she was a little surprised, and maybe even a little distrubed, to think of Deirdre doing this. She didn't look like she had it in her.
Well, not usually. Stephie looked over at her and could read it plainly in her face, especially while she was yelling down the phone line.
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 06:24 am UTC (link)
Deirdre slipped out of her closet wearing her snowman pajamas. She looked quite ridiculous. She slid on her her bed and took the phone being offered to her. She read the text and sighed.
"It's good to know she's still...that...you know. She didn't say where she was. Or why. I don't get it...you've known her longer, but I'm guessing this hasn't happened before because you wouldn't be so scared. Why would someone just disappear on purpose?"
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 06:32 am UTC (link)
"It's called running away, and people do it all the time." Stephie said, frowning at her phone. She almost jumped off the bed when it buzzed again.
[london. can't tell you more. can't go home.]
Stephie took a deep breath and exhaled. "See?" she held the phone over at Deirdre, "running away from something."
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 06:41 am UTC (link)
Deirdre nodded. She'd run away once, but she'd only run to a house 300 meters from her own.
"It says she can't go home. Is...is it her family? Did something seem weird there?"
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 06:49 am UTC (link)
Stephie ran through the encounter again in her mind. "Um, her house was bigger than I expected and it looked like her father didn't trust me. Or like the look of me. But that's it, though I was only there for a couple of minutes." She chewed on her lip, thinking. "Or it could be something at school, she's been acting a bit weird recently. Or it could even be that guy who she got in a fight with last week, what if he came back and freaked her out?"
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-24 01:50 pm UTC (link)
The front door had been pushed aside as though it had been left unlocked. Ry had looked up from his computer, through his closed door, as though he would somehow be able to see how had just walked in. He'd heard as Deirdre's mobile phone had gone off, unanswered, only to ring again five minutes later, with a sharp answer on this side.
He'd ignored it, of course. None of his business. But then, with the way Slink had been on the phone, and then hearing muffled tones from Deirdre, he had been able to assume that the two things might be connected. When the rushing person entered the house and went straight to Deirdre's room, he stood up, turned off his monitor, and wandered out towards the hallway.
"It's called running away," he heard Slink's voice say in a rush. "And people do it all the time."
Then the sound of a mobile. Ry almost turned and went back to his room. More female dramatics.
"Is... is it her family?" he heard Deirdre's quieter voice say as he'd already started to head back to his room.
'Her family'. Ry ran his mind quickly over what he knew. A girl, of those two's aquaintence. Couldn't be Renee. Someone whose family might be questionable. Jude? It had to be. He'd always supposed there was more to that family background than she'd been telling. He moved closer for more.
"Um, her house was bigger than I expected..." Ry appeared in the open doorway to Deirdre's room. By the end of Slink's desperate-to-explain setences, Ry was slowly shaking his head.
"No mere 'high school guy' is going to freak her out this much," Ry murmured.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 04:42 pm UTC (link)
Stephie looked up when she heard Ry's mumble. "They were in a fight, he could be following her or threatening her or anything, and maybe there's more than one, you don't know. I'm just trying to cover all the options, is all."
Besides, jumping to the conclusion her mind wanted her to jump to was too scary at the moment. Too much to quite deal with.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-24 04:59 pm UTC (link)
"Fine. Cover all the options. But one of those options could be that there's a reason she didn't go to her family and house that was, how did you put it, 'bigger than expected'."
A lot of the tensenses suddenly fell out of his shoulders. He didn't want to argue, especially not here while Deirdre was just watching on what went between them. That, and the look in Slink's eyes that said she'd already thought of what he just said stayed him.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 05:07 pm UTC (link)
Stephie shook her head. "Maybe she'll get in contact again. She says she's all right for now. I wish we could trace, this." She looked at the unresponsive mobile phone and sighed. "Okay, so what do we do now?"
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-24 09:21 pm UTC (link)
Deirdre sighed taking it all in. Could Jude's family be...like her father? Oh god, not someone else. Not Jude. She was distracted by Steph asking what to do next.
"I could...make something to eat? Hot chocolate or anything else. Calm the nerves. Unless there's something else we can do action wise. I don't..." She trailed off. She didn't want to think about anything happening to Jude.
"I won't be able to sleep."
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-24 10:55 pm UTC (link)
Stephie nodded, "hot chocolate? Coffee?" she felt suddenly tired, like she'd been running on adreniline since this afternoon when she'd turned up at Jude's house and it had finally run out. "Coffee'd really help, I think. Shall we?" She stood up, offering Deirdre her hand to pull her off the bed.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-25 12:37 am UTC (link)
Ry headed out of the room first, headed towards the kitchen. Hot drinks were a good idea; some general menial task to get the mind off other things.
He picked up the kettle and filled it with water, before pressing the button so it would boil.
(Reply to this)
jamieskyler
2006-01-25 12:55 am UTC (link)
Jamie had dozed off at his desk sometime in the late evening while doing some research for his stock trades he does for fun. He had awoken with a jolt after a dream he didn't really want to dwell and and realized he was thirsty and also figured getting up and moving would help shake off the dream even better.
As he got up from his desk, he heard the sound of someone rushing into Deirdre's room and vague voices, though he intentionally tried to tune them out to honor deirdre's privacy and was a success to the degree that he didn't know what was going on. After logging off his various programs and throwing a T-shirt with the expression "Shh.. I am hiding from the voices" that he had gotten as gag gift from misty at some point, he headed out his door and went into the kitchen.
He noticed a guy in the kitchen already but was still groggy so he went to the fridge and got himself a Mountain Dew and was throwing together a snack when he noticed the coffee pot was empty and so he decided to brew some up for whoever might have use of it. He noticed the guy was making tea so Jamie wouldn't have to do that. He started the coffee and went back to his sandwich and also layed out on the table some of the various snacks Deirdre kept around like those scones and those things she always had with tea. He thought they were called biscuits or something but would always think of them by their american equivalanet.
So with the coffee being made and this new guy making tea, he sat down with his Mountain Dew and sandwich at the table but left the other snacks out on the table. He figured he could always put them away after he was done, if he didn't end up eating them.
Jamie sat back in the chair and looked over at the guy and said in a friendly voice "Hi. I take it you are Ry ?"
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-25 01:02 am UTC (link)
Ry glanced up in surprise. He raised his eyebrows. "I've been living here a week now," he replied.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-25 01:08 am UTC (link)
Stephie was just behind Ry as he went into the kitchen (deliberately behind him- the veiw was nice) and hadn't been expecting anyone else in the house. "My god, if there are so many people in this house then how come it took half a hundred rings before anyone picked up the damn phone?'
(Reply to this)
jamieskyler
2006-01-25 01:08 am UTC (link)
Jamie smiled slightly. "Yeah, I heard you had moved in but we just haven't met yet so I thought I would ask, just in case."
"So, how do you like it so far ?" Jamie said with a look of interest and then took a bite of his sandwich while he awaited a reply.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-25 01:11 am UTC (link)
"Maybe we just don't like you," Ry said it to Slink with a friendly flash of teeth, before the kettle clicked behind him. He glanced at Jamie. "I like it here. Better than my last place anyway. I guess you also like to hermit in your room?"
Again, to Slink, "What do you want and how do you take it?" he asked, reaching up for a mug from the shelf.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-25 01:15 am UTC (link)
"What do you want and how do you take it?"
Stephie stored that comment away to think about later. She grinned, and then smacked him in the chest. "Next time answer the phone or I'll box both those pretty ears in. Now, get me some coffee, stat."
(Reply to this)
jamieskyler
2006-01-25 01:18 am UTC (link)
Jamie laughed. "Yeah, I guess someone could say I am a hermit in my room. People are welcome to come and see me, though. Of course, deirdre is still the only person to actually do it, but I still mainatain that I welcome vistors." Jamie said with a warm smile.
He glanced over at the girl who had walked in. "Let's see. Our age, attractive and has red hair, is not Deirdre and is wandering around the house late at night. Wild guess that you are Stephie or Stephanie, whichever form of the name I allowed to use since we have never met." Jamie said with an apologetic shrug.
"Coffee is being brewed right now. Didn't know you would be looking for it or I would have started it earlier." Jamie apologized.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-25 01:23 am UTC (link)
It wasn't a large kitchen. Ry glanced around. Deirdre wasn't even in here yet. Had she stopped into the toilet on the way? It was already getting crowded enough in here without her that he was considering abandoning the hot drink making to Slink and heading to his room, closing the door behind him.
Of course, that would defeat the purpose of the calming, general menial task. He sighed. No win situation.
"Sugar, milk?" he asked Slink, resisting the urge to to rub the bridge of his nose.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-25 01:29 am UTC (link)
"I'm Stephie. Sugar, no milk. Who are you?" Stephie flicked from one boy to the other as she talked to them. "And it's cool, coffee's worth waiting for."
(Reply to this)
jamieskyler
2006-01-25 01:35 am UTC (link)
Jamie nodded. "Thank you for the understanding, kind lady. I don't actually drink coffee very often, but on the rare occasion I see the pot is empty, I try to make some for those who do. Or if it is late night and no one is awake, I set the timer and have it brew a little before I estimate people will be waking up. It is a rarity but figure it is the least I can do." Jamie said with a shrug.
Jamie glanced down and then raised his bottle of mountain dew in the air in a toast. "To new acquaintances, Ry and Stephie." Jamie gave the toast and then took a drink.
"Oh, and as for who I am ?" Jamie shrugged. "I am the hermit roommate. I also go by the name Jamie."
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-25 01:57 am UTC (link)
Stephie looked at Jamie sideways. "Are you always this weird?"
(Reply to this)
jamieskyler
2006-01-25 02:16 am UTC (link)
Jamie shrugged. "If I was, would it be weird, or simply normal for me ?"
Jamie paused. "You would have to ask Deirdre, to be sure. But my guess is that no, I am usually serious and somber and come off a little cold. If I had to guess at how people might see me. Of course, I guess it depends on who you ask since weird is in the eye of the beholder, just like beauty. But Deirdre would probably be a better one to ask if you want the opinion of the person who has interacted with me the most in this house." Jamie said in a matter-of-fact tone.
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-26 04:00 am UTC (link)
Deirdre entered and heard Jamie describing himself and raised an eyebrow.
"My opinion? You tend to describe yourself really a lot and it can come off weird. But you're a nice guy." She was still having trust issues and now it was even harder to be around him since Renee was gone and all he did was remind her of her. But she tried to be nice anyway.
"Look, we didn't mean to disturb you, Jamie. We have sort of...an issue so we're up kinda late. But can you and I talk soon or something? That'd be nice..." To Ry and Slink she said, "Did you guys want to watch a movie, or play a video game or hell, even talk? The lounge room or the library are bigger. We could move in there once you're all coffeed up." She set about making herself a hot choclate. She didn't want to be rude, but Jamie didn't know Jude and she really didn't feel like explaining who she was and what was going on. It was too painful at the moment. once her hot chocolate was ready, she waited at the kitchen entrance to see if she'd be followed.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-26 05:39 am UTC (link)
"Y'know, coffee and just talk'd be good, I'm not in the mindframe for movies or anything." Stephie said, picking up her coffee and making to follow Deirdre.
(Reply to this)
epithet_
2006-01-26 05:41 am UTC (link)
"It really is too late for you to head back to yours tonight anyway," Ry added. "You're welcome to crash the night in my bed again if you want."
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-26 05:43 am UTC (link)
Stephie grinned at Ry, quite a lot. "Sounds better than the couch, but I'm no way near tired yet." Stephie nodded in the direction of her coffee. "And plus, late night talking, usually a sight to behold. Or behear. See, I'm getting into the spirit of not knowing what the hell is going on already."
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-26 10:10 pm UTC (link)
Deirdre snorted at Slink's "Behear" comment and then felt dumb. But slightly better. It was good to know that even when things sucked, people were still people. At least she assumed... SHe lead the three of them into the library. It was bigger and nicer to talk in than the loungeroom. She sat in one of the cooshy chairs and put her hot chocolate on the side table.
(Reply to this)
slinkster_ghoul
2006-01-27 06:37 pm UTC (link)
"Oh my GOD- you have a LIBRARY!" Stephie exclaimed, gobsmacked. "This is incredible! How do you afford the rent on this place?!"
(Reply to this)
deirdre_ionuin
2006-01-29 04:26 am UTC (link)
Deirdre even laughed at that, if only a little.
"My stupid father bought a couple of flats and paid a small fortune to renovate them into a house. Then he fucked off to America and left it to me. Completely paid for. We just have to pay for utilities. It was a bribe, though. He didn't do it to be kind. I payed for it, just not in money. Either way, I do love my library."
(Reply to this)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}