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Who Lives, Who Dies; NEW Vindication III Promo #2
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Topic Started: Aug 16 2012, 05:56 AM (110 Views)
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Deleted User
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Aug 16 2012, 05:56 AM
Post #1
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Deleted User
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Who Lives, Who Dies
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The scene opens in Paul’s basement, also known as their ‘headquarters’ for their mission against Lucifer Hawks. The last time we saw our duo, Eddie and Paul, in this basement, Paul was the calm one and Eddie was the one turning over every rock and calling in every favor in order to hunt Blake down. Now, Paul is the one pounding away, finger stroke by finger stroke, on the keyboard of the computer. He has a phonebook open next to him, opened to a page that has the numbers of the local news stations on it. Paul’s eyes are puffy and his cheeks are red; clearly he’s been crying. Eddie is sitting on the sofa and cleaning his gun. Paul is moving in half the speed that Eddie’s mind is moving. After the encounter they both had with Hawks, they were changed, and not for the better. Paul is still trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered self and Eddie is fighting off his demons that are attacking stronger than ever within him. Paul searches the screen in front of him as he tries to find some online listings of Blake in his profession, or some sort of family contacts, but he’s coming up with nothing. This failure, along with the overwhelming worry of his mother’s fate, causes him to pound on the desk and swipe all the desktop items off onto the floor. Eddie, who is startled by this sudden outburst, jumps up and observes what Paul is doing. After the rage has left Paul and he sits in his chair breathing deeply, Eddie walks over and slowly places a hand on Paul’s shoulder.
“Calm down, Paul. We will find her…”
Paul roughly shrugs Eddie’s hand off his shoulder and looks up at him with anger in his eyes, the type of anger that turns lifelong best friends into bitter, hateful enemies.
“We? What we!? I’M the one sitting here trying to find Blake! I’M the one whose mother has been kidnapped by that evil son of a bitch! I’M the only one trying to do anything about this while YOU are pacing around with your thumb up your ass! You don’t care! Why should you!? Your family is DEAD! You’ve lost everything so you don’t care about anything, and that includes me and my own mother! So fuck you, Eddie! It’s your fault she’s been kidnapped! All of this is your fucking fault and I hate you for it!”
Paul stands up and pushes past Eddie before stomping up the basement stairs and into the first floor of the house. Eddie stands stunned at what transpired, though he knows Paul under more strain than he’s ever been in his whole life. Eddie knows that Paul is only lashing out because he doesn’t know what else to do. All the same, those words hurt Eddie, even if he forgives his best friend for saying them.
“…I’m sorry, Paul.”
The words are said in a hushed tone of voice, as if he willed them to Paul in an unseen telepathic way. Eddie gathers some stuff and climbs the stairs, deciding to leave and give Paul some time alone to calm down and clear his head. Eddie also needs to clear his head, and there’s only one place where he can do that these days.
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...Later That Day...
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All Souls Cemetery; where Eddie’s family has been resting for two years. Eddie has been here more times than he can count, more than he should be probably. This time, however, it’s different. He’s had demons plaguing his mind here before, but not like this. It’s as if Hawks has sent all of Hell’s army to invade Eddie’s mind and begin destroying him from the inside out. As his mind continues to race, Eddie has left his car, entered through the cemetery steel gates, and begins his trek to the graves. Eddie thinks about Paul and Beverly, praying that he has the strength to aid Paul to the death, no matter what. He prays hard, but he would think himself a fool if Eddie hasn’t lost a bit of his faith along the way.
Like Blake, he questions how a monster such as Lucifer Hawks can exist freely to destroy so many lives so easily. Unlike Blake, though, Eddie is holding strong onto what faith he has left. He walks between numerous headstones and grave markers, instinctively knowing exactly where he’s going, so his body takes control while his mind remains worlds away. The day has grown grey with overcast, and a chill resides in the winds that pass. Eddie pulls his light pullover jacket tighter against him as he continues to walk, drawing closer and closer to his loved ones. It seems that the closer he gets, the more the demons bite and claw and kick and scream within him.
Eddie’s emotions are running rapid as he steps up a small hill and in front of five tombstones that stand and announce who they represent. Eddie stops, and from left to right, scans his eyes over all the tombstones. His mother, his father, his wife, his son, and his daughter; they all lay before him only six feet below where he stood. Like every other time he comes here, his emotions get the best of him and tears well in his eyes. Eddie drops to his knees at the foot of the middle grave, his wife’s grave, and silently allows the tears to run down his cheeks as his eyes moves from tombstone to tombstone. The demons fight, but the grief within Eddie distracts him from them.
“…Hey…”
The short greeting makes more tears pour down his cheek. The pain is immense; wanting to hear their voices greet him back, but knowing he’ll never hear their voices again. People say that the pain gets easier and easier to deal with as more time passes, but it has never gotten any easier for Eddie. He may even argue that it has gotten worse, but he knows such an argument is fruitless; either way his family will still be dead.
“I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last visit.”
It has only been about two weeks, but in Eddie’s mind, that’s far too long to be away from his family. He’s not a stupid man, he knows that it’s unhealthy to feel as he does and to always be visiting, but that’s a demon he will battle another day. Eddie struggles for the words to say because they’re coming from the heart, and he’s never been a person that could do that very easily.
“I always think about all of you, and there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t wish I could have you all back...”
The words sting his already broken heart as they pass by his lips. Eddie lowers his head and wipes his eyes, trying to keep himself from breaking down. After a few seconds of trying to compose himself, he lifts his head and tries to speak out more of his pain.
“…I’m so lost without all of you.”
Eddie lowers his head again and weeps. The wind passes and caresses the moisture along Eddie’s face, making him feel a chill to his bones, but lacks the care. The sobs continue on for what seems like an eternity to Eddie, since that’s how long his life has felt ever since they were taken from him. Once he can calm himself and wipe away the tears again, Eddie brings his head up. His puffy red eyes scan over the grave stones again.
“Please, be with me. I don’t know if Paul and I will survive this…this…war against Hawks. I don’t know if I’ll be able to help Paul, but I need all of you to give me the strength to do my very best for him. All of this is so hard to deal with, I long for death so I can be with all of you but I don’t want to leave Paul alone. How can two men face the devil and win? Maybe Hawks is right, maybe our efforts are futile, but we can’t stand around and do nothing. I prepared for this, but yet when the time came, I found out how I could have never prepared for a monster like Hawks. What can I do? What can we do? Can we win? I wish I knew the answers to all these questions. I can feel his darkness all around me, inside me, etching away at everything I am. Help me; please help me ward off his presence. Help me be brave for Paul, he needs me and I won’t abandon him.”
Eddie’s mind now focuses on the rage that Paul had displayed and the hateful words he spewed before Eddie left to come here. Eddie wipes his eyes again and forgives Paul within his heart. That’s why Eddie always come here, though it hurts him to see granite stones with the names of each of his family members on them, somehow they give Eddie the strength he needs to carry on. Paul might think Eddie is an honored, tough-as-nails, unbreakable soldier; but he’s more vulnerable than Paul thinks. However, Eddie knows that Paul needs him to be that tough-as-nails, unbreakable soldier, hence why he’s on his knees in front of his fallen family.
“I need to find Blake Phillips, I know he’s a piece to this puzzle, I just don’t know what role he plays. There has to be a reason why he and I have survived against Hawks, there has to be. I know I am asking a lot of all of you, but I have no one else to turn to. You all were my strength in life, please continue to be in your death. I love you all, and I miss you more than any words can describe. A part of me will stay here with all of you, but please help the rest of me that walks out of here. If I don’t see you here again, I hope to see you in paradise.”
Eddie stands from his place and walks over to the first headstone, which is his father’s. He leans down, kisses it, and moves onto his mother’s tombstone. He does the same thing, and then onto his wife’s tombstone, then his son’s, and finally his daughter’s. Only, after he kisses his daughter’s tombstone, he sees something stuffed down into the flower holder beside the tombstone. It’s an envelope, which Eddie plucks out and unfolds. Scrawled across the front of the envelope is both his name and Paul’s name. Before Eddie can open it, he hears a twig snapping close behind him. In an instant, Eddie spins around and has his pistol aimed.
“Whoa! It’s me, Eddie!”
Paul has his hands up; palms aiming at Eddie in an attempt to halt what he thought would be his certain death. Eddie quickly points the gun towards the sky before letting out the deep breath he took in during the spin. Following out with the deep breath is a small fit of laughter.
“Sorry, man. Hawks has me high strung. How’d you find me?”
Paul lowers his arms while Eddie puts his gun back into his side holster. Paul steps closer to Eddie, giving a glance to the tombstones and makes the sign of the cross as he passes them.
“This is the only place you’ll come to without me, so I figured it was as good a place as any to check.”
Paul stops in front of Eddie, who’s looking at Paul with curious eyes, wondering why he almost shot his best friend who he didn’t believe would show up here. Paul’s head is lowered, as if searching for the words he wants and needs to say.
“Look, Eddie…I’m sorry for the things I’ve said. It was wrong of me, and I shouldn’t be lashing out at you. You’re the only person that is helping me, and I respect that. I love you like a brother, my mother being kidnapped is not your fault, hell none of this is your fault.”
Paul eyes remain lowered, staring at the ground beneath them as if the words he wants to say are sprouting up through the dirt. He begins to rub the back of his neck and scratching his hairline.
“I shouldn’t have said all those things, especially since what you’ve been through, losing your family and all.”
Eddie places a hand on Paul’s shoulder, causing Paul to finally bring his eyes up to meet Eddie’s.
“It’s alright Paul, I know what you’re going through isn’t easy. Just forget it, we have more important things to worry about than some bickering.”
Eddie opens his arms and Paul steps towards Eddie and they embrace each other in a brotherly hug. They pat each other on the back while in the hug. After a few more seconds, Eddie pushes Paul back in a playful way.
“Alright, that’s enough, homo.”
They both share a laugh, a much needed laugh after the days they’ve been having. Paul glances down at the envelope in Eddie’s hand and then points towards it.
“What’s that?”
Eddie brings his attention back to the envelope and stares at their names scribbled across it.
“I don’t know, I found it in Emily’s flower holder.”
Eddie motions towards his daughters grave before gripping the envelope with both hands again. Paul notices his name on it as well, and instantly gets anxious.
“Do you think it’s from Hawks?”
Eddie looks at Paul; he was wondering that very same thing. Silently, Eddie opens the envelope and pulls a picture out. His eyes go wide as he sees what’s on the picture. Paul is clearly confused.
“What is it, Eddie?”
Paul steps around Eddie so he can gaze at the picture as well. It’s a man in a soldier’s uniform tied to a chair with a woman and two little girls tied to separate chairs around him.
“It’s Andy…the man I took that bullet for…”
Paul’s jaw drops as his eyes travel from Eddie back to the picture. He’s now more focused and on the woman and two little girls around the man in the photo.
“Wife and daughters?”
Eddie can only nod in his state of disbelief. With all his inner demons at work, his grief from the visit with his dead family, and now this; he’s speechless and feels helpless and hopeless. Eddie turns the photo over, and on the back there is a message to the both of them, written in blood.
“If you want to see Beverly again, come to 66 Warehouse Road.”
Paul and Eddie waste no time, they both break off into a run down the small hill and through the rest of the cemetery. Their hearts are pumping like jackhammers, and their minds are racing like horses. Eddie fears for his army friend and Paul fears for his mother, but they haven’t a clue that they too will be tested, just like Blake had been. Once they pass through the steel gates, Eddie jumps in his SUV and Paul jumps in his car. Moments later and their engines roar to life and both vehicles speed down the dirt path to the highway up ahead.
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...Later That Night...
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Both men arrive at the warehouse in the address, exit their separate vehicles, and meet by the entrance to large, deserted building. The duo can sense danger in the air, like they do when Hawks is present. Eddie pulls out his gun and readies it in case he needs to use it. He also pulls out a small flashlight and holds it under the handle of his gun with his left hand while clutching the handgun handle with his right hand; a tactical way of holding a gun and a flashlight.
“Alright, you open the door and I’ll go in first. Stay behind me and keep a hand on my shoulder so we don’t get separated. You got it?”
Paul gulps hard; though he’s worried sick about his mother and will do anything to get her back, the cowardice side of him still emerges.
“I think I’m about to shit myself…”
Eddie nods and gets in his ready position.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Let’s go.”
Paul takes a deep breath before pulling the door to the old warehouse open. Eddie points the flashlight inside and starts to walk forward in a steady pace. Once Eddie passes the threshold and is in the warehouse, Paul enters in behind him and puts a hand on Eddie’s shoulder, as he was instructed to do. It’s deep and dark within the corridor they’re in, but the flashlight keeps them from getting lost. Suddenly, the lights above them begin to flicker, illuminating the hallway fully for split seconds at a time and causing an electrical sizzling sound. Paul jumps from the sudden noise, and Eddie aims his gun towards the lights out of pure instinctive reaction. Once both men realize it was just the set of lights, they take in a deep breath and calm down. Eddie then begins to sniff the air, doing this a few times before he turns to Paul with a disgusted look on his face.
“Paul…you didn’t, did you?”
Paul’s face instantly goes red, which Eddie can see clearly even if the beam of the flashlight is pointing away from them. Eddie shakes his head and makes a disgusted sound before laughing to himself, which Paul reacts to.
“Hey fuck you! Keep your head on what we’re doing!”
Paul then spots something on the wall with the help of the dimness from the flashlight. He taps Eddie on the shoulder, who quickly glances at Paul, who is now pointing at the wall next to them. Eddie shines the flashlight beam on it and illuminates an arrow drawn in blood. Eddie and Paul look at each other before taking a breath each and moving down the corridor in the direction the blood arrow is pointing. They press on, and Eddie is being sure to keep his gun aimed in whatever direction his eyes are directed. Further down the hall, they come to a split off leading in three different directions. Paul again points at the wall and Eddie follows his finger to another bloody arrow pointing down the center corridor. Eddie wastes no time in moving down the path, and Paul is sure to stick close to Eddie and keeps a hand on Eddie’s shoulder as he does so. A few minutes pass of following gruesome directions before they come to a set of large metal double doors. Eddie shines the flashlight on it, highlighting the message left for them, a message in blood.
“You will be tested”
Both men mentally try to prepare themselves for whatever awaits them behind this door, even though they both know all the time in the world would help them prepare. Nonetheless, Paul pats Eddie on the shoulder to signal he’s ready, and Eddie pushes the door open with his foot and they move inside. They are met with Andy, Eddie’s army buddy, sitting across a large room. A light shines above him, and around where he’s seated are his wife and two daughters. They are all bound to the chairs they sit in by razor wire, which severely limits their chance of escape. Andy’s wife and daughters are all sitting in metal chairs that are set inside a round metal container. Inside, the majority of their lower body is submerged in water with exposed wires running through them and connected to the chairs. Everyone is gagged but not blindfolded, so when they all see Blake and Paul, they grow anxious. The wife and two little girls begin to sob, and Andy tries to talk under his gag, but all that can be heard is muffled grunts. Paul and Eddie move towards the woman and children and are about to attempt to free them before a very familiar voice speaks over the public address system.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Gentlemen, you may not want to do that.”
Paul and Eddie free in their tracks since they know when Hawks speaks, they had better listen. After all, this is Hawks game, and they walked right into it, it would be unwise to try to change the rules. More people will only die that way.
“If you notice those wires at your feet, you will see that they are stripped and submerged in a metal container overflowing with water. Right now the wires are dead and they are perfectly safe but if you should try to free those lovely ladies, I’ll be sure they ride the lightning.”
Lucifer Hawks’ sinister, demonic laughter rings through the darkness, a laughter that drains the courage out of anyone in earshot. Paul and Eddie take in more of their surroundings; all along the four walls around them are crucified dead bodies with pictures of NEW wrestlers pasted to their faces used to be, prior to being skinned over. Some bodies are split open from chest to waist with intestines hanging out of the open wounds, while others remain untouched. The dozen and a half corpses all have a different name carved in their chests, clearly the name of the person whose face is pasted on. In a part of the room that is shadowed by the darkness outside of the small area of light around Andy is the body of an elderly woman who was shot in the head. Mostly dried blood puddles are scattered around that dead woman, along with a message written in blood but it’s too dark beyond where they stand to be able to read it. All of these details are taken in by the duo in only a few moments.
“The rules are simple, gentlemen. I will spare the lives of Andy’s family, but only if you kill Andy. If you approach his family under any circumstances, I will flip the power switch and Andy can watch his family fry before his eyes. Also, if you kill Andy, you will see Beverly again. If not, well, Andy’s family won’t be alone in the afterlife.”
Andy’s wife and children all begin to cry harder, now that they know they will not leave here as the family they arrived as. Andy looks over at his family, staring in complete love as a father and husband should, wanting to protect them at the cost of anything, even his own life. Eddie and Paul look at each other; Paul is scared to death. He wants his mother back, but to have to kill another man to have even a chance of finding her and rescuing her. Eddie’s eyes convey the agony and grief he feels for Paul, to have to be put through this mentor torture and anguish just so a madman can have fun toying with their lives. It angers him so deeply, but he reminds himself he must keep calm, for the sake of everyone involved. One wrong move and Eddie could condemn more lives than what needs to be taken.
“Edward, remove Andy’s gag, let’s hear what he thinks.”
Though Eddie doesn’t want to be ordered around by the demented monster orchestrating this deadly game, he does as he’s told, again for the sake of everyone involved. He walks over and slowly removes the gag from Andy’s mouth. Andy is calm, eerily calm given the circumstances. His eyes travel from Eddie to Paul, whose eyes are starting to look extra moist. Andy stares at him for a long time, the laughter of Hawks and the sobs of his family breaking the silence around him. Finally, he looks at Eddie, and speaks to him before looking back at Paul.
“Family of his?”
Andy motions his head towards Paul very slightly, and Eddie nods before answering.
“His mother…”
There’s an unspoken brotherly bond between Andy and Eddie, so much that Eddie already knows the decision that Andy would make. Andy will make the choice that Eddie would make if the roles were reversed; sacrifice. Andy looks at his family, tears well in his eyes, but his soldierly pride doesn’t allow them to fall, or his voice to crack as he speaks to them.
“God blessed me with three angels, three angels that I would be nothing without. I love you all with all my heart and soul, and I’ll be with you always. Don’t hate these men for what I’m about to ask them to do. Please forgive them, and please forgive me for having to leave you.”
Every word that passes makes his wife and children cry harder and plead louder under their gags. Paul’s tears start to roll, and Eddie’s eyes are welling with tears, but like Andy, won’t let them fall. Andy turns to Eddie, nodding his head as he speaks.
“My life for her’s; fair trade.”
Eddie stares into the eyes of his brother-in-arms before nodding himself and raising the gun. The end of the barrel is only a foot or so away from Andy’s forehead. Even with death seemingly seconds away, Andy is prepared to accept his fate. His wife and children are crying and pleading Eddie not to do it. Eddie tries his hardest to just concentrate on him and Andy, mentally trying to make them the only two in the room. Eddie cocks back the hammer, his finger squeezes the trigger.
“I’m sorry, brother…”
…but before Eddie can fire.
“Wait…Paul must be the one to do the dirty work. After all, it is his mother. ”
Paul’s puffy eyes go wide as he looks up towards the ceiling, towards the darkness where Hawks’ voice plagues them from. Paul looks at Eddie and starts to shake his head, not wanting to take Andy’s life himself. Obviously, Hawks sees this, and can’t let him go unanswered.
“It’s your mother or Andy, Paul. Who lives, who dies…make your choice. ”
Paul thinks of his mother, the only woman in his life that he’s never stopped loving and has always been there for him when everyone else turned their backs on him. When he struggled to make ends meet, she was there to take him in. When he didn’t have any money for food, she fed him. When he felt like he didn’t have a friend in the world, she was his best friend. Paul isn’t ready to give her up, but it takes all the strength in him to take those steps towards Eddie. It takes even more energy for him to grasp that gun. His eyes stare in disbelieve at it, and the he looks at Andy, who encourages Paul with a nod. With the hammer already cocked, all Paul has to do is level it with Andy’s head and pull the trigger. More tears form and travel down his cheek in knowing that the man’s family is about to watch their father and husband be killed right before him. Eddie places a hand on Paul’s shoulder in a supportive way, trying to will him the strength to go ahead and pull the trigger. Of course, Hawks adds in his two cents.
“Go on, Paul. You don’t know these people; their lives don’t measure up to your dear sweet mother’s life. They are nothing to you, and they will be nothing after you leave here tonight. Make the right decision, Paul. Do it for mommy.”
Hawks again can’t help but chuckle in his low, cold, devilish tone. Paul’s hand is shaking, causing the gun to shake greatly. Paul squeezes the trigger, but no gunshot. To Paul, that trigger is a thousand pounds, and he doesn’t have the strength to pull it. Eddie squeezes Paul’s shoulder gently, letting him know through that gesture that he’s still right there with him.
“Your mother is waiting for you, Paul. All you need to do is squeeze that trigger and I promise you’ll see her again.”
Paul knows that a promise from Hawks can’t be trusted, but even so, Andy stands between him and his mother. The harder Paul squeezes, the more his hand quivers.
“Do it. Killing comes natural for men like you.”
Suddenly, the shot rings free, striking Andy in the head. A bullet, blood and brain matter flies out of the back of his head as it snaps back with such force before going limp. Andy’s wife and children are screaming and crying louder and harder than ever before. Paul had fallen to his knees, crying along with those around him, but Eddie was the one with the smoking gun in his hand. He couldn’t allow his best friend to destroy that pureness, that innocence in him. Eddie wished he could be like Paul, to not have to carry what he just did here today for the rest of his life. Still, Eddie couldn’t allow Paul to do it, so he took the gun and finished the job for him. Hawks’ laughter can be heard cutting through the darkness, cutting through the weeping and screaming. For Eddie, he will relive this moment for the rest of his life, but it was better him than Paul.
OOC: FEEDBACK THIS PROMO
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