Catching Our Breath (Tag Anyone)

Anne wasn't sure how long she and Melody had been running, or how long she had been holding her daughter's hand, but by the time they finally dashed into the apartment building and headed up the stairs, her adrenaline finally started to wear down a bit, and exhaustion started to settle in.

"Hold on, Melody. Let's...rest a bit," she panted, falling onto the stairs with a plop. She sucked in long breaths, trying to stop the frantic beating of her heart. She hadn't felt that scared in a long time. But the ghosts didn't bother her as much as her worry for Melody did. She glanced down at her daughter, who was still clutching onto her arm. "You okay, kiddo?" she asked, cracking a small smile.

Melody had never been so scared in her life. Ever. Seeing those ghosts, those awful creatures...it made her feel like her heart was in her throat. She had barely said anything as she and her mother had run through the town, except to scream when a new frightening ghost came their way. Even though she was tired beyond belief, she still ran, because her mother told her to. But finally, they stopped on the stairs, resting a bit to try and catch their breath. Melody still refused to let go of her mother's hand, even though her palm was starting to get sweaty. She never wanted to let go, ever.

"Hm?" She looked up at her mother's question. She was smiling at her. That brought Melody some comfort. If her mother was smiling a bit, then maybe things weren't as bad as they looked. "I'm...fine," she said, her voice a bit breathless. "I'm alright." She gave a small smile back. In truth, she was alright. Her arm was still a bit sore from where the bat had bitten her, but other than that, she was fine.

((Man, this is so weird RPing with myself. XD Hopefully, someone will step in soon.))

Heidi was exploring the new building her new daddy had brought her to, and had been playing with her new dolls in the top landing of the stairwell when she heard two people charging up it as if there was a whole army behind them. maybe there was, Joseph had told her about the green bats, but she didn't remember anything except waking up in his restaurant on the counter. Heidi listened with interest two the two people, both female. one sounded about her age, so, grinning, she picked up her doll and skipped down to where they were, looking at the panicked two in some concern. "are you guys alright? I'm Heidi"

Anne nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden sound of a voice. She felt Melody clutch onto her arm tighter as the both of them whirled around. But it was just a little girl, no reason for alarm. Anne breathed a silent sigh of relief. At this rate, she was going to have a head of gray hair in a matter of weeks. She bit her lip at the little girl's question. Did she know what was going on outside? It seemed like the glowing bats had bitten a lot of people, from the way they had been yelling outside before. Of course, things were rather quiet now.

"We're...fine," she replied, giving a little smile at the girl. "Just fine. Right Melody?" She wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders while giving her a look that said not to mention anything yet. No use getting people all hyped up over this. They would probably panic enough.

Melody got startled when a voice suddenly started speaking. Thinking it was another ghost, she gripped her mother's arm tighter. But she soon saw that it was a girl, only a little younger than her, it looked like. She could see a doll in her hand. Melody had quite a few lying around in her room, although she was getting close to outgrowing them. But she still enjoyed them now and again.

"Yeah. We're...alright," she said, picking up on her mother's silent cue. "I'm Melody," she said, smiling. "And this is my mom." She pointed at Anne.

Heidi looked at them and smiled slightly, a little sadly. "did the green things get you, too? they got me and Joseph. I think they got everyone, maybe. it looks like it" she held her doll closer and grinned at Melody and Anne. "Me and Joseph, my...dad...are new here. it's nice to meet you" she smiled happily at Melody. "maybe we can be friends? all of us? dad can meet your mom" she sighed and scratched her head. "dad owns a restaurant. the soup is really good"

Anne blinked. Green things? She had to mean the glowing bats. It was the only thing that matched up. "Yeah. We...ran into them in the woods." She brushed a strand hair out of her face while glancing at Heidi. She wondered if she and this Joseph guy that was her dad could see ghosts like they could. "Listen, Heidi, have you...changed...at all, since those green bats came around?" She wasn't sure if this was the right thing to ask a child, but if other people were getting affected like she and Melody had, then they needed to do something about it, pronto.

Melody leaned her head against her mother's shoulder, just taking advantage of the opportunity to rest a bit. At least there weren't any ghosts in here. Or green bats, for that matter. She glanced up when Anne asked if Heidi had been changed at all. She glanced at the blonde girl curiously, as if she could tell from looks alone whether she could see ghosts. Or maybe the curse was different depending on the person. Maybe Heidi could fly like Superman, or talk to sea creatures like Aquaman. That would be pretty neat.

She brightened up when Heidi mentioned them being friends. "Yeah, we can totally be friends." Melody had always been sort of an introvert, mainly keeping to herself, so any opportunity to make friends was fine by her. She grinned eagerly at her mom. "We should meet her dad sometime. It'd be fun."

Her face clouded slightly and she looked them. “I…I don’t know…I don’t remember anything but waking up and Jo…dad saying I was Heidi. And he’d found me unconscious in the forest. But…he’s been complaining about…emotions..? in the food. And secrets. And there was a were-dragon in the restaurant flirting with one of his regulars…but that was before I’d woken up and they’d left by the time I did” Heidi put a hand to her head, moving her bangs enough for a thick white bandage to be seen. She shook her head lightly after a moment and grinned excitedly at Melody. “Yea! I bet your mom and my dad would be good friends, and I’d like a friend, too” she beamed at them, earlier distress pretty much forgotten.

Anne winced when Heidi showed the bandage on her forehead. It looked like a nasty injury. At least her father had patched it up well. Her fingers tapped against her knee for a moment, not sure what to say. It looked like something was missing from Heidi if she couldn't remember much before tonight. Was she from another town? A runaway perhaps? Had the green bats stolen her memory? It seemed like anything was possible at this point. And it looked like they had affected her father too, in some way. Had they messed with everyone in the town? There were so many questions running through her head and she wished she knew how to get the answers to them. She didn't say anything at the mention of the weredragon, but she pulled Melody closer to her side as if to protect her.

"Well, at least you have your father to look after you," she said. "It's always nice to know that someone will be there for you when things start getting weird." Joseph sounded like a nice guy in Anne's mind, taking in a little girl who had probably been lost and afraid. Not many people were willing to do that.

Melody saw the look her mother gave at the bandage on Heidi's forehead, but she couldn't tell what exactly she was thinking. Melody remembered getting hurt like that once, when she had first learned how to ride a bike. She hadn't been wearing her helmet and had managed to fall head-first onto the ground. Luckily, her mother had been there to help her. She felt her mother's arm tighten around her. She glanced up at her again, knowing that Anne tended to do that when she was thinking something bad.

"Emotions in the food? Sounds weird," she said, wrinkling her nose. Sounded a bit boring to her, but at least it was better than seeing scary ghosts who had no skin or no eyes or missing limbs. She nodded and smiled at Heidi's excitement. She was happy seeing her new friend happy.

She smiled at them and nodded. “yea, dad’s a good guy. Really nice. He was really worried that I was okay when I woke up” he also had seemed strange about the no memories, but considering everything, she pushed that aside. Her face screwed up slightly in thought. “I…do remember screaming…and pain…dad said I was pretty beaten up when he’d found me…” she sighed and shrugged, then smiled at Melody. “maybe we can play sometime? When everything is not so nuts”

Joseph walked away from the bathroom, done with being sick from the taste of his own secrets and feelings. It was probably just the after-affects of shock, he had to believe that, he wouldn’t let himself think about any other possibilities. He looked around, going into other rooms and then turning around a little panicked. “Heidi?!” he’d told her not to leave the apartment, hadn’t he? No, no he hadn’t. he forced himself to be calm as he cursed himself on his stupidity and opened the door, looking around. Their apartment was near the stairs, and he could hear voices… “Heidi?” he walked down the stairs, trying not to rush and stopped just behind the blond girl, a hand placed protectively on her shoulder. “Hello…” he started cautiously. “you two getting away from green creatures?” what he wanted to ask was ‘what did they do to you two?’, but he kept silent. They looked pretty worn out, like they’d been running for awhile.

"Oh you poor thing..." That was all Anne could say. She knew she would panic if she found Melody in a state like that. Heck, she tended to fret if she got so much as a scratch. Melody didn't like that so much, but it was just Anne's way. She fretted over people she cared about, and Melody was definitely the number one person she cared about.

She looked up when she heard someone on the stairs. Her body tensed for the slightest moment before she saw that it was a man and not something scary. From the way he placed his hand on Heidi's shoulder, Anne guessed that this was probably Joseph. She nodded in answer to his question. "Yeah. They got us in the woods." She shook thoughts like that from her head. They would only make Melody upset, and she didn't want to do that. "You're Joseph, right? Heidi's told us about you. I'm Anne, and this is my daughter Melody." She nodded her head towards Melody. She figured she could at least trust Joseph a little bit if Heidi was so fond of him.

Melody winced when Heidi mentioned the screaming and stuff. That sounded like something that happened in a movie, not in real life. But at least Heidi was okay now. She could see her mother feeling sympathy for her. Anne did have a soft spot for children sometimes. She nodded enthusiastically at Heidi's suggestion. "Yeah, I'd like that." Doing something normal like playing with a friend definitely sounded like a good idea. And it looked like Anne approved too.

Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps approaching them. Melody felt her mother tense up beside her and she got worried. Was it another ghost to scare them? But it turned out that it was just a normal guy. And he even turned out to be Heidi's dad. "Hi," she said cheerfully, waving at Joseph.

Greta slowly shuffled over to the stairs, her mind and memory just now starting to reawaken. She could faintly remember running through the trees and the pain. She remembered the green sky and Tim telling her to run. She wondered what happened to him. He was so nice but so terrified. He told her to run. Did he save her? But how did she end up in such a state? The forest muct have been the answer. She was so tired and so so scared. Deep within something stirred but she was too tired to care.

She tilted her head at Anne, confused. “why?” she didn’t miss what she didn’t know, she was just curious about it. In all honesty there was a big part that didn’t want to remember what the pain and screaming had been from. She looked up at Joseph, smiling brightly. “hi! Look, I made a friend. And you can make a friend too” she giggled and looked at Melody a little sheepishly. “I’d love to, but I don’t know what we’d do now that I think about it…” would she remember how to play? Did that come naturally? She looked uncertainly up at Joseph. “can I play with Melody, please?”

Joseph inclined his head at Anne’s assumption and looked down at Heidi with a smile. “yea, I’m Joseph. I’m sorry, I’m a little on the frazzled side…I was dropped from a terrific height near Heidi and…well” he smiled thinly. “we got attacked in the forest as well, I was exploring. I came here last week” he laughed tightly at the irony. “it’s nice to meet you, Melody, Anne” his lips quirked and he looked at Anne. “Your name fits. You do seem rather queenly” he then noticed the cuts and scratches on them and started, wincing. “do you live near here? You’re free to come to my apartment and get medical supplies, and whatever else you need” he winced again at the wounds and then smiled a little. “Melody and Heidi can play for awhile as well. You both look tired, it’s only why I’m offering”

Anne bit her lip again, seeing that Heidi was confused at her question. Luckily though, she soon forgot it when Joseph came into the conversation and everyone started talking with each other. It was practically a party on the staircase, in a loose sense.

"Well, that's understandable enough," she said. "I think anyone would be frazzled after everything that's happened." Her mouth quirked into a little smile at his compliment. "Never been much of a history buff, but thank you." At least he was a nice guy and not the stereotypical douchebag. She had had enough of those for a lifetime. She nodded. "Yeah, Melody probably needs to get looked at," she agreed. She wasn't worried too much about herself at the moment. Her daughter was always her main concern. She looked up though when she heard footsteps again. Was there another person on the staircase? She looked around before suddenly spotting a young girl coming around the bend, trudging up the stairs like she was carrying a bag full of rocks on her back. At least she wasn't a ghost, although Anne wondered if she was cursed in some other way like everyone else. "You okay there, kiddo?" she asked, not exactly being very tactful at this point. But she didn't know whether this girl was a threat or not, so she acted cautious for the moment.

"Oh, I'm sure we could do lots of things," Melody said, her voice excited. "I have some board games back in our apartment. Ooo, and cards! Do you know any card games? Go Fish is my favorite." Melody felt like she had so many ideas, she couldn't wait to share them. And the good thing was, it took her mind off of what had happened earlier.

She glanced at her mother. "I'm not hurt too bad," she said. Sure, she had some scratches, but she had gotten worse before. But it looked like her mother was getting set on it, and when Anne decided something, hardly anything talked her out of it. She saw her mother notice something though, and she followed her gaze. A teenage girl was slowly coming up the stairs, looking exhausted. Melody wondered if she had gotten attacked too.

she clapped her hands excitedly. "when dad and your mom are done talking, can we go and look? maybe I'll remember if I see them!" she grinned, then looked at Greta and waved. "hi! you okay?"

He smiled slightly at the girls and nodded. “you can check her out at my apartment. I was going to take Heidi to the hospital, just to make sure nothing’s broken” he looked around them at Greta, eyebrows raised. “Maybe everyone should stop at my apartment. It’s the first one by the stairs on this landing” he maneuvered himself around Heidi Melody and Anne and gently took the books from Greta. “come on,” he said quietly “you can join the party. Green bats do this to you too?”

Greta looked at the group on the staircase, at the younger girl who was smiling so brightly, at the battered mother and daughter for they were similar. She forced a smile onto her face but that took so much energy.

"I'm alright," she whispered, suddently shy like she was before her debut.

"Party in Joseph's apartment," Anne muttered, smiling to herself. It was a good thing that he was willing to let in almost total strangers into his place. Anne herself wasn't so trusting sometimes when it came to new people. But Heidi and Joseph seemed like good people to her, so she was willing to trust them for the moment. Her brow furrowed in worry when Joseph approached the new girl. What if she suddenly attacked or something, or turned into some freaky monster? My God, am I getting paranoid? she thought. That wasn't good. Paranoia meant fear, and that was the last thing Anne wanted to feel right now. She felt herself get a little suspicious when the girl said she was fine. She certainly didn't look it. Then again, Anne would probably say the same in her case. She never wanted to appear needy to people.

Melody nodded. "Mm-hmm." At least Heidi was willing to try some new games. Melody liked people like that. She smiled up at her mother excitedly. But she saw that she was still looking with suspicion at the new girl. Melody sighed. Her mother took forever to warm up to new people sometimes. Melody didn't see what the big deal was. The girl didn't look dangerous, so why be suspicious of her?

She frowned when the girl said she was fine. "You don't look fine," she said. "You look exhausted." That was Melody, always stating the obvious.