Very much NSFW fic continued from yesterday:
Fracture Eighteen: Hess’ Games: Blind Man’s Bluff
[AN: Yes! I *am* playing fast&loose with ComicContinuity! Thankyou for noticing ^_^ ]
When Kitty came back, Kurt was kneeling on the floor and rocking back and forth with the jar in his arms. He was singing a lullaby in German and crying.
This was scary.
“Kurt?”
“I didn’t know. He was born and died and I didn’t know.”
“Kurt, you’re creeping me out, here. You’re scaring little Blue.”
“Blue’s a terrible name. Should call her ‘Belle’. It’s French for 'beautiful’.”
Kitty sighed. “Okay. Fine. You’re like, scaring Bluebelle, okay? Can we like, move now?”
Kurt froze. So did Bluebelle.
“Okay, so what’s like, up?”
“Hess…”
“*Mistress*…”
Before Kitty could blink, Kurt siezed Bluebelle’s arm. “Don’t move. Don’t make a sound. We can hide up here, and when she goes downstairs, we can move out of here. Come.” Kurt moved into the closet with Bluebelle and the jar.
Kitty balked. “Like, no *way*. I am *not* getting in a closet with you and like, a *corpse*.”
“It’s only my brother,” Bluebelle whispered. “He doesn’t *do* anything.”
“…eeeewww…”
Kurt looked into her eyes. “You can be brave, liebe. It’s either this, or get found by Hess. Choose.”
Kitty maneuvred herself so that Bluebelle was sitting on her lap, and between her and the dead baby.
“Breathe slowly,” Kurt whispered. He was still cradling the jar as if it were a live baby. “She won’t hear us, then.”
Kitty did her best. She could hear the alcohol in the jar sloshing about. She could feel the dead eyes looking at her. She gripped a broom and focussed on phasing through it.
Outside, Hess was stomping around the house, going about her everyday business, it seemed.
Bluebelle trembled in Kitty’s arms.
“Kurt,” Kitty hissed. “I can like, phase us downstairs when you need us to.”
“Wunderbar,” he hissed back. “Now shhh…”
Hess clomped upstairs. Right past their closet.
Hanging on to Bluebelle with one arm, Kitty grabbed hold of Kurt with the other, and concentrated.
They fell gently through the floor/ceiling, and bolted as quietly as they could towards the coat closet near the door.
It was then that Kitty realised the flaw in Kurt’s logic.
“Uh. I think I like, saw the remains of your holowatch out there,” she whispered. “How the heck are we gonna like, hide three elves?”
Kurt liberated a canvas backpack from a shelf and slid the jar into it. The little jumpsuit followed. “I’m taking all my children out of here,” he whispered. “Even if it *is* to be buried. She will own *nothing* of me.” He took down two voluminous coats and dressed Bluebelle in one. “Here. We’re going to use these to hide from 'Mistress’, okay? It’s going to be hot, but don’t take it off until Kitty or I say it’s safe. Can you do that?”
Bluebelle nodded.
“Sehr gut.” He helped her put the backpack on. “You be careful with your brother, okay? Don’t lose him or drop him.”
“I won’t.”
Kurt wrapped himself in the other one, and motioned for everyone to be quiet again.
Hess passed by. She opened the cellar door and started down the stairs.
“Now.”
Kitty phased them both, and Kurt teleported blind.
They started running, lead by Kurt, and wound up tumbling down a wooded hill, through trees and rocks until they came to a bewildered halt just short of a body of water.
Kurt inhaled, and pointed. “This way. There’s a bridge and a walkway. There might be a phone.”
“Might be?”
“It feels wrong.”
Oh, that was like, *way* helpful. Not.
*
Kurt huddled under the bridge with Bluebelle while Kitty inspected the phone. He almost cheered when she picked up the receiver.
His heart fell again when he saw the cable come away from the phone.
Kitty hung up, kicked the booth, and frowned at the phone. Apart from the receiver, it looked to be in perfect working order.
He could see she was thinking about something. He watched and held his children close.
Kitty picked up the receiver and dialled the toll-free emergency number. She waited a little while, enough for the phone to connect and start ringing, then hit two numbers repeatedly in a specific pattern. 5, 7, 5. 5, 7, 5.
“Of *course*,” he murmured. “The numbers are letters, too. SOS, gescheites Madchen… I knew there was a good reason I love her.”
“What’s going to happen?” asked Bluebelle.
“Well, liebe, with luck, someone at the Institute’s already picked up, and they’re working out what Katzchen’s saying. Then, they’ll contact us and send help. We’ll be going to a nice place where no-one *ever* hurts anyone else on purpose. There’ll be food there, and pretty clothes for you. And peace for your brother, at last.”
“Why is he important?” Bluebelle asked. “He doesn’t *do* anything.”
“It’s because he’s dead, and I never knew him… and Hess had him pickled in a jar for eight *years*. Eight years of my worst nightmare. While I knew nothing.”
Bluebelle took this all in with an, “Oh.”
Kurt had closed his eyes in order to activate his night senses. It was nearing noon. Bad time for Hess to find them.
_Relax, Kurt,_ said Jean’s voice in his head. _The Professor and I are scanning. We’re on our way._
Kitty hung up from the phone and bolted for the space under the bridge where Kurt and Bluebelle huddled. She tucked herself into a little gap that put something between herself and his tiny son.
“It’s all right, liebchen. There’s no need to be afraid.”
“But it’s like, *gross*…” she whimpered. “It’s *sick*.”
“What Hess did is sick. What I’m doing is rescue.”
“It’s still like, sick.”
Kurt sighed. She’d have to get over it on her own. “He needs a name. He was old enough to have one, but Hess didn’t think he was a person, did she? A nice, classical name.” His mouth twitched. Oh yes. He had it. "Michael. Yes. He’s Michael Wagner.“ He gave Bluebelle a hug. "Just like you’re Bluebelle Wagner.”
“Do I have to be dead, too?”
“Nein, liebe. You’re special enough on your own. All because you survived. Keep surviving, eh? It’s a way to get back at her.”
Bluebelle nodded and moved into a hug with her father.
Kurt let his eyes close again. Teleporting three people two miles was a heck of a strain. It’d been a rough jaunt for him. Just a little rest would help. All he had to do was conserve his energy until someone came for them.
So tired.
He held the two most important girls in his life in his arms and drifted into sleep.
*
Gone. They were gone.
No markings. No trace. Just discarded harnesses.
For all she knew, the little devils were still in the house, hoping that she’d go out hunting for them and they could slip away. Not this time.
They’d been through her mementos. The little thieves. And they’d taken the baby. She should have guessed. They’d take anything.
She found the lingering stink of sulphur and brimstone in the hall closet, where coats were routinely hung to dry in wet weather. Some coats were missing.
So. They thought they could escape.
She was faster than they were. She could find them again, even if they’d gone straight to Hell.
Hess started her car. When she found them, she’d teach them all.
She headed straight for the nearest bridge across the bay. If they were hiding anywhere, they’d be hiding there. Waiting for the night to come and hide them.
When she found them, she’d teach them the true meaning of her mercy. She’d have them *begging* for ether to knock them out. To take the pain away.
Hess found a park, sniffing the air. No sulphur. Maybe they didn’t go directly here… maybe they could only travel a limited distance, and that only once. She took the walkway down to the footpath under the bridge. Perhaps Herr Flockig was thinking he was a Troll, today…
*
Kitty had to stifle a whimper. Ms Rosa. Hess. Whatever her name was. Kurt was sound asleep, and looked like he had a minor nosebleed. Kitty daren’t jostle him awake.
Bluebelle had frozen and sorta scooched herself behind Kurt at the same time. Kitty followed suit, not caring about the mud she was getting on her clothes.
Mud, to paraphrase Kurt, was the least of her worries.
She smeared a few lines of the stuff across her face, camouflage style, just in case.
_That’s right, you old bat. Keep walking…_
As if in defiance of Kitty’s thoughts, she turned. Looked *right* at them.
It was a paralysing moment. Neither Jean nor the Professor had been able to pick her up. Why?
Hess frowned, staring at them, then moved on.
_PROFESSOR!_ Kitty mentally screamed. _Hurry!_
_I didn’t see her… Why didn’t I see her?_
_Just like, lay on the gas, okay?_ Kitty thought at him. _She went by once. She mightn’t go by again…_
_Hang on. We’re nearly there. Don’t move a muscle._
Easier said than done. Something icky was crawling up her leg. She had to do it, though. Or they’d be right back where they started, and in a heap of extra trouble, besides. Hess wasn’t exactly the forgive and forget type.
Oh God… it was going up her pants…