Summer & Others

After a call to the house, Summer found that Greg wasn't home, but that Matt and Kate were. Sticking to their bargain, the woman hadn't asked any more questions about what exactly was going on, and refrained from alarming the two younger people - she had only requested that they get a hold of Greg and have him meet them at the house as soon as he could.

"Conan, are you sure you're alright? You look as pale as a ghost. We'll find you some of Greg's clothes at least, and get you out of those wet things." Finding enough to occupy her racing thoughts, Summer said this as she pulled into the drive and parked the car. Kate was at the door already, looking on in uncertainty - it took only a glance to tell that Summer wasn't entirely herself, and that Conan looked far from his best.

Conan

It was anyone's guess how the teen had managed to remain conscious and move about with significantly less trouble than Lanny was having with his wound. Already, he'd swum through the bay for near a half mile, run all the way back to the trailer, and collected all his things to travel with, all the while continuing to slowly soak the front of his coat with crimson fluid, thankful that it was dark because Summer couldn't see the blood. "'m fine" he assured her just once more as he got out of the car, but at the same time he was pulling his hand away from where it had been resting against his chest and holding back a wince, quickly shifting his fingers behind him so that Summer wouldn't be able to see. His back was to Kate, so he was careful to keep the bloodied palm turned toward his jeans. It wouldn't be impossible for them to see that he'd been bleeding, but it would be a task for only the most perceptive. "We don' have time for me ta change... I've got clo's in the bag. We gotta keep movin'." Those were his firm words - more than anything else, his instincts told him they had to get away, and he knew that if he changed, Summer would see the wound, and want to stop to mend it. He could keep going for a little while yet - they simply had to get away from here. That was all that was on his mind.

Summer & Others

"You have time to change - you'll freeze otherwise." Summer countered so softly, it was hard to hear the words as the gentle command they were meant to be. She was getting out of the car now, too preoccupied with worrying over what was going on and the safety of her family to immediately notice how Conan had been holding his chest. But where she and Kate hadn't yet noticed the blood, someone else did, as clear as day. A soft, low whine came from Starcrossed as she nudged her way past Kate's legs and sprinted off the porch. Ears back and tail unmoving, the hybrid leaned a twitching nose upward, sniffing intently at the scent of blood that had caught her attention.

"Conan..." Reading the nervous body language of Starcrossed, and following the canine's attention to Conan's front, Summer squinted her eyes a little as she finally picked up on a subtly different hue of color on his jacket that definitely wasn't suppose to be there. "Conan, is that blood?" Her voice turned sharp in alarm, and she moved forward as she spoke to get a better look to confirm her suspicions.

Conan

They couldn't do this - they didn't dare stop! The whole thing was too dangerous - they needed to be out of here by now. Why wasn't anyone moving?! His betrayal came not from either of the expected sources, but from the soft, twitching snout of Starcrossed, whom he'd met up close only once - but that didn't make the discovery any more convenient for him. "No," he lied firmly, turning his gaze abruptly to Summer, and shifted away from her before she could draw close. He didn't feel the least bit guilty about the lie, even though he knew she likely wouldn't believe it - even now, he moved toward the house, asking Kate gruffly, "'ave you got yer things? We need ta go - if we're lucky, we can still get out 'fore they come."

Summer Wallock

Starcrossed jerked a little and drew back when Conan turned abruptly, use enough to get near him, but a little flighty about the sudden movement. One ear perked hesitantly up, then sank back down as she whined once more to let everyone know that she smelled blood.

Unfortunately for Conan's attempts to get them all moving, Kate wasn't as easily appeased as Summer was with his lack of answers. She wasn't a snippity, rude young woman, but she was far from a pushover, and didn't hesitate to speak up on what she felt. "That's blood on your shirt. Is it yours?" A stern inflection entered her question, and she stood directly in front of the door when Conan came her way, whether or not it was such a wise thing to do, "I want to know who you're running from, and why exactly we're all shoving off like this."

Conan

The past two weeks had been a real trial to Conan - his father's death was still a fresh shock to his world, even if he didn't grieve for the man a single mite, and the long, wasting illness after that had done nothing to improve his strength. This feeling of weakness - brought on by how he constantly drove himself on and also by the wound he was trying to hide - did nothing but frighten Conan more. He couldn't be weak... not now. Not when their lives all depended on getting out of here as quickly as they possibly could. It was this load of things, combined with the pain that was again rearing its head more insistently now that he wasn't constantly moving, that made him snap at Kate with another lie, "No - s'not mine. An' who I'm runnin' from's my own affair. Jes be glad I knew ta come afta ya. Now are ya comin' or no?" His face was pale and clammy again, his eyes bloodshot where they were set deep in his head; it was no wonder Kate wasn't fooled. But he continued the lie, for the sake of getting them out of here.

Summer Wallock

Summer shot a look to Kate, a questioning, desperately worried sort of expression that also shared the knowledge that there was something desperately wrong with the boy that he wasn't sharing. "You look like you could pass out any minute. None of us are going anywhere until you explain what's going on." The words were definitely firm, but the edges softened by the type of universal concern that had been such a hallmark of the Lady's personality, "Before we go anywhere, you'll at least see to a change of clothes. We have to wait for Greg anyway, and I can't just leave all these animals to fend for themselves."

Conan

The teen's jaw tightened, his eyes flashing a bit - he looked as though he'd willingly slug Kate right now. But though his fists clenched tightly, he made no move to harm her; rather like the Zelkoviis, he would never turn his anger against a girl. Instead, he whispered hoarsely, "Fine - ya don' wanna come, then stay 'ere. Don' try ta writ' it off ta me if'n you're all dead by nigh'fall." If he'd been himself, he wouldn't have been so cold and cruel to the young woman - it was unusual to hear his voice come so gruffly and without any sort of gentleness. Turning away from Kate, he stalked away from her, back toward the car. "C'mon Summer - we got ta get ba-ack on tha road. We can sti-" One knee gave, making him reach for the hood of the car to keep from dropping altogether - his vision went black as heat and agony awakened in his chest. His breathing got heavier as he paused there, unable to go further but too stubborn to admit to needing help, particularly when the CS could be only seconds behind them. "We - gotta go," he repeated, despite the fact that he couldn't see yet. "There's... no tiiiime."

Summer Wallock

Both of them were shocked to hear the words that came out of Conan's mouth; yet Summer was the first to write it off as the sickness that had been plaguing him for so long, and possibly something else. Kate was ready to go another round with the boy, trying in her less soft manner to get the kid some help, but Summer instead took the reigns. When Conan collapsed partially against the car, she rushed forward to grab at one of his shoulders, "You're too sick, you've got to rest. Come along, Conan, just for a few minutes at least - you're in no shape to be running around like you are." She tried gently to guide him upwards and towards the house, but wasn't going to force him to move that way if he resisted it. The two woman continued to see Conan's wellbeing as the most pressing matter right now, despite how persistent he was being about their lives being in possible danger.

Conan

Clenching his teeth as he tried to breathe around the burning in his chest, Conan had to pause a moment before he could begin to think about answering Summer. He barely felt her grip on his shoulder as he leaned weakly against the car - finally, after several tortuous moments, he looked up at her, ignoring the black places in his slowly-returning vision as he focused on her face and shrugged off her hand before she might feel the warm wetness of the blood. Feeling a decent roll of pain for the movement, he didn't voice it at all, but rather reminded her fiercely, "If I rest now, we'll all have a long rest before us soon enough. We've got ta move." And with that said, he forced his legs to take his weight again, and darted his gaze back to Kate, "You comin' or no?" he repeated, his voice more tired, but thankfully less snappy than it had been.

Summer & Others

Again, the two woman exchanged glances, and Summer gave in at last, "Okay Conan, we'll go. But where?" Doing this mostly to gain his compliance, Summer continued to help support him until he turned his shoulder to dislodge her hand - and for the first time, she put it right back where it was, putting his wellbeing just ahead of his will, "I'll help you into the seat. Kate and the others can follow us in their car. Now sweety... please, tell me what's wrong." She was beginning to doubt his earlier claims of being alright, and as his weakness grew more prominent and his breath not quite as sturdy, she was on the verge of investigating the source of blood as well.

Conan

Every instinct he had screamed for him to again shrug off the grip on his shoulder - this was bad, he was letting her get too close! Close was bad - already he had targets laid out in Aralyn and Raimi that others could exploit. But the soft touch felt... so nice... against all the pain, both physical and otherwise. He was tired, and just trying desperately to get through the day without anyone getting killed. He'd slowly learned to care a little about Summer and Collin in his months staying with them, and he was trying his best to see that they and their son, and their son's friends, remained safe from the threats against him, and it was overwhelming to him. He ought to shove her hand away again - but that was one thing he didn't have the willpower to do right now. But he did continue to resist the pleading note of her voice, shaking his head and resorting to lightly trembling hands now to say, I'll tell you went we get there. We don't have time to talk now. I promise... we'll talk when it's safe. With that, he moved to sink into the seat of the car, trying his best not to lean too heavily on it and to continue looking attentive and calm. I do not know where we should go - I know only that they will search your home, and Greg's and Nadeem's for me. And I know that we cannot be there when they do. Anyplace else will work - anyplace they will not think us to be.

Summer Wallock

It was getting to the point where she was highly tempted just to drive him to the hospital now, but the one thing that stopped her from doing this was knowing that she stood a very good chance of breaking that trust she and Collin had worked so diligently to attain. Her features took on that almost sad note again, etched in the edges of her eyes, and corners of her mouth, and a vague sense of understanding shown through her light eyes. She knew he was suffering, and wanted to do everything in her power to help him, and right now... that meant getting him to safety, and following through with his wishes. "Kate, please have Greg call me when he arrives. We'll rendezvous at the summer cabin." Summer climbed into the car after this, starting up the engine, and pulling out of the long, curved lane. "Try to relax some, Conan. I've got one place that should be safe enough."