extrasprinkles | Heavy Downpour 8U

Heavy Downpour 8U

WHO Murphy Pendleton (

keyrack) and Agent Norman Jayden (

nahmanjayden)
WHAT While closing the files for the Origami Killer case, Norman Jayden begins to suspect that a boy named Charlie Pendleton was the Origami Killer's first victim, and goes to Maine to speak to his father about his son's technically unsolved murder.
WHEN Some time after the Origami Killer case is closed, and after Murphy escapes from Silent Hill and Sewell goes to prison.
WHERE Murphy's garage

Murphy loved working with his hands. The feeling of the tangible things like metal and tools under his fingers reminded him that he was alive, that the world was still concrete and that he had not faded into nothingness in that horrible town. And so, it made perfect sense to him to rent a small garage after he was able to come out of hiding, after Sewell was convicted for what happened to Frank. The thought of going back to Boston was tempting, but there were too many memories. It was really on a whim that he ended up settling down in Maine, where his only real friend was. Officer Cunningham was the only person he interacted with much on a steady basis, and he was expecting her to come by today, so when he heard footsteps, he tightened a bolt a bit more and craned his neck so his voice would carry better from under the Impala he was working on.

"Just a second!" he called out, and then went back to the stubborn vehicle. "Under the car back here. Just be a minute." Today was a sunny day, and the light carried under the car from the open garage door; he'd wanted to let in a little light and take advantage of the good spring weather. Though occasionally the pollen made him sneeze, it was still nice to get some fresh air. It also made it easier to work with all the light that came in, and he was able to finish up with the muffler quicker than normal. Which made it so he was able to slide out on the creeper only moments after his visitor arrived.

"Sorry about that," he muttered, grabbing for a rag and wiping some of the grease from his hands. There was still some on his face and on his neck, but he had no way of knowing. "Glad you could make it. Figured maybe we could--" and that was when he looked up and saw an unfamiliar face rather than Officer Cunningham's.

Well, shit.

"Shit. I thought you were someone else. Here to pick up a car?" he was still sitting down on the creeper and he stood, tucking the grease stained rag into his pocket. For a moment he thought the man was the owner of the Chevy he'd just finished last night, but he was pretty sure the man had come in in overalls every other time he'd met him. This guy... didn't look like someone who'd bring a car to a dumpy little one-man auto shop. He was wearing a nice suit.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Zipping the duffel bag shut, Murphy slung the bag over his shoulder and hung up the phone. Agent Norman Jayden had just called a moment ago to confirm that yes, he was indeed outside of the small, shoddy apartment Murphy called home and that he was waiting. He'd made a call to Officer Cunningham when he initially got home, explaining that he was going to be out of town. He wouldn't put it past her to start a world classy hissy fit if he suddenly turned up missing.

Everything he needed packed, Murphy glanced around his bedroom. It was cozy but sparse, and most of the small amount of clothes he owned were in the bag on his shoulder. He'd brought only the essentials and the room still looked bare. The small, dim apartment's rooms darkened behind him as he turned lights off and locked the door behind him.

Down the front steps, it was raining softly now. It had only been a short time and the brilliant afternoon sun had already given away to a sluggish drizzle. Murphy was not happy. Adjusting his bag a bit, he nodded in the direction of Norman to show that he saw him there.

"Thanks. For the ride," he felt obligated to say.

Edited 2013-12-11 22:07 (UTC)

"Yoah welcome." He forced a small smile and opened the car door to get in. The rain was making him tense and he was glad to be out of it. Norman had never liked the rain, and the Origami Killer case had only made him feel even less friendly toward it.

Brushing some water from the shoulder of his suit, he plunged the car key into the ignition and heard the engine roar to life. He glanced at the gas gauge on the dash and was satisfied that they could make it at least most of the way without filling up. "You lived here long?" He glanced at the apartment but he really meant in the city. He wasn't exactly familiar with Maine and it wasn't unlike him to get lost. If Murphy knew his way around, maybe that wouldn't happen. The car was equipped with a GPS system but it seemed a bit wonky. It had stopped working all the way through an entire town on the way here from the airport.

Rather than smiling in return, Murphy simply nodded. He wasn't much of a smiler anymore, since what had happened. Everything that had happened. But the nod was a friendly one, one that spoke a little to the fact that he felt like at least for the moment, they were acting as comrades.

Murphy cast a dark glance up at the storm clouds above before getting into the car, climbing into the passenger seat and tossing his bag into the back before he buckled his seat belt. At Norman's question, he glanced in his direction momentarily. "No. Not really," he admitted. "After uh... well, fuck it, you tracked me down, I'm sure you know about what I've done. After prison, I didn't really have anything left. One of the guards helped me get my name cleared, and she's really the only person I've got. So I guess I just ended up here, where she lives." It's more personal information than Murphy would normally share voluntarily, but he felt awkward so he was running his mouth. Murphy had never exactly been the wizard of small talk.

Norman nodded thoughtfully, glad that Murphy was finally comfortable enough to tell him at least something. It was difficult to work with someone who was unwilling to share any information. Someone like Norman, himself.

Turning the windshield wipers to near the highest setting to compensate for the heavy downpour, he programmed the GPS system to take them to the airport a few towns over, looking at the address he'd scribbled on a napkin. He'd only been driving the company vehicle for a few days and it was already lightly littered with trash and things he had no other place for.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to trust the system, then. Who knows, maybe it won't have another episode like last time." He gave a slight smile as he typed in the address.

Murphy glanced at the FBI agent and then back out the window, focusing on the downpour of heavy rain that was battering down on the world around them. As sunny and bright as things had looked earlier, it was a stark contrast to see how dark and gray the world looked now. He supposed it shouldn't be a surprise. Rain was par for the course this time of year. But after Silent Hill, rain tended to make him slightly uneasy.

Maybe he was just superstitious like that.

"Cross your fingers," he muttered idly as he watched Norman put in the address. Murphy was not what one would call a tech wizard, and a GPS was not something he'd ever really had experience with. As far as he was concerned, it seemed like a dangerous thing in a way. Easy to follow blindly. Knowing how absentminded he could get when he was lost in thought, he'd worry he'd do something like drive against traffic if the GPS told him to without even thinking about it.

Norman gave a small laugh. What's the worst that could happen? Having to stop and get directions? Murphy seemed awfully nervous about something so minor.

Putting the car in drive, he eased into the street. Keeping the speed slightly under the limit to compensate for the drenched asphalt, he remained silent for a few minutes. Clicking the windshield wipers up another notch, he sighed quietly. "Damn rain." He grumbled. "Never lets up, does it?"

Glancing briefly sideways at him when he laughed, Murphy nodded slightly in reply. Norman was not exactly a social butterfly, he could tell that much, but he was confident and he was at least making small attempts to be friendly, and so he offered him the smallest of smiles in return. Never let it be said that Murphy was a jolly person, but he also wasn't above being kind when someone deserved it.

"Naw," he agreed, casting a despairing look at the droplets sliding down the windshield. "Know it's just weather, that it's no big deal. But still I fuckin' hate it."

Nodding slowly, Norman did his best to focus on the road. Visibility was becoming more and more limited with the increasing volume of rain and he could barely see three feet in front of the car. At least there wouldn't be many people on the road in this weather.

Keeping the speed slightly under thirty five, he stared at the monotonous road in front of them. "You an' me, both." He agreed heartily. Ugh, rain was the worst of all weather. He'd rather have it snow for a week than rain for a day.

With nothing else really to say, this was going to be an awkward car ride. Their only comfortable topic was their mutual dislike for the current weather patterns and that was a subject not suitable for long conversations. He took a deep breath and tried to stay focused on the road.

Murphy didn't know about Norman, but he was perfectly content with just sitting and watching the rain in silence, not worrying about forcing awkward small talk and making things more uncomfortable than they needed to be. Norman seemed like a nice enough sort, the kind of person he'd probably have a few beers with if they had met under different circumstances. Not that Murphy was really in any position to be accepting any applications for friends at this point.

He drove for a while in silence, staring ahead and trying not to let his mind wander away from the road and the instructions given by the pleasant secretary voice of the GPS system. It sounded vaguely like Captain Perry's assistant. Charlene, was it? He wondered, but then pushed the thought from his mind. Focus, Jayden, it's raining like hell out there. Roads are slippery as the devil's tit and the last thing we need is a car crash.

He stared ahead once again, trying to ignore the pounding rain and the incessant tapping sound it made on the roof of the car. He thought he felt something warm trickle from his nose and quickly lifted a hand to wipe it away.

There was something almost comfortable to the silence, something about it that he didn't really mind. In an odd way, he felt that he and Norman were a sort of kindred spirits, that they were both just as closed off and uninterested in really creating more drama for themselves than they needed to in this situation, and Murphy appreciated that. He reminded himself he'd have to get Norman drunk as a thank you when this was all over, if they didn't end up hating each other by the time they figured all this out. Boston was a long way off.

After several moments of silence broken only by the GPS and the sound of rain, Murphy found himself glancing sideways at Norman, and was almost instantly aware of a blot of red starting in his left nostril. Slightly alarmed, he stared for a moment.

"Jayden, you uh... you've got a nosebleed," he told him eventually.

Wiping the blood on the back of his hand (not his suit, thank you), he swallowed hard at nothing. Hopefully nothing else would come of the symptom. It sometimes happened just for no reason, but other times it could be an omen of an impending withdrawal attack.

"Uh, thanks." He smiled awkwardly, very forced. Shit shit shit not now. After a moment, it didn't feel like it was going to happen and he couldn't deny his relief. Sighing out quietly, he kept his eyes fixed on the black road with its yellow stripe galloping down the center.

While Murphy was nahmally not prone to staring, he kept his eyes on Norman as he wiped away the blood and then continued to focus on the road. There was something off about him, in his smile that was so forced it was painful and the way he gripped the wheel. Not only was Murphy curious, he was concerned. They were driving buddies at the moment, and if Norman was going to have some sort of seizure on the road he didn't want it to be a surprise.

"You feelin' okay?" he asked, glancing around the car. "Need to pull over? You don't look so good." More accurately, he looked like shit, but Murphy was prone to being polite to law enforcement. To anyone who didn't know the circumstances of his imprisonment, it would probably seem ironic.

Norman nodded, bringing his hand back up to catch another drip. This was bad. This was very, very bad. He gripped the steering wheel tightly with one hand, the other clenched on the seat next to him. His knuckles were white and he could see that his skin was becoming a sickly pale shade. Why the hell did he have to start taking it in the first place? He looked like a walking corpse half the time and he felt like one, too.

"Yeah, I'm.. .I'm fine." He wasn't sure if he believed that himself, but maybe Murphy would. "It's nothin'."

Still watching the agent rather suspiciously, Murphy noticed the white of his knuckles, heard the shaking of his voice and saw it in his hands. And there it was, his nose bleeding even more. Shit, what was even going on with this guy. Murphy gave him a look that didn't appear completely convinced.

"Okay," he responded, a bit skeptical. "If you need to stop..." letting the words trail off, he looked back out the windshield. The road was hard to see with the driving rain, and it made him nervous.

Hitting the brakes a bit harder than was necessary, Norman let the car ease to a stop, pulling over to the side of the road. There was no way he could drive like this - they'd both be smeared across the pavement before they ever made it to the airport. Staring at the steering wheel, he tried to think of some excuse; some way to get a moment alone. Just a moment, that's all he needed.

"Um, Mistah Pendleton, you know about cars, right? Would you mind, um, checking the back tire? It feels... low." It was a poor excuse but if Murphy agreed, it would give him enough time to take care of this. He would resist it someday, for long enough to actually make a lasting difference. But right now they were on the side of the road in a rain storm and they really needed to get to Boston. There was no time for that now.

He turned off the car, looking at Murphy in anticipation.

Yes, Murphy knew plenty about cars. He did run a garage, after all. But that didn't mean he was happy about the notion of going out into the pouring rain to check the tire which felt fine, mind you. Norman wasn't an idiot, but he was no mechanic, and as reluctant as he would normally be to think so, he was sure he was better off trusting his own instincts and knowledge than Norman's. Especially if it would save him from having to go out there in that rain needlessly.

"Yeah, I do. It feels fine to me," glancing out at the rain and then back at Norman, he gave the man a long and concerned look. "You sure you're okay? You look like you're gonna pass out."

"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm fine." He lied, feeling the tachycardia begin. It brought a pain to his chest and he swallowed at nothing in an attempt to relieve the pain. His throat was dry as the Sahara and he only succeeded in letting out a rasping cough. "Are you sure, 'cause... it feels a little low over heah." This wasn't working, god damn it, but he couldn't think of anything else.

"Hey, I'll just go check on it myself. No problem." Going out in the rain for a few minutes was better than this. He could barely see the road with this rain and now his vision was starting to blur. They weren't going anywhere if he didn't take some. Just a little bit.

Murphy wasn't entirely sure he believed him, and he raised an eyebrow at the other man and eyed him rather suspiciously before he granted him amnesty in the form of looking away. Murphy's stare wasn't a good one to be on the other end of.

"I'll check it," he said quickly with a shake of his head and a wave of his hand, reaching for the door handle. Norman was already driving and he'd also had to wait outside for Murphy in the rain. He could at least set his mind at ease by checking out the tire. "Two seconds. I'll take a look."

Out in the rain, Murphy didn't even bother wrapping his arms around himself to keep warm, just walked to the back of Norman's side of the vehicle and knelt beside the tire, trying not to get mud on his shoes. No, the tire looked fine. A frown, and he rose back to his feet and headed back for the car.

Moving quickly in the minuscule amount of time he had, Norman pulled the small phial from his pocket. Inhaling the life-giving blue powder through the perforated lid, he quickly replaced it in his pocket.

Swiping underneath his nose with the back of his hand, he looked in the rearview mirror to ensure that no traces of the substance remained on his skin. He really didn't look good. White as a sheet and red-eyed, he looked more dead than alive.

Sighing out, he leaned his head back on the seat as the tingling euphoria started to course through his veins. The shaking in his hands was already dying down when he heard the passenger's side door open.

Shutting the door behind him, Murphy came into the car shivering and smelling like a wet dog, evidence of the weather outside clinging to his shirt and hair. "Looked fine," he told Norman, putting his seat belt back on and leaning his back against the seat. "Seemed like it was riding okay. Maybe you were imagining it."

And then he gave Norman another suspicious look. Because there was definitely something off about this guy.

He gave a nervous laugh, worried that Murphy somehow knew what he'd done while he was gone. "Yeah, maybe. I guess so." He turned back toward the steering wheel, inhaling hard through his nose to ease the discomfort the drug always brought. But it was nothing compared with the deep euphoria and warmth it brought inside. He could deal with the nosebleeds.

"Sorry I made ya go out there, Mistah Pendleton. I shoulda just gone myself."

Murphy waved a hand dismissively. "Forget it," he responded, shaking his head. "You offered, I said I'd go. You were already out in the rain earlier, I wasn't." It was his way of extending a bit of friendliness even as he watched Norman out of the corner of his eye, heard him sniff heavily.

Cocaine?

Murphy had never used drugs, but he wasn't naive, either.

There was an undeniable tension in the car as he started up the engine again, not even looking Murphy's way. Even if he'd wanted to look at him, shame and the edge from the drug kept his eyes to himself. Well, to the road.

"Well, thanks anyway." He tried to keep his voice upbeat.

He eased the vehicle back into the street, signalling but doing it a bit too late to make a difference. What's it matter. There was no one on the road anyway.

He drove in silence for a while, not bothering to glance at the green signs indicating their location as he turned onto the stretch of highway between this city and the next.

There was something heavy to the air Murphy didn't understand, didn't want to think about. He definitely wasn't going to ask about it. Norman deserved his privacy just as much as Murphy deserved his own, and he certainly wouldn't take kindly to have it threatened. He would bristle and lash out and be angrier than he had any right to be, and while he was sure Norman's reaction would be much less embarrassing than his own, he didn't have any place at all seeing what it would be in the first place.

He noticed Norman wasn't obeying traffic laws, but Murphy was the last person in the world justified in giving any sort of auto-related law advice. And besides, he'd done worse just last week, he was sure. Silently, he sat and enjoyed the ride as best he could, glancing at Norman every now and then and otherwise enjoying the scenery.

"Long ride," he commented. "Hope you're good at staying entertained."

[CHAPTER 2]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject