A Change of Pace (OPEN)

[Kevala Katashi]

Winter had set in, or at least as far as the night time hours were concerned. Temperature dropping to a chilly fifty three degrees, steam rising up from the cities underbelly, and the stench of day or garbage, which riddled the local alley ways, not so strong as to make you wish that you could just stop breathing all together. By far, this was, and always had been Kevala's favorite time of year, though perhaps not for the reasons that most people would think.

She was not incapable of standing the heat of summer, nor was she a huge fan of the latest winter fashions as most women seemed to be. Kevala did not enjoy the holidays, having never gotten the point of any of them, and she did not see this as the time of year for family and friends. Even the mere thought of such a thing was enough to make her laugh.

No, there was nothing over complicated about her enjoyment of the cold winter months, other than the simple fact, that the chill of the winter wind allowed her to forget, for just a bit, that she walked around so many days feeling nothing. That she had a black, void hole inside of her that saw no happiness, saw not fear or pain, knew nothing of sadness or regret. It was just...empty. Numb. Usually a complete contrast against her warm, vibrant flesh which felt so very much.

But during the winter, when she stepped out her door at night to go on her usual midnight run...clad only in her black yoga pants, matching tank top, sneakers and those cuffs tied about her wrists...the instant the cold air hit her flesh..the numbness started to set in. The biting cold enough to drown out sensation and allow her outside to match what she felt, or did not feel, on the inside.

Tonight being no different than the hundreds before of course. Dressed in her usual attire, she had left the house around one a.m and was now into her third mile. The sneakers that she wore barely making a sound upon the sidewalk, though in contrast to the lack of noise usually surrounding her movements, it was quite a bit. Long auburn locks pulled back into a ponytail at the back of her head, a few strands had worked their way free, cascading down across her eyes as she turned yet another corner and continued to release soft, controlled bursts of air.

How many years had she been doing this now? Going out in the dead of night, exposing herself to the elements, pushing herself to the point that most people would break? If memory served, the correct answer would have been forever. Ever since she had found out what she was at least. From that day forward, it had been about testing her limits and overcoming them. Time and time again, just when she thought she had hit her breaking point, her body adapted and she overcame. If anything, at this point, it was just frustrating. But, she kept trying.

To be honest, she had done this for so long, that the idea of stopping actually frightened her a little bit. She was a creature of habit, for the most part and though she lived a hectic life, she had her routines which she stuck to religiously. If she were to suddenly up and stop her nightly runs, well then she may just lose what was left of her mind.

Behind her, there would be the sound of rather heavy breathing, and loud, thunderous steps as another pair of sneakers followed along her predetermined path. Carmine had taken to running with her, and though he was a very physically fit man, he found it hard to keep up with the tiny woman before him after about the first mile and half. Not that she could blame him much, where most people slowed, she only seemed to increase her speed as the run went on. Though tonight she may have to consider slowing, or even calling it quits before her usual eight to ten mile mark. Knowing all too well the havoc that the cold air could bring forth on the lungs if one was not used to it.

The idea of stopping, of leaving herself with so many hours yet left to fill before work, was not a pleasant one. But, for him she would be willing to make that little sacrifice. After all, in all the years she had been doing this, Carmine was the only one that ever attempted to join her. Sure, it had taken him until recently to do so, though that was to no fault of his own. She had never been very inviting she supposed, though at the same time, she had never been very closed off to the idea.

Hell, she had even hinted, at least a dozen times, to Mischa that she should join her. Or to the kids when they got older. But in the end, it had always just been herself. Not that she was really surprised. Normal people slept at this hour, and for those who did not, the last thing they wanted to be doing was going out on some impossibly long run with the Queen of Crazy Town...or so she had heard herself referred to at least once or twice in recent days.

But yes, Carmine had finally decided that he should join her on her runs...stating that with everything happening at the school, and with the prospect of him being alive..she needed the extra protection. A sentiment which, though kind (she supposed) was also very foolish.

Oh, don't get me wrong...Kevala had complete and utter faith in the big man, and if there was ever anyone she could consider family other than Gabriel and those directly related to her...it would be him. But she was also a woman who had lived her life well aware of the dangers that surrounded her...and of all of them, the mad doctor was possibly the worst. No, he had gotten through her security and into her home to take her down that night when Ezekial was an infant, and he had managed to pose as a doctor at the hospital, convincing Mischa to commit her. Nobody the wise to the fact that it was he who was leading the show the entire time.

If he wanted her...he would indeed get her. She just believed that now, the crazy bastard had set his sights a little higher than her genetically altered self. Though, she had to admit she was less then pleased with where his attention had seemed to have fallen. Of course, she could not be one hundred percent sure, but after years of tracking the movements of the sick bastard, always finding herself one step behind...and with all the buzz which was generating around Katashi Corp's main office....she had to question if it wasn't true.

Sure, Patrick had shot the bastard, but if there was anyone who understood how little meaning death truly held, it was Kevala. After all, the man in question had perfected his techniques of bringing back the dead on her. So if anything, his death held no baring in her mind, what so ever.

"You do not follow the same path twice?" Breathless words sounding out from behind her and drawing her mind back from the brink of some very dangerous memories. Apparently the man was capable of telling when she was teetering on the edge of such, because whenever he was around, he always made an attempt to save her from herself. Though it was the winded sound of his voice that would draw a soft chuckle from Kevala as she slowed her pace just a bit and shook her head softly.

"All these years and there is still so much you do not know about me Carmine." Her tone, her demeanor and even her attitude different than what most people knew of her. But then, this was not some social setting in which she was expected to behave a certain way..nor was this dealing with some person who she could not allow the luxury of seeing her more humanish side.

This was Carmine and after having spent almost a year, alone with the man, in her mountain home...at her weakest moment...scared of the world outside and constantly in need of a strong shoulder to cry on...there were no such barriers anymore. He was, and probably would be, the single most trusted person in her life short of Gabriel, and even that she questioned. After all, she never could allow herself to show weakness around the man, never let herself show that sometimes she did just want to be a normal woman. So perhaps, in some ways, Carmine was far more trusted than even him.

"If you travel the same route every night, you make yourself more open to random traps being set up ahead of you. I have found, that I am more leery of what is around a corner I have been around before, than those which I have yet to travel around." Shrugging a bit, and reaching up to shove her fingers into her hair, pushing it out of her face as she would cast him a slight glance over her shoulder, chuckling softly at the attire he wore, right down to the hat pulled down over his ears and the baggy grey sweats. "Are you certain you can keep up? Perhaps we should invest in a golf cart for you to drive, if you insist upon coming with me every night."

She would issue a small giggle, rare for her, but genuine just the same. Teasing him lightly before feeling a hand reach up and snag her ponytail at the back of her head, jerking it firmly as Carmine would take his turn to laugh and then hurry his steps to bypass her, if only to show off for a moment. Knowing full and well she could best him. "I have told you before little one, you have a long way to go before you can keep up with me and my amazing physical agility."

Her reaction being only to laugh a bit and then continue after him, allowing him to take the lead for now, as her mind set itself back to wandering.

[Kevala Katashi]

The lock to the cell door would slide open. That familiar metal clang sounding throughout the small, five by six cell. The white walls stained with words scribbled in blood, none of which any longer made sense to the girl seated upon the steel spring cot which was bolted to the floor in the far corner of the room. At one point they had, she knew that much, but with every passing day, the letters began to make less and less sense. The names, ones that she knew, deep down, had meant something...had been important...were no longer recognizable. Just letters scrawled in blood on a white surface.

The small desk in the opposite corner, held the same type of lettering. Each one carved in dutifully with her nails. The splinters embedded beneath them proof enough of that, though to be honest, she could barely recall the act of doing so anymore. Every memory a blur. But then, it was not just the memories that were blurs anymore, but her day to day life. Nothing made any sense anymore. Nothing held any sort of reason behind it. She went to sleep...She woke up...She survived. That was it. That was the sum of her existence. Yet with every passing day, or hour it would seem these days, the thought of surviving grew more and more tiresome.

She just wanted to die. She just wanted it all to end. In fact, that was the only thing she was certain of anymore. Relief from the pain, from the torture. Escape from the feel of those large, sweaty hands upon her, that breath ragged and smelling of breath mints and cigarettes. The way that they held her down and whispered in her ear. The sick, demented laughter.

The darkness surrounding her, she would press her feet into the mattress, pushing herself back away from the door and into the corner which the bed rested in. There was no escape...there was never any escape. Not once they decided to come for her...and yet she still tried. Her once beautiful hair now a tangled, lifeless mess around her pale, drawn in face. Her eyes no longer that captivating icy blue, but a pale, sickly white color...her flesh bruised, cut up and pasty in color. The white gown she wore, torn and dirty...covered with blood, grime and vomit. No shoes..no socks..leaving her feet to turn a light shade of blue as the cold set in.

Then, the final metallic cling would be heard, and the door would begin to open. The light spilling into the darkness...her darkness and causing her to cry out. No words, just incoherent babble as she shook her head and felt the heat of her tears streaking down her face. Pressing back into the corner, she would begin to shake, struggling to breath as she watched that door with pure terror in her eyes.

She could not put words to what they did to her, but the images of it were burned into her mind. She would never forget, never be able to erase these thoughts and images from her mind. She knew that much.

Her fear only increasing as two, large, dark figures would appear within the doorway. No features, just shadows...but it was those shadows that scared her most of all.

"KEV!"

The sound of Carmine's voice echoing through the deserted street snapping her out of her daydream and hurling her right back into the here and now. Her eyelids fluttering a bit as she blinked quickly, trying to regain her footing on the present, only to come face to face with the large man before her, his hands on her shoulders and his face filled with a great deal of concern.

"Kevala, are you alright?"

His words getting through, though for a moment she was unable to fully piece together just what he was saying exactly, brow furrowing as she gave a nod...more out of instinct than as a response to his words. However, a few seconds later, it would become apparent to her that she was no longer standing and instead was planted firmly upon the cold New York sidewalk with Carmine knelt down in front of her.

A slow burn would start in her palms, and the slight hint of blood on the air would catch her attention, causing her to raise her hands to see that they were scraped up and bleeding. Only proving to confuse her more as she opened her mouth to speak. "Y....Yeah,...I am fine." Blinking a bit more as she watched little droplets of blood begin to roll down her wrists. "Wh...What happened?"

Those icy hues looking to her most trusted companion with utter confusion as she would slowly start to try and push herself up to stand, quick to push his hands away from her as he offered to assist her. No matter how out of it or confused she was, she wasn't one to take a person's charity, not even his.

"I don't know. You were fine one minute, and the next you fell down and started screaming. When I tried to touch you, you freaked out and screamed again. Tried to crawl away from me." He clearly didn't know what to do, the concern and confusion in his own voice not really helping to relieve her own. Though he would rise to stand, giving her space to collect herself, however not moving far in case she wasn't as fine as she said she was.

"I...I am not sure what happened. I was just..thinking about everything that has been going on here and then...I..." She growled very softly and would avert her eyes away and toward the wall of a nearby building, her teeth captured within her teeth as she stood and brushed her hands against her pants...hissing sharply at the pain which shot through them and then shuddering softly.

"You really think that it is him don't you?"

"Who else could it be Carmine?"

"You don't know that for sure."

"It is not a chance I am willing to take."

"So what would you have me do?"

She sighed. Not entirely sure of what to say to that. She knew what she wanted to do. Pick up her children, regardless if they wished it or not, and leave. Go back to Italy, or perhaps choose another country to go to. Anything was better than being here at this point. Anything was better than risking everything just to stick around and look after some school and a bunch of people who didn't give a damn if she lived or died.

"I don't know Carmine...I just don't know." Fingers coming up to rub her temple to try and banish those thoughts from her mind as she groaned softly and forced her feet to take a few stumbled steps forward. Trying hard to get herself back into the game..back into the running mode she had been in before this little ....mishap.

"We could be gone by the time the sun rises." The man, having been with her for so long, knowing exactly where her mind was at, and more than willing to pick up everything and leave. But then, truth be told, Kevala was his everything...like the daughter he never had and likely never would.

"I don't know Carmine. That is a very weighted decision to make. Let's just finish this run, and perhaps by then I will have made up my mind." Not willing to discuss this much further right now, and quickly putting one foot in front of the other and starting off on her run once more, fully expecting him to catch up. All the while, trying to shake off the lingering emotions left behind by her trip down memory lane.