Shaken And At The End Of The Tether
Part 2
Stranger headed back to the Doc’s medical surgery. There had been a few bounties worth checking out and the Moolah would tide him over until he got to Birdington, no, enough to tide both himself
and Bailey over.
Stranger had considered making Bailey stay with the Clakkerz but his instinct told him to take the human kid with him. The Vykker’s reaction to his young charge had confirmed his decision, there was no way he was going to leave Bailey to her own devices when there were creatures like the Doc who’d rip her organs out the first chance they got…
Continually having to think of someone other then himself was an alien feeling to Stranger, but not entirely unpleasant.
He entered the Doc’s office and was greeted with;
Silence.
Stranger’s fur bristled. Something was horribly wrong…
Suddenly his sensitive hearing picked up a choking gasp coming from the back of the surgery.
“Bailey…” fearing the worst Stranger bolted for the door and threw it open, almost ripping it from it’s hinges, and was met by the mirror image of what he had been expecting.
Bailey was sitting up on the table, teeth bared, eyes blazing and one hand locked around the Doc’s throat, squeezing, crushing the Vykker’s windpipe, all the muscles in her arm taut and straining. A deep, rumbling sound was rolling around Bailey’s chest like a wild animal and she was breathing hard.
“Thought you could pull that one on me?” she growled, squeezing harder. The Vykker was on his knees, his skin turning an unhealthy purple as he tried to choke out an answer. “I know your kind you little cretin. I know the little games you play and I will not be your plaything anymore. Ever. Do You Hear Me?” The Vykker nodded feebly and Bailey let him go, he slumped on the floor sucking in great gasping breaths as he scrambled backwards, all the time, his eyes on Bailey.
And Bailey watched him, the way a terrier watches a rat, narrowed eyes following him constantly, ready to pouch and tear him limb from limb if he did anything that could been seen as hostile.
Neither of them had seen Stranger and Stranger watched the performance play out in front of him, completely stunned, which was rapidly becoming fury. He noticed that Bailey didn’t have her jersey on anymore and that she wore a dark shirt and green sleeveless top with straps.
The terrified, retreating Vykker noticed the bounty hunter when he bumped into him in his desperate attempt to escape from Bailey’s anger.
He wasn’t even as afraid of Stranger as he was of Bailey as he began babbling in relief as he saw the hunter.
“I vas just checking her over and she attacked me! Started shouting about how she vould not let them do it h’again. I tried to snap her out of it but she just started choking me!” Stranger wrapped his own hand around the Vykker’s throat and hoisted him to eye level.
“What did yer
do?” he snarled,
“Nothing! Nothing!” wailed the Vykker, he was telling the truth, he hadn’t actually
done anything to Bailey, that didn’t mean he hadn’t
planned too.
Stranger watched The Doc’s eyes but sensed no lie and dropped him. The Vykker sprawled onto the floor for the second time in so many minutes, looking fearfully at Stranger. Stranger moved his gaze from the cringing Vykker to the human girl pulling on her jersey.
“Bailey,” his voice was still a low growl, Bailey looked at him, “We’re leaving. C’mon kid.” Bailey jumped down from the table, grabbed her belongings from the corner where the Vykker had put them (and thankfully not stolen) and stormed past both Vykker and Stranger and out of the medical practice.
Stranger glared at the Vykker and then followed his young human charge. He caught up with her, Bailey walked, her furious gaze glaring straight ahead, heading for the wilderness. Stranger didn’t try to stop her, the human was angry, but he could almost smell the fear and confusion she feeling as well so he just fell into step beside her and waited before speaking.
“Bailey, where yer goin’?” he asked softly.
“Away from here.” Bailey answered unsteadily.
“But, where are yer gonna go?”
“I dunno, just away…” they had reached the outskirts now, the wild jungle of Oddworld lay before them, it was here Bailey stopped. She just stood and gazed at the tangle of life, not really seeing it, just staring through it and seeing something that wasn’t there. Stranger suppressed a shiver. Something in the human’s eyes chilled him to the bone.
“Bailey,” Stranger said in a persuasive tone, “Think rationally about this. You are not helping yerself, yer can’t go out there by yerself. Calm down-” Bailey face froze and she swung around to face Stranger, she was completely livid.
“CALM DOWN!? YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN!? After what that, that, that
thing almost did to me YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN!?” she roared,
“Bailey, he didn’t touch yer!” Bailey clapped the heels of her hands to her temples and paced back and forth making small noises of frustration and anger and distress.
“He didn’t, didn’t,” she glared at Stranger, “But he wanted too,”
“Yer have no proof-”
“I know how his kind
think!” Bailey snapped beating the heel of one hand against her forehead, “I know what makes them tick and what they does for pleasure. I know,” she gulped, “Torture, pain…tormenting helpless creatures…” Stranger suddenly grabbed Bailey’s shoulder and shook her gently,
“Bailey, how could yer know somat like that? Yer couldn’t.” Bailey’s face changed before his eyes, as she snarled,
“You want a bet?” she said in a low, deadly voice, she backed out of his grip and rolled up her sleeve, on the upper part of her arm was a brand and a lot of small puncture marks. The brand was a Glukkon icon. The puncture marks…someone had stuck Bailey were multiple needles, injecting not even Odd-knew-what into her system. “I don’t know what they do?” she asked, her tone dead and lifeless, “I know. Because I was a test subject…” she swallowed and rolled down her sleeve.
“Bailey,” Stranger’s tone was pleading now, “Bailey, yer’ve had terrible things done to yer. I understand tha’. Let me help you.”
“No. I don’t need help, I don’t
want help. I don’t need you.” Her tone sounded both furious and on the verge of tears. She wasn’t looking at him, so she didn’t see the bounty hunter recoil like she’d just slapped him.
Wait a minute…
“When did I start carin’ if she needed me or not? When did I
start needin’ her
?”
“Why did I even follow you around?” she sounded like she was talking to herself more then to him, she glanced up at Stranger. “I’m leaving.” She said bluntly.
“I’ll follow yer, yer know I will.”
“No…you won’t…not this time…I need to be alone and I will disappear. You taught me too much about your world. G’bye Stranger.” Stranger could feel desperation and anger rising in him, the anger won.
“Fine! Go then! Leave! What makes yer think I eva needed yer!?” Stranger yelled, but even as he did, another voice in his mind called him a liar. Bailey didn’t look at him as she did just that and plunged into the Oddworld jungle.
Stranger just stood where she’d left him, unable to move, unable to turn away from the spot she’d disappeared.
Bailey had gone. True he hadn’t liked her to begin with and just wanted her to Get Lost, but now…now he had the feeling he’d just lost something important to him.
And he couldn’t help feeling it wasn’t the first time…