Pulse

     Farfarello froze, looking around furtively.  This was not right.  Not at all right.  He slowly drew one of his many knives, turning around in a complete circle as he tried to figure out where he was and how he had gotten there.  The sound of cloth rustling caught his attention and drew it to an alley way.  Slowly, the silver haired Irishman slunk over to the source of the noise.

     It was a girl, probably the same age as him.  She was laying under a pile of ripped up cardboard boxes.  Farfarello frowned to himself and carefully removed the cardboard.  The girl wasn't moving, and appeared as though she was dead.  This thought made the Irishman somewhat mournful.  Not because of her apparent death, but because he hadn't been the one to cause it.

     Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she let out a gasp.  This action startled Farfarello somewhat and he quickly moved back a step.

     Hadn't she just been dead?  She certainly hadn't been breathing...

     She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a faint hiss.  Farfarello watched as the girl turned white as a sheet and reached up to her neck.  She found it covered by a vinyl like material closed with a buckled.  She tore at it, managing to fumble it open.  Her fingers brushed across her exposed throat and she froze when they encountered scar tissue.

     "You hurt God," Farfarello murmured as a smirk crossed his face.

No... no no no!!  This can't be happening!! she thought frantically as she scrambled to her feet.  She looked down at herself, discovering that the clothes she wore were not the ones she'd had on when she had committed suicide.

Damn it!!  It brought me back!  The fucking Nexus brought me back!!

     "Can't talk, hm?s type of communication left him unfazed.  "So... you're like the Guilty One," he murmured, looking at her carefully with his single amber eye.

~I don't know... who or what... that is, but I can't stay here...~

     "Uh huh... and where might here be?" the man asked as he ran his tongue along the edge of the knife in his left hand.

     The girl let out a silent laugh, looking at Farfarello incredulously.  s type of communication left him unfazed.  "So... you're like the Guilty One," he murmured, looking at her carefully with his single amber eye.

     ~I don't know... who or what... that is, but I can't stay here...~

"Uh huh... and where might here be?" the man asked as he ran his tongue along the edge of the knife in his left hand.

The girl let out a silent laugh, looking at Farfarello incredulously.  ~You want... me to explain... the Nexus?  That... is where you... are...~

     "Nexus... that means nothing," he grumbled, his accent thickening slightly.

     ~I think I know how... you got here...~

     The Irishman looked up quickly, narrowing his eye.  "How?"

     ~I made contact,~ she replied simply.

     Farfarello was losing patience with her cryptic answers.  "Why don't you give me something that doesn't make me ask another question..."

     Dark blue eyes narrowed slightly, and her response was quicker now.  She was getting more used to speaking this way. ~It's not my fault you don't understand.  But somehow, I brought you here.  I can't explain how, so don't start ragging on me for that.  The point is, you're here, and that means I can get out.~

     Farfarello let out a rather exasperated snort.  "Maybe you should tell me who you are... and why you want to get out of here... wherever here is."

     ~My name.  Ha!  According to Them, I'm no one now.  Since I got this...~ she said, moving back her red bangs to expose the number thirteen on her forehead, ~But before I was Branded a Sinner, I was called... Janna.  But... I'm not her anymore, am I?~

     "Crawford and the others will wonder where I've gone," Farfarello grumbled, beginning to pace.  He traced his cheekbone with the point of his blade.

     Janna watched him intently, her eyes focused on the knife.  Like mine, she thought, But mine disappeared with my duster... I think...

     The silver haired man noticed her eyeing the blade, and he quickly put it away.  He was quite possessive of his favored weapons.  "I want to go back.  Now."

     ~That's going to be a problem... They put up a Wall... no one is allowed in or out.  And if anyone finds out that you're here... well, we'll both be killed if we're lucky.  But unfortunately, luck doesn't seem to be with me.~

     Farfarello let out a low chuckle.  "No wall can keep me in, or out.  Walls didn't work in the institutions, and even Brad's walls couldn't always keep me in..."

     ~We're going to need help passing this Wall.  And I think I know where we can get it...~

     "Then lead on, nameless one."

     Janna cast her gaze around, and sighted her duster.  A smile spread across her lips and she retrieved it quickly and slipped it on, feeling in the pocket for her knife.  When her fingers brushed the handle, her smile widened.  ~Let's go...~

     The odd pair set off with Janna in the lead.  The girl stopped a few times, looking around suspiciously.  The area the two were in was quite deserted.

     ~Listen...~

     Farfarello tensed, drawing out his knife once again.  His single amber eye narrowed slightly when he sensed a flicker of movement behind him.  Before Janna had any time to react, Farfarello had whirled around and launched himself at their follower.

     The young man moved quickly, throwing himself out of Farfarello's path, rolling quickly to his feet once more.  From out of nowhere, he drew out a small handgun.  "Move, and I'll shoot," he snarled.

     Janna's blue eyes widened and she jumped in front of the stranger, forcing him to step back.

     He paled, lowing the gun.  "Janna...?  But you, you should be dead!  You were Branded!"

     ~Yes.  But Janna's dead.  She ceased to exist.  I'm just a number.  The Thirteenth Sin.  But I thought you were dead, too... are you?~

     "Not like you," he responded carefully, "But who's he?  He's not one of us, and he's not one of Them..."

     ~I don't know his name,~ she murmured, turning to Farfarello, ~Who are you?~

     "Farfarello," the Irishman responded after a lengthy pause.  He smiled in a creepy way and
ran his tongue along the edge of the knife, ignoring the blood that welled up.

     The young man who appeared to know Janna was unable to suppress a shudder.
"Interesting name," he managed, turning his attention back to Janna.  "So how did you escape
Them...?"

~I just ran.  Killed myself before They got to me.  But the Nexus brought me back, and I cannot speak...  Funny, that is.  I'm unable to speak before Their "God"... unable to plead my case.  Ha... but that's just the way They want it, right?~

     Grey eyes blinked, looking somewhat startled by the uncharacteristic bitterness.  "Janna... I
wouldn't talk that way if I were you.  Look where it got me," he added, gesturing to the number
six that was permanently etched onto his forehead.

     ~You too, Sebastiaan?  Hm... I wouldn't have expected you to become a Blasphemer.~

     Sebastiaan laughed.  "Hardly.  I only said what They didn't want to hear.  I heard the voice
of Their precious 'God'... I heard the voice of the Nexus..."

     Janna froze, her eyes widening.  Suddenly, she was in front of Sebastiaan, gripping his
shoulders tightly.  ~You heard it??~ she asked breathlessly, ~What did it say to you?~

     Farfarello frowned at the talk of God.  It was all the same to him, and it was all lies.  And God
was the Father of Lies...

     "I hate God," he muttered, glaring dangerously at Janna and her friend.

     The girl ignored him completely, her intense indigo eyes still fastened onto Sebastiaan.

     "I really don't know if this is something I was meant to discuss with anyone.  After all, that's
what got me into trouble in the first place," the boy replied slowly, in a strangely far off
sounding voice.

    ~Seb, please,~ Janna whispered, ~I have to know... why.  Why the Nexus brought all of this
down on us.  Why I couldn't be allowed to die when I cut my throat with that damned switchblade.  That's why I can't talk.~

     "...Suicide is cowardly," Sebastiaan muttered, turning away.  He knew that if her didn't look
away from those intense eyes, he would have broken down and told Janna.  Told her anything
she wanted to know.

     "Suicide hurts God," Farfarello hissed.

     Slate grey eyes widened a little as Sebastiaan realized that Farfarello was closer now.
Whoever that one is, he gives me the creeps...

~What about hiding, Seb?  You're hiding from Them, and you wont even tell me what Their God, what the fucking Nexus told you!!~

     Suddenly Farfarello's hands held Janna's shoulders in an iron grip as he quickly turned her
around.  The knife was once again in his hand, and was now held up, leveled at her face.
"Enough about the Father of Lies... I'm going to make him cry..." the psycho muttered.

     Janna surprised both the Irishman and Sebastiaan when she didn't try to escape, but
instead leaned forward quickly, gripping the blade with her teeth.  The action eerily resembled
Farfarello's early move.  The girl idly slid her tongue along the sharp edge of the blade as she
pulled out of the man's slacked grasp.  An empty, bitter smile graced her features.

     This time when she spoke, the words were for Farfarello alone to hear.  ~Can you honestly
say that you don't know what it is to become obsessed with something?  Something that I may
never have...~  She sucked on her tongue to ease the faint sting, barely registering the metallic
tang of her own blood.

     Farfarello's amber eye slid from Janna to the blade.  He noticed the tiny smear of blood
shining a dark red against the cold silver steel.  "Maybe I do..."

     Sebastiaan coughed lightly.  "Uh, I wouldn't advise standing around here all night... there
are patrols that, well, patrol the area at night."

     Janna sighed soundlessly.  ~So where do you hide out?~ she asked.

     "Come on, I'll show you.  It's better if I don't speak the location out loud..."

     The redheaded girl who had been brought back to life, and the Irishman with an unhealthy
love for death followed Sebastiaan away.  It was turning out to be a very strange night
indeed...