"Monster." Dan mouthed subconsciously imitating Clarice's own.
"..." Dan silently stared a little longer at the writhing figure in front of him. Somehow this keeps happening to him. Somehow Dan thinks he might never get to care or be cared for by a person. Somehow it feels all too true.
Standing up unceremoniously Dan moved away from his corner, "I'll go get some help," he said in half a daze. 'That lady calling for Clarice earlier she'll probably know what to do.' As he made his way out of the bathroom Clarice crawled out of the way as fast as possible. Her urgency seemed to be life and death. Dan didn't doubt that she saw it that way for a second. Dan's gait almost seemed lackadaisical as he exited the bathroom and into the main entrance room.
'How the fuck did this happen?' Everything around Dan swirled and he could feel a distinct feeling of wanting to vomit.
"Help...I need to get help." He muttered to himself, "Help," But his voice came out quieter than he had meant. "Help." Once again too quiet, "Help." The words wouldn't seem to come out correctly. 'What am I doing? What am I fucking doing!' He slapped himself across his face as hard as he could manage. Leaving a great red hand mark on his cheek and a trail of blood down the corner of his mouth.
"Fuck! Help! I need help!" Dan's voice resounded throughout the room. However, no response came to his pleas. 'I should have guessed.' Without direction or a clue as to what he should do Dan started running. He ran through the hallways of the great building screaming for help. But the lady he had heard earlier was nowhere to be found. Desperate cries for help rang loudly throughout the building but no responses came.
Tears blotched out Dan's eyes as he ran down the long corridors of the second floor of the complex. Rooms upon rooms lined the walls proving the desperate situation Coelfern had probably once been in. For what other reason would an orphanage need be so well equipped other than for wartime efforts.
Every hallway passed in a blur and Dan took so many rights and lefts he started getting dizzy. Dan didn't stop yelling for a second he continued and did not take a second to catch his breath. His urgency seemed rabid in nature. Dan can't stop because his thoughts weigh so critically on his mind if he were to think about what he had just done...well...he does not know what he would do.
"Help!" His voice felt scratchy and his spit tastes of coppery blood yet he can't stop. Eventually, he ran to the back of the complex and met the final corridor. 'Shit...' Dan looked around looking for something or someone but all he found were stairs back down to the first floor. Wasting no time he bolted down the stairs and started making his way back to the main entrance. Screaming for help the entire way of course. Dan knew that the screaming was doomed from the start, but he hoped that if he could at least stop someone for a second or two he could literally grab their attention.
Dan felt as if he ran forever before he finally made it back to the main hallway that connected to the corridor. Feeling a new sense of urgency he burst through the open doors and sprinted down the hallway. Yet halfway down he slowed to a halt. A figure, no a man had just exited the bathroom carrying Clarice. Her sobbing figure cradled in the massive man's arms. His suit accentuated his professionalism and he sported a strong jawline sporting a short trim beard. His head full of hair only disrupted by a long-running scar left barren of any hair follicles dragging down the back of his head.
Then another person exited the bathroom clearly distraught over what had happened. The man and the woman were arguing very loudly over Clarice, and their voices echoed freely in the hallways.
"Tom, you know I cannot have another case like this! What am I going to tell the child Protective Services? Huh? We both know they won't take 'she has a condition' for an answer again!" The nasal voice rang like a fork dragging down on a plate in Dan's ears. This was the woman he had been looking for all this time. And she appeared to be trying to cover up the whole situation!
"Relax Kristy I got the whole situation under control. I'll just take her with me as planned in the first place and take care of her at the station. Easy peasy." Tom responded cooly as if there were not a wailing girl in his arms.
"Easy peasy? There is no ER where you are taking her we both know that Tom." She said her voice wavering a little.
"Don't worry about it." Tom's said smoothly.
"But-"
"I said don't worry about it. Take your money and stay out of our way." His voice deepened to a chilling tone. Kristy clearly retracted a little and looked back and forth from Tom to Clarice and then sighed ever so slightly.
"If that is how it must be. Just don't treat her as poorly as the others Tom. That's all I ask of you. I put a lot of effort into raising her." She said almost too sincerely. Dan at this point was seething.
"Of course, you can trust me Mrs. Gants," Tom replied sarcastically.
"It seems I don't have a choice in the matter." She grimaced. Throughout this whole conversation, all Dan saw was the dangling figure of Clarice still whimpering in the man's arms.
"No, you don't."
"..."
"Well then, I best be on my way I have already spent too long looking for this girl. She really is quite elusive." He said while reaching one hand out to shake Kristy Gants'. Instead of meeting his hand with her own she returned it with a stiff glare. Despite not completely understanding what was going on Dan had a general idea. That the man was going to take her to some other place that probably wasn't that great. And this lady who is supposed to be caring for her is now selling her away.
Dan is afraid of people, he is afraid of everything about them because he has learned so much about them it is disgusting. But on the contrary to what one might expect Dan craves this sort of fear. He craves the excitement found in the drama, troubles, and overall bullshit brought into life by coexisting with others. And to him, this girl he had just meant moments ago is currently his only back into that state of being.
"Not again...I can't stand it anymore. I'm going fucking insane." His voice came out as a low growl. It's not like there would be anyone to respond to his words in the first place. As Tom slowly left the orphanage in a smooth gait Dan released all his pent up emotions. His legs thrust himself forward faster than they had ever before. His eyes become almost clouded as his tunnel vision let him only see his goal.
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"Clarice!" He yelled.
Tom was already out the door by the time he made it into the lobby. Without a second of hesitation, he jumped into the air and with one leg kicked through the closed door. The enormity of the door never even crossed Dan's mind as he did so, but to onlookers, it would seem like quite the feat.
Without missing a beat Dan burst through the open doors onto the street causing an enormous racket. He missed his landing and rolled into a kneeling position immediately scanning his surroundings.
"Shit." Dan cursed, Tom had already made his way into his expensive-looking sedan. The sound of the car door closing was Dan's queue into action. Sprinting full force until he finally reached the back of the sedan. But right as he was about to meet the car it started forward. With no time to waste nor to think Dan burst onto the vehicle and tightly latched onto the trunk side of the car.
The sedan pulled out onto the street and Dan pulled his body close against the cold metal trunk hood. Dan propped both his feet onto the trunk step up and used his fingers to tightly latch onto the back. The drag from the sheer speed of the car almost blew him off the car but luckily he had the presence of mind to lower his head.
'Holy shit what am I doing? I don't even know this girl! She literally called me a monster! I'm on the back of a moving car! This is so fucking cool!' Compulsive thoughts raced through his mind as the obviously speeding vehicle zoomed down a main road. Tom weaved in between other vehicles like a scumbag, and nearly knocked Dan off each time he did so.
Even with his body on clear display in front of other drivers clinging for dear life they still couldn't seem to zone in on him. The joy ride seemed fun at first but when an asshole driver goes sixty on a heavily populated road everyone gets a little distressed. In no time at all Dan's fingers started to ache like no tomorrow but he hung on. 'P-pain is of little consequence.' Dan thought. The wind skimming the top of his head flowed down his back creating a cold vortex for more wind to follow.
"I-I'm such an i-idiot." Dan said to himself. Truth be told he really is not such a compulsive person, but when such a person's life is weighed so inconsequentially...well, Dan believes there is hell to be paid. Not to mention it has been a rather lonely fifteen years.
With each mile, Dan could feel the skin on his finger compress further and he could only hope his fingers didn't shatter under the pressure. His knees, his back, his everything started to collapse under the extreme circumstances. 'Just a little longer.' Dan assured himself. However, reality did not give a shit how sure Dan was and the car continued to speed along.
Soon the original adrenaline rush that he had once felt left his body and Dan desperately wanted to just give way. But each time his fingers felt like they were slipping his eyes couldn't help but take a long glance at the road. 'If I fell that'd probably kill me.' Now they were off the main road and on some sort of exclusive highway system. Dan had not even completely realized it but Tom had entered a road hidden to the public eye.
In Coelfern there are numerous ways to get around the city to support the countless residents living inside the city. Contrary to what one might expect though; the ways in and out of the city are extremely limited. To the point where there is only a single lane highway leading outwards. One does not enter Coelfern, you are either born there or you are assigned to a station by the WMC (Western Military Coalition). After all, Coelfern is a stronghold containing a very precious and particularly sparse resource. Humans.
The sedan rode at a crisp ninety miles per hour in a straight line until it met a towering fence in front of which it slowed to a stop. A quiet thump could just barely be heard from inside the vehicle as Dan's figure fell from its trunk. Dan opened and closed his poor fingers while tears streamed down his face. His arms and legs are completely numb. The pins and needles that accompanied the blood returning to his limbs caused Dan to dance around on the ground like an unearthed worm.
Too occupied with himself Dan paid no regards to Tom who had just waved a card to the operator in the booth. The sound of the rising fence somehow eluded Dan too. Pain rings louder than most things do. Dan was not so dense as to miss the car's engine turning on and smell of exhaust leaking from it.
"Wait, shit," Dan muttered as he propped himself on both arms. Lugging one leg up to his chin bringing himself to a kneeling position felt like a monumental achievement. Life did not agree with Dan. Tom put the car into drive and there wasn't even a chance for Dan to latch onto the car again. Not that he would even be able to if he had tried. Reaching out weakly to the cars shrinking silhouette with one hand Dan could only mutter one thing,
"Clarice." Dan's body lurched forward and he passed out on the cold pavement.
---
*Vrooooooooom*
"Holy fuc-"
A huge truck drove over Dan's now wide awake body and soon another followed, and then another, and another, and another, too many trucks passed over Dan. His heart pounded as he hugged the ground as tightly as he possibly could hoping that one of these trucks didn't have a trailer extension. Thankfully one never came, 'Phew', Dan wiped the sweat from his forehead and popped up. Dizziness pervaded him but he managed to keep his balance and start running after the trucks. The fence started closing as he did so but Dan managed to dive in skimming his arms in the process.
And so Dan began walking by his lonesome once again. Of course right after he went over to the side of the road and took a piss. A morning routine is important to Dan. Heading back to Coelfern is out of the question at this point for Dan. The expansive grasslands surrounding all of the great city made sure of that. The walk back alone not accounting for dehydration or hunger could probably kill him. Accounting for, he would not make it halfway there before dropping.
Walking aimlessly is a great descriptor for Dan's life. It's like all he has ever done has been because of things he has observed and all the goals are actually not his as a product of that way of living. But to him, this is the only way to survive; observe, learn, adapt, rinse and repeat. The only real thing Dan has ever known is that he very dearly does not want anyone to exist like him. To be bored, to be ignored, to be unloved, and to ultimately be alone. That is why he has helped that orphanage and many others for the past nine years. It's partly why he wishes to reconcile with Clarice and save her.
There is no such thing as a person who only wishes to help people. That is beyond ridiculous of a notion. A person so hollow, so purposeless could not come close to qualifying as a real person. No, it would be much more accurate to describe them as something of a hollow shell of a person that once was. For this very reason, Dan cannot identify as a person. Just an aimless, no good, whisp.
Dan's sore legs adamantly refused to walk but he had more pressing matters at hand so he trudged on. Only taking short breaks in between. The road became something of a path for Dan to mindlessly follow. For untold hours he walked in a trance until he eventually sat down on the grass an laid on his back. His eyes seemed to close for only a second before another second wave of trucks woke him. This time he got to view them from a distance.
These vehicles were the kind he saw on some TV program one time. They reminded him of the carrier trucks meant for carrying soldiers except on a much larger scale. Each on raised a good three feet off the ground by huge tractor-like wheels. Decked out in grassland camo and a sheet roofed back meant for giving people shelter. Dan's suspicions were confirmed as the last truck passed by and he got to see a couple of faces.
"Kids...that truck was carrying kids." He said in disbelief. A thought popped into Dan's mind, 'They're being shipped here like Clarice, but why?' There was one way to find out. And by God's left nut Dan had nothing better to do at all.
With a steeled look on his face, he stood up once more shaking the soreness from his body and started his march once again. This time with a renewed purpose clearly defined. Find out who is fucking with these kids, help those kids, save Clarice, apologize to her, and try to make some friends along the way.
"I wonder what her favorite color is."
"Probably blue..."
"..."
"Nope, I take it back..."
"Imma look so cool when I save her."
At the end of the day, Dan wants a friend who will help him become the person he so desperately wants to be.