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Post by Kate Austen on Jan 29, 2010 16:12:45 GMT -5
Kate sat alone in a small wooded patch, her back up against a tree worn with other's initials. To her, this was the only peaceful place on this whole island. She pulled out her knife and pulled a large stick close to her. She began whittling as she thought about knives. Knives were reliable. Knives were easy to hide, as she had to do here to keep ownership of the trusty weapon. She shook her head softly, beating her head back against the tree she leaned upon. "Stop it," she said out loud. "I'm not that cold and calculating..." she whispered to hersel, her eyes closed.
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Post by Benjamin Linus on Jan 29, 2010 18:53:40 GMT -5
Ben stood on the grounds, marveling at the absolutely perfect weather that came with the day. It was strange that such an auspicious day should have equally auspicious weather to go with it. Ben couldn't help but smirk at how... fortuitous it all was. After all, a raining, mud-slicked island of death wasn't the ideal place to start a new term at Oceanic School. It would likely be the ENDING state of the island at the end of the year, but for now, peace was desirable.
He heard a rustling nearby. Ben turned. Of course. The Initial Tree. He walked over slowly, the frame of a young brunette girl becoming visible to her. He smirked widely. This girl was obviously somewhat of an adventurer, if she'd managed to get so close to campus. But then again, she didn't seem to have any idea WHERE she was. New students - always fun.
He crept up on the tree and the girl, noticing she was armed with a rather large knife. Ben knew he shouldn't be happy about this, but that knife was a good sign. This girl was probably warped beyond belief.
So she'll fit in nicely for a while as she tries to resist everything we throw at her. But she'll be doing exactly what we want her to.
"Stop it," the girl muttered to herself. "I'm not that cold and calculating..."
"Can you be sure of that?" Ben responded as if prompted to.
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Post by Kate Austen on Jan 29, 2010 22:46:58 GMT -5
Kate quickly and fluidly hid the knife in a wide long sleeve, hoping furiously that Ben hadn't seen. She thought at first that she should stand, and then decided that sitting was better. She was nervous beyond belief, and felt like jumping out of her skin. She felt ridiculous for not noticing him earlier and silently cursed herself for forgetting her surroundings. She clenched her now very pointy stick, just in case.
"Can I help you?" she asked defiantly, her beautiful eyes narrowed at him in disgust.
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Post by Benjamin Linus on Jan 29, 2010 23:27:15 GMT -5
Ben watched the woman - he recognized her as student Kate Austen from the myriad files stored in his office - slide the knife under her shirt sleeve. This action only solidified Ben's earlier opinion that she was definitely on a crash-course with dysfunction junction. Ben smiled, knowing the effect his smile had on people.
"Yes, you can help me," Ben said in response to her testy question. She was like a bean in a microwave, rattling back and forth, looking very nervous. Perfect. "I assume you're a student at the Oceanic School. Either that or a very, very lost teenager. ...No matter." Ben paused, looking at his shirt sleeve before glancing up at Kate. "Miss Austen, is it? I'm Benjamin Linus. You probably already knew that, though. I honestly don't care what you call me, but like I said, you CAN help me with something..."
Ben looked up at the sky. Oh blue sky. So brilliantine. "Why aren't you at the multi-purpose room for orientation?" Ben laced the question with an extreme amount of dark undertones, hoping to catch the girl a bit off-guard with a deeper voice than necessary.
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Post by Kate Austen on Jan 29, 2010 23:59:19 GMT -5
The voice rattled her petite frame to her core, but she fought not to show it. Once you got past her exterior, she was easily broken, and she knew it. She would hide behind her stony gaze for as long as she could hold it.
"Why aren't you, Ben?" she asked pointedly, attitude dripping from her lips. She used his first name, trying to show him his lack of power over her. Or rather, trying to show herself.
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Post by Benjamin Linus on Jan 30, 2010 0:14:01 GMT -5
"Why aren't you, Ben?"
Ben almost laughed out loud at her defensive stance. But that would've been very rude. He didn't even smirk. As long as he acted calm, cool, and... what did she say? Cold and calculating, he would always have the upper hand in this conversation. After all, she was nothing more than a teenager.
"Because it's my job to make sure that nobody skips out," Ben noted with a hint of malice in his voice. "And you'll learn soon enough what happens to those who skip out..." Ben actually did smile this time, another slasher smile that would put the budding brunette in her place. "I trust you were just getting a little rest before the ceremonies?"
Ben couldn't believe he was already messing with a student's mind. Usually he waited until homeroom to start planting the seeds of their destruction. But the opportunity was just too easy.
"And I trust you weren't planning anything during the assembly. Right, Ms. Austen?"
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Post by Kate Austen on Jan 30, 2010 0:26:11 GMT -5
For just a second, Kate became weak and thought about taking the stick and knife and plunging both into that, likely, black heart of his. Her grip tightened on the sharp stick in her hands and she clenched her jaw tight. Her gaze still cold, with more malice than someone her age should be able to muster.
"Well, I'm nobody. And I'm skipping," she said firmly, and strongly, releasing her tight grasp on the stick for fear she'd break it and ruin her hard work.
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Post by Benjamin Linus on Jan 30, 2010 0:53:31 GMT -5
Ben watched the stick fall to the ground, ignoring the bit about her skipping out. He'd deal with that a bit later. For now, he could see the welt that Kate had given herself.
"What did that stick ever do to you?" he asked in mock confusion. Mock confusion was his favorite emotion. It threw people off the most. He stared at the stick, then back at Kate's red hand, and finally drifted over to her eyes. They were steely and cold.
"...You're nobody?" Ben asked. "Well, that makes two of us." He paused, pretty sure that Kate didn't understand what he was talking about. "I'm afraid I can't let you skip out on this little meeting, Miss Austen. It's pretty important. You get your class schedule, your dorm key..."
Ben let himself trail off before looking at the tree, completely avoiding her eyes. "...maybe a hunting knife. Not that you need one." He made eye contact.
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Post by Kate Austen on Jan 30, 2010 1:00:57 GMT -5
Kate pulled a small gold key dangling on a keyring from her pocket. Breaking her gaze with Ben to stare straight forward instead. The hard gaze was hurting her head.
"You mean this room key?" she said with her own heavy dose of mock confusion, "Your locks suck, by the way. And as I'm sure you've seen, I've got the means to take care of myself. Classes are just a formality here for me. I'm not going to them. I'm not here for that. In fact, if I had any choice at all, I wouldn't be here."
She looked back at him, her mouth twitching into a half smile, "But I'm sure you already knew that."
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Post by Benjamin Linus on Jan 30, 2010 1:08:54 GMT -5
Ben's smile grew ever wider as Kate spoke. It was funny how people simply glossed over the more unpleasant aspects of a conversation to bring up completely trivial ones. Ben already knew she had a room key. Why else would he leave it where she'd surely find it?
"...You'd be right in assuming I already knew that," Ben noted, pulling a full keyring out of the breast pocket of his button-down shirt - and a very conspicuous red piece of paper amidst all the golden keys. He shook them a little, smiling a bit at how inane it all was, before putting them back. "I expected you to pick the lock. Find anything else you like? A stapler, maybe? Or my KNIFE?" Ben extended his arms before shrugging. "You may have the means to take care of yourself. But you've never had to take care of yourself with someone like me around."
With a swift movement, Ben pinned down Kate's arm and slid the knife hidden there out of her sleeve. He whipped it around, let go of Kate's arm, and stepped a few paces back, holding the knife in a defensive position.
"So... the assembly."
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Post by James "Sawyer" Ford on Jan 30, 2010 1:38:53 GMT -5
Sawyer was intrigued by the pair. The girl was more appealing than he would like to think he noticed, and Ben was just creepy. Sawyer had had the good luck not to have met him personally, but knew almost all of the teachers around here. It didn't take a meeting to know that Ben was creepy. There was something about the way he talked and just...was, that really rubbed Sawyer the wrong way. He always got the feeling that there was something Ben knew that he didn't. In fact, Sawyer was sure about it. This wasn't some "teacher" thing, it was more secretive and irritating than that.
He didn't have a plan, but there was nothing else that could catch his attention now. One way or another he was going to work his way into the conversation. Thankfully he wasn't known for his tact, something that came in handy when he came across times like this. With a glance around, as if he was breaking some rule, Sawyer stalked the few yards to the pair, and turned his attention to the girl first. She was prettier up close. "Freckles." He greeted her with a nod, and an almost smile. Then he turned to Bean and stared him up and down before looking looking away. Sawyer never wanted to come off as out of his element, but couldn't bring himself to look at Ben for too long. As he stood there silently he hoped the question "why are you here?" wouldn't come up. His plan had ended with his arrival.
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Post by Kate Austen on Jan 30, 2010 1:46:38 GMT -5
The unexpected arrival of Sawyer threw Kate off guard and made her rethink her strategy of fighting back. Defeated, she dropped her steely gaze and reached out to Sawyer, putting her hand in his without much explanation beyond a beautifully charming smile.
"We're going, Ben. You win today. Don't get used to it," she said to him as she began to guide Sawyer away, towards the school.
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Post by Ana-Lucia Cortez on Jan 30, 2010 1:47:26 GMT -5
She leaned against that tree with a boy one of the more 'popular' girls considered to be her boyfriend. Though said popular girl had a huge crush on another boy, she still wanted to make things miserable for the other one and his 'girl toy'. Ana-Lucia leaned back from the kiss of the boy, Steve and smirked. "You bitch!" the popular girl yelled loudly, her name was a blur to Ana and instantly when she felt her hair get grabbed, the Latina grabbed onto the blonde's arm and bent it back not so much to break it, but to hurt her. The girl yelped in pain, wanting to go after her again and did so. "Hey. Wait!" Steve practically yelled, he had come out of the assembly for a smoke and with much interest ended up putting out his cigarette.
"Shut up!" Ana spoke with a growl, slamming the girl on the ground, straddling her and punched her in the face. "Get off!" the blonde girl yelled, screaming practically. Cortez didn't listen, she held a death grip on her as the other girl tried to scratch her. Ana laughed with a tomboyish rasp and slammed the girls head back on the grass.
"Touch me again, I dare you."
"Mr. Linus is right over there!" Steve yelled hesitantly and ran for it.
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Post by Benjamin Linus on Jan 30, 2010 2:09:18 GMT -5
Ben noticed immediately that Mr. Ford - or Sawyer, if his file was to be believed - was staring at Kate a bit too intently. And he wasn't looking in Ben's direction at all. Ben didn't blame him. His stare was apparently horrendously frightening. He smirked as Sawyer called Kate "Freckles", noting the term of endearment in his head. It might come in handy later.
"Mr. Ford. Good to see you," Ben said with a smile. A creepy smile. It was, after all, a prerequisite when dealing with Ben. When Kate pressed that they would be moving on to the assembly, Ben said nothing. He was going to let them go, sure that they'd have a few axes to grind on their way back to the school.
However, there was a loud scream.
"What the hell -?" Ben said rather flippantly, moving his hand so that the knife was ready to be used.
Before long, Ben watched in stunned silence as a Latina girl body-flipped a blonde girl and proceeded to slam the girl's head into the ground. Ben couldn't help but sneak a glance at Kate.
"If you 'take care of yourself', what is it she does?" Ben asked. Yes, it was low. No, Ben didn't care.
"Mr. Linus is right over there!" a kid yelled, in plain view of Ben. Ben noticed the still-smoldering cigarette in the ground and glared at the kid as he ran away.
"Littering, God," Ben muttered before pulling the Latina off of the blonde girl. The blonde girl immediately gaped at Ben before tripping over her own shoes and running back to the direction of the school, not even heeding the blood pouring down her neck. Ben had half a mind to pull out his walkie-talkie and inform Juliet to check up on the girl's head, but thought better of it. He looked at the girl quickly - Ana-Lucia Cortez. Already causing trouble. He should've known. But still, it made him smile. Every piece was falling into place so fantastically!
"Dare I ask why you were pummelling a stupid blonde girl?" Ben wondered. He tightened his grip on Ana's wrist, slipping the knife into his back pocket, looking again at Kate. "I don't think I have to tell you that... well... that's kind of frowned upon here. You wouldn't know, though, since you've skipped out on the assembly too." Ben glanced at the smoldering cigarette again, frowned, and turned to Sawyer. "And what ARE you doing here, Mr. Ford? Did Miss Austen summon you with the mighty power of her freckles?"
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Post by James "Sawyer" Ford on Jan 30, 2010 2:32:40 GMT -5
The nickname would stick. Sawyer had no idea how often he would be talking to this girl...Kate? He knew he had heard her name somewhere. That was why nicknames worked so well, they were easier to remember and just made his life a little bit more entertaining. He almost smiled again, until the smile crept across Ben's face. A chill went down his spine, reminding him why he never went near Ben. Sawyer was grateful when Kate began to pull him away. This conversation had been just as creepy as he had expected,all two seconds of it, but he was ready to be out of it now.
Something else caught his eye though, and Ben's too. Whoever had caused the disturbance, Sawyer planned on personally thanking later. Well, maybe not, but he would at least be nice to them, and thank them silently, from where he was. Except for it didn't stop Ben from asking him the question. Sawyer ran through a list of excuses in his head, but settled on a small grunt and a shrug. He decided he didn't need a reason.
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