Walking on Broken Glass

[Cedar]

We built this city, we built this city on rock an' roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock an' roll

Sam wandered out of the room, the door clanging shut behind him with no clear plan on where he was going, or when he was going to get there. He just had to get out of there. It had been so long since someone had insulted him that it nearly broke his heart. Poor, sensitive idiot.

Say you don't know me, or recognize my face
Say you don't care who goes to that kind of place
Knee deep in the hoopla, sinking in your fight
Too many runaways eating up the night

[/i]

The maze of hallways made no sense to him at that moment. A rush of people, of creatures, headed for the cafeteria swirled around him, giving him a wide berth. It was dinner time, but he wasn't hungry.

Marconi plays the mamba, listen to the radio, don't you remember
We built this city, we built this city on rock an' roll

[/i]

His feet took him along a path he didn't recognize, towards an older part of the building he hadn't visited in years. His eyes dropped to the floor, burning and sad. How long had it been since someone had said they hated him? Too long. That was why it broke his heart...

Someone's always playing corporation games
Who cares they're always changing corporation names
We just want to dance here, someone stole the stage
They call us irresponsible, write us off the page

[/i]

His feet turned him from the main corridors, into a side hallway, carrying him along the lonely path. Two large doors loomed in front of him, standing in front of them were several men with guns held loosely at their sides.

It's just another Sunday, in a tired old street
Well if you got the toco, oh, then we just lost the beat

[/i]

He paused in front of them. Perhaps it was the haunted look in his eyes that made the guards step aside as Sam swung the door inwards. Silent bliss. No one would look for him here. He'd never shown an interest in books, really.

Who counts the money underneath the bar
Who rides the wrecking ball into our guitars
Don't tell us you need us, 'cause we're just simple fools
Looking for America, coming through your schools

[/i]

No one would notice or care if he missed a meal or two. The smell of old books enveloped him as he seated himself on the floor near the back wall. As far away from anyone as he could get. He whistled to himself, a nearly forgotten old tune. Silence answered him. But Sam didn't mind. He hardly noticed. His leaden heart beat slower with each breath he took as he thought.

I'm looking out over that Golden Gate bridge
Out on a gorgeous sunny Saturday, I've seen that low amount of traffic

He was a failure. Perhaps it would be well if he were forgotten. A guard paced past him. Sam didn't stir. No one would notice if he rotted here for eons. And he could live with that...

Don't you remember, remember?
Here's your favorite radio station, in your favorite radio city
The city by the bay, the city that rocks, the city that never sleeps

[/i]

The guard's feet crunched by him. It was almost as if he were walking on broken glass. Sam's feet prickled at the thought, bringing a twist upwards of his lips. If he hadn't been so . . . fragile at the moment he would've smiled. Walking on broken glass, it was almost poetic. And if he'd been thinking any straighter, he would've realized how odd it was that a guard was there. Guards didn't come inside the library.

Marconi plays the mamba, listen to the radio, don't you remember
We built this city, we built this city on rock an' roll

[/i][/font]

[Matsi]

Iona walked, argueing with another boy. His blonde hair was a mess, and his blue-green eyes were glittering with excitement as he argued with the wolf girl. Their friendship was a secret, which was why they were heading to the library.

''I dont know, Bj,'' Iona said softly, trying to find answers in her friends words.

''Iona, What will you do when im gone?'' He asked suddenly. He was eighteen, and was not expected to live much longer. In fact, he was almost positive he wouldnt.

Iona frowned and looked at Bryan Joey Davidson. He only smiled, still content and happy with her companionship.

Adverting his gaze from iona for a moment, he nodded to the gaurds, who silently let them walk into the library. The pair walked in and began to walk up and down every asle, looking at a book every once in a while, but otherwise, just quietly talking.

''But something was different about him, Bj,'' Iona said with a small snarl as she looked at the ground. ''Rarely...ok, NEVER, besides you, has anyone told me to try to stay calm and shit during testing,'' She said with another growl as she looked up at Bryan. His black beater he was wearing exposed the tips of the tattoo wings on his shoulders as his back was to her. She looked at the wings, and smiled.

((memory))
// ''I got another tattoo, Iona,'' Bryan had said a year ago with excitement. Iona only sighed and rolled her eyes as he removed his shirt and turned around.
''Why? Whats the...?'' She asked in chopped speech as she looked at the one angel and one Devil wing.
''The Devil wing is you, the angel, me!'' He had replied happily. ''It shows our bond!'' He was so proud of himself.//

(real time)

Iona laughed at the memory as she caught back up with Bj.

''Well, Iona. Maybe there is something about you that attracts him,'' He said with a small chuckle. Iona only snorted, but didnt reply as they continued to walk.`

[Cedar]

Dark in the city night is a wire,
Steam in the subway, earth is afire

Voices drew ever closer to him. Sam pulled his feet out of their way. Two love birds. Ha. He bared his teeth savagely, an expression of anger warring with the sudden brightness in his eyes as he got to his feet, moving away as hastily as he could.

He saw them, though, saw the girl who'd destroyed him so with a boy he'd never met. How crazy was that? She hated him for tryin to help her, and here she was with a stranger. It brought a strange stirring anger inside of him. No one turned him down in an offer of friendship like that. Except for her...

He turned away then, focusing with all his heart on the books in front of them, the titles blurring together in his mind. Just don't look at me. he prayed. He needed time to recover, to find his footing before he'd show his face again.

Sam grabbed a book at random and moved away as quickly as he could.

If anyone had been watching, they would've been proud. He'd been shaken from his stupor so quickly, Sam idly thought to himself, knowing all the while that no one was. He was the one who watched all, but the universe had a way of being bitch and throwing surprises at him. No one watched him.

No one had ever cared enough to. He'd grown up here, parentless, and this normally didn't bother him, but it was at times like this that he wanted a parent to turn to. Someone who would understand.

But Sam had pushed everyone away who'd tried to be friends with him. And look where it had gotten him.

A worldweary sigh escaped himas he wound his way through the bookshelves. He couldn't remember if there were tables here. But somehow, he doubted it. So Sam wandered...

Scent and a sound,
I'm lost and I'm found.

[/center][/blockquote]

[Matsi]

Iona could smell him.

A growl shook her chest.

She stopped in her tracks and looked back, just intime to see him walking away.

''That him?'' Bryan asked with a small frown. He remembered seeing Sam before, but never took notice of him.

Iona didnt answer, her thoughts focused on Sam. She had mixed feelings, still wondering if his friend offering was real, or was she just being used.
/What if it was both?/ She asked herself as she let out another growl.

Bryan walked past her and strode after Sam, putting a friendly look on his face as he caiugt up to him,

[Cedar]

Control is not convinced,
but the computer
has the evidence.
No need to abort...

Footsteps. How he hated them. They meant someone was following him, chasing him. The clumsy facade Sam had constructed shook, revealing for an instant a scared child. Sam was that child, forced to grow up too fast. He'd never entirely left that child behind. It lived in him, shoving its ugly head up every now again.

Bryan. That was his name. Sam remembered it vaguely from Leo. Leo had a head a for names, and Sam had a head for whatever Leo said to him.

"Hello Bryan." he said coldly, an idea drifting vaguely in his mind. A great way to make yourself feel better when you aren't feeling so great is to make someone else feel worse. Mercury had said it to him once.

He took a sharp left turn between two bookshelves, hoping, and knowing even as he hoped that it was wrong, that Bryan would stop following. Of course, just when he needed a break, Bryan would show up. And when he needed entertainment, there was never anything to cheer him up.

Of course, manipulation was the only thing that really cheered Sam up. He liked watching people break under him perhaps even more than Mercury did, he liked fitting people together to make a working machine operated by him and only him.

However, even thoughts of the people that Sam held beneath him weren't cheering him up. He didn't like being followed. Couldn't this Bryan idiot see that?

Of course, he was probably far too love-sick to notice anything. This vaguely annoyed Sam, mostly because he didn't like people who had things he didn't have. And love was certainly a thing he didn't have, but at this point, the unreasonable sadness had mostly faded, and was replaced by a sharp anger. Annoyance couldn't add much to his anger. Just a few more drops of water in an ocean of rage.

Across the stratosphere,
a final message:
"Give my wife my love."
Then nothing more...

[/center][/blockquote][/i]

[Matsi]

''Samuel, I just wanna ask ya something,'' Bryan said as he trotted foreward and finally caught up with him. He didnt really know why or how he knew his name, but that didnt matter.

''Can i talk to you?'' He asked with a warm smile. It was an odd sight on such a harsh looking face and figure, but it was icemelting-ly warm all the same.

Iona stayed back, leaning against the History p-v book shelf. She hummed to herself, wondering what BJ was doing.

[Cedar]

There was a man of confused and sad nature
Thought no one loved him, that was not true

"Sam." he corrected idly, "Call me Sam." He told people to call him Samuel mostly, but Sam was feeling contrary at the moment. Contrary, yes, he liked being contrary. Sam snorted to himself, his eyes flickering with amusement. Being contrary was almost as fun as dominating people and making them submit to him entirely and completely.

Sam wasn't moved by the man's smile, in fact, if anything, it made him more suspicious. He made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat, "Talk away. I'm sure that I'll find something I want to listen to in what you have to say."

He tossed the book he'd picked up on a random bookshelf as he walked. No point in pretending he was going to read it, though Sam did catch a glimpse of the title of the book, sending his thoughts spiraling down a different park. "You know, I wonder if venom is immune to venom. I know fish are not immune to venom. But you, you might be. I wouldn't mind trying, and I'd either be dead, or you'd be dead. Either way, it would be fun. An interesting way to die, you know, bested by my cousin. Can't say I'd mind. Honestly, I need some excitement in my life." he laughed to himself, rolling his eyes.

Suicidal impulses much? he questioned himself, shrugging. "Whatever," he said aloud, "Just go talk, okay? I'm sure you have something you want to do with Iona, probably alone." he shrugged to himself, continuing to walk.

He said he was a lost soul, didn't fit in anywhere
Didn't know where to turn, or who to turn to

[/center][/blockquote]

[Matsi]

Bryan laughed. "'wait? you think i have a thing with wolfy?'' He laughed for a moment. ''Yeah right. Love her to death, but she is nothing but a sister to me. And that,'' He pointed at Sam. ''Is somthing i wanted to ask you.'' He said as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

''Why did you act to her the way you did? i mean....friendly?'' He asked with a confused look.
''Besides myself, i have NEVER seen anyone be kind to her in anyway. You have thrown her off, so to say,'' He smiled slightly as he shook his head.

He thought about the whole venom comment for a moment, and knew the answer for some venoms, but he shook his head off the sibject.

[Cedar]

There's a lost soul coming down the road
Somewhere between two worlds
With an oar in his hands and a song on your lips

Sam snapped his teeth together threateningly near the boy's fingers. "Point at me with those dirty sausages again and you die, got that? I don't care what your reasonings are, you better not try and touch me. I don't care what you two have going on, I don't doubt that she'll miss you when you're gone." the snarl that resounded in his throat was far more feral than a jellyfish should've been capable of.

Sam snorted. "She's an enigma. Everyone's scared of her. I needed her." he didn't elaborate. He didn't need to. The past tense spoke for him. He didn't need Iona anymore, didn't want her. He would break her, and that would be that. He didn't want her.

Sam snorted, "Oh, and now all of a sudden I should care? She's already decided she hates me, and I don't care." he laughed to himself savagely, "Trust me, Bryan, you don't want to know why I did it. No one does."

He was tempted to leave at that point, to leave the sullen and scarred teenager act behind him to speak for him, but as he slouched against the bookshelf, the bright spark in his eyes dulled. It was less of an act for every instant that passed, he was helpless here.

We'll row the boat to the far shore
Row the boat of the loved lost soul

[/blockquote][/size]

[Matsi]

Bryan laughed threghtenly, his folding fangs dropped down for a moment.
''So her fears were right.'' He shook his head and turned. ''She was beginning to think that she had been to harsh on you.'' He took a few steps away, then looked over his shoulder at him.
''The one person who steals the small bit of her heart that is left, and he cares not,'' He shook his head and walked off without another word.

[Cedar]

Ever since, oh, I can remember
We all tried to ease the pain
Took him in when he needed some shelter
Tried to make him feel he was one of us again

Sam glowered, his arm hairs bristling. "You're so on, snake." he hissed, "Dying might be worth it. Sometimes I wonder if life is worth living." let the lies mix with truth so that they might be believable...

A savage laugh tore threw him, "You think I care? No one has ever cared about me - other than Mercury - why should I return the favor." But there was anger in his stance now. He'd never forgive Bryan after this point. "And Mercury's a sadistic bastard." he narrowed his eyes, "But if the world doesn't care me, why should I care about it? You think I should care about that friend of yours when she has already decided she hates me. Perhaps we would've been friends, but I do not forgive easily. Maybe she only lied to Mercury, but she lied to me as well. Should I forgive that? Ask yourself if you would." his eyes flickered with anger.

He snorted again. "Heart? What heart? She has about as much of a heart as Mercury does." Sam laughed, but beneath it all was a flicker of sadness, swiftly buried. It had hurt when she'd turned around from his offer of friendship - give or take a few hours - and said she'd hated him. Sam did not forgive easily, what he'd said was true. It was likely that he'd close himself off from her entirely after that.

There was one day, oh, I can remember
He sat alone with a pencil in his hand
All day long he drew careful on the paper
In the end, just a picture of a man

[/center][/blockquote]

[Matsi]

Bryan stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him, a sad look in his blue-green eyes.
''I might not at first, but i know, that i would realize that i would need a friend, especially in this place, to lift my head up and dry my tears, just as much as they would need me.'' He said in a soft voice. ''Thats all Iona wants. Fear shakes her heart, and you gave her a glimmer of hope. Sometimes, you need to trust your heart, not you mind,'' he turned back around and continued on.

[Cedar]

Oh, dear Mary, do you remember
The day when we went walking downtown
As I recall it was in early December
After school had just let out

"Dry my tears?" he echoed back disbelievingly, "You might cry, but I don't. Crying is a sign of weakness, besides which, I don't need anyone." He laughed to himself upon realizing just how much like Iona he sounded. The truth was, he did need them. But he did not need people the way this Bryan seemed to think he did. He didn't need friends, he needed people who would work for him.

The boy was nearly out of sight when Sam yelled a final thing after his retreating back, "You say that like I have a heart. You know full well that I don't!" his eyes flashed with anger, and he idly realized that he shouldn't have yelled that loudly. His voice echoed around the library, and he ducked behind a bookshelf, managing to look industriously involved in reading 'The Great Gatsby' when the guard tromped by.

One of them had recognized his voice, and turned to look at Sam as they paced past, "Be careful. I'd hate to have to shoot you." the guard's hand drifted towards the trigger before they tromped past. A few more laps around the bookshelves, and the guards left Sam alone. He hardly registered that, just noticing barely that they were gone.

Sam exhaled in relief, pushing the book aside and walking towards the exit. He had to get out of this place. Just find somewhere to be alone, perhaps go back out to the lakes and submerge himself for a good long while. Perhaps his aching lungs would make him realize just how little he needed people in the way that Bryan seemed to think he did. He didn't need friends.

People, especially these people, were idiots. They betrayed others the first chance they got. Sam didn't get down and dirty with them, those people. He let them do what they needed to, and merely watched.

Ugh...

After school had just let out
When I see you on the street in the twilight
I may tip my hat and keep my head down
You show me love, but maybe I don't deserve it
I've been called but not been found

[/blockquote][/size]

[Matsi]

Iona only frowned at bryan as he got back into her view. She knew, just knew, that bryan wasnt going to speak of what he had said to Sam, and she knew that it didnt go well.
She sighed and turned to walk out of the library, but stopped at the doors and sighed.

''Im sorry, Iona. I was just curious,'' Bryan said with a sigh as he looked at her.
''I just wonder...what it would be like, ya' know? To have someone else, to care about.'' She sighed. ''I thought...i should have been less afraid,'' She admited to Bryan. Bryan said nothing, only watching her face with a frown.

[Cedar]

You stand before me
Now we stare eye to eye
Before another second clicks away,
One of us will die

Sam silently brushed past the two, without looking back. He needed to be alone. He glanced at the guard, the one who'd let him in, and inclined his head. An easy familiarity passed between the two as Sam left the library.

Yes, being alone sounded better and better right then, even though his stomach was rumbling furiously. He wouldn't have been surprised if the two behind him could hear it, but Sam hardly noticed.

He imagined that in the distance he could already hear waves lapping at the shore, taste the salty water in his mouth, close his eyes and imagine for a moment that he was truly in the ocean, perhaps the only thing he wished he could have. Everything else he wanted, he had.

But there was still the flicker of disagreement, a burning anger with the girl who thought she could say he was nothing and get away with it. The hairs on Sam's arm bristled, their hooks ready to kill the first person who touched him as he pushed his sleeves down, cussing vigorously to himself as his stingers punctured skin. Still, he was immune to his own venom, it only hurt...

You reach for your metal
As I reach for mine
The sound of bullets flying through the air
Is followed by a cry...

[/center][/blockquote]