<div class="floatleft">(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Qyko8wgtkO0/TPazk9MGxTI/AAAAAAAAAG0/p0VdSnEi1AM/s1600/karentapiaandersen_losangelestimesphotoshoot_10apr2006_03.jpg)</div><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: georgia;"><strong>Name:</strong>  Tara Conners (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=294841.msg14610623#msg14610623)<br/><strong>Date | Time:</strong> Probably not Kansas.<br/><strong>Location:</strong> A very nice room.<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong> No one.<br/><strong>Note:</strong> Very, very sore. </span><br/><hr/><br/><br/>Tara woke up slowly wondering if she was dead.  Her body ached from head to toe recalling the night’s events, despite her best efforts not to.  She had finally made it to Markovia.  It had taken way too long by back packing, but it was the only way she could afford to travel at this point.  Exhausted she found herself in a little café not entirely sure what to do next.<br/><br/>The truth was it was only spite that had brought her this far.  She really had no idea how she was going to meet her half-brothers, or if she even wanted to.  They had meant nothing to her so far in life and she had been fine, did she really need them now?  Did she really need to do this for her mother?  She clearly had not thought this through as much as she thought over the last few months.<br/><br/>As she sat back and let her thoughts simmer she sipped on her coffee watching the locals come and go.  It seemed like a nice place.  People looked friendly.  It was certainly pretty enough to want to live in.  Maybe she could just settle in and find a way to bring her mother here.  They would never have to make themselves known.  Especially now that her father was dead, who would know them?<br/><br/>Before she could figure it out, the screeching of tires and a blaring horn caused her to bolt upright.  She turned in time to see a car speeding down the street towards her corner.  She heard a woman scream.  When she turned a woman held a child by the hand in the cross walk frozen.<br/><br/>Panicked she reached out without thinking, feeling the earth below her.  She pulled with all her might on it.  In an instant a small wall arose before the side walk.  The speeding car smashed into, she could feel the shockwave in her chest.<br/><br/>Shocked and ecstatic she fell to her knees with a grin, exhausted by the effort.  It took a moment for her to realize the woman was still screaming.  When Tara looked up she found a crowd had begun to gather.  The woman clutched her child and pointed at Tara shouting something over and over.  She really regretted not learning at least a bit of the language before coming here.<br/><br/>Things happened quickly.  The crowd was on her, they beat her, screaming and cursing.  As things blurred together she eventually realized they had dragged her to the woods.  They threw her to the center of the crowd which opened into a circle.  As she tried to crawl away a man grabbed her by the ankles.  She tried to kick but her feet were tied before she could break away.  When she heard a motor start she froze and looked up through blurred vision. The chain around her ankles was tied to the back of an ATV.<br/><br/>She wasn’t sure how long it lasted but eventually they stopped.  She laid there sobbing, begging to be let go.  The crowd cheered.  Eventually one man walked to the center towards her.  He held a pistol and grinned pointing it at her head.  She winced shutting her eyes as she heard it click, than the world went bright, almost blinding through her closed eyes.<br/><br/>When the light died she opened her eyes, the crowd was frozen.  The man with the gun stared at her with malice in his eyes.  Another man stood next to him he wore a strange costume with an odd golden helmet.  He stepped around the man and pointed at her chains which vanished.  She stared at him silent and wide eyed.  Had she died?<br/><br/>He began to speak.  He said his name was Dr. Fate, and he had an offer for her.  He began to explain the details but they all just washed over her.  Once he was done speaking he looked at her calmly, like none of the world around them mattered.<br/>Eventually she asked the one thing she wasn’t sure of at all.<br/>“Am I dead?”<br/><br/>Dr. Fate shook his head and assured her she was not.  If she rejected his offer he would take her some place she wanted to go, away from these people.  As she thought about it as second question formed.  “What did that woman call me?”<br/><br/>“Witch.” He replied bluntly.<br/><br/>She chuckled, it hurt.  She’d saved that woman and her child, and this is what happened.<br/><em>Fuck Markovia,</em>she thought.  “Okay… I’ll go with you…”<br/>Then she woke up here, where ever here was.<br/><br/>Slowly she climbed out of the bed still dressed in the muddy ragged clothes from last night.  She looked down at the white linens, caked in mud.<em>I guess the Doc can afford the cleaning bill.</em><br/><br/>Slowly on unsteady feet she made her way to the mirror by the closet.  She hissed as her back burned in protest.  She reached up and slowly pulled her shirt over her back and off her head.  She kept her arms in it and clutched it to her chest turning slightly to get a look at her road burned back.  It looked much better than she thought. More like a cheese grater had been taken to it, than a power saw like she thought it would.<br/>