<div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=86983.msg3842751#msg3842751">Quote from: toysintheattic on November 01, 2010, 02:29:40 pm</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Kayla caught the man's glance and quickly averted her eyes. Everything about that man was so intense, so strange and wild. Kayla remembered with a flash how he took command of the situation last night, people seeming to just heed to his word without doubt. Kayla glanced back at him with a scowl. She didn't like anyone that made her wonder. She certainly hoped that last night's exchange between them didn't give him the notion that Kayla was even approachable, much less a friend of his. <br/><br/>The mayor, of course, was going to rely on Jenni Sanford's word to confirm the probability of Kayla's information. However, Jenni did not seem to be paying attention. Kayla groaned inwardly. She despised repeating herself. Kayla ran through her theory once more, then happened to shoot her eyes towards the teenage girl, who was gazing at her with burning gratitude. Kayla wasn't quick enough to escape the glance, and she suddenly felt naked and wrung out before The Council. After this, Kayla's name would be one whispered in many ears, her information scrutinized and her life scrutinized even closer. She had another moment of weakness, a moment of fleeting fear at the prospect of her routinely life being disturbed. She cursed herself and sat down slowly, barely hearing Jenni's replies.<br/><br/>As she sat down, she was shocked to notice that a small note had been pressed into her hand and she had clenched her fingers around it. She looked at the people around her and saw only the strange man, looking at her with obvious meaning. Kayla opened the note, and it simply read: "Did you hear the girl's voice, too?" Normally, without hesitation, Kayla would've grabbed a pen out of her purse and written something along the lines of "Sir, you need psychological help." However, she felt something stir in her mind. Kayla almost threw the small slip of paper, shrieking in frustration. She clenched her hand around the pen she had dug out. Why, in the course of 24 hours, has her mental health been flipped around, turned over, beaten senseless and left to bleed out? She was sick of these odd, out of place feelings that came attatched to this whole situation. Kayla fleetingly remembered her dreams from last night. Haunting, warning. Voices embedded with sorrow telling her to protect the child, telling her that there will be no more turning away.<br/><br/>Kayla pressed the pen to the thin paper, writing "No, I did not hear the child's voice. Last night's slumber harboured strange, daunting dreams. Voices told me to protect this child. Usually, I would promptly dismiss this with a logical explanation, but something is not right."<br/><br/>Kayla looked up, venturing to stand again. She had made up her mind about something. As she walked forward to address the mayor again, she slipped the note back to the man. Then, she steeled herself against the attention that would be drawn to her, and spoke again.<br/><br/>"Mayor, consider this theory: perhaps before the transmission was downed the girls heard it and decided to come here. Three years of journey is an incredulous thing, I agree, but there are many missing peices of information that are vital to this issue. If they have journeyed so long, did they start out with more people? How would they have survived? Where did they come from? We have so much to consider."<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div>Shaun looked over at the mayor after Kayla's speech. He could see the mayor was already growing weary of all of this. He was too old for this job, and Shaun needed to prop him up.<br/><br/>He looked directly at Kayla. He'd never much liked her -- he rarely had an eye for when he wasn't wanted, but Kayla made things CRYSTAL clear to him. "I suppose that could make sense," he said. "It seems improbable, but ... so much here does."<br/><br/>He smiled, trying to win her over. All she did was look away in disgust. God, that trick usually worked.<br/><br/>"I tell you what, Kayla. My wife is going to try to interview the older girl after this meeting. The younger is still in the hospital." -- Kayla was surprised at the way her heart pinged in sympathy at that. -- "You have some experience dealing with this age group, thanks to your time down at the school. Would you like to tag along? Maybe get to the bottom of this? Honestly, if we can't figure this out, I don't see any way to not throw them in the lock-up."