I Can't Take Much More;; - Paul/Aurelia

[AURELIA RAMONA OCTAVIAN]

Aurelia stared around the room quietly as she felt Dixon’s arm sling across her shoulder, grappling onto the top of her arm like she was a beanbag chair he was tossing to a different section of his bedroom. Her eyes closed, and she grumbled slightly to herself, wondering why she ever agreed to be his date in the first place. Oh, that’s right. She wanted to get laid, and she was preferential to people she knew were good in bed, rather than a new man who could have all sorts of... shortcomings, so to speak, in the bedroom. So, here she was with Dixon, who was boasting and ranting about how well he did today in the game. Paul had made a couple of appearances, but he hadn’t seen her yet... He didn’t seem to be with anyone... Of course not, why would he? He was still dating Chelsea... Right? Her heart sank and she looked at her toes as Dixon gave her another possessive clutch and swung her around to face him, grinning at her with his perfect teeth and dimples. She blushed and stared up at him, keeping her face straight as he grinned at her. He was talking about how he had a big surprise for her, and how she’d get it soon enough, but she had to wait here alone for a few minutes while he went and got it with his buddies.
Looking a bit tentatively at him, Aurelia nodded slowly and gave him a slight smile, shrugging as he sat her down forcibly into a hard wooden chair and told her not to move, or she’d be in big trouble. The chair had big armrests, so Aurelia set her arms down and sighed softly, looking around. There were a couple of guys that hadn’t left the room, and they seemed to be watching her, as if waiting for something. Blinking a bit, she glanced up at Dixon returned with something in his hands, smiling brightly at her.
"So... What's this surprise?" She asked quietly, blinking at him. Dixon grinned sheepishly and raised his free hand, snapping his fingers. Within the few seconds she realized what was happening, to the end product, her wrists and feet tied tightly to the chair with leather straps, along with bands tied around her chest and stomach, she shifted in the chair and narrowed her eyes, looking up at him with a slightly angered and confused look.

"Dixon, what is this?" Her eyes went wide as her pulled out a large taser from behind his back. The kind they used on the heavier criminals to keep them down for the count. She started struggling in the straps more and more. "Dixon, this isn't funny. Please. Please, don't do this." She was pleading now, eyes wide, brows pulled up and knit together worriedly as her bright iris’ darted around to the other men and women that were standing in the room. Had Paul known about this? Her breathing became laboured as Dixon walked up to her and kissed her hard on the mouth, and Aurelia whimpered slightly as he pulled away, setting the little probes against her temples. There would be only so much she could take before she would have to redirect it; or else it would fry her brain, just like any other human being. She struggled against the straps once more, feeling tears well up.
"This isn't funny, Dixon. Stop it!" Her voice was strained as she tried to keep from crying. She’d have to leave Seattle... She’d have to leave everything...

"Don't worry, baby. I know you can take it. You're such a kinky little freak." Dixon laughed and geared the taser up, humming to the music that was playing in the background. Aurelia felt the hard sting of metal as the taser flew out and pierced her skin just above her left collarbone, and below her right, and her head went back as the first shock current went through her. Her mouth let out a nearly deafening scream, as she shook in her chair and cried, screaming as each pulse moved through her. She was trying to contain it all, but she could feel herself getting to the threshold already. Trying to be human had never seemed so hard. She wanted more than anything to send the current towards Dixon and kill him on sight, or at least render him catatonic, but she didn’t. She sat there and took the punishment, because that’s what a good student from Thaedeus would do. She derseved this. She was a freak. She didn’t deserve to be treated like a human.
"Happy Halloween!" Dixon cheered loudly over her screams. His teammates cheered with him, more out of fear that they would be neat, than anything else.

[PAUL MICHAEL BRASS]

They said this was the perfect place for a party, and Paul had to admit it was pretty isolated. An old, sturdy abandoned place where their party wouldn't be a problem, no matter how rowdy it got. The drinking had begun after the game for some of the more hard-core guys, and included the rest of the team and whoever they cared to invite later that night. He climbed the creaky steps, past a few people smoking on the porch, he caught a few nods from his fellow teammates as he entered the building. The whole thing was still pretty low key, so he had to assume it was just getting started. People were still walking up the gravel driveway, and from the road. The sky was a deep blue, the sun having set at least half an hour ago, but lights still set the house ablaze- Paul was surprised that such a run-down place even had electricity going to it.

But he wasn't here to just stand around and muse about what kept this place running- from where he stood at the front door, he could see into two off-branching rooms with tattered furniture where people lounged or stood in groups. He'd heard that there were coolers and a keg in the kitchen at the back of the house. The other guys on the team seemed to have each brought several people, who in turn invited more, but he arrived alone, running his hand through his hair a little self-consciously as people turned to look at him as he picked his winding path through the room on the right, toward the back of the house. He could see why a lot of them might stare- he wasn't dressed for the occasion- Hallow e'en was a time for the guys to go either goofy or manly, and the girls to look like sluts. He'd just elected to wear jeans and a white t-shirt, with his one-of-two clean rugby jerseys- at least he wasn't alone among some other team members.

The fact that he was alone only reminded him that he had not made amends with Aurelia. He felt like maybe she was avoiding him, but in all honesty, he was doing the exact same to her. See her in their hallway? Better walk around the corner. See her in meal hall? Well, he had somewhere else to be. He was reluctant to come face-to-face with her, and find out the answer he had been so desperate to know that day he had approached Scarlet. In the meantime, he'd had ample time to cool, and think over all he'd been told about demigods, and to take a break from Aurelia. Paul shook his head to himself, grinning forcefully as a guy walked by and clapped his hand on his shoulder with a muttered 'hey bro'. Music emanated from one of the other rooms, while a steady flow of voices came from what had to be the kitchen, punctuated with a few loud laughs- things were getting a little better.

Rounding the corner to an old ranch-style kitchen, the floor crusted in dirt they had tracked in that mingled with the fine layer of dust, Paul had a glimpse of a few more rooms branching off, making him think that this place was a lot larger than it looked on the outside. One of the coolers was open, so he picked out a beer, wandering out toward the stairs to the upper floor, following raised, if slightly muffled voices. Once on the landing, he met a few people leaning on the walls of the main hallway, or sitting on the steps. Their faces looked oddly drawn, and some of them moved off stiffly toward the other parts of the house with their drinks. One voice stood out above the low murmur.

"Don't worry, baby. I know you can take it. You're such a kinky little freak."

Paul grimaced- if Dixon had a girl in one of the rooms, he was pretty sure he didn't want to get involved. But just as her turned, he heard a chilling, shrill scream that seemed to ripple throughout his entire body, hurting his ears and raising the hair on his arms. That was bad. Dixon probably had some poor girl cornered, trying to get her to do whatever kinky stuff he was into. The people behind him on the stairs were looking fearfully at the closed door at the end of the hall. Just barely above the screaming came Dixon's cheer, and there was no doubt about it, accompanying laughter from other people. Paul put down the bottle and jogged down the hall. He'd never liked the team captain, mostly because of the image Aurelia had painted, but there was always this weird feeling about him- like he enjoyed the fact that he got to hit people for sport a little too much, far beyond the normal desire for competition. And if Dixon was in there, hurting someone and people were just watching, then Paul had a big problem with that.

His hand fastened on the old door knob, but the door itself was a bit jammed. He had to wrench it a few times before it swung open, but even his entrance didn't put a stop to the screaming. The people nearest the door looked around in surprise, but continued to laugh, apparently unperturbed by one of the 'new kids' joining in on the fun. Dixon's massive frame was dominant among the group, and he stood in front of someone. Paul walked further into the room, intending to tell Dixon off, unhampered by the other team members that lined the walls, having backed away from their captain. The screaming was reaching an unbearable pitch, spine-chillingly gruesome, as he tried to make out what Dixon held. Feeling heartily sickened, he finally got a good look at the victim, and his whole body went cold, breath catching. Oh god. Oh god.

Aurelia was strapped to a chair by her arms and legs and chest, screaming and crying, while Dixon held a taser to her, laughing gleefully. Paul's mouth opened in horror but no sound came out as he had lunged. His hands clenched into fists, but he felt as if there was no blood left in his system- he had just gone completely cold, and yet at the very center of him white-hot fury erupted.
"What the hell?" Nobody really took notice, except for a few guilty stares as Paul whirled toward the people on the walls- no one seemed inclined to answer.
"WHAT THE HELL!" He turned on Dixon, who was still torturing the girl bound in the chair, and flung out his arms, hitting him in the shoulder. The big guy didn't seem to notice, other than casting him an annoyed look and turning back to Aurelia. All the while the screaming continued, and Paul drew back, only to smash his fist into Dixon's jaw. His whole hand felt numb, and several people pushed off of the walls, arms outstretched but apparently unsure of what to do.
"UNTIE HER." Paul roared, face going red as he looked away from his now throbbing hand and up to Dixon, who had apparently dropped the taser that was still humming, still hurting Aurelia. Without really thinking this plan through, he opened his arms wide and charged the older, bigger, altogether more intimidating guy, catching him around the middle, jolting his own shoulder horribly.

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[AURELIA RAMONA OCTAVIAN]

As Dixon went flying under seige by Paul’s attack, Aurelia felt the pulse of the shocks slow slightly, before looking up to a girl who had been standing by with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend had gone to help; not entirely sure if he should be on Paul or Dixon’s side. Aurelia stared wide-eyed at the girl who was standing there, staring back, as if she would scream.

"Untie me... Please..." Aurelia whispered. As she spoke, small pulse of ekectricity were visible, flying between her lips as she tried to keep it all inside her. She could feel her heart beating a thousand miles per second and she could tell the girl could feel the beats radiating through the electricity that was movign through the air towards her, from Aurelia. Very carefully, the girl edged her way over and pulled out a small pocket knife, slicing one of Aurelia’s wristbands. In order to get the other one off, she had to slice into Aurelia’s skin slightly, but it didn’t seem to phase the demigod, who had her eyes fixed on what Paul was doing. Why was he defending her? Didn’t he want her to be figured out as some sort of freak? She bit her lip and looked up to the girl as she finished cutting the bands, before standing up slowly, shakily. Little lightning bolts flowed from her fingertips, dancing from one to the other, and she was pretty sure the hair on her arms was raising. Even the hair on her head looked a bit more puffed up. Nodding in thanks to the girl, she walked slowly over to the brawling men and grabbed Dixon by the back on the shirt, dragging him off of Paul. Dixon tossed her off of him quickly and went back to Paul, dragging him up to his feet with an angry glare.

”Look at this fuckin’ kid. Trying to save the freak.” He turned Paul’s head to look at Aurelia, who was just getting up from being thrown against a glass table. The table had broken, and Aurelia was picking a large shard of glass out of her hand, wincing at the pain; something she was all to familiar with by this point. She never wanted to get into a fight ever again. ”Didn’t she warn you to stay away from her? She told ya’, didn’t she? To keep away, that it would ruin your reputation to be around her." He let Paul go, pushing him back slightly. ”Here’s your chance. Let it go. Walk away. Take her advice and abandon her.” He motioned. When Paul didn’t move, Dixon looked absolutely enfuriated. He grabbed his arm and twisted it behind him until he heard the sickening crack of the arm breaking, before spinning him around and raising his fist to punch him again. Dixon had already broken the guys nose, as well as given him a fat lip. The worst he could do now was break Paul’s jaw... And Aurelia wasn’t going to let that happen. Without really thinking about what she was doing, she was on her feet, releasing the eletricity into the ground with each step she took, the shard of glass in her hand. Just as Dixon’s fist was fully wound up to punch Paul in the jaw, she raised her arms and sunk the shard of glass right through the muscle until she felt bone. Aurelia had never heard a man scream so loud in her entire life. Her eyes went wind as Dixon roared and smashed around the room, trying to get the glass out, until she realized Paul was still standing there. By now, the whole house had erupted into a fight. They needed to get out before the cops showed up.

"Paul?" She turned quickly and grabbed his good arm, holding him up. "I know you dislike me or something, I don't know, but we need to get you to a hospital, now." She said it more as an order, before helping him walk out of the house, down the stairs, and to the car she had taken. Ignoring her heavily bleeding hand, she stuffed him into the front seat and ran to the drivers side, throwing the keys into the ignition and driving away as fast as she could without breaking the speed limit. The closer they got to the hospital, the faster her energy drained, and she felt like falling asleep at the wheel. Especially when her wheels were parked safely in the emergency wing parking, and Paul was on his way inside in a stretcher. Finally, she collapsed onto the pavement and felt her head connect with the ground, before everything just went black for her.