foolishwren | 74. [Text/Action for Club H] Backdated to Monday

_{[Oh, man. Oh man, oh man, oh man.]

[It had taken an entire year.]

[For a couple months past 365 days, Heather's life had been blessedly free of something she'd always known was possible but had never seriously considered would happen. Lulled into a false sense of security by her general good luck regarding which people from her own world showed up here, she supposed.]

[All decent folks. No cultists. No creepers.]

[... Until now.]

[It takes her a bit to decide exactly what she's going to do about it. She can't just sit there, after all. She has to tell some people. ... Not everybody. That would be stupid, and attract unwanted attention. Not to mention, he'd probably just find it funny. No, she'll just... tell a few.]

[Some people who already knew a little about... that place. She'd already GOTTEN a message from L, which meant that she wasn't the only person paying attention. But she's not so sure about the rest of her friends. So without any further ado...]}

[PRIVATE TEXT to: Kaito Kuroba, Rise Kujikawa, Envy, Liquid Snake, Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich, Dale Cooper, Ironhide, Ken Amada, and Miles Edgeworth]

Hey

If you've got a free moment, I gotta talk to you. It's important.

_{[... There. That'll do for starters...]

[Shutting the 'Gear, she sets it down on the bed for the moment. Now to take care of the OTHER thing.]}

Hey, Dad? Henry?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

_{[Y-YEAH THAT GOES WITHOUT SAYING-- Heather may be the Jesus-figure of the Order, but that doesn't necessarily make her the expert on cults.]}

They're a pretty nasty group of people.

I... was in it, when I was pretty little. Not everybody's evil, just... twisted. Brainwashed. The ones at the top hoard all the power.

... Also, they run a big drug ring.

... Although maybe that was busted since I was a kid... dunno if it's still running. _{[Or still running at the same strength it'd been back in the day, anyway.]}

_{[Yeahhh and Cooper sometimes forgets that not everyone is as interested in everything as he is, so there might be that, too.]

[Annnnd cause he once worked with the DEA, the most natural thing to ask isssss]}

What kind of drugs?

_{[He's not disinterested in what else she's telling him -- but that sounds pretty typical for a cult so far, so there's no need to expand on that.]}

_{[Yeah sorry, Heather was never that into her homework. :(]

[She does, however, have an answer for THIS question!]}

White Claudia.

It's kind of a local one... you can get it from the seeds of a local flower or something... s'a hallucinogen.

Originally I think it was just used in traditional rituals and shit because it'd make people have visions, but I guess at some point somebody got the bright idea to start selling it to outsiders and the cult wound up making a mint off of it...

_{[Get the gullible tourists addicted and the money just started flowing.]}

... They also used it to control and blackmail people into doing stuff for 'em. _{[Poor Lisa... not to mention the countless other people who had likely wound up in the same position as she had.]}

_{[Ooh yes, some answer - more than he'd expected. He's frowning darkly on his end though ... he's got a very, very low tolerance for drugs.]}

What kind of "stuff"?

_{[Heather's done her fair share of tame stuff... She'd smoked weed regularly for a few years as a high-schooler... done the usual gauntlet of Stupid Teenage Ways to Get High. Nothing overly addictive, nothing permanent-- she hadn't been interested in losing herself. Just in acting out and feeling like a rebel.]

[She knows better now, needless to say.]}

Whatever they needed.

Anything sleazy and underhanded that they needed to make sure the people involved stayed quiet over... staff for underground operations... drug runners... anyone involved in the ways they had to make bothersome people 'disappear'.

They'd get people hooked on the drug and then withhold it if they wanted out...

M'sure a lot of the cultists themselves were on it, too.

_{[As much numbing dread as it filled her to look back on the memories of that first childhood, in hindsight the only explanation Heather can think of now for Dahlia's delusions of grandeur and wild schemes is that she was probably tripping the fuck out ALL THE TIME.]}

Edited 2011-08-11 21:44 (UTC)

_{[Yeah, Cooper did try the tame things once or twice - but you gain a strong aversion to anything that falls under the drug label when your childhood crush overdoses on the stuff. It's part of the reason he was with the DEA for some time.]}

That wouldn't be surprising.

_{[He sorts of throws the words out, like they're something unwanted (probably making it obvious how much he absolutely detests the whole drug-thing to begin with). Then he goes into cop-mode, speaking fairly quickly - just trying to break down facts and get behind it all. It's probably not even important, but hell ... what else is he supposed to do with information if not process it?]}

It would be readily available. Not to mention ingrained in tradition and belief. But I don't quite understand why they would give something like that to strangers - if it's from a local plant and used in the cult itself, I'd imagine it to be much more exclusive. Only for the chosen ones.

... of course, it could be a variation. Something less potent.

... Yeah, I don't know. Maybe the stuff they sold was a watered-down version like you said.

I was ... pretty little when I was in the middle of all that stuff, so I don't really remember the gory details. _{[Most of her specific knowledge came from Harry's research more than her own recollection... he'd done his homework when it came to the cult later on, although he hadn't been able to talk about his findings with her...]}

You weren't a user, were you?

_{[It's not really a question because he thinks she would have hinted at it otherwise -- but. Yeah. This is Coop, he asks a lot of questions.]}

I was seven.

_{[... Although they may have given her some... that night. She doesn't remember... has to try NOT to remember. But then, maybe that would have destroyed the point, if they'd drugged her up. Had to feel the pain.]}

_{[Yeah, that's what he'd meant - "did they give you anything?" The way she talked about it clearly showed her stance towards it and he's pretty sure she wouldn't have taken it by choice. But that's the thing about cults, really - peer pressure, or simple force.]

[But actually hearing her at the time age makes him balk a little, mentally. His very first case had to do with an eight-year-old girl and he'll never forget that.]}

I know you had to die to accomplish it, but I'm very happy you managed to get out of there.

_{[Probably good that he doesn't mention it-- after everything that Heather's seen, she's more than a little bitter... but there's still some things she's naiive about. Probably best to keep it that way, considering there's precious few of those.]}

Me too.

Believe me.

_{[Dying was no walk in the park... but in that case? It had been so worth it.]}

_{[He breathes out slowly - he feels for her, he really does. He's not the best at expressing that, but offers her what he's got, really. Backtracking to the start and all.]}

Don't let this guy get to you and we'll make sure he doesn't get to us.

_{[... Though he can't see it, a smile curls up the corners of her mouth.]}

I'll try my best, as long as you guys do, too.

I will.

_{[He can't speak for the others and thusly won't, but yep. Gonna round this off - he's got a new thing or two to think about and occupying his mind is his favourite activity next to eating.]}

Take care, Heather.

Will do...

_{[Click!]

[Well, that's one load partially off of her chest...]}

74. [Text/Action for Club H] Backdated to Monday

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