fellsing — Roleplayer Guild

“Miss? Excuse me, miss?”

Kendra Martin was stirred awake as a hand gently shook her by the shoulder. She opened her eyes and glanced upwards to see a man, elderly, round about late seventies or early eighties, standing over her.

“Hm?” Kendra’s mind still hadn’t completely returned from the depths of unconsciousness, and it took a moment to remember where she was.

“Do you mind budging up a little?” the man said.

Kendra paused before realisation hit. “Oh,” she said. “Sure.” She edged over to the other wise of the bus seat she was on, allowing the man to plop down next to her.

“Sorry for disturbing you,” the man said as he sat down. “You looked like you were having a nice dream there.”

Kendra smiled. “Heh heh, no, it’s fine,” she said. I wasn’t actually sleeping anyway, she mentally added. She glanced outside the window to her left, taking in the sights as the scenery seemed to rush past. “Are we almost at Star City?”

“Aye, it’s the next stop,” the man said, revealing a thick Scottish accent that Kendra hadn’t noticed until just now. “Driver said we’d be there in, saaaaay, ten minutes.”

“Ah good. Thank you.”

The man smiled. “No problem, miss,” he said. There was a companionable silence between the two as Kendra rummaged through her backpack, which had been propped on her lap and she had been cuddling close to her chest while she had been “sleeping”. She took out a book, one of several she was currently reading. There were no book marks nor were there any folded pages. She simply opened the book and seemed to find the page she had been on.

After a moment of silence, the man started talking again. “A Prayer For Owen Meany, eh?” he said, noting the title of the thick book she was reading.

“Hmhmm,” Kendra replied, without looking up. “You’ve read it?”

“Aye. It’s a good book, though I always preferred World According To Garp meself,” the man said.

“I haven’t read that one,” Kendra said. “I might check it out once I’m finished with this.”

The man looked pleased with this reply. “It’s Irving’s best. That man has quite a way with language,” he said. “You know, I used to be an English teacher back in the day.”

With this remark, Kendra turned her gaze away from her book and glanced at the old man. “Did you really?” she said.

“Aye. Really,” he said. There was pause before he stretched out a large hand. It was wrinkled, slightly grey in colour, and the skin had started to flake away. “Name’s Joe MacDuff.”

Kendra hesitated for a moment before taking the hand. “Cassandra,” she replied.

Mr MacDuff gave Kendra’s hand a strong, firm shake, proving there was still a good deal of life in aging man. “If you don’t mind me asking, why you heading to Star City, Cassandra?” he said after releasing her hand. “Visiting family?”

“Oh no.” Kendra shook her head. “I’ve got a job interview.” In a manner of speaking.

“Oh, is that right?” Mr MacDuff raised an eyebrow. “Well, I wish you good luck then.”

“Thank you.”

It was at that point the driver called through the speakers. “We are now entering Star City,” he said. “Anyone who wants to get off at this point, please do so.”

Kendra closed her book and stuffed it back into her bag. “Well, I guess this is my stop,” she said, standing up.

“You take of yourself, Cassandra,” Mr MacDuff said. “And thank you for keeping an old man company.” He sighed. “I myself am visiting my daughter and grandchildren. They’re lovely kids, but I think they’re getting to that age where they start to outgrow their grandparents.”

Kendra looked down at the old man and suddenly felt a pang of sympathy. She had been planning to just get off the bus at this point and not say anything, but the sadness on the man’s face compelled her to speak once more. “Is your daughter going to meet you?” she asked.

“Hmm? Oh, aye, that’s right.”

Kendra smiled. “Maybe you should call her before you get to your stop. You know, just to make sure she remembers to pick you up.”
Mr MacDuff gave a hearty laugh. “Don’t you worry about me, lass. My daughter’s the reliable sort. She’ll remember.”

“I see.” Kendra nodded. “Well, take care then.” With her bags in hand, she headed towards the front of the bus. When it finally came to a stop, she exited, along with a couple of other passengers.

As the door closed behind her, though, Mr MacDuff frowned. “Well,” he muttered to himself, fumbling for his phone in his pocket. “I’ll just check.” With slightly trembling hands, he pushed the numbers before bringing the phone to his ear. There was a moment before someone picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Sally. It’s me.”

“Dad? Oh god, are you… are you at the station?”

Mr MacDuff frowned. “No, not yet,” he said.

“Oh thank god, I… I’m sorry, Dad, I completely forgot you coming today. I’ll… I’ll head right there.”

They talked for a moment longed before Mr MacDuff hung up. “Huh,” he muttered. Good thing Cassandra had told him to ring up.

As Kendra watched the bus drive away, she saw Mr MacDuff getting out the phone, and smiled to herself. Good, he took my advice, she thought. She couldn’t bear to think of the poor man waiting around at the station, wondering where the hell his daughter was. It was such a small thing, not the thing Kendra normally got involved with.

She turned away, pulling up her hood. She was wearing a green dress that seemed to have a hood attached, her old costume she had once wore when she had taken the name Foresight. She didn’t use the costume anymore for fighting, but it was comfortable and looked enough like normal clothes that on one would raise an eyebrow. Plus, Foresight wasn’t a well-known hero. She doubted anyone in Star City had heard of her.

Besides, I can't very well wear my armor in public.

Kendra took a deep breath. It had been so long since she had done the vigilante thing, having quit over two years ago after the close-fight with Snafu. After that, she had taken a backseat and left it to the police, helping the long with occasional tip. It was safer, yes, but a part of her missed the action, the thrill. She hated to admit it, as it was contradictory of her nature, but she had become a little bit of adrenaline junkie during that time.

Oh well, I’ll be getting back into the field soon enough, Kendra thought. She took out the map that her mentor Wonder Woman had provided her with, showing her the direction to HQ. She started to walk in the general direction indicated.

I just hope my teammates don’t get themselves killed before I find them.

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