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Miranda calmed down just a bit, but only just a bit, in order to think more clearly and watch her step in the cluttered streets of her s**t neighbourhood. She was starting to recognize the path they had taken earlier, and rolled with it ,practically running around the corner and skidding to a stop in the front of their building. She didn't bother looking around, but if she hadn't see the two figures down the street walking away out of the corner of her eyes, she probably would've missed seeing them. Pausing to look more fully to the side at them with her hand on the rail to the steps of her apartment building, she furrowed her eyebrows in concentration.

What was a child doing out so late....? It hit her. That was Jamie. With her hair still messy from sleep, and in her 'casual' clothes as she liked to label them.

"Jamie!" she whispered at first, her heart racing from the mere thought of her being out this late. "s**t! Jamie!" She called a bit louder so that she would hear. Who was that next to her? Suddenly an image of a child-napper luring Jamie away from home with ******** candy came to mind. Jamie was smarter than that, but in a lonely place so anything could happen. She ran this time. Ran to Jamie, calling out to her while Jamie turned around. Almost skidding across the ground Miranda knelt down beside Jamie and gripped her in a tight hug, picking her up as she stood. Miranda looked at the person next to her identifying the person as a girl. Jamie was already on it.

"This is my friend." She told her big sister while she sat comfortably, although a bit bulky in Miranda's arms. "She was helping me find you."

Miranda's heart was still racing, but seeing Jamie safe, she felt no need to be rude. "Thank you." She told the girl and put Jamie down simultaneously. She looked back down at Jamie. "Why are you outside?" She asked. Jamie looked down her cheeks suddenly red. She didn't want to tell Miranda what had happened.

"I just...." She mumbled. "Got scared. And I came out to look for you." She told her slowly, embarrassed, and hoping no one would find out she was not a 'big girl' at all tonight. Miranda groaned and pulled Jamie into another hug.

"I'm so sorry." She apologized. Jamie, crushed against Miranda's stomach looked off to the side to see Jack and another girl. She grinned big at him.

"Hi Jack!"

xxx"Oh, it's nothing. I just knew that you'd probably be worried about her all by herself so I was just trying to be a good sa..." She trailed off, noticing the two interact and feeling just a little out of place. She stood there, awkwardly staring at the two and her feet, when she heard the little girl--now properly identified as Jamie--shouting at someone. Alita turned her head in the direction Jamie was shouting at, noticing a young couple.

Jamie scrunched up her face in a cute way, and giggled a little before pulling away from Miranda and diving into Jack. She wrapped his arms into as big a hug as she could manage and looked up at him.

"Will you pick me up? My feet are cold." She told him, and then looked down at her flip flops.

"Gosh, Jam, why flip flops?" Miranda was nearly at her wits end with this evening. She then looked back over at the girl she found with Jamie.

"I'm sorry about this, but I'm really grateful that you stayed with her. Would you like to come back home with us? I probably won't be getting any sleep, but she needs to get to bed." Miranda asked her. Jamie peered over slightly, still clinging to Jack.

"Mommy's home, Mir." She told her, her voice significantly lowered. Miranda frowned, but shrugged it off. Their mom never really wandered around, and mostly kept to her trashed room in the far back of the apartment. With a sigh she smiled over at Alita, and then stepped back so that Hadley, Jack, and Jamie were within her sites as well.

"Still, we should all head inside. Being out late around here is the last place we want to be." She told them. Now looking at Alita she introduces herself. "My name is Miranda, it's nice to meet you..."

Kylie Emmers


Kylie didn't really remember the rest of the night after she took her dose of heroin. She didn't remember much anyway. She was lost in her mind, and the subsequent alternate realities that felt blissful, blurry, and much more real than a typical day sober. She must've left the basement at some point because the hard, itchy ground beneath her didn't resemble the old, but cushioned couch from the beginning of her night. She wasn't ready to open her eyes yet to determine her whereabouts, because she wanted to cling to the dream of H just a little longer. But reality was hitting, and hitting her hard. Slowly physical feeling started to connect to her consciousness, and her discomfort was growing with each moment. She was moving, her body felt like it was bumping up and down scraping across the itchy ground underneath her. Her legs were hurting now, her hips felt sore, and gravity was starting to feel 10x what it used to be, pushing her down, crushing her. She groaned and started to push back, forcing whatever was on top of her off as she rolled over.

"Stupid b***h." She heard a voice, felt something hot fall on her leg, but she couldn't retain what it was. She groaned again, trying to get to her feet, stumbling and finally opening her eyes only for a wave of nausea to hit as the room spun. A dark figure was moving in front of her, but Kylie could only slide down the wall behind her and curl up into a ball until the brunt of the sickness faded away.

It was a full 13 minutes before she uncurled her body, and opened her eyes again. She must've dozed off at some point. She looked around her to see that she was laying on a rotten, thin blanket in the corner of one of the rooms in the basement. She didn't understand what happened last night, but the misery of what was around her only made her wish she could get high like that again, and never come down. It was then that she noticed her jeans were missing... Her stomach turned over at what that could only mean, and as she looked around for them tears started to slip down her cheeks. She didn't want to be here anymore.

Without moving she finally located her jeans, about a yard away, crumpled and dirty, but otherwise fine. She slowly moved forward, inching along, trying keep her lower nakedness hidden even though the only other occupants in the room now were passed out for one reason or another. Once she had her jeans in hand, she awkwardly began to slip them on, still curling in on herself, silent tears staining her dirty cheeks. She didn't bother to look for her panties or stand up for another good 10 minutes, but when she did it was slow. She cautiously crept out of the room and made her way through the basement. When she looked at the couch again upon passing it, there were two of the girls she had met earlier in the night, passed out, laying together, but no one else was there. She left the basement... and she forced herself to ignore what she could remember in those blurry recollections of last night. She couldn't ignore the fact that her lower body was sore. It hurt with almost every step she took, but when she finally made it out of the house and into the crisp morning air, she felt a little better. With her hands in her hoodie pockets she started on home.

"Hey hey well lookie here." A male voice penetrated the darkness of Ecko's mind as he was pulled from his heavy stupor. He was sleeping pretty hard, but of course nothing good lasts. He groaned, recognizing the voice and without closing his eyes he replied:

"What do you want?" He knew it was Joel. Of course it was Joel. He'd recognize that weasely ******** voice from anywhere. Then a feminine voice, he couldn't match, but knew it was one of Damien's thuggish posse.

"That's not nice. Not even a good morning?" She said, almost sarcastically. Ecko wanted to strangle her. He opened his eyes and sat up, glaring at the two who had come into the now empty room.

"What do you guys-" He was interrupted.

"It's funny that we found you. We were just talking about you last night. Damien's not too pleased with you marking up his buildings." Ecko just rolled his eyes.

"I'd care, but with you two clowns representing him, I just can't." Ecko replied. He couldn't tense up for a fight however. His mind was too groggy and his body wasn't responding like it should. He felt slow, and he really just wanted to go back to sleep. His comment however seemed to piss them off, their candid behavior dissipating easily. It was too easy to get under their skins.

"Careful now... you're insecurities are showing." Ecko mocked. It was obvious they weren't going to do anything. They were just here to taunt and troll, but Ecko was far better at that.

xxxAlita thought for a moment. Her apartment was locked up, everything she owned was safe, and she reminded herself that she would, as well, be safe--even though "stranger danger" was still present as an adult. Still, Alita felt oddly safe around them and nodded. "Well, I have no where else to be. So, well, why not?" She smiled. "It's nice to meet you, too, Miranda. I'm Alita. Alita Beck."

Jamie giggled fiercely at Jack and squirmed a bit in his arms. He was just so funny! Miranda smirked and nodded in his direction when he said that he would walk them all back. It was a nice feeling to know that at least someone cared about her and Jamie's safety. He may not be related by blood, but it was uncanny how he seemed to be by the simple action of giving a care about them. She turned her smile to Alita.

"Nice to meet you Alita." She then motioned to Hadley who was standing near Jack. "That is Hadley, and this is Jack." She motioned towards the man holding her little sister. "And Jamie." She finished.

"Well let's go." She turned and headed down the street towards her apartment building. Jamie in the meantime began to hassle Jack to let her climb onto his shoulders, but she was a lot bigger than she used to be.

When they reached the apartment building, Miranda led them up the stairs to the fourth floor - because the elevator was broken.

"Sorry about that." Miranda began. "I don't think they'll ever get it fixed." She was talking about the elevator.

The two seemed miffed, but completely jaded as well from last nights party. Ecko cracked open an eye from where he sat. He swung his legs off the side of the bed, but they remained where they were by the window glaring at him.

"Just a message... Stop ******** with the wrong turf." Joel finally said. Kimi lit a cigarette and watched Ecko, but he didn't really have a response. ANything more he had to say would only keep them around longer, and he really wanted to be alone.

"Fine, just go away." He waved them off like an annoying fly, and stood up looking around for his clothes. He wasn't exactly shy, and Kimi sure didn't mind. Joel shoved her hard with one arm, glaring at her.

"Damn girl, be a bit more discrete." He bit. She responded with an exasperated sigh and a resentful glare, but dropped her eyes down to the ground in submission. With an irritated groan Joel headed out of the room, taking the cigarette from Kimi as he passed her. She followed him, and Ecko finally breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled on his boxers and jeans. He'd had enough of them as soon as he heard their retarded voices. He had to hunt around for his shirt and hoodie, but all was well when he found them half way under the foot of the bed. Checking his pockets, and smoothing his clothes Ecko headed out of the room and finally out of the house. The afternoon was a lot warmer and drier than yesterday, but seemingly cleaner from the rain.