Lily229

He walked back out with two bottles of water. "I thought open drinks might make you nervous." He tossed it to her and she caught it like it was as fragile as a baby. Without a moments hesitation, she ripped off the lid on the bottled and chugged the water. She pulled the bottle from her lips and panting for air, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She stopped and looked at Horus's stunned expression, she must have looked like a wild animal.

She burped loudly and immediately slammed her hand over her mouth. "Excuse me!"

He shook his head and sat down on the couch. "Yes, well." He tossed her his water. This time she took it slowly and drank with some dignity. "You know the Real World can be difficult. Tom created the cities here, away from such things like jobs and Government yada yada." He rotated his hand around in a circle to empathize. "Here, we don't have money. Everyone uses the same currency known as the 'Point System.' It's basically the same thing if you ask me, if you don't have any points, you are out on the streets."

"How do you get points?" Lily asked, squatting down, her legs were aching. She could feel the softness of the carpet through the soles of her shoes, it felt so nice.

He patted the seat next to him and she obeyed. "By, yes you guessed it, a job!" Horus rolled his eyes. "Tom claims that it's not like the Real World, but technically isn't he the Government, and the point system is basically just like money?"

Lily nodded in agreement. "Sounds to me like it is." She gently touched her knee. "Hell, and I thought real life cops were rough. These guys have fucking lasers!"

Horus shook his head. "Not lasers Lily, those lights you see are basically like their souls. When a person becomes a Mod or Admin or whatever, they are basically selling themselves to the Devil."

"For power?"

"No," Horus was starring hard at the floor, as if thinking hard enough would burn a hole in it. "To protect those around them. I take it you've had encounters with Mods before. Don't let those ones fool you, those who abuse their powers are jerks. Mods were created to protect us, the members. But there are some, like most humans, who use that power for their own selfish needs."

Lily thought of Mika just then. Her final thoughts of Lily must not have been nice ones and that made her sad. Mika was truly nice, she was a good Mod. "What did you mean then by 'They basically sell their souls to the Devil'?"

"When a member becomes a Mod, their soul becomes their power, it's basically altered. They don't tell us members this, but I've got some connections. The power comes from within them, they say it's the symbols but it's really the Mods themselves. The symbols are just there to pull the power from them. That's how they can get tired or hurt. The staff is a channel created to guide the energy to the target. They aren't human anymore, basically like super humans."

Lily's lips parted slightly in amazement. "Does it hurt them?"

"To use the power? No, not to my knowledge anyway. It would just make me feel cheap is all. Like selling my body I guess." He shrugged his shoulders yet again. "Anyways, you probably want to clean up. The bathrooms down the hall, and I'll see what I have for you to wear."

Lily flashed him a bright smile and gave him a tight hug. "Thanks, Horus. I hope we can stay friends for a long time."

He nodded and smiled. "Expect a nice hot meal when you get out as well. Hmm?" Horus stood as he heard that doorbell ring. "That's probably P. Nuckle, that shit for brains."

"P. Nuckle?" Lily looked at him confused as Horus went to open the door. A small boy was standing there. Right away he gave Lily the impression of Dennis the Menace. Bright blonde hair, a few freckles Add in red suspenders and you'd have a copy of Dennis. He had a sweet smile on but there was wickedness in eyes.

Horus shooed Lily away with the flick of his hand. "Hurry and go get cleaned up. Help yourself to anything you need."

Lily nodded. "Thank you, I truly don't deserve your kindness." Lily walked down the hall and into the bathroom, making sure to lock it. "Can't be too careful."

As Lily began to undress, she spotted herself in the mirror and almost screamed. It was worse then what she could have imagined. She had bruises and scraps covering most of her body. A few of the Mod's attacks at NC must to have made contact, for her back was slightly scorched. She gently peeled off her shirt and the smell of burned skin and hair made her nose hairs stand on edges. She gave a few dry heaves, how could anyone have shown her such kindness looking as she had. She couldn't tell what was caked on dirt and what was her skin. Even her eyes showed pain. Lily turned on the water scorching hot. She took a deep breath and clenched her teeth as she dove right in. She gripped onto the wall of the shower and held back a scream of pain as the steaming hot water burned her wounded body.

Lily looked down at her feet where the water gathering in the drain was turning brown with mud. She took deep breaths, sucking in every piece of steam in there, trying to clean out her body on both the inside and the outside. She let the heat beat down on her head, it stung slightly from where the man had pulled her down, but she didn't care. The ecstasy that came with the hot shower was enough to drown out the pain. "Ah shampoo, how are you old friend?" She smiled down at the Herbal Essence shampoo that smelled of roses and cleanliness.

She was in there for what seemed like ages, she didn't want to leave. She stayed in there until the water ran cold and her fingers numb from the water. She turned off the shower but stood there, letting the steam sink deep into her skin, healing her wounds. Lily rubbed her finger tips together, they were prune but they made her feel alive.

She stepped out and began to dry her body off when Horus knocked at the bathroom door. "Dinners ready if you are. Your clothes are here outside of the door."

Lily had forgotten where she was. She now felt guilty for using up all his hot water on herself. She wrapped a huge pink, fluffy towel around herself and opened the door. "I'm sorry." He looked at her as if she was a whole new person. "I used up all the hot water." She bent down and picked up the clothes and nodded. "Thank you." She closed the door to get dressed.

His lips were partly slit at the site of her. Without all the dirt clinging to her, her natural pale skin was able to shine through. She reminded her of a pearl how her skin glowed in the light. Horus shook his head as P. Nuckle came up behind him. "Hey Horus, who's that lady anyway?"

"Her name’s Lily. And.." Horus grabbed P. Nuckle in a head-lock. "Didn't I tell you an hour ago to go home?!"

"Ow Horus!" P. Nuckle cried. "You big mean jerk!"

Inside the bathroom, Lily held up a package of unopened boxes. "Wow, he really knows how to make a girl feel comfortable." She happily dressed in the blue shirt and white shorts he had provided. She graciously used the hair brush he provided for her to comb her hair. It was mangled from not being brushed the past few days but after a while she got it. She looked back and picked up everything that was hers and stuffed them into the trash can, cleaning as she went. They were no use to her now, nothing but old dirt rags, she planned on going home tomorrow morning anyway. With a big smile on her face, Lily walked out of the bathroom to find Horus setting down her plate of hamburgers and french fries.

"Sorry I'm not a gourmet, but it's food right?"

Lily’s mouth watered, she was sure Horus could see it. Remain calm Lily ol' girl. Show that you have some dignity left. "Yes, thank you Horus. How can...?"

He interrupted her by pushing her into a chair in front of the food. "You can start by eating that and saying what a great cook I am." He smiled widely down at her.

Lily returned the smile as she began to gorge on the seemly never ending supply of hamburgers and fries. She didn't even worry about ketchup, she just was so grateful to have something in her empty belly. She licked the juices off her fingers. "That had to be the best meal I've had all my life!"

"Damn straight." Horus chuckled as he picked up his plate. Lily looked out the window, the sun had risen it was already light out. Between the shower and the food, time had seemed to stand still for her. Lily gave a huge yawn. "Tired? I've already prepared my bed for you. I'll sleep on the couch so you can have a lock."

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