DOOMED FROM THE START -- annika

[merrick lavie bradford]

Merrick stepped through the mall doors taking off her hat to shake off the snow as she tapped it against her leg and used her hand to dust the top of it off. I pick the one fucking day there's a blizzard to come to the mall? What's wrong with me? She of course had been overreacting though and it was barely snowing outside, but still the flakes were thick and heavy so within no time the ground was at least covered. Merrick looked around letting the people around register in her mind before she glanced down at her outfit and had to laugh. She was definitely not dressed for a day of shopping, but since it'd never bothered her before she could care less about the people staring.

Usually to go out she'd wear normal clothing but today she'd been suckered into a show for some of her fathers business associates. She usually didn't mind performing for her fathers friends, but these guys were grunged up older men smoking cigars and throwing out raunchy remarks about "what they'd do to her if alone". It wouldn't be too bad usually had the men been decent enough, but these ones were bottom feeders that she just could not handle. She thought the best thing to do after something like that was to distract herself, and that is when she remembered that she had wanted to pick something up at one of the shops in the mall. It had been a cheap little magic kit that she'd found for beginners that she thought could keep Amanda entertained since she seemed so interested.

As she turned to head in another direction through the mall she caught sight of the pretzel shop and walked over as she ordered a cinnamon twist and paid the man behind the counter as he handed it across to her. She waved the change off and pointed to his tip jar as she walked away pulling apart a piece of the large soft pretzel and slipping it into her mouth. She stopped as she reached the front of the shop she was supposed to go into, but in big block letters on the door it read "No Food Or Drinks Permitted", "you have got to be shitting me," she looked at the pretzel she still had over half of left and groaned, there wasn't a chance she was going to just waste it. She looked around and that is when a brunette caught her eye as she stepped closer to the direction she'd been walking. She looked like she was on a mission and had somewhere to be, but that didn't stop Merrick from stepping right infront of her, "well hello there, spare a second?" she had hoped she could get a favor out of her but now that she'd gotten a better look she was pretty sure it wouldn't happen. "I can make it worth your while, you'd make a quick buck and be helping me out."

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[renea]

♥Annika Rose♥

The wall, the perfect place to see friends and also have a church afternoon. They were going to buy some stuff for each other, so they had taken some names and each person was to buy for three people. Each person had put their names in three times and they were a secret. Many went in groups and it had to be for five dollars only. This was going to be beyond fun! However, they had to come with it was snowing and the roads were a bit slick with wet snow. Luckily, the driver had chains on his tires and that had helped a whole lot.

Finally we were here and as we walked I could hear one of the girls in our group wanting a deck of magic cards. I grumbled slightly, knowing that they were not real, but because he wanted them and it was one of her three, she would get them for him. She started heading towards there when she saw someone step in front of her and it was someone she had not expected to see and dressed like she was going to give a show for everyone. ”Merrick.”

[/color] Everyone was just as surprised as she was and honestly, Annika could have pushed her aside, but she was with a church group, she had to put on a good face.

”Well Hello There, spare a second?” She nodded quickly, looking at her with a big of Malice and hatred in her eyes, but she smiled at her and just waited. ”I can make it worth your while, you’d make a quick buck and be helping me out.” Annika took in a breath for a moment and let it out slowly, nodding her head slightly. ”No need, I am sure I can help.”[/color] She said quickly, waiting for her to say something else.[/size][/blockquote]

WORD COUNT three. zero. eight.
TAGGED Merrick Lavie Bradford
COMMENTS Had to dig deep for the muse.
STATUS Done
SONGS LISTENED TO Down – Miranda Lambert, December Mourning – Manic Drive, My Immortal – Evanescence, Life On Earth - Band of Horses, Clothes - BarlowGirl
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[merrick lavie bradford]

Merrick should have avoided the group of girls and let them pass, but she just couldn't help herself as she slid infront of the familiar brunette. It wasn't until she was right infront of her that she had known exactly who it had been, but it's not like she cared as she smirked pulling apart another piece of her pretzel letting her eyes dart across the group of friends. Her attention did not settle on one for too long though until it went the entire group and fell back on the brunette she addressed.

She picked the piece of pretzel she'd ripped off and placed it in her mouth taking a few bites before swallowing as she kept her gaze matched with Annika's. She could see the daggers shooting from her eyes but there was nothing she could do about it now. She'd stopped them so the least she could do was get them to do her shopping for her. Her smirk turned to a grin when she saw that Annika had at least been willing to spare a second, and at that she looked back towards the shop. She peaked in at the woman behind the counter and groaned. She remembered getting into a fight with the woman the past week when she'd bought some little figurine, and after that each time she'd went in there she would get watched like a hawk and the worst customer service at the register.

"Alright, so here's the deal," she glanced at the group who all seemed to be paying attention to her now, but she wasn't sure if they were genuinely interested in helping her out or if they were just hoping she'd disappear soon so they could go on with their day. "There's this magic set in there, just this little toy thing that's for little kids, but I want it and can't go in there because-" she waved the pretzel as she pulled off another piece and took a small bite looking back in the direction of the store. "All I need is for that cute little toosh of yours to walk into that shop and grab it for me, simple right? I can give you the money and we'd be done with it, and you can even keep the change for the trouble of having to take the fifty or so steps out of your way. Is it agreed?" She tugged at her wallet in her back pocket as she pulled it out and opened it ready to deliver the money.

[/blockquote][/justify]

[renea]

♥Annika Rose♥

This day could not have gotten any worse! She thought to herself as she looked at the “Magic” girl. She had to keep a good face on so she did not look bad in front of her church group. She normally did not have to act, but… Annika did not like this girl at all. She was someone who practice magic and she hated magic. It was useless. Sure, the fairytale stuff was fine, but this girl did it or a like. She did not know that Merrick was planning on getting something or her sister, but then again, she would probably find out later on today, when she went to see her little sister in the hospital.

She watched as the girl picked at the pretzel slightly, taking a bite as she did. Annika had always liked pretzel, but something told her it would be a long while before she ate another one. She growled to herself, mumbling in her head as she thought about how stupid she was. She should have just stopped. She looked at the boy who wanted the deck of magic cards and let out a sigh. Annika did not understand such things. It was all stupid to her.

“Alright, so here's the deal," Annika looked at her for a moment, waiting and listening to the others, who were smiling and not say anything. ”There's this magic set in there, just this little toy thing that's for little kids, but I want it and can't go in there because-" She watched as she waved the Pretzel and then noticed the sign in the window. She frowned slightly and pushed her own bottle of Dr. Pepper deeper into her own purse. ”All I need is for that cute little toosh of yours to walk into that shop and grab it for me, simple right? I can give you the money and we'd be done with it, and you can even keep the change for the trouble of having to take the fifty or so steps out of your way. Is it agreed?" Annika let out a sigh and smiled, before looking at the boy who wanted the deck of cards go over into another store with a friend.

”Well… it is your lucky day… I have to go in there anyway and get a deck of cards for a friend.”

[/color] She took the money and then walked past her with a few other girls, only a few other stayed back to talk to Merrick. ”So you do magic?” One of the girls asked and it was the last time Anni heard them. She went and grabbed the cards before grabbing the magic kit and paying for it with the money Merrick had given her. She pulled dollar from her own purse to replace for what she bought for the boy, put the deck of cards in her bag and put the extra money in the bag with the Magic Kit.

As she walked out, she frowned slightly and then put on a good face, giving the bag to Merrick. ”Here you go… Money in the bag.”[/color] She said, looking at her for a moment and then looked at some other stuff and stores from where she was. She let out a sigh and then looked at Merrick. ”Anything else I can do for you Merrick?”[/color]
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WORD COUNT five. five. nine.
TAGGED Merrick Lavie Bradford
COMMENTS Took me a few minutes, but there you go!
STATUS Done
SONGS LISTENED TO Nothing! -_-
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[merrick lavie bradford]

Merrick knew that this encounter would have went an entirely different direction had she not had friends around, and she could tell that since Annika seemed to steal glances around for reactions an awful lot. Mere could have found someone else in the mall to tormet with this favor, but as she watched Annika stir in her spot she knew she'd picked the right person to aggravate. She honestly didn't even know why she had such a big deal with her, it's not like she had done anything to her before, but then again her bitchy attitude probably did not help when the two had first met. Mere just couldn't help herself though, she was a bitch by nature without even thinking, and it's not like she would just change overnight to be accepted easier into society.

"When isn't it my lucky day?" She smirked thankful that the chick was at least doing her this favor, and as she watched the small group pass she turned her attention back to the ones that'd stuck behind laughing as she'd heard the question. "Don't you?" She asked them curiously eying each of them with a curious blue gaze. "Magic is like-" she figured the best thing to do while the chick was in the store was to carry on a conversation with these random people, "it's like something I can't even describe. It's about the unknown and doing things that just don't make sense, and it's just straight up stellar." She could go into great detail what she thought of magic, but she did not have that much time and surely these couple couldn't have that much patience so she picked and choosed her words carefully.

She could hear something off to the side so she glanced over to see the brunette coming back carrying a bag. She grinned as she reached out and took the bag when it'd been handed to her, and she immediately opened it to make sure she'd gotten the right thing. She saw the money and laughed as she looked up for a second, "too proud to take someones money for a job well done?" She shrugged, she thought that offering to pay her was something nice she'd done but obviously the other woman just didn't want that. "Thank you, I appreciate it," Merrick, although usually never sincere, was actually being honest this time around just because she thought of who it would go to. "You have made someone very happy, i'm liking this new turn of attitude, I can actually stand you." She smiled as she nodded at the other people around her who probably had no idea what she was talking about.

When she asked if there was anything else she could do Merrick looked off in the distance trying to think of something she could have her do. "Is that your way of trying to get rid of me? Here I thought we were the best of friends today," she sighed dramatically as she looked at the group before bringing her attention back to the only one she'd known. "So what's a group like you guys doing out here today?" She knew conversation could not last long, but she also wanted to see if she could get Annika to snap by sticking around past her welcome.

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[renea]

♥Annika Rose♥

Annika wished that she could just yell! How could she see this girl in such a huge mall! It was like the girl was stalking her and it was rather annoying, but she had to put on a good face for the people in her church group. If she didn’t, she would be in big trouble. It was not that she did not want to accept Merrick, but she did something Anni-Rose was against and her sister now wanted to do it. Annika could not allow that! It was magic and it was not right. Annika did not want her sister doing it and it was becoming a headache. ”When isn’t it my lucky day?” Annika gritted her teeth, though they were hidden by her lips and she walked past the girl and into the store. As she stood, looking at things, she heard Merrick talking non-sense.

"Don't you?" Along with her group wondering. It made her sick and she even said it once to one of her friends in the store. One knew of Merrick, but she was a bit different then Annika, she was always trying to get her to understand things. (WANTED AD IDEA, if okay with you) ”Annika, she is just a girl… All Magic is, is a Illusion, she is tricking your eyes and it makes people smile.” Annika looked at her with a cold glare. "Magic is like-" Annika looked at Merrick as she continued to talk. "it's like something I can't even describe. It's about the unknown and doing things that just don't make sense, and it's just straight up stellar." Annika gritted her teeth some more as she saw the group nod and smile. They were truly interest and it annoyed Annika to hell and back.

As she came back, she caught Merrick’s attention and handed her the bag. She looked into the bag and Annika heard her laughing slightly. "too proud to take someones money for a job well done?" Anni-Rose was about to say something, but her friends, Alex-Beth put her hand on her shoulder. ”No, it is not right to help someone and take their money. Is it Anni-Rose?” Annika shook her head. ”She is right, I was helping, not doing a job.”

[/color] She said, in a sweet voice, but if you listened, you could hear the slight annoyance. ”Thank you, I appreciate it.” Annika was about to say it was mere annoyance that she said it, but she heard sincerity, so she did not say anything sarcastic. ”You have made someone very happy, I'm liking this new turn of attitude, I can actually stand you." Annika looked at her, narrowed her eyes slightly. ”We all have our perks… You just see me in a difficult time in the hospital… Mostly tired and upset that I can’t take Amanda home.”[/color] She said, trying to keep things from her church group. Alex-Beth knew what was going on and she just touched her shoulder, trying to keep her calm.

Annika hoped that she had other things to do and hope she would leave. "Is that your way of trying to get rid of me? Here I thought we were the best of friends today," Annika took in a breath and smiled, shaking her head. ”Of course not.”[/color] She said, looking at her and then looking at the others quickly. A few were holding their own conversation and soon two others rejoined them from the other group. ”So what’s a group like you guys doing out here today?” Annika looked at her slightly, wishing she would just leave. ”We are doing a church thing… We have to buy three things for people and it has to be kept a secret of who we are buying for.”[/color] She said to her, looking into her eyes carefully and hope that after this she would just leave. ”Your more then welcome to join us.” Annika looked at Alex-Beth for a moment and held her gaze for a moment, but she just smiled. ”Yea, if you would like.”[/color]
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WORD COUNT six. seven. two.
TAGGED Merrick Lavie Bradford
COMMENTS This reply was cool and I have another wanted Ad idea for Annika. If you want to talk about it.
STATUS Done
SONGS LISTENED TO What about Georgia? – Miranda Lambert, Far Away – Nickelback, Like Suicide – Seether, Sorrow – Flyleaf, Giddy on Up – Laura Bell Bundy, Forget about You – Dierks Bentley, Born Country – Alabama, Dream On – Aerosmith
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[merrick lavie bradford]

As Merrick talked about magic with the smaller group she could see a hint of interest in their eyes, and she couldn't help but grin knowing she'd at least gotten through to them on some level. She knew that Annika had hated the art though, something that she just could not understand, so it was nice to be able to get some sort of positive reaction out of those that Annika had been friends with. She had no idea that this had been a church group, if she had she might have backed off a little and asked someone else for the favor, but now that Annika was in the store she very well couldn't just up and leave. She reached and fished out a card in her wallet sneaking a glance to make sure Annika wasn't watching, and when she could see the back of her head she reached out and handed it to one in the group. "If you guys ever want to see a real show give me a call," of course she had business cards, who the hell left home without them?

She tucked the few others that were coming out back into her wallet as she saw Annika and the others come back and she just smirked glancing at the other person to see what exactly they'd do with that card that was given to them. After the bag exchange she knew she could have just walked away and be done with it, but the entire idea of Annika being nice to her had been fairly eery, so she needed to poke and prod until she maybe could strike a rage that'd set things right in this reality. "You could have just thought of it as charity, gotten started on a new wardrobe or something," Merrick had an odd sense of fashion so Annika probably wouldn't take that as an insult, but it was at least worth a shot. "Well thank you, you've done your good deed for the day, now you can go home feeling accomplished, you've made the word a better place Miss Annika." She picked her hand up motioning around her signifying the world, or in the least this small fraction of it that they all dwelled in.

Hearing her explain their usual run in's brought in her little sister into the equation, the one the set in her bag had been for, but she knew bringing that up would be too much for right now. "If you brought her home I wouldn't have the best assistant that hospital could offer," Merrick wished that the little girl could go home as well, anything to keep her from treatments and not getting to experience that of a normal girl her age, but she had to try to keep a positive spin on things. She knew it'd be hard though, "plus i'm pretty sure she gets like six extra desserts a night so who'd want to give up that luxury?" She laughed, her eyes darting to the person beside Annika who she knew to be calming her down, and she just forced a smile though that sly smirk peaked through. If that girl had not been so close to Annika she probably could have gotten her flip by now, but that constant assurance seemed to be keeping her down and level-headed.

Laughing once more, this one rather loud and forced out from the bottom of her stomach it seemed, she grinned as she looked at Annika who was still keeping herself together. This was going to be a harder egg for Merrick to crack, that's for sure, and if things kept up like this she'd just get bored and leave them alone. She had a feeling next time she caught her alone though there'd be hell to pay, but she was sure she could handle anything thrown at her from this woman. Hearing the word church come from the others mouth caused Merrick's eyebrow to shoot up having been caught off guard. "Church? People are still going to that?" It had been her form of a joke even though of course nobody here would probably get the humor in it, and honestly she'd had no problem with religion. She'd even found herself a faith back when she was a child that she'd stuck with growing up, but she could not actively worship it just because sitting still was never an option so services were far too long for her standard. Hearing the invitation Merrick took a step back looking at the entire group, "me and you guys?" She knew that it'd be a good way to sort of get a feel for Annika so she could have more ammo next encounter, but at the same time she knew she'd end up offending (not that it had been that big of a deal). "Eh, I don't know, not sure if i'd fit in with this little-" she motioned to the group before her, her mind racing to find a word she could use, "clique?"


NOTES. Oh yay another want ad idea? If you want you can PM it to me and i'll check it out, but i'd say whatever you want to do is fine since you did make her

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[renea]

♥Annika Rose♥

Annika did not understand it, though, she did not notice Merrick giving her friends the card to allow them to get a show. If she had known, she would have taken them and torn them apart, but they had stuck them in their bags and kept them out of sight from Annika. They knew her few on things, it was basically a lie bring played before you, no matter what. Alex-Beth tried to keep her calm when it came to these subject, but she did not think it worked very well. She would watch as Annika struggled to hold her tongue and to look at the good side of things, but it was no matter. Annika had a fire burning in her that would take a lot to cool down, in fact, it would take more then a lot and Alex-Beth knew this… Anni knew this!

As Annika came back, she saw her stuffing something away, but she ignored it, for once in her life, he ignored whatever it was that this woman was doing. Annika did not care if it was only illusions… It was someone lying to perform something and Anni didn’t like lies. She tried to think of something else, but it did not work and probably would never work. ”You could have just thought of it as charity, gotten started on a new wardrobe or something," Annika nodded to her quickly and just glanced around at the others for a short moment and then looked at everyone else. ”Well thank you, you've done your good deed for the day, now you can go home feeling accomplished, you've made the word a better place Miss Annika." She rolled her eyes at the girl and crossed her arms slightly. Alex rubber her shoulders quickly and looked at her. Alex was older by maybe a year, but she looked after Anni like a sister, so she was not completely surprised by the gesture of trying to calm her down.

”If you brought her home I wouldn't have the best assistant that hospital could offer," Annika looked at her for a moment. She gave a nod, but she knew how mad it made her, knowing her sister was learning how to lie to people. Every night Annika told her never to lie and told her that if she did what Merrick did, it would really upset her. She loved my sister, but she was not going to have her lie to people. ”Plus I'm pretty sure she gets like six extra desserts a night so who'd want to give up that luxury?" Luxury? This woman thought it was a good thing to be in a Hospital? Annika was about to say something. ”Oh, I’m sure Amanda loves it… I bet there are a few nurses who bring in a few secret candy bars for her.” She looked at Alex and gave her a look, but she only smiled as Annika. She knew she had to loosen up and she could not be angry at someone for something like using magic, but it seemed that Annika was not really getting the full message.

”Church? People are still going to that?" No one laughed… Except one… Alex-Beth gave a smile and laughed lightly. ”Yea, a miracle right?” She smiled and looked at the others before glancing around. Anni noticed her looking at a small store to the left next to the magic store that had some cheap, but nice stuff in it. Soon though, she turned her attention back to Merrick and ask if she wanted to come along with us. ”Me and you guys?" She nodded and Anni looked at her as if she was looking at a demon. ”Eh, I don't know, not sure if i'd fit in with this little-" Everyone waited, but Alex was the only one with a true smile on her face. ”clique?" Alex made a small chuckle. ”Ah, I am sure you would… No one is perfect and we are all different… I won’t really call it a Clique.” She looked at her for a moment and then looked back at Merrick. ”Yea… I am sure no one will mind.”

[/color]
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WORD COUNT six. nine. five.
TAGGED Merrick Lavie Bradford
COMMENTS none
STATUS Done
SONGS LISTENED TONone... -_-

[/blockquote]

[merrick lavie bradford]

Merrick looked across the group taking in each of their features trying to imprint of memory of them in her mind. She'd use this memory when she was laying around remembering all that she'd accomplished throughout the day, and running into this group was definitely something that she would want to remember, or at least Annika considering that woman had been her main target of them all. The others were simply background, the supporting roles to Annika's main character, and since Merrick saw life as one big show she'd have to chalk this up to a solid episode.

Merrick laughed as she heard at least one from the group acknowledge her joke, and she just picked her hand up pointing a finger in the direction of the other woman, "well at least one of you guys got the joke, I don't think I know your name though," she tilted her head to the side some taking in this new person worth remembering. She at least could sense the humor and sarcasm, but watching her as she soothed Annika was not too flattering. She realized that this girl was the peace keeper in the group, or at least when it came to Anni, so in the end that could get aggravating but at least she knew when to just laugh and go along with things.

Hearing the invitation sent Merrick through a loop as she hadn't expected it, and as she contemplated she could see what it was doing to Annika already. Her look spoke volumes and it had Merrick cracking up, a grin evident on her face as she knew she was getting to her. She could have just put her out of her misery, but as she spoke up and said no one would mind Merrick's grin slipped into a smirk as she brushed a hand through the loose hair hanging over her shoulder. "No one would mind you say?" She looked from her to the other woman trying to think of another word she could call this group, but instead she just let it slide and move on.

"Lady Gaga would disagree with that, doesn't she sing about how we're all perfect just the way god made us?" She tried to remember the song but honestly couldn't remember all that much since she wasn't that big of a fan of that singer. She thought she brought trashy to a whole new level, and even though Mere was all about flash and gimmicks that Gaga chick was just too much even for someone as messed up as her. She wasn't going to lie though, the chick did have some nice tunes under her belt, but for the most part Merrick wouldn't turn a cheek if she were even in the same room. "I think I could spare a little while, maybe some of this normal will rub off on me," she smirked as she motioned to the entire group. "So, where's our first stop?"

NOTES sorry didn't reply all weekend! weekends are insane for me!

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