An Inconsequential Arrival

[Amira Lum]

It was a surprise when the vampire released her, but there was no relief. Free of the beast's grasp or no, she wasn't safe; if she tried anything now, Amira suspected that she wouldn't live to tell about it.

She wondered why the vampire didn't just kill her now. It would be easy enough. As much as it seemed like the predator was playing games with her prey, that could only go so far. If Amira were in the vampire's place, she would have made the fatal move long before now.

She was certainly glad, then, that she and the vampire thought differently. Despite the nagging desire to just end this, and let the inevitable happen, there was still the hope, no matter how small, that she might survive. Somehow.

She wondered whether the people outside would come in. If they did, would the vampire kill them? If she did, would she leave Amira alone? For one horrific moment, she wished for that to happen, for the vampire's appetite to be satiated by someone else's blood, leaving Amira alive.

The thought only lasted a moment before, disgusted with herself, she shook her head, chasing away any such notions. She didn't really want to survive at the expense of another's life...did she?

"Lead."

She closed her eyes, and again, she considered bolting...but that would only lead to pain...

Biting down hard on her bottom lip, she strode off, heading for the dark, empty room she had spoken of. Her sword hand, however, bandaged as it was, began to creep slowly towards her hilt.

[Valz Malar]

Valz registered that the dark haired woman before was speaking to him but he was slightly distracted by the dog trying to open the door knob with its teeth. Her next words cut through his momentary fog,

“I believe that was a vampire”

Growing up Valz had heard of vampires in the same breath as his mother telling him not to stay out past dark. As he grew older he chalked up rumors to gossipy farm wives. But he had seen enough oddities in the last ten years, and last ten minutes, to believe anything.

Seeing her boosting herself into the window frame he offered his knee as a stepping point to help.

Looking up at her from down on one knee, and hearing more movement from inside, Valz asked, “Do you have a plan or are we just going to go in there blind? Either way is fine by me.”

[Ryalyn Kylana]

Rya hesitated, cocking her head and looking at him puzzled. She looked him the eyes momentarily before looking quickly away inside the house.

"I don't know... I really hadn't thought about it."

"Hmpf" Ayden sneezed at her. "That's quite the understatement.... "

Glaring at Ayden momentarily, she looked back at the man and continued, "I just didn't think it prudent to take my time. But if you have some sort of plan then by all means... "

Stepping lightly on the man's knee she was through the window in a blink of an eye, Ayden leaping in after her.

Inside, her eyes adjusted quickly, her feet easily avoiding the shards of glass on the floor to avoid making noise. She didn't want to alert those inside to her presence just yet. Ayden quickly shifted to a black panther, blending easily with the shadows within the house.

This blood is fresh ... he commented, indicating a trail of drops leading off down one of the halls. Smells tainted. I daresay it might be from that dreadful creature. It must have injured itself when it broke that window.

That's odd, she remarked, squatting down to look. I thought vampires were supposed to be able to heal themselves.

It could be weak.... Or we could have been wrong. Are you so sure now that you want to help? He gazed at her steadily with his glowing emerald eyes. Her eyes flared in response as she raised her head and looked down the hall, a thoughtful expression on her face.

[Jenica Sabiny]

Posturing. That's all the she was doing. Buying time, threatening, maintaining her reputation to keep the human scared and docile. If the human attacked...the vampire narrowed her eyes as this thought cascaded into her, through her, reminded her of something called mortality...if the human attacked, here and now, with enemies at her back...the vampire wasn't sure she would win the fight.

Naturally, she was stronger, but that strength relied upon a basic supply of life's blood, which Jenica's body had in very short supply. Half of it was diverted toward her stomach, still healing the days old wound which gaped there - the other half was dedicated to her torn and ragged hand, covered in gashes and flaps of skin. And bloody, dripping bloody. Dripping what she needed, what she had in short supply, across the ground as she walked.

The wine.

Jenica tilted the bottle against her lips, allowing the liquid to run straight through her throat without bothering to swallow. The bottle didn't have much left - it had fallen on its side in the kitchen, and only about 1/4 of the wine has remained inside the bottle itself. Moments, only moments, and the closest thing she'd had to pleasure in years was gone, coating her throat, esophagus and tattered stomach, easing the pain by the smallest amount.

Still, it was a relief.

She dropped the bottle to her side, shifting the grip from drink to club, twisting the body of the bottle forward and bracing herself. That draught, although good, had left her woozy with bloodlust. Her body demanded that she supply it with what it desired, what it craved more than anything - and she could not supply. Her thoughts wavered, and she came mere inches from wholly insane now. She could see this human's death; she could see the outsider's deaths, too; she could feel their blood washing over her, showering down like rain, what a delight, and there, a vein, plump and bulging and shifting with each heartbeat, mere steps away, and now she grasped it and ripped a piece from the flesh and felt the blood wash over her, spurt into her eyes and ears and mouth, cloak her with its life-giving force...

The vampire stumbled, slammed her hand against the wall for balance, stood trembling and dizzy as the daydream fell away piece by precious piece. She blinked and blinked again to clear the vision. She was weaker than ever before, and now she knew beyond all doubt that she couldn't possibly survive this day. This human, she was too close, the walls were too close, the ground and the ceiling, this human dwelling where all the spaces were squished, compacted, right in front and behind and all around...

Jenica was panting, which was a foreign sensation on its own. She leaned against the wall, clutching the bottle at her side and staring ahead blankly. She realized, with no small amount of fear, that she was starting to lose consciousness again. She knew without doubt that fainting now would be fatal; that this cramped hallway would be the last vision she ever took in with her eyes, and then there would be nothing, nothing at all except the silence slice of metal in skin...

She shook her head, which made it worse before it made it better. She shoved off from the wall, staggered after the human, dragging her hand across the wall as she moved. Her damaged, torn hand, which left a streak of blood and flesh in its wake along the wall.

She could not make out the human's form clearly; she wasn't lucid enough to make out details. It was an inhuman blob of flesh and cloth in front.

"Where's that damned room?"

She spat the words, harsh and guttural and demanding and desperate. She wasn't even sure if the human still stood before her.

[Amira Lum]

Amira walked in silence, her fingers slowly curling around the hilt of her sword. She heard the rustling of movement beyond simply walking behind her, and half-expected the vampire to pounce. A scraping against the wall, and Amira winced. If she made it through this, she'd be left with a complete wreck of a house.

That, of course, was a very big if.

She shuddered as she drew near the room in question, looking through the wide-open door into the dark, empty space. Now, with the door open, the room was filled with shadows in varying shades of gray, already dark enough to make her nervous, but she knew that when the door shut it would be pitch black.

The question caught her by surprise, as did its desperate tone.

"Right here," she whispered in response, stopping just outside the door. She placed her good hand against the doorframe, as if bracing herself, and looked over her shoulder at the vampire.

She was a mess, Amira reflected, her eyes flicking to the female's bloody hand -- and the trail of crimson on the wall. Just what the decor needed: a touch of gore.

Not that it mattered. She was about to walk into a small, dark room with a vampire, of all things, a death sentence for sure. With a grimace, her hand tightening around the hilt of her weapon, she watched the beast behind her, waiting for a signal, a command, a shove, an attack -- something. Until then, she remained immobile, just watching.

[Valz Malar]

Crouching with his knee outstretched, Valz took the raven-haired woman’s weight on his leg easily as she boosted herself into the window. The dog gave him a questioning look as it vaulted through the window as well. Standing Valz automatically scanned the area around him making sure they weren’t being watched. Assured that he was now alone in the backyard Valz ducked his head in the window. What used to a kitchen greeted his eyes. Now it looked more like a three year old Oliphant got loose in a small room and started chasing its tail. Glass was strewn across the floor, blood splattered on every surface, and a table and chair were knocked askew.

Valz immediately noticed the stillness and quiet of the room, that and the woman half-crouched silently amongst the glass shards; where the dog should have landed a large cat like creature he had never seen before blended with the shadows. Like one of the mountain lions he had hunted, except bigger, and all black. He wouldn’t have even noticed it had it not been blacker than the shadows around it. Realizing that surprise would be their best ally at this moment he decided not to climb through the window after them, knowing that he would be neither graceful, nor silent about it. Ducking his head close to the woman’s, through the window, Valz spoke in the lowest tone possible (knowing that the hard “s” sound when whispering travels further than hushed voices).

“If I come in there, we’ll just get in each others way. I’m going to try to circle around and find another way in. If nothing else at least we will have it surrounded.”

One last lingering look on the blood strewn throughout the room, “I hope we aren’t too late”, he thought as he pulled his head out of the kitchen. Knowing that someone glancing at the house would probably not even see him standing there, he strode off confidently around the edge of the building. Surely there would be another window, or even a door for him to enter through.

[Ryalyn Kylana]

Rya turned her head and nodded at the man. Watching the man disappear, she realized that she didn't even know his name. Mentally shrugging, her gaze locked with Ayden's glowing evergreen eyes. He was watching her expectantly, waiting for her to make up her mind.

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Ayden watched as Rya's eyes narrowed at him as she thought. The expression didn't last long, however, as it was soon replaced with a sly expression. He could tell that her mood and mannerisms had changed. She was on the hunt and could not be stopped now that she had clearly made up her mind. She made no move to take out a weapon. On the contrary, she kept her hands free. To him it was obvious that she didn't want to inconvenience herself with making a choice of weapon that could prove useless later on. She stood to a crouch, her eyes scanning down the hallway, cast in shadows. Unmoving, Ayden watched as she sidestepped him and started down the hallway. A little ways down, she turned looked back at him tilting her head in question.

Problem? she asked him mentally.

Ayden regarded his counterpart with keen yet expressionless eyes. Oh, not at all. Only that we're traveling willingly toward possible death, he drawled, a large hint of sarcasm staining his mental voice. But clearly, you've made up your mind. You seem so set, do you even need me?

He watched as her eyes flashed a deep and rather beautiful blue as she smiled. Spoilsport she laughed mentally at him. Come on oh King of Procrastination!

With that, she turned elegantly, eyes dulling dark, and wandered stealthily down the hall, Ayden following suit close at her heals.

[Jenica Sabiny]

Right here? Here where? Right where? Jenica thought of reaching out and shaking the woman hard enough to snap her neck, but she didn't have nearly the strength, and her eyesight was failing her. She understood that a door rested before the woman, that the woman was indicating this as the room to enter. But had she lied? When the vampire entered, would some trap be awaiting her? A drapery just waiting to be thrown aside, allowing the bright noonday sun into the room and against her skin?

She had to take the chance; her options had dissipated with the extreme bloodloss she'd suffered.

She snarled and waved for the woman to enter first, motioning with the bottle to add the implied violence of potentially shattered glass. In her better days, she would've shoved the female inside, but this was far from a better day. Jenica leaned against the opposing wall, staring into the darkness that the room offered, the comforting shadows which even now beckoned for her to join them. She shuttered her eyes and focused her energies toward remaining awake. Awake first. Then other concerns.

"Get inside now."

Just in case the female hadn't moved. Had she? The vampire could hardly see, and it was a bad sign if her eyesight had failed to the point that she could no longer make out the woman's form from others. If the woman had already entered the room, Jenica had just given away a glaring weakness.

The snarl came again, and Jenica shoved off the wall into the room. There was no choice, after all. Even now, she could hear the other's footfalls in the house. Already inside, and coming closer. The vampire was very close to panicking and berserking her rage away. Instead, she turned and grabbed the door.

She gripped the frame a moment for balance, aligning herself to the upright position for just a moment longer, then slammed the door closed with enough force to rattle the floor. Now she was trapped in this room with a healthy female human. Jenica didn't even remember the sword, or she wouldn't have even let the female inside the room. Just taken the sword, gutted the female, and dragged the corpse inside for her sustenance.

Nothing was ever easy.

[Amira Lum]

So there it was. With a weak sigh, hardly more than a breath of air, she walked into the room, then turned, standing a few feet from the door. The vampire's eyes were closed, and for a moment Amira considered running for it. After all, the beast was weak, and apparently not paying much attention.

That particular suspicion was confirmed when the vampire again demanded that Amira enter the room. Frowning, Amira took a step backwards, returning her hand to her sword. The beast was obviously in poor condition, and Amira wasn't sure if that was reassuring. On the contrary, it could be very dangerous: who knew when the vampire would become desperate enough to throw caution to the wind and simply jump at her prey? Amira wasn't sure if she could resist a desperate vampire, weak or no.

She took a few more steps away as the monster plunged into the room, bracing herself for the fatal blow. But it didn't come; instead the female turned, paused, and then shut the door with surprising force.

“Well, there you go,” Amira muttered, tugging on her sword, her eyes on the vampire's back. “I've done what you wanted. Are you going to kill me now?”

Her hand twinged in protest as she hefted her weapon, but she gritted her teeth. She would have to deal with the pain.

[Valz Malar]

Turning the corner of the building Valz was confronted with a virtual dead end. He could see the main street that passed in front of the house. It was early enough that there weren’t a lot of people passing by, but as he inched closer to it he could hear a few townsfolk up and moving about. To his left there were a series of small windows set into the wall but nothing he could squeeze through. The whole strip of land he was standing in was shadowed by the building next to him. His options were limited at this point, he could go out to the street and kick in a door which was bound to be noticed, he could try to get up onto the roof and see if there was an attic entrance, or he could just admit that things weren’t going his way this morning and head back to the known entrance.

Trotting back towards the back yard he made sure that none of his clothes or his weapon rubbed up against the house. He figured that even if he was going to go in the same way that there was no reason to advertise that fact to everyone inside the house through his carelessness. Peering in the back window he saw that he would be alone in the kitchen The vampire and girl he’d seen were gone, and the mysterious dark haired girl and her panther/dog were gone as well. Not at all worried about the consequences of climbing into a stranger’s house to chase after two women, an oddly intelligent animal, and a vampire, Valz boosted himself through the window. Easing down onto the balls of his feet he felt glass shift underneath his weight. Taking Animus out of her sheath again, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the half-light inside. Just like stalking a wounded deer, Valz set off, following the blood trail and carnage into a hallway…

[Ryalyn Kylana]

Ayden sniffed the air tentatively. They had heard a loud bang, much like the sound of a slamming door, come from a short distance down the hall. The force of it sent a small draft toward them. He could tell that the creature must have gone behind that closed door as the scent got significantly duller upon the air once the air had gone still again. That cannot be good ... he commented to his companion, casting a look at her over his strong shoulders, his eyes flaring at her briefly in the dark. He saw her nod at him in response.

Silently, they began closed the remaining distance down hallway. At a bend, they came in site of the door, obvious as it was, the walls, door jam, and the door itself marked with blood and gore. They began to creep around the bend when a sound behind them caused them to halt. The distinct sound of crunching glass came to their abnormally sharp ears. To be safe, they rounded the bend, putting it between themselves and the way they had come, Rya flattening herself against the wall. Ayden watched the door, approaching it cautiously as Rya, hidden as she was, glanced back down the hall. In the shadows her keen eyes picked out the man she had seen earlier. Chuckling mentally she commented back to Ayden, Not to worry. It's just that man again. Must not have been able to find an alternative way in ...

Ayden, pausing momentarily from his investigation, glanced briefly back at her. His mental amusement was obvious. I guess he's not too skilled in silence. Glancing back at the door thoughtfully he added, But at least he is persistent and seems to be reliable....

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Rya had cast her eyes back down the hallway but when she looked back toward the door again, Ayden had vanished. Startled she straitened slightly, looking around carefully. AYDEN!! she mentally called, frustration and worry reflected in her voice.

Relax! he drawled back, a snicker underlying his words. I'm just doing a bit of reconnaissance....

Rya frowned, it was obvious to her that he was most certainly no longer in the hallway with her. Her concern was unfounded however as he could be just as dangerous as the creature they now hunted when need be. Crossing her arms in defeat, she leaned up against the wall casually, blending with the shadows, waiting for the man to catch up and Ayden to fill her in on the situation beyond the door in front of which she lounged.

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As a tiny black cockroach, Ayden deftly squeezed between the floorboards and the door, slipping through easily and blending easily with the shadows. Speeding along the sideboard he covered the short distance to a corner in a matter of seconds. Once there he flitted silently between forms into a black cat, eyes dark and watchful. It was clear to him right away that the creature was very weak. He could feel its life energies draining from it at ever increasing speeds. Sitting and tilting his head he noticed that the girl they had seen earlier was armed. Hmmm, he mentally hummed thoughtfully to his counterpart, how very interesting ...

(( OOC: I know it might seem like my characters are going fast but I'm going under the assumption that she had almost caught up with them right before Jenica slammed the door. So Ayden got in after Amira has already drawn her sword. If ya object lemme know why soon so's i can fix ^-^ Oh, and for those who don't already know, I tend to switch perspectives between Ayden and Rya so thats what those dotted lines are for ;] ))

[Jenica Sabiny]

She was panting harder, as though she'd run for miles and like a human tired at the end of the run. But she wasn't human, and this panting made no sense. Her bottom jaw remained down, allowing her airways further freedom to come in and out of her mouth. She didn't breathe heavily, but it was now audible.

She was annoyed. But she felt, oddly, that she couldn't blame the human for this predicament. She remembered that this human had a sense of pity about her. This was rapidly becoming the only weapon she might have at her disposal.

Jenica lowered her eyes to her battered hand, still oozing her blood and staining the door she had pressed her palm against for support. A long, long time ago, she'd offered her own blood to a mortal, as a blood bond of faith. A promise not to kill each other. And it had worked. She wondered if such a thing were still within her abilities. She didn't feel the strength of a blood bond, didn't value its strength, but perhaps...

The human spoke, and the vampire winced at the assault of noise on her grated ears. Even the human's quiet voice made the vampire's skin wrench with tension. And even from within this enclosed space, she could sense the sun burning down upon the house. Damned thing would never sink. Or at least, not in time for the vampire's well-being.

"No."

The vampire leaned back from the doorway and turned to look at the female. Her vision was acute in such dim settings, but was further enhanced by her sense of the shadows surrounding them. She was far too weak to manipulate the darkness around her, but its presence was comforting and familiar, and spoke to her in its own queer way. The vampire tilted her head, now "listening" to the shadows around her. She felt out the room through their power, felt the bulk of physical presence as the human shifted and breathed in place, as the vampire's own panting made the air around her shift, as a cockroach skittered along the floor.

But something most odd happened then. The cockroach's form suddenly doubled, tripled, quadrupled into a monster version of itself. And there was no cockroach at all, now; instead a cat's form, complete with whiskers and flickering tail, stood where a cockroach had moved only moments before.

The vampire closed her mouth to redirect the air through her nose, and inhaled deeply. The far faded, barely perceptible scent of the roach remained - pungent enough to pick up even after the creature had changed. And now the cat's own smell pervaded her senses.

She wasn't lucid enough to know if the cat had been here before, if this human happened to own one. She couldn't recall smelling such a thing before. There was an easy way to check.

"You have a cat?"

The vampire turned her glittering eyes to the human then, head still cocked. She could hear the others moving outside of the door now, but there was little she could do to stop their advances. This cat had given her something to focus on besides her own survival - which, despite her desire to live, didn't hold her attention for much longer than a few seconds.

[Amira Lum]

No?

All this, and the vampire was claiming that she wouldn't kill Amira? That was a bit hard to believe.

Well, no. She hadn't said that, exactly. She had said she wasn't going to kill Amira now. That was very different...

The next question surprised her. Did she have a what?

"A cat? No, I..."

Her eyes flicked down, and she saw it. She could barely make out its shape in the darkness, but there was definitely an animal in the room with them. That was strange. She hadn't seen it while entering the room, and she had no idea how it could have gotten into the house.

"No, I don't have a cat," she finished, frowning. "It must be a stray."

She shifted away from the feline slightly, wondering what diseases it could be carrying. That was, of course, an unreasonable thought. What was rabies, compared to death at a monster's hand?

She returned her gaze to the vampire, clenching her teeth against the continuing protests of the muscles and tendons in her injured wrist as it strained to support the weight of her sword. "If you're not going to kill me, what are you planning to do?" Have a nice little chat in the dark? She very much doubted it.

[Valz Malar]

Valz shook his head after entering the kitchen through the window. He knew that most people could look right at him and not even notice that he was there and if he was trying to hide then he was virtually invisible to all but the most persistent viewers. And yet, for all that, he was still clumsy. It’s funny what a man can find amusing when under stress. The fact that he couldn’t crawl through a window and across a glass shard strewn floor without making noise made him want to laugh out loud, though he settled for a rueful smile, and an inward chuckle. At least until he spotted the blood trail leading down the hallway and remembered what he was doing in a strangers house to begin with.

While walking down the hallway he kept his sword, Animus, in an easy loose grip, blade in front and down, at the ready. He didn’t much relish fighting inside a house with a rather large piece of steel, but he really didn’t want to fight anything even close to vampire without it. The enclosed hallway magnified smells and that is what struck him first, that thick, coppery, blood smell that is so recognizable and undeniable, invading his nostrils, his pores, and his clothes. The trail of blood, drippings on the floor and smears on the wall, had already begun to dry, their reddish hue turning deep black.

Valz slowed as the woman with the dark hair came into view. She had paused outside a door that Valz figured was the end of the trail. Nodding his head in greeting, Valz introduced himself quietly.

“My name is Valz Malar and I have an idea.” Valz paused before going on, in a hushed voice. “The vampire is nothing to me, it can die or live and I don’t care. I just want the woman inside to survive. They have to know we are here, and we know they are there, let’s at least see if there is anything we can do in trade for her life?” Pausing to lick suddenly dry lips Valz smiled, “If reason doesn’t work, well, then we break the door.”

[Ryalyn Kylana]

Rya turned her head and nodded, holding a finger up to her lips to quiet the man. Her eyes slid to watch the door with interest since she sensed a shift in Ayden's demeanor. She could tell something had happened but he was holding her at bay. Thinking it best not to distract, she kept her patience and silence, waiting for him to divulge what was going on inside.

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Ayden did not move nor respond to the two talking about him as they were. He simply watched them with a very cat-like bored expression, the tip of his tail occasionally twitching. He had planned on coming in unnoticed but the creature they now hunted was in such bad shape that it seemed to take an uncanny interest in his presence. He didn't mind much, however, since it allowed the girl in the room to take some action while the creature was distracted. Unfortunately, it became clear to him immediately that she had no plans on actually attacking. If anything, she seemed to feel sorry for the thing. Ayden's mental snort of derision he allowed to reach the mind of his counterpart who was still waiting patiently. You're strangely silent, Lyn ... he commented to her a moment later, using one of his pet names for her. I would have expected you to demand information by now but .... I see you're of another mood today.

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On the other side of the door, Rya smiled, her eyes glittering. She responded slyly in turn, Perhaps. What have you to tell me? This man out here would gladly break down the door ... or bargain. Whichever the case may- A mental image from Ayden materialized in her mind like a still picture from a book. As she studied it, she heard him whisper in the back of her mind.

It's severely weak but the girl is injured and in my opinion, particularly weak in determination. It seems to me that she feels pity for the thing but she is at least determined enough to live. But so is this creature which puzzles me. This creature, this ... predator seems to be holding back. Abnormal if you ask me, especially if it is what we suspect. Very few predators would hold on to it's prey so determined when in such poor shape and yet keep it alive to talk to ... But, His voice of sarcasm becoming a haughty drawl now, he concluded, strangely enough I feel as though the creature may actually take a bargain, from you or from this girl perhaps. However, I suggest you make it quick. They have noticed that I am here. She pushed the mental image aside as she heard him remark, I will act as your voice, your eyes, your ears should you please ...

Rya, arms crossed, her chin resting in one hand and her expression thoughtful, she cast a glance at Valz Malar. Taking a deep breath she finally responded, her voice hushed. "I am Ryalyn ..." a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth as she spoke. "Ayden suggests that we negotiate. The creature is very weak and yet seems unwilling to hurt this human. She may very well take to compromise. Ayden has offered to be liaison." She looked at him expectantly, arms lazily crossed once again, her eyes dark with a strange little grin hovering upon her face.