Post by ShadaAntoinette on Jun 8, 2010 2:55:35 GMT -5
She was tired, and keeping herself awake was not going as smoothly as she'd hoped it would. Then again, nothing ever did. And after drifting off several times in front of the television, Shada finally decided to give up and give in to the calling of her bed upstairs. With a groan, she picked herself up off the couch and made her way upstairs to her room. She stumbled a bit before she hit the bed, but as soon as her head touched the pillow, she was out like a light bulb and immediately sucked into a nightmare.
The sky was dark above her, the heat of the summer day had long since been replaced with the coolness of twilight. Crickets could be heard all around her, singing for their mates. She walked along the side of the marsh, enjoying the first freedom she had been allowed in hundreds of years. She could hear the calls of the bull frogs in the marsh, the sounds of nature making her smile. It was a wondrous thing. Her paws sank a little in the mud, but she didn't mind, it felt good. She was glad she'd worn lighter clothing to come out here, instead of the gowns women wore in that time period.
A stick snapped nearby, which made her turn, laying her green eyes upon his face, her body immediately going cold.
"What are you doing here?"
"I've come for you, Nightshade. It's time to come home." He said, giving her the once over, looking over the handy work his Curse had done. She felt dirty under his gaze, bile rising in her throat.
"Zal... No." She lifted her chin in defiance. "Let me go."
"Sorry, Poppet, you've gotten away from me far too many times. The games are over. You are coming home, now." He took a step toward her, which made her take a step back. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be, Nightshade. You know what I'm capable of."
"It won't be so easy this time, Azazel. I won't be your punching bag anymore." He laughed at her, a harsh, cynical one.
"You try to escape me this time, and I won't hesitate to kill you. I've had enough. You're mine, and I mean to bring you home, no matter how hard you try to fight me." She stood there for a split second, exactly that, before taking off, sprinting through the muck as if it were solid ground she was running on. His laughter followed her.
"You can run all you like, Dulceta, but you'll never be able to escape me!" She didn't care how long it took, she wasn't going to let him take her, in any way, shape or form. She was finally free, and he wasn't going to fuck that up.
On the outside, she was thrashing hard in the bed, her chest rising and falling quickly, as if she really were running from someone. Her eyes snapped open, the sightless silvery white of her eyes seemed to glow for a moment before squeezing shut again. She was lost inside her Lydrem's grasp now.
Her feet carried her far, despite the terrain, to her surprise. When she looked back, he wasn't following her, to which she was infinitely glad. She hit something, her body slamming into something hard enough that she actually heard some of her ribs break. She screamed in pain on reflex, knowing that he probably heard her. Her head came up to see what she had hit, and to her horror, it was Azazel himself, the tall, dark Fallen man standing over her, looking triumphant.
"NOOOOO!!!!!" She shrieked, lost in her nightmare, and no realizing that she had screamed outside of the dream as well, thrashing harder in the bed, making such a ruckus that it was sure to wake the dead in their graves.
What the Hell was that? Alistor's sat straight up in bed, confused by the scream. He hurriedly got out of bed and into his pants, bolting from the room, though meeting Remus in the hall; he was standing outside of Shada's door.
"Okay... what the Hell is going on?" He asked the Wolf man.
"I don't know. Sounded like someone was being attacked or something." Remus shrugged. "I heard it too, so I came up here." Alistor scrubbed a hand over his face and opened the door, hoping that she was at least decent.
Shada thrashed on the bed, her mouth opened in a silent scream. Luckily, she was under the blankets, which shielded her from prying eyes, though if she thrashed any harder, she was going to lose all of the blankets anyway. Alistor walked over to the bed, with Remus behind him, bending to fit in the doorway.
"...She's asleep."
"I don't think so. She's a mystic, she would have heard us before we came in. This is... different." His eyes flickered violet as he watched her. "...But you should probably stop her from doing what she's doing."
"What? Oh... yea. But you're going to have to hold her down or something. She's going to end up freaking out...well, more than she is now." Remus moved to comply as Alistor tucked the blankets around her, essentially cocooning her body in the blankets. "Now what do we do?"
"Stop her from...." At that moment, Shada let out a wailing shriek. "Doing that." He grimaced, ears lowering at the sound.
Alistor just watched her, at a loss as to what to do. He didn't know what was going on, but she was asleep.
"Shada!" He yelled at her, which seemed to do no good. "SHADA! HEY, WAKE UP!!" She opened her mouth to scream again, and this time Remus' massive paw covered her mouth.
"Urrah... this isn't working." Well, Alistor had one last thing he could do. When Remus moved his hand, he slapped her face. He didn't like to hit women, but it was worth a shot, right? Wrong. As soon as he retracted his hand, her paw came up and decked him in the face. He staggered in surprise that she was able to hit him so strongly, even in her sleep.
His fists connected solidly with her jaw, breaking it on contact, that's how strong he was. She cried out, goring his face with her claws, blinding him with his own blood enough to back away from him, holding her ruined ribcage. He was getting some sort of sick thrill out of this, which was evident by the bulge in his pants that was even with her face when he was kneeling over her a moment ago. She spat blood, rising to her feet, arm wrapped around her abdomen tightly.
"You'll pay for that, BITCH!" He yelled at her. She didn't make a sound, not that she would have been able to speak anyway, with her jawbone likely shattered from his fist. She had gotten the better of him for the moment. Before she could even think about running, he was upon her again, pummeling her anew, as if he'd gained some sort of boost from her attack. She'd kicked him in the jewels, which barely phased him; she'd snapped his wrist, which he'd reset; she'd jammed her claws into his eye sockets, which he'd just laughed off. What was she going to do to get him to stop?
Something stung her face and for a split second her knuckles hurt, as if she'd hit something solid. She could hear the distant voices talking about her, and called out to them as best as she could with her mind. "YOU HAVE TO AWAKEN MY BODY!" She didn't know if it would get through, nor did she know if she'd actually imagined the voices or not. But she'd given it a try, at least.
Several attempts later, Alistor was on his last try. He had a bucket of ice water he was going to throw on her when her mouth opened again, moving as if she were speaking. He leaned over her, setting the bucket down.
"What? What did you say?" Her mouth moved again.
"You've got to awaken my body...." She mumbled, breath coming out in labored gasps again. "Awaken.... me....."
"...Thanks for the tip. WE knew that already."
"Astral....project.....illness....beating.....dying......" Nothing she was saying was making any sense. Which was wearing on his nerves. Okay, so there was something else he could try. He tilted her neck, grimacing.
"I just know I'm going to regret this..." He sank his fangs into her throat, which made her body rise a little off the bed, her mouth opening in a gasp. And he was immediately sucked into her mind.
She heard her name, even over the sound of Azazel beating her to death. It was faint, but she recognized it.
"ALISTOR!" She screamed, fighting again, this time with vigor she hadn't had before. She managed to get her legs under Azazel and kicked him away from her. She grabbed her jaw in both paws and snapped it, jamming it into the right position for it to heal to call out for him again. "ALISTOR! OVER HERE!" She didn't know where he was, but she could hear him, that she knew for sure.
"Your friend isn't going to save you, Nightshade. I'll kill him too!" He dove at her, knocking her to the ground again. Pain blossomed in her eyes, making her groan. His fists connected with her head, which was making it harder for her to think of what to do now. Above him, she saw a light. Now, it wasn't the proverbial white light, but it was different than the scene around her, and it didn't belong. Her swollen eyes lit on it, and she lifted her arm, paw reaching. Something grabbed a hold of it and instantly she was floating. Azazel was screaming behind her somewhere, and she knew she was going to be all right.
Outside of her head, however, she'd actually reached back and grabbed the hem of Remus' jacket, holding on to it like it was her lifeline. Suddenly, Alistor raised his head, withdrawing his fangs from her throat. When he let go, she gasped awake, pressing the blankets to her front as she sat up, eyes wild.
"...Ach... what happened?" She asked, rubbing her forehead, voice rough from sleep.
"Like to ask you the same question." Alistor crossed his arms over his chest. She looked down to see that her left arm was behind her, and turned her head to see Remus was bent over the bed frame awkwardly. "....Sorry." She released him, moving until she could see the both of them. "Let me get some clothes on first, and I'll talk to you about it." Alistor looked like he was going to argue, and Remus merely left the room. She glared that the Nos man until he left and closed the door.
She scrubbed a hand across her face and sighed. Damn... and here she'd thought that this wasn't going to be a problem. She hadn't expected that it would be bad enough to actually wake anyone up, but weirder things had happened. She crawled off the bed, pulling on her clothes sluggishly before going downstairs to explain herself to them, which she knew was not going to be easy.
"I have an illness that affects me in my sleep, it's called Lydremdefytis." She said, wringing her paws in her lap. "It's a stress thing, at least that's what my books say. Sorry if I woke you guys up." She said, gritting her back teeth. She didn't want to think about it, even if it had been a nightmare, her body felt like someone had actually beaten the Hell out of her. She tilted her head back against the couch, and closed her eyes. "And I don't know how to stop it."
"...You hit me." Alistor said, watching her. A green eyes appraised him for a second.
"I did? I'm sorry, Al, I didn't do that on purpose. I swear I didn't."
"I believe you." The green eye went back to look at the ceiling again. She sighed again.
"Go back to bed, Shada, I'll watch over you to make sure you so that you don't slip back into it." Alistor said. She lowered her head to look at him and nodded.
"All right. Thank you." She got up without another word, even thought she didn't really want to attempt to go to sleep. But rather than argue, she went back upstairs and went back to bed, clothed this time, since Alistor was sitting in a chair outside her door. She sighed and rolled over, turning her back to the door and closed her eyes. It took a little bit, but soon she had drifted off into a blessedly dreamless sleep.
When she awoke again, it was daylight. She sat up and yawned, stretching herself. With a sigh, she got up and stretched the rest of her body out, shaking herself before going to change her clothes. She felt like shit, but figured a walk out in the woods would work wonders for her. So, she pulled on a pair of shorts and and a tee shirt and made her way downstairs.
She had her coffee first, drinking it on the porch before she went. Remus hadn't been in the living room, so she couldn't tell him that she was leaving, and she assumed Alistor was still in bed, but since she wasn't going that far, she figured she wouldn't leave a note this time. She took the last drink from the cup, setting it on the step beside her before she stood up, pulling down her shirt that had ridden up a little bit. She pulled it even with her belly ring and headed out, humming to herself.
Before too long, she couldn't see the Manor behind her anymore, the trees were that thick. She began to sing, lifting her voice so that it carried with her, echoing off the trees around her. She never thought it was probably a bad thing. And she didn't expect the thing that happened next.
A thick branch came flying off from the left, almost behind her, to clip her head and neck. She choked on her words and stumbled, caught off guard. She was angry.
"Alright you son of a bitch! Come out here!" She thought maybe Alistor had followed her or something. She didn't think of Remus, mostly because he really didn't seem like the type to throw things a small as a sapling branch at her; Hell, it might have been the whole sapling if he was going to throw anything. So, she was ready to throttle Alistor until she caught the distinct scent of Demon. More to the point, it was Fallen Blood, and she only knew one person still living that had that scent signature and she hoped that she'd never see him ever again.
"Hello, Nightshade. Back to being a whore are we?" Her eyes blackened with rage.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Azazel. And I am not a WHORE!" She shouted the last word, rage building.
"Touchy, aren't we? Well, no matter, I'm still going to kill you."
"I've changed. You're in for more than you got last time, asshole."
"Oh, big words! Have at you then!" She rushed at him, claws outstretched. He simply grabbed her wrist and crushed it in his bruising grip. She growled at him, baring her fangs at him. "You're still weak, Nightshade. And stupid. You know I have faster reflexes then you do."
"True, but you can't do this." She forced her body to heat up, scalding him. He yelled, releasing her wrist quickly. "I told you, I've changed. I'm not submissive to you anymore."
"Dulceta, you were never a submissive. That's why I had to break you. Apparently you've forgotten who your Master is." He backhanded her; she retaliated by kicking him in the solar plexus, sending him flying back, hitting a tree about fifteen yards away with a strong but loud, crack. She was going to regret that kick later, when she was in hiding again, she knew it. He hit the ground with a groan, rolling there for a second, disoriented.
"You'll pay for that."
"Somehow I doubt it." She retorted, waiting for him to come at her again.
Alistor had come downstairs for a cup of coffee, noticing that his newer housemates were no where to be seen. He didn't worry about it, it was likely they just went out for a bit, no biggie. Something felt weird though, almost like he could sense something going on that shouldn't be. He could feel two immensely dark powers, one coming from outside somewhere and the other... well, it seemed to be coming from inside him. He cringed, feeling his heart beat accelerate in his chest. Something wasn't right, he knew it, he could almost feel it. His knuckles tightened on the counter. He HAD to find out what was going on, as if he life depended on it. His instincts seemed to be telling him that.
In a fit of rage, he blew out the kitchen wall, launching himself outside. Horns burst from his shoulder blades as he landed, curving upwards. His veins became more visible under his flesh, the blood inside turning them a dark, almost black, gray while his skin darkened into an ashen color. His eyes took on a gray hue as well, almost like rotting river sewage, sharpening Alistor's already heightened sight further, though with the cold calculation hidden behind.
All of his teeth elongated into razor sharp fangs; the top row stretched beyond his lower lip, the bottom beyond his upper. They formed together like a horrible bear trap, and one could only imagine what it would be like to be bitten by him now. Three short horns sprouted from his forehead, and his breathing got heavy. He exhaled stale, stagnant breath and looked in the direction of Azazel confronting Shada outside.
"Such a strong power. A very dark, disturbed sensation he's giving off...... I don't like it. It means competition."
He cracked his joints twice each before he started walking.
"Well, Alis- oops. I mean, Meat Sack. Let's go have fun. You remember the last time we had fun, right? Your Drow whore Tara sure remembers. Which is impressive. It's hard to remember anything when you're in the ground."
Alistor wasn't Alistor anymore. It was like someone or something was wearing his body as a suit, and changed it to their own preferences. Alistor, who was forced to lie dormant in his own body, knew what was happening. He just hoped this time, nobody he cared about got hurt.
Out in the woods, Shada heard the sound of an explosion, and lost her concentration, earning a swift right hook to the eye, knocking her backwards.
"What the--?" She looked up just in time to see a blur whiz past her, jumping upon Azazel and burying him beneath a mass of gray. She scrambled to her feet, staring at the creature that was beating Azazel's ass, when she could not.
Azazel was furious now, the creature was on top of him and he didn't like how strong it was, nor the feeling he was getting from it. He punched it in the face, which effectively broke all of his knuckles on that hand and succeeded in making the creature laugh at him
"Your aura belies your weakness." It said.
"Alistor?" Shada's voice held confusion. "Is that you?"
"Heh. You wish I was." Was the curt reply. "But I'll get to you in a minute, so don't go anywhere... or do, I don't care. I like the chase." The creature got off his chest, but grabbed him by his hair, dragging him to his feet. All he could think of doing is getting away from it and killing the woman he'd been chasing for the past few centuries. He jerked out of it's grasp, tearing some of his hair out but he didn't care. It would grow back, with time. Shada, on the other hand, hit him with something that burned like fire; he could see violet energy around him.
Screaming, he rounded on her, throwing himself upon her, biting her flesh with his fangs, sealing his essence inside her body for future attacks on her. She slammed both of her paws against his skull, shouting a hex and shoved him away from her, scurrying away from him.
"Why waste your time attacking her? Why don't you attack something that's worth it?" The gray creature said. Formortiis was toying with him now. He was just itching for a fight and this pathetic excuse for a... whatever the Hell he was. Didn't matter, soon he would be dead and the Demon King could go on his merry way. Well... after he killed the woman too, that is. She was next, of course.
"I'm not here for you, creature." The man said. Formortiis grinned at him.
"Does it matter? I could stand here and wait the rest of eternity for you to kill her, or I could kill you myself and be done with it. Which do you think I'm actually going to do?" The man's eyes seemed to grow colder than before.
"Don't test me, creature. I came here to kill her, which is what I'm going to do. I don't care what you do." Shada took the opportunity to strike again, running over to him and drop kicking him.
She hit the ground with a thud, watching him sail toward Alistor... or whoever it was. She still wasn't sure about that. He didn't look the same, sure, but she could still smell him. Could it be that this guy... killed him? She didn't know, and she hoped not, for his sake. Alistor was a friend of hers, and she didn't take it too kindly when her friends were killed.
She looked up, hearing the creature laugh. Azazel had actually started to fight him, and it was clear that he was losing terribly. In that short time she'd been in her own thoughts, Azazel had had his ass beaten. His nose was twisted in a weird angle and there was blood all over him. She was surprised to see him like that.
"I told you, you're weak. I can sense power in you, but you seem only to be able to use it when attacking her. That makes you a coward." The man told Azazel.
"Big talk, Demon." He wiped some blood from his mouth, smirking at him. "What, are you here to save her?"
"Please, as if. Nope, I'm just here to kill, I don't discriminate."
There was no end to the enjoyment he was getting from tearing into Azazel. The man was strong, which made him competition, and that gave him a target on the back of his head in the Demon King's eyes.
"Around and around the Azazel goes!", he mused while spinning in circles, gripping Azazel by the ankles. As he spun, his enemies head was smacking roughly on trees and such, each time making a sickening crack. "Tonight he dies! It's true and he knows!"
He let go, sending Azazel flying head first into a large oak, the tree stopped him entirely, and he hit it like a giant, fleshy rag doll.
"I truly HAVE missed having a body. Ages and ages of wandering as a vessel-less soul. And having to take shelter in this one for so long. OH, it's good to be back!"
He started taking a few steps towards Azazel, and looked over at Shada.
"Don't worry, missy. I haven't forgotten you.", he said as he walked, a sick grin on his face. "Your time will come in just a moment. After all. I haven't had a body in a loooong time...... Huh?.... Alistor, are you there? AHAHAHAHA! OH, now it IS amusing! I wish I could see the look on your face! Having to sit by and watch this happen all. Over. Again."
He gripped Azazel up by the neck, and tossed him in the air. He broke through the trees, and kept going up into the sky.
".......... Oh, so you DO know it was me last time?", he seemed to ask himself. He was talking to Alistor, although Alistor could only be heard by him. "Took you long enough to figure it out...... Yes, Tara was terrified. To watch the love of her life become a cruel, hateful, twisted monster. I must say, carving away at her stomach was some of my finest work ever."
Azazel plummeted down, and Formortiis put out a knee. The falling man hit it square with his back, and was kicked back into the sky.
"Of COURSE I wanted to!...... Oh, save me the sappy love story. The only reason she got rid of me is because she kissed you. And with her dying breath, no less. How romantic....... Ugh, YES! It's just like that! One of those cliche 'loves kiss breaks the curse' bull shit things! But guess what, Meat Sack? Tara isn't here any more! No loving female to kiss you! No hope of being saved! You get to sit like a good puppet and watch everyone around you do nothing but get slaughtered! And I'll love every moment of it! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
He caught Azazel by the face as he fell back down. He tossed him a few feet away, cracking his neck. "Now then. Let's let him heal a little bit, shall we? That way I can throw him around later. Now, where's...... huh?" He looked around for Shada, but couldn't seem to get her in his sights. "Where are you, Mutt? I need to work up on my.... what is it you people call?.... Oh yes, I remember now. 'Doggy Style'? Mehehehe....."
He could not be serious. She was leaning against a tree nearby, nursing her broken ribs. She could feel them move every time she took a breath, which hurt. Blood tears pooled in her eyes as she tried to move, tried to run. If he could defeat Azazel like this, she didn't stand a chance, and she knew it. She couldn't fight him, she didn't have the strength to do it. What could she do....wait... what was that Formortiis had said....something about a Drow woman named Tara... no, no....Dammit, what did he say? She staggered away from the tree, not toward him, no, that would be suicide. Her mind raced, going back over what he'd said. A kiss! A kiss would send him away! Fuck.. there was no way to get close enough without getting hurt in the process. Whatever, she was already hurt, wasn't like she had much else to lose.
"Don't call me that." She snarled, eyes still black. He didn't seem to hear, approaching her. She stood there, one arm wrapped around her middle, the other bracing her weight on a tree.
"Doesn't matter what I call you, does it? You're going to be dead." Yea, that's what he thought. She heard something off in the distance, her ear flicking but didn't move. She watched him; he stood about an arm's length from her now. She kicked at his gut, but he grabbed her leg and tossed her aside like she was nothing. She landed on her aching side, bringing a gasp to her lips. "You're weakening, I can smell it on you." He laughed at her, approaching her again. She moaned, getting up on her knees slowly.
"S-so what? I don't need strength to beat you." She got on her feet again, facing him again. She had one shot at this, and if she failed, well... Formortiis was going to kill her.
As he approached her, she ran at him, using her speed to her advantage. He was fast too, but he was bigger than she was and if she could at least disorient him, so might have a change to escape this with only the damage she had now...she dodged his clawed hand that came at her and jumped, landing squarely, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her weight made him staggered, but when he did that he got close enough that she was able to use a tree as leverage to do the rest. She shoved off, and he went tripping back, falling.
The ground jolted her when he hit.
"Hehehehe, did you really think that would help you?" His claws impaled her stomach, which made her gasp and choke on a little bit of blood.
"No..... But it didn't help you.." She leaned forward, using her paws to keep his head straight when he tried to thrash and get away from her. She missed the first time, and he tried to bite her. She punched him as hard as she could, growling at him.
"Hehehehehe, you can't even do it, can you? You can't force yourself to do what needs to be done."
"S...Shut...... up..." She was losing a lot of blood, and she still had to do this and heal herself before she bled out. Looking down at him, his face began to swim in her vision. She fell forward this time, blood pooling on his chest from the wound. Her lips connected with his, which she knew by the jolt that went through her body. She flushed with warmth for a moment, and she felt herself flying for a second before she hit something solid. She heard screaming, weird, Demonic screaming and then nothing.
Dazed, she sat up, spitting up blood from the movement. Okay... where was Formortiis? Did it work? She looked around for the gray monster and saw something about fifty yards from her, but it wasn't gray. She dragged herself over there, to see what had become of the Demon.
Blood dripped as she crawled, both from the wound, which she would have to look at as soon as she saw whether or not it worked. Her eyes lit on his face, and saw that it was Alistor instead. Satisfied, she laid down beside him, rolled over on her back and set to work healing her wounds. She had to lay there until her ribs reset in the correct position.
"What's that smell?" It was strong, and overpowering, and was driving her crazy. Her fangs lengthened in her mouth, which confused her, and her body seemed to come alive. Never had she felt like that before. When she was able to move, she stood up, still feeling like crap, but healed for the most part, which she was glad for.
Alistor was passed out at her feet, a strange color to his face. She cocked her head to the side, watching him. She made the mistake of taking a deep breath, inhaling the exact scent that was driving her nuts. She let out a low growl, holding her breath. No....there was no way..... Why was she getting the scent of life from him? Why did he smell like a Mortal? She bent down and grabbed the front of his shirt, lifting him off the ground. He was heavier than she imagined him to be, but not uncomfortably so.
"Dammit... what am I going to do? What the Hell.. he's warm. Why is he warm? He's dead, he shouldn't be warm..." The scent was making her crazy as she limped off toward the Manor, hoping to make it before she lost control. "Remus!" She called, hoping the Wolf man was nearby. "REMUS!" She made it just out of the tree line before she fell, dropping Alistor as she did so, landing over him. She was done, she couldn't go on anymore. Fighting and healing had taken a lot out of her. "REM--" She heard footsteps, but didn't have the strength to move anymore.
"What happened?"
"I...got attacked... Alistor.....gah..Just take him inside, I'll be there in a moment." She told him, breathing heavily, but managing to roll off him so Remus could take him inside. "I'll explain then, just make sure he's okay." The Wolf man nodded and took the smaller man in the house.
She laid there, opening her mouth just enough to let the Siren's Call flow free. She was calling to the animals of the forest, any that were near to come to her. She didn't like this power... it just felt weird to control another living creature. Within a few moments, she heard the rustling of foliage near her. Her eyes lightened to a charcoal color.
"Come here...." She whispered, using the Call. The deer walked over to her and laid down within reach of her. She managed to roll over and bite the creature's shoulder, drinking until she felt stronger. Satisfied, she sat up and sent it away. She could move now, she could keep herself under control. She stood up and walked into the house to attend to Alistor.
"Okay, so what happened?" Remus asked her, after she'd made sure that Alistor was okay. She sighed.
"I got attacked outside. My..... former Mate came back to kill me. I don't know how he keeps finding me, but he does." She said, rubbing her arms. "I can't say for sure what happened to Alistor... it was like he was a different person altogether. But he fended Azazel off this time. Which I'm grateful for."
"You know he's human, right?" She looked at him, surprised.
"How did --?" No, I didn't know he was Human!" She scrubbed her paws over her face, growling. "Fuck... this isn't good."
"Why?"
"Because..." She heard the sound of a door opening downstairs. "What is that?" The fur along the back of her neck stood up.
"I don't know, but I hear it too." Remus said. She looked up at him for a moment.
"Should we go see what that is?"
"I'll go, you stay here." She knew better than to argue but nodded.
"All right, be careful." He gave her a calculating look but nodded, going quietly down the stair, leaving her upstairs. She had to try to keep herself under control, which was not going as smoothly as she wanted.
A low growl escaped her lips, which parted when her fangs slid over the lower one.
"Ah Gods..." She couldn't seem to help herself. She turned around and went back into Alistor's room as if possessed, going over to the bed and peering down at him. She swallowed hard, looking him over to decide which part she wanted to feed from.
His eyes fluttered open and he saw her.
"What are you doing?" She smiled at him at him, eyes scarlet and fangs out.
"You'll soon find out, Alistor...." She said. She leaned over him, her long, fiery red hair spilling over her shoulder. She got really close to him, sniffing him lightly.
"Hey... HEY! No... You can't.....Don't even think about it!" She looked up at him again.
"Relax, it'll be over in a moment." The fire in her eyes seemed to dim for a moment. "I...can't help myself.. You're a Mortal, Alistor.... I can taste your essence in my mouth and it's driving me crazy." She moved, her muzzle just inches from his throat. She licked it lightly, her serpentine tongue slithering from her lips. "But... I'm not without my honor. Aye.. it's weird, coming from a Vampire. If you don't want it, just tell me no. Tell me no and I'll be able to stop..." She made a strange, almost purr-like sound in her throat. "Stop me, Alistor.... I..I can't control myself..." Her claws bit either side of the pillow around him.
"Shada.... Don't do this..."
"Then stop me... I can't do this by myself." She told him, her fangs just inches from his flesh. His hands were pushing on her shoulders, trying to get her off of him. "You have to tell me." Her fangs pricked his flesh, bringing blood to the surface. "Please... stop me..."
"No!" His voice made her jerk back, hissing at him. "NO!"
Her eyes blackened and she disappeared from his room, hiding herself away somewhere in the Manor. She didn't know where she was, she hadn't been around long enough, but it smelled like dust.
"STUPID! You had to go and do that, didn't you?" Liir chided her, banging on her head like a drum. "You are an IDIOT!"
"I... I... I couldn't feed from him without consent, you know I can't."
"You almost did, didn't you? And what, you felt bad for almost doing that?"
"Well... not exactly...."
"Exactly. But since you ruined it, you could at least go and introduce yourself to the girl that came here."
"How do you know?"
"Because, my ignorant little Soul sister, while you were busy keeping yourself from biting that piece of meat upstairs, I was busy listening to what was going on down here. Now get up, stop acting like a jackass and go." Liir forced her to her feet and made her leave the room she was hiding herself in, calming her down considerably.
"YOU!" The cat-like girl yowled, tail lashing. "What are you doing here?"
"Um... do I know you?" Her head cocked to the side, eyes darkening at the girl's tone. She did seem familiar, but only vaguely.
"I had to chase you out of my burrow once already, what the Hell are you doing here?"
"Hey! I don't even know you, what the Hell are you yelling at me for?"
"Where's Alistor? What did you do?"
"Oh. My. Goddess, I'm NOT dealing with this right now!" Shada raised her paws in defeat, turning on her heel and walking back up the stairs. "He's in his room, but he's hurt, so be careful." She gave the girl a glare before disappearing upstairs. She didn't have the strength to deal with the child right this moment. Perhaps later, when she actually gave a damn and when she wasn't tempted to go back down there and punch her in the mouth. She stomped to her room, and slammed the door, crossing the room to the window.
Sira was pissed off. She was tired and seeing that woman had made her a bundle of nerves again, just like it had that night. Wait....Ali was hurt?! Sira threw down the rest of her stuff and raced up the stairs to his room. Throwing the door open, she saw him lying in his bed. "Ali!"
"Oh, hey Sira, you're back." He gave her a tired smile.
"What happened?" She asked, concerned.
"There was a fight outside." Alistor said. He didn't want to tell her about Formortiis.
"But you got hurt. Who did this? Was it her?" Her eyes were hard when she said that.
"Her who? Shada? No...."
"No, what?"
"...Nevermind....Look, I'll be fine. I'm glad you're back, okay? I just want to sleep."
"All right, I'll see you later then." Her ears lowered as she looked off into the distance. She got up off the bed and walked out, heading deeper into the house.
The sky was dark above her, the heat of the summer day had long since been replaced with the coolness of twilight. Crickets could be heard all around her, singing for their mates. She walked along the side of the marsh, enjoying the first freedom she had been allowed in hundreds of years. She could hear the calls of the bull frogs in the marsh, the sounds of nature making her smile. It was a wondrous thing. Her paws sank a little in the mud, but she didn't mind, it felt good. She was glad she'd worn lighter clothing to come out here, instead of the gowns women wore in that time period.
A stick snapped nearby, which made her turn, laying her green eyes upon his face, her body immediately going cold.
"What are you doing here?"
"I've come for you, Nightshade. It's time to come home." He said, giving her the once over, looking over the handy work his Curse had done. She felt dirty under his gaze, bile rising in her throat.
"Zal... No." She lifted her chin in defiance. "Let me go."
"Sorry, Poppet, you've gotten away from me far too many times. The games are over. You are coming home, now." He took a step toward her, which made her take a step back. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be, Nightshade. You know what I'm capable of."
"It won't be so easy this time, Azazel. I won't be your punching bag anymore." He laughed at her, a harsh, cynical one.
"You try to escape me this time, and I won't hesitate to kill you. I've had enough. You're mine, and I mean to bring you home, no matter how hard you try to fight me." She stood there for a split second, exactly that, before taking off, sprinting through the muck as if it were solid ground she was running on. His laughter followed her.
"You can run all you like, Dulceta, but you'll never be able to escape me!" She didn't care how long it took, she wasn't going to let him take her, in any way, shape or form. She was finally free, and he wasn't going to fuck that up.
On the outside, she was thrashing hard in the bed, her chest rising and falling quickly, as if she really were running from someone. Her eyes snapped open, the sightless silvery white of her eyes seemed to glow for a moment before squeezing shut again. She was lost inside her Lydrem's grasp now.
Her feet carried her far, despite the terrain, to her surprise. When she looked back, he wasn't following her, to which she was infinitely glad. She hit something, her body slamming into something hard enough that she actually heard some of her ribs break. She screamed in pain on reflex, knowing that he probably heard her. Her head came up to see what she had hit, and to her horror, it was Azazel himself, the tall, dark Fallen man standing over her, looking triumphant.
"NOOOOO!!!!!" She shrieked, lost in her nightmare, and no realizing that she had screamed outside of the dream as well, thrashing harder in the bed, making such a ruckus that it was sure to wake the dead in their graves.
What the Hell was that? Alistor's sat straight up in bed, confused by the scream. He hurriedly got out of bed and into his pants, bolting from the room, though meeting Remus in the hall; he was standing outside of Shada's door.
"Okay... what the Hell is going on?" He asked the Wolf man.
"I don't know. Sounded like someone was being attacked or something." Remus shrugged. "I heard it too, so I came up here." Alistor scrubbed a hand over his face and opened the door, hoping that she was at least decent.
Shada thrashed on the bed, her mouth opened in a silent scream. Luckily, she was under the blankets, which shielded her from prying eyes, though if she thrashed any harder, she was going to lose all of the blankets anyway. Alistor walked over to the bed, with Remus behind him, bending to fit in the doorway.
"...She's asleep."
"I don't think so. She's a mystic, she would have heard us before we came in. This is... different." His eyes flickered violet as he watched her. "...But you should probably stop her from doing what she's doing."
"What? Oh... yea. But you're going to have to hold her down or something. She's going to end up freaking out...well, more than she is now." Remus moved to comply as Alistor tucked the blankets around her, essentially cocooning her body in the blankets. "Now what do we do?"
"Stop her from...." At that moment, Shada let out a wailing shriek. "Doing that." He grimaced, ears lowering at the sound.
Alistor just watched her, at a loss as to what to do. He didn't know what was going on, but she was asleep.
"Shada!" He yelled at her, which seemed to do no good. "SHADA! HEY, WAKE UP!!" She opened her mouth to scream again, and this time Remus' massive paw covered her mouth.
"Urrah... this isn't working." Well, Alistor had one last thing he could do. When Remus moved his hand, he slapped her face. He didn't like to hit women, but it was worth a shot, right? Wrong. As soon as he retracted his hand, her paw came up and decked him in the face. He staggered in surprise that she was able to hit him so strongly, even in her sleep.
His fists connected solidly with her jaw, breaking it on contact, that's how strong he was. She cried out, goring his face with her claws, blinding him with his own blood enough to back away from him, holding her ruined ribcage. He was getting some sort of sick thrill out of this, which was evident by the bulge in his pants that was even with her face when he was kneeling over her a moment ago. She spat blood, rising to her feet, arm wrapped around her abdomen tightly.
"You'll pay for that, BITCH!" He yelled at her. She didn't make a sound, not that she would have been able to speak anyway, with her jawbone likely shattered from his fist. She had gotten the better of him for the moment. Before she could even think about running, he was upon her again, pummeling her anew, as if he'd gained some sort of boost from her attack. She'd kicked him in the jewels, which barely phased him; she'd snapped his wrist, which he'd reset; she'd jammed her claws into his eye sockets, which he'd just laughed off. What was she going to do to get him to stop?
Something stung her face and for a split second her knuckles hurt, as if she'd hit something solid. She could hear the distant voices talking about her, and called out to them as best as she could with her mind. "YOU HAVE TO AWAKEN MY BODY!" She didn't know if it would get through, nor did she know if she'd actually imagined the voices or not. But she'd given it a try, at least.
Several attempts later, Alistor was on his last try. He had a bucket of ice water he was going to throw on her when her mouth opened again, moving as if she were speaking. He leaned over her, setting the bucket down.
"What? What did you say?" Her mouth moved again.
"You've got to awaken my body...." She mumbled, breath coming out in labored gasps again. "Awaken.... me....."
"...Thanks for the tip. WE knew that already."
"Astral....project.....illness....beating.....dying......" Nothing she was saying was making any sense. Which was wearing on his nerves. Okay, so there was something else he could try. He tilted her neck, grimacing.
"I just know I'm going to regret this..." He sank his fangs into her throat, which made her body rise a little off the bed, her mouth opening in a gasp. And he was immediately sucked into her mind.
She heard her name, even over the sound of Azazel beating her to death. It was faint, but she recognized it.
"ALISTOR!" She screamed, fighting again, this time with vigor she hadn't had before. She managed to get her legs under Azazel and kicked him away from her. She grabbed her jaw in both paws and snapped it, jamming it into the right position for it to heal to call out for him again. "ALISTOR! OVER HERE!" She didn't know where he was, but she could hear him, that she knew for sure.
"Your friend isn't going to save you, Nightshade. I'll kill him too!" He dove at her, knocking her to the ground again. Pain blossomed in her eyes, making her groan. His fists connected with her head, which was making it harder for her to think of what to do now. Above him, she saw a light. Now, it wasn't the proverbial white light, but it was different than the scene around her, and it didn't belong. Her swollen eyes lit on it, and she lifted her arm, paw reaching. Something grabbed a hold of it and instantly she was floating. Azazel was screaming behind her somewhere, and she knew she was going to be all right.
Outside of her head, however, she'd actually reached back and grabbed the hem of Remus' jacket, holding on to it like it was her lifeline. Suddenly, Alistor raised his head, withdrawing his fangs from her throat. When he let go, she gasped awake, pressing the blankets to her front as she sat up, eyes wild.
"...Ach... what happened?" She asked, rubbing her forehead, voice rough from sleep.
"Like to ask you the same question." Alistor crossed his arms over his chest. She looked down to see that her left arm was behind her, and turned her head to see Remus was bent over the bed frame awkwardly. "....Sorry." She released him, moving until she could see the both of them. "Let me get some clothes on first, and I'll talk to you about it." Alistor looked like he was going to argue, and Remus merely left the room. She glared that the Nos man until he left and closed the door.
She scrubbed a hand across her face and sighed. Damn... and here she'd thought that this wasn't going to be a problem. She hadn't expected that it would be bad enough to actually wake anyone up, but weirder things had happened. She crawled off the bed, pulling on her clothes sluggishly before going downstairs to explain herself to them, which she knew was not going to be easy.
"I have an illness that affects me in my sleep, it's called Lydremdefytis." She said, wringing her paws in her lap. "It's a stress thing, at least that's what my books say. Sorry if I woke you guys up." She said, gritting her back teeth. She didn't want to think about it, even if it had been a nightmare, her body felt like someone had actually beaten the Hell out of her. She tilted her head back against the couch, and closed her eyes. "And I don't know how to stop it."
"...You hit me." Alistor said, watching her. A green eyes appraised him for a second.
"I did? I'm sorry, Al, I didn't do that on purpose. I swear I didn't."
"I believe you." The green eye went back to look at the ceiling again. She sighed again.
"Go back to bed, Shada, I'll watch over you to make sure you so that you don't slip back into it." Alistor said. She lowered her head to look at him and nodded.
"All right. Thank you." She got up without another word, even thought she didn't really want to attempt to go to sleep. But rather than argue, she went back upstairs and went back to bed, clothed this time, since Alistor was sitting in a chair outside her door. She sighed and rolled over, turning her back to the door and closed her eyes. It took a little bit, but soon she had drifted off into a blessedly dreamless sleep.
When she awoke again, it was daylight. She sat up and yawned, stretching herself. With a sigh, she got up and stretched the rest of her body out, shaking herself before going to change her clothes. She felt like shit, but figured a walk out in the woods would work wonders for her. So, she pulled on a pair of shorts and and a tee shirt and made her way downstairs.
She had her coffee first, drinking it on the porch before she went. Remus hadn't been in the living room, so she couldn't tell him that she was leaving, and she assumed Alistor was still in bed, but since she wasn't going that far, she figured she wouldn't leave a note this time. She took the last drink from the cup, setting it on the step beside her before she stood up, pulling down her shirt that had ridden up a little bit. She pulled it even with her belly ring and headed out, humming to herself.
Before too long, she couldn't see the Manor behind her anymore, the trees were that thick. She began to sing, lifting her voice so that it carried with her, echoing off the trees around her. She never thought it was probably a bad thing. And she didn't expect the thing that happened next.
A thick branch came flying off from the left, almost behind her, to clip her head and neck. She choked on her words and stumbled, caught off guard. She was angry.
"Alright you son of a bitch! Come out here!" She thought maybe Alistor had followed her or something. She didn't think of Remus, mostly because he really didn't seem like the type to throw things a small as a sapling branch at her; Hell, it might have been the whole sapling if he was going to throw anything. So, she was ready to throttle Alistor until she caught the distinct scent of Demon. More to the point, it was Fallen Blood, and she only knew one person still living that had that scent signature and she hoped that she'd never see him ever again.
"Hello, Nightshade. Back to being a whore are we?" Her eyes blackened with rage.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Azazel. And I am not a WHORE!" She shouted the last word, rage building.
"Touchy, aren't we? Well, no matter, I'm still going to kill you."
"I've changed. You're in for more than you got last time, asshole."
"Oh, big words! Have at you then!" She rushed at him, claws outstretched. He simply grabbed her wrist and crushed it in his bruising grip. She growled at him, baring her fangs at him. "You're still weak, Nightshade. And stupid. You know I have faster reflexes then you do."
"True, but you can't do this." She forced her body to heat up, scalding him. He yelled, releasing her wrist quickly. "I told you, I've changed. I'm not submissive to you anymore."
"Dulceta, you were never a submissive. That's why I had to break you. Apparently you've forgotten who your Master is." He backhanded her; she retaliated by kicking him in the solar plexus, sending him flying back, hitting a tree about fifteen yards away with a strong but loud, crack. She was going to regret that kick later, when she was in hiding again, she knew it. He hit the ground with a groan, rolling there for a second, disoriented.
"You'll pay for that."
"Somehow I doubt it." She retorted, waiting for him to come at her again.
Alistor had come downstairs for a cup of coffee, noticing that his newer housemates were no where to be seen. He didn't worry about it, it was likely they just went out for a bit, no biggie. Something felt weird though, almost like he could sense something going on that shouldn't be. He could feel two immensely dark powers, one coming from outside somewhere and the other... well, it seemed to be coming from inside him. He cringed, feeling his heart beat accelerate in his chest. Something wasn't right, he knew it, he could almost feel it. His knuckles tightened on the counter. He HAD to find out what was going on, as if he life depended on it. His instincts seemed to be telling him that.
In a fit of rage, he blew out the kitchen wall, launching himself outside. Horns burst from his shoulder blades as he landed, curving upwards. His veins became more visible under his flesh, the blood inside turning them a dark, almost black, gray while his skin darkened into an ashen color. His eyes took on a gray hue as well, almost like rotting river sewage, sharpening Alistor's already heightened sight further, though with the cold calculation hidden behind.
All of his teeth elongated into razor sharp fangs; the top row stretched beyond his lower lip, the bottom beyond his upper. They formed together like a horrible bear trap, and one could only imagine what it would be like to be bitten by him now. Three short horns sprouted from his forehead, and his breathing got heavy. He exhaled stale, stagnant breath and looked in the direction of Azazel confronting Shada outside.
"Such a strong power. A very dark, disturbed sensation he's giving off...... I don't like it. It means competition."
He cracked his joints twice each before he started walking.
"Well, Alis- oops. I mean, Meat Sack. Let's go have fun. You remember the last time we had fun, right? Your Drow whore Tara sure remembers. Which is impressive. It's hard to remember anything when you're in the ground."
Alistor wasn't Alistor anymore. It was like someone or something was wearing his body as a suit, and changed it to their own preferences. Alistor, who was forced to lie dormant in his own body, knew what was happening. He just hoped this time, nobody he cared about got hurt.
Out in the woods, Shada heard the sound of an explosion, and lost her concentration, earning a swift right hook to the eye, knocking her backwards.
"What the--?" She looked up just in time to see a blur whiz past her, jumping upon Azazel and burying him beneath a mass of gray. She scrambled to her feet, staring at the creature that was beating Azazel's ass, when she could not.
Azazel was furious now, the creature was on top of him and he didn't like how strong it was, nor the feeling he was getting from it. He punched it in the face, which effectively broke all of his knuckles on that hand and succeeded in making the creature laugh at him
"Your aura belies your weakness." It said.
"Alistor?" Shada's voice held confusion. "Is that you?"
"Heh. You wish I was." Was the curt reply. "But I'll get to you in a minute, so don't go anywhere... or do, I don't care. I like the chase." The creature got off his chest, but grabbed him by his hair, dragging him to his feet. All he could think of doing is getting away from it and killing the woman he'd been chasing for the past few centuries. He jerked out of it's grasp, tearing some of his hair out but he didn't care. It would grow back, with time. Shada, on the other hand, hit him with something that burned like fire; he could see violet energy around him.
Screaming, he rounded on her, throwing himself upon her, biting her flesh with his fangs, sealing his essence inside her body for future attacks on her. She slammed both of her paws against his skull, shouting a hex and shoved him away from her, scurrying away from him.
"Why waste your time attacking her? Why don't you attack something that's worth it?" The gray creature said. Formortiis was toying with him now. He was just itching for a fight and this pathetic excuse for a... whatever the Hell he was. Didn't matter, soon he would be dead and the Demon King could go on his merry way. Well... after he killed the woman too, that is. She was next, of course.
"I'm not here for you, creature." The man said. Formortiis grinned at him.
"Does it matter? I could stand here and wait the rest of eternity for you to kill her, or I could kill you myself and be done with it. Which do you think I'm actually going to do?" The man's eyes seemed to grow colder than before.
"Don't test me, creature. I came here to kill her, which is what I'm going to do. I don't care what you do." Shada took the opportunity to strike again, running over to him and drop kicking him.
She hit the ground with a thud, watching him sail toward Alistor... or whoever it was. She still wasn't sure about that. He didn't look the same, sure, but she could still smell him. Could it be that this guy... killed him? She didn't know, and she hoped not, for his sake. Alistor was a friend of hers, and she didn't take it too kindly when her friends were killed.
She looked up, hearing the creature laugh. Azazel had actually started to fight him, and it was clear that he was losing terribly. In that short time she'd been in her own thoughts, Azazel had had his ass beaten. His nose was twisted in a weird angle and there was blood all over him. She was surprised to see him like that.
"I told you, you're weak. I can sense power in you, but you seem only to be able to use it when attacking her. That makes you a coward." The man told Azazel.
"Big talk, Demon." He wiped some blood from his mouth, smirking at him. "What, are you here to save her?"
"Please, as if. Nope, I'm just here to kill, I don't discriminate."
There was no end to the enjoyment he was getting from tearing into Azazel. The man was strong, which made him competition, and that gave him a target on the back of his head in the Demon King's eyes.
"Around and around the Azazel goes!", he mused while spinning in circles, gripping Azazel by the ankles. As he spun, his enemies head was smacking roughly on trees and such, each time making a sickening crack. "Tonight he dies! It's true and he knows!"
He let go, sending Azazel flying head first into a large oak, the tree stopped him entirely, and he hit it like a giant, fleshy rag doll.
"I truly HAVE missed having a body. Ages and ages of wandering as a vessel-less soul. And having to take shelter in this one for so long. OH, it's good to be back!"
He started taking a few steps towards Azazel, and looked over at Shada.
"Don't worry, missy. I haven't forgotten you.", he said as he walked, a sick grin on his face. "Your time will come in just a moment. After all. I haven't had a body in a loooong time...... Huh?.... Alistor, are you there? AHAHAHAHA! OH, now it IS amusing! I wish I could see the look on your face! Having to sit by and watch this happen all. Over. Again."
He gripped Azazel up by the neck, and tossed him in the air. He broke through the trees, and kept going up into the sky.
".......... Oh, so you DO know it was me last time?", he seemed to ask himself. He was talking to Alistor, although Alistor could only be heard by him. "Took you long enough to figure it out...... Yes, Tara was terrified. To watch the love of her life become a cruel, hateful, twisted monster. I must say, carving away at her stomach was some of my finest work ever."
Azazel plummeted down, and Formortiis put out a knee. The falling man hit it square with his back, and was kicked back into the sky.
"Of COURSE I wanted to!...... Oh, save me the sappy love story. The only reason she got rid of me is because she kissed you. And with her dying breath, no less. How romantic....... Ugh, YES! It's just like that! One of those cliche 'loves kiss breaks the curse' bull shit things! But guess what, Meat Sack? Tara isn't here any more! No loving female to kiss you! No hope of being saved! You get to sit like a good puppet and watch everyone around you do nothing but get slaughtered! And I'll love every moment of it! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
He caught Azazel by the face as he fell back down. He tossed him a few feet away, cracking his neck. "Now then. Let's let him heal a little bit, shall we? That way I can throw him around later. Now, where's...... huh?" He looked around for Shada, but couldn't seem to get her in his sights. "Where are you, Mutt? I need to work up on my.... what is it you people call?.... Oh yes, I remember now. 'Doggy Style'? Mehehehe....."
He could not be serious. She was leaning against a tree nearby, nursing her broken ribs. She could feel them move every time she took a breath, which hurt. Blood tears pooled in her eyes as she tried to move, tried to run. If he could defeat Azazel like this, she didn't stand a chance, and she knew it. She couldn't fight him, she didn't have the strength to do it. What could she do....wait... what was that Formortiis had said....something about a Drow woman named Tara... no, no....Dammit, what did he say? She staggered away from the tree, not toward him, no, that would be suicide. Her mind raced, going back over what he'd said. A kiss! A kiss would send him away! Fuck.. there was no way to get close enough without getting hurt in the process. Whatever, she was already hurt, wasn't like she had much else to lose.
"Don't call me that." She snarled, eyes still black. He didn't seem to hear, approaching her. She stood there, one arm wrapped around her middle, the other bracing her weight on a tree.
"Doesn't matter what I call you, does it? You're going to be dead." Yea, that's what he thought. She heard something off in the distance, her ear flicking but didn't move. She watched him; he stood about an arm's length from her now. She kicked at his gut, but he grabbed her leg and tossed her aside like she was nothing. She landed on her aching side, bringing a gasp to her lips. "You're weakening, I can smell it on you." He laughed at her, approaching her again. She moaned, getting up on her knees slowly.
"S-so what? I don't need strength to beat you." She got on her feet again, facing him again. She had one shot at this, and if she failed, well... Formortiis was going to kill her.
As he approached her, she ran at him, using her speed to her advantage. He was fast too, but he was bigger than she was and if she could at least disorient him, so might have a change to escape this with only the damage she had now...she dodged his clawed hand that came at her and jumped, landing squarely, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her weight made him staggered, but when he did that he got close enough that she was able to use a tree as leverage to do the rest. She shoved off, and he went tripping back, falling.
The ground jolted her when he hit.
"Hehehehe, did you really think that would help you?" His claws impaled her stomach, which made her gasp and choke on a little bit of blood.
"No..... But it didn't help you.." She leaned forward, using her paws to keep his head straight when he tried to thrash and get away from her. She missed the first time, and he tried to bite her. She punched him as hard as she could, growling at him.
"Hehehehehe, you can't even do it, can you? You can't force yourself to do what needs to be done."
"S...Shut...... up..." She was losing a lot of blood, and she still had to do this and heal herself before she bled out. Looking down at him, his face began to swim in her vision. She fell forward this time, blood pooling on his chest from the wound. Her lips connected with his, which she knew by the jolt that went through her body. She flushed with warmth for a moment, and she felt herself flying for a second before she hit something solid. She heard screaming, weird, Demonic screaming and then nothing.
Dazed, she sat up, spitting up blood from the movement. Okay... where was Formortiis? Did it work? She looked around for the gray monster and saw something about fifty yards from her, but it wasn't gray. She dragged herself over there, to see what had become of the Demon.
Blood dripped as she crawled, both from the wound, which she would have to look at as soon as she saw whether or not it worked. Her eyes lit on his face, and saw that it was Alistor instead. Satisfied, she laid down beside him, rolled over on her back and set to work healing her wounds. She had to lay there until her ribs reset in the correct position.
"What's that smell?" It was strong, and overpowering, and was driving her crazy. Her fangs lengthened in her mouth, which confused her, and her body seemed to come alive. Never had she felt like that before. When she was able to move, she stood up, still feeling like crap, but healed for the most part, which she was glad for.
Alistor was passed out at her feet, a strange color to his face. She cocked her head to the side, watching him. She made the mistake of taking a deep breath, inhaling the exact scent that was driving her nuts. She let out a low growl, holding her breath. No....there was no way..... Why was she getting the scent of life from him? Why did he smell like a Mortal? She bent down and grabbed the front of his shirt, lifting him off the ground. He was heavier than she imagined him to be, but not uncomfortably so.
"Dammit... what am I going to do? What the Hell.. he's warm. Why is he warm? He's dead, he shouldn't be warm..." The scent was making her crazy as she limped off toward the Manor, hoping to make it before she lost control. "Remus!" She called, hoping the Wolf man was nearby. "REMUS!" She made it just out of the tree line before she fell, dropping Alistor as she did so, landing over him. She was done, she couldn't go on anymore. Fighting and healing had taken a lot out of her. "REM--" She heard footsteps, but didn't have the strength to move anymore.
"What happened?"
"I...got attacked... Alistor.....gah..Just take him inside, I'll be there in a moment." She told him, breathing heavily, but managing to roll off him so Remus could take him inside. "I'll explain then, just make sure he's okay." The Wolf man nodded and took the smaller man in the house.
She laid there, opening her mouth just enough to let the Siren's Call flow free. She was calling to the animals of the forest, any that were near to come to her. She didn't like this power... it just felt weird to control another living creature. Within a few moments, she heard the rustling of foliage near her. Her eyes lightened to a charcoal color.
"Come here...." She whispered, using the Call. The deer walked over to her and laid down within reach of her. She managed to roll over and bite the creature's shoulder, drinking until she felt stronger. Satisfied, she sat up and sent it away. She could move now, she could keep herself under control. She stood up and walked into the house to attend to Alistor.
"Okay, so what happened?" Remus asked her, after she'd made sure that Alistor was okay. She sighed.
"I got attacked outside. My..... former Mate came back to kill me. I don't know how he keeps finding me, but he does." She said, rubbing her arms. "I can't say for sure what happened to Alistor... it was like he was a different person altogether. But he fended Azazel off this time. Which I'm grateful for."
"You know he's human, right?" She looked at him, surprised.
"How did --?" No, I didn't know he was Human!" She scrubbed her paws over her face, growling. "Fuck... this isn't good."
"Why?"
"Because..." She heard the sound of a door opening downstairs. "What is that?" The fur along the back of her neck stood up.
"I don't know, but I hear it too." Remus said. She looked up at him for a moment.
"Should we go see what that is?"
"I'll go, you stay here." She knew better than to argue but nodded.
"All right, be careful." He gave her a calculating look but nodded, going quietly down the stair, leaving her upstairs. She had to try to keep herself under control, which was not going as smoothly as she wanted.
A low growl escaped her lips, which parted when her fangs slid over the lower one.
"Ah Gods..." She couldn't seem to help herself. She turned around and went back into Alistor's room as if possessed, going over to the bed and peering down at him. She swallowed hard, looking him over to decide which part she wanted to feed from.
His eyes fluttered open and he saw her.
"What are you doing?" She smiled at him at him, eyes scarlet and fangs out.
"You'll soon find out, Alistor...." She said. She leaned over him, her long, fiery red hair spilling over her shoulder. She got really close to him, sniffing him lightly.
"Hey... HEY! No... You can't.....Don't even think about it!" She looked up at him again.
"Relax, it'll be over in a moment." The fire in her eyes seemed to dim for a moment. "I...can't help myself.. You're a Mortal, Alistor.... I can taste your essence in my mouth and it's driving me crazy." She moved, her muzzle just inches from his throat. She licked it lightly, her serpentine tongue slithering from her lips. "But... I'm not without my honor. Aye.. it's weird, coming from a Vampire. If you don't want it, just tell me no. Tell me no and I'll be able to stop..." She made a strange, almost purr-like sound in her throat. "Stop me, Alistor.... I..I can't control myself..." Her claws bit either side of the pillow around him.
"Shada.... Don't do this..."
"Then stop me... I can't do this by myself." She told him, her fangs just inches from his flesh. His hands were pushing on her shoulders, trying to get her off of him. "You have to tell me." Her fangs pricked his flesh, bringing blood to the surface. "Please... stop me..."
"No!" His voice made her jerk back, hissing at him. "NO!"
Her eyes blackened and she disappeared from his room, hiding herself away somewhere in the Manor. She didn't know where she was, she hadn't been around long enough, but it smelled like dust.
"STUPID! You had to go and do that, didn't you?" Liir chided her, banging on her head like a drum. "You are an IDIOT!"
"I... I... I couldn't feed from him without consent, you know I can't."
"You almost did, didn't you? And what, you felt bad for almost doing that?"
"Well... not exactly...."
"Exactly. But since you ruined it, you could at least go and introduce yourself to the girl that came here."
"How do you know?"
"Because, my ignorant little Soul sister, while you were busy keeping yourself from biting that piece of meat upstairs, I was busy listening to what was going on down here. Now get up, stop acting like a jackass and go." Liir forced her to her feet and made her leave the room she was hiding herself in, calming her down considerably.
"YOU!" The cat-like girl yowled, tail lashing. "What are you doing here?"
"Um... do I know you?" Her head cocked to the side, eyes darkening at the girl's tone. She did seem familiar, but only vaguely.
"I had to chase you out of my burrow once already, what the Hell are you doing here?"
"Hey! I don't even know you, what the Hell are you yelling at me for?"
"Where's Alistor? What did you do?"
"Oh. My. Goddess, I'm NOT dealing with this right now!" Shada raised her paws in defeat, turning on her heel and walking back up the stairs. "He's in his room, but he's hurt, so be careful." She gave the girl a glare before disappearing upstairs. She didn't have the strength to deal with the child right this moment. Perhaps later, when she actually gave a damn and when she wasn't tempted to go back down there and punch her in the mouth. She stomped to her room, and slammed the door, crossing the room to the window.
Sira was pissed off. She was tired and seeing that woman had made her a bundle of nerves again, just like it had that night. Wait....Ali was hurt?! Sira threw down the rest of her stuff and raced up the stairs to his room. Throwing the door open, she saw him lying in his bed. "Ali!"
"Oh, hey Sira, you're back." He gave her a tired smile.
"What happened?" She asked, concerned.
"There was a fight outside." Alistor said. He didn't want to tell her about Formortiis.
"But you got hurt. Who did this? Was it her?" Her eyes were hard when she said that.
"Her who? Shada? No...."
"No, what?"
"...Nevermind....Look, I'll be fine. I'm glad you're back, okay? I just want to sleep."
"All right, I'll see you later then." Her ears lowered as she looked off into the distance. She got up off the bed and walked out, heading deeper into the house.
