AN: Based on an RP between a friend and I. If you're interested in participating in the RP (it is still ongoing), PM me for the forum name. This is loosely based on LJ Smith's Nightworld with characters from Supernatural and a few other media in it. Consider it an AU cross-over of Nightworld with some of the same plot points/characters. I will separate my own sections of the RP and my friend's (* means my post, + means her post). I've edited it a bit to sound more like a story and I do have her permission to post our RP here. I can post character sheets of the RP characters if none of them make sense in the story as they are. This is just a fun little roleplay between a friend and I. It isn't meant to be a serious part of Nightworld OR Supernatural, so please don't take it as such. I just wanted to share this story with more people and expand on it, if it dies out like some of our roleplays have. Perhaps if people like this, they will want to join in our roleplay. Right now, it is just the two of us carrying out this storyline. I do not own anything, nothing at all! Not at all proofread, so there are obviously errors, since this is an RP. Sam/Dean won't appear until a few more chapters in.
Prophecy
* Kero tiredly locked the door to her apartment and leaned heavily against the door. Casinos were hard places to work, especially the ones in a place as gambler heavy as Vegas. Shrugging off her uniform after heading to her bedroom, Kero decided to take a shower. The hot water spraying over her thin frame did much to ease her aching muscles. Perhaps she would feel like flying after this. Flight always helped Kero to feel better. Today, she had had two vampires and a wolf shifter come to her card table. She just about flew off then and there, but her self-control and their apparent non-recognition of an avian shifter kept her rooted to the spot.
Not to mention the trouble she'd be in with the Night World Council if she exposed herself. Death would be preferable to anything they would do to her. Kero shivered. After toweling dry, she opened her bedroom window and took a deep breath of anticipation. She grabbed a nearby small bag and clenched it between her feet. Closing her eyes, she called up the image of a great horned owl. They were native to the area, and had excellent night vision. The next time she opened her eyes, they were those of the owl. The bag was clutched tightly in her talons.
Kero swooped out the window, her night vision lighting up the world below. Her apartment building was on the outskirts of Vegas, more towards the desert. She liked it that way. The city and the lights were no home for shifters, though the predators didnt seem to mind it as much. The warm air took her soaring upward, into the clouds. She couldnt see the stars tonght, which disappointed her. They were beautiful from the eyes of a bird, and away from the city.
She landed on an Acacia tree, then hopped to the ground, gaining her human form as she landed. Her clothes did not shift with her, which is why she always shifted naked. Only clothing made from the hides of other shifters changed with the shifter, which is why she brought the bag. She dressed, though she really didnt know why. No one was in the desert this late at night, at least, no one but other animals, and none of them cared one wit whether or not she was clothed. Kero sighed in happiness, letting the peace of the place and scent of Acacia drift over her.
She could live out here, she realized. Using her shifter abilities to satisfy her base needs. If she did, though, she would never get revenge for the death of her parents. She needed to find a way to transform into those ancient birds that people called dinosaurs. She needed that open to her. Then no vampire would ever kill anyone in front of her again. Kero wiped away a small tear that had tracked its way down her cheek as she remembered her parents. Thats not why I came out here. I came out here for peace. I will not cry. I will remain strong.
+ The service station was nothing more than a dusty pause on the road. There was nothing around it as far as the eye could see, apart from more of the same desert Lena had been riding through for the last couple of hours as the sun rose. A glance at her fuel gauge told her she'd better stop, for at least long enough to fill up her bike's fuel tank. It was a rugged little bike that had been with her every since she'd crossed the Mexican border into the US three years before and was her only possession she couldn't carry, everything else was either in the duffel bag strapped behind her, or she was wearing it. Growing up as a bandit with no permanent place to call home tended to strip the idea of material possessions from a person.
Lena pulled a well worn state-map out of her back pocket and studied it while the attendant filled her bike with petrol. From what she could tell it wouldn't be much longer before she hit Las Vegas. She scowled at the map, still not entirely sure why she was going to the Tacky Capital of the world but she'd never been one to ignore her instincts and they were leading her straight there. She paid the attendant and left him covered in dust as she continued on up the road. Clear cruising like this was about the only thing that gave her some form of peace, apart from shapeshifting.
It was mid-afternoon by the time Lena arrived in the city. Her lip curled in disgust as she wove her nimble little bike in and out of the traffic. She'd forgotten just how noisy, dirty and smelly cities were, what made Las Vegas worse was the complete lack of taste, but there were a few tucked away quiet places, like the park she found herself in after buying several papers and a cool drink.
Finding a large shady tree she sat and flicked through the papers, ignoring everything except the classifieds for homes and jobs. She circled only a few of each, discarding most of them as too close to the inner suburbs for houses or needing a formal education for jobs. If none of the legitimate jobs panned out then she'd just hunt down some less-than-legitimate ones instead. Deciding a place to live would be easier to find with employment Lena memorised all she needed to know and got back on her bike.
Two hours and two dead-ends later Lena pulled into the car park of the casino which was nearest to the apartment she'd been thinking about and shut off her engine before making her way to the entrance. The direct approach will probably be best here if the last two places were anything to go by. It still irked her to be treated like a child, even though she should've been used to it by now, so she marched straight up to the nearest security guard, handed over her ID and said "I'm here about the job."
She glared at his face as he studied her and then her ID and mentally dared him to make a comment. He didn't take the dare, instead choosing to call a superior on his walkie-talkie. Then he smiled at her, for about two seconds which had to be some sort of record for a human. Luckily for him his superior arrived and invited Lena into his office for an interview. Lena guessed him to be in his 40's and quite well built and apparently powerful, for a human. Once inside his office she wordlessly handed over what official papers she had and let him study them.
"Now, Miss Lena-"
"Lena". She interrupted. "I am not a 'miss', a 'Mrs.' or a 'ms'. I am Lena." For some reason he seemed pleased about that. Strange man.
"Okay, Lena, according to your papers you were granted entry into the country and US citizenship three years ago?"
"Yes."
"I can't find any reference to a last name…?"
"I don't have one."
"Okay…" he sounded somewhat incredulous about that but continued anyway, "There's no reference to you education either…?"
"I don't have one." He blinked, still unable to meet her gaze.
"But you can read and write?"
"Yes." He blinked again, before asking "how?"
"I learned."
"So you are self-taught?"
"Yes."
The man, whose nametag read simply "Al" drummed his fingers on the table in thought as Lena wished she could cut his fingers off to stop the irritating gesture. He leaned forward and said "To be honest I don't really know what to ask you in order to determine if you're employable or not so why don't you tell me about yourself?"
Lena raised an eyebrow. I could tell you things that would have you running out of here screaming like a little human girl. She decided she'd better not though; it wouldn't be very good for her health. Just when Al thought she wasn't going to answer she began to speak in an emotionless monotone which would be creepy coming from Hannibal Lecter, much less a potentially very attractive young girl.
"My name is Lena. I was abandoned in the wild as a baby and raised by savages. I have no formal education. I taught myself how to fight, how to survive. I can read, write and speak in N'ahuatl, English and Spanish and can speak Russian and use sign-language also. Just after I entered this country I was given a license as a bounty hunter which is still current."
She paused long enough to pull out her license and place it on the table before continuing, "I am believed to be approximately 20 years of age and I can take my bike apart down to the last bolt and put it back together again."
Al waited a few moments more as he studied the intense young woman before him. Sturdy black boots, black leather jacket and open-fingered gloves, also black, blue jeans and tinted goggles sitting on her head suggested a practical personality. Her hair was beginning to escape the bun she'd put it in, which told him she cared little for trappings and looks. The tattoo he could see on her cheek suggested to him that she had a rebel's nature.
He also had the distinct impression she was leaving quite a bit out of her personal history, which, if true, was quite accomplished and she did not seem like the type to exaggerate. Rather he suspected she was downplaying her achievements. He glanced at her eyes again, this time caught in the mismatched gaze and unable to move, apart from the sudden and distinct urge to urinate. He decided then and there that whoever this girl was she made his nightmares seem like fun and his fears suddenly looked like euphoria. He somehow managed to curb his bladder reflex through sheer will alone. Suddenly Lena broke eye contact and Al felt he might survive the encounter after all.
Al felt a trickle of sweat trail down his spine before he finally broke the silence. "Well, uh, Lena. I'm willing to give you a job on a trial basis for a week. Do you have an apartment?"
"It's on my 'to-do' list." Al twitched at the emotionally lacking tone. Whatever had been done to this girl in the past had forced her to grow up rather more faster than most would, that's for sure.
"Uh. Well then, why don't we start in two days? You can come back tomorrow, say around 9, to get your uniform fitted and start the day after that. That'll give you enough time to find an apartment won't it? The actual job is only for three days a week-"
Lena gathered up her paperwork and shoved it all carelessly back into her well-travelled duffel bag as she interrupted him again. "It's fine." As she closed the door behind her Al, the head security guard for the entire casino, slumped against the table in relief as the intense presence Lena had faded into the distance. "What have I gotten myself into…?"
* Still leaning against the Acacia tree, Kero was nearly asleep. The peace and quiet of the desert did that to her. Sighing, she rubbed her eyes. She'd gotten what she'd wanted. Peace. A place away from all the troubles of the real world. Now it was time to go back to her apartment and reality. Peeling off her clothes, Kero pushed them tightly into the small pack. They'd be quite wrinkled, but thats what an iron was for. She would iron them when she got home. The cool desert air wind hit her naked body, giving her a slight chill. Kero sighed in pleasure.
If only she could live like this. She grabbed her canvas pack between her bare toes. Feeling better, Kero called up the image of the owl again. A few short seconds later, she ruffled her feathers, and took off. Back at her apartment in what Kero thought was too short a time, she flew in the window she always left open while flying. Her one and only friend in Las Vegas, perhaps even the world, Thea, a witch of Circle Daybreak, the good witches coven, had bespelled her apartment so that no one but Kero could enter without an invite, unless they knew the magic to remove the spell. Thea had warned her that if a powerful witch wanted in badly enough, she would be able to remove the spell with little to no trouble. Thea was not a very powerful witch.
Kero changed back to her human form, put on her sleeping gown, and removed the wrinkled clothes from the pack with the intent of ironing them before going to sleep. After ironing them, Kero went to her bed and quickly fell asleep. A loud ringing jerked Kero awake. Alarm clock...? No. It was only 4 in the morning. Too early to be going to work today. Phone. Where was it? Kero groped around by her nightstand for the phone.
"Hello?" she answered groggily.
"Kero? I'm sorry, I know you were probably asleep, but I just had to call you. There's something important you should know." It was Thea, her witch friend.
"What is it Thea? You know I need to be AWAKE for work tomorrow! I'm sure it could have waited until morning." Kero sighed. Thea was overly dramatic sometimes, and was likely exaggerating about whatever crazy reason she had called.
"Gran says shifters have been being killed around these parts. Its scary, Kero! I don't want you to get killed. She just learned from the council at Circle this evening. I tried calling earlier but you weren't home. She says they're vampires looking for the wild powers, since one is supposed to be a shifter and a shifter half-breed. They just kill any shifter they can find! Even werewolves!" Thea's hysterical voice sounded almost in tears.
Kero was shocked. Killing shifters? Vampires? Already?
"Thea, are you sure? Your Gran is quick to jump to almost any conclusion when it comes to vampires. You know she hates them almost as much as I do. I wouldn't put it past the bloodsuckers, but it seems awful early to be worrying about that. Calm down, Thea. I'll be fine. And so will you. Just watch yourself and I'll watch myself." Kero hung up the phone, ignoring Thea's protests.
She groaned and lay back against her pillow. Sometimes she wished she could just be human and not have to deal with all the terrifying things in the Night World. But then, that would mean giving up flight. It was too bad Thea wasn't in Circle Midnight. No, thats wrong. Thea didnt have the dark heart that was required to join that Circle. She was much to kind. 4 am. Kero pressed her fingers against her forehead. She rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep.
The casino didn't open until later in the day, since most people didn't get up at 9am to gamble. By the time Kero woke up again, it was well past 10am. She still had a couple hours until work started. The avian shifter didn't eat much, so her breakfast consisted of a bagel and cream cheese. She piddled around the apartment, watching shitty daytime television and cleaning. Apparently, Seinfeld was dating another woman with man hands and Roseanne made her son get a job. Kero was getting so tired of daytime television. She turned off the current annoying comedy show and dressed for work. Hoping today would be better than last night, she headed out the door and made for the elevator.
+ Lena left the casino via the employees' entrance into the garage. Before she walked through however her head whipped around as she glared at her surroundings. After a moment she relaxed (well…'relaxed' as in relatively) and continued on so she could collect her bike. For a moment there she could have sworn she'd caught the scent of another Night-Worlder, and a shapeshifter no less. Lena snarled menacingly at an oil stain on the concrete, the familiar feelings of rage crashing over her heart.
The fact that she was also a shapeshifter never entered into the equation, after all, she was only a lowly stinking part-blood. Contrary to what her mother's people had believed she had been aware of her surroundings as they'd debated over the future of her and her brother. He'd been aware too, and had hated them just as much as she had. Hell the two of them had been communicating in some unknown way before they had even been born. Lena decided not to dwell on his death, it only made her already shaky control over her emotions, and thus her magic, rather fragile indeed.
She leaned against her bike for the moment pulling out the pages she'd ripped from the paper with advertisements for apartments on it and studied the ones she'd singled out. There was one that was actually quite close to here, on the outskirts of the city naturally. Lena pulled out her already-much-battered Las Vegas street map and compared it to her mental deductions. She almost had the whole thing memorised and was pleased to see she'd been right. This building was near enough that she could run to work and back and it would actually be a reasonable workout. She folded up the pages and kicked her bike into life before slipping her goggles back over her eyes. If she could get this apartment straight away it would make this day almost good.
The stupid human who owned the apartment building was getting on her nerves already and she'd only known him for about five minutes. The traditional elevator music wasn't helping her mood either. If she lived here she'd probably take the stairs just to avoid the damn music. The manager continued babbling and Lena continued ignoring his babbling which was irritating her and her increasing irritation caused him to babble even more. It truly was a vicious cycle and she started to unconsciously growl in the back of her throat, gripping the strap of her bag so tight her knuckles turned white in an effort to keep herself from brutally murdering the man.
Luckily for him the elevator dinged, announcing their arrival on the floor with the apartment he wanted to show her. It had turned out that he'd actually two apartments for rent, with the other one three stories below their current floor, but he'd refrained from showing her that one for some reason. He lead the way down the hall, still babbling, though not as quickly, to unlock a door, not noticing that Lena's forceful stride had broken as she'd passed a door, three doors away from the open one the manager was now standing in front of.
It was the scent of the occupant of that apartment which had caused Lena's falter. Somehow she managed to keep her scowl from becoming even fiercer as her anger increased dramatically. There was no way to mistake the scent of another shifter. In her rage Lena didn't even bother working out what kind of shifter it was and barely glanced at the apartment, merely going through the motions before forcing the manager into eye contact with her.
"Show me the other apartment." He started trying to talk her out of it, citing nefarious neighbours who he couldn't get rid of, only to stammer to a halt as Lena's scowl darkened further, something he had been sure wasn't even possible.
"I said 'show me the other apartment' bone-bag." Something in the way she growled the words at him convinced him to let her have her way. He did notice that she scowled dangerously at the apartment of a lovely, shy young woman…what was her name? Oh yes, Kerowyn. He wondered if they knew each other, then decided that they probably didn't and then turned to wondering why this girl…Lena, had reacted so negatively to Kerowyn's apartment. Perhaps he'd better warn Kerowyn about this girl.
Lena seemed dangerous. Perhaps even more so than the gangsters who she'd be sharing her floor with. Luckily for him his musings over Lena's reaction to Kerowyn's apartment door had ceased his babbling and decreased Lena's irritation with him. Lena still paid no attention to him, only thankful that his incessant noise had stopped. Three floors down and the elevator dinged again drawing Lena's attention to the manager's sudden change in attitude. Whoever lived on this floor, he was afraid of them.
Discreetly Lena sampled the scents in the corridor as the manager led her to the corner apartment at the end. No shapeshifters on this floor, but a pins-and-needles sensation indicated at least one witch. Well, no place was perfect and she'd have to deal with other members of the Night World sooner or later she supposed. Barely glancing around the apartment she decided she'd had enough of house-hunting. At least the prospect of violent neighbours made her imminent future interesting.
Damn, the man was babbling again. Didn't he ever stop? Lena dropped her bag on the kitchen counter and reached in pulling out a wad of cash and counting off two months worth of rent before turning back to the manager and interrupting him in full flow by handing him the rent and saying "this will do. Now get out."
The manager, standing dumbly with the cash in hand spluttered and actually managed to get out "but you don't understand, the men who live on this floor, they're thugs! Gangsters! I couldn't in good conscience-" he cut himself off as Lena simply gave him a toothy grin that was anything but friendly and realised that perhaps it was the thugs who should be wary of the girl, no, woman. He scuttled out of the apartment, praying that he didn't have anything to do with the creepy young girl anymore. Unless she was having a really, really good day.
* Kero rode the elevator down to the main floor. A sharp, acrid smell assaulted her sensitive shifter nostrils. There was another shifter in the apartment. And it wasn't too far from Kero. The elevator stopped at the third floor. A blonde, male witch entered without saying a word to her. Kero smiled at him nervously. He was one of Circle Midnight. The dark circle she needed to contact. But she would prefer someone who looked less sinister, and was hoping Thea could get a hold of her cousin, who was in Circle Midnight. The witch raised an eyebrow at Kero's strange attitude. He'd seen the shy little bird around before, but never this close up.
The whole building was getting flooded with Night People lately. Luckily for him, he didn't live here and was only visiting his brother, who seemed to want to live in this hole in the wall place for some inexplicable reason. The witch chuckled lightly to himself. He liked shifters, and his former girlfriend had been one, but this shy little bird didnt seem like she would survive for a minute in the Night World's reality. Kero had herself pressed up against the back wall of the elevator as far away as she could get from the blonde witch when it stopped and dinged.
Kero and the witch parted ways as the doors opened. She glanced over her shoulder, hoping she wouldn't have to share an elevator with the handsome blonde witch again, even though he hadn't done anything to her. Kero sincerely hoped the other shifter in the building was nice. She didn't know if she could deal with dark witches and an evil shifter in the same building. Her nerves would be shot before she even made it to work.
Jerking in shock and pleasure as she left the building, she saw Thea waiting for her with a car. Kero normally drove herself. She would fly, but her work clothes and nametag were hard to carry, and would look strange in the talons of a hawk. Hawks were native to the area, but most didn't carry around bags of clothing.
"Kerochi! Over here! Thea's taking you to work today!" The bouncy, pretty, blonde woman practically sparkled in the Nevada sunlight. Kero wanted to slap her friend sometimes. What was a Kerochi? And why did Thea insist on calling her that sometimes? Kero groaned, but got in Thea's car anyway.
"Why are driving me to work? I can drive myself you know. I'm not a china doll, and I am not helpless!" Kero was yelling at Thea, who was not paying attention apparently.
"Hey, Kero, who's the hottie?" Thea pointed to the blonde witch Kero had shared an elevator with.
"I don't know. Some guy I was in the elevator with. Who cares. Lets just go, or I'm going to be late," Kero said.
Thea heaved a dramatic sigh and started the engine. The casino where Kero worked was close, but Thea tended to waste time on useless shit.
"Thea, have you had any luck getting into contact with Sarantia? I can't stand it anymore. I need to break the barrier of my shifting." Thea shook her head. "She's been too heavy into the Wild Power search. She said she'd call back as soon as she can. She really does seem interested, Kerochi. She's never had a shifter with an interest in changing into prehistoric critters."
Only Thea would refer to ancient, powerful, birds as critters.
"Look, Thea, I'll pay her whatever she wants. I've only been using the casino money to pay rent. Everything else goes into savings so I can pay the witch who can unlock all my forms for me." Thea smiled, "Oh, honey, I know that. If she'd let up on the Wild Power search, she'd probably do it for free once she knows your reasons. She hates bloodsuckers too. I think all witches do."
The car pulled into the parking lot of the casino. Kero hopped out as soon as the car came to a complete stop. "Thanks, Thea. Really. I'll talk to you later." Kero made her way into work. How was it that people managed to afford to gamble from noon til midnight? She passed by Al, head security guard, on her way in. Al was friendly, in an intimidating sort of way.
Kero liked him a lot. He made her feel safe. Even though she could likely snap his arm with ease. Avian shifter or not, she was still stronger than most humans. Al had a funny look on his face today. A spooked look. Kero wondered what could have done that to this large, potentially frightening man. She decided it would be better not to ask. The strong, heavy scent of smoke and alcohol filled her nostrils as she entered the main room of the casino. She clocked in, and headed to her usual table. The early gamblers smiled at her, recognizing one of their favorite dealers. The table wasn't open until Kero got there, but the loyal men had apparently been waiting for her. She picked up a deck of cards and started dealing.
+ Lena's first day of her new job was pretty quiet. Humans and Night Worlders alike seemed to know better than to make trouble with her watching over them. Even some of the other casino employees who were Night Worlders kept their distance from her. One in particular looked as though she thought Lena was going to eat her or something.
I know avians are skittish but isn't that taking it a little too far? Lena dodged and weaved through pedestrian and vehicular traffic alike with practised ease, not even bothering to slow down for the humans. Their senses were so dull that most of them didn't even register her passing. At least the guards' uniform was okay, just a standard black suit and tie with a white dress shirt.
Lena had simply glowered at her tie and left the top couple of buttons on her shirt open, the hell if SHE was going to willingly put a noose around her own neck! They even let her wear her own boots and no one commented when she forgot to remove her gloves…and for some reason they told her to wear dark sunglasses. Weird, it's not like I need any help to intimidate people. All in all it wasn't too bad a day.
There were a couple of creepy leeches who'd been eyeing her off though, but the bloody bloodsuckers had always done that. Lena figured they didn't often see shifter part-bloods. She didn't either.
It wasn't until after she ran straight past the door to her building that she realised she was being followed. Running past had been an automatic instinctual reaction but now she was just pissed she hadn't noticed sooner. Whoever it was, they knew what they were doing, though not quite well enough that something hadn't twigged with her senses. Lena ducked into a deserted alleyway a couple of blocks on and stopped midway. It wasn't human.
Nothing with human blood, not even a half-human, could follow her like that and with her sensitivity to magic and witches it wasn't a witch, or any part-blood thereof. That left shifters or vampires. Both were practically impossible for her to trace when she was on the defensive like this. Personally she'd prefer a territorial shifter. They at least could be talked to and a treaty agreed on. A vampire on the other hand…Where was it…above?
No. It was still behind her. She glared over one shoulder. "Are you done playing hide-and-go-seek yet?"
The reply was far from what she'd been expecting. The muzzle flash was the only warning she got as the silenced gun was fired at her. Only her reflexes saved her from being shot in the head, and it was just as well she realised as a burning sensation spread through her right shoulder. Silver bullets!?
She wasn't given a chance to regroup before her assailant attacked again.
Lena nearly blacked out from the pain in her shoulder as the giant, from her view, rushed her and lifted her by the neck, slamming her back into the wall so hard Lena felt something crack and causing her to cough. The coppery tang of blood filled her mouth as her left hand desperately tried to prise the vampire's hand off of her neck. Her right arm was useless because of the bullet wound and she could feel the blood trickling down her arm, hear it dripping onto the pavement below…
In desperation her hand turned into a giant clawed paw as she began to tear flesh from the vampire's hand. It had to be a vamp. Shifters almost universally scorned and avoided using silver weapons, even when hunting their own. Besides, she could see his fangs in his handsome grinning face as her struggles got weaker. Finally her hand lost her partial shift as she began to loose consciousness from blood loss and asphyxiation. His grin widened as her hand dropped to her side once more and her eyes dulled. He leaned in, finally speaking, "yes, yes! Die little kitten! Die and allow me to take your power!"
Lena's attack was so fast not even the vampire saw it coming. The dead expression on her face didn't change one little bit as she used her bowie knife, pulled from a sheath strapped to her back, to cut off his arm. The vampire staggered back a couple of steps, stunned. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen! Shapeshifters were almost as bad as cockroaches! Before he could begin another counterattack though Lena was already following through with her own attack.
The vampire made a strange little 'oof' sound as the much smaller girl launched herself at him, thrusting her knife deep into his chest, just missing his heart. In one smooth motion she ripped the blade up, through his chest and neck to his head, effectively cutting his upper body in two while turning her back to him at the same time, on alert for a sneak attack. There wasn't one.
Lena came back to her senses as the vampire's hand clawed at her ankle. She looked back, seeing him healing himself and weakly cursed for having missed his heart. The damned bloodsucker was regenerating himself. Tightening her grip on the knife Lena quickly swooped down and turned his head into a removable accessory. As the vampire's body twitched and then turned into grave mould Lena started breathing again, almost hyperventilating. That damn bullet was killing her!
Steeling her resolve she brought the knife up to her shoulder and used it to dig out the bullet, almost crying out in pain. She watched with detached interest as the bullet fell to the ground, her blood staining the silver black in the darkness. Carefully she transferred her knife into her right hand and used her uninjured left to press on her shoulder wound. Shit. I'm loosing too much blood… Lena began to weave her way back towards the lights of the street proper, occasionally bumping into the walls of the alley as she lost her balance.
The edge of her vision was getting dark now. Just a bit further…damn…I'm going to have to rely on these…these weaklings! I. Hate. This!
As she staggered out onto the street Lena startled several people around her, the two closest girls screamed as she emerged into the light, covered with blood and holding a huge knife in her hand. The screams died however as she used up her last reserves of strength and fell slowly to the footpath. Her last thoughts as she fell into unconsciousness railed at her parentage.
Why couldn't my father have been something useful, like a healer?!
Las Vegas has really hit a new low tonight. Detective Moore glanced around the scene. The ambulance had left several minutes ago, heading for the hospital. From what he'd seen the kid in the back couldn't've been much more than 13 or 14, yet…according to the eyewitnesses she'd been holding a bowie knife that was easily as long as her own forearm. He looked back down into the alleyway were forensics were scurrying about, photographing everything, taking samples of the blood splattered about. The blood…clearly there was blood from more than one person down there. There was simply too much to have all come from that one little girl. A thought struck him and he turned to his deputy.
"Hey, Kimmy!" the younger girl turned, scowling at the ridiculous nickname she couldn't get her boss to drop.
"Yes, sir?"
"Put out a bulletin to all the hospitals in Las Vegas about anyone coming in with vaguely suspicious wounds, especially knife wounds. This may be the chance we needed to get this guy!" To his face Kimmy made a polite, 'yes, sir', but as soon as he turned she made a face at him. Idiot, she'd done that as soon as she'd found out there were two vastly different weapons involved.
"Once you've done that, bring the car around. We need to get to the hospital that girl was taken to."
Detective Moore looked up as his old friend entered the office he'd been given to use in the hospital while he waited on word from surgery about the girl. He smiled, to someone who didn't know him Al looked calm, but Richard could tell that Al was actually nervous and wondering what the hell he was doing, being called out to a hospital, by a cop, late at night. Once the pleasantries had been exchanged Richard slipped an ID card across the table for Al to examine.
He looked at it for barely three seconds before, "This is about Lena?"
"You know her then?"
"Yes, I hired her two days ago for a security position at the casino. Today was her first day at work. What is this about?"
Richard glanced away. "Her first day at work huh? It may also be her last day."
"What do you mean Richard? Stop beating around the bushes, I know you well enough that I can see you're avoiding something."
Al watched in silence as Richard thought. Eventually the other man sighed, and began. "You've heard the rumours of a serial killer being on the loose in Vegas?" at Al's nod he continued, "Well…it's possible that your new girl…encountered him earlier tonight."
"…What?" Richard looked up at his old friend's whisper. He was pale and beginning to shake. No doubt blaming himself for this unfortunate turn of events. Richard took pity on him. Guy always was too nice for his own good. "She was still alive, though barely, last time I heard. They took her into surgery a few hours ago."
"Actually…" both men turned at the voice of a newcomer. "We finished surgery about half an hour ago. She should be out of Recovery and going into a room by now." The newcomer smiled. He was quite handsome, in a dark kind of way with tanned skin, dark brown hair and puppy-dog brown eyes. He was also still wearing a surgery gown, splattered with blood.
"She's very lucky. The bullet didn't damage anything too seriously, but she was beaten, and some of her ribs cracked, one was broken and had actually punctured one of her lungs. Overall though we are…cautiously optimistic. Providing nothing goes wrong she should make a full recovery."
Al slumped over onto the desk, leaning his head on the cool surface with a muttered "Thank God."
Richard, however, was up and herding the exhausted doctor out of the room, demanding to be shown the victim's room. For lack of anything better to do Al followed them out with Kim bringing up the rear, notebook and pen in hand.
When they got to her room though the young doctor baulked, refusing to administer anything to bring Lena around faster. Richard was a master persuader though and eventually won the argument which Kim and Al had not even been paying attention to. The doctor eventually caved in though.
"All right, I'll bring her around, but only ONCE. And if I think it's becoming too much for her you're leaving. Understand? There's no guarantee that she'll say anything intelligent at this point anyway. The drugs almost always scramble people's brains."
This last-ditch effort to change Richard's mind was in vain and he reluctantly administered the drug through Lena's IV. While they waited for it to work they observed her. She was lying in the hospital bed in a slightly upright position, her long silky hair covering the left side of the pillow, away from the bandages on the right side of her upper body. The short-sleeved hospital gown revealed much of her tattoo while the oxygen mask on her face obscured some of her features she was still clearly a very pretty girl. Especially with her suspicious, hate-filled eyes closed.
Al couldn't believe that she could look so serene, so peaceful, and so…so…innocent.
Richard only fervently hoped that she had seen her attacker's face, and that she'd injured him well enough that he'd gone to another hospital and would soon be caught.
Kim simply said the first thing that came to mind. "That, is the coolest, most awesome tattoo I have ever seen." No one could argue with that.
After several minutes her eyes slowly blinked open, sleepily wandering around the room, never settling on one face or object for more than a few seconds at a time. The doctor quietly breathed a sigh of relief; she wasn't going to make sense. Hopefully she didn't say anything too incriminating.
"Lena, my name is Detective Moore; can you understand what I'm saying?" Lena's unfocused eyes settled on the speaker and after a moment she spoke, her voice so quiet and weak everyone had to lean in closer to hear her.
"¡Estás en vuestra casa!" The men glanced at each other, confused.
The doctor merely shrugged and said; "I did warn you she might not make sense."
Surprisingly it was Kim who was able to translate what she'd said. "Spanish. She's speaking in Spanish." The menfolk looked at Kim as Al remembered Lena telling him she could speak the language.
"Well, what did she say?!" Richard looked about ready to shake the answer out of Kim if need be.
"Well…she…she said…'make yourself at home'."
"Okay…" Richard decided to try again. "Lena, you are in hospital. Do you remember being attacked by someone this evening?"
"No tengo hermano."
"It means, 'I do not have a brother'." Kim supplied.
Richard scratched his head and pulled out an evidence bag from his satchel. It contained the gun that had apparently been used to shoot her with. "Do you recognise this?"
"Soy muy malo en la fisica."
The doctor noticed her strength appeared to be waning as Kim supplied the latest translation. "She said; 'I am very bad at Physics'."
"One more question detective, then you must let her rest."
Richard scowled, hating that the young doctor was right. What made it worse was that the kid was talking gibberish and in another language no less! He tried again. This time producing the evidence bag with her own bowie knife in it.
"What about this knife? It appears to be yours."
"Mi aerodeslizador está lleno de anguilas." Lena's voice slowly faded as she spoke, and she looked as though she had fallen back into unconsciousness when she finished. Everyone looked at Kim strangely as she burst out laughing. Eventually, between giggles, she managed to translate.
"'My hovercraft…is full of…eels'!"
Richard swore. This had gone nowhere! And the guy who did it was potentially still on the streets! If he didn't hurry up and get a good lead then those Special Investigations guys would take over. Again! He turned to his still-giggling deputy "Kimmy! You will stay here and wait for the girl to wake up properly. When she does send for me and question her further while I'm coming. Then-"
"That won't be necessary Detective." Richard nearly screamed in frustration. Talk about 'speaking of the Devil'. He turned and saw the last person he wanted to see. A tall, handsome blond man stood in the doorway.
"You! Halliwell! How did you even find out…?"
The blond man shrugged and smiled. "We of SI have our ways. Do be a good fellow and hand over those evidence bags. After all you were taken off of this case as of ten minutes ago."
The two witches waited until all of the humans had gone before closing the door to Lena's room and conversing in low tones.
"Brother! I'm glad you came but what took you so long? I'm just glad she didn't say anything to get us all in trouble with the council!"
"Sorry, bro. I trusted you to handle this end of things, and I had to secure the site first. It all worked out okay."
"Vam…pire." The two brothers looked at each other before looking at the bed. Lena coughed slightly and tried again, too weak to even open her eyes after her little 'delirious' performance.
"Vampire…attacked…killed him." By this time the brothers were hovering over her bed, straining to catch every whispered word.
"Did you know this vampire?"
"…Nyet. A picture…recognise…random…attack…" the gaps between her words were getting longer. The younger brother was about to pull his sibling away when she spoke again, barely heard over the silence of the room. "Wanted…power…said…my power…his…after…death…"
They waited a while longer, but it soon became apparent that she really was sleeping this time and quietly left the room.
"'Power' she said. The vampires are after power? What kind" Chris watched as his brother paced his office like some sort of caged animal. "Does she even have any power, besides what allows shifters to change shape?" Chris knew this last question was directed at him.
"I'm not sure." He grimaced as his brother looked at him, confused. "I tried to get a reading from her but it was pretty confused. It might have been the drugs, or she's a part-blood of some kind. What fraction I don't know."
Wyatt bit his lip, thinking. "Could the blood loss have interfered?"
Chris shook his head. "No. That should have made it easier to read her."
"Well. I guess all we can do now is protect her and wait for her to wake up…do…do you think she might be…one of them?"
Chris lowered his eyes. "That thought…did cross my mind. I figured it may be another factor which would make my reading of her…clouded. But I've never come across one of…them before so I couldn't say."
Thea waited desperately as her friend's phone rang…and rang…and rang…each ring making the excitable witch more and more nervous. By the time the answering machine cut in she was hysterical, almost yelling at the machine.
"KEROCHI! Sarantia called and said there's been another shifter attack! It was only three blocks from your apartment! You HAVE to CALL ME! No one knows ANYTHING! Be alright! PLEASE don't be hurt!" She continued babbling for several minutes until the machine cut her off.
* Kero's day at the card tables had gone as usual, though she'd almost had a run in with a scary looking shifter. Kero had turned and quickly walked the other direction. The avian wasn't too keen on being some big dog or cat's lunch that day. She was walking to her car when she noticed she had 17 voice mail messages. Who the fuck...? She dialed voice mail, and Thea's hysterical, high pitched voice came out of the speaker.
Apparently, there had been more shifter attacks and Thea was pitching a fit, thinking Kero was dead. Thea had tried calling her home first, not realizing the avian shifter was still at work. Thea was awful at time-keeping. According to voice mail number 12, Kero was in the hospital and dead and Thea was going to round up the entire Witches Council to find her murderer.
By 14, Kero got tired of listening to her hysterics and dialed her cell number. "Thea! Where the hell are you? You were supposed to pick me up from work, or did you forget that too?" Kero had gotten Thea's voice mail this time. Thea was probably in the midst of calling Kero again. After a few seconds, Thea picked up.
"KEROWYN! Ohmagawd, you're okay! And shit! I forgot you were at work. And that I was supposed to pick you up. I'm soooo sorry I'll be there as soon as I can don't go anywhere!"
Thea's high pitched voice came out as one long string of word salad, at least to Kero's ears. Thea immediately hung up after spouting apologies and gibberish. Kero already had a headache. Or would have, if shifters could get headaches easily. She leaned against a nearby tree and closed her eyes. It was dark out now.
Leeches would likely be out and about now that their powers were at full strength. Kero hoped Thea got here quickly. She didn't fancy running for her life tonight. She had merely to shift into hawk form and fly as high as she could get to get away from leeches and most other shifters, but it was still a frightening experience. A crunching sound caught her attention. Thea pulled into the parking lot.
She flung her door open and ran to Kero and wrapped her in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're alright. The attack happened so close to here that I was worried. Come on. You're coming home with me tonight. That way Gran can keep an eye on you. She's one of the most powerful witches on the Council, and the most powerful in Circle Daybreak. She would be the most powerful all around, but that Halliwell bitch of Midnight has that title."
Thea was still talking about random stuff out of nerves, Kero figured. They weren't supposed to talk about Night World things in public place. And no way Kero was going home with Thea. She couldn't put up with that all night. She gently pried Thea's arms from around her waist. "I'm fine, Thea. I'll be fine. No one is going to attack me.
Why would they? There's nothing special about me at all and I can escape easily. They'd be better off going for someone who can't fly. Now take me home, please Thea. I need to shower and relax."
Kero turned away from Thea and got in the passenger side of her car. Thea nodded mutely, obviously thinking, or trying to. Kero closed her eyes, turned around, and pressed her face into the seat, not worrying about a seat belt. A car crash wouldn't kill her. As for Thea...well, Kero wasn't feeling too kindly toward her right now.
Blackness sank around her. Kero jerked awake. She must have fallen asleep. Thea was shaking her. "Come on sleepy head. Get out. You can sleep inside."
"Thea...you didn't. TAKE ME HOME!" Kero shouted at Thea. The stupid witch had taken her to her own home, which was located above a "Art Supplies" shop, which was really a shop for witches. If you were a Night Person, you went in the back door and showed them your ring. A black Dahlia was the symbol for witches. Shifter symbols varied by species. Avian shifters' symbols were lilacs. Kero wore hers around her neck on a pendant. No one thought anything odd about a girl with a flower pendant.
Thea was giggling and shaking her head. "You're not going home. With Gran here, you're safe. So come on. Stop being stubborn." She pushed Kero out of the car. The girl hit the ground with a light thud.
Being sleepy made her lose all her shifter grace. I guess I have no choice. Thea won't take no for an answer. And at least I can sleep peacefully here, not in the same building as that other shifter and the wicked witch man. Kero dusted herself off and went into Elsepth Harman's Art Supplies. A very old woman greeted them at the steps leading to the living area.
She radiated power and vitality, despite the fact that she had to be over 80 years old. Elspeth Harman. Second most powerful witch in the world and leader of the Circle Daybreak coven. Not to mention a member of the Night World council. Called lovingly by Thea, Gran or Granny. She was also a gifted healer. Her balms and salves could soothe even the most dire of wounds. Kero had had her arm almost ripped off one night after getting caught out by a wolf shifter, and Gran Harman had healed it so there wasn't even a scratch.
She wouldn't admit it to Thea, but she felt very safe here. Only the Halliwell witch could penetrate Elspeth's wards, and, though she was a nasty bitch, she really had no reason to attack Grandma Harman. Kero let out a relieved sigh and followed the old witch upstairs.