New moon was always painful. There was something about the darkness; as
suffocating as being trapped in a closet, yet left you so exposed and
vulnerable to everything that a closet would almost seem a welcome
exchange. And though the moon had already begun it's rebirth; in the
darkness, in the shadows, where night creatures lurked behind every corner,
and a shadow could just as easily be one of...them, ready to pounce as soon
as you got too close: she couldn't have chosen a worse place to be.
"Rabbits hunting Hunters.."
Here the lights were blinding bright- neon signs and car headlights lit up the sky for miles around; screeching, honking, nasty cab drivers spitting up foul angry words, and the pounding of a thousand feet walking the cold streets. This was Boston. This was night life. Theatre District Boston. Avril looked around at her company. Gabrielle: calm and lax, blending in to the city life like a tiger to the jungle. Pasque: careful, calculating, but just as confident and fearless. And she couldn't help but think what fools the both of them had to be. Naive, proud- too proud to remember their own mortality. Too proud to remember-to know? That the creatures they faced were decades, centuries older- and there was more than just experience and the wisdom of ages on their side.
"Why am I here? They know me, they know me!! Run... I should run..."
Pasque motioned for the group to follow along quietly, as she slank with cat's grace and cunning into the shadows of the alley. The space was suffocating; sandwiching the group and forcing them to go in single file. Putrid alley smells abound; rotting trash, cigarette smoke mixing with monoxide gas from car exaust, and something...
something...
like the rotting but not quite. Bitter, foul, but oh, so very discreet. Gabrielle suddenly shot his arms out to the walls. "I... I tripped," he stated, and Pasque just shook her head.
"What!?! The floor's wet, it's slippery! It is!" he protested. Avril got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, and hesitantly looked down, straining to make out forms in the alley's own endless night. Dark, opaque liquid blanketed the ground, and a certain... vaguely... familiar shape...
"Look," said Avril, pointing, shaking, her voice as soft as a whisper.
Pasque and Gabrielle immedietly directed their attention to the disfigured shape on the ground: the remnants of a human being.
Gabrielle stared in a horrified fascination. "Oh my God..."
Pasque observed the shape quietly for a moment, searching, studying. "We're on the right track. Let's go."
*****
In another part of the city, a young man with white blonde hair and crystal blue eyes was only two steps behind, waiting in the shadows.
"Damn!!"
Christiaan brought his fist crashing down upon the sturdy, brick walls of the Red Rose Garden and Herb shop. He'd managed well enough for four and a half years, but now...now that he was so close, every minute seemed to last an eternity- though in reality, time was short: if his esteemed coworkers discovered he was neglecting his duties to track down a mere girl-and an Orphan mage at that- well, there'd be hell to pay. And though at the moment, Satan was on his side, he wasn't really all that eager to find out what'd happen to have every lowlife, hunter, and magus for miles out for his blood.
Someone coming.
What the hell, he'd gone far enough. Christiaan decided to leave a little parting gift- and announce his presence formally in the city.
Here the lights were blinding bright- neon signs and car headlights lit up the sky for miles around; screeching, honking, nasty cab drivers spitting up foul angry words, and the pounding of a thousand feet walking the cold streets. This was Boston. This was night life. Theatre District Boston. Avril looked around at her company. Gabrielle: calm and lax, blending in to the city life like a tiger to the jungle. Pasque: careful, calculating, but just as confident and fearless. And she couldn't help but think what fools the both of them had to be. Naive, proud- too proud to remember their own mortality. Too proud to remember-to know? That the creatures they faced were decades, centuries older- and there was more than just experience and the wisdom of ages on their side.
"Why am I here? They know me, they know me!! Run... I should run..."
Pasque motioned for the group to follow along quietly, as she slank with cat's grace and cunning into the shadows of the alley. The space was suffocating; sandwiching the group and forcing them to go in single file. Putrid alley smells abound; rotting trash, cigarette smoke mixing with monoxide gas from car exaust, and something...
something...
like the rotting but not quite. Bitter, foul, but oh, so very discreet. Gabrielle suddenly shot his arms out to the walls. "I... I tripped," he stated, and Pasque just shook her head.
"What!?! The floor's wet, it's slippery! It is!" he protested. Avril got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, and hesitantly looked down, straining to make out forms in the alley's own endless night. Dark, opaque liquid blanketed the ground, and a certain... vaguely... familiar shape...
"Look," said Avril, pointing, shaking, her voice as soft as a whisper.
Pasque and Gabrielle immedietly directed their attention to the disfigured shape on the ground: the remnants of a human being.
Gabrielle stared in a horrified fascination. "Oh my God..."
Pasque observed the shape quietly for a moment, searching, studying. "We're on the right track. Let's go."
*****
In another part of the city, a young man with white blonde hair and crystal blue eyes was only two steps behind, waiting in the shadows.
"Damn!!"
Christiaan brought his fist crashing down upon the sturdy, brick walls of the Red Rose Garden and Herb shop. He'd managed well enough for four and a half years, but now...now that he was so close, every minute seemed to last an eternity- though in reality, time was short: if his esteemed coworkers discovered he was neglecting his duties to track down a mere girl-and an Orphan mage at that- well, there'd be hell to pay. And though at the moment, Satan was on his side, he wasn't really all that eager to find out what'd happen to have every lowlife, hunter, and magus for miles out for his blood.
Someone coming.
What the hell, he'd gone far enough. Christiaan decided to leave a little parting gift- and announce his presence formally in the city.