Spooky Action at a Distance

Depression. A state of unhappiness and persistent feelings of hopelessness. With little energy, insomnia and suicidal thoughts. Days blend into nights; nights blend into days. Questions about one's purpose rage rampantly through the mind. Answers to the how's and why's do not come. Spirits are darkened and listlessness ensues.

Alesandra sat at her drawing desk trying to occupy herself with a fresh sketch pad and charcoal pencil. The lines were just that - lines - scribbled with no definition or purpose. She glanced outside her window into the night sky. The moon was up in full glory outside her Gloucester home. Maybe a walk through the now resting garden would help. This simple activity used to give her such peace. But tonight, it would not. The painful memories of recent events left her reeling in emotional agony causing her to question her purpose in this life.

Going back inside, her mind flooded with recollections that nearly drove her to tears. She was an unusual creature - part human, part animal - with further enhancements made through the miracle of science. Her mutation should have been embraced as something beautiful - a leap forward in evolution. However, those with warfare on their minds decided she was one to be molded into a weapon. The Super Soldier Project produced the likes of the Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man. Now, Mutants were becoming more and more prevalent in society and her animal like senses were perfect to use, no different than the one called Wolverine. What was natural within her was added to - her DNA entwined and assimilated additions of bird, deer, and an ancient feline twisting her into a walking concoction of wild beasts in her one body. Death followed her no thanks to those who tried to put a bridle upon the beast - to bend her to their ways. When she thought herself completely lost, an unlikely friendship lead to a love affair with a prince from another world. However, betrayal would release her animal side into an untamed rage and it was by his own hand that death would take her.

However, it was another who saw fit to save her - to revive her back to this life. And it should have been a blessing. Yet, tonight she fell into that abyss of dark thoughts - the loss of the one she freely gave her heart to, the loss of her freedom, and an inability to determine what her purpose in life was. For a long time, she got by realizing the ultimate revenge was her surviving despite all the odds that had been stacked against her. She refused to give up on the hope of the world changing. Glimmers of change were beginning to shine despite how low she sank tonight.

She closed her eyes as tears welled up in her eyes. Her mind drifted to the dark-haired handsome prince of Asgard. His tall frame arched over her as he shoved the blade into her side ending her life. She had wanted to die and she wanted him to be the one to end it for it was his actions that brought them to that juncture. Alex pained for the choices he made - choices she had thought she steered him away from by offering a gentle hand and unexpectedly - her heart. And when Tony expressed his sorrow for her loss, having shared news that a great war on Asgard destroyed that world, and her dark-haired prince, the woman within spiraled down into a deep depression.

Alex took herself for a walk, down one of the main streets to the boardwalk by the water. She sat on the bench overlooking the tide as it ebbed and flowed in gentle rhythm on the sands of the beach. Her mind dwelled on her prince who had left her alone and the news of his death, and of all of Asgard, traumatized the woman while causing the animal to retreat deep into the shadows. How was she to go on when the love of her life was gone? She felt alone despite the few and close friends who did their best to help her. But life right now was not in any way satisfying.

Alesandra didn't allow men into her heart all that easily and now she had to find a way to undo the bond she felt with the Asgardian prince because it was her only way to survive the tragedy. However, the question nagged her - why bother when she was still a feared beast targeted for execution? Tony demanded SHEILD leave her alone, but the organization never really listened to him. She held too many secrets and too many possibilities to be left alone to live out her life. And on account of it all, she fought a battle each day just trying to find a way from morning to night.

There were days she let her artist or scientist work again busying her mind with more learning and experimenting and creativity. Sometimes all she cared to do was occupy herself in the garden weeding and tending to her small crop that kept her fed so she didn't have to go into town all that often. Other days, she was paralyzed with the memories that would weigh down her mind and soul. It was a daily rat race - one day into the next. Hope was all she had to keep her going. Hope that things would get better one day. The logical scientist whispered that to her every day. And every day, the demons danced asking her to end it all for she was a target - a hunted animal - and had no good purpose after what had been done to her.

The small house on the large open space property seated outside of Gloucester main provided her with enough seclusion to keep her safe and away from people. And yet, she was close enough to town for supplies and the salty air of the ocean. Sometimes she would wander to the docks at night to watch the fishermen haul in their catch or just seek solace in the peaceful tranquility of watching the tides come in.

The sun was rising and Alex returned home after her animal side had pushed the human emotions back. Another night with no sleep. Sitting down at her drafting table, she snuffed away the tears and picked up her charcoal pencil again. Her hand glided over a new page but nothing was forming from the lines that were being laid down. The tears again clouded her vision as she pushed aside her sketch pad out of sheer frustration. Grabbing a sheet of lined paper, Alex began penning words of how she felt utterly lost and of the intense sadness. She would leave it all in a letter for Tony, her only true friend and protector. The words forming on the fibers of the paper described her feelings of loss, anger, and depression - a final testament to the pain that she could no longer live with.

After she finished, Alex grew angry that she had allowed herself to sink this low. She crumpled the paper and tossed it into the trash can next to her desk, rapped her fists against the tabletop, and screamed her wrath with herself, with the world, with people and their blindness towards all the good life offered. How could she allow herself to sink so low when she had survived so much? Where was Hope now? Where was her courage? Where was her inner animal that protected her and kept her from her human emotions? She needed to find that part of herself again - to survive.

In the little hidden apartment in Bilal's restaurant, Adam was restless all day tossing and turning and unable to quiet his mind enough to catch some shut eye. The sun had risen and there was no way he could even go for a walk outside while Eve slept. Nothing appealed to Adam as his thoughts ran around the recent events that caused such upset in their lives. Vampires were a unique species of human - wild, feral - perhaps at times more animal than human especially when they succumbed to the need of feeding on wild caught prey. And despite these differences, they were highly socialized, cultured, and intelligent. They loved through deep pair-bonding - like wolves that mated for life. Even when they were miles apart, he and Eve were connected. One could describe these creatures of legend as perhaps a different line of human evolution - a combination of human and animal - and despite their strength, they now faced extinction because of Man's follies.

He sat up watching Eve sleep. She was so silent and still other than the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed steadily. His mind filled with a torrent of ill thoughts as he began to dwell on having to watch her slowly melt away. Adam had no idea how he would go on living once his Eve was taken from him. In recent years, he remained a recluse on account of his bloodline and in a deep depression no thanks to the path Humanity had chosen to take. Anger filled his heart - anger with himself, with humans, with all the world. He wanted to scream in a fit of despair knowing there was nothing he could do to stop the inevitable or to even change places with her.

Humanity had sunk to an all time low hell bent on destroying the world, poisoning the waters and their bodies, and moving through life like mindless zombies. Creativity was all but destroyed. There was no lust for life the way the vampires reveled in. His extremely intellectual mind tried to rationalize the current events that would take his beloved from him. He grew angry that Eve decided not to await the rising sun that would have scorched their bodies into oblivion. Death would have been swift for both of them, and they would have died together. However, Eve was a survivor and wouldn't give in even when the worst possible end lay before her.

Adam tried to convince himself that he couldn't be selfish now and that he must settle upon a new purpose. He had to do what was best for his wife - to be strong for her in her greatest time of need. He had to live life with her and be happy for as long as they had left together. It was his hope he could give her the best he could until death parted them.

Bilal did his best as a friend to the vampires in arranging their flight back to the States to get them far away from the bodies that were left behind. He knew they killed only out of extreme need and he would do his best to cover their tracks when they left Tangier. He knew of their fragile bodies and having to stay in the shadows and how important it was that they continue to trust him. Friendships were few and far between because of what they were. Trusting a man like Bilal took great care to maintain for any mistake could mean their demise.

When night fell, Adam was still extremely restless and angry and needed to go for a long walk to try to clear his mind. It was of great concern to Bilal for the police were sure to have found the bodies of the young lovers by now and would be searching for the culprits who caused their demise. Adam didn't care. He walked the dark streets of Tangier taking great care to stay clear of any police activity while listening to the sounds of the city's night life. Even the music that used to intrigue him did nothing to ease his tumultuous thoughts. People always stared at him with great curiosity confused by his shade-covered eyes and long wolf-like hair and pale skin. Part of him wondered if they already knew what he was and just accepted them even though they were to be feared.

He wished someone would take him down and put a stake through his heart for he wished not to go through the hell of seeing his beloved grow weaker with each passing night as she grew closer and closer to her twilight. If only he had the strength to call out and tell the world he was the monster they all dreaded - the beast that fed upon their blood for centuries - the evil they thought vampires to be - maybe they would do him in quickly. Or maybe he could just turn himself in to the police and as they dragged him away, the sun would rise and burn him to ashes. And in time, Eve would join him in the afterlife where together they could spend eternity in the spiritual world.

His steps took him farther and farther away from his beloved. He didn't realize it but he was running - running as fast as he could as a flood of pain gripped his devastated heart. The dirt streets were not completely devoid of people, and yet Adam's great speed had him easily weaving between them passing them almost like a hard breeze without his human form being seen. Finding a dark alcove, he slid to a halt kicking up a cloud of dust. He breathed fast and hard as exhaustion overwhelmed him. With all the energy Adam expended, he felt the hunger pangs deep inside calling him to feed. Did he dare take a life now when they were in so precarious a situation?

Adam suddenly became aware of something he didn't immediately understand. It was a longing - a painful depression - an agony that filled his heart. However, it was not his own upset but something far off in the distance. He cursed those psychic abilities vampires had and wrongfully thought the vibes were coming from Eve. She was always so good at hiding her pains in front of Adam making sure her inner animal survivor was in charge.

This time, the sensations were coming from somewhere else - somewhere on the other side of the world as best as he could determine. But where and from whom? And why was this call into his mind coming from someone alien to him?

It wasn't Ava. She didn't dare contact him. But then again, the little pup couldn't control herself and perhaps she tuned into her sister's awful situation and wanted to see her again. Adam cursed Ava for she was the direct cause of their plight. Had she not drained poor Ian, they wouldn't have had to flee the States for Tangier so quickly.

He cussed under this breath. "Freaking bitch! She should have known better!" he stated to himself. "This would never have happened to Eve if it were not for Ava."

Adam attempted to rationalize their situation and nothing would ever make complete sense. Then, there was that sensation again - that psychic connection to someone calling out in pain. He felt the pain of loss and confusion that certainly would not be coming from Ava. The bitch wouldn't ever feel sorry for anything she ever did. He put his fingers to the white skull bead strung around his neck wondering if Eve was awake now and having a private moment of depression. No, it wasn't her.

He muttered to himself, "The Theory of Entanglement says that when entwined particles are separated, even moved to opposite ends of the universe, what happens to one will happen to the other."

His mind tangled with Einstein's idea. But if it was not Ava calling him, and Eve was still asleep, then where, and why, was he feeling this connection?

Spooky.