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Post by Admin on Mar 24, 2012 21:05:26 GMT -5
A small chiming of bells alerted Daniel of a new text message received. He was still getting used to the sound. Only within the last month had he finally bought a cellphone. He didn't send or receive calls on the device. That would be unthinkable. His power interfered with the electronics inside, making call quality close to nill. It had been somewhat hard to get two phones, one for himself, one for his father, that were simple. The man at the kiosk in the mall had been trying to push him to get the newest model--touchscreen. Daniel had declined to even touch it. He had tried to warn the man that electronics were not friends to him, but the man placed the device in his hand regardless. The flustered face the sales man made when the device croaked was somewhat comical but counterproductive. Eventually Daniel was able to get the two phones with large full keyboard and screen. They said they were ideal for older people. That was just perfect, Daniel had thought. Older people liked things simple--just like he did.
He pulled the phone from his pocket and read the text. It was from his father. Perfect grammar and spelling. It was just a message letting Daniel know that the older man was ok and had eaten breakfast. Recently his father had been sick, a kind of supernatural sickness that only happened to Necromancers like himself and his father. Like chicken pox, it only happened once, but it was a hard thing to go through. Daniel had gotten the phones and showed his father how to operate it so that he could be sure that his father was recovering well while he was out of town. He didn't worry over much. His best friend, and ghost companion was with his father now. Bob Dignity had been with Daniel since a young age, and when some nasty business was happening a few months back, Daniel had asked the spirit to stay with his ailing father.
Missing Bob's constant monologue, Daniel started into the forest,walking down the beaten path. The moon was high and illuminated small patches of ground where the tree tops didn't mingle. When it touched his white blond hair it seemed to glow in the darkness. He preferred to keep his hair short and disheveled. Not messy, but that bed head look that took a long time to master. His blue jeans kept his legs from getting scraped by the invading brush, but seemed to be collecting burrs at an unbelievable rate. He was glad that he had worn a simple brown leather jacket over his t-shirt before he came out to the woods. It kept his arms from being cut, kept the cool night breeze from sending shivers up his spine.
He thought about the reason he was walking through a forest in the veil of night. Somewhere just beyond this patch of trees, in a farmers field, was a recent archaeological site. They were excavating the skeletal remains of a Neanderthal, the supposed precursor to Homo sapiens. The idea Daniel had was that he could practice raising a zombie of unbelievable age. So far, he had been able to raise any skeleton he had tried, the oldest being four thousand years old. It had really been a mummy from Egypt on display in a touring show, but that was just a detail. His power over the dead was getting stronger and Daniel was finally getting a proper hold on it again.
The site lie on the edge of the forest. The idea he had was that he would stay hidden in the forest, avoiding the security onsite. He would send out his power and try and get a feel for the dead. If there was that tell-tale tingle that the dead gave him he would see about getting closer and practicing some real magic.
Tripping on an unseen tree root, Daniel cursed as his palms took the force of the impact and the objects in his backpack clanked together in a very unsettling way. He had packed the ceramics inside as much as possible to keep them from breaking, but accidents happened. Getting to his feet, he wiped the mud from his hands on his jeans. The stinging in his palms kept him from realizing that he had a small cut on his left hand. He continued on. He had been walking for several minutes when his mind started to wander. Every shadow seemed to be alive. His heartbeat sped and he fought to calm himself, to assure his subconscious that there was nothing to fear in the woods. Animals would be more scared of him, than him of them. It worked, his heartbeat returning to normal, his breathing getting more even.
Chiding himself for getting so worked up in the first place, Daniel chuckled at himself. The smile was just starting to fade from his face when he felt it. Something was out there. He couldn't tell what it was, or in which direction it was, but something was definitely out there. The hair on his arms and the back of his neck stood on end. The desire to run was nearly overwhelming, yet Daniel stayed rooted to the spot.
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DolorNoir
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Post by DolorNoir on Mar 26, 2012 11:11:39 GMT -5
I can feel every living cell of the blood surging through my veins. It's phenomenal that a body, that a bloodstream can handle this living force within the walls without it breaking through. It's like the blood is thrashing, fighting to escape vessel walls where it knows it doesn't naturally belong, vessel walls that are far too strong for it to break though and escape.
I'm lying in the dirt at the bottom of a fat maple tree, halfway hidden under some prickly bush. I twist and almost cry out loud. The living blood is trying to fight it's way out still, and I am fueled by the energy it exerts in it's struggle. Plus it kinda tickles.
The blood came from some guy in a uniform. I think he was guarding something, but I really didn't care to take the time to check. I left his body broken and open inside the woods, just out of sight of whoever would care.
I feel the ground underneath me, calm and soft and dusty. I touch my hair. It doesn't look like pink candy anymore, not with how much the roots have grown in and the fistfuls of mud caked into it. I think my clothes are ripped, but this is one of many thoughts making up the background noise of my current focus on the thrashing blood.
The blood is dying, becoming more subdued, assimilating with the liquid that filled the streams before it. My body calms down and I stretch over the dirt luxuriously. It no longer matters whether I am on a silk bed or in a puddle of mud, and keeping up my appearence no longer matters either. I breathe in.
This place is living. I can sense animals, some hiding from me, some unaware of my existence. I can smell the leaves on the trees, and the moisture buried below the dust on the ground. I slowly feel the animals moving away. They feel frightened, though I know not of what.
I feel a pulse, very low. Something or someone is sending out energy, calling out, almost wanting response. I don't want to respond right now, I am relaxing in the dirt, I am busy.
But now my reasoning, my wanting to be with myself is slammed away, as a slight breeze brings something to my attention: the scent of blood. I sniff the air, feel my shoulders tense with anticipation, despite how lazy I was ten seconds ago or less. I smell blood, although very faint. Living blood. This combined with the curious pulse overthrows my senses, and I am on my feet instantly, standing several feet above the bush I was lying under.
I see him, and I feel my mouth sharpen.
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Post by Admin on Mar 29, 2012 23:04:05 GMT -5
Movement to his left made Daniel swing his head around at breakneck speed. Standing back aways in the forest he could see what appeared to be a human shape. Oh shit, he thought, I knew I shouldn't have done this at night.
He couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman, friend or foe. He let loose the lock he held on his powers. Although there was sometimes a small leak he was not aware of, for the most part he was learning to weld great control over his power. He was just starting to learn to identify the different supernatural beings by their own power signatures as well. The last few months had been non-stop learning.
With his power eddying outward from his being, Daniel connected with several things in the forest. He found dead animals aplenty, he found the dead man, he found...something he couldn't identify. It was clear that this Unknown as his brain promptly named it was the source. He knew it wasn't a zombie, or ghost, or ghoul. He knew those as well as he knew his own name, Daniel Othello Avliden. This was something different.
Setting his spine, trying to hide his fear, Daniel addressed this Unknown. "Who are you, what are you doing out here?" It was only after he spoke that he really thought about what he was sensing in the forest. The dead man wasn't an old death. It was recent. Probably within the last hour. Daniel was likely looking at the killer right now. His eyes gone wide, he thought to himself, aw, damn--what if he was next.
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DolorNoir
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Post by DolorNoir on Apr 3, 2012 0:42:18 GMT -5
He is looking at me, but he can not see me. But I know he is trying to figure out what I am. Human boys always want to do that, even though I can smell fear mixed with their blood.
This one though, he is older than a boy, but not by much. And I do not so much smell fear as I sense dread. This luminescent-headed beacon full of blood has caught too much of my attention though for me to care more than take passing notice.
Images are running through my head. Plans really. Plans on what to do. In one I lunge forward, dig my fingers through his scalp and rip out his throat with my teeth in one aching moment. In another plan I approach him like a girl would do. In another I tear off his arm at the shoulder and break his body against a tree... The scenarios discard themselves and pop up afresh in flashes.
My nerves are thrumming, like the tires of a heavy old car in the middle of nowhere on a summer's night. It's like having all the teenage electricity of youth crackling through the air, only now I know I will enjoy it, I know the anticipation will be savagely satisfied.
It dawns on me that I've been slowly moving forward, I'm away from the bush, in the moonlight now. It doesn't matter if he sees me coming. Actually it might help. If he isn't rooted to the spot by his own will or by being scared shitless, maybe seeing my girl form will disarm him. My mouth is open and I can feel myself breathing. I know my hair shines pale pink with dark roots and covered in mud. It was chin-length before but now is brushing my shoulders. I stand at 5' 4" with a slender womanly body and white skin. I vaguely wonder what he can see through the rips in my shirt. A wave of prudishness is killed and fades instantly from my mind as I inhale his scent again.
I suddenly seem much closer to him, and slowly realize my mouth is doing more than just sharpening, it seems to be speaking.
"I used to be a girl." I stop for a moment, and stare at him. "I was napping, but your blood woke me up. Very rude of it, by the way."
I try to examine him, pinpoint the source of the little red devil droplets that practically scream in the ears of my nostrils.
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Post by Admin on Apr 5, 2012 15:20:56 GMT -5
Daniel let loose a sting of curses as he realized what was probably advancing on him. She had spoken of his blood awakening her. He didn't think he was bleeding, but his palms still held the sting from his earlier fall. Or perhaps she could smell the blood that was under his skin. Vampires were strange creatures, no two ever really being the same. Just the term vampire was like using the word flower. One knew instantly what it was, and that it would have certain universal characteristics, but there were a million varieties: tulip, rose, begonia, gladiolus. Vampires had the universal characteristic that they sustained themselves on the life force of humans. But there were many varieties. Some were truly the reanimated dead, and in theory those he would be able to master and slave to his will, while others were animated by some preternatural power.
This girl, with her pink hair, grown out at the roots, was one of the most terrifying things Daniel had ever encountered. And yet, she looked so human, so helpless. The mud in her hair, the rips in her clothes, it touched the decent part of him--made him want to cover her shoulders with his jacket, get her a hot shower and a cup of tea.
He pushed his power out farther, letting it skim the forest floor, thinking all the while: killer; monster. It could be fatal to disregard her potential for multiple homicide. He felt the power linger on the recently dead man. It wanted to take hold of him, be alive in his vacant body. Daniel whispered to it in his mind, not yet, and it continued on as if it had a will of it's own. It passed the tree line and into the field beyond.
The next dead thing it found actually made Daniel turn his head toward the source. For a moment he forgot that his life could be in danger. The neanderthal the archaeologists were trying to uncover--he could feel it, half buried under the ground. If he could feel it, he could raise it, he could breath life into it, make it whole once more. He would need more than just power to call back the spirit, he would need the supplies in his backpack--but it was doable. He actually did a fist pump in the air he was so excited. He wanted to hurry to the site and start the process of raising a being that was over thirty thousand years old.
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DolorNoir
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Post by DolorNoir on Apr 14, 2012 15:58:53 GMT -5
I watch his face, moving with life, breath, blood. He looks scared, then slowly his attention drifts away from me. For a second I almost see something tender, some emotion, cross his face as he actually sees me. For a split second I think he sees the old me, the other me, the girl beast, not the beast.
I can hear the blood now, it whispers from the back of his hand. I can feel sharp plant needles and rocks under my feet and between my toes. I move toward the noise unaffected.
He is looking away, shoves his fist into the air. Part of me wonders what he is doing. Part of me wonders if he does not realize what I do. The biggest part of me lunges, holding his shoulders firmly in each hand as I bite down on the muscular curve between his neck and shoulder. My mouth is right at the level of his shoulder when he stands up straight.
His blood is screaming in my mouth, pumping through me, pushing the insides of all my blood vessels at once. My mouth gurgles and moans as I struggle not to laugh out loud. My mouth lets go and can not stop giggling. "It's kicking the inside of my veins!" I bite him again, taking in two more mouthfuls. I swallow, and my mouth lets go again. "What are you?"
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Post by Admin on Apr 23, 2012 1:26:59 GMT -5
The attack was so sudden and overpowering that Daniel didn't have a chance to defend himself. Discipline was a lesson he was learning the hard way. Fierce pain shot through his neck as the vampire sank her fangs into his tender pale flesh. His mind reeled from the pain and the surprise of the attack.
Was she giggling? The sound of the laughter pushed through the haze of his brain, helped him come back to his senses. There was no way that he was going to die in the grip of a vampire. No. Frickin. Way. He had gone through too much in the last year to let his life end this way. It started when his father entered the Miasma. It was like a dream state that most Necromancers entered just before the peak of their powers. It was akin to hitting puberty all over again. If the necromancer survived the massive onslaught to his mind, increasing his knowledge about his powers and his overall abilities, he came out of the Miasma a whole new Necromancer. It had really taken a toll on Daniel for his father to hit the Miasma just as they were starting to reconnect. Luckily his father had the spirits of his family by his side at all times. Daniel was so grateful to them. They kept his father alive, fed, and hydrated. And they had sacrificed their afterlife to save Daniel's life.
When a supernatural being from another plain crossed into this dimension bent on death and destruction Daniel had teamed up with another necromancer and attempted to cast the being back to the nether realm it came from. In the process, his life was threatened and all the spirits of his family that had stayed behind to aid him and his kin sacrificed their ethereal energy to keep him safe. They had obliterated their existence to keep him alive. Survivors guilt gnawed at him daily but he wasn't going to let their sacrifice be for naught just a few scant months later.
He could feel his blood spilling down over his shoulder, soaking into his shirt, felt the sharp pierce of fangs a second time. He could tell by the grip she had on his shoulders that he had no chance of overpowering the female. With a surge of energy he forced his power down the thin tendril that connected him to the dead security guard. He felt the power take hold, infuse the body with Daniel's version of 'life'. There was so much power being pushed into the flesh that it was up and animated, heeding Daniel's call, in mere seconds.
"What are you?" she asked.
Daniel took a breath to steady himself. He was human. He was a man. He was a Necromancer. Even his name reflected his nature. Death; deceased, were the translations of his family name. Out loud he said with pride, "I am a Necromancer." Just at that moment the security guard crashed through the undergrowth and onto the path Daniel had been taking just a few yards away from him. With inhuman speed it charged at the vampire that held Daniel in her clutches. So complete was the infusion of his power Daniel didn't need spoken words to control his zombie. His will was absolute. The zombie felt compelled to maim the vampire. Daniel just hoped it would be enough to allow him to walk out of this forest alive.
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DolorNoir
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Post by DolorNoir on May 29, 2012 1:45:33 GMT -5
He tells me he is a necromancer, as his blood is ringing through my ears, singing lovely songs and kicking through my veins all the same as the last human, but the lyrics of the song spell out a dirge. Something in the blood threatens me.
I am grabbed from behind, just as I hear the smashing of tender green leaves off the path. I am lifted and held, and I reach behind me in a near panic to claw out the eyes of whoever has me. I am ripping the skin off his face and breaking his arm at the elbow when I realize this is the man I just killed tonight, back from the dead and ready for bloody fucking vengeance.
Necromancer.
Oh right, so maybe this isn't vengeance, maybe this is protection.
The zombie smashes me down, despite the broken arm this horror show is still strong. Mt head is bashed on a rock, and I hear the still living and tickling and singing blood rushing towards a new opening in my skin. I feel something reaching up through my torso. My muscles clench and I can't breath and an awful sound comes out of my mouth just as I am lifted high into the air:
"I'm sorry."
And the pressure of the words is like projectile vomit pushing through my chest out to my neck and straight through my head. I mean these words, and if I wasn't already so upset this just might scare the shit out of me.
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Post by Admin on Jul 1, 2012 22:05:32 GMT -5
Daniel had never seen a zombie move so fast. His brain was still struggling to process what it was seeing when he heard the vampire's words. They were such a human thing to say. And he hoped that the vampire truly meant them since his zombie guardian had stopped in mid-motion to slamming her to the ground again. Since the zombie was acting out Daniel's will it stopped when Daniel had a momentary twinge of doubt about destroying the vampire.
Slowly the zombie placed the woman on the ground, it's actions less than graceful because of its broken arm. Daniel could feel a strange sensation in the air around him. It was almost like the felling he got when he was in a haunted house, or when he was tethered to a spirit and yet it was nothing he'd ever felt before. It felt like life, but not the living. It was the vampire! Daniel's blood had formed a bond between himself and his vampire attacker.
Tonight was a night of firsts. Feeling the bond with the vampire, Daniel pushed power into his words as he spoke to her, "you will not attack me again." He hoped that it would be enough to compel the vampire from further harm.
"What are you doing out here?"
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DolorNoir
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Post by DolorNoir on Sept 21, 2012 23:13:09 GMT -5
As the... zombie? What the... As the zombie places me roughly back onto solid ground, I suddenly feel more self-conscious than I have in... I don't know. I don't know how much time has passed since I was... living? Am I dead? Maybe. But I sure am strong. I feel like this human I just tasted is scrutinizing me. I don't look at him now. The trees and dirt and animals and night sounds come back into my sharp focus. I would not have noticed this as a human; I used to wear glasses and couldn't see colours at night.
I brush some of the dirt off of my body, specifically from the places where the zombie touched me. I feel dirty, and once again am aware of dignity. I lick my lip, and I have half a mind to jump him again. Thank god for my overwhelming blood lust, otherwise I might care a hell of a lot more about just how filthy and undignified I am. I don't want that goddamned thing to touch me again, especially since I already killed it a short while ago.
"Necromancer. Right." I breathe, taking a few steps away from the zombie-thing, getting no closer or farther from Daniel. I taste him on my lips again. I cross my arms over my chest, suddenly aware that my t-shirt doesn't cover much, and I need a new bra too. I force myself to look him in the eye. I taste him again and tighten my arms, put my thumb between my teeth and glare at him.
Stupid fucking delicious super human...
I realize he asked me a question. "Lying alone in the woods at night feeling human blood tickle me from the inside. What are you doing here? Hunting me or some lame shit?"
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Post by Admin on Sept 22, 2012 20:54:33 GMT -5
Daniel continued to keep the eye of the vampire. Her counter question caught him off guard and he gave a nervous little laugh, looking away. Him, hunt vampires? Not likely.
"Well, i was looking for dead people. Seems I found a few more than I bargained for. I just wanted to see if I could raise the skeleton they found in the field."
With barley a breathe in between, he changed topics. "Does it really tickle?" Daniel had a morbid curiosity about the supernatural.
He shrugged off the backpack he was wearing, the ceramics inside clinking together in a muted way. Kneeling on the dirt path With the bag he unzipped a side pocket. Inside was a travel sized first aid kit. He had brought it with the intention of bandaging his hand after the reanimation ceremony on the Neanderthal, but now it seemed that his neck would be needing all the little gauze pads. Blood continued to flow down his shoulder, soaking his shirt.
He took off this brown leather jacket and laid it on the ground beside his backpack. he proceeded to tend to his wound, trying to keep an eye on the vampire as he worked quickly. At a time like this he missed Bob. The spirit would have been able to watch the vampire while Daniel worked.
When he was done he noticed that the girl in front of him still had her arms crossed over her chest, her shirt ripped nearly to rags. Once again Daniel's good nature came forward. His desire to clean her up, make her look human again. As he stood, he swung the backpack over his shoulder, and with his other hand tossed his leather jacket at the vampire of a girl. Even with the cool night air licking up his spine, Daniel thought she could use the jacket more than he.
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DolorNoir
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Post by DolorNoir on Sept 28, 2012 0:41:57 GMT -5
I watch him take the medical kit out of his bag as he yammers about skeletons. Honestly if he needs some bones he'll find them fast hanging around me. or maybe he should just go grave robbing, less chance of getting accosted that way. His talk would be a bit more interesting if he wasn't living, male, and bleeding. I have the damnedest time trying to focus on this real thread of conversation. I've become so simple minded... I stare as he bandages his neck and the way his sticky sweet shirt now clings red and wet to his neck and collarbone. Oh but now he asks if the blood really tickles!
"It's like a thousand thousand angry little buggers with hammers on the insides of my veins... all over my body. They try so hard to get out, the living human drops of blood-" He stands and tosses his jacket to me.
I realize my arms are still crossed tightly over my chest, at first to hide me, now to hold me as I feel his blood pushing around inside me, just as I get an even stronger waft of his fresh blood, from the neck wound. I put on the jacket, and nearly swoon, then continue. "...so they pound against the walls. But instead of it hurting me or slowing me down, it just really tickles. It's happening right now..."
I hold myself around the waist, feeling so far away but also connected, as his blood kicks around inside me and I can taste it in my mouth and smell it peeling the air around us like citrus fruit. I close my eyes and realize how fresh and warm from his skin this jacket is. I vaguely wonder why he gave it to me, I don't really get cold.
"Aren't you cold?"
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Post by Admin on Oct 7, 2012 12:52:01 GMT -5
"It's not that bad out. I'll manage." He was trying for macho, but the goosebumps that quickly spread over his skin exposed his lie. Fall was fast approaching, the leaves already starting to brown. The nights were getting longer and colder. Very soon rain would come and make night adventuring very unpleasant.
What this vampire said about the blood was very curious and strange. It was nothing at all like he expected. Although, he had never really given vampirism much thought. Now he was wishing he had. Wishing that he had played this scenario out in his head and already knew the best way to proceed. Should he take the girl back to his place, clean her up and release her onto the population? Should he see if he could thoroughly control her with his magick? Or would it be best to just leave her here and get back to what he had planned to do?
Working solo was much different than he thought it would be. For years he had wished that Bob wouldn't be around, dishing out is two cents about an issue. Now, Daniel wished that the spirit were here to help him choose the right course of action. Bob always knew the answer to a question, always knew what choice to make. Even if it was the wrong one, Bob was always quick to answer and confident in himself.
Inspired by thoughts of Bob, he decided he would follow his first thoughts on the matter. He would take her home. The skeleton in the field wouldn't be going anywhere for a while, and it would certainly be easier to raise if Daniel didn't feel so awful. The blood loss was starting to make his head feel light. Now there was just the matter of getting her to go with him, and laying the security guard to rest.
The latter was easy. Daniel allowed his power to flow down the ethereal connection he had between himself and the zombie, and just like unplugging a toaster, he removed the source of the beings power. With a quiet grace, the guard fell into the underbrush of the forest, with Daniel still looking to the vampire.
"Do you wanna come back to my place? Get cleaned up?"
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DolorNoir
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Post by DolorNoir on Oct 21, 2012 1:37:55 GMT -5
I raise an eyebrow at his totally male response. He wants to prove he's not a wuss about the weather, even as the breeze puckers his skin. It occurs to me that I no longer know if it is summer or fall, but then again, now my physical instinct reins supreme, and human-made borders around nature's whims are flimsy and useless. It's fall when the sumacs turn red. I look around, there are none here.
As the security guard I drained drops like a lead feather, the white haired boy-man does not take his glance from me. I can not tell in what capacity he sees me. Strange. It's rarely so ambiguous. Doubt flickers across his face, and as he pseudo-casually invites me home I am gobsmacked.
Every instinct rages in a sharp pulse and ejects a clipped "Yes." from my voice. As my predator body screams to take him in any and every way possible, the part of me that still thinks figures he's completely out of his gourd. And as an afterthought, body guard or not he could still be dangerous. Challenging. Like being gagged and bound with silk.
Holding perfectly still while trying to mask the creepy debaucherous murderess I've become, I say "Please, lead the way."
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Post by Admin on Oct 21, 2012 6:18:02 GMT -5
That did not seem to be a good idea to Daniel but he couldn't think of a way for him to politely suggest that she was scary as hell and should go first. He was already committed to this course of action so he just said instead, "Sure, it's just back along this path." He started back the way he had come, night breeze still licking at his skin with its cool tongue. He ignored it as best he could, and concentrated instead upon the minute connection his power had formed with the vampire. That haunting life[\i] feeling she emanated made it easier for the Necromancer to know where she was behind him as he walked.
They walked in silence along the path, Daniel managing to stay upright this time, and made it back to Daniel's silver four door sudan quickly. As he walked around to the passenger side he fished the keys from his jeans pocket and unlocked the door. He noticed that the seats inside we're covered in a silver fabric that would absorb the dirt and blood that both people were covered in. He tried to push the thought if the cleaning bill from his mind as he opened the door for the girl and walked around to his side of the car. He unlocked the back door and placed his backpack on the floor, wedged between the backseat and drivers seat to keep it from moving too much in transit.
He sat himself behind the wheel and started the car. The engine quietly revved to life and Daniel fastened his seat belt. The girl had gotten into the car while he was putting the bag in the back and now it dawned on him that he didn't even know the name of the person that he was taking home with him.
"I'm Daniel, by the way. What's your name?"
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DolorNoir
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Post by DolorNoir on Oct 24, 2012 18:05:06 GMT -5
I walk along the path behind him. I want to get closer, but I can tell he senses my every footfall, every soft fricative of my fingers along the blades of passing leaves.
The night exhales and sighs all around us. Glory is gone with the summer sun, and in the dead of night with the sky and wind haunting the skin of the living with tender chills, I can't help but notice the trees' and whispered clouds' transformation from autumn's majesty to a forlorn hollow kingdom.
We come to an automobile and get in. And I realize this is the first car I have been in in ... I do not remember. But it smells like plastic and oil, and the leaf rotting in the floor mat, and the dust picked up from a hundred places and all the shoes who wore them. I smell an old paper coffee cup, and sandy summer pollen long dried and dead in the vents. I look down.
Between the lines of metal teeth forming the zipper on his jacket I notice the round top of one breast. With a smudge of old forest dirt cutting across the whiter than ever before of my skin. Some dirt flakes off and falls onto the seat by my thigh.
A human thought pangs through me as I realize how filthy I am, and that I am sullying his things. A tremor of guilt works it's way through as he starts the car and prepares to drive, but leaves out the other end as the guy tells me his name is Daniel, and asks me who I am.
I consider the question. I used to be someone. But who am I now?
I decide I'm for this moment going to be Honest. "I do not think I am who I used to be. I am something different, and I do not have a name yet. What do you call your favourite place?"
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Post by Admin on Oct 25, 2012 1:36:40 GMT -5
The first place that came to mind was 'Home', the image of his grandparents house on the city limits of Retermositoa. The two story farm house with its wrap-around porch, high ceilings and acres of land. But since his grandparents had died, his father had let the house fall into a very derelict state. It no longer was the warm citadel it once was. Daniel thought of his home town of Retermositoa. He loved that there was always something going on in the city, that it was steeped in history and yet still was so modern. But he wasn't sure it was his favourite place. He hadn't traveled enough, adventured enough, to have a location that made his heart melt.
Silence stretched between them as Daniel continued to think of his answer to her question. He was fairly certain the inquiry wasn't meant to merit such deep thought but it did make Daniel contemplate a lot of things.
Outside the car the headlights illuminated the black asphalt of the road, littered with the early leaves of Fall. They made Daniel realize something important. "My favourite place isn't a place at all. It's a state of being: ava. I spend so much time interacting with the dead that I love being alive. Ava means 'alive'." A slight smile brightened his face as if he had just solved a difficult puzzle and was pleased with himself. He took his eyes off the road, chancing a glance at the girls face to see if she approved of his answer.
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DolorNoir
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Post by DolorNoir on Oct 25, 2012 14:33:15 GMT -5
The leaves try to cross the road on broken legs, relying on the wind and reminding me of stale popped popping corn. I consider the sky; and I am imagining how many nights I will have, how many nights I could spend in forests, covered in dirt.
I've been going on instinct up until now, but what if I employed my human knowledge? My more cerebral faculties? I could live in a fancy hotel. I could wear business suits and get $200 haircuts. I could crawl into a cave up north and be perpetually bloody.
But I feel like something is changing inside me, like the end of a long soliloquious era. As Daniel takes his sweet time answering my off-the-cusp unpremeditated question, I consider the significance of how much sentimental loveliness goes through human's heads. I had forgotten this.
Thinking all this is great, it's the most progressive train of thought I've had in months? Weeks? Well it's the longest train of thought, other than the kill. And it's great. Except that I can still smell Daniel's blood. It somehow got under my fingernails, mixed with the dirt to make ochre mud. And his jacket has this scent on it that completely conveys a delicious warmth. I can smell this seperate from the devil himself, whose body is like a lighthouse to me. Even though I am more than satisfactorily full, and this guy might be able to kill me if he really wanted, I can't help but feel everything on me physically sharpen for the purpose of observing him. It's all I can do to keep my eyes on the road. His initial wariness of me reminded me that humans are touchy about being stared at.
Daniel's answer makes me smile, even though I can see the irony, I tell him: "Then I am Ava." As an afterthought, I quietly add "I'd forgotten how sentimental life could make a person be."
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Post by Admin on Oct 26, 2012 14:47:38 GMT -5
Daniel smiled wider. He had never named someone before, and the smile on her face made her look more human, less menacing. He returned his attention to the road. They were coming back into town now. He didn't really know what to say about sentimentality so he kept his mouth closed.
The small town of Greensburg was nothing like the city of Retermositoa. Although they were both fairly old establishments, Greensburg had kept most of its historical feeling. A new house hadn't been built inside the town limits in the last 75 years. The town radiated around the church and graveyard at its center. Daniel had come to town to work with that graveyard. The Neanderthal was a great break for him. Now this girl, would be his new distraction.
He drove slowly down the dark streets, the streetlights few and far between. Crime didn't really happen in this town, and most of its citizens didn't go out at night, so streetlights weren't a high priority. He pulled the silver sedan around the back of a two story cobblestone house and parked in its small gravel lot. Daniel and Ava got out of the car and he lead her to the little hut attached to the back of the house. Opening the door lead to a set of stairs into the finished basement that was his apartment for the time being.
At the base of the stairs they stopped to allow Ava to take in the open concept apartment with its bare white walls. Daniel hadn't moved anything but his clothes and magick supplies with him when he came to town. He didn't expect to be there long, and there wasn't enough room in the small space for his clutter.
Now that they were in his place, Daniel felt whole new levels of awkward. "Um, do you want to shower first, or...?"
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DolorNoir
Archfiend
4am knows all my secrets
Posts: 1,560
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Post by DolorNoir on Nov 11, 2012 8:12:27 GMT -5
I look around the place, contemplating my new name as Daniel leads me around this place of his. I wonder if it's ironic for my name to be Ava, this word that means life. If it is irony, I think its delicious.
The slight case of being self conscious about the dirt falling off me is intensified as I step into his little living place. I am also revived from the slight lulling of the car as different air and scent greets my face. At least we aren't hurtling along in that closed tin can anymore, the taste of his blood was compounded in that closed circuit air.
A puff of dust brushes off my hip.
As if on cue he asks if I want a shower. How did you know?
"Yes, please. And some tweezers if you've got them." Please get the blood off you by the time I come out of that bathroom...
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Post by Admin on Nov 12, 2012 4:54:57 GMT -5
Daniel showed Ava to the bathroom. He left tweezers on the sink and explained how to work the taps in the shower. He placed a fresh towel from the linen closet on the rack. He even left a pair of his track pants with a drawstring waistband and a plain black t-shirt on the tank of the toilet for her to change into when she was all cleaned up. They would be too big for her, but it was better than the clothes she had.
He closed the bathroom door behind himself and went to the kitchen. He stripped himself of his t-shirt and tossed it into the trash. There was no way to get that much blood out. He used the glass cabinet door as a mirror and did his best to wash the blood off his body with a facecloth.
He lifted the temporary bandages he had applied in the forest and saw for the first time the wound Ava had caused. It was still bleeding and looked more like a rabid animal bite than puncture marks. Thinking back, Daniel remembered his zombie ripping Ava off of his neck. It could account for the veracity of the wound--or Ava was just messy. He lowered the bandage again and pulled out his first aid kit from under the sink. With it on the counter top he rifled through the contents of the cheap plastic box. Band-aids of every size, medical tape and copious amounts of gauze packets were all that were stocked.
Removing the bandage completely, Daniel cleaned the wound underneath. It hurt a lot at being disturbed but needed to be done. He placed several layers of fresh gauze over the wound and taped them into place. The tape pulled at his skin in a funny way but helped distracted him from the nagging pain of the bite.
Newly bandaged, Daniel leaned against the counter surveying his reflection. His pale skin looked ghastly and his white hair was the same colour as the walls around him. He looked ghostly, barely perceivable amidst the absence of colour. Annoyed with himself Daniel found a red t-shirt in his dresser and awkwardly dressed, his wound hampering his movements. Looking again at his reflection, the shirt helped to add some blush to his pallid skin.
Daniel tossed the gauze wrappers in the trash and put away the first aid kit. He changed into a clean pair of jeans and with nothing left to do he sat down on his brown leather sofa. Within minutes he was sleeping softly.
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DolorNoir
Archfiend
4am knows all my secrets
Posts: 1,560
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Post by DolorNoir on Nov 15, 2012 17:19:05 GMT -5
The door shuts and I am left alone in an enclosed room for the first time in... months. I look in the mirror. My skin is flushed with a tinge of pink under the creamy white that lies underneath the brown and gray surface streaks of dirt. There is flaky mud around my mouth from the mixture of blood and forest dust. Patches of it are around my neck, shoulders, and even upper arms as well. My proportional but Roman-esque nose is completely covered on one side by the flaky blood mud. My blue eyes are super wide, way too sharp, completely vivid and perfectly insane. I blink. My eyelids are filthy too. My eyebrows have grown in. I guess the part where vampires don't grow hair is an esthetically pleasing myth.
I strip and toss my clothes into the rubbish bin by the toilet.
I turn on the hot water in the shower and step in. Blood and dirt seep out of my hair like tea from a sponge. I move around and rub all my skin and hair under the stream, trying to remove as much filth as possible. When the worst of it is circling the drain I take the soap and wash cloth and get to work. I am in here for an hour, hot water eventually cooling as I rinse the last of the conditioner from my ravaged hair.
I step out and wipe the fog off the mirror. I examine my body. There is a slight dip from how big my stomach was as a human. My guts must have shrunk from lack of eating food and using them much. My breasts are firmer than before, sitting higher, but maybe a tiny bit smaller too. I seem to be glowing. How pleasant. With how clean I am I even look like a pretty girl, not just a beast. Except for my hair. My hair is a knotted mass of dark roots and silver blond locks with steaks of light pink through them here and there. I find a comb and a pair of scissors in the cabinet under the sink and get to work. I part it to the side and comb what used to be my bangs in with the rest of it. I hold the scissors steadily but cut quickly. The dead ends fall into the sink basin. I pick up the tweezers and examine my naked body further. I start with my eyebrows.
By the time I finish and put on the clothes Daniel has left, I am plucked and red in some places, but my hair is nearly dry. My eyebrows are neat as pins and I look human. Or at least I could pass for one.
I leave the bathroom and notice Daniel sleeping on the couch. I lean down and gently brush his hair with my fingertips. It's so soft, but not as feathery as I thought it might be. I bend over and smell it, fluffing just the end with my nose. I'm struck with the hope that he doesn't wake up right now, and I soundlessly bolt into the kitchen to find a glass of water.
I carry my glass into the living room and pick up a throw blanket on the way, tossing it over Daniel all but his head as I take a seat at the opposite end of the couch. I can smell his blood, but it's much more faint now that it isn't actually on him, is no longer enjoying his heat. The strongest scent of it comes from the soaked bandages in the kitchen garbage.
As I close my eyes and start to feel myself doze off I wonder idly when the sun comes up. I peel open one lid to see that the door is locked, and then I let myself drift away. In my dreams I can smell blood and lilies.
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Post by Admin on Nov 20, 2012 1:43:51 GMT -5
Soft chiming bells awoke Daniel from his sleep. His neck ached as he opened his eyes and tried to move slightly. He had been sleeping with his chin resting on his chest. As he raised his head and looked around, his vertebrae made unhealthy, loud, snapping noises. He was quite surprised to see Ava sleeping on the other end of his couch. She looked so peaceful with her eyes closed. Her long lashes resting on her cheeks.
Again the soft chimes played. With slow and lethargic movements he removed the blanket shrouding himself and got up. He threw the blanket back onto the couch and did a quick stretch--more bones quietly popping. He took care of business in the bathroom and noticed the clothes in the trash and his leather jacket hanging on the back of the door. He would try and clean it later. Daniel was not a morning person and the idea of labouring first thing after waking up was not a pleasant one.
Heading to the fridge in the kitchen he pulled his cellphone from his pocket. He was still wearing his jeans from last night. He had received two text messages from his father inquiring about the Neanderthal Daniel had gone to raise. He replied with a quick message saying there were a few complications and he would call his father later with the full story. He put the phone back into his pocket and reached on top of the fridge for his box of Fruit loops cereal. He grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, a spoon from the drawer, and milk from the fridge. He was trying his best to be quiet so as not to wake Ava. He wasn't as well versed in vampires as he ought to be and didn't know if she would be out all day. He picked up his breakfast and turned to walk back to his living room. He stopped in the middle of the tiled kitchen floor raising a spoon full of coloured hoops to his mouth. Before it could pass his lips an ear shattering scream pierced the air. Caught by surprise Daniel dropped his bowl and spoon, standing like a statue in the kitchen.
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DolorNoir
Archfiend
4am knows all my secrets
Posts: 1,560
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Post by DolorNoir on Nov 20, 2012 11:53:36 GMT -5
Something hot and juicy is being pulverized through my teeth. I taste blood, metallic biology sticking to the wires on the back of my teeth from when I had braces. The blood isn't magical, just normal. I am alive.
It's one of my old lovers. I bit him. He's swearing and upset as he shoves me away, stares at me in disgust, puts a hand to his now chewed up shoulder and examines the blood and spit that transfer, twists his neck to see the wound.
My arm is itching. I look down. The skin between my wrist and elbow is turning red, the itching starting to sting. The skin blisters and the pain becomes more than I can bear. I stand up and realize my arm is on fire.
A long arm from the waking world reaches into my deep sleep and hauls my face open to the home of the strange boy I met last night. My arm really is on fire, and as I look in the split seconds that follow, my vision blossoms into red and starts to fade.
The sun.
The motherfucking sun.
Before I realize I am screaming I have flipped myself back behind the couch, I am lying flat on my back on the floor in the couch's shadow, holding my arm, which is probably black in some places by now, not to mention raw and blistered. I hide motionless on the floor, the only movement the heavy expand and contract of my rib cage, which I can not control.
I am very weak now that the sun is up, and as I realize I am not alone in the room, I notice my fangs, elongated and exposed as my face is pulled into a grimace. I slowly open my eyes, only to see the room diluted through a red fog.
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Post by Admin on Nov 25, 2012 22:56:01 GMT -5
Daniel didn't know what to do. Gingerly stepping around the shards of glass strewed across his floor he approached Ava. She looked like she was in so much pain. He knelt by her side his hands shaking slightly.
"What can I do? Ava, What can I do to help you?"
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DolorNoir
Archfiend
4am knows all my secrets
Posts: 1,560
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Post by DolorNoir on Dec 2, 2012 3:46:14 GMT -5
A red shadow blocks the blurs of the light pink and gray room. I realize it's Daniel, kneeling by me. I close my eyes and find the tiniest glimmer of relief, but not enough.
"Please give me ice and cover me with a blanket."
I hear him shuffling around.
"Close the blinds."
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Post by Admin on Dec 2, 2012 4:38:15 GMT -5
Getting back to his feet Daniel cautiously walked around to his bed. He pulled the large comforter down and draped it over Ava's slim body. Next, he stepped back into the kitchen. He pulled a large Ziplock bag from the box under the sink and emptied his two ice cube trays into it. The ice was old, turned white from the calcium, but Ava wasn't going to be putting it in her drink so it didn't matter. Daniel was just glad he had ice at all.
He lifted the edge of the blanket and left the bag on the floor beside her elbow. He was still mindful of the glass on the floor as he grabbed his pillows from the bed. The two basement windows were small, there were no blinds on them to close. Daniel had to stuff his pillows into the small window wells to block the sunlight. The room darkened considerably as Daniel's eyes tried to adjust to just the overhead light that was left on from the previous night.
At the front door he put on his sneakers. They felt strange without socks on, but he didn't want to cut his foot open. They made soft squeaks as he walked to kneel down at Ava's side again.
"Ava? Are you going to be alright?" Daniel let his power flow over Ava's body. He didn't want her to lie to him if her life was ending. He could feel her as a vampire but the connection that was made after she drank his blood was barely perceivable. It was like sparks from a lighter when there should be a flame.
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DolorNoir
Archfiend
4am knows all my secrets
Posts: 1,560
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Post by DolorNoir on Dec 2, 2012 5:10:49 GMT -5
I flinch as the bright pink and grey shadow world turns black, flinch as the softness of fabric brushes my raw arm. I close my eyes and contemplate how long it will take before I can see again. I wonder if my eyes will still be blue after this.
It's funny, as a vampire, I can disassociate my conscious self from physical pain that I never could before. Even now though I can feel the fabric of my flesh screaming in utter fury at being torn by fire so prematurely, still having functioning nerves and all. My corneas are shrunken and misshapen, turning the irises into lumpy gelatin crusted over with something crispy. It would not surprise me to know that I see more with my senses than with what is left of my eyes.
I can smell the fine hair on my arm that burned off, and can feel the strain of the underlying blood and skin as it tries to start tugging cells back into order.
Daniel passes me a bag of ice. I press it to my eyes, and am instantly burned sharply all over again. My legs jerk in reflex but I keep the bag on my eyes. After a few seconds of heavy breathing the searing pain settles into a dull throb, and I begin to feel a little better. But the underlying process is not quite like what it would be if I were still human. I wonder if aloe vera works anymore.
Daniel's shoes move to me across the floor. As he kneels beside me on the floor I think there is a tiny flutter in my blood. It's impossible to tell if it's in response to him, as the home for my blood, or if it's just my injury inspiring hallucinated sensations. As he asks if I'll be alright, I notice his scent. This blanket is absolutely saturated in it. I feel a tightening in my lower abdomen.
"You smell good..." I blurt out before I realize my fangs have elongated, despite still being blind and helpless on the floor under a blanket.
I stifle a small scream in the back of my throat as I throw the back of my forearm over my eyes across the other side of the ice as my eyes. Lusty blood loving gut clenching gone, as a wave of searing and icy discomfort washes over me once more.
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Post by Admin on Dec 14, 2012 20:19:49 GMT -5
Ava's words startled Daniel. They were so out of place and such an odd thing to say. His mind went blank as he opened his mouth to respond. He promptly pursed his lips, his brow furrowed. Sudden movement under the blanket made him shy back and lose his balance. The tile floor was cold on his ass. His heart hammered in his chest, the adrenaline kicked up one more notch. Ava said nothing more.
Tentatively, not really wanting to know the answer, he spoke before he could think better of his idea. "Would more of my blood help you?"
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DolorNoir
Archfiend
4am knows all my secrets
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Post by DolorNoir on Dec 21, 2012 1:37:31 GMT -5
I want to lick the insides of your veins... My body screams with different kinds of thirsts, two sides of the same coin. My legs tense and clench as his words sink through my head and the melting ice can't stop up my nose from the scent of fresh human on the blanket. My eyes are throbbing, but my arm feels more solid.
I slowly take my arm off the ice, then the ice off my eyes. I give it a moment, and try to open my eyes. Moving the blanket aside, I resist the urge to pull it right back over my face. Daniel is in front of me, a shadow blur of red and pale. I hear him gasp and I close my mouth, realizing it's my eyes, not my fangs that make him react like that.
His face is still blurry, but I vaguely discern the pale face surrounded by the white halo. My whisper is almost gutteral with instinct. "You would? Really? No zombie?" My wounded arm slowly reaches for his wrist, and it's all I can manage not to grab him outright.
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