The river (( Charlotte C and invite ))

[Robert Pratt]

You're from a small town
You're gonna grow up fast
Underneath these lights
Back down in Hollywood
On the boulevard
The dead comes back to life

To the praying Mother
And the worried Father
Let your children go
If they come back
They'll come home stronger
And if they don't
You'll know

They say, that evil comes disguised
Like the city of angels
I'm walking towards the light

Robert had seen that Killian's childe had been killed in the recent 'culling' by Tytonidae and sighed. He knew the man, possibly better than most, and he doubted that he'd have told her about the realm of shadows, nor how to hide each night before resting, just in case the idiots who believed the internet in all it said came looking for you. Well, she'd been found in the first wave and was now languishing in whatever plain of existance Muga had placed the shadow realm. She was still fairly young, and definitely inexperienced when it came to the way of the city and the dirty, grubby underside of it all.

He didn't think he'd ever met her face to face, as he thought it all over - though he chuckled when he realised that didn't actually matter. Down in the SR no-one had any faces or distinguishing features, so it made no difference if he'd met her or not. He knew what it was like down there - he still thought of it as down, though he had no proof if it was or not - having been there often himself, sent by the same people who'd sent her. He could do as most would, ignore the fact she was there, let her stew and feel abandoned and unloved - just as he had done numerous times. Though usually when he was there, someone would send him telepathic messages here or there. Or more recently, whenever he'd been killed he'd been there with Lizzie to keep him company.

He owed Killian nothing, so it wasn't as if he was doing it for him. However, he owed it to himself and to anyone sent to the realm to offer what support and comfort he could. The last time he'd been there for Alexandrea, he'd found he could summon the spirits to him down there, just as he could summon them here in the city. They strengthened your spirit, giving it energy and vigour while healing the rifts it may feel, while his own presence might bring her a little joy. The large expanse of nothing, the dead and decaying scenery, it all got to you after a while - and you had to be strong to fight your way through the rift to get back to the city. There was no way he could sit there and do nothing.

He left a note for Belle, saying he'd be gone for a day or so and to take care of things for him. Then, summoning some spirits to himself, he filled his own power reserves with their energy and then wrapped the shadows around him. He could feel the cold touching every single part of his body both internally and externally and he felt a shiver run through him that detached him from his body so that he was just a spirit. Reaching out with his power and his mind, he probed for the little rifts he knew were everywhere until he found one. His ghostly hands reached out and pushed at the rift, making it big enough for his spirit to slip through. He felt himself being caught up in some sort of wind that took him as it's own, carrying him away and down into the darkness until next thing he knew he was there, hovering above street level. In the realm of shadows.

Now, he just needed to find her, somewhere in this Lux forsaken city.

[CharlotteC]

The pain, the fear, that was all she could remember before she 'woke' into this darkness, this desolate fallacy of the city she had been in only moments before. Before the shot. Now she was, she had no idea where she was. Well at least not totally. The Shadow Realm, she had heard whispers about it, mentioned in passing with the few vampires she had come in contact with but never actually explained to her. Charlie wanted to cry, she didn't even know if she was, if she could. This place was terrifying. It reminded her of scenes from movies, the description of Dante's Inferno also came to mind. All she could do was wander, to move about, looking curiously and worriedly at the 'city' around her. It was like looking at a mirage, a scary mirage.

Charlie continued to wander, wondering if she would even be missed. Before she had died she had got word that her sire too had been sent here, but so far she had seen no one. Not a single soul. This scared her even more. No sire, her childer had vanished almost as fast as she had created them, and then there was Mitchell. Would he even notice her disappearance? She worried he wouldn't, that she would be left alone yet again, no one missing her. Did she even have a reason to continue on? She had failed her sire, her boyfriend - she didn't even know what to think about that anymore.

"Hey, I heard you were dead. Well, keep your chin up. Sun`ll shine again for you. Soon."

That voice, she knew it, not well but she knew it. One of the DoD girls, Yvette, she looked around but saw nothing, no one. She wanted to wrap her arms around herself and hide, was she? She didn't know. The message though was something. She heard it clear as day and yet no one was around her as she continued to wander. While it was touching that someone – somewhere – cared enough to try to reach out to her, but she couldn't lie to herself, it wasn't the voice she wanted to hear. She wanted to know that the man she loved with all her heart since she had got to this city was waiting for her, that he needed her the way she needed him, that she did have something to live for. She continued to walk – float maybe, she didn't know – through the city. At least, in some way, it seemed like the city. Only, it was dead, grey, lonely... No one around anywhere.

Then she saw something, and before she could stop herself she was attacking it, and when she did she felt a little bit of herself return. Slight as it was, it was something. Charlie went back to wandering the moment the thing vanished. How long she walked through this place she didn't know but then she saw something, someone - at least she thought so - it was hard to tell who though. No faces, nothing to tell who was who. Dark, shapeless, she felt like crying out. Something told her to stay close to it though - like it would protect her. That's what she did, she stayed close to the two 'people' and hoped for something to help her get through this.

[Robert Pratt]

Robert wasn't sure how long he wandered for, but the streets changed on him while he was walking - well, floating - which meant he lost track of where he'd blasted well been, where he'd searched and what was happening, where he was going. It was frustrating when you couldn't find your way around, let alone people you'd lost and were probably hurt and alone. He just kept in mind that his friend's childe had died for what he thought was the first time. He remembered his first death, how they'd swarmed him, shot him, stabbed him, all before he was fully awake and aware of what was going on. He knew that that horrendous feeling and traumatic event was what had shaped his view and solidified his feelings on the vampires and how they acted.

He didn't know the specifics of how she'd died, but it had been at the hands of Tytonidae - so he had a guess. She'd have probably been resting, unawares, before someone found her and snuck in on her. She'd have probably been teleported from her place of rest which would be the first thing she would have been aware of. So half awake, disorientated and suddenly out in the street or in a park, possibly in a state of undress. Then it would happen, the bullets and the blades, flashing in the moonlight and drawing crimson or black lines - he wasn't sure what path she was - across her pale flesh. She'd be scared, bleeding, hurt, unable to defend herself properly - it would be horrific and traumatic, and it sent a shudder through him as flashes of his own memories came to him.

Each time he came across a wraith, he'd speak to it, ask her name and then wait for a response. When none came, no slight sign of recognition, he moved on. Here and there he picked off the weaker spirits of the Dark Ones who'd passed on. He absorbed their energies and took it for his own to give him power and strength to resist the whisperings and noises he could hear trying to find him. He knew the shadows wanted him for their own, he could feel it here and also on the surface. He tried to stay away from the shadows as much as possible, which he always found amusing as he was a shadow himself. He figured it was some, ploy or joke in his creation where Muga had sensed his character and strength and had tried to claim him as his own from the beginning. Certainly, with the rage that had coursed through him after his turning, he could quite believe that had been Muga's plan.

He shrugged off the cold he could feel, trying to worm it's way into his bones and make his footsteps falter. He was determined in this mission, just as he was in every mission he undertook - and nothing would turn him from his path. Once more, he was aware of time passing but just not of how much time. Then finally, as he turned a corner, he spotted some more wraiths. It had been a while since he'd seen one, and he'd begun to wonder if perhaps it was a futile search, because as he was hunting, so might she be. However, here were three and they did say third time lucky, so hopefully one of these would be the right one, the one he was searching for. His hands lifted in front of his chest and created the circle with forefinger and thumb on each hand, other fingers splayed.

"Blessings of the Light to you. I'm looking for Charlotte. Childe of Killian. Are any of you the one I seek?"

Then hands dropping, he simply looked from one to the next and waited. Hoping.

[CharlotteC]

The shadows, they didn't talk, and for fear of being harmed she didn't either. Charlie didn't do much because she didn't know what to do. Did she attack? Did she move. Could she hide? Her hand - at least she felt like it was her hand - lifted to her chest it hurt and she couldn't quite understand why. She was just - shadows. Wasn't she? Charlie felt like curling up and shriveling away. She looked to the other shadows she was standing with and was tempted to 'say' something. Could they really speak when they were without a body. She didn't know how long she stood there, alone - even though there were two other shadows there with her - and scared, scared of what was to come of her. Would anyone even want her back? She felt like crying, she felt like screaming, she felt like she was dying all over again.

Then she looked around, the place had shifted about while she had been in her thoughts. Things were different, things were changing before her eyes and she hated to see it because this meant she could get lost far too easy. Her photographic memory was just as useless as her body. What am I going to do now...? She thought to herself as she looked around again, trying to get a handle on where she was. But it was useless, it was all useless. She felt like crying out again and didn't know if she was or not. She didn't know how long she had been there until another shadow started for them. It was blurry at first, and at first she thought she was seeing things. It didn't take long for that to change. The shadow moved up to them and seemed to move. She watched it and then, a voice. She didn't know it, at all, but it was friendly and the words themselves struck home.

"Charlie... Please." She said in a soft voice, hers but at the same time not like her normal voice. It was softer, like a whisper, still musical in a way but she felt her allure was missing in this place - not that it mattered. "I'm Killian's childe." She added on as she looked at this other 'person' that was asking about her. "Can I ask who...?" She started but didn't quite know how to word it right now to not sound offending to the person. "How?" She added, needing information as to what was going on. She felt so lost, and not just because she was dead.

[Robert Pratt]

A voice came from one of the three and he smiled, which made his own shape seem to glow a little, changing it from shadow to more of a silvery, ripple - a brightness within the dark of the realm. It was her, the one he'd been looking for and he was SO pleased with himself for managing it. Everything recently had been so confusing and Dark for him, with not much that was good in it. There were of course a few bright spots, but on the whole, he felt like he was always despairing, always losing someone, always angry or irritated. So the fact he'd come here with not a lot of hope but oodles of intention - and had succeeded - cheered him no end! However, the tone of her voice as she spoke was a very familiar one, and he knew just what she was feeling having been in her position over a year ago when he was newly turned and summarily killed, having been taught nothing and left to fend for himself.

He floated closer to her, and while there was nothing to hold and nothing to hold with, he still made the motions to hug her. It was a comforting gesture, and one which would hopefully resonate in her mind as such. As he pulled back he smiled again, shimmering as he did.

"Charlotte, my name is Robert Pratt. I know we've not met before but your sire and I used to be like brothers. He's since.... lost his way a little, but I would never see him or his family come to harm. He is a Pratt as I am a Lynch, and therefore - you are like family to me if you should have me. I'm here to help you. Now, I'm not sure who these other two are, so we should move away from them a little. Follow me, and don't worry about how - just imagine yourself walking and you will. Watch"

He turned away from her and simply, walked. His legs moved one and then the other, evident from the shimmering shadows that formed his legs and feet, though his feet didn't actually touch the ground. He'd been down here so many times that he'd learnt how to simply, glide. But this was her first time - so it was so much easier for her to imagine doing as she always did within the city, both dead and alive, vampire or human. Having walked off down the street and turned the corner, he stood on the opposite side so that when he turned and looked back he could see her following him along. He waited patiently, letting her get used to things and figure it all out, until she was with him again.

His arms lifted upand he focussed in silence on the street around them. He could feel Muga's power, sense it all around him almost instinctively. He reached out to it with his mind and tugged on the fabric of the realm, shifting it, changing it, taking the Dark and turning it to Light. His own form seemed to glow that bit brighter, a more intense and solid grey shimmering there as a wall of the same, shimmering Light blocked the ends of the street off from everyone. It was there, barely perceptible, but if you looked closely you could see the barrier he'd erected to protect them both.

"There we go. Now no-one can get to us and we're safe from attacks until the realm shifts again."

He looked around and spotted a bin, so floating over to it, he hopped up and floated above it as if sitting there, looking at her with a smile.

"So.... how are you doing? How are you coping? What do you know of where you are and what you need to do while you're here? How much has Killian actually told you about it all?"

And then, he just waited. Hoping she knew something and Killian had actually done something right for once.

[CharlotteC]

As Robert moved closer to her she had a quick moment where she wanted to freeze up, expecting something bad to happen to her. So much had already, she had been attacked, then killed in her own home, then attacked here as well. Yet, instead of attacking her, he was hugging her - at least, that is what she thought he was doing. When he pulled back again he was shimmering and she would have arched a brow - if she had one. That shimmer seemed oddly out of place in this world of cold darkness. Still, she found herself in wonder over the fact that he seemed like a bright spot. Something that she felt oddly attracted to, like a moth to a flame and all that.

He was explaining that he knew her sire, that her sire was like family and by association, so was she. That was something that made her a little on the happy side, though Charlie didn't really see a lot of Killian, nor did she know or spend a lot of time with people inside of the Worthington family, it was still nice to know that there was someone else that would see her as family. Even if the one she was 'born' into didn't really seem to show an interest in her or even know she existed or at least that was the way they acted. A clique of one really looked at it. Unless you were in the inner circle, people just didn't care. Charlie looked around for a moment and then pulled herself out of her thoughts just as Robert was explaining the whys of his being in this shadowy realm. He was there to help? How would he help? She thought to herself as she looked at him, still, as he asked her to move away from the other two she was standing with, she did, moving slightly away but keeping the other two within sight.

He lifted his arms - at least, they looked like arms despite not really having much more to tell her so - and started to do something. If she had them - both her brows would be lifted to her hair line and her jaw slightly agape. Charlie had no idea what he was doing but he began to glow and that glow, again seemed to call to her like a beacon of hope. She took a step closer to him and then looked around, noticing the way that the place seemed to move about and shift in strange ways. It wasn't until he spoke again that she noticed the slight shimmer around them, he had shielded them, and for a moment she really did feel truly safe there. Letting down her guard just slightly, she watched as Robert moved and seemed to sit on the bin that was near them and then felt as if she were taking a seat herself, only she was sitting on what she hoped was the ground near by.

His questions made her sad, she lowered her head for a moment and then shook it before she started to finally speak. "I truthfully don't know how I'm doing, this place..." She looked around again and then looked back at Robert "This place scares me. Not seeing who is attacking me, not even knowing why. And then there was that odd moment when I was attacking something. It was weird, not like them..." She pointed to the shadows they had left behind "but different and I don't know." She said, she felt like she was rambling on, but down here, did it really matter. Could she even return? Would she want to? She didn't really have a reason to return if she could. She looked down and then back at Robert as she went about to answer the last of his questions. "I don't know what to do and no, Killian didn't tell me anything. I think he may have mad a vague mention of it once when he had turned me, but aside from that... nothing. I don't even know why I am here.... shouldn't I have just, I don't know, passed on to hell or heaven or something?" She said as she looked down at what she assumed were her feet, she felt like curling up on herself and she thought that she did, thought that she brought her knees up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them.

[Robert Pratt]

Lux damn the man! He'd done his usual half assed attempt at things, where he got excited, promised the world, got halfway through his plan and then got distracted by the next big thing. Only this time, this time the man had done wrong by this poor girl. He had no idea how old she actually was, but here and now, she seemed broken, vulnerable and very young. How dare Killian turn someone and inflict this life on them - only to leave them, abandoned and alone without telling them all they needed to know to survive. He knew how that felt, had had it happen to him too. Luckily, he'd had the blood thieves and their knowledge of vampires to help him through his transition. They had taught him how to survive and what to expect, and if it weren't for them - he'd have been in her situation too. He hopped from his bin and moved to her side on the street, crouching down and hovering there beside her and hoping that his proximity would help soothe her and cheer her a little bit.

He figured that what she needed, was some strength. He knew what it was like being down here and how it seemed to suck every bit of strength and happiness from you and made the despair seem real and palpable. He reached out a hand and focussed his powers and energy on a spot beside her. Slowly, there was a stirring in the darkness, a slight flickering that started slow and slowly got faster and brighter until finally with a tiny 'pop' a spirit appeared there, tethered in place. Again and again Robert summoned spirits around them, feeling his powers and energy draining with the concentration and strength it took to summon each one. Finally, when he was drained, his concentration went back to her as his mind smiled at her.

"First off, drain each of these. They are the spirits of Muga's minions who have been sent to this place. Take their dark energy into yourself and destroy them forever, using their power to strengthen yourself. You'll find that it will make you feel so much better mentally and physically. Not only because they will give you their strength, but your own Light within you will recognise that you have destroyed the followers of the Dark and so it will shine brighter!"

Then he thought about it, and realised she might not know how to drain a spirit - with her lack of knowledge about everything that goes on down here. So after a small pause, he explained how he did it.

"I know different people drain them in different ways, so it will be up to you to work out the best way for yourself. But if you look closely, I can usually see the root of their power right in their core. I believe we all have our power in our centres, it's where I see mine in my mind and where I reach whenever I want to cast a power. So, I envision their power within their centre, and when I see it - I reach out and into them, grasp it and squeeze until the power enters my hand and is absorbed into my body. Though the reaching out and taking it, has only been after practice. At first, I had to step into them until our spirits merged. That's when my power and strength battled with theirs and won, absorbing them into me. You just need to control it, take from them what you need but don't let it control you. You must always remember who and what you are. Believe in your strength and your goodness and your humanity. Hold onto that with both hands, and take strength from me being here and you will be fine, you will not lose yourself to the Darkness."

And then, it was down to her. So he sat there and waited, ready to help her in any way she should need and answer any questions she might have. But he could see from her spirit that she was a strong one, that she would endure. All she needed, was someone to believe in her and be there for her - and she would be amazing in all things. If Killian wasn't going to give her the support and love she needed, then he sure as **** was.

[CharlotteC]

Charlie was silent as she watched him move from the bin where he had been sitting over to her side, 'kneeling' beside her. In a strange way it did help, knowing that there was someone that cared. She nodded her head a little in thanks and then fell silent once more. Then he started to do something, she watched his hand with a strange sense of curiosity at what he was doing. Without definition it was all the weirder to watch, it looked like nothing but a shadow reaching out at nothing. And she had to figure that was all he was doing, that is until things started to happen before them.

If she could have blinked she was sure that she would be doing it, this whole place was strange. Not just strange, but scary strange. Her head turned once more to Robert and then back to what was happening until there was something there, seemingly tethered to the spot. She looked at the thing that he had summoned and for some strange reason, she felt like attacking it. Like going after it. However, instead she stayed where she was sitting, her attention switching between him and the spots before them where one after the other after another began to appear before them. Then he began to speak and she turned her attention fully on him so that she could learn from what he was saying to her. She was destroying darkness? She could work with that, but at the same time, she had to wonder how he knew they were bad, who was this person that he said they were the minions of. What in the hell was all this stuff that he was talking about. However, before she could ask any of the questions, he was speaking again, this time explaining what to do.

Charlie found herself looking back to the spirits before them, looking for their power as he was explaining it to her. She knew that if she were still solid instead of whatever the hell it was she was right now, her mind would take in every single detail until she could close her eyes and see it as clear as day. However, there was no detail down here, one darkness was the same as the other and this was going to take far more concentration. Still, she listened, concentrating both on what he was saying, how he was saying he did things as well as looking for that power that he spoke of. Finally she started to see something, but his words drew her attention away from the spirits. Her humanity? She thought to herself, some of the other vampires she had come across had told her that because she was a vampire now that she had no humanity, no matter what her reputation in her mind said. She made a point of trying not to harm innocent people, especially humans. Guards and cops she tried her best not to kill if she could get away with it. Others she left alone when she had no reason to kill them. She rather liked humans, even if she had only met one since becoming a vampire.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and looked to Robert once more before looking to the spirits again. "I think I attacked one of these things earlier..." she said softly as she looked back at him. "It's hard to tell when everything looks like this..." she said as she waved around them. "After I do this though I will feel better?" She asked, waiting for a response before she made her way back to her feet. Charlie gave him one more look before she turned her attention fully on the spirits that he had conjured for her. She took in every detail she could find - which wasn't much in all honesty - still, she did it. She started to see that 'power' he spoke of within them, had she been totally solid she was sure she would have looked like a kid the way she sort of bounced in her spot as she continued to follow it to its root. Then she just freed her mind and allowed herself to act solely on instinct alone. Charlie attacked the first spirit close to her, her hand reaching into the thing where its heart would be as if she meant to rip the missing organ from its hollow form. She felt the power as she started to absorb it, still, Roberts words rung in her ears - or at the very least her mind - and she concentrated on controlling the power, controlling the darkness, so that it didn't take over what she was.

The power continued to absorb into her and she continued to hold onto both the power as well as herself, she wouldn't let darkness win. That was one thing she would always hold tight too. Never would she be evil, despite her being a 'monster' as people liked to call her and themselves now. Just as the last of the power absorbed into her, she pulled her had back and watched as the spirit dissipated into nothing as if it had only been nothing but smoke that she had reached into. Robert was right about one thing. The power that this thing offered her, it did help. At least from a physical aspect. Mentally, she still felt as if she weren't herself and as if she weren't needed. She still wondered why she even lingered. Turning her head from the other spirits for a moment she looked at Robert, "Something like that?" She asked and then tilted her head for a moment, "Are you feeling alright? Does whatever you just did with them" she waved to the spirits that still remained "do something to you? Thank you by the way..." She said as she rambled a little bit and then looked back at the other spirits for a moment and then back to him.

[Robert Pratt]

Robert sat there, exhausted, and watched her as she got up and made her way over to the first spirit. She seemed hesitant at first to him, but after a moment and a question which he'd nodded to, she had reached out and gone for the thing's heart. He couldn't tell what it was she was doing, as the taking of energy from one spirit to another was a very individual thing. Everyone did it differently, as he'd said, which meant you couldn't just watch someone do it and then emulate what you'd just seen. As she took in what the spirit had to offer, she seemed to glow that little bit brighter to him - though that may have just been in his mind - and then the spirit was gone. It had done all it could and it had moved on, having strengthened her. He couldn't help but grin like a madman - glad there was no face so she couldn't see - so pleased with her and how she'd done as he'd said right down to the letter.

He just sat there in silence, letting whatever thoughts were going through her head move to their completion. It was a big thing, being dead and here in the realm of shadows. Then add in how abandoned and alone you felt, the remnants of a ghostly pain and the difficulty in thinking if there happened to have been a head wound. The confusing layout of the realm and the drabness of it all with how dead and decaying it looked. It all played on your mind and tried to keep you and hold you in place, to change you and harden you into the monster that Muga wanted you to be. It was horrid, and it pained him to know this was her first time here with no warning or heads up as to what to expect. She turned back to him and spoke and he nodded his head.

"Yes. Exactly like that. Can you feel it within you, it's power working and strengthening you?"

He nodded his head again as she asked if it took anything out of him to summon the spirits.

"Mmm Hmm. It does take a lot to summon them. But it's worth it to help people like yourself, or myself when I'm down here because 'they've' killed me again. But please, take the rest and see how you feel afterwards. I have nowhere I'd rather be than here with you, so we can sit and chat. So if you have any questions at all about anything, just ask and I'll do what I can to help and answer them."

[CharlotteC]

Though she doubted he could tell - because she herself couldn't be sure of it - but she smiled a bit at his telling her that was how it was done. At least, according to him, how she did it. He asked if she could feel it, the power, their power. And she gave a nod but then realized again, he probably couldn't even tell she was doing such a thing and spoke once again. "I can. It's kind of like a hit of good weed or a shot of espresso." She said with something akin to a short laugh before she glanced once more to the other spirits that he had summoned for her. She was hesitant, even as he told her to take the rest of them. Still, she couldn't deny that they did, in some small way make her feel better, and having someone to talk to, even if she couldn't see who it was exactly that she was talking to was making her feel a little better. A little like herself.

She moved finally, and went for the spirit closer to her, once again taking it's 'life' from it and with that once spirit she felt even better. Charlie was wrong, this was better than weed, and better than espresso. At least, in comparison to how she had been feeling before he arrived. One by one they 'fell' to her taking their essence into her being until the last one was gone and she felt like she had just had a huge hit of Purple Haze. She shook the effect that it was causing, to clear her thoughts and bring back thoughts she had before she had once again began to take the spirits that Robert had offered up for her on a silver platter.

"You said 'they've' killed you again. Do they do this just for kicks and giggles or what? Because as far as I know, I didn't have a bounty on my head, which I would know because I have a program that tells me when I have said bounty. Plus I haven't killed a cop or guard in ages. I really detest killing if I can absolutely help it." She asked him. That was the one question that was the most prevalent in her mind because it still irked her that a group of people would do something like that. "And How in the hell did they get into my apartment?" She added, because that too was strong in her mind. It was the only place she knew to go and thought she would be safe there because 'people can't get into owned places' at least as far as she had known.