What's In A Person [Pathday 3]

[Shan]

The sun was out, but it was cloudy. Shan was clad in a dark jacket, the bitter cold not really bothering her too much as she stood outside of the morgue. A building her sire owned, Shan knew it quite well, as many times as she had stepped out of the shadow realm and found herself there. One time she had even been cut open and sewed back up - who knew if she had all her organs or not. It wasnt like she needed them anyways, right? She stared long and hard at the building, struggling to quell the weird and rare emotions that bubbled underneath the surface. "Damn place brings back too many memories." She muttered, shaking her head as she kicked at a rock towards the building. It hit the brick wall and bounced off into two different pieces, and Shan sighed. No, she rather didnt like seeing the building. Bringing up fingertips to push hair back behind her ears, she then shoved her hands deep into her pockets. Nothing she could do about it now, and she certainly wasnt going to stick around and reminice about the old days when her sire and her siblings had hunted her down countless times. Activating Celerity, she ran from the building. From the memories. From her past that she thought she had faced not too long ago while on bridge. Apparently not. It stung, the way they had done her. Treated her. Like she was just some kind of animal. She herself felt she was just lost all that time ago, confused and lashing out how she knew to get attention. It got her the attention she craved alright. Usually at the end of a blade, or staring down a barrel before being shot again; spending the better of a year in the dark, wasteland of the shadow realm.

((Memory 1))

[Shan]

The shadow realm. There she had spent so much time. It had almost become her own little reprieve from the real world. A place she visited so frequently she could call it a second home; though not of her own free will were the visits, it was still a frequented place. And then there was the last time, the time Madison had found her resting in a raided building, catching her breath (so to speak) and biding her time trying to get up to the next floor where the mooncalves were. Madison had much more experience in fighting than she did, and had multiple more powers than Shan, but Shan didnt stray from a challenge. She never strayed from a challenge. She had tried, and tried, and tried to fend Madison off; to land that one bullet to the womans head that afforded her the victory over the one that her faction (at the time) had wanted dead for grievances against them, and failed. Failure was never easy for Shan to swallow. She didnt like to admit that she had done anything wrong - though after a short talk with her sire, had come to realize she had. She came to a stop outside of the deserted asylum, shaking her head as she remembered Madison attacking them while they were on the hunt in the empty building now filled with monsters that haunted childrens dreams at night. She slipped inside, glancing at the stairs up where she had very first seen Madison, ever. If only she could go back, and do everything differently. Would she? Shan continued on through the building not even bothering to pull her gun out - no, the memories of the shadow realm and Madison combined fueled her anger. She blamed Madison, yes, but she also blamed herself - and there was nothing more upsetting to Shan than her being anger with herself. An anger that couldnt be quelled just like the thirst that plagued her. Cutting through zombie after zombie, feral after feral, she went until she couldnt any longer, finally pulling her new tome out and using it to tome to Nyla's basement.

((Memory 1))

[Shan]

Nyla's basement. The woman she had met during a fight night a while ago. One of the first things they had found out they had in common was that their fangs both alike never retracted like most's did in the city. She remembered the night she had wandered aimlessly, finding herself on the woman's doorstep after going half numb; losing her sire and her faction at the same time. No, it wasnt necessarily a bridge that couldnt be mended, but Shan had had enough. Not so much as a word had been given before she had been notified of the removal, and she honestly sat there speechless for a second. She remembered telling Nyla in as few words as she could... "No longer Ty." Before she had tossed the tome to the Eyrie in the nearest trash can while in the incredibly amazing basement of Nyla's She remembered the tour, the way Nyla had been so proud to show her the place, the way she hadnt hesitated in handing over her tome and telling her she had a place to stay because she considered her family. Shan took her jacket off, slinging it over the nearest chair as she made her way down the hall to the training room, pausing to check the Olympic sized pool to see if anyone was there. She was alone, so she figured she could train as hard as she liked, even after pushing herself to the brink less than an hour prior at the deserted asylum. She pushed the door open and stepped into the training room, giving a smirk as she did.

((Memory 2))

[Shan]

She secretly loved this room, one of the first rooms Nyla had shown her that night she had lost what actually meant something to her - despite what her sire had tried to tell her. What did she know? She had never talked to Shan unless Shan went to her first - making things more difficult to maintain between the two, yes, and thus making their relationship constantly strained. Shan remembered Nyla talking about Zelda - her own childe - and she remembered an odd feeling coursing through her, the way lightning struck and traveled through the body on a rare instance, searching for an outlet from the conductive source. She hadnt been able to place it exactly, not being familiar with very many emotions at all really - she was the cold blooded killer Velveteen had turned her into yes - but she was sure at some point she would be able to figure it out. She wasnt the brightest crayon in the box, but she wasnt the dullest either. "Stupid." She said out loud to herself, feeling like she shouldnt have been so reminiscent of the past. But being alone, she just couldnt help it, the way memories clouded her vision and the space around her filled with the people from a time before the now. Then she was smirking, taking her shoes off and stepping onto the mat, squatting for a second to put her hand to it and feel the texture of its familiarity. Yes, she knew the mat well.

((Memory 2))

[Shan]

Having face planted the mat herself a couple of times, Shan couldnt help but snicker. Nyla had always been stronger than her, especially the time they had sparred after a family fight night, one where Micah had snapped her arm at the elbow. Shan still accepted the challenge from Nyla, remembering the way she felt at the events that the night had offered. Muscles could be seen rippling on her jaw as her teeth clenched. That night had gotten out of hand, and quickly, in The Realm with all the other Andras. Shan and Nyla had tomed out after the drama had ensued, partaking in their own little sparring match on this very mat Shan was now touching. She drew a deep breath and shook her head, no, that night hadnt made her feel particularly happy. It had made her feel obsolete - and had even made her wonder if her sire felt that way about her. She remembered the night with perfect clarity as she set to completing her own Karate Kata perfectly, laying out the moves one at a time with extreme self control. After this was done, she took a seat, then fell back, staring at the ceiling that concealed the amazing basement she was in underneath a measly old trailer. Why had that night gone down the way it had? Shan couldnt help but wonder if anyone else had noticed the way she had been almost singled out, and thrown under a bus figuratively - and in front of everyone like that.

((Memory 3))

[Shan]

She huffed and spread her arms out to either side of her, swallowing dryly. She remembered the fight with Micah, only losing by the one blow that was her broken arm - but remembered being distracted by Zoey talking off the to side with her childe Macaria. Shan barely knew the woman, but she had shown up out of the blue - and Shan couldnt help but wonder how Macaria had even found the place as she laid there. Figuring she had just gotten the directions off the Andras board, Shan brushed it off, pushing the memory back and down, hiding it in the depths of her mind along with those pesky emotions she did well to not show to anyone. After all, she had to stay strong. Who wanted to know someone that was weak and pathetic? Shan wouldnt have any of it, and she sat up, then stood up, and crossed over to her shoes to slide them on without even bending over. She sighed and scratched at her throat, damn this thirst of hers!

Figuring it was time for her to feed again, she made her way over to the fade portal and stepped into it, it dropping her on the same place as one of the ones in the Eyrie did - Bullwood station. She leaned against the wall of the janitors closet Nyla had so cleverly set the fade portal up to, closing her red blood hues to focus on her thrall - Seraphine. She was tired and didnt feel like fighting with the crowd that seemed to stray from her everywhere she went, so she called to her thrall, willed the other woman to come join her before she opened the door and stepped out into the station.

((Memory 3))

[Shan]

She smirked as the face of Seraphine came into view once she had stepped outside. The woman was a rare person, one that Shan had instantly known was different when she had met her. She had come across the woman after a night of hunting, slaughtering countless humans that meant nothing to the society that was Harper Rocks. Shan stared into Seraphine's lifeless green eyes, staring back into her very soul she felt; as if she had one. "Hello Ser." Shan didnt waste their time on pleasantries as she smirked, noticing the others around them dispersing slowly. It was always the same ole' with the humans, the way they seemed to just know what she was, some kind of monster. And she was. Crossing the street to where the brightly lit Golden Lion Casino was, Shan's smirk only widened. The two of them knew the building well, it being where Seraphine had caught Shan in the act of one of her nights out on the town - a different kind of hunt all together. It was one of her nights where she could truly let the monster deep inside out - and it was one of the nights she had actually met a human that had been able to stomach the monster she had seen in Shan. Seraphine had been a card dealer at the casino, and Shan remembered the night like it had happened just yesterday - simply because it was one of the most memorable nights she could share with the human that had willingly become her thrall.

((Memory 4))

[Shan]

The two walked towards the back of the casino, going around the side, where Seraphine had that one night, barged in on Shan and another female. Shan snickered, not because what they were doing was borderline public indecency, but because Serphine had opened the back door to find Shan holding the blonde to the wall with one hand around her throat, the other clasped around a knife that was carefully embedding deeply into the womans abdomen. Shan's grip around the womans throat had cut off her air supply just enough so that she couldnt scream - but not so much so she wasnt still alive, the vampires blood red hues staring into the blondes icy blue ones as she watched the life start to fade out of her. She had glanced back to Seraphine who was just standing there, either in shock or awe - Shan would never know for sure - who watched as she slid the sharp knife to the side and ultimately took the blondes life in front of her. Seraphine was indeed different, in that being that she hadnt run - she had stayed, and even stared at Shan with an evil hint of a smirk. Shan knew Seraphine was different then, as she remembered dropping the blonde's lifeless corpse to the ground and turning on her now thrall. Ser hadnt moved a muscle, except to twitch her evil smirk into a smile at Shan, like Shan had just done something she herself had wanted to do. Shan chuckled under her breath at the memory and slipped her arm around Seraphine's waist then, pulling her close for a feeding that the thrall didnt protest; if anything she enjoyed.

((Memory 4))

[Shan]

Shortly after draining as much as she could from Seraphine without killing her, Shan willed the beautiful woman away to go look for thieves to kill for her bank account to grow fatter with. She needed the money, now that she was to be on her own, or as much as she was at least. She knew she had people to lean on, she knew she had those around her and those were who mattered; but she also knew something deep down was missing. And it was wrong. It was wrong, it felt wrong, for it to be missing. She grumbled and wiped her mouth before heading out of the alleyway, heading back to the station and taking it to Cherrydale.

The sun had started to set and the people who were around her now were immortal like she; only because they didnt step away from her or start to get into instant fights the way normal humans did. She figured they were heading to the catacombs, though she knew she wasnt herself. She just needed to go for a walk. She needed to see something, the way she had seen it before, to affirm something to herself; to confirm it hadnt changed from the memory she had in her mind. Stepping off the train and back outside, she made her way south then south west, remembering the night she had dumped hundreds of items on her sire in order to help those who may need them in the faction. She knew she wasnt going to do anything but sell them, so it hadnt bothered her - but she snickered as she remembered her sire having trouble carrying all of it and how she had handed some of it back and told her to carry it for her up to the Eyrie's top floor.

((Memory 5))

[Shan]

"You're the killer here, right?"

She remembered that night, as she stopped at her final destination, pulling her hands from her pockets to cross her arms over her chest. She stared up, staring at the tree that had once been where her tome had taken her. Well. Not up, but down rather, and she lowered her gaze to the front door of the Eyrie. It was closed, and she was sure if she even stepped near it she would find hidden traps shooting, burning and biting into her flesh left and right - so she didnt. She just stared, lifelessly at it. The memory of following her sire up to the top floor, standing there with her, admiring the view of the city from the incredibly thought out fort that her sire had made out of a giant tree. It fit, with the owl named faction, and Shan sighed. She didnt pull her phone from her pocket. She didnt make any effort to yell up to the occupants, no, she just stood there for a moment, in the now brutal cold of the night, admiring.

She blinked her red hues, as it started to snow lightly. She didnt want to be caught out in it, out in the middle of nowhere staring up at a damn tree. So she finally turned on her heel and headed back towards Newburough the long way. She needed the fresh air to clear her cluttered mind. This year had been so different for her than the one before, this one full of vibrancy, color, interaction and reality --- much unlike the last one spent in the darkness of her own personal hell that was the shadow realm. No, this year had afforded pain, pain she had to learn to cope with, without anyone else knowing.

They didnt need to. She was sure of it. Or at least, she reassured herself. Whether or not it was truth, well, that was a different story.