When Death meets Emptiness (Velveteen)

[Khronic (DELETED 5466)]

Khronic's eyes scanned the nearly empty streets. It was that eery time of night where everything felt just a little bit wrong. That feeling of eyes on you everywhere even though you were positive that you were the only one up and active at this ungodly time of night. Just past midnight, right before twilight. I pinch before that time he'd learned to just refer to as dark blue. That was this time of night.

Green eyes narrowed as he tried in vain to see further than he was able. He could swear he saw the shape of a person duck between two buildings and out of sight. If that was the case, this evening just got much more interesting. A ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of of his mouth as he moved forward to follow what he may or may not have seen at all.

Rounding the corner, he moved his hand back to his waistband, doubling checking his gun location. Finding it just where it ought to be, he move forward. He couldn't see much at all in the dim lighting and he was starting to think that what he'd thought he'd seen had been a figment of his imagination. It was late, there was an excellent chance that his eyes had been playing tricks on him. He lowered his hand from his gun and moved to turn around but froze when a sudden movement caught his eye. His reflexes were too slow and in an instant he was being thrown back into the hard brick of the ally walls.

His vision swam as his head made contact with a loud crack. This was new. He tried to shake off the fog that seemed to have settled over his eyes, pulling his gun and firing a few badly aimed shots. in his defenses, he was seeing double. The man, as it turned out to be, advance on him, undaunted by the shots being fired and seemingly unaffected that there was a weapon being brandished in the first place. He reached down, wrapping his hand around K's throat and lifting him off his feet. The sudden loss off airflow to his brain coupled with his head injury made his eyes roll back in his head. This guy was impossibly strong. His grip was like iron and his hands were like ice. He couldn't work out how this man, no bigger than him in stature was able to lift him like he was made of fiberglass. One handed, none the less!

He grit his teeth, his free hand lifting to try and gain purchase as it clawed against the other man arm. His hand still holding the gun felt like it weighed a million lbs, but he forced it upwards, barrel pressed under the jaw of his attacker. He pulled the trigger, the mans head snapped back so forcefully that he heard the bones of his neck crunch. His grip on K's throat loosened allowing him to hit the ground. His free hand moved to his own neck, rubbing it while he sucked in greedy gulps of air. He'd thought he was done for….he was pretty sure that had been the end. He coughed, lifting his gaze to stare at the shape of the man. He still stood, swaying now slighting. His head was snapped back in an angle that was surely nightmare inducing, but he didn't fall. Green eyes narrowed as he tried to make sense of the situation. He was half sure he was hallucinating, especially when the man's-- no the creature's, head slowly raised back to its appropriate position with a series of snaps that signaled bones being realigned. The creature fixed its eyes on him, a chilling smiling stretching over its horrible face. Teeth…all he saw was teeth.

He raised his gun, firing several rounds into the creatures chest, but it advanced. Somewhere in the back of his oxygen deprived mind he validated that this must be the agent of Hell sent to collect him. There was no other logical explanation. He was clearly looking the devil in the face and trying to shoot him point blank. The humor was only lost due to the timing. He was sure he would look back on this one day and find it hilarious. I mean..provided--

The creature reached down, lifting him by a fistful of his hair this time. He kept him pinned to the wall and K met the gaze with an even coldness. He wasn't afraid of death….he was just kinda pissed off that he hand't gotten more from life. Time seemed to slow down as he took in the sharpness of the monsters fangs and the way he smelled like death. He closed his eyes, exhaling something akin to a laugh and waited.

[Velveteen]

Nothing. Nothing but the sound of her rubber sole that scuffed against the cement pavement as she stood there feeling more than a little foolish on the empty street in Coastside. It was possible that she just wasn’t fast enough. It was also very possibly that she had just been scammed out of a thousand bucks. She was definitely leaning toward the latter. Velveteen shrugged and chuckled softly to herself. Perhaps the old woman might buy herself some clothes, or get a room for the night and shower at the very least. Hell, for a thousand bucks she could sleep in a bed for a week and then some. Ah well, worst case she helped out some old homeless woman and discovered that the talk of an Oracle in the city was ********. But the good news was that nothing was happening….well that was how it seemed.

She had started to walk away when a couple of gun shots shattered the quiet. Velveteen moved quick as she ducked for cover, drawing her own weapon before searching the area for the shooter. Her search found nothing and she stepped back out from behind the building where she had taken refuge. Her gun, however, remained in her hand and was held low but ready in front. Huh. Maybe that old woman was right. The vampire canted her head slightly as she listened, moving slowly towards the sound of some sort of scuffle. Another single shot rang out and she was able to pinpoint the origin this time as she rounded the corner into a darkened alley just in time to see the rogue vampire take a bullet to the brain.

A quick survey of the area told her all she needed to know though what she was to do about it she wasn’t sure. The other was obviously human and had already seen too much but what sort of human. He could have been a hunter or a paladin in which case she was best to leave the rogue to finish the job but...what is the human was little more than a victim of circumstance? She grumbled unhappily as her conscience refused to let her walk away without being certain. Several more shots ripped her from her own inner monologue and just as the human was about to have his throat ripped out she moved forward in a blur of motion.

One second she was standing at one end of the alley observing and the next she was part of the scene that continued to unfold. The cold steel of her gun was pressed against the other vampire’s temple whose senses were seemingly consumed by bloodlust causing his reaction to be just a little too slow. One more shot echoed between the buildings except this one came from her own gun. A fine pink mist coloured the air for the briefest of moments before the rogue became nothing but a pile of dust at her feet. Velveteen grinned and shivered with delight. She did enjoy that just a little too much at times.

The sound of sirens drew her attention back to the human male who slumped against the wall. Of course the cops would come so now was a really good time to get out of there but what to do with the dude. He looked a little dazed but he was definitely conscious and very likely to remember this in vivid detail. She couldn’t let him wander off after what he had just seen though it did seem a shame to kill him after having just saved him. She had ruled out that he was either hunter or paladin and was instead just some unlucky ******** who wandered the wrong way she suspected. Flashing lights hinted at the entry and the sirens had grown louder. Time had run out and it was time for her to get the **** out. She grabbed the younger male by the shoulder and looked up that the top of the building. She should make it though she had never tried this carrying the weight of another.

Velveteen crouched low and pushed herself upward, forcing herself into a powerful jump that would see the pair land rather heavily on top of the building. She did not release her hold on the human as she peered over the edge. A spotlight turned the dark to day in the now empty empty alley way. She waited until they moved on further down the street before she sat back and looked at the male curiously. “Now...what the **** am I supposed to do with you?”

[Khronic (DELETED 5466)]

Khronic was vaguely aware as the world shifted around him. His stomach lurched with his body, landing unhelpfully in his throat. He tried to look around, to gain some barring…but he was at a loss. All he saw was stars…stars and tiny little glittering lights that were probably windows…but for what that was worth they were also a part of the heavens. He argued with himself for a moment that he was most likely dead. The last thing he could remember was razor sharp teeth and formaldehyde…with just the faintest of floral undertones. That was the scent of death. Condolences, chemicals, and carnations. The smell remained as if lodged in his nose and throat even though the beast was no where to be seen.

His train of thought was derailed as his eyes landed on a pair of leather clad feet standing just in the outer edges of his line of vision. He lifted his heavy head to stare up at whatever it was that was staring back at him. If he had a heart it might skip a beat. He blinked a few times as he attempted to take in the woman in her entirety. And let me just say…she was a sight to behold.

On the taller side of not too tall, and on the slimmer side of slender. Her hair was like a curtain, it fell straight down her back without falter or flaw. He body was draped in leather and velvet and it hung to her sharp angles like canvas in its frame. Her skin was so pale that against the sky and the city scape she seemed to glow, but it was her eyes that struck him the most. They glittered like diamonds in a bezel. He parted his lips, shifting so that he could push himself up and away from this creature. He was as sure as he was breathing that this woman was not human. More sure than he'd been of that thing that had nearly taken his life. He wet his lips, trying to fathom what he was seeing and coming only to the conclusion that THIS….this was really death.

He inhaled a slow breath, it caused a cold sort of ache and an angry type of burn from the abrasions around his neck. His fingers flexed, searching for purchase on the rooftop and finding none. "Who are you?" The words pulled past the cage of his mouth with an agonizing type of sound. His voice was dry and rough, it scratched like sandpaper. He cleared his throat and tried again, this time with gusto. "Who are you?"

A breeze came suddenly causing his own hair to temporarily obscure his vision and the heavy fabrics of the woman's coat to billow out around her like wings. The strong smell of leather, spice, and those damn carnations came with it. He swallowed the lump that had settled in his stomach and asked the question that came as an echo of what she had been musing. "What are you going to do with me."

[Velveteen]

Velveteen watched the human’s reaction with mild amusement and decided to ignore his questions for now; though his small show of defiance caused her to raise a single, curved brow ever so slightly. Silence stretched the span of the time between his last question and her next move as she considered the question. What was she going to do with him? Firstly, she decided, she had to be absolutely certain that her current assumptions were true and she crouched down beside him to snatch up one of his wrists. Ice cold fingers curled about his wrist in a vice like grip as she pushed his jacket sleeve up to inspect his arm, dropping it when she was satisfied only to then do the same to the other. No tattoos. Just as she suspected. The look on his face at the time told most of the story but one could never be sure these nights. She dropped his arm and remained crouched, ready to grab him should he attempt to escape even though there was not really anywhere he could run to up here.

Sterling irides pinned green hues and narrowed slightly as the dark haired vampire appeared to be studying the younger male though her mind was seeking out another’s. "Babe! Drop what you are doing and meet me outside the Eyrie, please. I have a ....situation.” Once done she had no doubt that her husband would be there waiting soon enough and she turned her full attention back to the male. A silent appraisal told her that he was no worse for wear despite his ordeal. Besides the angry marks around his throat he might have a headache but nothing broken or bleeding. His heartbeat was a little elevated but that was no surprise, he wouldn’t have been human otherwise.

“I don’t know yet.” She said finally in response to his question. “Can you stand?” She asked, the rhetorical nature of the question made obvious by the fact that her fingers were already gripping his shoulder painfully to pull him to his feet before he could answer. Her strength was unnatural and far beyond anything that a woman of her stature was capable of but at this point it seemed pointless to hide it. Her eyes flashed darkly and a wicked grinned flickered across her lips. “I do know that I can’t have you talking to anyone.” And with that she made to throw him off the edge of the building except at the very last second she teleported the guy instead, though he wasn’t to know that. She could only imagine how that went at the other end.

With a soft chuckle that drifted on the breeze she took one last look around before dropping back into the alley to fetch the guy’s gun that has been dropped earlier. It was evidence after all. That is how she justified it rationally but in the back of her mind she was considering how attached to her own gun she was. Perhaps others were the same and if that was the case he would likely appreciate it being returned. Perhaps he wouldn’t but either way she had it now. All it took was a single thought and in the blink of an eye the space she had occupied was now empty. The only indication that anything had happened there at all was the ashes that were being dispersed little by little as the breeze moved through the empty alleyway.

[Khronic (DELETED 5466)]

Khronic's olive green eyes widened as his wrists were seized. Pupils remained fixed on the woman as she examined him. He didn't understand what was going on or what she could possibly be looking for. None of this made sense. He was sure he was in some strange suspended state of life right now. Torpor. He was hallucinating this creature and her odd antics. He was dreaming up the ice on her fingers and the pretty lines of frost he was sure her touch was leaving on his skin. It was all in his head, and he didn't really mind that one bit. It was soothing…numbing in a way. There was no fear in his chest….only a throbbing sort of curiosity. It was dulled by that frigid touch that somehow shushed him into a state of disinterest.

He was vaguely aware that she had stopped holding him in place but he made no motion to move. He had no desire. Where on earth could he possibly want to be if not here? Here he was, trapped on a rooftop in a city that never learned his name with a creature he was sure he'd dreamt up. He kept his eyes locked on hers, tracking as she analyzed him. He had no idea what she was thinking but somewhere in the back of his mind he registered that he really probably wouldn't like it. He couldn't quite place what made him so uneasy about her gaze but it was enough to jolt him from his silent reverie and back into the here and now. He tried to push himself back and away but just like that…her eyes were locked back on his with an interested sort of intensity.

"Can you stand"

The question sounded muffled, like she was speaking underwater. He shook his head, trying to clear the fog. Full lips parted as he opened his mouth to respond, but there was no point. Her hand was clamping down on his shoulder like a vice and he was being hauled to his feet before he could even formulate the notion of a response. He winced, the pain going straight to his already spinning head. He tried to sort through whatever it was she said next, but failed miserably. All he saw was that smile. All teeth, and every drop of that frozen venom reached her eyes.

He noted that they looked oddly dark in this lighting. He noted that she looked like something you would read about…something so good its deemed wicked. Something that you tell your children about at night to make sure they say their prayers. He noted all of this and then he fell.

The air rushed around him, scraping his skin like the dull edge of a knife. It was cold and it sucked like a vacuum. The drop left him breathless, but the hard impact of death never came. He was starting to get a bit tired of the anticlimactic bite that 'not dying' had. He didn't even bother to acquaint himself with his new surrounding. Wonder was entirely lost on him at this point. Green eyes narrowed, face scrunching up to seemingly displace the spattering of freckles that littered the bridge of his nose. The tallest man he had ever seen in his entire life, and no thats no an exaggeration, stood in front of him. Appropriately he documented the strong smell of pine that accompanied an equally rustic scent of tobacco and the cool bite of menthol. It was familiar in that way where everyone knew a guy like this. He was strong, he was dependable. Sturdy…this guy was a fortress. He lifted one hand to massage the space between his eyes, clearing his throat before speaking.

"…Please tell me you're going to kill me."

[Micah]

He hated training with a passion. Almost as much as he hated interviewing and in the past week Micah had found himself doing both. After his wife had let an employee go, there had been a mad scramble to fill the vacancy that had been left behind. Bunny had offered to do the interviewing and had done a pretty good job of narrowing it down to 4 potential employees. Once she’d done that, she turned their portfolios over to him and he had done the rest. Each one had shown amazing potential but in the end it wasn’t too hard for him to choose who to hire. After the business side of things had been taken care of it was down to Micah to do the training.

That was where he was currently. Well, he was observing. Wasn’t much training involved as the guy had over 10 years of experience under his belt. The only thing Micah really needed to do was show the new guy where everything was and explain the way Adrenaline was run. Regardless he liked to make himself available for at least the first few days as a just in case thing. This would be the last night though. Micah was confident that he wouldn’t be needed unless there was a dire emergency.

When he heard his wife’s voice in his mind, Micah calmly put away the design that he had started to work on and locked it away. She didn’t often interrupt him while he was at either one of the shops so he figured that whatever it was, it was important. After leaving instructions with Bunny, he bid the employee goodnight and left the shop. Normally he would have tomed without thought but he couldn’t exactly do that in front of a human.

Slipping into the alley between the two shops he pulled out his tome and used it, letting it pull him through time and space to drop him back home inside the Eyrie. As soon as his feet hit the floor he was moving, heading directly for the elevator. She said there was a situation. That could mean anything. His wife could, at times, be a magnet for trouble and it wouldn’t surprise him a bit if she managed to once again get involved in something that she shouldn’t have.

The elevator ride was short and within seconds of returning home he was outside the Eyrie gates, waiting for whatever Vel had in store for him. What dropped in front of him though wasn’t what he had been expecting. The first thing he noticed was the racing heartbeat. Micah’s eyes narrowed behind the ever present mirrored aviators. What in the actual **** had she done? He was contemplating this question as the human at his feet spoke. A snort of amusement left him. Really? “Kill you? That could be an option, if I am so inclined.”

[Khronic (DELETED 5466)]

K struggled through the haze to push himself into a more presentable position. He was currently sprawled in a way that was all manners of unattractive. His legs were jutted out in an unnatural angle that signaled something being out of place and his arms hung limp and useless at his sides. He inhaled sharply as a pain shot up his spine, origin: tailbone. He tried not to gag, a sweat breaking out along his brow from the unexpected sensation. Lashes fluttered downward, concealing the piercing green of his eyes before he was focusing all of his attention back on this tower of a man.

He was intimidated. There was literally no point in saying he wasn't. This guy could probably bench press him if he felt so inclined. He tried his damnedest to catalogue all of his features and oddities, but his mind was slowly fading into a pleasant buzz, not unlike white noise. He noted very vaguely that the back of his head felt wet. He didn't have the brain power to assess the why of the situation. Had he been functioning with thrusters set to full he would realize he was bleeding. The last stint of teleportation had him cracking his head so hard he'd left his DNA on the brinks situated behind him.

A laugh huffed its way past him lips as he forced his drooping head back up to stare at the man. He squinted against lights that were not there. "Just…..Im getting a lil-- a little dizzy with this backen forff, yanno?" His words began so slur together, his eyes slipping out of focus for a moment. Nausea was starting in the pit of his stomach from his concussion and his new tailbone injury. He tried to focus on his breathing. In…..out. In…..out. He mentally chanted the mantra in a weak attempt to cling to world of the living. He wet his lips, giving himself a small, full bodied shake to try and remain alert.

"Wherem….wherem i?" His brows furrowed as his confusion intensified. He was starting to have trouble remembering where he'd just been. All he remember was teeth and those pretty black wings. Or….were they really wings? He couldn't recall. He knew she'd had diamonds for eyes and felt like winter. He remember that. Where was she now? A line of blood began to trail down the side of his face, starting from his hairline. He made no move to wipe at it. He was pretty much out of moves at this point anyways.

His hand made a move to grab for something that wasn't there, his gun. The panic that came started out as cold and thick as an oil spill. He struggled against his concussion like he was drowning but his muscles and ligaments were sluggish to comply.

[Velveteen]

Once the human had been delivered to his destination, Velveteen peered back down into the darkened alley way. Something there caught her eye and with she dropped quietly over the edge of the building, landing with an unearthly silence as she crouched low against the warm concrete. She did so love the perks and powers that vampirism had afforded her and each night she found herself in awe at being able to do things she once thought impossible. Though she was no longer the same warm blooded, human being that she used to be she didn’t consider herself necessarily dead either. She could still feel, both physically and emotionally as well experience the world around her in ways that far excelled anything she had ever known. But then again, the spirits that had kept her company throughout life never truly consider themselves dead either.

Pulling herself to her full height, she cast a glance several stories up to the ledge she had just vacated and smiled. For the briefest of moments she wondered if she would ever get used to doing such things; she sincerely hoped not. Stooping low, the gun that lay, discarded on the ground was scooped up and dangled loosely in her hand as she kicked at the pile of ash that was the rogue, spreading it about the ground until it blended with the usual dirt and grime that resided on the city streets.

Once happy that no evidence of anything strange happening here was left she used her tome to get back to the Eyrie, suddenly aware that her husband might now be wondering what the **** was going on. Velveteen seemed to appear from nowhere just in time to hear the human’s question. “It doesn’t matter where you are.” Her words were direct and concise as she tilted her head and sniffed lightly at the air. Blood. She could smell it and it lingered mostly about the male with the striking green eyes. That he was bleeding was hardly a surprise. That he still had his face intact at all was.

The cold, smooth steel that hung from her hand was brought up as she released the clip and inspected it. Instead of keeping it, however, she snapped it back into place before tossing the gun toward the human so that iIt thudded heavily against the soft earth at his feet. Velveteen didn’t think he was in much of a state to be too much of a threat and well, even if he tried she highly doubted he would get very far in his attempt.

Ignoring their ....guest for the time being she moved closer towards her husband. Obviously some sort of explanation was in order and from the look on his face it had better come quickly. “He was about to have his throat ripped open by a rogue. I killed the rogue but he had seen too much to be let go.” Her brow furrowed slightly as she shook her head slowly. “I wasn’t sure what else to do with him. It seemed extremely counterproductive to save his *** only to kill it right after. Nobody saw us and I got him out of there before the cops turned up. He doesn’t have the markings of a paladin and from the beating he was getting I think it is pretty safe to say he isn’t a hunter....but he did have that.” Her hand moved through the air to motion towards the gun.

The dark haired woman fell silent for a moment as she looked at the younger male who looked about ready pass out there and then. Her expression mirrored one who might be working over a Petri dish and seeing something they had never seen before. She wasn’t one to needlessly kill humans unless there were no other options. This was likely one of those times but she couldn’t bring herself to consider it. She saved him. She couldn’t kill him now.

[Micah]

The laugh had him raising a single eyebrow as his arms crossed over his chest. Micah found nothing amusing about the situation. He wasn’t at all surprised that his wife had sent him...this. Though he figured she had her reasons for it so killing him was out of the question. At least until she got there. He could smell the metallic scent of blood in the air and it didn’t take a genius to figure out where it was coming from.

The human was injured pretty badly. His sharp gaze noticed the dilated pupils and he could hear the slurring of his words. Micah was pretty sure that the guy had a concussion but that was the least of his worries. A closer look told him that the human was pretty seriously fucked up. Where the **** was Vel? She alone held the answers to the questions that he had. The biggest one being what the actual **** did she plan on doing with this human?

His mouth opened to answer the male but before he got the chance to speak a very familiar voice broke the semi quiet stillness that surrounded them. Micah turned to face her, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to as she began to explain what had happened. So he was a nosy *** human who had gotten himself into a hopeless situation. Personally Micah would have snapped his neck and left him there but he was him and she was Vel. She sent him here so she must have a plan, or something in mind at least.

“Lots of humans carry guns.” **** knows he’d been shot enough. Even Bunny was armed to the teeth with a shotgun his wife had had custom made and an above quality blade. No way in hell would he let his thrall walk around with anything but the best he could provide for her. “So you didn’t kill him. Instead you sent him to me, who could snap him like a twig. Which let me tell you is a very appealing thought.” Again he glanced at the human male. “Apparently killing him is out of the question. And since he’s seen too much you know there’s only one choice for you to make right now.” That didn’t sit well with him either, but he wouldn’t voice that. She’d know.