She blinked at the computer screen. Reaching both hands up she rubbed at her eyes, then looked back to the computer screen, as if the rubbing of her eyes had instantly erased the bounty she had managed to acquire. Frowning upon still seeing herself on the list, she furrowed her eyebrows and stared for a moment. Well that wasn't good. She sighed and looked around, suddenly realizing that others could have already seen this and could be looking for her. Really, this wasn't good. She frowned more heavily and gathered up her things; making sure to sign out of her account before standing and moving to the door of the internet cafe to slip outside quietly.Bounty: Saige... $1135
She moved quickly and kept her head ducked trying not to draw attention to herself, afraid of being found and attacked. She really didn't want that. She didn't even have a weapon on her to defend herself with. Slinging her purse by the over sized handles over her shoulder she hurriedly made her way behind the cafe and stopped there in the momentary safety of being out of sight behind the dumpster and generator there. Rummaging through her purse she shook her head, causing her dark brown curls to wave lightly under the shimmering moonlight of the night. How could she let this happen? This wasn't like her at all. This just simply put, wasn't good. And she knew it.
Finally finding her phone, she blinked back tears that threatened her warm ocean blue hues, pushing her purse back up onto her shoulder and resting against the wall there to type as fast as she could.
She selected three recipients and hit send, then typed in another text.{Text} I know I'm on the bounty list. I'm taking care of it. Love you!
Selecting one recipient she hit send. With that taken care of she replaced her phone back into her purse and sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. She feared stepping out from behind the cafe, exposing herself to the others roaming the city at this hour - who knew which person was greedy enough to want to take her life for a few dollars? Not to mention those concerned with the city alert level that was on the rise lately - she had noticed she wasn't the only one on the bounty list. And that wasn't good either. She needed to take care of her bounty and do it in a way that assisted the cities alert level. She sighed.{Text} I have something to take care of tonight, I'll call you tomorrow night, promise!
Bringing a hand up to her temple she pressed her palm against it heavily and squeezed her eyes shut. It didn't help that when she opened her eyes she saw dead people roaming the streets, and if she gave the slightest indication that she knew they were there they started talking to her and asking her to help them as if she could either resurrect them or send them on their way to their afterlife. Shaking her head she dropped her palm and clenched her jaw, thinking about how she would get to the apartment that held her things. Well, most of them anyways.
She had slowly been leaving her things over at Velia's lately... though she couldn't be sure if it was on purpose or not; she couldn't help the smile that dashed her lips in the simple thought of the woman she was slowly coming to fall for. Her smile quickly faded though as her mind stayed on the thoughts of the bounty she had incurred. Recalling the memory of the nights events, it played out in her head like a reel of old black and white film.
The building was dark as she picked the lock on the front door quickly, warm ocean blues dashing around and checking for prying eyes before slipping inside quietly. Making her way over to the desk that held a computer and a couple surveillance screens. Checking the itinerary, she found that the building itself offered some good loot items, and she decided it was worth the risk as she slipped around the desk and slid down a dark hall.
Coming up to the door at the end of the hall she knelt and picked the lock, sliding into the room quickly and making her way behind the executives desk to the wall there - removing the painting from the wall after studying it for a moment. It looked like a Monet original, but to her trained eyes she knew better and shook her head at the poor imitation. "Monet would be devastated knowing someone copied his work so poorly." She muttered lowly, raising her hand to the safe's lock mechanism and closing her eyes.
Drawing a deep breath she called forth the burning sensation that danced along her arms and almost warmed the blood in her veins. Her heated touch melted the lock and a couple springs popped inside until the lock itself was nothing more than a smoldering hole in the safe. She giggled softly and tugged the door open to pull out the sensitive documents and stuff them in her purse. Turning around, she nearly ran smack dab into a guard with his gun drawn on her.
He shined the light right in her face, and she put a hand up to shield her eyes. "What are you doing in here?!" He demanded, and she instantly felt the tears that welled up in her eyes. His gun was drawn and pointed at her like she was a threat, and that did not help the situation. She felt the heat in her hands, the one that was raised especially as suddenly the guard blinked then dropped his gun, reaching up to his eyes as he started to cry out and wail.
"I cant see! What is going on?! What did you do to me?! Witch!" She couldn't help the tears that rolled down her face as she rushed over to the guard and tried to comfort him, reaching to place her hand to his arm and the other to his cheek - not realizing that she would burn him until she smelled the distinct scent of burning flesh. His screams got louder still, and she instantly let him go, his flesh melted to her hand as she pulled back.
She heard a female's shrill scream then, and only after the fact did she realize that the high pitched fear filled scream had been her own, stumbling back as she clamped a hand over her mouth and more and more tears rolled down her cheeks. This wasn't supposed to happen like this! He was in such pain... each one of his cries tearing a hole right through her heart... she reached into her bag and pulled out her handgun finally. Shaking as she held it out pointed at him, she whispered to him before she pulled the trigger with her eyes closed.
"Im sorry..."
Opening her eyes she was in the Altaire apartment. "What the..." She blinked, breathing out the stale air that she had been holding in her lungs. How... how had she managed to get back to the apartment without walking? Had she been summoned? The only person she knew that could summon her was Velia, and she knew that Velia couldn't access the apartment. So how? Had she been teleported by her sire, Juliet? Surely if Juliet had seen her she would have said something to her, anything, especially with the text she had just sent the woman; notifying her of her bounty. Had she teleported herself? She blinked again at the thought. "No way."
She looked around, as if to confirm where she was, giving a slight shake of her head that yet again made her hair flow over her shoulders in the movement. "O-okay then." She spoke softly, her words ending in an even softer giggle, taking a deep breath and moving to the bedroom. She slipped out of her flats and dropped her purse to the bed, turning to take a seat on the bed after removing her grey vest and tossing it to her dirty clothes basket. "I'm growing stronger... and I can barely control it... what can I do..." She shuddered, bringing her hands to her face as her eyes brimmed in tears again. The memory flashed again, her world turning black and white all over again as she sat there with her face in her hands and tears made their way down her cheeks again.
She wasn't sure how, but the shot hit its mark, the small bullet from her tiny handgun creating a small hole dead center of the males forehead. She whimpered as she nearly dropped the smoking gun. His blood spattered the wall behind him, along with brains and bone - she shuddered and looked away. She put the gun back into her bag and reached up to wipe at her eyes. Get a grip, she remembered thinking. Taking a deep breath she shook her head vigorously and moved to step over the guards dead body, heading out the door only to nearly step right into another guard that had her gun drawn.
Clearly she had heard the commotion, and there was nothing Saige could do to protect herself from the woman as she heard the gun go off and she blinked. It wasn't for a few seconds until she felt the warm that slowly crept its way into her stomach and up into her chest, heaving a dry breath as a hand moved to the wound and pressed palm against it. Then came the pain. Crawling into the very core of her being, filling her with pins and needles
"Oh..." Slipped past her lips as she dropped her bag, and staggered bag, tripping over the dead body of the fallen male. "Freeze!" The words bounced off her ears as she stammered out in pain. "Oww-ww-ww! D-don't!" And her free hand went up to do her best to shield herself from another gunshot, her not even thinking about the fact that she could have had a repeat event with this guard as well. Suddenly the pain stopped, ask if someone had rewound time itself and willed her not to get shot in the first place. She blinked tear filled eyes open. Looking down, the wound was gone.
"What in the hell….. don't move!" The female protested Saige's movements with her unsteady gun as she struggled to get up, dumbfounded by what was happening. "I don't..." She looked back over to the guardette, blinking with a look of sheer bewilderment. "Did you see that?" "I said don't move!" And then the gun went off once more, and Saige instantly hit the ground as she cried out and writhed at the gunshot to her neck. "Oh gosh!" She squeezed her eyes shut and felt the burning sensation in her hands again, shaking her head as she tried to will it to stop. "Not again..." She mumbled through clenched teeth, her will not stopping the defensive power as the female started to rub at her eyes.
"I can't... why can't I see?! What the hell is going on?!!" Saige whimpered as her mind raced through things to do. She had already been seen... even though she had effectively blinded this woman for now, she was certain the effects would wear off, or at least mostly positive they would. And then what? Her identity would be out there, and she would be labeled a thief or even worse… a witch. And what then? At that point, would she be hunted by humans and vampires alike for her being found out? She couldn't take the chance of that, the mere thought forcing a whimper past her lips. She frowned pressing a hand to the neck wound to stop the bleeding. Her free hand grasped about the ground to retrieve her gun from her strewn things that had spilled out of her bag and all over the floor from it being dropped; in one swift motion pointing it at the female guard and shakily pulling the trigger again.
She dropped her hands to her lap. She needed to get going - the longer she sat around the less time she had to erase her bounty. She got up and moved to her dresser, opening the third drawer down and removing a tight dark blue t-shirt and a matching pair of dark blue jeans that were just as form fitting. She figured the dark fabric would hinder any chances of blood being seen on her as she made her way back home later - after taking care of her bounty in the quarantine zone.
Changing out of her cute orange and white blouse and tan shorts and into the dark blue ensemble, she made her way back to the bed to retake her seat gingerly and pulled her purse onto her lap. Rummaging through it she found her phone and pressed a button to light up the screen. No messages. Everyone must be busy. She set her phone aside and dove her hand back into her purse, pursing her lips to the side as she felt the cold metal of the gun that she was looking for and pulled it out of her bag. She needed to get rid of it, or at the very least store it away for safe keeping. After all, she couldn't be walking around with a murder weapon. That wasn't like her at all.
Why did I even have it on me to begin with? Everyone had always insisted I’d need it… for what? To become a murderer? How awful all this truly is… those poor people’s families. Their loved ones ripped away from them today, never to spend with them another tomorrow... Staring at the weapon in her hand she shuddered again, her mind flashing back to the memory like she had hit play again on the movie.
This time Saige blinked, her mouth hanging open ajar as she gasped at the woman that now had a gunshot in her shoulder, the bullet going wide of its mark even though Saige hadn't even really been aiming for her - the gun was pointed at the woman's chest. The guardette hit her knees, then fell over in a fit of screams and cries out in pain, and Saige reached her hands up to cover her ears; one still holding the gun tightly.
"Oh god... stop... please stop!" She cried out, more tears rolling down her cheeks and off the edge of her jawbone onto her orange and white blouse. Why was this happening? What had she done to deserve this?! She shook her head in her hands briskly for a moment, eyes squeezing shut and ridding themselves of tears before she stood up finally, her free hand pressing against the ground to assist her in the motions of regaining her feet under her. She knew what she had to do, she knew that she needed to end this woman's life, to stop the screams.
"Im so sorry... this wasn't supposed to happen like this..." Her frown was so harsh on her face that it contorted it into a look of deep sadness and clear regret, she pointed the gun on the woman as she stood overtop of her. Her hand shook. She brought her other to the gun as well, trying to steady it, pulling the trigger once more as the gunshot rang out seemingly louder than the others. The female stopped moving and gave one last twitch before passing away in front of Saige.
Saige cried. She stood there, and cried. Wave after wave of sobs fell from her lips, crying out she hit her knees herself, shaking her head. Then the alarms went off.
She blinked. The small pistol shone in the dim lights from the desk lamp of the bed to her left, and she sighed. Moving to slip the gun under the mattress, she bit her lip standing beside her bed. That spot would have to do for the time being. She grabbed up her phone and stepped back to her dresser, taking a knee and opening the bottom drawer this time.
Looking down in it she pursed her lips to the side for a moment, then nodded before slipping her hand into the drawer and pulling out a long broadsword that was encased by a rainbow colored sheath. Nix certainly knew her grandchilde, as she was the one who had given Saige the sword of course. She smiled faintly and shut the drawer that contained a couple more lesser swords and knives, standing to move to the lamp and shut it off before she slid out of the room with her weapon and phone.
Stopping in the bathroom to grab up a scrunchie, she pinned the sword to the side of the sink with her hip as she reached up and slid fingers through her hair on both sides of her head, pulling it back as much as possible, as tight as possible. Sliding her fingers through more to straighten the single pony tail out before looping it through the scrunchie a couple of times, she glanced to the mirror. Nothing. There was no one staring back at her in her reflection. She shuddered.
It was eerie to her, to be standing there, in reality yet not having a reflection to prove that to her. Was this all real? She couldn't help but ask herself that. Had she really incurred a bounty? Yes, yes she had. She had shot and killed two guards and a cop, and now she had to do something to remedy that, and help to lower the cities alert level that she had accidentally helped to raise. She stared into the empty mirror, shaking her head as she felt her pony tail swish back and forth on the back of her neck. Flash. Black and white images flashed behind her eyes again.
Alarms. Flashing lights. Exit signs going black as she blinked. "****!" Slipped past her lips and she raised her hand from her bleeding neck to her mouth. Cussing! She hadn't cussed in over four years, and all of a sudden after killing two people she found it coming out of her mouth as if she had been doing it naturally all this time. She frowned and wiped at her face hastily, moving to start to collect her things that had strewn all over the floor from when she dropped her bag.
Shoving the stuff back into her bag, she slung it over her shoulder on the side away from her neck wound and quickly made her way for the nearest exit with her gun in hand. She wasn't going to risk getting shot again - that had hurt a lot and she didn't like the pain that she was still experiencing from it. She slipped around a corner and spotted someone, frowning she looked past them to the door that they were blocking. The exit. Of course. She had no choice.
Wait. She did. She didn't have to kill this cop, she could simply feed from them. Nodding at the thought that seemed like a good idea, she tucked her gun back into her bag and rounded the corner, coming into view of the human that had his gun drawn. Before he could raise it up to point it at her she had held his eye contact, and she smiled that signature warm smile to him, tipping her head to the side as his head did the same to match her movements. She felt like a snake that was entrancing their meal, the way he copied the exact angle of her tilted head.
"You don't want to do that." She set her bag down as she continued to make her way to the male, she giggled and reached out to him for him to come to her the rest of the way. He did, almost like a zombie would have approached her, moving slowly and languidly to her until she had his hand in hers. She pulled him to her and stood on her tip toes, leaning to whisper in his ear lightly. "Relax handsome. This will be over with quickly, you won't remember a thing." He did as she asked, clearly in a trance like state as she smiled and took a deep breath into her lungs. And with that she extended her fangs and dipped them into his exposed fleshy throat, carefully and expertly fast as she tried to reduce the pain.
Finding the vein she tipped her head to the side and tore the wound only a little, allowing a more steady blood flow as she drank in his life force deeply. Swallow after swallow she drank, satisfying her thirst from the blood she had lost due to the two gunshot wounds. Still not sure how she managed to heal the first one, she blinked and swiped her tongue over the wounds before pulling back, letting him go and moving to slip out the door.
"Stop... stop!" She froze, hearing the clicking nose of a gun's hammer. Slowly, and instinctively, she raised her hands up to both sides of her, more tears threatening her eyes. Wasn't he not supposed to remember? She knew that much, though right now she most certainly was doubting what she thought was fact. Seriously? This couldn't get worse, she remembered thinking. Shaking her head, she stood there frozen with her hands raised defensively.
"Turn around!" She did as instructed, turning around slowly to stare at the human she had just fed off of with warm blue hues. "What did you just do to me!?" He asked. Clearly remembering. She frowned. Why did he remember? She was sure that Juliet had told her that they wouldn't remember... hadn't she? She bit her lip as her mind raced through possibility after possibility as to how she was going to get out of this horrible mess of a situation she had gotten herself into. Sighing, she only knew of one way. She was not okay with this. Not one bit. But she had no choice.
She lulled him again, thankful that she was still hungry as she slowly dropped her hands to just in front of her, reaching for the gun. "You don't want to do that, remember?" He fell into that trance like state again, and she nodded, hands finally grasping his gun and relieving him of it as she stepped into him and stood on her tip toes once more to whisper into his ear. "Im so so sorry..." She gave him a look of sadness, though she knew he hadn't seen it, that didn't mean that she didn't mean it. And with that she sank her fangs into his throat again; only this time he didn't wake up from this trance. She drank until he was drained, and slumped in her arms, his breathing shallow then stopping as his heart finally stopped beating.
She pulled back, tears running wildly down her face as she shook her head and dropped his lifeless corpse, the look in his eyes that of soulless and void of everything and anything this man had been not moments before. What have I become? She remembered thinking, staring at those dead eyes, this time herself being tranced before she blinked and instantly moved to her bag to pick it up once more only to quickly exit the building she would never return to.
She bit her lip hard, looking down at her hand, the other sliding to grip the sword by its clasp that she then moved to clip to her belt loop. "God dammit." She sighed. A second curse word in less than an hour? Yes, this was bad. She took a deep breath and glanced back to the mirror once more as if she could see something, anything. But still there was nothing.
She reached a hand up to rub at her sandpaper feeling eye before slipping from the bathroom and heading to the door of the apartment. Reaching it she grabbed up her keys from the hook to the side of the door and slid on her tennis shoes, surely she couldn’t hunt in flats. Or well, she could, but it wouldn’t be as easy as hunting in versatile tennis shoes. She needed to get to the quarantine zone, and fast. Time was running away from her - already it had been three hours since she had incurred the bounty to begin with.
She made her way out the door after locking it before shutting it behind her, checking it to find the handle locked as it should have been and she gave it a sharp nod before turning and heading to the elevator. Pressing her thumb to the button that glowed under her digit once it was pressed, she removed her thumb and slid her arms to wrap around her stomach lightly as if she were giving herself a hug. And truthfully she was. She needed the comforting touch as she stood there waiting for the elevator, her thoughts and memory of the night prior replaying scene by scene unwillingly.
The elevator gave its distinct ding, and she shook her head and blinked out of it before sliding past the opening doors and turning to press the '1' button that lit up like the down arrow she had pressed not but a minute prior. There was one other in the elevator and she gave the older woman a soft nod and as warm of a smile as she could muster - though in the back of her mind she couldn't help but wonder if this woman had seen the bounty list and recognized her.
She tensed when the woman shifted her weight, frowning, she shook her head and pressed a palm to her temple. This wasn't her. This just wasn’t like her, to be acting like this. But she had gotten herself into some trouble, and she figured that her paranoid state was deemed acceptable due to the bounty on her head and the fact that killing her could offer the city some security. The elevator dinged again and ripped her from her thoughts as the doors slid open and the older woman exited first, and Saige moved to slide out of the elevator behind her.
Exiting the lobby and stepping out into the now cooler night air, Saige looked up at the moon with her warm ocean blue hues that seemed a bit duller than normal. Maybe it was due to her mood, or maybe it was due to her having cried so much earlier in the night, though one would never know for certain; one knew that something was wrong if they looked into her eyes and saw the color of her iris' while knowing their original hue.
She turned and headed to the nearest sewer entrance, crossing the street and heading north on the sidewalk. How did I get so… powerful all of a sudden? She idly wondered, shaking her head she once again felt her pony tail brushing against the back of her neck as she came up on the entrance she was looking for. Remembering the last time she had slid down this entrance she pursed her lips as she stopped for a moment.
The last time she had taken that entrance her sibling had come up behind her and pressed a gun point blank to her skull, causing a large fiasco of sorts and lots of tears on Saige’s end. Yet again. She furrowed her brows. Maybe Athena was right. Maybe she was weak. But how could she toughen up? Frowning she sighed and started her descent down into the dark nasty sewers.
The ladder she slowly stepped down from was covered in even more slime than last time. Giving her hands a disgusted face before wiping them on the back of her jeans she looked around for a moment and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dimmer lights than the streetlights above that illuminated the streets easily. The sewers only offered enough light to navigate them adequately, and she didn’t like them. She recalled telling her sibling Songbird about her run in with the summoned zombies, the clear fear on her face from the moment dashing behind her eyes again as she shuddered at the thought of running into them again.
No, she didnt want that, so she pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned the flashlight app on. She started to carefully make her way to the entrance that was located in the quarantine zone. Slipping past several other people, she was tempted to try to pick their pockets, but she knew better. Right now she had one thing she needed to do; get her bounty down. So for right now she focused on that, and stayed on course. Coming up on one person she moved to slip past them - not realizing their tattoos until it was too late.
The paladin had their gun raised and was firing a shot into her gut before she could even react, and Saige stumbled back a couple steps. Growling in pain, she reached for her sword and drew it from its sheath, pulling it across her body in a sweeping arc that caught the forearm of the paladins gun wielding arm. The wound sprayed blood as she narrowed her blue hues on the man, turning her wrist over and bringing it back down to try to sever the paladin’s head. Clearly she was not in the mood, and this paladin had picked the wrong day to attack Saige.
Any other day and Saige would have given up, tucking tail and running, probably going to her sire and crying to her that she got attacked. But today she had mustered some amount of courage for some reason, realizing that she had broken masq and that she alone was the only one who could fix this problem she had caused for herself. The paladin shifted his weight and leaned backward, the sword skimming the skin of his neck just barely enough to draw blood in a very small scratch. She growled again, clearly upset as she went to turn her wrist over again and run her sword through his heart, though seeing him right his injured arm and point the gun at her she ducked and slid to the side, her sword missing its mark completely as she heard it sing through the air.
Nix had indeed given her a great sword, and she was finding herself silently thanking her grandsire for the weapon - even if it seemed that Nix had gone off the deep end lately, Saige had an incredible amount of love for the woman who constantly helped her at every request. She swung the sword once more, the sharpened blade finally connecting with flesh and bone as she severed the arm that was wielding the weapon, hearing it clatter to the ground and keen eyes saw the appendage twitch a couple of times while the paladin hit his knees and his mouth dropped wide open with huge eyes dashing in fear and pain. Saige drew a deep breath as she stepped in front of him and ran her blade straight through his heart.
The male grunted as she did this, blood spurting from his mouth and down his chin as she put her hand to his shoulder and quickly pulled her blade out with a sickening splatter sound, like his body had almost claimed the enchanted metal that had pierced his vital organs. The dead paladin fell over and she moved to stick her hand in his pocket, removing two crisp hundred dollar bills before tucking them safely in her pocket and heading on towards the exit she sought out that led up to the quarantined zone. "Stupid paladin. Wrong day, man." She could be heard muttering.
Dragging her sword against the ground as she moved, she pretty much alerted anything above ground at the entrance of her arrival to the quarantine zone. “Stupid bounty.” She muttered, clearly not happy that she had the price on her head. “Well, at least I’m here.” Great. Now I’m going crazy, talking to myself. Just great. She scowled as she sheathed her sword and quickly climbed out of the sewers, glad to be out of the dark dank nasty tunnels. She still didn’t understand how her sibling slept in them every night, always in the same place. Saige could never.
She shook her head and wiped her hands off on the back of her jeans again. “Uck. Gross.” She muttered, taking a deep breath and heading south to the abandoned crazy house. Standing just outside the door, she stared at the handle like it was covered in maggots; though really she was just remembering the first time she had been in this place. Black and white swirled her vision again as she remembered the memory.
Bam. One second she was standing in front of Jules staring down at the gun she had just handed her, the next she was struggling to remain on her feet standing in the old abandoned mental hospital in the middle of the quarantine zone. “Go hunt some zombies,” Her sire had said, and Saige reached up and steadied herself against the wall, blinking to try to clear her clouded vision. “Sounds easy enough.” She admitted, glancing down to the gun and heading down a dark corridor.
Lights flickered overhead as she slowly moved along the hall, warm ocean blues swimming and searching out a zombie. Rounding a corner she stopped dead in her tracks. Standing before her were two zombies, both of which were gruesomely horrifying. She stood there, frozen, feet glued to the spot she was standing as she struggled with what to do next. Every muscle in her body wouldn't move despite the commands she gave to them to do just that, and at the sight of the zombies tears dashed her blue eyes making it difficult to see. The zombies spotted her finally and started moving towards her, slow and methodical in an odd lurching fashion.
The closer they got the more and more she freaked out silently, until they were a mere foot from her, at that point she let out the loudest scream she could muster right in their faces. Dropping her gun she turned and ran, high tailing it out of there, her screams still echoing throughout the halls of the deserted asylum. She rounded a corner and slumped against the wall, tears streaming down her face. “Oh… my… goodness….. she wasn’t kidding! Zombies… they are real…” She whimpered, “My gun… oh dear.” She blinked. Well then. She certainly couldn’t leave it there for some random person to pick up - that just wasn’t safe.
She couldn’t help but think of some teen being dared to come in here, and finding it… loaded… she shook her head vigorously. No. That wouldn’t do. Besides, Juliet had given it to her, so she felt the need to go back and get it simply because of that. And she knew she needed something to protect her as she was going to make her way out of this hell hole.
Going back the way she came, her hands started to shake. Zombies were real. Vampires were real. What other monsters lurked in the dark corners of such a place? She shuddered and kept moving, reaching up and wiping her face hastily, she stopped just on the side of the corner where she had rounded and come face to face with the zombies. Taking a couple deep breaths she geared up, dashing from around the corner and quickly picking up her gun, then dashing away as if her life depended on it.
She blinked again. How sad, she thought, that she was so scared of something so easy to kill. But at the time she had wanted nothing to do with violence, wanting not to have to kill anything if she had the choice. But now she knew that she didn’t have a choice, that she had put herself in the middle of a situation that she had only one option which was that of killing in order to save her own skin. She didnt like it. She didnt like it one bit, but she sighed and opened the door, shaking her head as she slipped into the run down building. It smelled like old people and death. But mostly death.
She scrunched her nose up as she unsheathed her sword again, pursing her lips at how she had forgotten to wipe it off before she sheathed it after killing the paladin in the sewers. She would have to take the extra time at home after taking care of her bounty to clean it; ensuring that the weapon didn’t rust and therefore break more easily. It was a good weapon, sure, but that didn’t mean it was invincible. And knowing this, she felt uneasy about killing anything as she knew that she wasn’t invincible. She could be killed. But she feared being killed by bounty hunters more than she did by mere zombies, so she pressed onwards into the depths of the old outdated mental hospital.
Groaning. Incessant, loud, unnecessary groaning came from the room that she stood in the hallway just past the doorway to. She knew the sound all too well; knowing fare well that zombies were in the room she was about to go charging into. She drew a deep breath and glanced around the door frame, quickly counting five zombies aimlessly dragging themselves around. She shivered. “Gross.” Muttering to no one but herself, she tightened her grip on her sword and slid into the room to face one of her fears head on. One spotted her almost immediately, but Saige had the upper hand as she already had her sword up and swinging downwards to embed in into the top of the zombies skull.
A second one had noticed the first moving towards her and it followed suit, Saige tugging hard on her sword to try to free it from the zombies thick skull. She put her hand out and effectively blinded the second one to get it to stagger back, then gripping the handle of her sword with both hands, she put her foot up on the zombies chest and finally freed her sword from the grasp of the bone that slumped to the floor dead. One down. She turned her attention to the other three that had finally seen her due to the second zombie flailing about and making a stink of being blinded, grunting and groaning as he ran into desks and walls. She couldn’t help but laugh.
Shaking her head she swung her broadsword and caught a zombie in the arm, severing it immediately as she pushed another off her before running her sword through it, then pulling it out to swing it and manage to sever its head. Two down. The blind zombie finally found her and grabbed a hold of her from behind; Saige growling and backing into a wall to knock it loose from her. Slamming her head backwards against the zombies nose, she heard a sickening crack as the zombie let her go instinctually. Having them all closing in on her she swallowed roughly and ducked another grapple attempt only to step to the side and then make her way for the door in a quick dash.
Stepping through the door she turned and put both hands on the handle of her sword, holding it out in front of her defensively. She would take the three remaining zombies down one on one. At least that way she had a fighting chance. The first one stumbled through the door quickly, and she cried out as she swung her sword, severing the zombie clean in half before she was already turning and driving an elbow into the next one’s stomach. Spinning and planting a hefty kick to the side of the Zombies head with her heel, the head snapped clean off and rolled away, Saige then directing her attention to the blinded zombie. Running to it with a loud battle cry, Saige drove her broadsword right through its throat, the Zombie making odd gurgling noises before it died for real this time.
She drew a deep calming breath, slowly removing her sword from the zombie and watching as it hit the ground in a slump of rotting flesh and bones. She frowned, shaking her head, standing overtop of it. This is just so sad… how do these things even come about? If this area is quarantined… where are the new ones coming from? She wondered, moving to wipe her sword off on her thigh. “So sad… I’m so sorry you had to live this life.” She whispered, moving on to the hallway and down it into the more lit areas of the old abandoned building that once was bustling with staff and crazies in straight jackets.
She didn’t look in every room that she came across, and that was a mistake on her part, crossing one threshold to be jumped from behind as a feral vampire sliced into her back with a hand full of claws. She cried out in pain and dropped her sword, it clattering to the floor loudly as she stumbled forwards and accidentally kicked it a good couple feet from her before she hit her hands and knees in pain. Blinking, she realized what had happened, though she was a little too late as the feral was already on her again, swiping razor sharp claws that cut her arm and back with each attack. She rolled and kicked out, hoping to catch the feral and knock it backwards - and doing just that.
The feral hit the far wall with a loud roar, and Saige whimpered before scrambling to her feet and making an attempt to reach her sword before the feral had the chance to attack again. But just as she was about to grasp the handle, something pulled her back, and she whipped her head around to stare warm blue hues into the ferals menacingly cold hazel ones that were accompanied by an inhuman snarl on its lips. She cried out, whirling with her arm up, lashing her hand out with her fingers extended, making contact with its nose to the bone in her palm and instantly breaking it.
She was let go and she fell back, landing just beside her sword as the feral reared back and roared in pain, the anger in its eyes staring down at Saige as it lept at her in one final attack. She grabbed up her sword and thrust it out just in time, spearing the feral straight through its chest. Staring into the ferals cold hazels, she whimpered again as it mumbled something and then the life left its eyes.
She watched its very soul leave its body, though she struggled not to - she didnt want the soul to know that she could talk to it and see it - so she held her breath and averted her gaze, bringing a foot up to kick the feral off her sword and away from herself. She collapsed back on the floor there, sprawled out in an exhausted heap of blood and determination. Determination that had paid off. Her bounty was gone. Laying there she enveloped herself in her thoughts.
That feral came out of nowhere! I could have been killed… jesus how terrifying! I hate this place, I dont like it here. So much violence… Its like its seeping through the walls as if this building was drowning in it. Where do they all come from?! The ferals… who turns someone just to let them become a feral? How irresponsible… Im lucky I have Juliet. She is so good to me. And I’m glad she has Athena. They mesh so well together, I’m sure. Just like Velia and I. Oh I miss her. I need to text them and let them know I’m alright. Maybe in a minute… And she drifted off into a bliss of exhaustion and knowing what job done felt like.
Sitting straight up, Saige cried out. “Stop! Just shut up!” She squeezed her eyes shut tight and whimpered, bringing a palm up to a temple to press against it. Another headache. How come I have headaches? Wasn’t being a vamp supposed to mean no more headaches? She grumbled and dropped her hand slowly, reaching for her sword as she tried to wipe off the dry crusted blood from it to no avail. She would need to find a sink; some water.
Giving a slight nod to the thought she got up and picked up her sword. Spotting a sign that said ‘restrooms’ on it she followed the direction the arrow was pointing, instinctively heading to the women’s bathroom and shutting the door behind her to lock it. Like someone was going to barge in. She giggled at the thought, shaking her head lightly as she moved to the sink and set her sword across it.
Staring in the mirror Saige blinked. It was still weird to not be able to see herself. She sighed and shook her head, staring at the empty mirror. She could hear the incredibly loud voices in her head, the ghosts that roamed the halls of the abandoned building crying out for relief from their own personal hell. She sighed again. What the hell is wrong with me. Hearing voices, seeing ghosts… getting a bounty… She felt tears well up in her eyes, and she bit her lip to stop herself from breaking down again. Just thinking about having a bounty made her stomach churn.
It wasnt like her to have anything to do with something illegal. So why did she even break into the building to begin with? She shuddered at the memory of the events that had gotten her the bounty, blinking away her tears as much as she could though a single tear rolled down her cheek. Hopefully she had managed to get it low enough to where she wouldnt be having people coming after her now… because she was wounded. So even if she wanted to protect herself - which she probably wouldn't if she was being attacked for her bounty because she knew the reasons behind it - she couldn't with all her wounds. Surveying the claw wounds on her arm first, she drew a sharp breath and shook her head. This wouldn’t do. And she was sure her back was ten times worse as she turned and looked over her shoulder as best as she could to confirm her suspicions. Sighing once more she turned the handle to the water on on the sink.
It sputtered for a second, then started spewing a dark murky looking liquid from the faucet. Her nose scrunched immediately at the horrible sulfur smell that instantly filled her nostrils. “Ugh!” She grumbled, and moved to turn the faucet off, then stopped as the water started to come out a bit more clearer. She made a scrunched face again, shaking her head abruptly for a second before taking the hem of her shirt in her hands and ripping a chunk of fabric from it. “Its already ruined…” She mumbled, dipping her hand with the torn fabric in it under the icy cold water. She half winced half scowled. How could she let that vampire get the best of her? Velia would most certainly not be pleased to hear the story behind these wounds, she knew that much as she started to clean herself up.
Drawing the cloth along her wounds on her arm, she contemplated her powers as she cleaned herself up. Had she really teleported herself to the apartment? Could she teleport herself to Velia’s? Was that possible even? She had no idea how her powers worked and she clenched her jaw angrily as the muscles tightened visibly on the side of her face that had blood spatter on it. “Gosh darnit.” She sighed yet again, this time the air giving a loud whoosh noise as her cheeks puffed out and the fabric pressed against the wound to try to slow the bleeding.
She wondered if she could heal herself like she had the gutshot that the cop had given her earlier in the day, so she closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could on the stinging that the wound gave her arm down to her fingertips that twitched. She peeked one eye open at the wound, looking down and off to the side at it as she lifted the fabric off it. “Shoot. How the heck do these powers work anyways?” She asked no one in particular but herself. Wincing slightly she bit into her lip to stop from tears that threatened her eyes again.
She had already made the decision not to cry again.
She couldn't help but to think how proud of her Athena would be at her wounds. Of course the woman wouldn't be proud that she had managed to get herself on the bounty list and that was why she was there in the first place. Saige grumbled and dipped the fabric back under the faucet of running water. She was sure that if the water was any colder it would have frozen in the pipes solid, it felt like liquid ice on her skin as she used both hands to ring the blood soaked swatch out until the water coming from it wasn't a rusty brown again.
She ran the fabric along the length of her sword, cleaning it of the red and black blood on it. “Huh…” She raised a brow at the black blood, she hadn't seen that before. How interesting, she thought, cleaning off the rest of her sword. She would have to go back and look over the feral she killed. Maybe that was rare, for ferals to have black blood? She knew the zombies didn't have the black blood, she wasn't caught that off guard by them as she was the feral that had viciously attacked her from behind. Once she was satisfied with her sword being cleaned, she hesitantly pushed her broadsword back into its sheath, remembering that she needed to clean that too before storing the sword back in its drawer at the apartment.
Maybe she’d just have Nix do it. After all, the woman always helped Saige out when she asked for it. Being burned by the sun hadn't even been an issue with her grandsire's blood heals and help from another that her grandsire had contacted for her. She smiled faintly at the thought of her family. How she loved them so… she was sure that none of them could be as disappointed in herself as she was. Incurring a bounty like that. That just wasn't like her.
“I’m never breaking and entering again.” She scowled. “Maybe Jules or Velia will teach me how to hack.” Giving a nod, she splashed some of the cold water on her face and turned it off then. Shaking her head and wiping her face with the hem of her shirt that was left, she took a deep breath. “Back to the fray.” She turned and gripped the handle, turning it at the same time as she unlocked it and pulled the heavy door open enough to slip out quietly back into the hallway.
First stop: The feral. That black blood had intrigued her. Was it common for ferals to have black blood? She had killed a couple before and none of them had exhibited the trait. Sliding down the same hallway she had come up, she bit her lip lightly as she approached the corpse of the feral. One hand defensively on the handle of her sword, she bent to flip the body over, reaching her free hand to grasp the feral’s shoulder tightly. When her fingers sank into its flesh she gasped as its body turned to complete smoke, its clothes going limp except for its pockets and shoes which had their form already.
The smoke lingered for a moment, and then slowly dissipated as if it had never belonged there to begin with, just disappearing in the thin light from the emergency lights that dimmed every once in a while. She just blinked, staring at the clothes that not seconds before had been inhabited by a dead body of a feral vampire. What in the ever loving hell… She couldn't help but think, standing straight up and blinking more at them. How incredibly weird. She shook her head and blinked a couple more times as if to rid her mind of the images of what just happened, then bet to search its pockets. In one was a small vial of a thin looking black substance, and she furrowed her eyebrows at it as she held it up to the light. Maybe Juliet or Nix will know what to do with this. She quickly pocketed the tiny vial and looked around, pursing her lips as she tried to remember the way to the exit.
She was starting to get incredibly tired, and she needed to find a safe place to rest before the sun even thought about coming up for the day. Sighing, she pushed the pain of her injuries to the back of her mind and started down the hallway she had came, at least she hoped it was as she made a left and then another right. Noticing the carnage of the five zombies she had successfully slaughtered, she clenched her jaw as she stepped over their corpses, careful not to slip in their blood or guts that was strewn all over the floor at this point from the sharpness of her blade against their rotting flesh and bones.
It smelled no better than before, if not worse, and she reached up to absent mindedly plug her nose with one hand; she really had no sense to just not breathe as she passed the bloodied mess by. Dropping her hand once she rounded the corner into the large waiting/reception room, she took a deep breath, inhaling deeply and making her way to the door that led her outside into the night that smelled like early morning.
“Shoot.” She frowned, pulled her phone from her pocket. Six A.M. and it wasn't getting any earlier. Her frown deepened a little, causing little crease lines on her forehead and just on the outsides of her mouth that proved she wasn't happy about this. Shaking her head, she tried to think.
Im hungry. But I need to get inside before the sun comes up… the Altaire apartment is far… and I really dont want to have to take the sewers all the way there. Maybe… I could teleport again? She looked down to her hands. But I don't know how it works… maybe if I just concentrate. She gave a sharp nod, and a quick lick of her lips, thinking about the Altaire apartment as she had earlier. Focusing hard, she thought of the door, the room number, the building, the district. In the back of her mind she remembered the night Velia had teleported her for the first time, and the image of the woman's house flashed in her mind for a split second.
And suddenly the night air seemed to shift only a little around her, the same way it had when Velia had very first teleported her to her house. She opened her eyes and gasped, bringing a hand up to her mouth to muffle it as if Velia herself had been standing there in front of her. It may not have been Velia, but there was her house, and there was Saige standing in the exact spot she had been teleported to twice before. She blinked, then gave the faintest of smiles as her hand dropped and the other raised up for her to look at her phone. Ten past six. She would need to hurry if she was going to make it inside, and not fall asleep on the woman's porch.
Quickly typing in a text to Velia, she felt the instant wave of initial tiredness wave over her, though she couldn't have been sure if that was from the way she had been caught up in all of her crying fits today, or the way she had no choice but to attack the paladin and the monsters in the quarantine zone; or if it was just a combination of the entire day all rolled into one. She drew a tired breath and exhaled it slowly, her vision on her phone a little blurry from her sandpaper feeling eyes. She probably looked like death itself, rolled over in a tub of hot mess.
Giving a slight giggle at the thought, she hit send on the text and made her way over the the woman's front porch. She remembered the light they had sat on the porch swing and admired the stars, and Saige in her dorkiness glory had pointed out constellations to Velia before passing out in her bed upstairs. Yes, she remembered the good times as she tried not to focus on her wounds, turning and sitting on the porch swing of the enclosed area but leaning more into the side of one of the bars that supported the swinging bench than onto the back of it because of her wounds. Tired. She was so tired, the way one just wants to sit and pour buckets of water over themselves after running five kilometers in a race against time and endurance.
Not getting a response text back immediately, Saige set her phone to the bench at her side though she didn't slide her hand from it. If she was going to get a text back, she would want to feel it vibrate against her palm to be able to wake up enough to read the reply and hope the answer was yes. Of course Velia wouldn't even answer the text, and Saige considered that as a possibility which was why she had done her best to get as comfortable as possible on the woman's front porch in case of that happening. She had texted Velia and told her that she was hoping she was home, because she was outside and needed ‘assistance’; not trying to freak the woman out.
Velia probably already knew that Saige had incurred a bounty earlier in the night and that she needed to take care of it - but what Velia didn't know was exactly how Saige had done that and to what cost on her own body. But Saige didn't care - she had taken care of what needed to be taken care of, and she had lowered the level of awareness in the city, she could just feel it. And that made her proud of herself, the fact that she had been able to do what she did and manage to do it all by herself. A small smile crept over her face as she glanced to the sky that was slowly starting to receive color from the brimming sun. Any minute now, and I’ll be seeing a sunrise again. Joy. She thought sarcastically, As if these wounds aren't already enough.
She scoffed a light laugh and closed her eyes, trying to brace herself for the pain that was the sunburn from the rising sun that would happen in roughly twenty minutes, as this had not been the first time she had been caught out in it due to the fact that she was always finding herself so tired in the hour before it showed its face to the city. But instead she accidentally fell asleep on the porch with her phone in hand, a slight smirk from her own thoughts dashing her face while she slumped to the side and practically looked dead to the world for all intents and purposes.
