Death Of Me [Castalia]

[Kika]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Castalia> “Timber! Vous chien inutile. Get back here!” The woman didn’t understand why she was out there looking for his dog, it had never liked her while they were married and she knew it wouldn’t have changed in the six months that they had separated. The animal had a mind of its own, really, and if Nolan thought it listened to him, he probably had been kicked too many times while on the job. In her pocket, she felt her cell phone vibrating and she pressed her lips into a thin, annoyed line as she recognized the ringtone. Shifting the flashlight to her right hand, she continued to shine it in front of her, sweeping slowly as she went to retrieve the device that continued to buzz consistently, the annoying ringtone following afterwards.

It read: Have you found him yet? The kids are losing their minds!

Sarah was the last person she really wanted around her children, but in the spirit of being supportive of her ex who had been her best friend since middle school, she’d been playing nice for three months while they had been dating. That didn’t mean she had to like her. It was beginning to get on her final nerve, especially now. ‘If I had found the dog, would I be out here? And the kids are fine. Don’t make it seem worse than it is.’ Pushing her long hair over one shoulder, she pressed send and turned off the volume before calling out for the animal again, french words following with an insult.

<Kika> For a few nights after her initial introduction to Ambrose, Vega and Jose Kika had avoided anyone and everyone like the plague. Including her husband. She didn’t want to see anyone, didn’t want to be around anyone. It was a huge adjustment, going from an on the run human to well...this. She knew nothing and that was on her. She hadn’t bothered to stick around for long once she had opened her eyes and found that her heart no longer beat. Did she even have a heart? All of it was a blur almost like her head was stuck in the clouds. Everything was foggy. All of her memories were like that and she could only hope that in time they would return.

The telepath wandered the streets, still wearing the same clothes she had stolen the night she had been turned. Her long hair was stringy and full of knots that she didn’t even think would come out. She was filthy, not to mention starving. And she was overwhelmed by everything. Things that she had never given a passing thought to before now hit her in the face with vivid clarity. Voices that were whispers easily reached her ears, smells that she had never paid attention to before filled her senses and all of it all at once was so overwhelming she just wanted to scream to the heavens. But she didn’t. She missed her husband. She missed everything about the old life that had been ripped from her. It might not have been all that great, she might have been running but she was free. Kika struggled to push it down. First she would feed, then she would find her husband. Machk always made it better.

<Castalia> “Excuse me, have you seen this dog?” The question was repeated to passerby’s who didn’t give it a second glance, instead their attention remaining on the two different colored eyes that stared back at them before they gave a shake of their head and continued on. And with every person, she felt her blood pressure rise with her growing frustration. She was cold and she wanted to go back to her apartment, but as she noticed a woman standing with her daughter, Castalia walked further into the night. Shouting out, “Timber!” as she went. A mutter escaped past her lips and she heard the jingle of dog tags, followed by movement at the edge of her flashlight as the large white german shepherd darted out from behind a car.

“There you are!” Her long legs carried her in a chase and she could probably imagine what the scene looked like to any outsider: a woman dressed in scrubs and running shoes shouting near to midnight about how the dog needed to get back there. Comedic, likely. “You stupid animal.” She hissed, reaching down quickly once he had stopped as she rounded a corner only to slip in the grass and fall to her knees with a grunt as he darted away, back the way that they had come while Castalia sank to her backside as she felt blood running down her leg from a newly received cut that a rock had given her.

<Kika> She didn’t even know where she was. When she had fled from that building her only thought was to get as far from that place as she possibly could. Kika was hopelessly lost. She didn’t have a phone, had no way of getting in touch with Machk or anyone. Not that she knew anyone other than Machk. She didn’t even know the names of the others that had been in that building with them. Introductions hadn’t been offered that she could recall. Flashes came back to her of that night - small snatches of memories that didn’t make sense but she figured they must be important if she was seeing them now.

Kika grabbed her head and squeezed her eyes shut as a small whimper escaped her. Too many thoughts. To much of everything. It was making her crazy. She needed to get away from this place that held too many people for her newly awakened senses. And the hunger. It was growing in intensity. It threatened the consume her and she needed to find a way to sate it. The sooner the better. But how? she’d not been taught to feed, she didn’t know how to go about it. But she was desperate. The quiet clink of something metallic hitting against another metal surface reached her ears and her head snapped in that direction. A dog. She assumed the sound she was hearing was a set of tags meaning that the dog had an owner. An owner meant human. Humans were food. Mind made up set set off after it.

<Castalia> She listened to the jingling fade after a few minutes, Castalia hissing out in annoyance as she felt the cool ground through the thin cloth of her scrubs and rolled up her pant leg to look at the damage done to her skin before muttering and getting to her feet. “I’m goin’ to turn you into fuzzy socks!” She shouted, wiping off the seat of her pants before she looked at her reflection in a car window, frowning before she started off in the direction that she’d come. At the same time she walked, she removed her phone from her pocket and began to send a text message to her ex. ‘Timber is heading your way.’

A frown played across her lips as she found herself looking down the wallpaper that played across her screen, at Nolan’s eyes and his smile while he held their youngest child against his hip, and their daughter stood at his side. The Hawaiian sunset had accented his features perfectly. With a sigh escaping past her lips, she pressed the power button and kept her gaze down as she walked, paying no mind to her surroundings which caused her to run straight into the other woman. Reaching out to make sure that neither would fall, Castalia looked up with a frown. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. Did you happen to see a white german shepherd run past?”

[Castalia]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Kika> The clinking sound was fading and she desperately tried to hear it over the dull roaring in her ears. So many people, so many voices, too much of everything. Kika needed to get out of there and soon before she lost her mind. Or maybe she had already lost it. Her hands pressed against her ears in a desperate attempt at shutting out the world but the sounds penetrated through her hands and settled into her ears no matter what she did. “Machk...help me.” The quiet helpless plea spilled from her lips and she flinched at how utterly pathetic she sounded. Machk wasn’t there. She had no idea where he was, but he was the only person that she wanted. She had to find him.

The young telepath was knocked off balance and would have fallen if not for the hand that grabbed her just in time. Human. Injured human. Fresh blood filled her senses, causing her eyes to turn black and her fangs to elongate in anticipation. The woman was speaking to her but Kika wasn’t in the right state of mind to respond. Her gaze was locked on this strange woman’s neck where she could see the pulse beating just underneath the surface. Never had Kika wanted something so badly in her entire life. Not even Bill’s death. But this….this would be heaven.

<Castalia> In the months that had brought her life into a different direction, Castalia had never thought twice of the violence that belonged to Harper Rock. She worked as a nurse in the emergency room, and she saw the consequences of the stabbing and gunshot wounds that people would ever explain. She’d seen people with strange tattoos all over their bodies and thought nothing of it. Once, after the Quarantine Zone had been put up, Lance had mentioned that they should move. There was a lot of strange people in Harper Rock and they had come to accept them, they got over it and continued their lives in the city. It was just an every day thing.

And that was why as Castalia spoke to the woman, she didn’t think much of the fact she didn’t get a response. But, as she noticed the woman’s eyes turning black, and the way she stared at her neck, she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. A chill swept down her spine and sank into her stomach. Swallowing, Castalia straightened up her posture, “Miss? Are you alright?” She asked, although the end of her question ended a bit higher than normal, showing her nerves, “Can I call anyone?” Her hand dropped, moving towards her phone as she stepped back unconsciously.

<Kika> The telepath didn’t hear the words that were being directed at her. The only thing that she could hear was the sound of a beating heart. It was rhythmic in its pattern, the quiet sound slightly mesmerizing. Kika drew in a breath she didn’t need any longer and whimpered as that scent came towards her like a freight train, hitting her in the face with a force that drew a snarl from deep inside her chest. She was a blur as she moved, crouching on all fours in front of the clueless human. Kika was salivating at the mere thought of sinking her fangs into that neck.

The woman took a step back and she couldn’t stop the slightly hysterical cackle that came out of her. Like that was going to help! If she had been in her right mind she would have felt terrible for her thoughts and her actions but Kika was far from alright. Unable to wait another second she sprung, tackling the human to the ground. Her fangs easily broke through the vulnerable skin and her eyes rolled back in her head as the blood filled her mouth. She had been right in her initial thoughts. This was heaven.


<Castalia> It was instinct that she knew she should run. Far, fast. She should scream and call the police. When the woman snarled, she felt her heart pound against her chest in fright and her features twisted with the emotion. “Nolan.” The word fell softly from her lips, fleeting with all sense of calm as the woman moved too quickly to be human, as the cackle echoed around her and she turned to run just before she felt herself fall as the other’s weight connected with her thin frame. A scream escaped past her lips that turned into a grunt as she connected with the ground.

Her hands reached for the other’s shoulders to shove, to claw at her, but the moment she felt something pierce her neck, Castalia felt tired. She stopped fighting, her eyes falling shut as she lay still on the cement. She was clueless to the throbbing in her knee where she had landed and ripped her pant leg further. In her head, it felt as if a cloud were settling over her mind, leaving her dazed as she settled into sleep, completely unaware of in the distance, she would have heard someone shouting out her name while that stupid dog found his owner. Her phone vibrated, asking where she was before falling still.


<Kika> She didn’t think she’d ever be able to stop. The telepath drew in mouthful after mouthful of the human’s blood. She felt her strength return with each mouthful she swallowed, her mind grew clearer and the memories that she had been repressing started to break free and flood her mind. She was horrified by the events that she was starting to remember but she couldn’t bring herself to stop. Not until she felt the heartbeat underneath her hand start to falter did she finally manage to come to her senses long enough to release the human.

Kika stood, staring down at the human utterly horrified at what she’d done. She’d always been a peaceful woman, never had she raised her voice in anger nor had she ever raised her hand towards another with the intent to hurt them. But look at her now. She was a monster. A killer. And that was what she was doomed to be for the rest of her life. With a sorrowful cry Kika turned on her heel and fled, leaving the human behind in her quest to escape the enormity of her sins.

<Castalia> The time passed between the woman departing and her ex finding her was lost on Castalia, her long dark hair covering her face and when she heard her name shouted, there was no response given. She felt fingertips touch the curve of her neck, heard his voice and her name once more. Her mumble was incoherent, her thoughts fuzzy and she opened her eyes enough to peer up at him, her eyes unfocused with sleep before she closed them again as he picked her up like he had on their wedding night and her head hit his shoulder. Nolan thought about taking her to the hospital but knew she hated half of the doctors on staff and that she would have bitched at him for leaving her in their care.

He checked over her as he walked back to the car, where Timber sat panting in the front seat as he stared at the window before growling at the woman in Nolan’s arms and a frown played across his lips as he took in the blood on her pant leg and around her neck. In his glance, he missed the puncture marks as she mumbled his name and carefully set her in the backseat before heading back to her apartment where he would tend to her wounds, clean her up and let her sleep after making sure that her pulse was a bit stronger. Just after the door clicked shut, her heartbeat began to fade shortly before her breathing stopped.