What is Light without Dark? (invite)

[Mirella (DELETED 8125)]

Open to von der Marck family.

Shirt, pants

Mirella had been minding her own business, really. Minding her own business outside the Wickbridge bank. She'd just gotten her severance check from the bar, and had just deposited it, when suddenly --

Pain.

Pain and blood and more pain. She tried to scream - and couldn't scream aloud - as she fell backwards against the building and slid to a sitting position. No. No, not now. No. No! Her hands scrambled to clamp about her throat, trying to stem the bleeding as best she could. But being unable to scream...well, that put a damper on things, for sure. As did the fact that she was now worrying about strangling on her own blood.

Adam..

It took a few precious seconds for the nearby people realized she was bleeding, struggling to breathe, and not getting up and shaking it off that the people around her realized. She wasn't a vampire. This wound could very well be deadly. Soon, someone would take her from this sidewalk. Whoever it was, she hoped they were quick.

[Soren (DELETED 2988)]

"No. No no no. ****. ****!"

It had been a while since Soren had been carrying one of his guns with him. He had gotten used to relative safety now that the world knew of the existence of vampires, instead of just handfuls of people in Harper Rock. But that was no excuse. He never should have let himself drop his rifle while heading out to hunt. But, he did drop it. He had also forgotten the first rule about dropping a loaded firearm: never try to catch it.

But, again, he had. He tried to grab it as it fell to the ground, and heard the telltale, resounding 'bang' as the weapon fired. And it hit a girl that was nearly a block away, in the throat. He ran to her, trying to assess the situation and see if she was going to be okay. A vampire would've been, but this girl was gasping for air and clutching at the wound. She was perfectly human.

"****! You're not one of them. This is bad. Very, very bad. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to shoot you..."

Soren pulled his phone from his pocket and immediately tried to call for an ambulance, but dispatch told him they were all across town dealing with a four car accident that lead to massive traumas. The Blood Thief hung up in disgust. His attention went back to the bleeding, gasping, dying girl.

"It's gonna be okay, kid. You're gonna be just fine. I promise." A lie. He had no idea what was about to happen to her, or if she'd even make it to a hospital before she bled out or suffocated on her own vitae. It wasn't a good day for hunting, apparently.

[Alaric von der Marck]

WEARING

The screams pierced Alaric’s thoughts, unwarranted, out of nowhere. The man was relaxed at home, book open in his lap – as was often the case. Although the elder ventured out into the city every now and again, it was a rare and special occurrence. The library was his haven, the books his little time machines into the past he had missed out on. He would only now read books written in the last two hundred years. And only in English.

It didn’t take long for Alaric to determine the scream to belong to Mirella – there were images of her son, a yearning. A need to protect. The elder did not move as he closed his eyes and pushed past the screaming, delving into Mirella’s memories; he could see the blood on her hands as if he were looking through her eyes, could feel the bullet wound as if he had sustained it himself. Within half a second, he was on his feet.

Mirella has been shot he said, English abandoned for the native German. The message was blasted into the minds of any of his kin who were nearby.

We need to get to the city. Please, someone meet me out the front. We will need a car, he added. He didn’t bother with a jacket as he clattered down the stairs and out to the driveway to wait. He closed his eyes to focus on Mirella, then, reaching out into the night. This time, in English, knowing Mirella’s lack of German:

Be strong. We are coming.

[Leonie von der Marck]

It was the Lioness who heard the call first. She had a car, and it was fast, faster than most. The snappy little Audi was only a two-seater and completely impractical in general, but for moments like these, it was the best.

****. Mirella, shot? It wasn’t any ordinary emergency and a stark fear gripped at her chest as she simply reacted rather than thinking it through and allowing room for panic to set it. She raced from the cottage, hopped into the car, and sped over to the driveway of the manor, as instructed by Alaric. He would recognize the car, even if he hadn’t been a fan the first time she’d driven him in it. In any case, he and the potential aversion would be a good distraction. Leonie could not recall a time she had been so fraught and worried, but at least there was someone to guide them, and to allow her a certain measure of calm.

She came to a halt and flung the passenger door open for the Patriarch. “Where are we going?” she asked, as familiar with the city as any of them.

[Mirella (DELETED 8125)]

She could feel the blood pooling in her lungs every time she tried to breathe. The only solution she had for the immediate issue was to lunge herself forward, onto hands and knees. She still couldn't get a decent breath, but at least now the wound wasn't bleeding into her throat too badly. She was still sputtering, still couldn't speak, when she heard it. Not with her ears, but with her mind.

Be strong. We are coming.

And that was what gave her hope. She wasn't alone. She had her family. Still, it was all she could focus on to try and get a response across.

Don't...don't call my parents...please...

She didn't even realize that the gunshot had actually been accidental. All she knew was she was bleeding, she was in pain, there were sounds around her but she couldn't really focus on them. Her world was pain. Pain and a hope that Alaric would make it in time. Alaric and whoever was with him.

[Louvel von der Marck]

Even in the depths of his current task at hand Louvel received the message that had him dropping everything as soon as he did. Alaric’s concern became just as much as his own as he realized one of the family, Mirella, had been shot. Rosalyn glanced over the sea of files and stacks of papers that formed an impressive mound between them. As soon as he pushed back the chair beneath him and dropped the pen in hand her brow shot up.

“What?” She looked hopeful that the body language she was trying to make sense of was something new and their search for the missing shipment was over. “You found it?” She went as far as to assume that he had and mirrored his move to stand up. “You rock.”

Ros had plans to hit the newest bar in the city for two for one drinks then take in a movie with Buddy. Yes, Buddy. It was a curious happening but that it did. So far the last three dates had been kept undercover and she was looking forward to having a fourth under her belt before the boss found out. She gave a stretch that would have her appearing all but ready to clear the door.

“No, I didn’t find it.” His mossy orbs darted as if they were searching the room for something totally different than a receipt showing proof a delivery was in fact made, which he knew damn well it was. “My keys.” He breathed out as he calmly sifted his bronze fingers through the white layers of business grade papers. A jingling sound was the reward for his efforts. “I need to go. Family emergency.” He hopped over the chair between him and the open office door. “Call Buddy and see if he can come in and help you find it? If you two do then your drinks and late movie is on me.”
“Wait...How did you know?” Her voice trailed after him without receiving a response. She sank back into the seat behind her. “How does he do that?”

Louvel tugged his cell from his pocket and his thumb made fast work of texting Leonie in hopes she would know where to head.

Just leaving the farm. Let me know where to go if you find out.

A few things could be done if he could reach Mirella in time, depending on how serious it was. Then again Alaric could likely fix anything, right? But just in case he wasted no time getting the engine of the truck to groan and turn over. In reverse he sent it flying back out of the farm driveway and into the road beyond. A quick shift had the squeal of tires beneath him alerting anyone around that he was not stopping for nothing.

[Alaric von der Marck]

Alaric glanced sideways at Leonie; she asked whether they were going, and Alaric wasn’t all too sure. Delving back into Mirella’s most recent memory he could see nothing else – no flashing lights, no rush into an ambulance, no trip to the hospital. Briefly, Alaric became deeply aware where they were going, that he was going to struggle. But he would overcome it. Had to, for the sake of his family. He shook his head, tried to focus on landmarks but it was all blurry. Mirella’s words in his head had him shaking it, as if she could see him.

”You need to tell me where you are, Mirella,” he said straight to her mind. Even if Alaric did see a landmark via her memories, it would not do much good. The elder had no knowledge of the modern city, and would not know what he was looking at. He needed to know an exact location, so that he could pass it on to Leonie. And to Louvel, who was also returning mental fire. The telepathic airways were open, Alaric the conduit, the communicator.

”Louvel, I do not yet know. I will keep you informed.”

Once they found Mirella, Alaric did not know what they could do to help her – he knew that he himself was not capable of healing. Not himself, nor others. Oh, he knew that he could save her life, if the circumstances were dire enough. He only hoped that it would not come to that. White fingers gripped at the leather interior, knuckles blanched and leather creaking under the pressure.

[Mirella (DELETED 8125)]

Mirella wouldn't quite recall what happened in these moments as she knelt, bent over and wanting to scream, wanting to wail. But she did have the tiniest bit of coherence, at least. An elemen of scant coherence when it came to the voice of the von der Marck patriarch. She knew his voice heralded her salvation. So she responded.

Wickbridge...the bank...

Time was of the essence here.

[Leonie von der Marck]

The dark-haired von der Marck could feel the adrenaline burning through her veins, reminiscent of the fire she could summon forth but still could not command. A brief shake had her cooling, quickly, as she worked to breathe deeply and calm herself, She dared not open the window onto the cool Spring night; the car was well insulated from external noise and elements and Leonie would not see any further assault upon Alaric’s senses. Regardless of where they were headed, it was all a brilliant, chaotic mess for even the most immune and desensitized person.

Like herself.

The city never bothered her; no city did. She adored it all, found the life within to be refreshing and exhilarating, something she could absorb with anonymity and freedom. But it could still be overwhelming, when one spent too long a time there. And so, as she flawlessly navigated the outskirts, preparing to make whatever turns necessary to the destination Alaric would hopefully be able to impart sooner rather than later, she realized it was not a fear of driving, nor of the noisy bustle to be found on the streets, pouring from the various businesses that lined them. No, it was firmly a fear for one of their own. Leonie had seen a lot - too much, probably - and while most things did not faze her in general, a significant threat to the health or well being of family struck a much deeper chord. It always had.

With another deep breath drawn, the woman glanced over at Alaric for some sort of direction, before a sudden thought occurred to her.

“I don’t want to use my phone while driving. Can you tell Judah, or ask Louvel to text him? He’s going to want to know what happened...”

[Alaric von der Marck]

”Wickbridge… the bank,” he said, repeating the words that were gasped in his mind. Mirella did not sound good, and Alaric’s concern for the car, for the road, for how fast they were travelling, it diminished in comparison to the concern for the voice in his mind. Trusting that Leonie knew where she was going, Alaric nodded, eyes rolling to the back of his head as he focused first on Judah, and then on Louvel.

”Mirella has been hurt. We are on our way to her. I will keep you informed,” he sent first to Judah. They did not all need to arrive at the bank in Wickbridge. It would be useless. If she was harmed, if the ambulance was not already on its way, Alaric assumed they would take the young woman to a hospital. Once they were there, then Alaric would alert the others.

”She is in Wickbridge, at the bank. We are on our way to her,” he sent to Louvel. And then his eyes opened, focused on the road ahead, wishing he knew enough to know how close they were.

”You will keep speaking with me, Mirella. We are coming.”