Ghost stories [Ursula Wolfe]

[Mario (DELETED 10292)]

The low light shines off her blade like devil moonlight and onto the walls behind him and Mario turns his neck so quick that he feels it pop. It aches so much he rubs at it and the transformation into scaredy cat is complete. He can feel his heart is in his throat and swallows it down with effort. He has his back to her and only notices the error when her voice crawls up into his ears like a burrowing spider. Thinking that the best thing that can happen to him right now is having eggs laid in his ears, he knows that his only chance is to book it. So when the ground beneath his feet and the foundations of the monster house start to gurgle alive in an angry yawn, Mario does what's sensible. He runs for the door.

Wood turns to rubble and dried grass and then concrete under his pounding feet. He was never the fastest on the track in gym class but adrenaline and survivor instinct put that spring in his step to match Usain Bolt. Clumsy footfalls crunching over the stones bring him further down the street. Furious rasping breathing, stabbing pains in his side, feeling sick, adrenaline pumping, mean crescent moon casting almost no light at all, half obscured by a shroud of thin cloud, legs like lead, feeling light headed, heart thudding loudly, twisted ankle, throbbing ankle, trip, stumble, fall, cuts and grazes, shouts, threats, closing the gap, trap, surrounded, narrow escape, hiding.

It all happens so fast that before he knows it he's on his knees between two buildings that are right across the street from where he started running. His phone has landed about five foot in front of him. The screen's all black from trying to film a concrete floor and cracked leaving spider web meshing over the viewpoint. His heart is in his mouth, the salty sweat stings his eyes. Each breath is a heavy hot cloud that falls back on him like a wet duvet. All he can do is gasp for air and try to rationalise what in the hell just happened in there and more importantly, did he get that all on camera?!

[Ursula Wolfe]

Though her attention, for the most part, had been drawn to whatever it was that was upstairs, she still kept an ear on the beating heart that now resembled that of a hummingbird than a human. The sound starting to get stronger then fainter. She turned her head and that's when she spotted the male - her dinner - running for his life from the house. She rolled her eyes and then used her speed to rush up the stairs to dispatch of what she had suspected it was. A fadebeast.

Ever since her return she had noticed things like the creatures and zombies all over the city. Jesse had mentioned that it had something to do with the rift, something she knew that she wanted wider, but at the cost it seemed of more of these creatures and zombies. She had heard "apocalypse" whispered by the humans a few times, and the fact that people were leaving did give evidence of that. Still, it wasn't something that bothered her very much, it gave her something to use as target practice and sparing partners that she didn't need to worry about killing. Not only were they already dead, but they weren't her family.

Her eyes closed for a moment as her family flickered through her memories like a flip book. Her grip tightened on her sword and she let out a soft animalistic growl. Then she remembered her meal had run. She concentrated on that. On him. She returned downstairs and took in his scent. While her tracking skills were nothing in comparison to Axel or Jesse's she didn't need to worry about her meal.

She followed the scent, and when she stepped outside she didn't have to look far. He was across the street, on his knees. Sick? Praying? Summoning a demon? She didn't know. Nor did she really care. Ursa stalked up behind him, barely making the slightest of sounds. She spotted the phone, cracked, laying on the ground. While there was no real point in hiding the fact that vampires and other monsters existed now, it would still be bad form to keep evidence around.

Her eyes shifted again towards Mario and she moved to his side, "I'm going to give you a choice, you can keep your phone but it comes at a cost, or I can blow it to kingdom come and you can walk away." She watched him with now golden eyes, either way he would not escape her twice. Both directions led to death. What happened after... well that was for him to choose. Cake or Death.

[Mario (DELETED 10292)]

Mario had committed his first murder when he was six years old. He didn't feel any remorse even when his mother clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and said it was cruel. She also said that spiders were good for getting rid of flies so it was wrong to kill a spider. At the time Mario didn't understand her point of view. The bug was creepy and making webs all over his trucks and hot wheels. Whether they are flying or crawling, bugs are bugs, and they are a pest. Of course as he grew up he began to understand what she was saying. In the half light of the alley tonight is when he starts to sympathise with the spider, though.

Even the passage of the light slows and the sounds became as if underwater. Aside from the beat of his own heart, no muscle would move. He stares up at her like she's a phantom. That pounding inside beats a rhythm to the words of her ultimatum and the cold steel hanging over him like judge and jury. He eyes his phone again and knows instantly that his life isn't worth a handful of dollars. His face is frozen with mouth slack and the words catch in his dry mouth and get sucked in again. He stammers for a while before he can give her an answer or move half an inch.

“Look, I didn't mean to upset you.” Mario says as he drags himself to his feet. He wipes off his grubby hands on his own jeans before swiping his forearm across his brow.“You can take the phone if you want it.” He steps away from her again but is careful not to get pinned between her and the brick wall. “Just… come on.”

He actually sounds annoyed now and it's because he's in shock. The worst of his fears was coming under assault from a ghost and ending up dead in that house. But he never really thought that was a real possibility. Maybe something creepy would happen - cat that stares you out with devil eyes level. Being chased out of the house and threatened FOR NO REASON by some psycho with a sword was never going to appear in his imagination. He would have laughed at any psychic who had earlier predicted the winning lottery numbers because it was just that bizarre.

This city is weird.

[Ursula Wolfe]

Ursa watches Mario for a moment, then with expert precision, she twirls her sword and slips it into the sheath on her back. Then she steps forward again watching as he took a step back. So that was his answer. Not what he said about the phone. But what his actions said. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she rested her hand on her hip where a gun formed. She pulled it out and with movement that would have been missed in a blink, she shot the phone to pieces.

Something about his last words got to her, she stopped her movements for a moment but was ready to block his path out of the little alley if need be. "Tell me something, do you even know what I am? What it is I can do?" What stopped her once before had stopped her again, why, she wasn't quite sure. But everytime she looked at this male before her, she heard her brother's voice and what he said she didn't like.

Monster

Her eyes closed and she had to fight back a growl as her golden eyes rested on him, tracking his every step, his every breath. She listened to his heart. That beat that called to her.

[Mario (DELETED 10292)]

When she puts away the sword, he feels relieved, but that’s when he hears it. A gunshot. He has never heard a real one before, only those in video games and on TV which were two-a-penny and they got the body pumping in short fits of adrenaline only to be dissolved by the regularity. His first experience with a real gun and a real gunshot makes him almost **** his pants. The bullet spits out of her hand like a red line with a scream and then he hears his phone explode. It’s so loud he jumps like a thunder bolt has landed right next to him but without the raw power of the storm. Even if the gunshot could have been mistaken for the cracks of an oncoming squall there isn't a cloud in the sky. A tapestry of still navy and white specks hangs over him; too calm and uncaring against the tension between him and this crazy woman.

For a while after all he can hear is a high pitch ringing in his ears and all he can see is the echo of the flash from her gun. As he’s looking at her, a shadow hangs over her face and he doesn’t know from looking at her if the next bullet has his name on it or not. His senses sharpen with adrenaline, Mario holds his breath, straining to hear with every ounce of his concentration. Not quite silent. Cool air whispers through the channel between the bricks.He doesn’t notice that he’s been backing up until the cold hard wall scrapes against his shirt and jeans, knocks the back of his skull. He gasps but bites down on the sound. His ears strain for more sounds, more clues as to what’s going to happen next. He watches her mouth move and hears the words come out with a one second delay but it’s not as troubling as what she’s saying.

Mario scratches idly at the brickwork as he thinks about what is being said and he doesn’t notice when his nails are cracking, flicking away and exposing his raw skin to the abrasion. He doesn’t notice his skin burn with pain or even when he’s scratched enough of his skin away that the blood starts to seep out and paint the wall. Mario’s focusing in on what he can say to avoid pissing her off and being shot in the face. He has to filter all his thoughts out from what he wants to scream, to reveal he’s not normally this much of a pussy, but then he’s never really been in a life and death situation before. He doesn’t want to think that when it comes down to it that he would tuck his tail between his legs and submit because no man does. But when she has a gun trained on him and he’s got nothing to do but try not to incite that trigger finger, it’s all he can do but watch what he’s going to say and how he behaves.

“Look, lady, I don’t even know who you are,” he says with a shaking voice. “I’m just passing through looking at old houses. I don’t know anything.” The words that escape his mouth suddenly make him realise that he’s put his foot in it. He tries to back-pedal. “So I can’t say anything about you to anyone even if I want to. You already got rid of the evidence. So… can we just go our separate ways here? You’ve got to have better things to be doing with your time than scaring the **** out of idiots like me,” he says with a laugh. If he’s going to die here, he may as well go out laughing.

[Ursula Wolfe]

The moment the scent of blood hit the air, Ursa's eyes darkened slightly and went right to where the scent came from. The darkness that was her soul began to swirl in around them, darkening the area around the two of them as she moved in. She pressed her body up against Mario, looking into his eyes, pinning him between her and the wall. Her eyes dipped down to where he was bleeding for a moment, hearing it call to her. "Well then, it's time for you to man up kid." She said before her hand reached into his hair and she tugged his head roughly to the side.

She sank her fangs deep into his vein, drinking deep, trying to get as much of his blood into her before the connection triggered the one thing that always turned their blood sour. It was the same thing that made plants and small animals die around her. She could already feel it, taste it even, the way his blood began to take on a bitter taste. Not the normal copper taste, this tasted more like rust. Her grip in his hair tightened, she wrapped her free arm around him, holding her meal to her mouth as she dug her fangs deeper.

As she fed, she knew she should have stopped but she just, couldn't. Her eyes darkened more, the shadows around them covered them so thickly that even the night sky looked darker, as if stars just stopped shining. She needed more of his blood, she craved it, this was nothing like before. It was like she was gone from her own body, watching from a distance as she drained this puny human in her arms. She could hear his heart and finally the taste of his blood so sour in her mouth made her pull back. Had she gone to far? She couldn't tell. She had never had trouble feeding before, at least, not outside of the curse that made the humans sick as **** afterwards.

"Choose... death or a new life?" It was guttural, like she was fighting her need to continue draining him until he was nothing left but an empty husk.

[Mario (DELETED 10292)]

At first he thinks the darkness must be deceiving him, or else his eyes are confused and dazzled by the recent glare of the gunshot. As the seconds tick by he still can't make out the brick wall behind her and the street lights, cars, and noise get further and further away. The world is etched in charcoal and it's just as grim and brittle. Mario swallows the lump in his throat, breathes a gasp through his teeth and is immediately pinned to the wall, punching that breath right from out of him. Her strength makes him question everything. She covers him like a heavy woollen shroud. Her hand pinches his hair and the scruff of his neck, dragging him about like a mother cat tends to another mother's kittens. She wants him dead and her warning to him makes even less sense because of it. He expects his neck to snap and for it all to be over with a quick pop, a flash, a cold crack like peppermint sticks. Maybe he'll haunt this alley forever too. That will be his lasting legacy; freaking out feral cats and the guy who dumps the trash on weeknights. That's all he will be to anyone: a cold breeze, a ghoulish moan, a breeze-less stirring of plastic bags and soda cans. And for what? Being where he shouldn't have been and being unfortunate enough to cross the path of this insane woman.

It makes him so mad that he tries to push her away. The natural fighting mechanism finally kicks in and his adrenaline pumps to all his muscles to try to give him the edge. He raises his arms up from behind him and tries to wedge them between her and him. He's fingers ache and smear blood where they touch. He lifts his legs to try and kick away from the wall. He tries to thrash his head. Tries to yell. It's pointless. She has him paralysed and trapped like she's some form of demon. Her strength just isn't human and her actions aren't either. Suddenly there's this feeling of hot breath on his neck, a mouth closes on his skin, and two daggers stab into him. Besides the white hot agony is this weakening feeling. The blood drains out of his face, hands, and feet first. This tingling ice moves in its place, quickly numbing. Mario doesn't even know how to breathe and yet understand that each of his inner organs are on the verge of collapse. She's draining him of every drop; he'll be dead in seconds.

Everything else has dissolved like it was never there at all, like the universe hasn't even begun, or perhaps it never was. In the darkness he can't get a sense that anything is important at all – life, death, pain. He wants the dawn to come but for now all he has is this starless sky, even the moon won't shine through the thick haze of her looming shadow. There are voices though. Or one. He can't tell right away because of how fragmented it is. His head is so heavy that it would drop to one side if she let him. His whole body would too. He no longer feels anything. The edges of his vision is shadow and it's like he has sank down into himself about to drown. He looks up and out through the windows of his dead blue eyes. He sees the splotch of white from what looks to be a face, two blots of ink in its centre, and a smear of red where a mouth would be. This is the part he trains his focus to and the words he soon recognises forming from it.

Anyone who gives someone else the choice between living and dying isn't really giving that choice. Mario's no longer able to make that choice at any rate. His pulse is ten beats away from stopping. His lungs haven't tasted air in 30 seconds. The only part of him that's functioning at all is the tiny part of his brain that's registering his last thoughts. He doesn't contemplate death but he curses her: what she is, has done to him, and will do for the rest of her existence. With the last of his will and strength, Mario utters two words in his mother's tongue: “Proklínám tě.”

[Ursula Wolfe]

Ursula continued to feed from the young male, but as she did, visions, dark and bloodied, danced in her head. Something that was enough to snap her out of what was going on. More so than his stuttering heart, more so than his breathing and the words on his tongue. Her eyes closed, blood dripped from her eyes and slid down her porcelain features. She sook the memories from her mind and before she even knew what she was doing, she was biting into her wrist, tearing a large gouge in the tender flesh. Then she pressed her wrist to his lips and let her blood, dark as her soul, drip down into his mouth. She lowered her head and prayed that she was not to late. Mother Goddess... Father God she thought to herself as her long black hair fell over them like a curtain. The shadows around them as black as her hair, masking them from the view of the streets.

The visions returned, her fist clenched, her wrist pressing tight to Mario's lips as she saw not him, but her brother... "Eric..." it came out in a whisper. What had she done. More blood tears fell from her face as she shifted Mario in her arms, keeping her wrist to his mouth but holding him against her chest in a more protective, motherly way. Her fingers ran through his hair as she rocked him. Her prayers going from thoughts to whispers.

Would he come back? She didn't know. The visions still tore at her like a fae might. Cutting her to the quick. When she looked around she didn't see the shadowed alley between two buildings, she saw her home. She saw her father... her mother... even her aunt. In her arms? Her brother. Gone too soon in life. She tried to bring him back.

Ursula knew that Jesse would likely be disappointed in her for one so young, would likely kill her for it, though there were whispers that she was wrong. He would be disappointed but he would never harm her. He took care of her the way a sire should. And how did she repay him? She ran away, she came to her parents, parents that now lay in puddles of blood, parts missing, fear in their dead eyes as they watched her craddle her dead baby brother. "Eric..." her voice broke with his name like a prayer.

"Forgive me..." more tears fell from her eyes, dripping onto mario's face. Mario... not Eric... "Please Mario..."