Path of the Vampire forum

Is Blood really just Blood? Why is it that no matter how hard scientists and religious leaders alike try, they can never find the human soul? What if the shedding of Blood is how a human's soul begins to leave their body? What if the soul IS the Blood? And furthermore, what if the reason that vampires must drink Blood to survive is that by stealing part of the human soul, they can rejuvenate their own for a time? All so many possibilities, and for some reason these questions were flying through Johnathon's mind at that moment.

Even as he stood there, motionless, helpless to do anything except resist the pull of invisible force on his arm, about to send one of his closest friends and mentors back to the Shadow Realm. He didn't want to, he didn't want to hurt her let alone kill her. But Mother Death seems to have no sympathy for what he wants, only for what makes him miserable, which makes her gleeful. Jez didn't even deserve to be a part of all of this, he should have just sent himself back to that miserable place forever and be done with it. Then there never would have been a risk of her getting hurt.

All his life, both as Johnathon Kelvin Anders and as Hanei, he'd only known Death's company. The death of his parents, the death of the owner of his orphanage. The deaths of countless people by his hand, whether for Mother Death or simply to sate his own bloodlust. The death of Alanoth, the death of himself, death was everywhere and yet like smoke he could not grasp it to shove it away and out of his life. Now the death of Jezebel was at hand...or was it?

For a brief moment, as he had stood there, he realized that Jez wasn't able to move, but slowly began to be able to. She could smile, turn slowly, and even speak, but she couldn't get out of the way. Why was she slowly being able to move? And furthermore, how was one Fae capable of keeping both of them within it's grasp? Forcing one to act and holding the other down? Logically, that wasn't possible, because even with two arms it's difficult to physically hold one live object still and force the other to move when it does not want to. Perhaps applying that same logic now would help?

Hanei concentrated on Jez, for a moment ignoring what she was saying, and doing his utmost to resist this pulling force. It had been a long time since he had felt his muscles straining, as his undead body did not feel such sensations anymore, but he was certain he could feel them burning like a blue fire as he attempted to move his arms in a different direction, not succeeding in moving but succeeding in resisting all the same.

"Jez..." he muttered, straining to speak and resist at the same time, hoping to force Mother Death to exert all of her energies on him rather than on her, "I...can...fight....it...if you...can....try to move...out...of the...way." He wasn't going to kill anyone tonight, not Jez, not Mother Death, not an unfortunate passing by human, no one unless killing himself was the only way. That much he was sure of, even if it meant finding a way to change his vampiric nature, no longer would he be Hanei the Killer.

She had often wondered about the frailty of the human soul. How it seemed that some simply didn't have ones and others, well, theirs cared too much. Then, there were people like her. The ones whose soul had been forfeit from the beginning. Doomed to a short life as a human due to an illness that could never be cured. Early on she has known there wasn't anything they could have done. The treatments only slowed it and yet with each passing day she could practically feel her life draining, her soul leaving her. The only solace she had ever known was among the dead after all.

It wasn't until she had been turned that she had really seen how some families could be. That somehow people that weren't related to you by blood, like siblings or a person's mother or father, could be more than just simply friends. Some of them had abandoned her, some of them just didn't like her, but at least out of all of the hate she found one that refused to leave her side. Was he a fool for a being like that considering the things she did just for fun? No, he wasn't a fool. Among the most treacherous and hateful people she had ever known, she found the one that stood out amongst them. His loyalty unwavering and despite his path, a heart kinder than most.

She had been born to die and so she had. Their link with Death was something otherworldly and one hard to break, but she wasn't one to run from a challenge. Things looked bleak with him doing his best to resist hurting her, but she had been in far worse situations. There was no backing down, no calling it quits.

Somewhere inside her she set herself up to see it all to the end, regardless of what that end might be. Jez had made a promise and she sure as hell wasn't about it to break it, not when he needed her the most. With her mind made up she stood there, staring up at the man. Every once in a while her gaze would go to the knife that was threatening to cut her down, but all she did was smile at the blade then look back at him.

Her eyes closed as she listened to him. The strain in his voice so clear and evident that it nearly broke her heart to hear him sound that way. Somewhere, deep down inside, she knew the reason behind him straining so much and the fact that he was fighting it so well made her smile.

Slowly, without a whole lot of effort she reached out, not to try to take the knife but to grab his wrist. When it came to physical strength she was certain he had her beat, but that didn't matter. With slow, cautious steps she moved closer to him, not away like she should have. “There's no going back. I made a promise to be there for you as you have been there for me. I will not run away.” Her other hand reached up and lightly touched his cheek. “One wound will not send me back to the shadow realm, I'm sure of that.”

Jez inched ever closer to him. Her hand falling away from his wrist as soon as she was close enough to him. For the most part, she was just doing what she thought needed to be done and well, also making herself somewhat happy in the process. The woman could be a bit on the touchy side of things at times, apparently this was trying to turn into one of those times for her, not that she would fight it a whole lot anyway. She gave no warning as to what she was about to do, simply opting to do it instead. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him. Her head resting against him. “Together we can make it through this. I promise. We'll make it through whatever challenges lie ahead of us.”