Path of the Vampire forum

Even though the sensitive Allurist was feeling much better, she still didn't have the energy to laugh when she caught Myk's softly spoken words. She met his pewter eyes with her own bluegreen ones and shrugged with a sympathetic smile, then nodded when he said they would met on the other side.

Alexandrea looked around the rooftop before moving on after the two males and to no one in particular she sang out; "Last one in is a rotten egg!" then darted through, coming to a stop quickly and then step aside into the shadows in case anyone was following right behind her.

She stayed out of sight slightly while looking around for the other two members of her family, and checked to be sure she had her bag of lockpicks and other gear ready. Once she was content there was no door that would stand between her and where ever Elizabeth was being kept, Alex grew more anxious to keep moving.

"Okay guys... which way?"

After a murmured apology to the Italian – Myk would probably make a habit out of apologising to this one – Myk bobbed his head and readied his attention for Alexandrea. The Telepath wasn’t expecting a hand to press upon his shoulder when his head was turned, so when Alexandrea had asked the question, rather than answer her right away, Myk’s neck twisted once again until he was looking at Cosimo. One slender brow was raised at the strange – though not exactly unwelcome or unappreciated – physical contact.

“This one is unbelievable,” he thought to himself in a tone that was a little on the chiding side.

Myk still did not know what to make of this newest member to their ranks – or why he even cared to think about it so doggedly. Ordinarily, people would come and then they would go – usually immediately. DC would then be left with the silent echo of their never actually having been. With Cosimo’s arrival, however, it was as if the drapes had been pulled back and the sunshine let in. Undoubtedly this one brought some brightness with him, but perhaps it was because of that, that Myk was wary. After all, sunshine burned their kind now and Myk was always suspicious of overly happy people. But was it simply that Myk was jealous? It certainly seemed plausible. Myk was an only child and never had that sibling rivalry issue before so it would be difficult for him to identify. While it could be argued that Myk competed for his parents’ attention with their jobs, he was never all that concerned with his parents or their affection. His mother and his father were more like teachers than loving, nurturing pillars of warmth and protection. The Telepath’s surrogate family, on the other hand, had been there offering him praise, shelter and more than he could ever imagine since... the beginning. Did Myk therefore harbour some childish fear of abandonment because there was a shinier toy on offer? Perhaps he did…

Pewter eyes blinked twice, bringing the Telepath out of his little bubble of self-reflection and into the middle of a conversation. Cosimo was regarding him with those piercing blue eyes and Myk was frowning at him – intensely. The Telepath only realised his folly when he felt his brow start to ache. Myk turned away from the pair of them to address his own emotions – barely paying attention to the suggestions that were given. Pewter eyes looked on, dully, past the train tracks and through the chain-link fence where a row of buildings blocked his view to the wilds. The soft wind made his hair pull over his eyes, blocking the view further, and the Telepath grumbled as he combed those treacherous little strands back and over his ears. He still heard Cosimo’s voice in his head – a memory rather than any further speech. Since Myk had listened, but not listened, his subconscious was playing back the man’s sweet, rumbling voice with no words attached to them. It sounded almost as though he was singing…

“There is a University close by.”

A voice out of the ether was summoning the group, or more specifically, the voice of a Wraith. Since Myk could not see it, all he heard was an English gentleman’s voice crooning from his right, and felt the cold vibration tickling the downy hair of his ear. Rutherford was close. Too close.

“Why are you bringing that up?” Myk asked rather callously as he stepped back from the invisible shadow at his side.

“I am sorry to intrude, but it seemed as though you needed to… wake up.”

“That still doesn’t answer the question.”

“You all looked rather… lost. Perhaps some education or guidance is in order.”

Myk wanted to scowl, but since he didn’t know where best to direct it, he held his features in a serious expression. Rutherford, meanwhile, was quite happy watching this display even if he didn’t understand exactly what was happening around him or who these other Vampires were. Rutherford had not seen them in Myk’s presence before, but they appeared to be affiliated with one another. The Wraith distanced himself from the Telepath, almost as if he was veering out of the attack zone. Since Alexandrea was the only one of the trio who could perceive him, Rutherford would have looked like a dark apparition – a shadow of a man standing against the wall of the world; a flat black shape with willowy arms and hands that were more solid than the rest of him. Myk had never seen his Wraith and Rutherford used that to his advantage. Still, when putting the pieces together, Myk had to wonder why Rutherford was here in Newborough at all. Had he been following him? Scratch that, had Rutherford seen the Lady at all?

“Rutherford… You know the Lady, don’t you?” Myk asked the air, looking toward his right where he’d felt the presence.

The Wraith seemed to still with the question before humming softly.

“Have you seen her recently? In the area perhaps?” Myk had to stop himself then and look back to the others, humiliation making his cheeks pink. “Sorry… I… uh… You can hear him, right?”

It seemed best to check. Half the time Myk wondered whether the Wraith was a figment of his imagination. He heard so many voices it was difficult to tell which were real. The Wraith chuckled at this sudden display of insecurity and – alas – honesty from the Vampire in front of him. Rutherford had gotten to know Myk for the year that they had spent together and when Myk didn’t know he was being watched, he was usually almost more expressive and honest about his... condition.

“The voice… You can hear it, can’t you? Gosh, I sound crazy…” Myk hid his face in his palms.

Rutherford sighed.

With a single nod of agreement, Alexandrea headed towards the exit Cosimo had indicated, there weren't too many other passengers on the platform for a change so only a few minutes passed before the small group were all gathered together again outside the station.

The Italian mentioned a few possibilities of places to check but Alex had a hard time believing that anyplace in the slums or an abandoned factory could house a room like what she had glimpsed from Elizabeth. It was always possible however. Serenity had managed to have a full lab in her basement as the blonde well knew, the memory of the time Alexandrea was held captive there making the Allurist shiver again for several minutes.

Once again she reigned in her emotions, as best as she was able to, and with a soft sigh looked up and down the block. Not really even using her eyes so much but casting her senses as far in every direction as she could hoping to catch a scent or or vibe or something... anything that could suggest a place to start. No bolt of lightning appeared to point out the right direction sadly, so with a slight shrug of her slim shoulders, the blonde shook her heads with a frown.

"I wish I had been able to get more information from what I saw... " Alex said miserably. "There isn't any hospital in this area that I've never heard of is there?" She asked even though she knew darn well that there was not.

She caught a glimpse of a ghostly shape out of the corner of her eye just as the voice of Myk's wraith spoke, sounding for all the world like that of a Butler. Even complete with an English accent. A slender blonde eyebrow arched up as the gentleman's gentleman joined in the conversation and Alexandrea found herself nodding enthusiastically.

Pewter eyes were hidden for a moment by a pair of hands after Myk's asked if anyone else had heard his wraith speaking, worried that he sounded crazy. Alex gently touched his arms, encouraging Myk to lower them down so the Telepath's lovely face would no longer out of sight.

The Allurist grinned up at the taller Deux Corbeaux with a twinkle in her eyes and in another time or place the mischievous blonde might have pretended that she could not hear the wraith; just to tease Myk a little. But thankfully for the Telepath's sake Alexandrea had finally learned some self control. The playful idea still crossed her mind for a split second however.

"Yes, Myk. I can hear him... Rutherford?" Alex smiled and nodded at the wraith's form where it lingered close to the Telepath. "Hello there, I'm Alex. Lovely to meet you despite the unfortunate circumstances." Her face turned back to Myk's; "And see him. Well, sort of."

"And he is correct, I think. That the University would be a great place to start. They could most definitely have a room there that could be set up to match the place where I saw Liz being held prisoner."

"And as it happens, I co-own the Art Gallery and Studio on campus. So let's just go see how many doors we can find to go snoop behind, shall we?"

Between her staff keys and lockpicks, any locked doors they should come across wouldn't stand much chance of staying locked for long. And if anyone should question why they were there all poking around the campus... well she did have every right to be there and the others could be there as her 'guests'.

With the help of Alexandrea, the Telepath became less concerned about being crazy and allowed his hands to slip down his face and wrap around his midsection. Once again, pewter eyes searched instinctively for some semblance of a ghostly figure, that he might be able to see Rutherford just this once. It was a futile hope. Myk understood the reality of the situation, that he would have to access the required abilities in order to see the dead, to see Wraiths and Spirits as cleanly as he saw Humans and Vampires. Myk was also reminded of the Wraiths he could see too – the Wraith Guides – and how unlikely it would be that Rutherford would be different than a shadow apparition. Still, he couldn’t escape the niggling worm of anticipation that had him convinced that one day he might blink and open his eyes to a man’s face staring down and smiling wickedly at him. The Telepath had an overactive imagination. From the sound of Rutherford’s voice and by the way he was, Myk visualised a perfect white face with cerulean eyes, surrounded by flaxen curls and dressed in butler’s attire. Myk imagined a face not unlike the youthful Tom Cruise embodying Lestat, one that had the facial structure and beauty of an aristocrat – high, sharp cheek bones; a long, straight nose; one proud, square chin; a high, flat brow and slim, curved lips. Only Rutherford didn’t strike Myk as an aristocrat himself, and more an aesthetically gifted servant – one that took his duties very seriously.

Maybe it was just because of the bond they shared that Myk felt this way about Rutherford. Wraiths summoned from the Shadow Realm were quite often regarded as servants, weren’t they? Myk had given Rutherford a few commands in his time, but it wasn’t as if Rutherford was obliged to undertake them. Quite frankly, the Wraith did his own thing most of the time and didn’t respond well to requests, not even harmless questions. Rutherford gave more commands than was given, as a matter of fact. He was always whispering in Myk’s ear, giving unwarranted advice; he fussed and fidgeted over Myk’s life like a seamstress fussed over every fibre of a dress. It was almost as if he had to make Myk better if he was going to tolerate him as a superior. Rutherford took the initiative to ensure that the Vampire’s life ran as smoothly as possible – rather like a butler managing an Earl’s estate. The Wraith’s accent – that very upper-class British snobbery that was prevalent in the time of Queen Victoria – was simply the glue that forced all the pieces of impression in Myk’s head to squish together and become a face he recognised as beautiful, vindictive and utterly unflappable.

Rutherford had yet to speak and answer Myk’s questions about Elizabeth, and that was probably because Alexandrea had startled him, talked over him even. The Wraith’s dastardly confidence fled him like a flock of birds and he committed himself to bitter silence. Rutherford was protective of his anonymity. He enjoyed the fact that his Master was unable to locate him because it allowed him to play small pranks on the Telepath. When others were capable of perceiving him then, the Wraith often absconded, discouraged like a crow at a carcass hosted by lions. This time, however, the Wraith felt obliged to persist with them. The blonde Allurist was not so bad, a little ditsy, enthusiastic and haphazard for his liking, but then he’d tolerated Myk for so long that he was quite likely accustomed to the behaviour. The other male, on the other hand, made the Wraith unsettled. Rutherford did not have eyes in the traditional sense, but he could still readily make-out the shifting emotions on the man’s face. This too reminded him of his Master, just before he charged off and did something silly as well…

“Young ones,” Rutherford’s voice chimed like a death knell. “There are a many number of laboratories on site at the University. Do you truly intend to search them all?”

“If we have no other choice, I suppose we will,” Myk replied before following after the Italian. “If you have any better ideas, though, now would be an excellent time to share.”

Had he a face, the Wraith would have scowled at them. “Suit yourselves.”

“Fine then,” the Telepath growled in return.

Myk wasn’t entirely sure if searching the campus’ labs was an effective use of their time when there was no way to know for certain where Elizabeth was being held. The only reason they had hit upon the idea of the University at all was likely because Rutherford had made a passing dig about them looking stupid and needing education. Although, Myk wasn’t sure that the other quite caught the Wraith’s little insult, to be honest. Alexandrea seemed quite assured of the plan to raid the University regardless and Cosimo was likely too panicked to think rationally about anything anymore. They both just wanted to find Elizabeth quickly and acting now – however rash – must have helped to relieve the guilt of having been unable to protect her, to save her from this fate in the first place. That wasn’t to say that Myk didn’t share their feelings, he did, but the Telepath was rather accustomed to never getting attached to people so much as to feel their loss. He cared for Elizabeth and he would do what he could to save her, but it wouldn’t devastate him to lose her like it would the others. He would grieve, but in the end, Myk would carry on because the alternative – giving up his life to misery – was pointless and selfish. There had already been people who’d buried their way deeper into his heart that he had lost, sometimes by his own hand, and he was still here.

“Do they have a… forensic type of laboratory on campus, Alex?” Myk asked the blonde, hoping she would know the layout considering she worked there. “Somewhere dark and hidden away that wouldn’t get too many people walking by? Maybe somewhere they keep corpses for study? The room they are keeping her in… I imagine it would be for staff only. They couldn’t perform any kind of… tests… where people are likely to walk in on them.”