Lovushka-22

[Kirill]

It was a bitter cold for so early in the year, the easy breath of wind that groaned down the broad street sending the first of many dead leaves to come gliding along the sidewalk, skittering like a thousand tiny creatures aimlessly scratching at the hard surface the man stood on, still as stone. Even as the world around him hissed and growled, the sound of a car a block over rattling down the road as it struggled on its path through the sparsely populated midnight streets fought to invade his mind, but there, in the solace of his thought, the world stood still.

He remained absolutely motionless, as if he were carved entirely from marble, his flesh icy to the touch in the cool wind. What he had just seen had horrified him to the end of his wits. He had been too late. That… that –thing- had bitten her, had changed her into some… creature. Whatever she was, she was no longer human, that much was easy to tell. Even dirty, greasy, and coated with weeks of grime and emaciated to the point of an almost skeletal gauntness, she was still so stunningly beautiful. It had stirred his heart to see her that way.

What had honestly been the telling point to the new change in her hadn’t been that beauty. She had always been breathtaking, each and every time his eyes had ever fallen on her. No. It had been in her eyes. Those tired, strained eyes. Something had lurked in them that had never been there before, and he knew, in that moment, what needed to be done if he was going to continue to be at her side. He lifted a shaking hand to his coat, trembling fingers sliding into the breast pocket of the leather trench.

When they pulled away, they gripped the black filter of a cigarette, the unlit end quivering violently as flakes of the dried tobacco drifted to the asphalt at his feet. He turned his wrist, zippo falling from the loop in his cuff that held the trinket, releasing it into his open palm. With a flick of his forefinger, the zippo snapped open and a gout of flame leapt from its mouth, shooting a nice, neat inch and a half from its muzzle to the tip of the cigarette. With a long, slow inhale, he breathed the ember at its end to life, giving it a healthy glow before he snapped the zippo shut.

The trembling in his fingers slowed as he held that breath, the tobacco clinging to his lungs as he felt the cocaine take its course through his chest, a soothing tingle spread through his form as he steeled himself. The first thing he needed to do was to hunt one of these things down for himself. Pushing the zippo back into the loop of leather just inside the sleeve of his coat, he took another long pull from the cigarette and pulled it from between his lips. Flicking the filter, he sent the length of ash drifting to the street as he took the first step in several long minutes.

“Okhota nachalas.” He muttered to himself, placing the cigarette between his lips again, his hand trailing beneath his coat to brush his fingers along his service pistol, the short barrel of the Pistolet Makarova soothed him. Just the familiar touch of the cool steel calmed his anxiousness. He couldn’t fail, he owed it to Iskra to do this. With Markus gone, he was all she had left of the old band. Hell, she was all he had. He took another drag from the cigarette, a long and relentless pull of his lungs turned the remainder of the paper shaft to ash, and he flicked the filter away into the street. This was his mission, one that he wouldn’t survive. That suited him just fine.

[Every]

It had been an oddly long evening as she finally closed the doors to Masterpiece Tattoo, the lack of vampiric strength and speed being quite a nuisance for her as she rolled her shoulders and closed her eyes once the lock clicked into place. At least her senses were still in place, and her ability to fight helped... she would just hurt more in the morning. With a sigh escaping past her lips, Every tucked her keys into her pocket and adjusted her bag over one shoulder while leaving Riverwood Market, her sneakers crunching on the road.

Heading in the direction of the River Rock transit, she pulled up the hood of her sweatshirt before readjusting her hat to adjust the shadows on her body. The petite vampire hummed softly along with Halestorm’s Better Sorry Than Safe with each step, paying little attention to those around her as she looked for a ‘victim’ for tonight’s meal. Because of her curse, it made certain things difficult – feeding being one of her major concerns because of the fact she couldn’t use Somnambulism so Every resorted to the easier methods that she had done the first evening Micah had turned her - knocking out and getting the upper hand against her prey.

At five-foot-five, she was at average height (or what she thought was average) and had a small, but toned build from running and keeping active even after leaving Gymnastics so as she considered carefully what she was going to do, Every didn’t pause until she found a young woman with blonde hair and dimples – around eighteen – walking around alone. “I swear, if she is Bunny or Solara’s sister...” She thought to herself with a shake of her head as she moved past a man in a leather trench smoking. At the scent from the cigarette, she paused and shot him a look that clearly stated ‘seriously dude?’ before moving out of his view.

Normally, Every would have gone to feed off him. Flirting, smirking, gaining his trust as she leaned in to look like she was going to kiss his throat before casting the power and sinking her fangs in deep. It usually worked. Running her tongue along her teeth, checking if her fangs were still in place and hidden, she gave the woman a smile and began chatting her up – first she asked where she recognized her from, which she said it was the University, then said they shared classes (the woman thought her name was Meghan, introducing herself as Nellie). After getting her to agree to go get a coffee, the two began walking away, the smaller one humming idly while she listened to the blonde chatter.

One. She counted as they headed in the direction of a dark alley, each step causing it harder for the brunette to control her fangs from sliding into view, two. At the fifth interval, Every paused as if she had heard something and Nellie looked at her with a tilt of her head. “Did you hear that?” The brunette moved into the more shadowed area, waiting for the other to follow before she moved to take the lead, giving Every her chance to allow her fangs slide from their hiding spot. “Did I hear what?” She asked, and just as the female turned to face her, Every delivered a hard blow to the woman’s jaw.

Nellie dropped, the entire sensation causing Every to shake her hand out while she watched her slump to the ground slightly before she caught her arm. “Trusting much?” The brunette rolled her eyes and then carefully pulled the woman to a wall, pressing her forearm into the female’s ribcage before she leaned forward to feed. There was the ‘pop’ as her fangs pierced the skin and soon the metallic liquid touched her tongue. When she was done feeding, Every sealed the wound and let her drop back into the ground, wiping off blood from the corner of her lips before she knelt down to collect the woman’s wallet, removing the twenty dollars from within. “Gracias.” She then went to leave the alley.