A wondering one [open]

[Forsyth (DELETED 6007)]

It was time he got up off his lazy butt, to do something besides stay all cooped up in his home. But really, he needed to stop waiting. It's been months since his last contact with Aliyah, and without her around he needed to figure out things on his own. How to live this life, how to accept what he is. Which he was quite successful at doing as of lately. He's been able to feed properly without her help, he accepted that he could no longer go back home to New York, to never see his family. He left, just to stay in the City. It was a chance for him to start new, a fresh start to create a life he wanted, not what his father made him do. He would work his time away at his job, or fixing up the cabin he now lived in that was an abandoned home he found on his arrival at the City. Now his next goal; to meet new people, to introduce himself.

He took a stroll out of the area he lived in, excluded from the City, a safe area in the wilderness. His fear of the creatures that lurked there was diminished. Due to being attacked and nearly killed by a wolf, he had that fear to return. But with his strength, and new found powers, he was able to handle himself at difficult situations that he would encounter with an animal. He came out of the woods, hands stuffed in his jacket pocket. He took a stroll through the night, in the streets of the city, passing bars and the drunk humans that lurked outside bars, smoking their cigarettes, reeking of alcohol. He did not miss the alcohol, he knew that. With vampire smell enhancement, it never really smelt pleasant.

He'd adventure continued down the side walks, kicking at littered plastic bottles. His gaze occupied by the sounds of the shops, the people that lurked inside. His hearing was busy listening in on the sounds of the clubs, or the bars. He wouldn't go in any, there was no point. It would probably be a better way to meet someone, but he also knew that more lurked outside, especially of those his kind. Who knew who he may end up bumping into. He just needed to clear his mind, and a walk through the streets with the loud ruckus of noise, it kept his mind busy from thoughts that he was haunted with night by night.

There was no destination in mind, but a walk.

[Clear (DELETED 7068)]

It is late. I should have gone home hours ago, but home is now a hotel room in a foreign land. My room is said to be average here in Canada, but there is so much superfluous wealth. It saturates every fibre of the wallpaper and carpet, permeates the Egyptian cotton duvet and the Eiderdown pillows, and even conditions the air. The room may be as bountiful as the African sun, but it cannot thaw the chill of loneliness. When I start my day here, my friends are already in the middle of theirs. We Skype for only short periods of time, when the acrid heat of the day settles and the fresh evening air hovers over Cape Town. Talking to them makes me forget that I am thousands of miles away, but the end of our conversations force the walls of my room to narrow and squash the stale air against me, reminding me that I am someplace else entirely.

I do not spend much time in that hotel room, if I can help it. Even at night I would rather be outside. This city is fascinating, not just because it is new to me, but because it somehow feels familiar. I am a stranger in these lands and yet I feel at least a little welcome – not embraced and not outcast. I feel an affinity with this city. I’d heard magic was here before I had arrived and now I know it is. You can feel the spiritual energy. Like a syrupy denseness that coats everything in apprehension, awaiting something big. It reminds me of the day when the rains finally come. The dry-heat of the air is swept away, the sky darkens and the storms swell – slowly, slowly, bit by bit. The air gets heavier and heavier and heavier, forms a shroud over your eyes. The pressure becomes almost too much to bear and then, with no warning at all, it spikes. The heavens are open and the rains unleash.

I walk, tangled with this feeling, along the path to nowhere in particular. I have no plans or objectives but to discover something new. I let my feet take me, let destiny pull my strings, and I find myself walking past quaint coffee shops, bars, clubs and shops that might have otherwise lured me in. I am not tugged warmly by the arms into the store, there are no girlish cackles and screeches encouraging me to go in and try on that black wool fedora in the window – though it is rather beautiful and would go very well with my wardrobe. I feel barely any pull at all in fact and so I keep walking. I already feel the pulsing heat of music from down the street. The heaving line of vixens and foxes confirm to me that I am approaching a night club. I don’t feel obliged to join them either and duck my head as I pass. Unfortunately, I have never been very good at going unnoticed...

First of all, there is a wolf whistle. Then he attempts to summon me.

“Hey honey! Hey honey!” he calls in a New England kind of accent. “That dress looks nice! Of course, it'd look even better crumpled up in the corner of my room.”

I am dressed from head to toe in Givenchy, but all he sees is an exotic temptress in a short black dress. My eyes narrow and I don’t look at him. I keep walking as if nothing has been said, but the man pulls out of the queue and follows after me. I feel him pinch my wrist and tug so hard and fast that I am forced to face him. He tells me not to walk away from him. Some primal part of me awakens and I give the man a shove of my own. The warm, clammy hand releases me and he staggers, bewildered and alarmed, that a girl like me has the strength to fend him off with just one push from just one hand. Fascination turns to frustration very quickly and very quietly – even the bouncers have no idea and will probably be too busy to notice our scuffle. His blue irises retract like leopard claws, but this is no ceasefire. I think I may have bruised his ego, I think he might want to bruise mine...

[Astrid (DELETED 6933)]

"I give up..." The exasperation that she felt, saturated those three words. She tossed her pen and It slid across the smooth wooden surface and disappeared over the edge, falling to the floor. Astrid stood up and walked away from the book laden table, tugging awkwardly at the bottom of her red West University t-shirt. She had only been back for a week of the new semester and her assignments were already seeming to take over the majority of her life. If it hadn’t been for the insistence of her sire, she would have dropped out, already.

Alex had given her the lecture of how it was important to maintain appearances and that having a forensic pathologist in the bloodline could prove to be beneficial. Astrid crossed her arms and closed her eyes; she could hear the voice of her sire, speaking in her head.

Walking back and forth, she paced the length of the dining room, like one of the predatory cats caged in a zoo. Her pony tail bobbed back and forth with each step. She was restless and she just wasn’t in the mood for organic chemistry. It had been weeks since something other than work, training, or school had been done. Sure, she wasn’t the typical party type college student, but still - one could go stir crazy without any sort of outlet. Before, there was at least the distraction of Kailen.

A sigh was released and her shoulders dropped slightly. Her maybe ex boyfriend, who was secretly a paladin that hunted her kind, was...an enemy? She hadn’t heard anything from him since her turning and his knowing of what she was. There had been no ceremony of words exchanged between the two lovers that would have signified the ending of their two year relationship. There was only the impregnated silence that filled the air before the door was slammed shut in her face. The look on his face, which gave away the pain and internal conflict that was boiling inside of him, was all that she was left with. No closure, only the constant question of whether or not he would be adding her to his hit list.

Scratching softly at the cold flesh on her arms, she decided she needed to get some fresh air. Astrid abandoned her studies for the evening and made her way to the streets of the city. She was welcomed with the smells and sounds of a city that was just really starting to stir.

Harper Rock was one those places where the nights seemed to be when the city was most alive. It’s heartbeat was attuned with the rise and setting of the moon. Astrid couldn’t help but smile, knowing she understood the reasoning behind that, all too well. Yes, so much made more sense to her since her ‘enlightenment’.

As she walked beneath the streetlights, that were lined up like soldiers along the edges of the sidewalks, the paleness of her skin became more illuminated and the red of her hair more fiery. She did her best to avoid the fluorescent glow of the light, not wanting to bring more attention to herself; the shadows were becoming more desireable to her. One of the smaller changes that were becoming a part of the new her. With each new rise of the moon and into another night for her as a vampire, Astrid became stronger. Her powers and knowledge were growing, though it seemed that with each new power, her skin became paler.

Shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans, Astrid stopped in front of a pastry shop. Her nose was all but pressed against the glass, as she stared at the delicious offerings. Oh what she would give to taste the buttery flaky goodness of a croissant, again.

As her thoughts were filled with days gone by, the noise from a club across the street could be heard. The bass that spilled from the music thumped, causing the glass of the window in front of her to vibrate. She could see the reflection of a line of patrons, flowing along the length of the sidewalk in front of the club, on the surface of the glass. Her attentions were pulled from the selection of cupcakes as her eyes watched, instead, the interactions of those in the line and of those passing by them.

Her pupils turned to pinpoints as her stare zeroed in on what seemed to be a slight altercation. A well dressed woman was being pulled into the line by a man. Astrid turned from the glass and watched.

Keen on what was happening across the street, she failed to take notice of the man that was walking in the direction of where she was standing. It wasn’t until she felt a plastic bottle knock against her boot clad foot, that her blue stare cut toward the direction from which the bottle seemed to have come from.

[Forsyth (DELETED 6007)]

The air prickled at his skin, oh if only he could feel the temperature of warmth and coldness again. His eyes closed, focusing on that feel that he clung to from his humanity he kept close. A single shiver was all he could manage, but it made him feel, human, alive in some type of way. He would never let his humanity slide away out of his grip. For as long as he could, he would hold it, tightly.

Window shopping. That was all he was doing. Would he ever go there to purchase? Possibly not. There was no use in even exploring the items that the City held within the walls of each building. What caught his attention was only the abandoned buildings. One would say it was human shopping, for a specific one to feed, to crave that growling hunger deep in his stomach. His stomach made that sound. Oh, lovely, he made himself hungry, even if he did feed not too long ago. Vampire thirst was completely different, more complex, than the hunger of just a human.

He could smell the food of restaurants, the food from some bar and grills along the streets. Grease, cuisine. It smelt divine, but there was no possibility of him even trying to take down human food. His sire warned him of what it may due to a human. But the temptation always chewed at him. Maybe some day, just maybe, he would take a small bite and attempt the challenge. There could be a chance that he was different from other vampires in the city. Yes; a mental note was taken, possibly a bad one... Forsyth continued his walk kicking of the liter of the street, just to keep him occupied somehow.

Suddenly his attention was drawn to a certain sound, one he heard all the time on the streets of New York - the cat call of a man, to a female. His footsteps stopped not too far, other side of the street of the scene. His gaze followed the man's, to a woman he was trying to attract - a beautiful one indeed. But would this play out right? He saw the strength that the woman had on her. She wasn't just an ordinary woman.

His attention went forward then, the bottle being kicked forcefully absent mindlessly to get rid of it. But his attention was caught by a woman woman that stood not too far from him. Her attention seemed to be drawn to something in the window. Could she not hear, or even see the commotion that was happening across the street from the two of them? Until her gaze lifted to him. Damn his distractions with kicking things around. He averted his gaze back to the scene across the street.

Was there something he could do to try to stop from what was happening? He had the powers, after all the nights he spent alone with his disappearance, practicing, learning, all these new things about him since his change. Or the strength he had, all the abilities. He was someone new. A new life, a new chance to do something right.

He grumbled under his breath in Romanian words. He needed to do something, he knew there would be a scene across the street. A scene all them knew shouldn't be witnessed by human eyes. There had to be a way to stop in, in some type of humanitarian form. "If anything bad happens, I do believe you have the ability to help." He spoke to the woman that stood in front of a window of a building.

Forsyth walked across the street and snatched the man's wrist, claw-like nails digging into the flesh. "I do believe this woman in uninterested in your horrible skills to get ones attention. Now leave her be and go on with humiliating yourself somewhere else." He warned.

[Clear (DELETED 7068)]

With jaw hung low, the man steps toward me. He is about to say something – do something – when a blur of movement snatches his wrist and snares both of our attentions. Instinct brings my hand to my breast and I gasp, unable to conceal any kind of surprise at the sudden intervention. Maybe I was too focused on what this white leopard was going to do that I hadn’t even noticed the other one. I am shamed, but I am also lucky to discover that this man does not want to harm me, because he could easily have done so. This new arrival – an incredible creature cast from darkness and steel – is now fending off the white leopard on his own. I step back to give them room. I can barely keep my eyes off them and the sound of this warrior’s voice – so smouldering and visceral – has me feeling as trapped as the blue-eyed leopard in his grasp.

The air is pickled by expletives and demands of freedom. The leopard cannot get his hand free with force and he snaps at the air between them. By now the line of vixens and foxes has become agitated. They fumble over one another and jostle as they try to distance themselves from these warring predators. I think I see some of the leopard’s associates within the line take notice because three pairs of eyes are still and gleaming in amongst all the movement and chaos. The headman of the trio nods and they move as a pack out of the line and toward the sparring men. When I see the trio more clearly, I notice their clothing is similar – uniform even. Crisp white shirts, dark jeans and shining shoes are suddenly so suspicious and they’re reaching inside their pockets for something…

I look down the line to where the bouncers are. There is relief and frustration bubbling within me when it seems they have finally noticed the trouble brewing on their doorstep. They march, elephant-like toward us, but there is only two of them and the trio are quicker, armed too or so I suspect. The trio makes an attempt on the man of dark steel, attacking from behind. They want to grab his arms, pin him down and leave him open. All I can do is wave my arms frantically at the slow-moving muscle, which is supposed to aid us. I hope they hurry. I hope they make it in time. I hope that this stranger doesn’t get hurt because of me.

“Please, help!” I call out, which seems to make the bouncers move that fraction quicker. I still don’t think they will make it, but I won't act unless I have no other choice.

[Astrid (DELETED 6933)]

Her gaze moved up and down the length of the man, that was now standing only a few feet from her. The way he stood there, staring across the street with narrowed eyes, it became acutely obvious to her where his intentions were headed. She wanted to blurt out to him the saying that was repeated to her by Alex, on an almost nightly basis, Not my circus, not my monkeys, but she could tell by the way his stare burned into the scene that his choice had already been made. Then his voice cut through the silence that stood between them .

"If anything bad happens, I do believe you have the ability to help."

Her eyebrows lifted into an arch as she shook her head ever so slightly. "Exactly how..." Before she could finish her sentence, he had already reached the other side of the street and had the perpetrator in his grasp. "****."

The tips of her shoes hung off the edge of the sidewalk as she watched; the scene quickly unfolded. Every now and then her view was obstructed with the flow of the traffic on the street. A tall bus blocked her line of sight just as she had taken notice of three other men headed toward the man that had the predator in his clutches. It looked as though they were fishing something from their pockets. This was the point that Astrid's instincts took over.

Her eyes narrowed and her fangs were sharp. Sure she had no business interfering and yes this had nothing to do with her, but the muscles of her body reacted without the interruption of rationalizing thoughts. With in seconds, she cleared the bus and found herself twisting the wrist of one of the trio and grasping the throat of the other.

"Tell your friends, to play nice." Her voice hissed between them as her stare was locked on the third. There was no telling what was going through their minds while the petite redhead stood there, daring them to push her further. As if she had anticipated that they would miscalculate her ability and strength, due to her stature, there was a satisfying pop of bones that came from the wrist that she twisted. Her other hand squeezed it's hold against the vulnerable windpipe of the second man in her grasp. Their screams, to Astrid's ears, were comparable to a well played sonata. This is kind of fun.

[Forsyth (DELETED 6007)]

There was no comply, no willing to leave the woman alone. He was a stubborn man that Forsyth was dealing with, one indeed. And one to be messing with the wrong type of people. "Alright. So I guess we'll have some problems." He sighed with a roll of his eyes. His claws dug deeper into the skin, penetrating the flesh that blood ran down his fingers, to the ground.

In a swift action, a twist and crackle of bones and wrist are heard by the hearing of any vampire. "Leave." He warned. But the man did not do anything, but laugh at him. With a swift movement of his other hand, Forsyth withdrew a small dagger out of his pocket, twisting it in his hand so he held the handle tightly in his grasp. He was about to move the blade to puncture the man's kidney, until he heard a group of footsteps, and yet more bones cracking in the air.

His head turned to watch the petite woman that he saw across the street, that he knew she could help if trouble would awaken. His attention was drawn back to the man he held hostage by the wrist who turned to return some type of swift punch. Luckily, with Forsyth's ability to dodge, did not get hit. A growl was emitted from deep in his chest, the dagger still in his hand he took action and let the sharpness of the blade cut a deep gash in the man's arm. It was just to weaken him a bit before his grasp came to the neck of the man, lifting him in the air. "You're dealing with the wrong group." He slammed the man on the ground, knocking him unconscious.

His attention went back to the trio of men, then to the woman waving her hands to attract more attention. Ugh, we don't need help He said in his mind. His next move was to help the petite red head with the other men. The movements were quick, swift and graceful, but a slight blur to any human witness. A hand grabbed one of the male's arms and twisted the arm back, the bones popping and cracking out of the joint. He kicked in the knees, possibly causing a fracture in the knee join as the man fell to the ground in agonizing pain.

This was quite fun.

[Clear (DELETED 7068)]

The first indication I have that anything truly bad is happening is when the bouncers stop in their tracks and look past me with eyes alive with terror. The very fact that these people – employed, trained and experienced with violence – would look so horrified makes my stomach churn. Ice runs from the back of my neck to the base of my spine unpleasantly, and I do not want to turn around and see what is happening. It sounds gruesome. It sounds dangerous and fatal. I know enough about anatomy to know when a ball joint is disconnected, when bones are cracked and broken in two. I do not know who is coming out on top of this one, and like the bouncers ahead of me, I quickly realise that it matters not. The trained security reach for their radios and call for back-up. No doubt the police will arrive in a matter of minutes and I must make up my mind how I will respond to all of this.

There are enough witnesses here to determine quickly who is in the wrong when the authorities arrive. I hope that they understand that I am not responsible for this crime, and as I look at them for guidance, their faces make me worry more. People are starting to flee and I turn around as a flicker of light bounces across my face. There is a weapon in play now. I see the silver arc streak across the darkness like a fish on a line, but it is not in the hand I am expecting. Dark Steel has the weapon and he is joined by another incredible creature who is dressed in fire. She is subduing two of these men without breaking a sweat and in the time she is doing this, her companion is subduing the others. I blink once and twice, but the world before my eyes does not twitch. If am not hallucinating I have to accept that what I am seeing is truly happening. They are like comic book superheroes come to life and their reality is monstrous.

I chide myself. I should have gone straight home. I do not know why things have escalated so horrendously. The white leopard lies on the floor, defeated and wounded and maybe dying. He was a proud fool, but he did not deserve this. He is just a boy. A stupid boy who was taught no good, who knew no better than to disrespect others. The beating he received tonight was not parallel to the sum of his crimes. There was a better way to do this and I cannot stop the accusation from showing on my face as I look to the superheroes – the supervillains – now that the dust is settled and the blood is spilt.

“Why?”

I feel my lips part and this breathy, lifeless sound break free of me before I consciously summoned the word. But now that it is out there, the strength of my voice returns. My forehead creases into a tight frown and now I am condemning them. I does not occur to me that I could be attacked next.

“Why did you do that? You didn’t have to do any of that! They were just boys!”

[Astrid (DELETED 6933)]

The smile of one enjoying themselves, quickly faded from the redhead's lips when she looked over her shoulder, spying the sliver glint of a blade in the hand of the other that was like her. But was he really like her? Her eyebrows lifted in concern, causing a few lines of worry to form on her forehead. What the hell was he going to do what that, and here in the open? It was one thing to be wanted for assault charges, but it was quite another to be wanted for murder. Idiot! A low guttural growl of annoyance rumbled from her throat. She turned her head to look in the other direction, enabling her to get a fuller assessment of the situation and she finally spied the images of the bouncers as they stood there with the look of shock washed over their features. ****! No, this wasn't fun anymore.

Then as if things couldn't get worse, she watched as the man kicked in and obviously broke the knee of the third person that made up the trio. She wasn't completely against that move, but she definitely couldn't get behind public murder. Wait, who the hell am I again?

Then the stab to her moral center happened. The woman, that had at one time been the victim, cried out to them, asking them why. She pointed out the fact that the men whose blood was shed were just boys.

Astrid shook her head and loosened her grip on both of the men. "Run!" Her voice gave every indication to them that it wasn't a request, but an order. "For your life." She added the last bit to make it known that they indeed would be better off, running.

Not missing a chance to make it out of that situation more whole then not, the two that she let go, took off running down the street. Well the best that one could run with a broken wrist and a sore neck.

"We have to leave. Now." Her voice was flat but the look in her eyes was not. Her pupils were so large, it almost swallowed her eyes into it's black pools as she narrowed them in on the man that had kicked the bottle at her foot, earlier. She nodded toward the bouncers, who we were at that time busy making frantic calls to 911 dispatchers.

Not being one to wait around, Astrid took off in the opposite direction from which the two she let go, went running. But as she made her way past the crowds, she purposefully pumped into the woman. This gave the opportunity to whisper in her ear. "Forget what you saw." With that she quickly made her exit, all the while listening for footsteps of anyone that might would have followed her.

[Forsyth (DELETED 6007)]

The man stuffed the dagger back between his belt and turned to look over at the other woman. The question ringing through his ears. His gaze wandered across all the witnesses, his eyes widening slightly. He's done this before, but he was never around this many people. A few, yes, but not a crowd. ****, what did he just get himself into. He cursed to himself in some type of language, Romanian, his native language.
He looked at the so called 'boy' on the ground and leaned down, slicing a portion of his wrist so blood would spill on the wound he created with the blade. "Now run. And forget this ever happen." He ordered the man on the ground who got up, the wound already healing slowly from the blood. Oh the special things he learned from being a vampire, it came in handy sometimes.

He stood up and watched as the men began to run off, staring at the woman who was once the victim in this play, almost with a hard gaze, penetrating her - like she betrayed them somehow. They were only trying to help her! As he went to catch up with the other woman, he looked at the once victim. "You best not to follow." He warned her.

Forsyth reached for the girls arm only so he could keep up at her side. They needed to get away from the chaotic scene, from the eyes of all the witnesses. He didn't know the other woman would create such a scene that would get them in trouble. They were helping, and she added a more difficult situation to it by asking for help from the security. She was one of them! Wasn't she?... He walked in silence beside the girl until they were far enough away. They were both the criminals here, not just him.

Once they were safe enough away, he stopped and leaned against the wall of a building, bending over with his hands on his knee. "I didn't mean for it to go that far. I didn't know it would." He spoke quietly, his gaze lifting to the girl's features, if she was to stick around.