Path of the Vampire forum

Jaxon was the sort of man who entered and exited places, and environments, and peoples lives at will and at random. So while he had been disappointed when the bubbly Seiji had vanished from the town, he hadn’t held it against the man nor put much thought into it. It was a big world afterall, that was something Jax knew all too well, and even a jittery confused man like Seiji could go off into it. Maybe he’d boarded a bus, or taken a plane, or stolen someone’s car – though admittedly the thought of Seiji driving made Jax worry for pedestrians and other drivers. Then again, maybe one of the monsters that plagued this town had gotten to his fellow human, and maybe even this moment he was just another body at the bottom of some demons cave floor and – was that him?

Jaxon tilted his head, the upturned collar of his peacoat brushing his jaw with the motion and unkempt dark hair falling over his forehead. He was in an odd part of town. The sort of place the locals had insisted was haunted, and Jax was there to see if it was true or not. And to question the spirits if it were so. So it was odd that he was absolutely certain it was the easily frightened Seiji standing there outside of a rundown cemetery.

“What on earth…” He muttered to himself, and downed the last of his coffee before tossing the little red cup into a trash bin. At least it hadn’t yet started snowing – or if it had he’d been locked inside his growing little library of artifacts and acquired books of magick and hadn’t noticed the weather changing. He had certainly been surprised to step outside this evening and find it cold enough his bits had shriveled in protest. He looked both ways on the empty street out of sheer habit, and raised his gloved hands up to his mouth to puff a hot breath between his palms as he crossed the deserted road.

“Seiji?” He called out, hoping not to send the male running. If it wasn’t Seiji, well then it was some urchin who really should not be out alone after dark in this town. Jaxon was armed to the teeth under his coat, and had learned a few new powers lately to aid in his own protection. He had also become exceedingly good with a gun and knife both. A wonder what practice would do.

Seiji squeezed his eyes shut, counted to ten, and snapped them open. Despite this being his fifth attempt at such, he could not draw up the power to wake himself from this dream. Or nightmare. Surely one or the other, for what he saw could be nothing else but the cruel conduit of his subconscious, forming in a tantalizing wisp of his past in order to torment him. Dimly in the back of his mind, he knew everything here was wrong. The place alone, a waiting path among the dead, was a place he'd never bring himself willingly. But willing he had been, following the visual invitation to the ajar gates, as if it all lay in wait just for him.

Shivering, Seiji drew his collar up in an idle, halfhearted manner. Another part of his mind registered the chill, the impossibility that this all might be real. That had to be false, though, for he could not recall how he'd come to this place clearly, only that he had been led. Wasn't that the first of many signs one was lost in the world of dreams? The inability to recall how one had arrived at a place? Eyes shut, he didn't even count this time. Now he just tried, with a sort of weak desperation, to draw away. But he couldn't. Not when that place had offered him the worst of all temptations.

The wind was calling his name. Now he was sure to be dreaming. Yet it was so clear, and somehow so familiar. Curiosity damned him as he opened his eyes once more, and with visible effort tore his gaze from the gates and to his surroundings. Like a ghost from the mist, a familiar face had appeared. Or was the mist just the blurriness of his exhaustion? Perhaps they were both lost in a dream. Or simply Seiji's fragile mental state had conjured up Jaxon in order to ease him. Whatever the reason, Seiji couldn't really draw much relief to his eyes, but there was some at the sight of someone worth leaning on. "Jaxon?" The name was spoken with a dreamy air, as if he wasn't even sure his own eyes could be trusted at this moment. The effort of turning to further face the man was great enough for Seiji to stagger, catching himself on the wrought iron gate. It swung inward with a dreadful creak by an inch, just barely holding the stick of a man upright.

Seiji had paled considerably since the last time they'd been face to face, and his eyes were burdened with the shadows of sleepless nights. There was a haunted look behind them that he tried and failed to cover with a smile. It didn't even last a second, nor did his attention as he found himself staring at the graveyard once again. "Are we both dreaming then?" His tone rose and fell like one's often did when they believed they were not entirely awake. He didn't even wait for an answer, the words tumbling freely in a breathless fall from his lips, which were turning a bruised color in the cold. "She's here. I'm sure of it. She's waiting for me. Maybe they all are... but they can't be right? It's just a dream?" He hung off the gate, his gaze wide open and hiding little of the mixed emotions. He looked at Jaxon again, helplessly, as if he didn't want to believe whoever he spoke of really wasn't there, but at the same time didn't want her to be there either.