Bloody Trails < Daradasi - Reid >

[Mora]

<Mora> The tome slipped through her fingertips.
It was his tome.
He had returned it to her.

It collided with the floor of the crypt, clattering against the stone. She looked at it with her moss orbs, before watching her childe vanish from the Crypt. She simply blinked. Watching the area. Turning her eyes to her husband who was resting as he normally did against the alter. She canted her head to the side blonde tresses falling against the shoulder.

She couldn’t understand her feelings. She didn’t know what was going on through her head. The pacifist was conflicted. Should she go after him? Her feet didn’t move instead she did something she didn’t expect. She grabbed Judas’s jacket - threw it around her shoulders. She wore a white nightgown made of the finest silks - like she normally did around the Crypt. Anyone who lived inside the crypt knew this. It was normal attire for the telepath.

She vanished through the fadeportal to the right of the crypt - letting her body tumble through the magical force before her bare feet touched the concrete of Honeymead station. She had one stop in mind, the wilderness. Where the fae lurked deep inside it’s threshold.




<Jacques> Quietly, the muscle-bound Canadian pushed his hands through his hair. Blood coated his hands as they passed through the dirty blonde mass. Most of his night was spent hunting prey through the sewers, cutting through hunters and paladins alike before moving into the mausoleum to dissipate the rotten smell of the sewer before washing up and heading home.

Tonight, a thief set on him as he made his way outside, into the alley. They had taken his wallet, and he had taken their life. It wasn’t unusual these nights, wanton murder. It felt strange sometimes. He pulled the sunglasses from his face, the deeply tinted aviators hiding most of his facial features until they fell free from the hard lines of his face. As he tucked the frames neatly into the neckline of his polo, he tore a corner from the blood bag he had purchased from the shop. The long night had given his hunger an edge, sharp and painful.

He was grateful that his sires had been so thoughtful, to keep a shop supplied in the Crypt. He took a small sip from the bag, letting it wash over his tongue, tasting it, testing it before he upended the bag, draining it. Satisfied, he sighed, and pulled the empty bag from his lips, just in time to see one of Mora’s other creations leave the crypt, vanishing in an instant. He ran his tongue over his lips and grimaced. He didn’t have a good feeling about this. Most times, the rest of the family stayed right here. They rarely left.

He set the bag aside, leaving it on the counter of the shop as he lifted his knife and pushed it into his belt. He saw Rain in her usual place, resting easily against one of the walls in the crypt. He moved to her side, putting his arm around her shoulders to gently shake her awake. “Hey.” He said softly, watching as Mora padded across the crypt to take Judas’s jacket and wrap it around herself. “Hey…” he said more insistently, giving her another shake. “Rain, wake up. I think we might need to talk to…”

She vanished, a whirl of power emanating from the portal as it sucked her in. He sighed. “Her. Look. Mora’s just left, and I think something’s happened. Maybe we should go after her.” He lifted his hand to the portal that she had just passed through. “That one.”



<Rain>

August 8, five years ago

“Get up, *****. The **** you think this is, a five star resort?”

Brushing sleep from her eyes, she twisted on the bed with a wince. She could feel the decaying metal protruding through the thin mat, the sharp edge having embedded in her side sometime turning the night. “**** you,” she snapped, irritation in her sleep laden voice. If she had been more coherent, she would have perhaps thought twice about mouthing off to Big Bertha, but with the cobwebs of a horrible night's sleep clinging to her mind, she threw consequence to the wind. The silence of her cell filled suddenly with a loud creak as the heavy guard through open the door, the wrought iron bars slamming to the far wall with a crash. The sound resounded in her head, but before she had a chance to cover her ears, she was thrown to the floor, her chest hitting the dusty cement. The scent of stale urine filled her nostrils as the guard slammed her knee into her back, her entire weight focused on the middle of her spine.

“The **** was that, *****? You think you’re some tough ****, don’t you? I could ******* kill you right here, whore.”

With the weight of a small elephant pinning her down, she could do nothing but wheeze out a response. There was no words in her defense, and she swore she could feel her lungs threatening to burst. She needed air. The sleep finally faded from her mind as the need to survive kicked in, and with a burst of adrenaline, she slammed her head back, her skull connecting with the guards face. Blood sprayed the walls as the overweight woman fell over, and she breathed in a large gulp of air as she clawed her way to the opposite side of the cell. “Go on a diet, fatass,” she sneered, her blue eyes lifeless as she watched her struggle to stand. Sirens filled the prison, and she heard sheets being thrown back as the inmates rushed to stand for inspection.

They were coming for her - and she didn’t give a ****.

With the remnants of the memory still clinging to her subconscious, her first reaction was to attack. You bitches never learn, she thought groggily as she lashed out, her knuckles connecting with the sharp jaw of her attacker. The second that she felt the warmth of their blood on her skin, she pushed her free hand against their chest - and came to a stop. Instead of filling the soft flesh of one of the female guards, her palm rested against the toned muscles of a man. Instantly awake, she shoved her hand through her hair and pushed from the wall, her eyes narrowing on her boyfriend as the adrenaline ebbed from her system. “****, babe. You know better than that,” she accused as she used the pad of her thumb to wipe the blood from his lip.

Following the direction he was pointing with her tired eyes, she frowned when she counted the fadeportals. “The station. She could be anywhere. What happened?” Even as she spoke, she was already throwing her hoodie on and grabbing her gun. The Uzi seemed so out of place in the hands of the slender blonde, but she didn’t think twice about hooking it over her shoulder as she headed for the portal. “I can probably narrow down her location if she gets too far out of sight, so don’t freak.” Without another word, she entwined their fingers and pulled him through the portal.



<Mora> He had left.

The vampire tucked tresses of blonde behind her ears as she let her bare feet crunch against the blades of grass. She had headed north from the station. She avoided the glances of human and vampire onlookers alike, she simply didn't’ care. There was many people in the crypt. All resting, her family. Daradasi and Reid alike - Mora just wanted to be alone to gather her thoughts to centre herself almost, which was hard to do in a Crypt full of busy bodies. It seemed a lot busier lately thanks to her lovely two additions.

Kayle and Caia. It had been so long since she had fledglings asking her questions - someone to train, it was refreshing. The woman paused, veering off to the left as she entered the wilderness with caution. She knew what resided in the depths of this place. What seemed to hunt vampires with such malice. Mora had no weapons on her. She was unarmed besides her own powers that vibrated and hummed around her. Stretching and caressing her with such power. Mora relied on them to protect her, and after all with what was going on in the woman’s mind. Did she want to protect herself?

Her skin was littered in an array of relics that she liked to keep on her person at all times. Her wedding ring, was her prized possession. She never took it off not even when she bathed. Her armlet of buffering was firmly clasped around her wrist. This relic never let her go hungry. Since she started wearing it - she never felt the hunger. She had only started wearing it after Kaylee’s siring. She never wanted to put herself into that situation again. She kept her titan’s bracelet on her at all times, as well as her alligator tooth that dangled from her neck. Various relics granted her mystical abilities.

Forest green orbs was scanning the area for any plants she could get her hands on. It was walks like this that could possibly get her mind off the fact that Jameson now no longer resided in the Crypt. Perhaps she should have gone after him. Guilt seemed to riddle the telepaths thoughts, different scenarios ran through her mind. Should it have affected her this much?

The more and more she thought about it, the more the woman became frantic inwardly the cages of her mind began to unlock - everything that she tried so hard to hold back over the span of four years was slowly rushing through the gates like an ocean.

What Mora didn’t notice - or even sense was that there was that there was a white wolf coming towards her brushing past the treeline It was a wolf with ominous red eyes - sharp talon like claws extended, it was after Mora the beasts large mouth opened, with saliva oozing from its wide jaws revealing razor sharp teeth that were soon to sink themselves into the unsuspecting vampire.

<Jacques> As he shook her shoulders, Jacques could feel Rain’s entire body tense, her form shifting at his side as she twisted, fist flying to his face with tremendous speed, her knuckles striking his jaw with a snap. He pulled his head back, just shy of the full force of her strike, her hands shoving against his chest as he lifted his hands to her wrists, grabbing her gently.

“Rain, we don’t have time. I’m sorry, but we need to go.” He took her hand, his grip tightly wrapped about hers as he helped her pull away from the wall. He smiled as she wiped at the blood on his lip, and pulled her closer. “She went to the station, yeah. I think something happened, I can’t be too sure. I only just got here when she was leaving. Someone else was leaving too, and I can’t be sure, but I think it was one of hers. I think it might have had something to do with her leaving? I don’t know. I just think we should maybe catch up and make sure she’s okay, non?”

He squeezed her hand, and followed behind her, vanishing through the portal, disappearing in the swirling mist of power just as their sire had before them. To them, the transit felt like only a second, stepping from one side of their small world to the other, from the safety and familiarity of the crypt into the bustling Honeymead Transit Station. One of the family’s hotspots, the Transits allowed them access to most anywhere in town, just a short ride on the train across town. From here, however, he couldn’t be sure exactly where it was that Mora had run to, but he had a pretty good idea.

He glanced to the small woman at his side and shook his head. “You said something about narrowing down her location, right? I don’t want to start running off in the wrong direction.” He felt his knife at his hip, his pistol resting heavy and awkward at the other.


<Rain> We don’t have the time.

Time for what?

His words echoed in her mind as she stepped off of the curb, her feet nearly getting run over by a large sedan. With a muttered oath, she jumped back a step and controlled the urge to pelt the back windshield with a spray of bullets. “Assholes,” she muttered, her voice dark with irritation. She knew she had been out of the dating game for a while, but she was more than certain being scolded wasn’t normal. He’s making me crazy, she thought with a twisted frown as she worked her fingers through her windblown hair. “It’s too cold!” Despite knowing how pathetic it might sound, she couldn’t seem to work the whine out of her voice. Her black yoga pants offered little to no protection from the cold, leaving her to quickly wrap her arms around her middle in a hope that it would offer some warmth. Once she realized that her effort was in vain, she spun to face him, her sneaker slipping on the slush that covered the side of the road. “Damnit.”

Shaking her head, she flicked her gaze towards him, the look in her eyes daring him to laugh at her while she bit into her lower lip. She couldn’t understand why their sire would have abandoned the safety of the crypt without giving a warning. As her mind raced to piece together the puzzle that the older blonde had left in her wake, she ran a hand down her face and sighed quietly. ] “I can try. I mean, I’ve barely mastered the power…” Her voice trailed off as her shoulders slumped. She had been so certain when she followed her path that she would be able to find her - but now that she was out in the middle of the busy streets, the thought of pinpointing her location was almost laughable. She needs you, majita. You can do this. Running her tongue over her lower lip, she stepped further away from Jacques and brought Mora’s face to the forefront of her mind.

Almost instantly, the dark of the forest filled her mind. It didn’t take her more than a second to decipher what it meant, and she quickly spun on her heel to face him. “The wild. She’s in the wild. We don’t have time,” she said with a pointed tone, before taking a step back. “I’m going on ahead, boo. Get there when you can.” No sooner had the words left her lips then she summoned her magic to teleport herself to the image she had seen in her mind. When the city buildings morphed into thick trees, she dusted off her jeans and pushed her thoughts into her sires mind before stepping into the waiting forest.

Don’t worry, mami, we’re here for you…



<Mora> Her moss orbs went downwards admiring a patch of wild bluehearts. She bent down, plucking a single flower from the soil and held it up to her eyeline. This was how she had met Judas, well. Cai. She had often come out here to the wilderness to pluck up the flowers to give them to him. An excuse really. She was a shy woman, and Judas had been so forward.

[Rain (DELETED 5917)]

Miss Mora, Cai used to call her, even Judas.
Now she was his wife, and he her husband.

A snarl sounded behind her as the blonde telepath spun on her heel to find out what was making that noise, her eyes had widened at what she now saw in front of her. A wolf, a gigantic wolf with red eyes and horrible breath it was staring at her, like it knew what she was - like it was staring into her soul. She huffed a little, and went to reach for a blade that wasn’t there - considering she hadn’t picked up her weapons. She blinked a few times not sure what to do, she could overwhelm the wolf - the fae, but she knew her powers didn’t really work against them. Forest eyes looked around herself for anywhere she could run from the wolf. Yet, there was no immediate place for her to run.

The voice of Rain filled her mind. Distracting her. Telling her that they were there for her, she wasn’t quite sure who was ‘were’ and had no idea what she seemed to be on about - she was asleep the last time she checked against one of the Crypts many walls.

The wolf lunged - as she was deliberating - sinking its jaws into the flesh of the telepaths arm. Ripping away the skin in flurry of anger and blood.

<Jacques> “Forest, right. That isn’t far from here.” He nodded as she warned him that she was about to vanish. At least he knew where they were supposed to be going. He dropped his hand to the pistol at his hip, flipping the leather strap that secured the firearm into the holster with his thumb, leaving the weapon ready. He watched as she disappeared, flickering from existence in a blink.

“I suppose it’s my turn.” It had sounded quite urgent. He closed his eyes, feeling the power flowing through his body, the latent energy that he had only barely learned to tap into, feeding his body with strengths and abilities that just weren’t possible. He focused the energy into his limbs, feeling his body tense with strength as he pulled his pistol from its holster. His body moved like lightning. He whipped through the city with a violent speed, catching up to Rain before she could slip into the line of trees.

“Right behind you.” He murmured, flicking the safety to his pistol off and raising the weapon at the ready. “The woods are a terribly huge place, Rain. She could be anywhere in here.” he said quietly, his eyes scanning the trees as they walked. Beneath his boot, a dead limb cracked beneath the snow, a muffled, wet snap. He paused, and glanced around at the dark trunks of the trees, expecting something to melt out of the snow. This place felt dangerous, a sinister sense of foreboding weighing on him as he loaded a round into the chamber of the pistol. He couldn’t imagine what Mora could be looking for here.

He turned his eyes to a clearing, the snow was immaculate, sparkling a glittering white in the dull light of the day. No one had been there in some time, the snow undisturbed, pure as when it had first fallen. He sighed, his breath a thin white stream as he glanced to the blonde moving through the trees. “I don’t like this, at all. It’s too quiet here.”

<Rain> “I don’t know, babe. It’s Mora. She could be doing anything. I can never keep up with her thoughts,” she whispered. Her worry was evident, and as she pressed her fingers through her hair, she couldn’t quite control the way they shook. What in the hell could she be thinking, coming to a place like this? She had heard stories of it, of course, the tales of the monsters that lurked in the shadows. She, of course, had never given a **** enough to find out for herself if they were true, or not. Tucking a blonde curl behind her ear, she turned to study her boyfriend for a second before she sighed and shook her head.

“I have no id-- wait. Do you smell that?”
Almost instantly, the strong scent of blood filled her senses, and with it came the lighter aroma of her sire’s perfume. She hadn’t a clue how she was able to tell the difference, but she didn’t wait to try and sort things out. Instead, she grabbed her gun and rushed forward, her slender form becoming a blur as she leaped over broken branches and fallen trees with ease. The cold meant nothing to her as the wind bit at her skin, and as she stumbled into the clearing, the scent nearly overpowered her - but it was the sight before her that caused her to cringe. The snow that surrounded the elder blonde was tainted red, and the savage growl that vibrated from the monster’s throat nearly terrified the mystic. “What in the **** is that?”

Even as she asked the question, she put her foot to the nearest log and leaped over it, her body slamming into the creatures in an attempt to pry him from her arm. When he didn’t budge, she grabbed his mouth and pulled, only to have him turn on her, his eyes wild. “Run, mami!” The words were tore from her throat as she stumbled back, her hands held in front of her in a defensive stance. It was then, she felt the weight of the gun against her back.

Why the **** didn’t I just shoot the damned thing?

<Mora> Mora was thrown to the ground her head collapsing into the snow as she fell. The wolf had ripped the flesh from her arm mostly straight down to the bone as the telepath clung to her arm, the blood pouring through by the pint. Rain had entered the scene, she had been the one to tackle the ferocious beast to the ground it was upon her now, the gun was in her hand but she didn’t use it. Mora was looking from Jacques and then to Rain as she battled with the Fae. Her arm was still pouring when she got herself up, ignoring her childe - telling her to run.

Despite the pain that resided around her head, she wouldn’t leave her childe to the hands of the fae. She moved forward, her arms outstretched as she sprinted to the wolf, grabbing it - curling her hands around its stomach as she squeezing, cracking a few of it’s ribs as she threw the beast off her childe. She winced as she touched her arm and stood between the beast and her childe who was lying amidst the snow. Forest hues turned to look at her childe. “Run.” Was all she uttered to the woman, her voice was hoarse, lacking emotion. Why would it have emotion? A childe had walked out on her.

She moved forward then - closing the space between her and wolf. She flexed her fingertips closing her eyes briefly as she began to focus her energy on a summon, oh yes. Despite the pain she felt she summoned a fadebeast to the scene. Binding it to the spot in which she summoned it. It would give them time to get away from the fae, if the fae decided that it would rather play with the fadebeast than the vampires, she doubted it though.

That didn’t stop it though, not when a robin came darting into the scene - with a glare to its eye. The bird was after the three of them, it looked as if it wanted to peck their very eyes out.

“Run, now.” She told them both. Holding her arm. “The fae are coming.”


<Jacques> He caught the scent in the same moment as she bolted for the clearing. He was right behind her, moving through the trees as he pulled his pistol from its holster. Blood was the last thing he was expecting, especially so fast. What could Mora have already gotten into? She couldn’t have been gone more than a few minutes. He lifted his thumb to draw back the hammer with a sharp click.

He watched as Rain shoulder tackled the monstrous wolf, earning little more than a grunt from the beast before it wheeled on her with a maw of teeth like knives. It snapped at her, the sound of tooth against tooth like a hollow pop, before Mora was on the monster, her arms wrapped powerfully around the huge torso. The wolf gave a whimper of pain as its ribs cracked audibly. When she threw it aside, he took his time lining up a shot, just before he fired into the beast’s chest with four bullets, hoping to puncture a lung or, if he was incredibly lucky, to hit the thing’s heart.

A sharp, shrill chirping filled the air like a whirlwind of sound, a small bird flitting through the air after them, though keeping a distance just long enough to remain out of the more powerful vampire’s grasp. Her warning went unheeded as he followed the creature’s quick, patterned dashes across the clearing. “We’re leaving together, or we’re not leaving at all.” He said firmly, brooking no argument. He fired off a shot, narrowly missing the robin, a small cluster of feathers floating to the earth as it chirped angrily.

<Rain> She could feel the anger as it rose through her form, causing her eyes to darken. The **** you think I am, mami? She wasn’t going to run - hell, she wasn’t going to leave this field until every one of the beasts were in shreds. As the wolf lunged for her again, she rolled out of the way, her movements graceful despite the sudden burn in her stomach. As her blood bubbled to the surface, she lifted to her feet and twisted down at the sound of her boyfriend’s gun. One, two, three, four. When the last bullet echoed off the trees, she grabbed her gun and swung it, the butt hitting the robin that was aiming its small talons for Mora’s face. It let out a shrill chirp as it spun out of control, before hitting the nearest tree with a sickening thud.

Turning on her sire, then, she rested her hand against the gash in her stomach. The thin material of her shirt had been torn, and her blood flowed steadily across the fabric, darkening it to a deep shade of crimson before the drops soaked into the snow. She barely felt the pain through the adrenaline kicking into her system, and as she kept a wary gaze on the wolf, she brushed a stray curl of blonde from her eyes. She could hear the lifeless tone, and it didn’t take her long to sort out the way her forest eyes no longer sparkled. This creature in front of her wasn’t her best friend. It wasn’t her Mora - no, it was merely a corpse wearing her face. “What the **** are you doing here, mami?”

Her voice was sharp as she reached for the blonde’s arm, pulling her back a few paces while the wolf began to circle the fadebeast. When she spoke next, her words were nearly drowned out by the sound of slobbering fangs and savage growls, and she took comfort in knowing that for just a second - they had a brief moment of reprieve. “I’m not leaving you. We’re not leaving you, so get the **** over that, girl.” Before she had a chance to say anything further, the sound of feathers had her gaze snapping to where the broken bird had once rested. It had risen, it’s beady eyes filled with rage as it began to swoop down for her, beak open as it went straight for her eyes.

<Mora> She ducked but it wasn't necessary, her troublemaker had used the butt of her gun to smack the robin away with a sickening thud, she turned her forest green eyes onto the woman as she then turned her hard gaze on the Fadebeast who was trying to grab the wolf as it circled the beast, she turned her eyes on Jacques then and gave him a slight smile. Nodding her head slightly. He could be quite demanding when he wanted to be, there was too much blood flowing from the bite on her arm to argue with him. She would have to reassert her dominance with her childer later when she was feeling better.

He shot at the wolf, and Mora focuses on overwhelming a nearby rabbit that seemed to have gone feral. Without thinking the blonde went for Rain’s hand just shortly after she reached for her own as she began to drag her over to Jacques as she used her bleeding arm to grab his hand she began to jog, the forest animals were getting too many for three vampire to handle, they were in their territory, it wouldn't be safe to stay here that was for sure.

“Jameson.” Was what she said. “He's gone.” She said in a quieter tone than the last. “I came out here to.. I don't remember, I saw a blueheart that reminded me of the time I met Judas.” She turned her eye to the path in front of them, urging her nearest and dearest to run as fast as they could with each of them on either arm. They had to get away.

<Jacques> The clearing had turned into a churning pen of wildlife, each of them angrier than the last, and all of them the formidable fae. It was when the hulking frame of the bear burst into the clearing that he stopped firing his gun into the frenzy, turning his attention on fleeing with the others. He turned to his side, watching as his sire was dragging at Rain, the smaller blonde fighting against the retreat, doing her best to turn back and fight the woodland creatures.

Perhaps she hadn’t seen the bear.

Perhaps she was just insane.

Likely, though, it was both. He shrugged from Mora’s grasp, just long enough to reach out and take Rain’s other arm. She was going to drag them all back, if she kept up. At least now, he and Mora could work together to drag her along. Her kicking caused minimal loss of their speed as Jacques took up her other side, all but lifting her out of the snow, only allowing her feet to kick uselessly against the slick, icy earth as they pulled her along. “Rain, you’re going to get us all killed. Come on.” He yanked her back again, sending her reeling with them as she lost her footing again.

He had half a mind to shoot her legs, if she kept this up. As he kept her in one arm, he chanced a look over his shoulder, the stampede of fae baring down on them. He twisted his torso, lifting his firearm to fire into the fray of wildly pumping legs, hoping to trip one up and cause a pile up of broken animals.

He managed to catch the wolf in the ear, grazing its side. The second bullet caught a rabbit square in the face, sending it flying into the knot of knobby knees and long, slender legs in a splash of blood and a loud, sharp squeak. The rabbit managed to trip up a few of the animals, sending them into a lumbering ball onto the side of the path, but the majority of the beasts continued on, drawing closer with each pace.

[Jacques (DELETED 6254)]

<Rain> This is chaotic.

That was the only thought that seemed to register in her mind as she watched the outpour of animals. What in the hell had they been putting in the wood’s food supply? Shaking her head, she brought her gun up to fire another round, the bullet slamming into the robin’s gut, sending him falling to the floor with a tweet that would have shattered her heart, had it not just been trying to claw her creator’s face off. When she felt the tug to her arm, she tried to fight back, to pull away from the - but she should have known better. There was no way that Jacques was going to let her remain behind, nor was he about to allow her to risk her life for the glory.

However, she couldn’t seem to fight the anger.

“Let me go, Jacq. I’ve got this,” she snapped, a second before Mora’s words seemed to click in her mind. Jameson. She hardly remembered the man, his face just a blur to her, but she knew that he had been one of them. In all honesty, she thought he had been killed, but she highly doubted that was what the Telepath wanted to hear in that moment. Gritting her teeth, she narrowed her eyes on the bloodied blonde as her attention bounced to a new enemy. “He just left? What in the hell is wrong with him?” Her words were sharp as she stopped struggling in her boyfriend’s grasp. When she felt his hold slack, she ducked beneath his arm and spun, her knees sinking into the snow. “Get her out of here, babe. Go!” Without missing a beat, she sunk her fingers into the freezing ground and closed her eyes. The sound of their paws slamming against the forest floor began to near her, and she knew that if she waited a second longer, Jacques was going to come to her aid.

Curling her fingers, she dug her nails into the frozen floor and concentrated. At first, nothing happened, and then a faint tremor shook the trees. A few seconds later, and the entire ground began to shake, the trees rumbling on their roots as the animals began to fall back. They couldn’t find their traction as the earthquake shook the area, and without waiting for them to gain their senses, she leapt to her feet and turned to catch up with the others. “That should buy us enough time to get back to the city so we can tome safely.”


<Mora> “He just gave me his tome, and left through the fadeportal. I didn’t need to hear anything more. I knew he was leaving me, and the family.” The woman stopped, frozen as she thought about it some. Blinking a few times before turned her gaze behind them where the fadebeast was slain by the fae finally. It took more than just a wolf to bring it down but it had slowed them down regardless.

She felt Rain’s grip fall away from her as she started to look back at her childe - she was telling Jacques to get her out of here. She could feel her childe pulling her away, away from them and the her. She struggled in his grasp but he was stronger than she in that sense and she was whisked away by Jacques. She groaned and moaned wanting to go back and make sure she was safe but that didn’t happen. The ground shook beneath her feet. Quake. Her childe was using her mystic abilities to create a distraction, clever girl.

Moss orbs scanned the area, the threshold of the wilderness was in sight, they were so close now. She could smell the city area. She stopped herself using her wounded arm to grapple the tree near to her as she gasped for breathe - breathe she didn’t need. “Where’s Rain” She turned to Jacques. “Where is SHE?” She couldn’t see her troublemaker in the distance. She was starting to worry.

<Jacques> Feeling one arm slip from his grasp, he grimaced at himself, letting himself become complacent with Rain’s compliance, thinking she wouldn’t do anything so stupid. He let her slip right through his fingers. He should have known she would do whatever she could to charge headlong into the tide of eminent death, the stampede of wild, unbridled beasts in a bloodlust none of them were equipped to stop, and could only manage to barely slow them down. Even their sire, with her summoned creature, a thing he did not recognize, some terrifying thing of shadow and smoke, had been bowled over, trampled into the snow and vanished beneath the crushing wave of fae.

Somehow, Rain believed she could do better.

When he felt the world tremble beneath them, he knew what she was about. It would be enough to trip them up, certainly. Possibly causing some of them to harm one another in the inevitable clash of bodies as they tumbled over one another in the thrash to remain upright, but it was no guarantee. He turned back, still guiding their sire through the woods, his grip tight on her arm as she moved to pull the same stunt Rain had tried. This time, he was prepared. He wasn’t letting another one go. He lifted his pistol and fired as they rounded a bend. He caught a white tailed doe square in the jaw. Blood erupted in a gory, bright red geyser from the top of her skull as she crashed to the snow and didn’t move again. Pulling on his sire, they rounded the wide turn in the path and the crushing pursuit vanished from their sight.

This is the last time I trust any of you in the woods alone.

The thought was bitter, his teeth grit against making comment about the impetus behind this little excursion into the death field of the wilderness surrounding the city. He had heard them fine, and felt that any comment he could make wouldn’t help the situation. He simply guided his sire to one of the trees nearest the edge of the forest as she all but collapsed into its stump, gripping the bark to hold herself upright as she fought to catch the breath she didn’t need. She must have been exhausted, and there was no way of knowing exactly what she had endured before they had arrived, her reserves all but depleted from the way she looked there against the broad wall of bark as she panted.

Her words caught him as he had already turned to look for her. Rain hadn’t rounded the bend yet, and he could hear the clamor of the fae as they regrouped and resumed their press. Surely, she wasn’t going to try something as stupid as making a stand against them. That was suicide, no matter how you looked at it. He pushed the heel of his palm to his eye before he pushed the magazine release on his pistol, the clip falling into the snow with a soft crunch of the crust as it vanished into the white powder. He pushed another magazine into the weapon and primed the chamber. “I’m going to have to drag her out. Do not move, Mora. Please. If you wouldn’t mind... I swear, I will be back, and I won’t be back without her. When you can, get out of here. If you can’t, I’ll stop for you. We’re getting out of here.”

With that, he turned back, and ran as fast as his legs would carry him back into the fray. His muscles burned with exertion, his boots kicking a spray of wet, white powder into the air as he pushed himself with all of his supernatural ability, beyond the use of his hidden power. That, he had decided, he would save for the return trip. It would likely be needed. He found Rain pushing herself through the snow, still trying to fire into the fae as they had recollected their footing and were advancing again. He snapped his teeth so hard against the air that the sound was like bone snapping. He grasped the collar of her top and yanked her back.

“Come on, before you get every one of us killed out here. I’m not saying it again.” He twisted his grasp in her top and held her tightly. She wasn’t getting away again. He nearly dragged her off her feet as he yanked her into the retreat. He focused all of his energy inward, his muscles tensing with untapped energy before he burst into a run. They moved with an unnatural speed, snow flying through the air in an avalanche of powder as he dragged her along. The extra resistance caused him to be slower than usual, but not so slow that they had any worry of being caught by the fae. The power of celerity had been one of his personal favorites, and had been the one tool to get this fool woman out of this situation alive. Before she had time to so much as groan a protest, they were caught up to their sire.

By now, he was beginning to feel the effects of using so much of his power in a single day. He had reserves aplenty, but he could feel the absence of what he had already used, now. He knew that, should this encounter continue, he was going to have to be cautious, taking care with what and how he expended his power. “Let’s get out of here, before we’re all dead, shall we? They won’t be much longer.”


<Rain> She had known that he would be pissed, but she hadn’t a clue that he would be stupid. Before she had made it around the bend, he was back at her side, his fingers twisting into her shirt. The material ripped beneath the pull, but before she could so much as utter a single word about it, he was moving again. The tension poured off of him in waves, and she could see the icy anger taking over his crystalline gaze. She knew without a doubt that she was going to suffer his wrath later, and she was certain that it was going to be glorious. She had never seen him anything but calm and collected - the anger usually reserved for his mother - so it would be interesting to see what he really possessed beneath his suave exterior. Running her tongue along her teeth, she waited until they stopped before pulling herself free, her own eyes narrowing dangerously on him. “Let me the **** go, Jacques,” she snapped as she straightened out her shirt with one hand.

The other moved for their sire, her fingers moving tenderly through her hair as she bent down at her side. For the moment, they were safe. The outskirts of the city was in their line of sight, and even without it, she knew that they would be long gone before the fae made it to them. “Mora, girl, it’s going to be fine. I hate to say it, but **** him. He wasn’t worth this. You have us - Jacques and I - to have your back, alright? You didn’t do **** wrong, and I need you to realize that before we make it out of here. I’m not taking you back to the crypt, only to have you haul *** back into another suicide mission when our backs are turned.” Biting into her lower lip, she sent her boyfriend a glare as she moved back to her feet, her fingers curling around her sire’s delicate arm to lift her upright. I am going to kill him. The thought was pushed into his mind as she wrapped her arms around the older blonde. She wasn’t sure when, and she wasn’t sure how, but she was going to make Jameson pay for everything that he had caused.

Running her fingers once more through her hair, she slid her gun to her back and reached into the pocket of her hoodie, her fingers grasping the object that would get them home. “Tome, loverboy. We’ll be right behind you.” The sound of hooves beating against the ground filled the air as the trees shook at their sides, and she shook her head with a frown. They had created quite the mess, it seemed, and she could only hope that it would end when they disappeared. She knew little about the creatures that lurked in the wilderness. Would they run into the city if they couldn’t find their targets, or would they turn around and head back to whatever portal of hell they had escaped from? Shaking the worry from her mind, she focused on her family, and offered a tight smile as she pulled the blonde closer. She was her main concern. The rest of the city could fall to dust at her feet, as long as the woman beside her was alright. The urge to tome them both out pulsed through her, yet she refrained, and instead gave a pale blonde curl a tug. “Judas is going to kill you,” she said in a feeble attempt to make light of the situation. Chuckling, then, she gave the tome in her hand a tap.

“We good to go, girl?”

<Mora> They were still running despite Mora’s struggle within her childer’s grasp. She wanted to know where Rain was, and why she hadn’t followed them yet - she was quick, much quicker than she. She grumbled a little snaking her way past a tree as she suddenly halted again, this time Jacques didn’t try to move her - instead she understood her pleas for her childe. He cared for her just as much as she did. He was talking to her - telling her to wait, he was going to get Rain, and she raised an eyebrow. She may be losing a **** ton of blood from the arm but she wasn’t stupid. Jacques had a small handgun attached to his belt and she plucked it from him and checked the clip - great, there was about a whole clip of ammo.

A little bird flew at them - it chirped angrily at them both, Mora took aim and with a single shot blew it’s pretty little beak to smithereens. “I’ll be fine - go get my troublemaker.” The corpse of the bird fell to the floor as she blew at the smoke that billowed at the top of the gun. She gave the man a wink - as he began to run in the general direction she was at.

Mora on the other hand, kept on shooting at wildlife that seemed fixated on tearing her apart limb from limb. A couple of more rounds fired off - and five minutes later, Mora was on the knees in the snow - corpses of the wildlife around her - the fae. Red stained the ground as she looked up to see Rain there now - with Jacques, she was shouting at him and making sure her shirt was fine. She pushed her golden hair behind her ears as she canted her head to the side to look at her. Jameson hadn’t entered her mind much not since the fighting had begun.

“He isn’t.” She said slowly. “No.” She got herself up with Rain’s help as Jacques was the first to read the words out loud for his tome. He vanished making his way to the safety net of the family home. She laughed a little as she pulled out her tome. “Yeah he will - but he’ll have to play nurse first.” For the first time that night she was laughing, laughing as she her childer tomed back to the safety of their home.