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Dancin' with Dahlia
Posted: 31 Jan 2012, 15:10
by Zodiac
The girl stood in the empty room in silence looking to an outside viewer as if she were practicing Tai-Chi or some other Eastern discipline. Her body posed in a stance as she strained to hear the words being whispered just on the edges of normal hearing around her. Gone were the normal, flamboyant trappings others were used to seeing her in. Her long black and purple hair now tied back into a tail and the scarves and skirts were replaced with a pair of jean shorts and a t-shit proudly proclaiming 'DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS' on the front.
'Do you feel it, Angela?' the ghost like voice whispered to her. The girl nodded her understanding and waited. 'Then flow into the second stance as I taught you and let it go.'
The girl moved when she was ready and crossed her wrists, palms up to the ceiling, and let loose the energy she had been building within. A small crackle like electricity began to dance on the palms of her hands for a moment, but quickly faded. She hung her head, disheartened, and went to where she had wet towels waiting and rubbed one on the back of her neck as she sighed.
'Very good, Angela' the wraith voice whispered.
'How is that good? I failed the conjuration?' she signed back into the air in front of her. The wraith had learned her sign language rather quickly. Zodiac could hear Dahlia's soft laughter floating around her. Not a mocking laugh, but a sympathetic one.
'You only failed because you are distracted by the current events in your life now' the voice teased her ears. 'And that is understandable in matters of the heart. But you are already grasping the basics of what I am showing you now. When your focus returns, your improvement will grow in leaps and bounds. You are picking up on things far faster than some of my students in the past did.'
'She is coming back,'
'Have I not said she will?' Dahlia spoke more from her left now.
'I am surprised I hear you at all,' she signed in reply.
'When the goddess took your voice, she improved your hearing, child. And when you turned it improved yet again. All of us can speak, but one has to listen to hear us and you can hear things far easier than most can.'
'Makes sense,' the mystic shrugged. 'Can you show me yourself please. Makes the conversation a bit easier.'
The air shimmered a bit and Zodiac could just make out the form of her wraith mentor standing next to her. She frowned at the illusion it had chosen this time. It was her, basically. Dahlia had a sense of humor or malice about her it seemed. The pseudo-Zodiac was nothing like the original. The image was more sleek, seductive. The black dress it wore clinged to every curve like a second skin and was cut and split to highlight her charms. She stood there proudly with a look about her face that suggested she was bliss and death to any who may cross her path depending on her mood as an aura of energy danced across her body.
'Why do you mock me? I have not treated you badly since I called you into this world.' Zodiac pouted.
'I am not mocking you, Angela. This could be you one day if you would only apply yourself to the task' Dahlia smiled softly.
'Be something else!' the mystic commanded. The wraith sighed and flowed into the original form Zo had first perceived her. The sorceress was striking as well and she too radiated an air of power about her.
'Better?'
'Much, thank you,'
'So, are you refreshed and ready to continue? If so, then let us begin again,'
((NOTE: Dahila is Zodiac's summoned wraith))
(to be continued?)
Re: Dancin' with Dahlia
Posted: 01 Feb 2012, 16:06
by Zodiac
The tin can bounced harmlessly off the head of the walking nightmare as it roared again and fought to try and get its bulk deeper into the small hallway where the mystic was trapped. Some of the old warehouse had collapsed during the fadebeast's original appearance and Zodiac's leg was pinned.
'I warned you not to exhaust yourself,' Dahlia's voice whispered above her. 'You could simply have teleported out of here.'
'I am tired of running away from everything!' she signed back to the wraith before laying flat to avoid the groping hand that tried to grab her again. 'Besides,' she look near the beast's right foot where she had dropped her oversized purse in the chaos. Inside was her gun, cell, and other items she would be hard pressed to replace so easily-including the dreaded 8 Ball.
'Then what do you intend to do?' the wraith asked as the beast's efforts grew more agitated. 'It seems determined to get to you.'
'I'M THINKING!'
'No you are not, Angela. What about your potions?'
Her head snapped around to the other bag still hanging off her shoulder. She had been making her original potions out of habit and had a few in the bag her invisible mentor and told her how to make as well.
'The Death's Kiss I taught you to make should discourage this brute long enough so you can make your escape. I am not sure it will kill it outright, but it will have an effect on it.'
Zodiac rummaged through her pack till she found one of the jars she had brewed the night before. The clawed hand swatted at her again, causing her to loose her grip on the collection of potions. She grabbed at a jar and laid on her back waiting until it roared again. She sat up and with a practiced grace she threw the jar directly into the fadebeast's mouth. She smirked as she heard the glass break as the jaws snapped shut.
'Excellent shot, Angela!' Dahlia praised her.
'You should have seen me playing softball as a kid.' She signed while waiting for the signs that the potion was taking effect. The thing blinked a couple times before opening its mouth again. A deep red mist began to issue forth from it jaws. 'I thought you said black smoke would be generated by the Death Kiss?'
'Yes, it should be,' Dahlia answered. 'What did you throw at it, Angela?'
Zodiac was already checking the remaining jars quickly. She found the death potion laying next to her from where she dropped the bag. 'What the hell DID I throw at it?'
A long, almost gentle sound came from the fadebeast now. The claws quickly caught the fallen length of timber pinning the mystic's leg down and brushed it aside like a twig, but it did not press its advantage. It just stood there looking at Zodiac and making that weird hooting sound. She reached out and grabbed her purse and them picked up the bits of broken glass still held together by her homemade label. She could feel Dahlia next to her as they both read the words written on it. The wraith began to laugh in hysterics.
'Oh, we could re-write that one song I heard on the delightful thing you called a radio, Angela. And when I splashed the Fadebeast on 34th and Vine, He liked my little bottle of Love Potion Number 9! ' Dahlia was cackling like some cartoon witch now.
Shut up!' Zo frowned as she saw the words 'COME UP AND SEE ME SOMETIME' on the label. She had made it as more of an experiment rather than something to actually use. 'I packed this by mistake. But, Holy Crap, it works!'
She got up slowly and tested her leg. Once she was sure it would hold her, she looked up at her smitten playmate and waved her hands to encourage it to get out of her way. It took the fadebeast a bit to get the idea, but it lumbered back out into the open section of the warehouse and cleared the way for her to leave.
'Even so, an impressive potion to be sure, Angela. I cannot recall a fadebeast being charmed before.' Dahlia said with a now reduced quality of laughter in her voice.
"Right. Go me," she signed with disinterest. Curiosity compelled her as she reached out and ran her hand along one of the claws of the monster. 'Wicked.' she thought as she took the chance to try and learn something about this thing that seemed to have even the ancient ones in a panic at times. She touched one of the spot where the physical seemed to fade into nothing and watched her fingers slip out of view in the mist. The beast did not seem to mind her touching it-a far cry from its normal behavior to be sure.
After a few moments, Zodiac stepped back from the creature and waved bye to it. 'Now you behave yourself!' she pointed at it before exiting the warehouse. She had barely gotten a few feet away when she heard the footsteps of the lumbering beast echoing inside. It crashed its way through the door and looked around till it found her again and made that weird noise again.
'Oh dear. Looks like you have a new boyfriend, Angela.' Dahlia was laughing again.
'What the hell am I supposed to do with a fadebeast?'
'Perhaps you can teach it to eat anyone who breaks into your home?'
'You are NOT helping this situation!'
'You know the rules of our craft. If you call something up, you are responsible for it. Accident or not, you made this happen and now you have to deal with it.'
'I know, I know,' she rubbed her temples in frustration. 'He is SO gonna clash with the carpets! But maybe he can help me keep some of my house guests in line.' A wicked smirk blossomed on her face as she considered the possibilities.
'Angela.' Dahlia's voice raised an octave in warning.
'C'mon, Franklin,' she encouraged the monster to follow her.
'Franklin? Angela!'
'You got a better name to call it besides dumb as a rock and twice as ugly?'
Re: Dancin' with Dahlia
Posted: 02 Feb 2012, 15:43
by Zodiac
The wraith floated about in confusion as she watched her mistress sitting and watching the glowing box intently. The girl had tried to explain what television was to Dahlia, and even tho the principle and practicality of such a wonder made sense to her, how the ones who were in charge of such things used them is what left the wraith disgusted. She had heard rumors some of her own kind were already addicted to the device and played games upon it.
She shook herself and considered her blessings with the one she served. The girl did not obsess with the device. Occasionally she put the silver discs into it and watched movies (and the wraith would be loathe to admit it, but some of the stories weren't all that bad) or catch what they called the news once in a while, but for the most part the device sat in a corner and collected dust.
Zodiac laughed in silence and clapped as she watched the event unfold before her eyes as the men dressed as something comically important pulled the sleeping groundhog from the elaborate burrow and held him up for the cameras to see.
'Angela, what is that thing?'
'A groundhog. Punxsutawney Phil to be exact. He's been on the job since 1887 predicting how long winter is going to last.'
'And humans put stock in this?'
'OH PLEASE!' Zo signed back with emphasis. 'All the stuff we do and you question Phil? Weren't they predicting the future by cutting open animals and reading their entrails back in your day or something?'
'Such divination was never an exact art,' the wraith almost huffed in annoyance. 'But we took it seriously and did it in respect. Not make it a performance for all to see and laugh at.' She watched as the confused animal, roused from its natural winter sleep, peered about in confusion. Zodiac turned off the television when the news switched to another topic. 'Thank you for that.'
'Of all the wraiths I could have summoned, I get the one with the invisible stick up its butt,'
'Are you saying I am a prude or something?'
'Oh no. I'm just saying you only find humor where you see fit and stick your nose up at everything else.' She jerked her thumb towards the fadebeast sleeping near the door to her place. 'You just could not quit laughing over Franklin there, but something fun actually shows up and you get all uptight over it.' Actually, upon reflection later that night, Zodiac began to laugh at the joke herself.
'There is a major difference, Angela, between a mistaken potion and some animal put on display in a freak show.' Zo stood up and pointed towards the voice.
'ARE YOU QUESTIONING THE INTEGRITY OF PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL? If so, I am going to have to ask you to leave now.'
'Angela, you are acting like a spoiled child!'
Zodiac did not reply but picked up one of the large sitting pillows arranged in front of her fireplace and threw it at the wraith. It passed harmlessly through Dahlia and landed on the head of the sleeping fadebeast. 'Franklin' continued to doze away, either that deep in sleep or too stupid to notice something had hit it.
'It ever occur to your ancient, dead self that maybe I NEED some laughs of my own?' She turned and threw herself on top of a pillow and began to cry. Dahlia was puzzled for a moment, but quickly figured it out. Her mistress had been crying a lot lately and it did not take a genius or the entrails of an owl to figure out what was causing it all.
'Oh I see,' she whispered softly. She drifted closer to the girl and hovered over her as if standing guard.
Re: Dancin' with Dahlia
Posted: 03 Feb 2012, 13:11
by Zodiac
Green eyes locked with invisible ones intently.
Dahlia floated over the sleeping place of the one that summoned her and looked down at the large, black and grey feline that lay next to the sleeping mystic. As she moved about, the cat turned its head to follow her. The tales of cats being able to see things beyond human sight was not just a fanciful story but a fact Dahlia knew even in her time among the living, the vampire, and now.
The two of them were onto each other within seconds after Zodiac had summoned her from the void. She had not paid too much attention to the cat at first, but it followed her around like a second shadow (that is if she could still cast one) for days. At first the wraith thought the cat was just that, but now her suspicions were growing.
She drifted down to the little beast's level and peered closer. The eyes followed her as it refused to move from its spot against the girl's blanketed backside.
'You aren't what you appear to be, are you?'
It wasn't a question but more of an accusation. The cat simply purred away as if amused by the wraith's words. She could swear she had seen this thing do a few things that even pushed the idea of just being a cat beyond the normal limits. One moment it was there and the next-gone. Several times Dahlia could almost swear the feline had the scent of the Shadow Realms about it, but that would mean it had the skills of a Fadewalker or at the very least, a Shadow.
'What are you exactly, cat?' she persisted. She was not that insane to think the cat would simply open its mouth and begin to speak, but she could not shake the feeling it understood her words. What other curiosities had she witness in her time here with the beast? The animal was downright fearless. It walked within reach of much larger and more dangerous creatures without a twitch of its whiskers. And beyond that, some things gave the cat a wide berth. The snakes Zodiac owned kept a respectful distance and even the recently acquired fadebeast seemed to keep its claws to itself when the cat passed near it. Other vampires the girl knew seem to sense the same strangeness about 'Miss Ginny Sweethips' (as Zodiac called her) while others were totally blind to its strangeness. She watched some of the girl's friends laugh and play with the little brute and it was more than happy to do things it knew would keep all calm and suspicion free such as chasing yarn balls and jumping for toys. It never bothered the ones who Angela invited to sleep the day away in safety and she would find it wedged among them as they slept.
The cat stopped purring as if a switch inside it has suddenly been turned off. A slight twitch of the tail but it still sat still and watched.
The animal was empathic at times. Sensing the coming moods of its owner, it would be near her or sitting perched in the girl's lap ready to offer its affections and attentions. She had also seen it leap to Angela's defense several times when the girl was in danger. How did it know these things? How was it always able to be exactly where it was needed the most? Telepath? Allurist? Mystic? Killer? The only thing Dahlia could be sure of was that she never seen anything the cat had chosen for a meal get up afterwards and shamble about like a zombie, but did not Necromancers have the skill to perceive the dead and even speak to them? The wraith smiled.
'I know what you are,'
The cat cocked its head now in curiosity.
'I know who you are!' Dahlia declared. 'Is that why you hide as you do? What bargains did you strike with Nox to be next to this one oh so protectively as you do?'
The whiskers twitched a bit.
'And she is totally clueless as to what she keeps as a simple pet. How cruel of you! She would treat you like a goddess if she knew the truth about you, yet you play your own Masquerade with her. Why is that? Is it part of your own plans or a condition of your continued existence? Perhaps I should tell her what I suspect about you, 'cat','
In a blink, the animal was leaping though the air with a speed and strength denying its deceptive bulk. Fangs and claws flashing wildly and the wraith flowed out of reach quickly. Dahlia told herself it was simply a reaction in surprise, but she could not shake the feeling the cat could have actually hurt her if it made contact.
Ginny sat on the floor and yowled and hissed at the wraith for several moments, then jumped back onto the bed to curl up against the sleeping mystic again. The beast almost looked smug now as it laid there-still watching Dahlia.
Re: Dancin' with Dahlia
Posted: 15 Apr 2012, 14:49
by Zodiac
(Saturday, April 14th)
"Angela, not again!" The wraith sighed wistfully as she watched her mistress begin to stalk closer to her prey. The girl was obsessed on the point concerning the fadebeasts and by her own words she did not usually fare well when encountering one of them. Dahlia had never seen a sock in a 'dryer' alone, but it was the girl's terms for the experience. "More like dragged through the streets by wild horses," the wraith thought to herself.
'I will figure this out yet. I want my skull!' the gypsy whispered to Dahlia's thoughts as she crept closer to the walking nightmare.
"Maybe it's Franklin? Or one of his cousins? You sure you want to hit Franklin?" she laughed.
Zodiac rolled her eyes at the thought. 'It's not Franklin. I marked him before the potion wore off, remember?'
"Putting purple scrunchies on its horns with bangles was hardly marking it!"
'Do you see any on this one? I don't!'
"You are going to end up in pieces again!" Dahlia shouted as Zodiac charged the far larger creature. The wraith turned away. The girl had the heart of a bear, but the body and brain of a grasshopper at times. She heard the gun erupting as the thing roared when it discovered it was being attacked. She supposed when this was over she would have to locate one of Angela's friends and let them know where to come find her-
Again.
The battle continued for a time as they usually did. Dahlia was patient as always till the sounds grew still in the darkness of the abandoned building. "Shall I go find your friend Temperance or…" she turned to face what she thought would be another instance of flattened gypsy, but instead found something new to her eyes.
The girl leaned against the wall of the warehouse looking like the victim in the final reel of what Angela had called a 'slasher film'. Clothing shredded, bleeding and cut in several places. Her weapon still firmly in her right hand while her left held tightly to part of the skull of the fallen monster. Dahlia could say nothing. She was in shock. The gypsy began to drag the dead weight of the relic as she limped her way to the door.
"Well, the blood thieves will not have to buy from you. They can simply come here and take free samples from the walls and floor."
'Are you going to help me carry this thing?'
"You know I cannot do that,"
'Then go outside and make sure a cop is not waiting for me to come out and shoot me and scout me a clear path home. Other than that? Shut the hell up, Dahlia!'
"What???" The wraith reared up in indignant fury. Despite the sudden increase of respect for her charge, she was angered now by her manners
'OBEY ME!' Zodiac screamed telepathically to the spirit. Dahlia faltered for a second at the sudden forcefulness of her normally timid mistress. 'I am sick of smart assed comments when I accomplish something, so do what I told you to do!'
"You will not speak to me like some common slave!" Dahlia swirled about like a small storm forming in the air now. Zodiac let go of her prize and began to make the gestures of dismissal. "You wouldn't DARE."
'Try me! Now go scout ahead and be quiet,' her stance and look gave no doubt to the wraith the girl was prepared to follow through with her threat. With an exasperated gasp, Dahlia headed to the door while her mistress grabbed the coveted skull and began to drag it along. Both women deep in thought now concerning the other.
Re: Dancin' with Dahlia
Posted: 27 May 2012, 15:37
by Zodiac
"Coochie coo!" she laughed as she inspect the 4 jars that had arrived from the auction house.
"Angela, what have you done now?" She could feel Dahlia-her wraith-floating close by as she checked for leaks on the seals.
"Adopted some unwanted babies is all," she answered.
"Babies?" the wraith seethed in irritation. "Those are abominations in those jars!"
"Just misunderstood is all," she smirked.
"Angela," Dahlia sighed. Sometimes her mistress made her head feel like it would explode if she were flesh and blood again. For every four things she'd guide the girl to successfully, there was one that always confused the wraith to no end. She watched the so-called cat sniff about one of the jars and shake its head in disgust. "See? Even that cat of yours agrees something is not right here."
"They saying you guys are uggy wuggy they are," Zodiac ignored the wraith's protest as she gently tapped the sides of the jars with her finger.
"You actually intend to try and bring them back? Only a lunatic of the highest order would even consider such a thing!"
"I happen to have it on good authority that a member of the West family has one of these and it goes everywhere with him," the mystic shot back.
"Proving what? Another bloodline cranking out insane vampires?"
"Or, maybe showing that this vampire sees more than most in that jar?" she smirked. "I am going to have to try and meet this person and compare notes on the subject. Need a name, though."
"Oh goddess, spare me!" the wraith wailed.
"Okay, let's see," She began to carefully turn one of the jars to get a full view of the tiny terror floating inside. "I think that’s a pieces part there, so you a boy." She did the same for the second jar. "Nope, guess you a girl."
"ANGELA! What is next? Names? Make them little outfits and read them bedtime stories?"
"I could do that!" Zo smiled. "But I think I will let Uncle Chester tell these lil guys stories." She slipped the jars back into the box and carried it to her private reading area in the back of her apartment.
"Uncle Chester?" The wraith followed along. In the corner of the room the mystic had began setting up a bizzare collection of items she had gathered. The rare and odd things were arranged almost in some pattern of sorts. Knuckle bones ran along the edge of the table as several artifacts sat under domed jars. Fangs and furs and strings of ears along with vials also adorned the spectacle.
And hanging on the wall, flanked by bones from mooncalves, was the fadebeast skull she had dragged home from her only kill of such a creature.
"Hey, Chester," Zo did some quick rearranging and began to sit the 4 jars in a semi circle before the skull. "Brought ya some company."
"This is as bad as the arrangement I saw in that one cave in the hunting grounds,"
"No, no, no. Mine is way cooler and cleaner that that," Zo set a small brazier up on the table and lit the fires. "Okay, Chester. Tell em how it was back in the day. Inspire them."
"Do I have your leave to go elsewhere for a time?"
"Why? I was gonna make the kids s'mores and see if we all can't do a chorus of Kumbayah around the lil campfire here."
"Please?" the wraith begged. Dahlia felt she would go insane herself if she had to be part of this for one moment longer.
"Of fine. Get out. But don't be upset if the kids eat all the s'mores and leave you nothing."
"THANK YOU!"
Zodiac watched Dahlia pass through the wall and knew she was leaving the building quickly. She shook her head, placed a lid over the brazier to extinguish the fire and then scooped up Ginny and left the room.
"The things I got to do to get some privacy around here," she laughed as she nuzzled the cat.