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Powder was getting her ass beat down. Bad. Real bad.

Yes, she was a big girl that could handle herself in most situations. But this sitch... she was up against two long-time lone wolves. Not nice ones either. The lupine female she should have been able to handle on her own, but combined with the big male... no. Powder was getting her ass beat down. Bad. Real bad.

But she was a big girl. With an even bigger fight in her.

Splashes of red trailed behind her as she rolled over in the mud. Hazel eyes lit up as she turned to face them. A snarl, a spit, a sneer. Teeth red, spit red; the warm, liquid was all her own. And it just pissed her off that much more.

With a muddied up hand, she wiped away at the corner of her mouth. The pair of wolves still held their mortal forms; confident in their abilities. Less powerful than their lupine forms no doubt, yet strong, fast and dangerous all the same. They paced in unison, moonlit eyes glinting, both with white toothy sneers lit bright under dusky skies, daring the teen to flee. But no, Powder held her ground. And with her other hand, she literally held the ground. Ancient words whispered into the wet soil; a quick incantation that was both cure and curse to her.

Gashes on her neck, thighs, face and back healed over. The nearby vegetation wilted and rotted away instantly, their life forces sapped and stolen for her benefit. But during the energy exchange, something slipped through that shining space between this world and the Beyond. The brunette's dark eyes popped open wide as soon as she realized what it was that came through.

A leeching spirit. A great one at that. Wicked as it was old.

Sensing the breach, both wolves expressions turned worrisome and instantly they turned tail and fled.

Big mistake. The leeching spirit preyed on fear. And like angry, wicked lightning, it was on them, spearing them like fish and draining them as their backs' arched, all predatory aggression lost.

Their bodies attempted futilely to shift into their more ferocious furred forms but the spirit had them in throes, lifting them off the ground. They would not escape via brute force tonight.

Luckily for Powder, relief was the greater emotion that swelled inside her, dampening the tremendous fear that roiled underneath. As she calmed, she could hear the Slider spirit call to her; it was staking claim to the pair of wolven souls. The teen held her breath, weighing out her options.

A heartbeat later, the Conduit made up her mind and disrobed. The young woman began to chant and dance in the mud, granting the great Slider spirit in the Lake to take what it would from the contract breaching wolves. She would allow it to feed upon them.

True, they would most likely survive the draining from the leeching spirit but the Slider spirit was very, very demanding. It would take more than its fill. Even if it meant taking lives of former allies. There would be repercussions that would rock the strained relations between the Witches and the Wolves. But there was no other way.

It had been well over a year since the Coven had spoken with the Pack.

It was time to see who truly stood shoulder to shoulder united against the oncoming Darkness in the Crypt.

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Source: roleplayerguild.com/posts/5437666

"Stephan. James. You both know Mrs. Maribelle from next door."

Antonita Hawkes looked deeply into the eyes of her two younger brothers. Stephan, 15, and James, 13, looked back into hers with confused and disparaged expressions stealing their usually energetic composures. Her eyes kept a fixed, reassuring gaze at them until, finally, both nodded "yes," in unison. Toni returned their gesture, and turned to face the woman next to her.

Mrs. Olivia Maribelle, Toni's neighbor, A stern yet kind woman of 50, who had lost her husband not long ago, stood facing back at her. She placed her hand gently upon Toni's shoulder with a soft smile. "Dear. You have nothing to worry about. You need to take this trip to better yourself for your future. I'll be here bright and early tomorrow so that you can make it on time."

"Thank you, Ma'am." Toni bowed graciously to the older woman, grateful that her neighbor and so readily taken to an accepting and supportive role in her life. After leading Mrs. Maribelle out of the apartment, she returned to the living room, where her brothers still stood, perplexed. "Sis," James spoke up. "Where are you going?"

"Yeah." Stephan chimed in next. "And why do you have to go?"

"I... I have to go out of town. Just for a few days, I promise. It's a trip for... for my job training. The one that I'm in to work in medicine. It'll help me find work later on. And then... and then things will be better for us." Toni paused for a moment, seeing both brothers exchange looks, first of uncertainty, and then of acceptance. "Good. Now. I need you two to go off and get some sleep. I'll be right behind you; we all have early mornings tomorrow." Her brothers nodded, and walked from the living room and over into their shared bedroom.

Toni remained behind, watching them as they entered their room and closed the door behind them. A tear rolled down her cheek. Nearly two years had come and gone since the deaths of the trio's parents, and still, Toni felt uneasy in her ability to properly care for her younger siblings. She hoped that the trip she had spent the evening packing for would be worth leaving them in the care of someone else. She trusted Olivia; just the thought of not being around herself after being such a constant in their lives shook her to her core.

She shivered. The hairs on her body prickled up. Immediately, her instinct kicked in, and she power walked from the living room out onto the front patio looking out into the apartment complex. Across the way, a dark mist lofted and drifted as though looking towards her. Rue. She had been seeing them since she was a child, but only recently had she been informed of their name and nature, and that she was one of a unique type of people that could properly perceive and interact with them; the most extreme of these had lead to her inadvertently discovering she could manifest an energy field that could repel the beings. The one in question, however, seemed little interested in her or her brothers, as it floated higher and eventually listed away and out of view. "Good." Toni said to herself as she turned and went back into the apartment.

"Good night Sis!" she heard her brothers say together.

"Goodnight." She responded as she passed their room and retreated into her own at the end of the hallway. She flopped down onto her bed, thinking of her parents as she fell asleep.

Mom. Dad. Forgive me.

Dried out, red eyes stared blankly at the clock. The seconds ticked over to exact midnight, and the clock gave a soft chime.

Chime. Chime. Chime.

Scratching on the walls. Scuttling along the halls. Shadows twisting and turning. Layla could feel it. Like an itch that had to be stabbed to be finished. Her curse had come back in full force.

And she would be facing it alone.

Lip trembling, Layla bowed her head, and waited. One breath. Two breaths. Three. Then, she felt a gloved hand on her chin, coaxing her eyes up.

“Dearie, you look dreadful.”

Red eyes, devoid of humanity, stared down at her. The center figure wore a black mask, the one on the right had a glowing red smile, and the one on the left sneered, face a pasty, stitched white.

The center figure spoke again, his voice a deep croon. “Did you miss us?”

The one with a red smile snapped sharply at the taller one. “Why do you play with it? Let's take what we came here for, now that it is gone.”

Layla knew what the red smiling one, Bahlok, referred to. The late Void Heart… Instinctively, her face scrunched up, her exhaustion giving way to silent, cold tears welling up.

“Just kill me.” Came the small whisper.

All three apparitions turned and stared down at her in confusion.

“Come again?” Chirped the smallest of the three with the white face, Bahlaas.

“Just kill me already!” Layla snapped, her cracked voice pitched in fervor. “I have nothing to live for, and no desire to be in this world. So take what you want and let me die.”

A long pause. Then the black masked figure, Kipnu, gave a dark chuckle.

“This is sweet. She wants to join her companion.”

Layla glared angrily. “Don't say a word about him!”

That elicited another sickly jovial chortle from the apparitions. Kipnu shrugged. “Like we care. Now, we came here for a very special reaso-”

Layla stuck her arms out, revealing skin marred with bite scars. “Take, and end me. I don't want to live anymore.”

Kipnu chortled. “Silly girl, you think we care if you want to live or die? We decide your fate, not you. And we want your blood.”

“Then take it! I don't care! Just…”

There was a pause. Kipnu glanced at the other apparitions before narrowing an inquisitive stare at Layla.

“Just what?”

“If you won't kill me… I'll kill myself. But to disappear peacefully isn't what I want. I need… revenge.”

A snicker.

“We're not helping you.”

“I'll give you what you want. As many teacup sacrifices as you can handle.”

A shake of the head. “Nah, dearie. Not for you to think you can command us around. No way.”

“But I'll be giving you a steady supply of food to toy with. You like that crap, don't you?”

“Eh, helping you with a murdering rampage? I dunno, I prefer sipping on you and watching you cower in fear.”

“I have another way to convince you.”

Layla pulled out the knife and pressed the tip to her throat in one fell swoop. She glared up at them, daring for them to move.

“What's this, dearie?”

“A promise. I can give you the Teacup sacrifice. Or, I can end your little ‘goldmine’ right here and now.”

“You wouldn't.”

“Watch me, asshole.”

Layla's eyes constricted, and she jabbed the knife a little harder, drawing a line of blood. She tried to increase the pressure, before a gloved hand grasped her wrist, stopping her. Kipnu leaned down towards her, staring at her through the mask.

“That's… that's enough. We'll help you, but only if you promise to give us your blood without a fuss, and humans to eat.”

Layla trembled there, before she nodded.

“Good. Now, be a good girl, and stay still.”

Kipnu pushed his mask to the side, revealing a faceless void with teeth, and he clamped down on Layla's neck as he drew the knife away further.