Uninvited Visitor Part 2
✠ Emmett Matthews ✠
❤ Olivia Matthews ❤ &
ℳ a i r y e ll & Aeris Kasio
Time
Day 3 ~ Night (around 10:30pm)
Location
Lower District within the Slums, Ominar
Having dressed, armed himself, and departed his residence quickly, Mairyell flew high above many of Ominar’s buildings. The occasional star twinkled above him, and the moon was clearly visible, lighting his form with a pale glow.
His clothes rustling as he flew, Mairyell made his way to Raiden’s residence quickly. As he descended several smells began to catch his attention more than the rest. His eyes narrowed and he broke into a dive, folding his wings. The wind hurtled back against his body, clothes ripping back as he fell at tremendous speeds. The smells grew stronger still.
Blood. Fear. Death. Licentia.
His wings snapped open, his healing factor pushed to the max along with Brisn, and they still buckled after several seconds. He was prepared, arms and legs held out he slammed into the empty concrete sidewalk on all fours.
The concrete shattered, spraying artificial stone and particulate outwards for several meters. There had been microfractures in both his arms and legs on impact, but they had healed so fast that he didn’t take more than two seconds to rise to his feet, wings folding around him--whole where they had been broken seconds before.
Those few nearby were either gawking in his direction or dialing 911 to alert the authorities. He ignored them, eyes crimson, instead turning to the door of Raiden’s home. He dashed forwards, punching the door even as he released a burning blast of Brisn, vaporising it before it could even be sent across the house’s foyer.
The Shade made an irritated hiss at the interruption. Its grip tightened about Emmett’s throat causing slight bruising. The boy’s body still hung above the floor and began to wiggle in its grasp again. Red eyes glared at the foyer's direction as the Shade’s senses extended to a radius around itself. Including its fear aura.
Alice’s unmoved corpse laid halfway to the annexed kitchen. Her scent was still strong and marred by death.
Emmett’s figure continued to jerk and tug at the Shade’s grip. He couldn't find leverage on the bizarre, cold substance touching at his neck. It stopped him from prying it off. His breath became shallower and shallower the tighter it closed around him. A strange, terrifying need spilled into his core. Trying to suffocate him into place.
The sound was enough to wake Olivia. Emmett’s expression paled when he watched his younger half-sister stir from her slumber. Her figure propped up and she rubbed her eyes to clear the grit away.
“Emmett… what the-” Olivia ceased her thoughts when the Shade’s attention turned to her.
A thick, black tentacle-like shape rose from her bed’s shadow to silence her.
With one desperate action, Emmett managed to pull himself up for breath. He used it to yell,
“RUN OLIVIA, NOW!” She didn't move in her terror.
The air was thick with fear, death, and the essence of a licentia’s vis. A shade. He grit his teeth as the fear aura washed over him, eyes narrowing. Springing into the motion as he noted Alice’s corpse, blood coated his arms, chest, and back forming armor as it hardened.
The door to the kids’ room was ajar, and then it was gone, burned to ash by a flare of blue vis: Brisn once again. Mairyell took in the scene in half a second and reacted, slashing with superhuman speed, flecks of blood flying like bullets through the air. Bullets that lit afire with Brisn moments before striking the Shade.
“Release them and I might make your death swift,” he ordered, rage in his tone. He was already ready to move, muscles tensed, blue fiery vis burning off of him. His eyes were a deep red, and glowing. Surely he would look just as frightening as the monster that now held them in its clutches. At least he would be familiar. They’d recognize his voice and eyes immediately.
The Shade had been distracted by Olivia. Its appendage about to slap down and crush the child when Mairyell burst into the room. Its head turned to face the hunter. The shape enlarged and attempted to intimidate the threat.
Meanwhile the fear aura poured into Emmett’s very core. From his peripheral sight, the sight of the man brought relief. It tried to wrestle with the combination of real and enhanced fear surfacing in his head. A long second passed before he realized from where he recognized the individual.
Mairyell.
It was one of his father’s friends and fellow hunters. A dark, cold sensation twisted itself into his heart at seeing the man. Not because he wasn’t relieved to be rescued, but Alice should’ve been the one to bust in.
Unless she was….
He refused to say the word. If he didn’t say, it wouldn’t be true. Even though the logic failed him, it was the only comfort he could draw in the situation. The only thing to keep his focus from crumbling in the moment.
Noting the lack of fear in the hunter, the Shade jerked to the side and lifted Emmett to shield its main body. It wasn’t enough to completely protect itself.
Several of the blood bullets managed to sear across its dark figure causing it flinch in pain. The rest had managed to cut down the tentacle threatening Olivia.
It continued to keep Emmett’s back protecting her cores when Mairyell threatened it.
Reaching a hand up to touch its wound near its cheek, the Shade’s aura darkened into a mischievous one. It tightened its grip upon the boy. Once more, Emmett wheezed for breath and struggled.
“You interrupted my meal, half breed.”
The appendage curled back and whipped Emmett harshly at Mairyell.
“Your meal?” The Hunter said, and his eyes went wide. He suddenly faced sideways, tendrils of Blue Blood erupting from the wings he had wrapped around his body. The tendrils caught Emmett, pushed him to the side of the doorframe, and set him on the ground in an instant. Then Mairyell vanished.
Olivia disappeared in a blur the moment after and suddenly the Shade was in the room alone.
The kids would find themselves disoriented, but safe, in a bathroom lit with burning blue light.
The Shade would find itself feeling the heat of a similar flame of Brisn as Mairyell reappeared, stalking towards it.
“Let’s see how you enjoy being made a meal yourself.”Fresh air. It flooded his lungs causing Emmett to gasp, his throat painful and tender from the Licenti’s grip. As his body was thrown to Mairyell, he curled into a ball. His main object was to protect his head and vital points. He expected to feel the brutal impact of the wall against his young body.
Nothing… Instead, Emmett found himself upright in some strange, glowing tendrils. His eyes widened when Mairyell seemed to vanish before him. Unable to process what exactly happened, they suddenly found themselves inside their bathroom.
He knew this because his eyes caught the fluffy pink and skull covered toilet seat. Alice did have odd tastes. The memory amused him for a brief moment as a calmness washed over him.
Emmett turned to his side and spotted Olivia, huddled and terrified, in the small room’s corner. Instantly he was crouched down to check her over carefully. Not a scratch, much to his relief. Emmett exhaled as he lifted upright and checked the door.
His hand turned it only to realize it was stuck. Great… he thought bitterly.
Meanwhile, the Shade lifted her arm to shield her from the Brisn, a feminine curvature hinted in the shape. Even her voice reflected it when she spoke again.
“You have to catch me first… I’ll finish what I started another time. I’m patient.”
Words lingered in the air while her figure shimmered and began to Shadow Walk away. Being nearest to Emmett’s bed provided an excellent escape.
Mairyell stopped his approach, glaring at her, and then smiling as she began phasing away into the shadows. Once she had vanished he whipped out his phone, chuckling to himself. He held down his first speed dial key and in moments he was ringing Aeris.
The moment she picked up he was speaking, and there would be a tone in his voice that she may have never heard. It was a strange mixture of amusement, anger, and urgency all rolled into one.
“Close your eyes, follow my vis with your senses. There will be a Brisn flare in the location. You need to shadow walk here ASAP. Fully dressed obviously. There will be a dead body. In the bathroom there are two children. Their names are Emmett and Olivia. Take care of them. Neighbors and onlookers have likely already called the authorities. When they arrive show them your hunter’s license and drop my name. I’m hunting the criminal responsible. It’s a licentia, don’t tell them that last detail. Make sure the kids don’t see the body...it’s their mother. Got to go.” He hung up, stowed his phone in a pocket--which he then fastened shut--before drawing his favored gun,
“ℛend”.
His eyes now glowing a bright purple, shining in the darkness of the lightless house. Making his way to the bathroom he marked a wall nearby with his vis, setting that vis aflame with Brisn. Yet it did no damage to the material. He placed a hand on the door and spoke,
“Emmett, Olivia, you’re safe here. The blue glow you’re seeing will keep you safe from anything that might want to hurt you. My sister, a woman named Aeris, is going to be here in a few minutes to look after you. You’re going to be alright, understand. I’ll come back once I’ve taken care of some business. Take care of each other and listen to Aeris.”This said he didn’t wait for questions and turned, stalking through the home, out the front door at which point he unfurled his giant black wings, a faint tinge of crimson shining off of them from the low lit hallway. He crouched down, flexing the muscles in his legs, his blood pumping faster than normal, Brisn channeling through his whole body.
He moved, and he was a blur of red and black, with streaks of light from his purple eyes left behind in his wake. The window at the end of the hallway shattered as he rocketed through the glass. He left behind no blood.
Aeris, having already gotten dressed after Mai left, was sitting on his couch, a bowl of soup in her hands. On the coffee table sat her phone, silent. Part of her was worried, but she knew that Mai would come back. He always did.
Then, as if answering her thoughts, the phone rang. WIthout even looking at it, she knew it was Mai. In one quick motion, she answered,
“He-” Before she could finish the word, Mai was speaking. His voice was clipped, his words rushed. Calming worried thoughts, she listened to him until he hung up.
Even before the line went dead, she had already made her way to the wall and was walking through her shadow.
It took her roughly five minutes to arrive where Mairyell had left his marker. A wall across from a closed door. Logic told her that was the bathroom, and so she silently crept around the house, surveying the surroundings.Within the foyer, she found Alice’s corpse. Carefully, she guided shadows over the woman’s body so that it blended with the darkness. Once that was done she returned to the bathroom.
“Emmett, Olivia. My name is Aeris. Mairyell sent me. I’m going to open the door, alright?” Her voice was gentle, though there was urgency in it, as she wasn’t sure of the state of the children. If they didn’t answer her, she would have to pull the door from its hinges.
Emmett fought over the instinct to keep the door closed.
As Aeris spoke through the door, Emmett’s head turned toward Olivia. His sister pressed close to the shower’s far wall. Her arms crossed over her curled up legs against her body. She was completely terrified.
That sight made the choice for him as he answered, stepping back.
“Yeah. Did it leave again?” The words poured out before he could restrain them.
“As far as I can tell. Seems like Mai went after it.” Aeris spoke calmly as her hand reached for the knob. Upon finding that the door would not budge, she gripped the knob a little tighter, and jerked.
The door came free of its frame rather easily, and she leaned it against the wall gently.
“Sorry for the mess.” She spoke softly, more to the apartment than to the children. Once her iridescent blue eyes settled on the children, she smiled warmly at them. The girl, she assumed to be Olivia was cowering in the corner, and Aeris couldn’t help but walk over to her. Carefully, she picked the girl up, and held her close, one of her hands gently stroking the girl’s hair. When she spoke again, it was in Olivia’s ear, while locking eyes with Emmett.
“Everything’s going to be alright. The police are on their way, let’s go out to the sidewalk and wait for them, shall we?” Emmett tensed when the door jiggled a little before it opened. On impulse, his hands rested at his side in fists and stood between Aeris and his sister. A protective brother against any possible threat. Trust seemed to be the last thing on his mind in the aftermath.
He relaxed, slightly, upon seeing the woman. There were some traits that made him think of Mairyell, but enough differences that draw worry.
His eyes watched Aeris scoop up Olivia, who clung to the vampire and hugged her tightly for comfort. She was trembling like a leaf. Tears glistened on her cheeks while she rested her head on the shoulder. She didn’t fight the touch and instead was drawn to it.
Emmett nodded, but couldn’t help the questions.
“Where’s Alice? Have you called my dad? I don’t want to leave until he knows where we’re at. He’s working and will worry.” His tone was indifferent and calm, but he didn’t know how long it would last.
“I don’t know your dad, but I can get his number from the IHO. I’d rather we were outside the apartment, however. The police will need us out of the crime scene. As for Alice, I haven’t seen anyone but you two. I’m sorry.” With her words spoken, a warm and gentle lilt to her voice, she placed her hand on Emmett’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. Silently, she bid him to follow her outside, where it would be safer to wait for his father, and the police.
Emmett didn’t fight the nudging. His feet shuffled toward the exit, unaware of the reality in the room. In one last motion, he paused and his eyes glanced over his shoulder. He partly expected to find Alice’s dead body laying there on the floor. There was only shadows and silence.
He inhaled and continued to follow Aeris outside.
Once all of them were standing on the sidewalk, Aeris closed her eyes briefly, and the shadows that had been camouflaging Alice’s body dissipated. Gently, she squeezed Olivia’s small form which she still held in her arms, letting the girl cry against her shoulder.
After a moment, she adjusted how she was standing, so that she could hold Olivia’s weight in one arm--moreso to appear Human to the children, so as to not frighten them anymore--and then slid her cellphone out of her pocket. A few numbers were dialed and she was connected to a desk clerk within the IHO. She gave the woman her ID number, and then asked for Raiden’s phone number. When asked for clarification, she gave his street address. Once the information was given, his cell number was recited, and she hung up with the clerk.
When she dialed Raiden’s number, however, no one answered and it went to voicemail. With a frown, she looked at Emmett.
“Emmett, is he on a hunt? He’s not picking up, so I figure it’s probably because he’s tracking something.” Aeris’ voice was calm as she speculated, and waited for the child’s answer.
Emmett frowned. His expression shifted into confusion as he looked at Aeris. His head shook in disbelief.
“No. He wouldn’t turn it off on a hunt. Not after the last time, he would make sure to have it on silent. Try again.” Following the child’s suggestion, she tried again to no avail. She looked at Emmett, and shook her head.
“Do you want to try?” She asked, calmly, her phone outstretched toward him.
Emmett nodded, then reached for the phone. He pressed the call button and pressed it to his ear. Anxiety began to replace the numbness in his body. His foot tapped the concrete as he waited for the dial tone to end and his father to pick up.
“Come on… come on… Please pick up.” Nothing. Emmett admitted defeat, his hand passed the phone back.
“Something’s wrong. He wouldn’t shut it off. He was too worried this would happen. I don’t understand.” Aeris looked at the boy as she slid her phone back into her jacket pocket.
“Don’t worry, Emmett, everything’ll be alright.” As she spoke, she shuffled Olivia back into both of her arms, her hand returning to idly stroking the girl’s hair.
Ten minutes passed and the police arrived, approaching Aeris and the kids while others, armed and ready, entered the building to investigate and cordon off the crime scene. A woman who appeared to be in charge, approached Aeris.
Aeris looked at the woman, and once again adjusted Olivia’s position in her arms so that she could show her Hunter’s License.
Eyeing the license briefly, the woman nodded “Alright, we’ll consider the kids under IHO protection for now. Leave us a way to contact you and take the kids somewhere more safe and comfortable.” She met Aeris’ eyes.
Aeris nodded, and recited her full name, her address, Hunter’s ID number, and cellphone number for the woman to contact her should the police need something. Then, she slid her license back into her pocket, and grabbed her cellphone. From there, she called a car to come and pick them up.
While the woman did seem to recognize Aeris’ name she didn’t say anything and instead kept things professional. Once she had the necessary information she dismissed Aeris and walked away to join her team.
Emmett looked to Aeris, his thoughts and worries intertwining in his heart. It made it uncomfortable to be in his own skin. His eyes studied Aeris then shifted to the cop. As the conversation drew to a close, and the officer walked away, Emmett spoke up.
“What now?” “I’m going to take you to my house, we’ll be safe there. I’ll call Mai and let him know once we get there.” As she spoke, a black sedan pulled up to the curb. A man in a suit stepped out of the driver’s side door, and opened the back door for the children and Aeris. The woman waited for Emmett to get in before gently pressing Olivia into her body as she ducked into the car herself.
Emmett, though resistant at first, nodded. He couldn’t just stay here with the cops. With any luck and hope, his father or Alice would be picking them up. Then things would return to normal once more.
Silently, he crawled into the car to the middle. His eyes turned to watch Aeris slide in. Olivia still whimpered and sniffled at her side, gradually falling back to sleep in her state of mind. His expression softened at his sister’s mood.
It took them about 30 minutes to ride from the children’s apartment to Aeris’ rather large house. Once the sedan pulled into the driveway, Aeris dialed Mai’s number on her cellphone. When he didn’t answer, she left a message.
“The kids and I are at my place. Drop by once you’re done.” Once she hung up the phone, the driver opened the door. When she and Emmett got out of the car, they would be able to see a 3 story brick and mortar house nestled delicately into a treeline.
Sometime during the drive, Olivia had fallen asleep once more. It seemed Aeris’ comfort had been enough to ease his sister. He was grateful but questions and the need for answers still persisted inside him.
Emmett turned to Aeris, his figure waiting just outside the car. His eyes seemed to harden a bit. Though none of the emotional issues were at Aeris, the look just showed he knew something was wrong.
No amount of comfort was going to ease that realization.
“Alice’s not coming to get us… is she?” He began searching for answers.
Aeris looked at the boy, her ever glowing eyes meeting his.
“Honestly, probably not. That doesn’t mean your dad won’t, though.” Aeris’ voice was calm, and ever gentle. Once she’d given him her response, she walked up to the doorstep with Olivia in her arms, and opened the door for him to come inside. Once she and Olivia were in the house, Aeris put the girl down gently on her couch, and ventured a few feet down the hallway.
When she returned, she covered the girl with a blanket.
The house was pristine, with elegant decor furnishing every inch. In the living room where she had put Olivia down, there were two couches, with a coffee table in between them, as well as a large TV hanging on the wall.
Once she thought Olivia was comfortable enough, she sat down on the other end of the same couch and waited for Emmett.
Emmett walked inside and closed the door behind him. His words became silent as he watched his sister set upon the couch. Aeris naturally came back with a blanket to wrap her up in as she continued to sleep off the trauma. Feeling too wired to sleep, Emmett lowered himself into the nearest recliner. He later fell fast asleep.
Little did he know that a cloying darkness stirred inside him.