Like the steak he had been served, Caius finished his dessert in a matter of minutes. He grinned at Callie. "Well, I suggest you finish it cause there are no take outs in Silas' restaurant." He looked towards their host, not really surprised that he was no longer standing by their table or anywhere close by. "Aand there he goes." He leaned back on his chair, a look of content on his face. "Thanks, Uncle Silas."
A faint laughter floated back to the couple followed by a similarly faint goodbye. "Until next time, dear children."
Caius turned his attention back to Callie. "No need to hurry though. We have all the time in the world in here."
The pain. That was all Lily could think of. The numerous lacerations on her body, the burns, the shoulder wound, the wrist wound. Her first thought was to bear them all. She wanted to take all the injuries but she didn't want to drink someone's blood. It sounded gross and it didn't feel right.
The people in USARILN can patch her up, right? The way they were able to patch her up when they found her unconscious just outside the borders of the school. They would do it again, right? But would they? Would they really patch me up? Or will just leave me to die just like they did when they sent all of us out here? Would they even care for an aberration? She closed her eyes as she began shaking with the pain, whimpering softly as she slowly, carefully curled herself into a ball, each movement creating bouts after bouts of excruciating pain.
Of course they won't. You have no worth. You should die. The way I did. Harsh words. Lily opened her eyes and stared towards where the voice came from. Her gaze fell on Shane but she didn't see him. All she saw was the faceless person, one of the many that permeated her dreams and almost all her waking moments.
"No. They still need me..." she whispered just as the black thread reappeared on her wrist, the other end waving in the wind, waiting for Lily to direct it. It trembled just as the girl did, doubt and hesitation already seeded in her mind. When she failed to focus on a target, the thread disappeared.
She felt something nudge her arm. Something smooth. Something she somehow knew she needed. It was enough to pull her out of the fog that had started to cloud her mind. She refocused her eyes and looked at the crystalline cup filled with a thick red fluid. The irony scent completely brought her out of her reverie and her eyes snapped towards the pink haired boy. He was obviously telling her to drink. She almost wretched at the smell. [i]No...[/color] she wanted to push the cup away. But without it, without this blood's healing capabilities, she would succumb to the pain and she would eventually die before she even had the chance to help the others. She stared at the cup for what seemed like the longest moment before she took a deep breath and pushed herself up into a half sitting position. She let go of her wrist, her hand sticky with her own blood. She reached up shakily and took the cup.
Just don't think about it. Just close your eyes and just swallow in one gulp. Despite giving herself instructions, she stared at the thick liquid as she shakily brought the cup up to her lips. She paused, half of her mind still screaming that she didn't want to drink the saving liquid. With one swift motion, she tilted the cup up and poured the contents into her mouth. She grimaced as the irony taste hit her tongue. She swallowed as fast as she could, trying not to wretch as she did. She shuddered.
As the blood flowed down her throat, she felt a slight relief from the pain. Of course, the injuries she had piled on herself didn't heal instantaneously but it felt a whole lot better. She looked towards Shane again, her eyes a little more focused than it had been earlier. She offered him something that was half a smile and half a grimace. "Thank you. For getting here when you did. Thank you for saving what was left of us," she said. Better to thank him now than wait later. She had no idea if she'll have another chance to do it. Contrary to what the others were feeling, she didn't really feel any resentment towards the obviously overpowered boy. Sure, he could have ended the battle even before it started and prevented the unnecessary deaths but he saved them all the same. She sensed that he himself was suffering from an injury. Maybe it was why he wasn't in the battle from the beginning... or maybe he just didn't want to be there just like all of them.
But apparently, Emma didn't share her sentiments. She watched as she strode up to the pink haired boy. She blinked when her hand connected to his cheek. She would have said something but what could she really say? What could she possibly say that would make everything?
Nothing.
With a sigh, she looked down at herself. Surprisingly, some of the smaller wounds had healed with just one shot of Christmas' blood. It wasn't pleasant the way it worked but it did. Who was she really to complain. But the thought of drinking more made her feel sick.
The pain was ebbing away slowly as her flesh stitched itself up under the effect of Christmas' powers. She looked up at the faint raspy sigh. Her eyes fell on the black haired girl she had met the night before. She was gesturing with her hands and her lips moved soundlessly. While she didn't really understand what she was trying to say, she immediately sensed what she meant when she pointed towards a small group of people. The black string again fastened itself onto Lily's wrist, the other end wrapping itself around Allison's.
Lily gave out a shrill cry of pain and her eye widened as a new set of injuries transferred to her. Blood began pooling around her from the open wound on her side.
The pain brought Lily back to her own disjointed world. Why help these people? Why bother? Would they help you in return? the cloud that prevented her from making out who it was speaking began to dissipate. Golden eyes similar to hers. A perfectly shaped nose. We can't stop all the time to help people out, Hailey. We. Need. To. Go.
"Who are you?" Lily mumbled, her breath hitching at the pain.
Golden hair similar to hers. Short and messy.
Was the pain helping her regain her memories? A tall boy. Somehow she could almost recognize him. His voice, his eyes, his hair. Wanting to see more and wanting to know more but not really considering the state her body was in, her string wrapped itself around Aaron's wrist next, fixing his broken ribs on contact.
Lily fell back and gasped, the broken ribs transferred through her power making it painful to breathe.
Do it, Hailey! Do it. There's no choice. Don't think about it. Just do it. I can bear it with you. The golden haired boy with similar features as hers looked down at her, his lips curved down into a frown and his brows furrowed in frustration. A black X marked his neck.
"Sebastian?"
A splash of blood rained down on Lily as the boy's eyes widened in surprise.
"NO!" Lily cried out, finally realizing who the boy was.
A new set of emotions surged through Lily. The need to hurt, the need to make those that wanted to hurt them feel the same pain. Eyes that were unseeing scanned the area. Lily didn't see Shane, Ethan or any of the other students in the battlefield. Instead, she saw a dark haired man face down on the ground, blood pooling around him. He was holding a small axe, his neck angled strangely. A large hack wound on his back was bleeding him out as well as other small lacerations on his body. A black string was fastened on his wrist.
She looked around for the golden haired boy.
But before she can find him and before she could make sense of what she was seeing, the automated voice of her suppression cuff cut through her thoughts and through this projection of her lost memories. Pain immediately flooded both her mind and body. She fought to stay awake, wanting to know if she had managed to help everyone that needed help. But the pain was overwhelming. She took too much injuries onto herself. With a ragged sigh, she gave herself up to the darkness.
Darric stepped into the shadows just as the vampires turned their attention towards him. This really wasn't the time to be picking fights. He was not in his territory and while offing two vampires was easy enough for him, the bar was filled with more. He would be overwhelmingly outnumbered. He watched the vampires walk into the bar and as they pulled open the door, he could hear the sound of fighting from within.
Darric shook his head. And he thought only werewolves have the temper to contend with. It will be a challenge to bring in Claudia and Alex to stand in front of the whole pack. It would be difficult. But definitely not impossible. He turned and walked away. There really was no point in meddling with vampire business. Their fight was their own.
Claudia Aluredes
Claudia laid beside Alex, tracing small circles on his chest, her cheeks still flushed from their lovemaking. "No matter how many times I have you, I don't think I'll ever get enough of you," she said with a smile, thinking back on how they met. It was funny to think about now. How she thought he was arrogant and irritating. She had already imprinted on him the moment she laid eyes on him but she was just too stubborn to admit it. And when he first kissed her... she knew she'd follow him to the ends of the world.
And here she was nestled in his arms. An adopted child with her brother outside. Everything was perfect. And she will fight to keep it that way.
Caius shrugged. "I can't explain what he is but that's what he does. Ever since I can remember, he's looked out for me and my sister. I appreciate it a lot and I hope one day I'd be able to show him." He watched Callie finish off her food. He lost himself in his thoughts the was she lost herself in hers.
Growing up away from their foster parents. The couple had been nice and loving to him and Claudia but the day they both sprouted fur and sharp fangs, it had been time to leave. It was Caius' idea to run away. He didn't want to hurt the people who treated them as their own and them being humans put them in a lot of danger. But being 13 and homeless wasn't easy. They both begged and slept on the streets until Silas took them in that one winter's night and gave them warm food and shelter. Since then, life became a little easier.
Being lost in his thoughts, Caius didn't even notice that Callie had finished eating and had leaned back and was watching him. His reverie was broken only by footsteps heading towards them. "The appreciation you show me through your ravenous appetite is thanks enough for me, my dear boy." Silas said as he smiled at Caius, obviously overhearing what the wolf said earlier despite not being in the room. He placed a plate in front of Callie. On it was a delectable dessert made of chocolate, cream and raspberries. He placed the second plate in front of Caius. "Dessert is served," he announced with a flourish.
βYou kinda worried me there, but if youβre alright, then, I say let's dig into some food! Itβs only so much that Cup Noodles can last a guy, ya know!β
"But I'm sure you'd go back to your cup noodles if it meant that you can get a few more hours of gaming in," Keira fell into her usual banter with Cayde, the smile on her a face a little more relaxed. Talking to him always helped on a day like this.
She looked towards the newest addition to their ranks as he sat opposite her. It was always nice to see a new face. It meant an opportunity to make another friend. It was also something to take her mind off the sad thoughts that kept creeping into her head. She offered him a smile. "Good morning, Connor," she greeted pleasantly and then paused at his question.
What was she up to today? The previous year she had spent the day locked in her room staring at the bow her father gave her after her arrow ritual. Was that what she wanted to do again today? Would she---
"Do something productive, Keira," the familiar baritone of her father said.
Keira gasped and looked towards where the voice came from. But her father wasn't there. There was only Cayde beside her. She blinked, remembering a particular memory where she was complaining about how she couldn't do anything because it was snowing. "Do something productive, Keira." Her father had said and they ended up making a snowman together.
You're right, dad. I should do something productive, she thought to herself before she turned back to Connor. She smiled again and repeated the words. "Something productive," she said.
"Great. It'll be fun to practice with someone. Perfect time to try and control this fire," Jae snapped a finger and a small flame appeared on the tip of it. "I gotta figure how to actually turn it off by will...Unless I want to keep tagging along with Harley." He took a deep breath and blew off the flame. He sighed in relief when he was successfully able to extinguish it. Jae looked at Ben and nodded. "I'll let you finish your food. Meanwhile, I'm gonna go see if Aud wants to come along or if she's still busy with the Commander," he grinned, already planning on teasing her about it. He stood up and walked towards the kitchen, empty plate in hand.
As he had guessed, Jae found Audrianna in the kitchen, staring off into space with a sort of goofy, dreamy smile on her lips. "Somehow I knew you'd look that way when I walked in here. Asked you out, didn't he? Err... maybe not ask you out ask you out... but you know what I mean." He walked over to the kitchen sink and dutifully washed the plate he had used.
Audrianna blushed at being caught staring into space but she grinned at Jae. "A movie," she responded, automatically getting a glass of water for her younger friend. She set it beside him. "He said that he likes me."
"Thanks," Jae drank the water and then began washing the glass too, apparently a routine for the two of them. He chuckled. "Of course he does. You're the only one too dense to notice it. Told you he had been watching you everytime he hung out in the cafeteria."
"Really? He did?" Audrianna asked, still not believing that the guy she was attracted to returned her feelings.
Jae rolled his eyes. "Seriously? Are we gonna stand here all day discussing the Commander or are you still up for some practice outside?"
Audrianna blinked and then nodded, immediately snapped out of her reverie. "Oh, righ, right. Practice. Yeah, I'm coming along." She began organizing the pots and pans in the kitchen and when she was done, she walked out of the kitchen with Jae. Both of them stopped at the table where Ben was.
"You guys know each other right?" Jae asked as he looked from Ben to Audrianna. "Ben, Audrianna. Aud, Ben," without waiting for an answer, he made a fast introduction.
"Hey," Audrianna greeted shyly. "Just leave your plate there, I'll tidy up later when we get back."
Jae bounced on the balls of his feet, obviously raring to get started. He nodded towards the door. "Practice. Are you guys ready?" he asked.
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