The Rising Storm [Open]

[kitty pym]

Kitty needed blood.

She cursed herself, feeling weak willed and irritated by the infringement of her thirst on her independence. Before (for Kitty only referred to her dietary choices in earlier days as Before, with a capital B) the time in between cravings hadn’t been so bad. She had gotten it leveled out in the days before the end of Before, her thirst in check and manageable, but now it was like being a new born all over again. Her cravings were more frequent and less ignorable. It was driving her crazy.

For now, it wasn’t too awful. It was like the moments before a storm, when you feel the pressure all around you, yet everything is calm. Everything is not ominous or foreboding, but simply dull, the world becoming muddled and grey, the dullness oddly adding to the strange serenity of the moment, a moment which will be destroyed in meagre hours by the clash and thrash of thunder and lightning, bombarded by rain and battered by gargantuan gales. Kitty couldn’t let the storm come to a head and rage out of control. She had to hunt soon.

It didn’t help that she was in public, walking no less. She hated moving slowly, and the warm bodies moving around her on the street weren’t helping matters one bit. She moved with her head down, yellow curtains shielding her face from view and thick sunglasses hiding her eyes despite the fact that no rays of sun could possibly make it through the thick, impregnable clouds above.

Okay, just one more block until you’re home, Kitty assured herself. You’ll go in, get your keys, get in the car, and drive until you find somewhere with no humans around and lots and lots of— Her train of thought was instantly derailed when a young man brushed against her, causing a fiery hot spasm to erupt in her throat, her mind clouded with red. She held her breath, pure willpower driving her forward and away from the sweet, luring fragrance drifting from the stranger who’d strolled past her, a willpower that was dwindling by the second.

Kitty took a hasty, sharp turn into the gapping alleyway on her right, not stopping in her strides until she was sufficiently hidden from the public eye. Safely away from prying eyes, she leaned against the brick wall, shaking the way addicts do three days after their last fix. She balled her hands up at her side, still holding her breath, not trusting herself. It was going to be a very long afternoon. Above her, the clouds released the rain.

tags none
word count 434
outfit click
notes it’s 1 am as I write this, so be gentle

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[Alexi Bidlyatenov (Charon)]

(( I felt bad that no one had responded to this so I figured i'd give it a go <3 ))

Alexi didn't like knowing the sun was out, it made him feel odd. It was covered by huge swathes of grey cloud which shrouded it, blocked it out,prevented it from catching his face and lighting him like some sort of glittering diamond, his mass of black, messy hair shrouded most of his face and as he threaded his way through the Seattle crowds they parted slightly, he was moving faster most of them were moving slow. It was natural human instinct to part before those that moved faster and they moved out of his way with curious glances at the quick moving teenager who moved as if he was carrying the same burden that every other teenager that looked his age carried. Truthfully he hadn't really felt particularly angsty for a good fifty years, he did however feel that teenagery need to vent and as the clouds grew thicker, Signalling that time was quickly moving forwards.

Alexi knew exactly what he was going to do, he'd find a nice dark, evil place in town that he knew existed because he'd been round some of the more deprived areas before. He'd allow someone to attack him and he'd probably rip them to shreds with his Darkness arms or maybe he'd just beat them up and leave, he didn't feel thirsty and killing a human for no other reason than your own enjoyment was a little dark. Depraved and wrong. His sire would've been proud of such thoughts though, she relished in programming him to despise humans, despise the way they moved, how slow they were. Despise the way they fretted to and fro between decisions because they were scared of being hurt, physically or mentally. His sire had tried to make him believe that vampires were the next step and that Alexi's power was an evolution of that step. He was glad that she'd left.

As he walked down the streets trying extremely hard not to notice the the heartbeats, the blood that poured through each human as they rushed and pushed past him eager to get into cars, shop fronts, back to homes. he simply moved aside into an alleyway. When he picked up a scent that caused him to immediately go from slightly guarded to completely on edge, the red eyes covered by blue contacts swept the breadth and length of the alleyway, he was lucky he'd eaten recently otherwise he'd no doubt have caused quite a problem with the humans bumping and pushing and getting in his way.

The alleyway grew darker, as if the light that had previously shone down from the sky had faded significantly, Alexi had done it himself, his power working to create some sort of atmosphere, he was already concentrating on making his Darkness arms appear as he spoke his voice thickly coated with a russian accent. " Hello? Is anyone there?" the alleyway grew darker. Alexi's eyes twinkled slightly. He took a step forward he could hear nothing but that wasn't a good sign, the scent was very strong. His eyes picked out a woman, blonde, golden eyes. Beautiful. Obviously she was beautiful.

She was a vampire, she was amazingly beautiful every part of her face perfectly shaped, angled, defined, the blonde hair falling down her upper back. Alexi suddenly was nervous. But he focused very hard on the fact that if he didn't maintain his composure he could be in trouble. A darkness arm finally crept out of his left shoulder. It was worm like it's body curving, it's eyes glowing, baleful, yellow orbs, no nostrils, only a huge mouth, jagged, sharp teeth gnashed against each other as it's eyes first sought Alexi and then the other vampire. Alexi was fairly certain that he could probably pack enough punch behind it to take the other vampire's head off with one swing. But he wasn't very sure at all and he was still nervous, hence the reason it had come out in the first place.

"I don't want to h-hurt you," he said cursing his stutter "It's j-just self-defense," he tried his best to stand strong and tall and scary, the only thing that was particularly terrifying was the darkness arm which retracted back into his shoulder as he took a step forward torwards the woman a pale hand reaching out to her "Do you n-need help?" he said trying to look concerned if only to hide the fear behind those eyes

[kitty pym]

Kitty tried to calm herself, closing her eyes and willing the bloodlust to fade. Her kneejerk impulse to stopping herself used to be thinking about what acting on her instinct would result in; the lifeless body in her arms that she would have to dispose of; the life that body—that person had once had, their family and friends and loved one that would never get closure and who would always wonder and worry; that look of horror on their faces when they realized, too late, that they were not going to survive. She used to believe that thinking this would stop her, that they ghastliness of such acts that haunted her would surely stop her from repeating them. But in the times when she was so desperate, as desperate as she was now, those thoughts would not make her want to stop. Much to Kitty’s revulsion, these thoughts would only excited her body and strengthen her thirst.

So instead she told herself that she was no long thirsty; that the burning in her throat was cooled; the whole mind over matter thing. It worked for the most part. The tremors slowly subsided in her arms as she gained more control, though even then she did not allow herself to breathe again. She didn’t trust herself that much.

She opened her eyes, and then blinked to make sure her eyes were not failing her. The alleyway had gotten darker, for what reason she could not detect. Surely she had not been there so long. But her scrutiny of the lighting was cut short as something new demanded her attention.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Kitty felt herself go rigid. No, she thought. No, no, no, no, no! Not a human! Not here! Not now! I can’t, I just can’t! Had she been seen yet? Perhaps she could run. Was it so obvious she wasn’t breathing? Would a human notice? She tensed herself to run when the figure suddenly came into view, and in an instant Kitty felt a whole different level of dread. The man before her was a vampire.

Now, Kitty had very little experience when it came to interacting with her own kind, the primary reason being Mordecai’s ‘warnings’, most of which consisted of ‘Vampires are often solitary and territorial beings. If you’re ever caught alone in their territory, they’ll tear you apart.’ At the time, Kitty had believed him, for she felt she had no reason not to, but now she was convinced it was just one of his lies told to keep a tighter grip on her. Still, she worried he wasn’t entirely lying, and between that and the weakness she felt from not having fed lately, she wasn’t prepared for any kind of confrontation.

She stood, pressed against the wall, trying to keep a mask of impartiality on her face as she ran through possible means of escape, when the thing appeared behind the other vampire. It was like a shadow but not; a living mass of darkness in the shape serpent, its eyes glowing yellow and its teeth long and sharp. It reminded her of the stories her grandmother used to tell her as a girl. They were stories of demons and dark creatures of evil that prayed on those who strayed from the Lord. Grandmother Nina wasn’t a very cheery old lady, and Kitty had decided a lifetime ago that her stories were meant only to scare her into living a virtuous life (a plan, she might add, that failed). But today, for the first time since she was a little girl, she believed those tales, and it terrified her.

"I don't want to h-hurt you. It's j-just self-defence. Do you n-need help?"

Back in her days as a human, Kitty had dealt with many, shall we say, less reputable men, (working as a cocktail waitress in a gin joint during prohibition, that seems like a given) and in her experience, when a man said he wasn’t going to hurt you, it was probably only to calm them down so they would not run before they did hurt them. But Kitty was in no position to challenge this, and could only hope that this strange man with a demon worming out from behind him was not lying. Besides, if someone were intending to attack you, would they really ask if you needed help?

“For starters you could tell me what that.. thing it. That would help a bunch,” Kitty replied, finding her voice after reminding herself that she isn’t some flighty waitress anymore but a strong, independent, century old vampire (damn it!), and that as such she needs to stand up for herself.

tags Alexi/open
word count 779
outfit click
notes Thanks for giving it a go :3

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[Alexi Bidlyatenov (Charon)]

He could tell the other vampire was struggling with something, probably the thirst, Alexi probably had even less self-control than she did she didn't need to know that. Particularly as he stepped closer the Darkness arm that had been extending from his shoulder slowly stealthily slipped back inside of him. Perhaps that was the reason why it didn't affect him when he used it, that it came directly from his very being. Whereas creating shapes, throwing up obstacles that took some real energy, some real concentration. It was indeed very hard. As he took another few timid steps forward, his blue eyes watching her every move, she was concentrating hard, he was concentrating harder. He had already figured the only way she'd ever be able to get out of the alleyway was either by running past him at which point he could grab her with one of his darkness arms or if she ran further down into the alleyway, he'd have to let her go if she took the latter course. He had no want to fight tonight. He was shaking with fear.

His eyes still innocent as he reached out to touch her, the light having returned to normal, he looked like just your average, awkward teenager, his movements, timid, his eyes full of concern but at the same time hard in an attempt to maintain what he saw to be his manly dignity he looked at her with the concerned eyes on an uncaring face and he looked the epitomy of awkwardness. A black booted leg shifted slightly. His sire had told him that other vampires were incredibly dangerous, moreso than humans, that's why he had to avoid them. But his Sire was long gone and though her words rang in his ears and increased the tense feeling present in the air. He approached further he was within touching distance but he didn't reach out a pale, cold hand he just stood and looked.

He watched her as she stood, she seemed to relax, to overcome whatever was bothering her. He was glad he'd eaten recently, the body of the human he'd killed had been pulled to pieces, small, unrecognisable pieces and eaten by a darkness imp he had created, thus no body to be found, no murder weapon, no way of connecting it to the vampire. As if he was on any records at all. he was trying his best to be as confident as possible, he wasn't doing a good job. "I.. I just smelled you at the entrance to the alleyway I was just w-w-wondering if y-y-you were okay," dammit he cursed his wavering voice again. He was such an appalling speaker, it came with his poor confidence, his inability to talk to girl's without getting scared and withdrawing deep into himself, into the darkness. The lighting brightened as he stepped closer then grew ever darker, ever more imprisoning as if it had an objective to block them off from the street, with it's lights, it's cars, the people.

Alexi didn't even know what he was doing, it was subconsciou, when he was as thirsty for human blood as this woman looked he'd block himself completely in darkness, he'd find a pitch dark area, he'd sit there and he'd shroud himself completely, blocking scents, sounds. It hurt him sometimes, but it was a price he would have to pay more and more if he wanted to transition from a murderous, marauding goth look-a-like. Those piercing blue eyes soon became one of the few light sources in the area. His power had left enough light that she'd be able to see him well, that pale, defined face, obscured slightly by the lengthy, thick in the right places, thin in the right places. hair. He smiled a little trying to lower that tension had increased with each step. He looked around. The darkness didn't effect him, he knew this, hence he didn't realise how dark it was.

Her eyes were apprehensive, she looked like she was just as scared as he was trying to hide. She probably wasn't, it was probably a trick his responsible side said. Get her now. While she's Weak. While she's gasping for air, while she looks at you, you could whip her head off, you could crush it, you could trip her then stomp her out. You could pull her arms off. Yo- he stopped himself before the ways to kill became any more aggressive and violent. He'd put that behind him, but he couldn't help but be weary of the third vampire he'd ever met, she was regarding him with an almost relieved expression, then it fell again. Probably she'd been expecting a soft, squishy human and when she'd caught his scent realised what he was. She'd been evermore terrified. That was odd. Vampires didn't react like this around others at least that's not what his Sire had told him. She had told him that if he ever saw another vampire that he should run as fast as he could, that he should never turn back and fight that they'd hurt him.

That had certainly came true with the second vampire he'd met. His sire's mate. His sire was different around her mate, she was more aggressive, more violent, more uninhibited. She used to hurt Alexi, her mate did as well, beatings were regular. He'd collapsed regularly his power had to intervene regularly to shroud him in it's protective coolness. Holding him allowing his cracked face, his cracked body to heal, the process was quick but at the same time it was slow. He had become terrified of other vampires, the mere scent of one drove him to fear. Yet here he stood within punching distance of this lady. His face trying hard not to show concern but failing miserably. The light of his blue eyes burning bright. He knew she was thirsty. He knew this because he had felt this.

As he'd been approaching under the false pretence of concern when really he just wanted to get the first punch in when she eventually attacked him. He'd seen her eyes briefly, flicker towards the Darkness Arm that had appeared as a measure of protection. She looked almost terrified, the darkness arms worked on everyone. He imagined she'd have ran off had both raised their granite toothed heads and hissed at her. The Darkness seemed to emanate from him as if it was some sort of cloud that spread out of his back. His face only showed that same concern now, he was done hiding it, it didn't stop him from shaking though.

He was scared but he was doing it best to hide it, he wasn't good at hiding fear, he never had been probably never would be. Well at least not whilst his confidence was so incredibly low. She looked up at him as he had spoke, she'd clearly spotted the Darkness arm, the sharp teeth, the glowing eyes. Most people thought that he was a demon, that he was some sort of Grim Reaper, some sort of harbinger of the apocalypse he didn't like that all, but he could only offer a stuttering reply to her "It's..er..i-it's like a power... l-l-l-like I c-c-can control darkness, shadows, I can m-make creatures... a-and shapes." he looked at her truthfully those eyes shifting from concerned to innocent again. "I call the w-w-worm l-like things that c-come from my arms Darkness Arms, they w-w-won't hurt you unless I-I t-tell them too," he finally finished talking and immediately wished he hadn't even opened his mouth, he must've sounded like some sort of idiot and not the professional chess grandmaster/artist and overall well cultured person he really was. "I'm Ale- I mean I'm Charon," he had got used to telling people he was Alexi preferring not to use the name his sire had given him. The name of the ferryman of the Styx in Greek mythology. One of her little jokes.