Night's Omen

[4:39 AM]

Melody awoke to the sound of Derek talking softly, and for a moment, she thought that he was talking in his sleep. He didn't do it often, but it had been known to happen every so often. She rolled over in bed, thankful that she'd opted for a nice queen size when she was in high school instead of keeping her futon forever. Her parents had gone to Hawaii for their anniversary, and since Derek had spring break, they'd been staying at the house, presumably house sitting. It really meant that Melody's dad wanted Derek to move things around the house that he didn't want to do himself, which he'd done the first day. Every day after that had been spent playing house with his girlfriend and pretending that she didn't have an asshole of a brother who kept popping in to be passive aggressive with him.

Not that there was ever anything passive about Shane's aggression.

Melody shook the haze off of her mind and sat up, looking around. She noticed a distinct lack of warmth in the bed, which meant that he'd been up for a while. "Derek?" she said, getting up. She glanced into her bathroom, and then noticed her bedroom door was open. She went into the hallway, where she saw him leaning against the railing of the loft-like platform where a flat-screen television, a couch, and other various entertainment miscellany were. They had an actual living room, but this was designed to keep the kids, now adults (sort of), out of the parents' hair when they wanted to watch their "old people" shows. She approached him, instinctively nudging under one of his arms and wrapping an arm of her own around his waist. It was early, she was cold, and her personal heat source was on the phone. Really?

His call seemed important though, and the way his hug intensified as she leaned into him only proved it. He didn't usually squeeze her that tightly unless he was worried, which he'd been doing a lot of lately. She buried her face in his chest and sighed, trying to listen in to the conversation he was having. She didn't understand much of what was being said, since all Derek was doing was making grunting noises as responses. She could only guess he was talking to Christian by the sound of the voice on the other end, but the man was talking a lot, more than she'd ever seen him do in person.

Derek had been quiet about just how much he was enjoying that whole 'playing house' thing with his girlfriend, and he sure as hell wasn't complaining about having to move furniture in return.  Her parents were much cooler about their daughter's boyfriend than he could have expected, especially after dealing with Shane for so long.  They were definitely about it than his own parents, who were doubly upset at the fact that it was their second child to be serious about a human.  Thus his appreciation of Melody's parents, and why he was so interesting in being as much of the perfect boyfriend that they thought he was.

He'd screwed up, of course, everyone did at some point, but as much as he tried to pretend that Shane's hatred of him was nothing, he still felt like he was trying to make up for one bad call when they were all just stupid kids.  His own family still weren't allowed to know about it, for fear that he'd be shipped somewhere far away from everyone and Christian would spend the rest of his marriage on the couch.  Derek wasn't going to be the cause for that, but he still wished there was something that would get it across to Shane that he'd have traded places in an instant.  He was pretty certain that Shane's vampire girlfriend knew, but she'd made her opinion clear when they fought all those years ago.  That was the first and last time he ever intended to suffer a crushed windpipe, so he wasn't discussing it with her.

Shane and Elise had made their presences know while Derek and Melody had been housesitting, but it had been calm and quiet otherwise.  Mostly, anyway.  The only real excitement they'd had so far was in bed, honestly, which was a damn good reason in his mind not to answer his phone, regardless of who was calling (and he hadn't even looked).  The last time it rang, however, they were both already asleep, and it was obscenely late.  Whoever it was deserved to get chewed out if it wasn't an emergency, but as soon as Derek saw Christian's name, his skin prickled with dreaded anticipation.  Christian wouldn't call so late unless it was important, which had him suddenly worrying if that was who'd called before.  He answered in a hushed tone, already crawling out of bed so that he wouldn't wake Melody, and that was a good thing.  Christian unloaded a lot of information on him very quickly, then jumped into instructions.  By the time Melody wandered out to him, Christian was nearly finished and all Derek wanted was to hold her tight.  When she nudged herself under his arm and wrapped herself around him, it was all the better.  They were on the same page, though obviously for different reasons.

He squeezed her close, still listening to Christian and giving the man affirmative answers, and he was already thinking about the BAD that this situation was.  He needed to get Melody out of here, and he needed to have done it hours ago.  If anything happened to her because of another bad call of his, he hoped he didn't have to live long enough himself to torment himself for it.  When he got off the phone finally, he took a second to kiss Melody in the only spot he could really reach without letting go of her, the top of her head, and just mulled over his words for a second.  It was that last peaceful second before the storm, and he sighed, just enjoying the feel of her.  A single moment was all they could afford, if that.

"Melody, get dressed and pack some clothes very quickly," he told her softly, needing only to throw his own stuff back into his bag and grab their toiletries.  "Something really bad's happened, and Christian thinks that we'd be safer at the guildhouse."

 Melody made a confused sound, obviously still tired. "What for? What happened?" she asked, though she was walking back to the bedroom to do what he'd told her to anyways. Her voice, soft and scratchy, only furthered the impression that she was still half asleep. She went to her closet and then looked back at him.

She hadn't actually turned on a light yet, and was doing most of this by the cast of her night-light air freshener combination thing plugged in by the door to the bathroom. She'd put it there so that she didn't kill herself at night when she tried to find the bathroom, and then she could avoid blinding herself by having to turn on the light once in the bathroom. Wordlessly, she knelt down and pulled her own bag out, the one she'd brought from the apartment, and began cramming things into it. It wasn't a very neat job, but at least she'd brought things to her parents' house also instead of having to rely on what bare-bones she had left in the closet.

"I just need to go to the bathroom and get dressed," she said, somewhat more coherent than before. "Then we can leave, I guess. What about mom and dad? And Shane?"

As long as she was moving, he could explain as they went.  He was shoving his stuff back into his bag, and snagged their toiletries quickly, then left the bathroom for her to do her thing.  The faster they got moving, the better, and he actually didn't even think to bother with a light; his night vision was good enough without it.  If she had turned it on, he wouldn't object, but he didn't need it.  Besides, leaving the lights out made it less obvious to anyone who might be outside that they were up and on the move.  He had no illusions that they were safe just because it was believed that they were still asleep, or that any enemies wouldn't see right through the trick, but he was taking whatever he could get. 

"Please do it quickly," he told her, dropping another kiss on her as he passed her.  He was ready to go as soon as she was.  "Your parents are in Hawaii, so I'm hoping they're out of the blast zone.  Shane's probably with Elise, right?  You can call him after we're in the car, but I'm betting they stand a better chance than we do, so we need to be quick.  It sounds like someone pissed off the boss of Midnight, and so Midnight is attacking anyone who has any ties to the hunters.  My sister married Christian, so that puts me in trouble by proxy, then you for being with me.  It's petty, but I'm not arguing with him."

He nudged her on, wondering briefly about his own parents.  Surely his sister called them?  God, he didn't want to call them himself, and if he looked at his phone, he'd probably see that Christian, Eva and his parents had ALL been blowing it up.  He should never have put it on vibrate earlier, which was why it was so easily ignored, but he didn't WANT to be interrupted.  Once he'd been going to sleep, it was easier for him to hear the 'ring'.  Cat senses meant that it didn't take much to wake him up, so his phone was usually on vibrate.

Cat senses actually went a long way, which was why he'd started pacing once he had their things by the door and ready to take outside.  He would have already had them in the car, except that he didn't want to chance leaving the house and leaving Melody at risk.  They'd go together, where he could watch her every move.  Even so, he was wishing for his other form, which would mean better senses and better abilities to protect the both of them.  Maybe he WOULD drop their things off in the car before he took her out, just so that he could put all of his attention on getting her out there safely.  It was a valid idea. 

Either way, he was in his cat form the instant she was closing the bathroom door, pacing the floors on silent paws as he tried to locate ANY sign that they were in danger.  On high alert, it was easy to realize just how loud the night could be. 

Melody sped up as he gave her his story, and then went into the bathroom to clean up. She brushed her teeth and her hair at the same time, and then crammed everything she had into her overnight kit bag and shoved that into the suitcase she'd brought. She remembered her shoes were by the front door, so she dragged her suitcase out barefoot. She didn't see him immediately, and so she called out softy, "Derek?" as she stopped at the top of the stairs. She heard the floorboards creak and then realized that she could make out a large cat form turning at the end of the hallway. She put her hand to her chest and sighed, obviously startled.

"My shoes are by the door, but I'm packed," she said. She pulled her phone out, dialing Shane's number. He didn't answer, but she left him a voicemail which basically said that there was trouble, and she and Derek were at the house but leaving in a few minutes and headed to the Frost guildhouse.

She hoped that Shane would get the message before it was too late. She didn't even think of him as a vampire; he was her brother.

Derek heard her when she said that she had her stuff together, and he slipped right back out of his cat form mid-way down the stairs.  He offered her an encouraging smile as he pulled the bags up by the straps and dropped a kiss on her lips.  "I'm going to take these to the car, then come back for you, okay?  I don't want to have my hands full when I'm trying to get you out there safely," he explained, grabbing his car keys up and glancing out the door.  He hadn't seen or heard anything at all yet.  That was a good sign, right?  Maybe they weren't even on the radar, and they were just being overcautious?

Right, and Midnight was going to find out that Frost's leader was married into a family of snow leopards, then NOT jump and try to snatch them all up.  What made Derek mad was the idea of Melody getting hurt in the process, since she really had nothing to do with all of this.  Fortunately, the car was only right in the driveway, and that was about ten feet from the door.  "Lock it behind me, I'll be right back, I promise," he told her, resisting the need to say he loved her.  He didn't want it to sound final or cheesy, despite how concerned he was.  He'd heard her call her brother and not get a response, which didn't mean much, but it could mean a lot.  Whatever, he couldn't worry about Shane right then.  Melody was more important, and he knew that Shane would at least agree with him on that one.

"Right back."

He wasn't sure if that was for her benefit or his, but he was out the door in a flash and was relieved that he didn't fumble with the keys when he hit the car.  He got the bags in the backseat, kind of surprised that he hadn't been jumped as soon as he was out the door, and then it was back for the more important part of the equation.  He saw the door begin to open in the second before he reached it, everything going off without a hitch, and once inside, he shut and locked it again so that he could brace Melody for the run. 

 Kiyoshi hadn't wasted any time with driving, not with how things had been going. He was glad he didn't get tired or fatigued like other younger vampires did; he'd hate to miss out on all of this fun. He sat, perched in the silent twilight of the starless morning, positioned on an eave of the house like a gargoyle. Since he did not breathe and did not move, he quite looked composed of stone, and it was easy to see why Derek could have missed him with his little dash to the car and back. How adorable. He thinks he's going to take his little girlfriend and vanish into the night without any trouble at all!.

As soon as Derek was inside the house, Kiyoshi dropped down, falling without a sound into the snow that had fallen that night. In the city it was in the forties or perhaps more, but Ramsa was just far enough north that the clouds hadn't drifted away yet, and it had caused for a beautiful, white night. The only thing Kiyoshi liked more than snow was snow covered in blood. As he saw the front door open again, he phased out in an instant, leaving nothing but footprints to indicate he'd been there at all.

 Melody nodded when Derek said he'd be back, and slid on her shoes. He hadn't been kidding! She'd just gotten done pulling the tongue out from the inside of the shoe and fixing her laces when she saw him coming back up the walk, and opened the door for him. She followed him into the kitchen as he prepared her for what was going to happen next. Running was something Melody was learning to do more and more of. After she'd seen Zombieland she'd made cardio a part of her daily routine, and it had helped - although Derek was impossible to keep up with. She'd have to be a snow leopard for that to happen, which was, uh, forbidden.

She readied herself when he opened the door, and made the short distance between the walk and the car, plowing right through Kiyoshi's footprints to do it. She didn't even notice them, to be honest. She was inside the car before Derek was, but only because he'd stopped in the middle of the yard. She leaned over to look at him, and when she saw the expression on his face, she jumped back out of the car rather than sliding over to the driver's seat and starting it up.

"Derek, are you okay?" she asked, voice wavering. She couldn't be bothered to whisper, but in the dark and quiet neighborhood, it felt like she was shouting.

It was all fine.  If he kept telling himself that, he thought he might actually believe it, and getting inside to find Melody still safe was good for that belief.  She had her shoes on, he could smile to her and tell her that all they had to do now was get to the car and get out of there.  He told her that the key was in the ignition, that whoever got their first was supposed to start the car so that they could leave, and he'd intended that it be her.  He wasn't going to rush ahead and leave her, so it was all her pace.  She was quick, he knew that from running with her.  Ever since she saw that zombie comedy with him, she'd been all about cardio, and he hadn't been about to argue it.  They'd make it to the car, and then get to Frost. 

It was all fine.

He was out the door first, but as soon as he was, he pushed her ahead and was right on her heels until about the middle of the yard.  That was where he stopped in his tracks, his muscles seemingly frozen right where he stood, and every attempt he made at forcing the movement hurt.  It wasn't like it took him long to understand, but this was the first time he'd ever heard of a vampire being able to do something like this.  The instant it dawned on him, he realized that they weren't getting out of there, and the expression on his face must have displayed that horror.  He saw Melody getting out of the car as she called out to him, and he had to force the words from his throat.  "G-GO!  GO!" 

Volume didn't matter, they were already caught.  She was only human, though.  Surely, she didn't matter to them?  She was human, and it wasn't even a solid relation of any kind to a hunter.  Even he was by proxy, family of a hunter's wife.  Melody wasn't even that, not valuable in the way of shifting bloodline.  Not like him.

His parents had always warned him to be careful, that a snow leopard was just too rare to resist for those types of vampires.  He wasn't going anywhere, he knew that.  Now, it was just about whether or not Melody was. 

 "Yes, please, run, run away!" Kiyoshi squealed, hopping effortlessly from the roof to the sidewalk. He walked slowly, deliberately, and with a swagger in his step that was as sinister as he looked. He settled behind Derek, and waved a hand expiramentally. When Derek did the same thing, he laughed aloud.

"Such a shame, I was hoping to get two for one," he said, frowning at Melody. He made motions with his hands, forcing Derek to follow them. "But you," he said, pointing at her, "aren't a shapeshifter. Are you? And that takes some of my fun away," he said, putting his chin in his hand and pouting. He began to circle them, finger to his face. "Unless... " He released his control of Derek's arms.

He vanished, then appeared behind Melody, putting his hands on her shoulders. "How would you like it if I made you one, too? Then you could both be my beautiful, fuzzy marionettes," he said. He looked up at Derek, his expression going from cheerful to utterly dark and disturbing.

"What do you think, cat boy?" he asked. "Say, what are you, anyways?"

He put his hands over Melody's, and nuzzled against her neck, whispering into her ear, "If you scream, I will rip him apart from the inside out," he said with a squeal at the end, like a girl excited for the prom. "Now, a-one and a-two and a-" He began conducting with Melody's hands as she sobbed silently, and he called Derek's cat to center stage. He went at a quick pace, if only because he wanted to see what he was before he began playing with him.

"Oh my, the anticipation is killing me!" he exclaimed. "Oh, wait. I'm already dead! A-HA!" he laughed, clapping Melody's hands together.

Derek couldn't see Kiyoshi's approach, but he heard the voice coming from behind him and endured the cold shiver that ran up his spine just at the sound.  That was followed quickly by his hands suddenly leaping to life, gesturing along with the things that the vampire was saying like some kind of puppet.  When he tried to resist, the gestures slowed slightly and a wave of pain fell over him again, getting him nowhere.  He was stuck, and the longer Kiyoshi talked, the more afraid Derek was.  The vampire releasing the hold on his arms was an improvement for about half of a second, meaning right up until Derek saw him appear behind Melody.  If she'd had any chance of escape, it was gone.  Fuck!

Worse, the vampire had gone to talk of making Melody a shifter, why, because he was disappointed that she was human?  Let her go, she's just a human.  He could hope, for a few seconds, at least.  Once Kiyoshi's interest turned to what Derek was, the leopard wasn't going to be hoping for anything except reprieve, and watching the vampire with his hands on Melody wasn't helping.  It was pissing him off, and frustrating him to no end because there was nothing he could do about it.  Then, there was the squealing and general weirdness of the man.  Utter psychopath; not reassuring.

Kiyoshi moved Melody's hands about like they were conducting a musical, taking count and---

Derek screamed as it ripped at him, essentially the only thing he could do.  He couldn't move all that much as his muscles bunched together, trying to fight the unnatural, forced shift from human to cat, and somewhere in his mind he knew better than to even try to fight it.  He hadn't been able to stop the vampire from forcing simple hand gestures, so what made him think that he could hold back the shift that Kiyoshi had demanded?  He was being stupid and stubborn, but he had to try.  He wouldn't just cave.

Inevitably, regardless of resistance, his body gave out.  It didn't take long, either, for that razorblades dragging through muscle and organ tissue to collapse him, the usually effortless shift tumbling along in a sudden wave that turned his cry from human to a feline scream that echoed in the darkness around them.  He landed in a heap, quivering, panting and growling, his long tail flicking in a less controlled way that more resembled little muscle spasms than anything else.  That was because it was muscle spasms, his body objecting to the treatment he'd received.  He didn't realize that he was just lucky that Kiyoshi hadn't tried some sort of half-form, like with the sparrow. 

 Melody was sobbing through all of this, begging Kiyoshi to stop what he was doing, but it only made his job more... enjoyable. When Derek screamed, he spun Melody around and clapped her hands to his face, screaming along with him. The girl was outliving her entertainment though, throwing her weight down as she tried to do the thing where girls fall to the ground and sob. Kiyoshi wouldn't let her do it, and spun her back around like a ballerina, closing his hands down hard on her own. She screamed in pain, and he smiled at the cat.

"Such a pretty kitty," he purred, clenching his fists down in emphasis on every word. "Now, back to your human form!"

That happened a few times, and Kiyoshi danced around in the snow while he worked. At one point, Melody tried to make a break for the car, but he'd phased out and in and caught her. "Now, now, precious - don't want to stay for the show? Are we feeling left out?" he asked, looking sadly at her. He took a handful of her hair and kicked her knees out from beneath her, putting her on the ground inches from taking a face full of pain.

"Crawl with me?" he asked, like someone would ask for a friend to walk with them. He dragged her to where Derek-the-human stood, but stopped just outside of reaching distance.

"Let's play a game," he said, still holding onto her hair. He jerked her until she situated on her knees, her hands placed on his wrist trying to pry his grip off of her - which wasn't happening. "How about I ask you some questions about Christian, and for every one you get right, I don't hit my lovely assistant," he offered.

When Derek didn't answer fast enough, Kiyoshi hit Melody in the face, causing her to scream again. He let go of her hair, and she went face-first into the snow, blood from her nose dropping across the virgin white. Kiyoshi squealed and clapped his hands again, and then looked back to Derek. "What do you say? Are you... game?" he asked, laughing wildly at his own pun.

It was Melody's scream punctuated the sobs that pulled his attention out of the pain-wracked haze he was stuck in, but he'd hardly given the pair his eyes before Kiyoshi was tearing at him again, pulling him back to human form with slightly less resistance.  It went essentially the same way in reverse, feline shriek melding into a human scream, then back again a few times as the vampire whipped him back and forth until he thought he was just going to fall apart instead.  Each swing had less resistance to it, his strength slowly threatening to give out under the force of the inevitable shift. 

He caught, somewhere in there, a glimpse of Melody trying to make a break for it, and he honored a moment of hope that Kiyoshi would just let her go that was quickly crushed when the vampire took her back.  Kiyoshi's treatment of her had turned violent after those first few minutes, and the situation was finally just that much worse.  It had been bad enough the Melody hadn't gotten away, but at least she hadn't been harmed before.  The concept of a 'game' in all of this was just surreal, but that was most of Kiyoshi's behavior thus far.  Derek's thoughts were fuzzy with lingering agony, but he got the concept in the same instant that Kiyoshi struck Melody.  She went down, and he was once again struggling against his inability to move.

"I GET IT!" he shouted, gritting his teeth against the pain riding his muscles with each attempt to move towards the vampire or Melody.  Questions about Christian, god.  All he could hope was that he really wouldn't know the answers, which was plausible enough in most cases.  He didn't spend much time at the guildhouse, and he sure as hell didn't know Christian's habits.  Christian was much more capable of protecting himself from his roost inside Frost than Melody was laying there in the snow, though.  "Just don't hit her again."

 Kiyoshi couldn't come out of his hysterical laughter at how Derek reacted when he slapped the girl around. "Why do I keep finding humans paired up with shapeshifters? You'd think that your little girlfriend would be used to the fact that she isn't as durable as you," he said, giving her a kick to the stomach for good measure. He clearly knocked the wind out of her, as told by her movements, and he continued to walk in  circle around them, allowing her to get within grabbing distance of Derek. When he reached for her, which he would inevitably, Kiyoshi froze him inches from touching her.

"Ah, no," he said, flexing his fingers. "First question."

He tugged at Derek's feline form, wondering what sort of demi-form a cat could take. He'd never tried it before. Perhaps now? He coaxed his hands into claws with a little 'come here' motion of his digits.

"Who is your daddy, and what does he do?"

And then he dissolved into even more crowing.

 The hitting she could deal with, if only because she knew that eventually the pain would subside - especially with how often he was throwing her face-first into the snow. When he kicked her, though, it was a new kind of pain, one that spread not only along her stomach but also into her sides. She was pretty sure she'd never had cracked ribs before, but she felt something snap in there, and when she was trying to suck in air after he'd literally stomped the wind out of her, she felt a piercing pain that hadn't been there before.

"Please - " she gasped, flipping onto her back and contorting as she tried to get air. "Please - Derek - "

She reached up for his hand as he reached down for her, but then he froze, so she did, too. What happened next was...

Melody jerked her hand away as fur sprang from his outstretched limbs. Melody knew about his breed, and she knew what a demi-form was, and she knew that his breed didn't have one. So how was...? The vampire had some sort of control over him, she could see that now, and terror struck her. Could he make Derek attack her? She scrambled backwards on the snow, still coughing and wheezing, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Please, YOU'RE HURTING HIM!" she shouted at the vampire, now on her hands and knees. Blood had dried to her face, but her nose still hurt. It felt like someone had hit her with a brick.

He couldn't deal with the hitting, none of it, but as soon as he reached for Melody, Kiyoshi stopped him again.  He was so close that if she reached up, she'd have been able to touch his fingers, her gasping his name bringing on the new wave of resistance.  It wasn't like it did him any good, since Kiyoshi turned from just holding him still to flexing whatever power it was that had given him the ability to force Derek's change, though it wasn't just a blast of power this time.  That was painful enough, but this?

This was like a slow death, the former sensation of razorblades in his muscles slowing to nearly a crawl, more like the creeping advance of acid beneath his flesh, eating him away and drawing fur and claws on otherwise mostly human limbs.  He'd been looking down at Melody when he reached for her, so he saw her withdraw in horror even as he tried to focus on merely breathing and enduring.  That lasted an impressive, but short amount of time, all while his body took on a shape it was never meant to.  Kiyoshi seemed to be all about pressing those limits lately, and Derek couldn't tell if he had to go this slow or was doing it on purpose, but it didn't much matter.  He couldn't have even known what was happening to him, just that it hurt more than it had even hurt to jump from one form to another.  He didn't have to see the way his normally blue eyes brightened (though Melody didn't get much of that, either, since his eyes were clamped shut) or the way his teeth changed as he grimaced against the agony in his body.  He didn't see the fur, the tail, the subtle shifts in facial structure and bones that would have actually made him more dangerous and intimidating if it weren't so excruciating and unnatural.  The only reason he maintained his feet was because Kiyoshi had ensured that he would.  Otherwise, he'd have been in a ball on the ground, writhing around.

Shane had gotten Melody's call late and grabbed Elise as soon as he listened to the voicemail.  Literally.  As in, she'd been IN the room and he'd grabbed her arm in a grip that would have seriously damaged a human.  He was instantly wanting to kick himself in the ass for missing the call to begin with, but there was a SMALL portion of him that hoped the cat took care of her.  He didn't really believe it was possible, not with how stupid Derek was, but miracles occasionally happened.

"We have to go to my parents' house.  Melody's there with asshole, and she said Midnight's losing its shit.  They think someone'll be after them if they don't get to Frost asap," he explained quickly, only hesitating long enough to jam his shoes on before heading out.  Whether she followed him or not, he HAD to go to Melody, but he hoped she did.  Even if he missed his sister and they were already at Frost, he had to know for sure.  It was a damn good thing he was so determined to check, since he teleported into their front yard to find Melody sitting in the snow with blood dried on her face, her idiot boyfriend seemingly frozen stiff while some chinese freak with a penchant for furries made a toy out of him. 

He wanted to tell the dude to just take the cat and he was taking his sister, but doing that in front of her wouldn't do all that much for their relationship in the future.  He sure as hell didn't care about helping Derek all that much, though his immediate decision to try cracking Kiyoshi in the nose was in the cat's favor, as well.  He'd just been lucky that he landed right in the other vampire's face when he pulled his teleportation trick, and that he was actually pretty quick.  From there, he really only cared about getting Melody up, which was why he was lunging for her in the next second.  If he could grab her, teleport her out of there and maybe come back, would it be so terrible if something bad happened to Derek in the meantime?  He didn't mind the idea of the role reversal, since the savior position was his this time and he didn't feel all that much like risking his hide for the cat.  The second he had a hand on his sister, that was what he was doing.

Elise had delayed for a split second, differing to shake off the notion that it would be something she couldn't handle. She was right - and wrong - on so many different levels. When she'd appeared on scene, the vampire was holding the cat with near-full attention and turning to Shane to direct wrath. She watched as his nose mended itself rather quickly, and judged that he had to be at least her age, if not older. Holding the cat in suspended animation in that grotesque half-form meant he was over five hundred, and that was twice her own age. Shit. Shane knew how to pick enemies, that was certain.

Elise was lucky that Kiyoshi wasn't older and from her region; a Finnén descendant, vampire or not, was a well of power, and since she had none to train her, she was untapped. Finnén magic was odd like that - so many abilities, but they could only be risen by another of the blood. Iago was perhaps lucky in that regard; Elise would never be able to overpower him. Elise realized that the vampire's concentration had been interrupted, and that Derek was mostly human again, but he still retained some qualities that were less than desirable.

She didn't give him time to recharge, instead rushing him and slamming face-first into him. She sent Kiyoshi ass-over-end and landed on top of him, digging right into the structure that was him. She'd wrapped her hands around his throat, crushing his windpipe, when he vanished out from beneath her, landing her on her stomach. She made a surprised noise, but he was already behind her. He was having trouble maintaining control on she and the cat, and so he ripped her off of the ground and threw her into Derek.

Once he had them both in his line of site, he began his symphony anew, and with a bit more anger.

"Second verse, same as the first," he hissed, raising his hands. What he did not expect was for Elise to stumble and freeze for a moment, crying out in surprise.

"Whaaat?" Kiyoshi exclaimed. He threw Derek aside with a gesture, slamming him into the brick wall that was the front of the house, and concentrated on the attacking vampire for a moment. "What are you?" he asked. He tilted his hand very slowly until it was palm up, and then gestured.

Elise began to scream. It was one of the most painful things that she had ever experienced, though her crazy prophetic dreams of chaos were pretty intense. Those weren't physical though; this was. She felt as though Kiyoshi had found a way to get his hands on her internal organs and he was squeezing them and jabbing at them with a hot poker. She screamed like she'd never screamed before, because Elise was somewhat unused to feeling extreme pain, and this was nothing but. Eventually, her scream became a howling noise, and when Kiyoshi had finished, a lovely and extremely fluffy white Tundra wolf was in Elise's place.

"Guess what, class! She's ALSO not supposed to have a demi-form!" he shouted, utterly elated. Because she was a vampire, and a fairly strong one, it took a bit of pulling, but since one vampire had vanished momentarily with the human girl and the cat was recovering and still disfigured, Kiyoshi was able to take his time, which he did with great pleasure. What he finished with was some half-wolf half-Elise item, where her hands and feet were distinctly lupine, as were her eyes and ears. He'd just begun to pull the snout out of her pretty face when he sensed the return of the other vampire. Leaving her like she was, he deferred his concentration elsewhere, sending a bolt of power at Shane.

No way were three teenagers going to handle Kiyoshi.

Elise fell into a heap on the snow, rolling around in pain and trying to will her parts to change accordingly. She felt like she was at the edge of being able to shift, but when she tried, it was so far away. She kept reaching and reaching, and began depleting her energy in doing so. It may have been Kiyoshi's plan from the beginning - a vampire of her age wouldn't just stop trying, they'd keep blasting their power off 'til there was nothing left.

Shane appeared in Elise's room with Melody in tow, setting her on the bed and looking her over for an instant for injuries.  If she was badly hurt, he couldn't tell immediately, so he hugged her quick and stepped back.  Elise was there, so he HAD to go back.  "When Iago comes up here, you'll know who he is as soon as you see him, you tell him how to get to mom and dad's place.  We need his help, or me, Elise and your pet cat are fucked," he told her, then smiled quick and cocky-like, just for her.  "No worries, we'll figure it out."

As always.  Didn't the bad kids always have all the answers?

"IAGO!!  IAGO, HELP!" he suddenly screamed, utilizing all the considerable force in his lungs.  He'd always been good at projecting his voice, and he heard the sudden movement downstairs.  Iago would be along in no time.  With one more glance and a wink at his sister, he vanished, back to Elise and the mess.

Derek couldn't even see what was happening as Shane appeared, but he heard the impact of the blow.  That Kiyoshi recovered so quickly didn't bode well for all of them, since it pissed him off, but Derek cheered internally as Shane scooped Melody up and away from him, vanishing as soon as he had his arms around her.  At least she'd be safe, since that was one thing that Derek trusted Shane to do implicitly.  It didn't escape his attention how this was looking like the night that Shane was made a vampire, how Melody's brother jumped in to get her to safety and left Derek behind, and he honestly wouldn't have been surprised if Shane didn't come back.  Shane hated him, whereas he didn't have any hard feelings for the other guy.  He'd have come back, he had gone back that night, but as long as Melody was safe, he was okay with it. 

Well, not really, but it wasn't like he had a choice.  What remained of his life looked like it was going to suck.  If he was lucky, Kiyoshi would get bored and just kill him, but the vampire seemed FAR too crazy for that.

He felt a sudden release of his limbs and jerked his head in Kiyoshi's direction to see Elise tackling the man.  For an instant there, Derek wanted to just run and hope he could get some distance, since the car wouldn't protect them from the vampire.  If Elise could just hold him off for a short while, he could do it.  That, or if she could grab him, they could teleport out?  Did she even give a shit about him? 

Well, nevermind.  He didn't have more than a few seconds to mull it over before Kiyoshi smashed her into him, and then he couldn't move again because the vampire had taken up that control.  The only problem was that Elise was stuck, too.  What?!  It hadn't worked on Melody, so he'd thought it was only shifters!  Elise was a vampire!  Derek, meet brick.  Brick, Derek.  He was well-acquainted with the bricks on the front of Melody's house a moment later, compliments of Kiyoshi, who really had seemed to grow bored with him.  As much as it sucked for Elise, he couldn't say that he was sad, other than the fact that it meant he collided face first with the house.  That knocked him senseless for a good few minutes while his face knit itself back together, and in that time?  Shane returned.  Imagine that.

Shane appeared on a DRASTICALLY different scene than he'd left.  Derek was no longer a lawn ornament, instead lying in a barely moving heap against the house, his face looking like he'd tried putting a hole through the brick with it, and Elise?  "Oh, God, ELISE!" he cried, rushing the vampire and being dropped to his knees with a bolt of power that tore through his mind like it was fire burning everything in its wake.  He'd never felt anything like that, making the little jolts that Iago threw at him when the man was irritated seem like love taps.  He saw as the black floated away from his vision that the vampire had eased off of Elise to strike at him, though.  Huh, really?  That was important information.

"That all you got, bitch?  Isn't the local buffet missing its hostess?" he snarled, pushing himself up off the ground and trying for another rush.  Did he think he'd make it to Kiyoshi?  HEEEEEELLLL no.  He was just stalling long enough to give Elise time to recover, or for Iago to show up.  Whichever came first.  Both.  Whatever. 

He should have known as soon as Elise started hanging out with that boy that Shane would be a problem for him, but he hadn't put much stock in the human child's ability to cause trouble.  Certainly, he was quite good at it on a human's level, causing strife for his family and classmates, but he wasn't the kind of trouble that Iago cared about one way or the other.  That was, until the night that Elise reappeared at home looking as though she'd had it out with a wild animal and with Shane dying.  The boy had died that night, laying in the middle of Elise's floor, and then he'd come back.  Iago hadn't been surprised, not seeing the bite wound and the boy's death throes.  He was changing, and had essentially made himself a permanent member of the household.  He'd lived at home with his own parents and sister for an appropriate amount of time before moving in with Iago and Elise, but it was hard to explain to parents why their son wasn't changing any longer.  Shane was forever stuck at that 18-19 point, never to hit his full physical potential, but Iago would someday show him how to pull off looking a little older so that he could at least get away with sitting in a bar.  For now, it was merely amusing to see the boy struggle with that.

There was nothing amusing about Shane and Elise leaving the house to do whatever it was they were doing, then Shane reappearing a moment later with someone else and screaming Iago's name through the entire house.  The 'help' didn't hurt, either.

Iago was on his feet and in Elise's room within seconds of Shane's return to whatever mess they were in, and he stared down at Melody's bloodied face for an instant before clenching his jaw and offering her his hand.  He skimmed her mind for the details, and what should he find?  A vampire with power over shapeshifters.  SPECTACULAR.  This meant that he was the only one hitting the scene who was unsurprised by anything he would find, though.  He knew the danger Elise was in.  "Let's go, my dear, they're waiting," he told Melody softly, wisping her back to the scene, right around the corner of the house where nobody would have her in direct reach.  Why?  Because he was taking all four of the damn children to Frost to figure this out after he was done cleaning up the mess, and he didn't want to have to go back home for Melody.  Energy conservation.

He stepped out from around the corner of the house with a knife in hand and an almost casual stride, black-lined eyes taking in the scene and deciding exactly how he was going to have to play it.  Elise was a wreck, which burned him in a way that he wasn't used to and also meant that he had to get the other vampire to cooperate, or go threaten the triste to fix it.  The cat was in a heap and trying to make sense of his surroundings while the mess of his face healed itself, and Shane?  Shane seemed to be doing what he did best; pissing someone off and getting his ass beat for it.  Iago wasn't sure if he was brave or stupid, but he was leaning towards stupid.  At least he was loyal, though.

"Hello, friend," he called out, seemingly playing idly with the knife, but 'idly' involved slicing into the palm of his hand right then.  The drawing of the blood, of his own blood, caused a surge inside of him that drew a smile to his features.  It was dark and unpleasant, just as it always was, but Kiyoshi wasn't the only one with tricks.  "We seem to have ourselves a situation here.  You have my daughter in your grip, and, well, I don't think I like that very much.  Why don't you put her right, then leave and we'll just pretend none of this ever happened?"

It was a generous offer, he thought.  He didn't WANT to let this other vampire go, not seeing the condition he'd put Elise in and knowing what had been done to the other three already, but leaving Elise like that while he talked the triste into seeing things his way would just be inconvenient and a waste of time.  Smashing Kiyoshi, however entertaining, would also not guarantee the other vampire's cooperation, and would also take a little more time.  Generous and practical.

 Shane may have been doing a good job at distracting Kiyoshi, but the older vampire was still very in tune with his power. As he turned to the boy, who was so intent on coming at him again for a second beating, he lifted one hand up lazily and made a twisting motion. Elise's entire body contorted and she screamed again, clawing at her face and chest violently as she tried to find ways to free the animal as it ripped through the fabric of her reality. Her beast wouldn't come, still teetering right on the event horizon, and it was excruciating. He blatantly ignored the cat completely for the moment. His attention was best split between the two vampires; the cat was mortal and it would take very little for him to damage him.

He let Shane rush at him, reaching up with his good hand to catch Shane's face in it. Kiyoshi may have looked very delicate, but when you got into close quarters with him, one would realize that he was slightly more than he appeared to be. He crushed down, intent on shattering any bone he could manage, content to disfigure the boy for long enough to give him time to think about what he was doing. Kiyoshi threw him backwards by the face at the house, keeping him in proximity of the other three for the moment.

When the other vampire appeared, Kiyoshi had about had it with interferences. He hadn't noticed Melody for the moment, which was a good thing. If he had, he'd have ripped an appendage off just to appease himself for the moment, to feel like he'd accomplished something. "What's it worth to you?" he asked, head tilting a little with that insane glint behind his eyes. He turned his hand and stood Elise upright, ebbing his power off of her so that she'd stop clawing her eyes out.

For good measure, he swung Derek into Shane, hoping to knock the cat out for the moment to eliminate something he needed to pay attention to. It was also bound to piss off the child vampire, which was a bonus.

Shane was in a world of pain even before Kiyoshi had laid a hand on him, and it only got worse from there.  He told himself that it was definitely worth it for Elise, and then he was so distracted by pain and the sensation of flight before he landed in a heap that he wasn't really thinking about it anymore.  He hadn't been a vampire for very long, but he was getting the impression that it was hazardous to his health.  Then, Derek's body impacted him while he was struggling to pick his healing body up, and he decided that his vampirism wouldn't just be hazardous to his health, lashing out at the cat (and calling him that wasn't so far off the mark now, was it?) with an uncontrollable burst of anger and flailing.  All he could smell was blood, his own and the nearly impossible to resist scent of Derek's, so he needed the cat off of him NOW.  If that didn't happen, he couldn't be held accountable for his actions.  Fortunately, he got enough distance when he tossed Derek aside that he could take in a breath of fresh air through his mangled nose.  Then, his struggles to move began anew, crawling for Elise while bones in his back and shoulders tried to heal from the impact with the house.

If they all survived this, which seemed unlikely, they were going to have to do some serious cleaning to get the blood off the house before Shane and Melody's parents got home.  Stupid cat, this was all his fault.

He was making slow progress, hampering his own healing by pulling at bones that hadn't yet had enough time to mend, but he was getting closer to Elise while Iago spoke.  It actually amazed him how relieved he was to see the older vampire, and to hear the deep, accented tones that suggested the man was pissed.  Usually, he was less than pleased with Shane, thus the difference in the young vampire's reaction.  He very much felt like a baby that had been squalling for its mother's help, and understood the satisfaction when the mother wolf arrived.  It was that feeling of 'uh oh, you're in trouble now!', and Shane firmly believed that Iago could handle it.  Iago just gave off this feeling like he could mess up someone's day, and Shane had no doubt that he'd done it many times.  He wasn't at all surprised when Kiyoshi asked what it was worth instead of just refusing.  He wouldn't have wanted to tell Iago 'no' right off the bat, either.

Shane might not have been surprised, but Iago was, if only slightly.  He'd fully expected to have to fight to have Elise fixed, despite his offer.  Kiyoshi sounded like he wanted to deal.  Elise was worth more to him than anything else, but Kiyoshi also wasn't the only one Iago could find to put her back, so if there was to be a deal, it had to be carefully wrought.  If it was too much trouble to get Kiyoshi's cooperation, Iago would be going to Leone with Elise.  They weren't exactly friends (the joke had been made years ago that Leone was a god witch and Iago a bad witch), but Iago was confident that the triste would help his Elise.  It was part of that whole 'good witch' thing he had going on.  That kind of trouble would put Kiyoshi on Iago's radar, however, and a Grigore didn't slack off in the vengeance department.  It might be another fifty years before Iago sprang his trap, but it would happen.  All that could be avoided with some cooperation, though.  What would Kiyoshi do?

Probably something stupid, if the insanity that lit up the other vampire's eyes said anything about him.  That didn't mean that Iago was going to count out the idea of dealing even before it happened, but he was on guard for something ridiculous, especially since Kiyoshi likely saw the odds as being stacked in his favor.  Iago disagreed.

His eyes flicked to Shane, who was working valiantly towards Elise after having flailed and thrown the snow leopard away from himself (probably doing further damage to the poor creature in the process), and then back to Kiyoshi.  Shane, don't be a fool.  Get back over to the feline, and stay put until you can muster up the strength to teleport the both of you to the side of the house I came from.

He'd grab the two boys and Melody at the same time, when he was good and ready.  For now, Elise was the important part of the equation.  "What did you have in mind?" he asked the other vampire, looking mildly intrigued as she stopped tearing at herself.  That was a good start.

"She's worth enough to me that I'm not interested in games," he offered as an answer, fully intending to have to do this the hard way.  He was betting he'd have to go to Leone with her, which also meant he was going to have to think up a nice bit of vengeance for Kiyoshi.  It seemed too easy that the Japanese man would turn her back and just leave, though Iago would have guaranteed a 'no harm, no foul' approach at that point.  He couldn't blame the other vampire for failing to realize that Elise had him standing behind her. 

Kiyoshi's brows raised. "I can see you're a reasonable man," he said smoothly. He made another gesture to contort Derek further, just out of spite, and then lowered his hands. He straightened his tie out and smiled broadly to Iago. Fortunately, Kiyoshi knew how to bargain. He stepped in the snow gingerly, ensuring that he did not get any blood or gore on his shoes, closing in to Iago while still keeping his distance a healthy one. He just didn't want to shout.

"How about I turn your lupine lady back into her original form, for the crying girl and the cat?" he asked. He relaxed his grasp on Elise enough that her screaming stopped and she rolled onto her belly in the snow. It was a cooling sensation against the burning that encompassed her skin, and it gave her a shaking breath of relief - one that was much more amazing now that she could appreciate it. She could still feel the stranglehold he had on her though, and kept her head down, trying to concentrate on keeping herself stable.

He waited silently for Iago's answer.

Kiyoshi thought Iago was a reasonable man, but Iago couldn't say the same about the other vampire.  He rolled his eyes and scoffed at the Japanese man's attempt at bargaining.  "And I can see that you're not," he pointed out.  Kiyoshi sounded like he was just wasting Iago's time, and the gypsy man wasn't enjoying it. 

"Absolutely not.  Understand, friend, that you're not the only one who can reverse what you've done," Iago continued, narrowing his eyes.  He believed, truly and completely, that a triste could undo it if this vampire could do it in the first place.  Tristes were essentially born to undo that which a vampire could do, as irritating as that could be.  "You're just the most immediate, and simplest option, so don't insult my intelligence with an offer like that."

Of course, he didn't personally care about the girl and the cat, so that wasn't even the issue.  The problem was that Elise had taken such a shine to Shane, so Iago had to keep in mind the fact that he had to deal with the child vampire's presence.  Trading Shane's little sister off to this psychopath would guarantee him as much hell as Shane could muster up, with Elise's influence ensuring that Shane had a type of diplomatic immunity from Iago's wrath.  No, that wasn't happening. 

To Iago's response, Kiyoshi laughed aloud. "True, I'm not the only one - but I can make it easy. I can make it fast and painless, if I so choose. Even the best Triste would still cause her pain - immeasurable. If you think what I've done hurts, wait 'til you see what they do." He grinned, a shark-like thing. Gypsies did love to haggle.

"But," he continued, raising a finger to pause Iago. "But. I can see that this means a great deal to you, and for that, I'd be willing to take just the cat. Nobody here seems fond of him but the human, and humans, as you know, forget things with time." He raised his eyebrows. "Have we got a deal?"

As soon as Iago made up his mind, Kiyoshi would gladly undo what he'd done to Elise, cart Derek off and be on his merry little way. The gypsy just had to agree to it, first.

It was true, gypsies did love to haggle, but Iago didn't generally find himself involved in deals that determined Elise's well-being, which put him in a bad mood right off the bat.  Normally, he'd gladly go back and forth with someone for quite some time, discussing the high and low points of their offers, but not this time.  Kiyoshi had a point about the triste causing her pain to undo it, however confident that Iago was that Elise could stand it.  He had no desire to allow her to endure any further agony; he may not have been her true father, but he may as well have been.  As far as he was concerned, this was his daughter, and he wanted her to be safe.

He still wasn't planning on agreeing to Kiyoshi's deal, which was when he'd been about to snap back with a response about the offer, probably including a threat of some sort (or perhaps a curse, and his line had always been fond of those).  Kiyoshi beat him to it, raising a finger and continuing to speak; he'd gotten to the part where he sweetened the deal, and who could blame him?  If he stood by the offer that Iago had already refused, Iago was going to take all four of the children away, fight with the triste for help, and then cause Kiyoshi trouble in the future.  If Kiyoshi changed his offer, he stood a chance at getting something out of the deal while simultaneously ensuring that Iago wasn't a shadow lurking behind him for the foreseeable future.  Gypsies could hold a grudge.

Iago shut his mouth, pursing his lips together and considering the offer without even a backwards glance towards the boy in question.  Did he feel bad about even considering it?  Yes, he did, just a little.  For that very reason, he took a quick skim of Elise, Shane and Melody's thoughts, trying to gauge exactly how accurate Kiyoshi's information was.  Personally, he'd only ever heard Elise and Shane complain about the cat and how bad he was for Shane's sister, not to mention the damage he'd done to Elise the night Shane was turned.  It was Shane (big surprise) that offered him the information he needed without even meaning to.  Shane seemed torn on the idea, since he hated Derek and didn't mind the idea of him being gone, but didn't mean him so much harm as all this.  What got Iago's attention was that Shane seemed damn certain that Kiyoshi was only here because of Derek, and another attempt on Melody's thoughts confirmed it; Kiyoshi was there because Midnight was attacking the guilds and Derek's brother-in-law was a hunter.  Derek was the target, and Elise wouldn't even be in this position if not for the cat.

That settled that.

"It's a deal.  Fix her and I won't stop you from taking him, but you're to stay away from the rest of them from now on.  I have no desire to haggle with you again," he told the other vampire firmly.  Shane and Elise were getting the same talk as soon as they were in a condition that would allow them to think straight.  They were to stay the hell out of Midnight's business.

 Kiyoshi smiled again. "Good!" he exclaimed. He approached Elise, holding up his hand when Shane and Iago both made motions toward him. "Calm down, for Christ's sake," he hissed. "I'm going to fix her without hurting her, like we agreed. Or would you rather me make it hurt?" he asked, looking pointedly at Shane. When the vampire stilled, he continued to advance on Elise, and then knelt down in the snow next to her. He placed his hands on her arm, and there were a few moments of tension-filled silence while he worked.

Gradually, and without much noise, her form began to shift back into humanoid. When she was completely changed, he raised himself back up to a standing position. "There," he said. "My end of the bargain has been filled. And now, for my reward."

With that, he turned on his heel and walked towards Derek. He vanished for a split second, reappearing, still in step, at Derek's side. He reached down, grabbing him by his collar, and hoisted him up with one hand. "It's been a real pleasure," he said, giving a small bow. With that, he disappeared, Derek with him.

Melody couldn't believe what she was hearing. "WHAT?" she screamed, her voice echoing in the cold of the night. Her breath came out in puffs of vapor, but she was in too much pain to stand up without the help of someone else. She managed to push off of the ground, wobbling as she stood and then dropping to one knee. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"NO, you can't give him Derek!" she shouted at Iago. He seemed to ignore her as he continued talking to the vampire, and Melody began to panic. "He isn't yours to GIVE!" she yelled. When they agreed on the bounty, Melody concentrated on pushing herself up again, and scrambled towards where Derek was - but Kiyoshi was faster. He was gone as she reached them, and she fell into the snow drift, alone.

"NO!" she howled. "COME BACK! DEREK!" She dissolved into tears. "Come back, come back please!" she sobbed. She looked to be in a horrible state, bloodied and bruised up, crying like that. It was pathetic, but she didn't care. She couldn't believe what had just happened. "No, no, no..."

The abuse just kept piling up between Kiyoshi and Shane, and it seemed like Derek was just starting to recover some from Kiyoshi's blows when he was thrust into Shane and the vampire went apeshit on him.  It wasn't like he could control what Kiyoshi did, so it was a bitchy thing for Shane to do in his opinion.  It left him dazed and trying to pick himself up again, which was difficult and had his muscles trembling against Kiyoshi's efforts, the healing that he was enduring and the energy that he was sorely lacking in at the moment.  When he could sit himself up against the building, he was satisfied that he wasn't laying in the snow on his face, and that was when the deal went down.

Iago had seemed like the cavalry coming in, all aggressive, dark and looking like he wanted to pound on Kiyoshi, so Derek had actually started to hold just a little bit of hope.  He even refused the offer that had Derek's breath catch in his throat, unwilling to give up himself and Melody to the Midnight vampire, which should have been a good thing.

Actually, it was.  Even when Kiyoshi changed his deal to just Derek, it meant that Melody was safe.  He still couldn't say that he was okay with it (who would be?), but his first priority since he'd gotten the call from Christian had been to ensure Melody's safety.  Iago had just guaranteed it, so Derek would take it.  It wasn't like he had any choice, anyway, since Kiyoshi and Iago decided between the two of them (like grown-ups talking and tuning out a bunch of children), Kiyoshi fixed Elise, and then he appeared by Derek's side.  The snow leopard flicked his bright blue eyes up to the vampire who'd tortured him thus far, blood drying on his face and his body too abused to even allow him a chance to run, and then Kiyoshi was yanking him up by his collar.  Derek got a brief glimpse of Melody screaming and trying to scramble towards him before the whole world turned upside down.

Iago had actually been rather careful in his wording, because Melody was right; Derek wasn't his to give, and he wasn't part of Midnight anyway.  He'd agreed not to stop Kiyoshi, and secured the safety of the other three in the process.  As far as he was concerned, three for one was a good deal, especially when Melody was the only one who cared about the cat.  Iago felt a little bad hearing her wail like that, but kneeling beside Elise to check her for injuries (and humanity) revealed that Kiyoshi had kept his end of the bargain.  Elise was back to normal, and that was what Iago cared about.  The rest was part of the bonus round.

He scooped her up so that she didn't have to exert herself until she had time to recover, carrying her over to where Melody was sitting in the snow with Shane trying to comfort her.  "Are you well enough to transport the two of you?" he asked the younger vampire.  Iago understood that Melody needed time and that she was pissed at him specifically, so he wasn't going to force the issue.  

"Yeah, I just need a minute or two," Shane responded quietly, and Iago could see that the kid was still healing up.  Somehow, he doubted that the boy had much energy left, but he wasn't going to disrespect Shane by arguing or insisting if the boy thought that he could do it.  Shane had gotten very damaged for Elise, and Iago appreciated it.

"Alright.  Just don't linger here too long."

"Wasn't planning on it, promise."

With a final nod and a moment to take Melody's tears in, Iago and Elise vanished.  He had every intention of setting Elise up in her bed for the time being.

For someone who definitely wasn't interested in a repeat, Shane was surprisingly alright with Iago leaving he and Melody alone in their front yard for the moment.  He wasn't lying when he told Iago that they wouldn't be lingering, just to be safe, but he didn't think Kiyoshi was coming back.  Kiyoshi had his toy, a nice, rare snow leopard to play with, and Shane was only sorry because Melody was so upset.  He'd have never chosen to do that to Derek, but he didn't feel bad that Elise had benefited from the deal where Derek hadn't.  Elise > Derek.

Still, Melody was a wreck and she'd been hurt, so he was staying right where they were in the cold, wet snow and covered in blood until she was alright with moving.  Considering she was still human, he was hoping that would be soon so that she wouldn't get frost bite or something. 

Vampire or not, he was her brother, and he could distinctly remember her being there for him whether he'd liked it or not when he was turned after that party, and he wasn't about to leave her to just sit there.  He was a little awkward about it for a second, but he wrapped her up in a firm (non-bone-crushing) hug and figured he'd just hold her until she made him let her go.  It didn't matter (much) that he could smell the cat (and sex) all over her, because he cared about her.  It still burned him up and made him feel less bad about Derek, but it did have the added power of making him feel worse for her.  Damn him for feeling so guilty!

"I'm so sorry, Mel.  I tried, really, I did," he told her, and he meant it.  He'd gotten her out, that had been the important part, but it had all gone to hell after that.  If he could have, he'd have helped Derek just for her, but he hadn't been willing to risk her to do it.  Damn it.

Melody cried for a few more moments, unresponsive until Shane said he was sorry. She would have been content to cry for a while, too, until Shane offered his apology to her. She started to scream - it began as a low growl, something that ripped through her sore throat and made her larynx bleed. It got louder and louder, still not elevating to that high-pitched scream she'd been emitting before. She began to flail until she could shake Shane off of her, at which point she began pulling at her hair, running her hands through it so harshly so that it made her skin tight around her eyes.

"Shut up!" she screeched. She actually sneered at him, though it was hard to tell through all of her bruises and cuts on her face. "You're not sorry for shit! You HATE Derek! You could have told that batshit gypsy fucker not to give in, you know he could have kicked that guy's ass, and you DIDN'T!" Whoa, Melody. She was pretty mad, and she had a good reason to be. Shane just happened to be the only thing there for her to take it out on at the moment, which was bad for him, considering how she was reacting. She flailed around more, and then pointed at Shane.

"Take me to Frost!" She demanded. She took a deep breath and screamed, "NOW!" at the top of her lungs.

Obviously, he had no idea that apologizing was as bad of an idea as it happened to be, since that was what set her off.  He even managed to be surprisingly good about her screaming, considering how amazing his hearing was now that he was a vampire.  Usually, that wasn't an issue with Melody, since she was never all that loud, but she was making up for it all right there at that exact moment in the snow.  Even worse was that he really didn't think he deserved it this time.  Hell, he'd done his share of shitty things, but this one, he'd actually tried.

He wanted to argue, just because that's who he was.  He was aggressive and prone to being argumentative even without much of a reason, and here he was being blamed for something that wasn't in his control to change.  The only reason he didn't want to argue was because this was his sister, and she was upset.  He could understand her being upset, but that still didn't make him less angry at being blamed for it all.

"Listen, I'll take you to Frost," he started, and he deserved some serious credit for the calm-ish, almost quiet tone he used.  Really, he did.  "But I sure as hell don't have any control over what Iago does, and I guess you missed the part where that chinese fucker crushed my entire face in the palm of his hand."

Yeah, he was a little pissed.  He'd just gotten his ass beat, and now he was getting yelled at because it wasn't good enough.  "I'm sorry that you're hurt and upset."

He wasn't going to lie, because she was right.  He didn't like Derek, and he didn't really care one way or the other about the cat's well-being.  He still wouldn't have wished this on the guy, but his concerns had been Melody and Elise when he'd had the brainpower to have concerns.  It could be pretty damn hard to concentrate when your face was being crushed, or when someone was blowing your brain up with mental blasts.  He'd tried, but he was only about three or four years a vampire, which meant nothing against a few centuries.

It also didn't mean much against a guild full of hunters that were probably on high alert, so he hoped that Melody had the presence of mind to keep his ass safe.  He also didn't know where exactly Frost was, so he had to read it out of her mind to know where he was taking them.  Teleporting again on top of all this was a bitch, just for the record.

 Melody steeled her gaze at him. "You'll heal in a matter of hours. Remember?" Meanwhile, she was - well, she was beat to all fuck. She'd have driven to Frost herself but her fingers were mangled, and it hurt to move them. Yanking on her hair had been regrettable, but it had felt good, in a bad way. She was at a total mental loss for what she felt. No word could describe it. She surveyed the house one last time before Shane got them out of there, and focused back on him, her tone much softer than before. "Mom and dad are going to be pissed," she said, expression somewhat empty. Tip of the iceberg, that.

Once they'd gotten to Frost, it was pandemonium, but Melody hoped Shane kept up with her. Because he was as beat up as she was and they were both moving with a purpose, nobody gave them much shit - not until they happened across the slender, tall blonde figure of Capricia, who was speaking quickly and intently with Tatyana. The vampire looked sidelong at them for a moment, but it was Capricia who seemed more imposing. She stared at them, and then realized that she recognized Melody - barely - by a photo that Christian had on his desk of she, Derek, he and Evangela.

"Is Christian in his office?" she managed, though she felt like she was going to vomit.

Capricia nodded and gave them a clear path down the hall, hunters making a wide berth not for the duo but for the huntress and the vampire that she spoke to in hurried Russian. Capri was not concerned for Tanya's safety, nor the safety of Katya and Sasha, her siblings, but she had to make sure that Tanya knew what was going on in case of any sort of attempts made. As it turned out, Tanya could take care of herself - Katya always described her as the baby sister, but Tanya's remarkable ability, as it were, gave her a disgusting advantage, just as Sasha and Katya had. Whatever the end of the conversation was, both Tanya and Capri kissed cheeks, and the vampire vanished into the thrum of bodies.

Capricia stood in the hall and watched with crossed arms as Melody entered Christian's office, Shane in tow.

"They took him," was all she blurted out. "They took Derek."

His point hadn't been that he'd take forever to heal, or even that it had hurt; he'd been concerned with the fact that his face had been a pretty damn serious distraction to keep him from getting too involved in the conversation that had led to Derek being taken by Kiyoshi.  He wasn't kidding when he said that he had no control over what Iago did (and he didn't believe that he'd be immune to the gypsy's wrath if he'd fought his decision; save Derek over Elise?), nor did he think that the man really cared about anyone else if Elise was in danger.  That girl was all he cared about, and was actually the only thing that Shane thought he had in his favor in Iago's eyes.  Melody didn't understand it any more than he understood why she actually loved that cat.

She had her parting shot, but she went on to comment on the house and their parents, so he dropped it.  Easier to just continue forward and hope they could get everything to work out, and he sure as hell had his fingers crossed right about then.  He, a vampire, was about to teleport the both of them to the Frost hunter's guild while the hunters were all on high alert.  That sounded like a crazy awesome plan, right?  He just had to hope that nobody would take any notice of him, and then pray to whoever might listen that Christian wouldn't blame him at all for Derek's disappearance (or that Melody wouldn't explain all of how it went down, which seemed unlikely).  Even so, he was right there with her as she rushed through the halls in search of Christian or someone who could take her to him.

Personally, he didn't know any of the people around them, nor did he have any idea what the guy they were looking for even looked like, but Melody seemed to know when she saw Capricia.  Shane followed her right up, not entirely oblivious of the potential danger he was in just by being a vampire around so many hunters that hated them, especially with the Midnight thing going down.  At least he he knew to keep his damn mouth shut as she and the much older vampire she was talking to finished their interactions with a strange kissy motion on their cheeks and Capricia led them to Christian.

Frankly, he'd expected the man to be a little more imposing.  Christian wasn't all that big or intimidating (not that much different from Shane, actually), and he was supposed to be the leader?  Shane was afraid for all of these hunters, and glad that he had Iago backing him up. 

Melody chose the wrong fucking time to tell Christian that Midnight had gotten Derek. No sooner had she blurted it out then did she realize her mistake. Evangela was sitting on the edge of Christian's desk, while Andrea was sitting in one of his chairs reading a Seventeen magazine. Evangela's head whipped around as she processed what had been said, and she immediately stood up.

"What?" she said, her voice cracking. She practically leaped to Melody, grabbing her by the arm in a grip so tight that Melody yelped. "What happened? When? How?" she panicked, her eyes wide and churning with a mixture of fear and rage. She looked past Melody to Shane, for explanation - something, anything.

Christian was up after his wife, trying to pry her off of Melody. "Eva, let go," he said gently, though he firmly had to remove her hand from the brunette's arm. He looked at Melody and Shane, and ushered his wife to his desk, unwilling to take his hands off of her for fear she would turn cat and attack.

"Shane. Melody. Sit. Explain."

That was it. He didn't explode, he didn't scream or swear or throw things. He also didn't start flinging down accusations, which was good. He didn't speak for Evangela either, but he was pretty sure that she was going to blame the two for everything, regardless of what it was. When he heard the full story, though...

"So let me get this straight," he said, his voice calm. "Iago traded Derek for you and the other girl?" he asked. He wanted to make sure he had this right.

Melody nodded tearfully.

"I knew something was going to happen to him," Evangela snarled, eyes focused on the two of them. "This is your fault."

Andrea's head snapped up, and Christian stood. "Eva, take Andrea and go to my room. I'll be there in a few minutes," he said. The way he said it didn't sound like a request, either, but Evangela did exactly as he instructed without another word. It was scary how she obeyed him, actually, given the fact that she was such an independent-minded woman.

Once they had gone, Christian picked up the phone. "Xander? Are you in the guildhouse? Can you come to my office for a second?"

As they waited for the wolf to arrive, Christian looked at them. "This isn't your fault - either of you. But right now, I'm very concerned with details. The vampire who took him - I need a description and information. As much as you can give."

Right, so Shane officially didn't like cats.  Derek had first made him lean in that direction, but now meeting Derek's sister cemented it; cats sucked.  That, or maybe it was just their kind of cat, but he didn't like them and that was the end of that.  The daughter was pretty, but young, which was fitting because her parents were both pretty and young to have a kid her age, but Shane didn't care about that.  He cared about the fact that he was a vampire in the middle of a hunting guild, talking to the guild leader, and that the crazy cat lady was blaming them.

"Um.  Asian, faggy-looking, probably Japanese.  Like, he was definitely a dude, but he had those weird girly features going on.  That, and he was totally batshit," Shane told Christian.  He'd been told to sit and he'd done it because he was told to (which was a miracle in itself right then, but he had a vague idea that he knew this guy, and that the last time he'd seen him, it hadn't gone well; he didn't know that Christian had been intending to kill him for good), but that didn't mean he was at ease.  "He was old, definitely old enough that he didn't back right down when Iago hit the scene, he manhandled me and Elise at the same time, and he did something with the shifters, like they were puppets, or something.  He kept forcing Derek to shift, and to take a half-form.  When Iago showed up, it was already so blown to hell that he didn't have much of a choice, I guess."

He tried to get the explanations and descriptions out of the way without setting Melody off or having her mention the fact that Elise shifted, too.  He didn't know if that was a big secret for Elise and Iago, but he wasn't going to be the one to blow it out into the open, and he didn't want Melody to, either.  It probably wasn't well-known if he spent so much time there and hadn't known.

"And he didn't really trade Derek," he added, and this was what Melody was going to disagree on, but Shane had been living in Iago's house for awhile; he was understanding more about gypsies than most people ever did because Iago was vintage Gypsy.  "He just agreed not to interfere with the Jap taking him."

Why he had to specify that, he wasn't sure, but the way Christian had asked about that made him worry.  The thought that Frost might suddenly hate Iago for a misunderstanding on some wording here wasn't cool.  It also meant that Iago wouldn't have been messing up the deal he'd made if he had to help Christian get the cat back later on.  That was between Christian and Iago, as far as Shane was concerned, but at least they might not blame the old Gypsy.  Shane kind of liked the guy.

Christian frowned a little, and then stood up and grabbed a phone off of his desk. He pressed down on it, and it made a loud beeping sound.

Beep. "Remi, you there?" he asked.
Beep."Yeah, ass-deep in books. I heard my sister tried to pick a fight with Stav," the voice said on the other line.
Beep. "She did, and she's lucky she didn't succeed. Listen, do you know of any vampires in Midnight that can control shapeshifters?"
Beep. "Like how Katya can?"
Beep. "Like how Jim Henson can."
Beep. "Ooh."
Beep. "Asian, crazy?"
Beep."Man, that guy is all over the place tonight. Yeah, that's Kiyoshi. He's - he's bad news, man. Really bad news.
Beep. "I'll get back to you."

Christian set the phone down just as Xander knocked on the door. When he opened it, Shane would probably recognize the massive wolf who had seen him at the Bash when he was turned - the wolf who had made a game of crushing skulls with his foot like they were glass bottles. The wolf shut the door behind him, looking large and imposing, but said nothing.

Christian sighed for a moment, resting his elbows on the table, hands clasped while his thumbs scratched his chin for a second as he thought. "So, he never actually said the words, 'I'll trade you," or 'You can have him for," or anything of the sort?"

When Melody and Shane shook their heads no, he nodded. It was against Midnight's law for a vampire to take a shifter; even more against it was not even having a verbal contract to support the deal. Freeblood status was a big thing - or, it had been, before all of this happened. Christian didn't know what the fuck to do, but he didn't want to seem disorganized in front of the two Craft siblings. He had to cut them loose and think.

"Melody, when you leave this office, take a right and go down a long hall. To the left will be the infirmary. I want you two to go in there and get checked out. I'll have someone get you and set you up a room here after that. In the meantime, I'll try to figure out a way out of this."

No sooner had he said that than did the door of his office bust open, a very shocked Holly the culprit.

"Ryan's outside," she announced. "He got shot, but he's alive. And man, is he fucking annoying."

Christian was silent for a very long pause before he nodded to her. She turned and shut the door, and he resisted the urge to scream and kick his chair across the room. "If you'll excuse me," he said, voice carefully neutral, though almost tired in tone.

---

(This thread is continued HERE (http://angdar.com/nightsomen/index.php?topic=1841.msg31097#msg31097) with Christian.)