Night's Omen

Elke exhaled, and then glanced up to Dave. She could sense the discomfort growing in the room.

"Okay, sweetheart," she said calmly to Heather. "Dave can take you out into the main area if you need a drink or something?" she asked. She didn't wager the human would comply, but then again, she could always try. She looked over to Mars.

"Can you hold this down?" she asked, nodding to some clothes she'd been applying pressure to in order to hold off the bleeding. She knew Mars would want to help, and she didn't think the Witch would say no to something as important as that. "And don't be sorry," she said to Darren, standing as Mars took the bandages (assuming she would).

She managed to maintain a level of concentration on the cat as she lept up and snaked a hand out to grab Connor as he grabbed Val. He DID look familiar based on a description she'd gotten from elsewhere, but she'd just address it later.

"It was an ACCIDENT," she said. Elke never raised her voice, but now? Val had screwed up, yes, but they weren't placing the blame where it was really due - she could see the female vampire's face, but she didn't recognize her, not one bit.

(Edited for clarity.)

OOC: umm... Angie? Connor never came near Liten, you know. ^^;

BIC:
Adrian froze as Valerie's voice whispered a reply directly in his mind. How he knew it was Valerie when he couldn't actually hear it didn't matter.

(You... hit him. With your car.)

That was as far as he got before Connor moved. The female vampire tried to stop him*, but he tore himself free and stalked up to Valerie, grabbing him and pulling him outside. Of course Adrian  followed them, and he knew that Connor had known that, since he was told to close the door.

Apparently Adrian hadn't been the only one to hear Valerie say that. Which was bad, because Connor's judgment was a bit clouded here, seeing as it was his cousin.

"Connor, hold on," he asked the human, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. It wasn't planned that way, it just happened. Of course, Valerie had actually asked Adrian to touch him, but that mattered less. He just knew he had to calm the two down before it came to blows. Heather didn't need to get caught in a preternatural fight.
"Please," he added.

~~*~~
*) open for edit in case Angie changes Elke's post ^^

Heather shook her head at Elke's offer, as Valerie had known she would. He wished she hadn't. She would be better off out of this room, where blood and confusion and hostility flowed so thick.
"Heather," he said, and she jerked her head to him as though remembering he was there. "You should go with Dave. He can get you a cab, get you home-"
"I'm staying."
Valerie's expression became stern. "Heather, it's for your own safety-"
"I'm staying, Val."

(You... hit him. With your car.)

And that was when Connor decided to haul Valerie out of his seat and drag him outside. From the outrage permeating the Hunter's frame, Val knew that the bond must have betrayed him and sent his message to Adrian to Connor, as well. What he didn't know was that Connor hadn't gotten all of it, and had misunderstood completely.

"I'm sorry, Connor," he said with unusual sincerity to the snarling face inches from his. "It was an accident." He was grateful for Adrian's hands on them, completing the bond with all three of them touching and opening the connection further. He hoped Adrian's insistance on calm would turn down Connor's temper. Although, if Connor tried to get in a few hits before they got him under control, Val wouldn't try to stop it. He could feel the other man's pain loud and clear, even stronger now that its owner was right here. Valerie felt... immeasurably responsible and guilty.

And then Heather's voice came through the door, with her following soon after. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

Connor didn't CARE if this woman told him it was an accident.  What he heard couldn't have been an accident, not drinking from him, and Val had still hit him with the car.  With a CAR.  That was his cousin laying there broken and bleeding, and Val was saying he was sorry?  He'd jerked away from Elke's grip without even thinking about it to drag Val out of the room, and surprisingly the contact between the two of them didn't do anything to relax or calm him as it had been lately.  Perhaps it was because they were both upset.

It was Adrian that caused that little problem for him.  He didn't want to be calm, not right then.  He wanted to deal with this.  Adrian's hand on his shoulder seemed to be calming him though, and he let his head fall forward some, not in defeat but in frustration.  He hadn't thrown any punches, at least.

"Adrian," he warned, though he didn't really know what he wanted the man to do.  Stop calming him down?  Stop making him want to collapse against them both?  Stop the girl from seeing him embarrass himself?  He didn't have an answer for her question.  He wanted to snap at her and tell her to get lost, but he didn't want to...hurt her feelings.  Damn vampire.

"I'll back off when you calm down, Connor. We don't want a scene."

As if on cue, he heard Heather's voice and footsteps as she came out through the door. Wincing slightly, he realized how strange it must look, the three of them standing so close.

"Don't worry, Heather. I'll make sure your boyfriend returns to you intact."
He wanted her to go back inside -- actually, he wanted her to be home safely -- because he really didn't want her to know about vampires and shifters and bonds and whatnot. Part of him blamed Valerie for those feelings, but part of him knew it wasn't really wrong of him to be protective of his packmates' girlfriends (or boyfriends). He'd felt almost the same with any of his friends, regardless of bonds. Of course, the protective feelings wouldn't be quite as specific, but they'd be there.

"Connor just needs to talk to him about what happened, and I went along to make sure things didn't get out of hand."
He didn't want to let go of Connor and Valerie.
"Do you think you could go back inside and help take care of Connor's cousin, Heather? Please?"

This night had gone from bad to worse. Heather wasn't a person who stayed out of others' personal business, but for Val she had always made and exception. The man was kind, classy, drove a sweet car, and at least didn't LOOK old. His actual age he hinted to be somewhere between twenty five and thirty. Heather's parents would have a fit, which was why Heather lied and always said Val was just really mature for a twenty-year-old college student. She'd never had any problems with him, never had to wonder if she should open her mouth and speak up about something; Valerie addressed issues before Heather even considered bringing them up, as if he could read her mind. He never asked anything of her, and she in return let him keep whatever secrets he was harboring. For a year, that had been fine.

But lately... lately Val had been acting strange. Distracted. Annoyed. Slightly schizophrenic. She'd ignored it for his sake, let him tell her it was nothing and pretend to believe him, but... For God's sake, she'd been worried! And when she finally, finally decided to hell with it, she was going to demand he tell her what was going on, they turned some poor guy into roadkill. And now she was up to her eyeshadowed eyeballs in strange people. People who kept throwing words around like "shifter" and "vampire". People who seemed to know Val, people who seemed extremely close to him and she'd never even HEARD of...

She hugged her shoulders and stared at Adrian. She'd run out here for some instinctual need to not lose sight of the only familar face in the room, even if it was a face that was quickly losing clarity. Her blue eyes slid to Val, who was watching her with a carefully blank expression. He was trying not to scare her, she knew, even though he had to know it was too late.

"... Okay." She swallowed, took a breath, straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. The look she gave Val was still afraid, but determined. "I have to be home in an hour, or dad's gonna have a fit and call the cops."

Valerie was very proud of her right then. He nodded, and watched her give him and the Hunters one last look before going inside. He kept his mind on her so if anything happened to her he would sense it. Only then did he give his attention back to Connor and Ade. Connor was cooling off, but still pissed. For once, Valerie was going to keep his mouth shut and let Adrian handle this.

Inside, Heather approached the mass of people surrounding the boy Darren. Back at the scene, Val had said Darren was a werecat. What did that even mean? Adrian had asked her to help him, so she would. And later she would wring some answers out of Val. "Excuse me," she said hesitantly to the woman who seemed to be in charge. "Can I do anything help?"

"Yes," Elke said, standing. She nodded for Heather to change spots with her. "Help Mars keep him calm." The 600 year old Kendra had finally run out of patience. Their little squabble in the hall was stressing out Heather, who was an innocent bystander, and it was over something stupid, because she KNEW that Connor had to have misunderstood Val when he explained.

She pushed the door open with strength she had not used previously, and her power ebbed back and forth. If someone was standing in front of it, too goddamn bad. She heard a distressed noise come from in the room and the girls' back inside using calm, soothing voices as the Doctor tried to do whatever it was he was doing.

"Listen," she snarled. "I am the only thing keeping that boy from going into shock right now due to lack of anisthetics, and you three are screwing up my concentration." There was a rich tone in her voice that was known only as anger, and it was at this point that the only person in there who knew her longer than twenty minutes, Dave, should have tried to step in.

She jerked her head at Val. You'd better start telling him what really happened, kid, because my power is not limitless.[/color] Elke was on borrowed time, and she was feeling weak. She'd have to feed, soon, and it was not wise to mistake kindness and compassion from her when she needed to sustain health.

Darren didn't really know what was going on outside, but he definitely noticed when Elke's concentration began to waver.  It was impossible not to, considering the fog she seemed to create over everything in his mind.  It kept the pain in his body from becoming overwhelming in his mind, until she wasn't there anymore focusing energy on keeping him sedated.

He hissed at the sudden pain as her power level changed, once more gripping the leather couch as though his life depended on it.  It wasn't his life, but someone else's, actually.  There wasn't really a way to keep Heather from noticing a suddenly feline pupil in his eyes or that he was digging claws into the couch from human hands, but at least he wasn't tearing into Mars, Heather or the doctor.  At that point, with agonized gasps for breath being the only really human sounds he was making, he would have done just about anything to just make it all stop.  He needed blood to heal properly on his own.

Connor wanted to make a scene.  Everyone else may not have, but he did.  Standing in the hall outside one of the Hollow's back rooms may not have been his first choice in location, but Val had gone too far with this one.    It was one thing for him to bite Connor, considering this messed up bond they had, but not Darren.  The boy had nothing to do with any of their mess.

Unfortunately, he didn't know anything about the female vampire or her power, so he didn't necessarily care that she was pissed off.  He didn't realize that her power was directed at felines in particular or that vampires could do that with shifters, but he wasn't exactly a fan of vampires, especially the female kind.  "That would be why the door was shut," he snapped, but he was already calming against his will, thanks to Adrian's hand on his shoulder.  That was just about all that was keeping him from really freaking out.

Heather didn't understand that Elke's disappearance was the reason for Darren's freaking out, but she guessed that it had to be because he was in pain. So she did what any kind girl would do: she bit her lip and stroked his hair, trying to keep him calm while the doctor and Mars continued to work. Darren had begun thrashing on the couch. His eyes were wide, reflecting the dim overhead lights- and slit, like cat eyes. There was a harsh sound against the leathere where his hands clutched desperately, his human hands sporting feline claws. Heather's eyes widened and she drew a breath. Dear god, he really was a werecat. It was one thing to hear Val say it, hear words thrown around, but to see it...

Val felt her shock, listening in as he was. There was no way to get anything from Darren, as clouded as the air was with so many energies, but for the cat to start shifting he had to be losing it. Elke's outburst and angry statement solidified the facts for Val. She was right. They had to resolve this now before bad accidents happened.

Connor probably wouldn't be expecting Val to put his hands on his shoulders, so that was what Val did. The vampire tightened his grip just enough to catch Connor's attention. "I don't know what you think happened, but aside from hitting him with a car - by ACCIDENT - I have not hurt your cousin in any way. I might, in fact, have saved him, as it was a vampire who drained and bewitched him into walking into the street into the first place. If I hadn't been the one to hit him, if I hadn't read his mind and brought him HERE, he would have died. Or woken up in a hospital and killed someone. Speaking of which-" His face was suddenly an invasive inch from Connor's- "Your COUSIN is in their scaring my girlfriend, and if the woman here cannot get back to tending him, he may do worse. If that happens, I will not forgive you, and bond or no, I will make you suffer."

It was probably more than Val had ever said at one time. To anyone. Ever.

Despite Mars's distracted state of mind, she couldn't miss the commotion that had suddenly flared right outside the door, and though her hands continued toiling away at applying pressure to his injuries, though the blood was rapidly coagulating. The slender female had managed a grin at Dave's reassuring hand on her shoulder, and had shot an alarmed glance towards Connor, especially as the man exited rather abruptly with the heretofore silent man sitting in the chair - a vampire, more than likely.

Returning her attention to her boyfriend, she shushed him as the tall female vampire's power seemed to ebb and his form began rejecting the healing process. Placing a free hand tenderly on his cheek, she ran her slender fingers very gently in a stroking motion. It was times like these (though she hoped she'd see no more) that she wished her powers were more healing-oriented than merely combat-related.

Glancing kindly at the timid-looking female who had just entered, she handed her a roll of gauze.

"Minor scrapes on his arm," she murmured softly, dropping eye contact for the moment. Speaking about Darren's injuries only seemed to add to her own, and as she tended to her boyfriend, a cold sort of fury seemed to replace the explosive one she originally entered with, and she took a deep breath in order to steady her hands' shaking.

Someone had some serious explaining to do later on.

Adrian sighed when the other vampire followed them out. Hadn't she been the one tending to Connor's cousin? Shouldn't she keep doing that? But when she explained -- rather testily -- he had to admit she had a point. Adrian didn't know what constituted as distraction, but if this was a distraction then it had to stop.
Luckily, Valerie didn't hold off on an explanation, the way Adrian wouldn't have put him past doing, and he hoped Connor would be satisfied with it. Because as much as he wanted to go in there and help Heather, he couldn't leave his two 'pack mates' out here.

"Please, Connor," he instead said. "Go take care of Darren. You can take this up with Valerie again once Darren's out of critical condition."

They were all feeling like crap, and Adrian had no idea which one of them was the origin of those emotions.

That hadn't been what he'd caught from Valerie earlier, though!  They had a point, though.  This wasn't the time to argue it out until he was satisfied that Val was telling the truth, and he couldn't deny that having both of Val's hands on his shoulders, as well as Adrian's contact, was helping ease his fury.  Elke needed to get back in there.

"I'm alright, I'm not going to hurt him," he told the female vampire firmly.  He even released the hold keeping Val pinned against the wall, as a show that he was serious.  He wasn't about to mess up his cousin's chances of being saved.  He didn't have any way to help, though.  Really, all he could do was keep quiet, apparently.  He could do that.

Elke had done all she possibly could do with the doctor there. Darren was healing on his own, slowly as ever, though with some stability control from Elke she had allowed his nerves to stop their panic dance for a moment as his natural magics tried to knit his organs back together. That vampire had hit him hard; the Ferrari was no doubt totalled.

She started to feel woozy, and for a vampire of her age and stature, that was a Bad Thing. She rose, patting Heather on the shoulder, and headed for the door.

"I have to leave, now, or things are going to get ugly. I will visit soon to make sure his recovery is expedited." She paused. "If you need me, here is my number," she added, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen and scribbling it down. She handed it to Connor, and turned a corner. In the flutter of her lashes, she had vanished, presumably to feed.

Valerie hadn't much been paying attention to Connor anymore. The awareness of an agitated shifter near human Heather had demanded more of his concentration than an enraged Connor. The usual twinge of disappointment at the loss of his bondmate's touch hit him when Connor finally allowed Valerie to fall away from the wall. He debated whether or not he should tell Adrian exactly how much he was appreciating the wolf right now; not just for the relief of physical contact at such a stressful time, but how grateful he was for Adrian's mere presence and the support it represented. Adrian had been Connor's friend first, he didn't have to see it Valerie's way in anything. But he did, because Adrian was decent, and for all Valerie ignored it, it was nice to have one side of the bond he didn't feel instinctively inclined to fight.

Were he a man of more words, he might have expressed some of that. Instead he sighed, nodded to Elke as she brushed past them, and reluctantly left the sanctuary of Adrian (and Connor's) presences with a polite "excuse me" to return inside and see how Heather was fairing after her many scares.

Heather was still at Darren's side, surprisingly. The shifter seemed to have calmed down. Heather had moved aside to make room for the other girl, who was tending to Darren with the sort of fierce determination and soft tenderness Valerie knew would equate to serious trouble for him if she was told who was responsible for Darren's injuries. Connor's concern still lingered loud and clear in Valerie's mind, adding to his own guilt. If he didn't feel like he deserved it this much, to know how hard this was hurting Connor, he would have resented it.

"How is he?" he asked.