Counting Bodies Like Sheep [20% Complete]

[Raphael Aristos]

Prompt List

• Horror
• Autumn
• Monster
• Dark
• Iron
• Introduction
• Sin
• Fear
• Obey
• Masquerade

NOTICE: All of Raphael's prompts come with a warning of violence and/or otherwise explicit nature.

[Raphael Aristos]

A U T U M N

  The room was dark, save a single dancing flame on a candle that was too big for the holder, causing wax to spill over the wrought iron, which curled ornamentally around it and slowly drowned in the puddle that dripped over the side. A pool of it had formed in the black leaves and dribbled down, creating some sort of archaic portrait that reminded him of the way ice or spiderwebs formed. He moved his gaze away from the light source and to what it illuminated, inhaling slowly as the scent of burning wick and cinnamon flooded his senses. On the bed, buried beneath soft down blankets which slowly rose and fell with each breath, was his real focal point. His pride, his lovely Autumn.

She had fallen asleep sobbing; he knew she cried herself to sleep often, but in sleep she found peace, perhaps even escape from him, which excited and both angered him at the same time. It wasn't as though he could take sleep away from her, though - he could beat her into submission and paralyze her with fear, but eventually they all had to succumb to the numb and slumbering gods. His brow knitted as she inhaled sharply in her sleep, rolling over and then again, from side to back and then to stomach. He bit his lower lip as he watched the exchange take place - even in her sleep, she was trying to avoid laying on her back, where her skin was still raw from the whip he'd taken to her. As a shifter, she was healing - by morning they would be memories, but at the moment, they still burned.

He approached her slowly, lifting a hand to trace his fingers down her bare arm, exposed from the blankets that she buried herself beneath, to hide from him no doubt - as if mere fabric and cloth were enough to stop him. She shivered and, he could see, flinched; even in sleep, she could recognize the stench of fear that surrounded him, but her sense of self-preservation, at the moment, was perhaps keeping her unaware so that her sanity might hold for another day or two. Perhaps. Soft, golden-brown hair twined between his fingertips; it was silky and smooth, like nothing he'd felt before. He knew he would keep her forever, keep her close to him always, in some strange sort of sick fashion.

Minutes passed. Raphael stood still as stone, something only a vampire could manage, so still that even God couldn't see him. Autumn opened her eyes slowly, golden-amber orbs burning like liquid fire from beneath her dark lashes. Her moved to form words, confusion - when she had sank into unconsciousness, she had been in a cell with worms and maggots for her only company, the rocky earth her bed, and now? Luxury she couldn't comprehend, the sweet scents of honey and roses assaulting her, nearly choking her. She gasped, unable to breath, scrunching her face up at the sheer beauty of it. She had never imagined to see or smell these things again, and now?

Raphael's talents were vast, but the reaction was simply the absence of his own power. When he alerted her of his presence by sound of voice, she felt the fear choking her and crushing her, like a thousand pounds were pressing against her chest. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think - warmth, sudden and unexpected stunned her even further. Soft, fingers in her hair and murmuring in languages she couldn't understand - he smelled of smoke and fear and cinnamon, like pack only nothing like the pack at all. She didn't realize it, but she had extended her arms, welcoming his touch, because she was afraid to refuse it.

He kissed her, gently at first, and then more feverishly. With every dragging second, things went further and further, and he knew that it wasn't any effort on his part to encourage the wolf further - Autumn was so afraid that any affection she received and any lack of his crushingly close aura of terror was an elation of feeling for her - even if he really wasn't pulling back much of it at all - but the sheer force that he had used on her before - any change, any lessening was like heaven to her - and she showed it. He knew what she was thinking. Between her not-thoughts, which were really just moments where madness seemed to overtake her (and those were interesting), her thoughts centered around giving him what he wanted so that he would go away. He had imagined that he would have had to force her hand in the matter, so to speak, but she was so willing, so desperate to try and hold on to reality, which seemed to be directly connected with her sensory perception, that she had allowed him every inch of her.

He could hear her - Give him what he wants, and he will go away - but the thought became more and more distant as he became more aggressive with her. The idea of exposing ones fears also meant that they became irrational and their minds opened up, giving him a glimpse into absolutely everything - their wants, needs, desires - all of it was an open book. Raphael was nothing if not a quick study. Scratching, grabbing, pulling, biting - as a wolf, there were certain things that she responded to, and she did, and it was amazing. He even had to admit, he had done well with his catch.

Raphael smiled in the darkness as Autumn slept curled against him, watching the rise and fall of her chest as she sank into the deep sleep of oblivion he had given her - for a job well done. The smile grew more sinister. No, he would never 'go away'. He would never just 'take what he wanted and go away', she was mistaken.

Autumn was his. Forever.

[Raphael Aristos]

I N T R O D U C T I O N

The two hunters had been stupid to go back out after their night had taken a turn for the worse. With the death of Fawn still hanging over their heads, the situation had become more real then it already was, if that even needed to be said. Chase said that she had to go get the Anubi, though, and Stav sent Aurora with her as back-up. The fox may have been small, but she was definitely tough (especially with how she was coping tonight), and plenty of people underestimated her. Stav had sparred with the Onyx fox before, Lilyana, and he knew that they weren't to be written off so quickly. Midnight's lackeys were stupid enough to do it, though.

Aurora drove, because Chase was trying to focus on the guilds, giving Aurora updates on everyone that she sort of zeroed in on. She'd been cultivating her talents pretty well, and tonight of all nights, the way she was able to tune in on specific people was helping the girls keep tabs on everyone without having to call them up. Adam and Anna, Aurora's brother and sister, were still alive and kicking, thankfully, as were most of Chase's family.

"You'll like the Jackals," Chase said, trying to smile. "They're rowdy, but... Cherie's your speed. You'll get along."

"Yeah?" Aurora said, glancing over at her. They were stopped at a light, and as Aurora saw it turn green and let her foot slip off of the brake and press down on the gas, she still wasn't totally focused straight ahead (she could see the light was green out of the corner of her eye), and so she didn't see Raphael in the middle of the road until Chase threw her arm out over Aurora's chest as though to stop her from being hurt and yelled, "STOP!"

Raphael tipped his head forward, lightly scratching his temple with his fingers and looking up at the two blondes before him. The headlights were right on him, but he still looked incredibly dark. Luckily for him, he had reeled in his aura, so that permeating feeling of fear was absent - in fact, he was only laying on the sensation just enough so that the women would be scared into not reacting right away. It worked, and as they sat as still as possible in the truck, trying to figure out what to do, he looked up at them fully.

"Aurora! DRIVE!" Chase barked, fighting through the biting terror she had bearing down on her chest.

Aurora whimpered, trembling in place. Her hands were on either side of the wheel, and the muscles in her legs flexed, but nothing happened. "I can't!" she cried. "I don't know what's wrong with me!"

Chase looked from Aurora to the man in the road. "Aurora," she growled, her voice low and scared. "Go, please. He's coming," she warned.

"Stop, stop," Aurora begged, twisting back in the seat and closing her eyes as though she were in pain. Her hands flew off of the wheel, pressing down against her temples as she made a horrible noise, like a whining sob, as though there were a pain in her head she couldn't get out.

Chase jerked her head from looking at Aurora to see where the vampire was, simultaneously reaching for her gun - but he was gone. "What the fuck?" she whispered to herself, her eyes wide. "Hey, hey," she said soothingly, reaching over to put a hand on Aurora's shoulder. "It's okay, he's gone," she coaxed softly. Aurora had stopped contorting in pain, but she was still sobbing into her hands.  "Let's just get out of here, come on. Do you want me to drive?"

Aurora nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "Here, let me get out and we'll switch," she said. She wiped her eyes and nose, then reached for the door to get out, but right as she placed her hand on the lever to open it, the vampire appeared at the door/window (slammed into it, actually, causing both women to jump and Aurora to jump and scream).

"Hello, ladies," he greeted suavely. "Going somewhere? Ah - nooo, sweetheart, not unless you want another brain freeze," he warned, pointing at Aurora as she moved to try and drive away.  Suddenly, it made sense to Chase why Aurora had been gripping her head, but it didn't make her any less inclined to unpin herself from the other side of the vehicle. She had actually grabbed Aurora, pulling her across the seat with her, and had her arm around her, her free hand on her gun.

"You're going to want to give that gun to me, nice and slow," Raphael commanded Chase. He knew as soon as he opened the door, she'd open fire, so he gave her a little incentive by applying some pressure in her head - Chase felt the same painful pulsing in her head that Aurora had, like a migraine except worse, and it was paired up with the intense feeling of fear; not abstract, though, more like bugs crawling all over her. If she closed her eyes to try and manage the pain, she could actually see the bugs - ants, worms, centipedes, crickets. She popped her eyes open again, and held the gun out to him.

"Thank you," he said, opening the door and taking it from her. "Was that so hard?" he asked, raising his dark brows. He dropped the magazine, kicking it away, discharged the round, then stripped the barrel off of it and threw the gun, now in two pieces, far, in two opposite directions.

"Ladies," he said again, now leaning inside the car. They were as far away from him as they could be without getting out of the vehicle, pressed against eachother, and both of them kept asking themselves why they weren't running away or fighting, but they were just... paralyzed.

"Both of you, out of the vehicle, quickly and quietly. If you try to call anyone, or contact anyone, I will kill you. If you try to call for help, I will kill you. If you try - well, pretty much anything? I will kill you. Slowly. And painfully. Let's go." And with that, he stepped back and motioned for them to slide towards him.

"My name is Raphael," he said, introducing himself as they slid out. "And if you do what I say, I will let you live."

As Chase climbed out after Aurora, shaking and silently standing against the truck all she could think was that she was never going to see her family again.