Batten Down {Tag: Rae, Leah, Michael, Melissa}

[Irina Wintour]

^{((continued from here and here ))}

Jacob allowed Rachel to lead the way to the correct apartment door, glancing around with an air of disquietude, as if expecting to see the madman vampire come charging around a column of cars waving a massive blade over his head (he would much rather see Michael Light make an appearance; he wondered if his call had made it through).

He could easily sense that Rae was not his greatest fan at the moment, judging from her wish to see him teleport into a wall the next time he tried it, but he was not too terribly bothered by this. The priority right now was to make sure the sisters were safe, not that they --either of them-- were pleased with him. Really, no one with any sense ought to be too happy with him just now, not his secretary, not Michael Light (he supposed that no one would like to receive such an ambiguous call for assistance). But all he could do was smile pleasantly and nudge things along smartly: the faster he could get everyone safely in place, the sooner he could get back to work. Needed West's number. Needed to call. Needed to ask about the vampire-priest-murderer. Needed to track him down (even if it took further days and nights of searching) and confront him peacefully. Needed to go about his other duties. Probably needed to feed, after all of this teleporting.

Jacob sighed. He was obliged to help others, it was something that was ingrained into his very being. Didn't make it any less tiring at times like these.

[Michael Light]

Michael had fallen into a comfortable sort of silence with Melissa as they rode to the address Jacob had supplied them. He stepped out of the cab, his long coat billowing around his shins as he made his debut. Blonde hair with just a touch of silver, chiseled, mature features, and a very firm line set on his lips - he was striking for a vampire, perhaps because of his age from when he'd been turned, but then, Light blood was resilient, and had survived the agonizing process of dying.

He waited for Melissa to exit, holding the door for her as she did so. He gave the cabbie the ridiculous fee for the journey, and vowed that he was teleporting himself home. With green eyes, he surveyed the apartment complex. "Ready to find out what this is?"

[Melissa Arthur]

Michael may have been a gentleman, as was obvious from his holding doors for her and the like, but Melissa was a modern woman, and she slipped a few bills into the pocket of his long coat as she passed him.  She wasn't going to have him pay the whole cab fee, especially when he could have just teleported to save himself the trouble and expense, and she continued on as though she hadn't done anything, though she doubted a VAMPIRE wouldn't have noticed that.  Her pick-pocketing skills (which included the putting of money INTO pockets as well as taking it out) were only good enough to fool most humans, most of the time.

"Absolutely," she replied, turning blue eyes up to the building as well.  The younger blond wasn't nearly as striking as her vampiric companion, but she thought she did well enough for herself.  She didn't HAVE to look impressive.  That was what Michael was for. 

"Hopefully, he's just overreacting," she added, though she wasn't so sure that Jacob was.  He hadn't sounded like he was, though a little optimism wasn't SO bad, even if it was only skin deep.  A realist at heart, she knew better.

[Father Dantes]

((Me and Rae discussed the possibility of Dantes following them, but if anyone objects to him being present, just let me know and he shall scamper off to harass someone else.))

Father Dantes stood on a roof top across the street. The wind blowing slightly and ruffling his trench coat. He had remembered the girls mention of Vancouver street  and was now curious as to whether or not he may have the chance to intercept her and her odd Vampire savior.  For one so old, he was painfully oblivious to the true nature of heaven and earth and hell. How could one so old be so blind. It was almost headache inducing to Dantes, who had known his true nature from the start. He watched as the too appeared and headed into an apartment complex. Yes...there the are. He shielded himself, but did send a small questing tendril of power out to track the girl.

What he found astounded him. Not only did this human know that foolish heretic West...her sister..was...a DEMON. What strange circumstances are these, Dantes wondered. He had almost decided to make a personal inquiry into this strange party when a cab caught his attention.

It stopped and he watched as a man and woman climbed out. The woman he could tell, was a demon. The man..was difficult. He thought he caught whiffs of vampire..but also of witch. Something was not right here, and he was merely going to observe for the time being....but if the opportunity presented itself..there would be a glorious cleansing this night!

[Rae Adams]

If life were simple, Rae wouldn't be walking to her sisters apartment right now; she'd already be in the apartment.  If life didn't contain anything bad like vampires, Rae wouldn't be with one, she'd be sitting in the apartment with her sister, probably watching an old cheesy horror film like House on Haunted Hill that still managed to be scary with all the cheesiness.  Life wasn't easy no matter how much Rae wished that it was.  Like Leah had said long ago, "Life sucks, then you die, then you get to the afterlife and it probably sucks some more."

As she arrived at the door to the apartment, she hit the buzzer up to her sister's apartment and said, "Hey, Leah, it's me.  Let me in."

Leah was pacing in her apartment when the door buzzed and she heard her sister's voice.  Why Jacob didn't just teleport them in, Leah wished she knew.  Obviously, he hadn't told Rae jack about their world.... or for some reason he didn't want to teleport that far.  That stupid jerk.  Wouldn't it be safer just to teleport.  He probably didn't want to waste his precious energy.  Leah would have a word or three with him later.  She pressed the button to let them up, saying, "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin."

Rae snorted and opened the door.  Then she turned to Jacob. "Umm... are you coming in? Or... what?"

[Irina Wintour]

Jacob did not answer Rae straight away; he'd stopped in his tracks and turned 'round to face the parking lot again, narrowing his eyes behind his tinted lenses as a cab pulled into the complex. It wasn't the taxi that had initially caught his attention...a prickling sensation at the back of his neck, a subtle warning. Too subtle. He didn't know what, specifically, was putting him on edge. Yes, he worried that the insane vampire might show...so he was already unsettled...but he didn't see or feel anyone. Then again, that didn't necessarily mean that he wasn't there. Jacob had already noticed that the other vampire was frustratingly difficult to track or detect. Could it be...

But then he saw the occupants of the cab spill out into the parking lot, and it was definitely a welcome sight. He still did not relax. Instead, with exacting precision, he lifted his "walls" an infinitesimal fraction, the walls that he almost constantly had in place in order to muffle his age and power, just enough to leak a bit-- Michael Light (and possibly his companion, who Jacob recognized but could not match with a name) would have no trouble determining exactly where Jacob stood. Simultaneously, he sent his own little warning: it was not a projected thought, per se, as he was not really thinking in words, but he was unquestionably sending something. An idea? A feeling?

At any rate, both Michael and Melissa would be aware, once the warning reached them, that danger might already be here. A tangible, physical danger. No wasting time.

"Go on up," he said quietly to Rae, not turning. "And tell your sister that if she has anything she wishes to say to me, it should wait." He would have added a pleasant smile or something of the sort under other circumstances, but as it happened, he was now too tense. So much for up and leaving. Things just didn't feel safe, and he simply couldn't depart until he was satisfied that there was no threat.

And it would take more than a street apparently devoid of the vampire-priest-murderer fellow to convince him that there was no threat.

[Michael Light]

Michael quickly scanned and located Jacob, but the alert was unnecessary - Michael was still deeply in tune with his power. His head snapped back as he and Melissa walked, and his steps literally slid to a halt. He held a hand up, indicating for her to be still, and reached out with his senses. Whatever it was smelled musty, and old blood long since dried. It was faint, and definitely Nyeusi. Ah, so this was what the fuss was.

He took a step back the way they came, now facing forward, and pushed off with his supernatural senses - he hit a sort of wall, more like an absence of energy than any actual presence, which was probably the biggest indication that something was wrong - that and the strange pricking feeling he felt at the back of his neck. Even as a mortal witch, when vampires neared, that sensation seemed to happen, and now that he was a vampire it was no different.

"I think we have company, my lady," he said slowly to Melissa, his entire demeanor having changed the instant he turned around previously. It was certainly something Matthew would have paid to see, but his presence wasn't needed this time. Matt couldn't do anything but heal, and right now, healing was the last thing on Light's mind.

[Melissa Arthur]

Melissa certainly didn't have the vampire detector senses that both of the vampires did, but she caught Jacob's little mental 'warning' and tensed up some, only to freeze when Michael indicated that she stop moving, though she was paying EXTREMELY close attention to her own senses.  In the city, this was difficult because of the sheer mass of smells all over the place, but she could pick up on the faintest whiff of old blood.  She just didn't have the slightest idea where it was coming from.

"Lovely," she said quietly to his announcement, already itching to shift, though she really needed to get out of plain sight if she was going to do that.  An audience was more trouble for them than it was for their attacker.

Perhaps it would have startled Matt to see Michael's demeanor change with the threat so near, but Melissa had actually been expecting it.  Michael was a sweet guy, but that wasn't how you fought.  She could be a really nice lady as well, and she'd have no problem putting a sharp object through a vamp's eye, or something.  Nice and surviving didn't always mix, so she knew better than to let it bother or surprise her.

[Father Dantes]

Dantes surveyed the scene before him. The two from the cab were simply standing in the street looking around. That was slightly distressing...they may have caught wind of him. He looked at his coat and realized there was still some blood crusted there from his fight with West. Hmmm, that infernal demon must be able to smell it, he thought. Well...that simply wouldn't do. Dantes decided that a message most certainly must be sent this night.

Sweeping back his long black trench coat he withdrew one of his revolvers. The .45 Long Colt round was a savage round, big and with plenty of power. He spun the cylinder, insuring that all 6 chambers were loaded. He looked to the Rosary wrapped around his right wrist and whispered a prayer as he brought the revolver up. It was a fairly short shot, and he was confident that he could make it. He thumbed back the hammer, keeping his eyes locked on his target.

"Ad maiorem Dei gloriam*", he said as he squeezed the trigger. The gun bucked in his hand as the heavy slug cut through the air toward the woman standing on the street. Yes...tonight demon blood must be spilled.

((For the Greater Glory of God*))

[Leah Adams]

Now there was one person, involved in all of this, who was completely ignorant of all or, at least, most of the goings on of late.  She didn't know a thing about the danger to herself or her sister and she certainly was unaware of the big gathering of various Nyeusi outside her apartment.  This, contrary to popular belief (and her own belief), was a good thing.  Nobody wanted to know Leah when she was in a bad mood and knowledgeable that her life was in danger.

Leah waited up in her apartment impatiently for her sister to make her appearance... hopefully with Jacob so she could give him a piece of her mind... or two.  Of course, all of these thoughts were cut off when she heard a gun shot.  Rae was on her way up to her apartment and there was a gun going off outside.  If these two things were at all connected, Leah would kill Jacob.

Rae was in the process of running up to her sister's room when she heard the gunshot and instead doubled her speed.  Guns usually had nothing to do with vampires in the books, she'd have to trust it to be the same now.  Rae pounded on the door to her sister's room again.  "Leah! It's me! Let me in!"

Leah ran over to the door and opened it.  "Rae are you okay?  Did you hear that?" She pulled her sister in and shut the door behind her.  "Are you okay?" she demanded again once her sister was in the apartment and not in the hallway anymore.

"Yeah, I'm good..." Rae replied, "Yeah, I heard that... Are you okay?  I thought you'd be used to gunshots by now..." Rae laughed nervously, shocked by the way her sister was acting.  Then again, Leah had been sitting and waiting for Rae to get home for the past few hours.  She'd probably been worried to death.

Leah stared at Rae with her eyes wide.  With one little joke, she was pissed off.  "Do you know how worried I was?  I've been waiting hours for you and you get home and all you can do is joke?  I thought you were almost mugged?  How can you be so callous?"  Leah stormed over to the window to look outside and then looked at Rae, irritated.  "Where's Jacob?"

The moment Leah started yelling at Rae, Rae looked at her feet and took the yelling.  After all, she knew she'd have to face thing.  Even if it wasn't her fault.  "He said, if you wanted to talk, you'd just have to wait until later," Rae murmured.

"Well then we'll just have to wait," Leah said, sighing.  She hated it when Rae took the whole pouty little attacked sister mode.  She ran her fingers through her hair.  Then, she grabbed Rae's hand and pulled her over to the sofa that was across Leah's main room on the opposite side of the door and window.  "Let's wait over here, away from the window and you can tell me what you think of your savior and my boss."

"Your what?" Rae asked allowing Leah to pull her around, "You mean you work...?"  What had Rae told Jacob about Leah's new boss? Shit!

[Melissa Arthur]

It was strange, to Melissa at least, to be standing in the middle of open ground like that with the knowledge that some monstrous villain was more than likely watching them.  Life went on around them as though nothing was amiss, except for the three who were aware of the danger.  Obviously, none of them had located it, and Melissa had all of her senses trained specifically on anything that didn't sound, smell or look like it belonged.  She hadn't noticed anything, which was frustrating.

Wait.  WAIT.

She jerked her head towards Michael rather suddenly, certain that she'd heard something...familiar?  She hadn't ever heard it in person, she thought, but it made her think of Val Kilmer, for some reason.  Why?  "Did you--"

Another sound interrupted her thought, and her eyes widened.  It made her think of that actor because he'd been a gunslinger in a western.  That was a gun, and it'd just cocked.  "Michael, move!" she hissed suddenly, grabbing for his arm even as she made her own attempt to get out of sight of whoever had just cocked that gun.  She didn't make it far, but at least she didn't pull Michael into the path of the bullet instead.  She'd have disliked that more than she was already going to hate the next few minutes.

The bullet impacted her chest just below the collarbone on her right side and not all that far from her shoulder as a result of her sudden movement, but it'd missed her heart.  That had to have been where he was aiming, and even if it hurt like hell and had to have nicked the very top of her lung, she was alive.  For now.  It still broke the grip she'd gotten on Michael's arm and spun her backwards enough to knock her on her ass.  Instead of doing the typical 'stunned and stupid' move and just laying there while people on the street freaked out, she rolled over, trying to pull herself up one-armed and choking to get behind a car.  She needed cover, something to hide behind, and fast.  Before he tried again.

[Michael Light]

"Wha -- MELISSA!" he screamed, as the woman grabbed his arm, and then... fell.  It took him a second to realize what had happened, because he just couldn't believe what was happening.  Melissa had just been shot!  He made a move to lunge for her, but she was dragging herself behind the car, shaking her head no at him - stubborn woman.  The last eye contact he made with her before she disappeared behind the parked Camry was frightening - her own vibrant eyes were wide with pain and shock, and Michael's own had lost all the green colouration he loved so, bleeding darker and darker until they were as black as pitch. He nodded sharply to her, and turned.

Heat was radiating off of the vampire as he walked into the street.  He laced the minds of the mortals around him, 'Move along folks, nothing to see here, and the scent of sulfur was pungent and airborne as he practically ripped through the distance with a bolt of power, nose open on the trail of the gunpowder and the spark, still fresh on the fingertips of the damned.  With every useless breath he drew, the leaves rolling on the breeze in the street began to pop and crackle, fizzling to life, small combustions that would flare up and then fall away to ashes, crumbling before the naked eye.

Michael was pissed.

Jacob, I suggest that unless you want this entire city set on fire, you come outside now and get Melissa to safety.  The thought was projected at Jacob with such force that the heat carried with it, and might have actually given the vampire a brief 'hot flash'.  What was the old saying?  Oh yeah.  Never fuck with a Light witch.

[Father Dantes]

Dantes actually smiled when his round struck. Too bad it hadn't been a fatal shot, but he would finish her soon enough. The man looked very upset with what had happened...perhaps the two were lost in lust and fornication together? Dantes would show them the error of their sinful ways. He had been shamed recently by those accursed serpents and tonight he would find redemption.

He watched as the woman retreated behind the parked car. She certainly wouldn't be going anywhere for a while. He turned his attention toward the man, who was still standing where the woman had pulled him. He watched as the man's eyes seemed to darken. What was this? One of his brethren? Then he caught the scent of sulfur rising in the air.

Small fires seemed to be springing up in the leaves of the trees around them. And Dantes could feel the heat and power radiating off the man. This was something he had never encountered. The powers of a witch...but the man was a vampire? What sort of blasphemy is this? Dantes was slightly frightened at the prospect of what he was facing. But instead of running, he decided to confront this abomination head on, perhaps to make up for his lack of courage in the face of the serpents.

Dantes teleported himself down into the street. Flaming debris rolled across the ground between them as he faced his opponent. He drew one pistol with his left hand, and The Paladin with his right. It would only take one or two lucky strikes to end this, and he had killed vampires...and a couple witches.

"Foul abomination, tonight you shall reap what you have sown, and be banished to the fires of hell where you belong! That foul demon companion of yours will follow you shortly you can rest assured. Tonight...I shall redeem myself in the eyes of my Lord."

[Irina Wintour]

Jacob was still standing guard at the door to the apartment, scanning the general vicinity for the vampire-priest-murderer that he was almost positive was already there. He was failing where Michael and Melissa had already succeeded: Jacob was most in tune with power and the mind, the mental instead of the physical. He simply hadn't thought to sniff out blood.

A second before the gun went off, he'd abruptly realized something was going to happen, and, unfortunately, there was no doubt in his mind that it would not be something good. Confirmation came in the form of a bullet slamming into the shifter's chest. While she managed to scramble behind a car, and while Michael Light's power suddenly swelled and literally began to consume things in its path, Jacob cursed silently to himself --a rare thing indeed-- and swiftly ran through his options. Go to the shifter? Teleport upstairs and warn the sisters to stay put, THEN go to the shifter? Help Michael? Surely there was little he could do to assi--

'Jacob, I suggest that unless you want this entire city set on fire, you come outside now and get Melissa to safety.'

The projected thought roared in Jacob's mind like a furnace. Had the situation not been so pressing, he might have been stunned for a moment-- but that he could not allow. Instead, Michael's fiery message galvanized him to action. Discomfort be condemned, he thought as, once again, he teleported, this time spanning the short distance from the door to the vehicle that Melissa was huddled on the far side of. He wasted no time with words, just simply snaked an arm around her, avoiding the wound to the best of his abilities, and a moment later...

Both of them appeared in Leah Adam's apartment, right in front of the sofa. He no longer cared about whether one sister or the other was attempting to keep secrets about the Nyeusi world; both of them knew, and there were far more important things going on to stress or worry about something so...petty. His explanation was clipped: "Excuse us, but we have a bit of an emergency. All of you stay inside, please."

Without another word, he teleported again, appearing back outside and standing a reasonable distance from the incensed, nigh smoldering Michael Light. It was unfortunate that there was clearly not a chance of proffering, let alone establishing peace, not with what had happened and what was currently transpiring...and really, what else had he expected when he'd decided to call in Michael? Diplomacy did not stand much of a chance in the face of a murderous madman...Single Earth, according to its creed and policies, ought not to get involved in this business if the only path to take when dealing with this vampire was violence.

But here was a violent situation with no hope of a peaceful solution, and Michael certainly wasn't "unprovoked". Jacob couldn't help but stay close at hand, as helpless as he was in such a situation...he would still assist however he could, if it was necessary. For now, frankly loath to do anything that might fall under the heading of "violent", he lifted the walls that camoflauged his aged power, careful to be selective about it-- only fellow Nyeusi would feel it. Nothing too violent about a little show of power, right?

And there HE was, standing before Michael. Armed. Speaking...nonsense. Religious nonsense, yes. If there was one thing that had pained Jacob over the centuries, it was to see how certain individuals (and sometimes entire peoples) warped religion and fashioned it into something ugly. This vampire had clearly done so.

He narrowed his eyes and remained off to the side. Hate did not come easily...but strange pity mixed with contempt, that was another matter.

[Leah Adams]

The moment Jacob appeared in the room with a wounded blonde woman that Leah had seen before, but didn't know the name of, Leah leapt off the couch to, obviously help the woman.  His explanation was so short, Leah almost missed it, and Leah cursed after him as he left before looking at the woman. 

"Are you okay?" she asked curiously, "That stupid Jacob, bring a gunshot victim here and leave?  Jesus Christ!  What does he expect us to do, seriously?"

Leah was already heading to the bathroom to get what little first aide stuff she had and a bunch of towels.  She certainly wasn't going to have that woman bleeding all over the place and possibly die on that carpet.  She didn't want to have the awkward questions the idiot who owned the apartment would ask if he found bloodstains in the carpet... or a corpse.

Rae sat there, slack-jawed.  Jacob had teleported a woman into the room and Leah didn't even pause to question it?  In fact, she knew the guy and was more angry at him than anything?  Well, that was Leah.  But... that meant Jacob... lied to her.  Or he hadn't been completely truthful...  jack ass.

Rae climber off the couch and went to the girl, "Are you okay?  Who did this?"

"Rae, what the hell did you get yourself into?" Leah demanded as she returned from the bathroom.  This had to be her fault, after all.  Leah's life had never been this exciting on her own.  Well... it had when she'd been Rae's age, but things were different now.  She didn't have the same exciting friends.