A Long Walk {OPEN}

[Desiré Alys]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.  Cattle?  Did he seriously hear that right?  Cattle?  Bullshit!

"I've heard enough.  Thanks for you concern and the information, but it's time I head home.  Goodnight," he said firmly, not even about to argue with this freak about it.  Cattle.  This guy was talking about vampires having slaves, and humans being open territory, then calling them cattle?  How was Desiré supposed to be sure that this guy wasn't one of those vampires that had slaves?

Shit.  ShitfuckmotherfuckerFUCK.

He smelled of blood, which might make sense for a vampire, but what about those other things?  The fear, and the metal?  Why metal?  Why so strongly?  What was metal?  Cars were metal, but that wasn't it.  That was just his brain having a stupid hang-up.  What else was metal?  What could be used like that?  Chains.  Chains were metal.  So were bars, like in a jail.  He didn't know how those things worked, but why else would this guy stink of metal like that?  And the fear.  There was too much of that on him.

Yeah, Desiré was done.  That was enough. 

[Lothaire]

So Lothaire had over stepped himself in his enthusiasm. Oh well, he had had his fun. Perhaps a little bit more active learning would be appropriate. The shifter did need to learn the natural order of things, and his place in them. Lothaire drew his mental faculties back from the crowd. He allowed himself to radiate his usual Midnight aura of power, pain and fear. If the boy really was as unique as Lothaire believed, a lesson in how vampires could ruin your day might help keep off the black market. As the crowd thinned and they passed a solid brick wall Lothaire whirled and pinned the boy against the wall. He leaned in close, his maroon eyes bleeding away to solid black orbs. He made sure as he spoke his fangs were plenty visible. And he drew his mental powers up and assaulted the boys mind with the memories of the car wreck.

"My, my how ungrateful you are. I offer you advice and you have such thoughts about me. Boy, you don't know what pain is until you cross a trainer of Midnight. We can twist you and bend you and break your very soul. You are one of a kind...be glad you are free blood. Any trainer would be ecstatic over such a unique prize, but there are the rules, and the hunters. Despite your speed and strength, you are still only one step up the ladder from an ordinary human and we will always be stronger, and quicker.

Also, as you may well have realized by now, we can invade your mind. How does it feel to be so powerless? Remember, we are here, watching and waiting. Best you always mind your manners so that you do not become someone's dinner. And know this, I will find out where you came from whether you want to tell me or not.....your free blood status just keeps you out of Midnight, not out of my reach. But I think this is enough of a lesson for one night. Perhaps next time we meet you will not have such impolite thoughts blaring out for the world to here."

Lothaire slackened his grip and allowed the boy to slide back down the wall till his feet were back on the ground. He had made his point, and there was no doubt in his mind that the boy was terrified enough that he would flee at the first hint of a vampire, trainer or not. Let Single Earth try and sort that out. He would be watching the boy to see if he went back to his creator or if there was any way to snatch the information from his mind. All he knew was that it had been a doctor that perhaps had a female companion that was a shifter, that left too many possibilities in a city this size and this over run with the super natural. He glanced back at the boy one last time with the light reflecting from his black eyes and his fangs bared by the arrogant smirk on his face, then turned and teleported, something he had oh so accidentally forgotten to inform the boy vampires were capable of. Oh well, school was out for the night.

[Desiré Alys]

Being manhandled just wasn't something Dez was cool with.  He never had been, and he never would be.  Being a vampire didn't make this guy special enough to manhandle him, and he'd been about to snarl exactly that as soon as he was done hissing in pain over being smacked into the wall.  About to, but then the memories of the car accident hit him full-blast, as though he was back in the car, going through it all over again.

Sebastian was in the seat next to him, clinging to the 'oh shit' handle and looking horrified, something he hadn't initially remembered, but he'd seen it at the time.  He tore the steering wheel to the side to avoid back-ending the car in front of him, his stupid drunk friend, and careened towards the trees with the wheels sliding around in the mud on the side of the road.  He'd forgotten that it had rained, but how could he really?  What he'd never forget was the split-second decision, as he was headed right for a massive tree, to try to pass it by on the driver's side.  He wasn't willing to risk not making it on the passenger side, not with Sebastian there, even if he thought he'd have had a better chance of making it.  Didn't want to risk it, and now?  Now, it was like slow-motion.  Was that because of the vampire?  Had to be, because he remembered it happening fast.

This was worse.  At least then, he couldn't see it coming, not with any time to think about it and understand how bad it was going to be.  Then, he hadn't seen the way the car impacted the tree and kept moving, being crushed and tearing up bark and wood in the process.  He hadn't seen the metal crush his leg, sharp and broken edges tearing into the skin and muscle, nor had he had to take in the way his arm had been torn up, all that shining glass raining down on him at the same time, as though it was some kind of macabre confetti.  He hadn't remembered all this detail, because within seconds of impact, his body had been rocked around and his head had impacted the tree.  He'd blacked out then, and the memories and pain blacked out this time, as well. 

It left him shaking and terrified, that much was true.  He was breathing hard, gasping for air and wide-eyed, but Lothaire was just sucking up the satisfaction from being able to remind him of what had truly scared him.  Desiré wasn't afraid of vampires, or this vampire.  He was afraid of this gaping wound that he apparently had.

He didn't say anything as the vampire monologued, but that was because he needed time to recover, and when he looked up to see the asshole grinning, he flicked him off in time to watch him disappear.  Just, vanish.  Great.  So vampires could do that, too? 

Wow, he needed to figure out more about this, because it was absolutely ridiculous, but first, he needed to collect himself and remember where his car was.  He'd walked to avoid going into a dark parking lot with that freak, and now he had to retrace his steps.  For now, he was just going to lean on the wall, drop his bag, and just catch his breath. 

"Asshole."

[Laura Vida]

"I still don't see why you wanted to wait until the last minute to tell me you needed to go to the library and get these books for a report due in two days. I was supposed to go play soccer with a few of the guys from the college," Lance said, an accusatory glance thrown in his sister's general direction as she fumbled through her pocket for her library card.

  Laura smiled brightly at him. "You didn't have to come," she said. She took the two books he was holding from him and handed both those and her card to the petite blonde behind the counter. "I am capable of going here by myself, you know," she reminded him sternly.

  As the librarian checked Laura out, Lance only smirked at her. "It's okay, we played soccer Tuesday night. I'd rather hang out with you," he replied smoothly, taking the books from the woman and handing Laura her card back.

  Laura snatched it out of his hand and thrust it into her back pocket. "You mean stalk me," she corrected him. She turned so quickly she hit him with her long blonde hair, and Lance only laughed as he followed behind her, doing his best zombie impression as he carried her books.

  "You know," Laura said as they stepped out onto the street, "it wouldn't kill you to get a life. Or a girlfriend. I have this really nice girl in my chem class I could totally set yo---"

  Lance cut her off with a wave of his hand. "No thanks, Laura. Knowing you, you'll bring home little old Mrs. Wilson from down the hall. God, she gives me the creeps. Did I tell you she grabbed my ass when I was bent over in the hall the other morning? I dropped like, ten pounds of mail - you know we've been forgetting to check it? Anyways, yeah, there I was, fully dressed about to go to class, and I feel this little pinch on my ass. And when I stand up, she's just gliding by with this grin on her face. It was GROSS," he shouted, shivering up and down and making a face.

  "So's your face," she said absently. Laura had stopped paying attention and was looking around. She could sense a very agitated aura, someone who was extremely upset - and they were close. It was familiar enough that it caught her attention almost instantly, and she held up a warning hand to Lance, trying to tell him to be quiet. She didn't have to - as soon as she'd stilled, he straightened like an Irish Setter.

  "Kind of feels like..." he trailed off.

  "It's coming from around the corner," she said, looking at him with a serious gaze. "Come on, let's check it out." She turned on the heel of her tennis shoe and jogged to the end of the sidewalk, and then turned the corner, Lance very nearly on top of her for how close he was. He almost ran into her when she stopped abruptly, but his balance kept him from mowing her over.

  "Dez?" they said at the same time. Laura looked up and gave her brother an annoyed stare, but for the moment, she was thankful he was there. They spread out and began down the mouth of the alley, Lance lingering behind enough in case whatever had caused him such distress came back. Meanwhile, Laura knelt down next to her friend.

  "Hey, what happened? We could feel your heart pounding from like a mile away," she said. It was an exaggeration, but not unwelcome, given the circumstances.

[Desiré Alys]

He decided, after a few minutes trying to pull himself together, that there was no way he was going to be driving that night.  All that work he'd put into trying to move on and get back into the swing of normal life, and it had been completely destroyed by one prick's moment of boredom.  It had taken an absolute force of will for him to get back into the driver's seat so soon after the accident, and he'd been slowly making himself more alright with it each time he drove, but it had been difficult.  He was doing well, right up until tonight.  Now, everything was fresh in his mind all over again, the pain and terror right there where all he could do was think about it, and it was almost like he could hear that dripping blood reverberating through his mind again.  After all, when he'd woken up in the car, that's what he'd heard.  He'd been dazed and in so much pain that he couldn't think straight, but he'd remembered that.  That, and worrying about Sebastian.

Frankly, he wanted to be sick.  There was no reason any normal human should ever have to deal with shit like this, and how had he gotten so lucky?  This vampire had to fuck with him because he was a shifter?  Was that it?  So, he'd either gotten to be a cripple for the rest of his life, or be harassed by psychotic fairy-tale monsters instead?  God, what was this, a twisted game of 'Would You Rather'?

To make things better, perhaps even literally, he had company.

"Holy shit!" he hissed under his breath when he heard his name, flinching and looking up only long enough to realize who it was and that he wasn't under attack again, and then Lance was standing back to watch everything and Laura was kneeling beside him while he rubbed at his face and ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to pull himself back into an alright mindset.  When had he ended up in a crouch against the wall, instead of standing up?  He didn't remember, and didn't really care. 

"A freak who called himself a vampire stopped me on the street," he told her, just saying it out loud sounding like he was insane already.  Maybe he was.  Post-traumatic stress, or something.  The doctors had said that was possible, but he'd blown them off.  "He was spouting something about slaves and being unique, and then he attacked me."

There, the Reader's Digest version.  He could give her more details after he could think straight, and after he knew that he wasn't insane and she wasn't going to laugh at him.  He still thought he might be.  Flashbacks were making him think that weird things were happening.  That made more sense than vampires that could disappear in a blink of an eye.  "This sounds crazy.  Being attacked by a vampire?  I think I had some kind of panic attack, about the accident, and I guess that did something.  I don't know," he added, sounding about as confused as he felt, but even if he'd been willing to rationally accept the idea that it was a vampire and life was absolutely, stupidly insane before, now he didn't know what to think.  It might be PTS. 

[Laura Vida]

"I'm gonna go check around really quick," Lance said. Something visible about his movements had changed, and his sister could feel the heat raise off of him as he pushed out with his power. His jaw was set as he turned on the heel of his shoe and vanished out onto the sidewalk - Laura knew that if he found whatever vampire had done this, they wouldn't be able to ever do it again.

  "Dez, I just need you to take a few breaths and calm down, okay?" she said. She placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to determine if he had any injuries. She wasn't a Smoke, so she couldn't heal him, but she could at least get the skinny on what was going on. She determined he was seriously shaken, but not physically ailing in a way that was serious.

  "Okay," she said slowly. "I believe you," came next, followed by a, "I'll explain later." She stood up and held out her hand to him. "Come on, let's go back to the apartment. I'll fill you in when we get there, but I need you to walk this off for the moment. He could still be close by, and my priority is getting you safely out of here." Something about Laura's tone suggested that he didn't necessarily want to argue with her for the moment.

  As she turned, Lance appeared at the entrance. "He's gone," he said, his voice low and obviously irritated. "Let's go back home. It'll just be easier to deal with there," he concluded. He waited for the two of them, looking a lot more serious than Dez had probably ever seen him.

  "Yeah, that's what I just said," she replied, holding her arm out for Dez to take. She wasn't in the mood for any surprises - at least if a vampire tried to snatch him now, they'd really have to go through her.

  It was kind of funny - despite the fact that they were obviously not twins, Lance and Laura operated on a system that could have been described that way. They were polar opposites most of the time, but at the moment, they were synced up in such a way that it could have been laughable to Dez had it not been at his expense.

[Desiré Alys]

Desiré didn't really know what it was about Lance that had suddenly become different, but his head shot up when the guy said he was going to check around, and he watched him for a moment, trying to figure it out.  It was different, there was no denying, but he didn't understand it, and it really wasn't helping his heart rate or his general demeanor, so Laura distracting him and putting her hand on his shoulder was actually a good thing.  It meant that he zeroed in on her, and nodded, taking a few deep breaths and trying to pull himself back into his normal level of calm.  It sucked, because he was usually so relaxed, but not about the accident.  That wasn't cool, at all.

His pulse spiked again when she said she believed him, and his eyes flicked up to her again, this time not sure what to do about it.  It wasn't like he didn't trust her all of a sudden because of it, but it was just....he'd just blamed his panic attack on a vampire, which sounded ridiculous even to him, and she believed him?  How could she manage that?  He stared up at her for a second when she stood and offered him her hand, telling him they'd go back to the apartment she and Lance shared, and he accepted her hand, but it still made no sense.  She was talking about getting him safely out of there, and filling him in, but he'd mentioned vampires.

Oh, god, she wasn't some closet goth freak, was she?  If so, he was going to be up shit's creek if she somehow found out about him.  He hadn't thought of that as being an issue, since who would believe that he was some kind of shapechanger person, but if she believed in vampires....?  God, he didn't even know what to do, other than to go along with it.  At least he knew her and Lance, and didn't think they were in it to hurt him, or whatever had been going on with that guy. 

You know what?  Yeah, that wasn't a bad idea.  He'd spent time hanging out with them before, and when all this calmed down, it would all be fine.  They could be like normal and all laugh about the idea of vampires, even though Lance and Laura reacting like some kind of battle-ready machine together at the idea that there was someone dangerous in the area was a little...odd.  Okay, a lot odd.  Clearing this all up was going to be for the best, seriously.

"Alright, this makes no sense, but back to your apartment.  I can handle that.  I...lost my car, anyway," he said, adding the last as he took her offered arm and a moment to look around.  The idea that he'd imagined that man was getting less likely, since he definitely wouldn't have ended up here if he hadn't been trying to stay near people.  He'd have gone to his car, which was parked in the school lot, so technically, he'd lost himself instead of the car, hadn't he?  Wow, this was brilliant.