The Dark of the Night

[Melody Craft]

[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 Walsh]

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 Craft]

 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?"

[Derek Walsh]

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 Craft]

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 Walsh]

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]

 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 Craft]

 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.

[Derek Walsh]

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. 

[Kiyoshi]

 "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 Walsh]

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. 

[Kiyoshi]

 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.

[Derek Walsh]

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]

 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.

[Melody Craft]

 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.