Fight and Flight of Serendipity [RP]

Vent gawked at the display of hostility as he took it, his eyes widening in a mix of fear and disgust.


Vent always knew other preternatural creatures like himself weren't all nice and gentle. There were actually very few as peaceful as a sylph. But this kind of unwarranted behaviour wasn't needed at all. It wasn't as if the shadow had fed upon it, in a natural way Vent could understand and even condone, and the mouse had done nothing wrong to the shadow to deserve dying. It has been a pointless waste of a life. It bothered him greatly.


".... Why would you do that?" He asked, getting up to his feet, dusting himself off. He more or less was fine now, as compared to the buzzed and misunderstanding mess he had been mere moments ago.
 
The quiet slump of a body hitting the pavement cast a small echo through one certain dismal and damp alleyway in the city of Praesul. The towering, shadowed form that stood over it gave a small wince and seemed to shake its head, giving the 'scene' an air of regret. Or, rather, it would, were any around to witness the act. A beat passed in silence and the figure, a creature called Swarm, spoke.


"You'll be a'right," the muffled male voice assured halfheartedly, hand tugging a crudely fashioned bandanna over his mouth. "Like I tol'ja, it wears off soon. Won't remember me or what I did, thankfully." A raspy sigh followed this and a shifting sound of flesh came from beneath the facial covering, the creature's jaw re-fusing into something that almost looked like a human face. Despite the dark, grubby and bandaged hands placed sunglasses over unnatural eyes, all the while turning and heading quickly into another of the branching alleyways and making a quick escape from the depressing scene.


Boots splashing through puddles and scraping the dirty ground, Swarm began his usual stroll of exploration, aiming to quickly cover the ground around what he called 'home'. He knew he wasn't the only inhuman that crept through these backways at night, but in his few years here he hadn't met or even acknowledged any others, nor was he approached by them. However, one could learn quite a lot from listening carefully and staying out of the business of others.


Tonight, though... tonight was different somehow. He'd heard word around the dark of experiments with normals. In all honesty, the possibility of them being usual rumors was quite high, but there was always a chance to learn something new; especially when the subject hit so close to home.


"The f#%k am I gettin' into?" he grumbled to himself as he passed a few normal-folk that reeked of booze. "God damn BUM!" the female called after him, heaving an empty bottle his way. It hit the wall and burst, spattering his dirty coat with glass and stale beer. Giving a huff, he walked on, doing his best not to get involved. Too much at risk. Not late enough yet, not secluded enough.


Shaking the glass away in numb annoyance, he moved to another section of the alley and made haste toward another homeless man who stood before a burn barrel warming his gloved hands. "Any chance ya' know a place I can get some info?" he rasped after giving a friendly nod. "I've been hearin' these weird stories..."
 
"Do what? Give you a warning?" Meido cocked her head faintly, before creating another mouse. This one, however, she didn't kill, rather, she curled her fingers around it, watching them slip through it as the illusion distorted before disappearing completely. "Because your kind are too friendly, and too stupid to know what could hurt them without flashing lights and neon signs."


Wrapping her arms over her chest, she glanced to the right. A streak of light on th ground had appeared, and voices drifted out. Shit... Looking him over once more, she shook her head, before moving off towards the closest alley. If he got himself caught, good, she didn't want anything to do with it.
 
Scrambling up to his feet as the wind told him of immediate problems, Vent swallowed hard, rushing into the same alley as the shadow.


"Wait for me!" He hissed, leaping and letting the wind carry him quickly, much farther and faster than a human could move.
 
'A sylph? Creatures of the wind right? From the greek 'silphe'? Wings, female, ya da ya da?' Jace raised an eyebrow at him, resting a hand on her hip as she studied him, amused. The glow from the streetlamp cast a light sheen on seemingly glossy feathers that now covered the stranger's face. She gave a slight smirk. 'Whether or not I hunt them depends on how much you have to offer. How much is the Sylph's head worth to you?' Inside she was cursing Victor. So he'd let her name slip had he? Well, he was always a little absent minded when working. She could always cut him a little slack, but then that might show a soft spot towards the scientist. No, he would get a visit from her, that much was certain, and he wouldn't like it at all. She looked back to Caleb, not knowing his name of course, but assuming that he would only use those terms if he wanted the sylph dead. 'Now, how do you want it done? I'm partial to close combat kills myself, but if you prefer something else, i can oblidge. It's all in the price really. The fancier the kill, the more I charge.' She informed him, slowly holstering her weapon but keeping her hand on the butt of the gun. 'I do take other arrangements on occasion, but only for select clientelle. However, if your mad scientist is the same as mine, then perhaps I might be more lenient towards the idea of a.. discount of sorts.' She smiled winningly, sizing him up as she waited for his reaction.
 
He moved to the monitors, his fingers flying over a keyboard before them, one blanking for a second before scrolling the words 'What is thy bidding, my master?' He typed in his password, flicking between simple menus, his eyes ever alert as he checked out the readiness of his various defenses, updating the information about the new power source, and checking it's effectiveness. He wrinkled his nose.


A faint smile crossed his lips, flicking over to another menu, his fingers moving as he engineered a new idea he would need to make. It would be a while, his wet work lab was presently being used to make what he needed for his new perpetual motion machine. Hopefully it wouldn't wear out any time soon. He couldn't figure out a better way of doing it. Not for lack of trying, mind you, and he knew it would take a few months until he could power a lot of his toys.


He stood, moving into his bedroom, large enough for a double bed, his wardrobe, and a nightstand, taking out one of his various uniforms. City worker, changing light bulbs in traffic lights and installing his various cameras. Although it was Spring, night was the best time to do it, and he would be working into the early morning. He had to grab some antihistamines on his way out.


He picked up his toolbox, walking up the stairs that lead from his lair to his garage, stowing the tools in the black GMC van. He would retreat and return with his walking stick, twirling it seemingly absentmindedly as he walked, not using it and hanging it from the roof of the back area of the van. The way he drove would keep it moving. He would press a card against the keypad which slammed shut the door downwards, before getting into the car and driving.


not long after, he would be halfway up a traffic light pole, causing havoc with any passing traffic, having easily cut the power to the lights, shimmying upwards, replacing a bulb and adding a camera, replacing it and falling off his precarious perch. A stream of profanity would be muttered as he limped, his nose almost glowing red from his hay fever, eyes starting to water from it and pain. He turned the power back on from the junction box, moving to sit in his van and wrap his ankle up.


He wasn't going to be doing any climbing for a day or two, at least. So he just sat in his van, taking off the reflective vest and popping four little pink pills he mixed up to stop the allergies. At least he patched up one more hole in the security web he was weaving. He sat in the cooling air, his eyes half closing as the pills went to work.
 
Nathaniel adjusted the chrome tie he wore with the stylish charcoal grey suit and light grey shirt, checking his reflection in the mirror of the restaurant bathroom, a smirk on his face. It had all gone down very nicely. Now for the alibi. He knew all too well that he would be the first questioned for Marie's death. and why shouldn't he be? After all, it was his mother that started it all. They would look through the history of the killer, they would see that it all began with her. The woman he had thought was his mother. The poor child, they'd all thought back then. Poor, innocent little child. But then, he'd changed his name after that, gone from being Toshiro Tsuimata to Nathaniel Marx. He'd been lucky, escaping the backlash. He knew that if they dug deep enough, they might find out his past, which was exactly why he went to so much trouble to keep his tracks covered. He'd already sweet-talked the receptionist from the previous shift into allowing him to look at her computer logs, thus inserting his own name into the reservation and arrival list. Later he'd 'borrow' the servailance footage. see, he wasn't an idiot. He had gotten this far without becoming good at what he did. He had modest skills, skill enough to break into a simple restaurant log anyway. The system was primitive compared to some, he mused.


He wandered out of the bathroom just as a woman named Janette Monroe announced her presence to the receptionist. The moment he saw those brilliant ruby coloured eyes, he knew that it was her. His next target. What luck, meeting her here. Just in time too. He'd soon get bored if he didn't keep himself entertained. 'Ellemea, what a splendid surprise.' He murmured to himself, deciding to take his own seat in the VIP section before making his presence known to her. He'd been digging up quite a bit of information about her from the moment he decided that he was going back into business. She was, somewhat, his inspiration. Oh of course, poor Marie had been the first, she had to be. She knew him too well. She'd gotten beneath the facade and thus it had to be her. But it was Ellemea that had triggered that desire. He couldn't wait to have her in his collection. She would look truly marvellous. He began to imagine it as he watched from a distance, waiting for her companion to arrive. No woman would dress like that simply to dine alone. No, she was meeting someone. It would be interesting to find out who.


He could play the game while he waited for Marie to be discovered. It wouldn't take too long. After all, he'd chosen the scene perfectly. It was a building soon to be renovated before the new owners moved in. He hoped they'd take photo's when they found her. Of course he'd taken his own, but there was something about crime scene photos that made him feel positively elated. Pride rushed through him whenever he looked back on his past collection. He was a collector of beautiful things, and he had chosen to collect that which was most beautiful of all, the life. He would steal their last breaths, keep them in his palm for a moment and dispense them into the air. But it was the memories that lingered. He would always remember how beautiful they looked in those last moments, and how much more beautiful they were when he was finished.
 
“She's Alive!” A tall man clad in orange armor shouted over the wail of sirens, holding a teenage girl in his arms. He rushed her over to an awaiting ambulance where the paramedics rushed forward to meet her.


Another person, a middle aged woman, darted over and paused next to the gurney the fire fighter had placed the girl. She rushed forward and looked down at her daughter, Erin, expecting to see a person mauled flames. Instead, she was shocked to see no apparent signs of the hell she had just went though. The only sign that she had even been in an explosion was the blackened charred clothes that hung loosely from her body. “It's a miracle,” she said in a soft whisper, as she looked up at the paramedic who had brought her over.


Two weeks after her miraculous escape from the methane explosion that had consumed her child hood home, Erin was now walking the streets alone. The cool evening breeze tickled at the blisters that had since formed along her neck. Erin reached up and grasped hold of the soft fabric her collar and raised it up, offering some protection to her burnt neck. This only served to elicit a sharp hiss as the cloth passed over her sensitive arms.


“Hmm, this is very strange,” the doctor remarked. Only a week after her heroine escape, she was back on the examining table at the hospital. While she hadn't shown any signs of in the moments after the incident, it appeared that now that she was having some sort of reaction after the fact.


The “reaction”, as the elderly doctor called it, had began to form just a few hours after she got home from the hospital. At first it started out small; a minor burn about 10 cm across upon her stomach. Her mother simply believed that it was a burn make that was missed when they examined her at the hospital. But when the burn began to grow larger and more severe, it was obvious that this was more than a simple case of oversight.


And from the strange looks that the doctor and nurses were giving her, she knew that this wasn't normal. The doctor attempted to hide his unease and reassure the frightened Erin by placing his hand upon her shoulder and saying, “It's going to be alright child.” Erin twitched from the brief, but sharp sense of pain when he did that. The doctor pulled back the collar and noticed that a new blister had formed on the shoulder, something he had already checked for only fifteen minutes ago.


“I'll be right back, I'm just going to go check something.” Dr. Jackson said before leaving the room.


As soon as he had shut the door behind him, Erin hopped off of the table and rushed over to the door. She carefully opened the door and peeked through the slit to see the doctor standing with her mother, He let out an exacerbated sigh before saying, “I don't know what's wrong...”


Over the next three days, she would become very familiar with that phrase. No matter how many doctors she saw, they all ended up saying the same five words after they were done seeing her. All they could do was offer to send her along to another specialist. At this point, Erin's entire body was covered by first degree burns and she now had blisters on her neck, thighs, stomach and shoulders. It was clear to all that the problem was becoming worsening as time moved on.


More difficult to endure than the physical torment, was the emotional and social trauma it was inflicting. At first, the burns were a minor inconvenience during cheering practice that she could simply tough out. But as the first blisters began to form, even the simplest of cheers became excruciating.


At first they were sympathetic, or at least appeared to be. Erin knew how her friends truly were, they could be petty, shallow and callous a lot of the time, but their opinions still were important to her. So, she was surprised to discover that when her symptoms progressively continued to worsen, they began to move further away from her. And when she walked into the bathroom on one day in school and overheard them talking about how weird she had become, she turned away and walked out of the school, crying.


Erin had finally had enough. Tonight she had slipped out of the home after her mom had brought the evening dinner to her. When they had left, she slipped on a black hoodie and her grey jogging pants before slipping out of the window. Satisfied she hadn't been followed, she made her way down the street towards a new age shop just down the street from her home.


Erin had hoped that since traditional doctors couldn't help her out, perhaps she could find help from nontraditional sources. She had always laughed at it, joking with her cool friends at how dorky that place looked like, and funny all the portly guys who went into there were. Now, she was in the position of being the weird kid sneaking in at night.


A small bell that was hung just above the doorway, rang, announcing her entrance into the store. The aroma of flowers and spices rushed forth and overwhelmed her sense. No doubt the smell from the aroma candles that lined the walls of the inside of the room. Accompanied by the black-light lamps, the flickering candles gave the room an ominous vibe to it. And if that didn't, all the goth posters, adult toys, knives and other nick knacks that would be associated with such a store, did.


Opposite of her, was a girl that appeared to be about the same age as Erin. Erin had thought that she may of seen her before, perhaps even shared a class with her but wasn't sure. As Erin approached the sales counter, she realized that she not only had recognized her, but had even sat next to her before. Erin had acted like a complete bitch to her back then, always pulling pranks on her and mocking her along with her friends. She had thought about turning back, but it seemed that the Gothic girl appeared far more interested in the book than in Erin's presence.


Erin moved forward and stopped on the other side of the display and quietly, shyly, cleared her throat so that the girl would respond. “What do you want,” the employee remarked, before blowing a bubble with her gum.


“ Uh, I'm looking for some help,” Erin replied sheepishly.
 
Swarm and the other male spoke off and on for quite awhile, more time passing than the mutant had expected. It was not all bad, however, as the creature found himself strangely calmed at the simple action of sharing words with something other than the shadows and vermin of the alleyways. Though, throughout the exchange, the other man began to become more and more withdrawn as he studied Swarm's hulking form and strange coverings.


Giving a quick thanks and a nod, the mutant moved away, not as disappointed as he would have expected. If the bum had been as sure as his frightened eyes shown, the rumors seemed to hold a glimmer of truth to them. There had been someone lurking through the maze of backstreets and scooping up those they could, fooling them with the promise of sustinance; be it food, alcohol or company for the evening. A scowl crossed the giant's face behind his 'mask'.


"Closer an' farther from the truth again," he mumbled, starting down another pathway when voices and movement brought him to a halt. Sniffing the air, he moved back the way he'd come and peered around the broken brick corner of the wall and lowered his dirty sunglasses. Yellow eyes, like gold set in coal, glinted fiercely as he waited to see just what brand of creatures were heading down the alleyway toward him.
 
"Why would I want to wait for you, you're going to get us caught." Meido hissed, sliding through the shadows. Stopping half way down the alley, she pressed back into the darker spots, reaching out and grabbing the Sylph's arm to pull him in as well. At the end they had come from, a drunk human couple waded by, laughing loudly into the night. When they passed, her grip released on his arm, and she shook her hand out, looking around


Her head stopped facing the other way. There was....someone watching them.
 
A thin smile pulled to one side of his mouth but stopped shy of framing his sharpened teeth. No need to give the huntress the wrong idea. Not so soon, anyway. The sharpening of his senses brought the scent of her irritation like a citrus tang to his awareness. What a funny girl. He heard her words, the blasé cataloging of options but did not listen overmuch. “I do not know how a sylph would take to a bullet,” Caleb answered idly, stepping closer to the woman so their voices would carry between only them. “I know they do not affect me overmuch. You might be limited to your close range skills.”


Against his intention Caleb’s wings flexed outward suddenly and he clenched his fingers around his upper arms, bearing down the strength of his mind and his muscles to bring them back to place. Evening had settled deeply on the city and these were quiet streets, but they were not abandoned and there could be mundane and enemy and both among the watchful eyes. It was her mention of the mad scientist that had done it; how interesting. Now why would that be?


“I’m not looking for a bloody kill. I have no…no desire for revenge on the sylph.” There were more vile creatures he could seek out if that were the case. “He is but a boy in mind, and goes by the name Vent. He is careless in his ignorance. He will not be difficult to find.” Caleb quietly named a price.
 
Jace's lips twitched in a smile. 'You've got yourself a bounty hunter. Now, anything particular you want done with the body or do you not mind what happens to it?' She asked, tucking her thumbs in the pocket of her jeans and rocking back and forth on her heels. She was looking forward to this. 'Vent.. Oh a male? That's new. i guess the folklore doesn't always hold true.' She smirked, feeling a little more relaxed in the male's company. 'Quick, clean death i can do, though the bloody ones can be fun as well.' The smirk remained as she reached up to push a strand of hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear.


She was mildly amused that creatures of similar situations still required a hunter. Of course, humans were the same. Blood lust, hatred, anger, all were fuel for her work. Without it she had nothing to base it on really. She'd make no living that was certain. Then she'd still be in petty crime, breaking into houses and stealing jewellery. She nearly shuddered at the thought. She returned to the present, looking over at Caleb with a slight glint in her eye. 'Well, if you have nothing else you need to discuss, I have a meet to get to and then I have some intel to gather.' And a mad scientist to pay a visit to, she thought with a little heat. Now that she thought of it, Victor probably had at least moderate information on sylphs. After all, the guy was a busy man, not to mention knowledgeable. If he didn't have any clue about a creature, there wasn't many else who did. She felt she could trust him, to a point. They were similar, sold to the highest bidder but contacts got priority. That was why she went to him for help she supposed.
 
"What do you mean you can't help me," Erin shouted at the frightened girl behind the counter. At first, the conversation had been civil, even cordial, when Erin had entered and began speaking with the store attendant, Jewel. But when Erin began to describe problem, she just couldn't accept that Jewel had nothing available in the store that could help Erin with the condition she had developed.


"I'm sorry, but I don't know of any herbs or natural remedies that will help with... that." Jewel raised her hand and motioned to the blisters along her neck.


Erin couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had done a little research online, and had been told be a couple of people on a forum that there were natural remedies out there for everything. Her warping mind began to drown in paranoia; believing that Jewel didn't want to help her and just wanted to cause her misery. This was contrary to the fact that she had been nothing but polite to Erin.


Jewel began to get nervous as Erin's tone became increasingly hostile.The moment she pulled her feet back behind her to step back from the counter, Erin snapped and raised her hand and shouted back at her as she pointed her find accusingly, "You just don't want to help me! You're just wanting to get back at me!"


"Calm yourself," A voice spoke to her, deep within her subconscious.


"SHUT UP!" Erin shouted at the immaterial voice, turning her head to look around for the source.


Jewel used the moment of distraction to drop down and grab at her phone in her purse. Erin caught the blur of moment and brought her attention back to Jewel. "What are you doing!"


"I'm calling the police. You need help Erin," Jewel responded, holding the phone out from her body as she tried to calm Erin down.


More on instinct than any conscious thought, Erin brought up her hand and a jet of flame leaped out and connected with the phone in Jewel's hand. Jewel screamed out in pain and shock as the fire ripped the skin off of her arm; leaving only charred and crispy remains of the muscle tissue underneath and portions of bones sticking out.


Tears began to run down both Jewel's and Erin's eyes as they looked at each other. Neither of them understood what was happening, as her skin began to emanate red. Jewel watched in frozen terror as Erin shined brighter and brighter. She turned her head away and used her wounded arm as a shield from the light.


Suddenly, Erin's body began sending out pulses of heat from her body. Jewel attempted to move through the waves of energy, but found the heat too intense to pass through. The only option she had available to her was to crouch down behind the counter, in an attempt to make herself as small as possible. She waited there, eyes closed and in sheer terror, for the fate that she knew would befall her.


Erin inhaled deeply, closing her eyes just before the waves ceased. Her eyes opened once more and looked over at Jewel through the glass of the counter with eyes replaced by orbs of fire. As she spoke, her voice had changed to one that seemed to echo on the wall, blended with the voice of another, "I'm sorry child..."


Erin's skin once shined white, before a powerful explosion detonated outward from her. The fireball consumed the building, blowing a hole out of the room that served to signal all that a disaster had just occurred. Fortunate for Jewel, she died in the inferno that consumed the small store, leaving only a huddled burnt corpse in its wake. Also in the aftermath, Erin noticed that her skin was replaced with some sort of fiery membrane moved back and forth along her skin like waves on the ocean.


Outside, the sounds of sirens could be heard approaching the scene of the accident. Erin turned her head and looked out of the blown window and knew she had little time to escape. The entity inside of her was saying to run, and for the first time she was in agreement with it. She leaped through the remains of the window. Erin darted out of the building and headed into an alleyway on the opposite side of the street. As she was moving across, she watched as her form shifted once more back to it's normal human self. In fact, the blisters had disappeared and she was no long suffering from the insistent burning sensation.


Erin managed to duck behind a dumpster as the fire trucks pulled up between her and the smoldering remnants of the store. She brought her legs to her chest and cuddled with them. Her eyes began to water again as she dropped her head down and rested her forehead on top of her knees. Once more, her skin began to glow red.


"What am I," she whispered to herself, or perhaps to someone else.
 
'Shit,' Swarm thought to himself as one of the forms turned his direction, almost as if meeting his gaze. He fumbled into the pocket of his coat, bandaged hands scraping over his sunglasses a few times before finally grasping them and slipping them over his abnormal eyes.


Quickly, he turned away from the alley and began making his way down another when a sound stopped him. The sky flickered with light and an explosion could be heard, echoing down the sidestreets hauntingly. It was quite a ways away, but the mutant could hear it well and still feel the ground give a light tremor under his boots. "What the hell's goin' on tonight?!" he rasped aloud, standing awestruck as he looked upward, having momentarily forgotten about the two creatures heading his direction.
 
Vent blinked, scowling a little. He wasn't sure whether to thank the strange shadow, or tell her off for being rude to him. He hadn't done anything to her, or risked anything. So he'd let his wings slip momentarily, it didn't matter, it was night time and nobody was around. It caused no harm. He was going to be more careful from now on as well.


"Well, do I get to know your name?" He asked in a neutral tone, raising an eyebrow inquisitively at the shade, as it let go of his arm and the human couple passed by.
 
Victor had just grabbed his walking stick, using it actually for it's intended purpose, it's weight almost off putting in his current mind state, but that was what it was there for, among other things. The pills were hitting him a little harder than the norm, of course, it was the first time he'd used them this year. Always took a few doses to keep his head.


It was, therefore, the pills that he thought was effecting him when he saw the horizon light up, as brief as it was, before he realized it was an explosion. A smirk twitched across his features, muttering quietly to himself.


"Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom! The Illudium Q-36 explosive space modulator! That creature has stolen the space modulator!"


A faint tip of the hat to the classics that no one remembered these days. He stood. waiting, his lips moving, counting for a shock wave that never reached him before he got into the front of his car.


"No widespread shrapnel, No decent shock wave. Amateur night in explodeytown."


A snort of inhaled breath, at least he knew it wasn't his. Of course, that also meant that the civil service would be out in force, and he didn't want to actually be assigned to help the cleanup crews if anyone saw him in his maintenance outfit. He would start his van, driving back to his garage and parking within it, closing the garage door with a series of taps on the button. His sanctum. It seemed tonight was going to be a night destined to either bore or piss him off.


He got out of the van, leaving his toolbox, too awkward on what was feeling more and more like a sprained ankle, tapping his keycard against the second line of defense in his fortress of paranoia and slowly limped down the stairs to his underground facilities. A tap of that keypad and he would walk into his living area, a constant litany of subsonic profanity escaping his lips with each step as he moved across the tiles. At least his walking stick was charging. He almost wanted to use it on someone. A quick change of clothes had him in his dressing gown, and he hobbled to his computer, moving and making sure that the new camera wasn't giving him any problems. All seemed to be in order. He let the monitor flash past the camera until he saw his bin laying on it's side. A series of twitches in his left eye. Something had to be done about that damn animal.


His phone would come out, sending a text to Jace, complaining that it appeared that he might have some work for her in the very near future. He would give her details when she wasn't too busy.
 
"My name is listed the same as mine kin, Meido." She said softly, the feeling of being watched ebbing away. Had she just imagined it? No, she was certain there had been some one, but they didn't seem too interested in them, at the least.


"The Meido to be precise." There was a faint hint of prideful amusement as she said it.
 
Vent blinked, Meido's sense od pride being lost on him. Confusion settled on his features as he tilted his head slowly to the left, eyeing Meido.


"I've never heard of your race before." He noted, curiosity getting the better of him as he examined the shade from head to toe. ".... What do you do?" He asked further, reaching out as if to touch Meido, but stopping just short of actually sticking his finger into the shadow's form. He figured it would either be rude, dangerous, or both.
 
There was something about the charge in the air tonight, something not even Zeke could describe, though usually embraced in light manner. When stalking the town through the night, he always manages to have Xan's voice in his head, telling him to be careful, to watch his back, to not trust anyone. As always, Zeke would say there would be nothing to worry about; they had managed to keep themselves in the shadows, with some unnoticeable slips here and there. Still, tonight was sure to be just like the others.


Already feeling a little hot under his mask he looked from the bus window. There was already some strange activity going, the window blocking his sight of the two fires he can smell at an incredibly close distance. One smelled incredibly familiar, like the woman he's meeting tonight. If it's her, he may have to be careful after all. What if she knew he was a dragon after all, and was setting him up? What if she's dead in that fire right now? He could be wrong of course; even though he knows he's coming closer to it, it's not nearly fleshy enough. Doesn't explain the second one however...


Looking back out the window, he noticed something glowing beside one of the buildings; it almost looked like a person. Zeke quickly pulled the stop bell and waited for the bus to stop moving. As he stepped out, he quickly went into the glow's direction. Could there really be more non-humans in this town than he originally thought? Coming closer, he stepped into the alleyway, pulling his mask off. Stepping closer to the figure he noticed it as a girl, looking very much human despite her glowing skin. The process looked to be kind of painful, if she really were a human.


"Uh, Excuse me," Zeke called, crouching in front of her. "Are you okay?"
 
Erin didn't even hear the stranger come up to her. Her head was buried up against her knees as she sobbed quietly, the totality of her situation just hitting her. She had just murdered someone. What was worse, was that she knew from the girl's screams that it was in the most horrid way. The image being replayed back to her in Erin's mind was enough to make her sick to her stomach.


Her skin was glowing red, the light osculating between by a bright red color and a darker ember. Erin could feel the tidal forces of fire burning within her, but found that she could do nothing to stop it. Her hair he shifted colors from the normal dull auburn to more luminescent red that seemed to sparkle as the moonlight hit it.


When she turned to look up at the stranger that had come to her aid, he would immediately notice that her bright hazel blue eyes seemed to be glowing with energy. The light of the eyes only served to shine a spotlight across her perfect face and well toned body.


"No, I don't think so... AH!" Erin clutched her head firmly in her hands as she heard whatever it was inside her clawed to come out.


When she rose her head back up and looked over the figure in front of her, hey had been transformed into spheres of fire. The flames seemed to shift subtly, as her head tilted up and down and looked over the stranger. She spoke once more, but this time in a majestic and resonating voice that seemed to speak inside his mind, "I sense in you that you are not... mundane. One that may be able to withstand great heat. If this one is to survive, I must release the energy within. I will need your help."


At that, Erin, or whoever this being was, rose up from behind the dumpster and walked up figure as she examined him from head to toe. "Yes, you will do..."


Suddenly, she reached up and grabbed him by the collar and began to pull him over to an abandoned apartment building just across the street. It had been foreclosed for health reasons, and thus knew that it would be safe for the Phoenix to do the need that was required to release her energy.
 
"We...eat fears, if you will." Meido said almost delicately. She rarely disclosed what she did to those that didn't know. Looking down at his hand, she leaned her hand forward, letting the shape distort and wrap around it, before pulling it back. Solidifying it back to normal, she poked him like she was solid. Another thing she rarely did. "And create them. We can see into your mind, and know what it is you fear most, what makes your skin crawl, and revel in it. The more fear, the stronger we are, you see. But, it comes at a price..."
 
Vent bit his bottom lip. This Meido was a scary shadow. But it seemed gentle enough, explaining to him what he didn't understand and being patient with his relative naivety. He stood up, revelling in the sensation of it's touch. As opposed to a living being, it had felt cold and otherworldly. Dusting himself off, Vent rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.


"... What will we do now? Do you know a place I could stay?" He asked the shade, hoping for a little bit more help to be squeezed out of the current situation. He couldn't just sleep in the alleyways, as this creature probably could, being a living shadow.
 
"Well, we can't stay here, that's for certain." She could feel an odd buzz in her system, something that normally told her the best place to hide was in another body. But he couldn't do that, could he?


She thought back to the place that she had started to call her own. It wasn't far from here, just on the edge of her hunting grounds, actually. When had she last stopped in? Five months? Eight? A Year? She would have known if they had destroyed it, though she didn't go in, she did go by it quite often, and given the yellow condemned paper slapped all over, it wasn't likely someone was going to be moving in very soon.


"I...may know a place, if you don't mind sharing grounds with a few insects and an owl or two."
 
Swarm was silent for a long time, feigning interest at the glowing sky and wail of far crying sirens as some sort of authority responded to the explosion. In truth, he was listening intently, ears twitching slightly as he took in the other's conversation. They were both inhuman creatures, one a being that fed upon fear and the other... seemed lost in naive confusion. The mutant frowned behind the cloth hanging over his face, feeling slightly sorry for the being. It didn't seem that long ago that he'd been shoved into the world of shadows.


Shaking away the thought, he turned toward them after the fear-eater mentioned a place she knew to seek shelter. Watching them carefully behind dark glasses, he fought the urge to turn tail and flee, leaving the two with no knowledge of what he learned. With little trouble, whoever was snatching up creatures for experiments could convince the hopeless male to go with him, a thought that made the giant uneasy with a sickly feeling of near-guilt. 'Might look the part, but'm not a god-damn monster jus' yet,' he thought, raising a hand and calling out to them.


"Listen," he started plainly, keeping back into the shadows as much he could. "Don't wanna' interrupt, but if wherever 'yer suggestin' is near here, I'd avoid it." He waited for the words to register with the two for a moment before he continued again, raspy voice clicking ever so slightly when he spoke. "There's words 'bout somebody sneakin' around here an' grabbing people up. Messing with 'em. Experiments an' the like. Be careful... the dark's gettin' less safe every day."


As he finished, his glasses slid down slightly, revealing his black pits of eyes. The yellow orbs in their center shown fiercely, even in the darkness before he shoved the spectacles back into place and turned starting to move in direction of the explosion. He wouldn't be able to get close, not with all the attention, but he was sure there was something in the area that might just tie all these things together.
 
The list of the times a human retold tale of a preternatural other was correct is far shorter than the number of times it is wrong. Caleb was not surprised by the bounty hunter’s error, it is how amusing things happen as with the kappa and— “Proposal,” he murmured, as much to himself as to her to return his thoughts to the current track. “Payment. Suppose I could leave it with him?” There was no part of him that worried for involving his mad scientist in these entanglements, the man was rank with the scent of intrigue and secret things. Caleb was rather fond of it. “Yes. That is good.”


Scents of the preternatural were often heavy taints in the air and city nights loved them. If Caleb listened only to the part of him that spoke clear and easy, he could almost see the streaks and shifts of passing. “Yes, that is good,” he whispered again, crouching to all fours for a moment. It only took a breath for his internal structure to begin to shift, light and compact and powerful and when he thrust himself upwards, it took a graceful, effortless sweep to scoop the air under his wings and propel him higher, another beat and he was over the roofs, blending with the velvety black of the night, a shadow amongst the flickering lights of the city.


His scent would be a pale, spring green, too pale for this wet place, not wet like a swamp, like the sticky places of south, but heavy wet with growth and life and the heat of a roaring fire. Disinterested, Caleb’s eyes drifted over the glow and the smoke drifted under his nose. In the warmer currents he tumbled idly, as if by physically spinning, he could better wind the fractured pieces of himself into a coherent hole, and never mind the selkies. They tasted foul anyway.


Her odor clings to his mind still, cloves and vanilla, he likes it, but he doesn’t need it. Right now he needs to know what monsters are closing on his sylph.


With a bursting growl from his throat, he hits the pavement on four paws between Vent and the great hulk of a strange creature. Caleb's chest had become deep and broad in the dive with a collar of thick, dark feathers blending into thick protective fur across his shoulders but a pale human face still glared out with sharp blue eyes, facing the creature with an astringent and unpleasant scent rising between the confines of the buildings. “Vent.” It is hard to form words from the throat he yet bears when Caleb craves nothing more than to let his muzzle lengthen and bear his vicious teeth and take them to the unnatural flesh bound before him. “Safe?” His sylph must be safe. They share the air.
 
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