Crazy and the Beast

[badyogi]

The girl ran for her life. Sirens blared around her and floodlights lit up the grounds, freezing her for a horrific moment, like a deer caught in headlights. "Don't move!" A deep voice bellowed behind her, and her heart jumped into her throat. Move. A voice in her head whispered frantically. "We're not going to hurt you." The man behind her said, shouting to be heard over the screaming sirens. Lie. They will hurt you. They will kill you. Move! The girl bolted forward, running across the wet slick grass in her bare feet, her nightgown billowing out around her, her hair wildly whipping across her face. She knew the voice was right. If she stayed here, she would die. When she reached the edge of the grounds of the asylum, she scampered up and over a chain-link fence, ripping her dress, hands and feet on the barbed wire that topped the fence. With a cry of pain, she fell to the ground on the other side, but she hurried forward, despite the lightening bolt of agony that had shot through her knees when she landed on them. 


She ran, and ran, until the sounds of sirens faded completely, and then she ran some more. Her heart felt like it was going to explode out of her chest, and finally when her feet couldn't carry her any further, she collapsed, falling forward to rest her forehead on the wet earth. She wasn't sure where she was, but she had run out of the nearby town and was in the country somewhere. The sun had set a few hours ago, so she thought she'd be safe from search parties until the morning. Hopefully. She needed to find a place to sleep. Wet and shivering, thanks to the rain pouring from the angry black clouds above her, the girl dragged herself back to her feet and looked around. There. In the distance, she could see a manor looming like a threatening evil shadow. She didn't even care that it looked like something right out of a horror movie. She was hungry, weak, and couldn't run anymore. Slowly, she made her way through the gate and up the long drive to the front door. It was huge, and when she pushed it open, it made a loud creaking sound that sent a chill through her body. "H-hello?" She stuttered, looking around the pitch black interior of the manor. "Is anyone here?" 

 

[Scripted Away]

((Just in case - his profile))


His fine ears had been listening to the nasal bee-moo of loads of sirens for a couple of minutes already.
The master of the mansion and every shadow inside and around it had apruptly stopped playing on his age-old piano when he had heard the crackling of feet walking over the - admittedly not very well-kept - pebbled path that led to the entrance.
His long, thin fingers were still lingering on the keys, frozen in their movement, just like their owner, like a statue of white marble.
A very slight, slow movement took over his fingers again as he softly ran them over the worn out ivory, almost as if he was caressing them.
His face was hidden by the shadows that lurked in every corner here, while his slate grey eyes stared into the nothing.

The man was a loner, and that not even intentionally. But in all those decades passing, crawling or rushing by in their endless monotony, there was a lot he had learned. He remembered everything of it.
And one thing stood out more then anything else:
Trying was useless.
Whatever he had tried in his life, either time or nature had taken it away.
Trying was useless.
Whoever he had tried to be, it had all ended the same way: playing a lonesome piano piece.

All those thoughts, the lingering and freezing, had only taken a second.
It was one of those days again when time was crawling, and minutes felt like millennia.
Maybe he was just tired.
Maybe he just needed food.

Which actually brought him back to the here and now. Down there was someone, and he could hear their heartbeat clearly, juicy and warm.
On the other hand he had heard the agony in the strangers voice, and a slight shimmer of empathy was moving him somewhere deep down in what he considered the darkness that once had been his soul.

Soundlessly, the master of the mansion got up from the simple mahagony stool of his piano.
While he was walking down the stairs just as soundlessly, black fur started to cover his lean body, and when he arrived downstairs, he had transformed into a black cat with glowing amber eyes.
A sharp meow Rose from his chest, locking the blazing of his eyes to the girl in his entrance hall. With a flick of his tail, he headed for the living room with the age-old red satin couch and the fireplace made of marble.

Hopefully she would understand.

 

[badyogi]

Harper's teeth were chattering so hard that the sound echoed around her, and she bit down hard to get her jaw under control. The torn nightgown clung to her body and her white blonde hair was plastered to her face and head. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trembling like a leaf in the doorway of the manor. No one had responded to her question, which left her to believe no one was home. Her eyes caught sight of a black cat descending the stairwell on the left and she watched silently as it caught her gaze, and walked deeper into the building. Something about its body language made her think it wanted her to follow it. But that was silly, it was just a cat. A feeling of unease that she couldn't explain settled into her stomach, and she took half a step backwards, turning to look over her shoulder at the storm raging outside.


No. The voice in her head commanded, and Harper stopped in her tracks, listening. 


Do you want to die? She shook her head a bit, capturing her lower lip between her teeth. 


You will starve out there, or they will find you. A frown creased her brow at that, and she reached out timidly to push the doors shut, closing out the storm and the men who would surely be on her trail soon. 


"Okay," she murmured to herself, then headed in the direction the cat had gone, leaving a trail of water droplets in her wake. 

 

[Scripted Away]

The black cat rolled its eyes. He'd have to make his servants wipe away the water in the hall when this was over. 


He gave a short glance at the stone gargoyles high up in the nalcoves in the walls. Their empty eyes were staring blankly into the nothing, at least until he'd give them their orders. 


As he heard the girl arriving in the living room, he sneaked into the kitchen and changed into his human form. It was always useful to have two forms, or actually three. It surely want smart to reveal his true vampiric self though. 


Just as he wouldn't let her know about that, he wouldn't let her know that he was the cat. Humans were far more open towards animals; an interesting thing he had learned during his millennia of living.


In his human form, the slender, 6'5 tall man with ivory white skin, dark rings under his eyes as if he hadn't slept for a year straight and the confusingly elegant appearance, he walked back into the living room, his long black coat fluttering after him in a non-existing wind.


"Hello", he said, his voice dark and soft like black velvet. "If I'm allowed the remark- you are dripping on my floor." 


Her ragged gown was revealing... Quite a lot, but he had grown numb to things like that. "Welcome in my modest housing though. You should change, don't you think that outfit is slightly inadequate?" He threw a blanket towards her. "Here. To cover yourself and warm up."

 

[badyogi]

Harper's sky blue, red rimmed eyes widened when the handsome towering stranger stepped into the living room. When he spoke, she felt his voice glide across her skin like silk, and she shivered. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, catching the blanket he had tossed in her direction. "I didn't think anyone was here." Gratefully, she drew the blanket tightly around herself, delighting in the warmth and the privacy it granted her. "I just needed a place to sleep." Her cautious gaze took in the man's odd, elegant, but statuesque appearance and a little red flag went up in the back of her mind. There was something strangely familiar about him, but it wasn't anything she could put her finger on. 


Stupid girl. Harper frowned at the voice. It actually huffed in disbelief in her head, and then quietened, as if speechless by her obliviousness. 


She stood there for a dizzying moment, watching the man, unsure of what to do or say. He had caught her breaking into his house, practically naked, bleeding, and soaked, in the middle of the night, no less, and he's simply offered her a blanket. Harper didn't have much experience with the world or people outside the asylum, but she was pretty sure that wasn't a reaction typical of breaking and entering. Thunder boomed outside and Harper jumped almost out of her skin, releasing a tiny squeak of surprise. "I-.. I'll go," she stammered, but before she could be true to her word, a wave of exhaustion, hunger, and hopelessness washed over her, and she sank to the floor. She vaguely heard herself muttering, "I can't..." before unconsciousness overtook her, and sweet blackness swallowed her whole. 

 

[Scripted Away]

Sighing, the man pushed his thumb and index finger against the root of his nose, closed his eyes and slightly shook his head. 


He wasn't a fan of visitors.


Especially not if they were soaking his antique carpets and spreading the delicate scent of blood, fresh and flooded with adrenaline, through his entire mansion. He felt how it got harder to withstand the soft pulsing of her carotid artery with every heartbeat.


Hers of course.


His heart had stopped beating a long time ago. 5990 years ago, to be exact. 


Now he had a decision to make.


A) satisfy his thirst for her food and feed the rest to the gargoyles. 


B) pump his venom into her veins and make her his slave for the rest of their existence.


C) listen to the silent voice in his mind of the human man he once had been and help her.


A slight frown crossed his marble face as he thought about it for a moment. 


Then suddenly, the moonlight broke through the thick clouds, and for a moment, it shone through one of the windows, right at the girl.


He slightly tilted his head.


Something moved.


Something moved do down where he had expected to be nothing but darkness.


Sympathy maybe, or pity.


She was pale, almost like him, almost like a ghost...


He carefully picked her up, inhaling sharply at the now very intense scent of her blood.


It was hard, but he withstood during the whole process of cleaning her up, vetting her wounds, clothing her in one of his black button-up shirts, that almost looked like a dress on her, and laying her down in his huge bed with the black curtains that protected him from any sunlight during the day. 


As he had covered her under the black silk blanket, he flew up and sat down on one of the transoms high up in the room, watching her cautiously.

 

[badyogi]

Harper was back in her room at the asylum. If you could call it a room. It felt more like a cell. Bars on the window that didn't open. No furniture or belongings, just a bed with one pillow and a thin blanket. Bare walls, except for a single 4x6 photograph of her family taped above her bed. During one of her fits, she'd scratched off the faces of her mother and father, who'd put her in this god forsaken hell and left her to rot. Only her siblings faces were unharmed, and she often stared at them for hours on end, imaging where they were, if they were happy, if she'd ever see them again. 


The moon was high in the sky, and light streamed through the small window, casting shadows on the walls. Harper lay on her side, knees tucked up close to her chest, her eyes watching the corner of the room. Something slithered forward, and she made a small jerking motion, stifling a scream. It looks like oil, slick and black, but it moved like a shadow, expanding as it crossed the room, reaching out and covering every empty space. She closed her eyes so tightly that little white stars exploded across her vision. "It's not real," she whispered to herself, her voice barely audible. Yes, it is. 


Something touched her bare knee and her eyes shot open. The slime was on the bed now, and was crawling along her skin. Harper jerked backwards to the corner of the bed, shaking her head over and over. "No. No.. no, it's not real." There was a low chuckling in her head that made a panicked sob erupt from her throat. The darkness continued to crawl over her body, up her legs, her waist, arms and chest. It crept up the length of her neck, finally gliding over her face. Harper tried to scream, but the slime took over her mouth, choking off the sound before it could be made. It filled her throat, her ears, and finally her eyes. She was suffocating. She was dying. 

A loud scream burst from her throat, and Harper sat up in the bed, waking from her night terror. She was shaking uncontrollably, breathing hard, and had somehow tangled herself in the blankets. Blankets?? She blinked hard, looking around. Where was she? This was not her room at all. The events of the night came rushing back in a flash. She had fainted, and now she was in a bed that was almost as large as her whole room at the asylum, surrounded by thick heavy curtains. With an unsteady hand, she pushed away the fabric, and moved to stand.


Her finger tips touched the new shirt, and she saw her hands had been bandaged. Well, at least he hadn't called the cops on her. That was a huge shock. She let out a little sigh of relief, feeling her nerves settle a bit. She was safe, for now. Her stomach bellowed unforgivably. "Shh." Harper whispered, like her stomach was capable of listening, and then tiptoed out of the room, hoping to find the man who'd helped her. Or at least, a kitchen. 

 

[Scripted Away]

Just as soundlessly as his non-existing heartbeat, the master of the mansion had jumped off his high up seat in the middle of the girl's dream. Her frenetic heartbeat and the scent of adrenaline and fear had made it unbearably hard to not sink his teeth into that throat and suck it empty like a bottle of wine within a split second.


Remembering the needs of human beings, he had gone into the kitchen to set up breakfast. 


Maybe he could have been an adequate cook... If he could taste anything. But that wasn't a thing anymore since a very long time.


It wasn't typical for vampires... Many of his kin could still taste like a human, but whatever was wrong with him... He couldn't. 


So he had just painfully exactly sticked to the receipts in the few cookbooks he had.


Since he was controlling his gargoyles as well right now - something, and he couldn't figure what, had made him decide to clean up the cobwebs everywhere -, his eyes were glowing orange.


Actually, another thing he was known for, amongst other vampires. For some reason, his grey eyes changed to orange whenever he used any of his powers. 


A few of his gargoyles were sweeping in the living room, a few in the hall and corridors, and the rest was helping him with the breakfast.


Okay, admittedly: he had overdone it. There was far too much food for one person to eat, but he had been to lazy to calculate the amounts of ingredients for one person; so the food was meant to be for six now.


Oh well, there were worse things than to much food.


He furrowed his eyebrows. Had that just been a spark of good mood coming to life there?! 


As he heared his unexpected guest walking around again, he sent one of his gargoyles to lead her to the kitchen.


"Hello", his voice Rose from the statue's motionless mouth, its' orange eyes locked on her. He could see her through it, yes, but the pictures were kind of transparent, and a bit blurry. "If you would follow me to the kitchen, please. Breakfast is served, and I'd like to talk to you."

 

[badyogi]

"Um." Was all Harper could manage. There was a gargoyle, standing in front of her, talking to her. She recoiled slightly, wondering if this was part of her schizophrenia, or if it was really happening. Was this another dream? She reached out tentatively to touch the stone statue. It was hard under her fingers, and cold. That didn't tell her much, it still could have been a delusion, just a very realistic one. But the thing had mentioned breakfast, so... She looked down at the black shirt that was so large, it almost reached her knees. She didn't feel properly dressed, but at least the fabric was in one piece, and was dry, unlike the nightgown she'd started the night in, so she supposed it would have to do. 


"Okay," she said timidly, and followed the gargoyle with glowing orange eyes to the kitchen. Before they even reached the room, she could smell the delicious aromas of breakfasts foods floating up to meet her nose, and she sighed happily. The most she'd ever eaten at the hospital was a bowl of cold oatmeal and dry toast. This smelled like heaven. 


In the kitchen, her eyes took in the massive meal that could easily feed a large family and her stomach started to growl on cue. She looked at the man who had basically saved her from certain death, a brightness in her gaze that no one had seen in years. "Did, did you do all of this?"

 

[Scripted Away]

"me and my helpers, yes", he said, turning around to her. He looked around for a moment and the gargoyles went back to their original places. As his eyes stopped glowing and went back to slate grey, the gargoyles turned lifeless again. 


Next thing he was aware of were his eyes scanning the girl in front of him for a split second - which was a really long time for him. 


>>She does look kind of cute in my... Whoa, stop!<<


Frowning about his own thoughts for a moment, he slowly stepped closer to the stranger.


That heartbeat again... God how long had it been since he had been around a living human? 


To satisfy his thirst, he usually broke into the hospital and stole a good amount of blood bottles, so even then there was nobody around, not even for... Dinner.


That thought indeed made him smile one of his very slight smiles. 


He had almost forgotten how bright it was; that kind of energy that surrounded the living. 


Once again, he was glad that he was a normal vampire. Sure, the scent of blood was disgusting, and it was humiliating how it attracted his kind anyways, but energy vampires... Those poor bastards couldn't feed on blood. They were draining that beautiful, shimmering energy right out of the living, until there was nothing left than an empty shell. No light, no life.


This girl's light was different though, like stained with dark spots. That usually only happened when something really really bad had happened...


Hesitating for a second, mainly because he was trying to figure if would manage to touch her without the bloodthirsty animal taking over, he stretched out his white, slender hand to her.


"Lucian. There, i took the liberty to already put a plate and everything on the table for you. I won't eat though. Special... Diet. If you are looking for company though, I'd be more than willing to accompany you for a while."

 

[badyogi]

Harper watched silently as the handsome, but very peculiar man seemed to mentally command the gargoyles back to their places. "Yep, definitely a delusion." She muttered under her breath. When he turned back to face her, she noticed the color change in his eyes. The grey color was hauntingly beautiful, but she thought she something lonely, or sad there, and she realized she felt pity or concern for him. 


"I'm Harper." She said and reached out to slip her hands into his. His skin was like ice, so cold that she actually gasped a little, but she didn't pull back. Her heartbeat quickened, and her mouth went dry. What was happening? The voice in her head guffawed and she twitched reflexively. Harper tried to cover the small action with a smile, but she averted her gaze and took her hand back. "I would like it if you sat with me. I don't get company very often." She said and walked around him to the table, where she could focus on the food. 


He's cold to the touch. Pale. Special diet. He's wearing a freaking cape. How stupid are you? The voice in her head taunted, and Harper whispered angrily, "Shut up. Go away." She loaded the plate with some of every dish and took a seat, digging in. Maybe in another time and place, she would have restrained herself and tried to eat like a lady, but she was too hungry to care at the moment. She pigged out.

 

[Scripted Away]

A silent chuckle escaped Lucian's throat and he raised one eyebrow in a surprised way. He hadn't laughed for over a century. Damn he wasn't even aware he was still capable of laughing!


Sitting down opposite of Harper, watching her with pure fascination in his eyes for long while of three second.


As he caught himself staring at the food, he thought for another long while of five seconds.


Many vampires he had met had just brushed his gustatory problems aside, saying it was something like a mental barrier, caused by overthinking. 


And he knew he regularly was overthinking everything. Just as right now.


Discreetly facepalming - a very unusual gesture for him - he shook his head and lastly just picked a bun from one of the many plates, and did everything to avoid thinking while he piled a weird combination of ham, jam, cheese and hazelnut spread on it. With a chilli on top.


He gave a slightly awkward smile at his guest and lifted his shoulders. "Maybe that diet can kiss my posterior", he explained, took a deep breath and lastly a big bite of that weird sandwich. 


While he was chewing, his usually ivory face gained a slightly red color. Which meant a human would be glowing like a red lantern in his place. 


He really did his very best to be discreetly, but how he downed a huge cup of milk probably didn't look that elegant.


"Sorry...", he coughed. "I want prepared how hot that chili was...!"


But in his mind, he was throwing a party for himself and all his demons. 


The chili had been hot.


And the combination had tasted like crap.


It had tasted!


"Who were you talking to, by the way?", he asked, trying to distract from his weird, humiliating behavior. "Ohh, I'm sorry if this question is too personal, of course you don't have to answer."

 

[badyogi]

Harper had watched with disgust and horror while Lucian made the mistake of eating that atrocious sandwich. When he coughed and downed the glass of milk, she let herself laugh, and it was such a foreign sound to her ears that it died away after a moment. Still smiling a bit, she handed him her napkin, gesturing to his chin. "You're dripping milk." 


She focused on her own plate for a few moments, half relishing the delicious meal, half wondering how to explain she was talking to a voice. In her head. She cleared her plate, taking a long minute to scoop up the last bit of gravy with her biscuit, and then slowly chew the last bite. She literally could not remember the last time she had a meal like this. It had to have been before she was committed, but that was almost 10 years ago. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said finally, not meeting his gaze. "Why are you dressed like that. Is it Halloween?" (xD) 

 

[Scripted Away]

Lucian turned as red as never before, even if that was nothing compared to a human blush. 


He took the napkin and wiped away the milk before gnawing around on an apple.


As he finally started to get used to the taste of... Well, tasting in general again, he took a big bite of that Apple and froze for a split second as he noticed the unusual bite mark in it. His long, sharp canines had left two deep holes in the fruit and reminded him once more of what he was. 


As Harper denied what he had clearly heard and then asked about his outfit ((X'D *dies*)) he held up the Apple, the bite mark on his side, so she wouldn't see it.


It took him an eternity of ten seconds to think about what he was planning to do. 


That poor girl would freak out, and probably run away. 


Weird enough, that thought made him cringe for a moment. Since she was around, he was staring to feel a bit more human again...a bit more alive. He didn't want to lose that. He didn't want to drive her away, but she deserved the truth, and he knew that.


"I'm holding the answer to your question right here in my hand", he said, pointing at the Apple with one finger. His hands surely weren't the ones of a worker. More like the ones of an artist... 


"But I'd like to hear an answer, too, and you'll have to promise me to keep my answer to yourself, okay? So what do you say? Your answer for my answer. Deal?"

 

[badyogi]

Who would I tell? Harper thought to herself. She looked at the apple he had taken a bite out of and raised a brow. What did he mean? What was she getting herself into? The voice in her head made a strangled giggling sound. It was enjoying this way too much. That told her to be careful. The voices almost never did anything good for her. 


"Alright, I guess." She said slowly. Prepare yourself, the voice said and she fought the urge to outwardly shush it. Harper leaned back in her chair, gathering the courage it took to tell her deepest darkest secret. To a complete stranger no less. "I'm a patient at Riverfront Mental Health. I have..." She sighed and looked at the ceiling for a moment. Just say it, she told herself. It's not a dirty word, or a curse. It'll be okay. "Schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder." Harper swallowed. "Before, I was telling the voices to shut up." She mumbled that last part, clearing uncomfortable with her own confession. She cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her chest, putting on a air of defiance, daring him to say something smart. "Your turn."

 

[Scripted Away]

"okay", Lucian said simply and smiled at Harper just as before. "Then i should keep people away who might be seeking for you to bring you back." He wasn't really disturbed by anything she had just told him. More like worried. Not for himself of course, but for her. He had seen those places from the inside. It had been very long ago, but he couldn't imagine that so much had changed. Horrible places stayed horrible places, most of the time. 


"You know, I've been in such a place as well, a very long time ago", he explained. "Tried to kill myself in thirteen different ways- nothing had worked out. And the persecution complex and paranoid didn't make it better, of course." He cringed for Second. That was one of those memories he usually just kept somewhere in the basement of his mind. 


"But after a few centuries of therapy it all got better... Well, excepting the fact that mirrors and goats scare the shit out of me." Surprised by his own words, he blinked a couple of times and then turned the Apple around and grinned, revealing his fangs. 


"The clothes are the best protection from sunlight i have. I'm a vampire. I know, i know. Nothing but stories and horror movies. Sadly, that's not true in every case. Nessie, Bigfoot, merfolk- nothing but a lie. Zombies and vampires- terrifyingly real. Just as Lucifer, by the way. You know, Satan. He's my uncle."

 

[badyogi]

Harper laughed. It wasn't the same carefree, light laugh she'd had minutes before when Lucian ate the chili pepper. This laugh barely sounded like one at all. It was a strangled mix between a laugh of disbelief and a sob of fear. Horrible, horrible memories flashed before her eyes, the delusions of vampires draining her nearly to death, over and over. She shook her head against them, and pushed her chair back. While standing, she knocked her plate to the ground accidentally, and grabbed the nearest, sharpest thing she could find, a butter knife. "No," she whispered, not even seeing Lucian anymore. All she could see where the dreams, nightmares, invisible monsters she had been fighting against her whole life. 


Suddenly, the girl stilled. Her oh-so blue eyes turned dull, and blank. A moment later, life sparked back into them, but the sweet girl was clearly gone. Someone else had taken over her mind. Someone full of hate, anger and pure evil. Armed with only the butter knife, the small, but surprisingly strong girl lunged at Lucian, brandishing the knife, intent on killing him before he had the chance to kill her. 

 

[Scripted Away]

Lucian made a calm step backwards, his eyes locked on Harper.


Multiple personality.


Yeah, that definitely was one of the other personalities.


The Glint of slight moonlight on the knife's blade gave him a flashback to the dark days of mid age, when his kind had been more than the humans' favorite topic for horror movies and books.


Running.


Lucian normally was a very fast runner, about the speed of a formula 1 car, but he was bleeding heavily, and the silver of the weapons that had caused the wounds had weakened him to the point of stumbling through the forest like a list child running from a pack of wolves.


His fearful gaze locked to the girl beside him.


A little girl, born vampiric, only 800 years old... About 8 in vampire years. She was starting back at him in pure panic, her little hand clinging to his.


"Hold on", he coughed. "Hold on, Seraphina!"


They stumbled further, leaving a trace of blood that would easily show the hunters where they were.


The huge black dog on his other side span around and attacked one of the riders.


A Yelp, and its' three heads were impaled by spears.


Seraphina was crying.


Shadow had been their pet for decades already, and he had been a great friend.


In the next second, Lucian list the hold of the girl's hand, and before he could spin around to save her, they had captured her... Almost killed him.


He had never found out what had happened to his little sister...


Flashing back into the here and now, he noticed how he had dropped in a defensive pose, slightly baring his teeth with a deep growl riding from his chest.


He took a deep breath and straightened up.


"I'm not here to hurt you!", he almost yelled and rushed past her, out of the kitchen and into the library, that had a small balcony connected to it.


Staring up at the moon, his hands clinging to the iron fence, he tried to calm down. This want the right time to let old wounds open up.

 

[badyogi]

The girl who was now in control of Harper's body either didn't hear Lucian's words, or didn't care enough to heed them. A wild rage ran through her, and she chased after him, not seeing anything except the monster in front of her that she had to kill. She wouldn't let any more of them feed on her. Kill or be killed. Bursting through the library and out onto the balcony, she sank the butter knife into his rib with so much force that it pierced his lung. Pulling the knife out, she reared her arm back to strike the vampire again, but, by some miracle, Harper was able to regain control of her body at just that moment. She looked around, confused. She saw the knife in her hand, dripping with blood, and Lucian, injured before her. 


With horror, she let the knife fall to the ground, and she backed away. "Oh God. Oh God," she muttered again and again, shaking her head. What had she done? Terror, from  Lucian's confession and her own actions, urged her forward, and she ran back through the house and out the front door. The haven she had sought within the walls of the mansion was shattered now, and she'd never be able to return. She didn't know where she was going to go, but she ran through the darkness without stopping. She find some place to had to hide. 

 

[Scripted Away]

Lucian frowned painfully. He had to sit down for a second. Sure, that wound wouldn't cause any big damage, and breathing was overrated anyway, but it still hurt. And it reminded him so much of that day...


The Glint of metal above him.


"Where is your hideout?!"


He wouldn't answer. For nothing they could do to him in the world he would send the others to their doom.


A girl.


Black hair, slate grey eyes, pale, dark rings under her eyes.


"Seraphina...?", he heard himself whisper weakly. But the girl didn't seem to notice him. Who knew what they already had done to her in the 200 years that they were torturing then here already?


Another Glint of metal, about 13 actually.


13 iron stakes that dug into his body. He was too weak to scream. All that escaped his chest was a painful moan.


Still impaled, he saw how the girl was being locked in a cage above a pool of cooking silver.


His eyes widened fearfully.


And while he cried out the hiding place, he watched his sister disappear into the deadly trap.


For nothing they could do to him on the world, he would send the others to their doom. But for Seraphina, he wouldn't hesitate a second. There was nothing left now. And then everything turned black.


He shook his head hardly, to get off those memories.


As he felt well enough again to seek for Harper, he jumped to his feet and ran after her, following the scent of her fear.


"Harper!", he called into the darkness sorrowfully.

 

[badyogi]

The psychiatrist reared back his head, blood stained fangs gleaming in the moonlight. "Ahhh," he slurred, feeling drunk on Harper's blood. "I'm so glad you came home to me, little pet." Harper whimpered when the doctor dropped her to the ground, and she lay her head against the floor, moaning. He had drugged her so extremely that she couldn't stand on her own two feet. Her head pounded and her whole body felt numb. She didn't know how she had gotten back here, to this prison like cell, with the single photo and barred windows. The last thing she remembered was fleeing from Lucian's house. She had rounded the corner of an old dirt road and found herself standing in the headlights of a white van. Something struck her in the chest and she passed out. Now, here she was.. and she was pretty sure she was dying.


"Please," she managed to whisper. The doctor chuckled. "Please what?"


She couldn't get anything else to come out, but when he reached down to pick her up by the collar of Lucian's shirt, she shrieked, hard and loud. He slapped her, once, but hard enough to shut her up and bust her bottom lip, and then he captured her with his gaze. His vampire eyes bore into her, and he spoke in a low, calm voice, glamouring her with his words. "This is a punishment. You've been a very bad girl." He pulled her closer, so their noses were almost touching. "You will never try to leave this place again." 


Done with her, he left her drop onto the bed and turned to leave, slamming the metal door behind him with a thud. Harper curled up in a fetal position, eyes blank and dead. She didn't feel like she was dying anymore. She didn't feel anything at all. 

 

[Scripted Away]

When the scent of a car mixed with Harper's - admittedly - sweet scent, Lucian narrowed his lithic eyes.


He breathed in, a long breath, his eyes cat-like narrow to small slits. The typical scent of humans, mixed with the scent of medications and gasoline from a van, her fear... But under it all, there was a sharp scent, clearly standing out from the others.


Vampire.


He stared at the building in front of him. 


The vampires smell and Harper's scent were so strongly mixed it at first took him a second to identify them as two, and that only could mean two things. That dirty monster was A) mating, and trying to create newborn vampires or B) using Harper as a living blood reserve.


Both made him want to kill that thing. 


Lucian based his teeth. His fangs few some longer, while his fingernails turned sharp an pointy, his ears longer and pointier and a pair of massive wings spread on his back. Six millennia had been enough to control the transformation, and change between them whenever he wanted.


He glanced at his wings for a moment.


They were huge, surely a span of around 16 get. But what was the most remarkable thing, was that they were...different.


His kind usually preferred to stick around with one or two companions, but nobody would ever stick with him.


Because in fact, his vampiric nature was only one half.


The other half was, what vampires despised.


His wings weren't the ones of a bat. They were the ones of an angel, just with black feathers instead of white.


Just as his eyes turned shining white in his true form, instead of the Demonic black.


His mother. He couldn't really remember her, too much time had passed since then. But what he knew was that both his parents had been killed for being together.


A vampire and an angel.


There barely was anything his kind hated more than angels, and most of them didn't even have a reason.


Shaking his head hardly, he focused on getting Harper out of there.


A few bullets or something similar but him when he crashed the doors open, but it didn't take more than a flick of his wings to throw all those little humans to the floor. The other vampire seemed to have left the building already. Smart move, since sun was about to rise.


He couldn't care less.


After breaking down the door, he hunkered down beside her bed. The scent of her blood filled his nose again and he could see the two marks, clearly from a bite.


>>Asshole<<, it rushed through his head, while he carefully placed one hand on Harper's shoulder.


"Harper, I'm here, I'll get you out.", He mumbled, his eyes glowing slightly.

 

[badyogi]

Harper looked at Lucian with empty eyes. Something in her mind registered his words, that he was here to save her, but she couldn't bring herself to react. She knew he was a vampire, but he was very unlike the one who'd just drained her of at least half her blood volume. For one thing, there was the glowing eyes. They had been orange earlier, but now there was a whiteness about them that was almost heavenly. Secondly, he looked different than he had when she'd last seen him. His ears, fangs, and the massive wings on his back. A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth. This was definitely a delusion. It had to be It was all too strange for it not to be. She reached out a hand to rest above his, patting it lightly like the head of a pup. "I'm not allowed to leave," she meekly told the vision, then closed her eyes. "I'm very tired.. I think I'll just take a little nap."

 

[Scripted Away]

Lucian smiled sorrowfully at her and flinched a little when she petted his hand.


She definitely was thinking that he was an illusion.


That somehow was cute though. It meant that she either thought it was too good or too bad to be true. He couldn't imagine the second though, after all she must have gone through, with a vampire in the psychatry. 


As much as he hated that other vampire... He had to admit it was smart, feeding on people in a psychatry. Nobody would ever believe them, maybe even not they themselves. 


He just carefully picked her up, once again feeling slight sorrow about how light she was. Didn't they get any food here?!


It felt like a thousand glowing coals being pressed against him as he flew through the light of the rising sun. Crashing through the entrance door of his home, he was smoking, and blisters covered his hands and face by now. 


His clothes looked like they had just been tossed into a campfire.


After he had layed Harper down on the red velvet couch and placed a can of water, a glass for it and a plate with a piece of Apple pie on the table beside her, he went up into his room to change.


Just as he was about to put on the same outfit again, he hesitated.


A long time of three seconds went by for thinking and lastly he just put on the only pair of normal jeans he had and a light blue button up shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the first four buttons open. 


A smile crossed his face. He had almost forgotten the feeling of not being stuck in layers of black, heavy fabric. It was a nice feeling.


Still smiling, he went back into the living room and lay down on the couch opposite of Harper's, arms crossed behind his head, his long, black hair almost touching the carpet, a lollipop he had stolen from the waiting room of the psychatry in his mouth.


A scene of coziness, for the first time in millennia.

 

[badyogi]

When Harper awoke, hours later, the sin was high in the sky. She felt more rested, sleeping on the couch, than she ever had at the hospital. She stretched and sat up, seeing Lucian fast asleep on the couch opposite her. He looked peaceful, and she had to smile at the sight of his new, modern clothes, and the lollipop stick in his hand. He almost looked human.


Getting up, as quietly as she could, she took the plate of pie, and left him in the living room, making her way to the kitchen. She finished the pie quickly, but her stomach was still growling, so she found leftovers from their breakfast in the fridge, and she pulled out a bowl of bacon, quietly chewing on the cold meat as she looked around. She didn't know when Lucian would wake up, but she didn't want to bother him, so she decided to explore the mansion a little on her own. She hoped she'd find something that could tell her more about the vampire, or at least some clothes that were size appropriate. 


Hours later, she was curled up in a lush chair in the library, sitting next to the fireplace with a book in her lap. She had a mug of hot chocolate and a second helping of pie completely forgotten on a small table next to her. Reading was difficult for her, since she didn't really get the chance to read at the asylum, but she was making her way through Sleeping Beauty, which had been one of her favorites since she was a child. She felt content and happy for the first time in longer than she could remember.