Forgetfulness, Mist, and Dude, where's my pants?

(A heated conversation between Celeste and herself post a swim in the bay near the ruins, Keliah was on her way home...except she walked through the ward around the source and forgot why she was up there. And then she wound up in the fairy mist. )

Keliah Angelis found herself in quite the predicament. For one, her memory was altered somehow. Something felt so very wrong to her. There had been something going on! Just…what?

“Okay, so. Backtrack. What happened…”

She was thinking. Turning over her thoughts again and again because she stood at the base of the craggy cliff that guarded over the ruins, her fangs sharp extended over the lower tier of her mouth, and she was feeling that tell-tale edge of her beast. However, she had absolutely no idea why. Her gaze fanned across the ruins, the charming little bridge, and then up the cliff face. Was she being chased? Was she being hunted? The very happenstance of her standing out in the woods and drawing too many blanks was alarming enough. What was even more frightening was the lack of pants.

“I just…”

She wished she had her cell phone. Anything. Walking through the woods back to home was not the smartest plan since she was no longer allied with Kione. If she was beset upon by wolves, well, she’d definitely lose, and being as confused and alarmed as she was….needless to say, she didn’t wish to be beset upon by a pack of angry wolves. However, calling Skip to come pick her up on the outskirts of civilization and to bring pants was probably worse. She chose the woods.

Aimlessly, she scaled up the small, barely-used trail leading up the cliff. Finding herself in the middle of the ruins without pants was disorienting enough. When the psychic blast from Celeste came crashing through a very open bond (how did that happen?), she became even more confused.

“What’s happening to me? What’s happening?! Out! Get out! Get out!” Hands to her ears, she shoved with all her might against the invasion of her once-daughter, now severed from the bond. At least until now – the bond re-forged.

She definitely had to get home.
Something was seriously wrong here.

She passed a cropping of stones and discovered a worn trail. This? This was a place frequently visited. This was good. This meant that maybe the North Highway that lead up into the mountains wasn’t that far. If she could just see the moon through the thicket of trees – the pines were unbelievable up here! And normally, well, she’d appreciate them. Right now? She was confused, alarmed, and far too alert to the potential presence of werewolves.

“Just need to get home…”

She crept silently along the ridge, looking for the body of the moon – it was full, or near full – in the horizon. A full moon. A lone vampire in the woods. In the distance, she could hear the howls of wolves. Were they feral? God, she hoped so. Her ear craned towards the sounds, she determined they were miles off and to the North. Good. There was that, at least.

She was homeward bound, or so she thought she was. Her speed kicking up, she moved along the ridge on silent feet, but then she realized something was seriously amiss. Mist, thick and white, hung about in thick plumes amongst the trees, growing thicker and thicker, and when she realized how drastically things had shifted, it was too late.

“What the – what the fuck is this!” She dared to exclaim in the darkness, shaking a frantic hand in front of her face. Her keen eye was absolutely useless out here. Visibility? One hundred percent mist. It was thick, white, and practically illuminated from the moon light. On the fringes were the wicked limbs of leafless tress. There were no shadows, no skyline, and no path. Nothing but endless mist. Was this in the weather report today? Had she gone more north than she realized?

Aaaaaaaaoooooooooo!
Wolves.
Shit.

Her other senses fanned out, her sight being useless out here. There were so many sounds. Something rustled in the brush, which followed by many more somethings. Rabbits, perhaps. An owl hooted. And let’s not forget the insects.
But, eventually, even sound and scent became dull. Keliah, now frightened, her beastly instincts on high alert, frantically pushed onwards. Was this the fog? Were creatures of cursed lore about to seize her and drag her down into their midst? Had she found the anti-source? Was she…in the umbra?

“Am I in the umbra?” She asked out loud, floored by the very idea that she suddenly realized she just might not be in something real. That umbra – she had thought often of it prior to Skip’s journey through the astral plane. That perhaps Susan Zelin, his daughter, might have been trapped in one of the many, many realms of umbra.

She sank to her knees onto the cold earth, examining the ground for evidence of a trail in response to her zany question, but tracking was impossible. No, she was not on a trail. She was not in a known area of the woods. She was so, so lost.

So, what had been Celeste’s deal? Why had she suddenly come, with all her anger blaring, over the forge of the link? And why were her fangs bared? What had happened to her? A vampire doesn’t just come to in the middle of the wilderness alone and without pants.

“Is that water?”

She stopped in her tracks and craned her head, closed her eyes, and listened. Yes, there it was. In the distance came the sound of rushing, cascading water. It was balming, at least, to her taut soul. If she was still in Ravenhurst than the stream would lead her back to the river! And if she could find the river, well, she could go home!

Except that she never found the water. The more she chased after it, the further it seemed. This ultimately frustrated her more, and she stopped and sank her hands into the stylishly cut halo of curls.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” She roared in frustration, her own scream sounding flat and contained in the mist. She kicked at the earth. How long? How long had she been out here? Minutes? Hours? It seemed as if she’d been out here for days, which, of course, was not true.

Panic in its ultimate form finally reared its head when she heard it.

“La chanson du soleil…”

The words stuck in her throat.
The song of the sun.

“Oh, God! No!”

Sunrise! She frantically began to run away from the heat creeping into the horizon, which did little for her sense of direction and chased her back towards the thickest thick of mist, heading Westward away from the dawn. There had to be…something! Anything! She kicked at the dirt, mostly frozen up here in the high altitude, but it was her only chance. Start digging!

“No, no. No…” Scarlet tears welled and spilt over her cheeks as she frantically clawed at the ground, making frustratingly little progress.

The sun moved faster and seemed it would claim its victim. The first, pale beam sliced through the mist and the filter of trees. It crept up her leg, then her arm, leaving smoking flesh in its wake. The second illuminated against her face and neck. Screams of agony followed. Tears of fear flowed. She dug faster, pulling earth over her legs.

Not going to make it. Not going to make it. Not going to make it. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Skip, I’m so sorry. Celeste? Jake? I’m so sorry. Kristof…

The fire of the sun roared louder and louder as it made its swift climb up the horizon. The end was near. Keliah stopped digging. It was useless.

Home, oh.
I just want to get home.
I’m so sorry..

She was afraid to look, but look she did. Her hands were blistering. The flesh of her chest and shoulders was cracking, peeling, and smoking. Her cheeks were withering away. She couldn’t even scream anymore and steeled herself against it, like a warrior – like a soldier – but she whimpered and wept all the same. The pain? Spreading. Hot. Absolute. At least the mist was prolonging the inevitable. At least she’d be able to see precious, beautiful daylight one more time. Her final sight before her eyes were burned right out of her skull.

She hoped, in her purest hope of hopes, that she’d be on the other side. That this wasn’t the end. That she’d at least find a place in the spirit realm so that she could wait for the old man.

“Do you remember when Angelika died…I was so shaken. She was gone in an instant. Five hundred years of life gone in a blink. I came to stay with you. I said I needed a place to hide in case the brethren came after me and I was injured. Seemed like a good excuse? Her death scared me - eternal life is so short, too. I just wanted to be near you. I can’t believe you let me. I’m so glad you let me. I love you so much and I deserted you. I chose honor over love, I had to leave. I had to leave. But I hurt and I hurt you and I'm sorry. You made me and I ran. How lonely you must have been. I'm so sorry I judged you so much. Judgement is not for me to do and I did. Your life was different and you loved me, and I judged you. But you just...”

Farewells were disjointed and random. Her words were croaked between emotion and the burn of the sun – and she didn’t know which hurt worse. Talking became impossible after that as her lips cracked, smoldered, and dissolved away from her teeth. She glanced down and away towards a refuge of stone – refuge!

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. I'm sorry...

So very near was an outcropping of stone, a sort of shelter. A small cave. Some animal den that she hoped was vacant! She scrambled to her feet, her flesh smoking, and moved as fast as she could to it, limping along awkwardly on feet unfelt. As soon as shadow washed over her, the rays of the sun cut off from her skin, the burning stopped. She collapsed to her blistered knees and drug herself by her elbows, by her hands, further and further into the cave. How far did it go? She didn’t know. It became apparent that it was no small animal den, but a whole cave. Somewhere she heard the sounds of nocturnal bats coming home to roost. The steady drip of water. She lay charred and smoking in the dark.

Drip.
Drip.
Drip.

[18:15] Dempster Clarrington (dempster) took awhile but the determination came from his blood, and pounded in his head. A low growl punctuating each time he let out his breath. He could hear the bear lumbering off into the woods, but he no longer cared. There was something else to hunt, territory to defend, an enemy to fight. Silently his grey form slipped between trees his nose to the ground as the eerily forest around him was silent, everything in this woods knew to keep out of his way at this moment. Tree clean, rock clean, twig, there! There it was, the smell unmistakable crossing through the swampy forest. As the things scent drifted up his nose, his body shook red coloring his vision for a moment binding his muscles as suddenly his body demanded to change, the beast inside him raging like a mad animal to be released. Dem couldn't help it he lurched in the direction of the trail, faint as it was pausing once more to let the beast rip its way from his muscle. The sound raged, raged against the trees the rocks, in the very air itself. Hatred, vicious ,vicious hatred, you won't cross my territory and live. Come out! Come out! The sound snapped in the air.

[18:26] Keliah Angelis (keliahangelis) is far enough to not hear the nearness. Only the distant howls. And she knows, just knows, that it's not 'friendly'. How could it be? Her allies were gone or they were dead. She imagined the end coming near. Swooping down on her with both muzzle and fang to destroy her just as it had destroyed Angelika - which, sadly, only made her think of Sho. Where was Sho? She closed her eyes - little else to do. She can't even will the things to heal, for what blood she has left is precious little. Somehow, the wolf approaching is easier to accept than the Sun. At least she would go down with a battle - or a laughable version of such. She tried to flex her hands, the healing flesh that had been burned away split and peeled from her knuckles. How much time did she have? She couldn't say. Keliah expelled the breath trapped in her lungs and opened her consciousness, "Celeste..." She worked her mouth, but had none, for where her lips had been was now naught but crusted over flesh and her gleaming, white teeth.

[18:39] Dempster Clarrington (dempster) driven by the scent followed. It twisted and turned, stumbled against trees, and he could catch small bits of the things polluted blood staining pieces of nature that it touch, spreading its disease, spreading the stain. Dem ran in short burst following the scent, catching it, losing it, catching the scent again. There was no more racing, this was fixated searching. Feverishly his nose sought out each scrap of the smell, feeding it into his mind, ears back growling he looked for he offender. It wasn't till he got close the cave and the smell sudden was stronger, permeating that he let out another long furious howl, singing into the night that he had found one of his enemies, and the beast really took hold. It was here, he could feel it! smell it! See its tracks and taste it's taint! He sang I know your here, and with that he plunged into the cave, red coloring the world.

[18:49] Keliah Angelis (keliahangelis) had pretty much left her scent all over the place. In circles. Her location to any tracker was easy to spy in the earth. Keliah kept her blind vigil in the dark, focusing all her muster on the link she shared with Celeste. Closer....the sounds of the hunt were coming closer and she knew with certainty that she was spotted. Found! An invader. In the cave, the howl echoed, singing out her doom. ~Come here, you bastard~ She thought, because she could not speak. The words could not come when one has no mouth. There's a sound of rock as she attempts to turn onto her back, the movement tearing across her knitting flesh. She screams in agony - it can not be silenced - and the soprano of her voice echoes across the cave. The sounds of wolf and vampire disturb the bats, and the creatures of the night swarm downwards, eager to escape the cave.

[18:53] Dempster Clarrington (dempster): The beast tore free as Dempster stalked into the cave. Flesh split, ripped it's way free, growing becoming massive. Dempter's growled was punctuated by prodding pain, and snapping growing bones. Bulk grew in painful furious ecstasy. It was the moment of bloody red, and the blood of his ancestors sang in his veins. Quickly the world was shrinking, focused most of the disregarded except for one thought, kill our enemies, let me free, and kill our enemies! So Dem grew, expanded, paws became claws and he dug furrows in the stone. In pain, his eyes rolled and he snapped at the air as the sound of primal anger, pain, and longs bounced off the walls of the cave.

[19:00] Keliah Angelis (keliahangelis) the first thing she notes is the smell of the animal. The wolf blood smells so pure and primal. It smells like life! Oh, God! How she thirsted! Her fear overrides this. If she wasn't suspended just a hair above Torpor, perhaps she'd shift into her beast to - listening the agony from her soon-to-be killer along with the sounds of bone and sinew changing. Growing. Solidifying. The scarred mouth of hers quivered over her exposed teeth in a sort of attempted grin. The wolf was changing to it's warrior's form. At least she would die a warrior and not a fool. Her burnt, ghastly stare turns towards the sounds and she weakly thumps her palm against her breast. Here. Here I am. See me? Come get me. I am here. Crimson tears well up in her eyes as she sends the last message over the link. "I'm sorry, I should have been better. Tell Scipio I am sorry, I should have been smarter." Unspoken, but, heavy on her mind.

[19:07] Dempster Clarrington (dempster) didn't start moving again till the change was near complete, and then started forward, there was nothing silent, or stalking about it. Just massive moving hatred. He peeled back his lips and he howled again, this time filling the cave in an unearthly cry of savage hatred. Thought was gone, hatred remained, Dem was out and the beast was in. Rending, and the crushing of interloping thing was all that was present. It was time to sate his need. The sound of the hallow thumping drew Dempster's attention, and he dropped his shoulders and opened his mouth and let loose with all of the fury that he was. He was more than a warrior in this moment, he was pure emotion carrying him on a wave of blood lust, and he let Keliah know it. Dempsters eyes were empty except for the fire burning behind them. The bellow of rage never even finished, he launched himself forward, claws held out to either side ready to scoop the vampire up, only one though on its mind, rend.

[19:27] Keliah Angelis (keliahangelis) 's fangs slowly slide out from their casing, the gleaming, wicked things the only whole thing left on her. They - she - wanted blood. Her thirst was great, but the body was weaker than the need. In a last ditch effort, she presses her heel into stone floor and pushes, trying to move away. Stone scrapes against her flesh. She releases a cry of agony, the sound beastly and pained. So much pain! All she wanted to do was sit the fuck up. No laying down like a subjugate creature. If Death was coming then she'd face it head on. Except it was so...exhausting just to right her head. Watching her - who is normally so strong and agile, who is so proud and fearless - attempt to right herself has got to be the most pathetic show ever. The skin that has knit splits and peels away and she moans against the tormet of it. With shaking hands upon the stone, she /slowly/ draws her limbs beneath her...and that is as far as she can go. Her muscles tremble, her body stoops. She will get to her feet. She will! Uh, no. No she won't.

[19:36] Dempster Clarrington (dempster): The beast was sound and fury signifying blind hatred. Charging the wounded vampire, his over sized clawed hand extended outward ready to catch the thing if it tried to feel. As he crossed the boulder his eyes locked on the blind undead creature, focused beyond seeing a single other thing. One blind creature to one unseeing he launched himself off the boulder through the air, all claws forward and not a hint of holding back everything committed intent on death. His clawed hands tried to grasp, secure his hold to sweep it up sink his claws into it.

[19:43] Keliah Angelis (keliahangelis) tried to work her mouth into some kind of sneer. You don't scare me, Death! Look at me! Look how I balk in your face! Look how I have no pants and am still noble and fearless! Of course, her pride is all in her head. Physically, she is nothing but a trembling, weak, charred up piece of barely-standing-here. The only thing that was true to her thoughts was that, yes, indeed, she had no pants. She stumbles forward, intent on the heat of the beast coming towards her. Man, if she could just get a /taste/ of it. She could be whole again. See again. Fight nobly rather than submit to the onslaught of the coming death. But, there is none of that. Instead, there are claws. Claws driven by the fierce and deadly Crinos werewolf. She can't even see it's color - was it black? Like Sho? Maybe it was Sho? Unable to fight back, she is seized in the claws of the werewolf.

[19:51] Dempster Clarrington (dempster): There was not knight avenging evil, no moral high ground, no righteousness, it was all thoughtless. Without Boann to control him he was free, without Tamsin he was untempered no consciences or restraint, no jiminy cricket on his shoulder The beast closed his claw on its chest, the body small against his grotesquely large hand, and he squeezed powerfully intent on crushing as he roared into his enemies face. It said plenty, hatred abound. Perhaps if it had been anyone else in the pack such gratuitous malevolence might have been tempered. But right now, Keliah wasn't the only thing that needed to drink.

[20:02] Keliah Angelis (keliahangelis) couldn't even stare down her nose as she was impaled on the wicked claws of the Crinos Wolf. It was disappointing. However, she bared her fangs on her gruesome countenance all the same. At last, she wishes she could say, we dance. Instead, her tongue works over her exposed teeth, her scarred, crusted mouth peeling back. "Aaaaaaaaaiiiiieeeee!" Her scream echoes throughout the cavern as her bones of her ribs are crushed beneath the werewolf's palm. Her dead lungs fill with blood and the limited amount she has froths over the remains of her mouth.

[20:07] Dempster Clarrington (dempster): It was unsatisfying even to beast which made him want to scream more in frustration. No fight, just rending, just venting. Winding up it lunched the frail undead creature at the wall, but it was no casual flick. It was the power throw its body behind it the will and need to exert pain on it for what it was, what the undead meant. The beast turned its body following the broken rag doll, never laughing at the creatures pain.

[20:10] Ditto Nachtigal: panted and huffed as he finally reached the top of the mountain where the ruins topped off, unaware of any misty areas around the bottom, and all the reports of people going missing and wandering in the mists for a while came from up there. He also used to visit the waterfall cave rather frequently before the mists obscured it, so it was his only and best bet that he could figure once he got up there. He sighed as he heard the snarling and other nasty noises coming from inside. He was scared, and thought Kel could fend for herself, but Celeste had sounded desperate, and Kel’s situation didn’t sound hopeful from her lips. With a gulp he summoned his courage and stepped quickly inside. The scene that greeted him made his stomach turn, the massive monster looming over a bloody and broken Kel. He wanted to think of a plan, but didn’t have time, just reaching into his pocket to pull out a little silver tube and slowly trying to work his way around past the stalagmites closer to them.

[20:18] Keliah Angelis (keliahangelis) is thrown? And her last thoughts before she is whalloped against the stone wall of the cave? They were the 'what happened!' variety. Seriously, how did she end up without pants in the middle of the woods surrounded by pixie mist? She'd never know. Dimly, she's aware of another creature - she can hear the beat of the heart and how it thunders. It's not Skip - and Celeste had said the man was looking for her. Part of her relieved to know that whoever just walked in on this was not the old man. He would not be ripped to shreds by a Crinos wolf. Just this poor, silly fool.... farewell, poor little fool. Her body crashes into the stone - which cracks and crumbles at the impact. Her spine, her neck, and her arms. Her pelvis, too. These bones crush into dust. Dimly, she knows there is pain somewhere, but her body can not be moved to fully feel it. Suspended, she is. Somewhere between the real and the dreaming - and by the time she hits the ground, it's lights out.

[20:23] Dempster Clarrington (dempster): The beast opened up his jaws and roared as it leaped forward towards the broken vampire it just threw upon the hard surface of stone.. The roar wasn't a majestic howl it was pure unadulterated angry, the very furry that made it what is was running without restraint. Dempster couldn't even remember what or how he got here, he wasn't even thinking, but he could feel the blood pounding through his veins the very thing that made the Norsemen so feared on the battle field, a crinos version of the creature legends were made about, no pain, no thought, just vehemence reaping. The leap brought him down, his claws extended . As he came back down his hand closed on the now unconscious dead thing, grabbing it to him completely unaware as of yet of the other presence in the room fixated as he was. The weight of his hand closed on Keliah, filling the room full of the satisfying grind of bones and tissue.

[20:30] Ditto Nachtigal: Puck’s eyes widened as he watched Kel’s limp body hurled across the room and into the stone wall, his stomach turning at the sickening crack of breaking bones. He was as close as he could get now, crouched next to one of the boulders in the room. His entire body was chilled to the bone at the sound of the roar that came from the beast, sweat rolling down him like the waterfall in the corner. As he watched it lift up Kel again, he figured it was now or never, pressing his body close to the stone and standing up, letting out a loud shout that would echo around the cavern. “Hey Ugly! Over here! Don’t yah want something a bit fresher!?” He cried out before ducking quickly behind the stone again and working his way around it, placing the silver tube between his lips.

[20:42] Dempster Clarrington (dempster): His head whipped around, Keliah still in his hands, and he squeezed. It was very unlikely he could cause more damage to the vampire likely in torpor by now. His eyes didn't take long to find the ghoul, that tainted thing, and he threw the unconscious Keliah at it. He wasn't concerned about the human stealing his kill, but the tainted was here, was no. No mercy would have implied that there was thought going on in Dem's head, but there wasn't there was only unlimited anger, born of skin and blood made for killing once unleashed, and without Bo to help control him he wasn't going to stop till he lay dead or everything else around him was dead, and Puck was next.

[20:48] Ditto Nachtigal: Puck raised his eyebrows in surprise as the monster locked eyes on him, the sheer, untainted rage he could see withing them turning him to jelly for a second. Luckily he recovered in time to notice Keliah’s body hurdling towards him, moving up from the cover of the stones to catch it the best he could with his ghoul strength, stumbling backward a bit as the body fell into him. He hadn’t been expecting that, but it was lucky for him, quickly wrapping up half of a plan that he was only making up on the fly. As soon as he had a hold of Kel he wasted no more time, turning with the vampire in his arms toward the cave entrance like a rabbit with a wolf on its heels, taking a deep breath and blasting on the little dogwhistle, the sound to high-pitched for him to hear echoing around the cave as he moved to go.

[20:49] Ditto Nachtigal: Puck raised his eyebrows in surprise as the monster locked eyes on him, the sheer, untainted rage he could see withing them turning him to jelly for a second. Luckily he recovered in time to notice Keliah’s body hurdling towards him, moving up from the cover of the stones to catch it the best he could with his ghoul strength, stumbling backward a bit as the body fell into him. He hadn’t been expecting that, but it was lucky for him, quickly wrapping up half of a plan that he was only making up on the fly. As soon as he had a hold of Kel he wasted no more time, turning with the vampire in his arms toward the cave entrance like a rabbit with a wolf on its heels, taking a deep breath and blasting on the little dogwhistle, the sound to high-pitched for him to hear echoing around the cave as he moved to go.

[20:56] Dempster Clarrington (dempster): Shook his head once but ignored the whistle and like a shot advanced on the ghoul till he hit the stalagmites in his way crushing some of them under his weight and even cutting into his skin there were enough of a barrier though to keep him from reaching Puck, his hand extending towards the ghoul promising more of the treatment that Keliah had received, slavering monster fit. The rage was a like a fit, his eyes wide, insane the fury the beast drove him onward with to the point the point that he was literally slavering, drooling and growling and barking. If the hand closed on anyone it would tear them apart, alive, or dead. Stalagmites or not Dem was coming.

[21:03] Jerad had trouble finding the scents and did keep distance from the howls of some other wolf, though a scream was something he wouldn't have passed. Running into the entrance of the cave unsurely, he would realize the scent was all that much stronger and hurried further. Cautious in the act seeing as he had no clue what he was running into. Yet those thoughts became less and less important when hearing The vibrant hues of soft blues, greens, yellows, and reds, and browns mixed seemingly surreal like in as they darted to Puck. He stopped and took a cautious stance before noticing the other wolf, or were considering the crinos state. His tail curved somewhat while lowering his chest toward the ground in a low growl. Very low, considering he had a rather deep even howl to begin with. Perhaps it was the growls, barks, or look of insanity of the other as simple as the full moon that made Jerad much too wary. His growl turning more faint before giving quick yelps as his bones seemed to suddenly snap on their own. Jerking to the pain as he stumbled before the other, trying his best to stumble /away/ considering he was not just in wolf form but changing was a rather vulnerable moment. Oddly though, he would be a little between the prey and the predator which still made it riskier than he normally would be. He seemed to snarl and yelp in pain much more than one normally would upon the change. It was painful for all surely, but his seemed to be moreso.

[21:09] Ditto Nachtigal: Puck Thanked whatever divine being made him small as he slipped through the stalagmites, the thundering beast crushing through several but they certainly seemed to slow it down. He almost didn’t notice it at first through the adrenaline as he dashed over the stone for the exit, trying to put as much distance between himself and the beast as he could, as quickly as he could, but a sharp, searing pain lit up like fire on his back, eliciting a scream of pain which sent his dogwhistle tumbling to the floor. The combination of the pain, and his mind registering a small figure padding in from the exit made his stop for a second, his heart sinking at the sight of another wolf growling and blocking the way. He saw his chance though at the sound of snapping when the wolf stumbled a bit to the side as it transformed, taking that moment of vulnerability to try and rush past it and out of the cave, Keliah in tow.

[21:17] Dempster Clarrington (dempster): Already he was freeing himself from the rock heedless of the cuts or scratches that were being inflicted on him by his own need to lay his claws into ghoul. But as he surged forward his leg was caught, wedged between two stalagmites. He pulled and the rock started to break free as well as his bone the sound grinding threatening to snap as he pulled on it without any sense of pain or consequence. Instead he reached, his oversized clawed hands rending grasping with insane fevor the rock the earth even Keliah or Puck if he could managed to reach them, he might of even have clawed the new wolf his eyes were so crazed.

[21:25] Jerad shook his head in a huff of breath through his nose, looking up to let everything sink in his mind. Even with his heart racing, the wolf had his tail straight in the sign of going to attack. Though his movements might be different than most wolves and he seemed more human in his running than some may on all fours, he stood on two and ran on two. Leaning forward to come almost like some hairy oversized football player, though not toward Puck. He went straight at Dempster and tried to grab him instead of clawing, even when giving a snarl of pain when the swing from the other did hit him in the arm. Jerad tried to use the momentum of his sprint to toss the other to pin against a wall with a snapping growl.

[21:30] Puck never looked back to see what was going on, only hearing the thundering thud as the monster collapsed to the ground behind him in the cluster of stones, and feeling a second searing pain from one of the wildly flailing claws mar the back of his leg. He kept going though, not as quickly as he normally could now, but the adrenaline kept him running in spite of the pain, out of the cave and into the night. He might look back and wonder later why nothing immediately gave chase out of the cave, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse from Lady Luck in the mouth.

[21:35] Dempster Clarrington (dempster) tore into the new wolf with one hand even as they fell backwards, his legs snapping with a sickening crunch wedged between the rock. He never felt it, instead he stayed fixed on his quarry the small ghoul, Kel in his arms as he retreated out the door of the cave beyond his reach. The beast screamed in utter furry their scent still lodging in his snout driving him to flail after them pushing the new wolf away from him clawed hand not even attempting to mitigate any damage.

[21:42] Jerad snarled again in pain, not having a clue what he was doing now. He usually avoided other wolves and the bloody scratches that his fur stuck to in the areas he was hit was a reminder why. Still he went to get up with a shake of his head and grab the other once again like some annoying harpy who would steal away food and drop it to the ground just to let those it belonged to starve. In a way he did afterall make the other wolf lose his food. The grab was the same, possibly stronger than expected but yet against his claws didn't dig into the other at all even if that meant his hand overlasping to claw the back of his own thumb in the grip during the process. A loud and deep growl nearly came out as a roar in how it echoed throughout the cave like some scowling mother.

Keliah Angelis stood in the wing of the shopping mall, still as stone against the currents of foot traffing, and breathed deeply in of the smells. No, not the mish-mash of perfumes, or the lingering stink of the foot court. Not the smell from coffee shops and cosmetic stores, but of the people. So many people!

I'm so hungry! I must have one - any one - I don't care! I'm starving and I don't care!

There! There is a young woman. Blonde and supple with youth. She looks so fresh; she smells so profoundly good. The vampire slowly turns her head, studying this approaching prey, her JCPenny bag in hand.

Closer. That's it, come closer...

Keliah suddenly sprang onto her feet, leaping into the coming traffic of people, and with her fangs at the ready - those wicked, gleaming things - she tore into the fount of the woman's neck and gorged on her dying screams.

The shop-lit hall fills with the sounds of terror. There's a monster in their midst - one who must hunt. Slowly, Keliah rose rom the corpse and drew her bloodied tongue over her equally bloodied lips. Her breasts were drenched with it, the once-blue fabric of her tank top soaked.

"Mm..." She moaned, licking her fingers clean of blood, and watched, amused, at the scene of mass hysteria.

Fear me! Run, you fucks. Run, pray. Pray to your puny little God, a God who could not defeat my master, Caine. A God who allowed his children, made in his image, to become more powerful than his very own creations. You coward! You can't stop me! We're going to defeat every. Single. Human. Make them our slaves! Make them beg for their worthless little lives! Make them submit to us! Make them into nothing but juiceboxes!

She laughed at the fleeing people. Men come with guns to shoot her down. Mall security! They don't get very far. Keliah picked up the limp corpse of the blonde and tossed it into them as if it weighed nothing. Meant nothing. Gunshots ring outwards, but she doesn't seem phased. There's another human in her grasp. Another. Then, another. They fall to the blood lust.

I rent their limbs from the bodies, tear out their hearts. I destroy all those who oppose and assault me, proud for my glory and my strength.

No one - not one person here - can stop her.

The destruction is satisfying. Carts of goods over turned. Windows smashed. Light fixtures sputter over head. The marble tile? Streaked and slick with blood and human leavings. It's pretty quiet in here now - a sort of calm, eerie and absolute silence has fallen over the wing of the shopping mall while the outside world debates on what to do with her.

That doesn't really matter, now does it? I'll be gone. They, the humans, in their infinite stupitdy, will never be so clever as to find me.

She turned and surveyed her surrounds; she peered past the carnage. Displayed to entice shoppers were the latest, greatest denim pant hanging in the shop's entry. Keliah picked her way towards it, stepping over limb and corpse.

"These. These will do." She held them aloft to casually examine the seam and size before tugging them from the hanger. One foot in a leg followed by the other, she slid the jeans up her thighs and over her hips. There. So snug and comfortable.

Fits like a dream.