|
Post by luscen on Jul 14, 2022 0:11:25 GMT -6
The vampire staggered as Ru clamped down on his pant leg, growling and looking back at the wolf. "Get off!" he snarled, aiming an awkward kick at the other nightwalker. Before he could successfully shake Ru off, however, the rest of the debris exploded outward, rocking the vampire and knocking him off-balance. Casmir rose to his feet, face blooded and bruised but eyes blazing, gripping a stake in his hand.
The vampire swore and aimed a punch that would have taken the human's head off, had it connected. But Casmir's head bobbed out of the way, allowing him to maintain his forward momentum, slipping under the nightwalker's guard. His stake pierced the vampire's chest, cold ichor spewing from the wound as the nightwalker seized up. Then, with a clink of steel being unsheathed, he slashed the head of the vampire off, a silvery arc slicing through the air, its black blood spattering across the wall, and dripping from the edge of his curved cavalry sword.
The Hunter's breath was a little heavy, and he spared Ru a glance, though said nothing. After a moment, he made his way on unsteady legs over to Crowley, who was still pinned to his chair with the crossbow bolt. Drawing a cigarette from his pocket, Casmir placed it in his mouth and lit it, glaring down at the vampire.
"Alexander Crowley," he grunted, before the corner of his mouth quirked up in a wry smirk. "Or, should I say, Aleister Crowley?"
The elder vampire glared back up at the Hunter, struggling impotently to break his paralysis, but to no avail.
The Hunter let out a breath of smoke in reply. "At least, that's what you and your master would like me to believe, isn't it?" The vampire suddenly looked like the kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. "Don't look surprised; the real Crowley wouldn't let himself get bound by something as restrictive as vampirism, even with the allure of immortality. He would, however, let someone take the heat for him, while he waited in the wings. So, is he here?"
|
|
|
Post by jarahamee on Jul 22, 2022 0:03:45 GMT -6
The wolf’s bright yellow eyes squeezed closed and it hopped backwards, away from the flailing limbs of both the vampire and human hunter. He was glad that the powerful body of the wolf was both more nimble and better balanced than he was. Where Ru landed, he paused, unsure of what to do. Piotr, on the other hand, answered his unspoken question with his actions, handily beheading his vampire foe.
As injured as Piotr happened to be, he seemed like he had the proverbial upper hand on his vampiric enemies. Ru was, for his part, glad that Piotr did not consider /him/ to be an enemy himself.
He trotted back to the vampire hunter’s side, looking around for any other enemies that might follow. Ru knew all too well there would probably be an entire club of alerted guards and creatures like the Empusa who would storm in and overwhelm them.
Piotr, however, had his own business to attend to. Crowley? Like the guy from Supernatural? He hadn’t really thought about it during the meeting… If the elder vampire had introduced himself as Count Dracula, he probably would have taken it at face value, but this sounded like something more than that.
Ru whined softly and approached, wondering if Crowley would survive long enough to consider all of this a betrayal. He’d probably end up the most hunted vampire in Wathais, and that wasn’t exactly what he was hoping for.
|
|
|
Post by luscen on Aug 13, 2022 17:41:02 GMT -6
Casmir spared Ru a glance- he was likely anxious about all the commotion. "The walls here are warded," he began, blowing a bit of smoke out of the corner of his mouth. "No sound gets in or out, once the doors are closed and the circle's completed. Same with trying to force the doors or windows open; wouldn't do to be disturbed when you're in the midst of scheming, right?"
Crowley's mouth twitched, his eyes glaring holes in the Hunter's head. The blonde merely replied with an unpleasant grin - more a baring of teeth - and then quickly kicked the chair back, sending it crashing to the floor. The ruckus was loud enough to attract the attention of the guards outside, and yet there wasn't so much as a peep in response.
"You know, I admire a healthy dose of security and paranoia," Casmir commented, sitting down on the vampire's chest. "But there's something to be said about overdoing it."
He gripped the crossbow bolt lodged in Crowley's chest, paralyzing him, and slowly drew it out just enough that the vampire let out a snarl. "You wretched, insignificant bit of half-chewed maggot-food. Do you have any idea what you've- ghk!"
Crowly let out a gurgle as Casmir drew his bowie knife and shoved it straight into the nightwalker's mouth. The Elder vampire gurgled a bit of blood and made gagging noises around the length of the blade.
"Sorry," the Hunter tsked, twisting the blade back and forth. "You were doing this thing, with your mouth, that was pissing me off. Now, I'm going you a question, and you're going to answer it: I'm looking for a blonde man with red eyes, and a tattoo along his right arm. Very distinct, you can't miss it. You seem to be informed about the movers and the shakers in this city, for a patsy. So maybe you could tell me if you've seen him or not."
The Hunter tugged the blade back out of Crowley's mouth, the vampire slashed tongue healing quickly. "Your quarry is in the city, Hunter. This much I will humor you with." Now it was Crowley's turn to smirk. "In fact, he was very keen on 'treating' you, which was why he arranged for that little bit of bait."
The smirk deepened as Casmir's face became more stony in kind. "His insight into your movements is quite remarkable; instead of pursuing the trail he left for you, you chose to follow the plight of a few women. Small wonder that you can do nothing but impotently chase after his shadow." The vampire raised an eyebrow. "And now you think, what? To threaten me? In Wathais, of all places? Do you even know what kind of city this is? The monsters that they let roam loose, here? You've already committed several crimes with your little stunt here; I doubt the police, let alone the WDSA will be inclined to let you live after you murdered three of my employees, let alone simply walk away."
Crowley's smirk gave way to a manic grin, baring his fangs. "I'll enjoy seeing you rot behind bars. I'll even make it a point to plea for leniency with regards to your aggravated assault, just so you can enjoy the knowledge that I'll be free to continue doing as I please, while you bear the full weight of your kind's 'justice system.'"
The Hunter didn't immediately respond. He took a long drag of his cigarette, looking over at the window. "You're doing that thing, again."
Casmir shoved his bowie knife back into Crowley's mouth, before standing up and going over to the window, heedless of the vampire's protests. "I never understood why you bloodsuckers like to keep windows in your places. Seems kind of like a major health risk. Maybe you just can't help yourselves..."
He kicked the chair over onto its side, so that the vampire was facing the window. Crowley suddenly paled, looking up at the Hunter anxiously. Casmir, meanwhile, put out his cigarette on the nearby ashtray seated on the desk, and pulled out a toothpick with a curious bit of carving on it. While a normal human wouldn't be able to see what was on them, whatever it was had Crowley sweating bullets.
"You read the weather forecast, tomorrow morning?" Casmir asked idly, beckoning Ru over to him. "It's going to be a nice day, not a cloud in the sky." He placed his hand on the vampire's back, speaking a phrase in old Norse. There was a flash of blue light, and the last thing either of them heard was Crowley's panicked, pleading screams.
The pair appeared again in a rather posh bedroom, that seemed as if it had been privy to a scuffle: bedsheets had been thrown about, bottles had been thrown aside, and the lights were off. Casmir shoved his hands in his pockets and took off further into the bedroom, apparently uninterested in whether or not Ru stayed or followed.
|
|
|
Post by jarahamee on Sept 20, 2022 15:09:02 GMT -6
Ru decided he didn’t want to know what was going to happen to Crowley, and even more than that, he wished he wasn’t witness to yet another murder. His hand couldn’t have clutched Piotr more tightly, and though he was a young vampire, the strength of his bloodline was considerable. This slaying would bring his total murders witnessed directly up to eight. This wasn’t counting implied murders, which was a much higher count when he was comfortable with thinking about. He preferred to block out the memory whenever possible.
He hurried after Piotr, a morbid thought crossing his mind as he did so; If there were no witnesses, then he couldn’t be linked to the crime… He hadn’t directly harmed anyone here, after all, nor did he really want to be involved in any of this mess. The vampire exhaled. He didn’t have to breathe, and sometimes, in cases like this, he forgot to. He also took the opportunity to release his grip.
“Where are we?”
The thin man did a slow half-turn, assessing his environment. This place looked like it had borne witness to something. Was it violence or…another sort of tussle?
He studied Casmir, pale eyes following the Hunter’s features. He must be a hunter, the way that he acted. What he had said. The way he had stalked the being who wasn’t Crowley after all. All the precision and expertise. It could be nothing else. But if that were true, why wasn’t he trying to kill Ru like the others had?
|
|
|
Post by luscen on Oct 11, 2023 3:08:24 GMT -6
Casmir gave Ru a look at the vampire’s quiet question. “Are you sure you wanna know?” he asked around the cigarette, continuing further into the room. If the scarred man was bothered by the other man’s grip, he didn’t show it.
The Hunter dragged his captive accomplice further into the room’s depths. At the furthest corner of the room, hidden in the darkness, were three bodies; each were female, each were young, no more than teenagers. Each were dressed like fetishized schoolgirls, with short pleated skirts and button-down blouses tied over their navels, thigh-high white fishnets garbing their legs. It was hard to tell for those with human eyesight, but to creatures like Ru, their features were Mexican.
Casmir regarded the one pinned to the wall with an inscrutable look. Her bare arms hung limply at her sides, her long, black hair draped over her face like a funeral shroud. She didn’t so much as twitch at their approach, and neither did the others, though Ru saw that their arms and legs had been bound with black cord.
“You can shadowwalk, right?” the Hunter asked Ru, his gaze still fixed on the girls. “Can you move more than yourself?”
|
|
|
Post by jarahamee on Oct 12, 2023 1:48:14 GMT -6
Ru shook his head. While his master might have been able to do that, he was all but incapable of that sort of power. He looked down at his arms. He might be able to carry one or two of them though, for while he was neither tall nor broad, he was stronger than a professional human athlete.
“I can carry one or two of them, if that will help, and I can run without tiring. I um. I ate before I came here.”
He crouched near one of the women, exerting his strength to break the cords and free her legs first. He would have to work on her arms afterwards.
The vampire knew enough to understand exactly what had been happening here. If they were under the influence of mind control, he might even be able to get them to follow his instructions…though he would be in loathe to use his powers in this way.
His gaze returned to Casmir, expression somber.
“I don’t think I can carry all three though. I’m not quite big enough.”
|
|