Run This Town (Rory+Ishu)

As she started to unbraid her hair, Cade helped her move it all over one shoulder to lay across her chest, letting his lips find the nape of her neck. Kissing her there, he smiled against her skin, closing his eyes as he lost himself to her scents and the feel of her body against him, stifling a pleasured groan as his cock came into more contact with her when her backside pressed into him. Soon, the smell of the rogue's blood was washed away, only vague hints of it remaining as the last vestiges clung to his skin and cheeks where she'd touched him with bloodied hands. Being careful to keep her clean of it, he let his hands smooth over her thighs, dipping briefly into the silken valley between them petting over and between flowery petals. Not lingering and just a bit teasing, he let the trail continue up over her belly, fingertips circling the small dent there before clinging to her opposite hip and holding her to him possessively in embrace.

Realizing that he wasn't really helping her clean anymore, and amused by the fact, he gave her a soft tickling nibble on the back of her neck while pulling himself back a little and giving attention to her hair. Pulling it all back over her shoulder so it hung loosely in his hands, he ran his fingers through the wet strands, reveling in the waterfall of white silk. Cade wasn't really sure what to do as far as washing this much hair - considering there was probably two drops of the soap left - but he was gentle as he handled it, stroking through it with the water running down.

"So long..." he said softly with a small smile. "And the color is unusual... Not in a bad way," he reassured her. "But it's something you rarely ever see except on the elderly...and never this pure. When I first saw you, I was almost blinded by it and the sunlight behind you. I thought you were an angel." He gave a small laugh in his throat to remember how he'd tripped over himself and panicked trying to find her in the grocery store when she'd disappeared from sight, thinking that he'd gone mad for even just glimpsing her in those first moments. Felt like forever ago.It felt like the memories of a totally different person.

"Now I know you are..."

He was still playing with her hair - NOT helping her clean. It wasn't like it was totally his intent in the first place and he realized yet again that he was stalling. And he knew why. Now that he had an alibi and a story ready in the works, he felt a bit more freedom to take his time with this. But that wasn't necessarily true. If Quin was still up and waiting for him, he'd grow more angry and paranoid - less likely to listen to anything reasonable - the more Cade forced him to wait. And he knew that despite how much he wanted it, he could not stay here with her forever.

"I'm sorry..." he murmured with a small smile, letting her hair fall back onto her back. "I thought I'd help but I'm just getting in the way... I'll let you finish up in here." Leaning forward to kiss her lips tenderly, wanting to stay longer and detaching himself from her with a small rumble in his throat.

Her breath caught in her throat was his hand swept down between her legs and fondled her petals between his fingers. Her spine swayed as his hand moved back up her body and held her form against him. She touched her hands to his arm and kissed the muscle that idly flexed near her face. She smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair, helping the water through with gentle strokes.

Ishu smiled as she listen to him recite the events of when they first say each other. She remembered not being threatened by him at all. She still could not explain it, but she knew for a fact that she loved him. She felt her hair land on her back, heavy with water. She looked back at him as he apologized and leaned in to kiss her. She let him kiss her with his tenderness and as he pulled away, she stopped him. Her hands reached up and held his face, bringing his lips back down to his.

She kissed him with almost poisonous intentions, letting the passion pour out of her before slowing the kiss and pulling away from him. Alright... She kissed the tip of his nose, I put everything in the trunk. I was thinking you could drive back in your underwear so you don't get blood in the car. She smiled at him and let go of his face, then drew her body back under the cool water to clean herself.

He practically melted when she pulled him back for more kisses, overwhelmed by the hungry grasping of her lips against his own, returning it just seconds before she was pulling away and giving him a cute peck on the nose. Smirking, he stood in the doorway for a few minutes, watching her before turning away from the room, trying to stifle the growing urge to do more than just kiss and touch her. In the bedroom again, Cade searched for the one article of clothing he had left, dark colored briefs, and slipped them on nonchalantly, his eyes trailing up to the night table beside the bed.

The container with the strawberries and blueberries was still there and he smiled to remember how the "tasting" and "sharing" of the treat had quickly evolved into sharing and tasting of other things. Taking a strawberry from it, he looked it over for a moment before popping it whole into his mouth, forgetting that she'd eaten hers while leaving the green stem untouched. Still, he was unbothered by it and nodded his head lightly to himself in appreciation. Her favorites, she'd said. He could definitely understand why, although the peach had a much more subtle and mellow taste and texture which he preferred.

Finding her clothes where he'd discarded them last night after taking them off of her, he picked them up and set them out on the bed neatly for her to find, her sweater and coat set alongside them as well. Leaving the room, he headed downstairs to wait for her at the car, his dark eyes scanning everything in sight warily now, listening closely to anything that sounded out of the ordinary. He still blamed himself for yesterday, letting his guard down and drawing the rogue to them, and he would not let such happen to him again while he was the only thing standing between her and death.

Even so, he started to plan and think over the story he'd give to Quin and the others, honing the details and fixing them in his mind as if they were the truth. No doubt the brethren would be on alert and any hesitance on his part or fumbling would make the whole thing fall apart, and he had to consider any questions that might be asked. And he would not under any circumstances reveal the truth about Ishu.

The morning air was chill and crisp and heightened his senses as he stood by the car, watching the large yellow orb in the sky finally detach itself from the horizon while still leaving everything feeling cool and slightly damp. Getting into the front seat of the Audi, he turned it on and cranked up the heating system, letting the car warm up for Ishu while he waited.

After Cade left her alone, she focused on cleaning her skin and rinsing water through her hair. She managed to get enough soap out of the container to get the blood stains off of her hands and face. The rest of the blood had already come off fairly easily, so she was not too concerned with it. While running her fingers through her hair, so looked for any noticeable traces of blood and found none. So, she did not use any cleaning product for her hair but she still rubbed and conditioned it with plain water.

She smiled to herself as she thought about him and the way his skin felt when she touched it. Ishu purred and closed her eye as she smoothed water over her face.

Once she felt clean, she turned off the water and ran her hands down her body, pushing off the excess water. She stepped out of the tub and peaked out into the bedroom. She did not see Cade there but she did see her clothes laid neatly out on the bed. A smile bloomed on her features and she walked over, picking up her undergarments. Her panties had a little wet spot from the night before from Cades teasing. She chewed on her lip, still smiling, and took it to the bathroom. She washed it carefully and quickly and wrang out the excess water before putting them on.

Soon dressed in her undergarments and dress, she pulled on her sweater and buttoned it modestly. Assuming it would be chilly outside, plus the fact that she was quite damp, she put on the coat. The little plastic case with fruit was sitting on the night stand and it was open from when Cade just previously ate a strawberry. She closed the case and put it into her coat pocket. The girl then sat down on the bed and put her shoes on before braiding her hair so it draped over her shoulder and rest on the front of her coat.

Now, finally dressed and content with her attire, Ishu hurried down the stairs and out of the house, beaming over at the car as she approached it. Her little feet hurried her around to the passenger side. She opened the door and plopped down in her seat, her feet resting on the mat on the floor before she shut the door. The peaches were still in the car from their outing the previous day and they made the car smell great. She put her seat belt on and turned to look back at them, Do you want me to take them when I leave? She assumed it would not be safe to have them around- unless he was planning on telling the Gamatoms the truth and wished to use the fruit as a visual for an explanation of some sort.

When he saw her come out of the house his face lit up pleasantly, even as he cast another wary glance around at their surroundings while she got herself situated in the passenger seat. Waiting for her to buckle her seatbelt before he put the car into drive and turned around in the yard to face out the small dirt road that passed for the driveway, he thought over her question in silence, glancing into the backseat at the fragrant bounty they'd collected the previous afternoon.

"Yeah, I think I'll take a few with me. Not too many, but just a couple to tide me over in the evenings..." he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to resist giving into the bloodlust again with how horrible a job of it he'd done last night; the sound of female blood beating in his head had driven him crazy. He DID know, however, that killing human women was not something he wanted to do, if he could help it and if he did end up resisting, it'd be good to have a backup food plan.

As the landscape around the car began to blend back into buildings and asphalt, he scratched nervously at his bare knee and licked his lips before bringing up what he had in mind. "Your brother...he'll be worried for you, won't he?" Cade asked, still unsure how to feel about the whole "sibling" dynamic, but at least making an effort not to sound like he wanted to kill the guy for being related to her.

"You said you take care of him, didn't you? Is he unwell?" Humans were such sickly things sometimes, it really surprised him how many illnesses and diseases they could come down with. Gamatoms only ever got like that when they were wounded in fights, usually needing a while to heal from their injuries before being ready to fight again.

They were nearing the heart of the city now and he started to tense up to see the familiar surroundings, almost expecting the brethren to be out looking for him. That was absurd or course, since it'd barely been a day since he'd gone missing, and still he did not see any sign of them. But he couldn't help feeling on edge with Ishu with him. "Where do you want me to drop you off? At the library?" It seemed a silly thing to suggest, but it was really the only place he knew that she went to on a regular basis.

She liked that he wanted to take a few with him. At least this way they would last longer. She couldn't eat them all by herself and she didn't know how her brother was doing with food. When Cade mentioned her brother, she nodded, Yes... She felt nervous talking about it but she felt it needed to be explained. Cade would find out some way in the future, and she knew it, so she decided to just tell him now, He owns a flower shop in town. It was attacked in the middle of the day... Gamatoms vandalized it and... he got hurt.

Her brother never told her the details of his beating. She did not know if all they did was hit. She did not know if they sexually abused him or not. She did not even know if any of his customers had been hurt. He was in the hospital for a week for surgery and recovery. He just came back recently. He still owns the flower shop but... it's been locked up since it was vandalized. She looked down at her knees sadly, I don't think he is going to open it up again. The shop had been another small beacon of hope- a beacon of normalcy in the world. Her brother knew that and that was why he kept it open for so long.

She was quiet after divulging the information to him and sank down in her seat as they neared the city. When Cade asked her if the library was alright for a drop off point, she nodded, That's perfect. Ishu smiled over at him and glanced out the window before ducking back down again.

The news about Ishu's brother hit Cade hard and made him feel guilty, not because he'd been involved - he didn't recall attacking a flower shop, ever - but that he'd been filled with an irrational hate for the man this whole time, ever since he'd learned the guy existed, and his brethren were responsible for not only hurting the guy, but indirectly hurting Ishu as well. He could see how she was affected by it from how sad and quiet she got when mentioning the attack and the flower shop. Not knowing how to apologize or even if he should, he was silent for the rest of the drive to the library after she agreed for him to drop her off there.

Driving past the large building, he pulled up next to it on the south side, hidden from view and cast in the building's shadow from the still climbing sun. Turning the car off, he cast a glance out the back and side windows, but other than a lone human man walking by - imperceptibly rushing now after having spotted the moving vehicle - there was no one. Turning to Ishu, he tried to give her a smile, pushing thoughts of her brother and his possible hand in the attack out of his mind.

"Let me help you carry these inside," he said in his raspy voice, nodding in the backseat at their cargo. "I just don't want to leave you on the curb with them when I drive off."

It was partly that, but also, he wanted to kiss her goodbye but didn't want to do so out in the open. Even though the car was somewhat secluded at the moment, he felt better when there were walls all around when it came to showing her affection. Back in the city. Back to hiding this. The dream ride of yesterday had officially come to an end.

Exiting the car, Cade walked around to the trunk first where she'd said his clothes were, unperturbed by the chill of the shade and standing in nothing but his underwear and boots. Glancing around warily before opening the trunk, he took out his pants and hastily slipped them on, getting a bit of blood on his hands from handling them. Slapping the shirt over his shoulder, he merely glanced at the head of the rogue, noticing what Ishu had done to it, before shutting it back into the darkness of the trunk.

At the backseat of the car, he collected a dozen peaches from the basket and put them in the duffel bag that he'd used to put Ishu's books in, being careful to only get blood on the ones he was taking - it wouldn't be a problem for him but he could always wash them off later. Once that was done, he took the basket in his arms and took them up to the front doors of the library, his eyes and ears on alert for anything non-human slinking about.

Inside the grand, musty place again, he set the basket down on one of the tables, looking around the hall fondly - felt a bit like coming home and there was a pang of regret that he was leaving again after just arriving. Turning to Ishu, his hands hovering near her body but not touching her with his blood stained hands, he leaned forward and captured her lips hungrily, as if this were the last time he'd get to taste her and he wanted to drink in every inch and drop of her he could.

"I don't think it'll be a good idea for me to try to see you again today," he said, breathing heavily when he finally broke the kiss to rest his forehead against hers. "I'll see you tomorrow, if everything goes well." Hopefully. Stepping back from her, he took the shirt from where it lay on his shoulder and casually began to open it up and slip it over his head. "I know you kept these in the trunk so the car wouldn't get dirty...but I really don't want to take the chance that I'll be seen without them now that we're back in the city. I can always clean the car later."

Running a hand through a particularly thick, dark glob of something in his shirt, he got his fingers messy with it and put a little in his hair and on his face, moving his hand in a random splatter pattern. "I wanted to thank you again for doing this," giving her another crooked smile before semi-wiping his hand on his gory pants. "And I saw the head... you really are amazing." Then he was reaching forward to cup her face in his hands and kissing her deeply, laughing lightly at the small smear he left on her skin. Guiltily shrugging and looking down at his hands he said, "Sorry... you just got clean...but I just can't help myself."

Then Cade's face was growing serious again as he let his eyes wander over her features adoringly. "I love you, Ishu." The wonderful night they'd shared together really was over now and they wouldn't get away with something like that again. But he was determined to make a life with her in whatever way was possible. "I hope you understand why I'm doing this... I would give it up, if I could... but I can't abandon the brethren."

She looked out at the library as they pulled up and he drove around to the other side. She looked over at him when he said he wanted to come in with her, Are you sure? She knew he was but she felt the need to ask. She did not know how much strain he might have been feeling due to the need to get back to his pack. Their ways were strict to say the least. Just being away for a moment could be dangerous to an individual.

Once the car parked and Cade got out, Ishu made sure she was ready to go and got out of the car. She waited by the door after closing it and walked around to the other side once Cade had dressed himself and grabbed the basket of fruit. She went ahead of him into the library and waited for him, again, by a table inside. The library looked nice. Light filtered in through the small windows that lined the top of the walls.

Ishu turned around and faced him when he came in. Her eyes trailed over his torso, hungrily taking in the view of him. He was so handsome and he loved her. She smiled and restrained her want to hug him against her. She could feel his hands hovering over her figure, a subtle heat radiating and masking over her clothes. Expecting his lips as he leaned forward, she leaned up and kissed him. Her hands touched his face, pulling him closer as they fed on each others saliva.

Their lips broke apart and she breathed for what felt like the first time in her life. He broke it to her, that he would not be able to see her tonight. She pet the sides of his face as he rest his forehead on hers. She knew it was inevitable and she only hoped she would see him again. He couldn't die. The others couldn't kill him. As she tightened her hold on him, he pulled away and put his bloodied shirt on.

Ok. She understood where he was coming from but she did not like that he would have to clean the blood out of his car. It seemed to be his favorite. I can get some cleaning supplies and we can clean it when you come back. She smiled expectantly, feeling that making a promise to each other would ensure the safety of his life. Quenching her needy thirst for him, he held her face as he kissed her again. It was brief, but it was enough. She smiled at him and touched her face where a hand print made of blood had begun to dry. It's alright.

Her teeth bit down on her lip and she reached out, holding onto his hand as he told her what she had been hearing every moment since the night before, I love you too. She smiled as she fought back tears, more of their reality sinking in, I... I know. She sniffled and touched the back of her hand to her face, as if doing so would keep the tears back. Promise me... you'll come back. She smiled up at him as the whites of her eyes reddened from the strain of suffocating the tears that threatened to burst through her features.

As the oceanic color of her one visible eye swam and glistened with moisture, the soft smile returned to his face as he brushed her cheek tenderly with the knuckles of his fingers. "I promise. I'll be back. Don't worry. I've got it figured out. The worse that's going to happen is I'll be on probation for the rest of the day and evening. Thanks to your idea about using the rogue's attack as an excuse, even Quin will be hard pressed to stay angry with me." Lips brushed at hers in a brief reassuring gesture before he was stepping away keeping his eyes locked firmly with hers. "I will be back. Trust me, Ishu." And he knew from the look in her eyes as those words passed from his lips, he could not break his word to her. Saying it aloud had basically set it into stone.

Casting one more crooked smile over his shoulder at her, he walked out the front doors and started down the steps towards the eagle statue that stood like a stalwart guardian to the building. In the light of dawn the shadows were dark on the brass sculpted feathers while the golden sunlight gave the bird's open beak and penetrating gaze a firey and threatening cast. Another echo from the old world that the Gamatoms were consuming little by little. Shaking his head and trying to coast on the high from Ishu's kiss, he turned away from it and headed to the side of the building where his car waited.

"Cade!" a booming voice called out, instantly making Cade tense up as he turned towards the sound. Valheru. Again. "Where have you been, man? Quin is absolutely livid that you didn't show up for the hunt last night. I was sent to come and get you again-- Whoa...what the fuck happened to you?" The larger man took his time sauntering like a behemoth towards him and Cade tried not to look panicked as he cast a defensive glance at the doors of the library. Like a soft echo in his head, he could hear Ishu's heartbeat and for a paranoid second he was certain that Val could hear it too. But Valheru's glance at the building was brief and his eyes didn't linger. Still, Cade did not relax as the bigger Gamatom continued to talk to him.

Valheru's red eyes danced up and down his form and he gave an amused laugh in his throat. "Jeez... You look like shit..."

Cade gave the man a dark-eyed and wild glare. "Thanks! I was feeling fucking fantastic before you said that! I'm so glad you're on top of things!" Val didn't say anything to that but frowned a little from Cade's angry tone. From the particular look the other was giving him, it was a mixture of defensiveness and concern. Grimacing, Cade shook his head as if to end that part of the conversation.

"Just get in the fucking car, alright? I had a really bad night," he continued as he began to discreetly lead the other Gamatom away from the doors and away from the library. Away from Ishu.

Valheru's expression cleared as he seemed to accept this explanation for Cade's behavior. "What is it with you and the creepy book place anyways?" he asked as he followed him to the car on the southside of the building.

"It's called a library, Val. And there's nothing about it, alright? Last time I felt like tearing shit up and the place is FULL of useless crap." Like an old coat, Cade slipped on the mask of how he used to act. How he was supposed to act around the brethren, the cocky and surly attitude coming naturally to him as he came up beside the vehicle.

"Finding me here again was just a coincidence. I was around here last night and took shelter inside while my wounds healed." Each word came out snotty and like he felt the need to stomp on the whole fucking world. And Cade hated it...hated the way he sounded. After letting down his walls around Ishu, he began to realize, this way of acting, this anger...it wasn't who he really was. And having to wear this sneer and talk this way was incredibly stifling. He couldn't wait for it all to be over and he'd barely begun the "first act" of this play.

Valheru didn't argue with that and walked around to the passenger side while Cade opened the driver's door and slipped inside, the blood and other bodily fluids that Ishu had drenched his clothes in causing the fabric of his shirt and pants to stick to his body wetly. When Valheru got inside the car, his massive bulk made the seat groan as he adjusted himself to give his long, thick muscled legs room on the front mat. Cade tried not to visibly bristle to remember that it was Ishu's seat, but silently vowing to himself that he'd find some reason to beat on the other man if he ended up breaking it.

As Cade pulled out of the shadow of the building and started back on the road, Valheru cast a glance around the inside of the car, the frown on his face making him look like he'd swallowed something unpleasant. "Nice ride," the large Gamatom said, his deep voice dripping with sarcasm as he looked into the backseat. The duffel bag was back there but zipped up and his rusty red eyes drifted over it without a thought, suddenly smirking as he turned back to Cade. "It's so tiny. Lookit that back there. Hardly room enough for three people. Pathetic."

"It goes really fast, though," Cade murmured, trying to shrug even as he defended his choice in the vehicle.

"How fucking fast do you need to go?" Valheru scoffed. "Humans don't run like the wind. Especially not the females." He wrapped his knuckles on the window frame, seeming to cause a small tremor to go through the whole thing with just that simple movement. "Piece of useless junk."

Cade clenched his teeth and said nothing. It wasn't really Valheru's fault, afterall, the things he prized in a vehicle were the same things that Cade had once taken pride in - extra room and heavy towing power. But he liked this car. It was just the right size for him and Ishu and he was fond of the way it moved, not bulky and towering over everything, but smooth like a shark speeding through the water. Thinking about her, he let his eyes flicker to the rearview mirror but the library was too far behind them now and her heartbeat no longer sounded in his head, having faded into silence as they'd driven further and further away. He was a lone shark out in open waters on his own now.

The car ride was quiet for the most part but as the mansion became visible on the hill, Cade licked his dry lips and asked, "How mad is he?" They both knew who "he" was.

Val shrugged nonchalantly, the whole seat seeming to protest with a quiet squeak with the movement. "You know how things rarely ever get under his skin, but when they do it seems to make the entire house feel like it's gonna swallow you whole?" Cade nodded. Quin didn't get truly angry very often, but when he did, it wasn't a feeling you could escape from just by going to a different room. "Yeah. He's like that right now. I'd tone down the attitude if I was you. 'I'm just cranky' ain't gonna fly with him today." Cade understood that and it hadn't been his plan to approach Quin that way, but nodded his head silently anyway, his eyes focused on the road once more.

Arriving back at the mansion felt like another weight piled onto his shoulders, especially when he pulled up alongside the other two vehicles - the trucks casting a shadow on the Audi - and he spotted two other Gamatoms lounging outside beside the front doors. One of them was Bast and the other was Dey - other than lighter and longer hair than his older brother, Quin, the two siblings looked nothing alike. Both men were clothed and both of them, who usually could be found hanging out together and goofing off, immediately grew serious as Cade approached, hefting the rogue's dismembered head in his hand. Before Cade put his foot on the first step, Dey turned and entered the front doors, obviously going off to let his brother know that he was back and silently, he walked up the four steps and entered the doors after him.

Cade tried to ignore the tremble of fear that coursed through him, giving the other brethren who lurked about the house a powerful and confident stare that he did not feel - all of them awake and waiting for him, he noticed - gripping the back of Spiegel's head in his hand and trying to find purpose and strength in holding it. Bast and Valheru had entered behind him and they stood in the main hall near the stairs with the others who lurked in the doorways. 4 of his brethren stood watching him, waiting with penetrating gazes. Men he'd grown up with. Men who, despite everything that'd happened to change him in the last few days, he still felt connected to. Still wanted to be connected to.

Finally, after only a minute or two of waiting, from the side doorway leading to the room where they'd spoken last, Quin came waltzing into the open room, his hackles raised and threat defining every movement as he stalked near, Dey following on his heels. Surprise registered on the dominant Gamatom's face as he looked Cade up and down with an analytical gaze. Fear gripped Cade by the throat and he instantly started speaking, his tone hesitant and trying to appear humble to dissuade the other man's wrath.

"Quin...I'm sorry I'm late... I know you just spoke to me about this yesterday, but it was an accident. I didn't mean to miss the hunt. I didn't mean to disrespect you--"

He was cut off as the Gamatom leader held up a black colored finger hovering before his face, indicating that he wanted Cade to shut up. It was an uncomfortable moment standing underneath that yellow-green gaze and trying not to flinch when Quin's voice finally broke the silence hanging over everything. "Forget about that," he said, the discerning look in his eyes turning softer, his voice filling with an astonished concern. "What the hell happened to you? What is this?"

Internally, Cade instantly relaxed. Thank God for Ishu and her brilliant plan; Quin was so worried about his current appearance and the head in his hand, it'd instantly dissolved the "house quaking" rage that Valheru had warned him about. Now all he had to do was not fuck up the story he'd been running over and over in his head.

"I was heading back around early afternoon yesterday when I came upon a rogue," he said, his voice getting firmer and more confident as he went on. "He was chasing some women near the library and bank, and I stopped to challenge him." He watched with a hint of satisfaction as Quin bristled to hear of an unknown Gamatom hunting in his territory, and he looked down at the head as Cade brought it up offering it to him. "The son of a bitch was insane, and tried to fucking eat me too. I killed him but was badly wounded in the fight and dragged myself into shelter before passing out. Finally came to this morning as the sun was coming up."

The air in the room had definitely altered dramatically as his voice went on, not only through Quin who now bore a very pleased grin as he looked down upon the severed head in his own obsidian hands, but from the other Gamatoms gathered in the hall as well. From the looks on their faces, he could tell they bought it and it was odd but...Cade felt no guilt whatsoever about lying to them and tricking them this way. Especially not when Quin lifted the head above his head to show it off to the others and a mass, growling cheer rose up from their throats. Even though it was just the 6 men, the sound was amplified by the stone walls and floor of the hall to sound like 30 men gathered together.

With a laugh, Quin tossed the head to Valheru who caught it and held it in one massive hand as if it were a peach, and he said, "Put it out front would you? It'll make a glorious decoration. Another rogue cut down from his rebellion!" Turning to Cade and seeming unaffected by the blood on his clothes, the dominant Gamatom put his arm around Cade's shoulders. "You were lucky to be out and about to catch the bastard on our turf. I'm very glad you were able to destroy him. I would have hated to have to chase the idiot down for daring to hunt here."

Cade waited for Quin to say something about his injuries, to offer up even a small 'I'm glad you're okay', but then he was moving on, talking about having a celebration later tonight to commemorate Cade's kill. There was a ripple of something running through Cade as he was finally dismissed and allowed to go clean himself up, but he didn't know what it was. He kept chiding himself as he undressed in the upstairs bathroom, that he was being ridiculous, looking for something that wasn't there - of COURSE Quin was happy he hadn't been mortally wounded; the guy wanted to throw a party to celebrate it! But he kept coming around in circles, back to that same bothersome feeling that wouldn't leave him alone.


The day passed without incident, the men huddling up to sleep the rest of the afternoon away and rising a few hours before sundown. Cade didn't sleep but stayed with them anyways, while Quin surreptitiously kept a close eye on him. It wasn't necessarily like the other Gamatom was watching him, but everytime he thought he might get a chance to sneak away from the others, even when they awoke and began to prepare for the evening, he'd find Quin's eyes on him from across the room. The leader would always offer him a smile at those times, so it seemed innocent enough but still, it kept Cade from thinking about leaving the group anytime soon.

Staying with them was torture though, that weight and pressure building on his shoulders as he kept the act up and tried to fit back into his old role. The mask he wore began to itch painfully and suffocate him - all he wanted to do was go into another room by himself and just let the walls down to BREATHE, just for a second. But there was always someone there, always someone already in the room or someone following him wanting to talk and wrestle or just plain molest him. Outwardly, Cade responded in kind, automatically shifting the tones and expressions of his features to exude pleasure and dominance when it was appropriate while the whole time, inwardly he was choking on it and ready to snap a few necks just to be left alone.

When the men arose in the early evening, a few left the mansion to the heart of the city, coming back well after the sun had gone down. Hollering joyfully, the Gamatoms dragged through the doorway 3 women, bringing the helpless humans into the dining room where the rest of them gathered. All three of the women were older, two of them bigger around the middle with fat hips and the thinnest of the group was the oldest, her hair short and graying. As they were paraded into the vast room which had been cleared of furniture, the walls and floors stained dark red, black and burgundy from past meals, reeking of death, the other Gamatoms came from the other parts of the house, already "un-dressed" for the occasion.

While the scared women stood panting and lightly sobbing, standing huddled together in the middle of the floor, eying the creatures fearfully, Dey stepped forward, nude and with a smile on his face and began to violently tear their clothes off. Cade stood, naked with the others on the edges of the room, Bast's arm around his waist, and swallowing thickly as one of the middle-aged women began to sob and talk brokenly and quickly in Spanish. At first, it seemed like she was pleading for something from Dey, but a sinking feeling filled him to realize...she was praying. Frantic, panicking, her round roll of a belly and globular swinging breasts exposed and she was praying in her own tongue - either because she didn't know English or she was too consumed by fear to bother speaking to her God in a language the Gamatoms could understand.

Cade felt the urge to leave then, to turn away, but that weight on his shoulders, threatening to break his proverbial back with it's strain, kept him rooted in place, unable to take his eyes from what was happening. His body responded against his will to the sound of their hearts beating and their shivering cries. But unlike the others who were snarling and growling eager to get the "party" started, he felt himself on the verge of something else, a thickness filling his throat as he continued to watch.

Quin joined them soon after and Dey stepped back from the now naked and bared women, allowing the leader first "shot" at their prey. The lean and tall, muscular form of the dominant Gamatom glistened with a light moisture in the light from the chandelier overhanging the hall as he stalked in a slow, threatening circle around the cowering humans. The one woman who'd been praying had not shut up yet, her voice running a mile a minute - Cade wondered for an absurd moment if God would be able to understand her; it sounded so garbled like her tongue had lost control in her mouth and couldn't decide if it wanted to talk or cry incoherently.

Without warning, Quin neared the woman and slapped her full force across the face, his voice echoing in the hall amidst the growls of the others as he roared for her to shut up. She took the hit still standing and slowly stopped speaking to just quietly sob, the other two women wincing and drawing away from Quin while still seeming to stand still. The Gamatom didn't waste any time, grabbing one of the others, the other middle-aged one, her features and hair color marking her as a relative of the one who'd been praying. Dragging her a bit apart from the other two and twisting her arm violently, he began to beat her, a grimace of hate contorting his features as his fists slammed into her face and body again and again.

The woman who'd been praying cried out the word "Eloise!" over and over, nearly drowned by the sounds reverberating in the dining hall, and Cade was able to deduce that it was the other woman's name. No one stepped forward to help, the Gamatoms in the hall practically begging to be let loose on these filthy cunts, shouting curses, and roaring encouragement, sharp teeth bared and eyes wild with hate. With Eloise on the ground on her knees where she'd finally lost her footing and fallen, Quin stepped near where Valheru was waiting with what looked like a long metal pipe.

Everything seemed to stretch out for Cade then, his breath caught in his throat and shaking his head slightly, even as it all sped by incredibly fast, the moments slipping through his fingers like rushing water. Quin's face was a mask of rage, eyes almost growing neon and insanely wide as he stepped towards the fallen woman with the pipe in one hand. The breath he'd been holding, left him like he'd been punched in the stomach as Cade watched the pipe slice through the air, Eloise's head moving quickly beneath the blow and crumpling to the ground like a doll.

Whatever spell had been locked over the other woman was released as Quin stepped back a pace or two, and she fell to her knees over the broken woman, screaming her friend's name, her face warped and twisted with pure agony and sorrow as her hands shook over the woman's body. The rest of the Gamatoms were released from their spell as well, and suddenly Cade was alone by the wall, the middle of the room filled with nothing but a crowd of flesh slowly growing red as the blood ran.

Feeling like he was going to pass out from loss of air, Cade slipped from the room, boarding the stairs blindly and rushing away from the sounds of the screams that seemed to chase him through the halls. He tried to tell himself over and over again that there was nothing he could have done for them, but that didn't stop the tears from streaming down his face. But Cade did not cry for them, instead wiping his face on his arm in frustration when he felt the wetness cooling there, hating himself for his weakness.

Finding solace in the library on the other side of the house, he shut himself inside and paced in the middle of the floor while his heart still raced. Even as he felt revulsion and pity overwhelm him about what happened, in the back of his mind like a window into a smaller room, he could still feel the bloodlust getting him excited about the scene. And it just encouraged a new wave of guilt when he remembered the almost visceral way the woman had reacted to her friend...her sister...or whoever Eloise had been, dying right before her eyes.

His thoughts came to a rushing halt when the door slammed open and Quin came stalking into the room. A bit of blood streamed in a scarlet ribbon down his chin and the wild look in his eyes had not yet faded as he glared at Cade accusingly. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice coming out with a guttural tone as he approached where Cade stood. Despite himself, Cade backed away a few steps before stopping, trying to get his feet to obey him; running scared would do him NO good in this situation.

Not really sure what to say - the images of the women's terror still flashing through his mind and turning his thoughts into static,- he tried not to look at Quin directly and murmured, "I'm just tired...that's all... Don't really feel like eating right now..." At the word eating, in his mind's eye he saw a replay of how the woman's head had caved in like paper when the pipe struck her skull.

"Not hungry?" Quin asked, chewing on the word, seeming to think it over for a moment before coming to a different conclusion. "Maybe you're in the mood for something else, then?" Cade was suddenly acutely aware of how close the leader was to him now and he knew even without seeing how Quin was now looking at him, exactly what the other Gamatom wanted.

"Quin..." he wanted to protest, to say something that would divert his attention to something else, but he could feel the other man's desire focusing on him like a laser, burning a hole through him.

Without warning or provocation, Quin suddenly had his hand on Cade's throat and was shoving him back to slam into the wall, pushing him effortlessly against it and holding him there with his body. Unable to deny the will of the other, Cade went down without a fight, Quin mounting him on the floor and shoving his hardened cock into Cade's body. The room filled with the sound of heated grunts and the soft, repetitive slapping of flesh on flesh as their sweating bodies came together again and again.

Cade knelt with his face shoved into the floor, gritting his teeth to stifle the moans of pleasure that kept getting ripped from his throat, still wanting to fight, still wanting to stop this but fuck! It felt good... His fingers curled into fists as he bore through it, the pressure and weight on his shoulders rocking as Quin rode him savagely, taking what he wanted without any of the niceties he'd had the night before. As the climax tore through Cade's body, cock spitting thick gobs of cum onto the floor and a cry of ecstasy leaving his throat, Quin let out a crow of triumph and continued to fuck him until his own cum sprayed and coated Cade's insides.

As they lay together on the dirtied floor, cooling from it, Cade said nothing, his body limp and unresponsive to the other's gentle touches. It took every inch of his willpower not to shove the other man off, feeling not only betrayed by the experience but sickened by it as well - something, not even a week ago, he'd relished in and couldn't get enough of. He didn't know if it was the memory of the night before, being with Ishu, still so fresh in his mind, or if it was the circumstances under which he'd been accosted for the sex. Either way, the differences in the two were clearer now and he found himself feeling hollow and drained by it.

As Quin stroked his thigh, his black fingers trailing over Cade's flesh and raising goosebumps under his gentle touch, Cade felt like shoving him away, sickened by it. There was no intimacy or love in the gesture. Nothing but power and dominance and even just a hint of taunting in his victory. Cade had left the party Quin had thrown for him. Not only that, he'd left the group when he was clearly expected to be present. And now the "affection" the dominant Gamatom displayed for him was tainted by the satisfaction of having conquered Cade and forcing him to submit to him.

Even the "party" they'd thrown for him was tainted with it too, testifying Quin's glory and dominance over the city, rather than celebrating what Cade had done for them or even that Cade had lived through a fictional life-threatening attack. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Cade had lied. They simply didn't give a fuck. All that mattered was that Cade obeyed and glorified their leader, feeding his ego when it was demanded of him to do so.

Pretending to fall asleep, Quin eventually left him to rejoin the others and Cade finally got a moment to himself. Already planning to leave and rejoin Ishu, he waited for the dawn when he knew the rest would be asleep.

She watched him walk away from her, keeping his eyes on hers, promising her with everything he could that he would be back. She didn't know why but tears just seemed to fall from her eyes, dripping down onto her dress and her shoes. Once he was out of her line of sight, her throat caught on something that she could not describe. It felt like a knife, jutting diagonally across her throat. She swallowed on it as hard as she could and it went down, tearing through her deeply in the process.

Once it went down and she could no longer feel it, she could breathe. She inhaled and sniffled, then looked over the things he left for her. The basket filled with ripe fruit ready to be eaten. She smiled at it and reached out, letting her fingers trace over the soft skin. Her chest began to hurt and she gasped a breath, wincing in pain as she went through her coat pocket. She pressed the inhaler to her lips and inhaled, twice.

When she felt her airways open up again, she exhaled a deep breath and braced her knees to keep herself standing. She swallowed, hard and moved hair from her face. Her panic attacks were getting worse and closer together. That wasn't good.

Ishu collected the basket and walked to the entrance. She peered out and, after seeing no one, she walked out and hurried across the street. She managed to make it home rather safely and was met by her brother when she arrived. After shutting the door behind her, she set down the basket and looked up at green eyes frowning at her from across the apartment. Haijime...

He sighed and ran his hand over his face, "Should I even bother asking?" He moved closer to her and leaned on the back of the couch. His eyes caught the sight of blood on her and his features became alarmed, "What- what is- is that-"

No! No, it's not mine-

"Then whose is it!?" He walked closer to her and stood over her. He did not touch her as his eyes sifted through her attire, in a bit of shock from the sight of blood.

It's... a long story- I can't-

"Oh, of course, of course you can't tell me-"

You didn't tell me your story! She stopped when she realized what she said, her outburst emotionally driven, I... I'm sorry...

Haijime rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and looked away. He inhaled and looked at her, "Just... come on... we need to change those bandages." he exhaled and took her head, leading her into the bathroom.

He removed the bandages over her eye and looked at the skin and the actual eye itself, "It looks good. Just keep leaving it alone, alright?" He cleaned her up and put a new bandage on her. After carefully applying the tape and looked at her, hard but with concern. He put a hand over hers and stroked her skin with his thumb, "I'm sorry... it's just- the world we live in now is... it's so dangerous." He frowned worriedly at her, "Every time you go out, I worry that I might not see you again."

But you will. She understood what he was saying but she did felt she could not tell him the truth. Not all of it.

He nodded over at her as if knowing how she felt about the situation. "Alright... just, get some rest. Please."

Ishu nodded and hugged her brother.


In a Town About 17 Hours Travel Away

Shhrrrrrkkkcckcklll!!


Blood splattered onto his boots as he removed a machete from the neck of a mostly beheaded Gamatom. He knelt down and grabbed the head by the hair and hacked through the rest of the flesh, completely severing the head. He tossed it over into the piles of heads- an entire pile of Gamatom heads.

The radio on his hip screeched before a females voice chimed in, "Boss! Boss! You there!? We're at the nest! They're starting to swarm the building! JD and Isaiah went down there! I dunno how long they can hold them off!" The voice on the radio went off and the screeching stopped.

He sheathed his machete against his hip and ran over to a jeep. He revved it up and peeled off the side walk, his jeep bouncing over a line of bodies and speeding up the main street.





"Hahaha!!" Hundreds of bullet spit out the end of his gun, tearing up Gamatoms as they ran at him. "Hoo-ray! Take that, asshats!" The blond, lanky man inhaled on his cigarette that perched neatly between his teeth and lips. Lights flashed from the gun over his goggles which shielded his bright green eyes. "Yaaa! Eat my bullets!" He cackled again as another Gamatom shattered to bits when another hundred bullets tore into its' torso.


What sounded like an engine revved off from the blonds right, at about 4 o'clock. "Hrrrngya!" With one fell swoop, he sliced a Gamatom diagonally through the chest, blood spraying out on his large, broad, dark-skinned body. He lifted an enormously muscled leg and pushed the Gamatom down as it's facial features and limbs twitched as it bled out. The large black man swung to the side, slicing horizontally through two Gamatoms that attempted to get him from the side.

The blond noticed the two Gamatoms flying at the black guy and turned his gun, bullets still flying. The chainsaw was at just the right angle to deflect the bullets. Alarmed, the man who wielded the chainsaw roared out at the lanky blond, "JD! Watch where you blow that shit!"

JD, the blond, cringed sarcastically, "Sorry bro!"


Saliva dripping down over his chin and with muscles flexing, nearly bursting out of his skin, the Gamatom rushed up at the street and lunged forward.

The blond yelled a joke over at the black guy, Isaiah, and paused as he heard something. He looked around without moving his head, his skin paling as he swung around, a Gamatom roaring as it lunged up at him.




POOOOOOooooooooooooow!!!

Her heart raced as she exhaled, a surge of pleasure rushing through her veins. Her hand turning up as she pulled the metal back and a shell flew past her face.


JD fell the to ground, blood splattered onto the lens of his goggles. He yelled out, terrified as he struggled with the body of the Gamatom that tried to attack him.

Isaiah cracked up from across the street.

"Son of a bitch!"

Isaiah made his way over to the lanky blond and tossed the corpse of the Gamatom off of his body.

JDs torso flew up and he touched at his own chest, "Jesus.... fucking-CHRIST!" He looked up at the roof of a nearby building, his face reddening with rage, "HEY!" He jumped up to his feet and waved his fist while his other hand kept his gun from falling to the ground, "EVE!!! EVE!!!! EEEEEVE!"



The woman manning the sniper rifle smirked as she watched her comrade through her scope, "Michelle, how much longer?"

A younger woman sat off to the side with a laptop juiced up with external extras and a few antennas, "Just a few more seconds."

Eve whipped her raven black hair over her shoulder, deep blue eyes staring into the girl, "You sure?"

"Yeah!" The girl, a small-framed, short red-haired girl with subtle brown eyes adjusted her glasses, "Their next will be leveled in a few seconds- trust me. You've seen me do this plenty of times."

"Leveling a nest doesn't keep them from coming back," Eve turned back and looked through the scope again, "besides, we don't know where Gabriel is."

"Do we really have to wait for him?" Michelle crooned her neck and pouted over at Eve. She knew pouting at the older girl would not phase her, but it was worth it.

Eve glanced over and stared at Michelle with a stern expression before turning back and glancing through the lens. She picked up her radio and pressed down on the button, "Isaiah, pick up JD and move."


Isaiah did not respond to the radio strapped on his chest but he obliged to his orders. He picked up JD and slung him over his shoulder, the young mans gun slapping against the older, black mans chest as he ran across the street and ducked between two buildings.

Michelle smiled and hit the "Enter" button.

The town center area blew up, wind gusting up towards the buildings around it as rubble and fire flew through the streets.

"HOO-AAAH!!" JD exclaimed and hit his hand on Isaiah's shoulder. Isaiah grunted and shoved the white man further onto his shoulder. He knelt down as trace winds filtered through the sides of the buildings and flicked against their skin.

Michelle exclaimed and thrust her fists into the air as she witnessed her handiwork.

Eve, still looking through the scope, muttered over at Michelle, "Don't get too excited yet..." She kept her eyes peeled on the entrance to the next... waiting.

Michelle let her hands fall down into her lap and her pout came back. Her handiwork was flawless! What could possibly go wrong!?

She waited... and waited... There! Movement! A few of the Gamatoms survived the explosions. She fired once, immediately, her bullet slicing off the top of the head of one of the Gamatoms. She turned her gun, just slightly and shot through the head of the second Gamatom. Her gun swiveled back to the other direction and- it was gone! "Dammit!" She turned her gun back and forth, carefully scanning the area. She couldn't see the third one with all of the smoke.

"There's one more, isn't there?" Michelle stumbled up to her feet and hurried over, "JD and Isaiah are still down there! Where is it!?"

"Don't touch me!" Eve growled at the girl as she focused in on the dust and debris. She could see it, just barely. It was...taking its time. Nice, a Gamatom that knew she was going to shoot it. She smirked at the thought. A challenge, eh? She swept her tongue over her lower lip as she brought his torso into focus. She squeezed the trigger, fired the shot and watched the Gamatom stumble to the ground.

"You got it? Did you get it?" Michelle crouched down next to Eve, expectant for information.

"Yeah, I got i-"

Michelle snatched up Eve's radio and chimed, "JD, Isaiah, mission complete!" She ended her transmission with a giggle and a bit of a dance.

Eve stood up and glared at Michelle, "You fucking-" She growled her frustration and got back into position, "It isn't dead- I just wounded it."

"Wh-what?"

"I wounded it you twit!" She kept watch through the lens. "JD and Isaiah could be dead because of you- you and your stupid mouth. Sit down and shut the fuck up!"

Michelle swallowed hard and pressed her lips together as she fought back her emotions. She sat down where she stood and squeezed her hands over her knees.

The dust began to clear and Eve could clearly see the Gamatom moving along the ground. It was hurt but it was alive. She started to line up another shot when something blocked her. She lifted her head to see it without the lens.

A jeep rushed up and crushed the Gamatom under its' weight, thought the Gamatoms head stuck out from the front drivers side tire. The Gamatom snapped its jaws and pushed at the car, barely lifting it. As it snapped away, the driver picked up his weapon and pointed the barrel-end of a sawed-off shotgun at the Gamatoms face. It took one shot and the Gamatoms' head exploded, blood and brain matter decorating the driver door.



There was an explosion of colors, sounds and emotions. People screaming in terror and digging into their own flesh. Cold metal and hot flesh, tearing through each other. There was a torrent of insects purging down into the open wounds, the old flesh festering as the bugs fed. a house filled with marble had been painted red from the blood, so much blood. There were decorations spiraling down the marble pillars- intestines. The children were... dancing in the carved opened wombs of their late mothers.

Her stomach swelled up as vomit burrowed its way up through her esophagus. She sat up and held herself, tears pouring out of her eyes as she scratched at her mouth and forced the vomit down. Unrelenting, it forced it's way up. Streams of vomit gushed out of her nose and seeped through the side of her mouth. Her eyes bulged in her skull as they snapped open, strained from the build of fluids.

Her lips collapsed, opening as intestines, children and even bugs gushed out of her mouth. She sobbed as she tried to make it stop, as she put her hand up over her mouth and it only made things worse- as if touching her mouth sent her gag-reflex into overdrive. Tears purged down her face as her body attacked her, forcing her to vomit until sheet after sheet of plain skin flowed out of her mouth and rotted after leaving her lips.

She looked down at what she saw, the festering remains of human flesh, children and bugs that ate everything. Something caught in her lungs, an intense pressure. She tried to throw up again, just one more time, just one more time.

Her lips contracted and settled as she tried to breathe. There was... nothing. No breath, no air. She looked around as her vision began to fade and all of a sudden her world blurred. She thought she heard a voice as she fell off the couch, but she wasn't sure. She didn't know...

The house was deathly silent when he finally left the room where he'd slept alone with nothing but books for company. Dawn was already shining it's bright light outside but false night cloaked the interior of the mansion with heavy curtains blocking every window. Cade drifted downstairs like a ghost, dressed in new clothes - not really new but unstained with carnage - each movement becoming one with the collective snores he could hear rumbling from within the den. He stayed away from that side of the house, instead moving to the dining room.

His nostrils were overwhelmed with the smell of fresh blood well before he came within a few feet of the door and despite the cringing flowing through every bone, he pressed on and entered. The stains already covering the walls and floor had been built upon with a new, glossy sheen, almost black as the blood dried in the crisp morning air. Cade thought about what happened, reliving the moment, and trying to sift through his emotions on how exactly to feel about the whole thing.

They weren't just animals. They were monsters. He saw that now, even as saliva gathered in his mouth to remember the hanging flesh and cellulite on the women's thighs and hips. He understood. All his life, the humans were regarded as primitive and lowly, stupid creatures. Sheep. Toys to be played with and objects to be consumed. As hard as he tried to see them in that old way, he kept coming back over and over again to the same thing, keeping him from fitting back into that old mold. Ishu.

She was different but she was exactly the same as the rest of them were. She had thoughts and feelings that mattered to him. Even as he craved the flesh of those women last night, he felt their anguish and fear as if it were his own. As if they were Ishu and he wanted to protect them. But he didn't. He stood by and let it happen. Not only that but he would continue to do so if he stayed here. If he kept coming back to the nest where the brethren gathered, he wouldn't be protecting anybody.

There was the urge to put an end to it all, to just get up and set fire to the house and walk away from it. But two things held him back. 1. the fact that even though his loyalty was completely shattered now after Quin's violent and selfish acts last night, there was still a flimsy emotional connection to his brotherhood. To deny that over the other kinship with the humans would be hypocritical, considering that he was basically planning on killing them all in their sleep. Because like it or not, Gamatoms were living PEOPLE too, with thoughts and feelings and souls. As cruel and misguided as they all were, it was no excuse to take them out so hatefully.

Which was the second thing that held him back: he really was no better than the rest of them. Just because he'd "abstained" from killing women for - what? 2 days now? Did ripping that woman's throat out the other night and then trying to save her from himself REALLY count for or against him? - he'd killed plenty of "cunts" in the past 5 years or so of his life. And he'd done it with just as much hate and pleasure and savage violence as the others did. He was a monster too and he had not yet completely given up on the temptation enough to consider himself the impartial judge and jury for the rest of Gamatom kind.

Rubbing a hand over his face and sighing, Cade started to turn away back to the doors when something caught his eye. The curtains over the tall vertical windows were opened just a sliver, making the floor look like it was the surface of obsidian water rather than a solid thing. But amidst the stains something else glistened metallically. Stepping forward, not minding the stickiness on the bottoms of his boots, he knelt down and picked up the small object.

The tiny, silver pendant was about the size of his thumb nail and it and the thin chain it was strung on were spotted and stained with blood. There was the small raised depiction of what could have been an old woman or man in a robe, holding something long and thin in their hands - for a minute, Cade almost likened it to the pipe that Quin had used to kill that woman... From the words "SAINT ANNA" raised above the figure, he could surmise that it was in fact a depiction of a woman, but other than recognizing the female name, he had no clue what the symbol or the first word meant.

The room was already cleared of the bones and clothing of the prey - probably tossed out back somewhere in a pile with a hundred others - but the brethren had missed this one token. He didn't know if one of the women last night had been wearing it but in a desire to be close to them, he imagined that it was and maneuvered the small clasp to put it around his own neck. Not knowing any of the three's names except Eloise, but feeling particularly moved towards the one who'd been praying, he told himself the pendant was hers and in his head called her "Anna".

After donning the thing and looking at it as it hung around his neck, he fished into his pocket for the white crane that Ishu had shown him how to make - his favorite attempt because it was almost perfect like hers and the one depicted in the instructional book. Still kneeling in the mess of death, he carefully opened it up so that it was three-dimensional and gently set it on the spot where Eloise had fallen. There was no worry that the brethren would find it, as he silently stood and turned towards the doors; most likely they'd step right over it or crush the damn thing when passing through. If they DID find it, he did not worry about it meaning anything to them any more than the book Ishu had let him borrow had mattered. It was just paper, afterall.

Outside, the morning mist had faded over the property as the sun climbed high over the roof of the mansion. Standing a moment by his car, Cade cast one final lingering glance around at the place he'd considered home for the past few years. He tried to see what he once saw - a luxurious nest of glamor and comfort, proclaiming his brethren and himself as LORDS of Anderton city. But all he saw was what the humans had left behind - the grass overgrown and drowning the lawn in knee tall hay; the stone wall surrounding the property falling through in some places and overgrown with attacking ivy; the house itself, whitewash faded and a dark coloring like mascara tears streaming down the walls in uneven trails, shutters hanging loose and a few windows cracked. Less like a castle than a multi-tiered coffin, gutted and turned into some twisted maniacal playground.

Slipping into the front seat of the car, he pulled out for what he hoped was the final time and did not look back as he drove down the hill away from the haunted place.

She was choking and gasping for air on the living room floor, her jaw gaping open as her spine curled open and her hands clawed around for- ugh, glurger!!

"Ishu! Ishu!" Haijime had stumbled across the apartment, wincing and touching his side briefly as he knelt down next to his sister. He carefully brought her up onto her lap and looked around until his green eyes settled on her inhaler. He snatched it up from the coffee tabled and pressed it into her mouth, giving her one, two, three breaths.

Ishu continued to gasp, inhaling every bit of the medication he sprayed down her throat. Her eyes were wild as her line of vision sporadically stammered all over the room, blood spraying everywhere she looked as limbs flew about. So much screaming, so much pain and agony. None of it was... none of it was human. The animalistic roars of pain and confusion. So much blood.

She reached up at her throat and choked, coughing as she could finally get some air, but the panic was still there. She clung to her brother as her eyes overflowed with tears and her voice began to crack, splitting out around them. A high pitched whine filled the room, nearly splitting his eardrums as he held her. The whine became subtler as it formed a word. Blood. Ishu gasped as her features contorted, all signs of terror taking form on her face.

As she began to scream, her voice shaking the room and sending furniture against the door, Haijime ducked over her and held her, "Ishu! Ishu! It's ok!" He crawled across the floor with her, dragging her into the bedroom. He kicked the door shut and pulled her against his chest, her sobs worsening as she hyperventilated. Haijime thrust his arm under the bed and pulled out a First AID kit. He took out a syringe and pressed it into her neck as carefully as he could.

Wincing, she put her hand up as the needle drew out. Her vision began to blur as a figure approached her, tearing through everything as it came. Cade. Her eye shut and she collapsed against her brother, knocked out from the sedative he'd given her.

Panting from the slight panic he had experienced himself, he pulled her up closer to him and held her, letting his fingers tangle into her white hair. He breathed against the side of her face and lifted her eyelid to look at her pupil. She looked ok, but that was too much. She needed proper medical attention. "Cade?" She'd said a name. Her voice had torn through the walls of just a persons brain and it had echoed around their bodies. What was wrong with her?

He winced again and moved her onto his other side. He looked down and saw thin lines of blood seeping out from his stitches. He sighed a deeper breath and looked at his sister, holding her again.



The group went through the debris, promptly decapitating anything that had a head.

"So, how many was that?" JD kicked one of the heads into the middle of the street and shot it to bit while taking a long drag on his cigarette.

"Does it matter?" Eve set a condescending glance over at the trigger-happy blond, "Stop wasting bullets."

"Why? The town owes us. They can give us bullets."

"The town is completely dead you fuck-up." Eve lifted her gun and rest it against her side and shoulder.

"Hey! Don't start with my you uppity-"

"JD, shut the fuck up and get in the Jeep." Gabriel pointed at the back seat with his thumb. "Eve and Isaiah are going to get the truck."

Michelle popped up in the back seat and beamed over at JD, "C'mon! We're going to go get provisions! Woohoo!"

JD ran over and jumped in next to Michelle, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "More smokes! Yeaah!"

The jeep revved and peeled off down the street.

Eve grunted and looked over at Isaiah, "Let's go."

Isaiah grunted back in response and walked with her to the other side of town.



That morning, he went out to the garages and opened the one he had been assigned. He strapped his sister into the passenger seat and got in himself, pulling the car out and driving away. The Hospital was very particular about their working hours. They were fully staffed at all times, but they were well protected and only allowed people in and out at certain times. Visitors were not allowed. He knew this but... her panic attacks were getting worse and she was starting to act out on them.

He submitted his sister and told them what had happened, sort of. He only mentioned that her panic attacks had been getting worse and while she could breathe with the inhaler, it did nothing for the actual feel of terror. They told him to come back in a few days and he was escorted out of the building. Haijime drove back to the apartment complex, locked up his vehicle and went up to his apartment. While worrying about his sister, he also wondered why the name she said was so important...

Arriving at the library - three peaches having been consumed voraciously on the way there - Cade parked on the south side again before actually considering that he should probably hide the car so the brethren wouldn't find him. Later. He'd have to do it later. Right now, all he wanted was Ishu and to see her and hold her in his arms. And this time, he wouldn't have to let go and pray that he saw her again in the morning.

But as he was walking past the eagle statue, he realized something was off but at first couldn't decipher what it was. It wasn't until he was inside, halfway down the vent into the empty back room and figured it out: she was not here. He couldn't hear her heartbeat, so that meant she was probably nowhere on the premises either.

The sun had already climbed up the aether ceiling to a midpoint in the sky - probably 9 or 10 in the morning. She should BE here by now. Unless something happened to make her late...

He wanted to think that everything was alright, that it was an innocent lateness, but he couldn't shake the edgy feeling in his spine as he paced in the middle of the room, swerving automatically to avoid stacks of books. Her favorites. Cade didn't know if it was just that he really missed her and wanted to talk to her or if it was the "party" last night that was making him feel sensitive; it just didn't feel good to be here without her, at least not when he'd been the one to promise her he'd come back.

Trying not to encourage any fantasies that might affect his judgment, he left the room and went upstairs, searching the front desk for something to write with and a scrap of paper. Gathering the two things together - and struggling with his wobbly writing skills - he made a note to her and put it on the front doors of the library. Looking at it, he was displeased - he knew it wasn't right but he was too distressed to fix it; HE could barely fucking read it, but he couldn't bring to mind how to correctly spell out what he wanted to say - but it would do. She'd know what he meant if she saw it. He hoped.

Turning away from the library he began to systematically hunt the streets, occasionally stepping into buildings that might be plausible places for her to go, slowly making his way in a radius around the library before coming back to the building and checking inside to see if she'd arrived while he was gone. Nothing. No heart beat.

Around the afternoon when he checked back and she still hadn't shown up, Cade REALLY began to worry that something had happened and widened his search. Not only that but he began stopping a few people here and there and asking them if they'd seen her or knew where she lived. The answers he got were mostly dubious in nature because of what he was; people, especially women didn't understand why he was even talking to them and either were blinded by their fear of him or were playing stupid to protect her. Either way, nobody had ever heard of Ishu or ever seen a white haired girl wandering around. And no one knew where a girl like that might live.

Coming upon the grocery store where he'd first met her, Cade broke his first smile of the day to see the cashier girl working the counter today. Again, when she saw him, she eyed him with hesitance, obviously not sure what to make of him since that first day.

"Jennifer," he said, pleasantly enough, relieved that to see at least one human today that he recognized and might be open to helping him - he felt like that whole "I'm gonna screw with your head before I kill you" thing had been put behind them...well, she was alive, wasn't she? "Listen, I need your help." Instantly, her expression opened up to hear that, but there was still that wariness. "You remember the white haired girl that came in that day...that day we met?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I see her come in here occasionally. Why?"

Oh good! So, the two females were familiar with each other! He almost wanted to kiss her for that good news! "Do you know where I might find her? Have you seen her today?"

Again, Jennifer shook her head slowly, but her answer was genuine; she was thinking and trying to remember. She WANTED to help him, he could tell. "No, haven't seen her today. Check the library. She likes books I think..."

Fuck. "Do you know where she lives by any chance?"

The chagrined wince on Jennifer's face made him feel a little better, but he wished she had the answers he was looking for. "Somewhere nearby? I'm sorry... I don't know the address, but it's one of the apartment complexes around here."

Cade gritted his teeth and ran an agonized hand through his dark hair. Short of knocking on every door, he wasn't sure what else to do. And who would let a Gamatom within their gated community. That one guy had, but only at the threat of his life...and Cade really didn't want to use his power of authority to barge into places and make people feel unsafe around him. He wasn't a monster.

"Alright...well, if you see her, tell her Cade is looking for her and for her to meet me at the library."

Jennifer nodded, giving him a tight lipped and sympathetic smile and he left her to walk somewhat demoralized out the doors. Now what? He looked in the direction of the residential area, and considered actually going over there and knocking on every door..but the message he'd just left her said he was going to the library.

And there was one answer he really didn't want to face, in the middle of all of this... What if the reason she hadn't shown up was because she didn't want to see him? It felt absurd especially after the way they'd parted...but she could have come to her senses and realized what she was in love with...

He gently tugged the wire through his skin and tied it down before cutting off the excess. He dabbed at the resewn wound with a cotton swab until he was certain it would not get infected. Adding the finishing touch, he taped a new bandage over his side and exhaled a relieved breath. Struggling with his sister the night before had caused his wound to reopen, but with his experience he was able to close it again, properly, without wasting the hospitals time.

Haijime got up and cleaned his little station before heading into the kitchen. He looked through the cupboards and found that they were pretty much out of food. Anything they had needed to be cooked in conjunction with something else. Plus, they were completely out of soup and he didn't feel like chewing anything. Honestly, he wasn't hungry at all but he wanted to have food for when his sister came home.

He went into the bedroom and picked up a shirt, slipping it on and buttoning it up before grabbing a sweater and pulling it on over his head. He winced as the skin on his side stretched and carefully lay his hand over himself as the pain settled. He nodded absently to himself and left the apartment. He took his time going down the stairs and found his way to one of the main pedestrian gates. He pushed it open, held his side again, and shut the gate. He breathed in and out and continued down the street until he made it to the cross walk.

Looking both ways, he saw nothing, so he continued across the street and hobbled through the automatic doors. Without looking up, he grabbed a little basket and tossed the handles up with one of his fingers. He sighed again, long locks of sun-kissed brunette hair falling over his strained and worried features. A lot of people in the town knew him because of his shop and he hadn't been out in the open since the attack, but he needed food for his sister and that was it.

( Cade can meet him if he/you want :O )

After collecting the proper provisions; food, cigarettes, bullets, and a few weapons, the jeep drove out of the area and met up with a well-armored RV. The jeep parked next to it and Michelle hopped out of the car. She grabbed everything and took it up into the RV. The window of the RV slid open and Isaiah stuck his head out though he couldn't get far due to the bars, "Ey! Who d'ya want on post wit'ya?" He took a rather large bite out of a sandwich and chewed as he stared down at the driver of the jeep.

Gabriel glanced over at JD before looking back at Isaiah, "JD will stay with me. Let's go."

Isaiah nodded and shut the window. The RV started up and the door to the side slammed shut and locked up tight. The two vehicle drove off out of the town and continued on.

Cade wasn't that far away from the grocery store, already turned and headed back to the library when he caught a whiff of a familiar scent. Blood. Ishu. At least, that's what he first thought when the scent drifted to his nose on the wind. But there was something decidedly different about it and he could identify right away - the owner of it was male. That, coupled with the fact that he still couldn't hear her heart beat, brought him to the conclusion that it wasn't her nearby.

Walking back to the grocery store, trying to follow the thin trail of smell, he stopped in the doorway when he caught sight of the other man, instantly fixated on him. Only when he caught sight of Jennifer waving eagerly to get his attention from the counter did he tear his eyes away.

"Cane! Cane! That's Haijime! Her brother! He'll know where that girl is." And she nodded, pleased with herself that she'd helped get him on the right track to finding his lady friend.

Cade paused a moment, giving her a semi-annoyed look. "Fuck, Jen! Cade. My name is CaDe." She shrugged and smiled sheepishly at him and he just rolled his eyes, unable to gather enough irritation to actually be mad with her about it. Instead, he turned to the man who stood in the front of the store with the basket and let his eyes wander up and down his form.

Her brother. Cade tried to make an effort to remember that the humans were different about those relationships. Tried to remember that the guy had been attacked by his kind. TRIED not to see a rival standing before him. But without even meaning to, his hackles raised up just the slightest bit and when his voice came out to address the man, it was rougher than he intended. "Where is Ishu?"

He heard Jeniffer calling out to someone and heard that same someone correct her words- Cade. He turned around to see the person and stumbled back against the stack of little baskets when he saw it was a Gamatom. His sister was... involved with a Gamatom!? He knew she was... different, especially in her ideals, but he never would have thought... He gathered himself and rest a hand on his wound as if trying to hide it from the Gamatom's nostrils and, well, mouth.

He held the basket infront of him defensively when the Gamatom approached him and when asked about his sister he appeared perplexed. He groaned softly and put his weight onto his feet instead of his back, "Why... why are you looking for my sister?" His eyes were green like the stem and leaves of a flower but they looked tired- drained of sunlight and water. He was also wearing glasses similar to his sisters but he needed to wear them almost all the time.

If this Gamatom made the wrong move or said the wrong thing, he was more than willing to kill him- or try to. He was weak, still healing from the attack and he wasn't much of a fighter to begin with. If anything he could knock a shelf over onto the Gamatom but he wasn't near one. In the end he would die, so he couldn't attack. Not yet, if ever.

All at once, Cade grew aggravated with the man's response, the smell of fear pinching and itching in his nose, only encouraging the reaction. Without warning, Cade's hand flew out and slapped the basket from the man's hands, his eyes never leaving the other's face. A sneer painted itself across his face and a warning growl bubbled up from his chest as his hackles fully raised.

"I'm sick and tired of this bullshit," he said quietly, standing deathly still, every muscle coiled and ready to attack. All morning he'd had to deal with this...this fear and deflection. He understood logically why they were afraid but the longer it kept him from Ishu the more he felt like they were all playing one big game with him. And this guy...this RELATIVE of hers was the last fucking straw. "I asked you a fucking question and you're going to answer me, asshole! Where is she?"

Then Cade was there, hands grasping the guy's wrists and standing unbelievably close, barely an inch separating their bodies and faces, breathing heavily as dark eyes bore into the other man's skull. Even as annoyance and helplessness in the situation flared within Cade, his natural urge to dominate his rival filled him as well. And with it...

There was the light of something else in his eyes as he looked down at the masculine features of the other, green eyes faded but still catching the sunlight in a pleasing way. Heat began to form in his core as he stood with one of his feet planted on the ground between the human's; not touching him, but his leg positioned between the other man's thighs as he held him pressed against the stack of baskets.

It was only when he caught another whiff of the blood that he seemed to snap out of it, the smell of it filling his head and reminding him of Ishu. Not only that but...the guy was wounded... He hadn't done anything. There was no reason to get upset and...there was no reason to do THAT to him. Guiltily, Cade released him and instantly stepped back, giving the man space but staying close enough if he decided to run or anything.

Letting out a sigh and not really sure how to apologize, his facial expression softened with something akin to concern as he tried again. "I'm worried about her...that's all. Please, tell me, is she alright?"

His features did not show fear as Cade grabbed at him and held him in place. He wanted to say... so much, his green eyes staring into the Gamatom's eyes with little contempt. He wanted to tell him, 'Do whatever you want to me. I have already experienced the wrath of your people.' But he could see Cade backing down, slowly, as he inhaled a familiar scent and soon let go of him. Haijime rubbed his wrists while staring at the Gamatom and asked without a skip in tone, "Did you sleep with her? My sister."

He could tell the minute she walked in the door that something was different but he didn't want to ask her. He didn't want to put her on the spot and make her tell him everything a part of him already knew. He didn't want to put a strain on their relationship. There was already so much going on in the world and that was the last thing she needed. If someone made her happy, he was happy. But to even question that it was a Gamatom...

Even if Gamatoms were known for raping people, although only men, there was no way a Gamatom would do that and let the girl live unless he-it... could feel? This was absurd, they were destroyers. But his sister had moved people before- could she move an entire race of people? Or just one of them anyway. He braced himself for the answer, expecting a "yes" from the Gamatom named "Cade".

The urge to beat the man flared within him again when Haijime asked that question. First, it wasn't an answer to anything Cade had asked. Second, he didn't like the tone the other took as if he had a right to know; it only encouraged Cade's paranoia about the siblings own relationship. Other than the fact that the two were MATES, why should he care who his sister had sex with? Forget the fact that she was untouched when he'd been with her the night before.

But he wasn't going to let himself get carried away like that again. He'd play this human's stupid game and HOPEFULLY, some of his own questions would be eventually answered. "Yeah. I've fucked her," out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jennifer put a hand to her mouth, but he ignored her. Honestly, he hated to use that word in regards to what he and Ishu had, but the guy got under his fuckling skin... "Have you?" Is that why she wasn't here today? Had her brother gotten upset that she'd been used and dominated her, keeping her as his own?

If anyone had a right to ask that question it would BE her mate, which no matter what the guy's response was, Cade felt he was definitely that. It was stupid and he knew it. The guy hadn't touched her before Cade had, so he certainly had one over on him. But it was driving him insane how no one would give him a straight answer. HAD something happened to her?

"Is there anything else you'd like to know before you'd be willing to tell me if she's even fucking alive?" his patience was wearing thin and he was only a few seconds from beating the guy to get him to say what he needed to hear.

Speaking of his affairs with his sister with such vulgarity really got under his skin, but he tried to let it go. But when the Gamatom accused him of doing anything to his sister, he snapped. He grabbed Cade by the shirt and pulled him close, speaking to him quietly but harshly through gritted teeth, "If you give a shred of a shit about my sister, you won't talk about her like she's filth!" He wasn't one to curse, infact it was hard to believe he even knew of curse words, but this man had crossed a line with him.

He shoved the Gamatom away while inhaling and exhaling deeply through his nostrils. He looked down at his side as his adrenaline pumped. Blood was seeping through again. Shit. He closed his eyes tight and put his hand on his body under his clothes before kneeling a bit, "If you've been spending... this much time with her," He swallowed and looked up at Cade, "You'll know about her panic attacks," Or at least, that's what he assumed.

"She panicked last night. I don't know why, but... she said your name." He cracked a grin for a second before grunting and standing up straight, his hand still on his re-opening wound. "I took her to the hospital this morning. I won't get to see her again until tomorrow- if I'm lucky." He couldn't say the same about Cade, but he felt that was understood by both parties.

The guy wanted to be beat. Seriously. That's the biggest impression Cade was left with, the urge practically overwhelming him when the bastard grabbed him and practically spat defensively in his face. Did he know who he was talking to? How dare he speak to him this way!

Rage and an odd concern battled within him as he watched Haijime seem to crumple around the wound which was flowing now. Not only that but he was actually giving in and answering Cade's questions now. Hospital. And yes, he DID know about her panic attacks...sort of. Was that what happened when she used her powers and then passed out? Had she needed to use them again? What had happened?

He had so many questions to ask and he wanted to know the answers, but that last part had him suddenly anxious. Cade's hand reached out then to grab the guy's arm - not hard but more keeping him from falling over or something weird; Gawd! Humans were so fucking fragile! - and he gave him a penetrating look. "If you're lucky? Why? Was it that bad? Will she--"

Then Cade realized. If HE was lucky. Fuck. The guy was falling apart and Cade certainly wasn't helping things by pressuring him and threatening to attack him every 5 seconds. Ishu had said she'd been taking care of him and now she wasn't here... Well, this definitely wasn't a good place to be in, he realized, glancing around. And blood was important...and the guy was losing it every second they stood here.

Silently, Cade stepped forward and put his arm around the guy, supporting him - awkwardly, trying to avoid hitting his side - and said, "Come on. You can't pass out here and that's not going to do well if left untended." He gave a small nod in the general direction of his side wound. Cade didn't want the guy to feel defensive about it and he genuinely wanted to help - afterall...he'd started it by picking a fight with the guy. "I'll help you home...?" Hopefully it was close.

He grunted as Cade grabbed him and used his own body to support him. He was confused by Cade's sudden sense of...humanity. But he took it. As the Gamatom lifted him up to his feet he put pressure on his wound and looked at Cade, "Fine... but if you so much at look at anyone, I'll kill you." He wasn't going to let a Gamatom into his complex without taking full responsibility. He'd put a bullet through the bastards head if he tried anything.

"That way-" He pointed out the door straight down the street. Haijime hobbled along next to the Gamatom until they reached the side of the complex, "Right here, take me to the gate." Once at the gate, he put in the code and pulled the gate open. "It's on the second floor, to the right." He walked with Cade all the way under the second floor, up some stairs and curved around the right until they found a door.

He dug out a set of keys from his pocket and stuck them in the door, turning them and pushing the door open. The furniture was still against the wall, some of it in the way of the door as he pushed it open. He panted and removed himself from Cade, bracing himself as he moved across the apartment and into the bedroom where he found the remains of his opened First Aid Kit. He sat down on the bed and undressed himself, "How long," He panted and wiped some sweat from his forehead, "have you known her?"



Everything around her felt tight and warm, too tight and too warm. It was black with a faded red- the way the world looked everywhere she turned and with each person she saw. The lack of hope and the blood of so many lost people. She was seeing it now, everything, the truth. She choked on herself and looked around her, sitting up where she lay.

She continued to look around herself. She could barely tell the difference between the wall and the doorway since everything looked the same. She swallowed down on what felt like swollen flesh boiling up in her throat. As she managed to thrust it down and inhale a breath, an unseen force thrust her harshly down onto the bed, knocking the wind out of her as a pair of eyes stared down at her. A scream so loud, so angry and so deafening pierced through her eardrums and eradicated her vision.

She gasped for air and clawed at everything around her, nails digging into cold metal that melted into flesh and bled a dark goo. She sobbed through gritted teeth as she stared up at those giant, wild eyes. They took up her vision, whatever part of it that managed to come back in those brief moments. She could not hear it, but she knew it was shrieking or trying to say something to her. Tears streamed down the sides of her face as this feeling racked her entire body, making her skin shake and soon her bones.

Her teeth kept clamped together as the eyes gained a body and she could feel it sitting on her chest, strangling her with the pressure.

Cade wanted to laugh at the man's threat - only because it seemed very pathetic coming from this waif of a man in his vulnerable state; Cade could break him like a twig with just a sharp twist of his wrist, if he wanted to - but internally, he understood why the other said it. He was being protective of his home and Cade WAS a monster. But he remained silent at Haijime's words, not even giving a sign that he understood as he helped him across the street and towards the gate; as soon as he'd helped the guy up, he felt himself start to battle with other urges...feeling the man's body pressed against his own and hearing Haijime's labored and pain-filled breathing right in his ear.

Working on auto-pilot, Cade followed his directions, fighting the urge to just rush through it and get it over with, but the agony of going slow and careful with the guy on his shoulder causing him to fight the urge to bend him over the stairs railing and...

Finally, they'd arrived and Cade let out a breath of relief when Haijime got off of him, rubbing a hand over his own face and trying desperately to cling to thoughts of Ishu, his love. He couldn't help it. Without her present...he was fighting pure chemistry, here, his Gamatom hormones and instincts turned into weapons against him.

Walking into the room, Cade shut the door behind himself and let the smells and sights of their home fill him, getting ghost-like hints of Ishu fluttering around here and there, her presence felt in every inch of the space as if she'd just passed through a second ago and the air had yet to settle. Enchanted by it, he idly followed the other man to his bedroom and stopped in the doorway, his whole body going rigid at the sight of flesh. Despite the whisper of her filling his nostrils and his mind, his cock hardened to catch a glimpse of Haijime's bare skin and he was turning away, unsettled by the feeling, trying to wrestle his erection down by pure strength of will.

It took a few minutes to remember the man had asked him a question. "7...7 days..." his raspy voice croaked unevenly before he cleared his throat and took in a deep breath. For some reason, thinking about the man's wound, he felt the urge to say something about it, his tone no longer aggressive towards the other. "I'm sorry...about what happened to you and your shop... Ishu told me just a little about it, but I know it was probably those in my pack who...who attacked you..."

God! Don't think about rape right now! Dick go down! Dick go the fuck down---don't think about fucking...!!! "I know it probably doesn't mean much to just say it...but I am sorry for what my brethren did to you." Unable to help himself, he let his eyes fall back on Haijime, first focused on his face but against his will trailing over his body. With a small, weak sounding grunt from the back of his throat, he looked away again - it was just skin justskinjustskinjustskin...

He grunted when Cade apologized to him. Nothing a person could say would change how he felt about it. "I did what I had to do... so they could live." He remembered the day so well because he replayed it in his head every day. It gave him the will to live long enough to put a gun down every one of their throats and shoot their brains onto the walls. He was not a violent man but he could not stand so many innocent people dying. Women and children as main targets... it was sickening.

He took out a needle and some wiring. He started to work stitching himself up, again, like a pro. His sister only knew this man for a week and she had given it away. "Must have been one heck of a week." He made his comment offhandedly as he pulled the wiring through and stuck it through his skin again, "You better not be playing some kind of sick game with her." He looked over at the Gamatom with his green eyes staring a warning through every main artery and blood vessel in his body.

After grabbing some fluid and squirting it onto a piece of gauze, he dabbed at the skin to clean it again before he continued sewing himself up, "Where did you meet her?" A part of him hoped the conversation would keep his mind of other things like the physical pain from his wound and the worry for his sister but a large part of him knew it would hardly do anything.



Ishu struggled under the heavy figure, her jaws clenching as she gasped for breath between her tightly closed teeth. All she could do was exhale through them, small hissing noises emitting from her.

The figure weighing down on her frail body narrowed it's eyes and let out a low, hollow growl, taking her sound as an offense.It pressed down harder on her, dark fingers reaching down and lacing her throat. It squeezed tighter as it leaned forward and sucked in her air, raping her of breath.

Her eyes reddened as she cried more, the pale blue color in her eyes beginning to fade as they rolled back into her sockets. The muscles in her body tensed as her bones stopped moving and she grew silent.


The last beacon of hope... the last flower. She could see it falling apart. She could see the glowing petals breaking away from the calyx of the flower. No... no, she couldn't let it. Her brother loved flowers. She loved that he loved flowers. Her mother loved flowers... did Cade love flowers?

Her eyes, soulless in appearance, soon lit up and stared up at the creature sitting on her chest. She stared at it... and stared at it.

She decided she would not let it destroy that flower or any other flower. No beacon of hope would ever be destroyed again. Her chest lifted as she inhaled a deep breath. Her heart began to race as it filled with courage and pumped blood and adrenaline through her body.

Ishu sat up, her jaws unlocking as she screamed as loudly as she could, her voice tearing through the skin of the being that sat on her chest. Like glass, her voice tore through every fiber of flesh; skin, muscle, ligaments, bones. Everything.

Even after the entity was gone, her screaming continued. It continued until the sides of her mouth tore down to her ears and she just lost control. The feeling of terror was still there as her eyes rolled back again and her bones crushed in on her body. Her mouth acted as a vortex as the crushed bones and the warm, wet flesh of her throat pulled out and poured onto her lap. Blood splattered onto the walls in front of her from her ground up intestines shooting out of her torn open body.

It was instantly sobering to hear the man's actual thoughts about him and his kind, no matter how brief the statements were. The guy definitely knew how to stifle a raging hard-on, to say the least. Cade wanted to get defensive about it. Wanted to tell him to go fuck himself. But images of Eloise, "Anna" and even Jennifer...the cashier girl who was now sort of friends with him, flashed in his mind along with a hundred others. It wasn't exactly an unfounded accusation, considering Cade wasn't a very nice guy.

Leaning against the door frame and keeping his eyes away from where Haijime sat on the bed, he said softly, "Yeah. Best week of my life. We met at that grocery store, actually." How coincidental... "I was there...up to no good, when she came in. She was shopping. Soup, I think it was. I sort of attacked her and she got scared, fought back. Did that thing...that she does...like there's an invisible monster in the room throwing a tantrum... Scared the shit out of me..."

Cade cracked a smile to himself then; it wasn't necessarily true. At the time, he'd been stupidly confident in his ability to fight the invisible foe and more than willing to engage it before he'd figured out it came from her. What had scared him the most that day was when she'd passed out and he wasn't sure if he'd broken her or not. The smile faded when once again he considered the fact that she wasn't here and felt it weigh on his heart what she must have currently been going through to land herself in the hospital - the place where humans went to die, they said. He knew it had other purposes, but it was a general consensus among the brethren that if a human sustained injuries bad enough to get sent there, they usually left the place as a corpse.

Looking at her brother again, and remembering the women from last night, Cade realized this was part of a test of some kind - something he'd have to eventually face and live through if he wanted to prove himself to her and separate himself from his kind. He wanted to hurt this man...but he knew he wasn't going to. They were just urges and he could control it, if he wanted to. He wasn't a slave like the rest of them. He wasn't a monster...anymore.

"She's...different..." he said, giving Haijime a serious look. "And I'm different...because of her. I'm not going to lie, the day I met her I was well on my way racking up the number of blood and souls on my hands; I had every intention of beating Jennifer, the cashier, to death before Ishu showed up." After playing with her for a little bit, that is. Jeez...Haijime was spot on with the "sick games" comment; at least in a general assumption of his behavior.

"I'm...trying. Even right now, I'm fucking trying." Why the fuck would this guy care? He'd already seemed to dismiss his apology for something he hadn't even been a part of - the whole reason Cade had offered it was because he knew he COULD have been; if he'd been there, there would have been nothing holding him back from joining his brethren in the attack. Talking about it wasn't getting him anywhere; he wasn't convincing anybody. Not even himself; nightfall would be the REAL test to see if he could reject temptation.

"You said you'll see her tomorrow? She'll be okay?" Cade could barge into the hospital if he wanted, he could even wait here for her. Instead he just nodded his head slightly and gave Haijime a dark eyed look. "When you see her, tell her I love her."

He didn't want to stay. Not that he didn't think he could stand the night with this guy - if he were even allowed to stay after nightfall; Haijime was smart enough, he'd probably kick him out - but he didn't like explaining himself and he didn't like the guy. The feeling was obviously mutual. Good. They could agree on something.

With one more small nod he turned from the doorway and began to saunter back towards the door, clinging to the scents of her before he'd have to be on his own again.