(Pyp)
LaPorte was awakened by shouts and shooting from the other room. The girl he had with him was startled awake as well. "Benny?" she asked nervously, sitting up in the bed beside him in the dark.
"Shhhh!" La Porte hissed, picking up his gun from the nearby bed-stand and pointing it at the bedroom door.? There was a flurry of noise - screams, sounds of struggling, furniture being knocked about, things hitting the wall or floor heavily - and then sudden silence.
"Shit," La Porte muttered, keeping his gun on the door. This shouldn't be happening. Shin was dead.? His fucking demon was supposed to be gone.? Gone, dammit.
He was half-expecting the door to be kicked in, but instead it simply swung open, revealing a dark shadow with glowing red eyes in the doorway.? The girl screamed and he began shooting, but after the second shot the shadow simply waved an arm and the gun flew out of his hand, hitting the wall before falling to the floor with a heavy thudding clunk.
"Really?" the demon said disdainfully, glancing down at the new holes in his chest and then looking up again.? "Your guards already ruined my suit.? This is just adding insult to injury."
The girl was still screaming and pointing at the demon, who merely gave her an annoyed look. "Back to sleep, you," he said, making a complex finger-gesture at her. The girl's eyes rolled up in her head and she fell back into the bed, unconscious.
That done, the demon looked again to La Porte. At another gesture, the lights in the room flicked on to reveal a handsome if rather disheveled-looking young Korean whose sharply-tailored suit was now soaked with blood and spattered with gore. But even with the light now on, his eyes continued to gleam an unearthly red.
"Wh-what do you want?" La Porte asked, trying hard to keep his fear off of his face and to keep his voice from sounding like he was on the edge of shitting his bed.
"You killed my boss," the demon said, stepping further into the room, pulling a handkerchief out of his jacket pocket.? "Do you have _any_ idea how bad that makes me look?? Any idea at all?" He wiped streaks of blood spatter from his popstar flower-boy face, eyed the now-crimson handkerchief dubiously, then shrugged and stuffed it back into his pocket.? "No, you don't," he went on, returning his glare to La Porte.? "Because you're a dumb two-bit wannabe who got into stuff _way_ over your pay grade."
"How did you find me?" Stall, stall, the gangster's mind screamed. Maybe he didn't get all of your guards. Maybe someone heard the shots and will come to check. Maybe--
"Wasn't that hard, really." The demon casually reached into his other jacket pocket and drew out a plastic baggie with a hand in it - a woman's hand - and tossed it onto the bed.? "Once I got your hit-girl, I had you." Eyeing the hand, he shook his head and sighed.? "I told Shin that his weakness for pretty girls would be the death of him. He thought I was kidding." He rolled his eyes as he added "the fucking moron."
"I... I've got money," La Porte ventured, licking his lips anxiously.? "Wall safe, back of the closet. You can have it al-"
"You really are one ignorant little shit," the demon said, turning away to look himself over in a large wall mirror on the other side of the room. "You think money matters to me?" Taking a comb out, he began meticulously trying to smooth his disheveled black locks into place.? "You know what money can buy you in Hell?" he asked, letting the question hang in the air while he finished his grooming.? "Nothing," he said finally, slipping the comb back into his pocket.? "That's what.? Not a damned thing."
"And now, because of you..." the demon turned yet again to face La Porte, eyeing him with distaste "...I've gotta hope someone summons me before my three days are up. If not, I get ripped back to Hell.? And you know what? I fucking _hate_ hell.? It's boring. Nothing but endless, eternal damnation. _Here_..." he said, gesturing at the world around him "...here is where the real action is."
The gangster blinked, his fear-addled brain trying to process what he'd just heard.? Three... days?
"Oh, you didn't know about that, did you?" the demon said, smirking at La Porte's visible distress.? "If our summoner dies for any reason, we don't get zapped back right away. We get three days before Hell can reclaim us.? That gives us three days to hope a new summons comes through. Three days to have one last blow-out of a fling while we still can.? Or three days to take care of any unfinished business." As he spoke, the demon began to fully emerge, from the horns that now adorned his head, the bat-like wings arcing out over his shoulders, and the barbed tail whisking restlessly behind him.? "Like you," he said, leaning in close till his bright red eyes were blazing only inches away from the gangster's.? "_You're_ my unfinished business."
"It took me one day to track you down. That leaves two days. Two days for you and me to get _real_ close..." the demon hissed, running a taloned finger down the side of La Porte's profusely sweating face, even as the air became redolent with the smell of the gangster shitting himself "...before I finally send you downstairs."
"But why waste the time?" the demon said suddenly, grinning as he withdrew his talon from the gangster's neck.? "I'd much rather spend the two days drinking, eating and fucking than waste them on an insignificant little shit like you. So, down you go!"
La Porte barely had time to blink before the demon abruptly tore into his chest and ripped his heart out, holding the still-beating thing up before his eyes even as his body went into convulsions and his vision began to fade.
"And hey..." the demon's voice seemed to come from far away as the gangster felt himself inexplicably falling while still thrashing about on the bed "...when you get there, tell them Pyp sent you."
(Cho)
Cho woke up feeling like crap, stomped under the heel, and couldn¡¯t get it off the bottom of some storm giant¡¯s shoe.? He normally felt so much better after absorbing the essence of some supernatural it gave him normally at least another 90 days or so.? But this one was a wolf, that had killed so many that the taint was on his very soul.?? It made Cho feel vile and want vomit even though he had done a good thing by sending the creature to hell.? That part of him still felt the pain of all those slain, their hopes, dreams, their potential.? But he spent most of his time last night writing their loved ones letters of closure and he couldn¡¯t go to sleep until he had.? It was part of his process.? He hunted¡monsters and sometimes those monsters were not vampires or wolves sometimes they were altogether human¡but he couldn¡¯t get a recharge off of those souls.
He got up to shower again, just to refresh himself.? He came back and got dressed, having moisturized his chocolate naked form.? He was scheduled to work at the club tonight, so he had to go into his office for the day.? It was his front for his true job, he worked in IT cause of his skills and typically gave him access to certain information that was the backbone of his man job.? It was the commodity that he dealt in, those that had information either came to him or shared with him cause like those he worked for¡he paid well for it.? He checked the house alarm twice as was his habit before he drove to the office for a little bit.? He looked at a few of his voicemails on his office system that matched his cell phone, so he deleted those.? He got himself some of his energy drink, but he was glad that one of his clients was able to make him that ring that he ordered, he never left without it once he had enchanted it for a specific purpose.? He again made it a point to lock the door and set the alarm system twice before he headed to the club.
Once he arrived at the club, he looked over the bouncer who didn¡¯t look that much bigger than he did, but that was the deception of the shapeshifter that was far stronger than what he looked.? He chuckled only to fist bump him as he walked in.
¡°I will have your drink for you later,¡± Cho said.
¡°How about that kiss?¡±? the bouncer replied.
He arched his eyes at the man¡¯s words.? ¡°I don¡¯t swing that way!¡±? It was part of their regular banter.
¡°I can be a woman for you?!?¡±? He winked.
¡°Depends on how drunk I get¡I will think about it.¡±? He shook his head and went into the back, to clock in.? After that he came back out and moved behind the bar,? as he began to set up his bar how he liked it putting stuff in place, checking his stock before the regulars came in, and the bachelorette party that was scheduled for the night.? He was in some dark jeans and his sleeves were rolled up which revealed his rather muscular arms.
¡°Sup Cho?¡±? The lush redhead waitress spoke to him.
¡°Hey cutie, how you doing?¡±? He smiled licking his lips more out of habit then him thinking she was on the menu.
¡°Needed for you to be here so I can get bigger tips?¡±? She replied.
¡°I thought all of your days were big not just when I am here?¡± He looked at her.
¡°I am looking for a tip in particular.¡±? She winked now.
This time he blushed seemed like everyone was in a mood tonight or the last soul he had absorbed had a kind of animal magnetism associated with it that had been passed on to him now.? Not that he minded the attention, but what part was him and what part was the energy he had absorbed.? He was aware that it wasn¡¯t him all the time.? ¡°I can add you to my dance card if you give me your number."? He winked after he composed himself.? He could only hope this lasted long enough for him to perhaps get a real date.
(Kutsuki)
Kutsuki was running around his room, cackling like a madman to himself.? He has been preparing for this moment for so long that he almost didn't even know what to do with himself.? Years upon years was spent pouring through all sorts of dark tomes, myriads of dusty old demonic scrolls and back bent over the computer screen, researching the literal digital hell that was the interweb.? Months and months and months of waiting, planning, staking out, syncing up everyone's schedules, playing the good ole child routine - all of it was driving him nuts!? But no longer...the wait would have been so worth it.? All the failures and the mistakes, all the minute adjustments that he's had to make...all the candles had to be precisely and methodically placed, the wax meticulously etched with the spells of protection so as to create a barrier.? Ingredients of the more exotic variety had to be procured, raiding almost every single occult shop, witches' dens, various voodoo shops of which there were many in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and many more.? Eye of newt, still-beating heart of a goat, dead man's hangnails - these were the most common of the available assortment.? A swatch of hair from a twice old maid, the ring finger of the thrice scorned bride, with the ring still attached...that last one made him giggle with barely contained glee.? These were nigh difficult to get ahold of since they all required precise and impeccable timing.? However, one could find almost anything they wanted in Rancoteur if they just knew where to look, or threatened to burn down a place or two, and actually followed through with it.
All the furniture has been off to the sides, the bed stood up on its edge against the wall.? Bookcases, shelves, anything with a solid surface was arranged in such a way as to make a half circle, like the crescent moon.? All the books, every single page was in some way, shape or form dedicated to the occult.? Kutsuki has leafed through all of them at least three or four times in his periods of fixated obsession.? Today was no different, no...? Today WAS going to be different.? He slid to a halt in front of his bedroom mirror, the "Den of No Return" he called it, taking a moment to compose himself.? His hair, as white as a freshly fallen snow, sat disheveled upon his face, using his left hand to push it out of his face, but yet falling right back, hiding the right side of his face.? He raised his chin, a flippant sort of look on his face as he pushed the squarish glasses back up with a middle finger.? His eyes narrowed as they fell upon the book that sat half opened at his bedside table.? Reaching for it, he flipped it fully open, his fingers landing on the pages that described the sort of garb a demonic summoner would wear, but who cared for that?? He looked back at the mirror, twirling about as his reflection mimicked his movements.
"<Do demons really care what you wear on the day of their summoning?>" he asked himself in Japanese, idly tilting the hand that held the book off to the side.? Kutsuki turned this way and that, examining his garb.? He wore what he always wore inside the house, a a black pair of under armor tights and long sleeved shirt, coupled with that indigo colored, 3/4 sleeved sweater that was too sizes too large on him, one side always sliding off of one of his shoulders.? It was worn almost like a tunic, pooling around his thighs like a skirt.? No shoes.? Absolutely none.? He preferred being barefoot inside his home, one habit that he would never ever change about himself.? Fingers and toes always applied with black nail polish, that was a must.? "A comfy, goth look," his unwanted circle cult of followers labelled, that insufferable gaggle of chickens that followed at his every step, always at a distance, making his skin crawl with just their presence alone.? Just like the chicken that laid across the silver tray with its neck cut wide open, oozing blood out of its gullet, pooling around an expertly drawn pentagram, its various circles inlaid with long forgotten Latin, inscription that called upon the deepest, darkest depth.? Smirking at its reflection, Kutsuki haphazardly tossed the book aside, shrugging his wide shoulders.? "<The fuck is he gonna care?? He's dead when he gets here anyhow.>"
Whirling around to face the demonic circle, Kutsuki picked up another one, this one leather bound in in black and red.? The words that revealed the contents of the book were filigreed with gold, a sort of way too fanciful font for a demon summoning book.? And yet, it described its inhabitant to a T, a demon unlike the most of his kind, the ones that his "original" parents wanted to summon, with him as its sacrifice.? The type of demon who employed madness through the bountiful harvest of wealth that it bestowed upon its master, and he used that word loosely, because in the end, who was the master of whom?? Certainly not their summoner.? It was that very demon that Kutsuki was wanting to bring forth, to let that asshole taste the air of Earth again, and then rip him apart in a most magnificent way, to pay him back for having rejected his vessel so long ago.? Oh, today was going to be a day of reckoning, but not for Kutsuki, but rather for his unwilling demonic slave.? His mouth twisted into the most sadistic smile, lips letting loose a psychotic, clownish sort of laugh as he titled his head back, eventually stopping until only the quietest hiccup could be heard and then none after.? Looking back at the circle, he briefly glanced back at the myriad of tools that lay at his disposal.? Various consecrated and sanctified tools lay about, divvied up into the various religions that they came from.? Purified salts, voodoo dolls, crossed, silver daggers, you name it, he had it.? If there was ever someone unprepared, it was not him.
"<Let's get this party started!>" he shouted with such exuberance, opening his arms wide as the air suddenly became extremely oppressive.? The wavering flames that bit at the candle wicks they sat upon were suddenly deathly still.? As he began chanting, Kutsuki's eyes began to glow bright, a fiery crimson red even more pronounced in the dimness of the room.? The book that he held now flew in front of him, violently ripped open as the pages kept flipping until they at last came to the dead middle, portraying the pentagram circle much like the one that Kutsuki drew, though much less defined and ugly.? A slew of words graced the pages, though it was not the Latin that it spoke of, but the crudely scrawled language of the demons as if written by a claw.? It is what he suddenly began speaking, a sort of inhuman, guttural type of language that sounded as if it came from the underbelly of hell, like the rough bray of an old goat.? The pentagram began glowing a fiery red, much like his eyes, as he felt his body float, just the tips of his toes touching the bare floor.? A wind picked up in the room, threatening to blow the flames out that dearly held onto their wicked lives.? As he brought his hands together, a flash of light glinted off a metal edge as he winced and turned his right hand palm down, as rivulets of blood dripped randomly upon the floor.
"<I summon thee, you old reviler of tongues, the desecrator of the commonwealth, ruiner of prosperity!>" Kutsuki called out, his voice sounding akin to mad, barking dog, sweeping his hand over the circle as blood dripped down to the edge of his undershirt, wetting the fibers.? The rest of what he spoke was unintelligible.? "<Come out, come out, you bastard of the underworld!? You adulterated mongrel.? Heed your master's call!? I summon thee!>"??Let's see you get out of this one, you son of a bitch!
(Tamsin)
¡°Sorry, sorry, I know I¡¯m late but first my car wouldn¡¯t start and I had to stop in front of like every single stoplight in the whole damn city, every single time, bam red light, I kid you not and then of course I tripped, right smack in the middle of the street, blasted my knee, messed up my hair and forget the keys to the apartment,¡± Tamsin shouted/apologized as she blasted past Anna behind the counter and into the staff room to change.
It seemed like a pretty busy night in the restaurant and Titus would so have her head if he discovered Tamsin was late again. Not that it happened a lot but she was a scatterbrain and tended to lose track of time on occasion, not a good habit to have. Lately her mind was just, well , all over the place, and last week¡¯s little ¡®episode¡¯ hadn¡¯t really improved matters.
¡°No worries, Titus isn¡¯t here anyway, day off and he talked about going to visit some of his relatives or something, so you are safe,¡± Anna assured as she continued serving the people at the bar without even looking back. ¡°Silas not working tonight?¡±
¡°Nah, he had a doctor¡¯s appointment. His knee.¡± Tamsin replied as she reappeared, tying her hair back in a messy bun and adjusted her apron some. ¡°So flying solo this shift.¡± Not that it worried her. Being a waitress was something the redhead had plenty of experience with. It paid the bills, was easy to combine with her job for the paper and the hours weren¡¯t that bad either. Tamsin was a people person, she liked to talk and have fun and most of the customers generally seemed to like her which usually translated in a healthy amount of tips evenly distributed at the end of the evening. Stuff like that made Titus happy and when the boss man was happy, so was Tamsin.
¡°So talk me through set up for tonight. I get the usual tables while Daisy does the rest?¡± Tamsin had caught a glimpse of Glory B in the kitchen which was always? a good thing. Her food was great and at least that way no plates would be sent? back tonight which could happen on occasion when Amadee was behind the grill. Lovely man, not such a great cook.
¡°Yup room is split up, you get the booths while Daisy does the corner ones. I¡¯ll keep a handle on things here.¡± Anna nodded with a friendly grin. ¡°Now get your ass in gear and earn us some tips will ya. There is a group of four right smack in the middle of the section, rowdy bunch but friendly enough and I believe the table at the back near the window hasn¡¯t been served either.¡±
¡°Gotcha,¡± Tamsin said with a nod as she stuck a pen in her hair and dashed off smile firmly in place. As predicted, the table of four were a rowdy bunch, lots of showing off but a few well aimed comments and smiles were enough to convince her that they wouldn¡¯t really be a problem, big tippers too. Taking up their drink orders, the redhead headed to another table off two, married couple celebrating their one year anniversary,? before finally ending at her final destination.
¡°Hi and Welcome to Envies, I¡¯m Tamsin and I¡¯ll be your waitress this evening.¡± Throwing on her work smile, notepad in hand she glanced down? at the man at the table. Young, about her age, alone, kept looking at the door which meant that he was probably waiting on someone.
¡°You flying solo this evening? or are you waiting on someone, if so I could come back.¡± It was when he looked up though that something seemed to change in the room. A cold chill running up her spine as the little voice in the back of Tamsin¡¯s spine suddenly started to get louder. Not again, not tonight. No, she could do this. Just shake it off Tamsin, just shake it off.
¡°Evening,¡± The man said. He didn¡¯t smile, didn¡¯t feel the need since hers was required for work and his was buried deeper than the superficial. ¡°No, I¡¯m ready to order.¡± He¡¯d been ready for a while, but it had felt as if they¡¯d all been avoiding him. He didn¡¯t pick up the menu, just spoke back to her. ¡°Soft shell crabs with shrimp fried rice, please,¡± He requested. ¡°And a large Vanilla Coke.¡±
¡°Good choice, I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Tamsin nodded, as she wrote down the man's order, trying to ignore the sudden onslaught of emotions and voices in her head. It was happening more frequently now, ever since last week¡¯s episode. Silas seemed to think that it had something with the frequency in her head, making it more in tune with the things that other people didn¡¯t seem to pick up. It was damn inconvenient and even a little scary to be honest. She really needed this job and if her messed up mind was starting to screw up things for her in real life, now that was where Tamsin drew the line, nope, not happening.
Returning to the kitchen she tried to ignore the shaking of her hands as she passed down the order. Inhaling a few times the voices seemed to quiet down some which was a relief. They had always been there, but never this loud, never this present. Tamsin had always managed to ignore them, push past but lately that was getting harder and harder to do. In the back however it became easier to breathe, easier to get her bearings and when she returned a little while later with a pitcher of water and some bread she almost felt like her normal self again. Once she reached the young man¡¯s table again however, that¡¯s when it hit her in full force, unexpected and complete. There were just so many of them, shouting at her, screaming, so much pain. Old souls, new ones ¡ They were unlike she had felt before, not quite human yet not ¡?
Again Tamsin tried to push them back, but her hand continued to shake even as she poured in the glass of water and that¡¯s of course when it happened. The man spoke up, startling her, pulling her back and she dropped the pitcher, water all over, soaking everything through. ¡°Oh my god, I¡¯m so sorry ¡ I ¡ god this isn¡¯t happening.¡±
Crouching down she tried to pat down as much water as she could, using napkins to clean up most of the damage. ¡°Please not now, now I really need this job, I can¡¯t afford to lose it.¡± She pleaded again. Damn voices.
¡°You¡¯re not gonna lose your job,¡± he assured her. ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡±
¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure about that,¡± Tamsin argued, outright panic clear in her eyes. Titus was a good boss, he was a great boss actually but lately she had been messing up, as in messing up a lot. It was hard to keep your head in the game, hard to concentrate when whatever the hell was happening to her was getting worse and worse. Silas did his best to reassure Tamsin, repeating over and over again that they would find a solution, deep down however she was terrified which resulted in a lot of sleepless nights and mess ups like this.?
He said something again, again Tamsin didn¡¯t listen, couldn¡¯t listen, too caught up in her own little bubble, it was when he moved an inkling closer that the full impact of his presence shook her up to the core and the voices made sense again.? She wasn¡¯t going crazy, this was happening for a reason. Looking up, her green gaze completely focused on Caelan now, Tamsin managed to catch her bearings, instantly feeling better now that she finally understood.
¡°Death ¡ there is so much death surrounding you. So many people you ¡. No not people, something else ¡ You ¡ they aren¡¯t here anymore ¡ You¡¯ve ended their lives and they are angry¡ It will happen again, and again ¡. The tattoos will make sure of that.¡± Realising what she had just said, the true impact of Tamsin¡¯s words hit her hard. She wasn¡¯t even sure why she had just uttered those words and they scared the hell out of her.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t know why I just said that, I¡¯m going to check up on your food, should be ready by now.¡± Scrambling to her feet the redhead mumbled some sort of apology and rushed away back to the kitchen. The sooner this night was over, the better.?
Sky blue eyes met her green pair and the guy looked visibly scared. ¡°I have to go,¡± he said. But he didn¡¯t move. Not yet. As if this enigma before him was too great a mystery to simply walk away from. ¡°Who are you?¡±
And that right there was what it all boiled down to. The question Tamsin? had been asking herself over and over again. She didn¡¯t have an answer, honestly didn¡¯t know what to say. She just knew ¡ The guy in front of her was different, there was something about him that felt out of the ordinary. It wasn¡¯t a magic thing, it wasn¡¯t even a supernatural thing, there was just something about him that whatever the hell was lingering inside responded to. She should have kept her mouth shut though, shouldn¡¯t have said anything, the voices however had disagreed. They had been so loud, louder than they had been before.?
¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Tamsin hadn¡¯t really meant to answer, the words just popped up. Deep down it sorta felt as if she owed him. Sure, it didn¡¯t make any sense. He was a stranger, a man she had never met before and probably wouldn¡¯t ever again, ignoring it would have been easier, smarter at the very least but she hadn¡¯t, she had opened her mouth and ruined everything. And explanation was the very least Tamsin could do. However, how the hell did you explain something that all felt so new to her, something they had yet to learn about, had yet to discover.?
Glancing back at the kitchen, she lowered her voice some, desperately not trying to draw any attention to the both of them. ¡°I can¡¯t talk to you about this here, my ass is already on the line as it is. Meet me after my shift in the parking lot, red beat down Impala.¡± Tasmin wasn¡¯t quite sure what the hell she was going to tell this guy, she didn¡¯t have any of the answers to the questions he was undoubtedly going to ask but what else was she supposed to, besides being around him now was too much. There was just something that seemed to trigger a frequency in her head that only she seemed able to hear. ¡°I¡¯m off at ten, just ¡ I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s all I can tell you.¡± Would he wait? That was a question she couldn't answer, but the even bigger one right now was, would she?
Tag: Scott, Babs, Amy, Whitt, Charlie, Luuka, Cat
Cat