A really, really rough night...{closed}

[Kathrine Hughes]

Kathrine smiled as she sat down on her couch, wearing some sweatpants and a sweatshirt with the logo of her favorite school. She put her headphones on and turned up the volume. She laid back and enjoyed the music, not noticing as the door to her room opened up, and a masked figure slipped in, closing the door behind him. He crept towards the couch, a knife gleaming in his hand. Kathrine couldn't hear anything over her music, so when he slipped a hand around her mouth and pulled her off the couch, her scream was muffled and hard to hear. She struggled and fought as he dragged her towards her bed. "What's wrong little bitch, think you're too good for me? Huh???" It was the man from the second floor, who had tried to rape her before. He smacked her, causing her to yelp in pain and struggle even more...

[♫ Silence ♪]

Blood, blood everywhere. Broken bodies, rotting corpses. Screams of pain. It was always the stuff of Celest's dreams. For her, it was normal, always was, always will be. For a handful of people, it would have disturbed them, but for her, it would just be ignored and forgotten.

Celest was asleep in her room, dead to the world, dreaming, for now. She would automatically wake when her body told her she was rested enough to take on another night of hunting. But for tonight, she was roused earlier than the usual. The sound of struggling, although not too loud for humans to hear, was enough to wake her, loud enough for her senses. She opened her eyes slowly and tried to clear her head of sleep. What was that darn noise?

She slowly lifted herself from her bed and yawned, her bones cricking as she stretched her arms and legs into waking. Celest swung her feet to the side and slowly placed them on the floor when she heard a yelp. That didn't sound good...

[Hideki Minami]

'Closer'.

The beat within the confines of his chest, behind the layers of muscle, flesh and bone, erratic and quick-paced, was the beat of his somber heart. His hand grasped at the door to the apartment and simply pulled it apart, cracking the frame with a superior amount of force. Clearly, he wasn't in the best of moods--and he was not going to be taking any shit from anybody, least of all a human. There was a certain "Somebody" in this apartment that he had to see, and he knew for a fact he was in there because the vile scent of the piece of scum was literally layered around the place. He suppressed a gag for a second as he stepped up the first couple of stairs; he wasn't in the habit of entering Mortal-infested buildings or more specifically, dwellings that smelled of much too many things, and with the anger that was on the rise within his mind and stomach, he wasn't feeling much too well to begin with. But that only drove him to strengthen the need to gut that son-of-a-bitch even more.

One flight of stairs, two, three--he left a trail of sweat and other unmentionable, less-than-decent odours on every forsaken floor. But as nature would have it, "fresh" aromas were easier to "pick up" than not; and therefore he hadn't much trouble in finding the bastard. Finally, he came to a door in the building, three flights of stairs and a series of multiple gags later, drenched with odourless sweat and fighting the ever increasing urge to tear the fucking place apart. The door was opened and he could hear the sound of a struggle inside. Without so much as a care for anything at that point, he stepped into the room. There on the floor was a masked greasy-looking man and a pretty young woman in sweats. It looked like a scene set for rape. Regardless, this didn't have an effect on his unflavourful facial expression; he was upset and it showed with a look of uneasiness and discomfort, but there was no sign of shock or disapproval to name. His vibrant eyes simply stared into the woman's eyes for a moment, before he set them on the disgusting guy.

"Fuck-wad, where's my money?" he asked the man. His voice was unusually calm, albeit stressing an undertone of anger--and he spoke to him like they had known eachother for years. But in fact it had only been a month or so, after meeting him in a local bar. Not that he cared how long they'd been in contact, he just wanted his money back. His hands were inside the pockets of his hooded zip-up jacket (he wasn't wearing the hood at this point) and one of them was gripping onto something that was concealed inside. "You owe me for that liquor I got you. Fifty bucks--Now." He stressed his point clearly. Because not only was that dirt-bag in the building, but he was pretty sure that there was a Vampire and another Lycan and, truth be told, he wasn't in a mood for anybody--be they Mortal or Immortal--and he wanted to get out quickly.

[Kathrine Hughes]

Suffice to say, Kathrine was stunned. Here she was, in the middle of being raped by a man...no, a Pig, he didn't deserve to call himself a man, and a total stranger had just walked into her apartment demanding money from the pig. The Pig was distratced, and she took it as an oppurtunity to knee him in the gut and try to force him off of her. He yelped in pain, and in retaliation, slashed the knife across her left cheek, then cruelly carved a deep crescent shape into the right side of her face, running from the corner of her eye to her lips. She shrieked in pain, then was silent as he slammed a fist into her jaw, leaving her unconcious as warm blood flowed from the gashes in her face. He scowled and stood up. "What? you want your money?" He dug around in a pocket and pulled out two rumpled twenty dollar bills, a ten, and a five, and shoved them at Hideki. "Take'em and get out, I'm busy teahcin' this little whore a lesson..." Kathrine whimpered on the floor and the man kicked her viciously in the gut. "Shut up slut!"

[Hideki Minami]

Vivid blue eyes followed every single moment of motion in detail. The moment that he saw the girl move, he tried to shake his head to warn her--but to no use; it was too late. The thuggish guy cut her deep, twice by his count, before he mercilessly threw his fist into the path of her jaw. Just like that, she was unconcious and without a doubt, helpless at the hands of the rapacious, masked scum-bag. But unfortunately for the pathetic excuse for a living creature, Minami was a man--no, scratch that--Lycan, that almost literally commanded respect when you were within his presence; and shoving or throwing money at him was anything but a show of that.

He bit his lip with a scowl planted firmly upon his face, and bent his knees, at the same time removing his left hand from the pocket in which it was kept, and he sprung from his half-crouched position at the the doorway and into the 'Masked Marauder's' direction; blatantly and purposefully ignoring the money in the process. He stretched his left arm out and opened his hand to clasp onto the knife by the blade and jerk it away from the brute's grasp in a spitfire moment; a manoeuver that would have left him with a nasty gash as a result. In his other hand he held something compact and black firmly within the pocket of his coat, and he subsequently removed it after he tried to grab the knife, and jammed it into the general underarm area of the man's anatomy. It was a cheap close-range taser; a little disposable something that he had picked up as a souvenir of sorts from a "Special" area downtown.

His thumb flicked at the switch and it hummed with a 'shocking' blue aura about it, before it was thrust into the man's axila region with only a moment's notice. Two lessons had to be learned here: First, never even think of attempting rape. And second, being a prick is definitely going to get your ass kicked one day. Johnny-boy had to recognize and understand these things thoroughly, if he expected to make it out of this alive; because it wasn't looking very good for him so far.

[♫ Silence ♪]

Celest got up and growled. The noise was becoming unbearable in her ears, whatever it was. Ignoring the fact she was only in her night clothes and barely awake, she threw over her clothes a bathrobe, strapped one of her guns on the side, hidden from sight, of course, and went to see the source of the sounds that woke her up. A flight of stairs was not a problem, she thought as she yawned. She felt heavy in her body, since she felt tired still, thanks to the sudden jolt. As soon as she got to the next floor, her senses shot up from the faint smell of blood, a scent all too familiar. It was from the girl she had a little chat before, Kathrine. Was she hurt?

She turned her eyes to her door, which was opened. Now that was not right in Celest's mind so she had to check. Just when she was nearing the room, another scent invaded her nose, the scent of earth and dog. She almost hissed at the sudden invasion of it through her senses. The situation was uglier than she thought, for a Lycan was involved now. She reached down her side and lifted the gun in the air, good thing she has taken Tsukuyomi with her, which was perfect for killing the beast, if ever a fight would ensue.

With her heart beating like a drum in her chest, she got into position and waited, but then heard a sharp sound of electricity in air. Moving with grace and speed, she aimed her gun at the first person she saw in the room. Her eyes darted from the man standing there, which smelled of Lycan, then towards the masked man which was tasered by him, finally towards the unconcious girl which was sure to be Kathrine. What the hell happened here? Her thoughts raced when she recognized the face of the Lycan. She saw him before, somewhere until it hit her. He was that Lycan in the local bar before. She had to be certain it was him. What he was doing here was the only thing that bothered her.

"Oi, you! What the hell are you doing?" she asked in a quite fierce way. His scent burned through her nose and her eyes almost watered. She never liked staying too long around this kind of smell, never could, never have been used to it. Celest's eyes now bore through his being with a fire that smolthered with anger as she continued to aim her gun at him, ready to fire anytime.

[Kathrine Hughes]

Kathrine whimpered on the floor and heard the sound of a gun cocking. She recognized the voice behind the gun as Celeste. "Celeste...don't shoot him." Her voice was barely a whisper. She pushed herself up slowly. He face was starting to bruise where the Pig had hit her, and the deep gashes were still bleeding badly. They were facial wounds, so they would bleed more than they should. She was groggy and sore, and didn't really know what was happening. The Pig groaned and started to get up. Kathrine freaked and scooted away from him, terrified...

[Hideki Minami]

His hand was running with the crimson red liquid of his body, which was dripping in small increments onto the surface of the floor. As the criminal dropped to the ground stunned, Hide threw the taser to the side; it was still usable, just not to his taste. If the bleeding girl wanted to use it later, he had no objections. His nostrils flared. Ah, what do you know? As a matter of fact--(Silence spoke)--she may have to use it in the near future. But the man on the floor started to rise, and Minami simply thwacked him the temple before he fell back into a comatose state; it was a hard smack, and if you listened well enough you probably could have heard it cutting through the air before it landed with a ridiculously loud 'twak!'

His torso rotated to a certain degree to face the Vampire's direction, while his feet remained firmly planted in place. "Oh, I see. You're afraid I'm going to claim your latest dinner, are you?" One side of his face twisted into a smirk. He was openly challenging her level of ferocity with his own. Take the piss and talk all you want, but if you're going to shoot him, just shoot him; a philosophy that he was going to stick by. Don't waste his time. "I saved you the trouble of having to find another one; 'cause after all, cold blood isn't as appetizing to your kind, now is it?"

He laughed on the inside. People just kept pushing him toward the edge, didn't they? Whatever, he was done here. His bleeding hand was dripping small droplets of red, but the flow was beginning to slow to but a crawling pace. There were stains on anything within his immediate radius, and some of them had been splashed into an arc in multiple directions when the knife had first made contact with his hand. The poor girl had to worry about that later on, but that wasn't his problem. He had saved her life; or, at least postponed it's expiration date.

He looked at the face of Silence for a moment, ignoring the mumbling fool on the ground, and it was only then that he realized that she was the woman from the bar the other night. Beautiful, much like her music, but otherwise a blight on the face of the planet. No matter. She'd make her decision and he'd live or die by it; be riddled with bullets or walk out to live another day unopposed. In any case, he was very much doubting that the pretty girl with the cut-up face would be walking out of that room without a set of fangs having been in her body. How could a Vampire ever resist such a tempting sight, yes? Indeed...

... but miracles have been known to happen.

[♫ Silence ♪]

Celest almost had the urge to shoot the Lycan right then and there, but no, she thought better than that. He saved Kathrine's life and she had no reason to kill him off, unless he would lunge at her and lash at her neck or something. When he spoke, his words shot through her like sharp spikes. Dinner? Cold blood? Thirsty as she may be right now, she would not dream of feeding off the now unconcious man. His blood flavor was not her type, his smelled like it had been dead long ago, and the other stuff mixed in it messed with the taste. She would rather drink a whole barrel of sludge than feed off him. Although the smell of the girl's blood was a different matter, it was inviting and was slowly making her control teeter off dangerously towards the edge.

Withdrawing her gun and strapping it back on her side, she looked at the Lycan straight in the eye and said to him, almost in a low hiss, "I'd rather starve and die than drain a scumbag like him, or a friend like her..." Her eyes were now a crimson red, showing that she was really in a state of bloodlust, and was now just holding it back for the sake of the teenager. He may think that she will give in to her vampiric side, but he was wrong, for her will was stronger than that. Celest's face hardened as she walked in and scanned the room, the strong scent of blood invading her senses. It looked like a scene from her dreams, but now it was all too real. It almost seemed funny to her, thinking that her dreams and reality became one, with the splatter of blood on the floor, which came out quite artistically in a morbid sort of way. "Although you did quite a Jackson Pollock* around here, m... Eh." she paused, glancing back at him, raising an eyebrow. She almost called him a mutt back there, but decided not to, her so-called 'manners' slapping her right in the face which irritated her.

She crossed the room and crouched down beside Kathrine. The poor girl was really in shock and that cut to her cheek might leave a mark. She was bruised and battered, her pretty face now all messed up because of the doings of her attacker. She did not deserve this, not one bit. Celest reached out a slightly trembling hand, placed it on the girl's shoulder and looked at her, offering what she can for that time, "Come on, let's get you cleaned and patched up."

*Note: Link!

[Kathrine Hughes]

Kathrine whimpered slightly and looked up at Celest. Her tears mingled with the blood on her face, streaking it across her cheeks. Her pretty face had been marred. "C-Celest..." she felt weak, and her body was sore. The man had never gotten a chance to penetrate her, but she felt so violated. She leaned against Celest and started crying like a little baby. She probably needed to see a doctor, and she'd definitly need stitches. She hadn't expected Celest to come to her rescue, but she was grateful for her friend's appearance...

[♫ Silence ♪]

As soon she felt the weight of the teenager on her chest, Celest breathed out and steeled herself from the onslaught of the smell of Kathrine's blood. Her throat felt dry and itched to be washed with that warm, red liquid that flowed continuously in her veins; her crimson-colored orbs a sign of that thirst. Despite of the bloodlust she felt, she tried her best to hold back and comfort the girl. She wrapped an arm around Kathrine and patted her back, as if she was telling her through her actions, It's alright, the big bad meanie of a man is now gone. It's over, he's gone. Celest and 'Mr. Lycan' will be here to dry off your tears.[/i] Although in the back of her mind, she knew this could happen again and maybe, Kathrine might not be able to survive the next time this thing comes round again. She just got lucky today, thanks to the Lycan who had saved her life.

She knew she cannot play the heroine here; she never was in any situation. She may not have attacked her just like the man did, but she was a threat to the girl's existence. Sure, she may have suddenly appeared just in time to save her during their first meeting here in the apartment and today, but no one can deny that her nature is just not that of the do-gooder type. She was a vampire, a machine designed to feed off humans, drain them of their lives as she extends her own.

Celest sighed as she reached out for the phone in the room and dialled a number. She felt Kathrine's warm tears and blood wet her front as she waited for the other line to respond. No matter, it was not important, she can always wash it off. Finally, a woman's clear voice spoke to Celest, saying, "Downtown Police, how can we help?"

With that, the vampire's silky voice answered back, "This is Celestina Rivers. There's a man here that attacked my friend, Kathrine Hughes. He's been subdued and barely conscious now so we need you here to come get him. Bring a medical team too because he has really hurt Kathrine. Please, hurry."

[Kathrine Hughes]

Kathrine stared at the man on the floor, her eyes swimming with fear, pain, and most of all, cold hatred. Her eyes fell on the nearby knife, and, in her traumatized state, she considered grabbing it and exacting vengeance on the man. But she couldn't...she felt too weak. She heard celest calling the police, and then blacked out.

[♫ Silence ♪]

Laying down each and every detail to the woman, Celest just hoped they would act fast and arrive at the scene as soon as possible. She had given them their address, the nature of the attack even down to the features of the man who tried to rape Kathrine. When the person on the other line was sure she got all she needed, she told her that they will respond immediately and will arrive ten to fifteen minutes tops. I guess it will have to do[/i], Celest thought. With that the line went dead and she placed the phone aside then started to count the seconds that passed.

The weight of the girl in Celest's arms grew heavier and she knew that the teenager had just lost conciousness. She sighed and picked up the Kathrine in her arms, holding the limp body carefully, so as not to further hurt her. Her control was slowly slipping and she knew she could bite the girl just now. Shaking the thirst away, she carefully laid the teenager on the couch, propping up her head on a pillow so she can be comfortable. Celest drew back and looked at her hand, which was stained with Kathrine's blood. It was still warm and smelled delicious, oh, how she longed to feed on it. The thirst was greater now, for she never held back this long. She knew she could snap anytime soon so she decided to take her leave. She was not needed here anymore.

Celest made her way towards the Lycan with her head bowed low. This will be the first time she will be doing this, but for the safety of her friend, she will do it, even though it leaves quite a bitter taste in her mouth. Her hands were shaking and if ever she lifted her gaze, the Lycan would be seeing that her orbs were now in the hues of swirling red. Gathering all the control she had left, she said to him in her clear voice, "I can't stay here any longer. If I did stay, I might not be able to hold back and... I might bite her. I know it's not likely for a vampire to ask for any favors from a Lycan, but I beg you, please, look after her, at least until the police comes and she is taken to the hospital. They will be here in a couple of minutes."

She finally looked up into his blue eyes and continued, "If you don't want to accept, then I understand." She paused and waited for him to respond to her request.

[Kathrine Hughes]

Kathrine heard nothing, she knew nothing. The ambulance and the police came. The rapistwas arrested and after a few unsuccesful attempts to wake her, she was transported to a nearby hospital. Her cuts were cleaned and stitched up, and she was placed in a hospital bed. She awoke the next morning, wondering where she was. In the hazey border of sleep and awake, she studied her surrounings. She was comfortable enough, but her face hurt. Suddenly, her memory snapped back to her. She froze, trying to grapple with what had happened the night before. Her hands traveled along her cheeks, finding long, narrow bumps and rough threads. She stared in a mirror, and began to cry. Everything hurt. She curled into a ball and cried herself dry. A nurse came in, tried to consol her. An hour or so later, an officer came to take her statement, and she was left alone, staring out a window into the city below. Bright sunlight illuminated her room. She missed her parents.

[♫ Silence ♪]

Last night, the apartent was a fiasco when the Police and the Medical team came. Most of the residents stayed back, afraid they might get tangled in the mess, although some, like those old ladies who catch gossip 24/7 on their so-called radar, fawned over and asked around. A man caught trying to rape a helpless girl. Good thing she survived the ordeal, thanks to a brave soul who stepped in and stopped it from happening. The girl was hurt bad, but fortunately, still in one piece and she was rushed to the hospital immediately. The Police asked around for someone named Celestina Rivers for she was the one who tipped them off but she was nowhere to be found in the apartment. People told them she was always out at night so they cannot question her about what happened. At least they got their testimony from the man who stopped it all. The fuss did die down after an hour. For sure, word will go around the floors. Anyone who had the same intention of harming the poor girl would surely be halted.

Celest did not stay long in the apartment; the urge to feed was too strong and she did not like mingling with a too-nosy crowd like the Police. She had her fill that night and went back an hour before dawn, hopefully no one would notice since everyone would be asleep by then. The sun was already peeking through the clouds and Celest cannot get a wink of sleep. Somehow, last night's incident was still running through her mind like an old replay of a bad movie. She gritted her teeth and cursed inwardly as she tried to muffle her growls with a pillow. The anger for the rapist still boiled her blood and the Lycan... even though she hated to admit it, did the right thing for Kathrine. She then wondered which hospital she was taken.

Her senses perked up when she heard people stirring and going around the apartment, starting their day. The idea she had in her mind was crazy but it was worth a try. Taking her trench coat with a large hood and some thick gloves, she went down to the manager and asked about the 'mess' last night. The manager did lay the details down for her, mostly a bit exaggerated because of gossip. The good thing about it is that he knew which hospital Kathrine would be staying. After thanking the manager, she cautiously stepped out into the still dim sunlight and pulled her hood over her head. The gloves worked like a charm on her hands and the hood shielded her face from the sun although she feels a slight tingle of the heat from it. She walked fast and bought a few items before finally arriving at the hospital. She thanked any higher power there was for store owners who were early risers.

Urging the person at the front desk to tell her where Kathrine stayed was easy, telling her she was a close friend from school and the flowers and basket of fruits were convincing enough. She walked through the starch white halls and inhaled the scent of disease, sickness and death in. The smell felt wrong to her, but she held back her stomach's urge to backflip. Finally arriving at the room, she knocked first a few times before entering so as not to be rude. She looked around and saw Kathrine lying back on her bed. She then wondered if she was asleep.

Taking her chances, she silently walked near the bed, still holding the flowers and basket, and said in a voice that almost felt like silk against skin, "Hello, Kathrine..."