::::The night wind swept through him like a voice calling out to his innermost soul, and somewhere in that darkness he felt the prescence of the shadows growing closer. Something coming their way that made him tremble inside with a yearning mix of desire for pulchritude. There was only one creature he knew that could inspire such a feeling of longing in him.... such an unearthly and deadly need...but that was impossible. Surely. Shaking off the impending sense of doom that was carried on the wind of that promise he let his mind drift to much more pertinent matters. Ravenna. The young woman...nay young vampire...who he had met at Bliss earlier in the evening. Deeply he hoped that she would take his advice and fight against the bondage of the being who held her in sway and yet he doubted that to be likely, and knew that he must therefore take action against her.:::
:::It pained him to seek out any destruction for his own kind, for though he knew the powers they possessed could be harmful he still felt a kinship in the destructive servitude that held them all in sway. So it would not be his hand that would strike the killing blow, but there were other ways. Letting his eyes close...cheeks kissed by the length of dusky gray lashes as they made crescent shapes against his tan skin...he shook off the walls that normally surrounded his heart and opened himself up to the marks he bore to his intended. Never before had he reached out for them in such a way, and under any other circumstances he would not have. For he had chosen Evie and Ash for reasons that most vampires would have shied away from. Both his human servant and his animal to call were strong in their own ways, both fiercely independent and private, and both had a seemingly irrational fear of any other types of power but their own. Marcus had kept these things in mind through his association with them and had been careful never to trespass into their private spaces, but he knew that without Ash many more lives could be lost to the demon vampire Ravenna.:::
:::To possess the dreams of the living was a gift that his Mistress had held dear, she had used that gift on a whim to control and manipulate those around her.....to that extent the gift was not his. Marcus could no more enter the dreams of others than he could walk through walls. However, when it came to the two he had marked their minds were his playground...if he were inclined to let himself wander...and at the moment that was entirely his intention. The hour was late, nearing dawn, and so he found Evangeline and Ash both asleep. Only then did he realize that Ash was not in the city, that the Ulfric was in a smaller province on a hunt, it seemed lucky that the man was not out of range for such contact.:::
:::Weaving the dreamscape around them he tried to leave Evie as untouched as possible, but the silver chords that bound them all were difficult to separate when such contact was so rarely allowed. In the dream he and Ash stood beside Evie asleep in her bed. One man on either side of the room that in the dream had no form or design to it....merely a blank white open space. One man as dark and cryptic as smoke, the other a golden effigy. So different and yet as they both looked down at the sleeping girl they held identical looks on their faces. Love.:::
What is this? -Ash asked as he looked around
"It's not important il mio lupo."
:::They could argue about Marcus invading Ashes dreams some other time, for now the urgency he felt seeped into the dream and caused him to catch the Ulfrics gaze with his own. Lapis flecked amber eyes staring into eyes so blue they seemed to glow in the darkness. As he watched the anger rush through the Ulfric's face he knew that he had to hurry.:::
"You must return to Rome Vengence. There is a soul here who must be freed."
::::Lifting an elegant hand he waved it in the air and on the white wall behind Evie's bed pictures began to form...like a movie being projected onto the wall. It showed Ravenna as he had seen her in the club...but this was no ordinary film...Marcus imbibed it with scent and taste and feel....with everything he had picked up from the vampire he had met. Everything Ash might need to be able to track her.::::
"This is the killer who has stalked our streets, and inside her is a frightened child seeking salvation." :::Raising his hand again he held one of Ashes guns in his palm. Reaching across the bed to hand the weapon to the man.::: "Will you give it to her creatura del mio cuore?"
-- Edited by MastersCall on Monday 13th of July 2009 10:26:46 AM
Ash was definitely wearing his best 'what the fuck' face when he found himself awakening into a dream about standing in a bedroom with Marcus. When he looked down at Evie laying in the bed he had a moment of hoping to whatever God there was that this was not some kink the vampire had just come up with on the spur of the moment because Ash was not looking for a three way with his 'little sister' and some Master Vampire. From his side of the bed he stood watching Evie sleep and for a moment his features softened, but then he looked up at Marcus and once again thick black brows furrowed creating thin lines in his forehead. Signs of age, and he was definitely too old for this shit.
"What the fuck is this?"
Was what Ash actually said, only to be shot down by the vampire in question. But even without a formal explanation of what was going on he knew he wasn't going to like it. Call it an educated guess, but most things involving vampires were things that he didn't like. He was sure this would be no exception. Pale arms crossed over his bare chest in a firm and detached stance that made it clear that he was in no mood for games at the moment. When the running pictures began streaming across the wall behind Evie's bed he turned at an angle to watch, and almost at once found himself captivated by what he saw.
Inside his beast stirred at the smell of the vampire, and before Marcus could finish what he was saying Ash was reaching for the gun in the mans hand. It didn't matter to him about salvation or redemption. There was only death, a death he would bring swiftly to this woman. As his hand closed on the gun he felt himself falling, losing focus in the dream. His stomach turned inside out as he fell out of the dream and into consciousness.
Awakening in his hotel room the sheets were tangled in a mess around his legs, and immediately he looked towards the clock. It shone an angry red seeming almost offended by the unreasonable hour of 4:52 AM. Under normal circumstances Ash might also have felt rather perturbed about the early wake up call, but as it was he swung his legs out of bed and rubbed his hands against his face to try to clear the sleep from his eyes. Already his mind was figuring that if he left now he could be back in the city by eleven. In the office by noon, and have the facts straight and the killer on his radar by nightfall.
Already excitement mounted inside him. The case he had been working on was finished, and he'd only been sticking around the province for paperwork. None of that mattered now in the light of a fresh kill. Death haunted and delighted him in equal measure and the joy he had taken in slaying the last vampire only served to heighten his lust for this one. Pushing himself out of bed he ignored the chill in the air from the overactive air conditioning unit mounted in the window of the small but thankfully clean hotel room. In a distracted daze he went about packing his bags to head back for Rome.
There was a the vague sensation of waking up in a bed that's not your own. She might have been used to the idea due to years of traveling from case to case, horror show to horror show, but this was different. She certainly hadn't remembering going to sleep in an all-white room. There might have been a spike of utter terror as her mind fled instantly back to the padded rooms and locked cell doors of her childhood, had the feeling of love not been almost overwhelming.
Love. Power. Urgency. These were the things that her had her eyelids flickering, lashes tickling her cheeks as she gave a loan groan, rolling onto her side. "Marcus ...?" A sleepy mumble. She could hear his voice -- and Ash's. Wait, huh? Ash was out of Rome, and Marcus wouldn't be on a hunt. For that matter ... neither would she. " ... Ash." Sitting up slowly, propping her weight on her elbow, she found first her vampire master and second her Ulfric adoptive brother. One of them was handing a gun to the other. Beneath the white sheets she felt herself freeze, eyes widening. A white-gloved hand reached towards the two men, words awakening and dying on her tongue as the scene began to shift. White dissolved to black, and with a start, her mind snapped back into normal consciousness.
No white. No Marcus. No Ash. Just Evie sitting up in her bed reaching out to nothing. Even her gloves were back to their normal ratty black. Blinking against the dimness of the room, as her heart rate tried to adjust. She managed to blurt a mangled, "whatthefuuuck ..." Before reaching to her cellphone on her bedside table. Flipping it open, a loud groan escaped as she collapsed, falling back into bed with a thud. Still, there was something going on. She planned on staying in the loop this time, dammit.
Eyes closing against the harshness of the cellphone's welcome screen, the telemetric was able to speed-dial Ash without even looking. Practice. She waited until she heard a click or it went to voicemail; either way, her greeting was the same.
"... the fuck'd I wake up in, maan?" No, Evie was not a morning person. At all.