Just Brushed Clean Feeling

[The Cedar Witch]

The sound of his voice brought little comfort, if any, yet had eased her mind a little. He could talk. He can\'t be dead. She rationalized the fact that she was ridiculously exhausted. This did not eliminate the fact that he was incredibly creepy. The fact that he was pacing in such a way caused her eyes to flood red to mirror her uneasy mind.\'

His smile sent a shock down her spine. He had fangs. Like her spirit form. She wondered if he lusted for blood as well, as her own craving caused her to do. She stared at him cold, trying to mask her fear from him. She inhaled slowly, touching on the first level of meditation very briefly, eyes flickering from green for a moment before they returned to red.

For awhile she was very unsure of how to answer him. The fact that he did not appear to be much older then her was confusing. He had called her child, which did not line up with his own apparent age. In the dark he seemed to be only in his early twenties. Not much older than herself. She found him attractive, but strange. Not that strangeness bothered her much, but it seemed as though he wanted something. And that thought caused her to bristle with readiness. She might be able to fend him off if he came at her...

[Saiketsu]

The defensiveness of the girl made him chuckle faintly. Typically he was the one playing the guarded one. "You\'re no human. What are you?" Nikolai demanded, forgetting whatever preface he had had before. His vision was becoming sharper and his senses stronger. The need for blood, not to feed, was increasing in strength. Those shadows dwelling inside of him were consuming him. And Nikolai was letting them.

Yes, feed off of my soul, he coaxed. I want to destroy, to be unknown, to understand, to recreate and reinvent. But he could feel himself slipping at the same time as he stood staring down the bridge of his nose at this young girl.

The anger was swelling in his chest. "Answer me," he demanded again in a low and dangerous tone.

[The Cedar Witch]

She drew back, eyes grey and hurt. She was very taken aback by this sudden outburst, but she had no choice but to endure it. She boiled inside, wanting to hurt him back but had not the power. She hated being spoken to, no, commanded in such a way. She glared at him.

"I have been called useless, ugly, human, a pathetic excuse for an Akari, a disappointing daughter and a monster." she spit the sentence at his feet, feeling a taint of her own anger beginning to leak out. Her eyes darkened. If she had the mental power right now, she would strip this man of all of his comforts, leaving his mind so vulnerable and naked that he would want to crawl into a hole and die.

She knew that she was letting her emotions get the best of her, given the fact that she was exhausted and hadn\'t meditated for several days... She continued to stare down at him, wanting to fire back the same question whose answer she didn\'t necessarily want to know.

[Saiketsu]

"Spare me the sad story of your life. I\'ve heard it so many times before." He fired back at her, offering no human pity, though part of him, that swallowed, consumed, almost-human part of him felt a touch of compassion for her. But he couldn\'t show it now. The darkness was too profound, the anger too strong.

An Akari, she had said. Nikolai hadn\'t much of an idea of what that was, having never met one. It was a form of mortal though, that much he knew, had heard. But what it was he didn\'t know.

But a feeling of defiance rose from within him, a desire for danger. He took a few steps closer to her, slowly, expecting her to back away. "What are you doing out here, this far from town, on such a dark night? You could get hurt, child." He grinned wider, the fangs showing clearly now. "Do you have any idea what kind of monsters could be lurking in the shadows? Ghosts certainly aren\'t the worst..." He laughed now, almost insanely.

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm glared, deeply cut from his lack of respect, much less sympathy. She was growing a fond hatred that yearned to blossom. She itched to transform and rip out his throat but held back...for now.

"What do you care." she spat, feeling her own fangs poking through as her eyes were consumed in black. She wanted to fly. Kill. Hatred was giving her energy that she didn\'t know existed. His insensitivity brought her anger as opposed to more fear. He was just another stupid guy.

Storm angrily pulled her cloak around her body, as though trying to keep her transformation at bay. So far she was succeeding. She stood her ground when he took a step forward, refusing to show any more weakness than she already had. She borred into his eyes, too weak to penitrate his mind or even attempt to read his emotions. Despite this, she still absorbed them. He was cold. Brooding. She didn\'t care what else at this point.

[Saiketsu]

The comment slipped by him. Nothing more than the tasteless defensiveness of some sort of mortal. Nikolai ignored her as he searched her form, more interested with the shadows tracing her form. With shadows and anger brought a form of clarity he experienced often only after the kill. His sight became sharper, seeing her in a new light, the moon hanging more ominously. His ears toned into the different noises of the silence, her heart, the consistant beating of anger and adrenaline.

There was also something else about her, something so small, so slight he almost didn\'t catch it. The skin shifted faintly yet the body remained still. Something was there, beneath her skin. But what was it? He wanted to know terribly. Yet sensing it made him more interested. It made him take a step or two closer.

"Someone\'s got a secret," he sang in a low, eerie tone, hitting a slide of notes far too easily. He smiled wider, watching her, continuing, "Secrets can be dangerous..." The vampire stopped his vocal song, yet continued it telepathically.

And while he gave her only one mocking word --"darling"-- a mockery of his own followed. This game, he knew, came with its prices. Before the word was even out of his head, a mocking pain echoed the word within his own head. Yet she would never see this happening in back of steely, smiling eyes.

[The Cedar Witch]

She couldn\'t help her fangs from showing themselves as she spoke, lucid hatred deep in her voice.

"Shut up. You don\'t have any friggin\' idea what you\'re talking about." Her eyes were consumed in black anger, traces of her skin began to purple in color, yet she held a fleshy tone still. Not a full transformation. Her wings were squirming beneath her skin.

Hell, she had secrets, but who didn\'t? She felt violated; his voice was very unwelcome and intruding inside of her mind. She shot mental daggers and drove off the echo of his telepathy with solid imaginary walls.

She could feel the welcoming energy from her half-transformed state, enough to keep up this verbal battle and enough to fend off attack. Her sharpening nails dug into the palms of her hands.

[Saiketsu]

He could smell her blood changing, the skin tainting, could feel her energy changing. The insanity of it made him laugh. Her voice sounded petty compared to how her blood was reacting. It made him laugh even more.

Nikolai pressed against her boundries, taking another step towards her, less than five feet from her. Now he really wanted to know. Fangs in her mouth. What could you possible be, darling child?

"Don\'t I?" he feigned, staring her in the eyes. A challenge? He\'d take the offer any night. But did she honestly think that she could stand up to him? He gave her credit for trying, though. Oh ma chere, but how will this end? The vampire could easily take her and drain her, but did he want to? She was nice to look at if nothing else, dark and beautiful, as if some kind of muse... And besides, how much fun would that be? Why not let her struggle? He loved suffering, didn\'t he?

Somehow, Nikolai just couldn\'t make up his mind as to what end would befall her. Tick tock, tick tock! part of him said. Should she stay or should she go? To be or not to be? That is the question...

[The Cedar Witch]

"Don\'t TEST me." Storm grit her teeth, allowing her skin to change completely as she stood her ground.

Kill him... A voice echoed inside of her mind. She could, couldn\'t she? Although, Storm was still hesitant to transform completely. Theoretically, if she did kill him after transforming, when she tried to revert to her human form again, she would surely pass out from exhaustion.

But it would be oh-so-satisfying, ripping this mouthy little bastard limb from limb. This thought made the demon in her smile as she felt herself lose control. What was a small smile became a monstrous grin. She looked him straight in the eye.

[Saiketsu]

"I think I already have," said Nikolai, more to himself with satisfaction, the laughter fading down to a grin. He felt as though the upper hand were his, and in this state of mind, he believed it.

"Ah, so you\'re weakened. This thing gives you strength... Or are you simply weak?" He liked the intensity he felt coming from her stare. It was something the vampire had experienced from no other victim before and he found himself so utterly in love with it.

He wanted to tear her beautiful eyes out.

And then kiss the pain away. Her and her pretty face.

The vampire matched the intensity in her eyes. "So what\'s really beneath that thin layer of skin? Some kind of demon?" He didn\'t wait for any form of response. "Or is it just wishful thinking? Something you\'re bluffing to scare me off?"

No, he didn\'t actually believe what he was telling her. He knew it wasn\'t a bluff. The blood always tells all. And he began to wonder what it must taste like, her blood. He saw it flicker in his mind, her neck against his teeth, the mingling of emotions and understanding and life into his depraved veins that never tasted its like before.

And, quite honestly, he liked the thought of it. Nikki smirked.

[The Cedar Witch]

As if in defiance, glossy black wings tore through her skin, shirt, and cloak; blood from the wounds sprinkling to the ground. The tares in her back healed before any more could spill.

He called you weak. Kill him. Show him our power. Like a mother, the demon in her mind cooed. Storm\'s expression wavered. She hated this form. She loved it. All of her emotion freed itself from the chains that bound it to the dankness of her inner mind.

"Weak?" she hissed in her layered voice, fangs barred viciously as if daring him to speak another word. Her powerful wings flapped angrily, gusts of wind spiraling in his direction. She allowed her nails to lengthen.

Oh the feeling of ripping flesh... she couldn\'t stand it anymore. Blood. Pain. Lust. She lunged at him fangs bared and claws ready.

[Saiketsu]

His mouth opened as if to speak to her, to say something more to egg her on. The leathery black wings. The purple-tainted skin. How wonderful. How different. How extraordinary.

Yet this form was completely different, he knew, darker and more vicious. It were as if it was some kind of guard. Or dirty little secret let out of its cage. It made his cold blood rush around in his veins all the more. The thing lunged at him with claws and fangs. But he could see this far too easily.

The creature\'s movements were slow, still partially mortally controlled. Or maybe that was how it really moved. Either way, Nikolai was able to duck the swinging of the claws and the grip of the monster. A quick side-step, faster than any mortal creature could see, yet not as fast as possible. Barely did he avoid the attack. But, then again, he liked walking the line of carefulness and recklessness.

He laughed while narrowly avoiding her. He couldn\'t tell which side of her being was better: the demon side or her backside.

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm blinked, suddenly confused by the sudden disappearance. She whirled around to face him, unsure of how he got behind her in the first place. She flicked her wings agitatedly, too angry to ponder her next move clearly.

Little fucker... If possible, her eyes gained a deeper shade of black. She could feel her aura sparking as she gathered dark purple energy in the palm of her hand. When she had roughly a handful, she took her other hand and stretched the energy, as if kneading it like dough.

Haphazardly she sent it toward him, far faster than she could run herself, intending for it to latch onto his neck.

[Saiketsu]

Nikki laughed at the danger. It had narrowly missed him, a few hairs\' breadth saving him from whatever fate this girl had intended. Had he not been able to move so quickly... The thought of him being taken so easily made him both shudder and chuckle noticably.

Maybe she wouldn\'t be so easily evaded. He loved the excitement.

The vampire parried, racing around her and lunging for her throat with his own claws drawn. "Try me, princess," he mocked. "There are worse monsters than those you think are hiding beneath your bed at night!" His steely eyes pierced the darkness better than ever before as he aimed for his throat, pressing with such force, it surprised even him.

He hadn\'t wanted her blood this much throughout the night. Yet, now, his jaw ached to end this before it escalated.

[The Cedar Witch]

His claws dug into her skin before she had the slightest chance to react to his comments. Only her eyes reverted back to their normal state, wide and shocked, flickering and drenched in fear.

Her breathing became quicker as did her heart rate. She felt her own blood pounding through her body. She was weak. So terribly weak and she hated it.

What was she to expect. With less then half of her energy and anger clouding her judgment why should she expect anything more then a quick loss.

Fearlessly she looked him in the eyes, stone cold and filled with hatred.

"Kill me." she quietly stated. Any louder and her statement could have been mistaken for a command. Her gaze remained unfaltering.

"What are you waiting for?"