Cities By Shadow

[lady_elfleda]

There was a shadow flowing across glass... A dark, perfectly smooth surface, flush with trapped faces of agony pressed tightly against it. Whether sculpted that way or rendered so in paralytic contortion, was not for mortal mind to know. The presence willing its way across the room, from one end to the other; hunting, searching for something, as the floor beneath it darkened yet further. Glimpses from another realm filtering through the murk.

There... It wanted to go there...

A place of the living, no longer fully claimed by the dark. Merely looked back upon with envious desires. She understood that. Elfleda. Bride to that which laid... Beyond. And it was she whose emergence was made without fanfare, like a silky-smooth handkerchief falling in silence.

Nor, here, was her chosen attire that which others might be more accustomed to viewing of her depiction. No black dress here, nor pale complexion seen. Instead, there stood a teenage girl. Pretty, yes. Diabolical, likely not. Her choice of clothing something more conventional. The tone of her skin, relatively healthy. Eyes no longer inky pools of black, but perfectly normal.

White... That part was a deliberate mockery. A challenge, almost. A veiled insult to the forces she stood against.

But it was not geography which brought her here. It was the girl. Elfleda's usual unseen cloud of spiritual filth now held tightly against her for reasons of stealth. Reined in, so that erstwhile shivers up spines would not alert others to the arrival of one such as she.

"Hello," she said in greeting. Here, spoken like anyone else. Not the half-telepathic tease she gave to most others. Just a voice. Yet, one still spoken in that same clear-cut, educated English accent. "I'm sorry, have we... Met? You seem somewhat familiar..."

Comments

[valerie_vause]

Valerie watched the brunette do something she did a hundreds times herself and smiled again. No threat was detected but the sensation that she did know the girl lingered. Perhaps even grew as she neared, maybe she’d seen her somewhere but simply couldn’t locate the memory. Beth didn’t ring any bells.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Valerie.” She said lightly, wondering if Beth was short for something, mostly because of the way the girl had said it. ‘You can call me’ not ‘I’m called’. The phrase made the blonde chuckle, little did she know that Beth meant quite literally. “I know what you mean.” She shrugged haphazardly and added, “I was in a world of my own, too busy looking up.”

It wouldn’t do well to state that being out alone was a bad idea, but so was being in a crowded bar or restaurant. Vampires and demons didn’t care where they got a meal, just that they did. Instinct caused the the blonde to look around just to make sure danger wasn’t about to spring on top of them and missed the look given, but she did hear the question.

“I’ve been here a few times.” Valerie nodded, the movement slight but intentional. It was the truth but she’d never really gone during the day. “Kind of in passing but it looked inviting in the moonlight so I figured I’d take a walk. What about you?” She asked with a smile.

[lady_elfleda]

Woods were not unfamiliar to Elfleda. There had been another place, another time... Another her.

Another creak amongst the bark...

Different, then. In so many ways.

"I lost myself," the brunette replied, smile casual as she slipped past a branch. Where she had touched the tree, unseen by Slayer, the wood had turned brittle, scorched and somehow... Older? Diseased? Or just transformed? Maybe all. Maybe none. "As if time no longer applied."

A pause and then laughter from the English girl, as if it had been waiting for the chance to well up, all this time. It seemed not to matter what she did - everything seemed somehow right. Natural. A whispered siren call, almost.

"But you seem like someone who makes friends easily, hmm?"

Because there it was. Elfleda's true motivation for being here. Not Slayerhood alone, but those she was coming to know.

"I'll bet you've made some rather interesting acquaintances, here in Nevada. Am I right?"

[valerie_vause]

“Ah, I know that feeling.” Time could stand still or slip away in what seemed like a blink of an eye. The expression didn’t seem weird to Valerie as the girl took her time making her way over. The fact that the blonde had stopped and was simply waiting didn’t even register. Like a curious animal watching a hunter creep closer unaware of the danger.

The laughter from the brunette had an infectious quality. Valerie found herself smiling again, at ease in a dark park talking to a girl she’d never met before. So why did it feel like she had?

“No not really, but I don’t mind.” The answer had been honest despite how out of the blue the question had been, and yet the blonde felt no urge to walk away.

Though the next question had Valerie pause. That one was kind of weird, or maybe Beth meant the wild behaviour of some of the tourists. One could be taken in jest the other borderline sinister. Valerie lifted one hand to scratch the side of her cheek as she shrugged. “Eh, I keep myself busy, kind of cuts in on the time to meet any people let alone the interesting ones.”

Valerie cleared her throat and opted for a change of topic. Perhaps the years of patrolling had began to make her suspicious of strangers in general. That seemed cynical and the blonde didn’t like it. “So where are you heading, if it’s in my direction we could walk together if you wanted.” Well, it was safer that way, wasn’t it?

[lady_elfleda]

The only response to Valerie's answer was a momentary smile. Something almost secondary to proceedings, for while they might no longer be black, Elfleda's gaze, once locked upon you, had a way of drawing unfortunate souls in if they allowed themselves to dwell in it for too long.

Oh, Valerie had met others... Some very interesting 'others', indeed. It was making her a nexus, almost. The very quality which had brought 'Beth' to her.

"Must we go?"

It was asked with as much innocence as expression Elfleda... Beth... Now wore. Eyes wide and mouth forming a half-pout. Then, head tilting, she smiled again and took a further step forward. Fingertips brushing together in consideration as she did so. The smile turning mischievous.

"If you could do anything in the world... Anywhere... What would it be?"

[valerie_vause]

Everyone had secrets. Some much deeper than others. Some relatively insignificant. Some inevitably consequential. Valerie contained a multitude of various within her small frame. In ways she considered herself a vault of sorts. What people told her in secret remained with her, the information locked away, never to be breathed of to anyone else. Quite often even when they had not specified to keep what was said between them, she did. Whether through loyalty or morales she stood by, was anyone’s guess.

Beth’s smile caused another to tug at the blonde’s lips as she gazed back at the girl. The question made her laugh, a combination of how it was asked and the expression that accompanied it. “I guess not, I can stay a little longer.” Why? There was no real reason other than general curiosity and… Valerie couldn’t place it as she looked into Beth’s eyes, at best she could describe it as a peculiar sense of affinity.

Valerie took a half step toward Beth as she drew closer, she couldn’t explain why even as she tried to rationalise it as normal if they were going to stand and talk. “Um…” The blonde laughed, sent her gaze upwards to the stars and actually considered it for a moment. The harsh truth was she’d never dared to dream beyond college because life expectancy didn’t exactly work in her favor.

“I… I don’t know.” She confessed quietly to the dark sparkling sky and took in a breath just to exhale. “Something freeing, something…” Wild. Valerie brought her gaze back to Beth as she pressed her lips together and shrugged. “What would you do? Where would you go, Beth?”

[lady_elfleda]

"Something...?"

Just on the edge of lilting into that half-in-your-mind way of speaking, but not quite, Elfleda was that much more intent on finding something within the blonde's consciousness to clutch at, like the talons of a vulture circling bones. What did Valerie want? What were her fears, her desires, her...

A sense of something. An emotion or... No. Different. Anticipation. Something at home in the murk of the primal.

The hunt.

"We could go there... Together."

The touch of fingertips to the back of hand could be sensed. A caressing motion. Up, down... Soothing. Somehow igniting, too. A melody of silence calling out, unheard by mortal ear, to the Slayer's inner essence.

"Where you need to be..."

FLASH.

From up above. A low rumble of thunder rolling out through the clouds. No rain, but instead, the warning of a gathering storm overhead.

And in that sudden whiteness could be glimpsed a different Beth. One of pale skin, ebony gaze and a regal dress to suit. Hair no longer kept in silky lengths, but swept tightly behind; a few token strands allowed to trickle down in a frame of those ghostly features. A creature of blacks and whites, looking for all the world like a bride of the damned.

Nature at play? Or perhaps something more? No sooner had it happened, did the stranger cast her gaze to the sky, giving a hiss of annoyance at the intervention.