The usual hustle and bustle of the crowded streets were something she knew quite well, it didn't phase her anymore. She would usually merge right into the crowd and become invisible, no one had spared her a second glance before, which is why this felt extremely different to her.
Wherever she walked, people's eyes seemed to be drawn to her yet the masses drifted away from her as if she were the plague. Looked upon but never touched, Alex saw the fear swirl within the irises of the masses as she tread among them but she couldn't figure out the strange looks they cast her way.
All of it didn't quite matter at the moment, she had to escape this scrutiny and the only place she had ever felt secure enough was her own home. How long had she been gone this time?
Her brisk walk down the city streets had kept her mind off of the nagging feeling that was creeping into her chest until the tingling in her limbs intensified and in that split second Alex was no longer in control of her body. As if swayed by some invisible force she seemed to float above the pavement, a seducing whisper beckoning her closer and closer to something...
She'd watched the scene unfold like some out of body experience, her arm raised upwards right as the car had swerved past her into incoming traffic. With a twist of her wrist, eyes glazed over and face stoïc, the rocketing sedan collided into an oncoming truck...
The crack and crunch of iron against iron seemed to be muted and the fear of the surrounding onlookers seemed to feed into her, fueling her instincts. She could see the ethereal wisps of a shimmering almost translucent hue of cerulean blue take shape above the mangled mess of metal.
She beckoned to it, the wisp rising higher above the wreckage and floating towards her. Sirens echoed in the distance and frantic screams resonated in her surroundings but all she could focus on was the apparition that was inching towards her. The whispers she'd been trying to mute during her walk suddenly felt deafening, urging her to utter words in some ancient tongue.
"٠٠ب٠ت٠رÙØ Ø§Ø² ترک پاسخ
بÛا جÙ٠جÙÙر ٠رگ Ù Ù Ûر
Ù Ø·Ø±Ø Ù Ø³Ûر از ÙÙ٠ر٠دائ٠Û
بازگشت ب٠داÙ٠از ابدÛت"
The words rolled off her tongue so effortlessly, and once the words had been uttered the manifestation before her eyes began to pulse with an otherworldly light. Pulsing faster with each moment, ebbing with energy, Alexandra watched with rapt fascination as the wisps of blue exploded in light only to dissipate into nothingness before her very eyes.
As if thrust back into her own body, Alex began to regain a feeling of time and place. Her senses overwhelmed with the sheer life force she could feel around her pulsing, vibrating.
She shook her head violently, trying to snap herself away of this endless stream of life energy that she somehow had been thrust into. No matter where she cast her gaze, Alex could see tendrils of cerulean blue extend towards her, some closer that the rest. As if she could, if she so pleased, pull on the tendrils and rid the vessel of bone and flesh of its soul.
The mere concept of it had made Alex's eyes go wide. She needed to get away from here, away from these people. With a resolute scowl she had taken off running towards her sanctuary, she could feel the change within herself and she knew it had something to do with Asha. The redheaded Elder had promised Alex she wouldn't turn her into an abomination, so much for promises. Alex scoffed as she continued to sprint to what used to be her family home.
She kept thinking about what had happened just a few minutes ago, had she been the one to cause it? She couldn't have made something so awful happen, could she?
Lost in her own head, Alex hadn't realized where her feet had taken her, muscle memory be damned!
Once she'd snapped out of her internal monologue, she looked up at her old place of employment. La Maison Du Café was still as indie as the day it had opened almost 30 years ago; the former barista sighed and pushed the swinging door.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee assaulted her nose the minute she had set foot inside, the chime of the bell hanging overhead alerting the staff. A quick glance around the place told Alex most of the staff were eyeing her in a mix of awe and surprise. Had she been gone that long?
"Again?!" she heard her former manager sigh with a slump of his shoulders, He marched right up to Alex fully intent on ripping her a new one but the closer he got the wearier he'd become until he seemed downright hesitant to come any closer.
"I don't know what game you think you're playing Alexandra but this prank or goth emo bullshit you're pulling on us is downright crossing the line!" he seemed thoroughly steamed at the notion of his supposedly deceased employee turning up at his shop thinking that a new hair dye and some white makeup would hide the fact that she's not dead?
They had all been at her funeral! That blonde Cheyenne doctor had pronounced her dead! She died of some obscure rare disease! They all saw the edges of the bruises the mortician tried to hide with makeup when they came close to pay their respects...
Alex frowned looking at the man, prank? Goth? What the hell was he on about? She could see Cassie coming closer and stopping a few steps behind the man
"Hey Cass..." she tentatively spoke, her voice seemed foreign to her ears, more melodic than it used to be, softer, like a siren's call.
"A-Alex? We thought... You're supposed to be dead Alex" the petite coworker uttered disbelievingly "we...we all attended your funeral, Alex"
What?! There was no way in Hell Alex was dead. She was there. She was breathing.
She shook her head, it couldn't be... Alexandra took a tentative step back, then another and another. Moments later she was sprinting down the pavement again heading towards her original destination.
Amira stood in the dark apartment, hands firmly on her hips she let out a heavy sigh
"Electricity off, check. Water and gas off, check. Side doors and hatches locked, check. Windows boarded up, double check. Now all I gotta do is lock up the front door and hope Asha wont send us all to death row" the Arabian princess sighed with a shake of her head. she cast a final glance around the room, the poor girl seemed to be well versed in her literature judging by the amounts of books scattered around the place. it was such a shame to lose someone with great potential.
Amira stiffened. Something was drawing closed, every instinct within her told her to run but she stood her ground. As the steps grew closer Amira spun around to face the door that was left side open.
The seconds ticked by slowly, Amira shifting her weight into a battle ready position, something told her this wasn't going to end well.
The thudding of feet against the stairs ceased for a second and the sight Amira whitnessed was beyond definition.
There, in front of her, stood Alexandra in the flesh. No, not Alexandra but some shell of the bubbly blonde that she had met on several occasions. No, this creature that shares facial features with a deceased Alex was pale white, almost albino in Palos, long white hair cascading in waves down her shoulders, irises and scleras darker than the deepest abyss.
They stood in a tense silence, each staring the other down assessing the threat. Amira loosened her posture slightly but the nagging feeling of danger had already nestled into her chest, she was the first to speak
"Alex? Is that really you?" the Arabian vampire furrowed her brows, forcing her body to take a step towards Alexandra slowly.
"Stay away from me Amira, I really don't want to hurt you, what you and Asha have done is enough." Alex had mumbled stiffly, an underlying loathing towards the two vampires thick in her tone.
"Done? We haven't done anything!" Amira frowned obviously taking offense, that little girl is being quite the ungrateful brat.
"Nothing? NOTHING?!" Alex began to raise her voice, how dare that bitch lie to her face " I sure as hell didn't become this on my own accord! I asked her for one thing Amira!" Alexandra clenched her jaw tighter, she could feel the energy in the air. Every tick of the clock hanging in the far end of the wall, every clink and clatter, every one of Amira's exhaled breaths resonated loudly in her ears
"All I asked her was not to turn me into a fucking monster. And I wake up like this! One fucking promise and she couldn't keep it!" Alex knew she was venting her anger on the wrong person
"What the hell are you talking about? Asha didn't turn you! She watched you die. Sat there broken and crying tears of blood over your lifeless corpse" Amira huffed, her own anger rising "she even organized your funeral and hasn't been out of her own room since the day that marble tomb was closed"
Amira had been yelling at that point, her voice wavering with each word she uttered. Just remembering Asha's heartwrenching sobs made the vampire want to slap Alex.
She had the nerve to think Asha would disregard her last wishes?
Alex had stood there listening to Amira's outburst. Something didn't make sense, how would she end up alive...almost, if Asha hadn't turned her?
Alexandra took a steadying breath, and then another to compose herself before she spoke "then how did I end up like this? How did I end up killing a man?"
"You need to hear this from Asha. Just stay here. I'll go get her, and High Elder Bashaa, they know the most about what you're going through" Amira rationalized, trying to piece the situation together " Too bad they didn't realize it until after Asha almost starved herself into oblivion because of you" the onyx haired princess muttered under her breath thinking the once-blonde woman wouldn't hear.
Yet, Alexandra had heard every last mumble loud and clear. 'Hmph, neat trick' Alex thought but she had no idea exactly what she was capable of...
Somewhere outside the apartment's main door, Amira had pulled out her phone and dialed Ishtar, this was delicate information. The less people knew the better it was for Alex. Somehow during this whole ordeal, the feeling of dread crawling within her chest had dispersed almost completely
"It's her. She's here and she needs to talk to Asha and Bashaa. As soon as possible Ishtar" Amira informed the Elder and sighed entering the room again "they'll be here soon, you've been...asleep for a while, do you want something to eat?" the black haired woman had offered but Alex had her gaze cast down as she walked around her living room.
She ran her clawed?...
Clawed?
Alexander's features contorted in concentration as she raised her hand up to eye level and examined the protrusions at the tips of her fingers. It was as if the skin had split at the very tip of her finger, her distal phalenges extending and merging with her extending nail to form a bony cap along the tips of her fingers, curving inwards into a sharp point.
Quite peculiar, she found the occurance. She was sure these caps weren't there earlier in the day, Alex shook her head exasperated and glanced down at the book lying open on the coffee table.
'Valhalla by Ari Bach' it read, a Club V business card buried between the folds of paper acting like a bookmark. Funny, the book looked thouroughly withered but no matter how hard she tried, Alex couldn't remember much of the book that Asha had gifted her on her birthday...
Hurried thumps sounded louder than mortar shells being dropped, Alex had spun to examine the source of the sound. There, frozen in the door frame of her living room was Asha in all her glory. Hair disheveled, her complexion too pale even for a vampire, dark circles lining under her eyes, she stood there panting heavily and yet, the same whispering voice within her head had screamed 'MINE' at the mere sight of her.
"Asha..."
"Alex..."
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
"٠٠ب٠ت٠رÙØ Ø§Ø² ترک پاسخ
بÛا جÙ٠جÙÙر ٠رگ Ù Ù Ûر
Ù Ø·Ø±Ø Ù Ø³Ûر از ÙÙ٠ر٠دائ٠Û
بازگشت ب٠داÙ٠از ابدÛت"
Translates to
I call to thee spirit of the departed
Come forth quintessence of mortality
Broach the path of the perpetual realm
Return to the seed of Eternity