Sylvie

Fear didn’t begin to explain what the first worker felt as he tried to climb up the ladder.  Grabbed by his foot, the man hooked his arms around the metal in an attempt to hold on.  Laughing, the shadewraith formed another six hands and arms, then pulled the man into pieces.  Every slice of skin or bone break, added to the beast's power, fuel and vileness. “Yes..scream…beg for mercy…”

After following the screams for a half-block, Aaron found the manhole and looked down just as the shadewraith turned the last worker into a pile of rotting meat. “Totally gross.”  He paused and pulled a few bloodstones from his pocket and threw one at the Shadewraith without any effect. “Boss!  These fuck’n things don’t work!”

Without much energy left, Jester summoned all the words he could. “Aaron, crush them..its..its the powder…”  His words trailed off.

Bopping his head side to side and rolling his green eyes, Aaron sighed. “I should have guessed that, stupid me.”  Digging out a full hand of bloodstones, he ground them into a fine powder and dumped it down the manhole and blew the remaining dust from his hands, accidentally making the other dust billow out wide and cover the area, including the three shadewraiths.  “Awesome, that is so cool.”  He commented as the monsters flashed their metallic teeth and howled in both pain and glee at their deaths. “Boss, that is a little creepy.”  Once he grabbed the thick and long blanket that filtered out all sunlight, Aaron deftly leapt down into the hole, and spotted his severely injured master.  Kneeling so he could look into Jester’s eyes, Aaron lifted his head. “Master..I am going to pull out the same way it went through you.  Your heart is outside of your body..I am thinking it needs to be there.”  Slowly removing the devil device from Jason’s body, freed the vampire immediately.

Reaching up to grasp his ward by the shoulders, Jason collapsed in his ward’s arms. “Get me the fuck out of here.”  He focused on Aaron for a moment. “Did Kerry make it?”

Aaron shrugged and offered his wrist to Jason. “No clue, I have been getting all the rocks.  The trunk is basically full.”  Sighing with delight when Jason started drinking from his wrist, Aaron used his free arm and bundled the vampire so the sunlight wouldn’t harm him. “Boss, we can’t stay long, the police are on the way.  Too many people heard the others screaming, pictures and video everywhere.”

When Jester reached a twelve count, he licked Aaron’s wrist closed and double-checked the blanket for complete coverage. “You’re gonna have to carry me to the car, I am still regenerating.”

-Sylvie and Casey-

Hours of dialing and speaking to the myriad of people that Sylvie kept seeing in real-time danger, Casey heard a little beep and then tossed the dead phone across the bed with a huff. “That was the last call, you’ve managed to drain two phones, Sylive.”  She leaned down and kissed her partner on the lips, without getting a response. “Snap out of this darling, we cannot do anything more unless these things get charged.”  Casey shrugged and hopped off the bed, found the two charging pads and dropped their phones on it.  Within seconds the battery display appeared in both windows, indicating they were recharging. 

Walking into the kitchen, Casey gathered the last of the blood supply bottles and headed back to their room. “We’ve called just about everyone you know.  Even a few you didn’t.  I was not thrilled to talk to those two leaders in Richmond.  I thought you told me Richmond should handle their own.”  Casey stopped talking long enough to drink some blood, so she could offer her wrist to Sylvie and keep her sated.

Other than the gentle sucking of blood from her wrist, Casey didn’t get a response from Sylvie.  When she counted to ten, Casey pulled away and licked her wrist closed and kissed Sylvie a second time, clearing the blood from Sylvie’s sweet vermillion lips.  Unable to do anything else, Casey crawled beside her partner and pulled her tight against her body. “I’m here, Sylvie.  These things hit about everyone we know tonight and some we don’t really know.”  She sighed, “They took down two of those cartel folks, and attacked Amos and Samantha in Vera’s apartment, You even saw Alan.”  Casey twirled one of Sylvie’s gray cornrows in her fingers. “We have a few rocks in case they come here…which I will need your help for, baby.”  She paused, “Come back to me, Sylvie.”

When Sylvie saw that Jason was safely on his way home, Sylvie’s snap visions stopped as quickly as they started.  Her third eye closed and released her psyche allowing the flood of emotional turmoil to mix in her blood.  Rolling over and desperately grasping Casey, couldn’t control her weeping and sent streams of blood all over her face and chin.  The overwhelming picture was that of her trusted confidant, Martin Shores.  Replaying his death in her mind dozens of times, Sylvie shook uncontrollably knowing she’d never hear his rich voice anymore. “He…he’s, just gone.”  She managed to whisper the words between bouts of sobbing. “Why was I allowed to save him, just for him to die to those things twenty years later?”  Sylvie peered up into the heavenly gold eyes for an answer of some kind. “Wouldn’t …. wouldn’t letting him go to cancer been better?  That would have been peaceful.”

Blinking her soulful yellow eyes, Casey slowly kissed away the streaks of tear-blood from Sylvie’s cheeks. “More peaceful, certainly.”  She lifted Sylvie’s chin with a single soft touch, “He knew what he was getting into, just like I did with Vivienne.  You bought him more time with those he loved, and yourself.”  Casey pressed an intense yet loving kiss on Sylvie’s quivering lips, then slowly pulled back to admire her partner’s half-moon irises. “You know he loved what he did, you could see the content look in his eyes.”  Casey softly purred for her lover, “I will say that he was a charmer, he and I..”

Sylvie sniffled and half-laughed, “Yeah, I know.  I saw it.  Drunk off your asses, the both of you.”  She leaned up and kissed Casey. “I was genuinely shocked you managed to talk yourself out of his arms.  He could be quite charming, as you well know.”

Laughing lightly, Casey agreed with Sylvie. “Those are the memories to hold onto, We’ll figure something out for a memorial.  Right now we have to deal with the fallout of this chaotic day.”

“Right.  Alan first.”  Sylvie muttered, then snuggled deeper into Casey’s tender arms. “We will first deal with our new guest, then find Jessica and then deal with Alan.”

“Guest?”  Casey cooed, “What guest?”

Wrapping her legs around Casey’s and rubbing their feet together, Sylvie sighed and answered. “His name is Cisco.  I don’t know much else than his name, so he’s a guest at the least.”  She winked, “Possibly a meal at worst.”

“Devil..woman.”  Casey slowly whispered and leaned in for another kiss.