* [ + ] the black cross [ + ]

[Freak Show Excess]

"Where to?"

Dorian stepped outside next to Gabriel and pushed his hair behind his ears. To be quite honest, he had no idea what he was doing with this man, let alone where they should go. He thought fast, biting his lip and wondering if he had made the right decision. Upon looking up at Gabriel's handsome smiling face, however, his heart instantly leapt into his throat and he knew that he wanted nothing more than to be with Gabriel at this moment.

"u-uhm... why don't you show me some of your favourite places in this beautiful district? I'm sure just about anywhere you showed me would be fantastic." Dorian said, blushing slightly.  

[un de plus pamplemousse]

"u-uhm... why don't you show me some of your favourite places in this beautiful district? I'm sure just about anywhere you showed me would be fantastic."

Gabriel nodded, pensive. Favourite places, hmm? He wasn't sure he had any favourites, but places he frequented regularly he could do. He thought of the coven, and the thought of taking Dorian there made him nearly laugh aloud. No, that wouldn't do. Needn't frighten the boy out of his wits, he was too intrigued by him to do that. He could take him to the Hospital, introduce him to Anise, and possibly the weres. He was used to Sebastian and Elizabeth by now, but they had had a rocky start. Yes, he decided that was a good idea. It may provide helpful to the boy to know where the Hospital was. Gabriel knew that the boy wasn't human-- he could tell that by his scent, his posture, and his effortless grace that was too fluid and ethereal for a human's frame-- so it would pose no threat to take Dorian there.

He decided on stopping at a few little boutiques along the way, and then to the Hospital.



The pair quite enjoyed themselves along the way, Dorian laughing and playing with this trinket, examining that one, and Gabriel couldn't keep his eyes off him. He even bought for Dorian a certain frock coat he had admired for quite some moments in one little store, after reassurance to Dorian that it was no trouble at all he buy it for him.

Gabriel and Dorian--now dressed in the frock coat-- continued down the avenues and lanes until they ended up in front of the Black Cross Hospital. It certainly was quite an imposing building, and yet quaint at the same time. He smiled, knowing Anise would be thrilled at the new company, and smirked at what Sebastian might have to say.

"This is one of my favourite places,"he smiled as he said, staring up at the building. "I come here to enjoy the company of a certain threesome who take care, with a few other staff members, of all those inside. They have helped me a lot in the few years I have known them. Do you want to go inside?" He asked, smiling mischievously, for he knew that Dorian couldn't imagine what lay in store inside the Hospital.
 

[Freak Show Excess]

Dorian had been quite enjoying his evening with Gabriel. He was amazingly more handsome, intelligent and witty than he had begun to imagine any person could possibly be. All of the boutiques they visited had somehow seemed to be exactly the type of shop he'd imagine Gabriel frequenting, and Dorian wondered why he should know something like this so soon into their relationship. When Gabriel had bought him the coat, Dorian thought he would never again stop blushing. He was still a bit flushed, actually, when Gabriel stopped outside of a ridiculous- but homey-looking building.

"This is one of my favourite places. I come here to enjoy the company of a certain threesome who take care, with a few other staff members, of all those inside. They have helped me a lot in the few years I have known them. Do you want to go inside?"

Dorian continued to look up at the building, noticing the wistful tone in Gabriel's voice, and felt that he would very much like to visit a place that seemed so dear to him. "I would very much enjoy that, yes." He said, clutching the coat around him a bit in the cool night air.  

[ieatwood]

On a Greyhound bus somewhere between Massachusetts and Philidelphia, a young girl, looking to be about in her early twenties, sat across two seats with her head laying against the shaded window pane. She had on a red hoodie, the hood up, a sports jersey, with 03 on the breast, headphones on her ears, flaxen blonde hair reaching just past her breasts, wearing a pair of skin tight peg-legged jeans and red sneakers with white running stripes. The hoodie was zipped up, her hands in her pockets. She'd been on busses practically half the night and all this morning. It was just past 10 when she'd finally left the station in Massachusetts, coming from Vermont, Philidelphia was a long way. Marla was still looking at another 7 hours on the bus, and though she tried to keep to herself, that wasn't always a possibility when travelling. Though, luckily, her second bus, this one, was mostly empty, and she'd gotten all three seats on her side of the row to herself. But, she was looking forward to seeing Anise again, her mother's friend and herself had gotten very close and it would be good to get a chance to spend more time with her. Stretched out into two, her green duffel bag in the third, she yawned, beginning to think taking a nap would be a better way to pass the time, since she wouldnt be arriving till 5. Turning down the music, Daniel John's singing, "I need you now, somehow..", she closed her hazel eyes, hoping to get a little shut-eye.  

[Maze]

(([OOC:] Don't forget my henchmen! cool I'm not making pens and papers and letters materialise out of thin air or anything after all. wink Don't get me wrong, I would if I could, but.. XD))

---

There was the slight buzz coming from the car as the window was scrolled down automatically, darkened glass retreating into the car door, revealing the lighted interior of the limousine and several people inside.

D'Allessandro handed a few papers to someone she didn't recognise, who immediately shuffled them into the proper order and set about putting them in a stylish black briefcase. The large and imposing man sitting across from the Coven Master was probably quite familiar to her.

He didn't go out of his way to be nice to her, but he was somewhat more unpleasant to Gabriel D'Aubigne. Apparently, it had something to do with the fact that Gabriel 'lorded over people'. It wouldn't be entirely improbable that the woman had gotten the impression that, were it not for the fact that she was a girl, he'd be unpleasant to her as well.

But, things being as they were..

"Baptiste," D'Allessandro intoned, greeting the (relatively) young woman by her name. He hadn't gotten the impression that anything was wrong when he'd touched her mind. D'Aubigne, similarly, had shown no signs of any immediate distress..

He quirked an eyebrow at her and eyed her patiently. She had been the one to come over and tap on the window. Surely, she could at least attempt to verbalize her reasons for doing so..  

[un de plus pamplemousse]

With a sigh, Anise reluctantly stepped out of the tub. It was so relaxing, she wanted to stay there for the rest of the night, but she had to prepare for a very special friend's arrival at the hospital. She slipped on her silky bathrobe and drained the water from the tub, then turned to head into her bedroom for some clothing. After toweling off her hair and putting on a charcoal knee-length pencil skirt and a white cotton blouse, she exited her rooms, heading down the hall to the next flat down from hers.

She entered the flat, checking over the rooms and making sure everything was in order and there was enough of everything-- towels for the bathroom, extra pillows and blankets for the bedroom, a few condiments in the kitchenette. Satisfied, she left the flat, locking the door behind her.

She went back to her flat and ran a brush through her still-damp hair and looked herself over in the mirror. She really must make herself look a bit more presentable than this. She rimmed her eyes with kohl, put on a bit of mascara and lip gloss, added a swipe of blush across the apples of her cheeks, and stepped back, smiling. Simple but chic-- this would do just fine for meeting Marla.  

[Ifailedmywillsave]

Corine forced herself to settle back in the captain's chair in the middle of the minivan. This energy was inexplicable! They'd hunted, and she should be exhausted, but the beast was still pacing and wriggling, testing, trying to make bids for freedom. Out the window, the countryside rolled by in a bland view of hills and fields, with the occasional buggy or old tractor. She stared aimlessly, trying to find something to keep her wandering interest away from the restless thing inside of her and the serious conversation of the adults and young adults around her. The rest of her pride kept discussing her as though she wasn't there, so she pretended not to be - this was not only for their benefit, but for her own. She did not want to be reminded of her poor control, or that she was the main reason for this trip to Georgia. They reluctantly claimed only a few sessions with a teacher more experienced than any in their pride would help her gain total control over the lioness inhabiting her skin.

Part of her was aware of the itchiness that came with a full moon on the rise, despite the fact that it was noon. Immediately she wished she hadn't thought of the time. Her stomach rumbled with a lion's hunger and she wrinkled her nose in annoyance. The faces of the others were merely grave. They didn't seem to be affected by their beasts. Surely they were hungry too! They hadn't had anything more than a bit of rabbit to satisfy them before heading out this morning, since they'd hunted the night before, but...

Corri rearranged her feet yet again, recrossed her legs for what felt like the twentieth time in two hours, and stared harder out the window. A pasture of cows rolled by and she abruptly shut her eyes, swallowing the welling saliva. Her mouth thinned and she sat back, hands clenched firmly in her lap, focusing on beating back the creature inside.

Outside the country swept on, and inside, the firm, almost stern, talk went on around her.

Only 5 more hours till Washington DC, then another eight to Georgia tomorrow. She would make it. She'd show them she was no kitten, to be watched over and patronized. She would be a great lioness! An asset! She would!  

[ieatwood]

Pyrite headed to the front door and got the paper, then headed into the kitchen. Digging into the fridge, he pulled out a mysterious take out box, peeking inside to find steak lo mein, grabbing a fork he sat down at the table. Opening the paper, he browsed through for any relavent information. The top news story was about Congress debating the Vampire Rights Act. They couldn't seem to decide if they were really people under law, considering they were walking corpses. Vampires having rights made humans nervous, hell vampires in general made humans nervous. He shook his head, flipping through the rest of the paper, and throwing it down in disgust, no real news. He quickly demolished the chinese takeout, throwing the box in the trash and the fork in the sink, where dishes were already piling up.

Hurrying back up the stairs, Pyrite thumped his fist on Bertrand's door a couple times, "Hey, lazy a**, wake up!"  

[Freak Show Excess]

Bertrand Yule heard a loud banging on his bedroom door, and knew immediately before the muffled voice called, that it was Pyrite. He turned over in his bed and looked at the clock. Two-thirty o'clock, eh? Well, he had had a rough night of it, he supposed. He remembered showing up at the hospital around three a.m., bloody and bruised, but looking rather victorious. He had been forced to get into a brawl with one of the vampires from across town, loathe as he may physical fights. But, the young man had taken it too far when he threatened the dignity of Pyrite, the Alpha, so Bertrand had been forced to hit him. From the very first retaliating punch from the young vampire, Bertrand knew he could easily have killed the man. However, he didn't think it would help the already rocky relationship between weres and vampires, so he took it easy on him. It was apparent, however, that the youth wasn't on a simliar mindset with Bertrand, and he started throwing heavy punches and even drew out a small dagger. It wasn't until the police sirens threatened jailtime that Bertrand fled the scene. Once he had time to look himself over, he decided to check in to the Black Cross. He was friendly with the staff and most of the regulars there, anyways, and it wouldn't hurt to get some proper care for his wounds this time.

He sat up slowly, grimacing slightly from his blaring headache. Most of his wounds had already healed, but there was a particularly nasty looking gash on his side that was still slightly painful. He stood up, running his fingers through his pure white hair. Hearing another, slightly more impatient, knock on the door, Bertrand finally shouted at the door, "Gimme a minute!" He cast around the room, looking for his pants. Finding them, he put them on and walked over to the door. He opened it, blinking his golden eyes in the harsh glare of the light, and smirked at Pyrite. "Well, what is it, then?" he asked, cheekily.  

[Freak Show Excess]

Lily cocked her hip and placed an elegant hand upon it, bending down slightly to be eye-level with D'Allessandro. Smirking, she rested her other arm on the window ledge and shook her hair behind her shoulders. "Don't insult my intelligence, D'Allessandro. I could feel you searching my thoughts. You can rest easy, though, I haven't been doing anything secretive, which I'm sure you've found," she giggled, her eyes alight. "I'm just interested in why a powerful man such as yourself would be in this area on a night like this. Don't you have more important matters to attend to than to stare at the lovely architecture of the historic district?" She asked the question teasingly, but her eyes held shaded curiosity. She couldn't reason what interest D'Allessandro would have in a place that she and Gabriel frequented. He would know perfectly well that everything was perfectly lovely, as Gabriel or herself would let D'Allessandro know if anything was amiss. So, she had nothing but to assume that he was checking up on either her or Gabriel, or perhaps both. And this conclusion was the most puzzling of all to her mind.  

[Ifailedmywillsave]

As the Sanora pride drove down the streets of Philadelphia, the clock struck 2:45. They cracked the windows a bit. The rush of city scents swirled in at force, whipping Corine's short black hair about her face. Her heightened senses picked up and sorted through all the mess, finding the pollutants, the sweat, the many food vendors, the libraries, the museums, the artifacts, the... butcher shops. Her pupils widened as her beast screamed, writhing and tearing at the confines of its prison. Her grip tightened horribly on the armrests of her chair, fingernails biting into the upholstery. A snarl rippled from her lips as they peeled back from her teeth. Her body shook from her internal struggle.

Inside her head she was panicking. She was fighting as hard as she could, but she was afraid. This thing was so much larger and stronger than she was. It was evident whenever she allowed herself to transform. This beast could rip her apart! And she was so tired... She couldn't understand what was happening. They'd transformed recently! Why would it want out again!

The man sitting in the seat beside hers gave a shout and unbuckled, throwing himself at her to try and pin her legs. Suddenly there were pride members all around her, furious, their only thoughts those of restraining and punishment. She was struggling, trying to get free, trying to go find the source of that beautifully bloody taste on the air, to fill her stomach with hot, sweet, wet blood and chunks of raw flesh.

She was strong, and with the confined space in the van, some had to gain more cat-like characteristics. Someone had her wrist in their mouth, another's claws raked down her leg. She was flailing and fighting for all she was worth, her own nails and teeth scoring the others with no discretion.

The van whipped down the streets and around the corners, headed by the fastest possible route for the edge of town - away from the shops and enticements of the inner city.

From somewhere a white flash ripped down into her stomach, slicing up across her chest and shoulder. A screaming roar tore itself from her throat as her teeth came free from a woman's bicep. The silver knife sparkled again, flicking a spray of more blood across the combatants, and plunged deeply into her right shoulder. A tsunami of darkness and pain crashed into her, knocking her senseless.

----

Anyone heading into town at about three pm would have perhaps been privy to a very strange sight. A van, stopped on the shoulder of a cloverleaf entrance, and two people, painted with dark stuff, getting back into the van wiping their hands, the door sliding shut and driving away, out of the city, headed south. They probably would have been so preoccupied with the oddity of the van and its riders that they may not have noticed the dark bundle in the circular patch of grass, with its drainage ditches.  

[Ifailedmywillsave]

Victoria set the phone down with a decisive click and a soft sigh, straightening the lapel of her tailored suit coat. Sometimes she wished she could break her calm demeanor and just tell the idiots on the other end precisely what she thought of them and their demands. For heaven's sake, that last had been some woman absolutely certain they were another company and that they were faking being the PR agency so they wouldn't have to address her issues. Talk about paranoid. She took a moment to close her eyes and take a deep breath, flipping a lock of wavy blonde hair out of her face before turning back to her computer screen and continuing to type up the assigned letters.

Her eyes and fingers followed precisely along the lines while she allowed her mind to wander. It wouldn't be long until her shift ended. Then she could go back to the hospital and talk to Sebastian. Maybe she could go and see to some of the patients to give Ainse a rest. She shook her head. That woman never took enough of a rest. A few of the recovering merely needed someone to sit with them and talk to them, to keep them from growing too restless and bored. Especially the children. She had another book she was working her way through as well, and she wanted to get a few more chapters done with that.

The jarring ring of the telephone broke through her thoughts again, causing her to wince. Minimizing the word processor, she picked up the phone. "Good afternoon, this is Shining Star Public Relations. How may I help you?" The clock's hands, she saw, stood at 2:30. Only two and a half hours more to go. Sighing soundlessly, she set her heel-clad feet more comfortably and resigned herself.  

[ieatwood]

Pyrite immediately raised his eyebrow as he saw the condition of the young wolf as he opened the door. He leaned against the wall in the hallway, he was constantly amazed by Bertrands' capacity to get himself in trouble. He crossed his arms across his chest, smirking, "You didn't go to the Lupenar, so what mess did you get into instead?"  

[Maze]

[OOC:] Screw it. XD This post has been annoying me for about a week now! I'm just going to post what I have, and ignore the stupid rest. XD Soz for taking a year! o: ))

---

Ah. Children. Had D'Allessandro been younger, he would have had the urge to sigh. He wouldn't actually have sighed, of course, because he had been training this for.. well.. centuries now, but the urge would have been there.

He eyed her for another tenth of a second, if at that, his eyes boring into hers and then gave a serious short nod, as if he had been pondering a difficult question for as long as a year, instead of the short amount of time that had passed in reality.

"Very well," he said then. "You may accompany me upon the morrow as I attend to some of my business." The tone of voice should indicate that the invitation was more of an order than a suggestion. "Not to worry," D'Allessandro assured her, "I shan't take up your entire evening."

He smiled without too much humour, "Unless you have something better to do..?"

But of course she didn't.  

[ieatwood]

Sebastian grabbed a change of clothes from the communal bedrooms, each of them of course had their own dresser or closet or whatever else, and headed to one of the free bathrooms. Locking the door behind him, he pulled off his jeans and boxers, turning the water up to scalding and closing the curtain. He stood outside the bath for a minute, running his hands through his chocolate brown hair, chartruese eyes staring back at him from the mirrir; an animals eyes. Quickly, he brushed his teeth, then lowered the temperature in the shower before climbing in. His body was muscular and lithe, like a leopard, all taunt, nothing wasted on bulk. Using a mirror attatched to the tile wall in the shower, he shaved, running his hand against his face to check the smoothness. He used irish spring soap, cleaning off the sweat from the hunt the night before. When he was satisfied, he climbed out of the shower, shaking his hair dry and dressing.

He'd taken too long already, he though to himself, as he made his way down the stairwell, and hadn't even checked on the new wolf. He wondered if anyone was even down there watching her. Everyone here meant well, but sometimes, they didn't understand the gravity of a situation.