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Post by Rowland Cantwell on May 22, 2010 23:52:57 GMT -4
It was bad manners to get blood on the rugs…blood stained…and furniture was expensive apparently. So keeping that in mind when Rowland felt the walls of Marisolla’s house growing tight around him he made it a habit of slipping out from under them and into the world beyond. The heart of Salem was not far from the house but just the same Rowland Cantwell would not venture there…he had not ventured there since he had been alive; instead he ventured to the tress the once place through 300 years which was home to him.
The forest along the outer lines of Salem had provided for him since the day his new life had begun. The forest had take his life and granted him a new one; it had also been his sanctuary in the time his maker had been away and now that she had returned Rowland still found comfort amongst the trees…and it was also where food seemed to stumble upon him. As he leaned against a fallen oak his eyes staring intently into the stream a few feet away it seemed as if food rather literally stumbled across him in the form of a young woman.
The moon was high in the night sky and the woman was no doubt out in the woods doing heavens knew what; but as fate had deemed her fit to land upon his world he was no-one to ignore the gift.
“Lost?” Rowland asked as he pulled himself from the ground brushing the leaves off of his pants as he slowly neared the girl who was picking herself up from the ground where she had fallen. Rowland’s bright blue eyes were circled with black as he paced a slow deliberate circle around the woman. He had learned several life times ago the method a lion used to stalk its prey. It served well to gain knowledge on the meal…seek out its weaknesses…its tender spot…its vulnerability.
”No meeting friends; what is it you’re doing?”
Rowland continued to stare at the woman and only at her. He couldn’t tell if she was lying or not; truthfully he didn’t rightly care.
“Eating,” Rowland explained simply as something behind his crystal eyes snapped and he launched himself at the girl his fangs tearing into her throat and silencing her scream before they ever hit the ground. For the next several moments Rowland knew nothing but the taste of the woman’s hot blood slipping down his throat. Her life force leaving her by the moment; her struggles forcing the blood forcefully from her open neck into his greedy mouth was astounding. The taste of her was intoxicating and Rowland heard a groan somewhere in the back of his mind that he was certain was his own. Within the very next moment the woman was dead and Rowland allowed her body to crumple amongst the leaves.
“Thank you,” Rowland whispered in the woman’s ear before closing her eyes.
Standing back up he stared down at his blood covered hands and blood splattered dress shirt he cringed; the reality of the situation sliding into place. Running a hand through his hair and cringing when he realized it too was soaked in blood Rowland took a step back as he dragged the woman to the fallen oak and laid her down beside it.
Pulling off his now blood soaked clothes and allowing them to fall by the bank of the river Rowland allowed the water to immerse him as he washed away the blood of the woman. Had he been human the water would have no doubt frozen him to the core…but it was hardly a problem now. Scrubbing the blood from his hair and skin Rowland was only pleased once his flesh was completely clean of the crimson color.
Marisolla explained he was far too messy; this way she would never know…save for the loss of the dress shirt.
After the river had washed away the blood from Rowland’s pale body he pulled himself from the water and set about shaking the excess water from his hair with his hands before pulling his pants back onto his still wet flesh. Since the dress shirt was a loss he had only his under shirt to pull on. His own reflection in the rippling river water Rowland stared back into his own blue and now red rimmed eyes as if searching for some sort of answer which may lie beneath it.
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Post by Maya Warren on May 23, 2010 0:36:12 GMT -4
Maya had been told over and over again not to venutre into the woods that surrounded Salem. Especially at night. It was dangerous, there was who knew what lurking in the dark. She could be killed. But Maya loved the woods. There was something magical about them... especially at night. And she could take care of herself... the only thing likely to kill her was her mother if she ever found out... which she wouldn't.
And so, she had snuck out of the house and was now treading as carefully as she could through the woods, having a conjured a small light to hover in front of her as she walked so she could spot any obstacles in her way. Maya wanted to relax by the river... not in it of course, but there was no reason she could lie down beside it and just listen to the woodland sounds.
Speaking of which, as Maya neared the river, she heard the sound of someone moving around in the water. Someone getting in or out. Either way, she had to wonder what kind of person in their right mind would swim in the river at this time of night. Any normal person would freeze.
So maybe it wasn't someone normal.
Her curiosity piqued, Maya extinguished her light and pressed herself against a nearby tree, peering around it to see what was going on in relative safety. She spotted a boy who looked about her age, pulling on a top, having clearly been for a dip in the river. Interesting.
Despite his young looks, he felt much older and she tilted her head to the side as she examined him, wondering what the cause for that could have been. Then she felt something else and her eyes immediately dropped away from the boy and to the ground, searching for the cause.
It didn't take her long to find. Lying by a fallen oak not too far away from where she stood, was a dead body. She couldn't see it well enough to know how the girl had died. But she could see it well enough to know she was most certainly dead. A small squeak escaped her lips as she was breifly overcome with fear. Her eyes snapped back to the boy, hoping he hadn't heard. She was under no illusion that he had nothing to do with the dead girl. But he was too far away to hear her. Right?
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Post by Rowland Cantwell on May 23, 2010 2:22:15 GMT -4
Rowland had continued to search his own eyes in the refelction of the water. These seemed as if they were the eyes of a stranger and not the ones he had stared back into years ago; then he was not that same man. Hadnit been for a very long time. A small misplaced squeak sounded through the silence of the night which would not have been heard by any normal person.
Spinning around his eyes searched the darkness; his vampire powers allowing him to see as if it were bright as day outside. Had he had not heard the girl he would have sensed the pounding of her heart. He was not aware how long the girl had been in the forest but he would guess she had not been there long enough to witness him kill the woman...but she had by now seen the dead woman.
"It is not safe to lurk around in the woods at night," Rowland called out into the darkness.
She knew he was there and he knew she was there it was now a matter of who would make the first move. He did enjoy a good game; it was rather rare he had any personal conatct...any conatct that was not vampiric ended in blood shed.
Narrowing his eyes and running a hand trhough his dripping wet hair Rowland kicked his blood stained shirt into the river so that it would no doubt be washed away and the blood cleared off long ebfore it was discovered by some old church woman no doubt who would donate it and so would go the cycle of the short...but honestly there were other things to worry about.
Tapping into his vampiric power of speed Rowland moved to the girls side and peered over her shoulder in the direction of where he had been moments ago.
"What is it we are looking for?" Rowland whsipered his lips brushing against her ear.
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Post by Maya Warren on May 23, 2010 2:35:38 GMT -4
"It is not safe to lurk around in the woods at night,"
Maya was now really wishing she'd listened to her mother. He wasn't human, this boy, that much was clear. He was too old... and he'd heard her... no human could have heard her. She was trying to convince her legs to run, or to at least back away slowly, but they refused to move. Of course, if she did try to run he'd know immediately where she was and would probably catch her before she got three feet away.
And then he was gone.
She wasn't sure when or how it happened, but the boy was no longer standing over by the river. He was just gone.
"What is it we are looking for?"
Or, you know, right behind her.
Maya forced herself to keep breathing as her brain registered the information that something very dangerous was standing not even an inch away from her. She pressed herself tighter against the tree, her fingers digging into the bark, and slowly began to draw a little energy from it, preparing herself in case it was needed.
"Oh, you know," she said casually, acting for all the world like she wasn't scared out of her mind. "Things."
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Post by Rowland Cantwell on May 23, 2010 3:20:00 GMT -4
"Oh, you know, Things."
Rowland frowned as his eyes searched the direction the girl ahd been staring in and there was nothing there never mind there being multiple things to not stare at as there was not a thing about. Either the girl was stupid, blind or a terrible liar...or perhaps she was all of the above...at times that sometimes occured.
"It seems as if your things have gone away," Rowland pointed out his eyes taken in the sight of the dead woman that this new girl had no doubt seen.
"Has she perhaps seen more?" Rowland asked nodding down to the dead woman.
Roalwnad wondered if the girl was scared; as he reached out and stroked her hair gently Rowland could only home that she was...severly so. The night was dark adn aside for the company of the dead woman there was nobody about that would see the girl die if Rowland had to kill her...but it seemed like that would be a terrible waste of good company; and Marisolla scolded for always killing the company...no matter how mouth watering they seemed to be.
"Or is she no help at all? Rowland asked innocently his eyes bright as he peared at the new strange woman before he made his way to the dead woman and searched her slack face for some sort of life though he knew there was none to be had there...he had felt her life slip out of her.
"No help at all it would seem," Rowland validated as he shoved thedead woman's shoudler and the corpse flopped backwards to the ground the flesh of the neck pulling open wider and allowing more sacks of dead flesh and veins to slip out and snake down the neck.
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Post by Maya Warren on May 23, 2010 4:51:24 GMT -4
"It seems as if your things have gone away,"
If only... she thought, clenching her teeth to keep from saying it aloud. "Yeah..." she said instead. "Seems that way."
"Has she perhaps seen more?"
Maya's eyes returned to the dead girl and she swallowed hard. She wondered what the girl had seen before she died. Had the boy been talking to her like this? Or had it been quick, sudden, terrifying? She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt his hand on her hair. Had he toyed with the other girl like this?
"Or is she no help at all?"
It took her a moment to realised he had moved away from her to kneel by the dead girl. And it took her a further moment to realise what he was talking about. It hadn't occured to her that he would take her general statement about looking for things seriously.
"No help at all it would seem,"
"Mmhmm," was all she managed to say, as she watched him drop the body back to the ground. In the new position the girl's body fell, Maya was able to see the state of the girl's throat and she bit back a gasp. Her throat was in shreds, red blood contrasting starkly with the girl's pale skin.
Her brain began working over time. Old but doesn't look it. Fast. Beyond human sense. Ripped a girl's throat out...
"Vampire," she breathed, unable to stop herself.
Shit. Shit shit shit.
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Post by Rowland Cantwell on May 23, 2010 12:41:11 GMT -4
Rowland grimaced at the general mess the dead girl was making...and Marisolla told him he made a mess; she had obviously never met this woman in the woods before. Turning his eyes back to the girl amongst the trees Rowland figured that he could perhaps use another snack...though he ahd just gotten himself clean and was running out of clothes if he managed to get blood on what he had left and should he return back to the house without clothes it would most assuredly be noticed.
But she had an amazing smell to her and her general fear was intoxicating as well. She was just mixed perfectly and he bet she would taste just as divine...but she seemed like such good company...and there was the struggle again...food or chatter, food or chatter, food or chatter...apprently this is why they couldn't have nice things.
"Vampire."
Rowland's movements towards the girl stopped and he stared at her for several moments his eyes losing the violent hunger which moments ago had been at home behind them. Taking a step away from the girl he realized that he had been rather frightening company thus far; or perhaps a general lack of knowledge lead to such fear. He could see how both could be an issue and apprently he had been very rude.
"I'm sorry; I don't think I have introduced myself," Rowland explained attempting to right his lack of manners.
Perhaps it was best his human father had died years ago...or well that he had killed the man for right about now he would have been very put off.
Taking a few steps towards the girl and extended his hand he figured it would be the best course of action. He quickly pulled it back though realizing it was spotted ever so slightly with blood from the girl; brushing the blood on his pants he extended his hand to the girl in the trees once more.
"Rowland Cantwell."
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Post by Maya Warren on May 23, 2010 15:24:21 GMT -4
"I'm sorry; I don't think I have introduced myself,"
"Yeah, well, you've been distracted," she assured him. Maya didn't have much of a desire to know who he was. Now that she knew what he was she knew enough. She was screwed. Beyond screwed. There was no point running - even if her legs did work - because he would catch up to her in the blink of an eye. And it was only a matter of time before he got bored and killed her.
"Rowland Cantwell."
She hesitated, watching him wipe the blood off of his hand before extending it towards her again. Shake hands with a vampire... well... why not? Maybe she could stall him... convince him not to kill her. Or just live a few minutes longer.
Stepping out from the safety of her tree, Maya cautiously took the vampire, Rowland's, hand, glad that there was no blood on it.
"Maya," she told him, after a brief moment of having to locate her voice again. "Maya Warren."
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Post by Rowland Cantwell on May 23, 2010 23:53:50 GMT -4
Rowland's piercing blue eyes stayed locked upon the girl in the trees as he waited to see if she would take his hand or turn and run as so many had done before. The nagain in their defense he had been trying to kill them and he they hadn't gottne far...but that was not currently the point.
A ghost of a smile crossed Rowland's face as he took note of the girl in teh trees stepping out of the protection of the trees. In truth the trees would do very little to help her but humans enjoyed their false sense of security.
"Maya. Maya Warren."
"Pleased to meet you Maya Wa..." the girl from the trees...Maya's last name froze on his lips as Rowland stared back at her trying to place it. Something about her face...and the name.
"Warren..." Rowland whispered Maya's name his eyes never leaving her as he tried with every fragment of his memory to place it. He didn;t live in teh past; the past was a place better left buried.
Mary Warren.
He could see the girls face now; the face he had known so long ago he could see her face in Maya's face and it was the first time in a very long time Rowland felt himself back in the world he had been before he died. His father had known many in Salem and therefor so had Rowland...not be choice but by his father's demands.
Blinking several times before taking his hand back from the girl Rowland couldn;t place what it was that was confusing him. She couldn;t be here; but she was and yet he shouldn;t be there and he was.
"Mary...not Maya. That is your name," Rowland explained his eyes never leaving the girl who had come from the trees. Rowland could feel the darkness pulling at him but he pushed it aside fighting too hard to attempt to figure it out.
Mary had been one of many who had been part of those who cried witch in Salem. Rowland had kept to himself even before the trials so it was not a surprise that he had been equally ignored by the town; but others had not been so lucky. Others like hsi good friend Killian Reynolds had suffered and died terrible deaths becuase of Mary Warren adn several others.
"Mary Warren...the girl who cried witch," Rowland growled his eyes darkening.
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Post by Maya Warren on May 24, 2010 0:10:18 GMT -4
"Pleased to meet you Maya Wa........ Warren..."
Maya's confusion over the fact that a vampire had decided it was nice to meet her, almost made her miss the fact that he had stumbled over her last name. It wasn't exactly difficult to say... then again the look on his face clearly said that that was not why he had stumbled.
Oh crap.
"Mary...not Maya. That is your name,"
"No, it's Maya," she said slowly and deliberately. Getting into an argument with a vampire about her name was not really how she had imagined her evening going... but she could feel something darker coming and she knew this went deeper than him just getting her name wrong.
"Mary Warren...the girl who cried witch,"
Of course. She had to meet a vampire in the woods who happened to have a grudge against her idiot of an ancestor. Great. Just fucking great.
"That wasn't me," she said, taking a small step back from him and searching her brain for any kind of spell or charm that would help her against a vampire. "That was Mary Warren over three hundred years ago. I'm Maya Warren and I'm not that old."
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Post by Rowland Cantwell on May 24, 2010 0:46:50 GMT -4
"No, it's Maya."
A low growl sounded from deep within Rowlands throat as he felt something within him break.
"That wasn't me."
The growl grew as the girl took a step back from him. He wasn't crazy; he knew her. Knew her face and knew her name. It was her who had begun to the terror that had gripped Salem Town; it was her who should have been held responsible for all of the lives lost.
"That was Mary Warren over three hundred years ago. I'm Maya Warren and I'm not that old."
The girl was talking but Rowland was past the point of understanding her words; his sight had literally slipped to red and he saw nothing but her and the appealing sight of what she would look like splayed across the forest ground...in several bloody pieces...how delightful she would smell smeared in the bark of the fallen oak.
"You murdered 25 people with your lies..." Rowland muttered his voice nearly lost in the malice which consumed it.
"Simply because you couldn't get your way..."
Rowland cut off his own words; there was no more time for talking the girl deserved to die and he was more then happy to oblidge her. With speed exceeding logic Rowland was upon teh girl in the blink of an eye causing them both to slam upon the ground. Pulling her hair roughly back to expose her throat Rowland's eyes burned into hers before sinking his teeth into the side of her neck relsihing the immediate sensation of her warm blood against his tongue.
He wanted it to be slow; he wanted her to suffer...she deserved to suffer.
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Post by Maya Warren on May 24, 2010 1:03:05 GMT -4
Maya took another step back as she heard him growl. Clearly he didn't believe her. She didn't know why he didn't believe her, but he didn't. Her fear rising she took another step back. Not that there was a point to it, there was no way to get away.
"You murdered 25 people with your lies..."
Maya shook her head, tears in her eyes. Stupid Mary Warren... still screwing up from beyond the grave. "I didn't... I promise I didn't."
"Simply because you couldn't get your way..."
There was no time to argue further as Rowland was suddenly on top of her, slamming her into the ground. She managed a few tearful, futile begs for him to stop before crying out in pain as his teeth sank into her throat.
In extreme pain, and losing blood, Maya tried to think of a way out of it. But she couldn't think of anything even remotely helpful for getting a vampire off of her... not anything that didn't require more strength than she had currently. She quickly realised, though that she didn't need a spell, or charm, or curse... that was assuming she knew her vampire lore correctly. She wriggled slightly until she could move her arm then quickly pressed her wrist, currently decorated with pure silver, into the side of his neck.
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Post by Rowland Cantwell on May 24, 2010 1:25:50 GMT -4
The blood of Mary Warren tasted as enchanting as Rowland would have thought the blood of a lying little bitch would taste. Through the years Rowland had never hunted; those who had died by him had come across him in the forest he had dwelled in for years. If life had brought them to him then life had brought them to their death...it was not Rowland's fault.
Tearing his fingers harshly through the girl's hair to silence her as he buried his fangs deeper into the soft warm flesh of her neck as he pulled the blood from the opened vein.
For the briefest moment Rowland forgot himself; forgot his anger and everything that went with it and simply existed within the confines of the taste of the girl. He hadn't wanted to kill her, she had brought it upon herself.
A sudden burning pain sliced through Rowland's neck and he pulled back with a hiss of pain as his hand went to his neck where a deep and angry burn had blossomed. is eyes darkening as the sight of silver upon the girls wrist registered. The burn upon his flesh only served to anger Rowland past the point of reason as he struck out at the girl and clasped his hand tightly about her neck before violently throwing her against the fallen oak along side the body of his previous meal.
He stared accusingly at the silver upon the girl's wrist and then focused back on the girl's face. He could smell the faint stench of his own burnt flesh and a feral hiss fell from his blood stained lips.
This was why food should not be played with; slaughter and be done with it.
"I do hope you are right with God," Rowland growled before leaping upon the girl once more his crystal blue eyes clouded with a hue of crimson.
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Post by Maya Warren on May 24, 2010 1:40:47 GMT -4
Maya gasped ... not quite in relief... as Rowland's fangs left her throat. It still hurt and she was still bleeding... it was just much less scary when he was slightly further back. It went back to being scary very quickly as he gripped her neck tightly and tossed her away like she was a rag doll.
Another cry of pain as he back hit the fallen oak, and she glanced down at the dead body beside her. That would be her in a few moments... or not... A very strange and possibly distrubing idea popped into her head, and she buried a hand in the soil net to her, having to draw energy from somewhere outside of herself. Her other hand, she placed gently on the dead girl's forehead, focusing.
"I do hope you are right with God,"
Maya glanced up at Rowland in time to see him leap towards her. She pushed herself backwards and over the trunk of the oak to protect herself and, thankfully, she had already completed what she wanted to. Slowly but surely, the body of the dead girl clambered to it's feet and struck out at Rowland, it's eyelids opening to reveal very very dead eyes.
"Stop," Maya pleaded, her words being spoken simultaneously by the corpse. She stood up and stepped backwards a few feet, leaning against a tree and pressing a hand to the side of her neck to try and stop the bleeding. "Mary Warren died centuries ago, painfully if that makes you feel better."
Okay, it was even creeping her out, the corpse speaking at the same time as her, but she wasn't sure how to make it stop without cutting the connection completely.
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Post by Rowland Cantwell on May 24, 2010 14:28:03 GMT -4
Rowland struck the trunk of the fallen oak with enough force to cause the old wood to shutter and crack slightly; the immediate issue being that Mary Warren was no longer there. Rowland's eyes narrowed as he pulled himself to his feet Mary once more falling into his line of sight.
Without warning Rowland felt soemthing strick out with him with a not so human force and he stumbeled back slightly as he found himself looking into the eyes of the woman he had killed that evening.His wide blue eyes lost their violent hue as he stared from the dead girl back to Mary Warren.
"You're dead...I apologized for that already..." Rowland protested as his attention was now completely held by the now not so dead...dead girl.
"Stop."
The darkness which had consumed Rowland moments ago was now completely gone from him; his eyes were once again their clear blue and his face held a great deal of confusion as well as a hint of fear as he found himself in a situation he did not completely understand. The girl before him was dead; he knew for certain as he had been the one who killed her...fed from her but she was before him...speaking to him.
"Mary Warren died centuries ago, painfully if that makes you feel better."
Taking several steps backwards Rowland could no tignore the fear this current situation was bringing about. Bodies did not simply pull themselves from the ground...they did not speak...did not scold...and did not explain the history of others.
"I apologized," Rowland explained once more unsure if explaining to a corpse was going to do any difference. Rowland caught movement behind the corpse and realized it was the girl in the trees...within the trees once more. Rowlands eyes snapped from the girl to the corpse and over and over again.
His maker was a powerful witch and he had seen his share of magic but he had not seen this before and he was not entirely certain how "this" had come about.
"Maya..." Rowland addressed the girl in the trees as he took note that she was bleeding...from the neck.
He had done this...
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