it burns like heroin :: open

[alexander]

[table][tr][td][div style="width: 70px; height:70px; background-image:url(https://i.imgbox.com/W8N8gUDb.png); background-size: cover; background-position: top;"][/td][td][div style="width: 100px; text-align: center; font-family: arial; font-size: 7pt; color: #ff0000; line-height: 100%; padding-top: 6px; padding-left: 6px; opacity: 0.75; text-transform: lowercase;"]my brother's friends explain to me, with breathless words and bloody knees; it's a black eyed trust, respect the pain.

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In all honesty, Alexander had chosen to lead the group away from the massacre because it made them a bit queasy. If they were eighty years younger, they might have minded the amount of gore less, maybe even enjoyed it. Their violent streak had ended the day Marko was turned into a vampire, and while they might push people around, they didn't purposely hurt anyone anymore, much less kill them. Like most of the vampires in San Creado, Alex had learned to prefer blood products sold at the minimart over taking lives for a meal.

They're strangely quiet until Zachariah joins the group, eyes lifting from their feet to the man's face. They take a moment to study his expression, fangs pinching their bottom lip. They had to remember that this situation wasn't normal, finding a woman in an empty house with two bodies wasn't something everyone could get past. The vampire swallows, comes to a stop, the strange emptiness that had bloomed in their chest eating away at their nerves. Something close to panic was forming at the edges of their mind, the indifferent mask they wore cracking.

Stop it. You're fine.

Alexander takes a deep breath, turning to face the rest of the group, hands coming up to tug at their hair. "We're not ignoring it. We just - we can't do anything about it." While they might be a Slayer, they had no real authority within San Creado's community. There was no known punishment for crimes like murder; it wasn't even clear if murder was a crime in San Creado. The Undertaker had never explicitly said anything about crime and punishment, mostly because the citizens had never done anything like this. Did Kade deserve punishment? Their morals were so blurred, they couldn't be sure.

They don't pay attention to what Marissa or Kade say, focusing on the path leading to the minimart. They pause again when Rialto appears, immediately moving to stand by his side. The memory fighting to show itself is forced back down when Alex forces themselves to listen to the conversation, a familiar smile lifting their lips. "There, there, Rialto. It's your lucky day, I have ten dollars." They pull said money out of their pocket, waving the paper in front of the vampire's face. Their voice seems a bit shaky, but they power through, comforted by the fact that one of their friends is around.

They glance back at Kade, eyes straying over the blood staining her clothes, the casual smile on her face. Not bothered by her actions, at least on the outside. Leaving two corpses to rot in a room she would probably never return to. Shifting on their feet, they plant their hands on their hips, clicking their tongue. "If she knows what she's doing, she's killed people before. Seems pretty serial killer to me." Really, they had no space to judge Kade. When they had been newly turned, they had killed plenty of people; running off of new instincts and a hunger for blood that was bone deep.

[teef]

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giving a low sigh the hunter wiped her hands on her jeans, tucking her hair back from her face, [color=#C11B17]"Yes. I kill. Haven't you? We've all killed something or someone in our lives, and some have more bloodstained hands. My job is hunting down and killing demons that are a continual threat to society, and taking out the humans that are their helpers and aim to do damage to everything that is known. And I hunt one specific demon. This is just part of the path to TT." she told the group assembled before her. Seeing them relax slightly she sighed before flapping her hands, "Go. You aren't comfortable around me. Even if I was sense-deprived I would know. Frankly I don't think I'm in a good enough mood to not spoil your fun. Go, Mari. I'll be alright." she tacked on to the end of her words, "Don't make your friends wait for you."

When she had turned away from the group that had slowly assembled and was heading towards town she let out a weary silent breath. To hell with being nice. She just wanted to find the demon that had taken everything from her years ago, and finally die. After losing her baby and her fiance, she had crumpled, destroyed herself in her frantic search of the thing that had destroyed her life. She knew that at any time, she could turn her weapons on herself and end it all, but she only kept going because it was a promise she had made her dying fiance. That she wouldn't give up until she'd come to terms with who the demon was, and accepted her fate.

Shaking her head she shucked off her ankle-length tan trenchcoat and draped it over her arm. What she wore underneath showed very little of the mass of scars and bruises mottling her back into purple and white ridges lines. She had really gotten beaten up against the demon she had fought. She hadn't been focused on the battle, mind elsewhere. It was her own fault for being foolish. her profession wasn't a joke nor was it enjoyable. she wanted nothing to do with others, especially if they were affronted by her and her career, not that it was much of a choice for her.

( sorry if the previous gif bothered y'all )

[marissa]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 45%; font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt; color:black"]"It is very serial killer. That's why I changed my mind." Marissa would've created a Venn diagram to support her oncoming explanation, but it wasn't possible to produce one out of thin air, much to her dismay. "Let's see. They both have motives, there have been multiple victims, and the killings have been throughout the course of time." After each point, Marissa raised one of her fingers. Even before she first encountered Kade, she was a demon hunter, so it was safe to assume the blood on her hands was copious. Kade hadn't just spilled some blood - she dropped gallons of it. "So, yeah. By definition, she would be classified as a serial killer. The only catch is that her job is allowed by the law." Her brows furrowed momentarily. "I think." The statement still didn't justify the redhead's occupation reasonably, but it wasn't the only profession like that. "Pharmacists are socially acceptable drug dealers. It's the same concept."

As for Marissa, there were probably only a few minuscule droplets of crimson on her hands. She was a werewolf, but couldn't possibly be categorized as the ballistic murderous type. If she felt remorseful killing bugs and indirectly a squirrel that one time, there was no way in hell she'd muster enough of... whatever to strip an actual person's life. Truthfully, she couldn't entirely relate to Kade's words, but wouldn't ruin her moment. "Wait- where are you going?" As soon as Kade turned away from the group, Marissa sped up to follow after the taller girl. She slowed her pace once she was standing a few feet behind the hunter. "Are you sure you don't want to come?" This time, there was a certain softness to the brunette's tone. Normally, she would've attempted to redirect Kade from her loner behavior, but she'd excuse it this instance. Marissa understood if she needed some closure.

Today was literally not the day to test waters. Behind Kade's resilient facade, Marissa couldn't begin to imagine her suffering. She hoped for her own sake that'd stay unchanging. Saying that she understood how Kade felt was nothing more than a pitiful lie, but Marissa empathized partially because of that. She didn't want Kade to ever experience the loneliness and abandon she felt that dreadful night again. The hunter isolating herself would enable those emotions to resurface. Trailing after her was probably irritating, but it was her own way of expressing concern. "Can I at least go with you?" Despite the redhead uttering that she was alright, the werewolf found that difficult to believe. Hopefully one day, it would be unnecessary to doubt such a simple declaration.

"I mean, if you really want to be alone, that's okay too." Marissa didn't want to force a decision on her behalf. Upsetting Kade was not her intention. She wanted to respect the hunter's wishes, even if they often went against her own. "It's up to you."

[teef]

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( MENTION OF MISCARIAGGE )

[color=#C11B17]"I'm sure, Marissa. Please ... Don't do this tonight. I might be in later, but don't expect it. I'm paying my respects tonight." she spoke quietly, voice showing the emotions ripping and tearing apart her throat. soon it was the anniversary of the loss of her babe, the young life just shy of six months when his little bright flame had been extinguished in an incredibly cruel manner.

hand resting on the starved lines of her hips and lower ribs she gave an echoing aching smile, caressing where she had once carried a life, where she had loved and lost something so precious. this was the celebration of when her life began to derail.

of course, she still felt emotion like any other being. she had just become better at subduing and demolishing it than anyone before her. emotion was a waste of energy, but in the darkest minutes of the night she gave in to the weight of everything. she wasn't strong, she just survived by backward means. she didn't deserve to be shown care, she was a monster who lived only because of a promise she had made to a dying man.

the night that the mansion was on fire is when she had snapped, when she had fully and finally lost it. the woman whose eyes had sparkled with every breath she took, had died. the kade that lived and breathed blood and death had been born from the ashes of the half-burnt mansion that she had long called home. that night, had been the freeing of a monster worse than any she had faced before. she had unleashed a beast as old as time and one that knew her better than anyone or anything could have.