Dark Visitors (Kyle)

[kayla]

(( Continued from Trying New Things in the Sip and Nibble Cafe, same night ))

Her smile was honest and her demeanor as warm as the cobbler that lifted his spirits. "Well Kyle. I'd be honored if ya came back. Just think of this as your home away from home when ya need a good meal. I always love to see familiar faces around."

She leaned on the counter a bit as she listened to his stories, her eyes lighting up at the adventurous stories and twinkling with merriment as he made jokes. And when those stories of his late wife came her sympathy for the man was clear and genuine, her hand reaching over to pat his hand kindly and even gave it a little encouraging squeeze. She understood loss. Her grandparent's story shared with him as well as little anecdotes about her own life.

She skipped over the unpleasant times, not wanting to add any shadows to the talk that seemed to lift his spirits so. She could tell it was good for him to let it out and wondered to herself if he'd ever had anyone just sit and listen and let him talk.

She had no idea the real truths behind his stories or of the things he protected her from knowing. Each customer tended to was sent off with a warm parting and a smile as she waved them out the doors, not rushing anyone even though it was well past time for the doors to have been closed.

That smile on his face was all the payment she needed but regardless the man had given her more than what the food had cost, making her blush a little. As she held open the door for him and he paused she laughed a little at the nickname he'd given her and the merriment twinkled in her eyes as she raised on tiptoes and gave the man a sisterly peck on the cheek. "You have a good night Kyle. It's been a treat for me to have ya here and hear those tales. I haven't seen much of the world. Heck, New Orleans is the furthest I've ever been from home so it was nice to see it through your eyes. Come back and see me soon!"

She gave him a little wave as she shut the door and flipped the sign. Singing to herself she did the last little things she needed to to shut the place down for the night.The few little dishes that were left were set in the sink in the back with a little water poured in to let them soak overnight. She'd get to them in the morning.

Taking off her apron and tossing it in the dirty clothes hamper by the washer she trudged up the stairs, looking forward to a long soak in the tub to take the edge off her achey muscles. Despite her physical fatigue her heart was light. it had been a good day over all and that was rewarding in and of itself. But that last customer, Kyle, that one had been especially rewarding.

The change she had seen in him from the moment he'd entered the door to when he left was golden. It made all the long hours and hard work worth it to see such lightness settle on a person's shoulders like a warm blanket in a storm. Made her feel she was making the world a little better place. And that was worth more than all the money in the world.

There was no need to lock the door upstairs since the only way in was through the front of the Cafe and she turned the knob, walking in. The first thing she did on such lovely envenings was to open the windows but tonight she was simply too tired. Pacing into her bedroom she shed the clothes she'd worked in, tossing them in the hamper and headed toward the bathroom, turning on the water in the bath and adding a couple scoops of some Epsom salts that she'd scented with some dried lavendar last summer. It was the perfect way to relax.

As such she did not hear the entry of either being, The sound of the water filling the tub loud as she slipped in and sighed pleasantly, her feet resting up on the spigot as she let the hot, scented water cover over her skin slowly, it's rising a quick thing as it tickled over her skin and up to her shoulders. Reaching over she took the little glass jar that she kept dried flower petals in and sprinkled a few over the surface before stretching and turning off the water.

She had no idea that right outside the door was the red cap, licking his lips as he peered into the bathroom. His thoughts were not about the pale loveliness of her skin or the way her long brown hair furled about her head and shoulders like a halo, or how her curves peeked temptingly at the surface, not revealing her completely but giving just a hint of what rested beneath the waters.

Instead they were of the tender meat below that buttery skin and the hot gush of blood that would wash his throat and warm his belly before it stained his cap even deeper red. Yes this one was about as innocent as they came, he could smell it. Her virginal blood would sustain him for a while.

He gnashed his teeth at the running water, the superstitous creature believing that a water spirit lurked within any running waters to steal his immortality. But as she turned it off he smiled and revealed the long top and bottom rows of pointed, putrid teeth in his mouth. He had been confused when the rift in reality had appeared, opening the portal between the worlds. Even more so as he found himself in this mortal realm but the lives he'd taken so far had been pleasing, fun even as he had cut his bloody swath through the swamps and bayou.

But now this was the icing on the cake. He'd been watching the little slip of a human for a few days, savoring the anticipation of the kill. But there had been people around her each night he'd tried. People he had not wanted to waste his time with as he began to push the door open on the bathroom and open it wider to the victim in the tub.

But what was that? The voice. The scent. It wasn't right. It shouldn't be here. Growling under it's breath the Redcap backed into the shadows to not be revealed to the woman as she raised her head, looking perplexed at the sound.

But she shook her head a little as if she'd imagined things and settled back into the water, her toes curling and uncurling as she stretched and sighed in the waters.

[Kyle Aodhagán †]

The little apartment over the café was shadowy and quiet. The shifter received no answer to his hushed call to Kayla, and the dread he already felt grew even heavier as thoughts of what the evil little man could be doing to the kind human at that very moment stained his mind with violent crimson.
His steps were cautious and silent, for he was a predator with many years of practice, but he feared the sound of his rapidly pounding heart would give him away; it echoed so loudly in his ears and at the pulse point just under his earlobe.

Inhaling sharply, the dragon could smell the foul creature. The fetid blood that soiled his hat and skin tasted metallic and stale on the back of his tongue. Immediately the fangs on both lower and upper gums sprang up in his mouth, and the pupils of his eyes became black elongated slits within the glowing azure irises.
Growling low in his throat, the dragon stalked silently toward his prey; following the scent of blood mingled with the sweet aroma of flowers and something saline, as well as the sound of running water.

When Kayla’s familiar scent drifted into his nostrils, Kyle paused outside the bathroom door. The smell of the goblin was strongest here, but there was no sound of struggle within. His heart stilled at the notion that he was a moment too late, but the thought was quickly dismissed as he would have been able to distinguish the smell of fresh blood among the rotten.

Taking a deep breath, he held it in as he pushed the door slightly ajar; aware that his presence would most likely frighten the waitress. He moved into the little white room quickly and with a steel resolution, ready for the sound of screams even as he reached for the towel hung up from a hook on the wall and averted his gaze from the unclothed woman in the bathtub.

“Kayla, we must get you out of here, and quickly.” He said huskily, but with a firm calmness, and extended his hand with the towel out towards her. “You must trust me…”
The dragon didn’t wait for her to argue, but reached down into the water to take a firm hold of her arm by which he pulled her out.
Gaze still focused anywhere but the dripping naked form of the woman he’d met only hours ago, he tugged her through the dark apartment.

They nearly made it to the front of the apartment, and Kyle’s hand was reaching for the door handle when a snarl and a malicious guttural voice whispered out of the darkness…
‘She is minnnnne….”

And then the Redcap stepped out of the shadows; hat dripping red-brown ooze onto his face and rows of pointed teeth bared at the shifter and his charge. He moved like lightning towards the pair; gnarled taloned fingers reaching for the woman.

[kayla]

Her ears partially under the water as she thought about the last week and all the changes that had come she sighed happily as she let her fingertips drift and float in the waters, catching bits of dried flowers that floated on the top. Her brow furrowed as she thought she heard something muffled and deep. Opening her eyes she saw Kyle standing there with his gaze averted and hand out.

Her head shot up out of the water as she gasped sharply and as the water drained out of her ears heard him saying something about trusting him. She sputtered as she crossed her arms over herself in an effort to save a little of her dignity and started to speak, "I don't know what's going on here but you hav..."

But her words were cut off as that strong hand reached for her arm and made her squeak in protest as she was hauled up out of the water, fear stealing through her entire body as she struggled against his grip. "Kyle...I know you don't wanna do this. You're a good person." she said breathlessly as she slid a little on the smooth wooden floor, her wet feet giving her no traction.

Her hand reached for the towel in his other hand and snatched it to herself as she tried to resist, tears welling in her eyes. But in the living room that snarl sounded and the words leaked into her ears like an acid, making her want to claw at them to stop it. Her head turned, almost as it in slow motion, seeing the gnarled, filthy, little old man with the rotten looking pointed teeth.

Her mouth opened to scream but nothing came out as her knees gave out under her, her form sinking to the wooden floor with a thud even as the Redcap streaked toward them. That smell...like one of the livestock that died out in the woods and set in the sun for a week hit her as it reached toward her, those sharp talon like claws biting into her skin and slicing it open on the shoulder, blood welling out of the wounds and streaking down over her skin before being absorbed into towel clutched at her chest.

Falling back, that age old fight or flight instinct kicking in, she kicked out at the thing's face even as her back thudded against Kyle's legs, the pain singing through her body from the slashes. To her horror she watched as the little man was not only unmoved by her kick but raised his bloodied fingers to his lips and licked her blood from them.

[Kyle Aodhagán †]

The creature moved much quicker than Kyle anticipated. Where as the crooked form of the old imp implied slow, awkward movements, he leapt towards Kayla with the stealthy agility of a youthful sprite.
As soon as the Red Cap’s claw marred the waitress’ delicate skin the shifter could smell the metallic tang of blood springing to the surface. It drew a fierce snarl from between curled lips and his usual stoic face contorted with fiery rage.

Kyle’s ethereal blood boiled violently through his veins further spurring his vengeful actions as he sprung up over Kayla with the nimbleness of a predatory big cat.
He landed just before the Red Cap; his large frame coming between the human and those dripping fangs and that hungry gaze.
It snarled, but the sound was a mere kitten mew compared to the deadly war cry that erupted from the ageless warrior.

The dark imp was fast, but the dragon had an almost prophetic ability to sense the creature’s next move; hearing the slight hitch in his breath and the way his demonic red eyes shifted to the left just before he dove for the woman again.
Kyle caught the monster by the throat and flung him across the room where he crashed against a floor length mirror which exploded into a thousand glittering shards.

The Red Cap howled in pain and fell to the floor in a heap but the reprove was short lived as he immediately rose, that devilish gaze honed on nothing but the human; a junkie with eyes only for his next bloody fix.
Crimson poured out of the pin-prick wounds and tiny glimmering splinters of glass still protruded sickly from the creatures back and arms. Kyle growled again and charged forward, unaware that in his anger his smooth tanned skin had begun to take on a glossy sheen and the pupils had lengthened into slits in the center of shimmering azure eyes.

“You should learn when to stay down, little man.” He growled before tightening a hand around the thing’s throat again and then with a swiftness born of his dragon half, Kyle sprinted with him toward the window, sprouting a pair of iridescent black wings before disappearing up and out the window.

The pair was gone but a moment before a pained howling could be heard, which seemed to grow distant as they flew toward the heavens.

A few short minutes later the dragon returned to the window. He wore human form save a pair of leathery wings growing out the back of his torn shirt.
They folded easily against his shoulders and then seemed to disappear beneath the fabric and skin as he leapt down and crouched next to the waitress; his face returned to its normal detached countenance save the slight glow of concern left in his blue orbs.
“How badly are you wounded?” He asked gruffly, hesitant to touch her lest she think him a creature of evil too.

[kayla]

Dully, in the back of her mind she thought of the irony that though she was a healer, she could not heal herself. Her eyes never left he little old man in the red cap though as the crimson life leaked from the four slash wounds over her shoulder and the searing, throb of pain that streaked through her with each beat of her heart. It wasn't fatal. At least that much she knew. So long as infection didn't set it.

But her view of the creature was blocked as suddenly all she saw was the back of Kyle's legs and butt in front of her. Now how did that happen? Wasn't he just behind her? Confusion played within the muddled shock of her mind at the turn of events this night had taken.

The sound the red cap made made her blood chill but when that roar was voiced from ...from...she tried to process the information. Had it come from Kyle? It was paralyzing, that sound, making her lean dumbly against the door behind her as she stared at the two combatants wide eyed in disbelief. She jumped as the little man hit the mirror and thought that surely that was the end of it. Surely something so small could not recover.

She stared in a daze as the man she had only just met grabbed the thing by the throat and launched both of them out the window. Surely her mind was playing tricks on her because of the pain and the shock of the experience. She tried to reason with herself that, that was the reason she saw the black, leathery wings sprout from Kyle's back. But wait...if it was a hallucination then Kyle would be....

.....That scream!

Fear for another spurred on her movement. The door behind her and the floor below her was already smeared scarlet from her bleeding and those red blobs were smeared as she struggled to stand and wrap the towel her as she moved, every tiny motion of her left arm sending new shocks of pain through her body. She was pale from the blood loss but the pain made her eve more so as she struggled to keep her stomach down. Between the stench the thing had left behind and the pain her stomach lurched perilously close to losing it's contents.

A small trail of blood dribbled from her fingertips where it oozed down from her shoulder to the floor as she moved toward the window to look of Kyle but before she made there Kyle was coming back in through the window. Her wide eyes took in the ripped shirt and the wings, her head shaking slowly to try to process it all even as those wings disappeared. That was no hallucination and the reality of it made her knees go weak, buckle, leaving her kneeling in the floor.

She stared silently straight ahead even as he moved to crouch beside her and words did not come from the normally chatty little cafe owner. She heard his words as her head turned to look up into those strangely brilliant blue eyes. She'd already assessed the injuries in that remote, logical portion of her mind. She knew that she should be answering that she would need stitches and antiseptic but no words left her lips.

Being a God-fearing Southern woman she had heard of the angels but had always assumed they would have white, dove-like wings. But what if different ones had different wings? What if he was the angel of death? One to ease the transition? Or was he demon? A fallen angel that was here to corrupt and tempt? But that just didn't sit well with her, despite the appearances. He'd just saved her from the Keebler Elf of Doom. No way he was a demon.

A small, bloody hand was lifted as she reached out as if to touch the man's cheek but it hesitated, stopping to where just the meagerest tips of her fingers barely grazed it instead. "You're an angel." she said more to herself than him, confirming it to herself and putting her faith into believing it. "You saved me." Her voice was a little thready as she spoke, swaying a bit there on her knees.

First an armed robber and now evil elves and angels. What was her life becoming?!?!

[Kyle Aodhagán †]

He had seen so much blood and death. He had been the cause of it; had bathed in the crimson liquid more times than he could count or cared to remember. He had hated, he had lain with women without names or feelings to go with it. He had murdered and he had enjoyed watching the light of life fade from the eyes. He was no angel.

The wounded waitress regarded him with a look of reverence in her doe eyes, and Kyle loathed the sight. He shrank back from her approaching fingertips as if they might sear his skin; the feathery touch a thing to fear.
Kayla’s eyes were distant even as she spoke; the voice shaky and far away; no doubt from lack of blood as much as her veneration. Kyle’s blue gaze traveled the length of the scarlet stained towel, avoiding the split in the white cotton where she failed to hold it completely closed and stopping at the gaping wound on her shoulder.
The ancient shifter had known a hundred monsters, each one of them more baleful and deadly than the next, but he could not remember if the talons of the Red Cap were tipped with poison. Did he have time to get the human to a hospital or would she die of blood loss in his arms?

“I am no angel.” He told her huskily, almost callously, ignoring the way her gaze held him with awe as he stood and moved back to the bath, rummaging in the strangers most private room until he found another white cotton towel.
Returning to her side the dragon wrapped the towel around her wound and tightened his hand over it despite the feeble whimper of pain that issued from the human. “We must keep pressure on the wound.” The shifter told her and lifted her hand to hold it, bending down and lifting her in his arms as if she weighed nothing.

His movements were swift, but Kyle tried not to jostle the fragile woman too much as he leapt up on the windowsill again and then into the open air. Twice this night wings sprang from the shoulder blades; black leathery things that spanned at least twelve feet in diameter. They were much bigger when he wore his dragon form, of course, but there was no need to shift completely when all he needed was a clear path to the roof of the hospital.

The sky was still dark and the man with wings carrying a naked woman in his arms seemed just a shadow in the clouds. They landed on top of the infirmary with a light footfall, and Kyle’s leathery appendages shrank back into the skin a moment before he stepped off the edge and landed at the back of the building as easily as if merely stepping of a curb.

He tried his best to fix the towel so that it covered the human, but with every passing moment the red on the towel grew in size. He approached a man in a white coat and stopped him with a stern glare, still holding Kayla to his chest.
“She needs to be tended immediately. She was skinny dipping in the swamp and was attacked by a wolf.” The lie came easily; her modesty was of no concern to the dragon.

Suddenly the quiet emergency sprang to life, and an orderly took the human from him and lied her on gurney which was wheeled to a room. Kyle mere stood and watched with unattached curiosity.

He was no angel. Far from it.