Left for dead (open)

[Eryle Darlusk]

A splatter of blood hit the ground as a hoarse cough left the half-demon's throat, stifled breaths leaving his mouth as he looked over to his demonic companion, more or less a familiar, discorporated and helpless because of the spiritual allies of the attackers.

"Cowards.... Att....attacking me in broad daylight *Cough* outn-...numbered five to one", he sputters as another drop of blood trickles down his jaw, eyes burning with hatred at the head individual of the gang of righteous shifters that had jumped him in a well-lit yet unpopulated sidestreet.

"Shouldn't be talking down to us then, hybrid. Abominations life you need to die anyway, but you might have passed under the radar had you kept your filthy mouth shut", the man says as another blow lands, an audible crack heard as his jaw fractures a bit.

He needed to shift to demonic form...needed to. But he couldn't. Too weak....too bright. His magic didn't work well in broad daylight and his innate demonic abilities were all but nullified in bright light as well. Lot of good turning into an inky shadow in bright light would do when they had other magical capabilities, anyway

"Ah...toldf you...you deserfed thet...buht...im nawt", he begins through the pain, then coughing again, more blood leaking out over his lips, before he's hit once more.

"Shut up", the guy says, the other two helping to hold his arms getting a nod from him as a knife is plunged into his gut, meriting a muffled scream as he falls over to the ground when they let him go.

"Half demon or not, he's not surviving that. Leave him in the sun and let's get out of here", one of the others says, and with a few kicks and shoves on their way out, they were gone.

He couldn't really move at all, could barely feel anything past the pain surrounding his whole broken body, and the warm blood leaking out of his gut and onto his hands as he lay there. Much as he tried, he couldn't do much past slow the bleeding slightly with what little energy he had access to with that...horribly bright orb shining down on him.

Damn it. Was this going to be it? There had to be a way out of this. For now though, all he could do was do his best to remain conscious and stem the flow of blood. And hope that he could last until a large enough shadow was cast over him or someone walked by that could maybe help...

[kayla]

Sure she should probably have driven the truck to run her errands; go to the bank, pay the electric bill, pay the water bill, place an order at the docks for supplies, post office, swing by the church to drop off a donation to their clothing drive. But, it was such a beautiful day and her shoulder being hurt and arm in a sling didn't hamper her feet and the exercise was good for her.

As it was Casey and Ty made sure she couldn't do much in the Cafe. If she so much as lifted a spoon to stir something she was barked at. It was grating her nerves to be so inactive so handling the paperwork of the business became her primary function of late.

Strolling along the street she wasn't paying close attention to where she was going as she looked over inside the store window across the street. She didn't even see the pack of men that emerged the alley in front of her till they bumped into her and caused her to squeak a little in surprise and the pain that made her wince as her healing shoulder was jarred.

They didn't stop or even offer an apology as she was backed up several steps by their progression but a few sneers and lurid looks were sent her way as if they were seeing right through the brightly colored sundress she wore. It made her blush and turn away from them, pressing herself back to the wall behind her until they were well down the street.

That was when she heard the sound from the alley. Like a groan but weak and low. Ears pricked she listened closer ass he crept towards the opening that led back to the small courtyard space between the buildings. She could call 911 for whoever it was surely.

Stepping into the mouth of the alley she walked forward slowly, listening closely in case whatever it was back there was dangerous. "Hello? Anyone there?", she called out softly. A gasp caught in her throat as she saw the blood first as it oozed and spread. her widened eyes followed the path of it to the man laying on the ground looking deathly pale and her breath caught in her throat.

This man wasn't gonna make it till the paramedics got there. Hurrying over to his side she looked him over. She couldn't heal him entirely, not in her current condition but she could help enough to make sure he lived.

"Hold still honey.. don't try to move alright?" she said to the man as she placed a hand over his, kneeling down onto the ground with him. "I'm gonna get you some help alright but first we gotta make sure you're gonna live long enough for them to get here. You gotta trust me a little okay?" she spoke calmly, like she would to a stray dog she was trying to tame. People sometimes got violent when they were in shock or seriously injured, she knew.

She was a small, little woman and didn't cast much of a shadow but her thin little shadow streaked over his body in a sliver of a slant. it grew a little thicker as she leaned over him and placed her hands on his stomach at the top and the bottom of the wound, her hands turning from pale to crimson as his blood poured out of the wound. The movement cost her , the skin pulling at the stitches on her shoulder under the bandage that covered it and a few little beads of blood rose up to color the gauze. "Just hold real still for me honey, alright?"

She couldn't turn away from someone in need. Even when she should for her own sake. It just wasn't an option. It wasn't who she was.

[Eryle Darlusk]

He was going to die, wasn't he. One smart-assed comment in a bar just had to lead to him being jumped several days later by the supremacist fucks. He hadn't even been thinking about them anymore. Guess they needed to look him up. Needed to cover his tracks better, can't make it so easy for people to learn what he is. Oh, what did it matter now, anyway. In another minute or two he'd be bled out anyway, his fractured soul sent someplace for some being to torment.

Wait, he was hearing something else now. He wasn't far enough gone to hallucinate yet, right? Bit of a frail female voice, calling over towards him. He tried responding, but only a groan and slight gurgle came out, followed by another splash of crimson coating on his lips.

His mind was clouding a bit though, and his eyes locked on her as she got closer, a scared look in them as he let out a bloodfilled yelp, flinching and grabbing her wrist as her hand first touched his, almost crushing her wrist with his panicked response, coughing meekly and letting yet another trickle of blood to fall onto the ground.

Maybe something in her calming tone got through to him because he eventually let up on the grip, though he cried out in pain as her hands were placed near his wound, and a violent shiver overtook him for a second or so.

Despite his mental state, maybe enough of his perception was intact to notice the shadow she cast, and his hand clenched again, eyes suddenly glowing a deep red as he put forth all the concentrative effort he had, tearing the woman's shadow from her form. The darkness formed into little whisps and tendrils that moved into the wound, not nearly enough to heal it, but enough to seemingly to slow the bloodflow a little more, replacing some of his lost energy.

The glow faded and he looked to her, still fearful but with a little of his mind intact. Not enough to speak coherently, but at least he could start trying to formulate a few words.

"A...attacked...knife...t-too many of...them...can't...the light", he mutters, using up the strength he had and seeming now as if he was about to pass out, his eyes rolling backwards as his body loosened up. Whatever had happened, it was obvious he was in horridly bad shape.

[kayla]

A small sound of pain left her lips as she felt that grasp on her wrist but she didn't complain as she saw the fear in his eyes. They were entirely too dull for her liking. "I'm sorry honey.. so sorry.", she whispered as he cried out in pain at her touch, wishing she could do this another way.

Her eyes focused on the wound, she missed the red flare of his eyes as she concentrated, finding her center and drawing on that well of healing inside her. It was harder to reach today, maybe because of her own wound, at least she told herself that. A chill raced up her spine as she felt prickles run through her form as her shadow was ripped from her and her eyes widened as she saw the dark whisps slip into the wound, gasping softly.

She had to find her resolve and steel it. Closing her eyes she heard his words as she forced the warmth and tingling sensation up from the well of her soul and let it flow out through her arms to her hands. "Don't you go into no light sugar...you just stay with me and we'll get you right as rain in no time." she said calmly as sweat beaded her forehead.

For the recipient of the healing the sensation was soothing, comfortable as peace and tranquility laced the power flowing into them, kicking their endorphins and serotonin levels up a few notches. But for the healer is was hell. She sacrificed her own comfort for his pain, taking it into herself in exchange. There was a soft glow from her hands as she kept her eyes closed, channeling that power into him steadily, stopping the blood loss first and the skin beginning to knit together more and more as she swayed over him.

It was taking more out of her than usual. Draining her. Her skin paled as a blossom of red spread on her dress over her own abdomen. Her skin wept the blood, the small slices on her stomach bleeding and growing larger as she kept at it, unable to draw away.

As she started to slump over him, losing the strength to keep herself upright something strange happened. Like a jolt of electricity shooting through her she was thrown back from him and the contact broken, leaving her wide-eyed in shock of what just happened. Something had forced her to stop. Forced her to end the healing.

The hitchhiker that crouched low in her soul, gathering it's strength and power for the right time to make it's move had broken the connection, forced it to stop to preserve the vessel it had found. The dark energy of the demon that she'd taken in from the healing had fed it, gave it strength to stop the healing. It was useful but only in smaller doses. Gaining strength would do it no good if the vessel was dead.

[Eryle Darlusk]

The pain had been excruciating a moment ago, why was it suddenly dissipating? Actually felt soothing, rejuvenating. His mind was becoming more intact and his focus was getting better. His thoughts were still swirling for the moment, though, since he was just starting to gain lucidity. This girl....she was the one doing this. Healing him.

But it was hurting her, he could tell. He was well enough to get to the darkness, gorge on it a bit, which meant he needed to stop her so she didn't drain herself further without the need to.

However, before he could do anything in that regard, he felt a jolt of energy from within her as she was thrown backwards. This merited a final few gasping, choking coughs on his part as the last of the blood in his mouth and throat was expelled onto the ground, and he started panting heavily, starting to push himself up from the ground, though groaning a bit and clutching his side as she hadn't fully finished healing him yet.

He wanted to help the girl, but he needed his own energy back first, so he looked to her a moment, biting his lip before moving deeper into the alley, finding a dark spot where he could start soaking in the shadows, utilizing their innate energy to finish knitting his wounds, restoring his energy and blood, and even patching his clothing back together.

As easy as it'd be to help her if he could do so, he lacked the ability to heal others that didn't have the same shadowy form as himself in either an alternate, primary, or underlying manner; in other word,s he might be able to heal another demon, a vampire, or even a necromancer, but a normal human, or....a healer in this case, he couldn't do anything for, past giving back a bit of energy, perhaps. Even having absorbed the healing energy she had, it was still a form of magic incompatible with his own; it'd do nothing but make him better at what he could already do with it.

Still, it was worth a try, giving the energy back. He ran back over to her, lifting her a bit to get an arm around her, speaking to her as he tried it, "Are you alright? Miss? You saved me...I think, but...what happened?", he asks her, looking to her eyes that were still wide open. The energy continued to flow, although he wasn't aware of the fact that some hitchhiker inside her had caused this, one that apparently enjoyed that energy.

[kayla]

Something was wrong. Something inside her was reaching, yearning, wanting. It was directed toward the man that crawled away further into the alley. Had she scared him? Was he running because she was a freak of nature. And why did she want nothing more than to pounce on him and attach herself like superglue to him till...till...?

Well she didn't know till what. Her pain seemed to excite something inside her instead of decimate her. She was weak and yet she wanted more. Was this a dark side of her gift? An addiction? A death wish buried deep within the need to help?

If only her Grampa was still alive. She could ask him more about it. Find out more about why she was the way she was. But he wasn't and she was the last of her family line with the gift.

As she coughed a bit of blood trickled up from her lips and slid down over her chin. She looked down at the blood on her dress and brought a shaky hand toward it, trembling and light headed. Irrational as it was, her first thought was that she couldn't go back to the Cafe like this. Casey and Ty would have a fit! They'd never let her out of the place alone again.

She blinked, trying to clear her eyes that had gotten unfocused and hazy as she looked to the skies, expecting her 'angel' to swoop in at any moment. But there was no angel. There was no savior. There was only white fluffy clouds and blue sky that moments before had been so cheerful.

And then she was being lifted and a voice was speaking to her form far away. She rolled her eyes toward his face, more white showing in them than should be as a cough wracked her small frame again and more blood bubbled up from her lips.

The hitchhiker in her felt the closeness of that dark energy that came from the man, the power of the shadows and the cold that flowed from him like a deep well. It drank it in as much as it could, drawing on the power. A hand raised to Eryle's head and touched his cheek as she looked into his eyes, dazed still.

What came next was rapid and surprising, at least to herself, as the creature within her took control and pulled the man to her, her lips closing over his as she kissed him deeply, drawing in his power in that close connection, drinking in the darkness, sucking it in like a succubus devours prey. it took the darkness of his soul and used it, healing the vessel it had found, knitting her wounds and sealing them off, color starting to return to her cheeks as she held him there, growing stronger each moment.

It was with a gasp that she finally released him, her head falling back and eyes looking up at him. A brief flash of icy blue shimmered over her brown eyes, changing them a moment before they returned to normal and the hitchhiker returned to sated slumber within Kayla's soul.

[Eryle Darlusk]

He was getting a bit worried, seeing the blood trickle out of her, the whitening of her eyes and the overall weak look she was giving him. He must have been really bad, if she took this much harm form healing him. Or maybe her healing energy meshed badly with his own and that's what caused it? Whatever the case, he wasn't sure he had any way to make sure she was okay.

Of course, these thoughts and worry distracted him enough so that when she suddenly grabbed him and started kissing him, he was thoroughly surprised enough to not resist....and once she started sucking energy from him, he really couldn't pull away anymore. Was she a succubus, or possessed by one? This was odd....she had just healed him, no demon would bother healing him first to suck out his energy; they'd take his dying breath as sustenance, generally. SO what was the case with this girl?

As she stopped, he let go of her and pulled away, back into the shadows to gain his stolen energy back, eying her with eyes that were now glowing red; he was scanning her form to figure out what she was, or if she carried any beings inside her. He wanted to know if he should be killing her or helping her, or even possibly just ignoring it and thanking her, depending on the exact circumstance.

"What was that about?!", he asked in a demanding, intimidating voice, "You heal me, and then suddenly you're drinking the energy from me? What the hell is going on?!", he adds on, eying her still, his expression making it clear he didn't trust her right now; sure she healed him, but stealing his energy like that wasn't something he was happy with.

In addition, he also began glancing around to find the little smoke imp that was usually with him. It had been discorporated, but that couldn't kill him. He'd probably reform soon. There was no sign of him though, so he figured the mephit would pop back in later. No big deal....and why was he worried anyway? Damn it, he never wanted to worry about the creature like it was a familiar. It was always just a smart assed contact to him.

He also couldn't help but wonder where the shifters had gone, and if they had anyone watching to make sure he stayed dead. Not to mention the fact that revenge was on the brain now. Attacking him in broad daylight. That also brought up the discomforting thoughts about if someone was giving out information about him, that they knew to do that. And it was obvious they knew. Whatever the case, he could wring it out of the last of them when he ambushed and killed them later that night, assuming he could track them down.

Not that any of this was immediately important right now. He blinked, eyes returning to the woman in front of him. This was the matter at hand, and he wanted some answers.

[kayla]

Kayla stared at the man as he moved away from her, he eyes wide, her cheek turning a healthy shade of crimson from her embarrassment. What was happening to her?! A hand lifted to cover her lips, horrified at what she'd just done. Both the kiss and the betrayal of her beloved and the strange sensation of dark power that had nourished her and sustained her.

It had been like watching a movie, watching someone else doing those things but it was her body that had done them, no one else's. She scrambled to stand looking at her bloodied hands and dress in shock before her eyes turned to Eryle again, flinching in fear at his tone.

Her head was shaking before she was able to coax words from her lips to speak. "I...I don't...know.", she said breathlessly looking terrified. The words that followed were spoken so softly, almost as if speaking to herself as she looked down at herself.

"What's happening to me? What was that? Oh God...Oh God."

The tears welled in her eyes as her breath came shorter and faster to her lungs and her head spun with a myriad of thoughts and questions. "I'm sorry.. so..so sorry. I didn't mean to.. It's never been like that before. I don't know what...", her words trailed off as she pushed herself to her feet and backed up till the alley wall touched her back, making her jump like a scared cat and pull away.

"I've..I've gotta go.. I gotta clean up.. I can't... all this blood." her panicked babbling continued till she looked over at Eryle again, the look of sorrow and apology in those big brown eyes as they regarded him. "I'm sorry.", she whispered once more before she turned and ran toward the opening of the alley toward the street.

[Eryle Darlusk]

His eyes were almost pulsating colors from red to black and back to normal and then going through it again,t ryign to shift his perceptions in some way to gain some semblance of an idea what had just happened to her. All he knew was there was something else there, but not something he could place right now.

She certainly seemed honest enough in her frustration and confusion. Nearly crying from the guilt and fear that seemed to be emanating from her. Still, he didn't know if he could just let her do that and get away with it. Especially now that she seemed to be running away from the situation.

"Wait!", he called out to her, moving to try and intercept her before she just simply left the area.

"You can't honestly expect me to just accept what happened, when for all I know you just corrupted my form and are acting like you're surprised...", he says with a serious look, staring at her as he steps in front of her.

If she just left, he'd have no way to track her down if something happened as a result of whatever she'd done. At least not easily. "You at least need to give me your name or soemthing...", he claims.


(Sorry, it sucks, i know, but i wannted to get it out ))

[kayla]

It was as if his single word caused her feet to melt into the cement under her, rooting her in her spot as she looked back, a little frantic. Her heart beat hard and fast in her chest. As he spoke she shook her head. No..she couldn't have. She wasn't meant to hurt anyone. Her gifts were meant for helping, healing. So what exactly just happened? She had no idea herself. How could she explain it to this stranger?

As he stepped in front of her she took a step back. Fear showed in her huge brown eyes as she looked up at him. "Not an act..I..don't know what happened. It's never happened before. It's...it was like.. like something in me was..was drinking in your essence or something. Using it. It's not supposed to work that way." She shook her head as her inner dialogue spilled out from her lips.

Her hand reached out toward where he had been wounded but stopped in mid action as she snatched her hand back quickly, afraid to touch him. "I.. I didn't hurt you did I?", her voice was timid, afraid as she voiced it, tears spilling over her bottom lids and sliding down her cheeks as she trembled, the little whispy curls around her face nearly vibrating from her shaking.

She shook her head as she wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her arms. "I don't hurt...I ...I heal.. that's all. Nothing bad." She took another step backwards, bumping into a dumpster and jumping a little in surprise from it. Skittish little thing. "You were hurt and ..and dying and..I shouldn't have because it's too dangerous but.. I couldn't just let you die. And then.. then it was something else and..." She seemed utterly oblivious to the question of her name as her mind reeled.

[Eryle Darlusk]

Well at least she had even less of an idea what happened than he did. Not that that was really a good thing; if she knew, at least he could pull the information from her and undo whatever had happened. However, as it was, he'd likely need to try keeping her around to get a better idea.

He took a step closer to her, hesitantly placing a hand on her shoulder as the tears began rolling down her cheeks, "Calm down...now, what could possibly be inside you that would do that? Do you know of a spirit or the like that hides inside you? Or is this something completely new to you?", he asks her as calmly as he can manage.

"I'm fine....as far as I can tell. But as I said, well, it's difficult to trust someone simply latching onto my energy like that...", he says, sighing and taking a moment to concentrate, make sure nothing else had altered his substance...seemed alright, unless it was something incredibly subtle.

"I definitely appreciate what you did for me, don't get me wrong, it's just....you know. Bit of a shock", he says, still speaking in a low, smooth tone to help calm her down, somewhat instinctively exuding a magically infused peaceful aura to add onto that. He figured if he could calm her down enough he could more accurately gain an account of possibilities from her.

[kayla]

Kayla flinched as he touched her, afraid it would awaken whatever it was that had emerged from her earlier, her eyes shooting up to meet his with worry and fear in them. But nothing came, nothing happened. The sleeper remained inert.

Her entire little frame shook as she stood there, hugging herself. "It's something new.. something that has never been there before. M..maybe some kind of..of latent side effect of the healing? I..I don't know..I just don't know. ", she said with her voice barely above a whisper.

Her eyes fell from his as she tried to think of what had just happened and why. "Maybe I pushed too hard...tried too much...Maybe my body just reacted and .. and took what it needed to live. I...I take on the injuries that I heal so...too much and well...I end up just like the person I healed." She hated that idea. It would mean that it was in her, that the ugly part that sought out his energy was a part of who she was.

That just wasn't something she was ready to accept. How was she ever going to have a normal life, a husband, children, all of that with something so dark a part of her? How could she trust herself with anyone?

Her eyes fell to the blood on her hands. had lady MacBeth ever felt such guilt as she felt at this moment? Such revulsion? Her stomach lurched and turned and she turned from the man and ran to the other side of the dumpster before emptying the contents of her stomach. It should have hurt more...the strain she was putting on her shoulder and the healing stitches there. But it didn't. There was nothing more than some itchiness and irritation there now.

Coughing and spitting before she stood up and wiped at her mouth, only serving to smear blood over her chin and face she turned pale as her stomach dry heaved once more and sent her bending over with a hand on the dumpster.

Breathless she stepped away from the mess and wobbled a little as she walked. "I have to get cleaned up.. I.. I need to get this off me.. get into something clean. I can't go home like this. There's no way I can explain this away."

Oh god, the thought of what Casey would do if he saw her like this. And Ty....she didn't want to think about what Ty might do. He went ballistic if she stubbed her toe! If he was there when she got back...covered in blood...no it wasn't a possibility. She'd clean up in a gas station bathroom or something...and rinse her mouth out too!

[Eryle Darlusk]

The fact that it was new made him frown, as it did indeed imply a possibility that healing him had done this, and he couldn't just allow the poor girl to suffer for trying to help him. She hadn't done anything to him on purpose, that was obvious now, so hopefully she didn't do anything past siphon some of his excess energy.

"Hmm, that definitely is quite weird...but if you gave me some time, I might be able to look into it, either directly or through research. It's the least I could do considering you basically saved my life", he says to her, offering a little bit of a smile.

Of course, some of the ideas he had for looking into this could likely be either invasive or dangerous, risking provoking or strengthening whatever it was that had cropped up inside her. Still, he felt he owed her, and it would be a learning experience anyway.

"If you need to clean up, we can get you to a gas station, or if you'd like you can come back to my place...if you don't mind the fact that I've built it in the middle of a cemetery", he offers, sighing a bit and looking to her a bit worriedly at her coughing and heaving.

He tried to put an arm more fully around her, to help stabilize and comfort her, "Calm down...just take a few deep breaths, we'll get you cleaned up, and then can figure out what happened", he says, doing his best to project a slight aura of calming from him, hoping that wouldn't screw with whatever's inside her and make things worse.

[kayla]

That arm was a welcome thing, a stabilizer for her as she stood on wobbly knees, trying to grasp what was going on. By all rights she should have died or at least been in a coma by now from that. But she wasn't. In fact, she was healed by whatever it was she had sucked out of his soul, something dark and cold. It had been like watching a movie happen to someone else, the way she drew away from what was happening and fell into that dark place within her.

One small hand clutched weakly at the hand of the arm around her and she leaned into his frame for support. He wasn't the largest guy she'd ever seen but even a pre-pubescent boy scout was typically bigger than her. Her frame was delicate, willowy, as if the fragile bones inside the soft skin would break as easily as a birds.

She tried for those few deep breathes, her breath shuddering and stuttering as she did and swooned a little in the process. Okay.. hyperventilating wasn't really achieving the right results, as it was nearly all she could manage. "Your place.. that's fine.. Cemeteries don't scare me.. all those folks are already dead. They can't hurt no one." she managed to say with a small nod as they took small steps out of the alley.

Naturally they drew some very strange looks from passers-by on the street as they wound their way toward the cemetery but no one tried to stop them and fortunately there were no police officers around that area at that time. Just her luck they'd be taken in for questioning. It occurred to her then that he might not have a change of clothes suitable for a woman and stopped, looking up. "I gotta buy another dress before I can go home. I.. I can't go like this..and I can't wear your clothes."

For some reason her appearance when she got home was incredibly important to the little woman. A reason she wasn't sharing right away as her confuddled mind processed. Those big, brown doe eyes stared up at Eryle and she waited for him to respond.

[Eryle Darlusk]

Eryle wasn't very big, but he had an unnatural strength to him and was quite able to support her; rather, their shadows were helping to keep them upright. But he was good at masking his magic as physical strength. He acknowledged her acceptance of heading to his place and began to lead them in that direction.

He didn't much notice the odd looks some people gave. Honestly, he was used to it some of the time; unless he was new to an area, he tended to build up a darkness around him unless he put his mind to filtering it away. Then again, it was the daytime so that wouldn't have normally been the case, but still, not a big deal to him.

As they arrived at the cemetery and she spoke, Eryle frowned a little, thinking a bit, "Well, I can quickly procure something for you while you start to clean up, or you or the both of us can just take another detour", he says as he helps her along, unsure if she'd want to be walking a further distance.

He smiled to her a bit, his aura further reaching out to calm her and make her comfortable, which in turn was making him a little bit more gentle himself, almost a softness in his grin as he looked back to her.