Tweak

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Tweak says, "Double Dare 2000"

Bellum Anon (bellum_anon) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-03-12 23:02:00

Entry tags:

Fables Plot Public Post!
Who: Public
What: The Open Post for Public Threading for the Epic Fable Plot
Where: Throughout the building.
When: 12:01
Warnings: Any number of crazy things could end up in here.
Notes: Alright! This post is for public threads only, and will be run party style. Anyone can jump into a thread at any time--just use your judgment! Feel free to hop around, go to different parts of the building, and mingle through the madness.

12:01. The beginning of a new day, just broken in, still fresh. Most of the building was sleeping, as decent people ought to be at such an hour.

The building, down at its foundations, was restless. A storm had been gathering for the past week, in its joints and its doorways, in its windows and its keyholes. 12:01, the storm broke over Bellum.

It was as if the building stretched, yawned, shook itself. There was a shudder in reality, as if the air itself was nothing more than a funhouse mirror. Faster than you could snap your fingers and the thing was done, set into motion before the darkest hours of the morning had yet come around.

A twitch, a snap, a static shock.

And then the changes started.

((OOC: Alright guys, go crazy! Feel free to post your location in the header of your comment so people can do a quick visual scan for the right comment and the right location. Mingle! Chat! Fight! Tackle one another!))

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

beaute_endormie
2010-03-15 07:30 am UTC (link)

The entire wall of brambles disappeared under Ella's touch and Rosalie smiled at her, impressed and relieved and a little closed off. "You did amazing," she said, before making another noise of alarm as Boyd ran to Vlad.

She walked over to Daniel and put a hand on his back, running it along with the vague intent of making sure he was alright, that no blood or anything came up from his fur. The sound of a door opening caught her attention, and her hand tightened against his back as a woman with red hair that Rosalie had never seen before stepped out of an apartment.

"Hello?" She said it politely, but there was an audible tenseness underneath.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

wolfishane
2010-03-15 03:18 pm UTC (link)

((From here.))

He'd already lost one meal tonight, and the wolf didn't intend to lose his second. He'd been following the girl's scent up the stairs, and up and up, past other people on other floors, ignoring them completely. Many of them would have been perfect prey, slow or confused, but he knew that the scent he'd caught was the best out of any of them. The sweetest, the most satisfying, the one he was meant to chase down. He had fleeting thoughts about a grandmother, somewhere, that he needed to kill first, then negated that. He'd killed her already.

That gave him pause. When had he killed the grandmother? Then he brushed it aside. He'd killed far too many to remember them all, she could have been anyone.

The scent got stronger and stronger, until, finally, he reached the penthouse floor. He came over the top of the stairs, padding quietly toward the group gathered there. Nowhere to hide, here, and he was on his own. He'd separated from his pack a long time ago.

He needed to get her away from these people (some of whom looked vaguely familiar) and the great....thing at the other end of the hall. It smelled off, unnatural, not like any creature he'd encountered before. He felt he could take it if forced to, but that would be a lot of unnecessary trouble.

All he could see was the red cloak, but he knew he had the right girl. He'd chased her in dreams before, the ultimate in prey, innocent and trusting, and too curious for her own good.

He stalked forward, brushing past her friends as if there was nothing unusual about a giant wolf in the hall, playing friendly. Just a big dog. If he remembered rightly, she'd been fooled by a mask of harmlessness sometime before.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

ex_sanguine300
2010-03-15 03:24 pm UTC (link)

By the time Boyd noticed the newcomers, she was leaning against Vlad's side, staring up at his mouth in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the sharp, pointed fangs. Pretty.

Rosalie petting Daniel didn't surprise her, but for once she didn't mind it- Rosalie and Daniel didn't want her to have any fun.

She cast a look of disapproval at the redhead who opened the door, trying to decide if her hair was a prettier shade of red. In the end, she decided it wasn't and she discounted the woman completely. The woman who'd turned the thorns in petals was backing away, which meant she was unimportant too.

"Who we goin' to see?" she asked Vlad, a sweet smile on her lips.

Then she saw the blackness of the wolf stalking toward them. Grandmother said run, and a memory said this wolf had betrayed her before, and she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Vlad, Daniel and Rosalie were forgotten as she ran around the circle to the stairs and down. She had to get away from that wolf.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

labete
2010-03-15 09:10 pm UTC (link)

The beast's sides were heaving over his ribs by the time Rosalie returned. There were too many people in the hallway at once, and his new senses were confusing enough. His sight was a lot worse, but his sense of smell was better, and so was his hearing. There was another sense that was more on the back of his neck under his fur than anything, and it was that one that made Daniel bare his teeth at Vlad. He tried to catch Boyd as she ran past with teeth snapping at the back of her dress, but he missed.

Daniel had come out on the wrong end of a few thorns, and he had enough adrenaline moving through him that he had barely noticed the sting from Vlad's new claws; most of his wounds were forward, on his shoulders and chest. Shallow though they were, the wolf could probably smell the blood well, because Daniel could certainly smell him. He lost his head entirely when he saw the other animal, which was fifty times the imminent threat of the dead body with fangs that kept talking. His sense of smell was overwhelmed by the abrupt influx of rose perfume and the conflicting presence of four different women, so he ignored it. There was a ripping, tearing sound as Daniel dug his back claws in and scrambled over the carpet in the narrow hallway, springing after the wolf, in the hope he could catch it before it turned entirely after the fleeing red hood. He wasn't going to make it, he realized but by that time he was skidding to a stop at the top of the stairs down.

All the vague shapes of females standing around better get out of the way.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

nobleblood
2010-03-15 09:37 pm UTC (link)

Vlad snarled furiously in response to Daniel's roar of protest, but the scent of new humans made him pause. Rosalie had returned, and with her was a woman he recognized but couldn't place-- what he did know, however, was that the new addition brought forth a distinct rush of hatred. Whoever she was, he wanted to kill her; and once the damned thorns were out of the way, he would.

He watched as the wall turned to nothing but soft petals, his grin sharp and feral. Boyd ran to him as soon as she could, the foolish girl; and an arm snaked around her waist in outright defiance of everyone else present. The fools thought they could dare to order him around and succeed? He would take the girl right there in front of them all, and woe if any of them tried to stop it. But before he could brush aside the cascade of red hair that shrouded her neck a door to his right opened, and another redhead - this one older and more regal than Boyd - stepped out. My, my; he was very fortunate tonight, wasn't he?

Vlad opened his mouth to answer the girl at his side when a sudden familiar scent took him off guard, and he turned just in time to see a hulking black wolf shoulder its way past Rosalie and the other one. Wolves had always been at his beck and call - the two in his apartment were proof of that - but there was something wrong about this one, something that caused him snarl at the wolf in warning. It was pointless, however; in an instant Boyd had vanished down the stairs with the wolf in close pursuit. For an instant part of him considered giving chase and getting rid of the animal, but in the end he stayed where he was. The new redhead was spared a curious glance, but his attention quickly focused on the brunette in the yellow dress.

His movements were slow and languid, almost panther-like as he moved towards her; head tilted to the side. What was her name? He knew it, he just couldn't--

Ella. It came to him suddenly, a dull red light appearing in his eyes. How could he have forgotten? Somewhere within himself he realized that he didn't want to hurt Rosalie and Boyd, nor Daniel; but even within his rational part he didn't like this woman. Unfortunately for her, it was only emphasized in his vampiric state. "Ella," he breathed, his fanged smile the furthest thing possible from friendly.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

bookshelved
2010-03-15 10:56 pm UTC (link)

The Beast was the first thing Ella noticed when Rosalie moved past her, (how could it not be?) and she had started backing toward the stairs instinctively. Something inside her knew it was Daniel, but another part that was much more present in this moment was telling her to run. Father had said she didn't need to stay, and the Beast hadn't actually told her to, and if she just backed away slowly, and oh, God, how tall was he?

When Red and the wolf ran by, they were within inches of her, and when Daniel followed and slid toward the stairs, she had the good sense to back away, eyes wide as saucers. She shot Rosalie a look, and she tried to lecture herself. You're Ella. You're not someone from a fairy tale. You aren't even from this fairy tale, and-

Then Vlad spoke. That drew forth some recognition. She didn't like him, and he didn't like her. And he was Dracula. Dracula. She had to warn Helena, and-

When he moved toward her, her chin tipped up defiantly. The Beast was blocking the stairs down, and Dracula and his fangs were advancing on her. She felt trapped, and she looked back at the staircase heading to the roof.

Very slowly, very deliberately so as not to draw too much attention to herself, she backed up slowly, then she climbed one step, then another, then another.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

snow_bees
2010-03-15 11:38 pm UTC (link)

The commotion in the corridor had made Deirdre stop in her doorway, hand still on the frosty doorknob, and watch. The flurry of creatures, the sudden appearance of the Wolf and the Beast, caught her breath in her throat, and when she finally breathed out again after the flurry of movement stilled, it came out in a frozen fog. She had no idea what was happening, confused and a little frightened, and the pieces of her own life, that she so often tried to forget and push away, were only too happy to disappear almost fully in favor of the thoughts of the Queen.

The overpowering scent of roses made the Queen wrinkle her nose in distaste, even as she watched the man stalk toward the woman in the yellow dress. She knew none of these people, and wished to keep none of them in her castle. For the moment, however, their actions roused her detached curiosity, and she stepped out of her home, the carpet nearly hot to her feet after the chill of the snow. After several steps, she stood tall, watching, her interest especially caught by the man.

She laughed softly to herself as the woman in yellow began to back away, and sent a frigid gust of air circling around everyone. Her voice was soft and controlled when she spoke, catching on the wind, "Your quarry is attempting to escape you."

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

beaute_endormie
2010-03-15 11:49 pm UTC (link)

Rosalie did not have the good sense to back away from the beast, or perhaps, being aware of the other threat behind her, it just seemed less important. "Daniel!" She ran to him, tugging hard on his fur, and trying to bring the other issue to his attention. Vlad was advancing on Ella and all of his fangs were showing, and oh God, he didn't like her much even as a human, did he?

"Boyd will be fine! Shane will take care of her, you know that." She, at least, had bought the friendly dog act. Rosalie pulled at him again, harder, knowing that he was the only one here with enough power to stop Ella from getting eaten. She dug her fingers further into the fur, gripping it at the roots.

Strangely, she wasn't afraid. This was Daniel, and however much he might snarl and growl, she was quite sure that he wouldn't hurt her.

She meant to tug again, but the gust of cold air caught her instead and she shivered against his fur. Goddamn it, who was this woman, because she wasn't helping in the slightest.

"As soon as he moves away, try to escape down the stairs," she ordered. One less person to look after.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

labete
2010-03-15 11:58 pm UTC (link)

There was a lot of name shouting going on. The beast was having a lot of difficulty trying to reign himself in from finding someone at random to tear into just out of sheer frustration. The wolf got away, and if the woman would stop screeching for a minute so he could figure out what to do, because obviously he couldn't go down after him, since he had to stay here. Enraged at this invisible barrier that only he really comprehended, he moved from one tiny edge of the stair to the next, staring down long after wolf and girl had disappeared. After a few seconds with his chin low near his paws, he seemed to give in, and finally turned around. The woman that smelled like fake roses (everything smelled like roses, but this was a sort of old rose smell, rather than a new rose petal kind of smell, and that was as far as he thought it through) was still pulling on his fur, and he was at a loss as to why.

He lumbered around, finding one hundred eighty degrees to be ridiculously difficult in the circumstances, and tipped one floppy ear up toward Rosalie after barely avoiding squashing her against the wall. What? Oh. Oh. Right, he was supposed to listen to the words. It just took him a minute to get there. "...he moves away." Oh, was he in the way? The blue eyes turned from Rosalie to the snow woman in the doorway. She didn't smell quite dead, but she certainly wasn't the right kind of alive, either. He snorted the winter scent out of his black nose, and then strode down the hall back the way he had come, so Miss Ice had enough room to go where she chose.

It took him a moment more to even notice that Vlad was still present.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

nobleblood
2010-03-16 12:13 am UTC (link)

Vlad had somehow managed to restrain himself from attacking Boyd and Rosalie once, and a deeply buried part of him wished they would have listened when he told them to get away. Idiots, all of them, deserving of whatever they got. Stupid for thinking the wolf would do anything other than eat the redhead - oh, he knew exactly what was going to happen to her. The beast (Daniel?) should have gone after her, but it was too late now.

He knew the beast was distracted and therefore kept quiet, his footsteps making no noise at all upon the ground. It was all too easy to focus on the scent of blood, and he could practically taste it on his tongue. Soon, soon... so close. If he'd tried, really made an effort, then he might have been able to stop himself. If it had been Helena, he would have; but he didn't care about this woman. He didn't even like her, so the motivation just wasn't there.

The redheaded woman and her snow caught his attention in a way very few people could. There was no cry of outrage, no hint of concern about the fate of his prey. Vlad smiled, momentarily looking away from Ella. There was something different about this woman, and he decided he wouldn't feed upon her - not yet, at least. It was rare that he ever found someone else intriguing. Her generous warning caused him to snap his gaze back on Ella, and without warning he lunged towards her, teeth bared and aiming for her throat.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

bookshelved
2010-03-16 12:50 am UTC (link)

Ella had been carefully backing up the stairs, and she'd made it up six steps toward the roof. She was feeling safer now. Yes, safer. The Beast didn't seem to notice she existed, and she ignored the small pang of undefined feeling that stirred within her. Or, rather, she tried to. It was during this trying that Vlad lunged toward her, and she stumbled back on the stairs just as he reached her. His fangs were sharp and very close, and his hands were on her now, and she did the only thing she could do.

She yelled and yelled and yelled and yelled, as she tried to find her footing again on the steps, tears of fear streaming down her cheeks. The sound coming from her was one of pure fear, and the scent of that fear even overpowered the scent of roses that was a constant with her recently.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

snow_bees
2010-03-16 02:06 am UTC (link)

The Queen entertained the passing thought that she should be more concerned with the young woman on the stairs, caught in what seemed to be a deadly situation. But the fate of others rarely affected her, and she simply watched. She caught the man's eye as he glanced back, and offered him a slight smile, nodding in acknowledgment.

She winced at the loud yelling, making a displeased sound in the back of her throat. It grated on her nerves, and she thought how peaceful it would be to go back into her castle.

Peaceful, but lonely. She needed someone with her. She could either stay here and watch more, or she could go search out someone small and malleable to bring home. She fought with the options in her mind, lingering for another moment before beginning to head toward the stairs, unconcerned with the other woman or the beast in her way, expecting them to move aside for her if necessary.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

beaute_endormie
2010-03-16 02:22 am UTC (link)

Rosalie stopped breathing for a moment when Vlad pounced, and then all she could hear was Ella, screaming and screaming until each sound bled into the next and became one continuous thing ringing in her ears. Where was Daniel, was the only thought that slipped through the din of it as she ran for the pair on the stairs.

Garlic, holy water, crucifixes- Rosalie had none of these, nor was she certain they would even have worked, but she couldn't let Vlad eat Ella either without trying to do something, anything, to stop him. "Daniel, help," she yelled once more, a desperate plea that was barely even audible over Ella's screaming. She wanted the screaming to stop more than anything, but it couldn't because if it did, that meant that Ella was-

Her hand was the first thing that reached them, clutching at Vlad's cape and pulling as hard as she could.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

labete
2010-03-16 02:34 am UTC (link)

The screaming got through to the beast. There is something about a creature's last wail, the kind of desperate noise that is a last, desperate avoidance of death, that gets through to all animals, even one so mixed and befuddled as this one. Nothing was supposed to be afraid for its life in his territory. His walls were supposed to be an island apart. Brushing past the ice queen, an obstacle in his path as much as he was an obstacle in hers, he blinked and brought his head up, staring forward into the darkness, shaggy mane nearly hiding the ears that laid back flat against the piercing caterwauling of both women.

It wasn't his name that got through. He'd lost that a years ago, in the first few years of his imprisonment. No, it was the stench of fear that hit him hardest, the smell that mixed with something soft and female and floral. The blue eyes went wide, and the beast didn't bother with another roar of outrage. Eight hundred pounds of rage in a sleek gold-brown blur went past Rosalie, and the beast leapt forward to sink eight claws into Vlad's back and, given the opportunity, a serious amount of teeth into the back of his neck, with the unquestionable intent to sever his spine entirely.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

nobleblood
2010-03-16 02:55 am UTC (link)

The scent of fear wasn't quite as sweet as that of blood, but it was a close second, and Ella was practically drowning in it. His nails dug into her shoulders as he prepared to plunge his fangs into the flesh of her neck, a very quiet voice in the back of his mind trying to tell him that this was a bad idea.

There was so much yelling, but it was easily brushed aside in favor of the blood he would soon be tasting. He barely even felt Rosalie tugging at his cape, her strength being virtually nothing compared to his.

Then the claws sunk into his back, and he felt like he'd just been set on fire. Luckily his reflexes were far superior to those of a normal human, and he managed to throw himself out of the way before Daniel's teeth could meet their mark. His eyes were completely scarlet now, burning with a rage unlike anything he'd ever felt before as he rounded on the beast, letting out an inhuman roar. "TOUCH ME AGAIN, BEAST, AND IT WILL BE THE LAST THING YOU EVER DO!" His voice thundered through the hallway, more of a snarl than a yell. Now seemed to be a good time to leave, since the infuriating creature -- who had once been his friend, but it kept slipping his mind -- wouldn't let him feed here.

Vlad backed towards the stairwell, shooting Rosalie a glare that told her very clearly to move if she didn't want her neck broken. It was time to find Mina - Helena - and get away from all this chaos. His foot found the first step, and then the second; if Daniel decided to come after him, he'd jump if he had to. After all, he knew he'd land on his feet.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

bookshelved
2010-03-16 03:05 am UTC (link)

The nails that dug into her shoulders ripped through fabric and skin, and her scream faded into a whimper of pain. She was certain she was going to die here, on the stairs, at the hands of this man she hated, and tears of frustration joined her tears of pain as blood trickled along the pale yellow fabric of her dress.

When Daniel dug his claws into Vlad's back, it was impossible to miss the pained reaction from the man above her, and it gave her a moment of sheer, panic-driven hope. She edged backward up the stairs, breath catching raggedly as Vlad yelled. He was threatening the Beast. That was the only thought that managed to get through the pain and fear, and it made her angry.

And as she became angry, rose vines began to twine around Vlad's ankles, growing (presumably) from nowhere. She wasn't even aware she was doing it, and it wasn't enough to hold the vampire, not yet, not unless he tried to hurt the creature as he'd threatened.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

beaute_endormie
2010-03-16 03:20 am UTC (link)

Rosalie let Daniel do whatever he wished with Vlad as she knelt by Ella, frantically trying to tell where the blood was coming from. "Ella! Did he bite you?" She found one of the other woman's hands and squeezed it, trying to stop the crying and the fear. "Can you move?" She knew there were still things up in R1 from when Daniel had been injured, bandages and ointments and things.

Daniel could take care of himself and Vlad, she was certain of it, no matter what the vampire said. Right now, Ella was hurt and Rosalie wanted to get her out of the way in case there was a fight. "We need to get up these stairs," she told her softly, glancing back once to make sure neither man- and man was a loose term- was near enough to bang into them accidentally.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

labete
2010-03-16 03:56 am UTC (link)

Daniel in the beast was much closer to the surface than Vlad the vampire. He recognized his voice but did not respond in language, finding words beyond him both as they were thrown in his direction and as they were expected to be offered. He landed on his side as Vlad threw him off, but now that he was at the bottom of the stair to R1, he was just as reluctant to descend off that stair as he had been the one before. He did not pursue as Vlad as he backed away, but he showed him his teeth and roared right back. It was a roar of possession, of challenge met. It said, here is mine in a way that was completely and utterly unmistakable. As he had before, he paid no attention to the women once they were behind him, not while Vlad was still on the Penthouse floor. When he finally disappeared around the bend, he stayed where he was, glaring across the expanse, past the Snow Queen's door. It was unclear whether or not he was growling at her as she moved, but when the gleam of his eyes abruptly went dark and he shifted away, that question resolved itself.

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Re: Penthouse Level: 12:00 am

nobleblood
2010-03-16 04:19 am UTC (link)

There was no longer any need for him to stay here. Daniel only seemed to care about guarding R1 - how did he know that? - and the women would be more than happy to see him go. It was a shame that he and Ella had been so rudely interrupted, but perhaps their time would come later.

Vlad spared one last glance at Rosalie and Ella, something like faint recognition flickering over his features before vanishing completely. Distantly he thought that they should have stopped him, but it was a fleeting thought, quickly erased as though it had never been there in the first place.

The eleventh floor was his new destination, and he disappeared down the stairwell without ever saying a word.

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