Who: Lydia and Chuuya (with brief mention of Lord Dorian Pavus) What: Lydia catches Chuuya murdering someone When: August 13 Where: Streets Rating: Medium - mention of murder and Lydia is briefly attacked
Being courted by one of the most sought after bachelors was a dream for Lydia. She had liked Kol the moment she saw him and she thought he was the nicest man alive. He was so sweet to her and she wanted desperately to be his wife and have his children. Part of her worried, though, that he would discover that she sometimes heard voices that weren’t there and sometimes she dreamed of things no God-fearing woman should. She hid all those things from everyone, of course. She didn’t want anyone accusing her of being a witch.
One of the ways she combated the strangeness in her life was she barred her room so if she walked while she slept she couldn’t get far. This didn’t help when she drifted off to sleep in the middle of the day.
Suddenly Lydia ‘came to’ while on the streets. She didn’t recognize this part of town - it wasn’t some place a person in her position would go willingly - and she stopped where she was to hug herself. Dressed in a very expressive dress, she was advertising to any miscreant to come assail her.
Tentatively, she continued to walk the direction she had found herself walking when she woke up.
–
Chuuya was an assassin and he not only killed people who were royals, but he also killed commoners as well. Really, it didn't matter who his targets were as long as he got paid. But he also had a temper and sometimes he ended up killing someone who wasn't on his list. That's sort of what happened just now. He'd run into this other man who had been drunk. He kept annoying Chuuya until he snapped and bludgeoned him to death with a large rock in an alley.
Once the man no longer moved, he tossed the rock aside before wiping off any blood on his hands before heading out onto the streets. There he spotted someone nearby, a woman who looked to be from the court if her attire said anything. What she was doing here, Chuuya had no idea. But all he cared about was whether she heard or saw anything.
So far, it didn't seem like she did but she was still heading in the direction where the man lay dead. If Chuuya didn't stop her, she would surely find the dead man and that wouldn't be good for either of them. So he headed over to her in hopes of making her turn around and go the other way. "Good day," he greeted her. "Are you lost?"
–
Lydia stopped in her tracks if only because she didn’t know the man and he was approaching. Something inside of her was almost screaming to continue, but when he stopped her, she felt scared. Part of her needed to go forward and another part of her wanted to run away quickly.
She offered the man a smile that looked forced around the edges. Her normally practiced expressions were strained at the moment. She wished desperately for Kol to be here and whisk her away. “It seems so, yes. My… carriage broke down and I thought I could walk home.”
–
Chuuya tilted his head a little, noticing that the woman wasn't as relaxed as she seemed. No, there was something about her smile that seemed forced somehow, like she was trying to be calm but failing. A bit odd since usually, he was able to trick people into believing he was completely harmless. Maybe she was one of the few who could sense he was dangerous.
"Oh, that's not good. I can walk you home if you'd like," he offered. As long as he kept her from going into the alley and seeing the corpse, all was good for both of them.
–
Her eyes darted behind the man briefly before returning to him. Was there any way to say no in this situation? No, she didn’t think there really was. Pushing passed the man like her body seemed to want was extremely rude. Of course, she had to wonder if it was safe for him to escort her at all. Why couldn’t she be normal? Why did she have to find herself out by herself? What if her father saw her? What if Kol saw her?
Lydia allowed herself to briefly close her eyes for just a moment before opening them. “Alright. I suppose that would be acceptable.” Her stomach seemed to protect the acquiescence.
—
Chuuya noticed her eyes dart behind him and he quickly moved to block her view. He didn't say anything, just waited patiently for her answer. Or as patiently as he could. He'd always been impatient ever since he was little. It got worse when he was trying to hide something - like a dead body.
"Excellent. Which way is home?" he asked. Hopefully it wasn't to the left where the alleyway was. He didn't have much time to hide the body and one could probably see it from the road if they were to look closely enough.
—
To tell the truth or not to tell the truth? There was safety in being Peter Hale’s daughter, certainly, so should she say that? Why did she feel the need to lie and say it was towards the area her body wanted to walk to?
Unfortunately for both of them Lydia went with the truth. “The Hale Estate is this way.” She gestured to the left, which was where it was, once you cleared the commoner area.
–
When she pointed to the left, Chuuya's expression remained the same even if inside he was sighing inwardly. Welp, guess she wasn't going to live much longer. Or maybe she'll be lucky and won't see the body although Chuuya doubted it. It wasn't as well hidden as he'd like it to be.
"Let's go," he said and they began to head left. As they passed the alley, he looked straight ahead, but he could still see the corpse out of the corner of his eye.
–
Lydia felt like she should be walking on eggshells and she still wasn’t sure why. The more they walked to the left, the more she felt like she could hear voices and she was trying desperately to ignore them. Nothing to see here. She was a normal young woman.
Unfortunately for both of them, Lydia caught sight of the corpse. She gasped, eyes wide in horror.
–
They almost walked past the alleyway without any problems. But while she didn't scream or even say anything, the look on her face said it all - she had seen the corpse.
There was a split second where neither of them moved. Then Chuuya suddenly grabbed her and pulled her into the alley, away from any possible prying eyes, shoving her against the brick wall hard. One hand was wrapped around her throat, keeping her pinned there. The other was reaching to grab his dagger so he could stab her until she bled to death.
–
Lydia felt a rush of a lot of things at once as she was dragged with a shout. Tears formed in her eyes and there was a rush of fear like none she had ever felt before. Her back pressed against the wall, her hands tried desperately to pry the hand around her throat off so she could breathe. It hurt so much. She tried to plead, but she knew he wouldn’t listen and despite there being no one else around, the alley was so loud.
She struggled and struggled and inside it felt like steam was gathering and gathering until suddenly Lydia couldn’t hold it in anymore. Her fingers had pried only one finger away from her throat, but it was enough. Lydia screamed.
Had she been a normal girl, it would have simply been the scream that accompanied the end of her life. Since she was more than just a young woman, the scream sent a force of energy at Chuuya like she was a large man able to fight back.
It was enough to free her from her captive. Terrified now both of the man and herself, Lydia ran desperately back down the alleyway. Just as she neared the mouth of alleyway, she felt fire in her shoulder. She screamed in pain as a dagger pierced her shoulder from the back. Face wet with tears and red with panic, she didn’t quite register the carriage coming toward her even though she raised her good arm up to flag it down.
When the carriage slowed and the door opened to reveal Lord Pavus, a man she had seen at a few gatherings this week, she relief flooded her for a brief moment. It was only when she was pulled inside and the carriage taking off toward the doctor did Lydia feel like she had escaped.
Escaped the man, at least, but how was she going to explain how she got away? How was she going to escape the part of herself that terrified her the most?
–
He didn't think much of anything, even when she managed to pry one finger off her neck and opened her mouth to scream. They all screamed, especially women. But what he didn't expect was her scream to be so loud and to knock him back. He hit his head against the brick wall, making him disoriented and dizzy but it gave Lydia enough time to run away.
Staggering to his feet, he growled and threw his dagger into her direction. If he wasn't as disoriented as he was at the moment, he would've hit his target - her heart. But he was still out of it a little and managed to only hit her in the shoulder.
He chased after her, only to see her jump into a carriage and then she was gone. Great. No doubt she'd probably tell everyone what happened and he'd be wanted soon. Guess he'd have to kill Lady Irina soon and leave town as soon as possible.