Deleted

A hint? After all that, he was only going to give her a hint?
Wanting to look at neither Riley nor Trevor, Izzy cast her gaze to the ground, doing her best to recall everything she knew--or thought she knew--about vampires, but everything from the night kept interfering. She wanted it to be over and done with, to just wake up in her bed back home and find that the night, that the entire past week-and-a-half, was nothing but a nightmare.
“Not being dead?” she snapped, wrapping her arms over each other. Every second that ticked by was a dangerous moment stolen from Trevor. She withdrew a hand as she brushed the still healing burn on her arm. “Regeneration?” She shook her head, then placed a hand to her forehead. She didn’t have time for his petty games. She dragged her hand down her face, the red on her fingertips from Episode mostly dry.
Use your head... Her hand froze over her face, Riley’s statement and the color on her skin bringing back her last little chat with Cerasus. She blanched. He has to be joking. But a quick glance to Trevor’s body made up her mind.
“I really hate you, you know that?” she growled to Riley as she quickly wiped her fingers off on her pants.
She inhaled deeply, raised a shaking hand toward her temple, and closed her eyes, trying to not think about what she was about to do. With a look mixed between dread and disgust frozen on her face--and hoping regeneration covered preventing her from vomiting--she drove her fingers into her head. The sickening crack of her skull reverberated with a low-pitched sound in her ears that made her stomach churn, and she scrunched her eyes shut tighter. Though her vampiric powers worked to prevent more than just the initial pinch of her nails against her skin, it was harrowing, to say the least, to be rooting around in her skull and the wet, soft mass inside for a memory, for some piece of information she had missed and Riley refused to outright tell her.

Deleted

The moment the memory came to her, she pulled her hand from her head, the wound healing no sooner than she had removed the object that inflicted it, and opened her eyes. Her blood. Her blood could heal him.
Hoping she would be in time to save Trevor, she actively avoided looking to Riley as she returned to her friend's wounded side and raised the hand freshly painted in crimson over it.
“How much will it take?” she asked Riley, her words coming out in a quick jumble. Even before he could answer, she used her other hand to brush the thick red from her skin, making it drip on Trevor’s gaping gash.

Deleted

Izzy gave a relieved exhale as she placed her hand on the newly-formed skin, the blood soaked into the shredded fabric around it the only evidence remaining that there had been a wound at all. Trevor was alive. She bent her head, a triumphant smile daring to spread over her lips. At last, she looked up to find Riley, to share the news, but he had gone.
Then her gaze fell to the problem that had gotten pushed to the back of her mind in the wake of Trevor’s impending death. Psychotic Episode. He had not moved from where she had left him.
She looked to Trevor’s face, reluctant to leave him, but his heart beat in reassurance that he would be fine. And she needed to deal with the whole reason for this catastrophe in the first place. Slowly, Izzy got to her feet, carefully stepped around Trevor, and made her way to Episode, glancing back once to reassure herself her friend would be fine. She held her breath, fearing she had killed the hunter. She had certainly been ready to rip his heart out just a few short moments before. She shuddered at the thought.
Slowly, cautiously, she neared him and squatted a couple feet away, ready to jump back in case he regained consciousness and went on the attack, and hoping “murderer” would not be a term applicable to her.
"Psychotic Episode," she said, doing her best to make her voice stern.

Deleted

Izzy crossed her arms as she watched Episode’s chest rise and fall, her gaze lingering on the nasty bruises she had left and the small circular blood spots around finger-sized holes in his outfit in turn. She had seen enough blood in the last few minutes to last her a few lifetimes.
This time, when she heard her name called out into the night, her head eagerly turned toward the source of the voice, a voice she had thought she might never hear again. In an instant, she was once more at Trevor’s side. “Hey, I’m here.” She smiled down at him. “Lie still. I don’t know how...” she glanced to his healed flank, letting the statement fade away. “I thought I’d lost you,” she breathed, her eyes tearing up again. She wanted to hug him, but the worry she might hurt him kept her back. She quickly wiped at an eye with the back of her hand. She looked back to him. “How do you feel?”

Deleted

Izzy lifted her hands toward Trevor to help him sit up, and gave a sigh of relief at his response.
“Good. I think. Here,” she added, realizing what Trevor must be looking for, “let me. Night vision, remember?” She scanned the ground for his glasses, before finding them a couple feet away as he asked his question.
“Yeah, I did.” Izzy grabbed his glasses and handed them to him. “Thanks to you. I just, uh,” she glanced toward Episode and rubbed the back of her neck, “have to wait for him to regain consciousness.” She looked back to him and frowned. “Trevor, what’s the last thing you remember?”

Deleted

Izzy nodded as Trevor answered her question, grateful that that was all he remembered. Or, at least, all he let on about remembering. Hopefully the giant hole in his shirt would not jog his memory.
“Yeah,” she said absently when he said he should go, then gave him a half smile about talking to him tomorrow. “You better.” She raised her hands once more as if to catch him if he lost his balance. She wanted to make sure he got home okay, but she knew that would only spell more trouble for him, and leaving the field in its current state and with Episode still there would be unwise. "Let me know you got home, okay?"
She watched Trevor go with worried eyes, returning his wave from where she still knelt. When he was out of sight, Izzy sighed and moved to stand, but startled back when Riley leaned over her. She snorted and gave a dry laugh, her mood shifting from relieved to irritated.
“Like you give a crap what would’ve happened to him,” she growled, standing as he continued. Slowly, she followed Riley over to Episode. When he picked him up by the collar, she thought for just a moment to stop him, not wanting him to risk the hunter's further injury and lengthening the time it took him to regain consciousness, but a part of her rather enjoyed watching the scene.
Izzy crossed her arms over her chest when he, surprisingly, came to, her murderous gaze watching as he seemed to take stalk of his injuries and feeling no pity for the pain on his face. Whatever he felt, he deserved nothing less.
Hatred burning in her eyes as he complained about “losing his edge,” she took a slight step toward him. She opened her mouth to speak, but he interrupted. She snorted at his apology, and raised her brows when he held a finger out to her.
“Well, thanks for the warning,” she spat, but, before she could say more, the hunter and Riley walked off.
Suspicion coating her face as she tried, but failed, to listen in on their conversation, she waited impatiently, her fingers tapping against her thigh, until, finally, Episode left.
She said nothing to Riley as the two cleaned up, wishing he would just disappear like he always did.
At least I actually know he’s here, she thought with a heavy sigh, casting him wary glances every now and again.
However, when it came to cleaning up what remained of Trevor, she was glad for his help, unintentionally leaving him the brunt of the work. Glad, at least until he decided to make a mock grave.
“You think you’re real cute, don’t you?” Izzy snapped. She swallowed and turned from him, running a hand through her bangs. “Inconsiderate creep,” she muttered under her breath as she walked away from him.
When he told her to wait at the school, she groaned. She wanted to protest, but was sure it would do no good. So, with a sigh, Izzy started toward the school, trying to not dwell on what had happened that night, though her mind kept wondering to Trevor. She limped slightly even once her foot healed from the unevenness of her soles until she paused to deposit both the remains of one shoe and the entirety of the other in a dumpster.
Her shoulders slumped when the abandoned school came into sight. She paused just outside the door, wondering if she could avoid Cerasus’ notice until Riley arrived. Mapping out the quickest way to the room where she had her things--she was sure she had shoved an extra pair of sneakers in her pack--she squeezed through the doors as quietly as she could and headed deeper into the school.

Deleted

Izzy startled when she noticed Cerasus out of the corner of her eye as she passed the hall in which he hung. She jumped and spun toward him, her arms raising defensively before she realized it was only him hanging from the ceiling. She cocked her head at him as if trying to see him more right-side-up, thinking how strangely fitting the position was. It's appropriateness only grew when he grinned, showing his fangs.
Her shoes would have to wait.
“Yippee,” Izzy said stiffly, watching him return to the floor.
With Trevor still on her mind, she eyed Cerasus questioningly when he asked about “that boy,” but before she could ask, “What boy?” the answer came from the main level. Her face twisted in a snort at Riley’s voice, but, nevertheless, she followed Cerasus downstairs, lagging behind a few steps.
Izzy kept a fair distance between her and Riley as he handed over the arm she had won, not wanting to be near him. When Cerasus took the arm and left, Izzy wandered toward the door and looked out at the night beyond, shuddering at the sound of Cerasus downing his arm. Trying to tune it out and keeping her back to Riley, she naturally reached toward her pocket for her phone to text Trevor, to make sure he had made it back okay--or, at least, was doing alright, since she had no idea what, if any, side effects her method of healing him might have--but remembered that Trevor still had it. She sighed, then contented herself with just placing her hand into her pocket.
All of that, she thought bitterly, because I left my stupid phone here. She closed her eyes and took a breath. But it’s over and done with, she reminded herself. He’s alive. That’s what matters.
When Cerasus’ returning footsteps replaced his munchings thankfully quicker than the last time, she turned from the door to see how he had changed. If she had not spent the last while with him, had not known what lay just behind his comely appearance, she would have said he looked rather suave. For a fleeting moment, she imagined him attending her high school, and could not help but smirk. Yet, that he was now taller than her made her feel a bit uneasy. Already, she had grown used to him being shorter, looking younger.
"Great." She crossed her arms loosely with her hands on her elbows, still looking Cerasus over. “Where are you getting the outfits?”

Deleted

Izzy nodded at Cerasus’ question, then looked down at the sorry state of her own clothes. She suppressed a sigh when he rolled his neck, knowing a rant of some sort was surely to follow, but she had decided it best to pay closer attention to what she thought was just useless prattle from him. After all, if she had only listened better, she could have saved herself a good deal of the trouble that occurred in the athletic field. She turned to keep her eyes on him as he went to a desk.
Izzy glanced to the floor. Now there was matter generation. That was another one to add to the books.
She looked back to Cerasus, and took a step toward him, uncrossing her arms. “Can you teach me to use that? Matter generation and transformation?"

Deleted

“Oh.” Izzy’s shoulders sagged slightly. Instinct. Great. Her eyes widened slightly when he offered to explain the powers--she was not ready to listen that intently.
The change in the atmosphere when Cerasus merely mentioned the name made Izzy shift her weight uneasily. She was sure that it bode ill for her when just the name could make even Riley’s smile falter. And if the hunters each claimed the limb they had torn asunder, as the state of the arm Episode had possession of implied, Guillotine Cutter had removed two, while his companions had only one apiece.
She wrapped her arms around herself and cast a quick glance between the two. “What is he?” she asked quietly. “What..." Her gaze settled back on Cerasus. "What can he do?"

Deleted

Izzy held her breath, watching Cerasus’ reaction with anticipation.
“Human?” Izzy repeated incredulously, thinking back to the speed at which the man had moved, speed far more superior than any human she had ever heard of, and how both Cerasus and Riley reacted to the topic.
When Cerasus finished, she blinked and raised her eyebrows.
“Guillotine Cutter,” she said slowly, making sure they were still talking about the same person. “Punk-rocker hair,” she moved her hands above her head, pretending to lift her hair into crazy spikes, “and enough metal in his face to give all airport security in a hundred-mile radius a heart attack? That guy. An archbishop? What, he a Van Helsing wannabe or something?” She ran a hand down her face. Though she had seen to an extent the damage holy relics could do to vampires, the full gravity of the title was lost to her in the absurdity of it. “What does that mean for me, then? What should I expect? Prepare for?”