[color=gray] [CENTER][img]https://i.imgur.com/LE0oU15.png[/img][/CENTER] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/GZTjRyO.gif[/img][/center] [center][color=black][sup]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center] [center][color=#BB253E][b]Location:[/b][/color] The Underground Blood Bank • [color=#BB253E][b]Time:[/b][/color] Evening[/center] [center][color=#BB253E][b]Interactions:[/b][/color]N/A • [color=#BB253E][b]Mentions:[/b][/color] [@FunnyGuy] Sean [@Oso] Bad guys[/center] [center][color=black][sup]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center] [center][hider=Music][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1081&v=APfszb7_y7Y&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.roleplayerguild.com%2F&source_ve_path=MzY4NDIsMTM5MTE3LDI4NjY2[/youtube][/hider][/center] [center][color=black][sup]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center] The sensation of burning was the first thing Angel woke up to. A vicious chemical sting tore through her nostrils, forcing a gasp from her lungs as her eyes snapped open on pure instinct. Tears flooded her vision immediately, her sinuses screaming as adrenaline slammed into her system, panic igniting within seconds of consciousness. And then the rest of it seeped in behind the burn: bleach, copper, antiseptic… layered over a cloying sweetness she recognized with a sickness that turned her stomach. Sean's voice cut through her haze and made her gaze whip in his direction, settling on the sight of him chained to a pillar. He was posturing the best he could to get their attention, practically snarling. His restraints were almost merciful compared to hers. Angel’s limbs were hauled in opposing directions, every joint held at a cruel angle that made her body feel like it was being displayed. She flexed her wrists on instinct and hissed through her teeth when it only hurt. She forced herself still and listened—kept one ear open to that situation, waiting to hear what the bastards said back, hoping they were about to obtain some sort of information. But as Angel scoped the room, she became sicker and sicker to her gut if a vampire could feel such a thing. Cages lined the room filled with Fae men and women and too-small shapes that horrified even her. She honed in on a pair of children cowering together; Angel hadn't been able to tear her eyes away from them and that bloody elephant for a lingering moment. Then came the gurneys. Clear tubes running from bodies to hanging bags. Slowly, dark red blood crept through the tubes and she watched it, her pupils dilating. She felt her lip tremble, disgust rising hot in her throat—only it wasn’t just disgust. Her mouth flooded with saliva. Her throat burned with a desperate ache, and a part of her—that monstrous part of her —thought about closing her lips around that tube like it was a lifeline. The sweetness in the air pressed against her senses vividly, turning the fluorescent light into something blinding. Every metal edge seemed to gleam, and every wet stain shone. And with each new sight her eyes snagged on, something in her mind obligingly supplied just a second of imagery she didn’t ask for. It had all been too similar after all, [i]so[/i] similar to the horrors Magnus had made her bear witness to in hopes she'd grow to like it as much as he had -- that same lesson Magnus had tried to teach her [color=9e0b0f][i]over and over.[/i][/color] Innocents being drained and slaughtered like cattle. He had wanted her to learn to appreciate it, to [i]accept[/i] the draining and the slaughter as something inevitable... [i]even beautiful[/i]... The only distinction here was the blood itself. Fae blood, forbidden even among vampires, being harvested openly and without shame. A line crossed so far that it could cause a war that could end Halcyon as they knew it. It was then Angel tilted her head as the pieces slid into place, and she thought back to the way Griggs had explained this job—to the way the corners of his lips had just [i]slightly[/i] twitched upward here and there. Then there was the fact that the smoke that had been used on her had to have been engineered or chosen specifically to work on her, to work on a vampire. The first men they’d encountered had been sloppy and robotic compared to the second wave. Those men they had just fought might as well have been from an entirely different operation. [i][color=#BB253E]This is a fucking set up.[/color][/i] ...But for who? Her gaze slid back to Sean, lingering on him longer this time, and her mouth lowered into a frown as worry coursed through her. He didn’t belong in this room. He [i]especially[/i] shouldn't have been here because of her dragging him here in the first place. [i][color=#BB253E]It doesn’t matter,[/color][/i] she told herself. [i][color=#BB253E]I have to make sure he gets out of here alive.[/color][/i] Her eyes drifted again, unwillingly, back to the cages—back to the two kids pressed together like they might disappear if they let go. [i][color=#BB253E]And I can’t just leave them here either…[/color][/i] Angel then shifted just enough for the chains to creak, deliberately drawing attention, then tipped her head and looked at them like they were deeply disappointing. [color=#BB253E]“Wow,”[/color] she said mildly. [color=#BB253E]“All this effort. Gas, chains, me all the way up in the air-[b]the whole enchilada[/b].”[/color] Her eyes traced the restraints once more, then lifted back to them. [color=#BB253E]“I must have really gotten under your skin.”[/color] She paused, as if considering it.[color=#BB253E]“Honest question—why not just kill us while we were unconscious?”[/color] She suddenly became aware of the feeling of something around her throat. After a pause, she added with deliberate bite,[color=#BB253E]“Because right now this feels more like someone’s [i]perverted [/i]fantasy.”[/color] [color=#BB253E]“...You do look like a damn pervert, after all."[/color] Her mouth twitched, and she laughed without humor, [color=#BB253E]“So do I get a safe word?”[/color] [color=#BB253E]"Because I sure hope you have one."[/color] Angel snapped and spat in the man's direction. [color=#BB253E]"Because you guys are [i]SO fucked[/i]! "[/color] [color=#BB253E] "Not only when we get out of your [i]stupid[/i] chains, but when the rest of Halcyon finds out you guys are trying to pull off this sick fae blood operation...Well, what they do to you will make this little place look like child's play. "[/color] [/color]