[IC] MONSTORY

[Dead Cruiser]

Cerasus didn't look at the arm as it was presented to him. His eyes were open, but it was apparent that he could no longer see. However, after Izzy had lingered in front of him for a moment, he sniffed at the arm like a blind dog. With tremendous strain, he brought his face closer to her arm, gently sniffing the veins running up it. His blood-soaked face rubbed against Izzy, as he almost seemed to nuzzle against her flesh. Then, without warning, his head dropped back against the ground.

Without facing toward Izzy, he muttered, "Not enough... Need more... Neck... Give me your neck..."

[Riven Wight]

When the vampire did not immediately react, his glossy eyes unseeing, Izzy thought about saying something, when he started sniffing at her. Her muscles tensed as she waited for the bite that never came.
She looked at him with part relief and concern when his head returned to the ground. She blanched at his next request. She opened her mouth to protest, to say that that was not a part of the bargain, but he did not have the time to argue. And, she realized, the last thing she wanted was to watch someone die, vampire or otherwise, especially in such a brutal way.
“Okay,” she breathed, her heart racing in her chest. “I’m... I’m going to help you up.” Ignoring the smear of red he had left on her arm, she moved to do just that, to lean him against her. “But I swear,” she continued, her soft voice as shaky as her hands, “if you kill me, I’ll haunt you for eternity.”

[Dead Cruiser]

He was tall, but with the subtraction of most of his limbs, Cerasus was not particularly heavy. He leaned against Izzy like a sack of potatoes, head lolling against her shoulder. Eventually he realized what she was doing, and without a word began sniffing to find a blood vessel to latch onto. He eventually found an artery, and immediately sunk his teeth into the soft flesh between Izzy's neck and shoulder. The pain was sharp, but dulled quickly as he sucked the blood from her, numbing the area.

However, the ordeal was far from pleasant. Izzy could feel the blood in her body redirecting to flow to where she was being bitten. At once she felt nauseous, her fingers and toes growing cold from the lack of bloodflow. She felt light headed soon after, and her heart began to flutter as it worked against this unnatural redirection of her circulatory system. If she had wanted to protest against him, she would likely find that her strength had already been sucked out of her. It did not take long before Izzy was not receiving enough blood to her brain, and she blacked out.

[XXX] later...

Izzy woke with a start. Had it been a dream? No, if it was, she would have awoken in her bedroom. Rather, she was in a very unfamiliar place. It looked like the inside of a ruined building, completely dark with the windows boarded shut, and every light on the ceiling shattered without exception. The walls and ceiling with filthy and musty, and she had been lying on a cracked linoleum floor. Looking around further, she saw school desks and chairs stacked in a haphazard pile on one end of the room. A school? She remembered now, this was the old middle school that had been replaced with a new building about ten years back. The county had meant to tear down this one, but it seemed they never got around to it.

As Izzy attempted to get off her back, she found a weight on her arm. Latched onto her left arm, sleeping softly, was a young boy, no older than eight or nine. Soft, golden curls covered his head, and he wore some kind of sporty, old-timey schoolboy's uniform, with shorts and suspenders. Izzy's movements had apparently disturbed him, and his brow furrowed as he clutched her arm more tightly.

"Five more minutes..." He murmured, returning to sleep.

[Riven Wight]

Though neither too heavy nor light, Izzy did her best prop him against her, the thick wetness of his blood on her hands making a shiver run down her spine. For a moment, Izzy feared the movement had been too much for him, what remained of his body limp against her. Then, he began to move. Holding her breath, she closed her eyes and turned her head, exposing as much of her neck to him as possible.
She inhaled through her teeth at the sharp pain that momentarily spiked near the base of her neck. The rest happened far quicker than she would have expected. Whether her stomach churned and heart rate quickened more from terror or blood loss, she could not say. As the edges of her vision blurred, she reached up to pry him lose and push him away, but her arms felt heavy, and the park around her was beginning to spin.
Before she could so much as place a weak hand on him, her chest heaving with short, panicky gasps, her world went black.

* * *

Izzy groaned as consciousness slowly returned, the night a blurry memory, a dull headache lingering from a dream within a dream and an uncomfortable sleeping position. Until she realized that it was not the comfort of her bed beneath her, but a hard, rough floor.
Inhaling sharply, Izzy’s eyes snapped open. It had not been a dream. And, at least, she was still alive. But where was she?
She looked around from where she laid, taking in the rundown place, before she realized where she must be. After all, there were not very many abandoned schools in the area. Her clothes felt stiff, the fabric stained with dried blood where Cerasus had leaned. She groaned again and tried to sit up, to feel where the vampire had drained her, but she found her arm trapped within the grasp of an oddly dressed child, his weight preventing her from getting up.
She instinctively tried to pull her arm away, but he had stirred and gripped her arm tighter.
What in the world?
“Hey,” she said, rolling onto her side and tentatively nudging the boy with her free arm. “Wake up. Please wake up.”

[Dead Cruiser]

Whoever, this boy was, he apparently did not want his sleep to be disturbed. "Said, five more minutes." He murmured again, with a somewhat annoyed tone. He released Izzy's arm, rolling onto his side to face away from her. "Maybe five more years..." He muttered again, before falling back asleep.

Now released from the child's grasp, Izzy was able to take in more of her surroundings. Judging by what remained of the signage, she was on the school's second floor, in what was probably at one point a classroom. Her watch said that it was about six o'clock, but with all of the windows boarded up, she didn't know if it was AM or PM. In fact, she didn't even know what day it was. It was worth questioning how she was able to so clearly see the face of her watch, when there didn't seem to be a single source of light in the room. And why did her mouth hurt so much? Too many questions, and nobody to answer them.

[Riven Wight]

With her arm freed, Izzy pulled it to her and flexed her hand. Casting a quick glance around to be sure there were no immediate threats, she sat up, her knees bent in front of her, and rubbed her jaw, hoping to alleviate the ache in her mouth. Had she hit it, or something? For all she knew, she could have. She let out a slow breath as the cloudiness of sleep fogging her head slowly diminished.
She took a better look around the room, taking in the faded, peeling posters that had been left up, forgotten, and a chalkboard at the front of the room, a large crack cutting it almost in half. She tried to find a source of light, but there was none, making her brows furrow in confusion as she added the question of how she could see the room in the first place to her quickly growing list.
Turning her attention to the boarded-up windows, it dawned on her that she had no idea how long she had been out for. She reached into her pocket, hoping beyond hope she still had her phone--the device she always used to keep the time. She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt its familiar form.
She quickly pulled it out to check the time. When the screen lit up, she flinched and blinked at its sudden brightness, then nearly dropped it; the lock screen displayed 6:04 PM, Saturday, June 18th.
“Three days?” she hissed, panic blooming in her chest. She had been unconscious for three days? Her parents must be worried sick!
Unlocking her phone, she found multiple missed calls and text messages from them, each increasing in worry. She hastily called her mother’s number back, and placed it to her ear. It rang a couple times, the ring jerky as it struggled to maintain a connection.
“Hello?” she said when the ringing stopped, but she received only a garbled mess from the other end. “Hello!”
The telltale beep of the call disconnecting rang loud in the silence of the room.
Izzy took a deep breath, trying to keep her growing panic at bay. She needed to get somewhere she could get a better signal. To get out of the school.
With the sleeping child offering no help, she got slowly to her feet. She looked to the child. Not wanting to leave him behind in case he was just as ill-informed as her, she decided she would make sure it was safe, find an exit while he slept, and come back for him.
“I’ll be back,” she told him. Without waiting for a response, she headed to the door.

[Dead Cruiser]

The school's layout was simple enough; Izzy found an exit quickly and easily. The glass doors at the front of the school had been chained shut, presumable to prevent squatters such as herself, but the lock seemed to have been broken by... something. Regardless, she could see the daylight of the late afternoon, and the gentle bustle of unkempt grass just outside the door. She pushed her way past the rusty door with a little effort, and out into the sunlight.

Whereupon Izzy promptly burst into flames. Fire engulfed her, and a debilitating agony unlike anything she had ever known consumed her. Izzy dropped to her knees, looking at her hands as she watched her skin melt away, revealing the muscle and bone underneath. Her mind was filled completely by the pain of immolation, but for some reason, a single thought rose up sharply and clearly over it. Of course, sunlight is the natural enemy of vampires. Where did it come from? Why was she thinking this? It felt alien to her, as though it was not a thought of her own mind.

She was moving, she suddenly realized. She was receding back into the school, being dragged by the collar of her shirt back indoors. She craned her head around to look, and saw the young boy dragging her with all of his effort. He, too, was engulfed in flames, but he seemed too preoccupied with moving Izzy to notice. He was not any stronger than a boy his age should have been, so it took some time, but they eventually returned to the blessed shade of the school building.

The moment they were indoors, the flames vanished, as if by magic. Izzy looked at her hands. Skin, nails, even hair, all still there, without so much as a blister to show for it. Not even her clothes were damaged, beyond the bloodstains that had appeared on them three nights ago. The boy, just like her, seemed none the worse for wear despite being set on fire, and just as well his uniform was undamaged as well. The boy was giving Izzy a distinctly annoyed look, as though he was about to scold a misbehaving child. The way he looked at her, with his big golden eyes, seemed familiar for some reason.

"Stupid girl," ah, there was the scolding, "I take my eyes off you for one second, and you go running into daylight. Do you have a deathwish? Honestly, if you were any less than my kin you would have evaporated in a second."

[Riven Wight]

When the searing pain disappeared in the shade as quickly as it had begun, Izzy stayed on the floor, propped up by her elbows. Though her body held no burns, her mind was still a step behind it. She stared, horrified, out at the evening sunlight beyond the crack in the door.
She tried to say something, but only unintelligible sounds escaped her mouth. Momentarily forgetting about the child, the sound of his voice startled her, and she scrambled a couple feet away, looking at him with wide eyes.
She stared at him a moment when he finished, unable to speak, her mind reeling. She took in the familiarity of his golden gaze.
“C-Cerasus?” she asked uncertainly, her voice quavering.

[Dead Cruiser]

Hearing Izzy speak, the young boy's expression softened somewhat. He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest, and looking down at Izzy's prone form with something that sat between pity and annoyance. This boy looked like he could have been Cerasus' son, or relative of some sort. It was difficult to gauge at first, due to the massive age difference. Izzy couldn't really tell how old Cerasus was when she first saw him, but she could probably place him at being around, oh, twenty-seven or so. And this boy had all of his limbs. Straight and skinny, just like a kid's, they were all there. But the blond hair, the gold eyes, the white fangs that showed when he spoke, they all hinted at who he really was.

"Yes, it's me. I'm glad you're keeping up, at least." So it was Cerasus, or at least this boy was playing along. "I'm not fond of this form, but it's necessary at the moment. Regardless of that, never go out in sunlight again. You'll be trapped between life and death until either your regeneration gives out, or the sun sets. At the very least, it'll be a living hell. For however much our kind can be said to live."

[Riven Wight]

Izzy stared at him dumbly. The child--or whatever he was--was either one good actor with the best make-up artist and special effects crew known to Hollywood, or was telling the truth. Though something deep inside her told her it was the latter, she was still rooting for a hidden camera crew to jump out and the boy to yell, “Gotchya!” and start explaining how they had simulated the flames. But, alas, none did. The hall around them remained eerily quiet save for a few creaks and groans from the weakening bones of the building.
Out of everything Cerasus said, one thing stuck out to her and rung in a loop through her mind: “our kind.”
“Our...” Izzy pulled herself slowly into a kneeling position. Suddenly, she noticed something. Rather, did not notice it. Since she woke, she had not felt the frantic beat of her heart in her chest, no matter how heightened her emotions got. “You... What did you do?” she hissed, enunciating each word slowly, her voice slightly higher than normal.

[Dead Cruiser]

"What did I do?" Cerasus echoed her question, almost sarcastically. He did not seem to appreciate Izzy's hostile tone, judging by his sour expression. It was a very queer thing to see such a young boy speak and carry himself with the bearing of a grown man. "I spared your life, is what I did. I didn't tell you this, but for me to recover fully from my wounds, I would have needed all of the blood in your body. Instead, I only took enough to save myself. That was apparently enough to turn you." Before Izzy could protest, he strode forward, staring her in the eye. As she was kneeling, he still stood slightly above her. "Don't give me that look. You offered your throat to me. You were willing to throw your life away. I let you keep it. If anything, you should be thanking me. It is an honor to be enthralled to one such as myself."

[Riven Wight]

Izzy returned his stare, his gaze bizarrely unnerving on the face of a child.
“An honor?” She gave a soft snort, refusing to admit that he had a point, or show exactly how unsettling his presence was. “Conceited, much? Did you miss the part where we can’t even go outside in daylight without becoming a bonfire?” she gestured to the door with her arm, half turning toward it. She stood and took a slight step back. "And eating people?"
She glanced back to him and shifted her weight awkwardly. She could only imagine how ridiculous she looked yelling at a child. “And why in the world are you an eight-year-old? I thought you were, I don’t know, thirty or somewhere around there.”
He said the form was "necessary"...

[Dead Cruiser]

Cerasus seemed unconcerned by Izzy's exclamations, as he turned his back on her to retreat further into the building. Still in eyeshot, he scrounged up a desk chair and lounged, crossing his legs aristocratically. "Small prices to pay," he retorted to Izzy, "To be the kings of night. You've only discovered your banes thus far, my servant. You have no idea how powerful you truly are."

She then questioned his appearance, which he was expecting, judging by the tired way he sighed and prepared himself to answer. "I can assure you I am far, far older than thirty. The disparity between my true age and my physical form is so great that the difference between the one you saw and this one is negligible." He stretched out one of his arms, examining his small, childish hand with some interest as he continued, "My power is severely lacking at the moment. This was the most I could manage with the blood available to me, and even in this form I only retain my immortality. My other abilities are beyond me currently." He looked from his hand to Izzy, staring her coolly in the eye. "For this reason, I will have great use for you over the coming nights, my servant."

[Riven Wight]

Izzy watched Cerasus with a cautious eye as he collected a chair, giving no indication she intended to follow. She simply stood there, her face a mix between anger, fear, and resentment. Killing people to survive was a “small price?”
Of course it would be, she thought bitterly, to someone--something like him.
“Powerful, huh?” she said with feigned interest. “What, can I turn into a bat?” she scoffed.
She got stuck on another word he had used. Did he really just call her his “servant?” Her stomach churned uneasily.
Regardless, she nodded stiffly at his explanation. It made sense, and that he was actually far older than he looked came as no surprise. That was one of the commonalities between all the lore she had ever heard or read.
Then, there was that word again, servant. It made her blood boil.
Her fists clenched at his last statement. “I am not your servant,” she growled, her gaze hardening. “And you, you arrogant wretch, are certainly not my master.”

[Dead Cruiser]

Izzy's refutation of servitude struck a certain chord with Cerasus. However, he didn't get pissy and aggravated by it, as seemed to be his usual reaction. Rather, he laughed at the notion. It was an incredibly disconcerting thing, as this was the first time Izzy had heard him laugh. It was, in a word, gruesome. Like the bark of a hyena, or the call of some predatory bird. It resounded from the empty walls of the abandoned school, making it seem as though the sound was coming from all around Izzy.

"Don't be ridiculous," he said after he had finished laughing. "You are my servant, and I am your master. This basic premise is the foundation of all of vampire kind, the underpinning of our very race. Under normal circumstances, I would strip the skin from you for speaking to me in such an insubordinate manner. I should not even tolerate being addressed as an equal by a newborn like yourself." The cruel mirth that possessed his face a moment ago faded, but he still carried a calm, almost amicable expression. "However, I have not forgotten that you saved my life, and for that I owe you a certain measure of leniency." He seemed to sober a bit more, his mood winding down into what almost seemed like a melancholy. "I will have to rely on you, going forward. I am at my weakest, and I will have need of you. Very soon, in fact."

[Riven Wight]

Izzy inhaled at the harrowing laughter that came from the childlike form and seemed to wrap around her, as if trying to create a cage that would hold her even after the sun set. Though she knew where it originated from, she could not help but turn her head to follow a couple of the echoes as they bounced off the walls beside her, and ducking slightly as a few louder peals of laughter rang maliciously in her ears.
She snarled as he began speaking, a retort rolling around on her tongue, until he spoke of punishment. She snapped her mouth shut and stepped back. If it still could, she suspected the blood would have drained from her face, and fear flickered in her eyes. It was a cruel reminder that she had no idea what he was capable of, what powers it was he possessed. For all she knew, the lack of strength he had shown outside could have been nothing but another side effect of the sun. And he had had an indefinite number of years to hone his abilities.
She quite suddenly and utterly regretted saving him. As boring and monotonous as her hometown was, as much as she had wanted something exciting to happen, this, being prisoner to the night and servant to a monster, was not what she had had in mind.
But, as he stated being at his weakest, a glimmer of mutiny flashed over her features. Perhaps there was still some way out.
“Meaning?” she growled out softly when he finished, trying to hide her thoughts behind a stoic mask.

[Dead Cruiser]

Cerasus leaned on one arm of his chair, holding his head in his hand as he studied her. Izzy seemed... not subservient, but at the very least placated for the moment. His eyes wandered about the room, as he seemed to mull over exactly what to say to Izzy. Eventually, he sighed, seemingly resigning himself to something. Cerasus seemed almost... embarrassed, as though this was a sore topic for him.

"The vampire hunters I mentioned... They will need to be dealt with. Quickly. Tonight, if possible. I will need you to do this."

[Riven Wight]

Not wanting to hold his gaze any longer for fear of betraying herself, Izzy looked to the floor between them, her jaw clenched. Her usual ponytail hung loosely at the nape of her neck, and more hair than normal fell around her face. The fleeting thought that she probably looked like she had fallen off a cliff crossed her mind for a short moment. However, when Cerasus took his sweet time answering, she could not help but look back to him. Something about seeing even a hint of embarrassment on him, something that wiped away his pride, gave Izzy a small brush of satisfaction, a corner of her lips twitching upward.
But the feeling did not last long.
“Dealt with?” Disgust twisted her face, sure she knew what he meant by those two simple words. But still, she asked. “And by that, you mean...?”

[Dead Cruiser]

Noticing Izzy's knee-jerk reaction to his choice of words, Cerasus waved his hand dismissively as he replied, "Defeated. Unable to interfere. This will be your doing, so I leave the specifics up to you. It's really not important." He straightened out in his seat and once again locked eyes with Izzy to convey the seriousness of what he was about to say. "You remember my lack of limbs at our first meeting, yes? Difficult to forget. The fact is that they were not merely removed, but stolen. A great deal of my power was taken along with them. This is the most important matter: I need you to return my limbs to me."

[Riven Wight]

Izzy eyed him as he rephrased his order. “Meaning you want them dead,” she said flatly. “Or close to it.”
Izzy shuddered at the reminder of his condition when she had first found him. Of that, she was sure she would have nightmares of for years to come... if vampires even had dreams. At least, if they did not, that would be one thing the race had going for them.
When Cerasus finished with his orders, Izzy stared at him, mouth agape. “They what now? You want me to hunt down your missing limbs?” Things just kept getting weirder and weirder. But a morbid curiosity had befallen her. “And where the freak would I find those? Because I highly doubt they’d be kept in the freezer of the local meat market.”