brown fox jumps

Her breathing is uneven and tearing sounds as fabric becomes to constricting on a body not made for them. The last threads of humanity slip away, the last thing she understands is the woman screaming and a fleshy, grotesque creature stalking from the blood strewn office, and then black.

The room gets brighter, the wolf crouching and bristling as it growls in warning at the approaching grimy little things. Blood, it smells blood. And meat and there is a heart racing and a prey creature wailing.

Food, it's time to feast.

With a lunge its jaws snap around the first little meat thing that comes at it, listening as it cries out as it crunches. The wolf shakes it as it crunches harder. It tastes bad and so Zoë flings it away, set on going after the big meat thing that still cries in its fear. And then there is a sting, sharp little teeth sinking into her and she near roars.

Enemy. Bad. Kill.

The wolf uses its size, power, and strength. Ripping through pixie after pixie. The little things shrieking and finally trying to get away. But they are no match for a beast on the hunt. The swarm falls easily enough, the only ones left of them crawling from holes they create in the flesh beneath the screaming thing.

Paws are near silent save for the clicking of claws as the wolf starts stalking towards the thing with the rabbit heart, fur matted in blood and little bits of matter. Its head is low, eyes fixed.

In a lot of ways, as she beats off a screaming, animated corpse full of terrible, tiny little goblin creatures while a well-dressed young woman bursts out of her designer clothes and into the shape of a hairy, white-furred beast, Sadie Easton wishes she herself could go back into that mode of life - the innocent era where her biggest problems were a disintegrating marriage, a burgeoning crisis about sexuality, and trying to find the right food for a class turtle that really had just turned into her turtle.

But no. She doesn't get that. She's fucking a vampire behind her boring, misogynist husband's back. Demon-fairies are attacking her from inside a dead man. There is a giant white wolf growling at her. All these and on her period, too.

The saggy dead body lurches on the ground as Sadie crawls herself backwards and unfortunately into a corner as the monster (the big white hairy one, not the lingering half-dozen tiny, chittering ones) mops up the mess, and Sadie wonders if werewolves are really real and if she's about to die or become one.

"Oh, good doggy - be a good doggy? Sit? Sit... Uh.. sit!"

What else do you tell a dog? She winces when it growls. And then it sort of snaps in her, a sort of burst of pressure, like an ice-pick between her eyes, and the desk shed cornered herself into is in front of her, instead of behind her - like she'd plucked it out of some sort of ideal dream scenario and simply willed it into being - a what if made what is.

"Never mind, I just thought there was a possibility you would be useful. Clearly it was just wishful thinking." She grunts out the last words through a wave of pain. She's having trouble focusing as bones bend and break against the sheep's clothing she wears, but she catches the motion, the question and scoffs in irritation.

"A dead body, clearly." She knows she is being rude and unhelpful herself, but everything hurts and she is admittedly fucking scared. The woman who is gaining her misplaced ire gets closer to the open entrance of the dark room, and she shifts to follow, to discover the sound, but her ankle nearly gives out and she braces herself in place.

The light from the flashlight glints off and iridescent wing though and she nearly growls under her breath, she isn't sure what it is exactly. But she knows it means danger. When the woman speaks to her again, both eyes are now a bright amber and she gives a shake of her head.

" No, but if you have sense you'll get your hand out of there and close the door before whatever those fuckers are come searching for more than they have already."

Is... she one of those things outside? Sadie backs against the wall. "S... stay bac-"

And then, like a wave, there's a roar as the creatures inside begin to fight and wrestle over the bounty in the dead man's mouth. Some of them crawl inside, deeper. Because teeth, while delicious, are not all they crave. The body begins to move and shiver and shake as they rip through his insides, inadvertently puppeteering his limps as they cut through meet to find delicious, gnaw-worthy bone.

The others blast off of him, shooting towards the open door and spilling out of the office into the lobby. Sadie screams as they go for the dead man prone on the floor. She falls into a corner, covering her face as she screams and they little creatures fill the room. Half of them go for the corpse, the other half seem to set there eyes on the golden-eyed girl.

At first, Sadie thinks she's safe, before the corpse of their fellow survive, full of the tiny bone-digging creatures, slouches its head around the corner and falls on top of her. Sadie panics, screams and with the help of adrenaline, throws the sagging bag of flesh and eroding bone off of her. When it starts to rise again, instinct takes over and, having not stopped screaming, she nearly breaks her hand on what's left of his jaw.

She can't help as she's swept into this building by panic stenched humans, but to wonder where Felicity is. If she is safe. If she feels this pain beneath her skin the same as she can. The scared girl who had always looked for her older sister fearful now that she'll never find her again. The door is barred by men, the creatures banging for entrance before all goes quiet. The horror of the situation has her nose burning with the stink of their emotions heavy in the air, and she hopes it's subtle when she spits a tooth off to the side, fang already taking its place. How they don't know another threat is amongst them. She's trying to stay calm, off to the side and focusing on her breathing. Sending out a silent apology to the family she's turned away.

A woman's voice cuts her from her thoughts and she looks over to her. She's scared, understandably, but below the scent is something floral. Witch. Perhaps they aren't in a helpless situation after all. She keeps her head turned slightly to hide the bestial canines that have broken through gums.

And then the sound hits her ears, a thrumming hum that almost sounds like a high pitched bell jingling in the dark of the room behind them. Sadie, shaking, moves to the door inch by frightened inch, and peers into the dim room. The other man lies against the wall, a curtain of shimmering wings flitting on his face. Sadie fumbles with the flashlight on her phone and pushes it into the room, to light things up more fully. One of the tiny creatures folds its wings and turns back to her, chewing on a bloody tooth like an apple. Another follows it. And then another. And another.

She eats, surprised at the flavor still. Viktoria doesn't eat, often taking to her younger sister's habits of only sustaining herself through the vein. Blood bags are even looked down on in the Lomidze household. After being alive so long, why would any of them want to take shortcuts?

She glances up again when next Viktoria speaks, and at first, she can only nod, warmly, but quietly.

"It's been-" she stops for a second, before going again. "It's been nice."

Has it? Viktoria terrifies her in some ways, exhilarates her in others. Every moment together is weirdly dreamlike and hard to believe. That feeling persists when she leaves, waking up into the cold dark of her actual life.

"I'm glad though. You've... been really good to me."

Insane, considering. She believes what she's saying but it still comes with an inner guilt all the same.

The feeling does ebb away though and she relaxes a bit, smiling at the sight of Pumpkin getting so much attention. The cat needs and deserves it. If her mother wasn't allergic she would have brought it home. Maybe when she escapes, for now having the cats here is plenty enough.

"Ohh college professor," she says. "I taught High School for a couple years but, you know - it's like Gerard Way said, you know?"

Does that date her? Oh, God that probably really dates her.

She can still feel her own mood eking out of herself and tries to grasp at it and bring it closer. God, she doesn't need another incident like the bookstore. Her stomach sours at the mere thought of the place and she almost misses the woman's question.

She takes to petting on of them instead, a curled finger scratching the cat on the underside of it's chin, for which it seems very grateful. "I'll definitely keep my eye out, or ear." Another smile - this one less forced and more real.

Sadie soon finishes plating the food, and a lot of the food itself is not something she would have eaten as a human - too much color and spice. When she was human, only the truly wealthy could afford something with the variety of things put into this dish. She reaches out for Sadie's hand, holding it over the plate.

"Needs a final touch, my love." She presses a sharp thumbnail into the palm of Sadie's hand, dripping red over the curry, peppers, and salmon. She presses a kiss to the small wound once she's done, flicking her tongue over it like she might have done elsewhere in nights previous. Then another kiss to her knuckles.

When was the last time she'd tried real food? Hard to say.

She watches her blood trickle a red dapple onto the plate, like she's dribbling sauce onto a steak. It makes her stomach curl. She can't help the flush on her cheeks when the Vampire kisses the wound, either, nor how it deepens at the second.

There is faint hints of irritation in the air, and Ash really isn't sure if it is from herself or the other. She notices the glance outside to a car parked, sees a person sitting in it and can't help but give a soft snort of annoyance. "Incapable of walking in and getting their own order?" She says before thinking, inhaling slowly as she taps and presses the espresso.

She can feel it kneading at the wool of her coat-collar and then can't help but snicker at the feeling of a white nose sniffing at her earring. She reaches blindly backwards to offer a few scritching fingers before, indignant at being acknowledged, the feline jumps to the floor, and Sadie resumes tentative attentions to it before the counter girl speaks up again.

"Just... keeping the car running," she excuses him. Even if it could easily be him in here getting coffee and her driving the car. "Appreciate it," she offers. "Um, no, you don't have to warm them up," she says with another smile - and then, "Oh, aren't you sweet." She says. "No need though."

She's still absently petting the cat when she feels something roll down the back of her neck - some strange sensation she's never felt before. It gives her a second's pause before she dismisses it as nerves or frustration from this morning's arguments. A few other cats are assembled around the place, and she scans them, breaking the quiet. "D'you guys just adopt these lil guys or..."

A woman who prefers to stay at home, clean, cook is something that fascinates her. What about those activities makes fulfills her, what about them makes her satisfied? Sadie is right, though, she could never be in that position. She is the fun one - maybe. Viktoria would, of course, give that label over to her younger sister, but perhaps if compared to the human standing in front of her..

She offers a laugh and bends down - capturing Sadie's lips in her own. Just a quick thing. "I adore that you find joy in the slower aspects of life." Maybe once upon a time, it would have appealed to her, too. Time truly feels relative to her, at the end of the day.

She looks away, cheeks flushed, and at the recommendation, Sadie looks up, and though her expression twists at the mention of blood, its all cradled in a smile.

—

She'd felt a little odd, rummaging through a pantry as big as the one in this house. The food's all fresh though; probably thanks to the seemingly invisible staff that keep the place up and running. It's an endeavor, and she feels herself continue her bashful blushing while Viktoria tends her. Sadie makes a quick thing of lentil curry to put over rice, and some salmon patties, and then finally a set of stuffed peppers - easy things - even if the peppers take the longest; they get to bask in the smell and warmth of a kitchen doing what it does best.

She's irritated, has been irritated. Snappish, not holding back the thoughts that cross her mind. She's irritated with her mother, Autumn, that fucking guy from Bookends, her professors. Mainly herself. Autumn's laughter and incredulity. Her words still ring through her mind. She was right. Whatever that lingering thing was had been stupid. And she had been fucked up for not putting a stop to her thoughts in the first place. She takes a deep breath, doing her best to tug the cafe door open. Why they were even open when the weather was this shitty, when there was no escape from this city is beyond her. But she's the assistant manager and what feels like the only person willing to work.

Anything to get out of the house. Anything to get away from her mother, especially after a particularly heated argument where she had asked her why the older woman hated her so much. She wasn't prepared for the answer, something she knew she never would be. Something she's been hiding in her mind from, a smile, a constant attempt with. As she enters the cafe she lets herself relax. The smell of coff7ee and a soft mewling from Biscotti calming her ever so slightly as she closes the door behind her.

Nobody else there, she offers a pleasant smile, chasing that pointless frustration off. "I'd like uhhh a mochaspresso, two creams, two sugars, medium?" She lets her glance fall back to the entrance, through the empty lot, where Jordan waits in the car.

It is the weather, surely.

"Not too married to the boardgame," she says, head down, almost immediately regretting the phrasing. "I'm never any good at that kind of strategy."

She sits there, hands in Viktoria's, and she shakes her head, forcing her to look at the other woman. "I'm... boring, Vik - I like.. gardening, reading on a back porch. Stuff that's... you know... a little lonely, I suppose. Never been much for games, never really been a drinker. Most of her life has been much of what it is now - go to work, come home to do work, go to sleep. "- not to mention a little hard to do right now," she says with a tip of her head towards the cold outdoors.

Her words make her lips twitch downwards, and she leans in close to press a gentle kiss to her temple. Does the husband see the marks on her skin she leaves? Or does he simply not see them? She knows better than to try something tonight, when she returns to him on the morrow. Instead, she'll give her affection that she deserves and must not receive elsewhere.

"I am sorry, sweet girl." The key word she'd uttered is supposed to be. Viktoria knows that she belongs elsewhere, in this world of monsters and magic, but the poor girl can't see it for herself. She cups her face and pulls her attention to her, stroking a slender thumb along the apple of her cheek. "You will always have a place here, with me, and my silly books and video games." A bit of humor, and she smiles to show it.

Sadie's eyes look over Viktoria's face, along Viktoria's cheek, the trace of her gaze following the trail of where the Vampire's thumb slides along her own. Viktoria asks her to stay - stay a little longer.

A wave a guilt wraps her up with the question. She'd prided herself for years on being the one who didn't do this. Who had stuck it out.

"I shouldn't-" she murmurs. She shouldn't but it's not like she doesn't have the perfectly acceptable excuse. Does Jordan suspect, she wonders? That there's anything more than a hen's friendship between her and Viktoria Lomidze?

She moves over to the warm cup of tea, and places it in front of her, pulling the books away, shutting them. "Drink, love." She murmurs, holding her hands out to the fire before draping them over her shoulders, rubbing at the tension she finds there.

She keeps him out of her talks with Viktoria, but it's never been a secret, and Viktoria's been in her home, seen pictures of them pretending their happiness.

But with him back from his business trip abroad, it's come back around to her feeling like the monster between the two of them. Staying with a friend, that's how she'd characterized her time with Viktoria to her husband, and with their house still under repair, they were living out of a hotel, save for when business took him out of town, which led to moments like this, where the Eastons' hotel room laid empty and Sadie haunted these halls with wandering thoughts.

Sadie can't help but sag under the firmness in Viktoria's fingers, reaching for the teacup and sipping at it, letting it warm her chest the way the blanket warms her shoulders.

She looks up to Viktoria, and marvels briefly at how the light catches her. She knows so little about her, but she does know that the way low lighting casts shadows on her finger makes her think of heroines from some of her favorite classical literature. "I feel really... adrift," she finally gets it out. "Like I don't belong any of the places I'm supposed to be in."

It's a really broad and vague confession, but it's true. They'd slept together - she'd slept with Viktoria. She was no better than Jordan - worse actually. Her patience with school is failing. Her patience with Jordan is failing. Shit teacher, shit wife, shit lover.

Sadie wakes, though, and she stops to give her a bit of attention first. One cursed thing about this existence is being unable to hold her and warm her herself. Instead of making it worse, she keeps her touch feather-light and adjusts the blanket around her shoulders once more and brushes some of her hair back.

Sadie cranes her head to see the built fire and it's flames flicker in her eyes. Fireplaces are so cozy and safe; she'd loved theirs back home, and wishes for all its quaintness that the new house had one as well, but with her husband out of town so often, she's practically living here anyways, so she'll enjoy it.