#ccitytask008

[Solo] — Parabellum (Iliad interlude)

Baelfire wasn’t sure how to react to the alert. The first thing he did was make sure the vamp wasn’t about to seal him inside the house like the last time. But just to be safe, he sat outside– he’d still be close enough to make it look like he could be sealed in, but really he was just ready to bolt out if the asshole tried that again. He sighed heavily– another war. Then again, was he really THAT surprised? He’d known the last time that it wouldn’t be over. Not with what Leo had been implying.

Suddenly, he squeezed his chest and felt something like a vertigo. “No…” He knew this couldn’t be good– his sixth sense was going fucking crazy and that could only mean one thing… shit was about to go down and not in a fucking good way at all. He texted the vamp saying that they needed to talk. Leo was used to it now, but for Baelfire to say they NEEDED to talk, it meant someone really bad was about to happen. And worse, it felt like no matter what the vamp would do, there would be nothing to prevent what was about to happen.

He shivered, head snapping all around cause it felt like someone or something had been breathing down his neck. Baelfire could deal with anything happening to his own ass, but Leo couldn’t handle it. And fuck did it felt like the world was about to swallow him whole. And for once in his life, he couldn’t calm himself with determination cause he was fucking terrified. And he left, running as fast as he could to be with the guard. He needed to be with Leo, to hold on to him and hope that they wouldn’t be separated during the upcoming war.

The gates closed and people panicked. Everyone around him seemed to be running and Ewan watched the worry and fear in faces as they passed. He’d seen sights like this before, and new war was coming, real war. It wasn’t the first time he’d fought, this city had its shares of attacks and civil wars over the years, but Ewan had never really had anything to lose before. 

He headed home, hoping it would be the place they’d all go. Safety, security, familiarity and each other. He smiled as he went in the gates, but it faded the more he thought about his housemates. Last time this happened, Maximus went all evil and robotic, Martie didn’t cope very well, and he felt like shit searching for someone who didn’t want or need his help. This time he’d have to be the rock, he couldn’t garuntee that Maximus wouldn’t go walk about again, so he’d either have to barricade the doors with Martie and Maximus inside, or focus on the other Omega and trust that Maximus really could look after himself. Whatever happens, he knew he would have to try not to worry if Maximus had a blackout.

Maximus was brought out of his blackout by people panicking around him. He checked the time, seeing that he’d been out of it for almost five hours, but also the alert sent to his phone by the Dominion. He messaged both Ewan and Martie, making sure they were okay and not in immediate danger. He had so much more than himself to protect this time around. Luckily for him, his house couldn’t be reached by the ocean (the cliff was too high to climb and the waves crashing on the rocks below would kill just about anyone human). He just hoped he wouldn’t black out this time, but he had a feeling he still would.

His house was much safer than the apartment downtown because it was far away from most of the action. He would have to sit down with the two omegas, talking about the eventuality that he’d disappeared on them. But also for for them not to do anything heroic (or just stupid).

What the beta didn’t know, was that not only did Martie and Ewan had a better idea than him of what was happening during his blackouts, but he’d also already been briefed about the situation by the Alpha and a microchip had been inserted in his ear so that he could be awakened at any time. Of course, when things would settle down, the chip would be removed before it could be discovered by Maximus (when he wasn’t awakened).

When the news hit Natalie was more stunned by anything else. She knew she wouldn’t have left any time soon as it stood, she had already tried that and things wound up being an entire mess because of her replaced memories of leaving all that time on her own. Her job was gone, her family couldn’t understand, and she had lost everything. But, there was something about being told you couldn’t leave, seeing the entire city lock down and knowing that you were trapped. It didn’t make her want to break out, but it did make her stir crazy as she knew she was now trapped in here with the rest of the city. 

The hunters outside though... that was another story. There were rumors floating around that some of them were living amongst them, hiding in plain sight. But, what Natalie didn’t know is how they felt about the humans already living here. Some of them had come willingly, but some had been kidnapped and sold into the slavery that had previously existed. Sure, they could have left the city as soon as the slavery was lifted and it could be argued that the humans left here were the ones who fully supported the city and the other supernatural beings. But, Natalie knew it was more complicated than that. Her own reason for being here was because the city had ruined her previous life, she couldn’t return to it and really the only viable option had forced her to return here. She knew there were a lot of other humans like herself in the city, they had been taken here for slavery against their will, but the freedom of slavery being abolished had not really given them any real freedom from the city, just a false hope. Did the hunters want to destroy them too? 

Probably. 

Sadly, Natalie remembered all too well the previous attack on the city. The supernatural civilians had turned against the humans, some of them even torturing them for information they thought they held about the locations of the hidden hunters. The hunters had set the hybrids on the city and it was a miracle that Natalie hadn’t gotten more hurt than she had. No, the hunters clearly didn’t care about the safety of the humans in the city. Slowly it dawned on her that she wasn’t just trapped in this city, she was in real danger. Any attack on the city she wouldn’t be able to defend herself on, she was a weak human with no strength. The city had proven with the previous attack that humans were easily turned on, and the hunters didn’t care for them. Natalie felt her stomach drop as the fear of the reality set in. Was she going to die in this city during the next attack? She had no protection and neither side cared too much for her well being. 

Melanie is tired.

The last invasion was not so long ago, merely months. She still wakes up, from time to time, reaching for her neck, breath agasp in the darkness of night, forcing her mind to keep those banish those ghosts deep into the nothing.

How long? She wonders silently, as she once more packs her silver reservoirs to be sent into the vaults of The Dominion. Hunter claims to cleanse the Earth of the monsters of Covaire, the protectors of ignorant humanity. Yet Melanie only sees monsters in the Hunters themselves,, cruelty bearing the mask self-righteousness and justification. How more of her fellow citizens must die? How longer she must try to defend herself, left almost half dead? After so long, she would have believed half-dead isn’t as bad as dead, yet she never quite come to an understanding of the pain of clinging to life. Every nerve set alight in agony as she refuses to die by the sheer virtue of stubbornness

Maybe if she was more coward, caring only about her own well being and survival, hiding into the depth of her home until the storm passes. Melanie does consider before letting the idea go. Her home has been breached before, by Hunter who considers a much worse sin to those who live among monsters. And no matter the pain, the bitterness and fear, Covaire is her home. The city of blood and sin is lodge deep into her veins, her whole being. Leopold Kennedy made her realize, while she appreciates it, she also in the same breath hates him a little for it.

Date: December 21st, 2019 - January ????, 2020

Darkness swallows his sight. Explosions of color doting his vision. The sound of breathing came from far away, echoing and muffled at once as if it had to travel through a long tunnel before reaching his ears. His heartbeat slow and laborious, and the rush of blood pounded against his ears with the breathing so that the words of this person, this whoever-had-been-assigned-to-him-today, were a nonentity. Israel was aware of lips moving but not the words that left them. Was he... was he dying? In the back of his mind he silently hoped so. From under the blankets he hears the TV come to life. The words not registering for a few moments as his mind drifts. As far as he knows the world has stopped moving beyond these sterile walls. Blank hazel eyes rimmed with dark circles, staring blankly out at the IV next to his bed. He hasn’t seen or talked to anyone aside from the guards. Not that he has much to say anymore. His scrambled brain working through the thick fog clouding his thoughts. He shifts his restrained body the best he can to look at the guards. They’re muttering amongst themselves in low tones, his brain struggling to figure out their words as they watch the television. Following their gaze he looks to the scrolling headline. W-A-R? He blinks. What does that mean? Making a shaking hand he knocks over the cup of ice, dark eyes watching it fall to the floor. The guards look to the knocked over cup with a frown then look to the prisoner. Ignoring their jabs he juts his head at the tv. A grim look crosses their faces and suddenly he wonders if he should have asked. 

    Effy was already gone when she’d woken up, but the house was anything but quiet. Despite Sarah turning the television off, the house still screamed through it’s silence. A WAR. A war with hunters. To be such a renowned bitch, the only thing she felt... was fear. Sarah was terrified. Her mind immediately flashed back to her abduction, to her time with a group of hunters. Her entire body tensed and a chill rushed over her skin. It was all so real...

     ‘We just want to give a little message, that’s all, sugar.’

     She was kept naked in a freezing cold room, bolted to a chair placed right under a broken sprinkler so that it had a constant link. “Do it.” They’d wanted information on Effy. She refused. It’d been two days since she was taken, and she still refused. The hunter leaned his head down, close to her ear. ‘Do you want to die?’ His question burned on her ear for under a second before she snapped her head, and her teeth to the side — catching just the skin of his cheek. He jerked back, and she spit the blood on the ground.

         “DO IT!”

         But they’d decided against killing her. Sarah spent weeks in their ‘care’, enduring torture day in and day out. They took turns, and they took their time. She was so exhausted that she found herself wishing for death. Surely, that would have been better. No more cold, no more pain, no more blood... She would never give up anything on Effy. She was loyal to the last of her breaths, and so their objective had change...

        ‘Do you want to die?’

           Sarah felt her eyes begin to burn with the possibility of tears. If anyone HATED a hunter, it was Sarah... She’d gone toe to toe with them before. But after everything, if anyone was scared of a hunter, it was Sarah. And now they were going into the war of wars with them. The wolf rushed down the stairs. She didn’t know where, but she had to find Effy. Sarah snatched her keys from the holder by the door, but once the door swung open, her eyes settled on the little blonde vampire that she knew and loved.