Ren woke slowly. Stiff, and very confused, and surrounded by a dozen rats. That wasn't the confusing part; that was actually very standard. She was... indoors. Sun was coming in boarded-up windows, shifting between cracks.
The church.
The creature!
She saw it, squatting nearby, staring at her. It wasn't moving. After a few moments of not moving herself, she realized it wasn't going to.
It was stone.
Mystified, she sat up the rest of the way and crawled over to it, cautious. Yes, that was... that was stone. He was stone. He looked like a... what did they call them? Gargoyles? Grotesques? Chimeras? The stone creatures on old cathedrals, though she'd never seen one that looked quite like this. The mental image she had in her head was smaller, more animalistic. But the bat wings, yes, that made it seem possible.
She was pulling on very old, very vague memories here, things she had learned in a brightly decorated room in a house mostly scarce of bright things.
Her tutor, Précepteur. She'd read something, once, or just absorbed it through general cultural osmosis... or, maybe something from a book? There had been so many books, because Noah liked seeing her read.
"It's a clever girl that can read without being taught," he'd said. It had counted as praise, to her.
But she was getting sidetracked. There were legends, weren't there? Of grotesques coming to life? He was very much not alive right now, but it was clearly him. He was even still splattered in blood.
...Blood.
Shit.
The dead bodies.
Ren spent far, far too much of her time in this goddamn town running in fucking mortal terror.
First night? Running from traffickers. Second night? Running from traffickers who were trying to kill her. Third night? She'd actually fucking slept for once, and after tonight, after her nice day, she'd thought she'd have a nice evening, a nice night, and wake up tomorrow to face the day and eat a lot of bread and apples.
But no.
No, because this was a horrifying goddamn town full of horrifying goddamn monsters. Were there even any humans here?! Was she the only fucking one?!
She'd been attacked. In the classic sense, in the mua-ha-ha, now-I'll-have-my-way-with-you sense. It was hardly the first time, but as it turned out, humans didn't menace as well as vampires. Vampires menaced very well. They were also very strong. And showed themselves very willing to kill rats. And she'd probably be dead, horribly, or dying, right now, if it hadn't been for a very timely rescue from a guardian angel.
Who may have been, for all Ren knew, an actual guardian angel. Because Ruka sure as fuck wasn't goddamn human. Nothing in this town was goddamn human. It was just a series of horrible monsters.
She was going to the place with the horrible monster she knew. The horrible monster that ate cake and frosting and worried about her injuries and curled her up in his wings like he would never let anything hurt her. The monster that she knew wanted something from her, something often painful but sometimes good. That was reassuring, the way how Jean wanting things from her was reassuring. Now that she knew Ruka wasn't human, she was more sure than ever that they wanted something. But what? She didn't know. She wasn't going to stick around and find out.
Rather than go in the same window, she climbed onto the roof of the cathedral. There was a tower up there, a clock tower with open sides. She clambered in there, just to get out of the elements, somewhere safe. She scrambled down into the darkness. She found a corner, and curled up in it, shaking violently.
Her clothes were still torn. She was wearing half a hoodie and the shredded remains of a shirt and bra. Her pants were lost entirely; she'd kicked them of as she ran so they wouldn't trip her. She still had her backpack, because she'd had the presence of mind to grab it. She crammed the book she still held back into it, hands shaking violently.
Her neck hurt where it had been torn into. She should... she should do something about that. Trembling hands dug through her bag for the leftover bandages, ones she'd been using on her leg. She found the wound on her neck, two sharp tears pouring blood. She wrapped the bandage around, tight enough to stop the flow of blood, she hoped. Loose enough she could still breathe, though she couldn't breathe, not really, air didn't feel like it was reaching her lungs.
She was crying. She was shaking. She was covered in blood. Rats began to trickle in, ones that had already started to infest the cathedral, scrambling through walls and in windows to get to her, slowly, one at a time. Phoebe and Timothy and a few others poked their heads out of her backpack. They were scared too.
"I'm sorry," she choked out, voice shaking. "I didn't mean to get him killed, I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
They didn't seem to hold it against her at all. They knew this was part of the risk. They didn't mind. But it was still scary.
She agreed.
It was still scary.
The church.
The creature!
She saw it, squatting nearby, staring at her. It wasn't moving. After a few moments of not moving herself, she realized it wasn't going to.
It was stone.
Mystified, she sat up the rest of the way and crawled over to it, cautious. Yes, that was... that was stone. He was stone. He looked like a... what did they call them? Gargoyles? Grotesques? Chimeras? The stone creatures on old cathedrals, though she'd never seen one that looked quite like this. The mental image she had in her head was smaller, more animalistic. But the bat wings, yes, that made it seem possible.
She was pulling on very old, very vague memories here, things she had learned in a brightly decorated room in a house mostly scarce of bright things.
Her tutor, Précepteur. She'd read something, once, or just absorbed it through general cultural osmosis... or, maybe something from a book? There had been so many books, because Noah liked seeing her read.
"It's a clever girl that can read without being taught," he'd said. It had counted as praise, to her.
But she was getting sidetracked. There were legends, weren't there? Of grotesques coming to life? He was very much not alive right now, but it was clearly him. He was even still splattered in blood.
...Blood.
Shit.
The dead bodies.
Ren spent far, far too much of her time in this goddamn town running in fucking mortal terror.
First night? Running from traffickers. Second night? Running from traffickers who were trying to kill her. Third night? She'd actually fucking slept for once, and after tonight, after her nice day, she'd thought she'd have a nice evening, a nice night, and wake up tomorrow to face the day and eat a lot of bread and apples.
But no.
No, because this was a horrifying goddamn town full of horrifying goddamn monsters. Were there even any humans here?! Was she the only fucking one?!
She'd been attacked. In the classic sense, in the mua-ha-ha, now-I'll-have-my-way-with-you sense. It was hardly the first time, but as it turned out, humans didn't menace as well as vampires. Vampires menaced very well. They were also very strong. And showed themselves very willing to kill rats. And she'd probably be dead, horribly, or dying, right now, if it hadn't been for a very timely rescue from a guardian angel.
Who may have been, for all Ren knew, an actual guardian angel. Because Ruka sure as fuck wasn't goddamn human. Nothing in this town was goddamn human. It was just a series of horrible monsters.
She was going to the place with the horrible monster she knew. The horrible monster that ate cake and frosting and worried about her injuries and curled her up in his wings like he would never let anything hurt her. The monster that she knew wanted something from her, something often painful but sometimes good. That was reassuring, the way how Jean wanting things from her was reassuring. Now that she knew Ruka wasn't human, she was more sure than ever that they wanted something. But what? She didn't know. She wasn't going to stick around and find out.
Rather than go in the same window, she climbed onto the roof of the cathedral. There was a tower up there, a clock tower with open sides. She clambered in there, just to get out of the elements, somewhere safe. She scrambled down into the darkness. She found a corner, and curled up in it, shaking violently.
Her clothes were still torn. She was wearing half a hoodie and the shredded remains of a shirt and bra. Her pants were lost entirely; she'd kicked them of as she ran so they wouldn't trip her. She still had her backpack, because she'd had the presence of mind to grab it. She crammed the book she still held back into it, hands shaking violently.
Her neck hurt where it had been torn into. She should... she should do something about that. Trembling hands dug through her bag for the leftover bandages, ones she'd been using on her leg. She found the wound on her neck, two sharp tears pouring blood. She wrapped the bandage around, tight enough to stop the flow of blood, she hoped. Loose enough she could still breathe, though she couldn't breathe, not really, air didn't feel like it was reaching her lungs.
She was crying. She was shaking. She was covered in blood. Rats began to trickle in, ones that had already started to infest the cathedral, scrambling through walls and in windows to get to her, slowly, one at a time. Phoebe and Timothy and a few others poked their heads out of her backpack. They were scared too.
"I'm sorry," she choked out, voice shaking. "I didn't mean to get him killed, I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
They didn't seem to hold it against her at all. They knew this was part of the risk. They didn't mind. But it was still scary.
She agreed.
It was still scary.
The following 1 user Likes SolitareLee's post: Tindome
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Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-15-2017, 03:13 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-15-2017, 04:11 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-15-2017, 04:26 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-15-2017, 04:54 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-15-2017, 05:12 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-15-2017, 05:41 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-15-2017, 05:55 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-15-2017, 06:57 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-15-2017, 07:38 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-15-2017, 08:35 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-15-2017, 09:04 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-15-2017, 09:53 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-15-2017, 02:08 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-15-2017, 08:33 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-15-2017, 09:15 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-15-2017, 09:55 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-15-2017, 10:13 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-15-2017, 10:49 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-15-2017, 11:16 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-16-2017, 01:00 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-16-2017, 01:15 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-16-2017, 01:46 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-16-2017, 02:22 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-16-2017, 03:48 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-16-2017, 04:05 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-16-2017, 04:58 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-16-2017, 05:15 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-16-2017, 06:04 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-16-2017, 06:29 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-16-2017, 07:20 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-16-2017, 07:33 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-16-2017, 08:09 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-16-2017, 08:25 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-16-2017, 08:53 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-16-2017, 09:19 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-16-2017, 10:13 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-16-2017, 10:23 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-16-2017, 11:00 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-16-2017, 11:26 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-16-2017, 12:45 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-16-2017, 07:16 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-17-2017, 05:07 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-17-2017, 05:38 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-17-2017, 07:24 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-17-2017, 08:17 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-17-2017, 10:02 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-17-2017, 10:22 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-17-2017, 12:40 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-17-2017, 01:48 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-17-2017, 02:19 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-17-2017, 02:28 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-17-2017, 02:55 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-17-2017, 03:10 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-17-2017, 03:39 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-17-2017, 04:22 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-17-2017, 04:43 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-17-2017, 04:53 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-17-2017, 05:04 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-17-2017, 05:32 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-18-2017, 10:28 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-18-2017, 02:04 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-18-2017, 02:58 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-18-2017, 03:23 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-18-2017, 04:21 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-18-2017, 04:53 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-19-2017, 04:45 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-19-2017, 05:01 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-19-2017, 08:24 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-19-2017, 10:36 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-19-2017, 12:25 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-19-2017, 02:39 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-19-2017, 03:21 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-19-2017, 03:30 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-19-2017, 04:53 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-19-2017, 05:19 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-20-2017, 10:35 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-20-2017, 12:05 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-20-2017, 03:42 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-20-2017, 03:51 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-20-2017, 06:05 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-20-2017, 06:29 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-20-2017, 07:44 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-20-2017, 07:54 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-20-2017, 08:08 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-20-2017, 08:24 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-20-2017, 08:45 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-20-2017, 08:58 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-21-2017, 03:37 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-21-2017, 04:24 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-21-2017, 06:11 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-21-2017, 06:21 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-21-2017, 07:54 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-21-2017, 08:19 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-21-2017, 09:04 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-21-2017, 09:28 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-22-2017, 07:26 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-22-2017, 11:06 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-22-2017, 03:08 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-22-2017, 03:42 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-22-2017, 04:45 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-22-2017, 05:01 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-22-2017, 05:36 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-22-2017, 06:00 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-22-2017, 07:14 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-22-2017, 07:48 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-23-2017, 10:31 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-23-2017, 11:12 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-23-2017, 11:53 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-23-2017, 12:13 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-23-2017, 12:41 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-23-2017, 01:01 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-23-2017, 02:01 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-23-2017, 02:19 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-23-2017, 07:04 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-23-2017, 07:40 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-23-2017, 08:01 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-23-2017, 08:10 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-24-2017, 09:03 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-24-2017, 09:18 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-24-2017, 02:35 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-24-2017, 02:58 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-24-2017, 03:48 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-24-2017, 04:02 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-24-2017, 07:39 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-24-2017, 07:51 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-25-2017, 11:26 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-25-2017, 11:56 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-26-2017, 03:43 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-26-2017, 03:58 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 03-26-2017, 06:50 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 03-26-2017, 06:58 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-01-2017, 03:29 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-08-2017, 01:49 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-11-2017, 03:35 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-11-2017, 03:58 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-11-2017, 04:31 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-11-2017, 04:58 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-12-2017, 01:35 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-12-2017, 01:45 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-12-2017, 05:55 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-12-2017, 01:01 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-15-2017, 03:50 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-15-2017, 05:15 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 04-21-2017, 08:55 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 04-21-2017, 09:56 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 05-07-2017, 04:00 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 05-07-2017, 11:36 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 11-26-2018, 12:38 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 11-26-2018, 08:12 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 02-06-2019, 06:12 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 02-10-2019, 12:31 AM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 06-07-2019, 12:07 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 06-07-2019, 01:01 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by Tindome - 10-18-2019, 01:01 PM
RE: Sanctuary [Closed] - by SolitareLee - 10-18-2019, 04:28 PM