How It Seems (Open)

[arleyjames]

The humid air was typical for the deep south, where Arley had dwelled his entire life. Simply preposterous was the notion that, with the Gulf of Mexico so close by, that the air would be anything but drinkable. Northerners were a riot to watch though. Alas, the streets were seemingly dead. It was an ironic term to think, especially since Arley was standing outside in a t-shirt and old, tattered jeans, blood rushing through every living facet of his body while he knew full well of the dangers and extremes of the world outside his humanity. Yet, he had barely seen hide or hair of a werewolf since a disastrous encounter after the death of his eleven year old brother. Some were said to be tame, but that did not deceive Arley. He always carried a pistol in his pocket. The lore probably proved false, but he always carried a token silver bullet in the gun. If more than one were to attack, he was surely screwed.

Leaning up against the lamppost, Arley plucked the cigarette from his mouth and flicked it, sending ash to the street as the sun set overhead. The orange dying to grey juxtaposed against the blood red turning gradually darker was eerie, but Arley had anticipated it and was ready. He would stand at the post all night if he had to, even with it splintering forces of the dull wood pole on his back. With his toe, Arley smashed the already faded ashes of the cigarette on the ground, exhaling a puff of smoke as he did so. He knew how to kill a vampire, the only thing that escaped him was ever doing it. It would probably just take the right one to come along from him to have enough fury to attack. To lunge like that one did to his mother and his brother would only just quench his thirst temporarily. No one was coming for him without being given the utmost force that Arley could muster.

"Smoking is disgusting," Arley spoke to himself as he had in the past. He felt, if he spoke aloud, that he wouldn't be alone. The spirit of his brother may rejoin him. In a world of vampires and werewolves, why couldn't ghosts exist? Again, the lore was probably false, but he could dream. That was something he held over the blood sucking fiends and the hairy beasts, he had a normal future ahead of him if he could off enough of their kind to placate him. But placating him was the true issue. Maybe one kill would do it. Maybe it would take more. Arley couldn't tell right now, but he felt that it was near and necessary. Either that, or he would have to be struck down that instant by the forces of God. Another flick of the cigarette and Arley finally looked up. The sun was gone and night had come.

[black]

Madileigh walked aimlessly through the now dark streets. Her nervous fingers constantly fidgeting with the charm bracelet on her left wrist. She had gotten the bracelet from her father many years back as a Christmas present. A happier time for her, but still riddled pain.

The moon glinted off the black metal wolf's tooth that she grasped between her middle finger and thumb. She studied it for a second before letting it fall back among the other charms and jangle musically. A warm breeze pushed her from behind, as if it were trying to make her move faster. The shadows coming off the nearby buildings were omnious, and with or without the wind, she was getting out of there.

An unfamiliar scent caught her off guard. Most everyboday was in bed by now, so who was this? Obviously male, but he had a strange, yet distinct flavor to him. An edgy flavor that scared her. Her feet stopped moving, causing the thudding echoes around her to stop as well. Her dark brown eyes gazed nervously around, as if she was trying to find a weapon of some sort to defend herself with. Ofcourse she had the power of the werewolf, but she never shifted. she hated the animal she became when she did. Shifting was always, always, last resort.

She started walking toward the man again, her steps lighter, more cautious this time. She knew she had to play it cool, or risk running away like a bumbling fool, and maybe then getting killed.

"It sure is nice out tonight." Her voice was strong, but it was edged with worry. Her flat brown eyes were guarded, but her pretty white smile was sincere. No matter what she could always come up with a nice smile. Just out of habit. Years of hiding her pain had been a good enough excuse to start working on smiles.

She stopped a few feet away from the lamppost, not wanting to risk getting to close to he stranger. He looked dangerous too. His scent and his appearance all fit perfectly together. she gazed up at the sky briefly and smiled. It was nice out tonight, or atlewast it was to her. She could only hope that he thought so too.

[arleyjames]

The approaching woman caused Arley's eyebrows to peak, dancing momentarily high above their normal positions. He could not tell just from look at her if she was a wolf or human, but he knew that she wasn't a vampire. Those disgusting creatures wreaked so that even Arley had learned their scent. Alas, wolves in human form were much more difficult to identify, but he knew she was timid around him. That pleased him. Looking dangerous meant he had achieved part of his goal and that she had something to hide. So perhaps she was one of those beasts. For now, he could not tell.

"I guess you could say that." Arley puffed out the last bit of his cigarette and dropped the rest to the ground. The embers were still alive before the young man's toe fell upon them, grinding them into the ground as he premeditated the danger that might befall him should this woman be a wolf and decide it best to snack on him, shifting before his eyes only for him to catch a glimpse of fir before his untimely demise. Yet, all demises he had seen thus far had been untimely so his may not have come to a surprise to him at all. All he knew was that he couldn't judge this one too early or, paradoxically, judge her too late.

"So," he paused, crossing his arms since the cigarette had vacated his hand and left it empty "come to find a tasty treat or am I jumping to conclusions?" Arley was still aware of the gun on his hip, the shooting aspects of it still entirely virginal. He wouldn't go into a naming of parts, for that would have been barbaric juxtaposed against the extreme of flowery. Disgust met Arley's face. If this woman truly was a wolf, he wouldn't really know how to react. He had never had the audacity to take human life, although they may have.

Carefully, Arley let his guard down a little. He wasn't standing so defensively anymore. In fact, his arms had fallen a little bit lax. Still he leaned up against the pole behind him, feeling the distinct texture of wood through the back of his shirt as the clear night air flowed in and out of his lungs.

[black]

She felt his eyes traveling over her, and it felt invasive, but she didn't move. She just kept up her smile and let her right hand play nervously with the charms on her bracelet. She could put up a good forefront, but her hands always had a mind of their own. Her self conscious hands plucked at a silver ivy leaf on bracelet and let it fall back to klink against the small wolf's tooth, while her hands wandered over the man in front of her. Her brown eyes watched the cigarette drift lazily toward the ground, the embers dancing quickly on the ground, only to be snuffed out but the toe of his shoe.

"I guess you could say that."

Well atleast he agreed. That was a start. A cloud drifted soundlessly over the moon, patches of moonlight still showed through though, spotting the ground like leaves covering the ground in autumn. The wind was still warm and humid, but it tasted good. Not stale and rank like that of larger cities. There was even the hint of rain in the air. That wasn't a surprise though. It was always wet and rainy in New Orleans.

"come to find a tasty treat or am I jumping to conclusions?"

A small gasp escaped her and the the guarded look in her eyes evaporated. "I don't know what your talking about." Playing the innocence card. She would pretend not to know what he was talking about, in hopes he would drop the topic. She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest to play up the act even more. Though she didn't know how long she could keep it up.

[arleyjames]

So there was either innocence or deception here. Initially it was hard to tell as Arley dropped his arms and started dangerously advancing at the woman in front of him. If she were innocent she would just cower, yet, if she were guilty she would more than likely attack. In the latter case, Arley may not have a moment to spare in acting. Closer to her though, he may be able to whiff some remnant of disgusting lycropanthy. If not, he would have to be on the verbally defensive, for it would not due for him to advance on the woman like this. He was hardly there, mentally speaking, enough to attack someone dangerous let alone apologize to someone innocent that had been mistakenly identified. Still, his speed increased, only walking as he advanced upon her, grabbing her wrist and glaring.

"What's this, then? Hunting relics or a tribute?" Arley held the wrist to her eye level, not holding too tight. He would, really if he thought it through, be able to apologize if he was mistaken, but he didn't know if he had it in him to slaughter a woman. The eyes on the prize would have to be his driving force and his muse. She really could be a wolf in disguise and be deceiving him at this very moment, but the fiddling with the bracelet had given her away. Alas, a conscience tugged within at the thought that he would be attacking a woman, and he knew, when it boiled down to it, that if she was a danger, he could not kill her while she still stood her in a supple form rather than that of a hairy beast.

In his eyes, a flickr of this guilt passed through as he stared intently into the woman's across from him. How testosterone and the simple forces of idiocy and revenge drove him he would never know. It had caused him to lunge upon a potentially innocent being. If wolves and vampires could exist, and again his thought of ghosts, who was to say that this one he was mildly attacking now was not some mythical being of benevolent intentions? Still fury raged within his heaving chest, longing to know the truth and know if this was a mistake or a chance to realize and escape. Escape or linger though, crossed his mind. LInger to see if she would change and he could attack, that was one options. Alas, the other to linger was to stay and find out what he could from her kind.