Freak (open)

[danny]

The sun burned hot on the sand in New Orleans, shining hot also on the nearly naked bodies of hundreds of surfers, swimmers, and sunbathers. The sun also shone particularly hot on one man standing in the midst of it all....fully clothed...in black.

Daniel Mullins surveyed the half-naked sunworshipers around him with a scowl on his face. These stupid humans and probably a few stupid werewolves too, just sitting around when there was so much to be done to get rid of the vampire menace. As he stared sullenly out at the crowd they stared out the corner of their eyes at him, making whispered comments about freaks that he had no trouble hearing.

He didn't care...she wasn't here. Adele wasn't in New Orleans either, and frankly he was running out of places to look for her. He strode down the beach, stepping over bikini-clad sunbathers rather than around them, leaving the marks of his worn out sneakers on their beach towels.

Further down the beach, he stopped short as he heard on woman make a comment about "that hot guy in black...he must be sweltering, I should go offer to help him cool down".

Red alert...he was about to propostitioned again. Didn't these idiots realize he was on a mission? For christ's sake, he almost wished he wasn't so damn good looking.

Evasive maneuvers. He told himself, stalking off as soon as the woman approached him.

"Excuse me." He heard from behind him.

"No thanks." He called over his shoulder.

He heard the woman go back to her friend and make a comment about hard to get, and nearly laughed. Oh yes, impossible...nothing comes before finding Addie......nothing.

[*Phoenix McKenzie]

She had no fucking idea what the hell she was doing on the beach. She had just started walking out in the sun, and apparently she had walked directly to the place where the sun would be the hottest: the beach. She missed the sun. She had been a slave to that bastard Sevanni and now she hardly ever got to just sit in the sun and enjoy herself...and now she was going to be in major trouble should Sevanni find out about her little escapade. She didn't have permission to leave the hotel room that Sevanni was staying in. He had come here for some business trip or something, she wasn't entirely sure...didn't really care.

Her back still hurt like hell. Being a lycan, she healed faster than a human, but she didn't heal nearly as fast as vampires. Her back would carry the scars from that fucking bull whip for the rest of her life. The wounds were scabbed up and she had to be careful as to how she moved...If she moved the wrong way, she would tear the scabs and yet anoher outfit would be destroyed.

Her blond hair was pulled back into a hair tie, keeping it off of her neck. Unlike everyone else on the beach, she was fully clothed in a loose t-shirt and a pair of low cut jeans with the knees faded out. She didn't wear any shoes, she had left them in the hotel room when she snuck out while Sevanni slept for a couple of stolen hours in the sun.

Only one other had on clothes, and when she caught sight of the all black attire, she thought the man was crazy. She could smell that he was a werewolf, and she shook her head. Even a lycan wasn't ammune to heat, and he had to be scorched. She watched as a human female tried to approach him, saw a movement of his lips as he muttered something her way, and the girl turned and walked off. The wind shifted again, taking her scent directly towards the Man in Black, bringing with it the scent of dried blood, female lycan, and Sevanni Black.

[danny]

The female wolf's scent made his head jerk up and he turned around to stare at her. His growl could be heard by all those in the immediate vicinity and they began to furiously pack their things as he stalked quickly over to the lycan. There was little he hated more than a werewolf that consorted so often with vampires that they smelled like them.

And this particular lycan smelled of the werewolf Daniel had vowed to kill.

"You!" He stalked up to the girl and fought the urge to grab her throat. No need putting her too much on the defensive. "Why in the hell do you smell like Sevanni Black?"

Sevanni, the very name filled his sole with venom and rage. He was the vampire that had taken Adele...Daniel had no proof but he knew it with every fiber of his being. Sevanni was the only vampire evil enough to plan such an attack, and the only one sadistic enough to take one of the wolves home as his personal plaything, which was apparently what this girl was.

He smelled the blood on her, could probably have drawn out the pattern of the marks on her back simply from the scents rolling off of her. How any wolf could allow a vamp to put them through such things just made him sick.

"Where is Sevanni Black? I must find and obliterate him for the sake of our kind."

[*Phoenix McKenzie]

You! Why in the hell do you smell like Sevanni Black? The male said, stalking towards her quickly though the sand, coming close to her, hostility flowing off of him in waves. She took an instinctive step back and snarled before he came up to her. He towered over her, though she was used to that. She was only 5'5 and the only one of her friends who was shorter than her was Rose. Then again, Rose was offically a midget unless she had her heels on...and even with heels, she was still shorter than Nix.

"Listen asshole, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but the last thing that you need to be doing is coming up on me like you're some kind of--" She was cut off by his next sentence. Where is Sevanni Black? I must find and obliterate him for the sake of our kind. Nix quirked an eyebrow at him, her moss green eyes scanning him. "You're crazy, you know that? Everyone wants to kill Sevanni, everyone myself included! No one's managed to do it yet." She said, her words coming out like venom, her voice low and dangerous.

What she said was true. She wanted Sevanni Black dead more than anything. He had single handedly taken her life that she had built up to be somewhat comfortable and shreded it. Turned her world upside fucking down in a way that it hadn't been since she was 16 years old. She hated him with every fiber in her being, and here was this anonymous male coming up to her, demanding to know where Sevanni is. "And you might want to keep your voice down. Unlike vampires, wolves at least have enough sense to keep our existence secret from humans who aren't forced into knowing about us."

[danny]

Daniel snorted softly as the girl spoke. “I think that I am a werewolf, therefore the sworn enemy of all vampires everywhere. You do realize they are trying to annihilate our race don’t you. Sevanni Black being the forerunner of that push.” Asshole, he’d heard that one so much lately, from various women, not just her.

“I may be crazy.” He replied. “But you know what, so are you.” He scowled taking a deep sniff of the dried blood. “What are you? Some sort of kinky sex slave or something?” He looked her up and down. “Hardly worth the trouble in my opinion.” That’s right idiot, ugly..ugly…push her away….push, push, push. Don’t start feeling bad for her…Don’t! You have enough problems trying to find your sister, you don’t need to worry about another female wolf.

“I must find Sevanni. He has my sister. In fact, you might know of her, if you are his slave too. Adele Mullins, do you know Adele Mullins.” His eyes grew slightly crazed as he leaned in to look her directly in the eyes. “Please, it is imperative that I find her.” He remembered the girl’s words from earlier.

“I guarantee you, if I could find him, I could kill him. I have an entire pack devoted simply to killing him and ending the vampire menace. You might consider joining if you ever free yourself.” Daniel smirked arrogantly, and shook his head at her next words. “Look, I know that some people don’t think the humans should know about us, but I am not one of them. I believe in being who I am reguardless of who’s around to hear. What can the humans do to us? Nothing, we are the only thing keeping the vampires from desecrating their entire species.”
He looked down at her and shrugged. “It’s no big deal if they overhear, since they will simply convince themselves it’s not real anyway. Now tell me where to find Sevanni Black. I must get my sister back.”

[*Phoenix McKenzie]

She snorted slightly. As if she didn't already know that. "Sevanni Black is the scum of the earth. I want him dead more than anyone else, believe me. I hate him more than anything on this earth, living or not so living."

She snarled at his next comment, about her being a kinky sex slave. Quicker than she thought she would have been able to move, she struck, her arm snaking out, her hand going for his throat, her fingers wrapping around his esophagus and giving it a small squeeze to show him she could cut off his air with just a twitch of her fingers. Her moss green eyes flashed as she looked up at him, her eyes changing to a more gold color as her wolf came to the surface. "You listen here you fucking bastard. I will put up with a lot of shit, but the one thing that I will not put up with, is some male with a power trip coming up and making accusations about a situation that he knows nothing about. The marks on my back were put there because I ran away, by the same vampire who murdered my husband. Keep talking, and I will rip your throat away from the rest of you. If Sevanni Black ever touched me in a sexual way, I would be mailing his balls to Antarctica. Do you understand me?" Her voice was more of a growl than anything else, and she was shaking with rage and fury.

His next words caught her off guard, and she released his throat, taking a step back, shaking her head. She was still furious, but she could almost make sense of his brisk, urgent and rude manner. He was looking for family. "There's no other wolves that he owns other than me, and I'm a very unwilling slave, so I in no way obey him because I want to. I'm protecting those who I consider family by belonging to him, so watch your mouth when you speak of my predicament. I'm sorry, but if he ever had your sister, she's not there anymore. Sevanni hates our kind, I can't see him owning another. The only reason that he has me and is keeping me alive is because he knows it is the worst way he can hurt me...Making me obey the same vampire who murdered my husband, and then threw his finger along with his wedding band at me not three days later."

She crossed her arms across her chest, wincing from the pain in her back. "I already have a pack, and they hunt and kill vampires mercilessly. It was because of my pack that I got busted out the first time, but he got me back. They will be coming for me again soon. And as far as where that bloodsucker is, I have no idea. He put me in a hotel last night and told me to stay there until he came back...I'm not the most obedient of 'pets'."

[danny]

Daniel snorted, Yeah, yeah, I get it you hate him. He thought as the woman continued talking. So she wanted him dead, it didn’t seem like she was doing too much to get to that point. He saw how angry she got at his sex slave comment and almost got worried that he’d hurt her feelings, but what else could he think?

He didn’t really think she would do anything but he also wasn’t surprised when the woman grabbed his throat. He smiled when she squeezed her fingers threateningly around his jugular. She was trying to show that she was tought, trying to scare him, but it wasn’t working. He knew that despite how strong she might be, this woman could be easily disposed of. He also knew that he would never actually do anything to hurt her, mostly because she made him hope his sister would be just as strong and brave.

Danny looked deep into her eyes and waited for her to let him go, he noticed that they were changing color and could tell that she was truly pissed. Now he felt a little bad about what he’d said, she clearly was affected by it. “I am hardly on a power trip.” He responded, his voice sounding strange from being so pressed. “I understand that you have hardships in your life, and I appologize that I jumped to conclusions but I am looking for my sister and I am not the most tactful of people. And I’m sorry for your loss. I understand completely why you are so mad.”

He nodded sadly when she told him that she knew nothing of his sister. “I understand, thank you at least for trying to think of anything. And I’m sorry again for underestimating your character. If you could just, keep an ear out for any mention of her, I would greatly appreciate it.” He sincerely hoped that someday this woman might be able to tell his sister, or him, that the other was still alive, well, and searching for them. “Someday I will get revenge on Sevanni Black for what he has done, and I promise you that when that day comes, I will come and find you so you can get your own revenge for what he did to your husband. And I admire you for trying to escape.”

“My name is Daniel Mullins by the way.”

[*Phoenix McKenzie]

She winced slightly as she felt her scabs tear open--yet again--and blood slowly began to flow down her back again. "Damnit..." She muttered, lowering her arm and taking a step back away from him, angry at herself that she had forgotten yet again about her back, and now another pair of jeans were going to be ruined. "Sorry...I have a little bit of a temper, especially when people associate me with one of the females ready and willing to lay in Sevanni's bed. But I'm not one of them, I do actually have some dignity left." What he'd said had cut her deep, but she wouldn't let him know that as she struggled to get ahold of herself.

"Have you looked in Paris? The pack that I belong to lives there, they might know of her. It's not much of a chance, but it's possible. The pack doesn't go by any particular name, they just call themselves Ella's pack...The name changes should our alpha die to whoever succeeds them. Anyway, if she's been in Paris within the last year perhaps, they may know of her. They patrol Paris and hunt vampires, killing any they find. They may have come across her." She said, though she wasn't very certain, it was still a possibility, something for him to grab onto and keep looking, even though she had a feeling he wouldn't stop until he either found his sister Adele, either alive or dead. "Look for Katra Shade or Caleb, they would be the two most likely to know...They're the two who are going to be coming and getting me..." She sounded almost forlorn, as though she wasn't entirely sure herself...And what reason would they have to come and get her again? They had already busted her out once...What was the point in doing so a second time? She couldn't say that she would blame them if they never came for her again.

"However, there's also another pack that she could be at as well, though I very much doubt it, because they are a pack of wolves who are friendly toward vampires. It's in California, run by a wolf named Adam Vagus." If his sister was anything like this man though, she wouldn't be in that particular pack, she would be disgusted by them. A slow smile tugged at her lips at his offer to allow her to get her revenge, and she nodded. "I would enjoy that chance."

"Phoenix Bel...McKenzie." She had to stop herself, she had almost called herself by her married name.

[danny]

Daniel smelled the blood when her scabs tore and he stepped towards her. “Hey, are you alright? You should get those looked at by a doctor.” He stepped back almost immediately after that, what was with him. He’d almost sounded as if he cared for another being, other than his sister of course. “I understand that, and I’m sorry. I never should have implied something like that, it’s just I’ve been meeting a lot of people recently who are having entirely too much leniency with vampire kind. Some are actually befriending them. And while there may be nothing wrong with that at first, eventually they will show that they are truly vermin and they will have to be disposed of.” He couldn’t understand why no one seemed to grasp that concept, vampires are monsters.

“I haven’t looked in Paris for years now, I suppose there would be no real trouble in trying there again. I thank you for the information.” Ella’s pack, in Paris, he filed the information away. It would definitely be helpful later. He liked the sound of Ella’s pack also, they hunted vampires. Perhaps while he was there he could assist them in return for any information or help they might give him regarding Adele. “Katra Shade or Caleb, got it. Thank you.”

He heard her sadness and felt a pull on his heart. No one should be left in a situation like this. He felt himself beginning to want to break her out himself, but he couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t kill Sevanni Black until he had Adele safely in his hands. He listened to the rest of her advice and shook his head. “I doubt she would be found anywhere near that pack. Adele has sensibilities like mine, unless she has changed these last few years.” He smiled at her, sadly, when she spoke her name. He could sense there was some deeper story there but he didn’t push her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Phoenix. I’m sure you’ll be busted out of here soon, so when you do, feel free to look me up. Maybe once I find my sister you can help me work on my tact?”

[*Phoenix McKenzie]

Hey, are you alright? You should get those looked at by a doctor. She laughed slightly, shaking her head and hiding another wince, sucking in a deep breath thruogh clenched teeth. "Wow, that was almost a good show at some tact...And I don't like doctors...I don't like needles. The only doctor to touch me without me being sedated first was my husband, and that was only because I knew that he would rather slit his own throat than hurt me in any way, even accidently. I've never liked doctors."

I haven’t looked in Paris for years now, I suppose there would be no real trouble in trying there again. I thank you for the information. Katra Shade or Caleb, got it. Thank you. She smiled slightly, nodding, her blond hair falling around her shoulders. "I hope you find her... I know what it's like to not have any family... and if she's alive, I imagine she thinks you're dead. At least you have a hope that she's still alive somewhere, I know that my whole family is dead...I walked in on four vampires ripping my parents and younger sister apart, so I don't even have a hope...The only family I have left is my pack." She really did hope that he found her, and if she had been anywhere in Paris within the last year or two, then Ella's pack would know.

It’s a pleasure to meet you Phoenix. I’m sure you’ll be busted out of here soon, so when you do, feel free to look me up. Maybe once I find my sister you can help me work on my tact? Nix bit her lip slightly before putting her smile back into place, refusing to let herself think that Kat and Caleb wouldn't come for her again...She was pack, and pack took care of eachother. "I think I may just do that, because seriously, you really need someone to help you with that...Life's no fun if you have to be serious about it all the time...I mean, I know better than most that life isn't all fun and games...But you have to smile once in awhile, or else what's the point in living?"

[danny]

“I don’t much enjoy doctors either, but they can come in handy to, you know, keep you from dying.” He sighed. “Oh well, I guess I just ruined the good tact thing huh?” Daniel looked down at the sand and frowned. He was trying awfully hard to be nice to this woman, even though he hardly knew her. “I’m sorry, I’m just so focused on finding Addie right now that I’m afraid I’m not very good company at all.”

Danny couldn’t help smiling at her words. “Truly, thank you. I’m sorry that you understand what I’m going through and I’m sorry that you had to experience that. I’m the one that let my family die. Addie was the only one I managed to save.” The words came out of him in a rush, he’d never told anyone about that night when the vampires had attacked. He had wanted to tell Addie for so long, to apologize to her for failing her and their entire family. “My heart goes out to you, but at least you have your pack. Mine is just a bunch of wolves banded together to more efficiently kill vampires…that’s why I need to find Adele. I want…” He sighed. “I just want to feel like I belong somewhere again.” How could he be telling her all these things, he’d just met her and she was already seeing more of his soft side than anyone ever had. It must have been because she was wounded when he met her, and automatically brought out the urge to protect and empathize.

Danny noticed her smile disappear momentarily and somehow knew why. “They will come for you….they’re your family Phoenix. They will not leave you here to rot…and if I find out that they did I will come spring you myself.” He laughed at her words. “I know, I know. But I have admitted that I have a problem and sought help, and that’s the first step right? And I’ll smile plenty…when I find my reason to live again.”