She could hear it– the rabbit’s heart that raced between her sister’s ribs. There was something violent in her, nastier than a tropical storm, it made her wonder how easy it would be to slip her fingers between them and pry the organ free. Laila fell, bare knees met the soft bed of pine needles and her fingers splayed when they caught her, gouging the earth while sharpening into claws.

Blonde curls were replaced by coarse, grey fur. Bright blue eyes blinked back at Pearl, now amber. A snarl ripped from her throat, echoing around them before her head tipped back, calling to the moon. There was a stillness in her– all that moved was large eyes, watching the human to see what it would be that she would do. Would she run? Laila hoped her to be far more brave. Would she approach? Surely she was more clever.

Laila grinned widely, each tooth sharpened and it indented her full lower lip. The moon lived in her eyes as she turned her gaze to her baby sister, and a snarl lived in the back of her throat. “Just peachy,” she returned, moving out of the dark to circle the youngest Renaud. She wondered if she was scaring her, but tonight she didn’t care enough. Life simmered in her veins, threatening to boil over.

“It’s happening,” the blonde confirmed, feeling the crack in her spine– she doubled over.  An anguished sound escaped her lips. “This doesn’t look very nice, Pearly girl.”

The abruptness of Pearl’s response broken the hunter’s stoic features for a moment, sending a tingle through her cheek. She laughed, nonetheless, admiring the woman’s persistence. There was no reason she’d tag along if she hadn’t been ready, slowly she was inching closer and closer to accepting the truth of their world. At least, Darcy hoped so. “We’re in this together.” A pat of her hand before she too exited the vehicle. The normal slamming of car doors echoing in the quiet of the night. “Good,” she added to her companions confirmation before silently running a hand to her own hip. Her gun remained holstered, but tucked into her belt away from sight was a wooden stake. She had no expectation of needing it tonight, but over-preparedness was no longer a luxury. For a moment, Darcy contemplated handing the young woman a weapon. Plenty were stashed away in the trunk of her vehicle and she had introduced her to training, but unless she made the request it seemed less demonizing of the situation to leave it be. After all, sometimes handing someone a weapon could make them feel as if they were entering a dangerous situation and that was the furthest thing from tonight’s activities. “Stay behind me while I clear the rooms, then we can look around. Safety first. ”

Pearl ran her thumb over the tiny silver locket that hung right in the hollow of her throat, rubbing it like a lucky rabbit’s foot. The smooth surface housing a bit of vervain, her only protection on this expedition. When she was about to leave the house, she considered tucking a pocket knife or something into her coat but eventually deciding against it. Darcy was well armed, and she’d assured her, over and over that nothing was going to happen. The place would be abandoned. The blonde nodded vigorously, content to just be coming along. She wouldn’t learn anything from the sidelines. “You’re the boss Darce,” Pearl agreed easily, the tilt of her chin only steepening in a subtle defiance. Gesturing towards the crumbling steps, she moved to the side. “After you, then,” she said, following after the brunette.

Henryk had borrowed Malachi’s bike for a quick trip to the store — not because he needed a ride, but because he enjoyed it. It was a chilly day, but the cold weather never bothered him; if anything, the vampire preferred it. The crisp night air that filled his lungs, and the blankets of snow that covered the dirt. Winter had once been unforgiving, but it was now a memory of home, when he still felt the cold chilling his bones and sitting by the fireplace with his family was a must. He wondered what the thick of winter would look like in Ashbourne.

After grabbing a few things from the store, he made his way back to the bike right outside. The keys jingled when he twirled it around his finger, but instead of starting the engine, he caught himself distracted by the sight of a blonde. “The hero from the park,” Henryk greeted her as she walked past him. “You haven’t stopped by the club yet, have you?” It wasn’t the sight of her that kept him from leaving though, but her scent — she smelled like Adelynn; like the wolf girl he caught for the full moon special in his basement. 

Pearl looked up in surprise as she heard a voice call out, her painted red lips shaped in a little ‘o’ as her eyes locked onto the dark haired male. “Henryk,” she remembered, eyes lit up in recognition, “How have you been?” Over one thin shoulder was slung a tote bag loaded with vegetables, plans of a homemade chicken soup in mind. She was bundled up with layers of wool sweaters and a coat, with a wide scarf wrapped around the top. She could pass as a snowman, so padded that there was a real possibility that she could be rolled down the street should she get tired of walking.

The evening had rolled into something dark. Berserkers still roamed and tonight was when the pack was meant to make the most of their impact; while they could shift and become something more feral. Laila was headed into the woods, clad in something dark, so as to let her meld into the shadows. The shift hadn’t torn through her limbs yet, she was still mostly girl, despite the way that she trembled with violence.

Scent was what gave her pause; the world felt saturated in something sweet– she turned back, tasting fear. “Hey Pearl,” she murmured, voice the same texture as sandpaper. Laila stepped from the shadows, entering the pathway that her smaller sister tread upon. “You shouldn’t be out here tonight.”

@lailarenaud

“She’s not like the others. She lives in a dream.”

“But she’s dancing.”

“That’s because she doesn’t know she’s dreaming.”

@pearlrenaud

November 14th, 2017 9:34 p.m. 

It was embarrassing being caught off guard, not only enough to be kidnapped by a vampire but by yet another misguided friendship. If fact, that may have hurt more. Darcy continued to curse her lack of resilience, the tightness of the pseudo stitches in her cheek and stomach a continuous reminder of her mistake each time the hunter hit a bump in the road and an ache coarse through her body. It’d only been a few days since she’d been well enough to return to her feet, but she’d been ready to work long before then. Plus, she had a date to keep with the cute blonde beside her. “I know we talked about this, but are you sure you’re ready?” Darcy turned to Pearl, a smile in her eyes but her face stayed froze. The pain of a forming scar keeping it straight. The home they were visiting, old and decayed, should have been empty. Darcy promised to show Pearl how she tracked the places she suspected were in use by vampires. Of course, she never used the word vampires in front of the young woman but she had slowly eased the human into the idea of the supernatural over the past few months. Though her partner never admitted it, Darcy suspected an encounter with a supernatural had lead her interest in the hunter’s ‘private investigation’ work. “We’re going to go in, look around. Maybe take a few pictures and leave but you can stay in the car if you feel more comfortable.” 

Pearl tried to sit contently in the passenger seat, teeth grit and fingers drumming on the side of her leg as she pulled together her focus. Her mind jumped constantly, eyes flitting from the wound on Darcy’s face and back to the window, her heart beat trilling in her throat. She had resisted asking if she was alright, the explanation she’d received along the lines of animal attack. It sounded like the closest thing to a lie that the hunter had ever fed her, but she swallowed it all the same. Nodding slowly, the blonde turned her gaze her back to the windshield. “Are you?” Pearl tossed back, arms crossing against her thin chest. “I'm coming in Darcy,” she replied, her high voice sounding odd when she tried to make it firm. “We’re in this together, right?” She pulled a hint of a smile onto her lips, trying to reassure her partner. Opening the car door, she stepped out, eyeing the house. Tensing as a memory flash backed of a similar house, where a red headed monster had lured her up its decrepit steps, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she steeled her nerves. “I’m not staying in the car,” she confirmed, stepping forward, her chin tilted up in the smallest defiance.