Devastation and Reform [Chase]

[Erzbet Bathry]

Sunrise. Unlike the majority of the students, Erzbet didn't have a problem getting up early. Or staying up late. Anything for a few extra moments of alone time. She was dressed in the same, never-ending way. Black long sleeved shirt, dark skinny jeans. The clothes never fit her as well as her fur did. Her human skin felt so flimsy so...vulnerable.

There was a light breeze through the garden. It blew her dark hair across her face. She took a deep breath, reveling in the silence. Just then, the silence was broken by a single footstep. She turned around quickly, looking graceful and feral at the same time. Her eyes fell on the trespasser almost immediately. She wasn't scared so much as startled. And annoyed. She dealt with crowded classrooms, crowded stores and restaurants. Now someone was crowding in on her solitude. It was unendurable.

"Sneaking up on me is be bad for your health." She said simply, her golden eyes narrowing. She knew it woudl be taken as a threat. It was also a statement of fact. When it came to the "fight or flight" response, she tended to lean towards fight.

[nilo7]

Chase saw a girl stare at him because his foot made a sound on the ground. Chase looked at the girl wtih a goofy looking smile and said "sorry didn't mean to scare you. I just like to come here because its quiet and its where I do all my thinking." Chase felt weird with the girl just staring at him. I just wanted to think straight and that was hard for him to do with people staring at him.

Chase wanted to know if what e said to his older brother was a bit harsher than what it could of been. After all his brother didn't protect him when he was three causing him to have to deal with pain and suffering for more than half his life. Chase just couldn't see ho his brother could be forgiven for that.

[Erzbet Bathry]

His answer, so much like her own reason for being there, threw her off guard. She reached up to tuck her hair behind her right ear. People liked when they could see her face, even if it made her uncomfortable. As usual, she was curious. She was always curious about other people. She'd grown up with her parents and the few villagers she'd seen. To come to a place with so many people...each with something new she hadn't seen before... As much as she hated crowds, there was also something thrilling in that much life in one place.

Erzbet turned and walked a little ways away. She wasn't good at conversing. She wasn't even sure she wanted to. But there was that curiosity again. "I've never seen you out here before." She said simply, calling over her shoulder. Well, not really calling. More like...speaking slightly louder than normal. "Do you always have things to think about?" The words didn't sound quite right, even to her untrained ear.

[nilo7]

Chase thought about it. "Well I have a lot to think about now not so much a month ago." Chase answered. He was curious now to find out what type a person she was. Was she the shy quiet type? The outgoing and loud type? The misterious and killing type? Or maybe even the Quiet, alone and fighting type? Chase is a mix between two of those choses. Chase is a mix between the misterious/ killing type and the Quiet, alone, fighting type. Chase made many different friends at this school sense he first started so he liked all of the personalities now.

[Erzbet Bathry]

She thought about his answer. She was not curious enough to pry into his personal life. It wouldn't do much to make him think well of her. And there would inevitably be the questions aimed at her. She didn't like to think of everything she'd left behind to come here. Everything her mother had persuaded her to leave behind for her own good. An all-too-familiar filled her chest. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, hoping to contain it. She pinched her skin with two abnormally pointed fingernails, hoping the physical pain would distract from the memories. It didn't. One of her mother's saying flitted through her mind. Or rather, what her mother used to say when she was scolding her for not paying attention. "A mind full of thoughts is a distraction no one can afford, yet everyone encounters." It took her a moment to realize she was speaking aloud. She bit her lip, forgetting the softness of her human skin and the power of her slightly-panther-like canine teeth. She tasted blood, but felt little pain.

[nilo7]

Chase looked at the girl with a looked that said okay then on it. Chase then replied "Well i guess thats true but thoughts are what allow use to make our lives what it is. I mean right thats how I know it as." Chase always use to be quiet but now that he made few friends he has opened up. Chase said "I mean I had a horrible past but I'm okay now aren't I." Chase looked at the girl with his number on his upper chest completely noticable. The number was a scar from a burn or in his case a branding used to punish him.

[Erzbet Bathry]

Why was he so eager to talk about his past? Every sentence was an invitation to ask questions. An tempting invitation. He had a strange way of talking. Like he was already acquainted with her. I'm okay now, aren't I? Was that a geniune question? How frustrating this was! "Are you?" She asked, confused. She wasn't "okay". Far from it. Edgy, miserable, homesick, grieved, maybe, but not "okay". She turned towards him, though not all the way. She noticed a strange mark on his chest. It looked like the mark the villagers would give the criminals they tossed out of their village. A sign that meant no one was to give the offender any sort of kindness. What was his crime? What kind of criminal was she talking to? Her eyes narrowed again, till they were mere slits. "Who are you?" She asked. Her voice was quiet, but threatening. This time the threat was intended.

[nilo7]

Chase said " Well from what I know I'm okay. I get into fights every once and a while but thats normal wmad apparently eithhen your around your friends." Chase seemed to make her a little bit mad or extremely scaredd and questiony. Chase answered "My name is Chase Apothethy. Why do you ask?" "Would you mind telling me who you are. If you dont want to you don't have to." Chase said with a little smile.

[Erzbet Bathry]

His name wasn't familiar, but she didn't expect it to be. If he was a criminal (and she wasn't ruling that out just yet) she doubted he was infamous enough to be well known. She debated whether or not to tell him her name. She hadn't had it for that long. In fact, she'd been called simply "Daughter" by her parents and "Beast" by the villagers. And it didn't mean that much to her, so... "My name is Erzbet." She replied quietly. "Erzbet Bathry." She walked a little closer, looking more and more feral. She motioned to the scar on his chest. "How did you get that?" Would he tell the truth? Would he make an excuse? Would the excuse be believable? She doubted it.

[nilo7]

Chase liked that she told him her name it made him feel trusted on some level. Chase relized she was looking at his branding on his chest and then she asked him how he got it. Chase signed and started to tell her the story. "This is the name I went by in a group called the Kodiac. My number is number III (3). That was the name I was given. In this group you were told to do something and if you didn't do it you would get branded more then just a red scar. I wasn't that obediant so I was branded so hard my collar bone broke. Now that my bone has healed I have a nasty black branded scar on my lest side of my chest that can be seen because of the v-neck t-shirts I ware. Everyone in the Kodiac has a number given to them That number can be branded either lightly or hard to the bone. If you were done lightly the scar would leave after ten years but if you are like me and were branded extremely hard that branding would stay with you even after you die becuase it is on your physical bone. In the group they tell you to do things that involve killing other people. Sense I didn't want to do an assignment I was punished with my branding. The thing about the Kodiac is that they will leave you there to die and wont stop to help you. So in my past I was with the Kodiac and thats how I got my braning and my gun too because they give you a weapon to kill with that is made special for you and only you and this is because they use a body part of yours to make it. I know my past cant be forgotten but I would like it to have never happened. I wish everything that happened sense I was three was just destroyed or Just my life was gone so nobody would get hrt from my gun or my hands. So thats a lot of information about the group of he branding but thats not everything and thats a lot to think about here but its just one thing on my mind."

[Erzbet Bathry]

Erbet listened in silence. She barely moved, save for the rise and fall of her chest. His story didn't sound like a excuse. It sounded like a confession. He was admitting his crimes? What kind of crimes did he commit for this group? She blinked in surprise, but showed no other emotion. "This group...Kodiac?...does it still exist?" She was on edge already, but this might just make it impossible to sleep at night. Not that she slept much at night, but still. It made her nervous to think of what kind of things the people did. She wasn't exactly a fan of guns. The branding was something else to think about. She didn't know how much room she had in her head for all these depressing thoughts.

[nilo7]

Chase lowered his head and answered "The group still exist and i'm still in it. I cant get out if I try to I will be killed and so will my friends and possiblr my family." with pain in his voice. Chase hated the Kodiac it seemed like all it tried doing was to make his family and other families looked bad, but expecally the Apothethy because it had more then two of the Apothethy members.

[Erzbet Bathry]

Erzbet was frozen to the spot. It was hard to tell from outside, she hadn't moved an inch for a while. Her golden eyes took on a more flashing yellow. She could feel animal instinct taking over. Her canine teeth were growing slightly longer, as were her nails. She knew she had no reason to attack him, but the panther part of her didn't seem to know that. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The scent of the flowers filled her head, giving her time to think clearly. She opened her eyes and looked at him. He looked...miserable. "Can't you get in trouble for telling me this?" She asked quietly. Unless he doesn't intend to let you live. The little pessimist in her head told her. Her teeth grew again, till they were uncomfortable to have in her mouth. Not now! She thought to herself. She'd been doing so well too.

[nilo7]

Chase shook his head when she asked can't you get in trouble for telling me this. He shook his head yes and then answered "Yes, I could be sentenced to death, so I am asking you nicely to please not repeat what I said. They are watching be every minute on my day, but cant get with in hearing distance becuase they know I am picky about my privacy and i will kill the blood thirsty animals." Chase looked at Erzbet with a sad, painful, hopeless look in his eyes. It looked like he was a tiny animal locked up in a cage for no freedom or life.

[Erzbet Bathry]

They are watching me every minute of the day. Erzbet turned quickly and walked a few feet away. She was so close to losing it. She took several deep breaths, trying to hold her human skin in place. If only it wasn't so fragile! She thought about the one thing that would hold her in place. The one thing that was so painful she never dared to think about it. Her father's death. The ache in her chest flared till it was hard to breathe, but at least her teeth and nails shortened. Seeing that she was now in a better semblance of control, she walked back towards him. "Then why did you tell me?" She hadn't ruled out homicide just yet, but the feral side was under lock and key...for now.