paris ♔ tried to save myself but myself keeps slipping away

[necessaryevil]

♬ Facade (reprise) - Jekyll & Hyde

WHO || Faith Lehane, Max Rast, Lissa Dragomir, Helen Magnus
WHAT || The Knights investigate a string of vampire attacks in France
WHERE ||Paris, France
WHEN || April 11th, 2015 [backdated].
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread.

One vampire attack is cause for worry enough, but when bodies are found with telltale puncture wounds and heavy loss of blood become a recurring nightmare across any city, alarm bells are raised.  Such is the case recently in Paris, where Wynn suspects that either a careless clan has moved in, or some lone vamps are stirring up trouble.  With the locations of the bodies marked out in the eight block radius where the deaths have been occurring, the team arrives in the late evening, staring at the rows of apartment blocks, small businesses, and pubs that comprise this section of town.

Comments

[roux]

Vampiric blood. [ he repeats softly, clearly intrigued. ] Yet you are alive. Thoroughly vital. [ as if to cement this fact to himself, his hand brushes beneath her jaw, feeling the warmth there. ] Something I have never seen before, I must confess.

[daredtobelieve]

Quite alive and quite mortal. [As if he could have forgotten how she nearly died just moments ago.] But my aging slowed drastically. I was auditing classes at Oxford when I developed the serum. Barely more than a child.

[roux]

And you chose to test it on yourself? Quite bold.

[daredtobelieve]

A pretty word for "foolish," I think you mean. My associates at the time took issue with it, but they knew better than to try to convince me otherwise. Men ahead of their time. [She misses her friends, but she can't help but shudder slightly, thinking of John at her side on that day- the beginning of the end of them.]

I only say as much in case it changes my...use to you.

[roux]

I confess, I've no idea if this will have any effect or no upon the potency of your blood, but given as there have been vampires that have drank off their own kind without suffering ill effects, I cannot imagine it would be hazardous. Depending, of course, on the nature of these experiments you did. What was it that you intended to accomplish?

[daredtobelieve]

[Oh, well that's a heavy question, isn't it?]

Before I came through the Veil, my work surrounded the research and preservation of extraordinary creatures- genetic anomalies. Abnormals, my father called them. Creatures that seemed impossible, men and women with abilities beyond that of basic human function. My father studied them and was laughed out of academia, but he took me up as an apprentice and I carried on the mantle for him. Vampires, as I knew them, were not made from a bite as told in legend, but born of the most brilliant race our world had ever known. They were extinct long before I was born, but through a series of dangerous events, my colleagues and I obtained a sample of pure vampire blood. There were theories that all abnormal abilities could be traced to some small amount of vampiric heritage. We thought we could unlock this genetic puzzle wth this one sample of blood.

Honestly, we had no idea what would happen when we injected ourselves. But it brought forth a latent ability, unique to each of us five. I very well could have died that day, but instead, I have survived indefinitely.

[roux]

And the others? [ his eyes search hers, clearly fascinated by this subject. ] What became of them?

[daredtobelieve]

Nigel Griffon's cells became photosensitive, giving him the ability to bend light around him, making him effectively invisible. James Watson's mind became more potent than any of us could imagine. Nikola Tesla discovered his ancestors were more closely tied to the vampiric race, and he developed retractable claws and fangs similar to theirs- along with an additional ability to manipulate electricity. And John... [There's a glance downward, her voice a little hollow as the nightmare still plagues her.] He developed an ability to transport himself from one place to another in the blink of an eye.

[roux]

[ well one of his eyebrows quirks up at some of those names ] Nikola Tesla. The inventor?

[daredtobelieve]

The very same. As far as I can tell, he wasn't quite the same here- at least in that regard. It wouldn't surprise me if he was the same arrogant man I came to know and tolerate. [Said in a tone that really only a close friend could manage.]

[roux]

I can't say I ever had the pleasure. I certainly heard no stories of him being one of my kind. Either way, how extraordinary that there should be another world with such parallels to our own.

[daredtobelieve]

You would have known. You would have been sick to death from hearing it. [She's quiet for a moment.] Dashiell... why do you hunt them?

[roux]

In truth? I usually would not. But these young fools endanger our way of life through their reckless arrogance. Look at the attention they've drawn through their refusal to be discerning or discreet: they've even drawn you and yours here, and you certainly will not be the last.

[daredtobelieve]

The herd must be culled, then. [There's no judgment in her tone. Had they not been the cause of the death of her teammates, she might feel differently.]

Yet you seem quite prepared to do what you must. I take it this is the first time it has come to such measures.

[roux]

Not at all. But it had been some time, and the task has rarely been one that I've had to take into my own hands. But with the covens as disparate as they are, I saw little recourse.

[daredtobelieve]

[She considers him for a moment.]

Just how old are you?

[roux]

Nearly two hundred myself. It seems you have the advantage of me.

[daredtobelieve]

[It makes her laugh, which is possibly the most ridiculous reaction to have, given everything that's happened.]

That certainly does sound like how it would go for me. [Meets a vampire, still the older woman #justhelenthings]

I should... Faith will be looking for me.

[roux]

What do you intend to say to her?

[daredtobelieve]

I haven't decided. Not returning with her will likely not go over well. As much as I don't want to, I may have to lie.

[roux]

She won't take to your opting to stay behind then.

[daredtobelieve]

I'm not sure. Honestly, I don't know her all that well. But given what's happened, I'm not sure how well it would go over.

[roux]

You could tell her you've other business here. That you know the last of them to be dead.

[daredtobelieve]

That could work. [Shes just not used to being deceitful with her own people. It's been awhile since she's had to do something like this.]

I can't believe I'm doing this...

[roux]

And yet I sense your heart is set, or I would be foolish to think you would return. They are young, are they not, your companions? Perhaps they could not understand things as you and I - what sacrifices must sometimes be made.