SLENDER MAN, ATTACK, TAGGED; SASTRE QUICKSILVER

[KAYLYNN MAVERICK]

I’ll do what I want this is my life

The Words: 2,100 The Outfit: Right Here. The Co-Star Sastre Quicksilver Notes: So… I kind of got carried away, xD Sorry about that!!.

Even on a full-sized bed, Kaylynn had managed to throw her cat off of the mattress from her constant tossing and turning. In her sleep she groaned, kicked wildly at her sheets, and rubbed her face into her pillows. Her hands gripped tightly at her bed sheets, tugging and pulling hard at them as she rolled around. Even in her sleep Kaylynn could feel her head about to explode and she desperately wanted to wake up. She couldn’t take this anymore, the pain, the blood, the death, and everything else that came along with these visions was just complete torture. Kaylynn just about had enough. But this time, this vision was about children, and she couldn’t try and will herself awake like she would have tried before.

Everything this time were just flashes, but it seemed that whatever had a hold of her visions was making sure that she got the basic gist of what she was seeing. It went as far back as into the 1930’s, showing a tall and slender man at a park, being a creep as he watched the children play in the distance. In one quick and fluid motion, he was closer and it seemed that there were several children that were approaching him, and before Kaylynn could suck in a breath as she rolled back over, the beast had taken the children away and what it had done with them, she had no idea. Then it jumped forward in time, flashing to a town sign, Andrews, North Carolina Welcomes You! And at the very bottom of that she got a glimpse of the population: 1,611 It was a small town, which meant that everyone knew each other and that didn’t do any good.

After that, it seemed like everything was moving in one shift motion, the slender man jumped out in front of her, and she screamed in her sleep. As the flashing vision continued, she got a glimpse of the house of the children for his next target, she got glimpses of the creature stalking the children, and she got glimpses with what really made it ticked, and the only way to see it, and what the hell the beast was. When it was all over, Kaylynn screamed, her body being thrown awake and into a sitting position, which caused her cat – who was sitting on the floor – to go rushing out of the room and into the guest room. Breathing heavily and looking around frantically, Kaylynn leaned towards the nightstand to see the time: 3:47AM She groaned, and started to rub counterclockwise against her temples, her eyes closing. It felt as if someone was bashing her head against the concrete of a sidewalk over and over again, like a basketball. It was blinding this time, and that was how she knew that it wasn’t over…

Her vision was beginning to get blurry and this time it felt as if someone was trying to burst out of her head. She cried out, gritting her teeth and her fingers curled tightly around her hair and began pulling at her roots. Clenching her eyes shut, she felt everything cutting out on her, her senses, her feeling, and even her heartbeat was no longer existent to her.

The familiar roaring of a bike pulled itself up in front of a motel. The rider of the motorcycle peeled off his helmet to reveal to the watching prophet a hunter that she hadn’t laid eyes upon in what seemed like a long time, Sastre Quicksilver. She should have known from the back of the jacket looking so familiar, after all that was the last thing that she got a good look at the morning that he had left. Getting a better look at his face, he seemed a little pale and exhausted. Then again the setting seemed to be early in the morning, the sun hadn’t come up just yet.

The hunter leaned over and grabbed his duffel bag, swinging it over his shoulder and heading towards the main office of the motel that just screamed dirty and gross. She couldn’t hear the words that were being exchanged, but what she did see was the key that the old grimy (and probably some freak) desk receptionist slide Sastre with a tag tied around it. She got a good look at the number of the room, an aerial view. Sastre nodded to the clerk as a thank you, turned on his heel and walked out, relocating himself into his room. This time watching from a distance she could see Sastre taking a glance over his shoulder before closing the door behind him.

Kaylynn inhaled a breath quickly, turning her head away from the brightness of her alarm clock. She had work in the morning but that wasn’t at all important. What was important was getting to Sastre and telling him about what she had seen. After all, she was pretty damn sure that the hunter didn’t leave her a number where he could be reached, and there was a little part of her that told her that he most likely wasn’t going to be coming back any time soon, and those children that she had seen didn’t have much longer to wait. Kaylynn kicked off the rest of the blankets from her body and jumped out of bed. Swaying heavily, Kaylynn’s legs gave out on her, but she managed to reach out and grab her open bedroom door to keep herself steady. Using the wall as a crutch, she moved into her living room and dropped herself onto the couch. She opened up her laptop, checked her bank account, and then opened a new tab in the web browser and bought herself a one way bus ticket down to North Carolina.

After that, she picked up her cell phone that she remembered leaving on the coffee table and called her boss. “Hey Charlie, it’s me… Y-Yeah I know what time it is… Sorry if I woke you up, but I wanted to call and tell you that I seriously can’t make it to work… Yeah… it’s a really bad attack this time, I’m actually calling you from the floor of my bathroom, I’m not even going into class tomorrow… I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone. I’m going to my doctor tomorrow. I’ll call you when I’m able to come back. Bye Charlie.” In the middle of her conversation, Kaylynn had gotten up with shaky legs and a pounding head to move herself back into her bedroom where she began stuffing everything that she’ll need in order to get to Sastre and save those children.

xXx

As the bus rolled to a stop at the bus station, Kaylynn opened her water bottle, tossed in some Tylenol, and chugged the bottle to half empty. Her head had been pounding ever since she had boarded onto the bus. Then again, she knew that it was coming; this was how it was all the time; it felt as if someone had a jackhammer going off in her head, she felt sick, and sometimes even lost color in her face, which she knew had happened this time considering that there were a few concerned passengers that kept asking her if she was alright and if she needed a vomit bag. Kaylynn usually chuckled at the idea and thanked them and said that she didn’t need it. The thought about someone throwing up because of a bus ride was just a little funny to her.

She grabbed her bag and slipped her arms through the strings and stepped off of the bus carefully. Her head was still hurting, but at least this time she had control of her walking, good enough control where no one watched her funny and thought that she was drunk. Her chocolate brown eyes darted around the scenery, and then her eyes landed upon the welcoming sign and she frowned a little bit. She frowned because she knew in advance what was going on here, and because of that, Kaylynn had decided that she was going to get a good look at the billboard before entering into town. That’s when she saw it, already there were children missing. She felt her heart sink and the frown on her face became deeper. Seeing all of these missing faces just made her more determined to find Sastre, and help him find the beast that was stealing these kids.

Kaylynn glanced around and then checked the time on her cell phone. She rubbed her right temple again and began walking, already knowing that the walk from the bus station to Sastre’s motel room was going to be long one. That was another thing, Sastre. He had left suddenly at her apartment, and she hadn’t stopped thinking about him since. In all honesty, Kaylynn missed him. She thoroughly enjoyed waking up in the morning and making breakfast for two, or just waking up and putting lunch in the fridge for him while she wandered off to school or work. And, she enjoyed the fact that he was willing to walk her to school and work when he wasn’t trying to work on his bike. Though she was pretty sure that he did that because he was a hunter, and because her cat annoyed him, Rascal didn’t like men very much…

She knew though that this reunion wasn’t going to be sweet with rainbows and hugs and flowers. Nope. In fact, it was going to very much be the opposite. Sastre was going to be pissed that she was there and he was going to be throwing all kinds of questions at her. Like how did she get there, how did she know where he was, what was she doing there, did she have some mental disease or defect? Yeah, those were the kinds of questions that were going to pop out of his mouth and honestly, Kaylynn was prepared for it, just as long as he didn’t start yelling at her, she very much might just pass out from the pain.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Kaylynn had arrived at the motel that she had seen in her vision just the other night. And as she stood at the sign and staring at the very bike still parked in the spot she had watched the hunter park it, she suddenly got nervous. Why was she nervous? She had no idea. She was pretty sure that it was more of butterflies because she was going to get the chance to see him again than anything. Before treading across the garden of the motel to Sastre’s door, she took out her cell phone again to use it as a mirror.

Her hair was a mess, she had developed a slight tint of dark circles around her eyes, she looked exhausted, but most of all, the skin on her face had drained itself of even more color. Pretty much, Kaylynn looked like she was extremely sick, and all of this managed to happen over a bus ride and because of a headache. She sighed heavily and shook her head, which was a very bad idea with the pounding headache that she had. Trying to ignore the new pain, she stuffed her phone into her pocket and quickly ran her fingers through her brown curly locks, in an attempt to make it look decent and not as bad as she actually was at the moment.

Finally deciding that she couldn’t make herself look awesome, she moved her way across the garden, strolled across the parking lot, her eyes darting to the familiar bike and stopped at the door that Sastre had stored himself behind. Her hand lifted and she went to knock till she finally stopped, again. What if he wasn’t here? He could have walked somewhere. This place was small enough where a simple walk down the street would place him downtown. What was she going to do if he wasn’t here? Sit outside and wait for him to come back? No, that was just a little too creepy.

Sighing heavily, Kaylynn’s knuckles touched the surface of the wooden door lightly. She pulled her hands away from the door and lifted them to show that she wasn’t going to hurt him, assuming that he flung that door open with a gun in her face. Waiting for that door open was pretty much killing her, and her head.

created by STALK ME REDNECK!

[SASTRE QUICKSILVER]

Just when I thought that it
couldn’t get much worse…

I turned around and I saw you there tonight

So when will I get a break from life?
It’s driving me to drink tonight…

Andrews, North Carolina…

Sastre shook his head as he rolled into the small town, wondering at the places this job took him sometimes. If he was a monster, Sastre always figured that he’d haunt the big cities, where there were more potential victims and less likelihood of being caught. Then again, considering the sheer amount of creatures that he’d killed in his nearly two decades of hunting, Sastre decided that they probably just weren’t smart enough to think of something like that. Not all of them, of course, but most.

He’d gotten reports just a couple days ago about a rash of disappearances in this sleepy little town, all of which were children. It was exactly the sort of thing that Ronnie and he had been looking for, and though there hadn’t been any mention of vampire-like activity, Sastre still held out hope that he’d stumbled across another nest like the one he’d helped Ronnie annihilate in Jersey a week or so before. He and the shifter had parted ways—temporarily, if everything went well—dividing their forces so they could track down the vampires who’d taken her daughter that much faster.

Now, after two days of nearly nonstop riding, Sastre wanted nothing more than to find a mostly-respectable place to crash for a few hours. He found what he was looking for not too far into the town, and pulled into the parking lot practically out on his feet. Removing his helmet, he ran a hand through hair limp and damp with sweat before heading into the main office with his ever-present duffel bag. Moments later he was standing before the door of his room, and he stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and promptly collapsed on the bed, dropping into a light doze.

***
Sastre spent all that day sleeping, then all that night researching the disappearances.

Looking over at the little clock on the bedside table, Sastre was surprised to see that it was almost ten o’clock in the morning. Sighing and rubbing his eyes, he stood up from the small desk that was now littered with newspaper clippings and hastily scribbled notes and stretched, pacing about the room to work his legs out a bit. He thought about going out and getting something to eat, but he was just so damn tired…

In the months that’d passed since his few days of respite with Kay, Sastre had fallen right back into his old habit. He hunted, drove across country, hunted some more, and slept a little when he could. He wasn’t quite as bad off as he had been that night in Salem, but he could feel the weariness creeping back into his heart and mind again, and the old aches and pains acting up from the abuses he was putting his body through over and over again without any rest. It wouldn’t be long until he broke down again, and now that he was trying to help Ronnie find her daughter, he simply couldn’t afford that right now.

But, what else could he do?

A soft knock at his door caused Sastre to jump a bit, yet another sign that his nerves were worn thin. Drawing his 1900 Colt from his the back of his pants, the hunter warily approached the door, staying off to the side in case anything tried to break or shoot through it. Once he was near enough, he leaned in and looked out the peep hole, blinking in disbelief. Rubbing his eyes on the back of his hand, he looked again and cursed under his breath.

What the hell is she doing here?

Cursing again, Sastre went to his duffel bag and pulled out a vial of holy water, some salt, and a silver knife. Returning to the door, he slid the chain lock in and opened the door the scant few inches that he could, looking out and scowling at Kay. It looked like her, and from her slightly bedraggled appearance Sastre figured she’d come to find him in something of a hurry. That thought led to the obvious one that he should have been asking, but was apparently too tired to have thought of right away: how had she found him? The answer, of course, seemed just as obvious once he considered it.

Probably another vision. Christ…

Handing the items through the door to her, he gave her a quick set of instructions.

“Mix salt into that vial of holy water and drink it down, all of it. And use the knife to cut yourself. I’m not taking any chances. Once you’ve passed those tests you can come in, but not before, got it?”

tag: Kay
words: 777
outfit: here
notes: None

credit noname @ caution

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Huge thanks to Stepha for the sig and avi!

[KAYLYNN MAVERICK]

Angels show up in the strangest of places

The Words: 1,011 The Outfit: Right Here. The Co-Star Sastre Quicksilver Notes: none

She perked up a little as the door cracked open, but she slumped and frowned as she looked into the pale and battered face of the hunter that she had at her place a while back. There was something tugging at her heart when she had seen him, and honestly, it bothered her a little bit that he had allowed this to happen to him again. She remembered when she had pulled him in off of the streets, he could barely walk, see, or think straight, and now she was looking into that face one more time.

Her current glossy brown eyes turned and looked at the items that he was passing to her through the door, her frown deepened and then she looked back up at him. “Hello to you too.” She said sarcastically. She took the knife from him first, showed him the palm of her hand, and then took the knife and sliced across it, wincing a little bit. Of course, nothing happened. No sizzling or bubbling of skin, no weird colored blood, nothing. As she passed back the knife to him, shaking her hand from the stinging feeling and pressing it to her black vest, she took the salt and the vial of holy water next. Kaylynn looked up and opened her mouth to ask if it was really necessary, but she shut herself up real quick. The look on his face answered her question entirely.

She sighed heavily, her shoulders and head slumping forward, a wince was evident from moving her head too quickly. Kaylynn mixed the salt into the holy water and then twirled the vial to make sure that it was properly mixed. Lifting it to eye level, she stared at it for a moment. “Not what I was expecting for a drink.” She said, giving him a smile meaning it as a joke. Kaylynn pressed the vial to her lips, and then tilted it up. She could feel her tongue curling and her already parched throat drying even more as the holy water and salt went over her tongue and down her throat. The most that happened to her was that she made a face and clucked her tongue a bit to get the dry feeling out. She thought that she was thirsty before, it was taking over her now.

“May I come in now?” She gave him a smile, and then took a step into the room when he had opened the door to allow her inside. The brush of cold air against her head made her sway and rub her temple. When she regained her balance, her eyes darted around the room, slowly, and took in her surroundings. The sheets on the bed had barely moved, but she could see that he had fallen asleep on top of them. She turned her eyes toward the desk and there she could see that he had spent most of his time sitting, doing research and other hunter-like things.

Finally she turned around to look upon the hunter, her fallen pale face falling deeper at the sight of him. She didn’t say anything to him, but she was hurt when he had turned around and left her there at her apartment without a good explanation. And seeing him again, and knowing that he just had to test her to make sure that she was human hurt a little more. She would like to think that the two of them go to know each other well enough where he should have known better, but then again, he was a hunter. A hunter that was driving himself into the ground and she was sure that it was just paranoia that made him test her. What hurt the most was seeing him the way that he was…

He was just as pale as her, seemed paler than what she had seen in the vision. He looked extremely tired, and hungry, pretty much he was back on the destructive path that took Kaylynn full three days to get him off. This time, she wasn’t going to be able to do that for him. They weren’t at her apartment. They were at some dirty and run down motel trying to save children. Kaylynn refused to give him any answers till she got him to sit down and take a breather. He needed it, they both did.

Kaylynn couldn’t stop herself, she walked towards him, and lightly had hand rested upon his cheek, wiping off a little spec of dirt…. Not really, she stroked her thumb on his cheek, and before he could pull from her, Kaylynn took away her hand but didn’t move back. She studied him intently and then decided: “You need to sit.” She instructed as she took off her white and funky color star covered bag to place it lightly onto the floor. She took his wrist lightly to move him towards a chair, towards something for him to sit on. Her head was beginning to pound with worriment over Sastre, but with excitement. She wanted to see him again so badly. She missed him, a lot, and she was surprised by it.

“Do you have water?” Kaylynn tilted her head at him, the weight of her hurting head shifting from one side to the other as she moved. “If you don’t, I do.” She lifted her bag once more and pulled it open. Kaylynn removed the pistol that Sastre had given to her as she reached further into the bag and pulled out a water bottle. Double checking to see if the safety was on, she put the pistol back into her bag and handed him the bottle. “I want you to have something to drink,” With her not sliced hand, Kaylynn then patted her vest down, finding a small bag of chips that was neglected to be mentioned and she passed it over. “And something to eat before I start with telling you how I got here, found you, and the what not.”

created by STALK ME REDNECK!

[SASTRE QUICKSILVER]

Just when I thought that it
couldn’t get much worse…

I turned around and I saw you there tonight

So when will I get a break from life?
It’s driving me to drink tonight…

Sastre sighed in relief when she passed his tests.

Unlocking the door and standing aside, he waited until she was in the room before closing and locking it once again. He watched in concern as Kay sort of half-staggered a couple of steps before rubbing her temple and regaining her composure. She seemed every bit as exhausted as he was, and he worried about what all she'd been through since he'd left her all those months ago. From her current state--and from the fact that she'd managed to find him at all--Sastre thought it was a pretty safe bet to say she'd had another vision...

But of what?

When Kay reached up and gently stroked his cheek, Sastre let his eyes fall closed, amazed at how much such a simple bit of contact seemed to make him relax. As soon as the touch came, though, it was gone, and Sastre opened his eyes to look down at her, frowning a bit as he noticed the concern evident in her pale features. Here he was, in the exact same shape that she'd first found him in on that night that felt like an entire lifetime ago. All the work she'd done, everything she'd attempted to get him to slow down and relax, was completely and utterly undone, and Sastre couldn't shake the feeling that he'd somehow let her down.

Sastre found himself struggling against two warring emotions. The first was anger. Anger that she was here, that she'd come to find him after he'd taken off, and that she was putting herself in danger by being here. She should have stayed home, where she was relatively safe, not come traipsing halfway across the country to find him again. But the anger wasn't only directed at Kay, for Sastre found that he was equally mad at himself for having gotten so attached to her during their short time together. How had this girl managed to ingrain herself in nearly his every thought after only three days? What was happening to him? Years ago, after he'd broken things off with Solphi without warning, Sastre had sworn that he'd never get attached to anyone ever again, and Solphi had been a hunter, an incredibly strong and resourceful woman with years of experience who could undeniably take care of herself...

How could he put Kay at risk by getting close to her, when he'd fearfully abandoned the last woman he'd loved in a possibly misguided attempt to keep her safe?

But even with as angry as he was, Sastre couldn't help but feel relieved to see her again. He had honestly never intended to go back, knowing that it would get harder and harder for him to leave, and realizing that his very presence was a danger to the young woman. Still, despite all of that, he'd thought of her everyday since he'd left, and having her here with him raised his spirits, and her presence seemed to fight against the hopelessness that often tried to drag him down.

Before he knew it, Kay had taken hold of his wrist and guided him toward the bedside chair. He didn't fight her on it, as he was exhausted enough to want to sit, and still a bit shocked that she was actually here. He sat down silently, his eyes locked on her, studying her wane appearance and wishing there was something he could to to make her feel better.

When Kay pressed the bottle of water into his hand and told him to drink, Sastre scowled a bit, but it was half-hearted at best. He knew she was right, that he needed to eat and drink something, but the fact that he was so far gone that someone else had to remind him of this irked the hunter a bit. Taking a long drink, he also accepted the chips, opening the bag and eating them mechanically, not even tasting them in his state of shock.

"Alright, Kay. I've eaten and had something to drink. You want to tell me what's going on now?" he asked, the words sounding a bit harsher than he'd intended. Rubbing his face, he quickly added, "Sorry. I don't mean to snap, but I'm on a pretty important case here and I don't have a lot of time to spare..."

tag: Kay
words: 719
outfit: here
notes: None

credit noname @ caution

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Huge thanks to Stepha for the sig and avi!

[KAYLYNN MAVERICK]

Angels show up in the strangest of places

The Words: 1,163 The Outfit: Right Here. The Co-Star Sastre Quicksilver Notes: Didn’t proof read it. xD Sorry!

There was a smile on her face to see that he didn’t pull from her when she had touched upon his cheek, though she was angry with herself from not allowing him to enjoy the touch a little more. Why? Well Kaylynn missed him too. Sure it was only three days that the two of them had spent together, but it was three long days that they had spent getting to know one another. Sastre had done things for Kaylynn that he didn’t even know that he did, and she had clearly helped him with his “I’m not a people person” problem.

Or so she thought that she did. Now she was looking back into the face of the beat up and bruised hunter that she did so long ago. Kay would never be able to understand how someone could beat themselves to the point of exhaustion and starvation. That was hunting, that was looking for an excuse to die, whether he knew it or not. It wasn’t about the job. It wasn’t because he wanted to save lives. If he really wanted to save people he would take the time to stop and allow himself to catch up and repair the damage that he was causing. Did she need to bash that into his head too?

Her eyes never unlocked from his as he stared upon her in disbelief. All she could do was give him a smile as she dropped herself onto the bed close to the hunter. Her head was beginning to pound, ache and make her feel sick. She was glad that she had passed the chips over to him, not only because he clearly needed it, but because they were going to be wasted since she wasn’t going to eat them. She did manage to lean out and pull out another water bottle, getting the cap open with some effort from her tired arms and taking a sip.

The frown that took over her face couldn’t be stopped from the way that he had snapped at her. Was she expecting it? A little bit. He was in a state of shock and exhaustion, and she also knew that he was on a hunt and he couldn’t sit around and play house or whatever it was that he had called their time together. Giving him a comforting smile after he had apologized, she waved him off. “It’s alright.” She said, giving him a wink and keeping the smile. “I understand.” Her eyes though had then dropped to the floor at the mention that he was here on an important mission. Her fingers played with the loose label of the water bottle. “I know…” She said allowing the smile that she had on her face turn into a frown. “That’s why I’m here.” She looked up at him. “I had a vision of what you were hunting.

“It’s a strange creature widely known on the internet as the Slender Man.” Kaylynn reached for her bag and nearly dropped off of the bed because of her headache, but she regained her composure before her body could collide with the floor down below. She placed her white starred bag onto her lap and opened it, pulling out her laptop. Kay moved the bag and then placed her laptop onto her lap and opened the screen. Considering that it was already on, Kaylynn winced hard at the bright light emitting off of the screen and turned her eyes away long enough for her to dim the light. She opened a new tab after connecting to the internet and pulled up a picture, turned the piece of technology to face Sastre. “This is it.” She pointed to the screen even though it wasn’t necessary. “This thing only comes around once every thirty years or so. I’m not sure. It’s only target are children, though I don’t know what it does to the kids. This particular one has been snatching up kids from what it seemed like since the 1930’s.

“It’s tall and really strong with ridiculously long arms. And for some odd reason, it’s constantly wearing a suit and children seem to trust him. I don’t know why, he kind of reminds me of a child molester.” Kaylynn turned the computer back towards her, and then closed it, placing the hunk of technology next to her. “It does hunt people of older age like you and I, but not often. Only when it knows that it’s going to die. That’s when it stalks a certain person to the point of insanity and somehow, that way, it changes you into whatever that thing is.” Then she turned to her computer and opened it again, this time going to Youtube. “There’s a couple of kids that are filming a small miniseries about it, and the page is called Marble Hornets. It’s a pretty good reenactment of what this thing does. It’s right here if you want to watch it.” She pointed to the screen and continued. “There are down falls to this thing though… you can only see it using a video camera. I don’t know why either.

I pretty much know everything about this thing considering that I’ve been getting visions since I’ve been trying to get down here. Which was… around three A M last night. I also saw you, and that was how I knew that you were here.” Kaylynn stood up, but then swayed. “And I know where it’s attacking.” She walked over to the desk that he had been studying at and managed to find an empty piece of paper and a pen, writing down the address. “It’s going to attack these two little boys. Adrian, who’s seven, and his little brother Zachariah, who’s five.” She turned and walked back towards him, holding the paper out. “This is where it’s going next. And it’s attacking at night, around four in the morning.”

created by STALK ME REDNECK!

[SASTRE QUICKSILVER]

Just when I thought that it
couldn’t get much worse…

I turned around and I saw you there tonight

So when will I get a break from life?
It’s driving me to drink tonight…

Sastre frowned at the description of the creature and its habits.

He'd come here hoping to find another vampire nest, one connected with the child kidnapping ring... At least that would have been a quick and easy job, as far as these things went. Now, though, Kay was telling him that not only was this case completely unrelated to what Sastre and Ronnie were working on together, but it involved a creature that was so obscure not a single other Sastre Quicksilver had ever encountered it in the past.

And that, he knew for certain. Part of his training had been to memorize all of the previous Sastre Quicksilvers' journals, thirteen in all. Of course that didn't mean he had to remember every little detail, but it was required of him to know what they'd hunted, when, and where. And, as far as he could recall, there'd never been any mention of anything like this "Slender Man" recorded in any of the journals... Well, there was a first time for everything, right?

Besides, whether it was vampires or the Slender Man, there were still children in danger, and was all that mattered in the long run. He'd find this thing, figure out what it was weak to, and kill it. That was one of the things he'd been taught, that everything had a weakness, even if it didn't seem apparent at the time. Sastre had no doubt that he could kill the Slender Man, eventually. Somehow.

Probably.

"You said its attacking at around 4 A.M. right?" Sastre asked Kay, looking up from her computer screen and meeting her eyes. "Is that tonight? If so, I need to get going now. If not, I'll need to rest up and prepare."

tag: Kay
words: 288
outfit: here
notes: None

credit noname @ caution

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--------------------

Huge thanks to Stepha for the sig and avi!

[KAYLYNN MAVERICK]

Angels show up in the strangest of places

The Words: 690 The Outfit: Here. The Co-Star Sastre Quicksilver Notes: None.

She took a moment to take in Sastre’s appearance as he seemed to be lost in thought. God she really wanted to smack him over the head. She pictured the scene much like what Gibbs does to Donzo when he’s just being stupid, except the roles were switched and it wasn’t just a smack that she wanted to give to the hunter. How could he drive himself back into the ground when they had a conversation about it? She was sure that she had beaten the information deep into his head good enough for him to realize that he was being a complete idiot. That it wasn’t the job that was going to end up killing him, it was going to be himself. Because he. Was. A. Damn. Idiot.

She was snapped out of her rather violent thoughts by the rough sound of Sastre’s tired voice. Her eyelashes were batted at him in confusion, and she took a peek at the time on her computer. “Sas,” She looked to the battered hunter again. “It’s early afternoon. You have plenty of time from now, till tonight. You need sleep, and get food into your system, and some water.” She reached out to him, her hand on his cheek, stroking it once more with her thumb like she had the first time before she had quickly pulled away. This time, she refused to pull from him. Not only was she stroking his cheek with her thumb, her fingers brushed lightly on his skin and into his hair just a tiny bit.

It was all said before, but she missed him. She missed his touch, his voice, his very presence. It was only three days, but it was three long days of the two of them doing nothing but being in each other’s company, and that was enough to at least make the two of them friends. With these two though, it seemed as though things had progressed into something more, there was an instant spark that Kaylynn felt with Sastre, and she wasn’t sure where it could lead, but she was willing to take that leap of faith and find out. Was he?

After a few moments – assuming that Sastre didn’t move her hand for her – Kaylynn took her hand back and rested it onto her lap. She knew that children were in danger, she knew that, and she knew that he needed to prepare, but what was he going to do? Sit there all day and wait till four in the morning came rolling around and then strike? He couldn’t go into a hunt in his condition, could he? Yes he could, he’s done that before, just not to Kaylynn’s knowledge. He’d be a dead man if she knew that he was running into hunts looking like this. Oh the joys of having someone like Kaylynn in your life.

Even though her head was pounding and begged for her to sleep, Kaylynn shoved aside her own agony to make sure that Sastre Quicksilver had everything that he needed. “You have a little over twelve hours. Why don’t you sleep? And I’ll head downtown to get you something to eat. God knows that you need it.” She did too, which was one of the reasons why she was going to be doing this without Sastre being a buttface about it. Well, of course he was going to be a buttface and refuse for her to do it, but she was going to go and get it done anyway. Why? Because she cared for him, a lot, and she didn’t want to see him hurt in any way possible. So with that as her final decision, she managed to stand this time without swaying and get to her bag, pulling out her wallet that had eventually allowed her to find a ten dollar bill. She stuffed the little fake leather thing back into the colorful carry along she had and stuffed the money into her bra.

“I mean it, Sas… get some sleep, and I’ll grab us something to eat. You need it. Don’t fight with me about it.”

created by STALK ME REDNECK!

[SASTRE QUICKSILVER]

Just when I thought that it
couldn’t get much worse…

I turned around and I saw you there tonight

So when will I get a break from life?
It’s driving me to drink tonight…

Any fight that Sastre might have had in him fled at Kay's touch.

Once again he closed his eyes, and all of his tension just flowed away. He was tired, and sore from days on the road, and hungry. As much as he hated to admit that Kay was right, he did need to get some food and sleep, and a little bit of rest before running off to fight another monster, particularly one that he had no prior experience with.

Nodding, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Alright, I'll try to get some sleep," he told her, his voice sounding weak and weary to his own ears. "Just make sure I'm up by eleven, if I'm not up on my own before that, okay?" As Kay was standing to go, Sastre reached out and took her hand, giving it a light squeeze and looking up at her as he spoke. "And be careful out there." Squeezing her hand a final time, he let her go and stretched out on the bed, tossing an arm over his eyes.

After she'd gone, he lay alone in the silence and relative darkness of the room. As wrecked as he was, though, Sastre found himself unable to sleep, his mind turning endlessly. The job with Ronnie, and trying to find her daughter; this "Slender Man" that he'd no doubt be facing off against later tonight; Kay's sudden appearance here, and what that ultimately meant to him; and, last but not least, the figure he'd seen outside of the burning warehouse... the figure who'd been gazing intently at him as he'd driven off...

The figure who looked just like Darian...

That night, Sastre had convinced himself that what he'd seen had just been a hallucination induced by stress, or maybe smoke inhalation, or some other fumes from the burning building. But in the week and a half since it had happened, Sastre couldn't shake the feeling that what he'd seen was something more than just a hallucination... What if it was real? Could Darian have come back somehow? Had someone tampered with his remains? The Old Man had told Sastre, all those years ago when he'd insisted on burying his brother and Julian rather than cremating them, that unless the bodies were destroyed, someone could use them against him... Had that happened?

Finally exhaustion won out over his frantic thoughts, and as he eventually slipped into a restless slumber, the last thing he remembered thinking was that as soon as this job was done, he'd pay a visit to Darian's grave...

tag: Kay
words: 430
outfit: here
notes: None

credit noname @ caution

<

 

--------------------

Huge thanks to Stepha for the sig and avi!

[KAYLYNN MAVERICK]

Angels show up in the strangest of places

The Words: 869 The Outfit: Here. The Co-Star Sastre Quicksilver Notes: None.

She was preparing herself to leave, till she had felt Sastre grab a hold of her hand. Kaylynn stopped in her tracks, turned around and looked at him. The young prophet could see the seriousness and the concern for her in his eyes even though he looked like death. With a small smile caressing her face, she gave him a determined nod and squeezed his hand right back. “I’ll be careful. Promise.” Her smile never faded as he squeezed her hand one last time before he laid down and put his arm over his eyes. Before she left, she allowed her eyes to linger on the hunter for a few more moments before she snatched the knife out of her bag and then snatched up the key to the room and then slipped out of the door quietly, locking it behind her. She figured that he would want her to lock the door for him.

As she wandered into the downtown area of the small little town, she couldn’t help but keep her thoughts on the hunter that was back in the motel. She was never going to tell him, but she kind of pitied him. He was always alone with no one else out there for him to turn too. She knew though that it was his choice… in a way… maybe. Okay, so he claims that it wasn’t his choice to stay away from people, but you know what? Sometimes you just got to punch those decisions right in the face and say “screw it!” and get friends anyway. He was going to die a lonely man and no one – no matter who they are – wants to die alone. The same thing went towards Sastre, no matter how many times he may say differently.

It didn’t take her long to find somewhere that she could grab the two of them food, so where did she stop? The only place that she knew that she could afford and that she knew that Sastre would actually eat from… considering that he doesn’t like the meat products; it was Subway. She grabbed Sastre a foot-long veggie sandwich with chips and two bottles of water, while she grabbed herself a ham sandwich, chips, and her crack drink, a cherry coke. Kaylynn was an addict when it came to sodas that tasted like cherries, which was strange because she didn’t actually like the real cherries… yeah she was a strange one.

All together, Kaylynn was gone no longer than half an hour and when she returned, she slipped into the motel room like a ninja and closed the door behind her turning her chocolate brown eyes to the hunter on the bed. Finally, he was sleeping. Good, he deserved to sleep for a couple of hours considering everything that he’s most likely been through since she has last seen him. She stood there a little while longer, watching as he slept, on the outside, he looked peaceful, but Kaylynn had a feeling that on the inside, his mind was racked with so many things that he wasn’t actually getting a good nap. She kind of wanted to go over there and hold him in an attempt to keep those nasty thoughts away from him…

Kaylynn moved to the other side of the room, putting his sandwich into the mini fridge that came with his room, placing his water bottles in there and then resting the bag of chips on top of the fridge. She was thinking about waking up Sastre so that he could eat and then he could go back to sleep, but she had figured that it was best that she didn’t. Who knows when the last time he actually laid on a bed and slept, but as she watched him, the more that she wanted to go over and lay down next to him. Kaylynn wasn’t really in the mood to get a fist thrown into her face, so she sat there and just watched him, a small smile creeping onto her face at the hunter’s sleeping form.

Whether he wanted to believe it or not, Sastre was a good looking man and he definitely deserved more out of life than what has been put on his plate at the moment. And all Kaylynn Maverick wanted to do was show him that he could have what he wanted so that he could be at least happy with something in his life.

As she watched him sleep, she took comfort in the seat where he was doing all of his research. Curiosity struck her and she took a gander at the papers on the desk, obviously unable to make sense of them for obvious reasons. Deciding that it was making her head hurt a lot more than it should, she stood up and slowly made her way back to her bag, pulling out the medication that had been prescribed to her and popped two pills into her mouth and took a sip from her soda when she got it out of the fridge. Then she placed herself onto the floor but kept the bed in her view and smiled at the sleeping Sastre.

created by STALK ME REDNECK!

[SASTRE QUICKSILVER]

Just when I thought that it
couldn’t get much worse…

I turned around and I saw you there tonight

So when will I get a break from life?
It’s driving me to drink tonight…

The manor house was an inferno.

Screams echoed throughout the halls and corridors as the children ran, their vision obscured by tears and smoke, their sobs broken by gagging as they choked on the ash-filled air. Accompanying the screams was the sound battle: gunfire, men grunting and growling, and heavy boots pounding through the burning hallways. Filled with terror, the children just continued to run.

“Wait,” the elder of the three—a boy of about thirteen—said softly, stopping to hide in the relative shadow of a massive wooden door, thrown wide open. He was a handsome child, tall for his age and sporting a head of thick, dark hair. His eyes, wide yet lacking the animalistic fear of the other children, darted to and fro, scanning the hallway outside the door for any signs of danger. Flickering flames lit the passage, throwing the shadows of several combatants against the wall, causing the three young boys to shrink back instinctively.

“What… What’s happening?” one of them asked. This child was younger than the first, perhaps eight or nine years old, and his shoulder-length hair—slightly lighter than the older boy’s—was matted and dirty. He sniffled, bleary eyed, his tears cutting clean paths through the grime and soot that covered most of his face. Tugging on the sleeve of the older boy’s shirt, he sobbed, “I’m scared, Julien!”

“Hush, Florian!” the third boy, a lad of maybe eleven, hissed. His dark eyes, tear-filled and shimmering in the firelight, locked and held the gaze of the younger, terrified child. In his arms he held the bundled form of a baby. “Now is not the time for this, little brother. We have to get out of here, like mom and dad told us to. We need to make sure Lily is safe too, and since we’re her brothers we have to protect her now.” He turned his attention to the older boy, Julien. “What are these things? What do they want?”

“I don’t know, Darian,” Julien replied softly, creeping forward to peer around the corner. “But I’ll bet they were sent by one or more of my father’s enemies.” He stopped in place, head cocked as he listened to the distant cries, the sounds of combat having now given way to relative silence. Finally he spoke again, his voice filled with sorrow. “This whole place is coming down… We have to get out of here.”

Florian, the youngest of the three, started. “What?”

“Shhhhh.” Darian reached out with one hand, grabbing his younger brother by the arm and maintaining a firm hold on his baby sister with the other. “Be strong, little brother.”

With a gesture, Julien beckoned the others to follow him as he slunk into the hallway. Pausing again, he looked back and forth, and when he was content that there was no danger, he ran quietly to the left. The long, spiraling staircase that would take the boys down into the depths of the cellar--where the ancient tunnels and bolt holes were--was just down the hall. Julien knew that, if he and the others could reach those tunnels, they’d be able to escape the fiery chaos that surrounded them.

“We’re almost there,” he whispered, turning for a moment to look back over his shoulder, pleased to see that both Darian and Florian were following close behind. “Only a few more—”

Suddenly, from out of the shadows of the stairway, a dark from leapt, grabbing Julien and tossing him brutally down the stairs. The boy’s cries echoed up before ending with a single, sharp yell of pain. Instinctively, Darian handed Lily to Florian and pushed his younger brother behind him, pulling a knife from his belt and preparing to defend them from the figure before them. Firelight, flickering from down the hall, cast an eerie light over the man, tall and dressed in dark militaristic fatigues that caused his pallid face to stand out prominently. His eyes were dark and seemed to glow with the deep red light of reflected fire, a red that matched the still-fresh blood that ran down his chin and dripped from his rows of jagged, razor-sharp fangs. When he spoke, his voice was distant and cold.

“Well, well, what have we here?” the vampire asked, a grin twisting his grotesque features. Looking back down the stairs he continued. “A pompous little rich boy,” slowly, menacingly, the creature returned his attention to the boys, “and his two grimy little servants. Your blood is not fit to pass my lips, so you’ll have to be content with merely dying, but the young ‘Lord’ LeDuc there,” he gestured absently toward the darkened stairway, “will prove to be a fine meal.”

A flood of anger rose up in Darian, and he growled as he lunged forward with his small blade. “Never!” The knife cut through nothing but air as the vampire effortlessly dodged aside, laughing.

“My, my, what a feisty little thing you are,” the blood-engorged man chuckled. “Maybe I spoke too soon; maybe I’ll have you as an appetizer!” With a speed that defied logic, the vampire came up behind Darian, grabbing the child’s wrist and crushing it, forcing him to cry out and drop the useless weapon on the hardwood floor of the hallway. Taking a handful of Darian’s hair, the creature lifted him effortlessly, his feet kicking as he yelled in agony. Pulling the boy closer, the vampire bared his fangs, wrenching Darian’s head aside and preparing to bite into his neck.

“No!” Florian screamed, holding Lily against his chest and dropping to the floor and covering his sister with his body. The girl stirred in his arms, finally waking from her deep sleep and whimpering quietly. “Darian, please don’t leave us!”

The vampire laughed again, and as he touched his fangs carefully to the struggling child’s neck, his maniacal laughter suddenly ceased, replaced by a low, pain-laced gurgle. Darian fell from his grasp as the monster’s hands released him, moving instead to the jagged length of wood that protruded now from his chest. Staggering forward, the vampire leaned heavily against the wall, cursing as he attempted to pull the length of wood from his body.

Darian scampered to Florian’s side, taking hold of his brother and shaking him gently, calling his name to try and calm him down and once again gathering up Lily, who had now begun to cry softly. The pain in his broken wrist was instantly forgotten when he heard a soft footfall from beyond the vampire, near the stairs. There, a gash across his forehead and his left arm held protectively across his ribs, stood Julien, his eyes locked on the vampire, and on the long, broken table leg that he’d impaled the creature with. Quickly, limping a little, the young noble made his way to the other boys, kneeling down beside them.

“Come on, we don’t have much time,” he said through clenched teeth, his eyes flicking to the wounded vampire as he urged the two other boys to follow him. Helping Darian and the still-crying Florian to their feet, the heir to the LeDuc family led them cautiously around the vampire. “Come, before it’s too late!”

Without a single look back, the three boys and the infant girl entered the darkened arch of the stairway, each trying their hardest to block out the horrendous cries of terror and agony that continued to echo throughout the crumbling, burning manor house.

***
Sastre sat up, gasping for breath, his wide eyes scanning the room.

He could still smell the smoke, hear the screams, feel the gut-wrenching terror that had flooded him that long ago night. All of those sensations were as real as if they were happening right now, though Sastre knew it had only been a dream, and one that he hadn't had in years. It seemed pretty obvious to him, though, that his sighting or hallucination or whatever it was of Darian had brought this one. He'd been dwelling on the past, on what had happened... It was only natural that he'd dream of it again as well.

Rubbing his face and shivering from the cold sweat that had broken out over his body, Sastre swallowed hard and managed to clamp down on his emotions, using a familiar meditation technique to calm himself down. Opening his eyes, he let them adjust to the darkness of the motel room, and that was when he remembered Kay. Was she here, or was she still out? How long had he even been sleeping? It didn't feel like it'd been very long, or at least he didn't feel very rested.

As his eyes roamed the room, they finally fell on Kay, sitting on the floor not too far from him. Frowning, he realized that she must of seen his reaction upon waking up. His frown turning into a scowl, he got up wordlessly and headed into the bathroom, turning on the sink and splashing some water on his face.

He was breaking down, and he knew it.

tag: Kay
words: 1,503
outfit: here
notes: None

credit noname @ caution

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--------------------

Huge thanks to Stepha for the sig and avi!

[KAYLYNN MAVERICK]

Angels show up in the strangest of places

The Words: 854 The Outfit: Here. The Co-Star Sastre Quicksilver Notes: None.

While Sastre slept, Kaylynn sat on the floor with her DS lite in her hands playing the recent pokemon game. Earlier on in the day she had decided that her head was being fueled by the fact that she hadn’t eaten, so she had gone ahead and ate her sandwich while the hunter slept soundly. Throughout the hunter’s nap, Kaylynn checked him over to make sure that he didn’t have any wounds that he wasn’t telling her about, or that he was neglecting. From what she could gather though, it just looked as if he was neglecting himself. She also couldn’t help but run her fingers lightly in his hair and on his cheek as he slept, careful not to wake him up so that she could avoid a punch.

Soon, she had moved herself to be leaning against the bed closest to Sastre. As she sat there and waited for him to awaken, she continued to allow her fingers to press the buttons on the little gaming device, and she used the little stick to tap against the touch screen. She sat there for a few hours before she had finally turned it off, frustrated with the fact that she couldn’t beat the elite four. A heavy sigh escaped her lungs as she leaned her head back and looked at Sastre. There was a face of terror placed upon his sleeping features and she frowned, turned over from sitting down to kneeling onto her knees. She leaned forward, against the bed, and ran her hand through his hair. On the outside she could see that he was having a nightmare, or something was causing this tender sleep to be vicious. Kaylynn pressed her back against a nearby nightstand and continued to run her fingers in his soft hair. As she looked upon him, she couldn’t help but smile at how… peaceful he seemed to look even though she knew that there was something more going on in his head. And she really couldn’t get over how soft his hair felt, she was going to have to ask him what—

Kaylynn snapped her arm back quickly as Sastre suddenly sprung himself into a sitting position to look around the room frantically. She sat there silent for a few and right as she was going to open her mouth to say something to him, he turned and locked eyes with her. The hair on the back of her neck began to crawl, her chocolate brown eyes watching as he stood from the bed and headed to the bathroom. The young prophet dug her phone from her pocket and checked the time.

10:35PM

He had about twenty more minutes to sleep, but apparently his nightmare said otherwise. Listening to the sink turn on, Kaylynn finally stood from the floor and turned on the little lamp on the stand as she made her way to the bathroom. She stood in the hall/room and out of the doorway.

“Sastre? Are you alright?” it was probably silly to ask that, but she wanted to make sure that he was alright before she had decided to invade his personal space. She crossed her arms comfortable over her stomach and leaned a bit on the wall.

“I got you a sandwich from subway, there’s also water in the fridge for you too…” Anyone else would have told him that it was there in case that he wanted it, Kaylynn was going to make sure that he ate it. She was a sweet girl, and usually allowed people to do what they wanted. Not when it came to Sastre, if it were up to him, he would just keep going and going and going till he finally came to a dead stop. With Kaylynn in his life, she was going to make sure that the damn hunter stopped and took a breather and ate something. He was already on the verge of being a complete mess before, she wasn’t going to allow him to do that again. Little did she know, he was already falling apart at the seams once more, even the ones she sewed back up.

created by STALK ME REDNECK!

[SASTRE QUICKSILVER]

Just when I thought that it
couldn’t get much worse…

I turned around and I saw you there tonight

So when will I get a break from life?
It’s driving me to drink tonight…

Sastre leaned on the bathroom counter, his head bowed, eyes clenched shut.

He heard Kay ask him something, but the words didn't register. His head was pounding, his ears filled with the sounds of battle, of screams, of crackling flames; his eyes stung from imagined smoke, and his chest burned as he sucked in super-heated air. The smell of ash, and blood, and burning wood clogged his nostrils.

No, Sastre thought to himself, clenching his teeth and opening red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes to look at himself in the mirror above the sink. This isn't real. This isn't happening. It was a dream. Relax.

Eventually he began doing just that, his own words bringing him down from the horrors of a nightmare that he hadn't had to suffer through in over a decade. His breathing slowed back to normal, the ache in his head slowly faded away, and the real world crept back in, pushing aside the hellish visions that the nightmare had enveloped him in. Letting out a long, slow sigh, Sastre ran a hand through his sweat-damp hair and turned away from the mirror, slipping out of the room and past Kay, heading to his gear bag on the desk and checking his supplies.

"I'm fine, Kay," he said, her words from earlier finally registering for him. Once he was sure his equipment was in order, the hunter headed to the small refrigerator and pulled the sandwich out, eating it where he stood. He wasn't at all hungry, but he also didn't want to have to deal with Kay practically forcing the food down his throat. With his mind elsewhere, the sandwich was tasteless in his mouth, and he only ate half of it before setting it aside and slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"I'm heading to the house," he told her, locking eyes with her. "Please, for the love of God, stay here. I'll be back as soon as its over, alright?"

tag: Kay
words: 323
outfit: here
notes: None

credit noname @ caution

<

 

--------------------

Huge thanks to Stepha for the sig and avi!

[KAYLYNN MAVERICK]

Angels show up in the strangest of places

The Words: 680 The Outfit: Here. The Co-Star Sastre Quicksilver Notes: Not proof read.

He might have thought that she was an idiot or something, but Kaylynn knew that Sastre wasn’t okay at all. The look on his face and the way that he moved told her that there was something going on with him, but she had decided that it’d be better left unsaid. Kaylynn knew how it must be to have someone constantly hounding you when you didn’t want to talk to anyone. She knew how terrible he was with other people around him, so she had decided that she was just going to leave it alone till later…

Her eyes followed him as he left the bathroom and headed for his gear bag. It was a good thing that Sastre had stopped himself and went for the sandwich and the water. Honestly, Kaylynn wasn’t going to let him out of the motel room if he thought that he was going to go out there and save two little boys. He may have thought that he was going to be able to do it, but he was going up against something that no one has ever crossed before. She couldn’t allow him to go out there looking like a total mess and expect him to bring back two little boys and their parents. She might not know how or understand how hunters did things, but she knew that she wasn’t going to allow him to go out looking like he was.

She stayed silent for a while, watching him as he got his things together. A part of her didn’t want him to leave. In the state that he was in, he was going to end up getting hurt. She cared a lot for him, and it’d kill her to know that it was because of her that he had thrown himself into danger. Well, not really, he was already here trying to figure out what the hell was going on, she just came along and helped with it. The guilt was going to be there if he got hurt, or if those children got hurt… she knew it. Kaylynn also knew that she wouldn’t be able to stand the sight of seeing Sastre hurt. Of course she would never say anything, and if he came back bloody and bruised she wouldn’t leave the room. She’d stay and help patch him up. That doesn’t mean that she wasn’t going to want to hug him tightly when she was finished.

The young prophet couldn’t help but think that there was something that he wasn’t telling him, and she knew that it had nothing to do with the hunt. For right now, she was going to allow the thought to sit back on the back burner of the current issues at hand. Kaylynn couldn’t help herself but blink at the sudden eye contact. She could feel a chill run down her spine, a good chill, one that made her smile and nod her head… “I wasn’t going to go anywhere.” She told him, sitting down onto the bed, never breaking the eye contact that the two of them had. “You stay safe alright? And come back to me in one piece.”

She had reached over and picked up the DS that she had placed onto the floor, she waved it a bit, to show Sastre that she was going to stay on the bed and play pokemon, assuming that he didn’t come back to her sleeping on the bed. With the smile still on her face, and a different look in her eye, one more serious, she spoke to her hunter friend again. “When you come back… and assuming that I’m asleep. Feel free to wake me up if you need help with anything.” She was actually pretty sure that would have been pointless. Why? Because in a place that Kaylynn’s not familiar with she had a tendency of being a light sleeper. So there was no doubt in her mind that the moment that Sastre walked back into the room, she was going to wake up.

created by STALK ME REDNECK!

[SASTRE QUICKSILVER]

Just when I thought that it
couldn’t get much worse…

I turned around and I saw you there tonight

So when will I get a break from life?
It’s driving me to drink tonight…

As Sastre rode toward the house, he ran over the situation in his mind.

He was going to be facing off against something entirely new, something that--as far as he knew--no other hunter had ever come up against, or at least no other "Sastre Quicksilver." That caused a couple of problems, primarily the question of how he was going to kill the thing. Sastre had opted for a couple different things: first off, he had his shotgun loaded with rock-salt shells, knowing the potency of salt against demons and spirits, both of which were creatures from another "plane" of existence. If what he'd read about this "Slender Man" was true, then it was thought that it, too, might be from some other dimension, meaning salt might have some effect against it. Secondly, Sastre had loaded his 1900 Colt .38 with iron rounds, for the same reason as the salt: spirits, fey creatures, and even demons to a point were weak to iron, and maybe this Slender Man was as well.

The other major problem that Sastre has was his inability to actually see the creature. Kay had mentioned--and the article he'd read online had verified--that the Slender Man could apparently only be seen through a camera or some other similar bit of technology. Sastre didn't have anything even remotely like that at his disposal, and he didn't have the funds to go out and buy something either. So, he'd have to rely on his finely honed senses, and whatever he could get his hands on once he'd actually reached the house.

It didn't take him long to get to the place, considering the town itself was pretty small. He still had a couple of hours before the attack was supposed to take place, so he parked his bike deep within the shadow of a tree across the street, and there he waited, checking his equipment periodically and keeping a sharp eye on the house. Truthfully, he didn't know what he was on the lookout for, considering he couldn't see the Slender Man, but he trusted his instincts to know when something was wrong...

The time passed slowly, but finally four A.M. rolled around, and the hunter became more alert. With his shotgun ready, his Colt tucked safely into its holster underneath his jacket, and a single iron-bladed knife hanging in a sheath from his belt, Sastre crept across the street, approaching the house and listening intently for anything out of the ordinary. Surprisingly, it wasn't a sound that caught his attention, but rather an unusual, heavy feeling in the air around the house. It made his skin crawl, and his hair stand on end, but beyond those physical effects it also filled him with a sense of fear that he couldn't quite explain.

It's already here...

All of his exhaustion vanished in the face of this realization, and he took a single step back before delivering a thunderous kick to the locked front door, causing it to explode inward with a sound loud enough to wake the dead. Keeping his shotgun at the ready, Sastre ran inside, looking around and trying to figure out where the children's rooms might be. It was a two-story house, but not particularly large, and he knew it wouldn't take him more than a minute or two to find them.

That ended up not being necessary, though, as a middle-aged man stepped out of a room down the hallway, pointing a revolver at the hunter.

"Don't you fucking move! the man growled, pulling back the hammer with a click. "Drop the gun and get the hell out of my house, before I call the police, got it?"

Sastre cursed silently, dropping the shotgun and raising one hand as he reached into his back pocket with the other.

"Listen, I'm Agent Lucas, from the FBI field office in Raleigh," he said as calmly as possible, slowly pulling out a badge from his pocket and showing the man, who was now joined in the hallway by a frightened looking woman. "You children are in danger, and I don't have a lot of time to explain, but I will as soon as you're all safe, alright? I need to know where their rooms are, now."

The man lowered the gun a bit, blinking and frowning before a look of fear washed over his face.

"Yeah, uh... Alright, come with me." Gesturing for his wife to stay in the bedroom, the man bolted up the stairs, and Sastre picked up his shotgun as he followed, pounding up the steps and clutching the weapon tightly. "They share this room," the father said, opening the door and preparing to step in.

That earlier feeling of fear and wrongness came back with a vengeance when the door was opened, and Sastre grabbed the man by the shoulders and pulled him away before stepping into the room, shotgun held out before him as his eyes scanned the place for anything unusual. It was a decent sized room, with two beds, one on the right hand wall and one on the left. Standing in the center of the room were the two boys, each in their pajamas, and each looking up at something that was apparently standing before the single open window. Something very, very tall, by the angle of their necks as they stared upward.

Something that wasn't there...

Without hesitation, Sastre stepped foward, just past the boys, pointed his shotgun at the seemingly-empty space, and let out a roaring blast with both barrels. Surprisingly, the rock-salt struck something, as only small amounts of the salt actually reached the window and walls behind it. A low groan filled the room, and the children seemed to snap out of their daze at the sound of it. Grabbing them, Sastre pulled them away, toward the door, and shoved them into the waiting arms of their father.

"Get them out of here, now! Get in your car and drive as far and as fast as you--"

The command remained unfinished as the sounds of rapid, pounding footsteps filled the room, and Sastre found himself suddenly struck by something with enough force to send him flying out the door and into the hallway, striking the opposite wall before crumpling to the ground, his vision swimming and his ears ringing from the blow. Gunshots brought him back to the here and now, and he looked up to see the boys' father firing wildly into the apparently empty room, keeping the children behind him as they wept hysterically. Standing and shaking his head a bit, Sastre grabbed the man's shoulder, pulling him out of the room and down the hallway, putting himself between the family and whatever was in that room.

"I need a... a camera, alright? I can't explain, but its the only way I'm going to be able to see this thing to fight it, alright?" The man nodded dumbly, too shocked to argue as he ushered the boys downstairs, calling out to his wife, though Sastre couldn't hear what was said.

Quickly, the hunter loaded another pair of rock-salt shells into his gun, hoping that the groan he'd heard earlier had been some sort of exclamation of pain. He'd just reloaded when the air in the hallway grew thick and heavy, and a slight change in the air pressure warned him that he wasn't alone any more. A growl preceded the next attack, and Sastre managed to just barely leap back as he felt something move through the air before him. A second attack followed, though, and the hunter found himself struck in the chest by what felt like a powerful, bony fist, and he was lifted off the ground by the impact and sent sprawling backwards to tumble painfully down the stairs, his shotgun clattering across the floor and stopping several feet away from where he landed.

Struggling to his feet, and ignoring the various aches and pains that now flooded his exhausted body, Sastre found the boys' father helping him up and pressing a hand-held camcorder into his hand. Nodding his thanks, still too breathless to speak, Sastre pushed the man behind him and raised the camera up to look through it, relieved to find that the man had already turned it on for him. What he saw through the device was exactly what Kay had described, and what he'd seen in photographs online: an unnaturally tall, spindly, suit-wearing man with pale skin and alien features, which was currently making its way awkwardly down the stairs.

Not wanting to waste time going for the shotgun, Sastre quickly drew his Colt and fired three iron rounds at the creature in a single fluid motion. Unfortunately, whether it was his aim or the Slender Man's wiry build, only one of the bullets actually hit, but it was enough to cause the monster to stagger slightly, though it continued to make its way down toward Sastre and the family, all of whom were now gathered behind him, watching in terrified confusion. Ignoring them for the moment, Sastre fired another three-round-burst, this time hitting the Slender Man twice, though the result was pretty much the same: a slight stagger, and a moment's hesitation before it continued on, now almost at the bottom of the stairs.

"Damn.." he grumbled, blinking as his vision blurred again. Backing up and pushing the family with him, Sastre looked over his shoulder at them for a split second before returning his attention to the camera, and through it to the Slender Man, who continued to approach, though perhaps a bit more wary than it had been before. "We have to get out of here. Do you have a car?"

Nothing that he had with him seemed to be doing the trick, and as much as he hated the idea, he knew that if he could get the boys and their parents back to the motel, he might be able to fortify the room against the creature long enough to come up with a better plan. All of his other supplies were there, various herbs and talismans, and other things he could use for warding against the Slender Man, he hoped... But Kay was there as well, and the thought of putting her in danger made him sick.

Still, what choice did he have?

The next thing he knew, Sastre was following the family to the garage, still firing at the Slender Man to keep it away as they tried to make their escape. Once they were all piled into the vehicle--a minivan, thank God--Sastre told the father where to go and climbed into the very back, breaking out the rear window and leaning out with the camera and his Colt. As the van tore off down the street, the Slender Man increased his pace and chased after them, his long, thin legs making massive strides that allowed him to close the distance between them in a matter of seconds.

"Faster!" Sastre shouted at the boys' father as he opened fire on the creature, this time hitting him with every shot, as he was much closer. A low, strangled sound escaped the monster, and Sastre followed up with another few shots before he had to reload. Now, the Slender Man seemed to hesitate even more, and he fell back, standing stock-still in the center of the road as the van increased in speed and left him far behind. Relaxing a bit, Sastre checked to make sure everyone was alright, relieved that no one seemed to be hurt other than him.

By the time they reached the motel and burst into the room, Sastre was in a pretty substantial amount of pain. The initial hit that had knocked him across the hallway had broken a rib or two, he was sure, and his tumble down the stairs had earned him a potential concussion, as well as a broken or twisted ankle, he wasn't sure which yet. Still, it was a small price to pay for the safety of the kids and their family, and he wasted no time rushing to his duffel bag in search of anything that might help keep the Slender Man away, looking to Kay and tilting his head toward the family, silently asking her to help them in whatever way they needed.

Unfortunately, he could do little other than line the door and windows with salt, sketch out some ancient warding runes that offered general protection, and pray.

tag: Kay
words: 2,077
outfit: here
notes: None

credit noname @ caution

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Huge thanks to Stepha for the sig and avi!

[KAYLYNN MAVERICK]

Angels show up in the strangest of places

Words: 2,205 Outfit: Click here Co-Star Sastre Quicksilver Notes: I got a little carried away.

Kaylynn was sound asleep on the bed when her head was beginning to throb and feel like it was smashing against the inner walls of her skull. She rolled with a groan, and stuffed her face into the pillow gripping onto the corners tightly. Was this a vision? It couldn’t be… it woke her up. If this was a vision there was no way that it would have awoken her, it more like would have found its way to bypass her real dreams and show her what she’s supposed to see. Something didn’t seem right.

She pressed her hand firmly against the side of her head, gritting her teeth as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Kaylynn became lightheaded as she sat upright, a common occurrence when her head hurt this much. Slowly, she laid back down and rolled onto her stomach, reaching at the end of the bed for her bag that she had brought with her. It seemed so far out of her reach, and at the moment, her body was much too weak to really stretch any further. She gave a tiny grunt of a noise, and then stretched, finally getting to her bag and sitting up, opening it and pulling out her migraine medication. Before she took it, Kaylynn had decided that she was going to check the room, so allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the motel, she took a peek around the place to find that the hunter that she had chased all the way here was nowhere to be found. That meant that he was still on the hunt, and Kaylynn couldn’t help but frown at the thought.

Kay was new to this, she had no idea how long it was actually going to take for him to finish up the hunt, or even if he was going to be coming back tonight. He could arrive here later on in the morning. What if he was hurt and was getting his ass handed to him? Or what if he had been snatched by this Slender Man? Or maybe he was killed… she was pretty confident that no one has ever fought against one.

With the terrible thoughts in her head, she couldn’t help but bite her bottom lip in worry. Her eyes closed once more, and she placed her hand onto her face so that her pointer finger and thumb were at the corner of her eyes. She sat there telling herself that Sastre was fine, that the family was fine, that he was going to come back in one piece… or at least somewhat in one piece, close enough. After a few moments of trying to convince herself of those things – and it not really processing – Kaylynn removed her hand from her face, popped the pills into her mouth, and snatched a sip of water from what Sastre had left behind. What he didn’t know won’t hurt him.

Without realizing that she was doing it, Kaylynn had found herself laying on her back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. The room was spinning, and spinning violently, she knew that if she had closed her eyes, it was going to get worse and going to get sick. Kay didn’t need to make a mess on the floor when Sastre came back, that would just be awkward. Also, the thought of cleaning up her own vomit wanted to make herself throw up.

Suddenly, the door opened quickly, startling the young prophet laying and she shot up into a sitting position. Her eyes had connected with Sastre, then she felt the strain and weight of worriment lift from her shoulders at the sight of him. Though he had brought along guests, the entire family was there, and she knew that Sastre needed her help. She lunged off of the bed, and with the lights off, took the hands of the children who were ushered into the room. The youngest one Kaylynn felt the urge to lift him into her arms and carried him to the bathroom, gesturing for the family to follow close behind her.

Kay set down the child and released the hand of the other boy, opening the bathroom door and pulling the curtain of the bathtub open as she turned to lift the small boy into her arms again. “Get in here.” She instructed, realizing that the family was more than willing to help in any way that they could. After the parents were nestled into the tub, the mother reached out for her crying boy and Kaylynn gladly passed him over knowing very well that the love and comfort from his mother was going to make him stop. Turning around swiftly, Kaylynn lifted the second child to her arms and nearly dropped this one because of her head then she passed him to the father. She patted down her pockets, realizing that she had left her phone in the main room on the nightstand next to the bed. Quickly, Kaylynn dashed through the room, trying not getting in Sastre’s way as he made the place safe and grabbed her phone, grabbed her phone so she could dash one more time to the bathroom.

“I’ll put this on the camera for you.” Kaylynn said to the family, stepping inside and getting the camera ready and handing it to the father. “Keep this aimed at the door.” The older male graciously took her phone, looked at it, and then looked at her.

“Are you his partner?”

Kaylynn smiled, and knew how the hunter game worked, well at least for their identities anyway. “I am.” That was the only answer she gave the family before slipping out to check on Sastre. Oh Kaylynn knew very well that he was going to tell her to get back into the bathroom, but there was something else that she could offer Sastre. She headed for her bag, opening it up, pulling her laptop from its confinement. Quickly she plugged in the computer considering that she had killed the battery before and then moved the table to a safe location to place the laptop on the surface. She gave the piece of technology a few clicks before she had turned it around, her webcam on to place the reflection of the room onto the screen. She took a quick look at it to make sure that the Slender Man wasn’t already in the room before she looked up at Sastre.

“Are you alright?” It was a pointless question to ask, she knew that he was hurt somewhere and she was worried, but right now wasn’t the time to be scatterbrained and worried about him when clearly the hunt wasn’t over, she couldn’t keep herself from asking though. “You know what? Answer that when we’re safe again.” She said quickly, turning and heading to the bathroom where she knew that she was going to be instructed to go with the family but…

A sharp pain dashed across the inside of her skull. She winced and hissed placing her hand onto the wall to keep her balance as her other hand went to her head to grip her hair, trying to focus the pain somewhere else other than her brain. Whimpers escaped from her as she was no longer strong enough to hold herself up. Kay dropped to her knees with a loud ‘thud’ taking her other hand off of the wall to lace her fingers into her hair. She tried rocking to relieve the pain, but that just made it worse, so she leaned forward and pressed her forehead to the floor. Kaylynn’s face drained of color, her eyes were getting glossy, her body tense and her knuckles turning white from the grip.

If Sastre had called to her, or even if the family had noticed her, Kaylynn didn’t hear them, her senses were cutting out, and she found herself lost in a dark abyss.

The scenery was dark, except for the street lights that were on shining for those that happened to still be out on the road… which wasn’t very likely for this neighborhood. There was a single street light in the parking lot of the motel that flickered several times and the figure of a tall creature stood in the blinking light. He had no face, he was pale, and his arms were unnaturally long with the rest of his body. He was dressed elegantly, and stood with good posture. But his hands were trembling with anger, so much of it that Kaylynn could feel it.

The beast locked his eyes on the minivan that still had its doors opened before he had turned towards the room where his victims were being kept from him. Finally, the light above him gave out, and Kaylynn could see his body moving swiftly through the parked cars. His long arms swinging in anger, putting dents in a few of the metal boxes and taking out a mirror or two as he approached the door; when he had finally arrived to his destination, it stood there, as if it was looking through the wood and concentrating on its surroundings within the room. After a few moments, the arms of the new creature lifted and pounded in the door like it was nothing, sending the splinters into the room. All she saw left was the serious look of the hunter before everything had gone dark.

She could hear again and she could feel the rug against her forehead. Except this time, the pain in her head was worse than before, and she found herself immobile… but she tried anyway. Pushing herself up, and turning her head to look at Sastre as her hair fell into her face, she spoke, her voice shaking.

“I-It’s coming in…” Kay managed to whisper while whimpering softly in pain. Her hands never left her head, her eyes closed to keep the dim lights out of her sight in an attempt to get the pounding against her skull to stop. Forcing herself up with shaky arms, Kaylynn pressed her back against the wall and using it’s flat surface to support her head that felt as if it was ten pounds heavily than it was supposed to be. She knew that it was coming, it was going to be here soon, in yet, Kaylynn couldn’t get her body to move. It didn’t want too. She was lacking in the concentration section of her senses because of the raging storm of pain in her head, it was unbearable.

Suddenly, the door had busted down in the same distinct way that Kaylynn had seen it happen in her vision. She covered her head, winced at the pain the sound of the splintering wood made when it was crushed. Opening her eyes, she looked to Sastre before looking to the door to see that there was in fact no one standing there… until she took a glance up to her computer that was currently recording everything in the room. Her eyes had widened ever so slightly to the tall figure’s reflection on her computer and she could see that it was angry and it wasn’t going to stop till it had killed everything in the room and took what it wanted most… the children.

The tables had turned, now there was a monster in the motel room that could very easily kill both her and Sastre with just a simple movement. The young girl had patted down her pockets franticly, trying to find something for Sastre to use to the see the beast, assuming that he didn’t have anything already. She had remembered that she had handed her phone to the family to use, and her attention had turned towards the bathroom by using her eyes. This wasn’t going to end well, Kaylynn could barely move because of her throbbing head, and Sastre was most likely going to worry about her safety and the safety of the other four people tucked away behind the shower curtain in the other room. Could things get any worse?

The Slender Man took a step forward and released a screech so ear piercing that Kaylynn clenched her teeth tightly, feeling them grind together as she covered her ears to dim the noise. She knew then that the beast was advancing, but it was when the ground had started to shake did she really pay attention. Her hazy chocolate eyes looked up around the room to see various things being knocked off of the shelves and walls, the furniture shaking away from the walls and moving towards the middle of the room. Soon there was another piercing noise, one far worse than the other given by the Slender Man. A bright light started to shine through the windows blowing the curtains away from the walls even though they weren’t open and there was no AC on in the room. Kaylynn had soon decided that she was going to deal with the noise rather than the light and shielded her eyes by covering her face with her hands.

created by STALK ME REDNECK!