Hunting of Hunters

[Amorshka Delacroix]

*Amorshka merely shrugged as Lev guessed why she had left the tavern to come outside and torment him some more. The truth was she had been bored, but there was no reason she had to clarify that for him. She laughed as he congratulated himself for making her water boil or some other contrite analogy that she didn’t really have the time or the desire to understand.

~Yeah, yeah..~ she muttered, waving his words away with the flick of her hand. ~You’re such a super bad ass and all, I just couldn’t resist coming out here to bathe in your shadow of glory.~

She followed his gaze up at the night sky above them, surprised by this mood he seemed to have found himself in tonight. Throughout their long and twisted history together, she had never seen him this morose or philosophical. She bristled slightly as he referred to how she “used to be” before the Tower had messed around with her wiring. She didn’t like to think of what the Tower had done to her, especially messing with her memories. It was like he knew this, and was just trying to press her buttons. It worked.

~I assure you my make and model didn’t require too many modifications by the Tower. I understand they took you apart bit by bit before reassembling you.. by the look of you though, and judging by this mood you’re in tonight, I’d say they forgot to put some of the important parts back in. Or they did it on purpose.. ~ she shrugged and yawned. Growing bored with the conversation, Amorshka decided to cut to the chase and to go straight to the real reason she had followed him out of the tavern. There was something she wanted to know, and as much as she hated to admit it, only he could answer her questions.

~So what’s the deal with the Tower anyways? You keep saying how I’m supposed to be hunting you and all.. and I suppose I may have heard something about it.. office gossip and all, but as far as I know, I haven’t actually been given you as a contract. I know exactly how many contracts I’ve been given, and all of them are dead.. so.. she shrugs ~What the hell you talking about? I know you were given me as an assignment.. though you clearly failed.. and as for my memories, I remember all of our past encounters rather well, thankyou very much. It appears you are the one who has had your memories messed with Robot.. otherwise you would remember our past little chats a lot better than you appear to.. ~

She trailed off, waiting for an answer. Her face would appear beautiful under the moonlight if not for the intense hatred in her eyes as she stared hard at the robot in front of her. *

[Levarin Kindslayer]

He nodded at the sky when she spoke of The Tower reassembling him, adding quietly, "Yes...on purpose."

He listened further, and smiled down at her. "I was supposed to kill you? You stupid girl. The Tower has rearranged so many of your memories and thoughts you don't even know what's up and what's down anymore. Let me clue you in, and see if you can connect the dots in your head."

"You were 'recruited' long after I left The Tower's influence. You might have been lead to believe I killed your sire, but think carefully. Who's hands were really around his throat? Mine, or yours? I'll simplify things. You killed him. It was your first test, and then They planted the false memory of me. Barbed wire and such, was it not?" He was looming closer to her as he spoke, his voice different. "I have seen your so-called memories. The Tower keeps them on their servers as a screen saver. Members laugh at your helpless cries. In some versions your shirt is torn off for the masturbation fantasies of the more twisted ones."

"You think you were never told to kill me? You are wrong. I've been given to you as an assignment at least once before now, but only because The Tower saw an opportunity to get rid of me. Those memories are probably gone by now. Your whole head is so messed up, you do not even know what is real."

He leaned back now, ready for her insults and attacks. But he had one last thing to share with her. "Before you bare your fangs at me and lash your tongue, I brought you a gift tonight. It's a bit old, and useless now due to the statute of limitations, but perhaps it will mean something to you." He slowly pulled a blue envelope from his coat, and held it to her. Inside was the will of her long-deceased father bequething everything he owned to Amelia Delacroix.

[Amorshka Delacroix]

*Amorshka could hardly believe her ears as the robot spewed forth his latest round of insanity. He spoke with such conviction in his words however, that she was scared to admit, if only to herself, that perhaps his words did hold some truth to them. She rolled her eyes as he spoke about the “masturbation fantasies” and snorted.

~Hey now, if you like to close your eyes late at night and get your hard drive all worked up over thoughts of me topless, then that’s your prerogative. Can’t say I blame you, but really… do I need to know about it?~

She walked away from him, just a little ways, and stared out into the night filled forest that surrounded the Vampires Tavern. Everything he had said, about the Tower and about the modifications done to her memories whirled around her head. She knew things were wonky in her brain right now, and she had consulted her old friend the Professor on more than one occasion recently. He had promised her they would get to the bottom of it, and rewire her memories if they needed to, but Amorshka was hesitant to trust him enough to give him that kind of access to her mind. True, he had been independent of the Tower for fifteen years now, but he was still a Tower employee at heart and that fact always stopped her from trusting him completely. Now, according to what the robot had just said, it seemed she may have been right to be so suspicious. She had no idea of what was real anymore; who she was or what she was supposed to be doing with this so called “life” she had been given.

Levarin may have been suspecting another of Amorshkas famous tirades but she was unnaturally subdued as she stared out into the forest, her back straight and her hands clenched into fists at her sides. This whole mess was so frustrating she didn’t hear Levarins words at first, her brow furrowing slightly as she glanced over at him at the mention of some type of gift.

Wordlessly, she stalked back over to him and held out her hand for the offered blue envelope. Taking it, she glanced up at the robot, trying to read what passed as his eyes these days, before she turned her back on him and walked back over to where she had stood moments before. The cool night air blew up a slight breeze around her and her tricoloured locks blew around her head slightly as she opened the blue envelope and looked down at the faded paper she now held in slightly shaky hands. At the sight of her fathers name, her hands shook even more as the rage began to build, the blood beginning to boil in her veins. Seeing her own name on the document, Amorshka was surprised to feel the beginning of tears forming in the corner of her eyes and she wiped them away furiously before tearing the document up into tiny little shreds. Opening up her hands, she let the wind take the shreds of paper from her as she turned back around to glare angrily at Levarin.

~So my father had a change of heart? So what? You think I would want a penny of his estate after all he did to me?~

Taking a deep breath, she got her emotions under control as she turned to look back out at the forest once more. Looking towards where her Mini Cooper was parked and hidden, Amorshka longed to be behind the wheel once more, the wind in her hair as she drove straight to hell. Realising that she needed to end this with Levarin once and for all however, she walked slowly back over to him.

~What is it you want from me robot? You say I’ve been given you as an assignment, yet they wipe my memories of it? How on earth does that make any sense? Regardless of what they want, I really don’t give two shits. I don’t care if you live or die, and if you do either one, it wont have anything to do with me. The Tower can go and take a flying fuck for all I care. I don’t need them, and I don’t need you… so unless there was anything else you want to throw in my face, I’ll be seeing ya..~

And with that she turned her back on him and began walking towards her cherry red Mini. *

[Levarin Kindslayer]

He watched Amorshka carefully as she practically shattered any illusion of calm. He hoped it would be the traumatic event she needed to break free of The Tower's control. At any rate, it was a step in the right direction.

"Amorshka," he called after her as she stalked away angrily, "Do not trust The Tower. They play these games because they can, it does not have to make sense. Your father's will has been in their archives since the day you were turned. I have reason to believe he was involved with The Tower, and sold you out to Them the moment he received the news you were no longer human. Perhaps the will was his final act to seek forgiveness, I do not know. At any rate, if it pleases you, at the time you killed your father, you were missing and presumed dead. The local government absorbed your father's estate, leaving the family in ruins."

He tried to follow her now, but at a distance so he didn't need to raise his voice. He remembered when he severed his connection with The Tower's control and how painful it was, both physically and mentally. He didn't know what would happen in her case, but he knew anything remaining in her organic mind could overpower the electronic controls installed by The Tower.

"I did not show you these things tonight as any tactic to increase or decrease further enmity between us, but instead to spark that part of you that has not been touched by The Tower, or rather, the part they cannot touch; who you really are. Think about it, and remember. The Tower will do anything they please to make you their puppet. Seek me out if you ever find Morshk's autopsy report."

[Moridanu]

(( Posting as Amorshka.. too lazy to change skins))

*As she walked away from him, Amorshka couldn’t believe her ears. Still he followed her, still he ranted on about the Tower and their desire to control her. With eyes flashing, she turned around to face him.

~Havent you listened to a word I said robot? Did you not hear me say, I want NOTHING to do with the Tower ever again?? What do you want from me??~

These last words were practically screamed at him, in frustration and anger.

~You want me to hate the Tower? To not trust it? Well mission accomplished! I don’t know who killed Morshk. What good would his autopsy report show me..? I didn’t even know there was one! You say it was me.. I remember it to be you..~ she rubbed her temples, all the fight seeming to sag out of her body.

Sighing, she sank onto a nearby log and buried her face in her hands. If he was waiting for her to speak, he would be waiting a long time. *

[Levarin Kindslayer]

((Pfft...Lazy Bum.))

Levarin didn't flinch as she berated him again and again. But the fight had gone out of her finally, and he watched her drop to the log. Part of him wished fondly to take out a pistol and spread her bio-tech brain matter across the forest like an abstract painting. But the rest of him knew better. Which path would he take? That of a nurturing teacher, or that of a bastard philosophy professor? He searched his soul in those long, quiet moments. He had always been a kind person before The Tower took him, he saw no reason now to ever change that. But, she was more like a cornered wild cat than a crying puppy, and his intentions could be misunderstood if he tried to approach her again. So he did the only thing he could feel satisfied with, and stood where he was, letting only the wind pass between them.

[Diana Herme]

(( My avatar for Amorshka has vamooshed.. so.. no point changing.. plus.. yeah.. lazy. *grins*))

*She didn’t know how long she sat there for, her head buried in her hands, feeling lost beyond words. All thoughts of who she was, who she had once been, and who she wanted to be were gone. The girl who had dreams of being an Olympic gymnast; the vampire who dreamed of eradicating the world of any traces of her former family and the killers of her sire; the Tower employee who dreamt of being known as the biggest bad ass of all time. All these facets of her life and more, bled together into a confusing haze so that all she was reduced to was a crumbling body of a girl, sitting on a log, crying into her hands while a heartless robot looked on. How had she sunk this low? What had she become?

Finally, she looked up and into what passed as the red eyes of Levarin. Throughout it all, he had been the one constant thing in what had passed as her life since the Tower had got its clutches on her. And now, it seemed at least, that he was the one she could depend on. Or could she? It was all so confusing, it hurt to think.

Rising from the log, Amorshka decided to do the only thing that made sense. She would end the miserable excuse of a life she had clung to for so long. Walking over to Levarin, she raised her hands up in front of him in defeat.

~I surrender robot. I don't know what or who I am anymore, and to be honest, I don't care to find out. You want to kill me? Do it.. trust me.. you would be doing me a favour. Just.. make it quick?~ She closed her eyes and waited for the stake through the heart that would send her from this world to the next. *

[Levarin Kindslayer]

He watched her carefully as she finally rose to her feet and approached him. He could hardly believe his ears as she stood before him, throwing herself at his mercy. He slowly shook his head, then opened his trench coat. In the left side of his coat were the tools of a trade vampire hunter; guns, stakes, poisons, but no silly stuff like crosses or holy water.

He slid one of the stakes out of the pocket, and held the tip to her bare flesh just above her right breast, with a slightly downward angle. He didn't look her in the eyes as he suddenly slammed his other hand onto the back of the stake, shattering it against her body without a scratch.

He dusted his hands off and gently put a curled finger under her chin. He spoke sadly, "You see? You're more like me than you realize. You're nearly immortal as I am."

His eyes, now much closer than before, dimmed, revealing very clear, blue elven eyes. Flecks of gold sparkled from them, and aside from the gray tone of his own armored skin, he was quit a handsome elf under the broad-brimmed hat of his.

[Diana Herme]

*Amorshka braced herself for the stake, but when it came it shattered against her body without so much as scratching her skin. Blinking in surprise, she glanced down at where Levarin’s hands still hovered near her chest.

~I don’t.. understand… I’m a vampire.. regardless of what the Tower did to me, the modifications.. the.. “rewiring” I’m still a vampire. I should be able to be staked! Why on earth would they want me to be immortal? It makes no sense…!~

Looking up into his eyes, she stood before him, not as an Assasin hired by the Tower to kill him, not as a Vampire hell bent on revenge and blood lust, but as a woman, completely lost in the world around her. His finger, curled so gently under her chin, and his blue eyes, so close to her own, only served to confuse her more and she trembled as she stood before him.

~Please… help me?~ *

[Levarin Kindslayer]

He stared deep into her soul, trying to pierce the veil and understand what was happening in her mind. How could she not know her own strengths and weaknesses? He was quite aware of everything The Tower had done to him: the high-tensile strength in his skin, the visual and digital zoom levels of his eyes, even the high-oxygen capacity and responsive nanomachines in the thick, gray, artificial blood running through his veins. At last he lowered his hand from her and looked away.

"They did more than mess with your head. They always do more. They want you alive, no matter what, because you represent a major investment to them. Your natural biology makes you a fast healer, The Tower simply turned it up a few notches. A few hundred."

He started looking around the forest, as if seeking a target. "We should move away from here. I have a safe house you can rest and gain your bearings in." He looked back to her, at the lost and confused woman now standing before him. "You must let go of all your preconceptions about me, and about The Tower. More than likely, they weren't even yours to begin with. But please understand I want to help you. I would have tried harder to kill you if I didn't."

[Lady Guinevere]

(( Posting as Amorshka.. obviously.. ))

*Amorshka nodded as Levarin spoke. It was all she could do. His words poured over her and although she knew she should listen and pay attention, the constant buzzing drone within her head threatened to drown out his words.

She heard “safe house.. rest..” and it sounded good to her. She nodded and fished the keys to her Mini Cooper out of her pocket. Handing them over to Levarin she mumbled ~You drive..~ before she turned and started walking towards where she had hidden her beloved car.

Lifting off the branches she had covered with, Amorshka stood under the night sky, staring up at the stars as she waited for this strange knight in shining amour to open the car door and take her away from all this pain. *

[Levarin Kindslayer]

When she handed him the keys to her car, he almost dropped them like hot coals. Her car was the last thing he thought they should be in, wondering what devices The Tower had placed in it to track her, or worse, to perhaps shut her down when they needed to. But, he knew she would object if he tried to convince her to walk. He just followed her to her car and waited until she was done throwing aside the branches.

He glanced at her sideways as she stared up at the moon. His own organic, emotional side was starting to make him feel nostalgic. He shook his head and unlocked the car door, opening it for her, before walking around to the other side and entering the driver's seat. The small car leaned heavily to one side under his weight. He poked his head out the window and scanned the tires before starting the engine, satisfied he could drive at 55 miles per hour without rupturing the sidewalls.

Before putting the car into gear, he looked at her again, speaking for the first time since the clearing in his usual monotone, "Buckle up." He, of course, did not, knowing full well any seat belt would simply tear like paper against his mass in a head-on collision.

[Ciarnait]

(( Posting as Amorshka))

*Amorshka did as she was told, and clicked her seatbelt into place, though she wondered why she even bothered. No car crash could hurt her, let alone kill her.. and even if it could, she would welcome death right now. Still, she did as she was told, staring blankly ahead as her entire being seemed to shut down.

Levarin was now in the drivers seat. Literally. She could just sit back, blank out and let him take her wherever she needed to go. This was good as it was all she was realy capable of right now. She felt like everything had been drained from her, and had no idea what was next in the life of Amorshka Delacroix. All she knew was that her old life was gone. She was leaving the Tower forever, turning her back on their claim on her, and hopefully cutting them out of her life alltogether. Of course, it would never be that easy...

Glancing slightly over at Levarin, she wondered what his motives were. If he was realy helping her as he claimed, why was he? And if he wasnt; if he was actually driving her towards her doom, then so be it. At this point, she didnt realy care one way or the other. *

[Levarin Kindslayer]

((Thought I'd started my post and saved it somewhere...can't find it now. *shrugs*))

It didn't take long for Lev to find his way through the forest. Dirt roads led through the twisting trees, and eventually the forest gave up and opened into large fields. Farmhouses could be spotted now and then in the fields, with only wheel ruts through the grass resembling any sort of driveways. It was among these inconspicuous farms that Lev turned off the dirt road and into a field where he slowed down to a careful speed, lest he kick up any rocks that might strike a land mine.

He drove Amorshka's Mini Cooper into an old barn. Hay was scattered everywhere, and some old equipment lay rusting in a corner. Aside from the fresh tracks, the place looked completely abandoned and unused for several years. Lev pressed a button concealed in the collar of his coat, and the barn doors slowly swung shut, collapsing the pair in darkness. A hiss came from all around them, and lights began flashing in front of the car. If Amorshka's eyes had adjusted quickly, she'd see the floor of the barn disappear above them.

A few minutes later and they came to a stop. Lights slowly flickered on around them, revealing an underground bunker. Old computer equipment lined the walls covered in blankets and cobwebs. A large pair of double doors led to another area, large enough to drive a semi through. It was in this direction Levarin started walking after exiting her car. He paused to make sure she was following, casting a long gaze in her direction. He was now just as confused as her, moving almost completely on instinct alone, logic no longer able to dictate his next course of action. All he knew was she was hurt, and needed help.

[Diana Herme]

(( Posting as Amorshka.. again.. lazy ))

*She barely noticed the farms around her, only slightly raising an arched brow as he pulled into a non descript drive and drove towards a barn. Feeling completely dead inside and out, Amorshka merely sat there as Levarin did something to cause her world to go dark and then suddenly bright again.

Gone was the barn, replaced now with what looked like a metal tomb. There was computers, and lights. Apart from that, she saw or cared about nothing. As Levarin climbed out of the car, she did so as well. Closing the door behind her, Amorshka looked down at her beloved car, and felt a spark of some emotion stir deep within her. Damn, she loved that car. This thought flew quickly from her mind however and she looked back towards where Levarin had been a moment before. Surprised to see he had gone, she looked around and then her eyes locked on him, just as he looked back to see if she was following.

Nodding slowly, she took a deep breath and followed him into the unknown. Her feet dragging while whatever passed as her soul began to feel heavier with each step she took. She failed to notice the tears that were soon falling down her smooth cheeks as she followed Levarin wherever he would lead. *