ALIX QUINN
Werecoyote
Dread Doctors' Experiment
Posts: 378
Age:
29
Occupation:
Photographer/hunter
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Christian Callaway
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 6, 2024 18:54:42 GMT
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Post by ALIX QUINN on Jun 15, 2022 18:22:02 GMT
 May 10th Born, bitten, cursed, turned into a modern day chimera by a twisted bunch of ancient quacks who saw modern medicine as a way to play Doctor Moreau – it didn’t really matter. You still felt that time of the month start working through you like an itch you could never reach to scratch. The first tickle had been there when she’d woken up not long after dawn. Curled on her side, her eyes on that broad wedge of cerulean sky she could see through the big old warehouse windows, Alix tried to ignore it as she heard Christian stir downstairs. Later it would settle into her bones, a burn that eventually took on a blow torch’s intensity before they started to crack. Had he noticed something in her body language as she’d slipped down the stairs? Probably not. Those gritty remnants of a marriage lost in a wave of bloody violence and all that had started to build before were more likely to blame. Eventually things would harden up around them, a pearl, uglier than most with its dark coating of grief, forming in the tender centre of a life left cracked open. She’d ghosted restlessly around the apartment all day, unable to settle while Christian had gone out to work. The itch growing, resisting her attempts to ignore it, to scratch it. Now Alix’s fingers went tight around the handle of the knife as she sliced through the fish, even the faint ripple of delicate bones against one side of the blade adding to that feeling that she wanted to wedge it into that monstrous clam shell inside herself and cut her own jaw breaker sized pearl free. Two hours until the full moon would rise over the woods. Two hours until she maybe ran from the reshattered remnants of Christian’s life. There was an arrogance to believing her effect on Christian’s life was that heavy but their lives had crept closer with every step beyond that first terse meeting out in the woods. Scales swinging back and forth, everything on one side lit up to show every painful detail Christian could reveal – enough honesty that it made her heart ache as badly as her bones – the other still shrouded in shadows and lies. Alix knew that with Sofia’s death her time for being able to excuse and disguise it all was gone. An acquaintance – an uneasy one at that – had become a mentorship and had carried on avalanching until Alix wasn’t even sure what they were anymore. Friends? Not really. That didn’t feel … big enough to cover what they’d gone through since she’d led him into the woods with him as Edmund and her as the queen. Cold and smug. Something had grown stiff and brittle between them in those brief moments they would acknowledge it, but then what they thought they knew, the world around them, would shift and crumble, and the warmth would be there. A bubble to find comfort in, closing around a man grieving for his wife and the life he’d believed he had – warm, quiet, private. She hadn’t lied when she’d told him Sofia likely hadn’t wanted him to end up seeing her another way, that had come straight from her own heart and the desperation for that bubble not to pop. She’d dreaded it with her parents, with Rohan – and the distance he’d been keeping had cut deep, just not enough to get that rotten pearl out – and couldn’t stomach the idea of seeing that betrayal in Christian’s eyes. Alix set the knife down, trying to push the image out of her head as she ran her fingers over the skin of the branzino, one last check for scales. Her shoulders moved restlessly against the tank top she wore as she glanced up at the clock on the bare brick wall, only seeming to make the itch burn hotter. A half hour tops until he was back here, dinner – wasn’t that domestic – on the table ten minutes later – the truth spilling out minutes later. A countdown to the ground disappearing from beneath their feet again. She nudged the chopping board, with its load of filleted fish, aside and started to snap the tough ends from the asparagus. Something in her froze as the beep came from the front door to the warehouse, the alarm tag she’d given him when she’d pushed him to stay for as long as he needed it instead of heading to a hotel disarming the security system, disengaging the locks. Her poker face was back in place as she heard the door closing with another soft electronic beep, one corner of her mouth crooking up as she glanced over her shoulder. ”Hey. I started cooking early, won’t be long ‘til it’s on the table … if you’re hungry.” You could force yourself through the motions – as she’d done all day, as he’d likely been doing since Sofia had gone grey and cold, but there was no forcing an appetite. You ended up eating out of necessity, something twisting inside you with every mouthful. And with every word now. Alix frowned faintly as she tipped the asparagus onto the griddle. ”I’m heading out tonight, to the woods.” The full moon, werecreatures everywhere, a hunter’s prerogative to keep the wayward in line … or to run with them. |
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CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY
Hunter
Posts: 94
Played by:
Julia
“There's nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 19:24:38 GMT
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Post by CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY on Jul 11, 2022 23:37:38 GMT
 ━ let death fear you ━
Not happy like she’d jump for joy; she’d make that tight expression with her wrinkled lips━not a smile or a frown━and offer her condolences. And, before any appropriate time had passed whatsoever, she’d ask what his plan was and when he’d return to Ohio. As if it would be easy or simple to leave the town where his wife died prematurely.
Sometimes, it felt as though he was staying for Alix alone. Christian knew he wasn’t━that he liked his job and the people he worked with, and that he still had goals to achieve here, but it was true that Alix was the only person who made him feel like he might still be breathing. That maybe, just maybe, there was a heart thumping in his chest. Oftentimes, he felt as cold and lifeless as Sofia was. Even if she was a monster, a piece of him had died with her. She wasn’t always like that━there was a time when she was his wife. The woman he thought was his soulmate.
Perhaps she still was, and he’d be half stuck in this state forever.
Finally, hours after the last bell rang and the students filtered out, most everyone had gone home, too. Christian allowed the false smile to bleed from his face, double-checking his calendar and that everything was set for the next day. He had a psych evaluation meeting with Iskra and her parents at three p.m. After months of sporadic meetings, it was confirmed that Iskra did, in fact, have ADHD. But they’d go through that tomorrow.
Now, he was allowed to pull all that from his brain. Christian, well-practiced after years of this, scooped everything school-related from his mind and left it on his desk, leaving room for the flood of reality to return. It spilled in like a wave to a shore, violent and overtaking, and he nearly didn’t make it to his car before the tears began to spill. If he allowed himself time off, someone would recognize that something was something wrong. The sheriff seemed to realize there was more to Sofia’s story, and the whole thing was… swept under the rug. It made him feel dirty just to be a part of it. It was like one of his father’s friend’s scandals: it disappeared when you threw a little money at it.
He didn’t want to become his father. And even though Christian’s mom was an emotional vampire, sucking the joy out of everything, she wasn’t actually a bloodsucker. He wasn’t doomed to become them.
Christian had gathered himself by the time he’d reached Alix’s loft. A slow entering of his security code and an even slower walk had him finally through the heavy door, briefcase hanging like lead from one hand.
He offered Alix an unnecessary, pressed smile as he approached, suddenly reminded of nights with Sofia when their schedules would line up. She would cook dinner, delicious smells wafting from the kitchen as Christian decompressed on the couch for a minute before offering his help. She usually didn’t want it, or assigned him to something simple like cutting vegetables. Christian was far from useless in the kitchen, but Sofia normally liked to dominate the space━and hated asking for help.
She had in the end━dominated the space, that is. Blood splattered all over the walls and floors, bodies discarded to overtake the space that was their home. Where they were meant to start their family.
He almost expected that Alix wouldn’t take up his offer for help. She was almost done, anyway, and he wasn’t sure he could lift anything after he deposited this briefcase. Alix wasn’t Sofia━they were on the same side. They knew what had to be done, and their goals reflective of one another. At some point, Sofia’s and Christian’s stopped being as such. “Thank you.” He offered instead, crossing the main area to find a spot for his briefcase. He wasn’t hungry, of course, but he was thankful she’d made something, and he’d probably eat it anyway. Christian stored it beside the couch and out of the way, then headed back to her, standing on the other side of the counter, broad shoulders pressed back even though he wanted so badly to crumple.
Was he imploding? Perhaps. He hadn’t even thought about the full moon━forgotten about it entirely, in fact, and the duty that came with it. It was the first since Sofia’s death━and of all those people she’d killed… and another point towards Yes: Definitely Imploding.
“Alright,” He said softly, wishing to lean against the countertop but knowing every fibre of his being would scream at him for it. Staying perfectly still, his hazel eyes skittered over the space between them before finally finding Alix and that soft tumble of red hair. He’d felt it against his skin more than once since he’d started staying here, waking up that first night with the strands tickling his nose, and occasionally giving his cheek featherlight kisses. “I can gather my things and go with you. We’ll go after dinner, I assume.” Christian nodded firmly, set on it now, though his bones felt like they’d crack if he so much as stepped into an uneven spot of grass. “Perhaps it’ll be good to get back out there,” He sighed like he wasn’t sure if even he believed his own words, and then walked around the counter, coming up to her side.
“I can set the table.” It was a statement more than an offer, backed up by actions. Christian pulled open the cupboards he’d grown accustomed to in these last few weeks, and gathered two plates and cutlery, moving to the table with them. It wasn’t the first time they’d had dinner together here, not nearly, and so he set the places in their usual spots across from one another. He knew this wouldn’t last forever, and he’d likely start making arrangements to stay somewhere else soon━or at least offering to buy groceries, if not pay rent, until he found another home. It felt odd, though. The last time he’d lived somewhere without Sofia had been his very first apartment, and even then she’d eventually moved in with him. And the last thing he wanted was for Alix to worry that he’d never leave. “Smells delicious,” He commented idly from where he stood near the table, adjusting the fork next to Alix’s knife until it was completely straight. They’d had staff to do this while growing up, but it didn’t mean that his mother hadn’t drilled proper etiquette into him. “Let me know if there’s… anything I can do to help.” Still, he offered, because he felt useless━as was usual nowadays.
ALIX QUINN |  |
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ALIX QUINN
Werecoyote
Dread Doctors' Experiment
Posts: 378
Age:
29
Occupation:
Photographer/hunter
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Christian Callaway
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 6, 2024 18:54:42 GMT
|
Post by ALIX QUINN on Jul 13, 2022 20:10:38 GMT
May 10th Had marriage ever really been on the cards for her? The question had rolled through her head with a hundred others as she’d lain awake in Christian’s house the night she’d killed the kitsune. Listening to his breathing in the other room, deep and even, secure in his marriage then, even if other parts of his life had started to slide onto rocky ground. No. Not an answer to dwell on. While Ralphy had still been lingering out there she couldn’t, wouldn’t have slid into something like that. A white picket fence, a wedding that had probably full of happy families on both sides. A ring slid into place with the intention to keep the vows exchanged. Decades to come a house that would eventually fill with the sound of kids. It was a lot of people’s dreams, they were happy when they had it. Devastated when they lost it. Alix supposed she’d lingered on the first day Christian had gone back to work. Waiting, almost like she was now, for the door to open when he got back. Green eyes searching for some sign that things had fallen apart as he’d taken his first steps back out into a life that had to look ‘normal’ on the surface. The cracks were there, God, she could feel them herself, her own bedrock sprouting a few more with the death of his wife, but they were hanging together for now. Until perhaps one more blow saw them tearing wide open. Fish and polite table conversation weren’t going to be much of a last minute seal on them. The fixings of what might have been slapped together to keep up an image that wasn’t hers. It had been Sofia’s instead. Alix’s fingers tightened around the asparagus stalks as Christian came into view. That wasn’t a natural smile, she’d seen those on him and wondered if she ever would now. Was the shell of the man who’d made it clear how rude she was at that first meeting even capable of it without crumbling anymore? She swallowed, her brows furrowing as she looked away. Maybe this had been a bad idea, her attempt at easing into this just another sharp reminder of the married life that had been a lie for too long. ”It’s just fish, some vegetables,” she said lightly in return for the gratitude. Like that made a difference when the two of them would be sitting opposite each other at the table with her lie being unpacked between them. Christian had kept himself stowed out in the main part of the warehouse, like his briefcase. A polite guest not wanting to invade too far after the night he’d spent in her bed. She could feel him there though, even when he was going through the motions at the high school, a press against itchy skin from the other side of the counter now. Shoulders braced, stiffened like the itch didn’t burn hotter just at the mention of the woods, Alix stated her plans for the night. Not that brutal image of her cowering at the quarry, on the edge of the woods, chains holding her in place as the animal raged through her, but the image she held onto the rest of the month, the only one Christian knew. Her eyes darted to him at his soft agreement, her knuckles going white as she grabbed a spoon to nudge the asparagus aside. The ’no’ stuck in her throat as he began to make his own plans off the cuff. Alix’s mouth parted, her breathing stuttering as she felt the pressure of his gaze on her again. ”Soon after. Same time every full moon.” Her preparations were already in place. The bag in the trunk, the chains she would fight against as she slipped the bonds an anchor would bring and lost herself in what they’d made her. A stiff nod came at his offer. Alix stiffened again as he moved around her, aware of every shift in the air, like the molecules he stirred moved against her own raw skin. Almost like she was waiting for the violence to tear through them and that brutal possible future coming true. She swallowed hard, the words not wanting to come. Would another month matter? Would he even notice when she left tonight? Yes. It all mattered and she wouldn’t let him rot in the dark, wrapped in the rags of what he thought he had left of the truth. Her fingers shook faintly as she lifted each fish fillet in turn, placing it skin side down in the pan. It sizzled immediately, that pale flesh recoiling from the heat in a way she understood. Alix lifted her head, her hands curling around the edge of the counter for a moment as she looked back at him. She had to open that door, shoulder it open once inch at a time. She owed him that. ”How are you with dressings?” she asked hoarsely. It was easier to picture him in the kitchen than Sofia, all that she knew of the woman was what she had seen at the club, on the walls of their home, now shuttered until the time was right to step back in. Alix picked up the spoon again, prodding the asparagus to turn it. ”There’s the fixings for a lemon caper sauce … can we … talk while I finish this up?” Her chin came up at inch, her eyes back on the pan so she didn’t have to see a shift in him as she spoke. ”I … said some things the night I came to you. Asked for some time on some of it … I should have said some of it then but the time wasn’t right. Did I mention him? My uncle?” The fixed point around which every miserable shift in her life had happened in the last couple of years. |
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CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY
Hunter
Posts: 94
Played by:
Julia
“There's nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 19:24:38 GMT
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Post by CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY on Jul 28, 2022 20:57:28 GMT
━ let death fear you ━
They waded around in a thick pool of oil, filled with grief and discomfort, though it wasn’t usually this bad, was it? There was congestion in the air, balled up and unmoving, and it wouldn’t dissipate until one of them managed to push it out. Honestly, Christian wasn’t sure which of them it was. He hovered by the table like a dog waiting for its next order, and was relieved when Alix thought of something. He was worried she’d claim everything was done and shrug off his offer, then leave him to drift in the wind until dinner was on the table.
“I’m a professional at dressings.” He responded with a lame grin, though he did have a lot of experience with making the additions that went with meals. Moving to the fridge, Christian gathered the supplies in his arms, steps slowing on the journey to the counter when Alix spoke again. “Of course.” He said lightly, suddenly realizing who needed to clear the air.
Would she ask him to leave? He’d been here long enough. Christian would understand, though he’d assumed she would’ve been more sympathetic. He wasn’t an awful house guest━he was sure of that much━and it seemed as though her invitation was more open, but he could appreciate the fact that some people didn’t like sharing their space. Though he’d grown up in a huge home, Christian knew what it was like to relinquish time, attention and space to three other siblings, and even when he moved out, Dylan had stayed with him for a time. Alix mentioned a brother, Christian was sure of it, but perhaps she felt she’d earned her own space and didn’t want to keep sharing it. He couldn’t fault her for that; he’d just have to move on.
As he began the dressing, however, Alix’s chosen topic wasn’t at all what he expected. Christian glanced at her, though he wasn’t able to see much of her face from his position, and soon continued crushing the tiny capers beneath his spoon. “I don’t believe you mentioned your uncle,” He responded lightly, trying to comb through his memory of that night. There’d been a lot more on his mind recently, and the half-bombshells dropped on that particular day were shoved onto the shelf until he could deal with anything more than the death (and betrayal) of his wife. “I remember something about ‘The Dread Doctors’ and that you suspected they’d made the list, or at least that the names of creatures they’d… created were on it.” His brow furrowed, still unsure of what exactly she’d meant by that. “I also recall that you had a friend on the list… was your uncle involved?” It felt different now, knowing that Alix was close to a… thing like his deceased wife. But creature didn’t necessarily mean evil, as he’d learned. It was just difficult to remember that now, after all he’d been through.
“I’ll need to sautee these capers with the melted butter. Is there room for me on the stove?” Christian tried to joke, tried to smile, but it felt wrong━they’d started something now; his intuition was alert with the lingering buzz that things were changing━and not just for the full moon.
ALIX QUINN | |
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ALIX QUINN
Werecoyote
Dread Doctors' Experiment
Posts: 378
Age:
29
Occupation:
Photographer/hunter
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Christian Callaway
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 6, 2024 18:54:42 GMT
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Post by ALIX QUINN on Aug 7, 2022 18:42:32 GMT
May 10th How long would it take before the warehouse started to feel like a confessional? A place choked with the perfumed smoke of lies and truths so bitter they sucked all the air from your lungs. When she’d called Rohan and Brady here to come clean with each of them there hadn’t been any window dressings like meals. They hadn’t been staying here like Christian was now, it was just a spot to pull together in the barest way. Nothing to hide behind, nothing to dissipate that oppressive air. Just her balled up on one end of the couch with her brother and cousin standing over her – the couch Christian was now living on because someone else had balled themselves up with all their bloody secrets. Alix knew she couldn’t let his life be torn apart like that twice. Fangs exchanged for claws, what was left untouched torn to pieces. It was better to make those minor cuts, to find some way to patch them up, than to wait until there was some mortal wound and you were left scattering dirt over it all, some part of you buried with it too. A quick flick of the knife, what had burned in her chest for years let free, hopefully to be examined and accepted with time before the would created scarred over. Alix felt the metaphorical blade flick backwards and press against the soft spot below her ribs as she informed Christian she was heading out to the woods after dinner. A sting, those first drops of blood gathering, rolling down to pool in the hollow at the centre of her. Two hands – his and hers – on the blade as she tried to ease a little of that window dressing back over the discussion. She returned that grin, although hers didn’t last long. The pressure was there, unrelenting. It either came out in this confession now or it would burst out with the sort of violence she couldn’t bring to bear against the man who’d suffered through too much of it at it was. Green eyes tracked him as he moved to the fridge to gather everything together, fingers gripping the handle of the spoon in a white knuckled grip. ”Thanks,” she managed hoarsely. Like that small weight off of her shoulder was going to make the bleeding any easier. The blade slid deeper, the pain of it almost stealing her breath away. Alix stiffened against it, the muscles of her stomach aching like she was clenched around that blade, holding on to the secret just a few moments longer, because the moment the drips became a flood she would see that change in those dark eyes that always seemed full of infinite compassion. She kept her eyes off of him, like she was focusing on nothing but the meal as the confession trickled out. ”I still don’t know if they did,” she said tightly. ”I do think Ralphy was tied to it all from the start though, to the Dread Doctors too. He was the one to put Derek on it. Derek was one of their experiments, I tracked him down, listened to him and we got close. That was enough for Ralphy to want him gone and so … he went me after him. I almost killed him before he stopped me.” Even then she had refused to tell Derek the truth. He’d pushed at her and she’d pushed it all aside until she’d met Brady and there was no resistance anymore. Remembering the way her blood had glittered on the floor of his apartment like gems, Alix cursed under her breath. She forced herself to move, putting the fish skin side down in the pan on the stove. Her shoulders bunched as Christian broke through with a question far lighter in tone. A request that had her melting aside. Alix’s lips twitched up at the corners as she tilted her head towards the free rings at the back of the stove. ”Sure,” she said hoarsely. ”I can always squeeze up.” Had squeezed up to let him further into her life than almost anybody since she’d torn herself away from her family. Would she bleed out from the raw edges of it if he tore himself back out of it now? Alix swallowed hard, her gaze ticking up to the side of his face as she leaned into the counter on the right of the stove, her fingers curled lightly in towards her palms while everything in front of her sizzled. ”Ralphy … after I left home, my family, he called to convince me to start working on the list.” A deep breath that was stolen away as the blade sank deeper, the pain sharper. ”All of those kills were picked up at his request … the money went to him and even though I knew it was wrong … I couldn’t back off. Not without him revealing what happened to my family.” Tears burned furiously, sharply, one hand coming up to scrub them away as they rolled. ”Sofia kept a secret from you and in a way I’ve done the same. It’s not fair and I’m sorry, but … I can’t leave you in the dark, not now. Even if it means you can’t look at me the same.” Just as he would never remember his wife the same way now. ”Ralphy made a deal with the Dread Doctors first. To experiment on me.” Auburn lashes fluttered for a moment, then the green of Alix’s eyes was washed away with that electric blue. |
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CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY
Hunter
Posts: 94
Played by:
Julia
“There's nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 19:24:38 GMT
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Post by CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY on Aug 23, 2022 18:04:21 GMT
━ let death fear you ━
When Alix broke off halfway through the story to offer him the rest of the stove, Christian moved to it swiftly and without hesitation, unwilling to interrupt her any further. He placed a new pan on an open element, one closest to him, and turned it up to a low heat before adding the butter. It began to sizzle in a few moments, especially as he maneuvered it around the pan with a wooden spoon. He continued to focus on the pan until Alix spoke again. Then, those hazel eyes ticked up to hers, giving her at least ninety percent of his attention━after all, he didn’t want to ruin the sauce when she’d gone through so much trouble to cook dinner.
Angling himself towards her, just as she did to him, Christian stole glances at the pan, though the butter didn’t need much attention. “Did he keep information about your family from you?” Christian asked, brows furrowing in confusion. “Is that why you needed funds from the list?” She’d said it on the night she’d encountered the kitsunes, but now that she’d revealed it was truly going to her uncle, well… he supposed it made sense. She seemed to be paying a debt to him; neither she nor Christian knew something was wrong with the list until that night.
It only took a moment to add the garlic, lemon zest and capers to the melted butter, but by the time he’d finished, Christian realized she was crying. With the hand not holding the spoon, he reached out to touch her arm, trying to offer comfort in a gentle squeeze.
Alix’s words permeated slowly, one at a time. He felt like a child trying to understand something that wasn’t inherently obvious, or perhaps wasn’t presented in terms they could understand. Sofia. A secret.
His brows knotted again. He respected this, the honesty, though he wondered what could be so awful that he’d see her differently. Sofia had tarnished her own memory with murder, surely Alix hadn’t done anything in the same vein? “Alright,” Christian said lightly, though she didn’t need the go-ahead, and waited.
He guessed she’d tell him about a time she followed the list and it led her to someone innocent, as with the professor’s pregnant wife. Perhaps Alix went ahead anyway, driven to complete her uncle’s demands. It would be jarring, but he couldn’t fault her for that. They all thought the list held some ground.
Again, his guess was wrong.
Alix was━she was one of them. As soon as her eyes took on that unnatural glow, Christian dropped his hand and the spoon and stepped away. The sizzling from the pan went ignored, but he could feel it now, all throughout his body. It burned in his stomach, up his chest, all the way to his eyes. The betrayal came again, a wound not yet closed━just no longer bleeding━ripped open once more. It oozed heartache and pain, everything he’d thought was healing.
And he was angry. How could she keep this from him? She wasn’t his wife, no, but his friend. His trusted confidant, the one person he could go to with anything. She was more than Sofia in that sense━he kept side profession from his wife as much as possible, kept Alix from her, and he’d called Alix when he experienced the deepest trouble of his life. She lied. The whole time she watched him suffer and rant about supernatural creatures, she’d lied.
Suddenly, it didn’t matter that it was against her will. Well, it did, in some rational part of his brain, but Christian was dealing with the shock of this. His eyes were wide, lips parted in a way that his mother would reprimand him for. “You’re a━” He swallowed hard, itching for his crossbow, for a knife, as if she was someone different now that her eye colour had changed.
Was she? Or was she still the woman who’d helped him through every unsure and unsettling moment practically since he’d arrived in Mystic Falls?
“That’s why you never went out on full moons.” He shook his head, almost disappointed━as if that word alone could sum up the multitude of emotions coursing through him. Vampires didn’t have eyes like that, so, from his experience, she was a shifter. A werewolf, most likely, and her eye colour meant… oh, God.
“How long have you… been like this? Why do you hunt those creatures if you’re one of them?” Shades of grey, right? They suddenly ceased to matter. Sofia became the exact thing that stole their child from them, the thing she claimed to be appalled by, and took innocent lives. Alix could be living any kind━any shade━of a double life.
“What did you do to have your eyes be that colour?” He snapped, anger swarming in now, filling all the empty, lifeless spaces of mourning.
ALIX QUINN | |
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ALIX QUINN
Werecoyote
Dread Doctors' Experiment
Posts: 378
Age:
29
Occupation:
Photographer/hunter
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Christian Callaway
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 6, 2024 18:54:42 GMT
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Post by ALIX QUINN on Sept 4, 2022 17:18:10 GMT
May 10th Sofia’s lies had been laid out in those bold strokes of red in the home she’d once shared with her husband. Bodies stacked like cordwood in rooms that would have once just held warm memories instead. Defiling layers of a happy marriage that had built there like rings on a tree, soaking through everything, including her husband’s memories. For years she’d convinced herself that she could have own life outside of her own red handed crimes, but Alix knew she’d just been deluding herself. Learning about what Ralphy had put his own sister through, reconciling that part of her that had believed she had only hurt others under his orders with the part of her that had resisted from time to time. No matter how hard she tried to convince others of it, she wasn’t free of her own crimes. Looking down at her hands as she squeezed aside to let Christian get to the stove, as she’d squeezed some part of her aside to make room for him in her life in the first place. It was supposed to only be to stop him from ending up dead, to stop more blood ending up in her hands, but in the shifting of both sides, something deeper had clicked. Deep enough that he deserved more than lies to gloss over what was being hidden from him. Sofia hadn’t given her husband the same opportunity, walling that part of her off instead until there’d been no choice. Now, she was handing that choice to Christian, like the burner on the stove, with her the thing held over the flames. Alix’s throat went tight as he turned on that heat, feeling it as though she were the butter, cohesion lost until parts of her slid away and sizzled. The words burned their way out, leaving that rawness to her throat as they were freed. She tried to curl around herself in a way, covering up the wounds they left, but was there much point in that now when everything would be revealed? The laugh was more a huff of breath out through her nose, one that did nothing about the burning that worked its way up through her sinuses and focused at the backs of her eyes. ”Almost everything about them,” she said hoarsely. ”I only ever got to see what all of them wanted me to see.” Lips pinched tight as she stared down at the fish, Alix nodded. Money, it always seemed to swing back that way again. Hunting wasn’t supposed to be about what ended up in your pocket, doing it right the way almost meant serving some purpose far higher than yourself, certainly higher than your needs and desires. ”Ralphy wanted it and I could be his arms and legs to get it.” And it could be the choke chain around her neck. Take names off the list for him, or hey, maybe you want to be on it yourself. Maybe that would’ve been easier, instead of waiting for someone she loved to turn that weapon on her, painting their hands with blood the same way hers had been. She should’ve turned the fish, it was probably burning, but Alix was snatching at the tears that broke free instead. Christian reached out for her, leaving her flinching in his touch, like a startle animal, before she settled. It might be the last time it happened, the truth shattering between them like a grenade, devastated wounds left behind. She couldn’t look him in the face, not as she stripped away that last layer of protection, just flinch again slightly at that light word, like it was another brush of careful fingers, trying to soothe her through it. It wasn’t alright, couldn’t be. Certainty fixed around those two words like concrete as she looked up at him and allowed her eyes to change. There it was, the boom that hollowed out all that had been left at the centre of her. Bloody wounds radiating out, tearing out those points where Christian’s life had anchored to her own. He’d deserved to know, not to stare at a mask that covered everywhere she really was, but it didn’t make the effects of that realisation any easier. Trying not to crumple in around that bloodied core, Alix reached out to flip the fish. Fingers strangely numb as the uncooked fish sizzled against that heat. All the burners turned off. What was the point in some fancy little dinner now? Her gaze dropped to the pan where the butter sauce hissed and spat, that stiff figure that had melted into her hold a few short weeks ago in her peripheral vision. ”A werecoyote,” she whispered hoarsely. Alix’s lashes fluttered and that shocked expression disappeared in a wash of tears for a second. Numb fingers reached up to brush them away as she nodded at his question. Not out on full moons. Here most of the time, shackled to raw brick, just enough of her held onto to avoid going out there and pouring out that hurt and grief onto others, leaving them torn to pieces instead of her. ”Being made into this doesn’t change that. The moon rises and I have no choice in any of it.” Only that was a lie, wasn’t it? She could’ve turned one of those guns on herself, the way she’d considered doing after that first full moon, doing what was expected of her as a hunter. Eyes, now human green, roved over those pans set out in front of her, like she was trying to pick some way through them, back to the way the night could have gone if she’d kept her mouth shut. ”I was 19 – 9 years ago,” she rasped. ”We were hunting them – trying to find what was taking teenagers from a high school. I thought it was just bad luck, but…” It had all been orchestrated. Alix’s jaw stiffened as her eyes finally snapped to him, a frown carving deep lines. ”You think it’s like killing family? Some of them didn’t deserve what I did to them, but they’re not all innocent. I was trying to still do some good, to save lives.” Something he should’ve understood, that burning need to do something to redeem yourself. The snap of his voice hit like a hammer blow. Alix flinched again and stepped back. She stared at him, knowing it was wrong to snap back, even though the mirror between the two of them, the one twisted like a funhouse mirror right now, should’ve shown Christian that his own would’ve been the same given what they had done. ”I killed,” she whispered. ”Foolishly. Believing that none of them were innocent when I did it doesn’t change the fact that I murdered people. Wanting to make up for it does change any of it. It’s never going to change any of it, no matter how many lives you save.” A lesson she’d never wanted him to learn, but it had happened the moment he’d killed the banshee. Then she’d held him through it, helping to piece those shattered pieces of a good man back together. She hadn’t been able to remove the stain from her soul, that would remain, like her own did, although perhaps Christian’s would never be as steeped in blood as her own was. |
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CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY
Hunter
Posts: 94
Played by:
Julia
“There's nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 19:24:38 GMT
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Post by CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY on Sept 23, 2022 19:11:41 GMT
━ let death fear you ━
Made. She drove the point home, and Christian tried to accept it even as his heart seemed to thunder in his throat. It made things better, perhaps, but not right now━not in the heat of the moment━when he wasn’t at all rational.
Finally, her eyes returned to their normal colour, though that didn’t make Christian feel any better. She was still that thing underneath, just as she’d been for years. Just as Sofia was, with Christian none the wiser.
Bad luck. But it wasn’t. She was offered up like a slab of beef to the very people currently terrorizing Mystic Falls, and that should’ve made this easier to handle. Should’ve. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t. He almost flinched at the words ‘killing family,’ but this wasn’t about him, and it wasn’t what she was referring to. Being wolves or coyotes or anything else didn’t connect them all. Christian knew that━he had to━but he’d spent so long thinking of them as one collective unit, an entire enemy that needed exterminating.
He slowly began to believe that perhaps not all of them were guilty for simply existing. Mistakes were made regarding the list, considered a Bible of sorts, though it turned out to be nowhere near reliable. It was hard to remember all that now, though.
His muscles were rigid, tense and on high alert around her. When Alix moved, though she was putting space between them, Christian stepped back as well. He did it on instinct, unsure of what she would do next. Was that fair? Perhaps not. She was the same woman he’d grown to trust, but she was also the second person who’d lied to him about something major in recent weeks. Christian thought of himself as fair and honest, kind, but not overly trusting. He also believed he was a good judge of character━and if that was true, how had he not seen this?
‘... It’s never going to change any of it, no matter how many lives you save.’
Christian felt that build in his throat and telltale burn behind his eyes. His head shook, though he understood in the most profound possible ways. The professor, his pregnant partner━Christian supposed his eyes would’ve glowed blue, as well.
“So, your uncle had you changed by the Dread Doctors, and then what happened? You remained to do his bidding?” That was what Christian had inferred by what she’d said, anyway, though he supposed she could’ve fled once she realized. He wasn’t sure which he’d respect more.
“The people you’ve killed… would that be as a… coyote,” He said it as though he was testing the word, like he’d never said it before, “... or as a hunter?” Was there truly a difference? It felt like it. He was sure what she’d say━or perhaps it was what he wanted her to say.
Hazel eyes ticked all over her frame as if he could dissect Alix with his eyes, slowly assessing. He swallowed hard, meeting those (human) green eyes again. “What do you do on full moons?” Did she run wild, happy to tear apart whatever was in her path? Would she become a beast in a few hours? Well, that last question was very clearly yes; it was inevitable.
ALIX QUINN | |
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ALIX QUINN
Werecoyote
Dread Doctors' Experiment
Posts: 378
Age:
29
Occupation:
Photographer/hunter
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Christian Callaway
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 6, 2024 18:54:42 GMT
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Post by ALIX QUINN on Oct 9, 2022 17:00:58 GMT
May 10th The bullet hadn’t come instantly, not in the way she’d pictured every time she’d considered doing this. Alix had expected the reaction to be violent, the hate to rush out like a tsunami, sweeping Christian past what his good heart would’ve perhaps argued for if he’d had a moment to think. Maybe it was only his heartache and grief over his wife that had slowed things down to the point where he just stood beside her, mute between those quiet questions that tore at her as if they were so much more. The wounds were already bone deep, almost mortal. Every time she spoke the words aloud to someone who mattered they cut deeper. Christian’s hands had been the ones holding some of them together – they shouldn’t have been, he hadn’t asked to be her band aid, he had a wife for God’s sake – stopping her from bleeding out for a time. Alix couldn’t look up again, meeting eyes that had likely gone cold as the ice that filled the pit of her stomach. She brushed the tears from her cheeks, trying to get rid of them before it all froze. Had the ice in her ever really melted? Years on her own trying to get used to this, constantly eaten up by the fear that someone in the family would find out about what she was. Years after spent with Ralphy’s choke chain around her neck, doing things she’d never wanted to again. Derek had made it seem as though maybe it would thaw, but when the truth about Ralphy had broken, he’d turned her away too. Not at first, not when he put her into his bed … and slept across the room like he couldn’t bear to touch her anymore, but after. She’d left the next morning, not a single word murmured as she went. Christian hadn’t reached for her the way he had the last time her shields had started to fall to reveal the woman beneath the one he thought he knew. Would be do the same as she had? Forget dinner, perhaps the moment she went out to … turn … he would gather his things and go, returning only to do what he should’ve done tonight. Perhaps her words, sharp as the knives that cut inside of her would do enough damage to make that happen. As she stepped back Christian did the same, those rigid muscles breaking enough to get him out of a predator’s range, no matter how safe he was from it already, the trust that would’ve told him that was long gone. The aftershocks of his words still resonated within her, maybe her own did in him as she hit back in a way she wanted to take back now, although it had been the truth – the scales simply didn’t balance that way. She cracked with his question, the dam inside opening up to spill out so much of what she’d tried to keep sealed. Alix turned off the heat on the stove, all the burners reduced to nothing, although the food still sizzled as she propped her hands against the edge of the counter and hunched over it. ”No. I ran. I wasn’t stupid. My family have never stopped to see if something was actually guilty before they killed it. If I went home and they found out it would’ve been one of them putting me down.” Her head shook, the tears starting to burn again as the tremors ran through her ragged nerves. ”I couldn’t watch one of my brothers be made to do it.” She’d lied, she’d run and if it hadn’t been for Ralphy jumping onto the hit list band wagon, she would’ve stayed gone. Christian’s life would’ve taken its own course, undiverted by her and maybe by now his wife would’ve slipped and his would’ve been the body in a shallow grave. Straightening up, Alix squelched the urge to pace. She couldn’t blame the moon for this restlessness, although its pull on her muscles had started hours ago. Standing stiffly, she crossed her arms over her chest, forced herself to look up into the flint of his eyes. ”I isolated myself for three years so I couldn’t hurt anybody as either. I would’ve stayed there if Ralphy hadn’t called and blackmailed me into doing all of this for him. When I did, it was as a hunter, as me.” The fool who’d believed there was something right in it all. How was there anything right to this? To having people see you as a monster no matter what aspect of you they were looking at. Like one wrong word would have that bullet finally putting you out of your misery. Alix’s arms tightened around herself but she didn’t flinch as Christian studied her. She kept her head up, ignored the swim of tears that she blinked away as he met them again. That brown was cold now, as hard as flint and just as capable of continuing to cut her to the core. ”Chains, when I can manage it. I have a place here, somewhere I’m not going to get free of, if that’s what you worried about. I don’t run unless I know it’s safe and I’m not going to find anybody unlike me out there. I’m not going to kill.” Her shoulders tightened, her body beginning to ache like a bad tooth. She glanced up at the clock on the wall. There was still more than an hour before the moon came up. It would’ve been time to eat, for her to drive herself out to the woods. This time she didn’t meet his eye as she looked back at the food, not immediately at least. Alix studied it for a moment, like it would reveal a path through this to a place where he wasn’t looking at her like that. ”Eat if you’re hungry. I’m going to … get ready …” A breath huffed out of her sharply, such a simple way of saying she was going to get what she needed to make sure she didn’t become the monster he saw when he looked at her now. Alix took a step back before she skirted around the other side of the table. Something inside of her quivered as she walked, but it wasn’t until she was halfway up the stairs to her bedroom and she heard the thud of the warehouse door closing that it snapped. Feeling too numb to move, to meet the night out in the cave in the woods, with the bolts drilled three feet into solid rock. Alix shoved aside the free standing closet in the corner of the room. The walls weren’t as thick here but a foot and a half of brick and concrete had held her before, they would do again. Clothes were shed slowly, folded over the foot of her bed. Not looking at herself in the mirror, Alix slithered into the chains. Tight against her flesh, bolted at her throat, her waist, tight enough that when she turned she couldn’t wriggle free of them and do what she’d sworn she never would to Christian. Sliding down the raw brick wall, Alix looked out of the huge warehouse windows, up at a sky that darkened slowly, ticking down the time to turn until the moon peeked over the sill and she stopped worrying about any of it as the animal leapt up inside of her. |
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CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY
Hunter
Posts: 94
Played by:
Julia
“There's nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Last seen Nov 10, 2024 19:24:38 GMT
|
Post by CHRISTIAN CALLAWAY on Oct 29, 2022 23:45:28 GMT
━ let death fear you ━
As a hunter. Now that he had his answer, Christian wasn’t sure how he was supposed to feel about it. Was it comforting? Possibly. At least he knew she wasn’t a… well, she was, wasn’t she? Just in a different way. Just like him. Claws and fangs didn’t truly make a difference, only that one was done consciously and the other not; so which was the true monster between a shifter and a hunter?
Perhaps the question alone was what made him so uncomfortable now, standing across from Alix. And because she’d lied.
The distance between them grew suddenly. Water rushed in, creating an ocean in the stream that’d built with the few steps he’d taken. He stood there with the Atlantic in her kitchen, at opposite ends. He’d put this between them, and yet Christian still wished he could reach for her. Just like Sofia.
The thought of her sent another razor-sharp blast through his ribs. Christian ached, but he refused to show it. He simply nodded curtly at her plan for the night, which was… responsible, he figured. For someone about to turn into a…
He was frozen even as she walked away. Something in him━a treacherous, desperate part of him━was tempted to reach for her. Christian’s arm stayed heavy at his side, unwilling to give in to something so stupid and childish. Alix wasn’t the woman he thought she was; wasn’t the same woman he’d gone to in all his times of need. He’d held onto her like a safe haven on numerous occasions, as if she would be the only thing to keep him afloat, and now she… wasn’t even who she said she was.
Christian didn’t speak. He turned to watch her leave, and gathered his things once she was out of sight. He couldn’t stay here. Not when she’d be transforming just a few feet away, turning into the same kind of monster he swore he’d decimate.
Was she truly the same, though?
It didn’t matter. Not now. Grabbing his briefcase and duffel bag, he paused to ensure the stove was off (force of habit) and paused once by the door to listen to the rattling of chains. He thought about the Charles Dickens novel forced upon him in school, his own chains, and if leaving her would add another shackle to his leg.
Christian rushed out before he could find an answer. In his car, hands shaking on the steering wheel, he drove around Mystic Falls in circles. The question returned: would this stick with him forever?
The professor was a mistake. The list was a mistake━there were degrees to this, and he’d learned that throughout his trials and tribulations as a hunter. Alix was there through all of them, the good and the bad, and never once did she pass judgement. She agreed that what Sofia did was wrong, and never admitted to committing the same acts. Was she lying? Perhaps. She’d lied about this, but… Alix wasn’t his wife. He hadn’t known her for nearly as long, and it was clearly a dangerous secret to tell another hunter.
The main difference, though, was that she’d been forced into it. Sofia had, too, in a way, but she could’ve come to Christian about it. Alix was practically sold to the Dread Doctors, and not only was she a hunter beforehand, but she’d lost almost everything because of it. He thought about his little brother, and what Dylan would do if he couldn’t come to Christian about somethng━what would happen if he lost Christian, especially during the times Dylan needed him most.
He came to the decision slowly, and eventually turned around on his journey out of town. He hadn’t been going anywhere specific, but now he was━returning to her.
By the time Christian pulled up outside the warehouse, the sky had lightened considerably, the full moon hidden behind the horizon. He crept back inside, ears straining for the sound of a wild animal that’d gotten loose. Everything was just how he’d left it━fish on the stove, sauce bowl half-finished and abandoned on the counter. Depositing his bag by the couch, he fetched a cold water bottle from the fridge and one of his clean sweatshirts, and slowly climbed the stairs.
He froze at the top, hazel eyes trained on the animal.
She was much smaller than a wolf. Christian didn’t know what he’d been expecting━she had said coyote. They’d always been smaller. “Hello.” He said lightly… as if she’d pause being a wild animal and engage in an intellectual repertoire with him. “Alix?” They both knew she wasn’t at the forefront of her own mind now. If she was, there would be no need for restraints.
Alix was still there, though. He could see it in the eyes━the familiarity of her coat. Ginger, especially around the ears and snout, and looked incredibly fluffy in the same way a squirrel did. Like the softest animal on Earth, all because you couldn’t touch one.
He wasn’t going to risk his extremities to reach for her now.
Christian sat a few feet out of reach and waited. The yellows and pinks of the morning began to bleed through the window, and the animal━she, Alix━started to whine. His gaze snapped to inspect her, almost feeling the pain within himself as she experienced her own. She was shifting back, and it looked… far more excruciating than he could’ve ever imagined.
He wanted nothing more than to gather her in his arms and soothe her as best he could, but he knew better than to think he could help in this moment. It felt like just about the only thing Christian knew for sure.
Slowly, he began to speak. The sound of her bones breaking over and over again made his own ache, but Christian’s breath remained steady, his words attempting to guide her through it. He didn’t know what he could say to make this better, but his career was based on speaking and helping others, so he leaned on that.
And when she was human again, in the form he could touch without getting his hand bitten off (well, less likely, anyway), Christian cracked open the water and put it to her lips. “I brought you one of my sweaters.” He spoke lightly. It would’ve been easy to grab something that wouldn’t be like a dress on her, but he didn’t think it was right to go through someone else’s belongings.
“I’m sorry for leaving.” Pulling back slowly, Christian motioned to the sweater with his free hand, “Do you need help… getting free of these?” He reached out slowly, carefully, and began to undo the one around her throat, his eyes trained (as respectful as possible) on her face. It seemed like the best one to do first, the one that would be the most uncomfortable, and all he wanted was just that━to make sure they were both comfortable.
ALIX QUINN | end w yours? |
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ALIX QUINN
Werecoyote
Dread Doctors' Experiment
Posts: 378
Age:
29
Occupation:
Photographer/hunter
Status:
It's Complicated
Partner:
Christian Callaway
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Nov 6, 2024 18:54:42 GMT
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Post by ALIX QUINN on Nov 2, 2022 19:57:37 GMT
May 10th The weight was usually a comfort. The heavier the press, the stronger the certainty that she wouldn’t get free and earn the blue eyes she’d been forced into. Clanking chains chipping the walls, scuffing the floors, leaving their marks on her flesh that would fade even as the first bone snapped and she’d started to change. Alix tried to drown out the sound of Christian leaving the warehouse with them, but her hearing was too sharp for that. Senses that already felt fever bright wouldn’t let her miss a moment of Christian packing up his things to leave. Alix frowned, her eyes squeezing shut as she went through the motions of securing that side of herself that she had no control over – the beast that he saw when he looked at her now, as though she’d transformed right there in front of him. A metaphorical gutting that had left the blood she’d expected on her hands. Provide a man with support, take the full weight of whatever he would allow on your when so much that had mattered had been taken away from him, wait for him to start steadying before you tore it all away. Monstrous, just as he believed. Downstairs the door swung shut, blocking out the sound of his car starting. She felt the pull of the cord that had grown between the two of them though, like an umbilical cord, tugging at the centre of her until it tore away. He was better off this way, wasn’t he? Out of Ralphy’s sightline when he wasn’t near her. Safe. Loops around her body, locked tight at her waist, squeezing her throat hard enough that it ached for now. Better though. Too loose for her comfort and it would slip right out. The thing he’d kill, that she was afraid of, shedding those chains, tearing out. Alix settled at the foot of the wall with the metal links pressed hard between bare flesh and brick. Eyes on the sky she waited. It darkened a degree at a time. The sky streaking with the sort of colour she would’ve captured on film any other night – a freedom she would never have now developed on glossy paper. She felt it the moment the last glimmer of it disappeared, a click somewhere deep inside that was echoed in the snap of bones. Nobody there to hear the scream of agony torn from her, to see her body bow on the wooden floor. Spine, femur, scapula – mutating, twisting. Tears streaked her face as she fought. Maybe if she’d done that a little more with her own family she wouldn’t have ended up here. Ralphy had seen the doubt inside of her before she really had done and had wedged his fingers into that gap instead. With her already tied up in knots he held her up as an offering to those things. Change her. The chains clanked, her heels drumming the floor for long moments before it was claws scrabbling at the iron hard boards instead. Silence. Like an aeroplane suddenly tearing its way free of the clouds to float above, bird light. Guilt falling away, the ache of the changing and his turning away vanishing as the heart in her chest beat faster, the one part of her allowed to race now. In that moonlit room she paced, not free to run, thankfully. Whines, howls, growls. A song of desperation sung a thousand times before the sun began to creep towards the horizon again. Awareness came in slow, as it always did. In the woods she would’ve risen slowly, feeling the tickle of every leaf, every crumb of soil against her skin. Now it was the slow tread of footsteps coming towards her. The thing that hadn’t yet shifted back rolled to its feet, golden eyes fixed on the man that stood at the top of the stairs. Water, something clutched in the other hand that smelled like … comfort. The snarl started low in her throat, a warning echoed in the sharp look in those eyes. The man was wise, keeping his distance as he spoke. Vibration remained down in that barrel shaped chest cavity, but there was something else alongside it, an ache that didn’t shift even as the sky began to change. Colour streaking in instead of out, light bleeding in to highlight every inch of him. Like marble, something stiff and cold on the surface, but with the right touch … The whine tore free again, the thought the first rational one of the day. Tears built in Alix’s eyes as she shifted back. Only marginally less painful now as she curled away from him, unable to hide the way her body rebuilt itself. The snap and crunch drawing gasps and shrieks from her, her sound easing as he started to speak. Comfort offered in more ways than the sweatshirt. Amber eyes slipped shut, the body that was becoming more human with every passing moment curling in on itself. Alix kept her eyes shut as she drew herself up, the last flash of blue vanishing beneath closed lids. She didn’t need them open to hear him approach or crack open the bottle of water. The frown began to settle those lines between her brows as her eyes fluttered open again and rose to his. Awareness rushed over her skin, her body curling tighter as she drew her knees up, drinking slowly. A moment later she knuckled the bottle away gently. ”Thank you,” she rasped hoarsely, the burn at the back of her eyes not easing away the same as the one in her throat had. Her head dipped, her gaze dragging from Christian’s to fix on the sweater. Help with getting dressed? She almost laughed, brushing off the idea that she couldn’t take care of herself. The first day she’d met him she would’ve risen up now without an ounce of embarrassment, padding past him out of pride. Let him look, he wouldn’t have been the first, but something had been stripped bare between the two of them long before last night. Her shields were down and Alix could feel every brush of his hands – cool as the water – against her skin. ”You needed to,” she said hoarsely, her hands already going to work at the chains that circled her waist. ”You couldn’t trust me. You shouldn’t trust me when I’m …” Little more than an animal. Pushing the chains away from herself, Alix reached for the sweater. His eyes were fixed above her neck – polite to the last – but she felt thin enough that his fingers could’ve gone right through her. Heat rose from somewhere in her stomach, colouring her face as she pulled the sweatshirt over her head. It was only once she had pulled it down to mid thigh that she felt strong enough to push to her feet. ”You don’t have to again … I meant what I said … as long as you need it you have a place here.” Even if he had to share it with a monster. At least he knew what she was now, he could mark out the monster beneath the human skin and see her the way he hadn’t his wife. Alix rose, trying to keep her hands from him as she eased unsteadily to her feet. ”I need to shower…” The gratitude that wanted to follow stuck like a fish bone in her throat. Fingers curled in the cuffs of the sweatshirt that smelled like him, she padded out. Sitting there, knowing he had seen would only start to tear that paper thin shell and he didn’t need to see another woman in his life crumple. |
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