A Good Idea.

[Marielle Pearce]

Okay. Now she was really lost.

Marielle had left the beach after the lycan she had met decided to walk away while she was still speaking. She had decided to follow her original plan and just walk toward what seemed might be the center of the island. She had gone through trees which seemed familiar, but then again, a tree was a tree.

Not only was she lost, but she was tired. All she wanted to do was go back to the hide out and crash on her bed. Then, sleep till noon. When she saw a clearing up ahead, she thought she might be near the lake. This meant she wasn't far from the center. But, as she ran ahead to see, she found it wasn't the lake. Instead it was a much larger clearing, a field. She sighed.

"Damn you, island. There should be signs up. Telling me which way I should go." She was talking to herself, something she did once and while when she was alone.

Mari started walking across the large field, thinking about weather or not to get a hold of Razier. No, bad idea. If she did that, Razier might flip out and then wonder where she's been. The she would have to tell her about the Lycan. No. She wouldn't try to contact her guardian. She would simply keep walking, find the hide out, crawl through her window and pretend she had been their the whole time. Finally, a good idea.

[Aiden Ventrilore]

((does this take place after dark?))

[Marielle Pearce]

((yes.=] ))

[Aiden Ventrilore]

((Woohoo!))

Of late, it's harder just to go outside
To leave this deadspace with hatred, so alive.

Once more, Aiden was plagued with the boredom accompanying the Vampire City. Sure, it was all good fun for those who had homes, friends, families, or even just money. They had places to go, people to see, and didn't have to content themselves with wandering the island every night. Aiden did. He couldn't stand being in the city at night, the time when he regretted the most; the time when he remembered the most.

Writhing with sickness, thrown into banality, I decay
Killed by the weakness, but forced to return, turn it off.

He hated being the weakling. It was the worst feeling in the world...and here he was assuming he couldn't feel anymore, now that he was a vampire. He was technically dead, after all. The darkness around him was soothing, though, and the presence of the trees gave him something to punch. Which he did--shortly before reaching the fields, Aiden couldn't resist pausing to bury his fist in the trunk of a large oak with a resounding smash!

I watch the stars as they fall from the sky
I held a fallen star and it wept for me, dying
I feel the fallen stars encircle me now, as they cry.

Feeling slightly better and grinning with satisfaction at all the racket, Aiden wandered out into the fields, staring up at the sky and realizing that there was a meteor shower going on overhead. He stopped to watch it, and was struck with the odd notion that it looked like the sky was crying, losing pieces of itself to the blackness in the bright rain of tears. It gave him a strange sense of peace; he couldn't explain it, only knew it was there.

Aiden would have blushed slightly had the blood in his veins been flowing, given that the feeling he was experiencing now reflected those he'd harbored the previous night, upon meeting the mortal girl...what was her name? Lilly. He didn't like that feeling, either. It so resembled weakness, not understanding one's own feelings, and Aiden was extremely uncomfortable with it.

Only after a few silent minutes of contemplating the heavens did he realize that he wasn't alone. Aiden's sharp ears picked up on someone stumbling out of the forest, then talking to herself, and she wasn't too far away. Curious, he casually meandered his way along the treeline...until he realized the source of the noise was moving away from him. He rolled his eyes, annoyed at having to exert more energy than he desired, and in a few very long strides had caught up with the girl.

He did everything silently, though, rejoicing at the prospect of scaring yet another mortal; though she did smell of magic, Aiden didn't care. What should he be afraid of? She didn't have the right aura to convince him of being a great threat. He quickened his pace--still moving noiselessly--until he was walking only inches behind her. He smirked then, waiting for her to notice him.

It was more fun that way.

[Marielle Pearce]

Marielle was second guessing herself. Maybe she should contact Razier. It wouldn't be that hard. There was plenty of grass around and all she would have to do was tell a piece of it that she needed found. She chuckled lightly to herself. The whole idea of talking to plants still seemed silly. Even though it had basically saved her and Manny's lives.

Mari stopped walking as she thought of what to do. She placed a hand on her forehead and bit her lip. "Maybe I should go back to the beach and start over.." She thought as she went to turn around but then stopped. "No," she answered herself and took her hand off her forehead.

Looking up, she realized that the sky was full of shooting stars. Or, thats what she thought they were. She didn't really pay much attention in science class. It was too easy for her. She smiled as she watched it for a few minutes before her neck started to hurt.

Looking straight ahead, Marielle realized she couldn't remember which direction she was heading in. She bit down on her lip harder and looked in front of her, to the left and to the right. It all looked the same. Was she still facing the same direction? Or had she turned around?

She looked over her shoulder to see if it looked more familiar than the other sides. Instead of seeing more trees though, she saw a man. She jumped around to face him and let out a small scream as she placed her hand on her chest.

He didn't look familiar, but he did look pale and handsome. Marielle searched her brain once more as she looked over him. He didn't have the ears to be elven, and she didn't see any fangs yet to prove he were either a demon or vampire. He didn't have wings so he wasn't an angel. Human? Maybe Lycan? She shook her head. She had no idea.

Mari realized she had been blankly staring and she went to say something. What should she say? She hadn't really talked to strangers a lot before. "..uh...Hi..! There..uhm. Lovely night huh?" What was she saying?

[Aiden Ventrilore]

When she stopped, he stopped; Aiden didn't breathe while standing a few inches behind her, staring at the back of the girl's head patiently. Any moment now...there! She turned, and jumped and screamed at finding him there. He hadn't been expecting the scream, but it was highly gratifying.

He couldn't supress a hearty chuckle. "Alright, that was amusing." He knew this would be the second night in a row he'd come off as a jerk (at least at first) to a girl, but didn't really care about this one's opinion. It could be remedied later, anyway. Aiden watched her curiously while she studied him; there didn't appear to be quite so much fear in her eyes as thought. She seemed more experienced with unexpected strangers appearing, like he did.

But maybe she didn't know how to talk to them quite so well. He grinned as amicably as he could muster; given the sarcastic comments welling in his mind and behind his tongue that he had to supress, it probably looked more like a smirk. "Oh yes. I do like meteor showers--they don't happen very often. The threat of one making it through the atmosphere and crashing down on me is small, but still thrilling to imagine when I'm bored."

Aiden stopped himself there. Now he was beginning to sound foolish, which would not do. She must play the fool, not him.

He absently reached up with his right hand to brush the long strands of bleached bangs out of his eye. They fell down again, of course, but he'd given the right flip of his head to keep them from concealing part of his vision again, too. He tilted his head sideways a bit and stared down at her, thankful for his height, for a moment, before stating very bluntly, "You're lost."

[Marielle Pearce]

Marielle had almost tilted her head as a dog would when the word 'walk' was mentioned. Almost. Was he laughing at her? Yes. He had laughed and said it amusing that she had let out a scream when she noticed him behind her. Wasn't that the normal thing? Even when her friends snuck up on her she let out a little yelp. But then again, she still didn't know what normal was here.

He then answered her question that she had asked while trying to come up with something to say. Meteor shower. That's what they were called. Now she remembered. She shivered at his thought about the meteors coming down and crashing on them. Why did he have to ruin something she thought was beautiful. She looked up and watched them for only a few seconds before returning her gaze to him and wrapping her arms around herself.

Mari watched him brush the bangs from his face and flip his hair like some of the guys back home. Home. She shivered once more at the thought of this. Was this her new home? Or would she go back like Razier had said? She shook her head. Stop thinking about that! She told herself.

'You're lost.' He said.

She chewed on her bottom lip, "No..I'm not lost. I know exactly where I'm going." Marielle looked to her left and pointed, "This way." She stated reassuringly, before taking a step and then turning back around, "I meant, this way." She took another step forward and then stopped. Mari sighed. Yeah, she was lost.

[Aiden Ventrilore]

One of Aiden's eyebrows lifted seemingly of its own accord while she stepped this way and that, clearly confused. He admired the stubbornness in her, but that was about as far as admiration (aside from physical, as she was quite pretty) went. His thoughts strayed back to Lilly for a moment before he could recollect where he was and what he was doing. He felt inclined to help a poor lost soul...

Why he felt such an inclination was beyond him, but he figured he'd just go with it.

"Where exactly are you trying to go?" Aiden wasn't great with naming the compass directions, but he knew the island like the back of his hand--he could find anything in relation to other parts of the island. He turned his gaze skyward again while waiting for her answer, and watched the continuing meteor shower, remembering his earlier notion of the sky crying. The more he thought about it, the more he believed it an accurate observation.

And, yet again, Aiden's thoughts wandered to Lilly. Was she enjoying the meteor shower, too, or sleeping like most mortals do at night? He had hopes of her becoming nocturnal so that he could see her more...then Aiden's hands clenched into fists. WHY was he thinking of her like this so much?! He shook his head very slightly, tossing those thoughts to the back of his mind and focusing on the pretty girl in front of him.

[Marielle Pearce]

Marielle was way too confused. The more she looked around to try to prove that she wasn't lost, because she still hadn't admitted she was yet, the more everything looked the same. And on top of that, she couldn't remember how long she had been walking. So she couldn't tell if that by being closer to trees, if she were just beginning to walk away from them, or getting closer. She sighed again. Time to admit it, "I'm lost." She shrugged.

When he asked her where she was on her way too, she spoke before thinking. "The hi...." she stopped and quickly tried to recover, "..the center! I'm trying to go to the center of the island." She hoped that he hadn't noticed what she had originally started to say, but figured he had.

The she thought about what she had said. The center. It was the truth. The hide out was near the center. But there wasn't really much in the center. Just grass and trees like every other part of this stupid island. She nodded her head, "Yepp, the center. I'm meeting someone there..?" She bit her lip again. She probably didn't sound very sure. "Yes, meeting someone." She repeated herself for good measure.

Mari looked over him once more. She hoped he didn't know who she was. It would only make things more difficult. If he knew who she was, then he probably knew she didn't know this island to save her life. He could lead her to her possible death without her knowing it. But then again, she didn't know who he was. Human, demon, vampire. She had no idea.

She decided to rule out Demon and Vampire. Because, unless he knew who she was, neither of those races would have offered to help her find her way where ever she was going.

[Aiden Ventrilore]

While Aiden listened to her scatterbrained answer, and watched her facial expressions fluctuate between anxious and fearful, he came to quite a few conclusions: first, that she didn't want him to know who she was; second, that she didn't know what he was; and third, that she didn't really want him to know why she was going to the center but needed his guidance anyway.

In short, she was telling more lies than truths--or maybe just telling lies, and both concealing and revealing truths, though obviously there was more concealing and lying going on. Now came a real dilemma: did he reveal his vampiric side, or let her think whatever she wanted? The former was incredibly tempting, but after some thought, the latter was by far a better choice.

So, Aiden merely replied, "Well, the center isn't too far, so we'll be there in no time. Come on," he said, putting an arm loosely on her shoulders and guiding her across the field, only bearing more to the left than she'd been traveling. "Now," he said, with a bit of a sarcastic tone, "I'd tell you to stop lying and just tell me the truth already, but frankly I don't think you will. Unless you'd like to indulge my curiosity...?" He turned it head and glanced past the bleached blonde part of his hair to plead with his eyes.

Aiden instantly remembered that the last time he'd put his arm around a girl's shoulders was with Lilly...and he wished for a moment it was her in this girl's place...

[Marielle Pearce]

Marielle was still trying to figure out what he was exactly. Human? That's what she had decided on. But why would a human be out so late? And were there even many other humans on the island? She didn't know. She had no idea how to tell who was what from appearance except for angels and elves. It was all to complicated for her.

Maybe it was like getting to know her two best friends. They had been twins. She could tell them apart easily. Only because she had been around them so much. But maybe, once someone told her what to look for in the creatures, she would know who was what. Maybe it just took practice.

Mari snapped out of her thoughts when he put his arm around her. His touch was cold and it sent a shiver down her spine. He then steered her in the right direction and she pulled away from him. "This way?" She asked as she pointed the direction he had been taking her. "Thank you. I think I'll just go on my own though. Nothing personal...I just ..."

Then he caught on to her lying. Could she lie this off as well? "Lying? I don't know what you're talking about." Lie. "I just need to get to the center." Truth. The hide out was basically in the center. "I really do need to meet someone there." Partial truth. She was meeting her brother and Razier back at the hide out. She hoped he believed her. She also hoped he didn't catch on. She already ran into 3 people today who knew who she was and now they knew what she looked like.

[Aiden Ventrilore]

Aiden let her slip out from under his arm without protest--he'd begun to wish he hadn't put it there in the first place. It felt too awkward.

Then he listened with a raised eyebrow as she nervously made it clear that she wanted to go on alone, and then tried to get out of his catching her lying by only telling partial truths again.

"Okay, okay," he said, laughing, "I believe that you're going to the center and all, but I can tell you're hiding something. You're lucky I'm only an orphan, instead of royalty, 'cause your business isn't mine and I know that, but some of the royals get very nosy. Especially since you reek of magic."

He gave her the lopsided grin that made Lilly blush and/or giggle, and added, "You're sure you don't want help getting there? All you have to do is walk straight this way, but monsters like to prowl the woods at night." Just for the sake of seeing her reaction, Aiden let his fangs extend after he finished and smiled at her in what normally would be considered an amicable manner. The fangs might have made it seem otherwise.

[Marielle Pearce]

Mari sighed when he said he believed her and she started walking backward slowly. She just wanted to go home. Home. How did she mean that? The hide out? That wasn't home. But it was the closest she had right now. The only thing she had right now. She wondered if Manny and Razier were worried about her as her parents would be?

She tilted her head to the side a bit when he said she smelled of magic. How could someone smell of magic? Was that even possible? Then she remembered that most of the creatures on this island weren't human and more developed senses. So, maybe they could smell magic? But then again, she still didn't know if he was or wasn't human.

Marielle took another step back, "Yes, I'm positive. Don't worry, I'm a big girl. I can handle my...." She stopped in mid sentence as she found out what he was. Vampire. He had showed his fangs. Mari decided now was a good time to leave.

She turned quickly and ran as fast as she could in the direction he had pointed out, only looking back once to see if he was following her. She didn't really see anything, though, because she had made it all the way across the field and to the trees. Just as she had turned to see, she ran right into the trunk of a tree, falling backward hard on to the ground with a groan.

[Aiden Ventrilore]

Aiden watched her expression change rapidly with a quirky, amused, and--due to the fangs--moderately creepy grin. She ran off immediately, just as he'd expected. He stood there for a minute, though, listening to her retreat and wondering about her identity. It wasn't every day you came across a human who could use magic; a lot of the creatures, beyond the natural abilities that existed within each race, coudn't even use it.

Had Aiden been in the proper state of mind to do so, he might have connected the dots and realized that the girl was one of the prophecy children. There had been rumors of their return to the island, but Aiden had regarded them just as rumors.

Presently, he was concentrating on the girl's sudden but not suprising departure, listening carefully to the vibrations her pounding feet sent through the ground and air. He could hear when she stopped abruptly, and the thud that resounded through the earth and found his sensitive ears told him she'd fallen. For no reason other than idle curiosity, Aiden burst into a run...that is, an inhumanly fast run, one characteristic to vampires.

Thus, it took him only seconds to reach her.

Aiden stopped without a sound, and stood over her for a moment with his arms crossed. Then he reached out a hand to help her up off the ground, saying, "You need to watch where you're going. How are you going to find your way to the center if you keep running into things? You might knock yourself out or something." He smiled, but without baring his fangs this time (he'd made them shrink back into simply abnormally sharp canines).

Glancing up at the sky through the treetops, Aiden noticed that the meteor shower had abated, but the moon was bright and clear. And it told him that it was past midnight, probably nearing one o'clock. "Damn it," he muttered to himself, then glanced back at the girl and said hurriedly, "So sorry, but I've got someone to meet, too, and my time's running out. I'll have to catch you later. Good luck finding your way around!" With that and an excited grin--he was anxious to go find Lilly--Aiden turned away from her and ran off, moving away so fast he was sure his image blurred.