Colin's posts

"..........." he was silent as he sniffed the freshness... and realized it was Anna.

"Right." he said.

"To hell with subtlety." he growled.

He then stood back a bit, raised his leg, concentrated as hard as he could, focusing all of the vampire strength he had into it, and smashed his foot into the door handle.

The door resisted him, but it weakened considerably. So he did it again. And again. And again. Until he finally managed to smash the door open, rushing through it.

"Well, crap." Jaden muttered, closing the portal.

"Seems mana's not going to work here." he muttered.

"Maybe I can resort to mortal means..." he then said, looking at the lock itself.

He studied it for a moment, before looking around. He found some small metallic pins and started to work on the lock itself.

'Maybe I can actually pick this thing...'

"..........hmmmm." Jaden muttered, realizing the lock was augmented with mana.

"I wonder..." he said, scratching at his chin.

"This lock is augmented... but I wonder if the door itself is..." he mumbled to himself.

He then created a portal on the door itself, and took a deep breath.

"Time to see what happens." he said, taking a step through.

Jaden's eyes widened when he saw the sweater, and he looked around.

"Hm." he muttered.

He then walked to the side of the building, made sure no-one was looking, and created a portal on the wall. He stepped through, emerging on the inside of the building, and closed it behind him.

He picked up the sweater, and sniffed it lightly.

'...maybe I can get her scent...' he thought, as he looked around the place, smelling the air.

"Oh, I hope you DON'T go down easy." he replied.

"And -I- won't survive this?" he then asked.

"I honestly can't tell if you're cocky, stupid, or both." he told her.

"But we'll find out." he went on, pulling a blade out of his pocket.

Meanwhile, Jaden was walking down the street, looking for Anna.

"...I know she said she was going for a bite to eat..." he muttered to himself.

"Did she say she was trying a new place...?" he then wondered, as he headed in the general direction Anna had said she was going in.

The figure growled again, and held her up against a nearby wall, and pushed into it harshly.

"....you are overconfident." they said.

"And that will be... well, not the death of you. Not right away." they told her.

They then leaned in, their eyes mere inches away from her own.

"I will enjoy this." they said quietly.

"Your suffering will be the sweetest of wine for me."

The figure seemed to grow visibly more agitated now, and stepped forward, lifting her up by her collar.

"Listen, you little freak." they said.

"You act tough, but you CAN be broken." they said further.

"And you WILL be broken." they growled.

"I will turn you into a miserable mess, wishing you had NEVER BEEN BORN!"

The figure just laughed.

"Again, try!" they exclaimed, kicking her hard.

"You can't break through those barriers." they told her.

"No matter how hard you try, you cannot call out for help. You are trapped here." they continued.

"And I will make sure you pray for the sweet release of death... which will NEVER come..." they then hissed, venom in their tone.

The one that had thrown her to the floor just snarled.

"Hmph." they grunted.

"Keep trying." they said.

"Nobody will come for you." they told her.

"Not that anyone should. I don't know why anyone WOULD." they then said further.

"Other than that pathetic mosquito."

"......" Jaden was silent as he looked around, realizing he was truly alone right now.

Which included mentally, as well.

"Ok, what the hell..." he mumbled.

"Where IS she?" he asked the air, as he pondered where she could be.

"....where would she go?" he wondered aloud, as he went outside and tried sending out mental signals again.

"Fine, fine, that's fine." Jaden replied.

"And I know about Draydins and animals. I've just not seen you interact with any, as there's not very many around her, and for all I knew, you could be an exception to the rule." he reasoned.

"I'd rather ask a potentially stupid question, than assume the answer and be made a complete idiot." he told her.

"Regardless, good to know." he said.

"I'll start searching. Feel free to start... well... doing whatever."

"Well, it DOES help that I'm not super picky." Jaden responded.

"And... er... well, price isn't... really an option." he muttered.

"Don't ask why." he told her.

"Just... don't." he repeated.

"Oh, and on the off chance I find a place that's situated right near a forest, do you have a preference as to whether or not there are animals in it?" he asked.

"Just because some forests have been designated as miniature 'preserve zones' for certain mythic critters and such."

"So they say." Jaden responded.

"But yeah, sure, see if you can't make something up." he told her.

"I'M gonna start searching for a new place for us to move to." he said.

".....hm." he then mumbled, as he started to move forward.

"Just need a place that fits the criteria, is all."

Jaden just shrugged.

"Can't say I have." he responded. "Kinda hard to find quality natural options around here." he admitted. "Most places that advertise their stuff as 'natural' or 'organic' are either flat-out lying, or are using weird chemicals that are hard to pick up with conventional testing." he went on.

"...or they just tell you to smear some aloe on your pits and eat locally grown vegetable until you hopefully forget about your problems." he then mumbled.

"If you could cook something up to protect my skin, that'd be awesome." he admitted.