Havana

There was a chill in the air; a breeze blew in through the open window. Elizabeth felt the chill and shivered. However, she did not wake from her slumber. She gripped her pillow tightly it soothed her slightly. She began to toss and turn, she was having a nightmare. She was dreaming of death and destruction, it was a horrible nightmare. She was seeing the world burn around her demons and monsters bowing before, her hands soaked in the blood of those who stood in her way.

Never had she had a dream like this and all she wanted to do was wake from it. Elizabeth’s father, Alexander, walked into her room he could sense her fear. He placed his hand on her forehead, his magic allowed him to see her dream. He slowly pulled his hand away and sighed, he sat on the edge of her bed and watched as a small white cat with black spots came strutting toward him. The cat jumped up into his lap and as Alex stroked the cat it spoke to him and said “We knew this day would come, Alex.” He sighed and responded “Yes, but I never thought it would come so soon.” Alex’s gaze shifted from the floor to the wall as a shadowy figure began to slip through it. Alex creates a ball of fire, showing that he was ready to fight whatever it was that decided to break into his house. When the figure came into the light he was shocked.

It was a reaper; this reaper wore a black suit with a red tie. This reaper had the head of a dog or possibly a jackal; it wasn’t unusual for reaper’s to have the forms of animals. However, Alex had never seen one with a canine form before. Alex looked at the reaper and said “How long does she have?” The reaper said nothing; it walked over to Elizabeth and brushed the hair away from her eyes to see her face. The reaper turned to Alex and said “I’m not here about the girl; however I would keep a close eye on her.” Alex sighed with relief and then said “You had better stay away from my daughter; I won’t have her involved in whatever you are planning.”

The reaper chuckled and responded “I have no plans nor am I a part of his plan; if I was would I be talking to you like this?” The reaper began to walk toward the window and then turned and said “You should tell her the truth, there is a storm coming and when it hits not even you will be able to shelter her from it.” The reaper vanished leaving behind only a small puff of black smoke. Alexander looked at Elizabeth; her bent down and kissed her forehead. He looked at the cat and said “Rose, watch her for the night.” The small cat nodded and then snuggled up to Elizabeth.

Devan did not like the unfamiliar. In both life and death, he rarely strayed very far from familiar territory; he stuck to the streets he knew, where the buildings and the businesses and at least a portion of the people were recognizable, all haphazardly categorized in his mind.

Tonight he had been drawn out of his usual area, to a more foreign part of the city. It seemed violence and death had a subtle pull on him; frequently he had wandered into the midst of a fight or even murder. Such intuition now compelled him through unfamiliar streets, eventually leading to a house in particular. Yet upon arriving, there was no sign of conflict or destruction from the outside... nor shouting or screaming from within. Dark eyes swept over the walls and windows of the home searchingly, but still nothing happened to justify his coming here.

A disappointed scowl crossed the youth's features, and he began to pace back and forth at the doorstep of the home. Devan could not phase through solid walls and doors like some other spirits seemed to. His only chance of getting inside would be if the door was opened, but that was unlikely at this hour of the night. Still, he maintained his pacing, hoping that some hint of violence might turn up if he waited around just a little bit longer. He had nothing better to do.


~


A form sifted through the crowd of a night club as little more than a shadow. Despite the young man's height, arresting gaze, and ethereal good looks, he moved between clusters of people utterly unnoticed. Tao was capable of toning down his noticeability just as much as spiking it up; all eyes could be on him one moment, or he could be as good as invisible the next. It took an inhuman or only the keenest of humans to be able to detect him in the latter state... and so far he had encountered neither. He had no planned performances for the night. He was mildly hungry and, above all, bored.

He was dressed in black, leather pants that flattered his slender legs and firm hindquarters, and a black shirt with semi-transparent sleeves... and on the hunt for somebody new, somebody interesting. He scanned through the faces of people he passed for one that would catch his eye, even in the crowds, the wild club outfits, the darkness, and the fluctuating, colored lights.

Despite the cold chill of the mountain wind, Zara did not shiver. Her bare skin was exposed to the dry breeze, Zara remained unphased. In act, it was refreshing against her burning Skin. Aside from her pale flesh, her body temperature would send any medic into a frantic. Her blood seemed to boil, the light flurry of snowflakes turned to steam when it got within range of her molten body. Her feel turned the frozen ground to puddles. The sun was slowly setting behind the mountains. The world around her glowed orange, almost on fire, just like her. Her eyes, reflected her core. A deep orange and crimson swirl, churning, almost demonic like against her china like skin. Her face still held it's youth, clear, but concentrated. Her eyes almost looked haunted. As if her mind was always churning and turning, like the colors in her eyes. Swirling and tossing over the past.

She trudged on, travelling light as she always did. The only weight on her shoulders was the task ahead, the only baggage she carried was her secrets. The wet snow made travel difficult. She had been traveling all day. Her feet complained louder than she would have liked. Her will wanted to continue on, her mortal body however, fought her as her internal alarm forced her to slow her pace. She saw a nice flat spot up the trail a ways. She made it right as her legs were threatening to collapse. A small over-hanging made a good shelter from the falling snow. She removed her boots an d rubbed her aching feet a while as she watched the sun continue to set. Wadding her cloak into a pillow, she laid back and watched as the stars started to come out one by one. Her stomach growled in protest, she patted it as if to comfort it. She was only a day from civilization and food. She tired to ignore her body's multiple complaints and drift off to sleep. It wasn't long till drowsiness took over and her breathing evened out into a deep sleep.

Fire burned everything. Screams filled the air with terror. It came from everywhere, making it impossible to tell where the screams were coming from. She cried as the warm pain overtook her, consumed everything she had loved, everything that had ever held any importance to her. Red filled her vision, so much red. It continued to grow till there was nothing but black.

Screaming awoke Zara. In her drowsy state, she didn't realize that the screams were erupting from her own mouth. She clutched her hip as the pain subsided. It was morning now, although the sun was not quite up. She could tell by the birds cheerful chirping. She would never be able to fall back asleep now. So disregarding her body's various groans, she re-donned her boots and cloak, then continued up the mountain.

The trip down the other side was somewhat easier now that she did not have to fight against gravity as well. Everything continued uneventful as she traversed down the hill side.

Ariana was out wandering near the forest, just outside the city; it was fairly late at night, around midnight maybe. Making sure she wouldn't be detected, she stayed in the shadows. Not wanting adults to question her as to why an 11-12 year old girl, since her small stature makes her appear many years younger than she really is, is out so late at night without her parents. Though, if that happened, the girl would most likely just roll her eyes and disappear. She never liked big cities, she hated it here, always bringing back bad memories. The kids at her school teasing her, though she never really went to school, only on occasion. But she couldn't bring herself to leave. This is, after all, where she grew up.

She wore a long, black robe down to the ankles, having two slits, going from the bottom of the robe to the hips, at each side of the body, and long, black sleeves with large, dark red sleeve cuffs. Down the back of the robe is a criss cross stitching like that of a corset with dark red thread. A small, black poncho (mid-back length) with a high collar and dark red round the edges is worn over the robe. She also had dark red trousers and knee-length black boots on. Wearing a black choker with a silver broomstick charm on it, she found it easier to carry around then an actual sized broom. Though she would have been wearing her hat, but it seems as she misplaced it in her home.

Home. It was a strange word for her. After that day, she left her home and found a new one. Every now and then she would stop by her old house, it was abandoned, no body wanted to live there. The house smelt like death, filled with ashes. The exterior of her house may look normal, but on the inside everything was burnt to ashes.

Shaking the thoughts and memories away, the girl walked on. Jinx, her male black cat trotted along beside her, his piercing green eyes shinned under the moonlight. "Ariana, what is troubling you?" He questioned, his voice oh so calm. "It isn't like you to wander the night so far from the city." There was worry lurking in his eyes and he looked up to his master. "Another job perhaps?" Ariana shot him a look to be quiet and so he did. "I can't just walk around at night without reason?" She rolled her eyes, taking a turn into the forest. "It's refreshing to be in the forest, so quiet and peaceful." She went down a well used path, one that was very familiar to her, even in the pitch black forest.

Elizabeth woke from her nightmare. Sweat dripped down her forehead; her sheets were drenched in her sweat. She pulled the sheets back and then slid off of her bed. She made her way to the window and opened it. Out of her window she could see a boy staring at her house, this boy wasn’t normal he was a ghost. This wasn’t new for her, ghost liked to roam around and she would see a few often.

She looked at the boy for a while and then looked away; she walked over to Rose and picked her up. Rose meowed and snuggled up to Elizabeth. She made her way to the bath room and set Rose on the counter. Rose sat there looking up at Elizabeth as she splashed her face with water. Elizabeth sighed as she walked out of the bathroom. She fell into her bed; it was wet so she felt uncomfortable. She laid there for a while, trying to go to sleep. Sleep didn’t come easy, but when she finally slept it was as if she was dead to the world.

James was breathing heavy, blood trickled down the fur on his right front leg. He growled at the other wolf before him. The wolf jumped and James responded by jumping back, they collided and then fell to the ground. They slid on the muddy ground; James rolled over and then got to his feet. He then watched as the other wolf began to transform back into a human. James did the same, he gripped his right arm there was a wound, but it wasn’t deep. James looked at the man before him and said “That was a good fight, dad.” His father smiled and said “You have gotten stronger; you will make a great pack leader one day.” James smiled and then began walking toward civilization. As he walked he caught the scent of someone, he didn’t recognize this scent so he went to go check. When he got close, he slowed down as if he was stalking the person. He didn’t want whoever it was to sense his presence; he got close and saw that it was a girl. She had a nice smell, he stood there watching her and he then started to walk away. However, he looked back at her for a second and a part of him wanted her to see him.

Hearing the crackling of fallen leaves and branches behind her, Ariana stopped for a moment, she glanced about her, but all she could see was darkness. Someone, or something, was there. Jinx sniffed the air, smelling blood. He hissed in the direction of a boy, as he could see him even in the dark. But did not bother to tell Aria that a boy was there through telepathy. She had already heard him hiss and withdrew a stick-like object from her right boot. It was her wand, though it wasn't as fancy as other witches or wizards, but her's was a special momentum. Quickly turning around, she saw nothing behind her, as it was to dark to see anything anyways. Maybe whatever it was left.

With a nervous sigh, Aria was about to placed her wand back into her right boot, when suddenly she remembered something. "Oh my! I can't believe I forgot such a simple spell!" She mentally smacked herself, as she flicked her wand. A faint white light illuminated from the tip of her wand, lighting a 2 foot radius around her. The Light was bright enough to see what was in front of her, but it was dim enough so it wouldn't call attention to her. Or at least she hoped it wouldn't.

"Ariana, you need to be more aware of your surroundings, especially when out at night in the forest!" Jinx snarled, trotting next to the girl. "And you should know by now what spells to use and when!" He always liked to complain about the little things Ariana did wrong. Glaring at the black cat, Aria rolled her eyes. "Maybe next time I'll have Kane come with me. He's more relaxed than you." She teased a bit, before letting out a light chuckle. Jinx hissed again, this time it was at her. He and Kane never really saw eye to eye. "Aw don't be a baby~ I'm only kidding...Maybe!" She quietly laughed, watching Jinx go ahead of her. "Somebody's jealous." The girl whispered to herself, as a small smile formed on her lips.