It’s a Damn Cold Night

[nikitarainjames]

…trying to figure out this life. The lyrics of Avril Lavigne’s song I’m With You trailed off in Nikita’s mind as she sat on a park bench watching the empty playground. No little kids would be out this time of night which made it good for her to be alone. She often came to the park to clear her head, or to distract herself from having some sort of breakdown.

Though she was usually alone when she came here there had been a few times she caught some other kids - likely teenagers - doing a drug deal. She didn’t interrupt. It didn’t concern her anyhow. She had her own problems to think about.

It was a chilly night so she decided to wear a hoodie with the hood over her head. She herself wasn’t really cold but if she wanted to fit in along with the humans; she had to act the part. That meant dressing for cold weather even when she wasn’t cold. Or dressing for summer when it was too hot. It was annoying at first trying to keep up but she’d gotten better at it.

She may have gotten better at it but she still felt very lonely. She didn’t let anyone who knew her know she was back. She kept a distance for their safety. But everyone else she’s met, she was known as Ms. Lucy Luann Hart. She was tired of playing the role but she had to. She guessed it was better living a lie then not living at all.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie was cold.

She staggered along through the night, her arms wrapped about herself for what little warmth they could offer. Her mind was swimming with images, memories, sensations, none of which were actually hers. It had been a long, hard day, and she'd been forced to use her touch-reading on a particularly nasty piece of work on behalf of the local police, who had called her in to help them in their investigation.

What had resulted had been one of the most mentally traumatizing experiences of her life. Child killers were always hard to read, but this one in particular... Her skin crawled as the memories of his brutal crimes washed through her mind once again. As if hoping it would somehow make them go away, Aubrie pulled her gloves tighter, wishing she could just go back to her hotel and get in a hot shower, to wash away the filth that seemed to cling to her.

The sudden feeling of an unusual presence caught Aubrie's attention, and she stopped in place, finding that she'd wandered into an empty park of some kind. Shivering from cold and disgust at the killer's memories, Aubrie looked around carefully, wishing she'd remembered her gun before leaving the hotel. Still, her mind had been on other things at the time--hell, her mind was still "on other things"--but it was no excuse, not really.

She wondered, for a moment, if the instincts and thoughts of the child killer that she'd touched earlier had led her to this park...

Shaking the images that accompanied such thoughts from her mind Aubrie's roaming eyes caught sight of the young, hooded woman who sat several feet away on a park bench silently. Oh yes, she was certainly not human, Aubrie could tell that much. She didn't seem to be "leaking" any thoughts or emotions, or at least Aubrie wasn't able to pick up on them. She'd learned a long time ago that beings who weren't exactly human were quite difficult--if not impossible--for her to read.

Knowing that she should be afraid, or at least on guard, Aubrie just couldn't really bring herself to care. So, there she stood, staring absently at the mysterious woman, saying nothing, and still trying to rid her mind of the sick things that had flooded it, courtesy of the deranged murderer she'd been forced to make contact with hours earlier.

It was going to be a long night.

[nikitarainjames]

The silence of the park was almost enough to drive a person crazy, but not Nikita. She cherished every moment of silence, especially since she didn’t get to enjoy it often. Not in the crappy apartment she lived in. You could almost hear a pin drop or a squirrel scatter through the browning grass. Only a squirrel isn’t what she heard. No, it sounded too big to be something like a squirrel or chipmunk. A dog maybe?

She took the chance of making sure as she cautiously turned her head in the direction in which the sound came from. Nope, no dog but a person. A human girl - if you could call her human. She just stood there in silence staring at her, the only thing seeming to move was her body trembling due to the chilly weather. Where for Nikita, it didn’t have the slightest affect on her.

“Are you lost?” Her words slipped out before she had time to stop herself. She was more aiming towards ‘what do you want’ considering she wanted some privacy but that’s not what came out at all. In fact, her original use of words would just make her seem like a rude bitch.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie tilted her head to one side as she stared at the woman.

If she even heard Nikita's words, she showed no sign of it. Who was she anyway? And what was she doing here? And where the hell were the damn kids anyway? She nearly growled as she looked around. If this woman were scaring them away, she'd kill her, she'd tear her apart with her bare hands and hide what was left of her where no one would ever find her!

Aubrie gasped, clenching her eyes shut against these thoughts, and the gruesomely vivid images that seemed to accompany them. Over and over again she told herself that these feelings, these memories and thoughts were not hers. She had to get a handle on them, had to separate them from herself... Taking several deep breaths, Aubrie finally felt confident enough to open her eyes once again.

Inching closer to the mysterious woman, her eyes wide with a touch of madness, Aubrie whispered, "What are you anyway?"

[nikitarainjames]

The woman watching Nikita seemed to be quite out of it. Lost in her own little world or something. Except that something appeared to make her seem rather off about herself. Like she was battling herself; her own sanity. Nikita was beginning to wonder if the woman had a duel personality or maybe she was possessed herself? With a more insane demon.

Then she spoke. Asking Nikita what she was. So, she could sense she was different too? Now it had her wondering if this woman was a demon too or some type of shift-shaper? Then she began to move, closer to where Nikita sat.

She was slightly startled by the movement but didn't let it show. There was a good chance she'd have to stand her ground here so she kept her eyes locked; waiting. "Why do you want to know that?" She asked, curiosity spiking her as well. "You're obviously not too right yourself so let me ask the same thing... What are you?"

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Without ceremony, Aubrie plopped down on the bench beside Nikita.

"Me? I'm a human," she answered, tilting her head to one side and staring at Nikita. Fidgeting with her gloves a bit, Aubrie then wrapped her arms around herself once again, vigorously rubbing her shoulders for warmth as she shuddered from more than the cold.

The vile, dark thoughts were still coursing through her mind, and as she looked at the woman, and out at the empty park, it seemed like other images were overlaid upon what she was actually seeing. What she saw revolted her, and she tried to clench her eyes shut against them, but there they still were, like scenes from a film projected against the inside of her eyelids.

"Just gotta get 'em," she whispered, nodding to herself, her voice distant and detached. "Just gotta hurt 'em, ya know? Just gotta hurt 'em..." Aubrie giggled then, covering her mouth with one gloved hand to stifle the laughter that was threatening to bubble forth.

"No!" she shouted, leaping to her feet and clenching her fists. "No, enough! No more of this, please! No more!" Dropping to her knees, she giggled again, once, before falling silent, rocking a bit and murmuring to herself. "I'm okay... I'm okay..." Taking a deep breath, Aubrie seemed to relax a bit, though she remained on the ground.

"Man," she said, sighing. "Really did a number on me..." Looking back up at Nikita, as if noticing her for the first time, Aubrie flushed with embarrassment at the way she'd been carrying on. "God, I am so sorry..."

[nikitarainjames]

When the woman told her she was human she almost believed her until she started spazzing out. Giggling insanely as she dropped back to the ground, speaking to herself, and more laughter. Nikita was lost at words here. Even more questions filling her mind. Schizophrenia sounded about right. Or maybe she was a junky experiencing some in tense withdrawals?

She couldn’t watch this. If it didn’t stop soon she was considering knocking the poor girl out and taking her to a hospital. But it didn’t seem needed right now as she slowly calmed down. Apologizing to Nikita but still appearing on edge. How often did this happen to her? By the things she screamed, she guessed quite often.

“If you don’t mind me asking…what the hell was that?” Maybe a little too blunt but if she had to sit through the woman pulling an Exorcist she felt she had every right to say what she had. “Do you need to go to the hospital? I can take you if you like.” She offered, hoping the woman would stay with it long enough to answer.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie smiled up at her wearily from her place on the ground.

"I'm fine, really," she said to the woman. Slowly Aubrie stood up, dusting herself off and feeling more than a bit foolish. Sitting back down on the bench--though keeping her distance this time, in case the woman was nervous--she sighed, shaking her head at the other questions that had been asked.

"It was a... a sort of side-effect, I guess," she said, pulling her gloves tighter. "I have these abilities, and when I use them, sometimes that happens." She shrugged, going back to rubbing her arms and shoulders for warmth. "It isn't always this bad, but today was really hard..."

Hanging her head, Aubrie closed her eyes against the images that continued to try and overwhelm her. They didn't seem quite as vivid now, and the memories seemed further away, more detached. They'd still be with her for a while, maybe even for a couple of days, but at least the severity had been drastically reduced.

Shuddering, her teeth chattering a bit, Aubrie returned her attention to the woman, curiosity glinting in her eyes.

"So, what about you? You never told me what you were..."

[nikitarainjames]

Fine? She sure had Nikita fooled unless this was a daily thing. It really had her wondering what could send the woman into such a bizarre attack like that then coming up fine at the end. Maybe she‘d ask. It would be an awkward thing to ask but since becoming a demon she was a lot more blunt with words these days. Besides, what were the chances she‘d see this woman again anyhow?

And before she could ask, the woman beside her was already spilling her guts. To any normal person the whole ability thing would probably sound crazy. As crazy as it was for her to tell a human she was a demon. Jeeze, good thing the woman had another freak besides her who could relate. To some degree anyway.

Watching her closely as she appeared to try getting in better tune of her abilities, Nikita bit down on her bottom lip, trying to decide what to say. “So, you‘re some kinda psychic…correct? That makes me feel a little less crazy to know. I‘m no psychic but I wish I was. Unfortunately, I‘m at the bottom of the barrel on supernatural freaks.” She explained, hoping she‘d be able to guess without Nikita coming right out to tell her.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

"Bottom of the barrel...?"

Aubrie thought about it for a minute, and about all the various supernatural creatures she'd heard about and come into contact with... It seemed like, out of everything out there, there was only one thing that was almost universally reviled. She looked Nikita up and down for a moment, as if seeking some kind of sign to prove or disprove her suspicion.

"So... demon, then?" she asked, raising a curious eyebrow and ignoring the chattering of her teeth. "Well, you're not trying to murder me or anything, so I guess that's a good thing, right? Or it means that the stories I've heard about you guys are a little overblown. Honestly, though, I've never really seen a demon before..."

Fidgeting with her gloves a bit, Aubrie cleared her throat self-consciously, saying, "My name's Aubrie... What's yours? I mean, if you want to tell me, anyway. Not sure how demons feel about introductions and all that... Do you use your own name, or your host's name?"