Interesting Place for a Stroll {Aubrie}

[zophiel]

It was just one of those gut-feeling kind of nights for Zophiel. He had been around on earth long enough to just… kind of smell when something was up. Being a rogue angel, he could go anywhere on earth in a heartbeat, which is exactly what he did tonight. There was tension in the air and he followed it straight to the graveyard.

Zophiel was dressed in jeans, a long shirt, and a denim vest. He had his usual gear with him. He wasn’t really a hunter, but he learned a long time ago that trouble seemed to follow him. He’d normally just teleport away if things got too hairy, and he’d call a hunter to finish the job. But if he got cornered he wanted to be prepared. He was an angel, true, but he was an angel with only about 1/8th of his normal power. He couldn’t do much at a time. Even a simple healing could nearly drain his small reserves of power. He had to be careful with what he did.

He walked in the graveyard with his hands in his pockets, looking around the grave markers. Something was up here. There was something in this graveyard besides just dead bodies in wooden boxes. What it was, Zophiel didn’t know. He hoped it was something harmless. He wasn’t sure he was in the right mood for a fight.

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie stood before the pair of headstones, looking down on them silently.

She fidgeted a bit, pulling her jacket tighter about herself to ward off the January chill. It didn't get particularly cold here in southern Indiana, and it certainly didn't snow very often, but a frigid wind was blowing down from the north, and the psychic was glad for a change to be wearing her gloves. Biting her lip, Aubrie crossed her arms and continued to simply stare at the graves, saying nothing.

After all, what was there to say? How many times in the past had she apologized to her dead parents? How often had she wished that she'd just told them about what she'd seen in the cards, that they were going to die? And what would they think of her anyway, having been so religious and so against anything having to do with the occult? Would they think she was some sort of monster?

None of these questions were new to her. They were all things that she'd struggled with for years, ever since their deaths. No doubt they would have been put off by her psychic abilities, though Aubrie liked to think that they wouldn't have abandoned her and scorned her like her younger sister Erin did. She hadn't spoken to Erin in ten years, and there didn't see to be any hope of ever reconciling with the young woman.

Aubrie shivered again, and found herself wishing that Nikita was here. The demon was off doing whatever it was she did when she wasn't with Aubrie, and that was okay. Aubrie would never fault Nikita for not spending time with her, and she knew that the other woman had a lot of things on her mind as well, though they'd only been hinted at, and barely. Also, the psychic wasn't entirely sure that bringing her demon girlfriend to visit the graves of her overly religious parents was such a good idea...

Suddenly she sensed another's presence, and she gasped, looking about in concern, fearing that maybe Darian had finally decided to track her down and finish what he'd started. The fact that this being had seemed to simply appear out of nowhere was disconcerting as well, but as Aubrie closed her eyes and focused, she could sense no ill will from the mind of the newcomer.

In fact, its thoughts were hazy and indistinct--which told Aubrie that it was probably not a normal human--but they seemed to be more of curiosity than anything else. Still, you could never be too certain, Aubrie knew, and she reached inside her jacket and gripped the handle of her gun tightly, turning about to try and see whatever it was that had come here.

A little ways away, wandering among the headstones, was what appeared to be a young man, though Aubrie knew otherwise. She raised a surprised eyebrow, for she actually recognized the newcomer, though she the two of them had never met. No, what she knew of this man--an angel, actually--had come from the mind of Mac, the troubled empath that she'd tried to help several months earlier.

Thinking of Mac immediately made Aubrie's mind turn to Darian, and she felt her stomach twist at the thought that he was still out there, somewhere, lurking and plotting no doubt. Ever since she'd met Nikita, Aubrie had begun to feel a little bit safer. After all, Darian was strong, and undoubtedly insane, but would he really come after her when she was in the presence of a demon? Aubrie didn't know, but she liked to think that Nikita would be able to protect her from the evil vampire.

As the angel wandered closer, Aubrie allowed herself a slight smile of relief. She was pretty confident that he would be able to stop Darian, if the vampire decided to make an appearance. Casting one last glance back at her parents' graves, Aubrie sighed and began to head toward the angel, and the hope of safety that he represented.

"Hello, Zophiel," she said when she reached him. She enjoyed being able to call the angel by name, even though they didn't know one another, and she wondered if he'd be quite as flustered as some people were when she did that. "My name's Aubrie, and I think we share a mutual acquaintance."

((God, that turned into a REALLY long post...))

[zophiel]

Zophiel saw the girl in the graveyard before she saw him, and he noticeably relaxed. She was a human. Not a spook or a creep, just a pretty human girl. Why was it every time he saw a pretty girl, he remembered Amisi? Oh, right, because she had been the move of his life and to him, no one could ever be more beautiful. So any pretty girl could remind him of her.

Though now he was worried. He froze, staring at the girl who had just spoken his name. They had never met, and he wasn’t one to give out his name. She even admitted that they had never met. With his hands in his pockets, he was prepared to teleport out of here in a heartbeat.

“Aubrie.” Ah, yes, he could sense it now that they were standing closer together. She was special. She had that psychic aura around her, so that must be how she figured out his name. That had to take a strong psychic though, even with him in this weakened state he had grown so used to. He was afraid when he did get his full power back, he’d explode or something.

“And who is it that we have both met?”

[Aubrie Carpathia]

She felt immediately relaxed in his presence.

As it always was with supernatural creatures, it was quiet and peaceful around Zophiel, so far as psychic echoes went anyway. Her powers tended not to work so well on non-humans, and more and more lately she'd taken to spending as much time around them as possible. It wasn't that her powers always picked up on stray thoughts and feelings from people--in fact, there were plenty of times when she could be around normal humans with no problems--but it happened enough that being around them made her nervous. So, the near mental "silence" that surrounded Zophiel was a welcome relief, and even though she was catching faint, nearly imperceptible echoes from him, they weren't enough to bother her.

There was, of course, another reason why being around him made her feel more at ease. If Darian was around, and if he chose now to try and kill her, at least Zophiel might be able to protect her. She hated feeling so afraid all the time, and she never had before in her life, but the savage beating that the vampire had inflicted upon her--enough to put her in a coma for almost three months--had instilled a terror in her that she'd never experienced. Whenever she was alone, she was afraid.

Pushing her fears aside for the time being, she smiled brightly at Zoph and began walking aimlessly between the graves, gesturing for him to follow her if he wanted to. And she prayed he did want to.

"Mac," she finally answered him, looking back over her shoulder to see if he was following. "Our paths crossed last April... I was approached by her... her guardian to see if I could do anything to help her. You know, with her empathy?" She shrugged, fidgeting absently with her gloves. "Turns out I apparently wasn't working hard enough at it, and Darian... let me go, I guess. He was less than thrilled."

[zophiel]

Zophiel didn’t see any harm in a walk, so he followed Aubrie, waiting patiently for her to talk. It was cold out here, true, but he didn’t mind. His host body came from a very cold climate so his tolerance for the cold was a big help.

It’s not like Zophiel was an empath, no, he was an angel. But he could read minds. Not that he was prying, he was just skimming the surface. He saw no ill will, and a kind of peace that was new to him. It’s like she knew who he was and felt safe. If she was psychic, maybe she did know exactly what he was?

“Mac?” the name stopped Zophiel dead in his tracks, “I haven’t seen her in… God I don’t know how long. How is she?”

How much did she really know about him? Or Mac? He had to know.

“What did Darien do to you? Are you alright?”

Sure, he was concerned, but he was still curious about her and what she knew.

“And what exactly do you know about me?”

{i can be a posting bandit xD}

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie shrugged at Zoph's first question.

"I really don't know how she is, honestly," she answered, frowning. "The truth is, I haven't seen her for long time myself. But," she started, furrowing her brow and thinking on her next words, "when I last saw her, she was alright, I guess. I mean, she wasn't a whole lot worse, at any rate." She sighed, slowing her pace a bit so Zoph could catch up and walk beside her. "There was a bit when I was trying to help her where I was actually making things worse... But she ended up coming around at the end. She wasn't better, but she wasn't too bad off either."

At Zoph's mention of Darian, Aubrie shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself to ward off a sudden chill that had nothing to do with the temperature around her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to get control of her emotions as a heavy wave of fear bore down on her. Her eyes snapped open again, though, when in her mind's eye she saw Darian as he beat her, as he slowly and cruelly broke every bone in both of her hands before finally knocking her unconscious and leaving her for dead.

"Darian," she whispered, her voice tremulous, "he... he hurt me." She left it at that. Really, what more could she say without spilling a lot of details and information that she wasn't really sure she was ready to share with someone that she'd just met? Angel or not, Zophiel was still a stranger, and Aubrie wasn't keen on the idea of pouring her heart out to him quite yet.

After walking on for a while in silence, Aubrie finally spoke again to answer Zophiel's last question.

"All I know from you is what I gleaned from Mac's mind when we were... connected. And I'm sure you realize that her mind doesn't work quite like that of a normal person." Aubrie shrugged as she went on, continuing to amble among the headstones. "She doesn't even know you're an 'angel' really, her mind can't comprehend something like that. I saw all of her experiences with you, and was able to figure out what you were from there. Beyond that, though? Not much."

[zophiel]

When Aubrie said the "A" word, Zophiel froze. All his other worries were out the window. He wasn't worried about Mac or Darien.

"How do you know what I am?! You can't tell anyone that, you got it?!" He grabbed her shoulders tighter, looking her right in the eye.

He was upset, but quickly calmed down. If she had told anyone, he'd probably be dead already. The few people who did know what he was were either close, trusted friends, or enemies who didn't care but knew how to keep a secret. Oh, and of course, the other Angels knew. At least, most of them did. Some who were earthbound when he fell probably didn't know.

"I'm sorry that Darien hurt you." he finally said after a few long moments, "We're both over protective of Mac. But he's a lot less patient than I am."

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie nearly jumped out of her skin when Zoph touched her.

Pulling away, she scampered back a few feet, her eyes wide and her hand instinctively going for her gun again. After a moment, though, she relaxed, realizing that she'd had her jacket on, and that Zoph hadn't made any skin to skin contact, and that even if he had, there might not have been any reaction at all. Like when Nikita touched her.

"Sorry," she said breathlessly. "I just don't like being touched. Never know what's going to happen." Sighing, she decided Zoph deserved a bit of an explanation at least. "I'm a touch-reader, so when i make physical contact with something, I can read its history, its 'memory' basically. When I touch people though, the results are sometimes... unpleasant. I'm hit with all of their life experiences at once: pain, happiness, sorrow, love, all of it. It can be pretty intense." She shrugged and walked on, gesturing for Zoph to follow. "My touch-reading doesn't seem to work particularly well on non-humans, though, especially stronger creatures like angels or demons."

They walked along in silence for a bit as Aubrie's mind finally settled back down, and the angel's words from moments earlier finally registered.

"Oh, I'd never reveal your secret, I promise," she told him, smiling reassuringly. "As a fortune-teller, it just comes naturally to me to keep things I learn with my abilities secret. No one will find out from me, Zophiel." His words regarding Darian actually made her snort, and she shook her head. "A lot less patient, huh? I hadn't noticed..." She flexed her fingers absently, and in the back of her mind she was still able to feel the throbbing agony that had accompanied that movement for months after the numerous surgeries...

"Tell me something: do you think you could kill him? Darian, I mean."

[zophiel]

"That seems to be a common trend." Zophiel said, walking alongside the psychic, "Mac can't sense non-humans either. It's alright, I understand. I'm just glad you calmed down before you pulled out that gun." he winked to her, grinning, trying to show he was the friendly sort, "Its not mutual though. I can still read humans just fine. Not that I make a habit out of it. I usually just skim."

He listened to her talk about Darien, and Zophiel got very serious. He wasn't sure how much he wanted to reveal. But then again, who all knew about him? It sure would be nice to have someone out there on his side who knew more about him. She said she could keep it a secret, and well, she had her own secrets.

"I hate to admit this to you Aubrie, but I'm afraid I probably couldn't kill Darien. Even if Mac wasn't an issue." he added that in quickly, staying serious, and keeping his mind open to threats lurking about. He didn't want anyone else to overhear, not a single word. Still, what would Mac think of him if he did kill Darien?

"The truth is... A long time ago I did something my family didn't like." He kept his hands in his pockets and just walked with Aubrie, ever alert, "They banished me to earth with a chance to redeem myself. In the mean time I have little power. I can do a few parlor tricks, and if I really need to, I can defend myself. I'm almost mortal. I can heal rapidly... I have no idea how well though. I'm afraid my chances of killing Darien are as good as any other hunter."

[Aubrie Carpathia]

Aubrie suddenly didn't feel quite as safe as she had moments earlier.

Still, she realized that maybe Darian didn't know that Zoph was so weakened, and maybe he wouldn't think to try anything with an angel around. Forcing herself to relax a bit, and reminding herself over and over again that she couldn't keep on living in fear of the vampire all the time, Aubrie simply nodded at Zophiel's words and walked on.

When the angel had mentioned his "family" and his banishment, Aubrie was hit with a flood of images, names, and minor sensations. All of these were distant, like echoes, and hardly more noticeable than a whispered conversation from the other side of a room, but they were still there. This alone was proof enough that Zophiel had indeed lost a substantial portion of his power; Aubrie knew that she'd never be able to pick up psychic murmurs like this from a full-powered angel. And, almost as soon as the sensations came, Aubrie sensed Zophiel get a lock down on his emotions, and the flow ceased. Realizing that it might be a good idea to do the same, Aubrie closed her own mind off as well, for she wasn't entirely keen on Zophiel being able to read her thoughts, though she trusted him not to. Really, the psychic was a bit troubled by what Zophiel--an angel--might think of her newly begun relationship with a demon, Nikita.

It might be best if that didn't come up just yet...

She forced herself not to mention any of the brief, distant images and memories that she'd picked up from him earlier, though she was dying to learn more about Egypt, and about this woman that he'd loved. But it was none of her business, and it was obviously still something of a sore subject for Zophiel. Aubrie knew what it was like to have a hurtful past experience brought up, both in herself and in others; she'd been through enough cartomancy and touch-readings to see the emotional--and sometimes physical--pain first hand.

"Sorry about your luck," she told him, speaking finally. "But, there's a chance for redemption, you said? And what might that be? I mean, do you have to do a bunch of good deeds or something?"