Stackhouse Residence, Bon Temps, Louisiana, Wednesday Night
Sookie
Sookie had regained consciousness somewhere along the border between Louisiana and Mississippi. Now safely home, she had wrapped in a blanket and deposited on the couch with orange juice while it seemed like everyone hovered. She was still a little unclear on the huge man with the beard, though she understood that he was to be thanked for saving her life. She'd tried to express some kind of gratitude -- to everyone, really, but she was still a bit dizzy from earlier.
She did manage to thank the man -- Alcide -- for helping, and catch him on his way out, before she dozed off a little again on the couch in front of the television.
Russell
Needless to say, the anchorman had no idea what hit him.
Granted, not many people could foresee a vampire rushing into your place of employment and punching a hole clear through your chest, and that is just what Russell did to the poor guy. There was barely a noise of acknowledgment from the anchorman before he slumped onto the desk, clearly dead. A few screams could be heard from behind the scenes of the broadcast.
"Do not turn off the camera!" Russell yelled, pointing at the cameraman with the hand that wasn't currently embedded in someone's chest. "You have seen how quickly I can kill."
When he was satisfied that he wouldn't be interrupted, Russell dislodged his hand from the anchorman's chest, accidentally taking a bit of the guy's spine with him. He contemplated it quietly for a moment before dropping it unceremoniously onto the floor and taking a seat at the desk. He gave the camera a smile before speaking again. "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Russell Edgington and I have been a vampire for nearly 3,000 years."
"Now the American Vampire League wishes to perpetrate the notion that we are just like you. And I suppose in a few small ways we are. We're narcissists, we care only about getting what we want, no matter what it costs, just like you. Global warming, perpetual war, toxic waste, child labor, torture, genocide..." Russell smiled at the thought. " ...That's a small price to pay for your SUVs and your flat screen TVs, your blood diamonds, your designer jeans, your absurd garish McMansions. Futile symbols of permanence to quell your quivering, spineless souls."
Russell took a second to lick at some of the anchorman's blood that was still dripping down his arm. "But no, in the end. We are nothing like you. We are immortal. Because we drink the true blood, blood that is living, organic and human. And that is the truth the AVL wishes to conceal from you. Because let's face it, eating people is a tough sell these days. So they put on their friendly faces to pass their beloved VRA but make no mistake, mine is the true face of vampires! Why would we seek equal rights? You are not our equals."
He gave the camera a deadly look. "We will eat you. After we eat your children."
Russell grinned and gave a cheerful little sigh. "Now time for the weather. Tiffany?"
Karla
Karla watched the teevee with a disgusted face. "I was classier when I did that, right?"
Bobby
Bobby had been watching the speech, struck by a sense of deja-vu. Russell's speechifying sounded disturbingly familiar to some of Magneto's mutant supremacy manifestos. "You get points for not raving like a lunatic, yeah," Bobby agreed.
Emma
"I'm rather sure that wasn't half as poetic as it sounded in his head," Emma agreed. "'Futile symbols of permanence to quell your quivering, spineless souls'? Where does he get his material? Angelica Dem-whatever?"
Raven
Raven's eyes were wide as she pressed a hand to her mouth as she felt very, very sick. "Oh, Azar," she whispered. "That poor man." Even if she knew where he was to teleport to him, he was beyond her power now.
Jessica
"OK, I drink blood and even I think that was kinda gross," Jessica said.
Sookie
Sookie was perfectly frozen where she was for a long moment, watching the man responsible for her capture murder an anchorman on national television.
It was just another in the litany of violent scenes that would feature in her nightmares for the next few months.
"...I'm going to throw up, and then I'm sleeping with my grandpa's gun tonight," she decided very softly, as she started to shake slightly.
Karla
"Emphasis on sleep," Karla said, whirling around to face Sookie. She pressed her hand against the wall, hoping people would read that as something other than dizziness. "You shouldn't even be out of bed yet."
Sookie
"The last thing I'm lettin' anyone do is treat me like some kind of damsel in distress," Sookie replied, eyeing that movement. "This is my house, Karla, and I'll go to bed, but not 'til we're good and defended."
Karla
"Your body needs rest," Karla growled. "Do you have any idea how much Craft I poured into you today, keeping you going? And that was after Raven did everything she could to keep you from just outright dying. Right now, your body is pumping out juvenile blood, that's barely worth a damn. Depending on how soon you rose from the Healing web, you're going to have trouble staying upright. It's not treating you like a damsel if you're genuinely in distress!"
Hello, pot? This is kettle. Have you time to chat about your hue?
Sookie
"And I appreciate all that, but I'm not gonna be shuttled away until we're safe and locked in," she said, shaking her head and getting a bit dizzy from the movement, but she wasn't going to mention that. "It's bad enough you look like you do, from helping me. I'll tuck myself away in bed, but not 'til you guys are squared away, too. Don't act like you don't get that, Karla, or do I need to remind you of last month?"
Raven
"Both of you need to rest," Raven said firmly, overhearing the conversation. "Now. Please. Sookie, you must continue to heal. Karla, you need to recover your strength. The rest of us will take care of making sure that everyone is safe and comfortable."
Karla
"As soon as you guys showed up, I rested!" Karla argued.
She had! Ish. Grudgingly. And because she didn't have much of a choice. And it was less 'resting' and more 'sitting at a table and fretting' but those were minor and unimportant details!
Except she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere snapping at Sookie, especially since, were the situations reversed, she would indeed be doing the exact same thing. So she raked her hand through her hair and tried a different tactic.
"Sookie, you don't understand. If you get hurt again? I don't know if I'll have the strength to weave you another web," she admitted. "Not right away. And as close as things were the last time--I don't want to risk losing you. Okay?"
Sookie
"Okay," she said after a moment. "I'm not sleeping. But I'll hide."
It felt like a compromise.
Raven
"Upstairs, please?" Raven said. Maybe if it was quiet Sookie would fall asleep anyway and get the rest she needed. She turned to Karla. "And you should sit down before you fall down." Oh yes, she'd seen how Karla was using the wall for support.
Karla
"At least stick close to the web," Karla said quietly. "Let it finish Healing you. As much as it can, without you being in it."
She made a face at Raven's suggestion, but couldn't argue without invalidating her argument with Sookie. "I'll sit," she promised.
Kennedy
"And hello with the crazy," Kennedy announced, all sarcastic disbelief as she stared at the screen. "Sad thing? If this was my world, they'd chalk it all up to a crazy guerrilla improv group staging a really huge piece of performance art. Hello, blood, no really, it's all just a show..."
Bobby
"Yeeeeah not so much," Bobby said, still kind of gaping. Plans weren't exactly his forte, but even he knew there were precautions they should probably be taking right about now. "You wanna help me check the doors and windows?" he said, not just to Kennedy but to the group as a whole.
Sookie
"'Kay," Sookie said after talking to Karla, though she was still darting glances at the TV, utterly still if you ignored the shivering. "I...okay. I'll help you."
And then she'd go to bed. For real.
Sookie was in no condition to be checking anything, if the way the color had drained from her face was any indication. She moved to her feet, though, gesturing to the kitchen. "Check the porch door, and we'll lock the front, and...ground level windows? We need the ones on the second level, too. We do. He can probably -- I'm sure he can get twenty feet up if he wants to."
Kennedy
Kennedy had gotten up to start helping Bobby with that door-and-window-checking thing, but she put that on hold for a moment to fix a pointed look on Sookie.
"The hell you're helping us," she announced. "We can handle the doors. You need to get your ass into bed, like an hour ago."
Sookie
"Like I'm sleeping when the crazy vampire that kidnapped me is on the loose and yanking out people's spines?" Sookie countered, shaking her head. "No way. I've got my lightning." Which was, admittedly, weak right now from the blood loss. "The least I can do is help y'all batten down the hatches."
Bobby
"You did help," Bobby said. "You told us what needs to be checked." Which, admittedly, they probably could've figured out on their own but shhh. "Now please just- find the safest part of the house, and stay there?" he pleaded. "I know you can hold your own if it comes down to it, but I'd really rather it didn't."
Sookie
Sookie looked like she was going to try to put up a fight for a moment longer before sighing and striding over to a hall closet. From behind a bunch of winter coats, she pulled a long, double-barreled shotgun.
"Fine. I'll be in my room," she said, looking around as she grabbed the box of ammo that went with it. "Shields down. Just think at me, okay?"
Debbie
Debbie had tracked them all this way. Their scent -- especially with the helpless one spewing blood everywhere -- had been unusual and easy enough to follow. Now, she had three wolves with her as she stopped, sniffed the air, and with a grin, walked up the porch to kick in the door.
"Go get 'em, boys," she murmured, as the wolves slunk in.
Karla
It was an ugly, ugly shock to Karla when she realized that she just didn't have the strength to help fend off the werewolf attack. She had the Craft to spare, but not the physical energy to wield it. Weaving the web and Healing Sookie earlier had taken everything out of her. She had no reserves left.
So instead of helping, Karla raised the strongest shields she had and vanished from sight.
At least it helped hide her shame.
Jessica
To tell the truth, Jessica was kind of excited to finally put some of the training Bill had given her to use. She used vamp speed to cut off one of the werewolves from the others. "Hi there," she grinned, waving at it.
Oh Shit Werewolves
The werewolf bared his teeth at her, growling low, before lunging forward and leaping for her neck.
Jessica
By the time the werewolf reached its target, said target was no longer there. Jessica used vamp speed to dart out of the way, then spun around and tried to grab hold of the wolf from behind.
Oh Shit Werewolves
His reaction was a surprised whimper, which morphed into a growl as he twisted, trying to snap at her.
Jessica
"That's right," Jessica said, baring her fangs as she lost her grip on the squirming wolf. "I ain't some little school girl. I'm gonna kick your ass!"
Oh Shit Werewolves
If a wolf could laugh, he would have. Even he could tell she was only a baby, so he leapt for her neck, snarling and confident his would scarcely be a challenge.
They'd taken Bill, after all.
Jessica
Once again Jessica used her vampire reflexes and speed to move out of the way, zooming to the other side of the room before the werewolf landed where she'd once been standing. "I am so gonna make a fur coat out of you," she threatened, chasing after wolf after it dashed for the door. "Come back here!"
Raven
Raven had some experience with werewolves -- she'd helped George once through his change, taking his pain and keeping his animalistic anger from overcoming him. Maybe she could do the same thing here and pacify the wolves. If it didn't try to kill her first.
She stretched out a hand toward the wolf closest to her. "Your rage," she murmured. "Give it to me."
Bobby
Bobby probably wasn't helping the wolf's rage issues by creating a sheet of ice at its feet, but making ice was what he did.
"Raven, somehow I think they're in the mood for something a little more serious than a lively debate."
Raven
"If I can calm them they will not attack us," Raven protested, taking a step back as the wolf snarled and scrambled to keep its balance on the ice.
Bobby
"Oh for fuck's sake."
This was not the best time to reason with the Very Angry Puppies, and Emma was tired, hungry, and really not in the best mood as her powers flared to life.
"Here's the deal," she said, moving over to half-way edge herself between the pacifist princess and her new furry friends. "You walk away now, and you'll never have to say that you got your asses handed to you by a half-dozen teenage girls."
Beat.
"And Bobby."
What?
Oh Shit Werewolves
The wolf was, if anything, getting further aggravated by the ice. And it didn't help that another was closing in on them.
Both wolves ignored Emma's warning, and if wolves could smirk, they would be. They growled, and one leapt over the ice sheet, jaws snapping as he lunged towards them.
Emma
Emma dodged to the side, giving her telepathy one last-ditch attempt before she had to resort to the brute force aspects of her mutation.
"Your fears," she murmured aloud, reinforcing it telepathically. "Show me your fears, darlings, because they're here, waiting for you."
She might not be able to hold them long, but hopefully long enough for Bobby to incapacitate them.
Bobby
Dodging probably would've been the better plan, and looking back on this, Bobby wouldn't really be able to pinpoint why he hadn't.
All he knew was that as the wolf leapt at him, he felt his body shift as flesh became solid ice. The blur of heat he recognized as the wolf sent him sprawling to the ground, its jaws tearing through the fabric of Bobby's shirt only to snap ineffectually at the preternaturally hard ice beneath.
"Hey, I am not a snowcone!" Bobby protested, doing his best to kick the wolf away. He really didn't want to think about what would happen if he got, like, werewolf tongue stuck to his chest. Gross.
Raven
Raven took several steps back, trying to keep behind Bobby. There wasn't much she could do to help if she wasn't going to try to take away the wolves' rage, which wouldn't be a good idea now if Emma was in their heads and trying to increase their fear. If she took that in as well she might have trouble keeping herself under control.
Oh Shit Werewolves
The wolf yelped in surprise as Bobby's kick connected, sending it sprawling.
The other one whimpered, shaking as if to dislodge something as Emma's powers took hold.
Bobby
Seeing his opening, Bobby scrambled to his feet. He focused on the closest wolf first, taking advantage of Emma's distraction to encase it in a block of ice. Once that was done, he similarly dispatched the other one.
"Okay," he frowned, looking at the wolfy ice-cubes. "Now we just need to get these guys outside."
Raven
"I can take them into my Soul-Self," Raven said. That, at least, wasn't as risking at taking one of her friends inside her not dirty.
She summoned up her Soul-Self and directed it to engulf the frozen wolves, then pulled it back inside her. Then she looked around anxiously. "Where is Karla?"
Karla
"I'm here," Karla said, dropping the sight shield. She eyed Raven with a small smile. "Taking evil things into your netherverse again?"
Raven
Raven darted over to Karla to give her a quick hug, relieved she was safe. "They are frozen," she said. And therefore wouldn't mind how cold it was inside her now. "I will release them as soon as we know we are safe. Is Kennedy with Sookie? Are they all right?"
Bobby
"I- I think I saw her go upstairs, yeah," Bobby said, trying to keep his voice steady now that the danger was gone and the fact that he'd actually turned into ice again started to sink in.
Karla
"We should head upstairs and check on them..." Karla said, then paused, her attention snagged by Bobby's own disquiet. "You okay, Bobby?"
Raven
Raven was picking up on anxiety from Bobby and drew closer to him in concern. "Are you all right?" she said softly, touching a hand to his icy shoulder. She glanced to Karla and Emma. "Perhaps you should go check on Sookie."
Bobby
"I'm stuck," Bobby admitted. "I can't- I don't know how to change back." Before, it had taken getting blown up for that to happen. He really didn't want to go through that again.
Raven
Raven nodded, moving to take his hands in hers, ignoring the cold as she sent a pulse of calmness to him. "How did you change?" she said. "Because you were angry? Frightened?"
Bobby
"Both," he admitted, sounding a bit steadier as the calm Raven was projecting sunk in. "I didn't really think about it- it was just... instinct, I guess. Like the last time."
Raven
"Then your instincts should guide you back," Raven said, catching his gaze with hers. Her own anxiety was pushed entirely aside by the need to help a friend.
"The wolves are taken care of. We are safe. Relax now, and think of yourself in your true form." She did tug at Bobby's fear and anger to try to ease him down, but not very hard, since she knew he'd have to learn to do this on his own.
Bobby
"Yeah, that's the part that didn't work very well before," Bobby grumbled. But even as he said it, he had to acknowledge that this time was different. There was a distinct lack of a hole in his chest, after all. A deep breath, and he tried to visualize the sensation of air passing down through lungs that didn't actually exist at the moment, until... they did, and ice slowly transformed back to muscle and bone and blood. "It worked!" he blinked in surprise, staring down at his hands.
Raven
"Of course it did," Raven said, giving him a pleased smile. "I suspect it will become easier for you with time. Once the danger has passed, calm yourself and you will be restored."
She let go of Bobby's hands and stepped back. "We should make certain the others are all well." They weren't, but they'd find that out in a few moments.
Emma
Emma had been watching this with arms folded. "That was his true form," she said, her tone just as icy as Bobby had been a moment ago. "Stop enabling him."
"Come on, Karla. Let's go get Sookie."
Karla
Karla nodded, and slowly turned for the stairs. "Sookie's still weak; she rose from the Healing web too early. I swear if she is hurt, I am so going to cut a bitch."
Kennedy
In all the chaos going on, Kennedy had managed to take quick stock of the situation and realized one huge, glaring problem: nobody had been guarding the stairs.
The immediacy of that problem got a hundred times more immediate when she heard-- barely-- the sound of a door getting kicked down.
"Shit," she muttered, bolting for the stairway to take the steps two at a time. "Sookie!"
Debbie
Debbie herself, meanwhile, had moved up the stairs. She didn't need to change for this. She could take a teenage human who'd lost a ton of blood earlier with her eyes shut.
"Open up, little pig," she cooed at the door she found locked. She could smell that girl on the other side of the door. "Or I'll huff, and I'll puff -- "
She didn't finish, choosing instead to kick the door in.
Sookie
Sookie was weak, but she was waiting for her.
"I don't want to kill you," she said, eyeing the woman over the barrel of her grandfather's shotgun and sounding much cooler than she really felt. "But I will."
Debbie
"I got nothing left to live for, anyway," Debbie said, slinking into the room. "You kids took it all. So now I'm takin' you."
Sookie
"Step any closer, and I will shoot," Sookie threatened, her voice wobbling slightly.
Debbie
"Why don't you just pull the trigger now?" Debbie asked, voice low and silky. "I see right through you. You follow vampires and werewolves 'cause your own kind rejects you. But you're nothing but a freak."
On the last word, she lunged for the gun, yanking away from Sookie easily and throwing it to the ground.
Sookie
Sookie immediately tried to get her hands to spark, but she was too tired and weak to muster more than a sad little violet glow across her palms. "I'm a freak who'll kick your ass," she tried, narrowing her eyes and shooting a bolt over at Debbie.
Debbie
Debbie dodged it easily, laughing hard as she backhanded Sookie and sent her flying against a wall. "Bitch, please."
Kennedy
Kennedy had made it up the stairs and through the busted door just in time to hear that, and she didn't break stride before she was launching herself at Debbie, one fist drawn back.
"Pro tip? Saying 'please' works better when you're not trying to beat the shit out of someone."
Debbie
Debbie's reflexes were good, thanks to the V and her own natural strength. But Kennedy still had the jump on her, and while Debbie lunged for her, she knew she was at a disadvantage. "And who the fuck are you?"
Kennedy
Kennedy aimed a sharp cross at Debbie's chin, grinning with the exhilaration of finally getting to cut loose. "Trained to kick your ass? That's the important part."
Also, with her luck, she'd have to stop and explain the whole Potential Slayer thing if she brought that up right now.
Debbie
Debbie took the hit, reeling and recovering in an inhumanely brief amount of time. She used the momentum of her recovery to swing a sharp punch towards Kennedy's cheek.
"Oh, honey, you don't even know how outmatched you are," she laughed, even as she used her free hand to smear blood off her chin.
Kennedy
"Oh, honey," Kennedy mimicked, you know, once she'd reeled back from the blow, "you'd be surprised."
By how many times she'd gotten her ass kicked. Whatever.
But the girl was stubborn, and even if her ears were ringing still, she'd learned to get used to anticipating her opponents having ridiculously good reflexes, so that didn't shock her.
Pissed her off, more like, so she let out a bellow and charged in again, shoulder dropped for a technique-free, flat-out tackle.
Debbie
Interestingly enough, in spite of her roots -- and we don't mean the dingy brown inch growing from the part in her hair -- Debbie wasn't prepared for something that raw, simple and unrefined. Kennedy took her by surprise, and she received the full impact of the blow, though between were-strength and vampire-enhanced reflexes, she remained on her feet and tackling back. One strong hand reached to try and yank Kennedy back and away by the upper arm.
The other went for a cruder method, moving in to grab a fistful of Kennedy's hair.
"Y'all are just a bunch of freaks, aren't you?" she said cruelly, though a bit more out of breath than she had been when taunting Sookie. "Ain't all human, ain't were or vamp -- you just band together to feel better about your weirdness."
Kennedy
And back Kennedy got yanked-- stubbornness and a 100-proof bitchface weren't going to trump what Debbie had going for her strength-wise.
That was annoying. Also, given the way Debbie was trying to needle her right now? Kinda ironic.
"Personally?" She reached up, flailing half-blindly to get a grip on Debbie's wrist. Ow ow ow sonofabitch ow, follicular pain. "I always enjoyed the weirdness myself."
Debbie
Debbie smirked at her, her hand still firmly clasped around hair. "Wouldn't if you had somewhere to belong. That's the problem with all of y'all, starting with her," she said, jerking her head towards where Sookie was curled up in the corner, watching with eyes big as saucers.
Sookie, for her part, was considering her large window overlooking the lawn, and tried to nod towards it in a way Kennedy might understand.
Kennedy
"It's so cute--" Kennedy twisted as if she was trying to pull free of Debbie's grip, a desperate feint to cover up the fact that she'd noticed Sookie's signal and was trying to angle the crazy skanky werewolf toward the window.
"-- that you assume we don't. Issues yourself there, much?"
There-- her fingers wrapped around Debbie's wrist, and she dug in with all the adrenaline-fueled strength she could manage. It was an old pressure-point tactic Constance had taught her when she was twelve, and it'd come in handy more than a few times in junior high. Hell if she knew if it'd work on someone with werewolf strength, but hell if she wasn't gonna try.
Debbie
And Debbie was about to reply with another bitchy little retort, but the words died on her tongue and morphed into an anguished little gasp instead. Because yeah, werewolf strength and V-juice aside, her skeleton was still the same, and pressure points worked the same. "Bitch," she hissed, glaring and just waiting for Kennedy to shift enough that she could move without breaking her wrist.
Kennedy
She'd managed to maneuver a little closer to the bedframe with that twist. Note to self, thank Constance for those lessons in being aware of my surroundings.
So it wasn't just her next remark that had Kennedy flashing her a smug little grin. "Yeah. Got that right."
She planted one foot against the bedframe, not letting up on Debbie's wrist, and pushed off it hard. Screw trying to get away; she was just going to go straight for the headbutt here.
Debbie
It startled Debbie enough to stagger back and let go of Kennedy's hair, the wind knocked out of her for a second.
Debbie, as it seemed, was not as aware of her surroundings, since that blow sent her moving back towards the window she hadn't thought much about.
Kennedy
Kennedy had never really paid much attention in physical science, but she knew momentum was good. In fact, the more momentum, the better.
She couldn't take Debbie in an outright fight, but right now? Multi-story buildings and the architecture seemed to be on her side, and she followed up the headbutt by running flat-out toward Debbie with a yell, both hands out to give her the hardest damn shove she could.
Debbie
She realized the window was right behind her about half a second too late to do anything about it. And with a sound that fell somewhere between shriek and growl, she fell back through it, glass flying out behind her as Debbie fell ungracefully towards the ground.
And from there, she decided to cut her losses, because she could smell the death hanging in the air, from her already departed comrades. With another, "I'll be back, you bitch!" yelled up at the window, she took off through the woods.
Wolf healing was an amazing thing. Barely a scratch on her.
Kennedy
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kennedy yelled out the window. She couldn't deny she was a little disappointed Debbie seemed to be okay, but there were more important matters at hand.
"Jesus, Sookie," she burst out, scrambling over to her friend. "Did she hurt you?"
Sookie
"Not really," Sookie assured her, starting to get up and staring at her window. "I mean, kinda, but I've already had my blood drained earlier today. A little backhanding's nothing by comparison. How's your hair, honey?"
Kennedy
A half-hysterical little laugh got out before Kennedy could stop it.
"Oh my god, you've been snacked on by a vampire and smacked around by a werewolf today, and you're worried about my hair?" she asked, reaching out to help Sookie up. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. We gotta get Raven or Karla to take a look at you or something."
Sookie
"Well, your scalp, you know," Sookie offered with a little smile, gratefully taking the help. "By the way, that was impressive. Remind me never to piss you off."
Kennedy
Kennedy laughed, sticking close so Sookie could lean on her if she wanted to.
"Nah. I got lucky, actually." Beat. "Not in the fun way, 'cause ew, skanktastic much? Good call on the window, B.T.W. That was about the only shot we really had."
Sookie
"Ew," Sookie agreed, before shrugging a bit. "I mean, it'll cost me some of my Eric-money in repairs, but -- "
She trailed off, looking at the window. "I don't hear her, but there's something out there, still," she said quietly. And as she moved towards the window, she heard a voice that was all too familiar, yelling for them to come outside.
[warning for violence. OOC welcome, NFB, NFI, Russell as always courtesy of trickydemigod!]