(( Sorry! DX Haven't been able to get on lately. ;[ ))

Zoey's sinsitive ears reacted to the Killer behind her. She turned to see the Killer struggling, complete fear and pain on his face. She almost felt bads for him, her visual tactics could be pretty cruel, especially when she was pissed. He pulled at his hair, a silent screm on his face.

Zoey's eye took on a cold harness to them as she watched him die. She had the power to take away the visual torture, but she didn't. Her mouth set in a thin line and her body was rigid.

James snapped out of his coversation with the Female Hunter as she turned to see the Male Killer have some kind of mental breakdown. His curiosity turned to sickening, sinking feeling in his stomach as he started to realize what was happened to him. He pulled his eyes away from the Killer to the Hunter, she was torturing him.

i've nev er seen someone that could keep control over someone else mentally without keeping eye cointact before... Shes no joke. He looked at her eyes, they were suddenly filled with a nothingness, but also a blood lust remained there. He gulped, how could she watch this? He felt sick.

Finally the Killer convulsed and grew still, exhailiung his final breaths. What a waste... if only he were a Hunter... Zoey thought coldly. "Well, what are you going to do now?" Thats when everything went wrong, as if it weren't going swimmingly already. Zoey's ears suddenly picked up hisses and snarles, they were both angry and hungry noises. She reacted immediatly, "EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE!" though she was still too slow. The windows around them exploded as Killers by the Hundreds darted through them, coming to the smell of flreshly spilled blood.

    Tara let an eerie smile play across her lips. She wanted to kill him, so very much. But for some reason, she couldn't. Not that she wanted to be killed herself, she would kill him if needed, of course, but right now, she didn't want to kill anyone.

   She grabbed her dagger from its sheath, something she should have done previously. Now it was her turn to be evil. Copying him, she ran it slowly down his neak, only drawing a faint line of blood. Sighing, Tara pulled out a small vile of clear liquid. It glowed faintly in the dim light.

   "Now, I mark you." Tara whipered softly. With one hand, she held the vile, the other she used to pin him down. Popping the cork with her teeth, she smiled sadly at him. 

   "Do you know what this is?I bet you do. This, is the only thing that can hurt Killers, the only thing in the world. It will change you. Not quite Killer, not quite Hunter. A mutant, an inbetween. Are you ready for this Squall? I think you are." Tipping the vile ever so gentally, the lumonous liquid fell slowly, a consistancey ticker than water. Tara jumped back, and waited for the screams.

ooc; If you want, she could be bluffing, it could just hurt a lot. Your pick.  

OOC: Actually I kinda like the plot twist. :D Wait did she pour it in his mouth or on his cut? Oh well, I'll choose xD

BiC: Tara's face looked down upon Squall's for moment. She sheathed her dagger. This was not the reaction Squall had planned for. She took out a small vile of liquid. It reflected sunlight. This little bottle Squall knew well... But it couldn't be...

Trinity and Cedric looked at the little bottle. They were very, very rare. To make that, one would have to find a very rare, unpolluted flower. Tara was lucky to have some.

"Now I mark you," she whispered. It was her move. It was her answer to his question. She would spare his life, but curse him for the rest of it. He barely heard the rest of what Tara was saying. Slowly, she poured the liquid on Squall's cut. The liquid was clear, like liquid diamond, glittering in the light... The liquid, so pure, as soon as it hit Squall's skin and entered his blood stream burned. Squall gasped with pain. He saw strange things... Memories... Memories that had been lost for the longest time...And felt pain...

-x-x-x-

"They're coming." A beautiful tall, willowy figure. With Squall's same coloured hair... A family of four. The tall woman. Squall's mother. And Squall's father, looking scared. And Squall himself. A mere twelve year old. Then, suddenly, the door of the tiny shack the family was hiding in, broke open. A Killer stood in the doorway, his red eyes gleaming... In less than a second Squall's mother and father lay dead on the floor...

Another scene... Squall, outside, his back on the asphalt road that hadn't been used in forever... His face looking at the skies, seeing the stars, seeing the poisonous clouds full of toxins descending slowly. The Killer had him pinned down...

"Make your move, Squall," he whispered to him. Squall looked to the clouds and when they had fully descended took a deep, deep breath, letting the toxin fill his lungs...

-x-x-x-

The pain subsided. Memories that Squall had forgotten were back. But not all of them were back yet. His brown hair suddenly had a white streak in it that hadn't been there before. Weird. He stared into a blind girl's face... She had a name.. Yes, Tara. Then memories of being a Killer flooded back. He had been fighting. He stared at his hands. They should be stained with blood of those he killed... Yet part of him longed to kill again...

"What have you done?" he asked. His voice had even lost its cruel edge. What have I done?

And then before anything else could happen, a voice screamed "Everyone get out of here!" Squall got up immedietly. He heard it too; the snarls and footsteps of killers. Part of his body wanted to join. The other half was appalled...

"Let's go," Trinity murmured. Cedric nodded. He then looked towards Squall.

"You," he said, "come too."

    "What have you done?" Tara's hreat hurt, a deep weight in her cheat. it wan't just an ordeal for the marked, it was painful for the marker. She would cary a weight on her consious as long as she lived, and probably after that too. Tara wanted to hug him and make it better, something so unlike her it was scary.

     She sighed once more. It hurt.Tara had given lifes blood, a mistly, silver liquid. All Hunter had some. It was for deserate measure. For turning those you loved, into more hunter-ish froms. But it changed you too. Beacuse you gave that half. In return, you were half human. 

     Then she heard it. Everyone out of here!" it borke though her shell of self pitty like a kinfe though flesh. Tara leaped to her feet.Killers, Killers were coming, and fast. She hesitated. The human and Hunter were taking Squall with them. Tara wasn't sure if she was invited. Oh! of all the times to be worried abouyt invitations, you pick now! Really Tara, really?

    Grabbing up her dagger, she dropped it to the ground. It clanged, hitting the cement with loud metalic thud. Vibrations painted out a landscape. Up, fire escape, now, her instincs screamed at her. The nosie of Killers was coming closer.

   Tara leaped, catching a bar in her hand, but only barly. Better get used to it Tara. Swinging her legs, she hooked herself on the bottom. She managed to wiggle herself on to the paltform in a matter of seconds. Leaning over the egde she listended again. Nothing. Tara hiss impatiantly. 

     "Are you coming or what?"

How many people Squall wondered have I killed? He knew the answer, but he wished deep down in his heart that it wasn't true. It was strange now, though... What was it that the Killers had been so intent on killing for? What was the reason? He couldn't remember now. He sighed. He figured he'd always have holes in his memory now. In fact, he only remembered pieces of being a human and only pieces of being a Killer. I feel like I've been living a half-life he thought. And now he was awake.

The female hunter had strange ex
pression on her face. Though Tara didn't realize it, Squall could tell what it was by looking at her eyes. Her sightless eyes shone with sadness... And with pity, almost. Squall didn't know if he should thank her or hate for what he had done. He decided that he'd just forget she'd ever done it and look towards the future, come what may. After all, he had been a fairly easy going nice human before... Right? Oh well. He would be an easy going nice hunter/killer now.

"Are you coming or what?" Squall nearly jumped a foot in the air with surprise. Tara's face was looking in his general direction. He grinned sheepishly and nodded, then realized that she couldn't see.

"Yeah, sorry," he said in a voice that would tell her that he didn't hate her for what she had done. Hopefully she would realize that. But it wasn't like he was thanking her either.

Squall ran towards the door he had come in through. Today has been interesting, hasn't it? He hesitated yet again in the doorway. He had been thinking the same exact thing as a killer. That watching the whole fight was interesting. Strange. Behind him, Cedric bumped into him. He grimaced.

"Hurry it up, will you?" Cedric asked Squall in an annoyed-but-not-unkind type of voice. Squall sighed. He had better stop thinking and start moving. The Killers weren't going to have mercy on him. That much he knew for a fact.

"Again, sorry," he said. Trinity smirked.

"Then move," she said. Her voice was amused, though Squall had no idea why. He decided not to dwell on such things at a time like this and bolted quickly out of the door. He heard noises from all around. Behind the shack that they had been in was a forest-- all the trees were dead, of course. The ones that had leaves were most likely trees that had absorbed the poison into its roots and had become poisonous itself. Squall had heard rumours that in the heart of the forest there were a whole bunch of poisonous trees such as that; apparently breathing the air down there was very bad for you. It could kill.

Of course all the rest of the land was polluted as well. The air he was breathing now was tainted. The dead gr*censored* he was standing on had not been able to handle the toxin. How this world kept on turning was a mystery. And yet it still went on... There was still new life. Somehow.

Squall faintly remembered also that most Killers didn't like going that far into the forest... So maybe if they started traveling in that direction...

"We should go that way," he said, pointing towards the forest. Cedric looked at him that plainly read riiiigghhhtt.

"Perhaps drinking that stuff effects your brain," Trinity suggested. Squall, instead of growing angry, smiled.

"I guess it did, in a way. I'm perfectly sane. That stuff cleared my head, if anything. When I was a Killer," he said, not enjoying saying these words, "I think I remember wanting to stay away from the forest. So we can travel in that direction. Just to lose track of all the Killers."

Zoey faded into the shadows behind her, making herself perfectly still and stopped breathing. Watching as everyone else scattered and escaped, she was standing away from any possible escape.  Damn she thought, Looks like I might be here for a while...

It was like a shark feeding frenzy in front of her eyes, if even one of them spotted her, it was all over. She took a step back and felt something crunch beneath her foot, a shard of gl*censored*. She froze, feeling her heart rise in her throat. She heard the killer before it appeared in front of her.

 It was a Male and obviously young, she could see her reflection in his eyes. Perfect. It took only a second, and she saw her eyes as it took place.  They narrowed into small slits, catlike and took on a bloody color. You are not going to attack me, you are not going to alert the others. You will copy me, and you will die. She thought to him, do you understand? The Male Killer nodded slowly, the look of total mind control in his eyes.

She raised one hand and the male copied, she wiggled her fingers and the same result happened. Now... kill as many of them as you can before you die she smiled. He nodded, a crazed look his his eyes now. He turned and leaped onto a nearby Killer, ripping his head clear off of his shoulers. They may not be strong in the mind when they're young... she thought to herself, but they're stronger when they're newborns.

She looked around the room and managed to catch a few more Killers eyes, telling them the same thing as the one before. And soon after they started to attack, the Killers around them started to react and all hell broke loose. Zoey took this time to escape, running at top speed over the heads of the Killers, bashing a few skulls with her high heels as she went. She leaped up onto the ledge where the cocky Male Hunter had beed before and dug her nails in.

But she had used too much energy already and began to loose her grin, she grunted as her nails scrapped across the wood. And suddenly there was a hand on hers.

James reached out and grasped her hand and pulled her up, now that she was close to him he could see that she was pretty banged up and hrt, dispite her obvious healing abilities. "Now whos being cocky?" he smirked as he pulled her up.

Zoey ripped her arm away and stood up, "Dont. Touch. Me..." She growled, putting her hand to her head as she swooned, her legs giving way.

"Hey!" He grabbed her hand as she started to fall back into the fighting below them. "You've reached your limit. Let me help." He scooped her up before she could respond and leaped through the window. "The names James. James Alexander. Whats yours?" He asked, looking down.

"None of your bussiness. Now put me down before I make you!" She slapped him, hard. He almost lost his balane but kept going. "Kinky!" He smiled, "Are you going to kiss me now? Or should I kiss you?" He asked. "Try it and I'll kill you..."

    Tara nodded. Yes, the forest was a good bet, but it messed up her hearing. She sighed, well, would have to risk it. Stepping forward, she entered the cool darkness she could tell was there. Flashes of pictured floated thought her mind. A sparkling pool in the middle of a dappled greem medow. A little girl in a white dress, laughing and flitting though the trees. A boy, grinning and holding up his hands, in them was a faint glowing green light.

   Tara gasped as she was shocked back to reality. This forest was strange. It would have been called magical in a former world, but this was a place of science, so this was so not possible, right? Tara shoook her head. This is crazy, it was just her, just her weird mind playing tricks on her. 

   Hissing she turned. Someone was making alot of noise. "Try it and I kill you..." someone said rather loudly. Tara glared in the general direction of the speaker. "Hurry up! We don't have all night!" she hissed quietly, but loud enought that they would hear. "Come on! Lets go! Both of you!" 

 (( Thanks! I like them too! They're turning out well! ^_^ ))

James laughed as Zoey squirmed and tried to get out of his grip. "Put me down now!" Zoey fially yelled, there was no one else around and the killers were still back at the warehouse. "Ok...ok.." James said, stopping as he settled Zoey down. "Thank you very much!" Zoey said, straightening her clothes/ "It's no problem real-!" Zoey had slapped him again. He hit the ground before he knew what, or who hit him.

"Don't you ever try to pull that kind of stunt again!" She screamed. James rubbed his jaws and spit blood into the gr*censored*. "You make it sound like we're going to stick together!" He said cheerfully, closing his eyes in a smile. "We're not! I can handle myself! I didn't need your help!" She said, changing the subject. "Well, if I hadn't caught you back there you would have been Killer food." James pointed out. "And if you're so strong and can take care of yourself why couldn't you get away from me while I was carrying you?" He asked.

Zoey glared, if I hadn't used so much energy before he would be so dead right now. "First... You make dieing sound like a bad thing!" She raged, "And second, I didn't want to hurt you and then you drop me!" She said lamely, knowing he had made a point. She felt weak and needed rest. "Look at you, you're shaking like a leaf and you sound like you've just run a marathon." He stood and up walked over to put a hand on her elbow. "You can trsut me..." He said gently, catched her eyes.

Zoey looked back into them, it felt like she was swimming in their deep blue color. She didn't jerk away or yell this time. She sighed and sank down into the gr*censored*. "Go to sleep, I'll keep watch." He said re*censored*uringly as she elt her eyes grow heavy. He sat beside her, letting her lean on him. "See? I havn't killed you yet! We're going to be the bestest of friends!" James joked, but she was asleep already.

(( Someone could come up on them if they want ^_^ ))

OOC: They're extremely cool charries xD

BiC: Cedric sighed as the foursome continued to walk towwards the heart of the forest. It was dead foolishness. But he supposed that they had no choice. The Killers were on the move. They were running towards the tiny broken down warehouse, smelling the blood. And then some would find their trail. Of course they would try and catch them. But why? Cedric thought. Then again, who knew what went on in the mind of a Killer? He almost pitied them. Every time he killed one, he tried not to think of who they used to be.

He remembered the time he his friend had become affected by the toxin. At first she had acted normally-- everyone supposed that maybe she had just become a Hunter. And then... Cedric's eyes darkened. He remebered waking up and finding his family dead, her figure standing over their dead bodies. Her, slowly turning around, an insane smile upon her face. And he had let her get away... He wouldn't have been able to fight her anyway, being a human. And her face was the same. Just looking at her face and he would find himself weakened.

It was that night that Cedric had found Trinity, lying on the abandoned asphalt road, badly wounded....

Trinity peered sideways at Cedric. He seemed lost in thought. He gets like that sometimes. But as a partner, she didn't pry at secrets or things that were buried in the past. When Cedric was ready, he would tell her. It was then that Trinity heard something. "...I haven't killed you yet. We're going to be the bestest of friends!" Trinity snorted. She stifled a laugh. She quickly regained her composure.

"Wait," she stopped everyone. "Do you hear that?" Cedric stopped. Yes. Trinity wasn't the only one hearing the voices that were nearby. He glanced at Trinity. They agreed silently to simply let their presence be known. Beside them Squall finally showed signs of life; for a while he had just walked silently, a curious ex
pression on his face. He was smiling, now.

"He-ey!" Squall called out.

James had a flower crown in his hands, weaving the flowers together. Zoey was laying in his lap now, her breathing was low and even, making him tired. There was already a flower crown on her head, James put it there while she slept. He finished and put it on his own head and smiled, trying to imagine how he looked. A guy with half blue half purple hair and blue eyes sitting in the middle of a forrest with a flower crown on his head. And a p*censored*ed out alburn blonde sleeping in his lap.

"He-ey!"Someone called from the dense forrest to their left and James reacted instantly. "Oh *censored*!" He cursed, looking around frantically and then at the girl whos name he still didn't now sleeping in his lap. I cant move her... she exhausted and it will only make it worse he thought, panicing. "They're fine..." She said, James froze. "I thought you were sleeping." " Your fear woke me up." She replied. My fear? James thought, puzzled. The voices gone out of his head for now. "I can smell it." She explained, sensing his confusion. "Oh... sorry...." James sulked.

Great... He thought. "How do you know they're safe?" "They're hunters." She replied, her eyes still closed. "But howyou do know?" He asked."Damn it with all of the questions!" She barked. "Their smell! I can smell them!" She said, she glared up at James now. "Besides, their way of speaking is normal. Killers speakformally, as if they've just learned the language..." Zoey explained, pushing herself up off of James' lap.

She gasped as pain ran through her body, she shouldn't have used so much energy. That Male Killer had been far too strong and then for her to control all of those Killers before. "I can't move." She said to herself, the same time James said, "Over here!" He didn't hear her. "So... how old are you?" He asked, turning back to her. "Didn't you ever learn that its rude to ask a woman her age?" Zoey asked. "Well, you know how they say older Hunters havereally really hightened sences?" Yeah. So what of it? You calling me old?" She asked, she was still facing the opposite direction of him so that he couldn't see the pain on her face. She could hide the pain in her voice efficiantly.

"Yeah. Sohowold are you." "Old enough to be your great great great grandmother. So stop hitting on me kid!" She yelled. "Yikes!" James laughed.

((Thanks! ^_^)) 

James had a flower crown in his hands, weaving the flowers together. Zoey was laying in his lap now, her breathing was low and even, making him tired. There was already a flower crown on her head, James put it there while she slept. He finished and put it on his own head and smiled, trying to imagine how he looked. A guy with half blue half purple hair and blue eyes sitting in the middle of a forrest with a flower crown on his head. And a p@ssed out alburn blonde sleeping in his lap.

"He-ey!" Someone called from the dense forrest to their left and James reacted instantly. "Oh $hit!" He cursed, looking around frantically and then at the girl whos name he still didn't now sleeping in his lap. I cant move her... she exhausted and it will only make it worse he thought, panicing. "They're fine..." She said, James froze. "I thought you were sleeping." " Your fear woke me up." She replied. My fear? James thought, puzzled. The voices gone out of his head for now. "I can smell it." She explained, sensing his confusion. "Oh... sorry...." James sulked.

Great... He thought. "How do you know they're safe?" "They're hunters." She replied, her eyes still closed. "But how you do know?" He asked. "Damn it with all of the questions!" She barked. "Their smell! I can smell them!" She said, she glared up at James now. "Besides, their way of speaking is normal. Killers speak formally, as if they've just learned the language..." Zoey explained, pushing herself up off of James' lap.

She gasped as pain ran through her body, she shouldn't have used so much energy. That Male Killer had been far too strong and then for her to control all of those Killers before. "I can't move..." She said to herself, the same time James said, "Over here!" He didn't hear her. "So... how old are you?" He asked, turning back to her. "Didn't you ever learn that its rude to ask a woman her age?" Zoey asked. "Well, you know how they say older Hunters have really really hightened sences?" "Yeah. So what of it? You calling me old?" She asked, she was still facing the opposite direction of him so that he couldn't see the pain on her face. She could hide the pain in her voice efficiantly.

"Yeah. So how old are you?" "Old enough to be your great great great grandmother. So stop hitting on me kid!" She yelled. "Yikes!" James laughed.