The scent of dreams

[Lovely]

April 28, 2008
Sunset - nearly after
Along a long stretch of 'empty' road

There were skidmarks that led off into the brush and trees that lined the road, the car was visible, smashed up and looking like it was making friends with the tree it sat against. There was another car parked along the side of the road a few yards away, this one had not crashed but was scraped along the side pretty badly, those marks matching the ones along the driver's side of the car which had crashed. The second car had forced the first one off the road and then parked - quickly, to pursue the driver of the first car.

There were signs of struggle outside the first car but no one was there now, the accident had only happened minutes before, both cars still warm and steam wafted from beneath the bent hood of the first. There were sounds coming from the forest beyond where the accident had taken place, the fierce growls of three wolves, two males attacking and one female defending herself. The female's scent was rich around and in the first car, her blood splatters would be there as well from her cuts due to the accident.

Another sound could be heard, the whimper and gurgle of another male wolf as he lay dying a few yards into the forest away from the accident, he'd been injured trying to overtake the female when the car finally went off the road. Those injuries gave him a disadvantage when he tried to overpower her again after she pulled herself free of the wreck, she'd run and he'd followed - that was a mistake on his part which he now paid for.

Deeper into the trees, the sounds of yelping and fighting were heard along with the growls of the others, the girl was injured and the two remaining males were determined to take her.

A sputtering of a slowing motor rumbled up the roadway toward the wreck. The rider's slow gait wobbled the bike to an uneasy stop at the edge of the scene, a gloved hand slipping up the visor for a better look in the dimming light. He looked at the angle of where the sun had vanished and wondered if that had been the cause but something knotted his stomach and told him differently. A simple rear-ending maybe, but the gashes in the sides of the cars looked a little too convenient - and no trucks had passed him that would indicate a drastic lane change was needed to cause something like this. He could hear something strange and it wasn't the cooling of his motor ticking and crackling. It sound wetter than that and even with his helmet on he heard it, not far... maybe still in the wreckage or thrown from it. He slipped off the bike cautiously, keys flipped in his pocket and a wrench pulled out of his bag in their place in his hand. He'd heard about scams like this, staged wrecks for all kinds of hostile reasons. He hadn't slept well in weeks and was feeling a little hostile himself, on edge and needing another coffee to kill the headache. Maybe it was wishful thinking about the coffee, or about the shop he usually stopped in, but he swore... He sniffed the air again and brushed his nose with the back of his glove... a deep whiff of leather and grease... but he could still smell it. He turned to view the whole scene as he came up alongside the first car off the shoulder ahead of him that had been veered into, seeing the blood and then smelling it. "What the ... hello?! Is anybody in there?! Are you hurt!?" Dumbass, he cringed at himself, looking now at the other car for signs of life, death, bodies, carnage, anything. The scent was strongest here and he shook his head to clear it, but it wouldn't. He wasn't imagining it and it was too fresh to forget. The gurgling noise caught his attention and he found the remains of what looked like a man with his throat and several other parts slashed and bleeding fataly. "Geeeezus," he sighed out, feeling sorry for the guy but also knowing those kinds of slashes... then hearing further in the trees the sounds that confirmed it. Wolves. "That can drive...f*ck," he exclaimed, looking down at the creature that was about to have its last breath. "It's alright. Help's coming," he said flatly, hardly reassuring and sounding a little doubtful as he turned his head, trying to home in on the sounds to find the others.

[Lovely]

It was two against one and though the female was strong, she was also injured and ganged up on, she'd fought one off - the one gurgling near the scene of the accident. The other two kept coming after her, she fought with all she had and the sounds of thrashing, yelping, and growling could be heard. She was bleeding as were the two she fought, they'd ripped at her existing wounds and she was tiring, they were determined. They both came at her and as she tried to block one, the other dug his teeth into her shoulder, yanking her down, there was a growl from one of the male wolves - a command in their language - shift. She fought, and the growled command came again as they tore and twisted her into excruciating positions that threated to snap limbs if she didn't comply. A very human scream ripped it's way from her throat as she finally had no choice but to shift into her other form. Once she'd complied, one of the males also shifted to human form, his grin as he held her pinned was not at all friendly. "Let me go! What do you want with me?" She'd heard the sound of a voice and hoped hers might reach whoever it was and they'd call for help.

Of course her two assailants heard the unidentified man calling out. "Go." The one in human form told the other and the wolf took off in the direction of the would be good samaritan. "We want you." Her question was answered as the man yanked her arm higher behind her back, hoping to keep her pinned until his teammate returned.

The girl was looking around the darkening forest for something to help her use this opprotunity to her advantage. If she could get him off her, she could shift again.

He heard the scream as easiy as anyone should and the direction was unmistakable. Next was the rustle of something else, something that moved fast and was trying not to be heard. If he'd been anyone else, maybe he'd have missed the swish of the branches or dismissed the sounds as wind or average wild animals startled by the sudden shriek in their forest. This wasn't that kind of sound. It wouldn't have been coming toward him if it was. These woods knew this road and its creatures would not come toward it, he rationalized. The wrench was spun in his hand then gripped, ready as he faced the sound and waited, torn... should he run to the sound of the scream or wait for this other creature? The indecision was short lived as the man emerged. He wasn't waiting to get hit and charged, swinging the wrench out with as much speed and strength as what came at him. He could smell it... the anger, the deadly intent. There was no questionning he would get killed if he didn't put the guy down first. The wrench laid the guy out after the second swing and he put his boot down on the man's jaw, pinning him to the ground. His nightmares now had a face. "I know what you are, you know what I am. Cut the shit already. What do you want from me, huh? You planned this to pin it all on me? Nooo," he chuckled, sounding half-insane. Maybe he was now. They were just dreams, that's all they were, right? "Not pinning any of this on me. You won't have the chance." The headache throbbed and his teeth ground. The wrench swung down once more and the man lay still, a dark stream trickling from the corner of his mouth where he was left, forgotten in a second as the other man headed off toward the scream, breaking into a run and clearing the branches as well as the man that had attacked him.

The sounds of struggling resumed but now they were of human forms twisting and swinging, male grunts and swearing and the girl gasping and crying out now and then as she worked to free herself. She'd been banged up, bruised and cut in the accident and then torn by the fight in her wolf form, now she was battered more as she tangled on the forest floor with the man. She was bare due to the shifting, rocks and branches scratching against her tender skin. One of those branches found her hand and she tried to swing it at the man on top of her.

He was able to block it mostly but it certainly pissed him off and she was rewarded with a blow to her face and a growled out. "b*tch!"

She felt her lip split and tasted fresh blood trickling into her mouth.

"If you weren't such prime stock - I swear I'd kill you right now." The man snarled at her, laughing as he heard the sounds - which he assumed were his friend coming back. "Damn you were quick.. what do you say, wanna help me teach this little b*tch her place? Have a little taste of her before we take her back?"

Leta growled at the man holding her down and she spit in his face.

[Lovely]

"Killing you right now? Yeah, I was thinking that myself. May I cut in?" The wrench was swung again as the realization hit that it was a stranger and not his friend coming up on them. The sickening cracking sound of this man's head rattled his teeth as he sent a boot to the man's ribs to get him off the girl. He wasn't waiting for the man to get up or the girl to run before he swinging again, making sure the guy wasn't getting up. "Get out of my head you son of a b*tch. I'm tired of you," he spat at the heap on the ground as he continued to swing with emphasis. "I'm tired of your plan... I'm tired, okay? f*cking tired and I don't want to see or hear or smell your ass again!"

Leta was as surprised as her attacker to find it wasn't his friend returning, she was even more surprised that this guy went after the one on her the way he did. Okay.. he obviously had his own issues and she wasn't about to object to him helping her, though as she watched him she felt it was probably wisest if she didn't stick around to thank him in case he decided to turn on her next. She was a little slow at getting up - sore, bruised, and battered, that delay allowed her to catch the scent of her rescuer and she realized it was familiar. A longer look at him as he swung his wrench at the limp man on the ground and she realized she 'knew him'. She saw him at the shop she usually got coffee at, but she hadn't realized he was also the one who kept the place smelling so enticing. What the hell was he doing here? She didn't know his name but as she stayed there on her knees and listened to his words, she knew they had something more in commom besides not being human. The nightmares that had haunted her, also haunted him. She reached to catch his wrist as he swung again. "He's not getting up." Her voice was soft, pained, but compassionate.

His arm was strong and it took a good grip to hold him, but as tired as he was, a strong wind might just blow him over tonight. The past few minutes had taken almost all he had left. The wrench dropped to the ground and he turned his arm to pull free of her grip as he looked over at her, slowly focusing on her out of the blind rage. That scent... His knees felt weak and he stumbled a few feet away from the gorey slab of flesh, tumbling down roughly to sit and plant his head in his hands. "I can't get it to stop. I'm crazy... I'm going f*cking nuts," he stammered out whether she was listening or not.

She was hurting but could see what was eating away at him was a different kind of pain which was just as severe. She grunted quietly as she shifted up to move closer to him, crouching down in front of him. "You're not crazy." Leta told this man who's name she didn't know but his scent? She knew that and had let it bring her back to a certain coffee shop day after day.

He looked at her, chuckling a bit in disbelief. "Are you real or am I just sleepwalking here? I... I just killed two men and you're telling me I'm not out of my tree? You wanna know what's really funny? I can smell you. I could smell you all the way back at your car. The air is just full of you. Why can I always smell you?"

"You just stopped them from killing me or worse." She retorted quietly, it wasn't like he'd just killed two innocent people for no reason - it was self defence. "I'd have to say real, my dreams.. are usually more painful than this." Her tongue gingerly licked some of the blood from her lip as she studied his face. "What do you mean.. always smell me?"

"Everywhere I go.. It starts at that shop. The coffee shop. I've seen you there, so don't ... don't say you don't go there. I see you there and that scent ..it's like I'm possessed. I have to follow it. I just didn't know it was... it's you. It stays with me all day, haunting me, even when I sleep. Them too. I wasn't sure at first. I heard him coming at me and I just hauled off and ...," he trailed off. He was shaking and he pulled his knees to his chest, his hand going to up cover his mouth as he laughed. "I ... I killed them. They're dead... - I - killed them! They were there in my head for weeks now ... and I could smell them, and you."

She didn't know what to say for a moment, hearing the laugh and watching him curl into himself, it was probably just the shock of it all. "I saw... smelled you too.. in the shop. That was part of why I went there everyday, to catch the scent.. I didn't know it belonged to you, strange how close we were without even knowing.. You're.. like me.. but not like them. They were.. they've been chasing me in my dreams and then.. I thought I was going crazy, the things I was seeing, dreaming of.. and then they started following me. They were real and it wasn't a dream... and you're real.. and you stopped them from taking me." She was shaking a little, the shock starting to work it's way through her with the let down after the events of the last hour. "We.. we.. ah.. can't stay here.."

She was right about that. He stopped laughing. She had to be real. She made sense and her scent was slightly different now, changing from what it was while under attack to what it was now as she discussed fleeing from this scene. He nodded and slowly rose to stand shakily. "When you say taking you... where were you going?"

She watched him stand, taking a long look at his form as it rippled with his slow movements. Using the nearest tree trunk she pushed herself to her feet, this was going to hurt for awhile, thank goodness she healed more quickly than most. "If I tell you.. you might think I'm crazy." Her laugh was soft, the kind a person used when they couldn't really laugh. "Someplace I saw in a different dream, somewhere safe."

[Lovely]

"No place is safe," he muttered, brushing his face down then feeling the smear of the blood. He sniffed at it, making a face, surprised that he didn't find it sickening, just merely interesting. "Dreams. I want to sleep and not dream about anything. Hell, I just want to sleep. Your car's wrecked. Let me give you a ride?"

"You're right.. but where I was heading.. it's safer than where I was. Where were you going? I still have at least a full day's drive to get where I'm going. If you can just bring me to the closest town.. I can get a motel room." She could figure out how to get the rest of the way to the place in her dreams tomorrow, after she'd gotten some sleep.

"Some place that looks a lot like this. Anywhere, really. I was letting the bike tell me, kinda just going by the scenery that looked the most interesting and unlike any place I was. May be the place. The road keeps going. We're the ones who stopped."

"I was stopped.. I didn't stop." She said quietly, now that the sun had dipped below the horizon it was growing dark more quickly especially in the cover and shadow of the trees. A couple of her more severe cuts and rips were still bleeding and she was getting cold, whatever she was going to do, she needed to start doing it. She absently wiped the blood from her chin, it was a mix of her own and some from the men she'd been fighting with. "I'm a mess aren't I? Damn it.. damn them.. "

"Hadn't noticed," he said honestly, looking over her bare and curvy form beneath the painful marks. His eyes caught some of the low light, matching the cool reddish glow for an instant. He peeled his jacket off to undo a button or two to slip his shirt off, leaving the tank under it. "New skirt? I've got a sweatshirt in my bags. It'll get you by until morning, but I'd suggest riding close to me."

"Riding close.. you.. you're on a bike." She put the pieces together with what he said and his scent that was laced with remnants of the road. It all made sense now and she shook her head a little. "ah.. thanks." She reached to take the shirt from him and winced, thinking better of it, she shook her head again. "Maybe I better not.. I'll ruin whatever I put on right now." She reached with her opposite hand to gingerly touch her shoulder, her fingers coming away with a stain of red. She was trying to ignore the fact that he looked really good in that tank top and not stare at him, she licked at her lips and sighed. She turned and started toward the road. "Make sure you grab that wrench."

"Don't worry about the shirt," he said, insisting. "I'll help pry it off later and I ... can't believe that sounded like what it did," he chuckled. "I meant if the blood... just take it. Please?" He held it out still as he leaned down to grab up the wrench.

"It's alright.. I just need a chance to lick my wounds, you know?" She was tired and sore, it showed in her voice a little, but mostly it didn't. Leta was a strong woman both the human and feral sides and she was handling herself better than many people would after going through what she just had and being hurt like she was. She stopped and turned back to take the shirt from him, she didn't put it on yet, holding it in her hand and staring at him. "Why are you doing this.. helping me?"

"Because I'm supposed to. That's the rest of the dream," he said, kicking over the body on the ground and using the man's shirt to clean the gore off the wrench. "After these guys ... and I wake up... I remember what the third man says each time and I get on my bike until I just can't go anymore."

"I thought I was the only one who had those dreams." Her voice was soft, perhaps still not fully believing that all of this was really happening, despite her reassurances to him that it was. "In your version of the dream.. do you happen to lick my shoulder?" She asked it with a slight laugh and a small gesture to the wound that needed tending.

[Lovely]

"I could," he said, standing, turning to see the gash, the teasing smile fading with concern. She believed the whole thing, that they really were wolves. Maybe that part was real but he was never sure. He couldn't remember much about when it happened, seeming to black out, or maybe whatever happened made him want to forget it so bad that he simply did. He glanced back to her face. "You're probably going to need stitches for that," he said, not realizing his tongue slipped over his his lip a little as he thought about it.

"Well.. it was worth a try.. thanks anyway. I can't go to the hospital." She shook her head a little and tried to glance at the wound. "Maybe I can figure a way to reach it, I am pretty damn flexible.. " She sighed with irritation that was slowly replacing the fear of the attack she'd been through. "Those bastards.. if they weren't already dead..." A low growl rumbled through her chest.

He chuckled in disbelief. "You're serious. You want me... to lick you? Hell of a pick-up line, ma'am. Maybe if we'd started off with 'would you like some sprinkles on your whip' at the coffee shop before this, but that's... You want me to LICK you? You ..." He stopped and went pale. The sounds he'd heard and the way they all moved... he was beginning to feel sick again, like one of those blackouts was coming on again. He couldn't ignore the rich scent from the wound or the continued alarm that he could even smell it to start with and how her own perfume changed minute to minute.. she'd tell him she wasn't wearing any, but it was making his head spin it was so strong. "It's true isn't it?" The question was suddenly tiny, swept up in an increasing series of panicked breaths. It was true.

"Wha.. you mean.. you don't know.." Her hand reached to his arm and her concern turned to him with that compassionate gaze again as she tried to reassure and comfort him in his realization. "You didn't believe in any of this.. even in what you are." Her voice was soft and her eyes gently cast over him. "What's your name, hun?"

His head lowered a little though he watched her carefully. He dared enough to shake his head a little. "It's Justin. I haven't slept in like a month but you're telling me I'm not crazy? I'm not seeing things?" The smile tugged at the corner of his mouth again. "I'm not thinking things ... like a f*cking animal?"

"You need to sleep." She whispered softly, reaching gently to his cheek to tip his head so she could look at his face better, the signs of his lack of sleep showed around his eyes. "You're not seeing things, you're not crazy.. and I'm sure you're thinking of plenty of things." She smiled a little and felt herself chuckle softly. "and well.. I can't say anything about f*cking like an animal.. but as soon as I really.. I'll let you know if it's as great as I think it will be."

"I need sleep," he nodded, planting his tongue into his cheek now, wondering what she meant by 'as soon as' and what the rest was she left unsaid. "You'll let me know, huh? Look, weren't you the one saying we can't stay here?" If she kept laughing like that and saying things... like that, he swallowed roughly, thinking about it... he wasn't in a good frame of mind to think rationally.

"Yeah well that was also when I thought you were going to lick me." She said in a voice that was mostly just stating a fact but there was a slight tease in her expression. "I guess I'll have to deal without it.. but you do need sleep and soon, so I'm going to have to figure out a good way to get you to... aside from me throwing you down. I need to catch my breath before I try that."

"If you do that I'll need to catch mine," he said quietly, his lips feeling dry. Her scent was changing again and the effect was like... god she smelled good and even with the cuts and bites, she was pretty. "I... I'm good... with no sleep. An hour or two easy before I need to ... you know... sleep."

"Then maybe I should." Her tongue perched at the edge of her lips for a moment as she took in a breath which was filled with his scent, she was pretty good at reading them as she'd embraced that part of herself moreso than he had. Her tongue wet her lips before it disappeared in her mouth, which then curved in a smile. "And if it's hard.. how long do you think you have then?" She turned to face him, one leg slinking in front of the other as she stepped toward him.

[Lovely]

"If what?" The breeze was telling him one thing and the thoughts in his mind were something else. Her scent curled into the breeze and wrapped around him as neatly as her smile had wrapped around the tip of her tongue. Justin's eyes closed as he tried to think.. be witty, at least smart with some comeback but nothing was there besides realizing exactly what she meant as she came closer. "Oh... you mean... " Dumbass. She wants you to lick her, don't think that's all she wants, not with that look.

"Ohhh boy, you have alot to learn. Let's start with the basics, shall we?" She chuckled as she reached to wrap her hand around his with the wrench intending to pull it away from him and drop it to the ground, that way he wouldn't freak and hit her with it. Getting smashed by the tool would certainly make her evening worse. "I'm a strong female.. that makes me in charge until you can assert dominance over me. Which you seem a little too confused or flustered to do just yet.. so don't worry about that right now. Trust me to show you and help you understand?"

He was chuckling again and certainly nervous. He was thinking all this time he was crazy, maybe it was everyone else. "Drugs... it's gotta be drugs," he mumbled. "You know.. they make people feel invincible, euphoric? M.. my cousin's a doctor," he shrugged. "I don't usually say 'euphoric'. You're... you really believe this don't you?" He was hoping to back away, but the body was there and the trees flanked them. He wasn't getting far and he wasn't sure he could run. He was almost willing to try but something still churned his stomach and made his head spin. Justin's heart was throbbing roughly now, not with panic, but the sort of giddy excitement of roller coasters and ... slasher films. He didn't need to think about that, looking at what he'd just done. Her grip on his hand wasn't light, either and the way she looked at him... what she'd said... She bought into the whole deal and he took a deep breath trying to not be talked into it so easily, even though her voice, her eyes... her breath and the scent around her could almost convince him of anything. She hadn't tried to hurt him. She had all the chances in the world to try and hadn't. "Okay... okay. Alright, listen. No, I understand this. Trust you? Trust you... I'm kinda running out of options and if I leave you here with this, the cops are on my tail. No way. I trust you as long as I can see you and my bike."

"Take your wrench and go." She told him with a slight smile, shaking her head a little. "Go where you can see your bike and get on it.. ride away and don't look back." She let go of his hand and took a step back, she didn't seem to mind that she was still naked or that he'd killed two of the three men attacking her. "It's not drugs and you don't really understand.. You think I believe in something that isn't really true. How can you understand?" Her voice wasn't sharp or accusing but still compassionate as she did understand how hard this was for him to comprehend. Her eyes glowed softly as she tossed his shirt at him, a soft growl rumbling from her as she turned to step away and walk back toward the cars. "When you're ready.. I'd be more than happy to give you the lesson of your life." She wasn't just talking about the four legged furry side of things either. Since his bike was this way, she assumed he would follow within a few moments and she'd rather tackle him away from most of the gore.

He grabbed the shirt with his empty hand and stared. "Okay. Just like that, then?" She was heading the same direction he needed to go and didn't give the man on the ground another thought. He wondered how long it might be before others showed up. He hadn't heard any other cars. Another thought came to him as she walked away. Who were these guys? He knelt down and dug for an ID, cash if he had any, and anything else of use like their keys. If her car was the one in bad shape... Which car was which, he wondered as well. Shaking his head once he had the name of the man he didn't recognize and the few bills he had on him, he stood and followed the girl back toward his bike and the rest.

She was at the car she'd been driving and was crawling around to try to find anything she could salvage to take with her, but there wasn't much since she hadn't brought much with her when she'd taken off in the first place. Her purse, with it's broken strap was dangling from one hand as she turned to face Justin when he came out of the woods. She half expected him to get right on his bike and drive off like she'd told him to. He was curious and she was invigorated in a strange way, well strange for most but for her being feral and having just had a fight.. and a rather attractive male coming to her aide. Instict told her to chose him as a mate - strong, brave, willing to do what needed to be done - he'd protected her. The only clothes she had were lost in the woods, torn by her attackers and discarded with her change of form. "So.. why do you think we were running around the woods naked? ..and how do you suppose I got these wounds?" She stepped out toward him, trying to see what logical explaination he might have for it, before he could answer her, she lunged at him, intending to knock him on his back.

[Lovely]

He looked around like she might be talking to someone else and as he turned back he felt the air bounce out of his chest, and the remainder of it as he felt the ground against his shoulders and the sky blotted out by a blur of red hair. Why was she fighting him now? He expected the familiar black out but it didn't come, though he almost wished he would have... was that a rib? He wasn't sure, but he was sure he couldn't move easily the way she landed on him. Anger and fear were making a thick cocktail that poured itself into his system at his spine and worked its way up to his confused expression. "Hey?! You want to show me something? Get off," he said, realizing the wrench wasn't in his hand any more. A flash of red passed through his gaze and he reached out to grab her hands.

"That was the idea." She laughed in disbelief and shook her head as he started acting like she was trying to fight him or attack him in a very different manner than she'd intended. "Ohh, I take it back. You are crazy. Only a crazy man tells a naked woman that he finds attractive, to get off of him when she throws herself at him." She let him grab her hands but leaned to lightly nip at his shoulder through his shirt.

"Hey!" He couldn't think of anything more offensive. The nip wasn't painful but it was unexpected. He lay still a brief moment, his brain in full spin from the up-close exposure to her skin, her hair... the scent filling his nostrils and he wished he could drown in it right then. He took another deep breath, letting go of her hands and his head fell back. The blackness was beginning to suck him into it this time but he was going to fight it if he could. His eyes went dark then flared again as he cried out, arching against a pain that twisted his spine, the shallow breaths become deeper and rasping as his features rippled into the change he'd not come face to face with yet. The gloves split off his fingers as heavy claws cut through them.

Okay he definitely had some issues and she wondered if it wouldn't be wiser to take off, but she didn't. He had helped her when she needed it, he could have just gone on his way and stayed out of things, but he'd chosen to step in. Now he needed her help and she chose to stay and help him understand the things that were happening to him. "Justin. Listen to me, concentrate on my voice. Focus on the sound of my voice." The ripping of his gloves and cracking of his back was not a good thing and she gently ran her hand over his chest and down over his abs, lifting his tank top a bit to slide her hand beneath his shirt. If she could make him focus on her and on the contact with the man in him she might be able to help him fight the change that seemed to frighten him enough that he'd repressed his feral side and didn't believe what was right in front of him. He was confused and a forced shift was no way to begin helping him understand or accept what he was.

Her voice and her scent kept him from blacking out completely but his jaw was changing and his voice wouldn't come out more than the sound of pained transformation that was still in the early stages and uncontrolled. He did try to fight it and hold onto consciousness as he reached out for the sound of her voice. No one had been with him before who was still alive... the others... like the men here who knew... had been found dead like these two. There were no others he knew of to tell him what happened on the other side of this dark fog he was falling into. "Help me," he tried to gasp out, though it rolled out in grunts and doglike growls.

"Trust me." She told him in a voice that was quiet but firm and she knew he would hear her. "I'll be right here with you. I'll take care of you. Don't be afraid." Her hand stroked his cheek in a soothing manner, he might not be able to fight the change but if he relaxed it shouldn't be so painful for him. "I'm right here with you.." She kept alert to how the change might make him react to things and with that in mind, she nuzzled into his neck as her other hand reached down to loosen his belt and zipper. That way if he did change, his clothes wouldn't be completely ruined and perhaps her voice and her contact with him might help him to ease back into his human form.

He tried to swat away her hands, not knowing what she was doing but the swat was weakly directed, another wave rippling through him as her voice, her attention, drew him into two directions. In his mind the images of simply tossing her beneath him, returning the nip, licking her shoulder.. and everything else... was as invigorating as it was offensive to the remain sensibility he had left. Good guys didn't kill people, either, he reminded himself. He wasn't a good guy, he couldn't be, that's why this was happening to him. Justin stopped swatting and this time held on, able to feel her now that the gloves had ripped away. She was calm, her voice luring him back to the edge of the pit he was falling into. He nodded quickly, he'd let her help.

Her hands shifted on him, hoping that by feeling her touch and knowing she was there with him and not afraid of what was happening that it would help to calm him and bring him closer to her, ease him into his human form again. "That's it Justin.. hold onto me." She clasped his hand in return, the other hand at his cheek, her lips brushed his ear as she nuzzled, her taunt belly warm against his as she let him feel more of her. "I'm right here.. Relax.. I'm here, I'll take care of you."

Hold on... that's all he'd been trying to do for the past few weeks when the worst of this started - when the dreams started and the voice in them told him the men would be coming soon. The blackouts had been happening once in a while and he'd given up drinking because of them. Then the past year something happened, something changed and he started to change along with it. Perfumes in shops sickened him. Sounds of his neighbors several doors down kept him up at night with their television and their discussion about the son in the military. When he read at night, the lights were better when they were dim. He began to like his steaks rare. Then the blackouts came more often. He couldn't sleep, feeling bombarded by his senses. He left the city and rolled out toward the suburbs though it hadn't helped. The blackouts became worse and the aftermath with them. A lazy night in a slow bar should have stayed that way, but the pool game turned ugly and the room spun into blackness. He remembered waking up in the alley a few blocks away reeking of shit, blood and beer. The sirens had woken him and he'd found himself without clothes and staggering home. Then the drinking began again. He'd found more alleys and more unusual circumstances - places he'd been that he knew he should have known something about, but denied any and everything because it made no sense. He'd even been shot but had no explanation for the emergency room when he crawled there the next morning. Hold on... to what? What did he have left but a crumbling mind and the excruciating pain as his body tried to contort into some other form? Her... she was close and comforting and smelled so good, like home and apple pie, safety, sex and everything in between. He held onto her and listened to her. She wasn't afraid of whatever this was and if she could help him... he hoped she could. She clasped onto his hand and he nodded again, curling back toward the nuzzling and the warmth of bare stomach against his where she'd moved his shirt. The black out wasn't coming this time and the painful wracking was calming. He wouldn't forget this time. "I'm holding," he gasped as best he could.

[Lovely]

"Keep holding.. and I'll keep holding too." She could feel him calming a bit, at least in the change that had tried to overtake him. She felt him nuzzling back and her lips twitched into a bit of a hopeful smile as she nuzzled more firmly against him. "That's it Justin, that's it.. stay with me.." She slowly brushed her way up to look down at his face to see if the changes were receeding and to show him the warmth of her eyes and the kindness of her face, something more for him to cling to as he made his way back from the edge of that blackness.

Crimson danced in and out of the shine of his eyes as he opened them slowly, finding her hovering and peeking in to see if he was alright. Stay with her... for how long, he wondered, the kisses and soft brush of her skin on his cheek surprising him more the way it felt so soft and real. He wasn't dreaming this time. He found the control to move his arm behind her back and cling a little more humanly. "You never told me your name, but thank you," he muttered.

She watched him, her eyes catching the subtle signs of the reverse of the shift and she felt relief wash over her. She was thankful for him, that he did not have to endure the fright and out of control feeling that accompainied many forced or uncontrolled shifts. From his reactions to this one, she knew he'd experienced it before, her hand cupped his cheek and she stayed close. The weight of his arm around her back held her tightly against him and was encouraging and she found she liked it for more reasons as well. "Violeta.. and you're welcome, but I have hardly even begun. Consider yourself stuck with me."

He hadn't completely reverted. He rose a little to test a little lick at her wound on her shoulder that was still so strong and must have been more painful than she was showing. The little dab became a more assured one as his feral instincts guided him in the man's form. "Apparently you have more for me to consider," he said, licking the wound a little more then curling up to her neck to thank her with a nuzzling kiss.

He surprised her a great deal when he licked at her wounded shoulder, she knew he wasn't completely reverted but this move was so unexpected. Leta gasped softly but held still as he explored with his tongue over the injury and in doing so aided her healing. "Thank you." She breathed softly in his ear as she wrapped herself around him a bit, welcoming his nuzzling kiss and continuing to soothe him gently in return. "Apparently you're willing to consider what more I have.." She retorted with a small laugh, her soft kiss brushed over his temple.

"I'm on the ground, alone in a forest with a beautiful, naked woman on top of me. I'm crazy, not stupid," he mumbled out as she kissed his face. He'd helped her and it was clear she'd helped him already. She was serious and he had to begin to accept it all as real, down to the rap that would be pinned on him for the killing if they ever found him. Justin chuckled a little at the irony of it all and began to move slowly for comfort against the hard ground grinding into his back. "I'm willing to consider a lot of things right now," he admitted, turning to give her a real kiss as thanks.

Considering and doing were two entirely different things. The ground was hard and he soon discovered it was also cold. The smell of dirt was just as uncomfortably pungent as the nearby bodies permeating the moment. He ached and each movement echoed that as he reluctantly paused to help her up and peel himself from the ground as well. A motel... someplace else... someplace that wasn't out in the open... Maybe he was just getting old, he thought, creaking and standing with this woman at his side? He shook his head and walked over to her car, leaning on the fender that was as bent up as he was. "Not a lot of choices for getting someplace else," he pointed out, not sure how she felt about leaving the car behind.

She'd finally accepted the shirt he'd offered her earlier and was attempting to button it up over the swell of chest that protruded quite differently than his. She moved quietly and wasnt sure if he realized she had stepped up beside him as he leaned on the wreck of car she'd been driving. "Not alot but there are some." She replied softly, leaving about a quarter of the buttons undone as she settled her hands to her shapely hips. "You're thinking.. you should be sharing more of those thoughts."

"Not very clearly," he admitted, his expression stretching and wincing, trying to feel more like he knew it should though his cheeks still felt sharp and long and his nose angled differently than made sense. He leaned his back against the car and rubbed his palms over his eyes and downward, somewhat assuring himself he looked like a man and not... some other something that scared the hell out of him right now. His hands fell to his sides in a shrug, a plea, a subtle bit of resignation that he didn't know what to do or think, but if he came up with something, he'd let her know. "How do I look? Huh? Do I still look like me? Cuz whatever all this is, you're not scared of it and I could sure use a little bit of whatever you've got right now. Just the littlest reassurance," he begged sharply, almost angrily, holding up his hand, his fingers an inch apart. "That I am NOT going completely out of of my f*cking skull right now... would sure as hell help me out. Okay?"

[Lovely]

Leta smiled softly, she understood about how he was feeling and her head nodded a bit, she stepped toward him where he leaned. Her expression held compassion and reassurance as she reached to cup his face in her hands, giving what she could to help him feel better with a gentle kiss. "I remember what it feels like at first, you won't have to go through it alone.. anymore."

He reached up to her hand, clasping it and pulling it away gently as she kissed him again. "Thank you. Thank... you... for either being just as f*cking nutty as I am or for being the one thing in all of this that's not. We've got to go. Wherever these guys came from, they're after me as much as they were after you and when they don't report? Someone's coming looking and I don't want to be here."

Something haunted her expression for a moment and then she nodded, she didn't want to be here when something came looking. "So.. car is a little wrecked.. if you don't mind a half dressed passenger, you can give me a ride." She glanced at the car, thankful it wasn't actually hers, she didn't need her face plastered on wanted posters or anything. While she let Justin think over her suggestion, she kept hold of his hand and leaned into the car to grab her purse. If he decided he didn't want to ride with her, she'd still need to bring it with her.

"Told you I'm crazy, not stupid," he smiled, kissing her hand and letting go once she had her balance. "Legs like that, I'd have to be to leave you out here. Anything else you need, grab it now. I'm awake enough to get us wherever we can get to in a hour, maybe two if I push it. You know any place around here?"

"Push it a little and I'll make it worth your while." She winked at him and checked her purse to make sure she had everything. "This was all I had besides my clothes which aren't very fuctional after the fight and all." She shrugged a bit, not minding the borrowed shirt or the fact that he'd noticed and commented on her legs. "Should find a motel in and hour to and hour and a half if we keep following this road."

"Find a way to keep me awake til we get there... mmm... maybe a while longer than that," he grinned, calming down more. Though he was jazzed up with anxiety for the moment, he knew it wouldn't last long and he'd be risking a wreck. He already felt like he'd been in one.

He was grinning at her but something in what he said caught her attention. "If you're not alright to drive, you can say so... if you want me to, I will or if you need me to take over in awhile." She put the offer out there hoping he wouldn't try to push himself more than he could really take, one wreck tonight was more than enough for her. "..and we'll worry about keeping you up after.. after. Got a place for this?" She smiled at him and held up the purse a little.

He glanced down then chuckled, reaching out for her hand. "It doesn't match my shoes, darlin'. C'mon. You can lock it in the pack. I don't carry much myself. You lead, I'll drive until I just can't."

"It doesn't match my shoes either." Or the lack of them, she chuckled and glanced down as his hand touched hers. Her fingers wrapped warmly around his hand and she offered him a gentle smile as they turned to head for his bike. "Hopefully we'll be there and resting before you get to the just can't point."

The bags on the bike weren't meant to hold a lifetime of treasures or really anything more than the change or two of clothes he'd stuffed in there with a little room to spare enough for her purse to fit. When he'd left he wasn't sure where he'd end up, but so far he hadn't turned back. He didn't think he ever could knowing that men like these would be waiting for him. "Here's hoping. You know how to hold on tight like no tomorrow? I take turns tight," he warned.

"Oh I'm sure I can.." She eyed him up and down, licking her lips lightly, then winked, and gestured for him to get on the bike and ready so she could climb on behind him.

Something instinctively told him not to worry even though she looked like she could devour him in a single bite with that expression. He found himself considering letting her try and chuckled to himself, shaking his head as he turned to get the bike ready to move, the roar of the engine coming back to life ripping through the otherwise quiet woods.

Despite her injuries she was limber and swung her leg over the back of the bike, coming down smoothly behind him with barely a bounce or jar to the bike from her weight. She was pressed against him and her arms wrapped snuggly around his waist, her chin resting behind his shoulder to help keep the wind from her face once they got going. The grip she had on him even in a relaxed state would let him know he didn't need to worry about her holding onto him, she had no intention of letting him go.

[Lovely]

April 29, 2008
6:30 a.m.


He awoke startled, certain that he'd only closed his eyes a moment to blink and see the road better. His vision was still a little blurry but he was sure he wasn't on his bike and this wasn't the road. As his heartbeat slowed, he moved to feel his surroundings, finding blankets tucked around him and a room barely lit by morning light through heavy curtains - the kind they put in hotels. He blinked again, confused and trying to remember. It had been a long time since he'd slept long enough to forget anything. The curl of red hair fanned across the pillow beside his helped clear his mind a little and the deep breath even more as her scent woke the memories of the night before and the long ride. The clock flashed and now read 6:32 but he had no idea from the stray light if it was sunrise or sunset. "How long did I sleep?" He wondered out loud as he sat up, mystified at the strange sensation of being rested.

Leta shifted as he did and she stretched, groaning lightly and looking at the clock. "Six or seven hours.." She sighed and rolled to her back, blinking up at him with a sleepy expression. "Could have slept more if I hadn't kept you up so late." She smiled at him, glad to see he seemed more calm and rested.

He saw the hands curl out toward him as she stretched. He followed them back as she rolled over and he heard the soft voice. He smiled back. "It's all coming back to me now. Mornin' darlin'. Sorry I fell asleep in the first place. Guess I needed it," he said, yawning but trying not to.

"You definitely needed it." She agreed quietly, reaching up to run her fingers over his jaw. "I'm glad you were able to get some sleep... and good morning to you, too." Leta lifted up enough to murmur her good morning over his mouth with a soft kiss.

He didn't want her to strain herself. Justin followed her back to her pillow with the kiss and moved the blankets that had tucked down between them. It was definitely coming back to him now like machine gun fire, filling his head quickly with images of everything that had happened in the past few weeks. Her scent was filling his senses with even more images and definite ideas of how he'd prefer to spend the morning. Then it began to sink in that he was actually noticing and interpreting her -scent- and it was making sense to him now though it still scared him a little. "Thank you," he murmured, looking over her face, piecing things together in his mind.

"Mmmm." She kept the kiss going as he eased her back to the pillows and she wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "My pleasure." She smiled softly and watched him in return as he started to sort things out in his head. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Like a new man, I think is what they say. Be right back," he said, grinning a little and stealing another quick kiss before rolling away to get up and stretch. He didn't care that he didn't have a stitch on. She'd made him more comfortable with himself and these new sensations in just the few short hours. He twisted and everything seemed to snap and realign before he padded over the carpeted floor to the window to see where they'd ended up. For the first time in a few weeks it didn't scare him to look outside.

[Lovely]

"Hopefully still the same one I stayed with last night." She chuckled quietly and continued to watch him as he got up and checked things out. "How's the view?" She hadn't looked at it herself, she been busy giving him her attention and care and licking her own wounds. He seemed more comfortable with himself this morning and she was happy to see that improvement.

He let the curtain close and stood a moment in thought. "It's good. Looks like rain. This isn't the place, is it? We still have some road ahead?" He tried to search his mind for anything he could recall about the dreams and it worried him that this time he slept and didn't seem to have any.

"No, it's not the place and yes, we have some road left to get there." She answered him with a slight sigh, if it looked like rain it wasn't going to be fun driving through it on his bike. She hadn't had any disturbing dreams last night which she was grateful for after everything she had been through yesterday.

"We're gonna be okay," he said distantly, then nodded to convince himself, crawling back beside her on the bed. "We'll get there and we'll be okay. Later."

"We're not okay now?" She asked as she shifted to face him a little more on the bed. She wondered again about what he was thinking and she tried to give him a reassuring smile.

"No, we're great right now," he countered with a wide smile, reaching out to wrestle gently with her some more. "I mean it's all going to be okay. This is part of the 'road' to get there, right? I didn't have any nightmares last night and looking out the window, I see trees, Leta. Not shadows."

"I'm not sure what you mean by this is part of the road to get there.. " She asked not sure what the difference was since she'd set out in search of the place in her dreams and had been heading this way when she was attacked.

[Lovely]

"This," he tried to explain in an embrace as he settled down beside her. "What happens, what's been happening, is supposed to happen and we're going to get through all of it and be okay. We've seen where we're supposed to go, right? That means we get there... we get there together. That's got to be why I I didn't have the nightmare last night. Because of you. Well, really... because of... you and me.. you know. But, I think we get there and we win, Leta. Win, like... they can't stop us getting there. I just don't know what happens after that part, do you?"

"Maybe.." Her voice soft and sincere, her smile like she had a secret as she shifted up over him to push him back to the pillows with a tender kiss. "... but if I tell you now, I might scare you away."

"Mmm... no, you're not shadowy and ugly and you don't have a gun," he pointed out in whispers between kisses.

"I don't need a gun, I have teeth." She giggled almost sounding a little giddy as the delight bubbled to the surface. Her dreams had never been so wonderful before last night and she had him to thank for it. "You made my dreams much better."

"Just your dreams, huh?" He laughed and wrapped his arm around her. "How about now? We've got the room until noon."

"No, not just my dreams." She defended lightly even with his laugh, perhaps it had more to do with what she had dreamed and the fact that she was worried it might send him running or that something would happen to change things and it wouldn't come true. Their dreams had changed since the events of the day before so logically it could happen again. For her it was such a sweet image, a glimmer of hope for the future and much happier than what she'd seen in her nightmares on other nights

"What?" He wondered about the cheeky grin and the thoughts she had running behind it. More than that he was learning and every time her expression changed it seemed her scent did too and he began to remember what each was like, what it seemed to mean. "Do I still have jelly on my nose from that toast we ordered?"

"No jelly." She leaned to kiss his nose and then his cheek before shifting back up to look down, studying his face. "You have gorgeous eyes." She commented, seeming to see something more than just him as she gazed at him, her fingers gently tracing his features.