Fear Lives in the Shadows (Shifter)

[Dusk]

The door to the small, cozy house opened slowly and quietly. It was late, very late. Dusk silently slipped in, shirt wrapped across his chest like a sash. But it was anything but decorative. His once-green shirt was stained with blood.

He had a gash on his shoulder, that stopped just at his ribs. He was covered in cuts and bruises. He'd been in a life-threatening fight against...hell, he didn't know what it was. But he was still alive. Unfortunately, it was too. He was sweaty, and his aura wasn't really faded, but it had lost enough intensity to tell something bad had happened. Now, he had to get to the bathroom and doctor this up before Aislynn saw...

[Shifter]

Aislynn couldn't sleep.

She hadn't been able to sleep since her "run in" with Switchblade. The only time she could even think about sleeping was when Dusk was there, beside her. She had moved in with him a little while ago, after he had healed, and had already started to try to make this their home. She loved him, after all; she wanted to make it her home as well as his.

She was curled up on the bed when he entered the home, in her cat form. Her ears perked up when the door handle turned; her nose twitched. Her eyes widened when the smell of blood registered in her brain.

She was off the bed, in human form, and in the living room before even she could blink.

When she saw him, her heart stopped. Aislynn could only stare for a long moment before she ran to him, wrapping one arm around his waist and the other's hand pressing against his chest. A quiet whine escaped.

"Bastian..."

[Dusk]

He froze when he saw her. It was then that he wondered how he thought he was going to actually sneak in without her hearing him. Yeah, that was highly unlikely.

He wrapped an arm around her, wincing at the pain even moving his arm caused. "Lynn," he said awkwardly, almost as if he was trying to pretend it wasn't one in the morning. Trying to pretend he wasn't covered in his own blood. Trying to pretend he wasn't almost killed by a monster--a literal monster.

"Hey," he said. "It's not as bad as it looks. I'm fine."

[Shifter]

Aislynn shook her head, not saying a word as she started to lead him to the bathroom. Her hands were gentle but firm, telling him that he wasn't going to get out if this that easily. She could smell the blood, taste in the air. She knew how badly injured he was.

She forced him to sit on the toliet (after closing the lid, of course), and grabbed down the medical supplies. Aislynn grabbed the bandages, the rags... Anything and everything she could think of. Her mind was moving too fast, trying to figure out what had done this to her Bastian.

"Take off your shirt, please."

[Dusk]

He obeyed her silent commands, just deciding it'd be best not to argue. He nodded, reaching back and untying where he'd tied the shirt to cover the would. He pulled it off, the shirt practically glued to the wound on account of all the dried blood.

He looked at her; he didn't want to have to explain that he'd narrowly evaded death. But there was no mistaking the fear in those eyes. No getting past the blood, the sweat, and the fading aura. This was far more serious than he was making it seem.

[Shifter]

Gently, the young woman helped to peel the shirt away from his flesh, careful not to hurt him anymore than he had already been hurt. She turned the sink on and let warm water build up in the bowl before finally dipping one of the rags into the water. She began to clean away the dried blood.

"Who did this to you?" She asked, a quiet sort of fury etched in her voice. Aislynn wasn't the violent type, especially since Kevin had raped her, but the cat inside her knew that its mate had been hurt. And whoever had hurt Bastian was going to pay - even if Aislynn was hesitant about it.

[Dusk]

He sighed. "It....it wasn't a who, Lynn...it was...I don't know what the--" he winced in pain when she started cleaning the blood. "hell it was." He shook his head.

"It was like nothing I've ever seen before. I was out taking care of something. Earning a little extra cash so we could do something later. I phased through an alley wall, and I saw it. It had to be almost seven feet tall. Made me feel like a child in comparison. I didn't have time to use my power. Damn near tore me apart..."

[Shifter]

Aislynn continued to treat the wound, careful not to hurt him anymore than she already had. Every so often she would dip the cloth back into the water, cleaning the excess blood off before she went back to his chest.

"Whatever it was," she murmured, glancing up at him, "it sure did take a nasty chunk out of you." Aislynn placed the cloth in the sink, then grabbed the bandages. She began to wrap his wounds, going silent again.

She didn't like the thought of something being able to do that to her Bastian. It wasn't because he was strong or large or... anything like that. It was because he was her Bastian. And she hated the thought of a monster harming him.

[Dusk]

"It was a monster...built like....some sort of mutant gorilla. No eyes, but mouth took up half its face. And it was so fast..." He shivered a little. "And it lives here now...." He practically quaked at the last part.

"It got in here...that means....it's supposed to be here. And if that's the case...we may all be very well screwed." He shook his head. "Look at me, being all afraid. The hell? I gotta do somethin' about this thing."

[Shifter]

Aislynn reached up, taking his face in her hands. Her blue eyes were soft, her face worried. "No." She said simply, "No, you're not going back out there. Not like this, not when you're injured. I will not lose you, Bastian. Not to a monster, not anytime soon."

She let her hands slip from his face back to his bandages. She ripped the end, bound it tightly so it wouldn't bleed anymore, and started to pack the medical supplies away. Aislynn refused to even think about letting him go out again, not if this monster was still out and about. She loved him too much to do that to him.

[Dusk]

"You won't lose me. I know what it's capable of now. I'll just have to get the drop on the thing." He looked into her eyes, soft yet firm. "I have to, Lynn..." He stayed seated, looking around the bathroom.

Then, he stood up. "This isn't about me. I've seen what it can do. I think I can take it, now that I know. There are other supers out there. I don't care how good or bad they are. I saw this thing, saw what it can do. I won't have other blood on my head. I can't."

[Shifter]

"You're not going any damn where, and that's all there is to it!"

Aislynn hated to raise her voice to him; she especially hated to curse at him, but... it had to be done. She didn't care what this monster had done, there was no way she was ever going to risk her Bastian's life. He was the only person on this planet that truly cared about her; she wasn't going to let him go off and get himself killed.

Her tail slipped out from beneath the edge of the dress she was wearing, swishing back and forth in a very angry fashion. Cats didn't like to be disobeyed. They didn't have masters, after all. They had servants.

[Dusk]

He looked at her; he had to do this. He didn't want to, by no means. He had to. But to do what he felt, he had to disobey Lynn....the only person he loved, and the only person who loved him back.

He stood to his feet, then spun her around gently, just staring into her eyes. "I love you." Then, he kissed her full on the mouth, deeply, passionately. He was trying to convey every ounce of love for her in that one kiss.

After what may have been ages, he pulled back. "You mean the world to me. I'm sorry." He started to the bedroom, grabbing a new shirt, his leather jacket, and the most powerful shotgun he had, with ammo. "I'll be back in an hour." Then he started for the door.

[Shifter]

When he spun her, Aislynn felt her heart stop dead. And when he kissed her, she felt her stomach clench. It wasn't because she didn't want to be kissed by him; by all means, she quite enjoyed it. It was the fact that he had done it so suddenly, without any sort of warning, that had her panicking. Had her mind flashing back.

Stop, she tried to say, but only ended up thinking it. She couldn't force the word out of her lips. He loved her; that much she knew. He wasn't trying to hurt or scare her. But he was going to leave her to fight the monster that had almost killed him. It made her sick to her stomach.

"You can't do this," she whimpered, leaning against the bathroom doorway, "You can't go out and fight him. You're still injured, Bastian. Don't do this to me..."

[Dusk]

He sighed, sitting on the bed, shotgun lying by his side. "Aislynn...I have to. If worst comes to worst I can sink into a shadow and get the hell out. I just...I feel I have to do this."

He kissed her again. "Lynn...please understand. I feel it's my duty," he looked her in the eyes. "I promise. I PROMISE I'll come back okay." He picked up his shotgun.