Just A Wanderer

There had been several messages waiting for her when Allie woke up on Wednesday night. The first one had her confused, but by the fourth, she was snickering. She remembered the last time this had happened. Oh Fandom...in this particular case? Never change.

The wise thing would be to ignore them and not add to the confusion. But what was the fun in that?

Allie sat on her couch and left a few messages of her own.

With her new charmed necklace in place, Allie had booked another trip to sunny L.A. This time at least she could be sure that she wasn't going to wind up accidentally singed.

"You realize we're not exactly dressed for this?" Allie asked as she took another lick of her ice cream cone. This being the beach near the Santa Monica Pier.

( California Dreaming )

[Preplayed through email with gunslingerpose]

Heading out at OMG early tomorrow morning to fly to Vancouver in order to board the Disney Wonder on Monday for our cruise to Alaska.

Allie's currently a puppy in the care of not_a_whiner and bitten_notshy.

There's supposedly wifi on the ship so there might be the occasional Facebook or Twitter picture but otherwise I'll see you all when I get back.

Once they made it to the top of the stairs, it was obvious that Sarren was waiting for them. Blood coated the steps down to the red door of the lab, smeared in thick swaths over the walls, wet and black. Hands and feet had been strung by wire from the ceiling, and a severed head seemed to float in the air among them, lips pulled back in a crazy grin. Above the red door, written in large bloody letters was: Revelations 21.

"Ready for this?" Kanin asked softly.

"For it to be over," Allie said. She flinched when the severed head dropped from the ceiling and landed with a wet thump. "Let's get it over with."

The word Revelations was written over and over again on the walls of the stairwell, followed by different numbers. Severed limbs and pools of congealing blood littered the steps. Allie edged through the door at the bottom of the stairwell, wary of traps or potential ambushes. The cells lining the walls of this room were empty. She was relieved, she had half expected them to be filled with more bleeders for them to fight through.

"Not here," Kanin said in a low, barely audible voice. "We have to go through the last door." His blade was suddenly in his hand as he moved steadily forward and pushed the last door open.

( Step into my parlor said the spider to the fly )

Kanin had led the way into the Fringe, guiding the group back into the tunnels and below the wall that surrounded the protected Inner City. Eventually though, they could go no further and were forced back up to the streets. Where the Bleeders were.

"Try to avoid them if possible," Kanin said. "We don't want to attract a crowd. But if you must, do not hesitate to cut them down, cripple them, whatever you must do to stay alive. That is our first priority. We won't be helping anyone if we get ourselves killed, is that clear?"

As they moved through the Fringe, they spotted more bleeders, laughing or talking to themselves, sometimes shrieking at nothing, clawing at their faces. Deeper into the Fringe bodies were sprawled in the street, dried blood around their lips or spattered on the ground beneath them. Some were frozen, several days old and covered in snow. Other were more recent, their self-inflicted wounds still fresh and seeping. Obviously things were getting worse.

They were making their way to another tunnel entrance, one that would lead them closer to the Sarren's lair when they came to an eerily quiet lot ringed by abandoned houses. Allie could feel eyes on them and the air was thick with the scent of blood and open wounds.

"Kanin," she whispered. "I don't like this. Are we almost there?"

"Very close. The entrance to the sewers is about another hundred yards from-"

That was when the screaming started.

Figures appeared in the doorways of the buildings, dozens of them, a huge ragged swarm. Bleeding and wailing, they burst through frames and windows and came shrieking at where Allie and the others were exposed in the center of the field.

( This could be bad )

Allie didn't expect to dream, but she did.

A flash of light, confusion as his eyes opened in a strange room. It was different then what he'd become used to: darkness, stone, iron bars, anguish. He'd forgotten an existance without pain. And now, just like that, he was free. Because of her.

But there was still something wrong. Something inside, a dark coiling intruderer, spreading to through his veins. What had happened to him? And where was Sarren in all of this mess?

Kanin's suspicions faded away when Allie opened her eyes. The room was dark but she could tell that the sun had just gone down. Knowing that Salazar would want them on their way as soon as possible, Allie set aside her sword and made her way to the bathroom to clean up.

( A morning visitor )

Allie wasn't surprised when Jackal nominated her to be the one to fill Kanin in on what was happening. Any awkwardness caused by Kanin's guilt at attacking Allie was forgotten when Salazar joined them and explained just what he had done to ensure they stayed in the city and fulfilled their promise to find Sarren.


Salazar wasn't in the hall when Allie and Kanin emerged from the room Kanin had recovered in. That was probably for the best. Allie was still furious with the Prince and more then likely would have said or done something that would have gotten her into trouble if he had been there.

"I'm sure you two know each other," Allie said, moving aside to watch Jackal and Kanin.


( Introductions all around )

Stick was waiting when the doors opened. "This way," he said as the guards pushed them out of the elevator.

The hallway was more ornate then the lower floors. Thick red carpet lined the dim corridor, with electric lights set into alcoves on either side. At the end of the hallway stood two massive double doors, a vampire guard on either side. As they approached, Stick held up a hand and turned to them with a smile.

"Wait here a moment. I will inform the Prince of your arrival." He turned to the guards. "Make sure our guests do not move from this spot. If they try anything, shoot them if you have to, but don't kill them." Stick smiled at Allie, secure in his power. "We don't want to deny the Prince his amusement."

( And into the fire... )

The lab had provided some answers in the form of a hastily scrawled journal written by one of scientists. They'd been working on a cure for Red Lung using infusions of vampire blood. After days of failures what they thought was their first success had turned out to be their greatest failure as the first rabid was created.

Unfortunately the visit to the lab only left Allie and Jackal with more questions. Namely why had Sarren taken some of the last samples of the cryogenically frozen virus? And why was he going back to the abandoned lab in New Covington, Allie old home?

Jackal, in his never-ending search for a cure for rabidism, was more then willing to go along with Allie, but despite his recent good behavior, she didn't trust him. If she was going to search for a psychotic vampire, she wanted someone else watching her back.

Moving fast, it didn't take long to get back to Fandom. Despite Jackal's obvious interest, Allie refused to let him cross the causeway with her. With a put upon sigh, he leaned againt a tree. "Fine, but hurry. If I get too bored, I might have to go explore."

( There was only once place Allie would go )

Fortunately it hadn't taken Kaidan all that long to gather his gear while Allie booked a portal because it turned out they had to race to the Causeway in order to get to it in time. They met up with Jackal just as the portal opened. Jackal had stared at the portal, but a quick taunt from Allie had him stepping through without hesitation.

"So," Allie said, glancing sharply around to make sure no rabids were nearby where the portal had let them out in the woods outside New Covington. "Introductions. Kaidan, Jackal. Jackal, Commander Alenko. So help me, you even look at him funny and I will end you. Now let's move."

( Getting to know you )

Vampires didn't dream. Technically they're dead, their sleep during the daylight hours that of a corpse. But in times of extreme duress, pain or emotion, blood called to blood.

( As Allie lay curled on her bed, she dreamed. )

Allie was on her feet, clutching at her chest before she was even really awake.

Kanin, she realized. It was the first dream she'd had of him since she'd come to the island. It only took her a moment to realize what that could mean.

Twenty minutes later Allie was at the causeway. For the first time in over a year, she could feel the tug of the blood tie with her maker calling her. She moved forward with measured steps and bit her lip when she was able to keep moving past the point where she was usually thrown back to the island.

It really was happening. She was going home.

Allie looked back over her shoulder at the place she'd called home for the last year and a half. Despite the pull urging her on, she stopped for a moment , pulled out her phone and left a short message.

Message left, Allie shoved her phone in her pocket and set off to find her sire.

( Not all who wander are lost )

Hours later Allie stood in the snow and ice covered remains of a once sprawling city. Behind her, a narrow white tower stretched towards the sky. In front of her, behind a tall, black iron fence topped with barbed wire, stood a sprawling white house. The pull she'd been tracking led her there.

Dawn was fast approaching when as Allie went over the fence and entered the house. She silently made her way through dozens of lifeless dark and empty rooms. She could smell the blood of the humans that lived there, but no one was in sight. Finally, up a stairway and down a long corridor, she stopped in front of a thick wooden door.

It had been too easy getting there. Whoever was in the room knew she was coming. She carefully pulled her sword from its sheath. If it was Sarren, she was going to be ready.

Grasping the door handle, she turned it and pulled the door open.

( An unexpected reunion )

[OOC: And so begins Allie's epic canon catch-up. I apologize in advance for the spam. Huge thanks to trigons_child for playing Allie's big brother vamp.]

It had taken the better part of several nights, but Allie had finally gotten all of her new Ikea furniture put together just in time for the party. Everything seemed sturdy, so hopefully there wouldn't be any accidental furniture collapses.

There were plenty of completely moddable snacks, pizza and drinks, and a long black box sitting on the table.

Yes, it was time to see who was going to hell again.

[Up early for time zones. For the party guests but if you want an invite grab throughaphase or myself on AIM or email.]