|
Post by Lina Kalkuskov on Nov 8, 2015 11:49:54 GMT -8
Lina didn't know that Klaus was hiding a few feet from where she was standing. Instead she had pushed open the door to the stairs he had just exited and was staring at the hole in the wall she had created with a look of intense concentration on her face. Her heartbeat was soaring through the roof, but it was the worst situation she had ever been in. No matter what kind of pain or torment these muggles could come up with would ever match what her mother had already done to her. If they failed escaping this time and the muggles captured them, Lina would be able to handle whatever they threw at her.
So despite her thundering heart, Lina knew that she would be able to react accordingly. She took a breath when Ced finally appeared in the hole, pausing at the lip of the damage as if he was... looking for something. Her? No, that wasn't it. He glanced right over her as if she was just another part of the wall. In fact, the big guy was moving in the wrong direction. "OI!" She practically screamed the word at him, snarling in her own right despite the fact that she was not the one in a wolf form right now. They didn't have time for Ced to go hunting the muggles in the area. They needed to get the hell out of here, now!
Lina flicked her wand, slamming a spell above Ced's head and into the door frame that Klaus was hiding behind. It was a smaller explosion, nothing more than a charm that caused lights and noise. An old prank that she use to use in class sometimes when she got bored with the potion's professor. Of course, it lit Klaus up like a Christmas tree for a few seconds and Lina realized what was going on. Ced was hunting that stupid idiot muggle with the smart mouth. The question was, did Lina let Ced kill him (because that'd be great really) or encourage him to leave the guy alone?
Despite her personal feelings towards Klaus, they had to get out of here. "OI! BIG GUY! OVER HERE! COME ON! FOLLOW ME CED!" Two guards rounded the corner down the hallway and Lina paused in her yelling to snap off spells in their direction before they had a chance to fire tranqs at her. Both were knocked off their feet and into the wall behind them hard, but they had distracted her all the same. She turned back to Ced, ready to start swearing if he didn't get a move on.
|
|
|
Post by Niklaus Schmidt on Nov 8, 2015 11:50:45 GMT -8
Klaus kept his eye on the glass in hopes he might have some forewarning if the wolf managed a successful stalk. This proved a folly as lights exploded in front of him, reflecting off the tempered glass a few feet away. It was all Klaus could do to bring up his hand to block any further damage to his eyes. He forced himself to recover quickly, firmly pressing his eyes then returning his hand to his weapon. He had to be ready. He had to listen. And keenly.
The redhead did him an unexpected favor then. She began to yell for the wolf. Good. While she did that, Klaus sent a quick, unnaturally brief text to Jones for backup and silenced his phone before turning it off. He needed stealth now and he wasn't leaving his fate to technological failure. Besides, magic meant unusual troubles to overcome. Power in numbers this once.
He would wait and he would follow for now. It was the only way he had a chance to prevail.
((Be back around 345/400. Feel free to assume Klaus trailing. ))
|
|
|
Post by Cedric McGarret on Nov 8, 2015 11:51:03 GMT -8
A flash of light and a bang startled the wolf off of his hunt. Cedric winced back and whipped his head to the source of the distraction. Fury lit his eyes as he howled in rage at her. His claws gripped that the polished concrete floor as he propelled himself at her, chasing her through the destroyed wall and into an unfinished area of construction. Steel beams were stacked nearly on the floor and plastic sheets hung from the ceiling. Visually, she had disappeared into the quasi labyrinth of half built walls. She was even moving silently in an effort to evade him. Too bad for her he was a gifted tracker. He put his nose to the floor and took in her familiar scent.
Lina. Memories gave him pause. Was he going to hunt her? There was more satisfying prey behind him...much more worthy of his ire too. He cared about this woman and didn't want to bring the hunt to a deadly conclusion of she was on the other end. On the other hand, how could he deny the hunt laid out before him?
Hesitantly, he placed a paw forward. A jet of red light shot from the darkness ahead to smash into his muzzle. All thoughts of mercy and gentleness left him when the stinging hex began to eat at his flesh like bee stings. A bellow of rage left him as he pawed at the abused flesh. There was no subtlety in his pursuit after that. He btrilled through plastic sheets, homed in on the scrabbling sound of humanity ahead of him in the darkness.
|
|
|
Post by Lina Kalkuskov on Nov 8, 2015 11:51:25 GMT -8
The need to get out was crawling against her skin. To run. To hide. To get away from everyone. Spending a month locked up in one place being monitored was something that grated against who she was as a person. And the idea that Ced had been worse off than she had been was more than enough to make her angry. She had moved into a construction area, hoping that there was another flight of stairs away from Klaus the idiot. If that one got close or tried to hurt Ced, Lina would kill him. She'd use the killing curse. She'd use everything she had learned from her mother on that jerk and anyone else who thought they could hurt the big guy just because he was different from them.
If none of this had happened, Ced would have been fine. He would have been under the wolfsbane potion and fine, back home. But this? This was all because of the muggles. They were idiots. They had to poke at everything they didn't understand.
The bigger problem was Ced though. Keeping his attention while other prey ran around making noises was going to be difficult. She knew that he never tried to hurt her in either form before, but it was likely that the red head was going to have to make him mad in order for him to follow her. Which meant when Ced paused, Lina did a difficult but needed thing. She hexed him with a stinging curse right in his face.
It killed her to have to do that. To cause him pain was to see a piece of her die on the inside, but Lina had to. She had to get his attention. She had to get him mad. She had to get him out of here, even at the cost of her own life. Lina took a choked breath when he bellowed and charged forward. At least she had his attention now. She moved forward through the construction, as fast and as quietly as she dared while Ced was on her arse. When she got to the other side of the room, it seemed like it was a dead end. Nothing but an empty elevator shaft. Not even stairs. Apparently those were back where she came from. She turned and cussed under her breath, her mind trying to figure out what the hell to do next.
|
|
|
Post by Orion Burgess on Nov 8, 2015 11:51:21 GMT -8
There have been worse situations than this in his life. Orion could not remember them, but he was sure that there had been worse. His whiskers caught every current of air that flowed through the unfinished concrete and steel maze. He could hear Lina breathing, light and shallow and fast. He could hear McGarret's lungs like industrial bellows. His own breathing was light and regular. This was a cat's playground and indeed, had some mice scattering away from the fury tearing through the room.
Smoothly, Orion slid along the wall towards Lina. His head was cocked outward into the rest of the room, guiding himself by the pressure on his right side whiskers. His easy trot brought him to the woman's ankles quickly and he transformed back into a crouch. He held a finger to his lips to motion her into silence and then pointed up the shaft. He made a finger movement to try and alert Lina to the proper spell to use. A swish then flick. He transformed back into a cat and head butted her. He too, wanted to leave. Or at the very least help them escape.
|
|
|
Post by Lina Kalkuskov on Nov 8, 2015 11:52:09 GMT -8
She felt like she had no where to run. A dead end was a dead end and while Lina did look up the elevator shaft, it didn't seem like anything she could readily climb on her own. It wasn't until the cat appeared at her feet did Lina even realize that she wasn't alone in this side of the construction area. And when the cat turned into a certain teenaged boy, Lina almost cussed out loud. She wasn't use to cats popping into people at her feet, friendly or not.
The red head had to concentrate on what he was doing for a little bit until the boy turned back into a cat. Swish and flick? It took her more time than it should have for Lina to realize what the hell he was suggesting. She hadn't been the best student in school after all, really she had been more preoccupied with pissing her mother off, messing around with boys, and playing Quidditch than anything else. Charms just didn't cut the cloth, but she knew what he was suggesting. It was a first year spell after all, something that even she had practiced more than a couple of times.
So her wand whipped around. She cast the strongest levitation spell on herself that she could manage and quickly grabbed the cat at her feet before placing him on her shoulder. Almost like a muggle pirate and his parrot, really. Then she launched herself into the elevator shaft, giving herself a moment to let Ced spot her before starting to climb up. She was far too big to actually levitate to the top, but her weight was almost feather like and the red head started to climb up the shaft quicker than she could have climbed up the side of a building. Lina just had to hope that the big guy was still following her.
|
|
|
Post by Niklaus Schmidt on Nov 8, 2015 11:52:33 GMT -8
They were moving. Klaus could hear the beast bellow and move toward what he figured had to be the redhead. He could see the larger figure begin to move away through his view in the glass. And he had no choice but to follow. He waited a few moments then pushed himself away from the wall and darted across to the other. He placed his back toward it and held his gun up but ready to aim should he need to do so as he began to walk, light-footed, toward the only "exit" the couple could have used. The visual confirmation followed soon after his movements, but what he saw was quite confusing.
There stood beast man, his furry back toward but several feet away from Klaus, and Lina was there with a man--wait, the kid? on his knees before her making some weird motion with his hand. And before Klaus' brain could quite grasp what was going on, Orion was a...cat?
Klaus' brows furrowed and he emphatically mouthed, "What?" He shouldn't be surprised. This was magic--had to be. Lina wasn't acting like it was entirely strange, after all. In fact, she acted as though she understood whatever Orion had been showing her only shortly after the transformation as she soon began to levitate.
Klaus didn't let himself focus on the levitation once it occurred but instead aimed his gun at the beast. If he made any motion toward Lina or himself, Klaus would shoot. Lucky for him the gun he had in hand now held only tranquilizers. Not likely strong enough to knock him out but at least enough to make him more manageable, he figured. Jones hadn't wanted him locked and loaded with something so strong as the tranq that had brought the beast in with one shot, but she had wanted him safe in case he needed time to seek refuge or stop the beast from breaking out should the cage he'd designed for tonight not hold up.
|
|
|
Post by Cedric McGarret on Nov 8, 2015 11:53:03 GMT -8
The stinging subsided and Cedric could see clearly again. By that time, Lina was out of sight. He would find her and-and...he didn't know. His jaws snapped shut, teeth clicking. He'd find her. He'd know what to do after that.
Nose to the floor, he began tracking the web of scents again. Work boots and cotton and metal shavings and machine oil and stale sandwiches. The image made from that composite of smells was a construction crew. Where was the spice and lavender and feminine pheromones and linen that Lina smelled like? Here was cat. Cedric snorted and breathed in again to confirm what he had scented.
Cat and Lina. But not cat. Pewter and apothecary and eucalyptus and mint. Orion. Orion and Lina.
Cedric looked where his nose had led him, seeing only an empty elevator shaft. He stuck his head in and look up, spying feet slowly fleeing upwards. He stood slowly to his ten foot height and kept scenting. Was she going to hide? No. There was a fresh air scent far above. Freedom.
The blossom of yearning to run freely overwhelmed his rage at Lina. There was night sky and full moon to chase. There was prey to hunt. There was....freedom. A eager whine squeezed out of his throat as he leapt into the shaft.
The retort of a pistol and sting of the tranquilizer dart was obfuscated by his impact on the steel and concrete shaft.
Cedric felt his reactions slowing as he climbed claw over claw up the vertical escape tunnel. He ignored the sensation and focused only on the waft of fresh air tantalizing him onward.
|
|
|
Post by Lina Kalkuskov on Nov 8, 2015 11:53:29 GMT -8
Lina heard that whine and grinned to herself despite everything else going on. Despite having a cat on her shoulder, which was honestly a teenaged brat, to escaping what was basically a high tech muggle prison, she was grinning. Mostly because she knew that Ced was following her. If she could hear the big guy that close, then he was still on her tail. And if he was whining it was likely that he wasn't as aggravated as he could have been. Which was good in her books, because despite what she might have thought even a handful of months ago, Lina liked the idea of living. She liked the idea of getting the hell out of here and returning to the life she had scraped together at the Syndicate with Ced. But most of all, she liked being around the big guy. At having someone to depend on, even if he had to have her help from time to time in sticky situations.
Most of all, she was trying very hard to tamp down on that fear she felt at him bellowing at her earlier. That was more than enough to unnerve anyone, but Lina was good at ignoring fear because of the life she had lived. Instead the red head concentrated on getting herself out of the elevator shaft. About halfway up, she realized that the spell on her was starting to wear. Her body was getting heavier. That was probably because her charms were never the strongest, but it was easy enough to do another quick swish and flick to keep herself light.
She reached the lip of the construction and pulled herself over it, standing on open ground in an area that obviously hadn't been finished. There was construction everywhere around her and walls in the distance, but everything was closed off to the public due to the fact it was night and well, it was a construction site after all. Lina leaned over the edge of gap that she had just come out of, trying to spot how far Ced was along and if he needed any more goading to help him along. But he was moving... oddly. Not as quickly as he should have been. Something was wrong and that caused Lina's smile to turn into a frown. She just didn't know what it was. So her wand snapped out again, not to sting him in the face, instead, she cast the levitation spell on the big guy, hoping to help him out of the elevator shaft as quickly as possible. After that she retreated a good distance, keeping an eye on where he was supposed to come out.
|
|
|
Post by Cedric McGarret on Nov 8, 2015 11:53:53 GMT -8
His left his leg was dragging. Had he injured himself somehow? The numbness that perfused it was irritating and worrisome. Pain he could fight against, relish, ignore. Numbness...someone had done something to him and that pissed him off. He growled his irritation, letting it swirl in his chest and become anger. He'd find who did this, oh yes. He would rip their throat out, rip their face off, destroy them, kill them....yes he would. The sick light of rage reignited in his eyes. It added to his strength and propelled him upwards. Was it his fury that made him feel lighter as he climbed? Cedric was beyond knowing. Sooner than he realized, he was up and out of the shaft and under the night sky. The full moon bathed the roof with silver. He could see and smell everything, it felt like. After a month in a glass box, it was overwhelming. He laid at the edge of the incomplete elevator shaft and let the night soak into his flesh.
Movement ahead of him caused him to start. He was up on all fours, hackles bristled for a fight. Lina and Orion, by the scents...he swung his muzzle about to catch any other scents, teeth on display. He still couldn't feel his left leg, nor could he move it. It would have to drag, then. A quick look at the affected limb showed a syringe dart nestled into his muscle. Ced contorted and grabbed the dart in his teeth and pulled it, spitting it to the ground. A drop of fluid hit his tongue and burned; silver. Someone had shot him with silver. No, not someone...Klaus. Idiot always threatened him with it...Had to be him. Ced would find him. He was probably back in the building. With a bum leg, he would need to go back through the main entrance and find him. That meant getting don from the roof, and how would he do that? His head kept swinging back and forth, trying to catch sight or scent or sound of his escape and revenge.
|
|
|
Post by Niklaus Schmidt on Nov 8, 2015 11:54:22 GMT -8
Klaus lowered the weapon, his blue eyes focused on the spot he had hit. Perfect. That would slow them some in Red's game of cat and mouse. At least enough for him to get out and around to them for a proper hunt. This one deserved a front shot--not a stab from behind.
As soon as Klaus was sure he was not being pursued by the big guy, he secured his weapon and took off at a jog toward the stairs. It would be faster than the elevator to get to ground level. Much faster. And if they moved in the meantime, he'd at least know the general direction.
|
|
|
Post by Lina Kalkuskov on Nov 8, 2015 11:54:47 GMT -8
Lina realized what was wrong the moment the big guy came up over the lip of the shaft. He was dragging one of his legs. Which filled her with fury because that meant that a muggle had done something to him. Shot him, more than likely. They were always running around with those stupid guns in this complex. Lina didn't know the first thing about firing a gun, but that was alright. She had a wand in hand. A wand out did a gun any day, at least in her mind.
The red head took a breath and then looked around the roof she was currently standing on. There was a wall around the complex and it was too far away for her to jump to. Of course, there were always those car things that the muggles had, but she knew that they parked them underground, so that would be a waste of time. She didn't even really know how to drive one either, but it didn't look that hard.
No her best bet was on foot, losing herself on the rooftops of the buildings around them and leading Ced to one of the various safe houses that she knew was in the area. The package had had that information in it as well. She bit down on her bottom lip and lifted her wand in the air, shooting off what was basically a sparkler into the air so that Ced would see it and follow her. She even added in some noises, knowing that his hearing would be able to zone in on her, even if he was slowed down a touch. Then with the cat still on her shoulder she started to run along the edge of the building, looking for a fire escape so they could get down to the ground properly.
|
|
|
Post by Cedric McGarret on Nov 8, 2015 11:55:05 GMT -8
Even being three legged, Cedric managed a quick lope towards the sound of his prey. She was moving, had let off light and sound to get his attention, and she wasn't trying to hide anymore. He'd catch her and-
A responding flash of light blossomed two blocks away. The coincidence of Lina setting off a signal and someone else setting off a light independently was too narrow tone plausible. Someone had seen her and was responding.
Friend or foe? Cedric silently snarled as he mulled over the possibilities. Would he get to destroy someone? He hoped so.
He heard Lina again but didn't turn to look at her. Instead, he pointed one of his ears her direction to keep tabs. She was allowed to approach. He kept scanning the surrounding neighborhoods for whomever had signaled them.
|
|
|
Post by Niklaus Schmidt on Nov 8, 2015 11:55:31 GMT -8
Klaus made his way up the stairs quickly before letting himself through the door that led to the ground floor. Within minutes, he had made his way through the bullpen and turned toward the corridor which led to the main foyer and the exit. He didn't take the main door, however. No, that wasn't exactly where he was headed. Instead, he headed for a side door which led out toward the construction area. It had a warning sign, but he ignored it.
He also ignored the guard who came toward him to tell him it was locked. "He--"
Klaus held up a hand. "Unlock it," he said with exasperation. "Now."
"Sir?"
Yeah, clearly he was just some stock security that was just meant to keep the public out. "I said. Unlock it. Now."
The guard hesitated.
"Look. That explosion you heard but were told to ignore? We have a number one priority suspect on the loose. I need to get out this way. I know there's construction, but they have gone home, and even if they weren't? Who cares! Open the damn door. NOW!"
The guard didn't hesitate then. In fact, his hands shook as he pulled his badge away from his shirt and pressed it to the sensor. Klaus didn't bother to say anything as he pushed through the door the second he heard it click unlocked.
Now, he had to find them. And fast. The bum leg would have slowed them, but he didn't need another breech like the last moon.
|
|