02. DECAY

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WORDS
594

TAGS
bubbles, katie, lachesis

NOTES
|D i'm here this time.

TIMESTAMP
04/10/12

hover

❝ She closed her eyes gently, tuning her ears to the soft sound of the coffee being poured into her thermos. Taking a deep breath her shoulders drooped slightly, her eyes opening only halfway to watch the steam drift up from the dark, bitter drink. Hot coffee at four in the morning? Yes, please.

After sweetening her morning, or, perhaps, late night drink with flavoring and cream, she screwed on the lid, rubbing sleepily at her eyes with her fist. She glanced drearily to the door, mind wandering. What was she even doing up so early? And oddly enough, she felt the odd sort of lethargy that cursed her after oversleeping. She hadn't gone to bed early, though. She just knew she needed to get outside. She needed some fresh air, a change of scenery, to go for a drive... In her pajamas.

For modesty's sake, she reached to do an extra button on her top, wanting to keep the corner of her sleeping bra from showing. Idly she had to wonder if she was the only girl who had deemed a specific bra for sleeping in, but the thought quickly left her as she brushed her hair away from her eyes and wandered in the direction of the keys.

The air was frigid outside. Her nose turned pink quickly, and she shivered a bit as she tried, and missed a few times, to jam the keys into the car door to get it open. Mumbling softly to herself, she opened the door wide and tossed her thermos into the passenger's seat, rolling in gracelessly and pulling her bare legs up out of the biting cold. Her bare feet ached, but just slightly, and a few good, harsh pats to her face had her blinking herself awake. She trembled a bit, positioning herself in her seat. Short shorts maybe weren't the best choice for this kind of weather, even if it was for a drive.

She sipped at her coffee, bored, glancing around with the wind whipping up her hair as she drove along. It was dreary out. The clouds seemed to hang low in the sky, the moon was barely visible, most of the time it was obscured, leaving the world in a dull haze. Or, perhaps it would if the blinding city lights weren't flooding the streets in a stark white. She twitched her nose and furrowed her brows, sinking into her shoulders some. The fresh, cool air wasn't having its desired effect, her muscles still felt locked, and her gears in the mind seemed to turn slowly. She just wanted to be awake at this point, since going back to sleep would be impossible now that she'd had coffee. She felt as if she were only half there, like she was drifting in and out of consciousness. Perhaps it wasn't the best time for her to be driving.

She'd wandered far enough in her driving some decorative lights caught her attention. "Hollywood." She'd head that way, she supposed. As stupid as it sounded to be attracted by "the pretty lights," she was. She could just sit there and stare at them while zoning out with her coffee. There were worse ways to waste your morning.

As she pulled up and got out however, she held her coffee to her chest with one hand, glancing around, uncertain. Something felt off. Taking a cautious half step back and narrowing her eyes, she moved to prepare to get back inside her car. She didn't like this, whatever it was. Even if it was just a feeling.❞

made by amb tanz

[/style][style=font: normal 10px arial; text-align: justify]She couldn't sleep. Four in the morning, and the curse of insomnia was keeping her up. Great, just great. There was a project for school that she should be working on, and since she was up... No, there were better things to do than work on school things. Greater things to worry about. Most notably how much stronger she had gotten. This wasn't her doing - she wasn't exactly known to be the most athletic in her school, nor the stronger (in reality, she was very, very far from being strong). And tomorrow (technically, today) she had school. But it wasn't just the fact that she couldn't sleep that was keeping her up (nor her sudden increase in strength). Something was bothering her. Something was off tonight. Something was different and wrong, and Joze just felt so uneasy. Her sister was sleeping well too. Maybe if she just went outside and got some fresh air, she'd be able to clear her thoughts and pinpoint where exactly this uneasiness was coming from.

Her instincts were telling her to do so, anyways. And since they had never gotten her into trouble before, she decided to trust them. Though, Joze will admit they've been going a bit haywire these days. She looked over at her sister to check that she wouldn't wake up should she leave. Her sister was a deep sleeper, so she should be find wandering out.

She felt the uneasiness still, and decided to just follow her instincts, via bike. She wrapped a warm jacket around her, took her bike and started to ride. It was dark, and entirely not safe for someone of her age to be out and about, but what else would she do? There was no way she was sleeping, and the usual safety and comfort she felt at her house had deserted her. And screw school - she'd probably just ditch because she'd be so tired from staying up late. Not that it was her fault, but there was no way she'd be able to focus. As long as nothing important was happening, she didn't need to go.

Twenty minutes of riding in the cold, Joze stopped at a familiar place. She never visited the place personally, but it was iconic to the area. The Hollywood Sign. Who'd have thought she'd be here at this ungodly hour? At first she thought it was deserted, but apparently not. Two other figures were there. Did they feel the uneasiness too, or was it just a coincidence? It couldn't be, this place was too eerie. Much too eerie for her tastes. But she didn't particularly fancy being alone, so she ran up to the two. "So what brings you here this fine night?" The weather wasn't looking all that good either. Maybe it was a sign? No... coincidence. Just coincidence. That was all it was, she kept telling herself. Logic was on her side. Her instincts? Well, not so much.

Maybe she was thinking too much about her instincts.

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WORDS
625

TAGS
bubbles, katie, lachesis, probably some zombies also

NOTES
coming barefoot with pajamas was mebbe stupid idea

TIMESTAMP
04/10/12

hover

❝ Something wasn't quite registering. Knitting her brows further she lowered her head slightly, slowly becoming a bit more wary, more and more alert of her surroundings despite her previous grogginess. Still, it seemed her mind was just about in as much a haze as the area around here. A thick mist hovered and rolled over the ground, blurring the sign's glow. She glanced down to her feet, standing right in it, hands kept warm by the thermos in their grip as her legs trembled slightly in the cold. The grass under her feet felt wet and cold, fresh with dew, and the dampness of the fog wasn't helping much with her freezing situation. Frowning slightly, just as she was about to tilt her chin upward to stare up at the sign, a voice caught her attention.

She stiffened a bit, but turned her head slowly, cautious. Hopefully she didn't look as startled as she had felt. Her gaze had hardened some, and her grip on her coffee had tightened, however upon seeing the woman she relaxed a little, looking back to the sign, completely distracted. She wasn't kidding about the creepy atmosphere. Lifting the thermos up to her mouth she took a small sip. At the question she shook her head, lowering it again to stare down at her drink. "Just needed some air." Actually, that brought about a good question. What, exactly, was the other woman doing here?

"..." Her brows knit closer over her eyes in suspicion as she turned halfway in her place to watch the stranger. Why was she here? Olivie at least, in her mind, had reason to be. And she felt this heavy weight looming over the area as well? That wasn't right. She was quick to shrug it off for the most part, but she couldn't help but wonder in the back of her mind if this was all some sort of weird dream. Or possibly the beginning of a bad horror flick. "Fog always seems to give things a creepy atmosphere... I don't think the clouds are helping, much."

Another voice, a familiar one this time, and she blinked, more confused than startled this time. She recognized her. "Um... air," came her lame reply to the question. Even to her it was beginning to sound stupid. She was here too?

She frowned lightly, shivering a bit in the cold as she moved further to slink back into her car, one hand on the door and putting one leg inside. "Maybe I'll come back when it's not so dark though," she murmured to herself, watching the sign again.

She didn't want to stay, that was for sure. She didn't like the feeling she was getting here. It was dark and she was alone. With the place being in a tourist trap, it really wasn't safe for her to be here by her lonesome anyway. What if some strange man came and tried to snatch her up? Or take the car? Or grab at her purse again? Convincing herself that was good enough reason to get the hell out of this place, she shifted her weight to get into the car. With one leg still out the door and her hand still resting up above the window, she set her coffee in the cupholder and pressed her foot to the brake.

The angelic being resting atop the sign had escaped her notice thanks to the unusual fog, cool weather, new arrivals, and bright lights of the sign. Confused as she was as to why the others were here, it mattered little. What was more important at the moment was getting out of there. Turning the keys, she kept her eyes to the ignition, subtly listening quietly to the other two. ❞

made by amb tanz

[/style][style=font: normal 10px arial; text-align: justify]Ah... that girl was familiar. Not a lot of people had violet eyes in the world. It was a little dark so she couldn't tell completely, but the features looked the same. What a coincidence, right? She wasn't betting on it. Something was telling her that this was no accident. After all, why would someone come here just for 'air', especially at some time like this? She knew why she was here, but... them too? Sure, she did some less than normal feats tonight (riding a bike all the way from her house to the Sign, and up the hill too. But it hadn't been particularly difficult for her, for some reason). But it wasn't like it was without reason. The air was filled with mystery. That wasn't quite the word she was aiming for, but it was close enough.

When Joze was about the speak, the blond one (the one with violet eyes that she had met at the beach that one day) left, due to it being too dark. Honestly. It was four thirty. It was going to be dark. And then more confusion added into the mix when that other woman started shouting crazy things, pointing at something on the sign. "What are you going on ab- Oh my gosh." She was right. There was a naked lady up there - well, naked from what she could see. Joze blinked a couple of times to make sure her eyes weren't fooling her. They weren't. Maybe it was just a hallucination. She was tired, after all. No sleep does that to you, after all. But the woman saw it too, so it was real? No, that wasn't possible, not at all. Naked woman up at that altitude in this weather would be freezing... no one in their right mind would be up there at this time!

"Is it just me, or does she have wings?!" Since Olivie was, for lack of a better term, chickening out, she turned towards the other, grabbing her hand and running up towards the path of Sign. "You said we have to go, so let's go!" Joze honestly thought that pulling a grown woman up the mountain would be harder, but apparently not. Ah, she still had to get used to her new found strength. "We're not going crazy, right?"

Getting closer did prove that the woman on the 'Y' was indeed, naked. Well, they were all woman here, and the anatomy looked about the same. The fact that she was naked wasn't as shocking as the fact that she had wings to add onto it. She had her fair share of unusual things in her life, but not this. Were they real, or something? Goodness, LA was just filled with surprises, wasn't it?

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Her lips curled back into a scowl, she had identified the fog. She did not like where this situation was headed. She could tell that some of the mortals had spotted her but she was not on some secret mission. It was eminent that her presence would be spotted eventually but she figured that the dense mortals would take longer in clueing into her godly power. Lachesis shifted her thought process to be more practical, who cared if she was spotted, she already knew it didn't matter.

The mortals would either prove themselves and last more than twenty minutes before dying or they would die now. Either way Lachesis was not interfering with their fates or their futures. She had measured each one of their threads, personally chose a fate for each of them. If she had wanted them to survive then they would survive, if she would have to fight them because they joined the undead army then so be it. The army seemed to advance rather quickly, catching the girls by surprise by the looks of it.

Lachesis could see the fog was growing and becoming denser, the undead were among them. She had no real idea what they were up to but it was never normal to see an army trying to recruit new soldiers. Lachesis instantly knew where the dark energy was coming from, her feathers quivered. The army was obviously not natural but it was also very clear that fate had taken this task upon itself. Armies do not simply spring to life, these souls were once at rest before being summoned to do such horrific tasks.

She wasted no more time, she would have to take down the army herself. Her muscles rippled as she sprang from her perch. Her body seemed to embrace the cool breeze as she started to plummet towards the earth. It might have seemed like suicide but as Lachesis fell towards the earth her powers started to kick in. It was about time.

Instinctively, a couple meters away from the ground Lachesis allowed her wings to unfurl in their full wingspan causing her to swoop and eventually even out with the ground. Her wings flapped slow and steady, each grey feather seeming to be glisten from stray rays of moonlight. She flew gracefully above the density of the fog, slightly grazing the tendrils that reached out to grab her pale skin. Lachesis could tell the mortals were close by somewhere but they were not her concern. She should probably have felt more towards the mortals but they were not a priority at the current moment. Lachesis closed her eyes for a moment before her power pulsed through the air. She knew it would make her a target but she guessed that it would help the mortals prolong their short life spans.

The surge of power was almighty, her once nude form now incased in what appeared to be a long white slip, simple but elegant. The dress went down to about her ankles, the material shimmered as she moved. The colour matched the exact shade of white in her hair which made her grey wings look heavenly. Of course Lachesis also bore her trademark frown. Her wings tucked close to her body as she dived into the dense fog.

She could easily pinpoint each soul, she had determined the lives they lived. The very mass of the fog was sickening to Lacheesis. The gore around her would drive the normal mortal insane within seconds but she retained her graceful poise. A soldier from the war of 1812 lunged towards her, although the decayed flew was peeling off of him Lachesis merely gazed at him before he combusted into dust. People said her gaze was deadly but she didn't realize that it could be taken literally. She knew it was because she was channeling some very strong energies but it still mad her giddy at the though that she was killing zombies with her eyes.

Lachesis spun in a slow circle, her wings extending fully partway through a rotation which caused a nearby zombie to crumble into dust upon contact. As long as Lachesis' body remain untouched she would be fine. Another zombie reached out for her but not before a grey ribbon extended from the hem of her dress, empaling the zombie before it crumbled to dust. The undead were weak but their sheer numbers made them lethal. Lachesis absently reached out with her right hand and crushed the skull of a zombie in front of her. It was bound to be a long night.

Made by AMB Tanz

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WORDS
651

TAGS
bubbles, katie, lachesis, zombies

NOTES
\ o /

TIMESTAMP
04/10/12

hover

❝ Was this fog... alive? It seemed to crawl back away from them a moment. A cry and her gaze darted to the side to see its source, a corpse shrieking as it was shattered by one of the others. Were they really so fragile? The sound didn't seem to be human, she could assume it would be safe to bowl these guys over.

But, the mist seemed to darken. It grew thicker, swirling about in front of her headlights, and at that she forced her foot hard on the gas. The undead, more and more seemed to come crawling out of the fog, making their way toward her and pounding at her windows. "Tch!" She clenched her jaw, eyes narrow as she spun the wheel to skid in the grass, smacking her car into the fragile bodies. Her eyes kept forward as they fell as a powder back to the ground, unable to take the impact. She was keeping track of Ana and Joze, as well as the strange winged woman. They were the last ones she needed to be hitting.

The sound though of the bodies hitting up against the car, the soft thuds, loud thunks, and the disgusting splatters against the windows, she grimaced. She turned her head slightly, one eye half closed. She just wanted this to be over with. Why wouldn't it end?

Just as the thought had entered into her mind, there was a sound. A rumble and a flash of light. Her windows shattered, causing her to flinch, her arms rising to shield her face. Glancing back to her car she noticed something. Her engine had died. Her eyes went wide as she glanced down at her car in the darkness, her headlights having gone out as well. Her mouth opened wide in shock as she jiggled the keys, twisting them. It wouldn't turn back on. And she was still moving.

She looked up quickly, staring out into the darkness. If she tried to skid to a stop, the zombies would certainly get ahold of her. So, she did the very first thing she could think to do. She pulled her legs up onto the seat, leaned out of the window, and launched herself right out of the car.

Rolling and tumbling gracelessly through the mist she grit her teeth again, gripping at the earth and trying to pull herself up, hoping to use her momentum to get a running start. She could see a glint of light, a glow. The bodies of more dead coming up out of the mist. A sharp bite of her tongue as the ground caught her chin confirmed it wasn't just a dream.

She nearly stumbled as she tried to regain her footing, noticing the dim light in her chest. She felt... she felt different. Something about her wasn't the same. It hit her suddenly and she looked up in search of Lachesis, she needed her. She wasn't quite sure why, but she was certain she did.

"You!" She shouted, peering through the darkness to track the angel's movements. Damn it. She watched as she opened her wings to drop Joze, tense. She'd been distracted too long, and she felt a hand grab at her arm. Glaring behind her, she reached to grab the undead by its wrist and flip them onto the ground and stomping a foot down hard onto its chest. She was changing, she could feel it.

"How is she?!" she shouted to Ana, hoping she was in a better position to check on Joze than she was. Already preparing herself for another attack Olivie waited patiently, she sure as hell wasn't going down without a fight. She wanted to keep Lachesis in her line of sight, but the angel seemed stronger than the three of them combined, and with her ability to fly she should be able to hold out longer. Or so she hoped. ❞

made by amb tanz

[/style][style=font: normal 10px arial; text-align: justify]While Ana was struggling with her keys, Joze was trying to very best to shoo away the zombies that were approaching ever so fast towards their little safe haven. Of course, without getting her hands dirty, because that would be a complete bitch to wash. They did eventually turn to ash, but it's not like it was pleasant to feel rotting flesh on her hands. But, when there was life versus filth, she had to do what she had to do. But eventually she could barely see two feet in front of her. She thought the fog had been thick before, but this? This was just ridiculous. And as the zombies approached, Joze found to her disgust that they were more intact than the previously skin and bones of the zombies that were what they were fighting. God they were new, weren't they? She fought a shiver at the prospect. The dead shouldn't rise after they've been killed. It's just unpleasant.

Busy was she about her little zombie problem that she was unprepared for the sudden shattering of glass of Ana's car. Oh great... She swore it wasn't her fault this time. She had nothing to do with the windows shattering. So Ana had better not be thinking of charging her, because she could not afford bills like those. But she had to focus on the zombies coming her way. Her vision somewhat adjusted - she could see farther than two feet, at the very least. Their faces were not pleasant looking, either.

The new and improved zombies never did make it her way, thank goodness. A light illuminated suddenly, opening Joze's vision just a bit more to reveal an angel. The naked woman angel that wasn't so naked anymore. The light seemed to be powerful enough for the closest zombies to burst into ash. Was this angel that powerful? Then why had she left them to their own devices for this long, when she could have saved them from the zombies before? Ah, screw these questions. The important thing was that this angel just bought them a little time before the zombies approached them. To form a new game plan of some sort, because they looked a bunch more powerful than the feeble old ones they had fought before. How many hits did it take this time? Really, Joze should have brought gloves or some sort of protective gear. She had the feeling that she would be washing her hands obsessively when she got home - if she could survive and make her way back home.

Nope, a miscalculation in her scheme (not that it was much of a scheme in the first place) popped up. The light faded, and she could faintly see it emanating from Ana. Ah, she was beyond confused now. Maybe the angel game her some sort of power to help with this? That explained the glowing light coming from her direction, because it definitely wasn't natural. And the angel... as she was moving zombies turned to ash. And might her eyes be deceiving her, but was this angel coming towards Joze? No, maybe there was a zombie behind her that was particularly dangerous. The blonde whipped around, but there was nothing there. Then what...? Before she could comprehend what was happening, the angel bowed before her and then took her in her arms. "Hey wait..." Heights didn't settle well with the short blonde.

Joze tried to calm herself as she went higher and higher, but the no avail. No amount of deep breathes could help her now. Zombies? She could handle them disintegrating into dust. But this? Being carried to what seemed like the top of a world by an angel that she wasn't sure was actually real (though she certainly felt real) wasn't doing wonders to her mind. She barely registered the word the angel spoke. Apologies? Apologies for what? And she sounded so sad, that Joze wanted to comfort her, for some reason. She was filled with questions when her great gray wings wrapped around her, glowing. Images of a handsome boy, using fire as though it were an extension of himself, flashed through her eyes from the wings. She was confused, but at the same time, she understood. A whirlwind of emotions engulfed her as she watched as more and more images appear. Then a flash, and then nothing.

She felt different as she plummeted to earth. Joze would have been kicking and screaming for dear life, but it was not the case. The fall barely hurt her, for some reason. It was the angel's doing, she knew it was. "Thank you." A glowing red rune found it's way to her forearm. She struggled her way towards the other two women, pushing away any zombies in her path. They were easy to deflect, but then they started following her. It was true - they were stronger. A good, hard shove no longer took care of them. They were more durable. Which somewhat dismayed her. "I'm fine, just fight!"

The boy with fire. He had been controlling the fire. There had to be a reason the angel showed this to her. Maybe she could try mimicking his actions, from what she remembered. She looked at the glowing red rune on her forearm. "Please work." To her surprised, it did work. To have such power in her hands was odd, and she tried remembering what that boy did. He sort of did some motions and the fire sort of... followed. But then reality clawed it's grip into her, and she realized how this was completely wrong and that it couldn't be real. Terror seized her and in a panic and freaked out. Or more like, had a complete mental breakdown that caused the fire flying in different directions. It managed to burn a good number of zombies (well, at least those that were around her), but at the same time she managed to burn herself. Great, just great. Just how was she going to explain this to her sister? No, not even that. How was she going to explain to her boss that she couldn't wait tables because she managed to burn herself for playing with fire?!

And then she remembered the zombies and the two woman, the angel and the boy in the visions. It was just all so confusing, it defied the very rules that reality had set for her. There had been no such things as zombies or angels, people couldn't survive a fall as high as she did, and there was no way in hell that people could control fire. Joze needed some time to think. Sit down and try to find a logical solution to this situation. Only she didn't have time to think of a logical solution, or a logical possibility that this was all real. There were other people and a huge wave of zombies to take care of. So she continued to claw her way through the mass of zombies, using just her strength. After burning her arm, she couldn't trust herself with fire enough to try again. The prospect scared her, to be truthful. She was still strong, though. She could still fight zombies without the power of fire. After all, the two other ladies seemed to be doing just fine with that.

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excuse the wall of text >.>