Come Feed the Rain

Given all that had happened already, it took comparatively little for Alice to convince Thomas they needed to find out what Dru's package meant. A GPS purchase and a flurry of phone calls later, Thomas found himself signing paperwork for his motorcycle to be shipped to Los Angeles while Alice printed out their boarding passes for a non-stop flight from Chicago to LA.

They chased the sunset to Los Angeles, and true to the shipping company's word, the motorcyle was waiting outside the baggage claim when they picked up their bags from the carousel. "We should find that taco truck you like so much again," Thomas said, strapping their bags onto the back of the motorcycle. The GPS sat in his back pocket, but he made no move to take it out or turn it on now that they were in the city. "Maybe you can bribe the owners to let you ride along for a night."

Just because Thomas had agreed to come didn't mean he wasn't hesitant about the whole thing.

((Tag Alice))

Dawn was approaching when Thomas pulled back into the garage. Tired but full of warm contentment, he headed upstairs with every intention of falling asleep in his own bed, but as he passed Dru's door, he stopped. Something felt wrong, felt cold, and Thomas frowned, slipping quietly into the room. Finding her in a fitful, uneasy sleep, he stripped out of everything except boxers and slipped between the sheets next to her. She smelled of starlight and night air, with skin like ice. Not wanting to wake her, Thomas wrapped an arm around Dru, letting a trick of power bubble over his palm, radiating calm affection. Hoping it would be enough for now, he fell asleep.

((Tag Dru))

The hedges whispered secrets to the breeze that stirred them.
He walked.

The grass roots plundered the deepest darkest secrets of the earth.
He walked.

The night blooming jasmine drank in the light of a pale faced moon.
He walked.

The angel of death walked through Eden with empty hands, all deadly grace and wordless beauty, but without purpose, as if led by some unheard song. The unseeing sight was slow to fade from his eyes as he fixed them upon the velvet dome and its crystal spangled heights. He could hear the individual voice of each leaf as air stirred past it, feel the caress of each blade of grass against his skin, smell the lingering traces of perfume from everyone who had passed through the hedge maze… Starlight, so far away that even its swirling, burning colours were blurred, became his anchor.

Awareness returned slowly, conscious thought muting the whispering leaves into a single voice, the myriad touches of grass into a single caress. He blinked and storm grey eyes lost their fey light. The sharp scent of chlorine clung to him and his mind held onto the smell, began to order the swirl of emotions into events.

Drusilla in the pool. Cold water and idle chatter. Edward. Soft lips and slow-burning desire. Madness and containment. Hurt animal in the forest. Order forced upon gardens of savagery. Chains and fire. Sigils of Power. Runes etched in blood. Desperation. Broken glass. Yearning. A too small prison holding something powerful. Thrashing against walls. Spiderwebbed glass still unbroken. Hunger. Hurt. Power. Madness. Need. Lust. Want. Affection. Friendship. Desire. Worry. Fear.

The cold, clear air burning his lungs, he began sorting through the emotions and images. Starlight still in his eyes, he put words to what he found, held sigils in his mind to be written down. Lifetimes passed in hours and still he stood, pale and dark, angel and demon, life and death. Something changed, some imperceptible music, and his body shivered in the cold night.

The demon within was still glutted from his feedings, but it slumped against the mental cage he’d built for it, spent. Thomas came to himself, shaking off the idle thoughts, the wonder, and the madness, and turned to the hedge maze’s exit. Purpose returned to his step as he left the protective shelter of the landscaped bushes, the awed proselyte gone the predatory angel returned.