//I'm not RUNNING from y.o.u.\\[Sable&Maul]

[Sable Warner]

Sable's footsteps were quick against the sidewalk. The heels of the black boots she wore clicked very softly, but the small sound was amplified in the empty night. She cursed herself for having put on the boots; now she was probably going to attract attention of some sort. Ah well. This deal shouldn't be that hard to strike, right?

Her eyes darted around the street. No one in sight. She hoped that this...Kellan would easily cooperate. She had brought him all the money he had asked for, after all. She smirked at that. It had been fun getting a hold of that money, she thought sarcastically. She had hated stripping, but hey, it paid surprisingly well.

She tilted her head down as she walked, pulling her black hat tighter down over her ears. She wanted the clicking of her boots to go away; she was astonished that the sound traveled this well. Taking into consideration into that there was no other living being out in this dank part of town, the surprise shrank away slightly. Just slightly. It was still there, haunting her in the back of her mind.

Part of Sable feared that, because she was being slightly noisy, another vampire might hear her. The last thing she needed was some hungry, sadistic cannibal on her hands. She shuddered at the thought. What vampire could kill another of its own kind had to be insane--especially if it were looking to drink said vampire's blood.

But did vampires have blood left in them?

Absently, her eyes left her feet and grazed the covered length of her arm.

She didn't know. Since she had been Turned, she hadn't once hurt herself (amazingly). Sighing quietly, she lifted her arm, pausing in the streetlight. With a smooth and swift movement, she was shoving the blue corduroy of her jacket back and exposing the pale fleshy material beneath. She prodded her arm, narrowing her eyes. And the her shoulders shrugged, and she yanked the jacket back down--but not before checking her watch.

Her heart thudded nervously against her ribcage. She was almost going to be late--he had demanded that at midnight, on the dot, she was to meet him in an alley in 77nd Street. Sable again stopped traveling for a moment, her eyes darting upwards to check sign. It was 61st Street. What time was it? Back to the watch.

11:55

Sable groaned softly.

Shaking her head, she put a hand on her hat, took a breath, and ran. Her feet danced across the pavement, and she glanced down long enough to put them to rhythm. Now every time her foot fell to the ground in an act of gravity, it landed on a crack. Step on a crack, break your mother's back.

She hoped that by the time she was to 77nd Street, her mother's back would be nothing but dust.

Sable's eyes roamed from side to side now, and she wondered again whether or not she was truly alone. Truly about to face a man who she didn't know, in an alley, by herself. She shrugged. She was strong enough to. Yes--Sable was strong. She had to keep telling herself that. Maybe the more she told herself that, the more it would be true. Like a placebo, she decided.

65th Street....

66th Street....

67th Street....

Somewhere on 67th Street a church bell dolled it's first midnight notes. Her pace quickened.

68th Street...

69th Street...

70th Street...

Her feet ached.

71st Street....

She stumbled to a halt on 72nd Street, scanning the area wildly for the alley she was supposed to be at. He had told her it was hard to miss, and that out front there was fire engine red dumpster. She spotted the landmark almost instantly, since it gleamed in the streetlamp that perched next to it. With a sigh of relief, she clicked over, her steps slowing to a hesitant pace.

"Ciao?" she called; Kellan had told her, to prove she was she, to call out a greeting in Italian. She had chosen one he probably knew, to make things easier.

[Mallorie Blu]

The night was dark, dark as dark—as, it usually was dark. It was damp, too—at least, where the two shadowed figured stood, it was damp. One of them stood at about 5”8, and the other, stood at around 5”5, or, perhaps, 5”6. The taller one was the one who was currently speaking—she had her shoulders hunched as she pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head, and, quickly, she stood up straight. The two were female, judging by their body builds, and the tone of their voices. The taller one spoke again, this time, in a different language. “Faut-il vraiment de travailler ce soir, Maul?”

“Quelque chose de mauvais va arriver bientôt. Je le sens dans mes veines.” Spoke the shorter one, shrinking back a bit, and hissing a little as some water from the rain gutters above dripped onto her head. She shook some droplets of water off from her bangs, and wiped her forehead and nose, ridding her skin of the old rainwater. She shuddered slightly, glancing back up at the taller one and narrowing her eyes a little, muttering something incoherent.

“Eh bien, je suis désolé que je n'ai pas envie de sortir et de tuer un autre groupe de vampires ce soir. Pourquoi ne pas simplement laisser le travail aux enfants?” Questioned the taller one, placing her hands on her hips as she began to stare the littler one down. “The kids can take care of it, Maul.” She spoke, this time, in English. “All of the bad stuff happens on their side of town, anyway—“ She continued, but was quickly cut off when the younger looking one, Maul, spoke.

“C'est la nuit du chasseur.” Her voice was oddly solemn, and she said this slowly, unlike the other times she had been speaking in this language—the other times, she had been speaking fast. She closed her mouth, tilting her head up to look at the other girl’s face. One eyebrow was raised slightly, almost in a challenging sort of manner. This caused the other one to hiss slightly, and jutting her chin out a bit, she replied:

“Qui donne une merde? Si nous continuons à le faire, Maul, d'autres vampires va commencer soupçonner et viendront après nous.” Now she was starting to sound annoyed. The look, however, was not visible upon her face. In fact—her face showed little to no emotion whatsoever. Maul shook her head, and began walking away. It was clear that she wasn’t going to argue with her older sister any longer.

And so Maul proceeded to swagger on out of the dark alleyway and down the dimly lit sidewalk. After walking a few streets and stumbling upon 72nd street, she heard footsteps. Immediately, she pulled the hood of her black sweatshirt up and over her head, ducking into a shadow and pressing herself up against the wall as she listened. Hearing a voice—one either belonging to a teenaged girl, or, perhaps, a young woman—she pinched her nose to keep her breathing from being heard, and closed her eyes as she focused on the sounds that were playing around her.

[Sable Warner]

Sable didn't at all notice the other girl, wherever she was. She was too focused on standing there, her shadow a splash of black on the pavement behind her, thanks to the streetlamp above. "Sable Warner?"

"Sì," Sable mumbled, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. She cleared her throat, adding, "Sorry--ah, yes, it's Sable Warner. You are Kellan Justice, right?"

"I am." Kellan walked so that he was silhouetted by his own shadow; he stood only a few feet away from her, but the reek of dirt and alcohol was thrown off of him in a wide radius. She was sure people miles away could smell him--and she wondered how exactly he was in this alleged "high class coven," since she had mistaken him for a bum for a moment.

He was tall in stature, with exceptionally dark red hair that fell into his eyes. It was messy, in a mane about his face in the dark. He had facial hair, too, that reminded her of steel wool. It scruffily stuck out from his chin and lined his cheeks all the way back to his sideburns. His nose was large, but not hideously so. Kellan, to her knowledge, seemed to have piercing eyes. They looked dark blue in this light, but he had described himself to her over the phone just a few weeks ago. His shoulders were broad and he was a big man, a hulking thing towering above her in the night.

He had certainly left out that he dressed like a homeless man, Sable thought, running her tongue on the inside of her teeth in distaste. He was garbed in a coat that looked far too large for him; it was black leather, but ripped in some parts and splattered with blood in others. Besides the coat was a baggy pair of brown jeans held up by what had to be a stolen, diamond-studded belt. Besides that he was garbed in a black t-shirt of some sort, and a pair of work books caked with what carried the stench of animal feces. She wondered if he worked on a farm somewhere, because it seemed like it did.

Sable cleared her throat, feeling his eyes grazing down her. The sensation wasn't pleasant; she shuddered lightly, staring away. Near her feet a rat scuttled. It was hard for her not to scream and jump away, so she held her breath for a moment, watching as it bounced off about its own business. Her eyes met his face, and she cleared her throat again, pulling her jacket tightly around herself. "Well...."

"You still want to know about Zane Latoya?"

"I wouldn't've showed up if I no longer wanted to." Sable's voice was cold and sharp for a moment, her eyes boring into his.

The brute looked confused. She sighed deeply through her nose, saying, "Yes, I still want to know about Zane. Idiota...." The last word was hissed under her breath in annoyance.

[Mallorie Blu]

Mallorie made a gagging face when she smelled the man, pinching her nose even tighter and pressing herself against the stone wall again. She closed her mouth, narrowing her eyes until they were nothing but black slits. She almost hissed from discomfort at the foul odor the male was giving out. Pinching her lips shut, and holding her breath, she turned so that she was facing the wall. Quickly and quietly, she managed to get a grip with her hands, and also a few footholds for her feet. Taking one sharp—though, not audible—breath, she scaled up the building. There were little to no sounds—perhaps the sound of flesh against stone, but that could have been mistaken for rats scuttling around in the night.

Once she reached the top of the building, her hands gripped the very edge. Swinging her long, thin legs around in the air for a few moments, she managed to pull herself up and over the side, landing on the roof of a building that looked down upon the pair. She brushed the dirt from her shirt and pants, mouthing a quick, Sacrebleu!, before she finally sat on the edge of said structure. One hand gripped one of the stones--for if she were to fall, at least she’d be able to grab something and pull herself up again as quickly as possible—one hand, however, had went behind her back. She looked like she was… holding something? It would be hard to perceive her from the shadows; that being said, one wouldn’t be able to see that her hand was behind her back. Scratch that—one wouldn’t be able to see her at all.

Her eyes, wide, and her pupils dilated—so much so that they almost covered the colored part of her eyes. Just to add more to the word count, let’s take a look at what she’s wearing, shall we? Well, currently, she was wearing a pair of dark colored jeans, and black Converse high tops. Her platinum blonde hair was up in a ponytail, though part of her bangs were covering one of her eyes. She was also wearing a black, long sleeved shirt—though, the shirt also came with a hoodie, so, it could probably be confused as a sweatshirt [despite the fact that it wasn’t loose on her].

And so, the girl watched. And she waited—she waited… with a wooden stake held behind her back.

[Sable Warner]

Kellan's eyes darted upwards towards the light and then back down at her. She arched an eyebrow, not understanding the visual cue. "Let's come back here, please. I don't want anyone to see this transaction. You see, Antonio sometimes likes to wander the streets at night, especially when he is hungry...." Kellan himself looked hungry. Maybe not necessarily for blood, but there was a dark gleam in his eye as he stared at the girl standing there so innocently before him.

Sable sighed. "If you insist," she murmured, walking forward a few steps hesitantly. Her footsteps were loud and audible now, being she was walking through piles of garbage; crumbled news papers, unknown substances, tossed away Happy Meals and coffee cups. She gagged silently, his stench and the stench of the garbage starting to get to her weak stomach.

With a quiet clearing of her throat, she looked up. Now the two of them stood near the left wall of the alley; a completely flat brick surface. As her eyes adjusted, she stared up in his direction. "I have all of the money you asked for," she mumbled quietly, digging her hand into her coat pocket. "I'll give it to you as soon as you tell me where he is."

He stared down at her, practically licking his lips. "How much money?" he breathed, clasping her shoulders with both meaty hands.

She stood there, stunned for a moment by the whiff she got of him then. He was the most disgusting person she had ever had to dealt with, and probably ever would have to deal with. The smell of decay radiated off of him, and she could just imagine that, as he stood there, he was rotting. Whether it was a mental or psychical rot, it was a rot, and it gave of the worst and strongest of smells her poor nose had ever inhaled. Her eyes widened and began to water; she froze, staring up at him. The way she was stuck resembled almost a tiny field mouse in the eyes of a hawk. Innocently terrified.

"How much freaggen money!" he snarled, shaking her so violently that her hat fell off. She let out a quiet, high pitched yelp and tried to yank her shoulders away from him.

But he refused to let go. "How much money?" he moaned, glaring down at her. "Tell me now, you idiot!" He shoved her against the wall violently.

"Ten grand!" she gasped, her eyes watering harder after she cracked her head nicely off of the bricks behind her. "Ten grand. L-like you wanted." She stiffened up so that he wouldn't be able to slam her again. Fear tinged through every cell in her body, and she could barely concentrate. He overwhelmed her in size, strength, and body odor. There was no way she was going to be able to get herself out of this.

Her heart dropped. Zane, you better be so grateful to see me....

"Excellent." He beamed at her, and she opened her eyes long enough to see that he was missing several of his teeth--and what teeth remained were viscous yellow spikes. Her eyes immediately snapped shut, and she turned her head away quickly. Dully she became aware of the pain that throbbed on the back of her skull, but she ignored it.

"Can I ask how you came across so much money?"

"Life savings, and a strip club. Look, can we just get this over with now?" Carefully her one eye fluttered part way open. It glanced down to his hand on her shoulder, slowly tracing its way back up to him. The entire time she kept her nose wrinkled and her other eye firmly shut. Her whole face was twisted in disgust and fear, she couldn't lie her way out of feeling those emotions this time.

"Strip club, huh? Would you care to demonstrate, baby?"

Her other eye snapped wide open, and she pressed herself against the wall. Her voice began to waver as she spoke; "Get away from me," she whimpered, the pitch changing from low to high. Her words were even, but the tone fluttered like a bird's wings.

"I told you on the phone that I would tell you where Zane is only if you give me what I want." Kellan practically flattened her there, pressing himself against her and moving his arms so that his hands trapped her face. He started kissing her, first her face, and then her neck; he grabbed a hold of her jacket and tugged it away from her arms, exposing that she wore a tank top; he kissed her shoulder, his hands leaving her head and moving elsewhere. "This is what I want, 'sides the money."

"No," She meant to shriek the phrase, but it came out as a dull yelp. She started to squirm, to kick, but he was strong. He wasn't going to let her win. She discovered that as his kneecaps dug into her thighs.

"NO!" The scream was a scream now, as it was meant to be, a loud sound that vibrated the air.

"None of that!" he growled, pausing long enough to slap a hand over her mouth. "None of that!"

[Mallorie Blu]

Maul’s eyes turned into slits again, and, this time, they were fully black. She stood on the ledge, a few bricks beside her falling with loud crashes to the ground below—though they were muffled only slightly by the garbage which littered the floor below. Again, she squatted, this time, hand holding onto the ledge. Her head cocked to the side, and her eyes turned very wide. Not in fear, oh—heavens, no. To be blunt; Maul had large eyes. And--even though they hadn’t grown past their normal size--because of their current blackness, they looked almost unusually large. A low hiss passed through her clenched teeth, and she opened her mouth slightly, revealing a pair of thin, sharp fangs.

“Monsieur Kellan Justice,” She called down, her voice sounding amused as she tilted her head abruptly to the right. Her voice, however, didn’t seem to have an exact location. It just bounced around the walls of the alleyway, echoing in a sort of mocking way. “Switching to rape, I see?” She asked, laughing a little. Really laughing. Her laughter was odd—it being only like this when her inner ‘vampire’, you could say, was visible—it was almost hiss like. “Why is that? Not many girls want to sleep with the yellow-toothed homeless—I mean… vampire, eh? Tough luck, good ol’ chap. Tough luck indeed.” She tsked, shaking her head a little. “Ah, but your time-- which is unfortunate, for you--is up.” Her voice darkened as she said this, and she jumped down from the structure above, landing almost soundlessly on the ground.

And, in an almost theatrical sort of way, the burned out streetlamp she had landed beside flickered a little, lighting her thin—yet somewhat tall—form. Her hand flicked out from behind her back, and, one could see the long, sharp—and slightly splintering, for the matter—piece of wood. It was wooden stake, to put things simply. Her eyebrow rose slightly, challenging the man. “Tell me, asshole—are you weak, or, are you just lazy?” She questioned, her head tilting in the slightest. “Oh, and, now I’m guessing you’re probably going to run off like a little street rat.” She continued, laughing, “Because, you aren’t going to finish your little… job.” She finished, hissing between her teeth.

Enough talk now—Mallorie was pissed off enough already. Finally, without even taking a step, she jumped at the man, landing on his back and grabbing a fistful of his hair, yanking him backwards abruptly. She hopped off, driving a good, hard kick into his back, hissing.

And, this was why friends called her ‘Maul’.

[Sable Warner]

At the first sounds of the mysterious voice, Kellan's head snapped up. He appeared to be surprised it knew his name. He tilted his head cautiously to one side, his eyes round in what appeared to be honest fear. He kept listening, silent to all that she had to say. Meanwhile, however, his hand remained clamped over Sable's mouth, his body flattening her to the wall so that she couldn't dare escape.

Sable's eyes closed. She stopped struggling momentarily, so that his attention would be focused on other girl instead of on herself. Carefully--so that he wouldn't be able to feel her moving--her hand slid into Kellan's back pocket. She pulled out his wallet slowly, letting her arm casually fall back to her side, the wallet even more casually fluttering to the ground without a sound. Her right eye cracked open lightly, and she tried to wink at the girl.

But Kellan caught this motion, and for a moment tore his gaze away from the bratty little vampire. "What are you doing?!" he snarled down at Sable.

She said something, but her voice was muffled by his hand. She made her face look absolutely terrified; her eyes were wide, her brow furrowed, her skin pale. Honestly, now that the girl had appeared--with the malice she spoke--Sable had no fear.

But then felt himself being torn backwards by his hair. He howled in pain, clinging to Sable in effort to try to keep himself up. But when she kicked him in the back, the resulting explosion of pain caused him to completely let go of the woman standing before him. He stumbled backwards for a moment, shuddering violently.

But then he was turning around, his fist clenched and raised. "That's it, you little rat! I let you rant and growl, but you're not going to hurt me like that. This isn't any of your business--I don't even know where you freagin came from--so get the 'ell out of here, now!" He moved to punch her in the face, swaying dangerously as he did so.

Sable dropped to a crouch, grabbing the wallet and shoving it into her pocket. And then she was skittering sideways, tripping over something, falling, and standing again. She refused to be on the sidelines this entire fight, but she wasn't ready to make a move yet. She needed to get her barrings. So that's what she did; she stood, watching, her eyes staring curiously at the girl as she waited to see her next move. Already she was planning on how much money she'd give the kid; not really in payment for the deed, but a thanks.

[Mallorie Blu]

The punch, surprisingly, got Maul right on the side of the face. She twitched slightly, and her head snapped back in his direction. Silently, she ran her tongue over the inside of one of her fangs, hissing quietly. The girl cackled—as if… amused? Her head cocked to the side, “You’re just afraid.” Said she, narrowing her fully black eyes until they were slits again. “You wait until someone lowers their guard, you prey on those who aren’t ready to fight.” She spoke, her voice rising in pitch as she got angrier and angrier by the second. “That’s how you and your little group are.” She spat on his shoe, “You’re weak.” And, she lifted the stake.

“Such a lovely night to die.” She finally said in an almost melodramatic tone, smirking a bit, and finally attacking. First, she let out a hiss, and, for a moment, she could have been compared to some demonic looking thing—her eyes were black, her fangs were bared, and her skin was as pale as a sheet of paper. She drove a straight kick into his stomach, flipping back in the process and almost hitting her back on a nearby wall. But, she had drove her feet into the ground, coming to an abrupt call. She tilted her head a little, “So, what are you going to do, Kellan?” She asked him, almost in a taunting sort of voice, the stake held threateningly in her other hand as she twirled it around her index finger.

[Sable Warner]

Kellan remained silent as she spoke at him, his eyes widening and darkening. He ground his teeth, unable to come up with a legit response. He looked away, his gaze showing that he was growing agitated with the girl.

"Look, just go away and be on your own business sweetie. What I do is my business, what you do is yours--" The stake punctured his stomach, and he went down, gasping. His knees hit the ground with such force that Sable--in her spot near by--was surprised they didn't shatter on impact.

Kellan groped at his belly, looking up at her with a new malice, a new drive. He staggered towards her feet. "That's it. I was gonna leave you alone, but you're right. It is a lovely night to die." He staggered at her with surprising agility and speed for a man doubled over in pain. He grabbed for her neck, and when his fingers did manage to lock on their target, he squeezed mercilessly.

Sable was up from her crouch and to her feet in one smooth movement. She had one of the bricks that the other girl had knocked off the top of the building in her grip; silently she sprinted over. The quiet stealth ended when she leaped up onto a garbage can so she could tower above Kellan. Sable proceeded to raise the brick over her head with both hands, slamming it down over the unknowing Kellan below.

He looked dazed for a second, feeling the blow to the back of his skull. His grip slackened on Maul and he was suddenly stumbling backwards. "HEY!" he roared, realizing it was Sable who had hit him with the brick. "GAH! DAMMIT!"

Sable smirked, and was about to jump when she felt Kellan's hands around her ankle. Her eyes widened and she screamed as he literally just broke her ankle then and there. She didn't think that was possible. Weren't vampires supposed to be...super-human? Apparently she was just shy of that adjective. Sable went down, tumbling clumsily off of the garbage can and onto the ground, face-first.

Kellan wheeled on Maul, picking up the brick he'd been hit with and chucking it at her in a sorry excuse for self defense.

[Mallorie Blu]

Maul coughed for a few moments, swinging her legs around when she felt herself being lifted off of the ground as his hand had tightened around her neck. She let out a choked off screech—not really a scream, though not very animalistic of a screech, either. Her fingernails dug into the skin on his hand, and, when he had dropped her, she landed hard on her back, coughing a bit before picking up the fallen stake and staggering, once more, to her feet. She coughed into her elbow, seeing, for a fact, that there was a dark crimson now staining the side of her mouth and her elbow to where she had previously coughed. Her eyes widened slightly, and she cursed, her attention momentarily being drawn away from the attacking Kellan.

And, as she saw out of her mind’s eye, Kellan throwing the brick at her, Maul’s mind seemed to slow down. Her eyes opened a bit, and she immediately ducked, and then stood up abruptly once more. “You.” She hissed at last, her eyes switching abruptly from fully black to normal. “Say hello to my brother,” She hissed the term, and continued, running her tongue over one fang. “in Hell.” And, at last, she plunged the sharp object directly in his heart, pulling out, and then taking another good stab. “We live, and we die.” She told him, her eyes going back to their normal blue color. “And there’s no way you can cheat that.” And, she left the stake embedded in his chest, stepping away from him to watch.

[Sable Warner]

There was the very soft sound of the stake entering his body--a sort of dull squealsh. The same sound occurred when it left his body, and for a final time when she stabbed it back in. Kellan stood there, sort of blankly staring at her. His eyes blazed, and his lips parted as if he wanted to speak. However, just a gurgle erupted from his throat, and then nothing more. Like a tree being felled, he let out a last creaking groan. His back slammed into the filth below; his eyes glazed as they stared uselessly up at the sky.

And with that, Kellan Justice had died.

Sable had been trembling just a few yards away the entire time, watching all of this. Not trembling out of fear, no, but pain. Her jaw was locked; she refused to cry out. Instead she would suffer silently, her left hand hovering over her ankle as if she was afraid to touch it. Indeed she was afraid--she had never broken a bone before, and didn't know what to do now that she had. Pain radiated and throbbed form the shattered excuse for an ankle, and she let out a soft coughing sound as she stared at it.

When Kellan gave his last sounds, her head snapped up. She took in a silent breath, her eyes widening as the big man collapsed. "Oh!" she murmured, her eyebrows lifting in surprised. She stared at the vampire's body, her eyes dancing with amusement. Slowly she grabbed a brick from near by, and threw it at him. It practically bounced off of his skull, landing next to him. He did not react.

"You killed him!" She shot the girl a grin. The laugh that came next was just as shaky and wavering as the grin and her words; she was trying to conceal how much her injury hurt, most likely in vain.

Clearing her throat, Sable shoved a hand in her pocket. She dug around for a moment, pulling out two wads of cash. She tossed them to Maul's feet. "Two grand," she said, grinding her teeth slightly against a sudden wave of pain. She swallowed again, saying, "Two grand, if you can help me." She propped herself up on her elbow, and then raised herself with both hands, her broken ankle laying lamely behind her as her other leg raised to rest on its knee.

"I need to know where Zane Latoya is, and I need to get to him." She nodded her head, speaking as if she didn't have any kind of current disablement.

[Mallorie Blu]

The young vampire laughed a bit, tossing the stake over her shoulder. It hit the wall and then fell, with the lightest of thuds, to the damp stone floor. “Yeah.” She muttered, wiping her slightly bloody and dirty hands on her pants. Maul glanced at the girl curiously when the money was tossed down at her feet, tilting her head slightly. You see, Maul had a few pride issues—she didn’t like people giving her things. Oh, no. She was tired of being treated like, ‘the baby’, or, ‘the one who always needed help with something’. Despite the obvious fact that she wasn’t the youngest of the three sisters, she was, and always had been, treated as if she were a child.

She shook her head, picking up the money in her thin, pale hand, holding it out to the girl. “I’ll help you.” She spoke. “But no money, please.” She added, shaking her head slowly. She sighed a bit, walking over to her and sticking the money back into Sable’s pocket. She grabbed one of her arms and put it over her shoulder, helping to support her. “I know a few people who will most likely know where that guy is.” She spoke, taking one step over Kellan’s motionless body, and making a disgusted looking sort of face. “Gross.” She mumbled, and then glanced back over at the girl. She tugged a bit on the girls arm, nodding her head in the direction of the entryway of the alley they were still in.

[Sable Warner]

"Oh?" Sable looked surprised, she snorted. "Not even two grand, eh? What, are you some kind of," She waved her hand in thought. "some kind of philanthropist or something?" She laughed again, the sound as strained as her voice. She accepted the money back, however, shrugging. "Doesn't take me out of your debt. I owe you something," she murmured.

When the girl came to help her, she nodded her head briskly. "Great," she whispered, looking slightly relieved. She kept a firm grip on the kind stranger, staggering to a standing position with a few quiet gasps and grunts of pain. Her broken ankle was screaming, but Sable refused to join it. No. She would be strong. Especially in front of someone who was currently tougher than she was.

Sable hated feeling inferior, a feeling she did feel in often times. She tried to put out a thick and fearsome persona, but failed on occasions when she was simply too shocked to do anything--such as now. At the moment, she was like an eagle with an injured wing. A beautiful, deadly creature hurt and in need of assistance. At least that's how she pictured herself--she had no idea what impression she was leaving on the girl next to her.

When she made the comment on the body, Sable snorted. "Very." Slowly she started to hobble next to the girl, her leg dangling her useless ankle a few inches off of the ground. Every so often the food would scrape against the surface of which they were walking on, and she'd breathe in sharply through her nose. But complain, she did not--not once.

"What's your name?" she said through a clenched jaw.

[Mallorie Blu]

Maul supported the girl, coughing quietly into the crook of her elbow. “I have some issues with my pride.” She admitted, shrugging a bit, though trying not to shrug too much, for fear of making the girl she was holding up lose her balance. “Alright, alright.” The girl nodded a bit when the girl insisted that she still owed Maul something. “Whatever you say.” She added, sighing a bit. Once they exited the dark and filthy alleyway, the teen glanced from left to right, her pupils shrinking slightly as they took in the little light given from the few, flickering streetlamps.

She glanced over at the girl when she asked what her name was, and replied, “My name’s Maul.” She replied nonchalantly, leading the girl down the sidewalk—though careful not to go too fast for her. “These guys aren’t that far—maybe a few blocks.” She explained, saying ‘these guys’ or, ‘them’ instead of their actual names. Saying stuff like that could be quite dangerous. There were people who were after Toby, Anna, and Richie. The ‘authority’, as the three called them. And them, being those who were trying to kill them, obviously.

After a few moments of walking, Maul sighed a bit, glancing back over at the girl. “And what’s your name?” She finally asked, tilting her head slightly and blinking her rather large, light blue eyes in an inquiring sort of way. After a second or two, her eyes drifted back over to the sidewalk in front of them, and she continued walking. The bottoms of her shoes made light scratching noises as they made contact with the uneven pavement below. She grinded her teeth in annoyance. Too loud—everything was much too loud these days.

[Sable Warner]

"Mmm," Sable grunted in response thoughtfully, wondering what that meant. 'Issues with pride;' so she didn't like taking payment for helping people out? Alright, she'd be able to keep her money, but as she had insisted, she needed to do something in return for the girl. Sable had been raised to pay back those who helped her out. It was simply the right thing to do--wasn't it?

She didn't loose her balance when the girl shrugged because she had wrapped her own arm around her human crutch's shoulder; doing so gave her a helluva lot more stability. "Maul?" Sable mused aloud, a grin on her face. "That's a freaking cool name." She laughed, and then fell silent as the girl spoke about her friends. She nodded her head. "Okay," she said. She prayed that she would make it the next few blocks. Every step that she took her ankle seemed to throb with more fervor. She swore that she could feel the blood pumping through and around the broken shards of bone; she wondered where she would get her ankle fixed. At least she had ten thousand dollars in cash on her. That would cover any kind of bill she'd have to pay...hopefully.

She was shaken from her thoughts by Maul's voice, and her eyes snapped up from beneath the brim of her black hat. "Hmm? Oh, my name's Sable. Warner." She nodded her head. "I don't know if your friends have heard or not, about the girl who's stalking Zane." She laughed a bit. "But in case they have, please know, and let them know, I'm not her. I'm his cousin. I've got proof on me. Birth certificate and junk." She gave a small smile that was forced. She only had that information on her because she was smart. She hadn't left a thing back in Canada that the police would be able to track her with. No; she'd either burned it, or stuffed it in her pockets.