~~Eric~~
Someone was coming.
He sat up in bed, and climbed over Jessy, but she sat up at the same time, and he rolled with the momentum. The floor greeted him, and he wished he'd landed on cheap apartment carpet, not beautiful, designer ceramic tile that had all the softness of Sheryl's soul.
"The fuck?" she said.
"Someone's coming. I can hear them. Feel them." He tried to stand up, but the moment he was on his feet, everything felt heavy. Arms, legs, the head on his shoulders, it all increased in weight to the point he felt like a newborn unable to lift its own head.
Jessy was up a moment later, hands on his shoulders, stabilizing him. "You serious?"
"Someone... familiar."
"No hunter's getting past the Kindred watching outside, Eric. The only people who could get in here without them knowing are other paranormals."
He frowned, blinked away his dizziness, and grabbed some jeans from the closet. "I don't know who it is, but I can feel them. Someone's here, in my territory. I have to—"
"Your territory?"
"I... shit, I didn't even think about saying it like that, it just came out." He marched out into the living room, wearing nothing but his boxers and jeans. Good enough to answer the door. Good enough to punch someone in the face if they were looking to try and convert him to their side.
Not good enough to stand. He got to the door, before his hand had to brace his weight, fingers to the wall, head falling forward.
"You look really hot in nothing but jeans," the vampire said, coming up behind him. "If you were cuddling Kat too, it'd be like a fashion shoot, specifically for wooing lonely, crazy cat women."
"Can we stop joking for a second?"
"Fine, but I don't see—"
The stranger arrived at the door. There was a coldness to the smell that crept under the door frame, an alien, and almost overpowering aura. He didn't know what the fuck an aura was, or how he knew he could feel one, but he was. This person at the door had an aura, and it was dark.
Jessy pulled him back by the shoulder, and put her eye to the peep hole. Mistake. He tried to reach out, to grab her shoulder and yank her away, but the world wouldn't hold still under his feet. Before he could say anything, the door opened with a loud crack, the door frame shattering open around the lock.
But Jessy jumped back in time. As she slid by, socks gliding on the floor, she grabbed him by the wrist, spun, and threw him into the couch fifteen feet away. Nausea hit him, but he managed to keep his food down as his back collided with the couch back. He tried to keep his eyes on Jessy, but she was twisting, moving, sliding—no, she was standing still now. It was the damn world moving around, refusing to hold still again.
"Who the fuck are you?" she said.
Someone stepped into the room. Some guy wearing a nondescript gray hoodie, blue jeans, and black sneakers. He was tall, broad shouldered, and brought his hands up like a boxer as he put the weight of his body onto the balls of his feet.
No answer.
He was familiar, whoever he was. Fucker smelled familiar, felt familiar, and Eric was sure he'd seen the man before. Where? Who the fuck was this guy?
"Jessy, he's dangerous!"
The woman snorted a growl, and came in closer. "Answer me before I—"
"I didn't come here for you. I came for the Uratha." The stranger's voice was almost monotone, and for a moment, Eric almost expected him to say 'I vant to suck your blood' or some other stereotype. Romanian? It was subtle, but there. Except, whoever this fucker was, he was no vampire; he didn't smell like they did, hints of ash and staleness. Instead, he smelled more of that alien smell from before, something his nose didn't recognize.
The man stepped in, and swung his hand upward. Whoever he was, he had balls, but he didn't smell like a vampire or werewolf. What was he, then? The fist collided with Jessy's blocking arms, and sent her flying, the impact of knuckles on forearms hard enough the sound was almost comical, like a scene from a movie. A growl filled the room as Jessy stumbled back upon landing, before dropping to a knee and onto her hands, like she was getting ready to sprint.
"Jessy, I—"
"Shut up and stay put, Eric."
Yeah, that made sense. He wanted to get up, to fight, but the very thought of standing up was enough to have him reaching for the couch to brace himself. He was no use in a fight right now.
Maybe if he changed? Could he change? He knew he could, felt the ability in his guts as much as he knew how to flex a muscle. But trying to change right now was like trying to fly, and until whatever was happening to him settled, he wasn't doing anything.
Jessy said the place was being watched by Kindred, but she wasn't calling for them. She had faith they'd come in on their own, then. But then, this fucker wasn't supposed to be able to sneak in past them. They might not have been coming; and not like they could see in, since Eric had blackout curtains hung up everywhere. Really regretted that now.
He half expected the man in the hoodie to tell Jessy to leave. Another part half expected him to pull out a pistol and start shooting. He did not expect the man to run up to Jessy, and take another swing.
Jessy came in to meet him, and swung her arm down. Eric stared on, sure his eyes were playing tricks on him, as Jessy's arm exploded in size, spikes and thorns erupting from her bicep and tricep, from her forearm, from her knuckles, and the length of her fingers extending as they thickened into claws. The counter inertia was enough for the rest of body to get launched a foot into the air, as the colossal hand slammed into the floor.
Oh god, his floor.
The intruder dodged to the side at the last moment, throwing himself with a panicked jump. He slid into the wall, near a cat tower. Shit, Kat! No, Kat wasn't around, still in his bedroom, and smart enough to not come out with the noise.
His eyes locked onto Jessy, and he forced himself to sit up more, one arm gripping the couch back at he squinted. If the world could stop spinning for just one fucking second, he could get a better look at the vampire.
He gulped as Jessy's other arm erupted in the same mess of death, covered in the same sort of spikes, and fingernails elongated into massive claws from monstrous hands. She launched forward, weight on the balls of her feet, back raised, as if she had a tail to counter balance. She didn't. Instead of an animal, she just looked like a hulking monster, several spikes erupting from her back, her spine, and from her elbows. Others erupted outward from the top of her head, and others erupted from her feet, talons that shredded her socks.
The man sidestepped at the last moment again, but Jessy's speed was immense. Her claws snagged on his hoodie, and cut through the pockets.
"I don't know you, who you are, or how you got in here," she said, stalking back and forth, now that her prey was out of reach. "But I'm going to rip you to fucking shreds."
The man stood, looked at her, and frowned. His features were largely hidden in the hoodie, its hood pulled forward, and burying the man's face in more shadow than it should have. How he managed to punch Jessy so hard that she flew clear across the room, Eric had no idea, but the man grimaced as he looked the vampire up and down, his lips only barely visible. No banter, despite Jessy fishing for it.
Just as Jessy was about to pounce, the man ran in, sneakers gripping the floor as he vaulted up, drew his fist back, and slammed it down toward her. As he did, a flash of shadow blanketed the room, black, enormous curtains that jutted outward from behind the man. The fist he drew back was enormous, black, leathery, and there were two of them for the one hand.
Wait.
"Jes—"
She leapt aside, talons tearing up the ceramic tile as her weight caught against it, skidding like she was ice skating. Her hand's claws sank into the floor as well, helping bring her sliding body to a halt.
"I saw it, Eric. I said shut up!"
He gulped. Her voice had changed, some inhuman growl overtones mixing with the woman's usual tone. It was like a demon was bursting out of her.
And a demon was trying to kill her. The intruder stood up from where he landed, and the tile around his punch splintered outward, a small crater around his fist. Any fighter understood that you could only put as much weight into a punch as you had weight attached to it; a light guy with a hard punch would send himself away from whatever he punched, if the thing was heavier than him. But seeing a guy jump, and then land as if he weighed a couple thousand pounds, was massive dissonance to Eric's trained mind. This made no sense.
Jessy dashed for the man, and threw her weight at him, hands out to both sides with claws elongated. If the intruder dodged to the sides, he'd risk getting clawed. If he stayed where he was, Jessy's weight would hit him, and then she'd close her claws around him.
The intruder turned his side to Jessy, and brought one of his wings down over his body, like a wall. Wings?
Eric squinted again, stared, breathed deep, and did everything he could to get the world to hold still for a second, so he could see what the ever living fuck the guy in the hoodie was doing. Something was coming out of him. Not like Jessy's spikes and claws, which had erupted from her skin like bone growths, but something that faded from existence the moment it had served its purpose. Something black.
