| White Rabbit by Llona L. |
| "Come out, come out..." she whispered softly, the corners of her delicate mouth turned upwards slightly. Slowly, she spotted him. Ah yes, there he was; the target of the night; his vile head emerging from the ghettos as he sped through the streets. She slipped down off the parapet, letting herself fall to the ground. It was a Jinkappa--one of the legendary, and nearly extinct, Japanese sheet demon. What it was doing here was beyond her. It'd make an excellent addition...to my menagerie... She landed on the asphalt with a silent thud, taking off immediately towards it, her feet silent as they sped over the cobble streets. He was fast! The Jinkappa where known for their speed and camouflage abilities, marked for their habit of suffocating their victims till the blood ran out of their openings. Nasty little buggars. Catching up to the demon she drew her blade, the darkness falling back to finally reveal her to it. The demon raised its head in alarm, having smelt the predator but not seen it. Its red eyes glowed furiously as it opened its massive jaws, roaring at her in a bestial trumpeting. She moved closer, the demon and she racing blindly through the city as it slept. She kept her eyes locked on it; looking over its features while she ran. Excellent fur quality, albino, yes, even more a rarity...Its very fast! Uh oh! The target opened its iron jaws, its fangs glittering as it formed a ball of blue blame in its mouth, flinging it towards Llona. She jumped just in time, bounding, but falling behind drastically. Damn it! She'd loose him now, she knew it; it was already too far ahead of her. Llona sighed softly as she walked towards the window, her arms folded. She gazed down at the city, its tiny neon lights fluttering about. I'll catch you, little rabbit, don't think I won't. She turned her back on it, a tiny white feather fluttering down past the window. She would catch that Jinkappa, magnificent in its rarity, but right now she wanted to recuperate a little. She leaned against the marble doorframe, sighing softly, her fingertips brushing along her neck. Pulling a matchbox off the built-in counter on the wall, she struck a match, lighting it, letting it briefly kiss the tips of the candles one by one. Though there was electricity in some areas of the tower, there was none in the bathroom. It didn't really matter to her, she wasn't human, she didn't have need of the human 'necessities'. The bathroom came to a soft glow as she stood on the small wooden platform. Cold fingertips rolled off her neck softly, a warm breath snaking over stone lips to caress her flesh. The delicate lids of her eyes fell slowly as she tilted her head to the side, the same lithe fingers gently squeezing her shoulders. It was ironic, really, how the touch of Death towards any other would be crushing and violent. "I saw a Jinkappa...today..." she said softly, her lips parting only slightly as she breathed the words. I see...very rare. His fingertips moved down her body slowly, barely touching her as she stood against him. "This one is special, very rare...very fast." Why was she even telling him this? He probably knew, and it didn't matter much between them. "Azrael..." she began softly, her voice soft and velvet. She wanted to ask him something, she wanted to demand something of him but it seemed it was being pushed from her mind. She let it be; she wanted more to be able to relax than to argue. I retrieved the blade, he silently whispered. Oh...that's right...I forgot it, didn't I? she thought. She opened her eyes slowly, catching the glitter of light on the blade as it rest upon the counter. She closed her eyes again. Softly, she sank to her knees, sitting down. His fingertips touched her ears lightly, sliding down under the collar of her silken white kimono. He remembered it well; her kind rising up in China and India, slowly stretching across the Earth in a dark embrace. Fearsome creatures with awesome power, looked upon as Gods occasionally. Now she was the last and barren. He knelt down in front of her, his hands touching her neck as her head was bowed, the delicate bruised lids of her eyes falling down; her delicate petalled hands folded in her lap. He took hold of the sides of her robes, lifting up ever so slightly off her shoulders and pulling them down a little. "Azrael..." she whispered again. He paused, waiting for her to speak. She looked down at him as he knelt, his fingers holding the hem of her robes. Her fingertips hesitantly touched his masked face, rolling off the smooth contours of the carefully carved alabaster. Lifeless. Cold. As she always knew it to be. Her hand fell away abruptly, her eyes still on him looking like some shattered mirror. His hands wrapped around her waist slightly, untying the obi about her waist, unwrapping the long length of cloth from her delicate frame. Llona... he whispered into her mind, his breath warm and soft against her throat as he knelt beside her now. Wrapping his fingers around her shoulders he lifted her up slowly, gently, the silken robes falling away from her translucent body. Picking her up, cradling her, he slowly set her down into the tub, her body sinking into the hot water. It was a whole other world for her, the darkness, warm, embracing. She laid under the water in a fetal position, the large basin more like a miniature pool than it was anything else. Her blood ran slowly, the muscle under flesh throbbing in a slow rhythm. She opened her eyes slowly, looking up only for a moment at the surface. It seemed alien to her, stranger, that world. But it was the one she belonged to, bound to it in death and life...like Azrael. Wait for it...wait... The Jinkappa sped down the street silently, undetected by others as the city slept. Leaves kicked up and a white flash of light flickered before disappearing again; the only way she'd recognize the demon. Not yet...wait for it... She drew her blade as it became increasingly closer. Wait...NOW! She leapt from her hiding place and swung the blade at it, causing it to back up and fall over, automatically loosing its speed. She pinned it down, taking out one of her daggers and ramming it into its chest. It writhed beneath her grasp in agony, screeching and clawing wildly at her, twisting up into all sorts of horrible contortions. Picking up her sword she held it lengthwise across its face. She brought it down and back in one quick slash; blood pouring into its eyes, turning it red. The beast cried out, its claws scratching at its own face. She had taken its powers from it, the eyes being the window to its 'soul'. It writhed in pain, jerking its head and limbs in convulsions. And, slowly it stopped moving at all. The little larks cried and chirped from their cage as Llona poured feed into her hand, holding it out for the tiny birds. She smiled softly as they tickled the flesh of her palm with their tiny beaks, pecking the food from her hand graciously. She locked the door to the cage, turning back to her velvet lounge; sighing as she laid down; the soft glow of the ancient lanterns casting color upon her. She looked into the corner where a new cage lay, one all ready occupied. The corners of her delicate mouth turned upwards was she smiled cruelly for there, in the cage, where the blind red eyes of a white rabbit staring back at her in silence. |
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