The sun was just starting to peek through the dark curtains of the high-rise apartment when the sleepy form of Sassy started stirring, a mouthwatering aroma hanging in the air. She looked around and spotted Erik in the open kitchen, cooking something on the stovetop.
“What are you doing in there?” Sassy questioned, wary of the man she had only heard rumors about.
“I'm not planning on having my guest go hungry, and you don't seem to have brought yourself any food or money to purchase any, so I'm cooking something up.” Erik replied, not looking up from his cooking.
Sassy’s face turned slightly red. “How do you know what I did and didn't bring with me?” She asked hotly.
“I went through your stuff of course. I may have listened to what you had to say, but that doesn't mean I believe or trust you.” Erik stated, flipping some sausage patties that were cooking in a skillet.
“What do you mean you went through my stuff! That is a gross betrayal of my privacy!” Sassy shouted, angrily glaring at the man.
Erik stared at her, his blood red eyes flashing. “Just because you are my guest doesn't mean I trust you. You are in my home, do not raise your voice at me.” Sassy felt a chill creep down her spine when she looked into his eyes, the eyes of a dangerous being. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you.” She squeaked out. She cleared her throat, regaining some of her composure. “But that doesn't give you permission to go through my things.”
“ I had to make sure there was nothing that could be tracked to this place. I haven't lived my life this long by blindly trusting every being that tries to feed me some story about offering help when I don't need it.” Erik shot back, a slight sneer appearing on his face. He finished with the cooking, setting a plate on the counter. “Now, eat. We are leaving within the hour, and I'm not waiting around for you to drag your feet.” Sassy glared at him, thinking to herself ‘My Gods, this man is the most frustrating person I have ever encountered. I hope Margrave knows what he's doing.’
She sniffed at the food, and her mouth started watering. It smelled delicious. She looked toward Erik, noticing he hadn't fixed himself a plate of the scrumptious looking food. “Are you not going to eat anything?” She asked. Erik shifted his eyes toward her. “I don't require the same sustenance you shifters do. I feed differently.” Sassy looked startled. “How did you know I was a shifter?!” She blurted out, louder than she intended. She was sure she hadn't revealed that information the night before. “You smell of something non-human, you were careful about revealing yourself before entering my home, and when you questioned me about going through your things, you lost focus for a second and your eyes changed from blue to gray. You should be more careful about that by the way. It would be a shame for something like that to ruin a disguise because you can't maintain your composure under duress.” Erik answered, almost taunting her for the split-second loss of control. Her face flushed red, anger flooding through her at the shot at her secret being discovered so easily. “Well I'm….you um…..” she stammered, unsure of how to respond. Erik moved in front of her, staring at her like he was looking into her very soul. “Relax. You have nothing to fear of me. I have a talent for noticing what others don't. I'm not going to harm you. Not unless you give me a reason to.” The thinly veiled warning echoed in Sassy’s ears. She stared back at him for a moment, uncomfortable under his piercing gaze. Her eyes dropped down to the plate in front of her, breaking the eye contact between them. Erik returned to cleaning up from cooking her breakfast, and they were both silent for a time as Sassy ate her breakfast.
Sassy hurriedly cleaned her plate, ready to be on the way back to relative safety, and away from the intimidating creature that she had been sent to fetch. Margrave hadn't told her much more than his description, and where she could find him. She was slightly scared of Erik. His eyes alone seemed to warn of danger, deep red pools of anger. She pulled the hood back up her head, hiding herself from the fierceness of his gaze. Erik walked swiftly towards the door, opening it slowly and peering out, his senses searching for danger of any kind. When he finally determined that it was safe, he stood to the side to allow Sassy to exit, before stepping out and closing the door behind him. He walked in front of her, senses still working to root out possible danger. “How exactly did you get here?” Erik asked Sassy, making her jump slightly at the suddenness of the question. “Oh, um….I walked and used the buses.” She replied, wary of his questioning. Erik grunted his displeasure at the thought of walking across the city. “I'm assuming that wherever the hell we are going isn't very close either, is it?”
“Um…n-no it isn't. It will take us at least the full day to walk there.” Sassy replied. “Ugh forget that. Follow me, I have a better idea.” Erik said before turning down a side street, walking toward a garage. He stepped inside the garage, Sassy following closely behind him. Erik walked over to a motorcycle in a corner of the garage, pulling keys out of his pocket. Sassy stared at the bike, horrified. “You can't expect me to ride that. I've never been on one in my life.”
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“This is how I get around. You can either get over it and get on, or you can forget this whole thing. I'm not walking across town.” Erik dug into the storage compartment on the bike, pulling a helmet out of it. He held it out to her. Sassy took it, scared to not accept the helmet. She pulled it over her head and nervously climbed on behind Erik. He started the bike and turned to shout back at Sassy on the rear. “Grab around my waist and hold on tight. I promise I won't do anything to throw you off.” Sassy grabbed tightly, afraid to let go of the bigger man. Erik twisted the handle, slowly creeping toward the opening for the garage. He pulled out of the underground building, glancing around to make sure there wasn't anyone following them, and took off down the street. “You'll have to direct me where we are going.” Erik shouted to Sassy. “I know the city, but I’m assuming that whoever sent you is deep in hiding, as I’m sure this organization that has been killing non-humans has them at the top of the list of targets.” Sassy only nodded, afraid to speak as her breakfast wasn’t sitting well in her stomach. She managed to squeak out some directions as to the general area they were going, and Erik throttled the motorcycle up, weaving in between the daytime traffic of the busy city. Cars flashed by as Erik sped towards their destination. ‘Has the thought occurred to you that this might be some sort of trap?’ Alastair questioned. ‘The shifter seems genuinely scared of me. If someone has set a trap, she is unaware of it. Besides, if it is a trap, they better have some exceptional weapons to take me down.’ Erik answered. ‘I am no whelp who doesn’t know better. I can take care of myself.’ Alastair seemed satisfied with the answer, as he pursued the subject no more.
The pair finally arrived at a run-down building, seemingly abandoned to the weeds and elements, but Erik knew better. He could smell the scent of magic, and non-human beings. ‘Cute. They have protected this place with simple spells. Anyone with some sense could bypass these spells. There must be more layers of protection than what’s visible.’ Erik thought to himself. He looked around to Sassy, who was struggling to get off the bike. “Do you need assistance?” He asked, smirking at her. Sassy glared at him. “I thought you said I didn’t have to worry about being safe with you!” She shot back hotly. “I never said anything of the sort. I just said you wouldn’t be thrown off, and that I wouldn’t hurt you if you didn’t give me a reason to. Neither of those things has happened as of yet.” Erik reminded her.
“You….you…..” Sassy sputtered, at a loss for words. “Cat got your tongue?” Erik teased. Sassy glared anger at him. “Fuck you, you absolute asshole!” She shouted before stomping off towards the building. ‘I’m starting to like this one!” Alastair chuckled. ‘Yeah, she got me with that one didn’t she. Seems someone is growing a bit of a backbone.’ Erik replied, before walking off to follow the woman toward the run-down building. “Where exactly is the entrance to this place? I can smell the magic a mile away, but I highly doubt your group is so dim as to make the entrance so easily found.” Sassy tossed an annoyed look back at Erik. “Just hush and follow me. The spell won’t let you in unless you are with a member of the group.” Erik eyed her closely. “Lead the way then.” He motioned, waiting behind her. Sassy walked around the side of the building, placing her hand on a particular spot on the wall. In response, the wall glowed slightly, revealing a set of stairs leading underground. “It works similar to a touchpad, except there are extra precautions taken to prevent someone from just attaining the fingerprints or even the hand of a member and using it to gain access.” Sassy said, proudly. “It’s something I came up with myself when we first started using this as our base of operations. I remember the keypads from those old movies, and improved on them if I do say so myself.” She beamed.
“Hmmm. I’m assuming the precautions include having to have a pulse, and extra scanning to test the DNA of the member. Smart move. Added layers to prevent unwanted visitors. Color me impressed.” Erik stated. Sassy turned several shades of red and hid her face from him. She proceeded down the stairs, Erik following closely behind. The opening to the stairs disappeared suddenly, trapping them in a dim lit area. Erik’s senses started working overtime, not liking being trapped underground so suddenly. He forced himself to remain calm and continued to follow Sassy further underground. They finally arrived at the end of the long stretch of stairs, with them opening up into a corridor that was just as dimly lit as the stairs. “The rest of the group is just on the other side of those doors.” Sassy said to Erik. “Margrave is our de facto leader, a position he’s not quite thrilled with, but he’s taken the mantle nonetheless.” Erik grunted his reply. At the very least, he could understand not wanting to be a leader of men. He had the same responsibility foisted upon him at a young age, many, many years ago. He shook those memories away and focused on the present. “This is your show. You lead the way.” Erik said to Sassy from behind her. She walked towards the door, opening it and stepped inside, Erik right behind her.
