(PRP) The Whole Truth (Karloff and Barraccus)

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

As Karloff stood there in warm summer night, he found himself enjoying a cool breeze. The soft scents of summer wafted around him. It was a beautiful, soothing night and Karloff wondered why this of all nights, he could not sleep? Ailbhe was asleep already, but Karloff had found his thoughts troubled and something nagging at the back of his mind. He felt like he was on the brink of some abyss, some precipice. He needed to decide to take the plunge into or not. But what lay past that brink of his mind? Did he dare push it forward? Did he want to know what lay behind that thick wall?

For a moment longer, he considered. His eyes fell on Lucian, sleeping not far away. Still a young stallion, and still so formative. He was their son, his and Ailbhe's and there would be more children--more kittens. With a mighty sigh, Karloff pushed at the edges of his mind trying to figure out what was bothering him.

***
It was a cold chill night and Karloff lay nestled against something. What was it? Remembering the soft texture, the dark hide he realized that it was his mother. It had been so long since he had remembered her like this. She was dozing beside him, both of them without a care in the world. He had never felt so warm or secure in his life. He felt like that moment, that security would last forever.

But as the wind howled, something was happening. Was that another sound on the wind? Was something creeping upon him as they slept?  

[Faithofthefallen]

~Flash back~
It was the blood moon, a night devoted to the shadows, his night. The heavens themselves paying homage to the darkness and depravity that flourished inside of his kind. His gleaming golden orbs gazed up into the night sky and caressed the crimson sphere that emerged from behind the roiling clouds to float so eerily above him, bathing the ground below with it's bloody light. Barracus smiled, running his tongue over one long fang, the razor tip leaving a long slice in the tender tissue and filling his mouth with the heady taste of blood. Enough to wet his appetite and leaving him wanting more.

His eyes pierced the darkness, scanning the night for his next game...
There
His nostrils flared as his sensitive nose picked up the scent of his prey, the unpleasant musky scent of a grown stallion made his hackles rise, but it was faint. The male wasn't home, leaving the young mother and her offspring alone. How delicious...

Barracus slunk closer, his velvety black coat camouflaging him as he approached. He could hear their soft even breathing, the moist thumping of two hearts. He hadn't counted on the foal being present, had planned on simply dragging the mare away to feast on her pain and suffering in the privacy of his own den, but the young male could be disposed of in short order....Nevertheless it was one more tedious detail to take care of before he could enjoy himself. Perhaps he would let the little creature watch...He knew he had enjoyed watching his own mother's grisly downfall.

And yet...I'm still here love, Mergha's poisonous voice laced with a throaty chuckle dripped rancid honey in his ears and stroked his temper to blazing. He stepped out of the shadows, allowing himself to be illuminated at the mouth of the cave. The mare's head swiveled around to meet his cruel gaze, "Hello sweetheart," he crooned in a silken whisper, his eyes glazing over, for superimposed across her features were those of his own cursed mother's.
The air seemed to chill as Barracus stepped across the threshold, unsheathing his claws one by one he examined their razor lengths with mock interest before shifting his interest back to the mare and her foal.

"Are you ready to play?" he purred seductively before launching himself forward, his claws swiping out and painting the walls and the shivering foal with sticky ribbons of blood.
--------
 

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

He was so warm, and comfortable that he hadn't even felt the shiver of his mother's body as she huddled closer to protect him. He had not seen her fearful eyes pleading with the monster who had invaded her home.Nor had he heard the prayers that fell from her lips....but he'd remember them later. Something he could only see in retrospect---what seemed a thousand years later during the night while his love slept.

The moistness on his fur was lost to him. His mouth nuzzled up against his mother, trying to find a her breast to start his suckling. But his mouth tasted something iron-like instead. His first taste of blood...


Karloff remembered that first taste now. How had he blocked that? It had not tasted how it had tasted now...not so...wonderful. That shadow lurking in the cave...the moisture....If only, he could push the memories a little further....

He opened eyes...  

[Faithofthefallen]

Sometime later, Barracus stood in the center of the cave, his sides heaving, a demented smile playing across his facials as he turned around to face the young one. Oily pools of blood seeped across the floor sluggishly, filling the cracks in the cave floor with steaming rivulets that trickled towards the mouth of the cave and out into the crimson haze outside. A blood offering for the bloody moon, Barracus exulted silently at his conquest. The fire had been quenched during the brief tussle, the smoke twisting and curling up from its' ashes was acrid and metallic and burned his sensitive nostrils. He swept his cruel golden gaze over the pitiful morsel before him. It was tiny and weak, not even a mouthful's worth of flesh....barely worth the effort to kill it.

The tiny creature shifted slightly, its liquid eyes fluttered open and Barracus gazed deep into them as he sidled closer, his sinuous chassis weaving back and forth seductively and his golden eyes burning through the shadows that had spread through the cave like a creature from a nightmare. "Your mother's dead, sweetheart," he purred into the child's ear before he began to circle him, slowly, deliberately, his razor claws hissing over the stone.

"Your father's gone, there's nobody left to protect you, to love you....Nobody but me." Barracus smiled, his fangs glistened redly in the faint light slanting through the cave mouth. "Sadly, not many of my playthings survive my particular brand of love..." he sighed regretfully, "But I always find more pets who are willing to play my little game." He knelt down and nipped the child on the ear, hard, and licked the crimson droplets from his lips.

He pressed his cheek against the foal's and gazed off into the night almost...Dreamily.

"Are you ready to die love?"
 

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

His eyes were looking at a blood covered monster. It was something he'd never even seen in his nightmares. The horror that filled his eyes, and his nose was filled with a terrifying smell. It was like acid in his nose, and those yellow eyes looking down at him made him begin to shake.

He saw the lump beside him, his mother's body. The hollow eyes looking at him, as if in warning...and in love. He turned away, sick to his stomach. His legs to weak to pull him to his feet.

There it was, the question. The statement. And everything was slipping away. He'd be with his mom soon. He felt the blood pour, and the sharp pain of it. It did hurt to die....

But he couldn't help the words that came out of his mouth, or even the reason why he said it. "Yes."

Because, wouldn't it be better that way? With his mother, not alone...not scared and terrified like this. Would it be so horrible to die? A little pain, instead of a lifetime?


Karloff's eyebrows furrowed. Why had he thought it would be that easy? That by merely asking, consenting that it was over that it would be over? Why had he ever thought it was that simple?  

[Faithofthefallen]

Barracus' golden eyes narrowed, his expression a mystery as his head snapped around and he stared fully into the eyes of the bloodstained colt. Something akin to approval shining through the blood lust that veiled his gaze with a sheet of crimson. None had ever chosen to accept the gift he offered, for a small price he would relieve them of the burden of life. Death was so simple; inevitable, absolute... easy. Life was fragile... Imperfect, full of flaws. Life was endless suffering and pain, to die required only a small sacrifice. He always extracted the payment for his service in full, paying extra attention to each exquisite detail as he doled out the death he longed for. It enraged him to hear their peas for mercy, how dare they reject what he himself longed for! But this brand new creature, puny, weak, and underdeveloped was already asking to die. He felt a surge of twisted affection as he pondered this curiosity.

"You're mine now sweetllng," he hissed between bared fangs. He kicked the remains of the colts mother aside, "Mothers gone now, child, as it should be. I am the center of your existence now... You intrigue me little one. No one has managed that in quite some time, I rather enjoy it... I don't think I'm ready to kill you just yet."

His father dreamed of gathering an army to usher in an age of darkness and chaos. Where skinwalkers ruled and the other races were reared and slaughtered like cattle. He had thought that dream had died with Zair but somehow this chance encounter had rekindled the fire within him. This child was malleable, could be taught to obey Barracus' orders without question unlike another purewalker. Perhaps that had been Zairs greatest mistake. He viewed anything but a purewalker with scorn and contempt, refusing to take advantage of the tools at hand. The other races were weak, certainly, inferior in every way but if he could acquire enough of them and brainwash them to his cause, he would be invincible.

There was only one tool he was missing....corpse powder.
Cursed skinwalkers were an abomination, a snarl ripped from his throat at the mere thought of perpetuating their existence, but his dopplegangers could be disposed of easily enough once he was finished with them.

This colt would be the first of his converts.
 

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

His eyes lifted to his murderer. But he wasn't releasing him, he wasn't ending this suffering. Why had he said anything? If only he hadn't spoke, he could be with his mother now. But his accepting nature had pronounced his own doom.

This monster, what was he thinking? What was he planning? What was going ot happen to him? He felt the anxiety growing, why couldn't this be easy? Where was his father? Would he come to save him? He knew his father would, he would come--he would help him.


Karloff felt the acidic burn in his throat. His father had been weak, had abandoned him. For years, he had struggled with a desire to kill his father, to confront him...to anything. But not now. Now, he was just a memory--just an image from an old nightmare that couldn't hurt him anymore. But this...this monster that he was remembering for the first time, this was different... There was something more...

He fell back into memories.

He asked quite calmly despite how he felt, "Why? Why won't you kill me? I'm not anything, am I?"  

[Faithofthefallen]

Barracus' boiling golden eyes glistened with dark intentions as he traced his lip almost seductively with the tip of his tongue. Visions of nightmarish warfare and carnage dancing across his mind's eye and making his pulse race with dreadful anticipation.

His gaze was distant as he mulled over the child's question. "No," he answered finally, "No, my pet, you are nothing but a tool to me. Convenient, perhaps, but easily replaceable. Once you have exhausted your use, we can pick up our little game where we left off."

His gaze scuttled over to the crumpled form of the female, the night was young yet, he would feed and then place the foal someplace safe while he retrieved the corpse powder, the cornerstone to his entire plan. The thought of raising such a pitiful creature was unappetizing, he would have to find another to serve as it's caretaker until it was of a suitable age.He sidled over to the remnants of his previous victim and ripped into his meal, back turned to the small colt that was nearly forgotten when the heady metallic tang of blood flooded his nostrils.
 

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Karloff could feel the bile rising in his throat. He didn't want to think of the awful thing that this...this...whatever he was was doing. He wouldn't cry. He wouldn't look at him or at her. She was gone. Gone already, it didn't hurt. He wished that he was gone to..

He felt himself quivering a little. How hard would it be to enrage him, to make him end him now? That way he wouldn't have to be alone...he was already so alone.



Karloff's eyes were widening. It hadn't been just his thought, it had been more than just dreams...It had been real. And he was coming. He remembered that now as his mind fled to fear for Ailbhe and the basket. He had to remember more...he had to remember the name!  

[Faithofthefallen]

Sated, Barracus dragged the remains of his meal into a well shadowed corner by the neck and gently arranged her limbs into a grotesque imitation of sleep. He lifted her chin with one paw and gazed into the empty eyes of his victim with a lovers intensity, Pleasant dreams, sweetling." He murmured softly with a hoarse giggle before letting the mares head drop limply to the ground once more. -thump-

With that business finished he was free to refocus his attention on the foal, now shivering visibly but still staring at him with those large liquid eyes. What he saw there fascinated him; confusion, yes, fear certainly, but overlaying all that simmered fury and disgust. Not a cry had escaped its' lips over the last half hour. Such a brave little tidbit, he mused darkly, moving closer until the hot fetid odor of his bloodstained breath washed over the child, "We'll have to fix that now, won't we? I'm not going to enjoy our time together very much if I can't make you squirm a little, it is my nature after all, dear."

He tsked and set one claw against the underside of the foal's chin, forcing his head up until they gazed into each others eyes. "Now, what to call you...?"  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Karloff heard the thump and his stomach sank. He wouldn't think about it. He wouldn't. As the stallion lifted his head, he looked into those cruel amber eyes. "I won't scream for you. Nothing you can do will make me."

The hot breath washed over him, but it wasn't as repugnant as before. What was happening? The shaking had stopped, and the smell of blood wasn't as sickening as before. It was much easier now, maybe, accepting that he was going to die to be brave. Maybe that was it?

"You're a monster," what made him say it. Was he trying to provoke him? End it now. Just end it now, there's nothing left. Unless...his father came back. But even the idea of that sounded hollow in his mind.

"Why don't you just kill me? I'll never be yours." Why was he saying these things? What insanity was causing him to provoke this--this monster?  

[Faithofthefallen]

A dark chuckle rippled through the darkness. "Your young yet, dear, you haven't experienced my special brand of torture. Your mind is far to innocent to comprehend the types of things I am capable of." He reclined on his haunches next to the foal, eying it, the trembling had stopped. The faintly musky scent of an immature male was tinged with something alien. Barracus' nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply trying to identify the change, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Of course I'm a monster," he barked a short laugh, "Who did you think you were dealing with, love, your fairy godmother?" He trailed off, pondering the foal's question, "Why don't I just kill you?" he mused mildly, humming to himself as he cleaned his sticky paws, "I suppose because, for the moment, you are more amusing to me alive than dead. I don't have many visitors coherent enough to string a sentence together you see and I think I shall enjoy quenching that fire within you almost as much as I will enjoy tearing you limb from limb.....Never fear, you'll follow her soon enough, I'm a fickle stallion, I'll grow bored of you soon enough I fear, so lets enjoy our time while it lasts, shall we?"

He flashed the foal a cruel smile, "Now, lets be civil, did that mare who whelped you give you a name before I dropped in?"  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Karloff glared at the hideous beast. So because he was brave, he would suffer more. Fine. So be it, he would hate him till the end. But something else was happening, he was beginning to understand him partly. The animalistic urges..right now he wanted to rip and shred into his flesh.

"Amuse yourself then, but you don't amuse me. You're pitiful." He'd never experienced this feeling before. It was coursing through his veins wildly. It was then he realized that this feeling was one his mother had warned him about. Hate.

He hated him. He hated himself for being too weak.

"Karl." He said it evenly, glaring at the stallion. "Karloff. And who are you? I need to know your name. I'll kill you one day." Was that true? This fight for survival was already over, why was he keeping up the charade. But...there was some weird sensation coursing through his body, changing him.  

[Faithofthefallen]

The purewaker quirked a brow as he cast a sidelong glance towards his foal. The corners of Barracus' eyes crinkled as he smiled with wicked indulgence down at the small form near his side. "Of course you will, dearest" he murmured reassuringly, his long fangs glinting as a derisive smile played across his lips. "And I yearn for the day with breathless anticipation."

"Pitiful am I?" he questioned idly, returning to the delicate task of cleaning his claws, "Well I'm certainly glad you don't find me amusing Karloff.... you are in quite the sticky situation, my darling, being in the clutches of a purewalker is never a laughing matter."

So he wanted a name, did he? "Barracus," he purred in the colts ear, "So nice to make your acquaintance."  

[Nyx Queen of Darkness]

Barracus! The name of his mortal enemy. The one who had scarred him all those years go. The one who was....torturing him even now in haunted and shadowy dreams. He was threatening his love, his life....the family he had worked so hard for.

Finally, he knew the name of his enemy.

He let his mind wander back.

His voice was flat even. "I won't give you the pleasure." Karloff would kill him one day. He would destroy Barracus because he could. He would never be safe or free while Barracus was alive.

I won't scream. I won't scream. No matter what he does, I won't scream.

Karloff kept his eyes steady on him. "Do your worst then. I can take it."

It would be slow, agonizing. The claws would rip and shred him. But he would not scream. He would not.