Chapter 2

Louie awoke in the middle of the night to a terrible ache, for moments he struggled against the pain that felt worse than ever before. Gasping for air, he could not hold out forever and began succumb to a powerful hunger. Fighting with all his thought and will, Louie grasped for any bit of strength within his soul; something that would allow him to retain some bit of control, and found it, at the breaking point he threw all his consciousness into that part, and exhausted, relinquished what little control he had otherwise. A different version of him rose to the surface as his eyes fluttered shut; one that represented what we all want to hide from the world: the improper, the uncivilized thoughts, what the world considers wrong, or at the very least unwelcome. Louie opened his eyes and smiled at the power he felt, and most of all, at the feeling of freedom. With a mere thought he blinked outside, appearing on the streets below blocks away. Wandering, he encounter the winter air, and felt only minor discomfort, despite the freezing temperature and icy breeze that touched his skin. He walked for some time; taking in the sights and the sounds as he moved out of what he considered the Keeper's territory. Judging by the vampires he sensed in the area he was now entering, Louie was now in Vankari territory. None of them were near him, and as he reached out he could sense none recognized what he was or what his purpose here was.

Just as he began to relax a little, a sudden tremor went through his body as he felt an all too familiar presence enter the city, immediately Louie concentrated on cloaking himself, expecting Tereth to try to sense his exact location as he could feel his pursuer's, but none came. Tentatively Louie sent out his own mental feelers to see what he could find out, or at least that is how he called this form of sensory perception. Instead of making it obvious he was looking, Louie limited his search of, and tried not to brush up against, Tereth's consciousness, instead he was quite content to try to focus on the image of him. Like watching through a video cam, Louie tracked his hunter and the humans that accompanied him, who he recognized as his parents and brother.

'Curious. What are they doing here?' Louie asked. Since they had no mental protections he felt quite safe staying closer to them in his view. For them, he would be nearly impossible to sense, which again made Louie wonder why Tereth would have brought them, except of course for simple manpower. He watched as they split up, and as Louie focused on his brother Bill, Louie thought he heard two voices but only heard his brother's. Watching the average passerby, he also noted that they didn't hear it either, if anything they looked at Bill as if he were odd.

'He's talking mentally to each of them, and using each as another set of eyes. Why doesn't he just look for me himself the same way I noticed him?' Louie asked. It occurred to him that perhaps Tereth couldn't, and a test would be needed to judge whether his hypothesis were true, it would also have the added benefit of throwing them off the trail, perhaps even permanently, since he could ill afford to be tracked down by Tereth or his family. Coming up with a plan based on his memories of his people interacting with the Revenant, he smiled. Keeping one mental eye on Tereth and his "hounds", Louie hit upon a stroke of good luck, as a rare opportunity presented itself. A group of young men were accosting a homeless woman; surrounding her they jeered and pawed at her. From her thoughts and theirs, Louie sensed that she had come to this place willingly because she was in desperate straights: hungry and cold, she wandered the city streets, seeking shelter when she could. The young woman; barely eighteen, had gone without food for so long that she was weak and too tired to fight them off. Retreating into herself, and trying escape as they tried to frighten and toy with her, she did not see her attacker as she was shoved from behind. Before she could rise, a kick caught the homeless woman in the ribs, causing her to cry out in pain. Punches and kicks rained down on her as the vicious youths had fun beating the crap out of her. It was enough to convince Louie that he had found what he needed, and he picked out the one who had thrown the first kick. The large skinhead, who stood at about 6'5, was preparing to stomp on the girl's hand when Louie's clawed fingernails opened up his back; exposing bone and torn flesh.

His legs buckling as his spine was severed, the skinhead screamed in agony and continued to howl until he felt something spray onto his face. Despite his torment he had the presence of mind to wipe his face as he lay face down, with his head turned to his right. What he saw when he brought his hand in front of his face where he could see it, his saw fingers covered with spattered blood. The body of one of his companions hit the ground beside him, and the skinhead saw the beefy Italian's throat had been ripped out. More cries came from around him, and the skinhead dared not look up at whatever horror was around him, frozen by his own fear, he soiled himself as he heard the others die one by one.

Louie, gorged by the blood of the other four youths, looked down at the trembling and once proud supposed tough guy who now cried like a baby. Scenting the foulness in his prey's pants, Louie stepped around to the skinhead's head and reached down, grasping the chin and back of a head, before giving it a sharp twist to the neck. The sound of bone snapping, and the silence that followed, signaled that he had finished the last of the group. With that part of his plan done, Louie touched the corpse infusing it with a mimicry of life and watched it rise to its feet like a puppet on the strings. When it had been filled enough, he gave it a copy of his own consciousness, but nothing more. In reality, even as he managed to heal the injuries he caused, the skinhead's body was merely a decoy he was sending out. With one final command he ordered it out of the city, and watched it start walking with a fixed purpose as it headed north then left around the corner. Louie sensed Tereth's immediately fix his attention on the decoy from many blocks away and began to move toward it.

Quickly, Louie retrieved the barely alive girl and rushed off to get out of the immediate area, heading south and away from the decoy as fast as he could without attracting attention to himself. When he felt safe, Louie checked on the decoy's progress, sending a hidden command for it to break into a dead run, he saw that Tereth was caught between wanting to bring down his prey and leaving his human companions behind. In the end pursuing the second source proved his downfall, and the body who needed no breath, nor had any need for rest or sleep, managed to flee the city, and by the time Tereth caught up Louie planned to be away from here.

Using the shadows like a Revenant, Louie was able to shadow jump and hide his progress and travel with ease. His mere presence kept the woman from dying in his arms, but she would need care eventually, or what little life was left in her would soon be gone forever. Pausing as he arrived at a nearby town Louie turned his attention to healing her with his own life force. Letting his psi pour into her, he directed it to her broken bones and battered flesh as well as organs. Louie watched as her breathing returned to normal, and decided as the sun was now rising that it was time to retire some place for the day. Finding a motel, he had enough money to rent a single room. Once inside, Louie slipped her into bed before settling down to sleep on the floor.

An hour passed as he lay on the hard gray carpet, and despite all his efforts sleep was denied him. Despite the quieting of his blood hunger, it had caused a side-effect he had not foreseen: Louie had far too much energy to go to bed. Rising, Louie looked at the young woman he had rescued. In his rush to escape he had not bothered to really look at her, or make any effort to find her name. With his new abilities, the fact she was unconscious meant little to him, because even now he could grasp it from what seemed out of nowhere: Pandora.

'The name is appropriate for what she represents. Her soul reflects her innocence.' Louie said, realizing the feelings she represented. She now was what he had been before all this had started: Pandora was innocent and fragile. Her mind had contained a sickness before he had healed her, and while most of the damage was repaired, he lacked the knowledge to rectify all of it. Pandora had seen things and heard voices to the point where she had broken down and ran away from all that she had known, taking to the streets. Like him, she was a wander, but unlike him, she retained what he now lacked: innocence, and he was determined at that moment to protect her if he could.

'Should I withdraw or stay? Surely she will be hungry when she wakes up. Perhaps I should step out and get her something.' Louie thought, making the decision to stay for at least a little while. This was a new city, and it would be difficult, even in her improved condition, to acclimate. Whatever the reasons he told himself, it was clear that Louie did not want to leave Pandora, no matter how much her innocence was a danger to him.

When Pandora awoke it was morning, and she found a strange man watching over her. Louie had blinked in and out of the room, buying and finding what he needed. Returning to the grisly scene he had left the night before, he had found what usable money he could and had gotten rid of the bodies by stashing them far from the city, so it would take some time before they were found. Apparently, a few of the boys had been well off, and he had retrieved wallets full of money. The credit cards he had left with the bodies, since he didn't want anyone tracing his movements.

He felt no guilt using their money, given what they had done, but he made a mental note to never let Pandora find out. That did make him feel guilty, but he could not imagine her taking it well. Whatever the cost to himself, her health and well being was his highest priority. Sitting beside her bed he was there to see her eyes open for the first time, and how she took in the surprising setting.

As she sat up, Louie said, "Take your time. You have been through a lot. May I ask your name?"

"Pandora. My name is Pandora." She said.

"Well, Pandora, my name is Louie. Would you like a shower and a meal?" Louie asked.

Gingerly, Pandora stood up, noticing her own dirtiness and how it had soiled the sheets. She looked at Louie apologetically.

He smiled saying, "Don't worry. I'll get some more. For now the shower awaits, and I've provided a change of clothes in the bathroom."

Looking around, she took in the food on a plastic table and asked, "How did I get here?"

"I brought you here after I found you unconscious." Louie said, expecting the inevitable question to come, asking how her wounds had been healed.

"I don't remember how that happened. That's strange." Pandora said.

Louie had to hide any expression of surprise and relief that threatened to show on his face.

'Dodged a bullet there.' He thought.

"We'll deal with how it happened later. For now you seem to be fine, and I think a shower would do you good." Louie said.

"Thank you." Pandora said, rising.

"I must leave for a while to take care of some errands. After you shower, you are welcome to eat the food provided. I will return as soon as I can. Please make yourself at home." Louie said before leaving the room. Once outside, he felt the hunger tug at him again, and he knew he had to feed it quickly.