~The Everyday Survivors~ (Started but still accepting)

Brady

I could feel the blood flood my cheeks.

As we weren't really used to communicating with anyone else but eachother, to speak only to eachother even when people were around was something I had become used to. I guess, even in polite society, there wasn't a way to get around that fact.

"I don't know about you guys," Leah murmured, shifting from foot to foot. "But its cold... and raining. Standing around here isn't exactly something I find enjoyable."

I nodded.

"I still want to understand," Adelina cut in, though she seemed to second-guess herself and quickly returned to her own thoughts.

Emma grasped my hand, obviously wanting me to leave but not going far as to say it anymore. At this point, all I wanted was to have something nice and warm to drink. Maybe a dry set of clothing.

"Coffee," I said. "Does anyone want to go for coffee?"

Not a question I'm sure anyone was expecting.

(at least you posted, Puzz! That makes me happy ;D)

Leah

"Um, I also had the Beverly Cafe in mind, but coffee would be great." I replied. "Jeez, anywhere would be great."

"Yeah. I know there is a Starbucks on the corner." Brady said.

"8th street?"Asked Adelina.

"Yup." He replied

"Alright. Anyone here have a car?"

"Crap, my car!" I shrieked. It was probably too late now- it was already towed.

"Oh. What happened?''

"It probably got towed. I have an umbrella, though. Anyone else have one?" I pulled a mini one from my purse.

"I do." Someone said- Emma. She grabbed one. Beside her, Adelina seemed flustered.

"Hey, guys, where is Ean?" I asked.

Emma

I smiled at Brady, gripping his hand harder. Trembling I nodded before turning to the Seer girl shivering in front of me.

"I think coffee would be a good idea. Brady's going to catch his death if we stick out here much longer. I'll explain everything to you when we're there alright...." I lingered off.

"Adelina." she finished.

"Hey, where's Ean?" said the other girl.

"I honestly don't know. Nor do I want too." Brady muttered.

I smiled timidly, and tried to remember the closest coffee shop. Walking down the streets, the rain finally ended when we entered a cozy little coffeeshop, humans called Starbucks and it had a view on the street. The coffee was watery and bitter, but it was nice and warm. Brady's lips were blue which concerned me quite a bit, taking off my coat I put it around his shoulders.

"Is he okay?" Adelina whispered to me, wide eyed.

"He'll be okay. Now, you can see me yes?"

"...Yea? Of course."

I closed my eyes for a moment, feeling myself fade. You feel a lot lighter when you're invisible, it's a liberating feeling.

"Still see me?" I said.

"...Yea?"

I strolled over and sat in front of a man silently drinking his coffee cup by the window, and began waving my hands in front of his face. Brady laughed at the display of me making faces in front of the man as he continued to stare out the window. Even Adelina chuckled slightly.

"Maybe he's ignoring you, or blind." she frowned walking over to the man. "Did you just see that?" she asked him.

"Excuse me?" he asked, snapping out of his daze.

"A girl, blondish hair, thin? Making faces at you." she said.

"Was this outside? I didn't see anything." he seemed perplexed.

"No inside."

The man turned and looked around, looking over to Brady and myself, perched on the couch and I waved at Adelina.

"There's no other girl in here but you." he said, clearly bothered.

Adelina thanked him before returning to us, clearly dumbfounded.

Brady

"I'm sorry, Adelina," I murmured, bowing my head to her once more. "I hope this isn't too confusing."

I took my cup of coffee, letting the hot liquid spill against my lips. It was nice. A warm feeling. It burned though, as if not ready for such a warmth.

"Nothing to apologise for," she said. "I'm just surprised I hadn't noticed it before, is all. How can you tell if ones a Darkling, or whatever you call them?"

This question surprised me. I bowed my head again, trying to make plain how I did it in my head. "Well, I guess it just comes naturally now. Theres something really distinctive in the way a Darkling is or... more how they are. I feel a wave of strangeness when one is around. Do you feel that?"

"I thought it was just 'the creeps'," she shrugged. "But I guess it could explain it. However, why that one attacked the guy in the park is still a curiosity to me. He didn't seem like he was of much harm."

The group went silent.

"He was an imp," Leah scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Bad company to keep, if you ask me."

Adelina's eyes widened, her hand raised to her lips. "And whys that?"

Emma opened her mouth, then closed it in that manner of hers before coughing softly. She was cold. We should get home, or at least into dry clothing. When she spoke, her voice was flustered. "We - Leah and I - are protectors of human life, or so we come to believe. Imps... are the opposite. They want human life and are willing to kill for it."

"Which means," Leah cut in. "If you value your life, you'll stay away from them."

Adelina's brow furrowed, contemplating. "He didn't really seem that bad, though, if you ask me."

Titus

"And truth be told, I am not that bad as they seem to make me," Titus' voice was followed by his own soft laughter. "Darklings are always so melodramatic."

Titus pulled back the chair and sat down, eyes following the frail boy. The violent Darkling was gone, Titus noted, but if they still wanted a scuffle, they wouldn't start one here.

"To be frank, we aren't that bad. I like humans, to be honest, and would never even think of hurting one. But life just gets so lonely these days. One always longs for companionship." Titus flashed one of his toothy grins to the girl he had tried to talk to before. Poor girl, it looked as if she had just seen a ghost. Titus reflected back to the small boy and let a gentle smile replace his grin, his red eyes locking with the large blue ones.

"My name is Titus, its nice to meet all of you."

--------------------------

~Incognito

Adelina

"Y-You. You're. Uh... You're alright!" I exclaimed, confusion setting in. This was a lot to take in one day. Why couldn't it be like one of those movies where the protagonist notices something is off and over time discovers the truth. He flashed me a smile that made me bit my lip and put on my poker face.

"The whole poofing from thin air thing is kinda creepy." I informed him, then turned to the others. "And call me Lina. Adelina sounds too proper. We aren't dining with the queen."

The darkling and the boy seemed very close. Perhaps she was more then his 'protector' and she had labeled her kind. They seemed to really enjoy each other's company. I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket, but decided to ignore it. I forced myself not to blush when Titus looked at me oddly. I hated how loud my phone's vibrate was.

Emma

When Titus appeared I fell off the arm of the chair, I hadn't seen him coming at all. I stuttered before I began coughing softly. Leah jumped when he appear too.

"Jesus Christ. Get away Imp." she hissed at him.

"Now, an Imp can sit and have conversation with some interesting characters occasionally can't he." he smirked, settling back further into the chair as his eyes rested on Brady.

I didn't like the way he looked at Brady at all, but I wasn't sure how to act. Perhaps not reacting would be best, he didn't have to know I was Brady's Darkling. There was no way I would stand a chance fighting with a big guy like him, so the element of surprise would be helpful. I decided to sit silently, lifting my eyes quickly to Brady warning him to stay quiet by the way I tightened my jaw. Turning my attention to the Imp with bright red eyes in front of me, I was curious.

"What brings you here? If you're not interested in hurting anyone." I asked, coughing slightly in the middle of speaking.

Brady:

"As I have said before, I was feeling lonely, and, seeing as you lovely people are such interesting conversation, I thought I would sit awhile and chat," he raised his fingers to his chin, eyes peering around the group in a restless manner before settling on Emma. "And, might I add, you are rather beautiful."

She turned her eyes away quickly whilst I clenched my teeth. Suddenly, I didn't know if I liked this guy too much.

"Do you have a deathwish, Imp?" Leah asked, her perturbed confusion visible across her features. If anything, though, her surprise was now gone. "I'm sure you realize that Darkling company isn't exactly the usual company an imp would keep, seeing as our opinions differ exponentially."

"Are you so against someone like myself?" Titus asked, brow raised. "Why not take a note from human ancestory. Martin Luther King Jr. for instance..."

"Don't throw around socio-economic trends with the likes of you," Leah cut in. "If you haven't realized, your kind kills."

"And your kind should be the judge of what is right," Titus mused. "The right hand of God, hmm? What makes you so special to have that right?"

This made Leah stop, brows furrowed. "I do what is right."

"You do what you think is right," he replied. "I do what my soul wishes."

He paused, letting these words sink in.

"Of course," he murmured, "You hardly have anything to worry about. As I said before, I'm here to hurt no one. I was just looking for a bit of company."

I had left the others as soon as the girl was recognized as a Seer. I knew it wouldn't take Leah long to make the connection of new Seer (Adelina, I think) to partnerless Darkling (me). I drifted off into Oblivion and set off. I always enjoyed traveling this way, It gave me some time to think and plan; away from the muck and grime that was humanity. I reappeared near a graveyard. I didn't care to check if anyone else was around, as if anyone would be out on this rainy day.

I walked along for a while, trying to calm down. I was nearing the empty lot nearby when I noticed a girl cartwheeling. Humanity never fails to amaze me with it's unpractiallity. I walked along until I found her. She was a couple years younger than and was performing the gymnastics like a pro.

I leaned against a tree and watched her twirl. She flipped and then landed on the tips of her toes. She then stopped and stared at me. I wondered what she was looking at.

"Um... hello" she said. I turned around and wondered who she was talking to. "I can see you, you know" I turned and raised an eyebrow.

"You can?" The girl nodded and took a step back; like I was a threat. Of course, I probably was. I groaned. "Not another Seer" and promptly turned around and walked away, wondering if the girl was going to chase after me.

Emma

I was flustered at the Imps comment, staring at my boots. The guy was terrifying to be honest, and I wasn't sure whether to thank him for his compliment or run out of the coffee shop and hide at Brady's house for the rest of my life. I wasn't confident in Titus' intentions here, but I don't think it's just to chat. Lina turned to me clearing her voice.

"So what do Darklings do? Besides 'protect human life' as you said." she asked.

"We pick a Seer, people like you and protect their life." I responded softly.

"So, Brady here must be yours."

I paused before shaking my head.

"Brady and I are just friends. I don't want to bond with a Seer."

"Why not?" She looked puzzled, Titus looked puzzled too.

"When a Darkling bonds with a Seer, their lives are intertwined. Which is why we don't like Imps much." I said, looking at Titus. "They're trying to kill Seers, and when a Darkling's seer dies, so do we."

Brady looked at me curiously, nudging me but didn't say anything, I put my hand on his arm reassuringly.

"Do a seer and a Darkling have to be in love?" she giggled

Leah laughed out loud, "Of course not."

"Oh." Lina quieted, feeling stupid for asking the question.

Titus looked amused at our conversation, looking at the Seer girl nearly regretfully.

"The imp side of the story is different but you guys never shared that of course."

Leah narrowed her eyes at the Imp, "Because you guys are murderers."

Titus

"Ah, my friend. Speak easy. To be honest, I am not yet a murderer, or ever will become one. If you haven't noticed, I am still an imp and not a human. And I daresay, I could have been a human a long time ago if I ever such desired it," Titus spoke offhandedly with a flick of his wrist, then suddenly leaned forward resting his forearms on the table. He tried to meet everyone's eyes around the table innocently.

"I don't believe you," Leah said quietly.

"I didn't expect you to. But let me prove it to you. By Lina's little knowledge, I could quite easily have taken her life by now with a few simple words. She is unguarded and unprotected. But you see, I would never do that to such a damsel as herself," Titus spoke the words truthfully, and let his gaze pause for a second over her face. She seemed mildly alarmed at the assumption he had just made. "You see, Darkling, I am perfectly content with my lot in life. It is not horrible nor painful, though it is lonely and I just long for friendship. So might we all be friends?"

A small tight-lipped smile spread across his face as he straightened up once more and leaned back into his chair.

-----------------------

~Incognitp

LeahWhy, Leah really dislikes Titus, doesn't she? Let's see if we can make things interesting between them, shall we?

"Friends?" I spat. "I'd rather kiss a toad then be even an acquaintance with one of your kind."

"Come on. Really? You're getting carried away. Besides, you of all people would know if I had killed."

"I doubt it." I hissed. "And you deserve to be lonely".

"Isn't that a bit much?" Emma asked. "Even I don't hate the guy,"

"Well, how do I know it wasn't him who killed my mothe-" I began, before putting a hand over my mouth. "I-I- I have to go. I'll catch up with you later." I wrote my number clumsily on a piece of paper from my purse and put it down on the r


The rain hadn't stopped. If anything, it got worse. I felt like I was in the middle of a hurricane or something. The rain poured on my face, and I thought about turning and going back to the cafe. I immediately regretted writing down a false number. A few people knowing a tad about my past couldn't be all that bad...

What was I thinking? That would be unbearable.

"Leah, wait. Please?" Someone asked.

Lina

First, I blushed after what Titus said. A full on blush. One I could not hide. It seemed kindness brought out my emotions. Here I thought I had control over them. Then Leah started talking about her mother, stopped short and stomped off. I shook my head and slumped back in my seat. This was too much crazy for one day.

That's when I figured it all out. It fit perfectly in my head and I felt like an idiot for not figuring it out. I quickly stood, pushing the chair from the table.

"Oh-ho ho. I figured it out. I'm on one of those prank shows, aren't I? I mean, why else would a guy who looks as hot as you talk to me? How much do they pay you for this show?" I asked, looking to Titus.

"Lina, sit do-" Emma started quietly.

"And you two! You're really a couple with horrible acting skills, aren't you? I get it! The joke is on little Lina. It's always on little Lina!" I smiled brightly before plopping down in my seat.

"So where are the cameras? Who put you up to it? It was Melissa from high school, wasn't it? Oh! No, it's Doug from work. He's always making up new reasons to tease me!" I chuckled and stopped short when Emma covered her face with her hand.

Brady:

And suddenly, as the mood changed so completely, so did my temper.

I pushed back against the chair, its legs skidding across the floor in a horrible screetch that quieted all conversation in the rather empty cafe. Slamming my fists against the table, I pulled back my lips, eyes narrowed. "You are not in a show, nor was I paid to do anything. If anyone hasn't realized, Leah just stormed off, obviously upset so, if you don't mind, I'm going after her. You all can do whatever you want."

And with annoyance, I strove towards the door.

Emma followed after, her eyes alight in sudden worry, her mouth open and her hands clasping at my shoulder. The pain written across her brow was almost too unbearable. "I'm coming with you."

"No," I said quickly. "No, you're cold. Stay and drink your coffee. I'll be back."

And with that I exited, leaving behind the group as was very unusual to my calm demeanor. As I stormed down the street, hands balled at my sides and a very detemined look to my countenance, I really hoped Emma had listened to me. I would hate myself all the more if she decided to come after me in the rain again.

When I finally caught sight of Leah, though I had started to doubt leaving in the first place, I had been out of breath and cold as death. I jogged forward, my hand outstretched to stop her.

"Leah wait. Please?" I asked, before grasping her wrist softly. She swung around, surprised, her mouth a small o before she composed her features in a detemined manner. She pulled her wrist free before placing her hands against her hips haughtily.

"You didn't have to come after me," she said after a short pause, her lip protruding in a manner that was childish but not necessarily uncalled for. She did look rather unpleased. "I'd rather not have stayed with imp lovers."

"I don't love imps," I murmured, bowing my head to her lightly. "Just, I don't really know the guy."

This didn't seem to console her.

"And, if it makes any concellation, he gives me the creeps," I added, a tight smile forming on my lips. I hoped the good-humored remark would brighten those damp spirits of hers.

LeahOk, IDEA BLAST! I'm going to go change Leah's history now!

I gave a small snort/laugh. It helped a tad to know that Brady could be as nice as this to someone as rude as I was. I honestly didn't think humans like that existed anymore.

"Thanks." I replied. "You... you really didn't have to come follow me."

That's when I felt it. As if I was a child, I wanted to break down in tears. The old, sturdy dam that held all my tears back felt like it was cracking.

"Yes, I did. I know fake number when I see it. 987-654-3210? You could do better than that. News update- in the five seconds you were gone, Lin- Adelina snapped. She started to go ballistic about how we were a stupid prank show and we were going to surprise her, and how there were hidden cameras everywhere!" He exclaimed.

I chuckled. "Maybe we could go inside. You're wet, I'm wet, and its all my fault." I huffed, grappling with my tears and attempting to hold them back.

"Sure." He replied. I had only walked a block, so we were in quickly.

"Look who decided to show." Titus said. I could hear Adelina ranting to Emma in the corner.

"Look who decided... uh..."

"Nice come back." He said.

Oh, I wanted to punch him.

"No, it's just a show! This can't be reality. Is there a camera in the cake display or something?" Adelina said. God, is this annoying.

I walked up to her and grabbed her wrists and pinned them against the wall. I couldn't take this anymore.

"Listen. This is not a show. What do you think we are? Besides, if it were, we would have said yes when you asked if it's a show. Now calm down, sit, and relax. We'll explain everything, I swear by everyone's life. Even Titus." I growled. She meekly nodded, and I let her go.

"Now, explain it to me." Adelina asked, more like demanded.