I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

tagged; Mally

All winter Delia had spent her time outside, excluding any moments she was forced to go outside for classes. It was strange considering her older brother had no problem with the winter nowadays, but there was something about it that still made Delia upset. Closing her eyes silently for a moment as she walked toward the rose garden, the young woman opened her eyes up once more as if to blink away the thought that she was having. "I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead, I lift my lids and all is born again..." Delia murmured the quote to herself, having remembered the poem from her English class.

She didn't really have much of a preference for many classes nowadays, only doing so much as to get by - but there had been something about the first few lines of that poem that stuck out to her. She romanticized Sylvia Plath in an eerie sort of way, just as a serial killer would romanticize Edgar Allen Poe. More often then not, Delia found herself depressed and there was something about reading that made her feel just a bit better (or more like less alone).

All around her the wind danced at the hem of her light blue sun dress as Delia was clad in brown bohemian looking jacket and open toed shoes. The weather did call for just a bit of protection from the wind, but it wasn't so cold that Delia wasn't able to get away with sandals.

Finally finding herself at the entrance of the maze in the rose garden, Delia stopped briefly to sit down at a bench nearby. There was something strangely peaceful about the flowers blooming and as the young woman looked up toward the sky she noted that evening was coming soon since the sun was setting in the distance. The night held a strange sort of familiarity for her nowadays. As the day seemed to be fresh and full of hope, the night reminded her of that winter that seemed so long ago now.

Letting out a soft sigh, the teenager leaned forward briefly to lay the lower half of her face into her hand. What was the point of it?

No alarm had sounded, and no disturbance was apparent in the air. A quick check of the clock said sunset had not arrived, which led to a halfhearted attempt to fall back asleep. It was futile, though, as it had been every time recently. The long nights of winter had passed so the vampire was trapped in his room, left only with the memories.

Winter was supposed to be the best time of year for a vampire, but Nathaniel's experience had been anything but. It had started out wonderfully of course, raping and murdering and partying as they pleased. Nathaniel and his sire, his lover, had planned to live out the rest of their undeath together and everything was perfect. But by the end of winter, every piece of his life had fallen apart.

His love was dead. His friends dared not associate themselves with him. The money he had earned was locked away stateside and it was effectively lost. The apartment he had paid up for up front in cash was no longer safe. Nathaniel had no friends, no family he cared to speak of, and nothing to his name but the few belongings he was able to scramble together before he sought sanctuary at Foresta: His phone, some cash and some clothes.

The alarm annoyingly interrupted his thought process - It was time to start a fresh new night. Classes were starting and the school hadn't explicitly explained if they would accommodate his situation with night classes, but anyway, he wasn't in the mood for academics. The first nights of Spring were a time for reflection and with any luck, a good excuse for a relapse.

The vampire licked his fangs at the thought while he dressed himself. There wasn't much of a selection in his limited wardrobe, but he kept what he liked. Black pants, black button-up long-sleeved shirt, the red scarf that he had recently taken to wearing - The one that his lover wore nearly every day until...

He shook the thought out of his head as he finished his typical wake-up routine. Touch of makeup on his face, cover the scars on his neck, just go through the motions and get his night over with. Show no pain.

Maybe it would be a good night to pick up some new clothes in town with the money he had left, he decided. Or at least do some exploring. Nathaniel quietly stepped out of his room and the Lyra dorm on his way out of the academy, but as he passed through the rose garden his eyes fell upon a girl he hadn't met sitting on a bench. Her mood was as obvious to the perceptive vampire as the rising moon, and he was drawn in by her apparent despair. On another night she would have made for a good victim and he hadn't ruled out that possibility yet, but he would steal a conversation before her blood.

"The setting sun is beautiful, don't you think?" Nathaniel guessed for its last colors had already fallen below the horizon, but he couldn't remember a sunset that wasn't beautiful. "No light pollution here other than the port, and the island's sky goes on for miles. Always put a peace in my heart, but something tells me that look in your eyes won't be cured by only a sunset." He gestured toward the bench, silently asking permission to sit next to her.

Drifting off into her own world, Delia remained almost statue still for a good few minutes - her mind drifting away to times when she was a child. How simpler it seemed then.

"The setting sun is beautiful, don't you think?"

Delia stopped and sat up, looking toward where the voice was coming from. At first there was a plain frown on her face, but as she got to fully see who she was talking to - Delia's eyes opened up wide with shock. "I-I-I-I-I... U-Um..." Delia paused, closing her eyes tight before opening them again to look toward Nathaniel. She didn't actually know who he was, but the fact that he was so attractive was what made her be in so much shock. "Y-Yes, I-I-I suppose i-i-i-i-it is." Delia stammered out her words in a difficult manner, her cheeks filling with color as she looked Nathaniel over for what seemed like the third time since he started talking to her.

As he asked through his body language if he could sit, Delia motioned that he was welcome to in a hesitant manner. "I-I-I'm not s-s-sure what y-y-y-you mean?" Delia asked the older boy then, chewing on her upper lip in an anxious manner. The dark haired boy was gorgeous to say the least and Delia had no idea how to handle it. Why would someone like him be talking to her in the first place? Suddenly, the young woman felt pathetic and her posture easily showed it. He would walk away any second and she knew it, most people did after they heard how much she stuttered. Hell, even some people got annoyed with her because of it.

Delia's eyebrow scrunched together in a less than confident manner, looking up hesitantly at Nathaniel - waiting to see if he would walk away or stay.

Nathaniel watched her stammering reply, unimpressed, and he realized he missed the city. For the millions of rude things he could have said to her face about her stutter, he knew the population of Foresta was too small to start making enemies for no reason. Plus he was a house leader now, and he was expected to put on a certain facade. So, the vampire simply smiled as she spoke.

Nathaniel sat down next to her so closely that their legs were almost touching, and then rest his arm along the bench behind her. It wasn't the first time a girl had been intimidated by him, and he knew he had many hundreds of years of attractive youth left to look forward to. Hundreds of years to outlive every human alive today, including this one. He made a mental note that he should probably start hanging out with the ageless crowd.

Before he intruded on her tonight he was pretty certain that the two of them might be on a similar mental wavelength and he was attracted by that potential for them to connect on some deeper level, but now she was too distracted by his presence. Which was okay because this meeting was just a random distraction for him, too. So he decided he would toy with the poor girl, maybe give her something to think about when she's all alone in her room tonight, and then move on with his business. It was too public a place to just have his way with the human now, although since the thought crossed his mind again, he realized the hedge maze might prove opportune if he later chose to exploit her physically.

Delia's crippling shyness only bolstered his confidence, not that he was socially meek to begin with. Unfortunately, as much as he relished in the girl's awkward teenage social agony, the vampire figured he should do something to put her at ease if he wanted any hope of getting more than a few jumbled words out of her mouth. Nathaniel booped her on the nose with a finger and laughed.

"You know what I mean. That thousand yard stare you wore before I walked in on you? Clearly you had something pretty heavy on your mind, but that's okay, I won't make you talk about it." Nathaniel relaxed comfortably against the bench, so close that their bodies were practically touching.

"My name's Nathaniel by the way, from Lyra. Sorry if I'm bothering you, don't be afraid to push me away."

Delia's eyes opened wide with surprise as Nathaniel sat down next to her, the physical contact causing the girl to shy away from him. As if by instinct the archeress reached for her bow that had been sitting on the ground laying slightly against the bench. She pulled it close to her with one hand, almost like a security blanket and as Nathaniel tapped her lightly on the nose Delia recoiled shyly once more. "I-I-I'm D-Delia." The girl said simply then.

At the closeness of their limbs, Delia found herself looking over Nathaniel once more. Since he seemed to be so comfortable sitting next to her, the young woman allowed herself to observe his appearance more closely. A few seconds passed and a strange expression seemed to pass on the girl's face, suggesting that she was oddly focused on something. Finally, for a brief moment of confidence - Delia's hazel eyes connected with Nathaniel's. "A-Are you w-w-wearing make-up?" Delia's stammer seemed less noticeable - all the way up until the girl realized what she actually said. Gasping, the young girl stood up then and put her hand to her mouth.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry! That's r-r-really rude o-of m-m-me!" She exclaimed, her eyes glancing hesitantly over to her arrow carrier that still rested by the bench. Despite the fact that her bow was in her hands, it was pretty much considered useless to her without the company of her arrows in tow.

The vampire was briefly taken aback by the makeup comment and he eyed the girl incredulously. He'd rather not have the rumor spread that he wore makeup, but somehow he doubted this one would be capable of causing much trouble. She could barely manage a conversation so he decided he wasn't too worried about this instance, but Nathaniel acted offended anyway.

"You're right, that is extremely rude of you. Is that why you're sitting all alone on a bench? Because you're this rude to all of your friends, and now you don't have any? I was trying to be nice to you, but you're acting so weird and now you're asking personal questions about me... Even after I just showed the courtesy of not prying about your personal issues," Nathaniel scooched a half foot away from her and frowned at the shy girl.

"But hey, if that's the game you want to play, fine. I am wearing makeup, are you happy now? My ex taught me how and then I never really stopped, and if I'm being perfectly honest, I kind of like it. Do you want to know what products I use too," he asked rhetorically and looked away.

"Actually," he continued before she could get a word in, "I don't even know why I'm talking to you right now. I thought you might be cool, but," his head shook with disappointment and he let out a deep sigh. "Tell you what though. I'll let us call it even if you tell me what was on your mind you before we met. And I'll forgive you if you let me check out your bow - you would still like to be friends with me, right Delia?"

Nathaniel opened his hand in front of his lap to receive her bow as opposed to reaching in to take it from her - He would make her hand it to him as an offering of peace. The vampire's wet eyes were fixed on hers and they threatened to tear up, an ability to act that even he was surprised by.

Delia stood there awkwardly for a few minutes as Nathaniel chastised her, the water slowly beginning to build in her eyes. She couldn't quite understand his need to pick on her just as soon as she had let him sit down in the first place. After all, she had only said one thing wrong. It was then that Nathaniel's eyes started to tear up along with her own and the girl looked absolutely baffled.

"I-I c-c-can't show y-y-you m-my b-b-b-bow. I-I-It has t-t-to do w-w-with my p-p-power." Delia answered the vampire quite honestly despite the fact that he was clearly guilt tripping her. Chewing on her lower lip, Delia anxiously shook her head a second time. "I-It's r-r-really p-personal." She said to him then, looking downright frightened of the vampire teen. Before the death in her family, Delia had been more than willing to talk about her power and talk about other people's powers in kind - it was an interesting new world.

It seemed as though after the death of her older brother, there was something about this place that held such a rotten after taste. She knew she was still supposed to be here for two to three more years, but the young girl often wondered about getting on one of those ships by the port and leaving forever. How would she manage? After all, her parents sent her money to the school all the time for her to use - 'specifically more with the passing of her older brother.

With a worried expression, Delia's eyes dried up momentarily. "I-I-I'm sorry, b-b-but I j-just c-c-can't g-give this t-t-to y-you." Delia reinforced her statement from before. "I-It's j-j-just t-to d-d-dangerous." She explained then, seeming to ignore her feelings of wanting to run away from the man for the time being.

He was actually about to make her cry. Hilarious, but she had already ruined his terrible mood with her non-compliance and his interest in her had almost entirely waned. What was so wrong with her that she felt she had so much to hide? Prying for her secrets could have made for a fun distraction, but in his experience teenage girl problems were rarely worth the effort, so it was time to decide whether to cut his losses or push the envelope with Delia. The choice would be made through impulse, as the case usually was for the young vampire.

"Alright, I can take a hint. I would have given it back, but you clearly don't want to talk. You can just tell me you don't want to be friends, you don't have to make excuses," Nathaniel suddenly got up and swept Delia's quiver off of the ground. The fact that this impulsive decision making process is exactly what got him into trouble in New York, memories of which were the entire reason his mood had been so terrible this evening, was lost on the vampire to his current pursuit of hedonism. A soft spring breeze greeted them in the night while he plucked an arrow out of the quiver to examine it.

"My makeup is a very personal part of my power yet you had no problem violating my privacy, so I hope it felt good to upset me," Nathaniel stood squarely in front of the girl to taunt her by shaking the quiver that he held beyond reach. The gentle rattle of arrows was offset by the slow crack of a single arrow in his grip.

"Because it kind of makes me wonder how good it would feel to upset you."

Delia shook her head anxiously at the boy as the began to talk, her heart leaping into her throat as the vampire was now in possession of her arrows. "I-I-I'm n-not making e-e-excuses!" Delia exclaimed desperately then, her stammering beginning to diminish as her face grew hot with embarrassment.

Nathaniel shook the arrows in front of the girl then and Delia watched with wide eyes as one of the arrows slipped out, the color in her face only seeming to grow as the snap of one of her arrow's echoed through the air. With wide eyes, yet narrows brows - the young girl slipped her foot underneath the arrow that fell to the ground and kicked her knee up slightly - catching the arrow as it was pushed up by her foot, an odd maneuver for a girl that appeared to be not that graceful. "W-Why do you have to be so mean!" Delia spoke again, her voice peaking just a bit as she backed up.

"A-A-All I-I d-d-did was say something and you g-g-got offended!" With tears now rolling down her cheeks, Delia wielded her arrow in her bow - the young girl's arm strength showing as she pulled the arrow and string back on her bow with ease. Taking a deep and shaky breath, Delia's eyes narrowed in a mystical way as she aimed her bow at Nathaniel - letting it loose within seconds all the while thinking to herself, rat, rat, rat, rat, rat.

A dead feeling had sunk deep into his heart and a cruel gaze fixed on hers, but the numb organ in his chest bounced enthusiastically. She was going to get hurt tonight. He was going to have his fun with her, because it would feel too good for him to care about the consequences. Nathaniel internally gave in to his desires and he shivered with joy, an expression visually emboldened by a carnal look that dominated his face. The time for games was over.

There were so many possibilities. He doubted she had many friends if any, but eventually the teachers would come looking for her - Or what was left of her. He would need to quiet her somehow, but more importantly would he make her a blood toy or a flesh toy? There was no harm in letting her fulfill both desires, he supposed, but as the sinful thoughts raced through his sadistic mind Nathaniel watched Delia swoop up an arrow. The vampire laughed in her face.

"What are you going to do, shoot me?" he taunted Delia as she pulled back the string. She held the weapon drawn on him and due to a complete lack of understanding of her power, the vampire grinned a fanged dare. "You think I actually believe you'd kill me? That a weak little bitch like you has it in her to defend herself? You're pathetic, Delia, you--" he was cut off by the arrow that impacted him at point blank.

There was no time to reconcile the fact that she had actually done it, because his entire world suddenly changed. Clothes draped over him and he scrambled through the darkness. Nothing felt right. He was different now, changed in a way he did not understand, but he recognized that he was very small, quadrupedal and he had a hell of a time scrambling to find the exit to his predicament. When he found the light of night, he squeaked in horror of the giant Delia that stood above him.

Because as he inspected his new minuscule yet agile form as best as he could, he realized she had turned Nathaniel into a rat. A hard, long tail dragged behind him as he sprinted back and forth in confusion, but an instinct told him that she held the key to turning him back. Nathaniel rapidly skittered towards Delia and he leapt for her leg, intent on climbing up her light blue sun dress to find a pocket in her jacket or some such. The only thing he knew for sure is that he couldn't let her get away or else he might find himself stuck in this new body forever.

Shock spread through Delia's system as the realization of what she had actually done hit her square in the chest. She had never intentionally hit another person with her arrows before and the terror of the consequences had her stepping back in fear. Nathaniel had poked and prodded her, seeming to egg on bad behavior.

Delia was knocked back to reality though as rat Nathaniel jumped for her leg. Letting out a brief high pitched squeak of surprise, Delia jerked her leg forward briefly and jumped back in the same instant - her leg briefly connecting with Nathaniel's new tiny body. Eyes wide with terror, Delia blurted out a quick apology "I-I'm s-s-sorry!". Seconds passed then as the girl suddenly seemed to recall the entirety of their interaction before she turned him into an animal.

Looking down at the small rat with a strange sense of coldness, Delia gathered her things and turned quickly on her heel to leave the rose garden - not bothering to tell Nathaniel that he wouldn't be in that form for too long, damning the consequences Delia threw caution to the wind - a strange thing for such a meek and shy girl.