#300. tender is the night for a broken heart _ drabbles

[wickedandtrue]

Voices blurred lines between reality and dark daydreams. Falling away left her vulnerable, alone. Oh so cold is the night. Even so that night was her beacon enrapturing, enfolding her in safety. A killer’s arms can become holy. His touch burned something in her she never expected nor would experience again. It is true. She had not felt this again since that time they were entwined. She dreams of it now. Lost to sobering realization she had to ‘die’ to make it out alive; Stefani stiffed from her nightmares. 

She barely regained consciousness. There is enough to hear. Those voices grew clearer. Prominent in their firm assessment of the situation she recognized one. Familiar deep and raspy tones fueled her need to open her eyes. They remained closed. 

She fought to make her eyelids move. A flutter. No sense. Just an urge but instead she continued in her silence. 

“The bullet is still there.” Corvus’ voice. He is here. Did he whisk her away somewhere as those explosions went off? Vaguely she recalls his command. Blow the compound. Yes. Yes! Holland Frost’s domain destroyed.... 

Stefani itched to move. Her fingers met skin. Warmth. A palm covered her limp hand purposely. 

Corvus radiated an unmistakable presence. He held an aura unlike any other person she had met. Those who thought The Dragon was imposing they were correct. But this? This is an altogether differing poise, darkness incarnate but she could drown in that endless black void. 

“Stefani.” 

Yes, my beautiful moon. If she could speak she would. 

“Rest here my Ivy. I will return.” 

Return from where? That is not-

“Corvus!” 

Her body rose sharply. Digging fingers into the covers draped all around, she took quick breaths as her eyes wildly searched the room. Dark. Quiet. Just her by herself in this strange bed. It is not Villa Rosa. She remembers exactly what the manor looked as. This is somewhere else. 

She gasped in the rapid movement. Immediately her palm slid to her side. Painful. Hurting to breathe at intervals, oh so obvious. The bullet she stopped. She was quick enough to prevent it striking him then. Good. 

Getting out of bed took a flip of blankets and slide onto bare feet. Her huff is born of frustration and physical ache. It seems she survived another death. “Another day to die,” she whispered, gathering a robe left draped at the foot of the bed. Her palm splayed against the silk. Smooth and fashionable red. Stefani knew better than to question where it came from. Before she put it on, however, she reached to pull up her camisole. 

Her head tilted to examine the wound. She peeled at the bandage. Needing to see exactly what - “......” Stitches. Did he sow her up? 

Taxidermy birds adorned his villa. Those she cannot forget. He did sow her. 

“Corvus?” she called, slipping the robe over her figure. Her palms pushed at the door in a brace. The pain is still there. Moving too fast dizzied her but she must. She has to. The door opened before she made another step.

“Ms Thys.”

“.....George?” It is. George! She smiled. “George! It’s you....” 

With her surprise a wave swelled. Her head. She put a hand to her forehead and easily let the familiar man guide her back towards the bed. But she perked up. “Wait - where is he?” 

“Getting some supplies.” George made clear. “Come on now. Take a seat.”

“You are a sight.” 

He huffed out a chuckle. “Yeah, well, I could say the same. You took a bad one there Miss Thys.” 

“I had to.” She let him know with those simple words. After all this time and distance it did not matter. “Is he still angry?” 

George helped place her down in a comfortable position before he bothered to entertain her question. Considering he got Elijah over here and they fixed her up.... “Can’t say. You know how he is.” Seemed funny of him to comment but the man has been around Corvus for some years. He’s the only original one in his employ save for Lorelei back at the villa. Loyalty goes both ways. He has a reason for his that he keeps private. 

“Funny,” the young woman realizes, adjusting the robe. “How he never changes. Not even in his anger or complications.” 

“Bet you have your own.” 

Stefani laughed a little. Irony is a cruel one in this. “Oh? You mean my death? I do.” 

“You gotta tell me, Steffy.” 

Oh so he’s using that tactic. How long has it been since she heard him call her that cute little name? George always was a good man. Former military stuck in the employ of a murderer now. Amazing how fates and destinies align in the universe. Everyone has their own unique story. Hers is even more complex. “The Dragon,” a whisper, a word of warning. “I had no choice. You and Corvus are the only ones who knew of him. He found me. I had to protect.” 

George sighed. He nodded. “Let’s get you something to eat.” 

“Wait! Corvus,” she shifted up onto the bed, curling her legs up for a comfortable lounge. “Why did he bring me here?”

“The Villa is dangerous right now.” 

“Dangerous? Wh-?”

“There’s a revolution brewing. With the androids....” 

mention: @creation-is-chaos​

[wickedandtrue]

The blade entered with little resistance. Striking from behind left the outside guard in a gurgle of his own blood. Stefani twisted and yanked her stiletto blade free. He dropped and she stepped over his body with a flair for light footwork. Without shoes it is easier to maneuver. This will make it quicker to get him out. 

“Come this way.” 

She said over her shoulder, pausing to watch as a second man faded under the strangle of Corvus. It was a sight to witness. A dawning chill ran up her spine. Knowing what he is capable to this day can only push the icy realism of fear. It is part of why she was so good not to draw ire unnecessarily from him back then. Even so she had a knack for getting under his skin. Would it still be the same?

“Corvus-” his name died on her lips. 

His hands cupped her face, roughly. She released a gasp. Gripping onto his wrists is all she could do. Her eyes widened up into his. The darkness of his gaze she sunk into succumbing to that familiar ebony sea. She could never forget it. 

“You lied to me.” He whispered.

“Yes.” One small confirmation could bring her death but anything is better than The Dragon finding her. “I had to.” Even in his grip there is that ever flowing energy. He managed to pull it from her during the very first months she hid here in the city. Far away from Tokyo and her father’s betrayal, Stefani found the smoldering red of Scarlet Lounge. It took so much willpower not to show her face there for so long. 

Stefani curled fingers atop his hand. “Corvus, if you knew.... The Dragon found me. I had to die.” Partially her reasoning, she used her word and her lips brushing to his palm when she turned her face into his deadly touch. His skin stained with the burgundy of her lipstick. He let go then. “Corvus?” Unsteady. Gripping his head. Something is wrong and it’s not just the beating they were giving him. 

She grabbed at him when he reeled on his feet. Fastening an arm around his waist steadied him. “She did use something on you.” Frost said plenty of things. People like her gloat about their power. Who else would understand that type of thing if living around it all her life? 

“Injection.” Corvus swallowed. Righting himself, he needs help from no one. However his body would not allow him to cooperate with his ideology. His mind is still dangerous. “I recall it now. Mind drug.” 

“Mind drug. Mind control?” It sounds so far fetched. She knew better. “Look at me.” Commanding him to give her his eyes, Stefani stroked his jaw. A soothing brushing of her thumb smoothed along his goatee. The action became a ritual when they were together. “You have a fever. But I have a way to fix what she did. At least there is a way she has here.” 

“What way?” Unaware of how she would know all he can think of is her with Frost. Why she was here in the first place. 

“You forget. I live on stealth. I saw a lab. Overheard a discussion. There is an antidote. It can reverse the effects.” Curious how he is so quiet now. That is always his nature though. A quiet death. She often liked to listen to him breathe at night. Just a poignant silence as he appeared so docile among satin sheets and nighttime. “We have no time.” 

“No. Time is death.” Shifting away from her, he forced himself to straighten. “Give me your other blade.” 

Stefani pursed lips before they perked into a smile. “You remember.” An airy tease left her lips sliding her hand down against her thigh. Hiking up her skirt showed off the smooth skin and the weapon holster securing her second little surprise. She lifted it and flipped the knife over in her hand. 

His fingers swiped against hers to take it in his grasp. His gaze darkened. Fixing on her face, Corvus reeled again from her presence. No longer lost but found. She is alive. This is no figment of his imagination brought on by this intoxication. Foggy mind. Bitter heart. Endless rage. The Raven is flown. Cawing his vengeance in a swoop down, the man did just that as he pushed through the compound. 

An alert went off. Pinpointing his escape does make this vital. Blood spills with the slash of the knife. Corvus cuts open the throat of a man immediately. Another attempting to do their job. Holland has enough expendable men. Loyalty is not one of her strong suits. 

“I found it!” Stefani called out to him. Picking up a key card from one of the dead guards and swiping it opened the door. She slipped through and held up her knife threatening the startled doctor there. “Good evening darling. I need you to point me to what I want. Then I won’t cut your tongue out. Does that sound good?”

By the time he nodded there was little time. They had to be quick. Ordering him to hand over the vial, Stefani secured it in her thigh holster. “Thank you for being sweet.” She cooed, slamming an elbow into the scientist’s face. 

Corvus moved behind and studied the unconscious man. “Very astute.” 

She smiled. “You act so surprised.” Stefani moved around to face him then. “I have it. The exact serum they were talking about earlier. It should stop what-” 

“Get DeVille!” 

“Look out!” Straining to push him aside cleared him as a shot rang off. Echoing in the room and slicing through her burst with immediate pain. The bullet struck knocking her down. Her blade flew down in clatter but she managed to cup a hand to her thigh. Protecting the vial in her landing is all she could act to do. 

Her breath escaped raspy, staggered. Stefani tilted her head. Watching as a pair of raven shoes moved into view she realized that man’s screams were in due part to what just occured. Corvus swooped upon him. A vulture of death. A - “....beautiful moon....” the nickname of old danced on her breath. 

He pulled her up from the floor. “My Ivy.” 

A small smile reflected through the pain. “Ivy....I always loved that name. I was such pretty poison. That is what you said after the first time I woke up in your bed at the villa.” 

“Oracle.” 

Who is Oracle? She willed herself to ask but no words could form. 

“Blow the compound....” 

Stefani barely registered those words. Blow. Compound. 

Her body transformed to a feather. Carried away now, dangling lax in his arms, she could only hear distant shouts. Voices blended as her vision blurred. No longer feeling herself sent her somewhere else. As the fire rained down with thunderous booms she knew there was an outlet away from Frost’s domain. This came with the shift in air. It was chilly. The night was cold in Detroit but fires blazed as Holland’s compound went up in smoke. 

feat. @creation-is-chaos​ mention. @cyberneticxcollective​

[wickedandtrue]

Detroit bleeds red in the sweltering heat of the night. Shadows dance across pavement with the thunderous clicks of black dragon stiletto heels. They’re an expense among the filthy street scuffing underneath her steady stride. Superficial means to the naked eye but she comes from somewhere far more sequestered among the grime of criminal exploits. It could hardly be noticeable on mere glance. She’s another face in the crowd. At times her red stained lips make her stand out but tonight was going to be a different thrill of events.

Thrills are a small shrill away from danger. She escaped it not once but twice. Oh but did it prick with a poison tip to the heart.

She stopped at the corner. Unsnapping her black purse she removed a casing of lipstick. The shade itself spoke her primary dance tonight.

“Scarlet enriches your lips my ivy...”

The flashback is raw. It’s resounding on a familiar deep raspy drawl she still equates to nightmares and dreamscapes. That is a poignant little thing. Dangerous. Risky to have on her mind but it happens. Sometimes a wish to go back for another taste of absolute venom seeps into her bloodstream. The will to get away was a feat in and of itself. It had to happen. One way to survive is rely on instincts. Hideaway from it all. She thought it was accomplished until she heard footsteps bounding up behind.

She slid the makeup stick back with a twist. Applying a fresh coat left her lips moist. She dropped it into her purse. Lifting her dark mascaraed eyes up, she didn’t budge an inch. “Do you always sneak up on unsuspecting girls?”

Her question is thick with sensuality. The perfect cover. Seduction is a better makeup than Max Factor. She swiveled around on heels. Expecting someone else, Stefani froze, lips parted slightly before she pursed them. In that moment she took time to smooth the lipstick evenly.

“Sorry,” she apologized to the woman. “Thought you were someone else.” At least not expecting a woman to lurk up on her. Stefani oftentimes receives looks from wandering men on the street. Most of them are overweight inattentive slobs; they reminded her of some of her father’s ‘friends’ in Tokyo. Just their aesthetic alone.

“Oh I believe I am exactly who you need me to be. Stefani Thys.”

The smile cracked. Falling down. No one knows her name anymore here. She shifts on her heels, sliding a palm against her thigh. Her fingers twitch but she remains still. “Who are you? Answer me good and we’ll see what happens.”

The older woman stepped closer. Revealing herself better in the streetlight, the blonde smiled. “Most call me Frost.” Holland motioned at the other end of the street. “And those are my boys. Watching us.”

Stefani immediately glanced. Hiding in shadowy corners. Typical. “Prepared,” she says. “A woman after my own heart.”

“Survival of the fittest my dear. I am sure you understand that. Though I know what really is after your heart.” Making an assumption is more than this. Frost has eyes on everything. Elijah Kamski is not the only one. Pity he still knows nothing about dear DeVille. “Or had been.”

“Really?” Questioning her meaning could never hide the obvious thoughts in her mind. Still she wanted to know why approach her? Why find her? She did well to erase her name, existence in this city too. “Well, Frost. What is it you want with me? I must say you might be a little old for me.” Stefani smiled on purpose.

Holland matched her little gesture. A short laugh followed as the woman slid a hand up against the younger girl’s face. “You have quite a tongue. I find it hard to believe no one cut it out yet. Enough chit chat, Miss Thys. I have something worthwhile for you.”

“Worthwhile?” A snort. Stefani nudged her arm away. “Where have I heard that before? I don’t know exactly who you are but I am hardly unintelligent. Therefore I think you should go and let me get back home.” Attempting to step beyond this woman got her nowhere. It was a feeling before it even happened.

“The past always comes back, Miss Thys. The Dragon knows. The Dragon speaks.”

Shivers. All over she feels it now. Enough it is to stop her and she twists around on her heels, glaring at this woman now. This Frost. Icy and bringing that name here of all places.  She inhales sharp, terrified for the first time. “You know The Dragon?”

Holland tilts her head ever so slightly. “My dear girl. I know everyone. You will see that soon enough. Your beautiful moon calls.”

feat: @cyberneticxcollective​​

[wickedandtrue]

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