Something from the Nightside [OPEN]

[Sidney Vincent]

[sidney]She listened to his 'type' with a somewhat wistful smile. It was kind of sad, his story but there was a warmth, a fondness when he recalled it that made it almost impossible not to smile. Little boy Lost. The words kept coming to her mind despite the age of the man beside her. He reminded her of a puppy that got kicked too often that had it's spirit broken. Still just as sweet but afraid to trust. She could relate to that in some regard.

"Mongolian Barbeque? Sounds....adventurous. I'd definitely be interested." She tilted her head and looked off to the side a bit as she contemplated it a moment before looking back to him, thinking of her plans for the following day. "Tell ya what, " she began as she looked back at him. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at around tenish? That is if you don't have any other plans. You can show me the way. And I hope you don't mind a little wind in your hair. My rental car is a convertible.

She waited as he put his email into her phone and then took it back when it was offered, slipping it into her purse and pulling out a five to lay on the table. "I should probably get going. The little old lady that runs the B&B tends to frown on late night reentries." she said with a chuckle and began to gather up her things at the table, piling them all onto the tray, giving her milkshake cup a little shake and deciding the dregs left in the bottom weren't worth keeping before placing it on the tray too.

As she stood she looked back to Adam as she held her tray, her purse over her shoulder. "It was really nice to meet you Adam."[/sidney]

[Adam Milligan]

[adam]It took a little more concentration than it should have for Adam to keep his attention on lunch plans and not on the fruit-and-sunshine smell that came from Sidney's hair when she leaned in closer to get her phone back from him. He wasn't in any shape to deal with that and he knew it, but he couldn't entirely ignore it either. She was the first person he'd talked to for longer than five minutes in his entire life (ha!) and he figured that was part of this desire to slide a hand into the bright fall of her hair and beg her not to leave. Only part, though, the other part being that she was smokin' hot and had, he had definitely noticed, an infinitely kissable mouth.

Shoving those thoughts down and away where they belonged, Adam smiled at her and was about to say something about convertibles when there was a crashing sound from the parking lot, a vehicle slamming into the brick side of the building and four people piling out of the now-crumpled Corolla with eyes gone inky black.

Adam glanced at Sidney, his eyes very round and his face a shade too pale. "That--that's definitely happening, right?" He needed to be sure before he took any action and he couldn't trust his perceptions, not about something this important.[/adam]

[Sidney Vincent]

[sidney] She had turned to dump her trash and leave the tray but the crashing sounded before she even made it one step. Her first reaction was to grab her phone and call 911, worried about the people in the car who must've been drunk or something. But as she saw those inky black eyes and the sneer of cruelty on the face of the one that looked her way, looked right through her and saw her as if he knew her she went pale as a sheet under her summer tan. The tray she'd been holding dropped with a clatter from her now numb hands and she didn't know if her legs were going to hold her up anymore.

It couldn't be real. She couldn't really be seeing this. She was so terrified and shaking so hard it was visible to the naked eye, the scent of fear spicing her blood and wafting over to the demons that were circling the place.

She took one shivering step backwards, bumping into Adam and going stiff as a board at the contact, her heart pounding faster in her chest, her breathing short and raspy. Hell of a time for an asthma attack. She couldn't answer him, at least not in the words he would have expected but her reaction made it crystal clear she was seeing what he was seeing even if it might confuse him a bit.

"No....not again..not again." her voice was a terrified whisper full of agony and terror, barely heard over the commotion the demons were creating around them. Her eyes took on the wild panic of a trapped animal and she searched for a way out.

It was simple fight or flight and she just wasn't a fighter. She bolted, running hard and fast, trying to make it to the parking lot and her car, looking over her shoulder once...right before she slammed into one of the demons and was grabbed on her upper arms as the breath left her, her bronchial tubes tightening and closing making drawing a breath agony. She needed her inhaler but she simply couldn't think logically at the moment.

"Well what do we have here?", the demon sneered and held fast to her as he looked over at Adam and smiled wickedly. [/sidney]

[Adam Milligan]

[adam]"No."

It wasn't a shout, wasn't a scream of defiance, wasn't a booming command. There was no rage or authority or might, no despair, no hatred even. It was just that one word, spoken clear, a flat denial of what was happening here.

Adam moved so calmly that it was downright eerie. Put his cigarettes and lighter into one jacket pocket. The Nook into the other. Even threw down a five for the waitress. And only then did he start walking--not charging, not sprinting, not chasing--toward Sidney and the demon who had hold of her. "This isn't happening." Just as calm as that first denial, and just as sure.

The trio of demons who were converging on Sidney and her captor all laughed, though not as hard as the average-looking guy with the hipster soul patch and overpriced hat whose eyes shone an awful black as he held Sidney in a bruising grip. "What are you doing here, piggie? Aren't you supposed to be in your cage?"

The skinny sorta-teenager just kept approaching, walking as casually toward the cluster of demons as though he were just cruising to the bus stop. "Looks like you missed a memo. While you crazy kids have been knocking over trash cans and playing mailbox baseball, the grown-ups were getting shit done."

Another laugh, and the black-eyed man looked like he couldn't even believe his own good luck as the kid kept walking toward him at that calm, even pace. Like shooting fish in a barrel. "I think you're just a bad pig. What's Grandpa going to do without his playthings? I'm thinking we should stuff you right back where you belong. Don't worry though," the demon was already shifting his grip on Sidney, getting ready to hand the gasping human girl over to one of the others so that he could deal with Adam, "he won't stay mad for long. A century, two at most."

Adam just shook his head. "You're forgetting something. You, your buddies, that pompous leprechaun you all work for."

Just barely, just a flicker of doubt, the demon wondered whether maybe Adam was right, maybe they had forgotten something. It didn't affect his sneer, nor the scorn in his tone as he asked, "What's that?"

Finally Adam was right up on the demon. He could hear the breath whistling in Sidney's throat, see the shine of tears in her eyes that might have been rage or might have been terror or might have just been the strain to get a full breath. He gave her a comforting smile before looking up at the demon, meeting those unnatural black eyes squarely. "You're forgetting," he said quietly, "that no matter how broken or crazy or abandoned I am? I am still the motherfucking Michael Sword."

His hand shot out, the heel of it pressing to the demon's forehead. White light erupted from the demon's mouth and eyes, it collapsed to the asphalt as Adam grabbed Sidney's arm and pulled her toward him, then gave her a shove back toward the restaurant. "Run!" And he was already stepping toward the three other demons, moving before they could get past their initial shock and dismay.[/adam]