Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Hot

[AngelofDeath]

((OOC: PM with interest and more details))


Alie sighed as she brushed the blond and black bangs hanging in her eyes out of the way before picking up the stack of heavy, old and dust covered books from the cart and began to replace them on their proper shelves and. Alie didn't look like the typical librarian with her multi colored hair and the small round blue tinted glasses that were perched on her nose. Your typical librarian also didn't wear ripped blue jeans and long sleeved thermals. Alie looked more like a student then a member of the faculty though she was older than everyone in the college, hellfire she was older than the college itself, a small bonus of not being human. Even though she had started life as a human, everything changed on her 17th birthday when her father came home from his travels in time for her impending marriage. It had been months since she had seen her father as he was constantly traveling all over the place selling and trading goods, and sending whatever he earned back to her and her mother by way of messenger.

The night did not hold a happy reunion as had been expected...

////1500 years ago////

Alie was curled up in the corner of her family's home, yes wide in fear as she watched the man she called "Father" kill first her fiance and then advance upon her mother. Except he wasn't a man any more, he was a monster with wings and claws. Her mother was on the other side of the room, clutching her broken left arm to her chest as blood ran from her nose and mouth, where Alie's father had struck her. Peter lay by the fireplace, a growing puddle of blood under his body, his eyes wide in death. It was an image she would never forget.

"You were always so trusting Kara. So trusting and so STUPID. If not for the fact you were such a pretty face I would have never bothered with you. You never questioned anything I did or said and it made it all the more easier to use you. I wasn't going to ever hurt you Kara, while I don't love you I have never harmed any of the women who ore my children. What was it I said though when I was last here? Hmm? WHAT WAS IT?!" Red feathered wings flexed in anger as he roared down at the quivering woman. Jakob had always been an imposing man, standing over 6ft and covered in muscle. Before this night she had never even heard her father speak in anger let alone physically attack someone.

"That...Alie was never...," Kara stammered as she looked up at her husband.

"THAT'S RIGHT! That Alie was NEVER to be married. Did you think I was kidding? I will not have you RUINING my plans that I have worked so hard on. If you had just listened to me and kept her away from Peter, the two of you wouldn't have had to die." Jakob closed in on Kara and spurred Alie into action.

"Father NO! PLEASE you can't kill her." She practically tripped over her ripped dressed as she threw herself between her parents. "Please don't," Alie broke down, "I'll do whatever you want, please just don't kill her, this isn't her fault."

Jakob reached out and ran his hand through her blond and black hair, "Alie, sweet, caring Alie. You don't have a choice in this matter, but if it makes you happy I will not kill her." She had to fight the urge to pull away from him as her father pulled her into his arms. Before she could thank him though the room began to spin and she found herself outside, outside and in the air. Her father's wings beating slightly. The night sky became bright as day as several large fireballs streamed out of the sky and slammed into her home.

"NOOO!!!! You said you wouldn't kill her!!!"

"I know I did. The fire is going to do it for me." Her mother's scream reach her ears as her father carried her away from her home and all that she knew. Alie screamed and cried until she finally passed out.

Her next memory was of waking up a The Academy. It was there she learned the truth of who and what her father was and by extension who and what she truly was. A succubus. She never saw her father again after that day and it had taken her 1000 years to gain full control of her powers. After that Alie spent her time, wandering the world, and hunting for her father. Sooner or later they would cross paths and she would repay him for his cruelty and the murder of her mother and fiance.

///Present Day - Whydam College///

Alie put the last book away and wiped her hands on her jeans. It wasn't the most exciting job, but as a being that fed of the emotions of others and no just lust like the stories said, working in the college library, put Alie in contact with all sort of people and every sort of emotion possible. Walking back to the cart she headed back for the front desk, mid terms were just around the corner and they were busier than ever and she had book requests to stack and get ready for the incoming flood of students.

At the desk she looked at the book log and smiled, her favorite person was due in today. There were few people alive today who had a genuine interest in the worlds of the occult and the supernatural, but Lucas did and Alie found the shy student interesting, even if he barely spoke more than 20 words to her on a given day. Her violet eyes sparkled as she wrote down the locations of the books he needed and put it aside while she tended to the other book request and stacked them on the desk shelves to wait for the students who needed them.

ooc:
Name: Alie
Age: 1518 looks 20
Hair: Blonde and black
Eyes: Violet
Height: 5'10
Weight: 125
Race: Succubi

[NickisSora]

.......

[Chgris]

To any observer, it was obvious that the tall, athletic young man was in a hurry to reach his destination. Quite a few of the students on the quad gave him greetings, but he always responded merely with a wave or nod of his blond head.

Lucas Caine was in a hurry to reach the college library. After eight long years of sifting through moldy bookshelves in antique and curio shoppes, he had finally found something new for his collection. The librarian, Alie, had said she would give him access, [b]supervised[/i] access to the college rare book archive.

He quickened his pace, anxious to see if there would be anything real in the stacks. Alie had said she thought she had something of interest to him, and he hoped she was right. Of course, just knowing he would be spending time near her was something to look forward to. Lucas couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something about her just seemed to put him at ease.

And for Lucas, who had seen something on the way home from wrestling practice eight years ago that no thirteen year old should ever have to see, being at ease was a novel feeling. So far, his occult obsession hadn't determined just what he had seen tear the heart from the old man in the alley, but ever since that day he had devoted all his energy to two things. Self-defense in all forms, from martial arts to swords and axes, and the occult.

"And now, maybe, I'll finally have something real to check what it was," he thought as he opened the library door.

[AngelofDeath]

Alie turned her head as she handed off the stack of books to another student, when Lucas came strolling in. 'Right on time as always' "I was wondering if you were going to show up or not Luca," she teased playfully. Lucas was always punctual if Alie let him know that there was something that would interest him in on the shelves. Grabbing the note bad from the desktop not that she actually needed it she came around and smiled at him. "Lucky you its slow at the moment." Lucas was nice, nice in a way that reminded her of Peter. It was probably why she went the extra mile to make sure there was always something for him to read, even if it meant calling around to other libraries to find it.

Then again it was that same niceness that would keep her from trying to start something with him. Hellfire she avoided entanglements with humans all together, her sex life suffered for it and it did limit the opportunity to freely feed on someone, but the fact was when and if she caught up with Jakob, Alie didn't want someone else to die because of her.

"So," she waved the key, to the rare books collection in front of him as they walked, "are you ready to go where few students have gone before?" Anticipation and excitement simply oozed from every part of him, letting her know just how much he was actually looking forward to this.

[Chgris]

Lucas found himself tongue-tied the moment Alie spoke to him. Whatever it was about her, other than her obvious good looks, as soon as she spoke a word to him it was as if the entire world just went away for a moment. He had been with his share of the girls on campus, and none of them had this effect on him. If he hadn't been so intent on his research, it would have been an itch he just had to scratch: what was it about her?

Tearing his eyes from Alie, he locked them on the key she waved in her hands. And nearly choked at the double-entendre. Looking to her smiling eyes, he shook it off, figuring she couldn't have been aware of it. "More than ready," he answered. "If half of what you told me is here, then this is what I've been waiting all my life for." He followed her anxiously, eyes darting between the key and her bottom as she lead the way.

[AngelofDeath]

Alie arched an eyebrow at Lucas, her violet eyes trying to figure out what he meant by that, shrugging she led the way to the stairs, they were faster than the elevator and lead the way down to the special collections. Lucas' eyes stayed glued to her ass through most of their travel down, not that she blamed him. The jeans were skin tight and a few well worn rips and tears gave her even more of the disheveled student look than the proper faculty member she was supposed to be. "I had to come down and catalog everything for the new computer database and found a few books that would interest you. Luckily they are in good condition, they don't have to be kept in the glass cases never to be read, just looked at."

Once they were downstairs she unlocked the door and pushed the door open, "Welcome to Shangri-la, Lucas." Alie smirked as she led the way in. Walking over to one of the shelves she pulled two thick volumes and one small journal down and then laid them down on the table. "Hopefully these catch your interest. The journal belonged to the man that wrote both of these. While these are more of like an encyclopedia of the supernatural, the journal details supposed encounters and observations of his own that he made through the years before age and time caught up with him. Fascinating reads, actually, even if the guy was probably a bit mad."

Alie always played it off as though she really didn't put much stock in that the supernatural, but never mockingly. She knew encouraging Lucas was probably a bad idea though. There were things who went bump in the day as well as they dark that preferred to go unnoticed by humans and had no problem killing those who found them out.

[Chgris]

Lucas reached out eagerly to the books. "Thank you, Alie," he said quietly. "It sounds like exactly what I was looking for." He sat and began to read through the journal, becoming absorbed on the observations and writings of the unnamed author. Periodically he would pick up one of the other two volumes, and flip through the pages, comparing what he found to the journal.

Pulling a notepad out of his pack, he began to feverishly take notes, painstakingly copying symbols and layouts of diagrams. Setting the pad back to the side, he dove back into the journal, spending hours flipping from book to book, copying page after page of notes. As he came near the end of the journal, he froze, his face going blank, his eyes slipping shut as he saw what he had seen that night described in the pages. Red feathered wings, talons, horns, coal black eyes that seemed to glow...

Snapping back to life, he began to flip through the journal, searching for a reference or a protection or banishment spell.

[AngelofDeath]

Alie had considered leaving Lucas down there or even letting him check the books out, but both actions were against policy. The odds of her getting fired were long odds, considering she had been working there for so long and for countless years only reinventing herself time and time again. Lucas' butt would have been in the sling right with hers so it was easier to busy herself entering information into the computer and shelving books that needed to be unpacked as well. As the hands moved on the clock face she would look back at Lucas to see how things were going. She was surprised to see him taking notes by the dozen. When she had the chance Alie was going to have thumb through that journal. The only reason she hadn't already was simply because the succubus was fairly certain the writer of the books wouldn't know an elf from a dryad if he saw one.

Getting up from the desk she stretched and yawned, the thermal lifting up to show off what looked like a tattoo covering her lower back since the jeans were riding low on her hips. In truth it was the mark of her clan, or rather her father's clan. It was a drop of blood encircled with flame. The mark had appeared a few days before her father had turned her world upside down. At first it has looked liked a simple birthmark, but through the centuries and coming into her power the colors had bled through. It was the only link to her heritage she couldn't hide no matter what form she took. The mark was like a calling card to other cubi, told them what clan she belonged to and if she should be avoided at all costs.

Walking over to Lucas she sat on the table and leaned over to see what he was doing, "Find anything interesting in there?"

[Chgris]

Lucas froze momentarily as Alie spoke. he had been so absorbed in searching for a way to counter or banish the thing, no the demon he had seen that night, he hadn't even heard her approach.

The sudden surprise, coupled with the flashback of seeing the demon, had him rolling backward out of his chair into a defensive crouch, hands up and ready to strike, his fingers twisting into a Warding Sign he had seen described in an old book claiming to be defensive magics, before his conscious mind recognized her voice. He quickly straightened, embarrassed at how foolish the display must have looked to her. And doubly embarrassed that he had done it in front of Alie.

"Ummm... no. Well...yes, I mean. It's all interesting, that is..." his words trailed off as he saw the pattern on her back, his hands slowly rising in front of him again.

[AngelofDeath]

Lucas's action made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Not because he was weird, but because she had seen those movements before. You didn't live that long without running into at least one person who knew how to wipe the floor with you when regular hand to hand wouldn't cut it. When he relaxed Alie did as well until Lucas' eyes landed on her back.

Alie's mind flashed back to one of the first classes she had taken at the Academy; Avoidance. Sure they were pretty much immortal, and powerful, but they weren't all powerful and unkillable. When in doubt lie your way out of trouble or use whatever powers or spells were at hand. She liked Lucas too much to mess with his head, so lying it was.

"Teen age rebellion," she pulled the thermal down slowly. "I saw it up on the wall of the tattoo shop and figured, hey looks cool so why not? So Mr. Ninja Scholar do you have any more classes today? I'm going to be off the clock soon and figured if you want we could go grab something to eat and," she reached out and flipped the journal closed, "you could take this home at least for today to finish your note taking."

Hopefully the lure of her company and more time with the journal would gt him to relax.

[Chgris]

Lucas slowly relaxed. "Come on, Lucas!" he chided himself. "Give it a rest. the odds of you finding these books and Alie being a demon? Why not go buy a lottery ticket?"

He forced a smile on his face, then really heard what she had said, and the smile turned genuine. "Eat and notes?" he asked. "I'd love to. But won't you get in trouble for taking the book out of the library?" He couldn't decide which was the more enticing. The chance to continue his research, or the chance to spend time with Alie. "And you do realize, that I'm going to have every guy and half the girls on campus glaring daggers at me? They're all afraid to ask you out even for a coffee."

He waked back to the table, and started to gather his notes, the sneaky, suspicious part of his mind wondering how he could get a better look at her 'tattoo'.

[AngelofDeath]

"One I don't date children and that is how the majority of them act. So even if they do ask they would get shot down. The rest are simply trying to get into my pants. And this journal has better odds than they do." Winking she picked the journal up and returned to the desk where she pulled out a plastic sleeve used for more fragile editions and then tucked the small journal into the back of her pants. "Told ya. As for getting in trouble, can't get in trouble for a book that hasn't been cataloged yet."

She shut the computer down and picked up the key for the room, "Now let's get going. I don't know about you but I am starving." Alie put the other books back on the shelves and after they were out of the room, shut the light off and locked the door. "I have to grab my bag from upstairs otherwise I'd say we'd just take the other exit."

They headed back upstairs and after a quick look told her that the older members of the staff were occupied Alie stashed the journal in her messenger bag and clocked out before heading out of the library with Lucas in tow. "So anywhere in particular you want to eat? I can go for anything really?" Normally she would have kept her distance but something nagged at Alie that it paid to get to know Lucas better.

[Chgris]

Lucas thought for a minute, then realized that going out anywhere would mean that he'd have to toss some of the ingredients he had cut up that morning. Worst of all, the buckwheat noodles that were soaking would be wasted. "Ah, Hell," he thought. "Worst she can do is say no and we go somewhere else."

"Actually, Alie, and this is going to sound like some terrible line, but I swear it isn't," he said in a rush. "I had laid out some stuff to cook tonight, and if I don't at least stop at my place quick to put it away, I'll have to toss it." He looked sidelong at her. "See, I told you it would sound like a cheap ploy to get you to my place. Eh, it's only some chicken and buckwheat noodles, I can always get more."

"We can go anywhere really, so long as they have something other than fish." The one food he couldn't stand. If it came from the water, he'd as soon throw it back.

[AngelofDeath]

She laughed as they walked down the library steps, "You are right it does sound like a very sneaky way to ask me out AND get me back to your place. I hate seeing good food go to waste though. So let's go put your food away and then we can settle on where to eat. I could go for a nice burger and fries really."She pushed her tinted glasses up and they started the walk cross campus. Having snooped through his records she knew that Lucas lived within walking distance of the campus, same as she, though Alie lived in the other direction.

"So since you seem to know so much, just how many of your classmates are drooling after my shadow?" She stopped short of asking him about what he thought of her, since Alie was always aware of when he looked at her, or when anyone looked at her for longer than a moment.

[Chgris]

Lucas nodded his head in thanks, leading the way across campus toward the studio loft he rented. Hmmm...rented probably wasn't a good word, since his family trust owned the building, and it was otherwise empty.

"Hmm... well, at least half the football team has the hots for you. I know the entire chess team, both guys and girls fantasize about you when they should be plotting chess strategy." He smiled shyly at her. "And you're my secret weapon in fencing. I mention I have an appointment, and the opening magically appears."

He lead her up the stairs of the old brownstone unlocking the bolts on his door, thumb traveling over the door jamb in a practiced motion, wiping away the patterns drawn in colored chalk. "Well, come on in," he said.

[AngelofDeath]

'Protection wards. Interesting' Yeah she was going to find out more about Lucas. "Well I suppose that doesn't surprise me. I guess I never really notice too much, you get used to it and it is college after all. Everyone fawns after everyone else at some point or another." When Lucas was walking through the door way Alie, took a quick look around to make sure there wasn't anything that was going to bounce her ass back.

Unlike other demons Cubi were Earth based so they couldn't be banished to Hell or any other realm. There were plenty of wards and sigils out there that could disrupt their powers, bind them and otherwise fuck their day up. Once she was sure she headed in behind him. "Nice place," not only were there a ton of books, but the walls held various weapons. "Well its nice to know you have other interests than just the strange and what goes bump in the night," Alie inclined her head towards the swords on the wall.

[Chgris]

Lucas went to the kitchen are of the studio, draining the buckwheat noodles and transferring the chicken to a sealable container. Looking up at Alie's comment he saw her examine his collection.

"Oh, those. Ummm...yeah. You've discovered one of my secrets." He walked over to join her, pointing out the various makes of the swords. He had most everything from a rapier to a true katana. But his favorite was a plain broadsword, three feet of razor edged steel with a wire wrapped leather bound hilt. "I practice with them whenever I get a chance. It's the exercise and concentration, really. It helps to focus the mind for...other things."

He looked quickly to the corner where, damn it all, he had left the candles and chalk after he had drawn his last set of protective runes. Hoping to divert Alie, he quickly asked. "So, where did you want to eat?"

[AngelofDeath]

Alie shrugged lightly, "Mmm we could always go to the Firehut diner around the corner. They have a pretty varied menu, and I could go for one of their burgers right about now." She had seen the protection rune, but from the looks of it as long as sh didn't actually try to harm Lucas she was in the clear. Protection charms were all about intent, and in her case, as long as Lucas didn't turn out to be some demon hunter, there would be no reason to try and hurt him. Just to be on the safe side though, Alie kept her distances from the wall.

"Oh yeah before I forget," She opened her bag and pulled out the journal. "Here you go. I know you'll keep it all in one piece or I wouldn't have done this." Jakob if he could see her would probably be violently ill to see her not using Lucas for what he could give her, energy to feed off of and a child to bolster the clan's numbers.

[Chgris]

Lucas took the book from her with a murmured thanks, and walked to the corner where his candles and chalk lay. Reaching to the wall he slid a small panel side and typed in a code, opening a concealed gun safe, and locking the book inside.

Turning back to Alie, he led her to the door, locking it behind him. "Firehut sounds good," he said. "And while we walk, maybe I can pry some information about you out of you. After all, you just got to see at least two of my secrets in my collection and the safe." not thinking at all, he did what any normal male might do when walking with a pretty girl. He reached down and unconsciously took her right hand in his left as they walked.

[AngelofDeath]

"Trust me Lucas, I am not really all that exciting. As for your secrets, we all have interests most would think are out there," hers included since they involved making her suffer in way that would scare any human or demonkin. When he had taken his hand Alie had gone still for a second. It had been awhile since anyone had held her hand. Even though she had made friend while at the Academy, Alie had let very few get close to her. It was probably do to the fact that if it took her death to take Jakob down, it was a sacrifice she was willing to make. It was nice though and for a moment it made her feel normal.

"So just what do you want to know Lucas?"It would probably be the usual stuff; Why Whyndam? Why did no one ever see her in class? Why work in the Library? She could have just opened herself to his thoughts, but she had learned early on enough that most people thought about the most boring and tedious things and other thought about things you never really wanted in your own headspace

[Chgris]

"What do I want to know?" he walked along, trying to appear nonchalant, but something about her just kept twanging a nerve. "Why did you show me those books?" Then it hit him. "And why did you recognize the warding Sign that I was preparing to use when you surprised me?"

[AngelofDeath]

Alie shrugged, "You like the occult and the supernatural. I figured you'd like the chance to look at them, since they aren't going to be in the regular listing. If you haven't noticed I do tend to go above and beyond to make sure everyone can find what interests them in the library." And then Lucas got to the heart of things. Of course she wasn't stupid enough to admit to what she was.

"You are the only one who has peculiar interests Lucas. Mine just happen to be a bit varied and wide spread. When I was at boarding school I took an elective in the occult. Mind like a steel trap, so I had seen it before. Trust me Lucas if I was some big bad demon, don't you think I would do my best to make sure you wouldn't be a threat to me? I mean handing you a book like that journal would giving you the ability to stop me." Alie then laughed softly, "Not that demons exist that is."

[Chgris]

"Alie, if the Signs are real and work, and wards I put on my doors are real and work, then they were created for a reason," he said, stopping their walk and pulling her to face him. He was determined to ward her off from learning anything more of the occult. There were things that didn't like being investigated. "Please, Alie, don't do any more research into those things. It's not safe. There are some things that just don't like being researched."

[AngelofDeath]

Alie laughed, "Lucas I think you've had your head in the books for too long. Relax." She patted his cheek gently, "So come on I know that's not all you want to know, so make with the other questions." They were about halfway to Firehut at this point. Lucas' concern was touching, of course if any of them should be worried about the other it was her. Alie knew that by giving him the journal she was also putting a target on his back.

She didn't know why he seemed so determined to learn all that he could, but the best thing for him really was to have her looking over his shoulder and sort of steering his quest for knowledge.

[Chgris]

For a minute, Lucas was ready to tell her what he had seen that night, what had started his life down the path he had taken. Then he shrugged, why involve Alie in it? "Other questions? What, like where you disappear to after you leave the library every night? Which classes you are taking, since I don't see you anywhere but the library?" He laughed. "Those questions? The kind that would make me seem like a normal college kid, or a crazed stalker?"

He shook his head, laughing and taking her hand again. "No, Alie. I'm not going to pry into your personal life that way. If you tell me those things, then you will, but that's up to you. I think I have a couple better ones. And the second depends on the first. The first is 'Why me?' What made you suddenly decide after all this time to offer to grab something to eat?" he looked down at their joined hands as though realizing for the first time that he was holding her hand. Squeezing it gently, he finished. "The second would be 'Can we do this again'? It sounds silly, since we haven't even eaten, but I like you Alie. You didn't freak when I overreacted in the library, and you haven't made any comments about my," he paused, screwing up his face into a frightened stare "My obvious case of delusional paranoia at having and knowing how to use all those weapons."