~ A Pebble that Started an Avalanche ~

[tyra]

The ma in front of her facial expression didn’t change as she spoke of her ability to soothe others as well. It was truly a lycanthrope ability that true leaders possessed. She had never thought about it from a magical point of view. Did comforting others come with a price as well? Many of times Tyra had performed such acts and things had come of her. What happened to those who used magick behind something that could have been relatively positive? Curiosity slowly started to take over her mind, but no words passed through her lips. It wasn’t important at the moment, especially when she had bigger things to tackle. Were there other people alive than what was told to her? Hazel eyes looked at the flames as they waves slowly from left to right as if an invisible force was playing ping-pong with it. Tyra did remember having talks with her grandmother about spells as using nature as a tool to aid her. She remembered being showed different styles of daggers and swords that could be used during a rite. Her grandmother also should her how to perform a blood ritual that Tyra had to swear not to tell her parents. Very vaguely, she recollected her mother and grandmother arguing about magical practices. Was the darker part of their nature the center of their argument? That was many years ago and so much had happened since then. Tyra never knew what happened to her grandmother nor did aunt Merith speak of her. Was she still alive? What had happened to her if she wasn’t? Her mother, grandmother, and aunt Merith were the only charmers she knew of.

It was almost on cue as Mikel spoke of charmers not living long. Her eyes cut back to the man before her. Maybe her grandmother had passed on, but it would have been nice to know how she had died. Tyra did understand that charmers were the black sheep out of all magicians. What she didn’t understand was to what extent that had made them the outcasts. The history had never been explained to her, she just knew she was one and knew her abilities and spells. It was very unsettling to know that she was probably on many hit lists besides the one Mikel had created. Tyra tried not to dwell on that thought as her head tilled sideways. ”What do you mean signed off on,” she questioned. Maybe he was being sarcastic. The short haired female always had a hard time understanding sarcasm during a serious discussion. There were times when she was too serious and became cold-hearted as a result of it. The Nimir-Ra did not like to play around when it came down to business. Life wasn’t a joking and being a queen of a clan waasn’t either. She has tried to not which into that mindset, but there were times that required it. Her Pard hated when she was like that, but she had to be the mother and priorities came before pleasure. Tyra didn’t like games because she would always be bold enough to get to the point. Hopefully, Mikel was taking this conversation just as seriously as she was. Of course it would be nice for a little ice breaker that would make her smile, but she did not like it suddenly sprung upon her.

Tyra listened to the charmer speak of cross breading and being a Nimir-Ra as she shook her head. She did not know if Mikel understood what it meant to be a clan leader and not everyone reached that potential. ”I was not born a queen. Over time, I developed abilities that only a king or queen possessed. I had more stamina and could withstand certain things and situations. Not every alpha has the potential to be a king or queen and not every king or queen has the capability of running a clan besides having the ability to call their kind to them. You have to be mentally prepared because you are responsible of caring for others. Not ever leader is willing to protect those in their clan.,” she said and gave a nod with a small smile to Mikel respecting her.”When I was born, one gene did not cancel the other.” Tyra shrugged and ran her tongue across her lips. She thought about what the charmer had said and she did yearn for something, but never knew what. ”I do, but never understood it. Most of the time I ended that feeling with a spell or a good hunt.” Her back pressed against the cushion as she stared at Mikel with questionable eyes. ”What do you do?.” He left her hanging so she had to ask.

[mikel]

It was a natural question for Tyra to ask and one that Mikel had really sort of set up for her. She didn’t really have any other option than to ask what it was exactly that he did. Mikel was a charmer and he did exactly what charmers were designed and created to do. It was something about their history that was very distinct and unique to any other race in the world. Charmers only had one purpose in the world and Mikel knew how to do that one purpose extremely well and rather enjoyed it. Charmers were to cause chaos to the world and nothing more. Charmers were a race that had been given their abilities by who some would call the devil himself. Mikel had done quite a bit of research on the topic of the charmer’s original history but there were many things missing and unaccounted for. Even Mikel could not find all the evidence of his race’s history. Still though, Mikel’s mentor had taught him enough to know about the purpose of his existence and the dark calling on his life. Mikel could feel it in his bones, feel it in his heart and in the deepest parts of his mind. Mikel would never deny his true purpose to another charmer because no matter the original feelings or affiliations, moral standings or philosophies, Mikel knew that deep down there was the want to cause mayhem and chaos. That part of them was more ingrained into a charmer’s being than the blood that flowed through their veins.

There was a shift in Mikel’s tone and it went from being very calm and collected to being much more assertive and authoritative. Some people would find it odd that Mikel would be as proud of his murderous history as he was but Mikel had no problem being who he was and even less of a problem telling people. Mikel took a deep breath, straightened his back, his body fully erect as he spoke. “I am a hunter, a disrupter, someone that causes mischief mayhem and discord for the sheer fun of it. I do not pretend to appeal to the better half of people but I enjoy taking what better halves they may have and turning themselves against one another. It is a talent of mine to know how to manipulate people to cause the most problems that I can. In fact, I cannot remember a recent disaster in the states that I didn’t have a part in. You remember September eleventh some nine years ago now. I had a part in getting those men on board. The murder of Martin Luther King was done by a man not who you think, the same for Jimmy Carter.” Mikel paused, letting his words sink in a bit more. He knew that they were going to hit her very hard. His spells were continuing though so that she was still calm, or relatively calm. Mikel knew that this sort of information would hit anyone hard no matter their moral affiliations. Tyra seemed to be rather good too. Mikel could change that over time. Mikel continued.

“All in all my dear, I am an arbiter of death, an agent of chaos and an extremist for dissention. This is my job, my description and my title. I have hunted down charmers and they are never heard from again. My life’s goal is to utterly uproot the very heart of society as we know it and not simply for the humans. You and I can share an equal distain for vampires. They will be the first on my list to uproot from power. Democracy will fail and if I am the cause of such chaos then my job is complete. I will never be in a history book, never be in a magazine or article for the things I have done and the people I have killed and yet I will have more cause in the change of things in the world than any other. Great thinkers like Socrates, Plato, Einstein and the like would have little to say about the world that I plan to make. It won’t be long now before you truly understand the complexities of what I speaking. I don’t expect you to understand right now but you will…” Mikel paused and stared off into space for a moment, “Soon they all will…” Mikel returned his gaze to Tyra after a moment of staring. “You will think I am a lunatic for all that I have told you but you must also understand that you don’t need to understand everything. Perhaps I am a lunatic, perhaps not, but regardless of all of this…I have more power and resources than any other lunatic in history.” He paused and smirked… “Oh yes and Hitler was an interesting character to work with, even more fun to kill.” Mikel concluded.

[tyra]

Tyra sat there silently as Mr. Machnerum seemed more than happy to answer her question. The answer he gave wasn’t what she expected. A deep frown creased within her face, making her appear older than she was. An expression of disgust and mere shock showed in her eyes. No lie came from his lips as he boasted about his evil deeds. In front of her was a demon in the flesh. He was apart of tragedies that shocked the world. Mikel caused pain and suffering in order to watch the world bleed. It was beyond common murder, it was more like homicide. He took power and used it to his will then destroyed the source of power. How could be proud of thousands of people who died September eleventh? Was he the one that killed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Jimmy Carter? Eyes turned a glossy black as the widened. The mere thought turned her stomach as she felt like she was going to vomit out of shock. Her mind couldn’t grasp what he had fully said nor did it want to. Tyra shook her head as she bit down on her bottom lip. She had ran into some evil and devious beings in her life, but nothing like the man in front of her. He was a sociopath that only wanted to cause destruction to those around him. People like that didn’t have a heart which indicated that they were truly meant to be feared if in their presence. Every muscle in her body screamed for her to run, but the Leopard Queen wasn’t the type to flee. She was a fighter, but that didn’t mean she was stupid either. If she ran, guards would have been on her trail and even Mikel himself. No harm had been done to her, only words had been said. That didn’t explain why she felt like she had stepped into a hole she couldn’t escape from.

A shiver ran up her spine as she felt like the room around her started to spin. Had he really lost his mind? Did killing people really bring that much pleasure to him or what it something he had to do? She shook her head once more as words couldn’t escape her lips. Tyra didn’t dislike vampires for she had never ran across any that really had caused harm to her. Mikel was trying to place her into a category she was not apart of. For someone who hated vampires, the man in front of her thought like one wanting to rise in power. It wasn’t fate that brought her there, it was his power to proceed to do evil deeds that did. He wanted power and she was power. Tension formed in her muscles as she continued to listen to his conspiracy he plotted. If Mikel had enough power to influence people, there was no doubt in her mind that he would succeed in his mission. He spoke in circles around her that made it hard to truly understand what he had said. Tyra didn’t want to understand and she wanted no part of it. She stared into his eyes as he stared into hers. Confusing showed and so did anger. That smirked pushed her over the edge. That smirk that was almost like a laugh in her face. That smirk that mentioned another leader that killed innocent people that he took part of.

The Nimir-Ra had enough oh him trying to calm her. She wanted to be angry; she wanted to grasp what was said to her. Tyra pushing against that soothing energy she longed for. Flames started to seep through that energy that was like a cloud around her. It wasn’t magick, but it was the wild beast she was and the fire that was in her that pushed away what Mikel created. She had an advantage over him for being something he did not understand, but he still had controlled magick she had yet not experienced. His energy still lingered around her, but she felt more like herself and more in control. ”You sick bastard,” she managed to hiss. ”What do you want from me Mikel? I am sure you won’t tell me about my family without a price. A demon always has a price.” The disgusted look never left her face as she peered at him; then something snapped. Was this what she was, a demon of chaos? Tyra didn’t not joy in another Mikel had spoken of nor did consider killing a sport. She had a heart, a huge heart and couldn’t imagine killing others for personal gain. Tyra wasn’t like him and nor did she want to be. Was it truly in her to be evil? ”No,” she whispered out loud. ”This isn’t right. This can’t be right. This doesn’t sound like my family and it doesn’t sound like me. No…No…” she allowed her words to trail off as she looked away from Mikel into the dancing flames into the fire pit.

[mikel]

Mikel had been called many worse things than what Tyra had called him. He had been called a demon before, a bastard, malice and a few other obscenities that he didn’t exactly like to mention. He had been called many sorts of different things by people he would honestly consider much worse than himself. It was remarkable; though, to see just what people will do and say when they realize that they are not as powerful as they once thought and that they are not the ones in control over their own lives. Once you take away someone’s ability to survive and even there very hope and fight for survival, everything sort of goes downhill from there. Mikel was good at making people thinking that everything was hopeless and there was no point in resisting. Mikel didn’t mind making people think such things because often times that was the very case. Mikel made sure that his plans went according to the way he had designed them and he did not design plans that usually left prisoners or people to talk about what they had seen. Mikel didn’t like media and he made sure no one went to the media after he had done something that mind render such an act. Mikel hated attention to be brought to him before he was ready. He knew that in the end all attention would be brought to him but the greatest part about that was the fact that he also knew that in that instance…it wouldn’t matter. By the time anyone knew who he was, the world was never going to be the same.

Mikel couldn’t help but admit the fact that he liked being called names, being threatened. It meant that he was working on emotions and that he was getting into the mind of the person he was speaking with. Mikel knew he was in her head and especially after she began to doubt the very essence of herself. She found it hard to believe that she was a killer and that she was never going to be able to live that down. There was nothing she could do about it. She was a creature that deep down wanted to destroy the world of order. Mikel was still a little bit surprised that she was able to keep her feelings at a minimum for so long. He blamed her second half, the werecreature for that suppression. There was quite a bit to being a hybrid charmer that Mikel didn’t know about but he would learn and Tyra would help him. Mikel definitely was thinking about just keeping Tyra around to experiment on her if she didn’t decide to do what he asked. He still did plan to propose something to her. He had two things that he knew he could use on her and that she would be susceptible too. Mikel learned from just speaking to people. He didn’t need to interrogate them and he didn’t need to torture them. He could tell things about them from a simple conversation. It always helped to be able to crawl around inside someone’s head as well but Mikel usually just used his powers of observation.

“Perhaps I am what you say I am. Perhaps I am a bastard and perhaps I am a demon. It does not matter because I am not going to change what I am no more than a fly can stop being a fly or a fish stop living in water. If I stop being what I am a doing what I do then I will die and that is something completely unacceptable to me. I have a calling and I am going to stick with it. You, on the other hand seem to have forgotten yours. What you do understand is already happening is the fact that I am already awakening the feelings within you.” Mikel said with a smirk. It was not magic he was using, but simply the appeal of emotion. She had suppressed her feelings for a long time but there were still there. Mikel knew what emotions to pull on to bring them out. Anger and hatred was an excellent one to play with. It was more dangerous than using the other one; with was a more sexual approach, but to Mikel this was much more effective. Mikel had a feeling that the more Tyra learned about her family the more she was going to hate and hate…for Mikel was a good thing. It was all part of the process Mikel knew he was going to have to take. “Your family is not what you thought them to be I am sure. I wonder what it was they told you…if they told you anything at all. It probably went along the lines of your being too young to completely understand. It’s a typical response. “You are what you are my dear. Do not fight the inevitable, do not fight me.” Mikel cooed. He moved his hand down to her cheek and gently caressed her cheek with the backside of his left hand. He fully intended for her response to be violent…but violent was good. “There is more than one beast in you that needs to be let out. Your family wouldn’t but I will.”

[tyra]

A dream. That was what Tyra wished for; a dream. She wished she could wake up from this nightmare and nuzzle her soft silk pillows. She wished she could smell the scent of her leopards; their bodies around her in a kitty pile. She wished she could wake up the next morning and continue her daily routines as if nothing had happened. A lie. It was all a lie. She realized that she couldn’t walk up from the dream since it was reality. She was sitting in someone’s mansion who had explained what he did for a living and what charmers really were put on the earth to do. Tyra couldn’t believe that. She was nothing like Mikel and even though magick pulsated through her veins, it had nothing to do with destruction. She was taught that with every action, karma was around the corner. She was thought never to use her abilities to harm others unless she was in absolute danger. She was taught that magick was neither white nor black, but gray. Was everything that was taught to her was a way of protecting Tyra from herself? Protecting her from the secret her family had been hiding? Tyra continued to stare into the flames that flickered like flashing lights. The flame understood her. The flame knew she was having a hard time accepting what Mikel had told her. The flame understood her anger towards her family. Her father hid his nature to make sure Tyra didn’t grow into her full potential as a wereleopard. He hid that she was never truly infected, but was born as a leopard. Now she came to learn that her mother side of the family weren’t normal natural witches, but was something the world feared. It was too much. Tyra was tired of people trying to protect her, but in the end that protection became a hindrance. It also made her seem vulnerable. The heat that emanated off of the fire understood what she was as both wereleopard and charmer. The flame stirred her inner flame; fed it. That fire understood something she didn’t.

Tyra felt like all of her anger was being pushed into a tight ball that was constantly growing in her solar plexus. She kept fighting that tranquil feeling Mikel was able to wrap around her. She wanted to shred that energy with her claws. She wanted to challenge everything that was being said to her. A hiss escaped her lips as she spoke in a less than happy tone. ”My calling is to be a queen. I have leopards that belong to me through protection. I have a territory that I can challenge and punish anyone that steps on it without contacting me before hand. My mission has nothing to do with causing pain…” Her voice exploding with anger and then was silenced. She stared at Mikel with a cold face. Tyra shook her head and looked away once more. He hadn’t awakened anything in her except for anger. She didn’t enjoy hurting people for the sake of it unless it dealt with sexual play. Maybe there was another type of charmer that wasn’t placed on earth to cause chaos. Maybe Mikel had the story twisted and that there were two types of charmers. That sounded correct in her mind, but that only lasted for a second. If that theory was true, then why did her family hide it from her? Anger started to build up in her once more. A reddish hue that was barely noticeable ran across her caramel complexion. She wasn’t going to allow Mikel to stir up so much emotion within her. If it wasn’t for him, she would be soaking in her bubble bath at the moment. She was upset at him for dragging her into this mess. She didn’t trust that he told her able charmers out of the goodness of his heart. There was a price and that price was what she wanted to run from. She hated her family for keeping both of her natures a secret. Most of all, she hated herself for being apart of something that was in her blood that she didn’t agree with.

Nothingness. Tyra didn’t want to think about anything. She wanted what was told to her to go away. If there was some way to tuck everything into a sealable box in her mind, she would have. She continued to look away from the man in front of her as he spoke. He was right; they did say she was too young to understand. They also kept saying in time she would know. They taught her what they thought was alright to teach her. Maybe if they would have told her when she was younger and before morals were set, then maybe she would accept it. Tyra had a life and family. A surprise like that was unacceptable. Her life was set in stone and she would deny it to the very end that she was what Mikel had described. Tyra didn’t want to be a monster, a demon that was only out for self. She didn’t want to kill those she loved and even acquaintances. She did not want to enjoy killing even though hunting as a leopard was out of survival that she did often. Confused. Tyra was confused and also hurt. It had to have been a lie and a lie she couldn’t detect. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn’t notice a hand reaching to stroke her cheek. Tyra didn’t want Mikel to touch her. A voice in her head screamed to push his hand away, but instead of listening to that voice, she leaned into his touch. She needed touch. It was sacred to any lycanthropes, especially wereleopards. She needed touch to let her know everything would be alright. Even the strongest clan leaders couldn’t fight the power of touch. Her eyes closed as she pressed her cheek against his fingers. A soft purr escaped her lips. She needed her leopards. She needed for all of this drama to be over. It was a dream and it was time for her to wake up. "Why would you do such a thing? I will never be like you and I will never want to. You can't turn something into what it is not. I am not a toy you can play with to milk for power," she hissed. As angry as she was, she still wanted to be touched.

[mikel]

Her reaction to his touch was a little bit surprising to Mikel. He almost moved his hand away when she pressed against the back of his hand as if he was anticipating something else to happen. However, nothing else happened like Mikel had anticipated. In everything that happened tonight this was the most interesting and something Mikel wasn’t fully prepared for. Mikel’s original impulse was to pull away and it was a completely natural one for something that surprising. However, Mikel’s mind worked quickly and he kept his hand against her cheek and felt the warmth of her cheek against his hand and her brought his fingers down to her chin as she purred just a bit. It was an interesting reaction and Mikel began to ponder everything that he has just witnessed as his hand finally withdrew from the warmth of Tyra’s flesh. Mikel knew that she was a queen of a pack and He was aware that she was more than likely used to having someone near her. She has always been protective and from what Mikel knew of lycanthrope, they did enjoy touch, sensual or seductive. It was more of a natural response to something that lycans had built in as opposed to Tyra actually wanting the touch that Mikel had to offer. Mikel had a woman in the bedroom upstairs that would long for his touch but the woman that was in front of him didn’t not share the same feelings. She was angry and confused. It was a combination that did not start any kind relationship.

Mikel had a new spin to take on things but he still wanted to use the method that he had already been employing this entire time. Mikel understood how bottled up emotions worked. He knew that she had a natural instinct within her that she had been bottling for years and he knew the emotions that would bring it out no matter how deep down her instincts had been placed. Mikel knew; though, that it was going to take a very sudden, very powerful outburst before she began to actually realize what he was talking about. It seemed to Mikel that she was very reluctant to believe him about her race and their past. She seemed to hold on to everything that she had been taught but what she had been told was not the truth. Mikel was trying to tell her that but she wasn’t hearing it. Mikel was putting everything into place though. There was a plan since the beginning, a plan as to why Mikel was telling her about his past, about the murders, about his history. Mikel was a planner and nothing that he did was without purpose. He knew that she had been angered by Mikel’s claims and about his ability to not care whether or not he hurt people. There was just one think really keeping Tyra’s wits still about her and that was the charming her had been doing this entire time to keep her calm. Mikel knew that by now her mind was bubbling, her brain was going, her emotions were on overload and it wasn’t going to take much to send her over the edge. Mikel was counting on that. With his hand withdrawn Mikel ceased calming her. Every hedge of magic and spells that he had placed on her to keep her there, to keep her calm and complacent were gone and Mikel took a step back. He knew the capabilities of a queen leopard. He had the men to take care of her if she got truly feisty but he didn’t need that. He just needed her to get feisty enough.

Once Mikel had taken a step back he leaned on his cane for a moment, waiting for the spells to completely wear off before he spoke. “You must understand that you are like me. You defend your pack because you claim to love. Love is not a true emotion. Hate and anger are. You can only have emotions that are true to your character, to your species and to your history. You are a killer, a menace and you will be hunted for it your entire life. You have suppressed what you are for far too long. I don’t have to turn you into something that you aren’t my dear. I just have to show you what you truly are.” Mikel knew that he needed one burst of anger, one burst of flame from her now. He had boiled her and bottled her emotions with his charms and it was time for her to release them. The emotions that he had told her were the exact ones that were going to let out the very nature of herself, the very nature of the part of her that she had neglected and subjected her entire life. Mikel didn’t need to do anything more than reunite her with what she was so scared of. Her past. Mikel also knew the exact right buttons to push and what correct words to say that would anger her. He could use the fact that she was Nimir Ra against her without her truly realizing it. He knew had to play emotions and the fact of the matter was that he had been in control of this situation since the beginning. “Unless what you are because my dear…if you don’t your pack will suffer by your hand…” He paused and smirked, the very smirk she hated. It was a smirk that said he won and there was nothing she could do about it, “And if not by yours….by mine. I already have men in place to do it and you will have nothing left but me.” Mikel concluded. To threaten a Nimir Ra’s pack was worse than threatening a Nimir Ra herself. Mikel knew it.

[tyra]

The more she wanted to resist his touch, the more she fed into it. The need to be touched was just as natural as speaking. As the back of his fingers trailed down to her chin, she tried to muster all of her might to pull away. His touch she didn’t want, but the other part of her mind needed some kind of physical contact. His flesh against hers didn’t calm the anger that was expanding in her, but only satisfied a small portion of her being. Instincts did not obey her mindset, but instead played by its own rules. She wanted more than anything to slap his hand away, but his touch was like nova canine to her system, even if it was a second. Tyra was torn between two emotions; two mindsets. As he pulled away his hand, her eyes snapped open as a frown crossed her face. She stared at the charmer who stepped back from her. Mikel looked like a normal human in his suite, but underneath that handsome face was a cold-blooded killer. The man could only tell her what a charmer was suppose to be, but it truly wasn’t in Tyra’s hurt to be so ruthless, or was it? She pushed that thought away. Tyra didn’t want to fathom such horrible acts. It wasn’t her, it couldn’t be her. Somehow, Tyra must have been a genetic screw up because there was no evil bone in her body. How did they hide their nature for so long? Aunt Merith raised her after her parents passed. Was there a reason why she did not like to talk about magick or her parents with Tyra? The more she questioned, the more she knew the answers were in front of her and that angered her. It didn’t make sense! She clutched her teeth hard as if some sort of pain would relieve a bit of animosity.

Finally, the clouds of tranquil energy softened around her as she pushed through that thick mass. She was suddenly aware that the atmosphere in the room had suddenly changed. A wall had been lifted and there was nothing holding her back now. Her dark eyes peered at Mikel as he stood there leaned against his cane. He kept claiming that they were alike, but in her eyes, they were opposites. The charmer tossed in her face that love was a false emotion. Only a person would say that if they had never felt love. Mikel probably never knew the true feeling of being wanting and having something die in a heartbeat because they cared for you and you for them. Love was a twisted emotion that made someone felt like they were on cloud nine. A parent could love a child like none other would even love that person. Mikel knew nothing about how love felt because maybe he was neglected and built up so much hatred around himself. Tyra knew love and that was something she wouldn’t let go of even if Mikel told her that love was an emotion charmers never felt. ”There isn’t an ounce of love in your body because you have never been showed to it. You will never understand what it feels like to be loved or love someone else. You say I suppress the anger and hatred; well you have pushed away a beautiful emotion because you claim it isn’t natural for a charmer to feel. You don’t have to show me shit Mikel. Just because you are miserable doesn’t mean you have to bring the world to hell for sport,” she spat out.

Tyra was tired of playing games. She was tired of sitting there being told of what she was and the evil deeds Mikel had done. Her head was heavy and everything around her started to slowly spine. Tyra’s mind went to shock and yet Mikel kept pushing at her as if she was a rock waiting to be kicked off of a cliff. A snarl pressed through her mouth as she rose off of the couch with such elegance that she didn’t realize she rose off of it. Instinct was taking over; she couldn’t think straight. Mikel was walking on shaky grounds as she crept closer to him. Her Pard was her life and she wouldn’t hurt any members in it. A smirk appeared on his lips and she wanted to spit into his face; then something snapped. A loud sound popped in her mind like a firecracker. The two words he had spoken came out in slow motion, but had coiled around her like a snake that kept squeezing. That pit of anger the fire kept feeding expanded and ran through her body like pulsating lightening. The fire became her blood as she felt like it was ripping out of her flesh. Her skin started to glow a vibrant red as flames tore through her like paper. Heat engulfed her body as she started to drown in her own fire. The temperature rose in the room as if they were in hell itself. The fire in the pit sparked wildly as her own flames expanded from her flesh. Her eyes lit up like hot coals as she used her inhuman speed to slam Mikel against the wall with a hard thud. Tyra screamed from the inside out as raged fueled her fire. She wanted to kill her. To feel his bones crack through flesh. To feel the warmth of his blood seep through his lips. To taste the power that came from that warm nectar. She wanted to feel his body grow cold as he died in front of her. A hand wrapped around his throat as claws sprouted from her fingers. She could feel his heartbeat drumming away, but the only thing that coursed through her mind was not to feel it out all. ”You and your men will not lay a fucking hand on my leopards. Do it and I will make sure you won’t see sun rise. I should snap your head off. Never threaten my family! Fuck with me and leave then safe.” Her voice was heavy and came out like a growl. ”I swear I will be your nightmare Mikel. I don’t give a fuck what you are or what you claim that I am. I will see you dead,” her face drew close to his as her fire ran across his flesh, burning through clothes and a layer of skin. She pushed him harder against the wall. Her hand squeezed harder. She wanted to…she wanted to. The sound faded around her and than silence. Blackness took over her vision as she collapsed on the floor in a circle of fire. The world faded and so did her mind.


Hours seemed like eternity for Tyra. She started to slowly regain consciousness. The fire crackled once more and she could hear the sounds of classical music. She couldn't move. Her muscles wouldn't allow her to. Tyra was numb and so was her mind. What had happened? She layed there not sure of her surroundings or if she was still on the floor or not. She tried to move what seemed to be an arm, but pain shot through her body. It wasn't time to move. It wasn't time to open her eyes. She layed there and waited. Waited for some sign.

[mikel]

Everything that happened now was completely under Mikel’s control. He knew that she was going to come to her breaking force when he threatened her back. Mikel knew how attached a Nimir Ra was to her kind and he knew what threatening them would do. If she could control her emotions while he was telling her about his life she probably thought she could do so the whole time. It didn’t help that he was as good at manipulating people as he was. It didn’t take her long to move to him once he had insulted and threatened her pack. Mikel felt her hands around his neck and his body was forced against the wall. Mikel’s cane was still in his hand and ready to be used if needed. Her grip tightened as she continued to yell at him and Mikel thought about using the cane as his weapon. He could always use his telepathy to move objects and in essence, Tyra away from him if he really needed. Mikel knew that he needed to wait though. He knew that he needed to make sure that she was angry enough and that she let out what he had been trying to release since the beginning. Just as Mikel was about to stop her from going too far, Tyra collapsed onto the floor. Mikel raised his eyebrow and left hand went to his neck, feeling it a little bit as he observed the unconscious woman before him.

He hadn’t done anything to her to cause that reaction and yet she was on the ground in front of him. Mikel was going to blame most of the strange things that were happening to this woman on the fact that she was a hybrid. That was the only way he could actually explain it. Mikel could feel the incisions in his neck from where she had squeezed and her nails had dug into his neck. It wouldn’t have taken much more for Mikel to have been killed. Mikel knew the limits though and he knew when things were going to go too far. The men that he had with him were around Tyra’s limp body and they waited for Mikel to tell them what to do with her. Mikel took a step forward and bent down to her, bending his knee onto the marble floor. He brushed aside a strand of her hair from her face and gently brought his hand against her cheek again. She was still warm, still breathing. Mikel took a deep breath and moved his hand down her cheek and her neck and over her right shoulder. His touch was gentle and his hands glided on her soft delicate skin as he moved his hand down her left side to her waist and then rolled her over so that she was lying on her back. He moved his hand up to clear away the hair from her face and then he looked at her for a moment. This was a powerful woman in front of him and that fact did not need to be treated lightly. “My dear my dear, if only you knew what you had gotten yourself into at the start of all of this that you may have been able to avoid it. I am afraid this is simply not much I can now except use you as I wish.” Mikel expressed. “Although my dear; this was not part of the plan…” Mikel admitted.

Mikel looked up at the men around him and exhaled deeply. “This woman is not to be touched. She is a guest in my house and she will remain as such until I order otherwise. This shall not take much longer but while she is unconscious none of you so much as think of defiling her honor; remember, I can read your minds and tell.” Mikel commanded and then as he stood up, his back fully erect, Tyra’s limp body rose from the ground by the power of Mikel’s mind. Her body was floated over to the couch and Mikel set her down. The couch was probably more comfortable than any bed Mikel had in his house and there were enough pillows to cushion any position she was. Mikel made sure that she was in the normal recovering position. Mikel moved over to the fireplace and heaped up the fire some more so that it was crackling loudly and its warmth could be felt. Mikel looked at his men. “Leave us. You aren’t needed anymore.” Mikel commanded and the men bowed and left the room without a word. Mikel looked over at Tyra. She was a beautiful woman and Mikel had plans for her, plans for her to use that beauty. He sat down on the large couch next to her and ran his fingers down her arm as he began to work in her mind again. He needed to put back together whatever was broken and had caused her to faint. He wanted to make sure that she was going to actually wake up. It also gave him a chance to learn about her pack, her family and what they had specifically told her about her race and kind. It was something he hadn’t been able to do before when she was conscious without her knowing. He would know when to leave as she began to wake up. Mikel finally began to sense that and left her mind alone. She was going to recover and the first things her senses were going to release were the soft touch of Mikel’s hands, the warmth of the fire and for once, a kind and tender voice from Mikel. Mikel could be maniacal and hateful but he could also be affectionate with his voice. “My dear you need to awake; there is something that you need to be told before you leave this place.” Mikel told her softly.

[tyra]

In a sleeping slumber trapped inside of her own mind; that was what Tyra felt like. Her mind slowly started to recover from its unclear state, but the muscles in her body wouldn’t obey her command. She continued to listen to the smoothing music, hoping that remaining calm would allow her to move again. Tyra felt like her soul was descending back into her body after a long escape away from this dimension. Her body layed there asleep while her mind was starting to function once more. She could feel the warmth of flesh against her cheek. The touch gave her comfort as she thought about the bodies of her leopards snuggled against her. She could smell the scent of the flesh against hers and it did not smell of leopard or of lycan. The scent was robust, but she could not place it for her mind was still clouded. Tyra knew the aroma, but who it belonged to did not register in her mind. All she knew is that she did not want this person to stop caressing her cheek. Touch almost seemed to have a healing effect on her. The fire crackled louder as if singing to its on tune that was calling to her, but Tyra did not answer. She started to regain feeling in her body and suddenly she was aware that she was lying on something very cushioned that had to have been a bed or couch. Her body sunk into the flesh furniture as it helped cradle her aching body. Her breathing started to return back to its normal state as she heard a comforting male voice speaking to her. For a second, Tyra did not understand what he had said. It took a second for her to realize what had been said to her. The voice was right, she did need to awake.

Tyra listened to the popping of the fire a little while longer then she slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was a bit blurred for a second until she blinked a few times for things to come into focus. Her hazel eyes were soft, almost a rich golden brown. She stared at the man above she started to recognize him. The man who had caused all this mayhem and had explained what she was now looked down upon her. Her mind was too fuzzed to think on why she was upset with him and what he had told her. Frankly, Tyra did not care at the moment. She needed to take baby steps. At the moment, remembering the face was an improvement. Eventually, she knew all of her memories would come back to her and what had happened would never parish. For the moment, Tyra simply just wanted to exist and nothing else. Her fingers slowly started to rub against the soft fabric of what seemed to be a couch. She could feel it beneath her fingers as she rubbed small circles into it with her left index finger. ”What do you have to tell me?,” she whispered, her voice horse and throat soar.

Hazel eyes glanced around the room to find out she was in the last place she remembered. What had happened? Why was she sore? Tyra looked the fire which had seemed to calm, then to the side of the couch. How did she get there? So many questions surfaced in her mind, but most of them did not stay. A part of her knew she had an overwhelming moment and to save her sanity, thinking too hard was not an option. Tyra started to move her right arm, being it at the elbow. The touch of Mikel was still comforting so she made no comment for him to stop. Next, she moved her left arm and then finally her legs. Her limbs had seemed to work perfectly fine, but Tyra still did not trust herself to sit up, let alone stand. ”What happened? Then again, I don’t want to know,” she said. If it was meant for her to know, she would remember. Maybe it wasn’t time for her to, maybe she would never know.

[mikel]

Mikel knew that she wasn’t going to shy away from his touch when she woke from her sleep. He knew that she was going to want some sort of physical contact. It was part of her nature, part of the natural instincts of her being a Nimir Ra. She was used to being with her pack and feeling the warmth they gave off. Mikel knew that she was much more likely to stop and listen for a moment before leaving if she was comfortable. He had done the best he could to make sure she was comfortable given the certain circumstances. Mikel pondered how he wanted to tell her what she needed to know. Mikel knew a couple of things about her that she didn’t and he knew that there were quite a few things about her that were going to change. She was not going to be the same Nimir Ra that she had always been. Her motives were going to change, her heart was going to change and her agendas were going to change. From what Mikel could tell, the side of her that she had suppressed for the entire duration of her life had been let out. She was going to have a lot of catching up to do. It was not something that was going to control her completely though. Her natural charmer instinct was not going to cause her to be completely controlled from the beginning. It was going to start with small things, inclining to want to simple meddle with people’s affairs or to cause a scene somewhere. It was going to start and automatically be as dominant as Mikel. However, Mikel was going to make sure it got there.

She asked him what he had to tell her; what had happened and what was going to happen. She claimed to not want to know anything but Mikel knew differently. Her curiosity was going to cause her to want to know everything. It was also going to be the inevitable cause of her demise. Mikel waited a moment before he said anything to her. “My dear you tried to kill me.” He said calmly. He moved his hands to his neck and admired the scrapes and nail marks on his neck that she had given him. He was not overly excited about having to hide them if he went out in public somewhere. “However, against all odds, against everything that you may have deserved at the time or may still desire now you simply couldn’t bring yourself to do it. I was in your grasp, in your very clutches. It could have been just a thought and I would have been done away with.” Mikel lied. He was more than capable but she didn’t need to know that. “Yet I am alive because you wouldn’t kill me. Your body wouldn’t let you; your mind wouldn’t let you. You couldn’t and not for lack of want...But for lack of will.” Mikel paused and then he decided her would tell her everything that was going to start happening to her. Mikel had to make sure that his words didn’t sound to too conceded but he knew that he had won at this point. She was not going to follow him right now but he knew that she would come back to him with questions that only he could answer.

“So when you start to the feel the urge to cause chaos, to cause trouble for no reason and when no call has been given; think of me.” Mikel began. “You have suppressed so much for so long but it will begin to show itself and you will not understand why or how to stop it. It is in that time that you are going to need to know how to use it. You can learn so much and do so much; however, you will lose control after too long and in the end those around you will start to die. You will hurt the ones you love, hurt the ones closest to you. It is the curse of all of us.” Mikel told her. He knew that he had no one around him that he truly cared about. He couldn’t afford to have someone near him that he loved or that he could confide in because they would soon be taken from him. It was his very nature to cause them pain and confusion that they would not stay for long. His men were assets to him; his women more toys or pawns. He could not have feelings and she was going to learn that she was not going to be able to have them either. She had a pack and those that she obviously cared about them. They were going to start getting her and it was going to take her a while to realize why. She wasn’t going to want to realize that it was her. “You are free to go. Your vehicle is outside and if you feel unfit to drive, you will be driven anywhere you wish and your vehicle brought to you. Just tell them where. There is nothing keep you here now.” Mikel whispered, running his hand over her arm and grasping her hand in his own, squeezing slightly. He leaned down and kissed her forehead gently. “Goodbye my dear.” He whispered as he stood up from the couch.

[tyra]

Tyra hadn’t expected to be told on what had happened for the words that had passed through Mikel’s lips surprised her. Hazel eyes widened, giving him a ‘are you serious,’ looked without saying words. The man before her must have done or said something that would push her to that extreme. Killing in nature was natural to her. She had to kill in order to hunt and she had to kill in order to defend her title as Nimir-Ra if challenged; though that scenario had never happened. Trying to kill out side of animal form was unfamiliar. It was in her, but maybe it wouldn’t have come to a shock if she had remembered what had caused her to react that way. His hands moved to his neck to reveal that marks that had been left behind. Claws marks and bruises had been evident and Tyra didn’t remember doing such things. She listened to Mikel with a neutral expression. It had seemed like the muscles in her face weren’t quite working right to make a frown or to express any type of emotion that required a lot of facial movement. Tyra tried to think. Would she have had the will to kill Mikel? She hated to admit it to herself, but she would have. That thought was disturbing, but the short haired female knew she would have felt terrible afterwards. Yet, as she thought about that, Tyra felt numb and she did not know why.

She looked passed the other charmer to look at the wall as he spoke. None of it was making sense and yet, it made perfect sense. Tyra felt different, yet felt like herself. She was empty, yet complete. The Leopard Queen was feeling something she had never felt before that she did not know how to handle those new emotions, but at the same time; she knew. Tyra didn’t know exactly what Mikel meant by the urge to cause chaos, but it made her think of her observant ways and how that might take a factor into what he had said. Her eyes focused on him once more, her face grew cold. Tyra gave him a long stare for she did not want to believe what he had said. She had already lost her parents; Tyra couldn’t afford to lose members of her Pard that she had vowed to protect. It seemed like karma took no pity on charmers and for them taking lives, they must deal with lives being taken of the ones they cared for. That thought went against her own morals for Tyra always tried to do the right thing, especially when it came down to magick. She was cursed; her whole mother side of the family had been cursed. Was that the reason why they tried to correct it within Tyra?

A sigh escaped her lips as the other charmer told her she was free to go. His fingers gracefully moved down her arm as he took her hand into his. She returned the gentle squeeze and closed her eyes as he leaned over to kiss her forward. It was unexpected, but Tyra took it for what it was. She did not push away, she did not fuss, she simply allowed it to happen. ”I hate the word goodbye,” she whispered back, having a bit more control over her voice. As Mikel stood up, she hoisted herself up. Tyra slid off the comfortable couch as started to walk towards the door of the room. One of his men was by her side just to ensure that she was able to walk. Even though she felt like jello, on the metaphysical plane, the sway of her tail helped stable her. They moved out of the corridor and into another as they ended up in the foyer. Another man handed Tyra her umbrella and that same man opened the door to walk her to her car. As soon as she passed the thresholds of the door, something felt different again, but she knew her world would change from there on. She told the man to drive her home and he obeyed. The door was opened for her as she stepped into a black car. As they started to head away from the estate, Tyra sat there and contemplated. So much had happened in one night. So much that she still did not understand. She knew what she was, but it would still be hard to accept. It was better that she accept it than let it bite in the ass. Not tonight though, only thing that was on the Nimir-Ra’s mind was sleep. That was what she needed.