harley westward

Here we are in the heart of the darkness

The moment Harley's eyes fluttered opened, sensing the first speckles of light into her vision, she was up like a shot. Even though her movements were heavy and clumsy in her hazy state of recently regained consciousness. She nearly tripped over her own feet and easily wound up a poor tangled heap upon the ground if she had not caught herself. All she knew, all that she had felt was that she was not safe.

She hated this. Feeling nothing more than an animal in cage as those bars seemed to close in on her. She could feel the telltale signs of a shift began to crawl beneath the surface of her skin. The increased heart rate, the dilated pupils, the sensation of what could only be described as ants marching upon her skin, the shallow breath that fled her lungs, and most notably, the potent need for something to break out. Tetradore's presence didn't help matters. He might have been stuck in this miserable cage with her, but as far as she was concerned, he was no better than her vampire jailers. He was Risque's faithful pet... So why was he stuck here with her? He certainly wasn't a victim. Not when it was his face that that she remembered with such clarity as he carved her up. It was his beast that had all but sliced her open with his ruthless claws.. It was also he who had turned her, not that it mattered that he was merely following orders to turn her into a monster, just like him. Maybe Risque knew they would fail. It certainly seemed like the mind fuckery she was capable of. Maybe she should have kept her mouth shut... But those eyes. Those disturbing, cutting eyes that could impale right through her, left her feeling oddly vulnerable. How certain Harley was that Risque could see and bring to the surface every last horrible thing that she would rather forget. Her only saving grace was that she didn't see her sibling's eyes when she looked into them.

Then to top off an already cursed night, the vampire queen sentenced her and Tetradore to share a cell. The man who could somehow keep his unnerving composure. How could he sleep at night with all the ghosts in his closet? How could he stand himself?

Harley felt like she could yell every profanity known to man, hell, it boiled inside of her and yet somehow, even that would not be enough. She wanted out. She wanted away from this forsaken place and far away from Tetradore, far away from those oppressive vampires. She rattled that cage in the midst of the roiling chaos that enveloped her. Only for that chaos to spread to the other trapped animals, causing her cellmate to stir. The silver burned her hands until she couldn't bare the pain anymore as that potent anger encompassed her. She didn't know if it was all her own, or the creature that dwelled inside of her. All she knew was that she felt every second of it.

It was like a conduit for all that frustration, as well as a shot of sobriety. Even as she cursed the vampires that trapped her in here she could not help but notice that the acoustics of that room were oddly good. Good, maybe they could hear her. She kicked the door for good measure as if that solid kick could unlatch the door. She knew better... that nothing could ever be so simple... Not in this place. Instead, all that remained was the reverberating hum of that door that might as well have been the sound of failure.

That was enough to move the emotionless alpha to speak, offering her nothing more than an irritated grumble. "Stop it." That demand only made her want to do the exact opposite as her outburst had little to do with him and everything to do with wanting out of that damn cage. Her head whipped around to cast an award-winning glare his way, that look practically screamed bite me. Which probably wasn't the best thing to do to the man that had done just that. She hardly knew why she chose that particular word to call him... somehow finding it more satisfying to say rather than 'eat a bag of colourful dicks'. "Alphahole." She bit back.. It was alpha and asshole mashed up together to form that special form of 'endearment' just for him. Although, she swore she heard the word used somewhere before. He was unlikely to appreciate the word she had crafted just for him, likely to remain unmoved and impervious to most things. Especially her.

It was like that single act of lashing out was enough to shift her energy into pacing as she was once more reminded by the sting of sore, burnt palms of her hands tried its best to heal. That restless edge barely dissipated as the minutes ticked by that might as well have been hours. She removed her jacket, becoming overheated with that clear agitation to her inner feline. She balled the leather jacket and tossed it aside into what she deemed as 'her' corner aka. the spot that was as far away from Tetradore as physically possible within that tiny cage. Her useless phone soon followed suit as it couldn't pick up a signal if her life depended on it. Not that it would do any good down in hellhole that was Syn.

Tetradore seemed satisfied enough to attempt to return to his preferred state of slumber, somehow managing to make the space almost seem like a comfortable place. Almost like the man was enjoying his stay at a five-star Hilton suite. Surely, there was a better use of time.... Like trying to find a way out of here. There was no hope in hell to keep that voiced frustration once more.. Although surprisingly it was that which Tetradore found himself moved enough to reply. His voice sounded heavy with sleep and yet only served to aid in that helpless feeling once again. The only way out was to be let out and to use magic was equally useless. Great. Just wonderful. Harley hated how her features fell along with her slender shoulders as she eyed her cellmate warily in time to catch his yawn.

It was just a glimpse but it was enough.. Enough to feel that contagious compulsion to yawn too. She fought it and yet irritatingly enough, there no denying it. Yet another thing he could force from her. She shook her head slowly from side to side.

"So that's it... we are just supposed to wait it out.. until she feels like we've what? Learned some kind of lesson?" Her arms crossed as if she was suddenly cold and yet it couldn't be further from the truth. At least the other animals within their own cages had settled once more, and Harley too calmed enough to at least temporarily pause her pacing.

"Or just until one of us claws the other one to shreds?" Yeah, sounded like a real party.