The New Town Drunk

[Bladen Thorne]

Bladen could feel his crazy grin widening. This was like watching one of those...what do adamites call them...moving picture shows! He had done this mood swing trick with many individuals throughout the centuries, each having his or her own reaction to the particular change that Blade had made them feel. This hunter's reactions, he decided, was at the top of the list of funny reactions.

He was almost giggling like a little girl when he observed the hunter looking around. Was he trying to figure out what was going on? Finally, the hunter's gaze rested on Bladen. He was grinning ear to ear as the hunter seemed to have some sort of an inner battle.

Bladen didn't think he finished blinking by the time he was in some sort of a choke hold and had something sharp poking his back. Bladen started to chuckle. This was so fun! Why was being attacked fun? He had no idea. Maybe it was that Bladen liked a little excitement. Maybe it was because violent reactions were just funny. Or maybe it was because deep down, Bladen wanted to die.

"You'll kill me?" he chuckled more, "Sounds fun. But why kill me for something I didn't do?" then he added, "Or maybe I did. You never know what I do when I've had to much to drink!" he laughed.

As much fun as Bladen was having with Nate being violent, Bladen was curious about the hunter's reactions to different emotions. So the next one he decided to make the hunter feel was a sort of fear...ah! He'd make the hunter feel timid. Kind of how that blond kid with the glasses that he sometimes sees on the streets acts like.

[Annabelle Ventus]

Annabelle quickly noticed the difference when Nate's mood went from happy..ish..to sheer anger. At first, she thought it was going to be the normal anger. But when she started to feel it get worse, her eyes widdened. She was about to suspect Bladen when Nate rushed over to him and put him in a choke hold.

"Nate!!" She screamed and ran over to him, putting her hands on his hand. "Let him go..now!" She commanded, until she heard the words "killing" and "parents".

...His parents was killed by vampires? She took a few steps back as she then again noticed the mood change. One again though, her mind was on something else.

[Nate Brightmore]

Nate had been about to thrust the dagger into Bladen's back, Bladen's words not even registering to his brain, but then... the switch was flipped once more.. and Nate was all of a sudden flooded with fear.. a great and terrible fear.

He took in a deep inhale, his eyes widened as he took in the vampire who was so close to him (despite the fact that he was actually in the attacking position) and was actually terrified and filled with doubt. Thoughts quickly raced through his mind. Thoughts like What if I'm not strong enough to defeat him? and If he kills me, what will happen to Annabelle? What will happen to Neah?

He couldn't take it, panic began to seize him and he dropped the dagger and quickly backed away from the vampire until he could move backward no more because his back hit the wall. He held his arms up in the air as if in surrender.

"I'm sorry..." he squeaked.

He took his eyes away from the vampire and placed them on Belle, this did nothing to calm his fear. Instead, he sunk down to the floor. He began moving his eyes back and forth between Bladen and Belle, trying to decide which was more dangerous.

Bladen was a vampire and Nate didn't know what his special ability was. Definately dangerous.

Belle was a sorcerer and capable of great magic.. magic in the wrong hands could be dangerous.. but.. Nate loved Belle, and she loved him.. right? So he shouldn't be afraid of her..but the fear.. the fear was almost too much!

His heart was beating really fast, and it felt like it was going to come straight out of his chest. Maybe he should try to make a run for it? Would he make it in time? He didn't know.. he didn't even know if his body would work.. right now it was shaking too much.

[Annabelle Ventus]

Annabelle only looked up when she saw Nate back up to the wall. What made it worse was him sinking down to the floor. She then noticed something about him. He was...he was acting like...Roy??? Oh dear...and now he was looking at her as if, as if she could hurt him.

She didn't know why, but that almost broke her. Made her almost think of how she could cause this reaction, just by the words she spoke, but now wasn't the time to think that. She walked over to Nate and when she put her hand on his shoulder, she could feel how hard his heart was beating. She sighed and sat next to him.

"Nate, it's, it's ok...I'm sorry..I'm sorry I yelled. Please, forgive me?" She asked him, hoping he wouldn't try to back away from her.

[Enzo Veioni]

My, this town was rather empty. At least, that is what Enzo thought to himself. It did make him miss home, where the streets would either be filled with the miraculous architecture, or the beautiful artwork of the people...or just simply filled with people in general.

This place had neither.

Enzo let out a sigh as he now found himself in a place that was filled with houses...a suberb? Yes, he thinks that is the word when he notices something and stops. That presence..could it be? He rushed over to the house where he had felt whatever it was, but made sure that he could not be scene, just in case something were awry.

He lightly took a breath then looked in. A smile now forming on his lips. "Nataniel...." His Italian accent clearly showing itself, even in a hushed whisper. He wanted to move in, but he saw two others in the house. He didn't want to put Nate in any more danger, instead, he just stayed low and waited to see what would happen next.

[Bladen Thorne]

Oh! This reaction was much better than the last one! Bladen thought that this hunter would try to hide his fear since most of the hunters that he met were rather stoic. But this one looked like he was about to hide under a table!

Bladen continued to laugh, thinking about what emotion the hunter should experience next...how about sadness? Not quite so drastic, going from fear to tears. But the change would still be fun to see he was sure.

[Nate Brightmore]

Nate hadn't made a move to back away from Annabelle, instead, he had leaned into her. Then all of a sudden he was so sad, heartbeakingly sad. Was it because he knew that he had some how hurt Annabelle? He hated the idea of himself causing her to worry or be upset.

Tears came to his eyes, but he faught them back, but nothing could keep his voice from shaking. "I'm sorry Belle,I'm so s...s..sorry," he whispered, curling closer to Belle.

All of the sudden mood swings was causing Nate to unravel. He had never experienced anything like this. Was he actually loosing his mind?

He begin sniffling, and put his head in his hands, but he looked up at Belle after a moment, once he was sure that he wasn't going to cry.

"Belle, I don't know what's wrong with me... " he whispered to her, the heartbreaking sorrow clear in his voice.

[Annabelle Ventus]

As soon as Belle noticed Nate getting extremely sad, she knew it was Bladen. Especually how close he was getting to doing so. Nate had always tried to never cry in front of her, but he was offically losing it, and she didn't know how much more he could take...how could she have not notice till now?!

Well, whatever anger she had towards herself was also going to be fuel for her anger towards Bladen as her eyes quickly turned gray.

"You have been behind this the whole time...haven't you?" She growled towards Bladen, now standing up and walking over to him. "I asked you, I truly asked you NOT to mess with his emotions..and what do you do!? Do it anyways! I want you out, out of my house...NOW!" She shouted pointing to the door.

"And if you don't get out, and release whatever compulsion you put on him...I'll make you..and that is a promise..." She glared towards the vampire, clinching her free hand has tightly as she could.

[Enzo Veioni]

Oh no...this is going to end badly, a hormonal blond sorceress who is rather ticked at the situation. He knew as much as she wanted the issue fixed, anger wasn't going to settle it. That was when Enzo finally decided to walk into the house, away from the door and folded his arms against his chest.

"La ragazza bionda è giusto, però, si dovrebbe smettere di fare scherzi con le emozioni del cacciatore giovane ... lo conosco da molto più tempo allora hai, e so cosa può fare il suo temperamento." He commented, then remembered that only Nate probably understood what he just said, so he thought for a moment on the english words that could replace it with, but gave up on trying to think of the translation and cleared his throat.

"I agree, you should leave..." He commented to Bladen, giving a glare of his own.

[Bladen Thorne]

Bladen's already wide smile became wider when he sensed Belle's rage. Oh! This was perfect! The romantic, gushy emotions were gone, being replaced with pain and dispair! He let out a crazy cackle, "Yes, you asked me, you didn't tell me," he leaned forward slightly, his arms crossed in front of him, "I can choose not to comply to your request, luv."

He was about to ask her exactly how she planned on making him get out and releasing the compultion when he sensed another hunter enter the house. He turned toward where the hunter stood, curious. Blade could tell that this hunter was speaking Italian. Bladen had once known how to speak it, (he was really old, so why not pick up several languages?), but it had been so long since he'd thought to speak it, he was extremely rusty. As a result, he had no clue as to what the hunter was saying.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, noting that it was rough with stubble. Should he shave? He played with the idea of growing a beard. He had worn one in his younger days...but was Bladen ready to have some weird mid-life crisis? What kind of facial hair should he- Darn.

His thoughts were digressing.

He shrugged and released Nate from the hold he had on his emotions. He thought that he should try this again soon. Maybe he could break the hunter.

"Well, I'm bored anyways," he wasn't happy with how they were ruining the fun. But he wasn't ready to dispose of the blonde yet, "Tata, Belle," he walked out the door with a wave of his hand.

[Nate Brightmore]

Once Nate had realized that the vampire had been playing with his emotions, anger fueled throughout his body, and this had pushed away the sadness even before Bladen had released him.

He was furious, not just with the vampire but also with himself.. he was like a plaything, and he hated that. He hated it even more that both Annabelle and Enzo had witnessed it. He looked around and spotted the dagger and grabbed it, within seconds he was heading toward the door. The only thing on his mind was getting revenge and ending the vampire.

By the time he got outside however, he didn't see Bladen anywhere. This annoyed Nate and he growled and punched a nearby tree. He was angry and his pride was hurt.. he felt like a fool. 'God, why did they have to see that?' he growled to himself quietly.

[Enzo Veioni]

Enzo watched the girl panic as Nate ever so quickly picked up the dagger and raced after the vampire that just left. He sighed and looked at the rather small blonde and patted her head. "Wait here.." He commented then walked outside, just in time to see Nate hit the tree as hard as he could..at least, it sounded like it.

"Non sei cambiato di un bit..." He said, trying to calm himself down again, at least, for Nate's sake. He walked over and put his hand on Nate's shoulder. "Forgot, don't speak Italian anymore..yes?" Man was Enzo's english bad, but he was trying, but he offered the young hunter a smile.

"Forgive me, my English is terrible.." He laughed then squeezed Nate's shoulder a bit more. "It is good to see you again, Nataniel." His smile getting a little bit wider.

Annabelle on the other hand was quietly watching from the window, cursing under her breath. Why, why couldn't she have done anything. She bet that Nate was soo mad at her...or at least she thought that she deserved him being mad at her.

[Nate Brightmore]

The punch had actually calmed Nate a bit, and he was feeling more like himself. He cleared his throat and turned his attention to Enzo and offered a hint of a smile.

"No, parlano ancora italiano. E 'bello vederti, Enzo." He answered, though he feared his italian may be a little rusty since he rarely spoke it any more. Seeing Enzo reminded him of home. That thought caused him to remember Annabelle, and he turned to look for her. When he saw her in the window, he turned back to Enzo.

"Vi prego di scusarmi per un momento," he said to Enzo, then excused himself to go into the house to Annabelle.

"I'm sorry Annabelle, I'm sorry that I scared you so terribly. Will you forgive me?" He asked, offering his hand for her to take if she wished.

[Enzo Veioni]

Enzo couldn't help but smile. He was actually quite shocked on how much Nate had grown, not only in height or muscle tone, but by his maturity level. He nodded his head and waved his free hand towards the girl that was looking out the window.

"Non farla aspettare." Was his only comment as he watched Nate walk over to her anyways. Enzo then watched from the tree side.

Annabelle looked up at and shook her head. "What are you sorry about? ...If it weren't for me being so lost..it wouldn't have gotten so bad for you..emotional wise I mean...it's all my fault, so you have nothing to be sorry for." She said, looking away and holding her arm again.

[Nate Brightmore]

"Oh mio dolce amore," Nate whispered. He took Belle's hand from off her arm and tilted her head up to look at him with his other hand.

"It's my fault, I should have known that vampire was behind it. I will not fall for this trick so easily the next time. The only thing you're guilty of is believing that there was good inside someone who more than likely has very little. Don't hide yourself from me, that is something that I cannot bear." He said, "and if you want to truely make my night better, you can smile for me.." he said, his own lips turning up at the corner.