Skedaddle

[Emora Deen]

Laya panicked. Her heart started beating too fast for her weak body to take. She felt dizzy, and focused on seeing straight. "Don't hurt him," she replied in a barely audible squeak. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew that this man was dangerous. She grew paler by the second. "Okay," she finally muttered. She moved quickly through the door and backed into the room, watching for Adonis and the man holding him hostage.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Laya!" Adonis warned, but she didn't seem well. He shook off his smirking attacker and walked in behind her, away from the peering eyes on the street. Erik closed the door and locked it behind him.

The inside of the apartment was a mess. Empty bottles and clothes littered the floor. one of the walls was crumbling apart.

"I want YOU to tell ME who she is," he growled.

"Nobody important. Let her out."

Erik's fury spread through Adonis like a virus. "No, I think I'd like her to stay. I need some insurance that you won't abandon me, again." He walked up to Laya like a predator. "I was in a pretty bad mood when I 'woke up' this morning, so I indulged in a little grocery shopping. I picked up something for you. Nothing personal, you see. Just due recompense for throwing me aside." He turned and walked calmly over to the kitchen. When he returned, he was holding a large jar of crimson liquid. "Pig's blood. Who knew, the butcher will sell you the blood. It's remarkably cheap."

"Not in front of her. Let her out," Adonis said, his low voice rumbling with anger. He looked at her and could see the paleness in her skin. She shouldn't be here. How had she gotten here?

"Oh, I think she'll stay right. here. Take a seat, little lady."

[Emora Deen]

Laya backed up as the man stalked towards her. She backed up until she bumped into the wall and had no where else to go. Laya looked between the two, rubbing the cold out of her arms. "Adonis, what's going on?" she asked her friend as he protested her freedom. Why didn't he just make the man leave them alone?

Pigs blood? Laya knew something was terribly wrong. This man knew Adonis, and knew what he was.

She looked around for a weapon, and calculated whether she could get to the blood and throw it out the window before he stopped her. She calculated that she probably would fail.

"I'm fine with standing," she told their kidnapper. Her knees were weak, but the wall supported her well enough. She liked the wall, felt safe with her back against something solid.

[Soran Nightblade]

Adonis frowned at his counterpart as Erik stepped in toward him.

"You were supposed to stay with me. You're supposed to be mine. MY unicorn. How could you just betray me? You're supposed to love me! Unconditionally!" Erik ranted, pulling the lid off the jar.

Adonis took a cautious step back, finding the wall opposite Laya. "I do," he said, quietly. "I'm here now, aren't I?"

"You're lying!"

"You're drunk. Put the blood down."

"Ohhh no. You're going to pay," the man snarled. "You're going to drink every drop, until I decide to forgive you."

The unicorn rolled his eyes, but his voice sounded hurt when he spoke. "Erik...that's not just a steak. I'll die."

"Drink it!" he screamed. "Or I'll make her!" He gestured the jar carelessly at Laya, spilling some on the floor.

"That doesn't even make sense," Adonis growled, "and of course I'm not drinking it."

[Emora Deen]

"Erik?" Laya asked in a whisper, narrowing her eyes on the man threatening Adonis. She felt her blood boil. This was the thing that had hurt Adonis. This was the man who made him hate humans? She wanted to kill him.

Her hatred for the man lit across her face. "Leave him alone," she warned Erik with every bit of fire in her voice that she felt burn through her. "If you hurt him I'll kill you. I swear it."

[Soran Nightblade]

Erik turned his gaze on Laya, a strange darkness in his eyes. "This has nothing to do with you," he said icily. He wheeled on her, pulling something metal from his belt.

"Erik, no!" Adonis snapped, dodging forward and grabbing his arm, hauling him back. Erik stumbled backward. The jar slipped from his hand and fell toward the floor.

[Emora Deen]

Laya dove, managing to catch the jar. She landed hard on the floor, clutching the glass to her chest. Her eyes rose to look up at Adonis holding Erik's arm at bay. This wasn't some spoiled angry boy. This was a very bad man. He would have killed her. He was crazy. Slowly she stood up, holding the jar like a teddy bear.

"If you want Adonis to be there for you, maybe you should treat him nicer," she offered to him more calmly. "Maybe we should all just breathe for a second?" Keep the crazy man calm, that was her new goal.

[Soran Nightblade]

Erik whirled on Adonis, who twisted his wrist until the knife dropped to the floor next to Laya.

"She's right, just calm down," Adonis breathed as blue eyes drilled into his.

"How dare you..." the human scoffed, shoving Adonis into the crumbling plaster of the wall. "You should be ashamed! I'll treat you however I want, I'll be pissed if I want, I'll do as I damned well please until I've made up for the last two years!"

The unicorn stared into Erik's eyes, feeling the madness and misery of the creature in front of him. The worst part was that, in spite of everything, he actually did love this person. "Please, stop," he said, his heart in his throat.

[Emora Deen]

Laya set the jar on the floor. She didn't know what to do to make this man calm down. Two years? What had happened for two years? Was he in prison? She racked her brain for something to say to calm him down.

"Please," Laya whispered. "Stop it. You have a chance to start fresh, from where ever you came from."

[Soran Nightblade]

Adonis looked at Laya over Erik's shoulder and let her words sink in. She was defending him... She was trying to help Erik... How did she understand it so easily? Her naive request made the tiniest spark of hope ache in the back of his mind that maybe, somehow, they could start again.

"Start fresh?" Erik said. "How can I, when you-" he broke off.

Adonis dropped his gaze, too much guilt swimming in his head for him to think. He felt so much guilt, and yet he could barely stand without shaking.

"Let me get one thing straight," Erik said, rebuilding his anger. "You threw me away, and then you found another human. Do you really think you deserve others besides me? I'm not enough, so you just lock me up and throw away the key? Found something better? Is SHE something better?" he gestured at Laya.

[Emora Deen]

Laya stepped closer, slowly. She didn't know what to tell this man to quell his anger at Adonis. She knew that Adonis, whatever he did, had to be for a good reason. This man seemed determined to stay angry with him. She wanted him to stop.

"Please, let him go," she tried again, stepping closer. "Just ease off him... We can talk this out. We can figure a way to make everything okay..."

She just wanted him to let Adonis go. To calm down. He wasn't acting normal. He was acting crazed. Laya reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let him go."

[Soran Nightblade]

Erik grabbed Laya's wrist and turned on her. "Did you do this? Did you turn him against me? Manipulative little bitch. I know how to shut you up fast. What's his is mine, after all." He caught her other wrist and tugged her in against him.

[Emora Deen]

"Wh-what?" Laya choked out. "I didn't do anything." She pulled on her wrists, wiggled them to try and drag them from his grasp. "I don't know anything about you." Laya stomped her foot down on top of his, hoping he'd release her if she brought him pain somewhere else.

[Soran Nightblade]

Erik startled at the pounding on his foot and jumped back, loosening his grip. Adonis climbed between them and forced Erik back against the wall, away from her. He was rewarded with a solid punch in the gut. The unicorn doubled forward, leaning into him. "I know," he breathed, staying there. "I'm sorry." Erik stilled with Adonis's weight resting against him. "Stop fighting for a few minutes. Do as she asks."

Just as the man's form started to calm, the door kicked in with a crash and two large men stormed in. "Where the hell is Erik?" the first man demanded, looking strong enough to crush Erik in his fist. "Oh look, he's still got his creepy friend."

"We came to collect on our debts," the second man smirked. "Heard you were back in town, and figured we'd pay you a little visit."

Adonis backed off of Erik and stood between him and Laya, uncertain who to protect from who at this point.

[Emora Deen]

Laya latched onto Adonis when he was close enough to get to. She wrapped her small hands around his and held onto him tightly. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew that whatever was going to happen was not going to be good. The men looked big, and gruff, and frightening. "We should run," she whispered to him. "Out the back? Is there a back..."