The Watchful Eye of Justice

Rowan Manchester - 32 - She/Her The meek shall inherit the earth. [Re:Vamp RP Blog]

[lornaa]

cold-mountain-ashes​:

It was almost funny, Rowan thought to herself as she fought to find the right words to respond, how in a world full of beasts and unimaginable cosmic horrors, fellow humans continued to instill a fear in her as well.

What did they feel when they all looked at her? Was it vitriol? Pity? Frustration? Or perhaps nothing at all?

Despite putting every ounce of energy in maintaining a cold exterior, anxiety pulsed through her with every interaction. And why wouldn’t it? She knew she was a creature of emotion, it was a fitting punishment for her endless series of rash actions.

“I see…” Rowan trailed off, unsure how to finish the thought.

She sat quietly in the armchair as instructed, folding her hands in her lap as she looked towards Lorna, attempting to gauge her emotions. “Earth, it feels almost strange to return after so long. I’ve no idea how things have changed in my absence.”

Lorna watched as Rowan took a seat. Cooperative as the other woman was, she doubted time away had done much to change her innermost feelings. How she handled the return, now, that was critical.

“As you know, Earth’s under new management. And lucky for you…” She stuck a finger beneath her folder and pinched a second, smaller one. This was handed over to Rowan. “There’s a fresh, new welcome packet. It contains updated contact information, protocols, and rundowns on the current local problems.”

She leaned forward then and propped her chin on a fist.

“Any specifics coming to mind?”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

Rowan ran her eyes across the forms she was handed, though her vision was beginning to blur around the edges from exhaustion.

“New protocols, updated contacts... was I really gone for so long? Out there?” she sighed, before realizing she was beginning to slump in front of her superior and immediately straightened her posture.

“Lorna...” Rowan began, “May I speak to you, not as a fellow regulator, but from one human being to another?”

Rowan’s heart was racing now. All of the thoughts and feelings she had been suppressing for months on end, now threatening to pour out of her mouth like blood.

“Do you ever feel... as if you no longer belong here? As though the very planet you were born on has slowly become hostile to you? I-” her voice caught in her throat as she tried to maintain eye contact, “the stars, there’s just so many of them. An endless expanse of unfathomable universes, stretching endlessly around you, forever, and ever, and... It’s impossible not to notice when you’re up there, surely you know. And you and I, what chance do we really have, in the grand scheme of it all?”

[lornaa]

cold-mountain-ashes​:

“Welcome home, Rowan.”

Three such simple words, and yet they pierced her heart like a blade. How long had it been seen anyone had uttered those words to her?

Rowan stepped out of the portal and carefully dusted off the length of her beige coat. There was no sense of relief as she had been anticipating after her months of professional exile. Home… yes it was home in the sense that she had finally returned back to Maroa, it’s true, and yet as she stood there she felt she no longer belonged.

“Hello, Lorna,” Rowan said as her eyes met the other woman’s, her voice tinged with caution.  The tension in the room was almost palpable, and she knew why. Footsteps had echoes, a stone dropped in a pond caused ripples, and all actions had their consequences.

“How is your brother?”

There was no tension on Lorna’s part. None, at least, related to the Regulator in front of her. Pressure was on to do her job properly now that the games were over, and while Lorna knew she was perfectly capable, it still… 

Grated.

To be thought of as less of a Regulator, occasionally, via whispers and slight comments, as if being human was less, as well.

Perhaps that was the source of Rowan’s frustrations.

“He’s adjusting, from what I hear. We haven’t spoken.” She gestured to the sofa angled next to the armchair she sat in. “Have a seat. Let’s talk about getting you settled back on Earth.”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

It was almost funny, Rowan thought to herself as she fought to find the right words to respond, how in a world full of beasts and unimaginable cosmic horrors, fellow humans continued to instill a fear in her as well.

What did they feel when they all looked at her? Was it vitriol? Pity? Frustration? Or perhaps nothing at all?

Despite putting every ounce of energy in maintaining a cold exterior, anxiety pulsed through her with every interaction. And why wouldn’t it? She knew she was a creature of emotion, it was a fitting punishment for her endless series of rash actions.

“I see...” Rowan trailed off, unsure how to finish the thought.

She sat quietly in the armchair as instructed, folding her hands in her lap as she looked towards Lorna, attempting to gauge her emotions. “Earth, it feels almost strange to return after so long. I’ve no idea how things have changed in my absence.”

[lornaa]

Remember me?

Lorna hadn’t needed to go anywhere in particular to meet up with Rowan. For the time being, she’d been staying in one of the sparsely furnished homes the Regulators owned around Maroa. One that, in fact, she was very familiar with. She’d have to relocate eventually, but it was convenient while she served as the point of contact for familiarizing new arrivals.

One foot bounced lightly as she sat with legs crossed, waiting for the other Regulator to be teleported in. She’d met Rowan only once before, and that hadn’t been until after the incident that had spurred the decision to reassign her. 

… That gave the incident more weight than it deserved. No, Rowan had her… obsessions, to put it lightly. Her unauthorized return of Logan’s decade-old memories had been the final straw, that was all. 

Lorna had faulted her then, though for less than rational reasons, and so she had been less than kind. A part of her had believed then that if she’d talked to Logan first and had been the one to return his memories, things would have gone more smoothly.

(She knew how impossible that was. But deep undercover as she was, she’d hoped.)

Brown eyes flicked up from the file in front of her as the room lit a pale white indicative of a portal. She snapped it shut and ceased bouncing her foot.

“Welcome home, Rowan.”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“Welcome home, Rowan.”

Three such simple words, and yet they pierced her heart like a blade. How long had it been seen anyone had uttered those words to her?

Rowan stepped out of the portal and carefully dusted off the length of her beige coat. There was no sense of relief as she had been anticipating after her months of professional exile. Home... yes it was home in the sense that she had finally returned back to Maroa, it’s true, and yet as she stood there she felt she no longer belonged.

“Hello, Lorna,” Rowan said as her eyes met the other woman’s, her voice tinged with caution.  The tension in the room was almost palpable, and she knew why. Footsteps had echoes, a stone dropped in a pond caused ripples, and all actions had their consequences.

“How is your brother?”

[raccocoo]

The meaning of my existence is that life has addressed a question to me. Or, conversely, I myself am a question which is addressed to the world, and I must communicate my answer, for otherwise I am dependent upon the world's answer.

[likeshestoleit]

Today I had my favorite spot in my favorite coffee shop all to myself- and then it started raining. So yeah, it was a pretty good day.

[l-0-v-e-deactivated20200921]

St. Joan of Arc (detail,) by Paul Antoine de la Boulaye, 1909

[darkmacademia]

animal and architecture studies in sepia fineliner.

[mischievousdog]

Snake Killer // art trade with @sleenfire 

[nightshft]

cold-mountain-ashes​:

Step by step Rowan edged forward, hoping it would bring her closer to the vampire. Tentatively she reached a hand forward as if to grasp at the dark.

She could have used the power gifted to her by the regulators to disable Logan’s powers- even for a fraction of a moment- but she knew it would kill any chance she had at getting through to him.

“There’s… an irregularity on your file. Several, in fact,” Rowan half-whispered, her heart hammering that someone unintended was listening. “I don’t know who it was carried out by, or why, but I have reason to believe that your last memory wipe was not authorized. You deserve to know, Logan, please trust me on this much.”

Logan’s breath came quick and panicked as his paranoias about being followed and fears of Regulators were increasingly justified. He clutched the books tighter to his chest.

Irregularities?

“Yeah, I know I fucking deserve that. What the hell do you mean, unauthorized?” What kind of mind game bullshit was this?

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“The mind wipe wasn’t sanctioned by the regulator council and whoever did it has kept themselves anonymous. Something happened to you, and someone out there is intending on keeping that something a secret,” Rowan explained in a strained voice.

Something. Her pulse quickened, flooding her ears with the sound of rushing blood. She tried to suppress how much it was all reminding her of that day, so many years ago. A day she wanted so badly to forget, yet couldn’t live with herself if she did.

“But I can retrieve those memories for you.”

[nightshft]

“Yeah?” Logan tried to slow his breathing. He could feel his phone buzzing nonstop in his pocket, but he still didn’t feel safe enough to take his eyes off the Regulator.

“I know what happened to me. I don’t need another one of you poking my brain with a fucking stick.” He couldn’t help the reply, even though he wanted to know so badly it ached. You couldn’t go through life missing pieces of it, not easily. “How do I know you’re not here to take more shit away?”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“Because believe me when I say a memory is the most precious thing one can have. I wish I didn’t know this, but I do.”

Blood. So much of it. On the carpet, on the walls, the couch, tv, photo frames. Yellow eyes locked with hers for a moment that felt like eternity before the thing leapt out of a window, leaving Rowan alone with the gruesome remains of what used to be her parents.

Rowan’s grip on her tablet tightened, threatening to snap the device in half.

“We can make you forget. It’ll be like nothing ever happened at all. You’ll wake up in the morning as someone new.”

Behind the memories of utter carnage and her own primal screams were memories of birthday parties, bedtime stories, smiles, her mother’s gentle hands braiding her hair.

“Please don’t make me forget. I’ll work for you. I’ll do anything, I swear. Just please don’t make me forget.”

[nightshft]

Logan’s eyes flicked to the tablet, to Rowan’s pale knuckles. Something in her tone felt all too similar to his, whenever he thought about what he must be missing. And if she pulled anything, he’d told Skipper (who was undoubtedly the one blowing up his phone– fuck, he felt terrible for not picking up, he would answer as soon as he was alone again). The journal would help, too, his own handwriting reassuring him of whatever events he could no longer remember. He wouldn’t let himself forget.

“… Okay.” He released some of his invisibility– not all, just enough to make himself seen in the dark– and glared a warning at the Regulator. “Do it.”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“Do it.”

Her body jerked at hearing those words.

Rowan realized that deep down, she wasn’t actually expecting him to agree. When was the last time she was ever able to convince someone with her words, and not the looming threat of violent consequences?

She took a shaky breath as she approached the young man’s half-visible form.

“You won’t feel any physical pain, but that is all I can promise,” Rowan whispered as she placed one hand over his eyes.

Power coursed down her arm, like ice grazing against all-too-sensitive nerves. She’d taken many memories before, but never before had she returned them to someone. So many memories stolen, all to preserve her own.

[nightshft]

The memories came back in a rush, everything feeling as fresh as if it had just happened. He dropped his books. The attacks, memories of Tom…

… Lorna did this.

Every emotion the missing memories restored swam to the surface at once, but despair and rage beat the rest to the surface. He tried to force down the choking sobs that were pushing their way out of his throat. He didn’t want to cry in front of the Regulator. All that meant was that, with nowhere else to go, the anger was directed at her now.

“Get out.”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

Rowan flinched, drawing her arm back. She was used to hearing those words, always said with such malice and frustration. They stopped stinging long ago, but this time she felt them, just a little bit.

”It worked, didn’t it? Your memories have returned,” she said, noticing the anguished look, and the tears welling in the vampire’s eyes.

“I’ll leave, in fact I’ll even promise to never speak to you again if that’s what you want. But first, you must tell me, what did you see?”

What was the answer that she was hoping for? That he saw the very beast with the yellow eyes that haunted her dreams? That he could point her in its direction? This whole time she kept telling herself that she came all this way for his sake, and while that was not a lie, it was beginning to dawn on her that she had other- more personal- motivations pulling her strings.

[nightshft]

“Personal shit. None of your goddamn business,” Logan spat, picking up his books. He looked at the one on Yami and Yama. Fuck. This was why you didn’t get tattoos– if he’d gotten them for real, he’d have wanted to peel his skin off now, interest in them unrelated to Lorna aside.

He refused to look at the Regulator again, and stepped around her. He was done.

[cold-mountain-ashes]

It was clear that Rowan wouldn’t be able to get anymore out of their interaction. The night was over, and the curtains to their stage play had drawn closed, no encore to be had.

Something told her that whatever she had been hoping to unlock in him wasn’t there anyways, she was once again chasing shadows and nothing more.

“Remember, Logan,” Rowan called out as he disappeared down the hall, “a memory is the most precious thing one can have. Protect it.”

[nightshft]

cold-mountain-ashes​:

Step by step Rowan edged forward, hoping it would bring her closer to the vampire. Tentatively she reached a hand forward as if to grasp at the dark.

She could have used the power gifted to her by the regulators to disable Logan’s powers- even for a fraction of a moment- but she knew it would kill any chance she had at getting through to him.

“There’s… an irregularity on your file. Several, in fact,” Rowan half-whispered, her heart hammering that someone unintended was listening. “I don’t know who it was carried out by, or why, but I have reason to believe that your last memory wipe was not authorized. You deserve to know, Logan, please trust me on this much.”

Logan’s breath came quick and panicked as his paranoias about being followed and fears of Regulators were increasingly justified. He clutched the books tighter to his chest.

Irregularities?

“Yeah, I know I fucking deserve that. What the hell do you mean, unauthorized?” What kind of mind game bullshit was this?

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“The mind wipe wasn’t sanctioned by the regulator council and whoever did it has kept themselves anonymous. Something happened to you, and someone out there is intending on keeping that something a secret,” Rowan explained in a strained voice.

Something. Her pulse quickened, flooding her ears with the sound of rushing blood. She tried to suppress how much it was all reminding her of that day, so many years ago. A day she wanted so badly to forget, yet couldn’t live with herself if she did.

“But I can retrieve those memories for you.”

[nightshft]

“Yeah?” Logan tried to slow his breathing. He could feel his phone buzzing nonstop in his pocket, but he still didn’t feel safe enough to take his eyes off the Regulator.

“I know what happened to me. I don’t need another one of you poking my brain with a fucking stick.” He couldn’t help the reply, even though he wanted to know so badly it ached. You couldn’t go through life missing pieces of it, not easily. “How do I know you’re not here to take more shit away?”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“Because believe me when I say a memory is the most precious thing one can have. I wish I didn’t know this, but I do.”

Blood. So much of it. On the carpet, on the walls, the couch, tv, photo frames. Yellow eyes locked with hers for a moment that felt like eternity before the thing leapt out of a window, leaving Rowan alone with the gruesome remains of what used to be her parents.

Rowan’s grip on her tablet tightened, threatening to snap the device in half.

“We can make you forget. It’ll be like nothing ever happened at all. You’ll wake up in the morning as someone new.”

Behind the memories of utter carnage and her own primal screams were memories of birthday parties, bedtime stories, smiles, her mother’s gentle hands braiding her hair.

“Please don’t make me forget. I’ll work for you. I’ll do anything, I swear. Just please don’t make me forget.”

[nightshft]

Logan’s eyes flicked to the tablet, to Rowan’s pale knuckles. Something in her tone felt all too similar to his, whenever he thought about what he must be missing. And if she pulled anything, he’d told Skipper (who was undoubtedly the one blowing up his phone– fuck, he felt terrible for not picking up, he would answer as soon as he was alone again). The journal would help, too, his own handwriting reassuring him of whatever events he could no longer remember. He wouldn’t let himself forget.

“… Okay.” He released some of his invisibility– not all, just enough to make himself seen in the dark– and glared a warning at the Regulator. “Do it.”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“Do it.”

Her body jerked at hearing those words.

Rowan realized that deep down, she wasn’t actually expecting him to agree. When was the last time she was ever able to convince someone with her words, and not the looming threat of violent consequences?

She took a shaky breath as she approached the young man’s half-visible form.

“You won’t feel any physical pain, but that is all I can promise,” Rowan whispered as she placed one hand over his eyes.

Power coursed down her arm, like ice grazing against all-too-sensitive nerves. She’d taken many memories before, but never before had she returned them to someone. So many memories stolen, all to preserve her own.

[nightshft]

The memories came back in a rush, everything feeling as fresh as if it had just happened. He dropped his books. The attacks, memories of Tom…

… Lorna did this.

Every emotion the missing memories restored swam to the surface at once, but despair and rage beat the rest to the surface. He tried to force down the choking sobs that were pushing their way out of his throat. He didn’t want to cry in front of the Regulator. All that meant was that, with nowhere else to go, the anger was directed at her now.

“Get out.”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

Rowan flinched, drawing her arm back. She was used to hearing those words, always said with such malice and frustration. They stopped stinging long ago, but this time she felt them, just a little bit.

”It worked, didn’t it? Your memories have returned,” she said, noticing the anguished look, and the tears welling in the vampire’s eyes.

“I’ll leave, in fact I’ll even promise to never speak to you again if that’s what you want. But first, you must tell me, what did you see?”

What was the answer that she was hoping for? That he saw the very beast with the yellow eyes that haunted her dreams? That he could point her in its direction? This whole time she kept telling herself that she came all this way for his sake, and while that was not a lie, it was beginning to dawn on her that she had other- more personal- motivations pulling her strings.

[nightshft]

cold-mountain-ashes​:

Step by step Rowan edged forward, hoping it would bring her closer to the vampire. Tentatively she reached a hand forward as if to grasp at the dark.

She could have used the power gifted to her by the regulators to disable Logan’s powers- even for a fraction of a moment- but she knew it would kill any chance she had at getting through to him.

“There’s… an irregularity on your file. Several, in fact,” Rowan half-whispered, her heart hammering that someone unintended was listening. “I don’t know who it was carried out by, or why, but I have reason to believe that your last memory wipe was not authorized. You deserve to know, Logan, please trust me on this much.”

Logan’s breath came quick and panicked as his paranoias about being followed and fears of Regulators were increasingly justified. He clutched the books tighter to his chest.

Irregularities?

“Yeah, I know I fucking deserve that. What the hell do you mean, unauthorized?” What kind of mind game bullshit was this?

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“The mind wipe wasn’t sanctioned by the regulator council and whoever did it has kept themselves anonymous. Something happened to you, and someone out there is intending on keeping that something a secret,” Rowan explained in a strained voice.

Something. Her pulse quickened, flooding her ears with the sound of rushing blood. She tried to suppress how much it was all reminding her of that day, so many years ago. A day she wanted so badly to forget, yet couldn’t live with herself if she did.

“But I can retrieve those memories for you.”

[nightshft]

“Yeah?” Logan tried to slow his breathing. He could feel his phone buzzing nonstop in his pocket, but he still didn’t feel safe enough to take his eyes off the Regulator.

“I know what happened to me. I don’t need another one of you poking my brain with a fucking stick.” He couldn’t help the reply, even though he wanted to know so badly it ached. You couldn’t go through life missing pieces of it, not easily. “How do I know you’re not here to take more shit away?”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“Because believe me when I say a memory is the most precious thing one can have. I wish I didn’t know this, but I do.”

Blood. So much of it. On the carpet, on the walls, the couch, tv, photo frames. Yellow eyes locked with hers for a moment that felt like eternity before the thing leapt out of a window, leaving Rowan alone with the gruesome remains of what used to be her parents.

Rowan’s grip on her tablet tightened, threatening to snap the device in half.

“We can make you forget. It’ll be like nothing ever happened at all. You’ll wake up in the morning as someone new.”

Behind the memories of utter carnage and her own primal screams were memories of birthday parties, bedtime stories, smiles, her mother’s gentle hands braiding her hair.

“Please don’t make me forget. I’ll work for you. I’ll do anything, I swear. Just please don’t make me forget.”

[nightshft]

Logan’s eyes flicked to the tablet, to Rowan’s pale knuckles. Something in her tone felt all too similar to his, whenever he thought about what he must be missing. And if she pulled anything, he’d told Skipper (who was undoubtedly the one blowing up his phone– fuck, he felt terrible for not picking up, he would answer as soon as he was alone again). The journal would help, too, his own handwriting reassuring him of whatever events he could no longer remember. He wouldn’t let himself forget.

“… Okay.” He released some of his invisibility– not all, just enough to make himself seen in the dark– and glared a warning at the Regulator. “Do it.”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“Do it.”

Her body jerked at hearing those words.

Rowan realized that deep down, she wasn’t actually expecting him to agree. When was the last time she was ever able to convince someone with her words, and not the looming threat of violent consequences?

She took a shaky breath as she approached the young man’s half-visible form.

“You won’t feel any physical pain, but that is all I can promise,” Rowan whispered as she placed one hand over his eyes.

Power coursed down her arm, like ice grazing against all-too-sensitive nerves. She’d taken many memories before, but never before had she returned them to someone. So many memories stolen, all to preserve her own.

[ovopack]

祈りのかえるところ

[nightshft]

cold-mountain-ashes​:

Step by step Rowan edged forward, hoping it would bring her closer to the vampire. Tentatively she reached a hand forward as if to grasp at the dark.

She could have used the power gifted to her by the regulators to disable Logan’s powers- even for a fraction of a moment- but she knew it would kill any chance she had at getting through to him.

“There’s… an irregularity on your file. Several, in fact,” Rowan half-whispered, her heart hammering that someone unintended was listening. “I don’t know who it was carried out by, or why, but I have reason to believe that your last memory wipe was not authorized. You deserve to know, Logan, please trust me on this much.”

Logan’s breath came quick and panicked as his paranoias about being followed and fears of Regulators were increasingly justified. He clutched the books tighter to his chest.

Irregularities?

“Yeah, I know I fucking deserve that. What the hell do you mean, unauthorized?” What kind of mind game bullshit was this?

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“The mind wipe wasn’t sanctioned by the regulator council and whoever did it has kept themselves anonymous. Something happened to you, and someone out there is intending on keeping that something a secret,” Rowan explained in a strained voice.

Something. Her pulse quickened, flooding her ears with the sound of rushing blood. She tried to suppress how much it was all reminding her of that day, so many years ago. A day she wanted so badly to forget, yet couldn’t live with herself if she did.

“But I can retrieve those memories for you.”

[nightshft]

“Yeah?” Logan tried to slow his breathing. He could feel his phone buzzing nonstop in his pocket, but he still didn’t feel safe enough to take his eyes off the Regulator.

“I know what happened to me. I don’t need another one of you poking my brain with a fucking stick.” He couldn’t help the reply, even though he wanted to know so badly it ached. You couldn’t go through life missing pieces of it, not easily. “How do I know you’re not here to take more shit away?”

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“Because believe me when I say a memory is the most precious thing one can have. I wish I didn’t know this, but I do.”

Blood. So much of it. On the carpet, on the walls, the couch, tv, photo frames. Yellow eyes locked with hers for a moment that felt like eternity before the thing leapt out of a window, leaving Rowan alone with the gruesome remains of what used to be her parents.

Rowan’s grip on her tablet tightened, threatening to snap the device in half.

“We can make you forget. It’ll be like nothing ever happened at all. You’ll wake up in the morning as someone new.”

Behind the memories of utter carnage and her own primal screams were memories of birthday parties, bedtime stories, smiles, her mother’s gentle hands braiding her hair.

“Please don’t make me forget. I’ll work for you. I’ll do anything, I swear. Just please don’t make me forget.”

[nightshft]

cold-mountain-ashes​:

Step by step Rowan edged forward, hoping it would bring her closer to the vampire. Tentatively she reached a hand forward as if to grasp at the dark.

She could have used the power gifted to her by the regulators to disable Logan’s powers- even for a fraction of a moment- but she knew it would kill any chance she had at getting through to him.

“There’s… an irregularity on your file. Several, in fact,” Rowan half-whispered, her heart hammering that someone unintended was listening. “I don’t know who it was carried out by, or why, but I have reason to believe that your last memory wipe was not authorized. You deserve to know, Logan, please trust me on this much.”

Logan’s breath came quick and panicked as his paranoias about being followed and fears of Regulators were increasingly justified. He clutched the books tighter to his chest.

Irregularities?

“Yeah, I know I fucking deserve that. What the hell do you mean, unauthorized?” What kind of mind game bullshit was this?

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“The mind wipe wasn’t sanctioned by the regulator council and whoever did it has kept themselves anonymous. Something happened to you, and someone out there is intending on keeping that something a secret,” Rowan explained in a strained voice.

Something. Her pulse quickened, flooding her ears with the sound of rushing blood. She tried to suppress how much it was all reminding her of that day, so many years ago. A day she wanted so badly to forget, yet couldn’t live with herself if she did.

“But I can retrieve those memories for you.”

[nightshft]

cold-mountain-ashes​:

“Logan,” Rowan called out again. She still could not see the vampire, but she had no doubts that he was there in the halls with her.

“I know our previous encounters haven’t been the… friendliest,” she struggled to find her wording. Making friends wasn’t her strong suit, in fact she doubted there was a person out there who considered her their friend. Not since the incident.

“Whatever reason you might think I’m here right now, you’re wrong,” she continued, “I’ve come here tonight as Rowan, not a regulator. There’s something you should know.”

Alarm bells rang in Logan’s head. His stomach rolled, the anxiety taking over and making him nauseous. He didn’t believe anything she said, not for a second. Regulators didn’t help. And yet, he was still invisible. Still hidden. Hadn’t Noemi said they could do that, disable his abilities? So why hadn’t she?

His unanswered messages to Lorna came to the front of his thoughts like an unwelcome intruder. Had something happened to her? A lump rose in his throat. Why else would a Regulator track him down personally?

“Is Lorna okay?” He spoke quietly, hoping she couldn’t tell where he was from that alone.

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“Is Lorna okay?” the voice rang out in the halls, echoing against marble and steel, making it difficult to pinpoint its source.

Lorna, Logan’s twin- no doubt her line of work was a source of worry for him. Rowan had never spoken directly to the other regulator, despite their frequent proximity. Perhaps it would have made the current interaction go more smoothly if she had taken the time, but bygones were bygones.

“While I haven’t had the pleasure of a direct introduction with Lorna yet, last I heard she was fine. I’m here tonight to talk about you, Logan. Haven’t you felt like something isn’t right with the world? Do things that ought to be familiar feel distant? Isn’t there time that’s unaccounted for?”

[nightshft]

Yes. Yes. Yes. Of course his answers to those were positive; the Regulators had been the ones to do this to him. It could have been this one, for all he knew, here to fuck with his head once more. (But she was fine, she was fine and ignoring him.)

“If she’s fine, I have nothing to say to you. Fuck off.”

Where was the nearest exit? He locked eyes with the red sign, well past the Regulator.

Damn it. He began to retreat. There was another exit near the library, he’d use that.

[cold-mountain-ashes]

Step by step Rowan edged forward, hoping it would bring her closer to the vampire. Tentatively she reached a hand forward as if to grasp at the dark.

She could have used the power gifted to her by the regulators to disable Logan’s powers- even for a fraction of a moment- but she knew it would kill any chance she had at getting through to him.

“There’s... an irregularity on your file. Several, in fact,” Rowan half-whispered, her heart hammering that someone unintended was listening. “I don’t know who it was carried out by, or why, but I have reason to believe that your last memory wipe was not authorized. You deserve to know, Logan, please trust me on this much.”

[nightshft]

cold-mountain-ashes​:

“Logan,” Rowan called out again. She still could not see the vampire, but she had no doubts that he was there in the halls with her.

“I know our previous encounters haven’t been the… friendliest,” she struggled to find her wording. Making friends wasn’t her strong suit, in fact she doubted there was a person out there who considered her their friend. Not since the incident.

“Whatever reason you might think I’m here right now, you’re wrong,” she continued, “I’ve come here tonight as Rowan, not a regulator. There’s something you should know.”

Alarm bells rang in Logan’s head. His stomach rolled, the anxiety taking over and making him nauseous. He didn’t believe anything she said, not for a second. Regulators didn’t help. And yet, he was still invisible. Still hidden. Hadn’t Noemi said they could do that, disable his abilities? So why hadn’t she?

His unanswered messages to Lorna came to the front of his thoughts like an unwelcome intruder. Had something happened to her? A lump rose in his throat. Why else would a Regulator track him down personally?

“Is Lorna okay?” He spoke quietly, hoping she couldn’t tell where he was from that alone.

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“Is Lorna okay?” the voice rang out in the halls, echoing against marble and steel, making it difficult to pinpoint its source.

Lorna, Logan’s twin- no doubt her line of work was a source of worry for him. Rowan had never spoken directly to the other regulator, despite their frequent proximity. Perhaps it would have made the current interaction go more smoothly if she had taken the time, but bygones were bygones.

“While I haven’t had the pleasure of a direct introduction with Lorna yet, last I heard she was fine. I’m here tonight to talk about you, Logan. Haven’t you felt like something isn’t right with the world? Do things that ought to be familiar feel distant? Isn’t there time that’s unaccounted for?”

[nightshft]

cold-mountain-ashes​:

The further down the corridor Rowan progressed, the worse she was beginning to feel about the whole idea again. It wasn’t too late to turn back and forget the whole thing. No one would have to know… but who would she be if she didn’t go through with it?

She was weak, she was mortal, that much she could not deny- so what did she have left without the pursuit of justice? 

Focus, Rowan, she thought to herself as she tried to hone in on her surroundings. Use the gift the regulators gave you, see if you can feel his presence.

A tingling sensation coursed up her spine, much like the sensation that hung in the ozone minutes before a storm struck. The irrefutable feeling of there being something more than what could be seen.

Rowan halted and stood still on the marble tiles. “Logan?” she called out into the darkness.

That voice…

Logan caught sight of the woman ahead of him and froze where he stood, books clutched against his chest. No, no, no. The Regulator. The one from the party. The one he and Amin– fuck. Fuck. She’d come for him.

He had to calm down. Think rationally, about his efforts to ensure sure he still remembered after this encounter. The vampire slowly backed away. He shuffled his things to one arm and got out his phone, his fear briefly tempered by the relief that he always kept his screen at the lowest brightness. In any case, it was worth the risk. He typed out a hurried message.

skipper don’t panic but there’s a regulator at my work looking for me. if anything happens there’s a notebook in my backpack with stuff for me t read. please make sure i read it

Don’t panic. Like he wasn’t barely holding his own back. At least someone would know this time, if he came back different.

[cold-mountain-ashes]

“Logan,” Rowan called out again. She still could not see the vampire, but she had no doubts that he was there in the halls with her.

“I know our previous encounters haven’t been the... friendliest,” she struggled to find her wording. Making friends wasn’t her strong suit, in fact she doubted there was a person out there who considered her their friend. Not since the incident.

“Whatever reason you might think I’m here right now, you’re wrong,” she continued, “I’ve come here tonight as Rowan, not a regulator. There’s something you should know.”