Hollywood's Not America

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[atrb=background, i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/AshleesAlterEgo/Kiaramiddle.jpg] Kiara had heard many stories about Hollywood and its former glory. She had once thoroughly enjoyed hearing stories of famous actresses and actors walking into the Kodak Theatre, posing for pictures and greeting fans. She had heard of the museums and expensive shops selling everything from sunglasses with rhinestones, to nose rings and tattoo cleaners. But though Hollywood had once been a place suitable for America’s most famous stars, it had been reduced to a loud, crime-ridden city. The new Hollywood was dirty and the air was thick with pollution. Men were constantly walking around the streets drunk or strung out on every type of drug known to man. Fights broke out routinely and Kiara tried her best to steer clear of them. She preferred keeping to herself anyway. As she walked, she kept her body close to the brick walls that belonged to bars and shops that had barred windows and doors. She ignored the sneers and foul language that were tossed in her direction and kept her head bowed low. She didn’t want to attract any attention if she could help it, and looking disinterested was the best way to do it. The girl knew she had no business in such a crime-laden area, but she wanted to avoid Lycanthropes at all costs. She knew that the surrounding areas belonged to a few different packs of shifters, and she wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. Though she herself was a shifter, she despised her kind and saw them as brutal killers, nothing more than sadistic and cruel machines. She hated herself just as she did the others, and she berated herself constantly because she resented what she was. Kiara hadn’t been born a Lycanthrope, and had spent most her life as a human, living a relatively normal and carefree life. But things had changed, and the girl tried to cope with those changes in the only way she knew. She was lonely and unhappy and lived her life from one day to the next, never stopping to consider her future. The girl was a mess, dirty and unkempt but fit in well with the rest of the Hollywood crowd. She was clothed in a black dress with spaghetti straps that ended just past her knees in a few jagged strips. Her skin was lightly tanned but covered in dirt, so it was difficult to tell whether her color came from the sun or from the filth of the city. She wore her hair down and it hung limply over her shoulders. Her feet were bare and her soles were cut and sore from walking atop rocks and broken glass. She didn’t complain however, she saw no reason for it. Her skin was covered in bruises that she had acquired during the course of her travels. She looked like a messy little waif, but all in all, the girl was faring pretty well. She was acquiring enough food to keep her healthy and had yet to be seriously injured. If nothing else, Kiara was street smart and knew how to handle herself in a variety of nasty situations. Her biggest issue was contending with the dark. The girl was constantly asking for the time and watching the sun as it moved over the horizon. She refused to be outdoors when the dark came, and was always sure to seek shelter before the sun went down. Tonight the sun was setting quickly and the sky was growing dark seemingly right before her eyes. Dark clouds hovered over the strip, threatening to burst at any moment. Thunder roared in the near distance, alerting Kiara to the fact that a wicked storm was brewing. The girl peered up at the sky and noted the partially shrouded orange orb that was hanging low in the sky. The dark would come soon, and she needed to find a place to stay before it descended upon her. The girl had no money and no possessions of any value and usually tried to bargain with motel owners, offering to work for them if they would give her a place to stay for the night. Usually she didn’t have much trouble, but she tried to start bargaining as early as possible in order to avoid the stress that came along with getting too close to running out of time. The girl tucked her hair behind her ears and veered to the right, walking into a dingy motel office. The owner was fat and had mounds of black hair covering every exposed part of his body but his head. Sweat dripped down his face and moistened his clothing that was too small for his heavy body. Kiara was disgusted by his appearance but begged anyway. For nearly ten minutes she tried to strike a deal with him, but the man simply ran her around in circles and refused to give her what she wanted. Finally deciding she wasn’t going to get anywhere, she left the building and ran directly into someone who was walking along the dirty broken sidewalk. With: Silent Words: 950 Notes: I left this open so you can spice it up with some more drama if you'd like.

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Thunder boomed precariously in the distance, rain soon to come pouring in buckets as the sky blackened, not only from the approaching night, but from the dark clouds racing to cover the sky. Eyes, at first glance, so dark they were nearly black, viewed the streets like a critic in a fine restaurant, only, Hollywood was far from being fine, and the only restaurant would be the dumpsters filled to the brim with rotting garbage. With the world falling into ruins, the only people emptying the metal canisters were desperately hungry ones, searching for food, only to find maggots, maybe some decaying fruit or meat. The air reeked of it, causing Lucian's nose to wrinkle up momentarily. It was like breathing warm death, warm, rotting death. Even then, the carrion was gold to some. The streets were far from void of life, drunk men screamed violently at one another, occasionally coming to blows, some pulling meager weapons on one another.

Lucian sighed heavily, this place was more than a mess. As if to accent the feeble state of existence, not ten feet from him, a young man, in possession of an apple, it seemed, was pounced upon, attacked violently, and with swift movement, blood spattered the ground, the older man, his assailant, removing the knife from the boy's rib cage, thieving the apple, and fleeing the scene. Not that anyone would try to stop him, law wasn't a word for the human's these days. Lucian's eyes dropped to the boy, a few gurgled sounds escaping him, then silence. Death came quickly, it seemed. The man's eyes didn't change their cold glare, in fact, he hadn't seemed phased at all by the bloodshed, nor the death of the boy, no older than 16, human, weak. He scoffed. Human's were pathetic, and now, at the bottom of the food chain- not that they could even be considered as food. He stepped around the body- it wouldn't be noticed by many, he had seen plenty of corpses since he reached these lands, claimed by humans, old cities, decrepit now, rotting like the death within them. He raised his black eyes from the ground, looking around. He stood out himself, he knew. He was dressed in fine clothes, dark jeans, blue button down shirt, inky black hair combed back, aside from the loose strands that fell charmingly into his face- and yet he had no fear. He was Lycan, he could fend off any of these humans, easy, and yet, he'd mind his own business, and steer clear of them, if they did him the same courtesy. However, his only reason to visit this place was sheer curiosity. How bad were these humans fairing, and would they be any thread to the Lycans- more specifically, Nyalcom? He had already answered that question for himself- No.

There was a sudden ruckus to catch his attention ahead. The humans were loud, yes, and vulgar, but now, something in their tones, in their mocking jibes and swearing, their vile words and insults, drew his attention. Many were casting their cat calls and foul language to the only thing in this god forsaken city to truly catch his eye. It was a young woman, and unlike the other's he had seen, she held a... strength to her that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Also, unlike the other's, she seemed to be keeping her eyes down, trying to draw attention away from her. The only thing that proved that she was indeed from out here was her ragged appearance, dirty, her clothing ripped, her appearance meager, but again, he could somehow place beauty behind it. She was pretty, yes, but when cleaned up, he saw a real pearl before him. Now the question was, who was she, and why did she stand out to him?

He watched her for awhile, and she seemed to be growing nervous, constantly looking to the sky. Did the coming storm bother her? Was it something else. She suddenly dipped into a doorway, a run down motel. He stood on the opposite sidewalk, watching where she had disappeared to for a few moments, before starting across the broken street, and yet, just as he was to open the door, it opened itself, and out she came- barreling directly into him. Not quite a shining moment, eh? Afraid to have knocked her off balance, he instinctively reached out, gently grabbing her arm as if to right her, as well, gathering himself together. A quick motion overall, and all so quickly he released her and looked down at her, his eyes warm, suddenly a lighter, truly brown colour in comparison to their overall blackness. "My apologies, miss." He quickly apologized, his concern nothing less than sincere, it had been rude of him to run into her so abruptly. "Are you alright?"

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[atrb=background, i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/AshleesAlterEgo/Kiaramiddle.jpg] She was nervous and frustrated and was quickly running out of time. The sky was growing darker with every moment that passed, and the darkness instantly put the young woman on edge. She needed to get somewhere safe quickly, but she had no idea where to go. She had been rejected several times within the past hour and was slowly but surely growing discouraged. And she had been in such a state of frenzy after her last encounter that she hadn’t paid much attention at all to where she was going. And because she was behaving so carelessly, she ran smack into a young man. Naturally, she was taken by surprise and reacted with a small gasp, letting him know that her movement had surprised her as well. When the stranger carefully and kindly grasped her arm, the girl flinched and pulled her arm back toward her body as quickly as she possibly could. She allowed both of her arms to fall limply at her sides and she peered warily at the tall stranger. The young man would soon some to realize (if he hadn’t already) that Kiara had a small issue with being touched. She preferred keeping everyone around physically distant and she just wasn’t comfortable with touch of any kind. She wasn’t trying to be rude or hurtful, but more often than not, people took offense to her behavior. The shifter hadn’t always been such a sourpuss of course. At one point (only a few years ago in fact) she had been a rather outgoing and pleasant young woman. She used to enjoy spending time with her friends, going to parties, and enjoying the outdoors with her family and peers. But on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, she had been violently attacked and bitten by a lycanthrope (a man she had once adored and trusted) and her life was changed forever. The girl couldn’t’ come to terms with the pain that she had endured and refused to let anyone get close to her physically or otherwise. Though she was for the most part, capable of defending herself against humans, she was still wary around them and no longer trusted her own instincts. She had been wrong before, who was she to think that she couldn’t or wouldn’t be wrong again? The girl took a few steps back and put a little more distance between herself and the male. She took note of his height and build and was just a little intimidated by his appearance. There was one thing in particular that stood out: the way the man was dressed. It became clear only seconds after running into him that he wasn’t at all like most of the people who lived in the city. He was well dressed, clean, and very handsome. His dark hair was slicked back, his skin was healthy and clean, and his attire was free of stains, tears, and holes. She couldn’t even begin to imagine where he had come from or what he was doing in a dilapidated city. Hollywood was no longer the highly desirable booming city it had been so many years ago. It had been completely destroyed and had been reduced to a bottomless pit of filth, crime, and poverty. Cocking her head to the side, the woman shifted on her feet and answered: “no need to apologize. I wasn’t watching where I was going. And I’m okay, thank you for asking. Are you okay?” She eyed him curiously, wishing she had enough nerve to simply come out and ask him what he was doing in such a fucked up city around such fucked up people. Thunder boomed overhead, sending tremors down Kiara’s spine. She didn’t like storms and she didn’t like how dark the sky was becoming. But she had run out of time and was going to have to sneak into a building and hope that she wouldn’t be noticed until the sun rose in the morning. Chaos continued to unfurl all around the duo, causing Kiara to feel more restless than she already was. As a human she was generally quite passive and tried to stay out of the spotlight whenever she could. But the wolf that lie curled up inside her wasn’t nearly so gentle and longed to be released. Fights always brought out the worst in Kiara and she tended to either curl up in fear or tremble with pent up aggression. Much to the young woman’s dismay, a small fight broke out a few feet to her left side and quickly drew closer and closer to where she stood. One of the men accidently shoved her aside, sending her toward a pile of broken glass beer bottles. Though she managed to stay afoot, the bottom of her right foot wasn’t fortunate enough to come out unscathed. A large shard of glass tore through her thick flesh, causing blood to spill from the wound and a grimace to form on her face. But Kiara didn’t want to alert the young man to her predicament, she saw no reason to trouble him with it. Besides, she was perfectly capable of tending to it on her own. The girl hated the idea of being coddled or fussed over. The last thing she needed was someone fussing over her. No one had ever done such a thing of course, primarily because she didn’t allow it. The young woman was stubborn and headstrong and very set in her ways. Pulling her foot out of the glass, she tilted it inward and attempted to relieve herself of some of the pressure. As soon as she and the young man parted ways, she would remove the glass and go into hiding. But surprisingly, the man didn’t go anywhere and Kiara couldn’t for the life of her understand why. She opened her mouth and prepared to excuse herself but was stopped short when the clouds opened and released a few drops of cold summer rain. Within a matter of seconds the little drizzle turned into a downpour, and the woman shook her head from side to side in dismay. Could the evening possibly get any worse? Yes it could. The girl lifted her head and eyed the handsome stranger. His nice blue shirt and blue jeans were saturated with water and despite herself, she felt sorry for him. He probably wasn’t at all prepared for the rain. But she supposed he would walk a few blocks, step into a vehicle of some kind, and head back to his warm and comfortable home. He would find nothing in Hollywood that would interest him, that much she was sure of. Wrapping her arms tightly around her middle, the girl began: “you should get out of the rain. It doesn’t look like it’s going to let up any time soon and you’re going to get sick. This is no place for you. There’s nothing here.” The girl tried to muster up a smile, but failed. She wasn’t very happy and she couldn’t pretend to be. But despite the fact that her night had gone to hell, the young man didn’t have to suffer along with her. He stuck out like a sore thumb and she worried that if he hung around any longer, he would be targeted. The streets were dangerous, especially for individuals that looked like they had something to offer. With: Silent Words: 1236 Notes: N/A

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Lucian was acutely aware of the woman's reaction. Despite how gentle he had been, and the good intentions behind the deed, she had reacted negatively, jerking away and now was putting distance between them. It irked his curiosity, but he quickly brushed it off. It wasn't that odd, many people didn't like to be touched. She seemed to look him over for a second, and it didn't bother him in the least. Lucian wasn't a vain man by any standards, he instantly figured that he stood out like a sore thumb, of course she would have the curiosity to spot his differences from the rest of the scum walking in the area. When she spoke, his concerned look fell away and a warm, friendly smile formed on his mouth. "Oh, yes, I'm perfectly fine." She seemed to suddenly look at him again, her eyes questioning, but far too meek to simply ask. He chuckled, a deep, low sound in his throat. "Out here however, I must look a bit lost, huh? I actually came here just to see how bad it's really gotten." His expression grew somber for a second as his eyes flicked to the scenery around them, crypt like, broken down, a dying city for a dying race.

Lucian was suddenly jerked from this slight thought as, mere feet from them, a fight broke out, punches being thrown, a yelling, snarling fury, men clawing at each other, biting, punching kicking. And these were humans. His expression turned grim, the humans were as bad as the Lycans, but at least the Lycans had some loyalty to those in their own pack. Most humans were solitary, willing to throw each other aside for anything. Greed and violence would be their demise, he was certain of it- he now figured the Lycans wouldn't have to lift a claw to them, they'd slowly wipe themselves out, leaving only the packs to fight among themselves- eventually those quarrels would end- Nyalcom would be on top, and the world would be theirs. A power hungry lust burned in his chest for a moment, although he didn't outwardly let it show, as the fight progressed, he expected some concealed weapon to be drawn, and the struggle to end with a bloody death, yet it just continued on, steadily moving toward where the pair stood. He opened his mouth, ready to warn the strange girl to back away from the scuffle, but one of the men suddenly shoved into her, and she staggered back. Despite knowing she'd flinch away, he immediately moved to try to catch her, catching the glint of broken glass bottles behind her, but it was too late. She staggered back, and stepped on an upright shard, the sharp piece of glass piercing her foot, and to his senses, the scent of blood quickly perfumed the air. He winced, knowing how it must hurt, and once again, sincere concern darkened his brown eyes.

The woman opened her mouth, apt to speak, but thunder tore through the air, and the first few, fat drops of rain began to leak from the black clouds above, and moments later, a light drizzle, quickly giving way to a full on downpour that alone seemed to rock the earth. Lucian quickly found himself soaked to the bone, his neatly combed hair dripping water, and hanging disheveled around his face. The woman seemed perplexed as she seemed to notice he hadn't left yet, and shifting her weight off her injured foot, she wrapped herself in her arms, and spoke. Beside them, the fight hadn't died with the onset of the rain, and one of the men, flailing violently, spitting curses and smelling strongly of liquor, rammed heavily into Lucian. The strong lycan instantly hooked the man by the shoulders as a reflex, and sharply shoved him, causing him to stumble into his drunken friend, or enemy, whomever the other man may be. Giving them a sharp glare of diapproval, he spoke in a low voice. "Enough, you two act like animals." He noticed the irony of his statement, many of these humans acted like beasts- even the pretty young woman before him acted like a caged animal, terrified. He looked back to her, eyeing her curiously for a moment, before shaking his head, chuckling slightly. "I can handle myself quite well, but what I wish to know is why you, young lady, are out here? You say this place isn't for me, and true, I don't believe it is, but I also believe it isn't for you either. You obviously don't belong here." As he said this, he motioned around him the the stormy, ravaged city. He knew the woman wouldn't give in easily, and he quickly added on, "At least let me help you out of this rain, inside for the night, and make sure that you have what is necessary to take care of yourself. Is there anywhere around here you could go?" He asked, his eyes flicking to the motel behind them where she had been denied entry. What insolent fool would be so cruel as to not allow a poor young woman shelter for the night?

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[atrb=background, i16.photobucket.com/albums/b9/AshleesAlterEgo/Kiaramiddle.jpg] Kiara acknowledged the fact that the handsome stranger probably didn’t understand why she was so skittish and why she was so dead set against being touched. After all, most people didn’t mind gentle physical affection. But Kiara wasn’t most people and if this man wanted to go about earning her trust, he would have to display a great deal of patience. Kiara wasn’t for the faint of heart, and the man was sure to learn this sooner rather than later. The girl was pleased when the concerned look that had been plastered on his face was replaced by a friendly smile. She didn’t want his pity and knowing that he felt sorry for her or was concerned about her made her uncomfortable. When he explained that he was perfectly fine, she nodded in response and listened as he began to explain why he had ventured into the city in the first place. When he let her know that he had come simply to discover how horrible it actually was, she cocked her head in a display of curiosity. Soon after however, she cast him a small scowl, feeling a little offended that he had come to her home just to assure himself that it was a complete shithole. Brushing her dark hair out of her eyes she answered flatly: “that’s why you came here? This isn’t a zoo. These are people. And yeah the city is filthy and run down and some of the people are a little shady, but usually there’s a reason behind it. Some of these people have been through the wringer. Lives have been destroyed and people have been damaged in ways we could never imagine. No one can stand on the outside and judge the people or the city they live in because no one can know their pain and renunciation.” The girl knew that she had gotten a little feisty with the young man, but she felt very strongly about the city and its residents. She didn’t exactly enjoy living in Hollywood and most of the people she feared, but she knew that most of them were just miserable, lonely souls. After all, she was one of them. And Kiara felt that when this man judged her city, he was judging her as well. The young woman didn’t have much time to stew over the young man’s explanation however, for the fight that was taking place nearby, soon captured her attention. The stranger stepped in fairly quickly though, obviously wanting to put a stop to the ruckus before it grew completely out of control. The girl watched as the stranger physically gripped one of the obnoxious (and probably drunk) men and shoved him toward one of his companions. Her eyes widened as the men shrunk back, clearly intimidated by the peculiar man. The drunkards didn’t even attempt to fight back and scurried off as quickly as they possibly could. Kiara of course was completely baffled. Yes the stranger looked fit and athletic, and yes he probably had plenty of money, but he wasn’t overly aggressive, so why had the men fled so quickly. The brunette tried to adjust herself carefully on her feet and stare curiously at the young man. There WAS something different about him, but what was it? Her wolf turned inside her, letting her know that something was very, very amiss. But Kiara had spent so much of her time trying to ignore her wolf and the heightened senses that came along with being a lycanthrope that she failed to notice that he carried a very similar scent. The young loner was drenched in cold rainwater, and the small droplets dripped from her hair, skin, and clothing. The clouds were thick and heavy with water and appeared as though they would be staying for quite some time. Naturally the sky was quite dark and Kiara was on edge, wanting to find somewhere to hide before the night came and shrouded everything in darkness. The girl stood on the sidewalk engulfed in a few moments of uncomfortable silence before the man once again began to speak. Naturally he wanted to know what she was doing in the city, and she supposed it was a reasonable question. After all, she had asked him the same thing. Clearing her throat she answered quietly: “this is where I stay. I’m no different than the others that live here. And this suits me just fine. I have everything I need.” Of course she left out the fact that she was often cold, uncomfortable, hungry, dirty, and frightened. But he didn’t need know those things, and there was no sense in telling him. When he kindly offered to help her find somewhere warm and dry to stay she answered simply: “I know my way around here fairly well. It just takes time to find someone who is hospitable. I appreciate your offer to help me, but I can do it on my own. If you’d like to come along because you are bored and want to see more of the city, you are free to do that.” Even if the girl HAD been in need of his help, she never would have admitted it. She was far too proud to ever admit that she needed someone else’s assistance. The bottom of the girl’s foot throbbed. Bits of glass protruded out of the bottom and the woman longed to pull them out and wrap her foot in a bandage. But people were still hustling about the streets, each looking for a warm place to stay. Before the woman knew it, everyone had vanished, leaving the pair to stand alone on the wet cold street. Thunder continued to roar and lightning illuminated the sky. Kiara wasn’t frightened, but she was chilly and eager to get out of the rain. Deciding it was time to move along, she lightly tapped the young man on his lower arm and silently let him know that she was going to hunt for a place to stay. She wasn’t sure if he would follow her or not, but she suspected he wouldn’t. She knew she wasn’t much fun and that the city didn’t have a whole lot to offer. The girl hobbled a few steps on the balls of her feet, trying to keep the wound on her foot from touching the uneven pavement. The woman peered in buildings and looked down alleys, searching for a place to rest. She walked nearly a block before she found herself too tired to continue. Knowing she needed to rest for a few moments, she slipped into an empty alley and moved against a building, her back against the dirty red bricks. After a few seconds had passed, she lowered herself to the ground and tried to brush some of the rainwater out of her eyes. Kiara took the time to wonder how she had gotten herself into such a mess. Why couldn’t things improve for just a little while? Everything she once held dear had been taken from her, she had been stripped of everything that she had. With: Lucian Words: 1317 Notes: I rarely proofread or spell check these things. I apologize in advance for all the mistakes I've likely made.

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All so quickly- not surprisingly so, the streets were empty, and only Lucian stood, with the strange woman next to him. The city seemed less hostile without the people, and although it was wrong of him, he knew she had it mixed up. The humans were as bad as the lycans, and yet, something he felt, a loyalty to his own race, let him know the humans were worse- the humans were animals that needed to be put down and yet- he looked at the girl as she tapped his arm, turned, and started off down the street. He didn't initially follow, simply watching her- and yet, this girl... she wasn't like the humans, he didn't feel like she needed to be exterminated, she just needed to be guided to the proper path. What path was that? He was a Nyalcom wolf, he knew, Rulin protected their humans, Nyalcom harassed theirs, tortured, murdered vilely. Of course, Lucian was far from your typical Nyalcom, most of the time at least, yet here he was, not killing- of course, he was a gentleman, and truthfully, that explained it. Here was a lycan with come class, he treated women with utmost respect, and this one was no different, human or not, she was a lady. He sighed, watching her disappear into the night, knowing he wouldn't just let her wander off. Women were, by nature, helpless creatures, and living among garbage or not, she was no different- aside from one thing Lucian failed to catch. With the scent of garbage, blood, humans, the pure filth of the city, her scent was well masked. If it wasn't, he would have scented the wolf.

Shadows were Lucian's specialty, whether he was intending it to be or not, so as he walked along in the direction she had fled in, he blended in nicely with the dark. The city frustrated him quickly, however. With it's rotting, carrion scent, he couldn't simply track her down the streets, and so his eyes were ever moving, looking out for any hints as to where she could have gotten to. He knew it probably wasn't any of his business- good intentions of not, she probably wouldn't long enjoy his company, and yet the caring gentleman within him was fighting it's way out. At least make sure she got inside somewhere for the night, or else he knew if he ever ran into her again, she'd be dead. His sensitive hearing was alerted, however, to the sound of motion, his head turning, and his gaze locking into a dark alleyway. He couldn't be certain, and so he tentatively approached the secluded path, it reeked further of garbage, so scent was no use. If it wasn't her, yet another hostile human, he wouldn't have to worry nonetheless, he'd have no issue killing it, he was fed up with humans for the day. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, a wolf's sight, he could make out her shadowy figure, sitting against the wall, wiping rainwater from her face, looking just miserable. "Miss?" He called out, stepping into the alley and sitting himself down across from her. For whatever reason, his first response was to lighten the mood. "You know, this wasn't quite what I had in mind when I asked if you had some place to go." He chuckled, not trying to offend her. He looked at her again, peering at her through the gloom. "I never did get your name, miss- Nor you mine, for that matter. Chevalier, Lucian Chevalier."