'The Hunt'

"Anything with meat. The more more the better," she smiled, nodding her head.

Yawning widely, she kicked off her boots and lined them neatly next to the rest of her shoes, taking care of the symmetries. She motioned for her guest to follow her and opened the door to the lounge.
Taking a running leap over the couch, she landed softly in the centre of the room next to the large glass coffee table where her matches still sat, unused.
This room too, like the rest of the house was a clash of the modern and the old with a large stone fireplace gracing one wall and a huge LCD TV gracing the other. Two squishly leather sofas and another two identical leather chairs were placed in the middle of the room, squaring around the coffee table and facing the TV.
A gargantuan bookcase filled one wall, stuffed to the brim with her favourites, the old spines looking well worn. Her books had been the only things from her previous life worth keeping.

Alyss knelt in front of the fire, snatching up the matches and striking one in a single fluid motion. She cultivated the flames until the logs she had cut down from her garden were roaring merrily in the fireplace.
With a satisfied smile, she took to her feet again and nodded at her visitor. "Please, make yourself at home, kitchens through the alcove, help yourself to drinks. I'm going to grab a shower and some clothes because to be frank, I smell like blood and sweat." she smirked a little, before heading out of the door and dashing for the stairs.

The shower was in her en-suite at the top of the staircase - these were the times she wished she'd invested in a lift. The hot water ran at almost scalding temperature- Alyss had always loved the extreme sensations of burning away the previous day with water. If any day needed washing away is was today, here she stood a murderer- no, a revenger. Not a murderer. The water rolled over her skin, relaxing her aching muscles and soothing the sore joints of her knees. Quite possibly the best shower of her life. Ten minutes later, she was washed, dried and kitted out in the black vest top, black v-neck and pink striped shorts she wore as pajamas.

She headed for her guest again, after tying her freshly dried hair back in a ponytail and making sure the entirety of the blood was gone from her hands. Her guns were replaced and riot gear hung up, that was for another night now. Now was for relaxing her aches.

"So, I'm taking it you're not really my neighbour, or was that part true?" she said, entering the room. Taking the shortest route possible was essential in most situations and now was no exception- she jumped over the back of the leather armchair and slid down into it's soft confines, sitting sideways with her legs thrown over the side.

Alyss smiled, leaning forwards and half-filling the tumbler with the gin he had placed on the table for her. She relaxed into the chair, sighing with relief as the warmth of the fire washed over her.
"Depends on which part of the Government you're in. If you work dangerously, as I do, they're bound to give you a little more," she smiled, lazily. "Plus, my family used to be pretty wealthy, Dad was in the coal business when it was booming. When I came of age, I left my home with a lot more money than I thought. So I guess I came about it with inheritance, work and holiday pay."

The doorbell buzzed and she immediately jumped to her feet, hand going to her side. She heard the buzzer again and someone shout 'Pizza Deilvery?!" Laughing at her senseless violence, the girl silently padded through the hallway and opened the door, running down to the gate to collect the pizza with money grasped firmly in her hand. After a brief thanks, she headed back up the stairs carrying the two boxes on the flat of her palm.

"Grubs up!" she shouted, throwing a box at Necati, who was still resting on the floor. She smirked, reinstating her place on the armchair and opening the box. "Damn, I love stuffed crust!" she exclaimed, ripping a slice from the box. It'd be hours since she'd last eaten- probably even a day or two- and it was only the smell of the pizza that brought back the feelings of hunger. Wolfing down two slices took less than 3 minutes, so she settled back in the armchair with her drink. Indigestion was never a good thing- call it a pitstop.

"Well, if you feel so inclined as to not return to the 'other realm'," she murmured, sarcastically emphasising the last two words. "I have a ton of rooms, you're quite welcome to stay here, as long as no dead people show up."

Alyss chewed thoughtfully on the crust of her pizza, taking in his question. She smiled briefly at him, seeing a disgusted look brush his face briefly.
"You don't have to eat it, if you don't want. To be quite honest pizza isn't always great. Greasy." she said, licking her fingers. "I intend to finish this through. If it's government officials that need replacing, the guys at work can fill in those positions quite easily. I think it's just the quantity that irritates me, there is so much crime nowadays. Almost too much to handle."

She drank the rest of her gin down quickly and hissed at the strong taste. "But of course, I'm quite capable of handling it. And as for friends and loved ones...." Pouring herself another glass, she smiled widely at him, holding her glass in the air. "I don't have any. And if I did, I'd just let Fear take over my brain. She never has feelings for anyone, except hatred. If I needed to kill a friend, she could do it for me. Cold and emotionless is my middle name, buddy."

Taking another gulp of drink, she gazed at the dancing flames of the fire. "I just wish life could be peaceful sometimes, and then I remember that I get bored easily...." With a smile she raised herself to her feet and put the glass down on the table. "Well, if I'm correct in thinking that you are similar to Charon, the ferryman of the Underworld, to which I quote the Aeneid by Virgil 'He was a horrid, disfigured old man' I'm guessing that this isn't your true form. Now, do I want to see it, or is it better now to?" she said, hands on hips.

The girl sunk back further into her leather chair, resting the glass of gin upon the wooden coffee table next to her.

"You know, when you smile like that you look like you belong in 'A Clockwork Orange'..." she chuckled, mimicking his half-smirk. With her small taunt over, her eyes flitted back to the fire, and it briefly reminded her of a fight with Emblem long ago - all that ash and smoke - it had terrified her.

"I came to Jump when I was 15 to try and find the solace I needed to continue living. The Titans provided me with a home, a place to rest and friendship. They really helped me. But, my mind was still unstable and I met a guy called...." she frowned, trying to remember his name. "Dorian. God, I forgot about him." Her mind floated back to the beautiful man who had beaten her around the house they lived in - who forced her to betray her friends. "He wasn't a very nice man, let's just leave it at that. I escaped from him, and rejoined my friends in the Towers - back when we were Titans North. I remained there for about 7 months, fighting and winning for the most part, with them. It was a nice time, but still I had no trust for anyone, I wouldn't let them touch me for fear of going AWOL. I left about 2 weeks after that due to.... personal reasons, went to NYC and well...here I am again."

She picked the glass from the side back up and swirled the glass around in the centre. "In short, we were friends. But now I have a feeling they want to put me away - I don't need them recognising me whilst I'm staying so close to Jump."

His question brought her swiftly out of her reverie. She slammed her gin down on the table in a movement that was too fast, too hard. The glass cracked in her hand, shattering into pieces and slicing the soft skin open on her palm. The remains of the gin trickled onto her open wounds, creating a sizzling feeling in her blood. It wasn't anger that caused it, but the shock of being brought so suddenly out of the memories she had forgotten.

"Oh for fu-" she snarled, wiping her hand on her tank top. With a morose smile to Necati, the girl got to her feet and took a tissue from the box on the sideboard, holding it to her hand. "Sorry, I'm stronger than I thought!" she said, laughing nervously. Well, it could be accepted this once, she had killed men tonight, of course her nerves would be shaky.

"Yeah, of course." she said, moving from the room and walking across the vast hallway. Stepping up the stairs, the girl pressed the tissue further into her hand. Dorian. Where was he nowadays? Could she locate him? They arrived on the third floor, where Alyss opened the third door on the left and ushered her friend inside.
It was the darkest room in her house, a feature she thought he would appreciate. It contained a king-sized bed with a curling, wrought iron headboard and a dark red bedspread, a shining black wardrobe with a matching sideboard on the other side of the room and a dark oak bookcase that covered the entire lower wall. In the centre of the bookcase was an absent space where set of glass double doors led out to a small balcony at the side of the house. The rooms vast ceilings gave it an echoing tone, that resonated as she walked onto to wood panelled floors. A small iMac sat in the corner of the room, near the bed, glowing in the darkness.

She switched the lights on, before walking over to the bed and throwing herself onto it, bouncing up and down for a moment.
"Nice gaff, huh?" she said, folding her arms behind her head. "Feel free to stay as long as you wish. Just one thing to note..." Blushing sheepishly, she ran her hand through her hair. "I sometimes talk in my sleep, I'll try to keep it down but y'know, if you hear anything it's just me."

Alyss laughed lightly, staring up at the ceiling.

"My mind wishes to say that it could use another drink," with another laugh, she bounced up off the bed and joined Necati on the balcony. Her demeanour became more serious, a little more human than before. "But, really, ignore it. Anything I say...or shout...isn't real. Dreams aren't always the subconscious."

Her mind was plagued with images of Dorian already - but no, she could control this. Taking a deep breath of the evening air, the girl leant her arms gently against the stone bar of the balcony. "I shout quite a bit, or so I've been told. It stopped for a while, but since being back in Steel, my camera's showed me not having the easiest slumber," she said, shutting her eyes and revelling in the soft warm wind.

"I like being in control now. I suppose nighttime is when Fear can take over my dreams. Stupid bitch never leaves me alone," with a grim smile, she touched the cuts on her hand and gazed out over the lights of Steel City. There was always the chance that with someone else in the house she could sleep soundly, a very slim chance, but still- a chance.
"I'm just saying, sorry if I wake you. My ramblings can get pretty grim - and loud."

A shiver ran down her spine at the sub-zero temperature of the man's skin. He felt like....Death. How quaint.

"Fear is...not a spirit exactly. She's like my other half, the one who creates terror instead of feeling it. Oh, this is going to sound so over dramatic..." she trailed off, closing her eyes in anguish. "Fear was formed in my brain, giving me these powers, after the attack. Whilst she used to control me, I can subdue her now, make her bow down to me. At last. But when I'm sleeping, I've no conscious ability to stop her and she can do what she likes. For the most part she enjoys messing around with me, giving me nightmares and replaying memories."

Alyss attempted a smile, but could only muster a grimace under the circumstances, whilst removing her hand from the pale one. "As for prying into my mind, no. No-one goes in there. If people make a connection, she can escape. And Fear has the lovely habit of eating people up from the inside - she loves making others commit suicide or hurt themselves. I think it's her favourite past-time."

She straightened up and rubbed her weary eyes, hissing as the blood from her cut hand stained her face. "She can be bought down with sleep aids, painkillers, whatever. But I don't usually do that anymore, I manage. We're both a part of Alyss though, both of us were created for some purpose. In certain situations she can be helpful."

With a tired glance at her watch, she could already feel Fear clawing at her mind - she wanted sleep now that Alyss had mentioned it. The white-haired girl had always been ashamed of taking the painkillers to help shut up her own mind - Dilaudid was her pharmacy heroin. But having been clean of it for a year now, cravings for the control were back. No, no more. Fear would learn not to mess with her without the help of counter-top drugs, she was quite capable.

"So, what about you Necati?" she replied, quickly switching the subject. "How do you know the Titans?"