Dance with the devil (Liam/Open)

[Akeelah]

It was close to one in the morning when Akeelah made it to the local park for night patrol like she normally did. It had been a long quiet tonight. Unusually quiet, there had been very like activity. It was odd, night time was usually when the local demons and other creatures of the night came out and yet there was barely anything around. She did not fight a single thing all night, even when she did some minor demons roaming about they quickly scampered away so she did not get the chance to kill anything. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing that tonight was relatively peaceful, it just felt unnatural. There had to be some kind of reason behind it, something that she killed so much of those vermin that there was little of them left or that they left town. A laughable idea of course, she was good but not that good. No it had to be something different. Maybe tomorrow night she would change her patrol route, it was about time that she switched her hunting grounds again. Staying too long in one area was never a good idea; once her prey caught on to her routine they could easily avoid her. Maybe that was the reason she did not find anything tonight.

Yeah I’ll find a new spot to patrol tomorrow. She thought, it couldn’t hurt to try it. The park like everywhere else was just as barren, no signs of anything human or not in the area. All was peaceful, all was quiet. So the little huntress kept moving, venturing away from the playground to the wooden area of the park. There had to be something hiding there, there almost always was something there. Akeelah walked along the concrete path, absentmindedly touching the hilt of the knife on her hip while scanning the area. A few minutes in and the girl stopped in front of a dirt trail that led further into the woods. Should take the trail in or take the main path to go over the general area? She debated which path to take for a few seconds and finally decided to take the path deeper into the woods. She might have better luck there than on the main path.

Sadly there did not seem to be much of anything in the woods either. Like the rest to the park the woods were still and silent. The only difference was it was a little darker with the trees blocking out what little light that the street lamps and moon provided. The lack of light was only a minor inconvenience to the huntress, her eyes were slowly adapting and with all of her other senses on high alert she was not too worried about anything sneaking up on her. Further in she went until a small movement up ahead made her stop in her tracks. Within moments the huntress drew her knife and went into her defensive stance. Her body tensed in anticipation as she stared back into the creature’s glowing yellow eyes. But then the creature mewed…

“Huh?”

Wait… mewed? As the creature approached she couldn’t help but laugh when she finally saw what it really was. “You scared me for a second there.” She said to the cat that came up to greet her. Akeelah withdrew her weapon and crouched down to pet the feline. Smiling as the animal purred loudly. As weird as it sounded the girl who barely took an interest in anything outside of her job had a soft spot for cats. Sadly she had one of her own, wasn’t even sure if she could have take care of one. “What are you doing out here in the middle of the night? Don’t you know that there are things out here that might try to eat you?” The feline rubbed up against her in reply and she chuckled again. From the looks of it this cat was probably a stray. Poor thing, she thought. With no home of its own would not be long until something tried to eat it.

The little creature’s ears perked up suddenly and it stopped purring, its gaze drawn to something behind the girl. Akeelah looked down at the feline in confusion as it arched its back and hissed angrily. Then just as quickly as it had come the little guy was gone, running away as if it saw something frightening. A dark shadow loomed over her and in a flash the girl was back onto her feet; knife drawn once again as she turned around to face whatever it was that frightened the other creature away.

[Liam Delowski]

It had been a long day for Liam Delowski- A little too long, in fact every day seemed to melt into another up here in the world of humans. How did they do it, Liam wondered, how did a human function living their lives every day in the restrictions that society put up for them. They worked only to pay money to people who didn't really appreciate it, and lived daily routines forced upon them only because they were told they had to or that it was expected of them. The more he thought about it, Liam was probably putting the bastards out of their misery- there was thought.

All things said, Liam found himself missing the demon world, he missed the warmth, the parties, and he missed the not caring about anyone or anything else but himself. Liam missed the simplicity of a good easy to find kill, unlike how things were now.

As Liam walked, one thing brought comfort to the disgruntled demon's mind. His old man seemed to be close to finding out the key to their mission- soon this world wasn't going to know what hit them for Liam's old man was down in hell figuring out a way to open the gates to which contained them, as soon as this happened, human's weren't going to know what hit them as the demons would soon have the ability of commuting freely between the two worlds which was going to make it easier to hunt and to feed.

This thought brought a sly smile on Liam's face, it was a smile in which had not been seen for weeks now and it only widened as he heard something in the far off distance.

Meow

Liam paused for a moment as he heard the cat cry out in the distance, his instincts telling him that this was just the pick me up that Liam needed . The dark figure trailed through the woods quickly and quietly towards the direction that the source of the noise came from however as he came in the proximity he paused. Knelt over the cat was another figure, this one familiar. It was Akeelah, the huntress who he had met not so long ago and she seemed to be unaware of his presence. Liam carefully took another step closer to the girl, remaining silent as he did so.

He watched as the cat tensed as it realized the demon was close by until it eventually ran off. Then he watched as Akeelah slowly turned around, her weapon in hand and on the defensive, not what Liam was expecting for tonight's activities, but it would have to do. Besides, he was rather mad now, she let dinner get away.

[Akeelah]

Akeelah had no idea who or what she was about to go up against when she had turned around to face the new arrival, but she knew whatever it was would not be pleasant. It did not take a genius to notice the fear in the feline that had fled for its life that what the little animal saw was something dangerous. Still the girl thought that it would not be that bad, it might be a threat but she could handle it. She was not a helpless girl after all; she was a hunter, strong and independent. Whatever she was about to face she could easily overcome. That was what she thought until she saw who it was. Akeelah took an involuntary step back from the all too familiar demon before her, silently cursing her luck as she glared up at the fiend. Liam Delowski, out of all the scum that crawled on the earth she just had to bump into him. To say that the huntress was a little surprised to see the demon here out of all places was an understatement.

It should not have been that surprising though, she knew that he must live in this area, it would only be a matter of time till their paths crossed again, hell she hoped that it would happen eventually so she could kill him. It was just that it had not even been that long since they had last seen each other. It just felt odd to see him again this soon. The biggest problem was that she wasn’t ready to face him yet. She learned the hard way just how powerful Liam was from their first fight, she had rushed into that fight too soon and lost badly, she would have lost her life back then and was lucky that she was still alive now. She had not made much progress since then and had little hope of fairing any better than she did before. If Akeelah fought him now she might lose again.

Pull yourself together girl, he hasn’t beaten you yet… she reminded herself. Just because the first battle did not go her way did not mean that all was lost. She had screwed up but she was still alive, she still had a chance to make up for her previous mistake. Even if she did not feel like she was ready yet she would fight. She had to fight no matter what or she really would die tonight.

“What a surprise to see you here.” She said, regaining her composure. The last thing she wanted was for the evil bastard to think that he scared her. “What are you doing out in this place so late at night? Just out for a little night stroll, sneaking up on random strangers for kicks?”

[Liam Delowski]

Their eyes locked, Liam could see the the slight show of apprehension as the Akeelah took a step back, this show of weakness, would be something that Liam would keep in mind tonight if the time came that there was trouble, for now though he would take his time with Akeelah, he decided as he stood still studying his surroundings and the situation in front of him.

" You seem surprised to see me." He mused as he glanced over the girl's shoulder, there was nothing in sight that could help him except some old out dated playground equipment and the forest which he supposed could be used for cover. Liam crossed his arms in front of his broad chest, " I must say Akeelah, you've made some name for yourself in this city haven't you. Your one hell of a hunter. You remind me of him....."

Their eyes continued to lock and he knew that the huntress would catch on and know exactly who he was talking about for there was only one man in which they both had in common- Akeelah's father, the man that Liam had killed from many years ago.

[Akeelah]

Akeelah kept a careful eye on Liam, watching him while he studied his surroundings. She knew that he would not find much around the area that could be useful in a fight. She knew this area well enough to know that there was little that he could use as a weapon unless he could tear apart a piece of the little playground nearby. Of course he could more likely he was looking for any possible exits. That too would not be much, he could use the woods for cover but she knew the area well enough that he would not get too far. He could try but she would not be slowed down as much as he would like to think, especially if Liam had no prior knowledge about where he was. That could very well be the case here if he was spending more time looking at his location than the real threat at hand.

There was hope yet, though small as it may be. If her assumption was right then maybe she did have an edge on him. Even if it was small it was something and she would take whatever edge she could get. That thought gave her enough confidence that she wasn’t even fazed when he had brought up her earlier discomfort. Yes he caught her off guard but now she would make up for it, so long as she could keep her cool she had a chance. Akeelah did not want to repeat the same mistake again and charge at him purely out of rage and be brought down again because of that. No, this time she would do things the right way. But what he said next threatened that plan.

It took a great deal of personal control in that moment for the huntress to not take a stab at him just then. It took even greater control to try and hide the effect of those words physically as well. It was nearly impossible for her not to show the effect, it took all of Akeelah’s will power to stop her body from shaking in rage. She still couldn’t stop herself from tightening her grip on her knife, still couldn’t stop herself from sending him a death glare for what he said. Don’t lose it yet, don’t lose it yet! she reminded herself. It would be pointless for her now if she allowed herself to lose it so easily in front of him.

“I guess coming from you that’s a complement.” She answered coldly. Akeelah knew all too well what he was doing. She knew that he was only trying to rile her up so she would slip up. Sadly it was working. Akeelah had never been good at keeping her temper, and attacking her family was the easiest way to make her lose it. But she had to try and keep it this time. Still her eyes scanned over him while she talked, looking for a good weak spot to strike when the time came. “I wonder, will you still be thinking of him when I take your head?”

[Liam Delowski]

" You can try little one." Liam mused as he continued getting a good picture of the little playground. There was nothing useful here, nothing but some old rusting out playground equipment that the town was to cheap to fix and the forest. Nothing that would assist in a fight, nothing that could be even considerably used as a weapon. This factor putting him in a more sour mood than when he first got here, furthermore, this factor being what could cause him to lose this fight if he didn't focus.

" I mean, you're a good- great fighter even, but do you really think you've got the strength to take on a full fledged demon?" Liam forced one of his smooth and malicious smiles to his face, his hopes being that the young huntress would not see through his charade.

It was a fact, Liam was sort of hoping that Akee would back down tonight, however, Liam knew that it was likely a long shot. He had faced the huntress before and he knew that the girl was not one to back down. No- he was likely going to have to face his nemesis tonight weather he felt up to par or not.

[Akeelah]

As calm and cool as Liam acted before her Akeelah couldn’t help but notice just how much his eyes wandered around the area. It was subtle the way that he did it but the girl was experienced enough to pick up on it. He was trying to get a good idea of his surroundings to either find something he could use against her or at least try and determine who would have the greater advantage here. It was impossible to know what he was really doing but if her guess was correct she doubted that he couldn’t find much. It was not overconfidence talking here, but her own knowledge of the area. This place after all was one of the places that the huntress patrolled in. And smart hunter got to know her territory well. The only real concern that the girl had for potential weapons that he could use was the sand to blind her, or if he was strong and desperate enough him destroying the playground for makeshift weapons. There was very little to help him here, and he probably realized that by now.

“Don’t call me little.” The girl growled instinctively to his comment. The longer he talked the more angry she got. Here he was, the bastard she wanted to kill so badly right in front of her and so far she hadn’t even moved an inch to attack him yet. His last comment though brought a sadistic smile to her face. “I guess we won’t know till we find out?” with that she charged forward to attack. Quickly closing the gap between them Akeelah brought her knife up into and arch to slash Liam in the chest. Or so that was what it would seem to the demon at first. The first move was nothing more than a feint to distract him. Just as it looked like the girl was about to strike him with her knife she tried to sweep his legs out from under him with her own foot, bringing her knife down towards him during the fall.