Threatened ( Open)

[Roman Delowski]

Roman's eyes scanned the front of the school as the bell rang to let the students out. He was searching for someone, someone who had seemed to be getting under his skin as of late. He had been here since sometime this afternoon where he stood concealed in his hiding spot, his eyes lingering constintly at the entrance.

Finally, his wait was about to end, the girl he had been there waiting for was making her way out of the tall brick building. A smile slowly showed across Roman's face as he took a deepened breath as he moved himself away from his hiding spot where he began walking slowly towards Angel.

They, afterall had some things to discuss.

[Akeelah]

Akeelah couldn’t wait to get home. It had been a long frustrating day of school for the young hunter, mainly because of the work load. All of the days that she had skipped school were rearing their ugly head once again, now when she finally did go to school she was up to her head in homework and tests that she needed to prepare for. It wasn’t the first time that she had been in this dilemma; Akeelah always had homework issues before. Every time she managed to pull through and catch back up. This time would be no different, she would just have to buckle down and work hard.

Why should I even bother with this crap, it’s not like it’s not like it matters if I fail or not. she thought. It wasn’t like she had a bright future to look forward to after she finished high school. She wasn’t going to go to college or university to become a doctor or a lawyer. The only goal she had in life was to kill one demon, nothing more and nothing less. She couldn’t even do that yet as she was now. She learned that the hard way in their first fight, the second one didn’t even count; she didn’t get the chance to kill him then. He had left before they had the chance to fight. Her time was better put to use training so she could match his level. Going to school was just a waste of her time.

No…it wasn’t a total waste. She did need a break once in a while and going to school like a normal girl did her some good. The school work did give her something else to focus on and though it was frustrating and stressful at times it did her some good to have something else on her mind then her longing for revenge.

Akeelah hurried past the school parking lot, her mind already thinking about what she had to get done this week. There was a huge pile of math work that she had to do, it would be impossible for her to finish it all in one go. There was a research assignment that she had to do for next week, along with a handful of other things. I should do that essay for English class first. she decided. It wasn’t too hard to do, it was one of those opinionated essays that you had to do about the book the class was assigned to read. She had missed the classes where they covered the book so she would have to quickly read it when she got home so she could work on it.

Wait…did I bring the book with me? Akeelah stopped walking and tried to recall if she did. She did remember the teacher handing it to her during second period; she had put it into her locker just before lunch, then she went back to pick up everything before her last class but…

Akeelah opened her bag and started rummaging through it looking for the book. Just as she thought, she did forget it. Akeelah groaned, great now she had to run back to her locker and get the stupid thing. The girl made her way back around to the school entrance, moving through the crowd to get over to the front doors when she spotted the last person she expected to see here.
For a second her mind couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing. But sure enough it was Roman, she couldn’t forget his face after the last time she had seen him. He couldn’t be a student here, that would be too strange so why was he here? That’s when she noticed who he was heading towards and everything fell into place. She should have guessed that he would be here for Angel; why else would he dare show his face. Akeelah quickly approached the demon from behind and reached out to grab his arm, yanking him back to stop him in his tracks. There was no way he was going to let him get anywhere near Angel while she was around. “You really are a terrible stalker you know that?”

[Angel McCoy]

Tick Tock


Five more minutes. Angel thought as she listened to the teacher who stood at the front of the class, five more minutes and she'd get up from her desk and walk out the front door, what she'd do after school today she didn't know, but whatever it was would have to be better then what she was doing now, right?

Tick Tock

The minutes on the clock edged ever so closely to that time, the teacher was now finishing up her lesson and was now going to persist on giving them their homework, as if there wasn't enough to do tonight when she got home tonight, but with her pen in hand, Angel scribbled down tonights assignments in her study planner, dreading the long evening she would have to put in tonight for her uncle was planning a vigorous training routine to prepare Angel for the evil that was spreading across town.

Tick Tock

Finally, the bell rang and she was free, Angel quickly flung her book bag up onto her desk and once it was full with tonight's work she quickly put it over her shoulder. After making sure she wasn't missing anything she stood up, giving her legs a brief moment to enjoy the different position before heading towards the door.

And now.... Freedom. Angel let out a sigh and smiled as she looked down the hallway where she could see the front entrance just a few paces away. As much as she complained, she missed the place, it had been a while since Angel had been allowed back after falsely being accused for a murder she did not commit, this was all because a demon had become scarily obsessed with her and she wouldn't give into his advances no matter how hard he tried. Eventually Roman decided if he couldn't have her, he would just ruin her life so he convinced Luke that she had murdered an innocent. In doing this, Angel's life had changed, she wasn't able to attend school, until now, people still gawked at her when she passed by, and Luke, well he lost his life because of everything, and on top of this Angel aquired a new power, she could now hear the thoughts of those around her, part of the reason for her new training schedual.


Outside, things were no better than inside, Angel caught voices from the students all scattering to get onto their buses or to their cars, one voice she picked up on was a very familar voice, it was Akeelah, she had helped her out in a very sticky situation one night when Roman had come into her home, his intentions were to kill Luke, but he was too late for that someone else had already bet him to the punch there.

Hesitating, Angel took a step forward, her mind set on getting to know this demon hunter who had helped her out, but something stopped her dead in her tracks, a terrible feeling, a familar one, but terrible all the same- danger.

[Roman Delowski]

There she was, his mark. He was just moments away now, excitment flowed through, boiling inside of Roman's veins. The confrontation was nearing and he could taste the sweetness of the moment. This girl did the unforgivable, denying him of the fruit which he oh so craved. He had tried to be relatively nice, all facts considering. He was a demon, but through his own weakness, this girl, was making him feel human and this was unforgivable.


Any second now, he would step out of his hiding and claim his property...... Or so he thought, someone was coming, someone very familiar and Roman knew what he was up against as he felt this aura, this presence before. He recognized the face as she approached, her eyes determined. She didn't even have to speak for Roman to know that this girl knew why he was hear.

" Akeelah." He greeted all but ignoring her statements. " I had no idea you came to school here."

And this statement was truth, he had no clue any of the others came to school here, well except for Angel's trouble making boyfriend.

" You must be wondering how I know your name," Roman smiled, he asked, hoping that if he scared her enough she might leave him to his business, " I know all about you, I try to get information from all the people I battle."

Roman glanced past Akeelah, his eyes still on his mark. " Now we don't want to start any trouble here." He threatened darkly, " After all, there is other students around." With this Roman focused his attentions back on Akee.

[Akeelah]

His greeting did catch her off guard a bit, making her pause for a second. She did not think that he would know her name, after all she hadn’t introduced herself to him in their first encounter, wouldn’t have bothered to anyway even if she did have the opportunity so how he knew it was a mystery. It wasn’t enough to make her back down though, it was only a name, he didn’t know anything else. Maybe Adrian had said her name during the fight and that’s how Roman knew it, or maybe if his brother knew it and he found out that way. Either ways it was not that big of a deal. “Sure you do…” she replied coolly, “I would be insane to assume you wouldn’t know something about me.” After all she was after his brother why wouldn’t he know something about her. If he was hoping he could use his knowledge against her he really had another thing coming to him.

Akeelah simply shrugged at Roman’s little threat; she had seen that one coming. A demon couldn’t care less about hurting a human if that meant that they could get what they wanted. Roman was no exception, he wouldn’t think twice about attacking the other students here if that meant he could get his hands on Angel, neither of which she would allow to happen. “I suppose neither one of us wants any trouble.” She replied coolly. “It would be bad if you started attacking any of the students here and it would be bad for you if you got your ass beat. I’m not the only person capable enough to bring you down at this school. Adrian also comes here and I am sure that he would have a thing or two to say about you stalking his girlfriend, and let’s not forget the other three guys that showed up during our last encounter. I am sure they won’t like you coming around this place either.”

It was a bluff of course, she had never seen that group since that time and had no clue where they were or what they were up to. She didn’t even know where Adrian was today, she didn’t have a class with him so she rarely ever saw him at school, for all she knew he had already headed home for the day and wouldn’t be here to assist her. But Roman did not know that so she used that to her advantage, the lie would sound convincing enough to anyone else. “I didn’t come over here to cause trouble though, so why don’t we talk somewhere else. Somewhere a little more private.” Her grip on his arm tightened, not enough to hurt him but enough to show him she was serious. “That or you can just leave now and I will overlook this whole encounter, your choice.”

[Angel McCoy]

Clutching the handle to her bag, Angel stood frozen on the spot, meanwhile, she eagerly watched as Akeelah made her way to Roman who stood watching and waiting to make his move.

As the school buses began to roar to life, Angel thought of the weapon which was hidden in the glove compartment in her car. Only problem with that was on the other side of the parking lot and from experience, she knew Roman would get her before that.

For now, her only option was to stand here and watch how this plays out.

[Roman Delowski]

Roman stood and stared at the intensity deep in Akeelah's eyes as he flipped the ultimatum over in his mind. She had tried to scare him off by using Adrian's name. Clever girl she was using his own tactics of diversion against him, but was she clever enough?

" I could blow this school to pieces with a snap of a finger." He mocked, " I could do this if I wanted to. And you're absolutely right Akeelah, it would be very bad for me if I were to cause any trouble here, but I do warn you that if you corner a fire breathing dragon, he will blow fire and that would be just as bad for you as it would be for me."

With this Roman put his hands in the pockets of his dark leather trench coat, he continued to stare into the eyes of the huntress, hoping she would catch the threat behind the words, hoping to use this to break the guard in which she had built very well down.

" Now, here's an ultimatum for you. I like you, you got guts and I really want to keep you around. You let me get what I came for and I leave and never bother you or your friends again. If not, well then I guess that would mean we would have a problem."

[Akeelah]

The threat had not gone unnoticed by the huntress. Still she kept her cool, showing very little physical reaction to what he had said. But what he said did make her worry. She had no doubt in her mind that Roman would do exactly what he had just said, as reckless as it was. Even if the others showed up and help her take him down after that wouldn’t stop the fact that the school and anyone else around it would be destroyed. That was the risk that she had taken when she confronted him like this and to some degree she knew that. He was a demon after all so why would he care what happened to the people here so long as he got what he wanted. Letting him get what he wanted though was not an option because what he wanted was another human being. Akeelah had no right to sacrifice another person at the off chance of saving more lives.

And damn it her sense of honor would not allow her to do such a cruel thing. Akeelah wasn’t your typical hunter. She did not have a strict sense of honor. If a situation arose where her honor meant throwing her life away foolishly she refused to do it. Honor meant nothing in the end if she died. How could she reach her goal if she wasn’t alive to complete it? But in some cases it was better to keep that honor. Like her vow not to stand by and let someone else get hurt because she did not want to take the risk. She had told Angel that she was going to protect her and she was going to follow through with that promise if it was the last thing that she did.

Her gaze flickered for a second when Roman put his hands into his pocket, thinking about her own weapon that she had hidden behind her back under her shirt. She never went anywhere, even at school without at least a weapon. One never knew when it might come in handy. Sadly she only had that one knife with her and it wasn’t much. It was a small thing designed to be easy to conceal so she wouldn’t get in trouble. It didn’t help that her backpack was blocking it too; it would take her too long to draw it if Roman tried to attack now. This situation was turning out badly very quickly, she needed to think fast or else someone was going to get hurt, or worse.

“Oh but that’s the problem, what you want is one of my friends.” She replied, “I can’t just let you walk off with her without doing something.” She honestly didn’t believe a word that he said about his ultimatum. Why should she? His kind weren’t well known for keeping their promises. A demon’s words were as easily broken as fragile glass. He might keep his word about not harming her or anyone else for today but tomorrow would be a different story. He also overlooked one important fact. Akeelah didn’t care if he did try to harm her. She was a hunter after all; her whole life was about putting it at risk in order to protect others. And with her desire for revenge against his brother she barely thought twice about getting on Roman’s bad side. If he wasn’t threatening to hurt the people around them she wouldn’t think twice about throwing that final option right back into his face.

But that was the problem, he would do something drastic and there was little she could do to prevent that before it happened. Afterwards was no problem, she would take him down then but that was the last thing she wanted to do. And no matter what he said he would do there was no way she was going to let him get to Angel. “You can try to blow up the school, you can try to kill everyone here but then I will only hunt you down. You won’t get to her that way so it’s a lose/lose for both of us.” Akeelah risked another quick glance over to where Angel was, mentally swearing when she noticed that the other girl was watching them. Silently she prayed that Angel would run to either get help or at least to save herself. With her so near it wasn’t going to be any easier to get rid of Roman. With a heavy sigh she tried to think of something fast to do before Roman lost his patience.

“I’ll be blunt. I can’t do that and you know it. I would sooner sacrifice myself than sacrifice someone else. If you want me off your back perhaps we can arrange something else. We can deal with this little problem more civilly can’t we?” It was a stab in the dark. There was no guarantee that he would actually be willing enough to listen to reason but she had to try. After all if he was so mindless that he would just destroy everything around him because someone got in his way than he wouldn’t have bothered talking with her like this now. What she could possibly negotiate though she had no clue. There was nothing that she could think of at the moment that she could offer him beyond what he wanted, but there had to be something that she could do.

[Angel McCoy]

Angel watched from her spot at the school entrance as the scene with Akee and Roman progressed, she watched as Roman dug his hands deep into his pockets and could tell by the demon's face that he was trying to intimidate the huntress.

Concentrating, Angel focused hard on the two figures, she tried desprately to cut out the noise around her so that she may get a reading from their minds, anything to help her find out what was going on but this was to no avail, if she wanted to hear anything she would have to get closer to the confrontation.

Setting her book bag down on the step deciding to not allow herself to be held back from fear. She knew why Roman was here and it was not right to allow Akee to take on Roman all by herself, not on her behalf, she would help the huntress any way that she possibly could- hopefully without getting herself killed, or worse getting herself captured by Roman.

[Roman Delowski]

Roman substained his stance, he stared at the huntress, reading her, watching her closely. He could sense something. Hesitation maybe, or could it be doubt. Whatever it was there was not a hundred percent confidence behind her words.

" It's too bad you feel that way Akee," Roman said with just a hint of false disappointment fueling his words, " I really don't want to have to hurt you to get what I want, it would be a pitty to have to take you out now when you've been one of the only ones who have presented me with any sorts of challenge. And I just so happen to love a challenge."

As he continued his mind game Roman pulled from his pocket a ciggarette and a lighter, he put the ciggarette to his mouth and held it there in place between his lips, he then took the lighter so that it paused at the end of the ciggarette and smiled before he lit it.

" Have you ever wondered how fire spreads Akee?" He asked with amusement as he held the lighter in front of him, staring into it's flame. " It's quick isn't it, and it can be devistating, swallowing people and sometimes even villages and towns up whole. "

His eyes drifted from Akee to the tiny figure who was approaching behind her, acknowledging her presence Roman nodded to Angel as if greeting an old friend who was not seen for a while.

" Have you ever tried to control a fire Akee?" He asked in a threatening way as he took a drag of his cigarette.

[Akeelah]

She could not help but feel a little bit of disappointment when Roman clearly refused to try to end this matter in a less than violent manner. It was a terrible shame that she would be forced to fight him here of all places. I doubt I will ever be allowed back here after this. she thought sadly. No one outside of the drama that was about to unfold would know what was going on. No one could tell what this fiend was or what he was capable of. If they saw her attack him now the other students would think she was attacking another human being. She would be expelled, at worst arrested if he didn’t fight back. But she knew he would, he wasn’t an idiot. If he didn’t fight back he would be killed. Still that did not ease her mind. She would still be in trouble by the end of this mess. At least it wouldn’t be in vain, she was doing this to protect someone and that was what counted.

She remained silent while the demon talked, frowning at his feigned disappointment that he had to fight her. There was a hint of anger in her eyes while she watched him. He had guts to say something like that to her of all people, she would give him that. What he was saying though was only fueling the growing rage inside her heart. What the hell did he mean by he didn’t want to hurt her? He was full of shit. Any idiot could see what he was really saying. ‘You are too weak to beat me.’ He acted like he was above her, that he could choose whether she lived or died. If he truly believed that he was sadly mistaken. Akeelah was not as weak as Roman thought she was. She was strong and would only get stronger from here on out, it was only a matter of time that she took both him and his brother down. They could think that they could beat her all they wanted, but if they couldn’t kill her before when she was nothing more than a small helpless child, or even in their last fight they never would.

Her body tensed instinctively when Roman went to pull something out of his pocket. She had half expected it to be a weapon but it was nothing more than a lighter and a cigarette. Still she did not lower her guard; she knew well enough what this bastard was capable of with a tiny spark alone. As he took a drag she slid one of the straps of her backpack off her shoulder, getting ready to toss the thing the second that he decided to make his move. “Don’t give me that ‘I don’t want to hurt you’ bullshit.” She said coolly, “We both know that you would love nothing more than to kill me off before I become a real nuisance. Or at the very least make me suffer first, that’s what you and your brother are into isn’t it?” Akeelah knew that side of them all too well, or at least from Liam’s side. Liam was a cruel sick bastard and from what little she had seen from Roman at this point she knew that he was not much better.

“And I can assure you this I will become a nuisance. I will become such a thorn in your side till the day I finish you both off.” If it was a challenge that Roman wanted Akeelah was more than willing to give him just that. A challenge so hard that it would drive him insane. That was what he wanted after all right? A challenge? He would really regret that wish because no matter what she would do whatever she could to make him suffer if it was the last thing that she did.

Oh but Roman was not done pushing the huntress’s buttons just yet. Again he pressed on; his little speech about the dangers of fire bringing forth memories that she wished she could forget, things that she still had nightmares about. Akeelah forced herself to look away from him, her whole body shaking in rage with each word. “No, I haven’t.” she answered his last question, her words barely coming out as a hiss. Suddenly she made her move. The second after she spoke Akeelah tossed her school bag to the side, her other hand unsheathing the hidden knife behind her back to stab Roman in the stomach. Twisting the knife sharply if she managed to sink it deep into his flesh. A dark smile greeted the demon as her eyes met him once again. “But looks like I get try to do just that today.”

[Angel McCoy]

As she made her way over to where Akee and Roman stood, the first thing Angel noticed was the tension. Angel's senses tapped into the hatred that was flowing from the huntress, she could hear the thoughts coming from the girl's inner mind, worry, sadness, but anger being the feeling that occupied her the most, all making Angel feel a twinge of guilt as it was only herself and Roman's obsession that put her in this situation in the first place.

As she edged closer, she watched Roman as he pulled out a cigarette and a lighter, this adding to the fear which she herself was feeling.. Anyone who knew of Roman and his kind knew the devistation he could cause with just a flick of that tool. It was like giving a knife to a physcopath. This is what made this setting so much more dangerous than ever before, no one else knew what Roman was capable of, or the abilities that he had. It was just herself, Akee, and of course Roman.


As she moved closer, she could hear clearly the threats in Roman's words as he talked to Akeelah, his nod which gestured his acknowledgement towards herself did not go unnoticed, in fact it did quite the opposite as it reminded Angel of all the hell Roman had put her and her family through thus far and triggered the anger that she had to carry around with her since Luke had passed on.

Although she didn't know half of the conversation they had just shared, Angel knew by the way Akee had dropped her bag to the side and went on the attack that Roman had gotten under her skin, and as she watched as Akee charged towards Roman with a knife Angel took a defensive position, scanning Roman, while she tried to figure out a way to get that weapon of mass destruction out of his hands.

[Roman Delowski]

There was little to no time to react between the time Akee's book bag hit the ground to her charging towards him. Roman didn't need to read her mind to know her intent was to kill him at all costs, hell he had provoked the situation, he wanted to wear the huntress down long enough to come her and obtain what he came here for.

Now, Roman had no choice but to run on instinct. This was something he was known to be far better than his brother at, he wasn't your run of the mill, slash and kill demon- no, on the contrary, Roman was an eat at your mind, then stomp you when you're down type.

" So, I see you're not interested in my offer huh?" He asked as he instinctvly threw his hands up and wrapped them around the huntress' wrists. Holding Akee in front of them he locked eyes with the girl, everything about himself savage now from his mouth with his lips pulled back to expose his teeth, to his eyes which were now narrow slits.

From the corner of his eyes he could see Angel who also seemed to be lining up her own attack, he focused on her mind, trying to anticipate her attack before pushing the Akee backwards.

Then taking a step backwards, Roman held up the ligher and looked at the two girls. His free hand made a tent like motion over the flame flickering as he focused his energy at it. " I'm going to teach you girls what happens when you play with fire."

[Akeelah]

The huntress gave him no time to react before she plunged her knife into his gut. She could not help but get a sick satisfaction when she drove her attack home, twisting the blade in further to increase the damage done. It wouldn’t be enough to cripple him sadly; demons of his stature had a high tolerance for pain. If Akeelah wanted to hurt him she would have to do a lot more than this. Hell if she wanted to kill him she would have to cut off his head, a hard task to accomplish with this little knife. What she needed was her father’s knife but sadly that knife was tucked away in her bedroom back at her place. She would have to make do with what she had. It was a shame that Adrian wasn’t here to join her; she knew how much that kid was dying to get a chance at Roman. She had even promised to let him take the demon’s head. But it looked like she would have to break that promise, protecting Angel and the other innocent bystanders came first and in this case that meant ending Roman’s life.

Unfortunately Akeelah would not get to do anymore than her first initial strike. The second that the girl stabbed him Roman grabbed her wrist, holding her in place so she couldn’t continue her assault. Their eyes locked on to each other, Roman’s features changing rapidly to show off more of his true self. The look alone would have made any normal human unnerved. But Akeelah was far from normal, there wasn’t even a hint of fear in her eyes as she glared back at him, growling menacingly at the demon, grip tightening on her knife while they had their little standoff. Their staring match didn’t last long of course; it didn’t take long for Roman to toss her aside. Akeelah stumbled but thankfully didn’t fall. She got back into her fighting stance beside Angel. At least she didn’t have to try and break free from him this time.

Her eyes never left the enemy, she watched the fiend take another step back away from them. His hand covering the small flame, she knew what was about to come then, she knew it all too well. Instinctively she tightened her grip on her knife again, glad that she still had her weapon on hand. A hunter was no good without their weapon and Akeelah was no exception to that rule. She would need it now more than ever if she wanted to end this confrontation with the least fatalities. “I hope you have a weapon handy on you if you’re going to join in.” she said to Angel, still keeping her eye on Roman. Ideally Akeelah wanted Angel to get out of this place at all costs but the smaller girl knew that she would need help in this fight if she had any hope of stopping Roman before things got worse. And since Angel did not take off when she had the chance then she wasn’t going to leave anytime soon so there was no point in telling the other girl to run now.

Once again Akeelah charged forward closing the gap between her and the demon. First feigning to attack Roman on the side where he was holding the lighter, at the last second she would strike him in the stomach, elbow digging into the same spot she had stabbed him to force him to double over. The attack wouldn’t stop there of course, the instant that she landed the hit she draw her knife up to slash Roman’s throat now that he was in a better position for her to attack in. Whether any of this was successful or not didn’t matter, so long as he wasted his time and energy trying to fend her off then he was less likely to harm someone else.

[Angel McCoy]

" Don't worry about me Akee. Just don't get distracted." Angel said keeping her focus on Roman as she spoke. There was no way this time that he was going to get away with nothing but a broken ego; on the contrary, she had enough and she could tell by the way Akee went after the snake that she obviously felt the same way.

As she remained in her defensive position, Angel watched as the more experience huntress lunged forward and took another shot at attacking the enemy. To anyone else, including Akee, Angel was completely useless in this fight. However the young girl did have a few handy tricks up her sleeve, some of which was learned by Roman.

Keeping her guard, Angel focused on emptying her mind of any other thoughts, her complete attention was focused on Roman and what made him tick, anything to keep him distracted and at the moment Akee worked on the physical aspect of weakening the demon, Angel went to work on him mentally.

" So, that's why your such a pain in the ass." she thought knowing full well Roman could hear her while she performed her own version of invading his mind. " You in a compition with Liam or something? Just jealous that your not as good of a killer as him?

Angel stopped her nitpicking for a moment searching Roman, taking in his body language looking for a sign, anything that would let her know if this plan worked or not.