The Sharper the Better [OPEN]

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Edmund was finally out of the infirmary, so Tessa need not sleep that awful six hours anymore. She was back to her normal three hour routine, and tonight was obstetrical course time. The long weeks of sleeping had certainly gotten to her, and she felt like she had too much energy. Even the training she went to in the mornings did not quell her active mind. She supposed the low number in hours of sleep caused her ADHD to subside a bit, and that was perfectly fine with her. I allowed her to concentrate on what needed to be done, like organizing files without getting distracted by pretty colors that Jason like putting on them. Stamps of whatever color he felt belonged there. She stretched, her mind still overly active looking at the course in front of her. Not the devil made course with spiked pit falls, and whirling blades, oh heavens not that one. She just wanted to get energy out not nearly decapitate herself. Though she supposed the adrenalin speeding up her heart rate would be a great way to burn energy. She did not want to do that on a night where she was preoccupied with random thoughts and ADHD though.

After a bit of stretching she started the course, no real hazards, just obstacles in between her and the end of the line. She made it though easily, hardly breathing hard at all. She glanced at the overly complicated death trap they called an obstacle course again. Perhaps just a short run, just one. She walked over to it, shut off because it was the middle of the night. People where not supposed to be out and about after lights out after all, and that was some hours ago. Tessa turned the contraption on and it whirled to life. The metal shining in the star light. It wasn't a new moon yet, but fairly close. Tessa hoped the light was enough to not get herself hurt, explaining injuries to Jason was always a pain.

Tessa stood at the start line of the course, watching the ever changing obstacles and waiting for the right time to jump in. The time came and Tessa started, the glints of the metal sparking her ADHD in a pleasant way. That was until a purposely blackened blade came for her, near impossible to see in the darkness of night. It cut deep into her shoulder, and she rolled to the side, out of the course. Dirt and rock got into her wound, but the blood that seeped from it seemed to clean the larger particles out rather easily. Tessa stood up and walked to turn the course off. She felt both of her shirts getting soaked, and pulled off her large camp shirt. The black tank top underneath did not make the stain obvious, it was dark and already clung to her naturally. Tessa examined her wound, it was a nice clean cut. Always nice that the legion takes care of their blades, jagged healed so slow and left terrible scars. With her teeth Tessa ripped the purple camp t-shirt and bandaged her wound, then walked back over to the normal course, without all the special effects. She might as well train through the pain, and bleeding. At least until her vision started going, she was pretty sure she had a piece of ambrosia or two from earlier that day when someone else denied them.

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Gunnar didn’t sleep much at night. No that was when he was most active. Occasionally he went into a meditative state, it was enough to enable his body to recharge and get back into the mode of tormenting and terrorizing someone. Everyone needed a dose of terror, they really did, it made them learn about the things they really cared about and what they would do in case there was actually a problem where someone was faced with their death. Gunnar adjusted his tie, walking rather silently past a bench where the moon had risen and cast a shadow over. It was beautiful, the shadows, he watched them longingly. It was as if he had a mistress calling out to him, beckoning him to their dark embrace. Of course he had never experienced anything of the mistress that would be calling out to him. No, even though he loved women and flirted with them fairly endlessly, he had never actually had alone time with one. Gunnar never found the perfect woman, though he did reckon that if his dad could (or his mom for that matter, the crazy bitty) then he could find a woman who put up with his morbid and sadistic tendencies. Maybe his Ukki was right, Gunnar needed someone he could confide in and speak with other wise he would have this feeling that he was teetering on the edge of sanity. Not that he might not have been doing that already, he disliked having to speak to people about feelings, they were rather useless in his opinion.

The obstacle course, yes that was his final destination. He stepped through the shadows, looking at the moon through the branches of the trees. The moon was in her rare beauty, close to the new moon. Pure darkness, that was what Gunnar liked. Complete darkness and the shadows were abounding. They reached their long tendrils of darkness across the ground, like a serpent or an octopus, trying to wind it’s prey into the clutches of death. Oh how lovely, Gunnar thought as he felt the shadows creeping up on him. But what really made him stop and pause was the faint heart beat that he heard from the shadows. It pumped hard and quickly, as if it had been injured. Gunnar faded through the shadows, quickly spotting the keeper of said heart beat. His brown eyes regarded the young woman as she tried to tie off her bandage for her wound. Ahh it looked like it was his favorite person to torment. Tessa. Gunnar watched the legacy make a makeshift bandage, trying to stem the blood flow from a wound on her body. Gunnar faded through the shadows, slowly rising from her own shadow. Silently, Gunnar pulled a dagger from his deep pockets of the suit jacket his grandfather had gifted to him. The blade glinted in the moonlight, or what was left of it. The blade was sharp, the edge honed to perfection. Gunnar took the blade and ran it along the back of Tessa’s neck.

Quickly, Gunnar faded away into the shadows as not to be seen by her. Oh how he loved the fact that she was always quick to jump every time he was around. Yes most would see this as sadistic torment of a poor innocent girl, but Gunnar thought of it as amusement. Even his grandfather was amused by it. But once more, Gunnar appeared in the wake of Tessa’s shadow. He did quite enjoy harassing her, most assuredly it was the highlight of his day. “What did I tell you about being alone at night by yourself love?” His voice purred into her ear, a mischievous and semi malicious grin on his face.

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The wound was bandaged, though not as well as she would have liked. The cut was on her back, and without moving her injured arm she was not going to be able to put the knot over the wound. If she moved her arm then she would not be able to tie the bandage tight enough. The knot going over the wound, and having it tied nice and tight would have been the most preferable. The knot would have put pressure on the wound so that the blood would have a better chance to slow and stop sooner than this way. It was still better than nothing, and Tessa pulled it tight with the her teeth. Good enough. She moved her injured arm to make sure the bandage was in place, a good circle or two so she wouldn't inadvertently get caught on something. As per usual her technique was good, even if it was not perfect. The imperfection bugged her quite a bit though. She would not be able to change it, turn it, or anything without ruining the bandage. With a sigh she decided to go about her night, at least until she felt something cold against the back of her neck.

The familiar feeling of a blade tickled the back of her neck, and she shuttered. Her heart was already pumping from her slight warm up, and of course from the lowered blood pressure, but the terror sparked her flight or flight response. It was only for that moment, then he was gone again. It was normal, there to terrify her and gone again. That was while she was around people though, here there was no one. The shadows deepened as a cloud covered a good part of the sky above her. Darkness crept over her, as if it was controlled by that shadow man. She looked around, trying to spot the man. She was starting to wonder if she was going crazy, the only thing that made her know he was real was the scab on her neck. He had cut her, she knew that for a fact. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, her hair standing on end. as she hoped that was the last she had seen him, or felt his presence.

It was then that she heard him in her ear, his soft whisper sent shivers down her spine. Her breathing stopped, and her mind went blank in terror. His sweet voice echoed in her head, threatening to break her completely. What had he just said? She was not sure at first, but of course she could not get his voice to leave her mind, and she could make sense of it. It was about his warning to her at one time before, about walking around alone. He was probably right, and even Jason had told her to avoid the shadows. She certainly was not avoiding the shadows, and the darkness right now. It was almost the new moon, and even the clouds seemed to have it against her. It took a bit, but she regained her mind and her breath. With a deep sudden inhale, she stepped away looking for him again. She attempted a fierce look on her face, but it looked more like a rabbit caught in a trap. 'Leave me alone.'

Why did he bother her, of all the people in camp, it had to be her. She tried as she might to calm her heart, but she knew he was there and there was no way her fight or flight response was going to stop any time soon. She attempted to control her breathing, since she certainly was unable to calm her heart. Her eyes were wide in fear, dilated as she looked into the sudden darkness. It was terrifying, she could say that was possibly the biggest understatement she had made in quite some time. Possibly ever. The moon and stars peeked out from behind the clouds, and Tessa could finally see again.

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There were a few things that Gunnar really liked. A nice suite, neatly pressed was on the top of the list; another was that particular feelings of terror and dread that enjoyed when his targets and contracts finally realized when he was there. The increased heart rate coupled with the rapid breathing and the sweat, the eyes dilating and the clammy hands, it was one of the most intoxicating and addictive feelings. The thrill of the hunt as his father called it. Marking your target, terrorizing said target and then finally getting the job done. Oh how his daggers yearned for the taste of blood. Now that he had the jacket that his Ukki had given him, he could carry all of his daggers save for some of the ones that were more for decoration. Or the ones that he felt were evil. Yes, despite what some of the Mars kids said, there were some evil weapons. He was currently working on some weapons that he felt like he needed to purify, but he would burn some sage for them later on. Those weapons would keep in an apartment that he had outside of the camp. The further they stay away from them the better. Or at least that was the particular opinion that Gunnar had. His eyes narrowed as he watched the clouds drift overhead, shadows engulfing the area entirely. His senses were heightened, as the shadows did naturally, he focused in on his hearing, listening to the sounds or lack thereof for the middle of the night. Hmm strange, there were no sounds save for the rapid heartbeat of Tessa’s. What was up with that? No noctournal creatures or bugs or even the sound of the winds through the branches. This was strange. Nothing was ever like this, no where, anywhere, it was never like this. He felt a feeling of unease and uncertainty as he watched Tessa freak out.

“Now why would I leave you alone?” His voice low and to some degree, sweet, as far as male voices went. “A beautiful and terrified girl is grounds for stalking and tormenting.” The moon started to peek out from the pitch blackness that had suddenly engulfed them. Slowly but surely he faded in from the shadows and in front of Tessa. She was a beautiful girl, no doubt about it. After all she was a legacy of Apollo and Venus. Even if they were a couple of useless gods as far as the scare factor went, They could put quite a pretty legacy together. Not that he could complain, his grandparents did a damn good job at kicking him a few chromosomes. Gunnar knew what it was like to be a sexy man, all the mortal women loved the fact that he was so handsome. He had many girls, not that he actually had BEEN with many women. No, they were a distraction. They got in the way and they pried too much into the lives that they shouldn’t be messing with. There was a reason why people had secrets and gathered information, you didn’t need to be prying into the lives of people, particularly people who could easily kill you on a whim.

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It was dark, the darkest Tessa had ever seen night time get. The unusual silence was easy to catch, training every night will do that to a Roman. She had not been doing midnight training recently, because sleeping was a requirement for helping with Edmund, but it was never like this. Not a rustle of leaves anywhere, from wind or creature. She couldn't see, and couldn't hear, at least not until he spoke up again. His voice was lovely for a male, and would have a chance of calming her if she had not known who it belonged to, and if not for his words. Was it really that fun to terrify her? She barely caught the word beautiful in his sentence, and determined it made her all the more uneasy. Stalking and tormenting? Well another reason for her to know not every time she felt eyes on her was her imagination. That not every cold sharp feeling on the back of her neck was imagination. He did follow her, and he enjoyed scaring her. Sure she had figured that out long ago, but something about the person admitting it so freely was, perhaps not as terrifying as she should give it credit for. He had no reason to lie, and the ability to back up his truth, but honesty of any kind should be a good thing. Part of her wished he had not told her, she never asked the question after all.

He came into the light, or more specifically the light of the moon finally illuminated him. Though he allowed it, Tessa was sure if he wished she'd never see him. Every time she saw him, he wore a suit. Always the very nice ones, tailored and of only the most exquisite quality. Unfortunately she had felt the fabric once, when he caught her as her knees buckled. Random acts of kindness from him confused her greatly. He, in general, confused her greatly. Obviously good sense of fashion, and quality, rather good looks, and a well toned body from training. He seemed smart, though she didn't talk to him much, which meant a large number of doors were probably left wide open for him. Out of all of this, why was he here freaking her out?

It wasn't difficult for her to write at night, though she was not a fan of it. It was a slight strain on her eyes, and she absolutely hated taking her eyes off the man in front of her. She used her left hand, her strong and more accurate hand. She could write quicker, and could continue a word and glance up at the creepy shadow man in front of her. 'There must be prettier, more fun to torment girls than me'. She knew she was not the prettiest in camp, and made a right good attempt at keeping it that way. She couldn't help being well toned from training, or the fact she didn't scar or bruise easily, but she could keep her shape and face hidden as much as possible. Of course the fact she was in a tight sleeveless top might not be helping her at the moment, or her hair tied up and out of her face. Still there were Venus kids that actually used make up, they were bound to out shine her in looks. Right?