The vampire territory was not one which was preferable for Orion to work in but currently they were still short staffed with the company merger in the works. Ember had offered to pick up this job but she deserved a night off and she had already put in her time for the day and he wasn't going to ask for more. Besides, despite how he made it sound he actually liked the opportunity to get dressed up since it was a rarity in his life. His suit was fresh the cleaners and pressed to perfection which was something he had never mastered. Less than thirty minutes after reaching the grand venue he tugged off the noose like tie and tossed it into a near by trash can. The tie didn't make him look anymore more dignified since eyes seemed to go straight to the large faction tattoo across the right side of his throat which curved slightly down towards his chest and shoulder blade. Most went with a much smaller tattoo but he had always been proud of who and what he was.

There was a communication ear piece in his right ear as he made the rounds before the door opened checking everything for the third and final time. "It's show time, open the doors." Those at the entrance pulled the large doors opened as the men in the security room watched the cameras countless voices coming through the ear piece. This was one of his leave favorite parts since the multitude of voice could make it hard to focus but he couldn't really take the ear piece out either. 

Orion easily blended into the crowd as everyone arrived for the event, in all honesty he hadn't really worried about what the event was for since he was more focused on the venue, entrances, exits and those in attendance. Walking through the new arrivals he kept his senses on high alert since no matter the kind of event something could always happen. Some seemed excited to be here and eagerly spoke with those they knew but there were a few who seemed out of place and nervous which always caught Orion's attention since he had to assess their threat level. Not every nervous person was guilty or dangerous but you had to check especially when the safety of this many people was placed in your hands. 

A young blonde woman who seemed to be nervously pushing up her glasses caught his attention and he watched her carefully since she didn't seem to be talking to anyone just standing alone. Normally those were signs of a person to watch and he spoke into his ear piece giving his guy in the security room her general direction and description asking them to run a check on her. She might be the first of the night but she surely wouldn't be the last.

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If there was anything Sariah Holloway would admit to hating, it was social gatherings, the blonde would usually avoid them at every cost she could, it wasn't that she was afraid of people, more that she was afraid of her own social awkwardness, she much preferred a night in with a good book or a spot of paid pen testing over the idea of going out to talk to people she didn't know and drink more alcohol that she should. Regardless she found herself in a cab traveling to one of the most lavish events the city held, Violet had originally agreed to attend but had been forced to cancel last minute, leaving Sariah with little choice than to attend in her stead.

What made it worse for her was that the conference was being held by the vampires of the city, the factions made a big deal of inviting high up people in the other factions to their events, whether it was to do business or to show off or both she wasn't really sure, she wasn't much for the shallow facade that most of the factions in Evermore seemed to put up, vampires pretending they cared about the lives of humans was almost laughable, of course there were some who saw humans as equals but she knew that most of the supernaturals in the cities saw the humans as a doormat they could walk all over. Picking at her dress she sighed gently to herself as she watched the venue come into view her hand reaching for the door.

Sariah was dressed in a black and white smart patterned dress which she wore with her long blonde hair tied into a high ponytail and her usual black rimmed glasses, her style was generally smart and more formal for a hacker but she prided herself in appearances and she knew that this wasn't the kind of event you showed up to under dressed. Regardless Sariah had only agreed to take Violet's place at the event on the condition that she was permitted to bring the prototype of a new serum the lab had developed with her, she felt safer knowing that should something go really wrong, she had something she could use to protect herself, for humans had little else to safeguard themselves, especially against vampires whom could prey on humans for their blood on a whim.

Stepping out of the car she walked up the path to the entrance and entered through the door her eyes scanning the room as she did so, there were already little clusters of people talking to themselves. Feeling somewhat concious she reached into her bag and pulled out her keys which she held up for a few moments using the keyring to scan the area around, despite only being in prototype mode, she watched as she keyright lit up like a Christmas light when she pointed it towards different people in the room, this place was absolutely crawling with the supernatural. Stuffing her keys back into her back she fixed her glasses before rolling back her shoulders. "Alright, talk to people and don't get eaten, you got this" she thought to herself as she took a step forwards.

As soon as she made the movement however she sensed a presence behind her and turned on her heels, her eyes meeting a tall frame whom she didn't need her key ring to determine was a vampire. She looked around nervously for a moment wondering why it felt like everyone around her was in their own little world. "Can I help you?" she asked the man doing her best not to reveal any of the shake that her voice wanted to give. Sariah didn't do well with men being near to her in general, especially not when she hadn't invited them into her personal space. Taking a step back she did her best to distance herself from the man but as he spoke in slurred words she realized that she was going to have more trouble than first expected, of course this would happen on her first official event she thought to herself as her hand slid into her bag her grip tightening around the serum in case she needed it.

Orion’s eye trailed away from the blonde as he waited for the voices in the security room to tell him anything. The scent which hung to the woman was completely human which was change of pace from those around them. Orion should technically be attending the event as a guest instead of as security but if he was going to be at a vampire event he was going to be paid for it. Not all in attendance were vampires and most were supernaturals but there were still humans speckled throughout the crowd. The blonde he was running a check on being one of the few.

The voice came through his ear piece, her name was Sariah Holloway, human and apparently a very good and very well known hacker. She was also close to Violet, the human Ambassador, he wouldn’t bother her for now but he would keep an eye out for her. Weaving through the crowd Orion called in a few more checks but so far everyone was either on the guest list or clean which made his night incredibly boring. “What are you? Mob or something?” A brow rose as he turned to the man who spoke and motioned to the tattoo across his neck.

“Or something so I suggest you continue moving along instead of wasting both of our time.” Orion normally had a cool head about him but he didn’t like being questioned about things people were too close minded to understand. The hard look in his eyes and the slight snarl to his voice caused the man to quickly leave him be. It was a gift and curse, though at the moment it was more on the gift end of the spectrum. Social interactions were not something he enjoyed but on occasion it was part of the job and his job was something he loved.

Turning his eyes trailed over the crowd of people once more looking for any discomfort or anything which raised alerts or alarms. Most seemed to be drinking, conversing and enjoying themselves but one person in particular stood out in the crowd. The blonde, Sariah, stood looking incredibly uncomfortable as a male vampire seemed to dwarf her. Steely and cold eyes narrowed as he made his way through the crowd assessing the situation at hand, most would see it as an awkward social situation but the way she was stepping away and trying to create distance told him it was more. “Move.” He growled at one of the vampires in his way so didn’t seemed to care, “Now.” There was a snarl to his lips since he took his job very seriously. Not wanting a fight and getting farther annoyed with the situation he pulled out his private security badge his eyes narrowed as the vampire finally listened to reason.

Cursing under his breath when he glanced back to where Sariah and the other vampire had been, they were no longer there. A low growl started at the back of his throat and worked its way out, those around him turned to look at him. Focusing his sense he listened carefully to everything around him trying to get a beat on exactly where the pair he was looking for had disappeared to.

Somehow the whole room seemed to wrapped up in their own lives and conversations that Sariah decided it didn't really matter whether she was in a room full of people or an alleyway of a dark street, people just didn't tend to notice those they didn't care much for, it was sad to think about how people were so blind to what was going on around them. As for the vampire that was paying her close attention, she wasn't certain whether he was looking for his next meal or company she didn't want to give. "If you'll excuse me I have lots of other people to talk to" she had spoken before turning away from the man and heading towards where they were giving out drinks.

Reaching the table she gave a forced smile to the server before taking a glass of wine, she held the glass in her fingertips before taking a sip and heading over to one of the free standing tables that was free. She was just about to gather her bearings and figure out her next plan of attack when the same face appeared in her vision once more. Her gaze moved from side to side as she attempted to think of a polite way to get away once more but the vampire seemed all the more determined and she felt his hand against her waist as he spoke his next words. Her face showed both a look of shock and anger as she looked back at the poor excuse of a man stepping out of his grasp, wincing at the pain in her arm as she broke his icy grip on her. Her gaze was stern as she looked back at him "Touch me again and you won't be leaving this party with your senses" she cautioned him.

Instead of taking any heed to her warning she watched as the vampire's icy gaze turned to amusement and he laughed in the face of her words, his voice was cold as he spoke, mocking the fact that she was a human and that she had nothing on an immortal vampire. Sariah could feel the anger building up inside her, her hands balling into fists as she once again took out the serum holding it tightly in her grip. There was nothing more she hated about the supernatural than the ones who thought they were God like creatures and untouchable, like they could do whatever they wanted to anyone and get away with it, it made her blood boil under her skin and all she wanted to do was prove them wrong, it was why she was so proud of what her and the organization had built and she had the feeling she would need to hope it worked.

Her reactions were almost reflex when the vampire grabbed her by the dress pulling her close to him and her hand pulled out the serum and sprayed it directly in the man's face. She watched as he instantly recoiled his grip on her clothing and she stumbled backwards a little short of breath from the adrenaline. A small smirk crossed her features as she watched the serum do it's work, blocking out his sense of sight and causing a burning pain. "Remember how that felt the next time you decide to pick on a 'pathetic' human" she answered as she turned to walk away from him but upon feeling another person place a hand on her back she turned and without thinking in her anger and fear from what had just happened, sprayed them with the same serum. Her face turned from anger to immediate regret as she realized she had just sprayed an entirely dangerous serum on some unsuspecting stranger,

Almost everyone in attendance was lost within their own little world of conversation with those of their clique ignoring those who didn’t fit into the social parameters they deemed worthy. Normally this fact in itself would make it easier to spot two people, one of which being obviously uncomfortable with the situation at hand. Orion’s icy hues trailed over all of the groups of people he passed trying to find the one which wasn’t like the others which should be so easy to spot but the pair seemed to be just out of his viewing range.

“Orion you seem to be looking for something or someone, anything we can help with?” The man on the other end of his communications earpiece asked his guys in the monitor room catching onto his search from the way he was moving between the camera angles. This was in fact one of the many reasons he had hired these men since they were observant and at times could almost read his mind.

“Looking for Sariah Holloway, the blonde hacker from earlier.” Orion was sure he had time to explain the situation but he was more focused on his search for the young blonde than explaining himself. The expression he had caught on her face was one which told him that she had likely found herself in some sort of trouble. Catching slight of a head of blonde hair Orion was hopeful for a moment and began to head in that direction before realizing that wasn’t the blonde he was looking for. “The clock is ticking boys.” The was a sense of dreed beginning to form in the pit of his stomach giving him a feeling of nausea.

“Table over by the open bar, she’s not alone and she looks less than thrilled with her company.” Nodding to the voice in his ear be quickly began weaving through the crowd once more taking no heed of those he bumped into or the groups he moved through who scoffed and made comments after him. Orion wasn’t at such an event to make friends and network so how these people viewed him was of no consequence since it was unlikely he would ever see them again. If he did see them again it was doubtful that he would recognize them either way. The blonde on the other hand was already memorable for many reasons and he was hoping failing he wouldn’t be one of them.

Orion couldn’t view much as he approached but he could see the young woman’s spine stiffen and her anger was almost a physical curtain surrounding her. The moment the vampire grabbed her a low growl left his throat but at that same moment she sprayed something into the vampire’s face, the kitsune assuming it was perfume. Sariah’s words were strong and full of anger and confidence obviously wanting to the vampire to know that even small women had hidden tricks and ways of protecting themselves. Placing a warm hand on her back to gain her attention he opened his mouth to speak but never got the chance. Whether it was out of habit or fear he didn’t know but he got a taste of explain what the vampire had experiences as the substance was sprayed into his face. Immediately Orion knew it wasn’t perfume from having been teasingly or accidentally sprayed with it over his life time. The words which left his lips were less than those of gentleman as his eyes began to burn and water. At first he could see through the liquid building in his eyes it was just blurry but it progressively got worse until there was nothing but darkness.

Rubbing his hands against his eyes he tried to get whatever was in them out his tear ducts working on overdrive as he harshly wiped at his eyes not wanting to give the impression of crying since it was the natural reaction to your eyes trying to remove a foreign substance. He could still hear Sariah breathing and smell her scent which was mixed with fear and concern. “What did you do to me?” His eyes began to glow a faint green the eyes of an alpha coming out as he hoped that maybe they could see past what his human eyes could not however there was no change.

“Orion what just happened? Do you need assistance?” The voice through his earpiece asked as the kitsune growled low in response before telling them he was going out of communication before ripping the earpiece from his ear the wire hanging over his shirt. If he couldn’t see he needed the rest of his senses and not to be distracted by men who couldn’t help. His eyes followed the found of her faint movement, the kitsune partially trying to unnerve her and partially hoping his alpha eyes would kick into work and just needed time to adjust or rid themselves of what was in them.

The moment she realized the mistake she had made, her mind had gone into overdrive, she hadn't planned for this at all, in fact she had no idea that the prototype was actually going to work and she had no idea what species the man she had sprayed it with was. "Oh my god, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to.." she had spoken in her shock looking around quickly to see if anyone had noticed the commotion going on, for the most part people were still locked in their own conversations but a few people had turned their interest to them, hearing the vampire snarl less than kind words in her direction. Her attention however was on the other man she had attacked whom from the looks of him was actually a security guard for event. "I was just...he was..." she didn't know what to say to explain her actions "It was reflex and I didn't mean to hurt anyone, and this wasn't supposed to happen" she continued to fill the air with words unsure what to do as she watched the serum do it's work.

Her babbling however silenced as she watched him straighten up and speak to her and she pondered how she should explain the science she worked with to someone who had probably little to no idea about the organizations work. "It's a serum designed to temporarily hinder the senses" she answered whilst looking at him, watching as his body tried to expel the substance from his eyes, she knew it was useless, once the serum started it's work, there was nothing you could do but wait it out and hope it didn't burn your eyes out. "Well I mean it's a prototype, I hadn't actually gotten around to testing it for real or anything yet" she answered before biting on her lip realizing she really was digging herself a shallow grave.

As she watched him, his gaze shifted from a steely blue to a glowing luminous green, her first reaction was involuntary as she felt her heart rate almost double, worried that she was now going to get torn apart by a therian and if her studying up was correct, he was also likely an alpha. Her second reaction as she gained her senses once more however was that she was relieved too. "Oh thank god you're not human, I was worried for a minute that you might not be able to heal" she said a little louder than she probably should have before going quiet for a moment "But there are people here who are and your eyes" she pointed out knowing that standing in the middle of a room of vampires and unknowing humans was probably a vulnerable position that no one would want to be in.

Staring back at his glazed over gaze her eyes couldn't help but drift over to the tattoo which showed boldly despite the suit he was wearing, it only served to make him look all the more intimidating than he already did, his eyes piercing through the room despite the fact that he probably couldn't see a thing. "Look I know that I'm the last person you probably want help from but we both really need to get out of here" she spoke softly before hesitantly reaching her arm to press her fingertips against the material of the suit so he could feel where she was. She could tell that people were watching them both and she didn't like the feeling at all, she wanted to bolt for the door and run as far and as fast as her legs would take her, but part of her also knew she couldn't leave him like this when she didn't even know how long the substance would affect him for. 

"Like I totally get it if you want to go and stumble down the stairs but, I feel bad enough already, I don't wanna get in your way or anything" she continued to mumble though her tone showed her nervousness as she noticed more and more people turning their attention to the two of them. The vampire from before was still rubbing furiously at his eyes, his expression bewildered as he tried to figure out what was happening. Sariah had positioned herself as far away from the man as she could, feeling almost sick to her stomach as she remembered the way he had grabbed her like a piece of property.

Mace was obnoxious but you could still see even while the liquid burned your eyes and made them tear up. At least then there were shapes and blurs but right now he could see nothing but darkness and it scared him more than he would like to admit. It was like going into one of the many caverns in Nevada and turning off all the lights, you could see nothing but hear everything. It was an unwelcome feeling as his hearing tried to follow all movement around him afraid the vampire might right himself and decide to attack. It wouldn’t be the most opportune place for it nor the best situation without sight but he could and would still fight if necessary. “I would hope you didn’t mean to.” The words came out far harsher than anticipated, he understood what happened and couldn’t necessarily blame her. She was trying to apologize and he knew he should accept it but it was hard to at the moment when he wasn’t sure when this state of darkness would end. Hearing the snarl of the vampire he turned towards his voice a low warning growl leaving his throat. Reaching out towards the sound of the woman’s voice he by some miracle found her hand, “You’re the only one who might be able to help me, just take a breath. It happened, now what?” He asked not used to babbling and rambling women since Sera wasn’t the sort and Destiny had always just said what she meant no matter the repercussions. After a few seconds he released her hand.

Sariah’s voice stopped and his hearing reached out trying to figure out if she was still there but he could hear her heart hammering in her chest and her breathing, her soft scent tickling his nose. Orion was clenching his jaw so tight a small tick began to appear beneath the surface as a spasm moved through the muscle. At least he now had an answer on exactly what he was dealing with and it was certainly doing the job it was designed for but where did you even get something like that? The Black Market? For once he really didn’t know. The burning turned into an itching and it was hard not to rub his eyes, it was worse than the time his brother had thrown desert sand into his face during a fight just to prove you didn’t have to fight fair. “Going to guess that in this case it’s the sense of sight because why couldn’t it be taste or smell?” The sarcasm was dripping from his voice and he knew he needed to tone it down but he was internally panicking. Prototype, the word seemed to echo in his head as did the fact that it hadn’t been tested. He was going to be legally blind, that was all there was to it. Never would he see anything again and his career in this line of work would be over, he would have to retire and any upstart kitsune would challenge him and that would be a lot of work for a blind alpha.

His mind just kept whirling and creating the downward spiral his life would take sure this untested serum proved to be permanent. Maybe he should have been hoping for it to wear off but when had hope ever done him any good? The luminous green was always an unnerving color and that was to keep betas in line and easily show status, right now it was because it was the only thing he could hold on to and hope that it worked. His body tended to heal faster than that of a human but with an untested science experiments there were untested outcomes. “Not human, just a very blind a slightly pissed off alpha. You said you hadn’t tested this, so healing still might not be an option.” There was a hiss to voice as he tried to keep his voice down well aware more vampires could still hear them if they wanted but he doubted that anymore cared other than the other blinded party. “Then sweetheart you might want to get me out of a room full of people because I can’t get my eyes to change back.” He was trying to reign it back in but his body was trying to protect itself and that was the only way it knew how.

Swallowing the lump in his throat he tried his best to calm himself to be the calm presence most saw him as but at this moment he was feeling anything but calm. Unseeing eyes moved from side to side hoping that somehow movement might help but so far it was all in vain. “Honestly, you’re the only person I want helping me right now,” He understood how that sounded especially given the biting tone his voice currently possessed, “You’re the only one who knows what you sprayed me with which means right now, you’re the safest person to stick close to.” Orion could hear her movements before he held the slight pressure and weight of her touch which gave him a better idea of where she was. Being vulnerable was something Orion hadn’t felt since that night in the Nevada desert when he lost his wife, he had been powerless then and he felt the same way now while surrounded by the same species and it made his stomach churn.

“I don’t….I don’t do well in situations with vampires.” His hatred for the species had diminished some over time but there was still a deep distrust and anger held towards the vampires who believed the rules didn’t apply to them. “If you could kindly lead us out of main area I would greatly appreciate it.” Offering his arm to her he acted as if nothing was strange or wrong as he tried to draw attention away from them. He might not be able to see the people staring but it could feel it and it caused the hairs on the back of his neck to rise.

A small squeak escaped from her lips when he spoke, his tone was harsh and unforgiving and it scared her, she knew it was entirely her fault they were in this mess but she had never been good at handling other people's anger, one time she had worked in a call center and after being yelled at by a customer for half an hour straight she hadn't been able to take any more and burst into tears. Sariah liked to believe she had become a stronger person since then but there were still parts of her that were flighty when it came to the supernatural, the truth was that their abilities scared her and the only way she knew how to protect herself was with her inventions. She could feel her hands shaking a little as she considered what to do next and when he took a hold of her hand her natural reaction was wanting to pull it away. Instead she steadied her breathing and listened to his words, he was right, if anyone could figure out how to fix this it was her. "Okay just let me think" she said softly as she closed her eyes for a minute searching her mind for ideas.

By the time he had released her hand she had stopped shaking, instead focusing all her attention on the science, there were chemicals at the lab which she was pretty sure could reverse the effects of the serum but she had the feeling they weren't going to make it out of here unnoticed now. Sariah rolled her eyes mentally at his sarcasm but felt instantly bad for doing so, she could tell that he was taking out his frustrations of the situation in his own way, it just really wasn't helping with her thought process. "Well technically it's supposed to shut off all of the senses but so far we've only focused on sight and hearing" she answered a little too honestly before realizing that she had used the term we which might pose more questions her way, she really was terrible at keeping quiet about anything. "Which you should probably repeat to nobody" she mentally wanted to smack herself.

"Darkness" she spoke after a few moments of considering her eyes scanning the room for somewhere they could go that was in darkness, the chemicals used in the serum "Darkness with focused UV light should do it" she spoke softly before noticing that there was a corridor leading out from the convention center, seemingly it looked like it led to a storage room of some kind and the lights were off. It wasn't ideal but she was suspecting it was the best they were going to get considering where they were. Hearing the pessimistic words that uttered from his lips she shook her head a little, she had seen the chemicals used in the serum at work on the supernatural before, the supernatural ability for healing would always win out in the end. "Well I know it's easy to jump straight to worst case scenario but every single thing I have seen in my years of studying the supernatural say differently" she answered smoothly before she took his arm pulling him towards the room.

"Okay well while I may agree that I'm probably the smartest person in this room, I'm not the most resilient so lets hope the vampires don't follow me" the part of her that couldn't stand to be touched was taking a backseat at this point as her mind was on overdrive and for the first time in a very long time, her past didn't matter, all that she knew in that moment was that she needed to get them out of there and she needed to do it fast. Thankfully most of the room were either focused in their own discussions or helping the vampire she had rightfully sprayed, it was easy to weave them between the little clusters of people and across the room without too much effort.

Sariah heard his words about vampires and furrowed her brow a little, she knew that therians didn't tend to get along with vampires, honestly she wasn't sure why anyone would get along with vampires, they were pretty terrifying and people like her had every reason to be afraid of them. "Yeah can't say I'm in their biggest fan club either, considering they can you know...eat me" she answered as they reached the corridor and she lead him down it searching for a room they could use, spotting the room she had seen from afar, she reached for the door handle and was surprised when she found the door wasn't locked. Shrugging her shoulders she pushed open the door and looked around before leading him inside, closing the door behind them.

"If this wasn't such a dire situation, I would totally be questioning why they left the door open to allow people to hook up in here" she spoke without even thinking about her words before saying them as she fiddled with the lock on the door trying to get it to lock, she could barely see anything in the darkness but after a bit of trial and error she heard the lock click in place. As she turned around to find where the man had gone she stopped, her eyes widening as she looked over at him, all she could see in the darkness was the glowing green of his eyes, her eyes couldn't help but look at them, there was something both scary and captivating about them, a feeling of power which she couldn't explain.

Clearing her throat she waited for him to get settled in the room before she took out her modified cell phone from her bag. "Okay, has the burning eased yet?" she asked as she moved closer to him, as she pulled up a UV light app on her phone, trying to fight through the shaking in her hands that wasn't helping her to think nor to do basic tasks like using her phone. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a long and drawn breath, she had done this and now she would do everything in her power to fix it.

Even blind he could nearly feel her fear and listened as a small squeak left her lip which he immediately regretted causing but he couldn’t fully control his words or tone at the moment. Sariah seemed to be a genuinely nice person who had been backed into a wall in a terrible situation and lashed out to protect herself. That was something Orion knew and understood well since he had been in that position many times. Taking a deep breath, he did his best to reign his anger in, he wasn’t a teenager who lashed out he was a grown man and he needed to act like one. If he kept it up there was a good chance, he would end up chasing away the only person who could help him and that wasn’t be good at all. Hearing the soft sound of her voice which seemed full of concentration he said nothing allowing her time and silence.

The silence between then was enough to nearly drive him insane since he realized the sound of her voice had helped him to focus on something other than the situation at hand and had been pulling him back down from panic mode. Granted her own tone had been concerned and borderline panic filled but it had been something to calm him other than the massive amount of noise and conversation around them which put him on edge. Sariah was smart, she had to be given she had come up with whatever had taken his sight away which meant she was intelligent enough to rectify the situation. “I think we’d both be in trouble if I deaf along with blind.” Those were the two senses he used most other than scent and the idea of being both blind and deaf was a terrifying one to him and he was glad that wasn’t something he was focused to experience. “At this point I’ll just be grateful at only losing one sense out of all of them.” Not repeating it would be a problem since what she had was an incredibly dangerous weapon and one he wanted to know the origin of but not in his current state.

“Darkness?” There was a questioning tone to his voice but the biting edge to it had subsided a bit as curiosity began to seep into his voice. Orion found himself nodding despite the fact that he had no idea what she was talking about. He was sure it all made since to the young blonde but it made none to him since he worked best with numbers and business, not science. “It’s not jumping to conclusions when all that seems to follow you is worst case scenarios.” For being a creature known for trickery he often found that life played harsher tricks on him than he had ever played on others. It was better to be blind in human form though since it did give him the ability to communicate, if he had been in the form of the fox it was unlikely that Sariah would have been able to get close let alone understand what he wanted. Even in his human form at the moment his voice held a snarl to him and if she believed him intimidating now it was nothing compared to the fox. The fact that studied supernaturals cause his brow to raise but he didn’t get to voice his question as she took his arm and began to pull him in a direction, for a moment he stumbled slightly before finding his stride. “I’d make a comment about a beast needing a seeing eye human but I’d rather you not leave me alone.”

It was rare that he censored himself but he really needed any help he could get at the moment and the irony of the situation wasn’t lost on him. Hearing her comment he listened for the sound of footsteps following or the sound of the vampire from before. “The only one that might is currently in the same boat I am. Though I can promise you even blind I can hold my own in a fight.” There was more to fighting and holding your own than sight. His parents had taught him to fight in many unfavorable situations and blindfolding him had been one of those ways, this was different but he was still confident in his own skills. Orion wouldn’t want to bet Sariah’s life on that but she needed to at least believe he could protect her. With Sariah’s guidance and listening to those around them they were easily able to get out of the main room without any incident which he found rather impressive especially since he wasn’t one to trust others and he was forced to blindly put his faith in Sariah, in the literally manner.

If Orion had been in any other portion of the city he wouldn’t have been so anxious over being blind but there was such bad blood between himself and the vampire species that it scared him to be in such a state. Not that he would vocalize that since he refused to be seen as weak or powerless no matter the situation. He had already been powerless once and he wouldn’t feel that way again and he wouldn’t lose anyone again. “Seems we already have a lot in common then. I don’t make it a habit to be rubbing elbows with those that don’t know how to value life or free will.” He knew of the stories of Gideon, King of the Vampires, killing rogues but all vampires fed from the life blood of others to survive and some weren’t always willing to give it. There was a pause in movement as he heard a hand turning a door knob and after a few seconds he was pulled into the room before the door closed.

“Because hooking up wasn’t high on the list of priorities of security.” There was a humorous tone to his, “At this point I’ll just be grateful for my own oversight.” Never would he have guessed the room in question would come in handy. His ears were attune to the sound of her fumbling with the lock but he wasn’t in the best position to help since he wasn’t exactly sure where the door knob was in regards to his current position. He didn’t know if it were dark or light where they were now since all he could see was darkness with no hint of light. Looking towards where he assumed she was he stood quietly waiting for whatever was to come next. There was still a part of him which was poised and ready for action despite his relaxed appearance.

The feeling was much like that of being in a doctor’s office as they asked about your symptoms. “I don’t feel like clawing my own eyes out of my skull anymore if that’s what you mean.” Many might think it was a joke but for a moment he had strongly considered it in the beginning. “I…how is this supposed to work?” He was sure she didn’t expect the question but he needed to hear her voice. It was far too quiet again and if the situation were different he might truly enjoy a conversation with her. There was something about her voice that he couldn’t describe but he found it oddly soothing. “You may have to dumb it down a bit since I highly doubt I would be able to follow technically terms and such. They say a woman of intelligence is a dangerous thing to behold, I always did believe that.” Did he just compliment the woman who had blinded him? For moment he almost shook his head but remembered to remain still unsure of exactly what she was doing.

“I’ll tone down the eyes when I have the ability to. I know they aren’t the easiest thing to look at.” They were in a way meant to force betas to look down in submission and they often caused others to look away since they seemed to pierce straight through a person. They were also what Sariah was being forced to look at currently in order to restore his sight. “I don’t hurt humans,” He found himself saying out of the blue as he tried to ease her worry, “I never have. Therians are closer to humans than most realize.” It seemed insane since they could shift into amazing and powerful animals but the toll it took on the body and mind was one which couldn’t be overlooked. It was the reason most rarely transformed since the feeling of being ripped asunder and remade was not a welcome one. 

Sariah couldn't help the glances she kept making over to the vampires in the room, she had never had the best experiences with the supernatural full stop but there was something about vampires that just made her skin crawl. Probably because they could turn her into their next meal at any moment and there would be very little she could do to stop it happening. She however allowed her attention to be captivated on the therian, finding it easier to focus on their conversation than to constantly worry about what the vampire may decide to do to her once he regained his sense. "Well I suppose this is the first time we'll be grateful  that a prototype hasn't hit the mark" she answered his words, she had suspected the hearing would take further work, especially on a species with such heightened sense of hearing.

Sariah however shook her head slightly as she heard the pessimism in his voice, it was hard to be positive when the worst case scenario was constantly being floated in front of them, she knew that he wasn't purposely trying to be a hindrance however, she couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be on the flip side of the situation, she knew that senses were everything to the therian species so she couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose them, even temporarily. Sariah bit gently on her lip as she considered her words "Well I'm going to do my best to ensure its zero out of five" she spoke more confidently than she was, the best she could do was try to reassure him, she had quietened her babbling a little though her mind was still on overdrive, whizzing through the science as she contemplated whether her solution would work.

"Yes, darkness  should  be enough ease the light based reactants in the serum which should in turn help to speed up the process of cell regeneration and therefore give the best chance at rectification" she babbled without realizing that she probably sounded like some mad scientist locked up in a lab and never getting out, admittedly the never getting out part was close to accurate, though lately she had spent far more of her nights doing things she didn't want to do on behalf of the organization. Her voice however went quiet when he spoke about worst case scenarios, a look of sympathy and knowing flashing in her features for a brief moment, she knew all too well how life liked to throw the worst at a person and see how they fared, there had been plenty in her life that could have crushed her spirit whole.

"Don't worry, I don't intend on going anywhere, not that I'd really have anywhere to go, frankly I think I might as well paint a target on my head at this point" she spoke the sentences one after another in a long drawl, one thing Sariah did well was putting others above herself and to her, the responsibility she felt for fixing her mistake and helping far outweighed the fears she had about the vampires around them, even if every nerve in her body was telling her she needed to get out of there before she became a live blood bag.  Hearing his words of reassurance she nodded gently, she didn't doubt that a therian could hold their own, sometimes she wished she had those kinds of powers to protect herself.

Sariah had never actually been bitten by a vampire before but she still feared the idea of it happening and she knew that a certain arrogance followed the species around like the plague. She heard the distaste in his voice as he spoke about them and she couldn't help but agree, she had yet to see a vampire do something that didn't serve their own purpose. "Well at least you don't have to worry about becoming one's dinner" she teased trying to brighten the conversation as she closed the door to the store room. While making her comment she hadn't even considered the fact that he was a security guard "Oh" she said softly wanting to hit herself for not realizing "Sorry, I wasn't trying to fault your..." she trailed off unable to find the words, instead pressing her lips together to avoid continuing the babbling.

As she drew close to him she finally managed to select the correct app on the her phone, seeing the UV light show up through the light on the back of her phone. She took a breath as she looked at him for a moment, considering how she explained what she was doing. "That's a good start" she responded to his comments about wanting to claw his eyes out. Her breaths were steady as she turned off the light and moved her hand which was holding the phone in front his face. "So the darkness in the room should help to balance out the part of the serum affecting your sight and then we just need to introduce light sensitivity back to them" she nodded gently confirming her logic.

"Okay, I need you to close your eyes for about thirty seconds and then open them, you should be able to see a faint light when you do" she commented as she waited for the glowing green to fade, she figured the fact that his eyes were glowing was probably a good thing, since they hadn't glazed over the way that one's would when fully blind. Sariah laughed a little nervously as he spoke about the green hue in his eyes and she smiled "Strangely I'm starting to get used to them" she answered softly her eyes focused as she turned the UV light on once he closed his eyelids. Sariah was focused on the task at hand but she continued to respond to his words, trying to help take his mind off the direness of the situation. "Good to know" she spoke softly before she followed her words up "Wouldn't want to help you get your sight back if you were a psychopath" she teased gently.

Orion could smell Sariah’s discomfort and fear, it was bitter scent and one which didn’t mingle well with the natural aroma which clung to her skin. Most predators would revel in the scent of fear from their prey or any creature really but Orion wasn’t the sort. Especially not since humans weren’t prey, they weren’t lesser beings and they shouldn’t live in fear or with a prey mentality. “I can imagine it would dangerous for everyone around if I were to loss two senses at once. If you think I was jumping to conclusions before it would nothing compared to losing my sight and hearing.” Therians relied on those two senses the most and being without both would cause him to lash out should anyone come near him. The inability to see or hear someone coming was a terrifying thought.

His tone of voice was beginning to soft sensing she was already scared enough and on edge given their currently placement and situation. Vampires weren’t known for just ignoring what they saw as disrespect or insult and Sariah and definitely given that vampire a massive blow to the ego. A man with wounded pride was dangerous, a vampire in the same position was deadly. Their best hope at this point was Orion regaining his sight first. “I would very much appreciate leaving here tonight with all the senses I entered with.” There was a big of sarcasm lacing his tone which couldn’t be helped. The confidence in her tone was a complete one-eighty from shortly before but he was being less of an ass now as well which probably helped the situation and helped her to think a little more clearly.

The Kitsune has no idea what Sariah was talking about but he listened to the sound of her voice as she vocalized her thoughts. Though he didn’t understand it all he was grateful for her somewhat explained it though he was sure she was just trying to talk herself through it and calm herself down but it had the same effect on him. “I understood maybe a quarter of that. Mainly cell regeneration and rectification.” That probably made him sound like an idiot but when it came to the area of science it was obvious he was an idiot compared to her. Everyone had their skill set and hers was incredibly interesting and showed a high level of intelligence and he was sure she wasn’t likely to find a stimulating conversation with those who had been around them. Orion had already lost so much and losing his sight would likely push him over the edge but he had to trust that Sariah could in fact fix this, it wasn’t meant to be permanent he kept reminding himself.

Sariah’s words calmed him to a point since his greatest worry about being left to deal with his current blindness alone. “I’ll make sure that target becomes non-existent once I can see. He deserved what he got, vampires or any species you don’t touch a woman who doesn’t want to be touched.” He didn’t even pity a man stupid enough to go against Seraphina’s wishes. Every woman was someone’s daughter and every man should respect all women or they weren’t much of a man at all since it was a woman who gave them life in the first place. “Despite our current predicament, I do find you brave, most humans wouldn’t stand up to a vampire, especially when surrounded by them. I wouldn’t say it was the wisest path to take but he learned just because someone looks like an easy target doesn’t make it so.”

Orion’s body was covered with scars and he knew better than most what the fangs of a vampire felt like as they bit into your flesh. When they were feeding they often made the bite a pleasurable experience but when fight there was nothing but a painful burning. Not all vampires liked to gift those they feed from with a pleasant experience and those where the vampires which were dangerous. “No, vampires just kill people like me.” A bitter chuckle left his voice, “Seems only fair since I’ve killed many of them.” He knew she had been teasing but her words hit closer to home than he would have liked, it wasn’t her fault. Few other than other Therian packs and the vampires knew of his family’s reputation since it wasn’t a conflict directly involving humans, only their safety.

A true chuckle left him as Sariah began to apologize not considering the fact that he was security for this event. The irony of that was far from lost on him right now since he was hiding out in some dark room unable to see. “I don’t take offence, my focus is the security of those in attendance not so much what might be hidden away in closets. Truth be told I may not be doing this specific job to the best of my abilities.” He had taken the job to uphold the reputation of the company not wanting to let Ember down since this business was as much hers as it was his.

Silence stretched between them as Sariah focused on the task at hand and Orion focused on sitting quietly and allowing her to concentrate. It seemed like a bad idea to distract her when he knew they were a bit pressed for time since he wasn’t nearly intimidating blind nor could he fight as well. The moment the vampire regain his sight he would be looking to settle a score and that was something Orion wouldn’t allow. “Clawing them out seems like it wouldn’t be the best of solutions especially if I want to see again.” Though he was grateful the foreign feeling was mainly gone even if all he could see was black.

Listening to Sariah he was glad she explained in a way that even he could manage to understand.  Following her instructions Orion closed his glowing hues and allowed them to rest as he mental counted to thirty not trusting his concept of time. Her voice broke through his mental counting but he was close enough to finished that it didn’t throw him too far off. “Most Therian’s never really get used to them.” It always set most betas and omegas on edge even when it wasn’t necessary. Continuing his count he slowly opened his eyes once more the total darkness giving way to a faint light which turned his vision a dark grey. He was sure the shades were slowly changing but he couldn’t tell too much of a difference yet. “I think you would have pushed the patience of a psychopath past it’s breaking point already.” His tone was light and teasing beginning to see a slight change in his sight. “The black is beginning to slowly lighten.” He stated before blinking slowly unsure if that would help or not. 

For most of her life, Sariah had been a victim, someone who allowed herself to be walked all over time and time again because she didn’t know how to fight back and she had lost so much because she had let it go on so long. She hadn’t been able to understand what happened to Katie back then but as she grew older she focused herself on study into the supernatural, she knew everything there was to know about the supernatural, she probably could have written a book about them if she wanted to. It was only after her final year on college that she finally found the strength to fight back, her research into the supernatural went beyond your generally curious person even before the organisation had recruited her, Sariah didn’t intend on being a victim again if she could help it.

The blonde hadn’t seen much positive when it came to the supernatural, through her years she had come to learn that they all would eventually lie to her or give her some reason not to trust them. She however got a strange sense of reliability from the man, she didn’t even know his name and yet somehow, she believed him when he said that he would protect her. Shaking the thought from her head she softened her gaze at his words, her experience with people in the world hadn’t been an easy ride, everyone let her down eventually, after a while she had given up putting her faith in people entirely, she knew things only moved forward when she made it so. “If more people shared your morals the world would be a far better place” she was glad he wasn’t able to see the flash of emotion in her eyes as she said the words. Upon his words about bravery she laughed gently with a roll of her shoulders “There’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity I’ve found” she spoke with a hint of amusement in her tone “Sometimes my mind goes into overdrive” she tried to excuse herself, though she knew she couldn’t defend this as a good decision.

Realizing that he probably cared little for her excuses for her actions she smiled gently, taking the compliment for face value “Thank you” she answered his words once more with a small nod of her head. She however went silent as he spoke of vampires once more, she hadn’t thought the hatred between therians and vampires ran so deep, she knew she wouldn’t want to get into the middle of something like that, Sariah wasn’t much for confrontation. She knew that killing was a normal thing for the supernatural, they all played by their own rules, left little regard for laws or respect but it was still hard to swallow the idea that he had killed people, even if they were bloodsucking monsters, not that she would judge without knowing the circumstances, Sariah knew all too well the evil there was in the world.

Sariah allowed a small smile to cross her lips as she tried to shake her embarrassment for forgetting he was working security at the event, truth was that the blonde wasn’t exactly the best at remembering details when it came to people, mostly because she had stopped trying to impress people a long time ago. “Well you must be doing something right, no one’s dead yet” she responded allowing a small laugh to leave her lips before she followed up her words “But closets are for sure where the darkest deeds take place, or in this case, quite literally darkness” she babbled a little awkwardly as she started work on fixing that exact problem.

As Sariah watched him, holding the UV light as steadily as she could in front of his eyes, her gaze trailed over his hands and neck for a moment, noting that there were several nicks and scars over his skin, she could tell that he had been through a lot just by looking at them and yet somehow, he seemed to own it, they served to make him look powerful and striking. Sariah laughed softly in response to his words about alpha eyes, she supposed to therians they were very intimidating, a constant reminder of who was in charge. “Green always was one of my favourite colours” she commented without thinking it through allowing the smile to creep across her cheeks.

As he opened his eyes revealing a part of his sight back she nodded gently a small gasp of relief involuntarily escaping from her lips, at least she wouldn’t have to live with permanently blinding someone. “God I am so glad that worked” she spoke bluntly in her relief before pressing her lips together. Her eyes met his for just a moment to see if she could catch any recognition in them, she suspected he could see very little however. “Okay, now to reintroduce colour” she spoke softly before she pulled the phone away from him turning off the light. She pulled up a shade of red on her screen and turned it around to face him. “Red is the easiest colour for the eyes to perceive, keep your focus on the phone until you can see red” she nodded her head a little before following up “Not literally seeing red though, I’d rather not be locked in a dark room with an angry alpha” she confessed with a gentle and slightly awkward laugh.

Orion could tell that Sariah was hesitant to help him though she wanted to make things right. She was well versed in the world of supernaturals and held an obvious dislike for vampires and that was something Orion could easily understand. She wasn’t your average human in so many ways, she either worked for the human faction or she just happened to be like Bruce Wayne with enough money and time to experiment and study the supernatural. The Bruce Wayne analogy seemed pretty unlikely so he money was one being part of the human faction’s research team of sorts but since coming to the city hadn’t done much research on the other factions and that would have to change and fast.

The bitter aroma of fear and worry left her the more time they seemed to be spending together and Orion was grateful for that. Sure it meant that the scent no longer assaulted his nostrils but he didn’t want her to feel that way, no one ever should. Putting your faith in a total stranger was completely insane but he already had no choice but to trust in her so he was hoping she would offer him the same respect. “If more people shared my morals then I wouldn’t have much to offset my commanding and mildly aggressive aura.” There was joking tone to his voice but much like Sariah he wished there were more who believed that way, “Therians have always been protective of their pack and of women, not because they believe them to be a weaker gender but because we hold them in high regard. If anyone laid a hand on my daughter the way that vampire touched you he wouldn’t be leaving this building.” It was a simple fact, when it came to his pack and especially to his family he was a very dangerous adversary. A small chuckle left him, “Sometimes the bravest of actions requires a moment of stupidity to give you the courage.”

The atmosphere changed in the small closest, he could feel it like a cold winter wind kicking in. The scent of Sariah’s emotions changing with her mood but he couldn’t pin point exactly what it was that he smelled. It would be best if he stopped talking, that he was sure about since he didn’t often talk about matters such as these with strangers but at the moment there was nothing else to do and silence was causing the onset of insanity. For some reason Orion found the need to somewhat explain what he meant though he knew it was a dangerous chance to take. “The Valkyrie family, my family was charged with hunting down and killing vampires who posed a threat to humanity. It’s something my bloodline has taken very serious for a very long time,” It was going to be a rather short story since there was much he didn’t want to tell, “Recently things got…out of hand and now I’m a hunter in a city of peace, this job is about the only thing which keeps me sane.” He didn’t know why but he didn’t want her to think he enjoyed killing or did it for fun, it had just been a part of his life for so long he became desensitized to it.

The humor and laughter was evident in Sariah’s voice and it caused a small smile to curve his lips, “I’d rather like to keep the death toll at zero. Apparently they start docking your pay when people start dying and don’t refer people to you, I can’t imagine why.” As Sariah spoke of the darkest of deeds he couldn’t help but shake his head, “We do both seem to be the unscrupulous sort and what better place to conduct business away from prying eyes?” He imagined if they were out in the open people would be giving them rather strange looks as Sariah worked on resorting his sight.

The alpha eyes were something even his children shied away from revealing, it didn’t scare them but it quickly silenced any argument and restored peace to the household but he didn’t like to use them in such a way. It was rare he allowed the luminescent green to bleed through and tint his normally clear blue gaze. Orion had often wondered why green, Lycanthropes alpha’s eyes held a red glow and Ailuranthropes held a pale green opposed to the vivid and bright green of the Kitsune. Green was a symbol of balance and growth, something a pack needed in order to survive, it also represented safety and for some reason that had always been was stood out in his mind. None of this was anything he felt like voicing, well aware of how it would sound.

Orion didn't have to see the expression upon Sariah's face to sense her relief due to the small noise which left her. That at least as a positive which was good since their night so far was a bit of a mess. "I'm going to pretend that you didn't make it sound like a miracle." Though in all honesty he was pretty sure that it was as close to a miracle as he was going to get in his lifetime. As instructed he continued to stare straight ahead, he could see light now and it was slowly turning from a grey to a subtle pink hue the progression of color slow before it finally appeared as the same red children were shown flash cards of to learn their colors. He knew he should but he tried to get his eyes to focus passed the phone screen but the strain caused a dull ache to start in his head. Focusing he thought about his human eyes and toned down his alpha and authoritative nature feeling the sharpness of his gaze blurring slightly as his eyes returned to normal human vision.

"There's definite progress and I promise not to literally see red, I'm less than cuddly right now but I have no intention of becoming a bull in a china shop." Blinking slowly a few times he tried to allow his eyes to adjust since even with his very limited sight at the moment it was taking time to get use to after complete darkness.

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