Choices, Choices, Choices

Jyriah wanted to sob. He had been up in this net for three nights now, and he was starving. Lyrica brought him small game, but it was not sufficient for his size, or his appetite.

On the bright side, his palms had stopped sweating when he looked down to the ground far below him.

"Why?" Jyriah lamented as he stared into the dark. He was still freaked out about what Lyrica had said - were there really other nets hanging around he couldn't see? Or was that pint-sized little child messing with him?

Was she actually going to eat him? Didn't those three vampires a couple of nights ago say something about fear making their prey taste better? If she /was/ going to eat him, she needed to hurry. He was positive he would die any second if he didn't get food to eat.

"Lyrica? Please tell me you're out there somewhere? Can I please be let down, now?" Jyriah called out from the wide net.

This was it. This was going to be his breaking point. He just knew he was about to crack mentally, and if his paws didn't touch the ground soon, he was going to claw his own neck out.

"Please let me down!" Jyriah cried out into the sky that boomed with thunder.

Rain? Rain! Yes - rain! Delicious, needed, watery rain. He had never been so excited to be stuck out in a rainstorm before.

All he had to do now, was wait for those tasty little droplets of water to land on his tongue and splash against his dry mouth. Ohohoho, just thinking about it made his already dry mouth even more gritty and sand-paper like.

'Crap, think about something else now. You want it too much and now it's going to feel like forever' Jyriah said to himself and drummed his hands on his knees as he waited for the drops of rain to come.

'Uhhh...think about.. Joss! Yes, my handsome, tall, super hot mate...he'd know how to get me out of this. Joss, please help me...send me your smart powers through my brain, or I'm going to die....'

Hopelessness had never really been a thing Jyriah had ever honestly felt before. Sadness, anger, jealousy, and even depression -- but actually being hopeless? Nah. Not his thing.

At least, it hadn't been his thing in the past - but he was highly considering taking up the hobby as of now. He was terrified, and tired, and hungry, and...and...all the other things he could think of right now that he was, and none of them were good adjectives at all.

"Hate. HATE!" He suddenly raged out and kicked at the orichalcum that glinted when the lightning rang out into the sky with reaching hands.

"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" Jyriah screamed out and kicked around like a little child who was having a temper-tantrum from being grounded in their room.

He didn't care if his sister came around to see his behavior and make fun of him for the rest of his life - as long as he could just sit here and throw a fit as his sanity dwindled away.

Jyriah tried to stretch the orichalcum like Lyrica had, but it didn't budge at all - and unlike actual netting, he couldn't stretch his legs or morph the space at all.

His legs ached, his back was worse -- and his knees would probably never forgive him for being stuck in the curled position they had been in. He could feel the arthritis now.

'How'd that happen, pop-pop?' he thought in a child-like voice as he talked to himself.

'Oh, you know - being trapped in a "FUCKING CAGE IN THE AIR FOR THREE DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYS!" Jyriah's sanity bar plummeted to 'empty' and now his anger turned into a manic rage that made him laugh as he ping-ponged himself back and forth in the little space. It made his cage waver back and forth as gravity pitched in to help.

"I want to die - just strike me down, please! I can't take another second of this!" Jyriah bellowed.

-- and then he stopped to catch his breath and heard laughter coming from around him.

"Lyrica? This isn't funny!" Jyriah said as he turned around in a circle to ensure wherever she was, she was going to hear him.

"Hahah - it's hilarious!" a female voice rang out in delight and came towards his hanging prison.

It was that female vampire he had met a few nights ago - the one whose brother he and Myranda had spared. She was laughing at him right now? Really?

"I assure you, nothing about this is hilarious. I've been up here for almost three days. Can you please, please, please let me down?" Jyriah warbled madly as though he were raving about a conspiracy.

"Woah, you're a little rough in the skull there, aren'cha pal?" The vampire asked and moved her long white hair behind her long, pointed ears.

"I will let you eat my left leg...I'm serious. Just let me down. Please? Come on, lady...I was the one who asked my alpha to spare your brother...I just...I just want to go home" Jyriah started to break down into a sob, but before he could, he just heard her laugh again.

"Come on, man - don't cry. You're a werewolf for Hell's sake, act like it. You want me to get you down? Truly?" She asked as though this were a fun little game. In fact, she even crossed one leg over the other as she floated in the air to accentuate that she was in charge (and loving it).

"You have no idea what it's like to not be able to fly, and be this high off the ground, okay? I'm hungry, I'm tired, and I can't feel my legs, and my back is-"

"Okay, okay shut it - I get it." She sighed out and waved him off.

"So...you're gonna help me?" Jyriah asked with innocent hope glittering in his wide eyes.

"I might help you. I mean, you did save my brother and all..." she started off, and mused out teasingly.

'...and you played dollies with me, hahaha - that was great' Lyrica thought to herself and snickered.

"Yes, and we let you go - so if you could-" Jyriah was cut off again as she spoke loudly (and rudely) over him as though she had a point to make.

"I MEAN- I /could/ help you - buuuuut... I mean....helping you would be going against my interests..." she went on leisurely as though nothing were wrong with this situation.

"You're one of Metas' croonies, right? You want to take that Silas guy off of the throne, and we want to hunt here. So letting you down would definitely be a terrible idea," she went on and tapped her finger to her chin mockingly.

"On the other hand... You did do me a huge favor, aaaaand maybe your side might win, and I don't know if I want to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life..." her voice was sing-songy and without meeting his eyes she changed her position to look like she was laying on her stomach with her feet up in the air and crossed over the other. She even propped up her chin with her hand like she was laying on a bed watching something interesting.

"Hmm, hmm, hmmm - choices, choices, choices. Let me think about it and I'll get back to you when I've consulted the tribune in my head. I don't know though, they seem like they want me to wait for you to be at your weakest and eat you, then...." she was not letting up at all.

The once hopeful eyes Jyriah begged her with had turned into sullen, sad ones the more she teased on. He was going to die up here, and the vampire woman in front of him was loving every second of his misery.

Maybe the rumors were true -- maybe his kind did taste better when they were scared or sad. Or maybe this crazy bitch just liked to play with her food. Either way, he was sure that whatever she decided to do, it was not going to be in his best interest.