Mat was sitting at a picnic table at a deserted rest stop off the interstate. He was alone, at 3 am, not a soul, literally in sight. No ghosts to be found. No gibbering jabbering, or carrying on by the spectral hordes that normally thronged to Mat. It was nice. He knew in a few hours they'd all somehow home in on him and find him, but for now he laid his head down on the picnic table and enjoyed his respite.

About twenty yards away his scooter was parked. He'd rented it for the day just to zip around on and get away from it all. He'd blazed around o it all day, feeling the wind in his hair and tugging at his thin chinos and white t-shirt. The day had made him tired enough to sleep deeply, now that he was free of his entourage.

Isn't it funny that when things are perfect, peaceful and relaxing certain people seem to realize this and make it their job to make sure the rest of their day goes otherwise? Odin was one of those people who exist solely for the purpose of bringing other people severe displeasure.

His hair was let loose from its ponytail, dark and light red strands hanging all over the place, some even in his hair. Neat, clean, tight-ass Odin looked almost... disheveled in his current state. How... tragic, like the melodrama in a cheap soap opera.

The air about him was still cool, calm, light, and he had the look of someone who was beautiful and knew it. Arrogant. Oh so arrogant.

He sauntered in, invading Mat's privacy.

"Why hello there." He said softly, smiling, showing off brilliantly white, straight teeth.

Mat turned groggily, just his head and shoulders. He didn't rise. "MMmmm, yeah, Hi. I'm taking a nap. " he says. He hasn't even checked to see if it's a real person out here at this hour. He assumes it is the fore runner of the ghost horde come to begin bugging the crap out of him. So he plops back down unconcearned and nestles his head back on his arms.

Odin took a few graceful strides towards Mat and ended up sitting beside him. "I realize this. What's your name?" So straight-forward. Almost the tactic Logan uses, but not quite. He's more interested, so he doesn't have to pretend as much as Logan does.

"It's Mat, don't you people ever go away?" he sounds almost pathetic. He sits up, "wait a minute, you're not a ghost. What are you doing out in the middle of no where>" he asks.

He looked hurt. He was a good actor, too. And what a splendid show it was. "I apologize if I've bothered you, I'm just..." and his fingers are resting on the hilt of something now. It almost looks like he's reaching into his pants.

"...out for a walk."

Mat gets up, suspicious now. The nearest place to walk from must be fifteen miles from here. "I'm not sure I buy that. " he says backing towards the scooter slowly. Something about this doesn't sit right.....and he's an aweful ong way from the rest of the world with this kid.

Odin really was out for a walk. It just so happened that a victim got in the way.

"I'm sorry? Did I offend you?"

He frowned then, pulling out the knife, testing it... right in front of Mat's face. He cut into his finger, dragging the blade across all of the rest of his fingers in a horizontal line.

Mat moved much more quickly then. Surprisingly quickly for a such a bulky fellow. " I dunno what your deal is, but I don't want to find out today." If he had been moving so that he could see where he was going instead of watching the boy, he probably wouldn't have tripped......

And then when he tripped, he probably wouldn't have had Odin quickly jump on top of him, pin him down with his lower half while he stabbed him in the back with the knife, would he?

"That's what my deal is."

And he pulled out the knife. It gave slight protest and gavve a slight sucking sound as he did so, the knife coming out slathered in blood.

Mat just goroaned bleeding to death sucked, he'd been told in detail anout it by people who'd died that way. He struggled to his feet in spite of this. Just because he sisn't agressive normally doesn't mean he's weak. He knocks the boy away as he gets to his feet. He doesn't get far though, kid knows where to stab, or got lucky and hit a nerve bundle. either way Mat's struggling to his feet again after falling at ten yards from where he's gotten up in the first place.

Odin tumbled back for the first few seconds, not at all surprised by this. He sort of just bounced back up to his feet in the way a rubber ball does when it's thrown against the ground.

He licked the knife as he took calm and casual steps back toward Mat, cutting a horizontal line on his own tongue on purpose, letting the iron-tasting crimson liquid leak down his throat as he swallowed.

The hilt of the knife was bloody from his own hand where he'd cut his fingers and held on, and he smirked again.

"Heeeere, kitty kitty kitty..." he purred in a soft yet mocking tone as he took several more steps forward.

Odin jumped and tackled Mat's fallen figure again, ripping away at the material of his shirt like a savage beast.

Instinct, Mat goes for the throat with those big hands of his. His plan is to squeeze the little bastard until he's unable to move and then get away. It shouldn't be too hard right, big musclebound guy like Mat being able to squeeze Odin till he stops. Mat just can't figure out why it feels harder for him to breath while he does it. HE's seeing those little red flashes of light and haveing short little black outs while he gets dizzier and dizzier......it feels like the way books describe asphyxiation.....maybe it is, or maybe it's shock or blood loss. Mat keeps squeezing even after he can't see. His hands are tingling though, it's hard to keep squeezing.

It was hard to ignore the fact that he was being choked, but Odin only smiled and gasped when Mat started to squeeze like he did. "Let... go." He managed, bringing the knife down blindly next to his heart. He just missed by a couple of inches.

Mat doesn't let go, he just has so much blood pouring out of him his weaker than skim milk. As his strength ebbs there's notthing substantail to his kicks. He's gurgling and grunting while he tries to continue choking this kid. A strange fog rolls over the scene in, it seems lit from within by a green light.

As Mat began to choke him, growing weaker and weaker, Odin dragged the knife downwards into his chest so it cut in a vertical line, blood pouring from the impossibly large gash.

"You deaf? Let go of me."

"No...."Mat gasps while he cries, he can feel the fog, maybe the boy is oblivious, it's the fog of the spirit world and the dead have begun to gather around Mat and speak to him. Mat keeps fighting, he doesn't care if the boy can or can't see them. He ooly cares that he has no wish to join them.

Odin is oblivious to Mat's little spiritual experience, but he rolls over him anyway, pressing against him as he did so, clawing at him like a rabid animal.

(BLEAH. Sorry.)

Funny Mat fianlly let go. Actually his hands fell away, rathrte limply, everything else seemed to be limp too, but ragged breath still rose and fell from his chest. Tears welled soundlessly in his eyes and the ring of ghosts tried to comfort him. "Don't give up son." his father's ghost told him. Butit was so hard he could feel everything sliding away from him, and it didn't hurt....why shouldn't he give up?

Why shouldn't he give up? Because Odin hasn't enough fun with him yet. He hasn't even broken any bones yet or raped him. But if he did pass away, well, Odin had no issues with screwing with a dead corpse. He was so morbidly amused right now he was actually excited. He felt somewhat like a vampire, wanting to drink his blood so the urge for his fulfillment was stronger.

So when the hands fell away Odin leaned over, sinking his teeth into Mat's neck, biting down hard/

That's not why according to Mat's dad, but Mat isn't very responsive to being bitten, he shakes his head and limply shakes his body trying to get Odin off of him as he's bitten, but his efforts are rather weak. One of Mat's hands futiley tugs at the boy's arm, but it's very feeble and weak.

Some of the ghosts urge Mat to just let go, and others urge him to fight. Mat does neither, he's very weak and bleeding everywhere.

Odin doesn't speak still, incisors finally cutting into flesh when he pressed down hard enough. He didn't command Mat to stop what he was doing but only held on tighter, clinging on to him rather like one of those bloodsucking tics. Finally Odin pulled away, running that long pink tongue of his all over the place he'd bitten on Mat's neck.

Mat grunted and kept moving weakly, it didn't hurt at all he was that far gone, but the fact this kid bit him and was licking him was strangely frightening, what kind of kid does these things?

"Guuuuhhhhhhh." Mat said, perhaps if he were stronger it might have sounded how he meant, he meant to say get off.

"Stop mumbling." He managed after getting a mouth full of blood, the warm iron taste lingering on his tongue as he bit down deeper and harder into the wound he made.

What kind of kid does these things? Odin, apparently.

And he does, it subsides to a gurgling noise and then he falls quiet....In the silence Matt is falling through a vortex of light, no longer aware of what's befalling his body.

And Odin continued with his torturing, tearing off Mat's clothing after he shredded it with the knife, peeling the bloadsoaked fabric away from Mat's flesh like it were hot wax; quick and easy.

And he leaves cuts, scratches, gashes everywhere across Mat's body before going onto the deed of merciless rape. He breaks bones in his ribs and a couple in his right arm, tears muscles and slices a hole into Matt's torso/stomach/chest area big enough to fit his hand. And he snaked his hand through, feeling through all of his inside with his bloody hand, scrounging around for his heart.

And he sat straddled across the hips of the naked body with his own now clothed one, snaking his hand back out the way it came, finding he couldn't reach the organ he wanted. He should've been dead, anyway.

And in what seems like moments, Odin's back on his feet again. "Fare thee well."

And then he was gone.

The nearly dead man bleeding to death on the grassy ground would not expect to be found by the tigress as she walked elegantly and silently. White paws treaded with a cocky strut. Emerald eyes could see perfectly in the dark, tail black striped tail twitched behind her. Indeed the vacation had made her in quite a good mood. All sorts of animals she got to hunt that had never even been on the menu before.

Something was out of the ordinary though. The tiger was actually carrying a back pack in her mouth, trailing it on the ground a bit with one of the straps. After all, she would need clothes when she changed back wouldn’t she? Nostrils flared though as the scent of blood reached her which made her eyes dilate further. Rounded ears were prodded forward listening. No noise.

Stumbling upon the scene she saw a man that was lying on the ground in a pool of blood. The blood was enticing and made her want to attack, but she would not attack this human. She was in too good of a mood to do that. Although as she dropped her back pack from her mouth and walked closer she realized that something had obviously gotten a hold of him. Ears pinned against her head and a low growl was coming up through her throat as she sniffed the body and the gaping hole in his gut. It was really bad and she was amazed to find the man still breathing.

Even though she knew he needed medical attention, she could help but lap up some of the blood that was pouring from his stomach wound. It definitely tasted good. But at the same time it appeared that she was cleaning him up as well.

Finally she stepped back and shifted back into human form. She stood over him in all her nakedness for a moment before heading back to her back pack and pulling out a cell phone she had been carrying with her. She dialed 911 and told them about where they were. They told her to stay on the line however she put the phone down so she could put on some clothes real quick; a baggy black sweatshirt and an old pair of jeans that had holes everywhere. She forgot to bring underwear or a bra.

She picked the phone back up and then headed over to the guy. ”Hey. Can you hear me or you passed out?” Wasn’t she nice?

Right now all Mat can hea is his father begging him not to crossover. "Please Mat hang on" he urges, "just hang on....." the tuneling vortex of light recedes into blackness sometime later and all Mat can hear is sirens.

The ambulance arrives and she backs away as the paramedics take over the situation. They ask her to come with them since she was the one that found him and she reluctantly agreed. Grabbing her back she follows the man being wheeled away on the stretcher to the back of the ambulance, hops in after them and sits down along the wall. They rush him to the hospital. At least Lin was getting a ride back to town.

The paramedics are skeptical that he'll even make the ride intot town. Somehow he does. The police have lots of questions for Lin, but clear her on any possible charges. The man John Doe at the moment is put in the most critical part of the ICU. They say it will be a miracle if he lives through the night.

Lin was rather irritated with all the questions, but she tolerates them as she is in a pretty good mood from her vacation. They tell her not to go anywhere just yet and so she sits down in an arm chair in the ICU waiting room.

Finally they tell Lin she can go, though there is some sort of mix up and the hospital staff believes she's some sort of relative so before she is allowed to go she gets a full update on the man.....no one catches on that she isn't related until itis realized that no one knows his name.

She’s hesitant before leaving him in the condition he’s in. However she doesn’t know him and merely passed by. And so she leaves him there with the puzzled nurses and disappears from the hospital.