((OOC: Sorry if it's a bit long. First time starting a post here and I got a little carried away))

Cold sand slapped against Benjamin Drake's bare feet as he jogged along the beach just beyond the limits of the crashing surf. Rivulets of sweat ran down the young man's face despite the chill breeze rolling in off of the water. Ben wore gray sweat shirt against the cold and a pair of blue athletic shorts, not those tight spandex things, just loose comfortable shorts that gave him a easy stride.

Ben didn't actually enjoy running, at least not most of the time. He ran for one very important reason, in the world he lived in 98% of what he encountered was a lot stronger then him at least on a purely physical level. He was still human after all. Metaphysically speaking he could go toe to toe with a lot of the supernatural world, that didn't mean he wanted to though. He ran so that when he came up against something dangerous he could get the hell out of there and fast. And honestly, sometimes his daily jog was the only thing that got him out of the lab or his book store.

Of all the places to run in the city though, the beach was his favorite. Sure it was often cold, especially in the mornings, but it was also relatively isolated. Outside of his apartment, the beach was one of the few places where he regularly removed the bracelet around his wrist. The length of tiny silver infinity symbols linked together, that bound away his ability to access magic, and also locked away the destructive curse that was tied to that power. Out on the sand, he was far enough away from most expensive electronics that he could remove the bracelet without wreaking technological havoc.

Without the bracelet he was free to experience the world around him in the way a Wizard was truly meant to. Magic doesn't come from inside the Wizard, it comes from all around him, it's the purest essence of life itself. As a wizard, Ben simply taps into that power and focuses it through the lens of his will. Running along the beach, he could feel the rise and fall of energy all around him at the core of his being. The sunlight warmed his skin and tingled with untapped potential. The wind in his ears thrummed with the song of creation. Through his soles of his bare feet on the sand, he could feel the pulse of the Earth and it ran through his bones like a tuning fork.

He was so caught up in the flood of sensations on his mystically tuned senses, that the sudden splash of something large hitting the water almost went unnoticed. However, it registered, and when he felt the cold sting of energy as a shadow darted over him and towards the city he stopped and looked around. He caught the barest glimpse of black dot in the air disappearing into the cluster of buildings downtown. Whatever it was, it was moving fast.

Turning his attention out to the ocean he saw something bobbing on the surface, and it was several seconds before he realized it was human shaped – not to say that it was “human” you never could be sure in this city. Without even considering the consequences, Ben ran into the crashing surf, and was soon stroking out to the bobbing form. He swore when the water around him turned murky with blood, and a second later his fingers grasped the tattered sleeve of a man.

Whatever the thing in the air had been, it had done a job on this poor guy. Ragged wounds were torn into his chest and abdomen. It was only through exercising a considerable amount of his Wizard's honed willpower that Ben avoided throwing up right then and there when it became quite obvious that the man had been disemboweled. It helped that he was angry as hell. Unlike the majority of mankind, he knew there were monsters in the world, and that a lot of them eat people. That didn't mean he had to like it, in this day and age there were lots of alternative food sources. Even Vampires didn't actually have to hunt a kill to fulfill their thirst.

Wrapping an arm over the man, Ben began to tow him back to shore. When he was almost there, he felt the bottom of his stomach fall out when he realized there was someone standing on the beach watching him. Great! How the hell am I going to explain this? he thought to himself as he continued to stroke for solid ground.

((Hope you don't mind if I join in?))

The stiff breeze caught at the edges of his jacket, tugging them this way and that in a teasing, almost spiteful manner, as Gram tried to wrap the fleece more closely to his spare frame. What the hell had possessed him to come to the waterfront? Well, that took no thought. The running. But it was pointless here. Too many people. Always, there were people everywhere in this cursed city. He shoved his thick rimmed glasses up to the bridge of his nose, at the same time banishing that weary line of thought to the back of his head. He was here, now, and he would have to get used to it. Gram sighed, exasperated by his own weakness. Getting caught up in homesickness and traipsing about on the beach like some vagabond when there was work to be done. Research to be sifted through. Papers to write. All the weary weight of the world to bear.

Gradually, an anomaly dragged the man's attention away from such melancholy thoughts. Was it......splashing? Not unusual, with the waves licking the sand with a gravelly hiss every few moments, but this was against the rhythm, seperate....almost....

Gram turned to look out over the water. Surely no one in their right minds would be swimming on such a day! But, out in the chill gray waves one lunatic was beating his stoic way toward the shore. After a moment of staring, Gram realized he was dragging some one....some one limp and flaccid in the water. The wind shifted at that moment, as he stared with widening eyes at the dark, red streak in the water behind the pair, and caught the heavy, carnal stench of blood.

Blood! Blood! Blood! Danger! Danger! DANGER! That primitive corner of his mind screeched, an endless wailing mantra that begged his limbs to flight, to flee from death and blood and predator, to run and run to life and grass and does and fawns on the hillsides.....

Gram clenched his teeth as he felt his limbs ache for the change, as his muscles throbbed for release and his blood sang with fear and wild, primal joy. NO! He wrapped his thoughts in a ball, everything that was not of his pure, human mind and hid them deep with in his core. Chakras, he thought, Remember the chakras. Sahasrara, for knowledge.....Ajna for sight.....Anahata, for peace.....and most importantly, Manipura, for strength. Slowly, Gram gained control of his trembling limbs, made sure they were all human, and watched the swimming man and the dead man come to shore.