[tCotR] ~ Desiree Whitmore

[Alexandrea]

She got out of the water and stared down at the unopened gift she had brought him as she lit a cigarette. It was a shame to let it go to waste but Alex wasn't hungry, just tired. Not the kind of tired that was of the body but the kind that was of the mind. She had inspired too many friends today and just given too much of her self. Was it really appreciated? she wasn't sure. He had said so, but he said a lot of things that seemed to evaporate over night. It was almost as if she was just an after thought, a convenience when he had nothing better to do. Spending the night together had been his idea. He had asked for Alex to bring someone along that wouldn't be missed. And now he was gone and Alex was stuck with... that girl, in her home. She prodded the young woman with a toe, trying to wake her up. Alex had wanted to see her killed but didn't have the heart to do it herself. If she thought he would come back anytime soon, she would leave the human there tied up if she knew when he would be back but it could be days or even weeks before she would hear from him again.

"I must have used too much of that stuff..." She muttered under her breath and then went to get the smelling salts out of her jacket, putting out her smoke as she did so. Holding the salts under the human female's nose, Alex was forced to look into her face. And it hurt, it hurt so bad to see her own stolen youth displayed there on the same girl who had already stolen so much from her. "What the hell are you doing here anyways?" Alex said bitterly, and started to shake the young human. "Why Harper Rock? Why now?" It crossed her mind that maybe he had not killed this girl because of how much she looked like Alex. But Alexandrea had thought that would please him, he had told her before how a part of him wanted to kill Alex. She shook her head, confused. "Well, I won't be trying this again anytime soon. I hate putting away leftovers."

The woman was in her late teen years, young and healthy. She started to come around and Alexandrea used the last of her magical energy to change her face before the girl's eyes opened. She picked the first face she could think of, her sire's. Rebecca Quartermaine. Thinking of her Clan's missing leader, suggested other behavior to her subconsciously and Alex began to emulate the Elder Vampire's mannerisms as well, leaning over the human girl with a wicked grin as she at last regained full consciousness.

Suddenly, the girl sat up quickly and then clutched the sides of her head with both hands while a loud moan escaped her lips. Alex smirked. A part of her almost felt badly, this was her half sister after all. But Alexis had taken so much from Alexandrea, and never been anything but a brat. "You should never have come here. You don't belong here. This is my town." Alex hissed as she tossed a bag over Alexis' head and pulled the young woman to her feet. Alexis struggled but was no match for a vampire. Alex soon had her out of her lair, out of the Mausoleum, and after a brisk march into the Wilderness, soon to be out of Harper Rock.

Muffled sobs made Alexandrea take pity on the human. And at last she turned back and rather than tie her to a tree outside the city limits as she had planned on, Alex forcibly marched the girl to the closet sewer entrance and shoved her down after kicking the grate open.

At least that was what she wanted to do, pictured her self doing. But instead Alex just took her sister to the closet hospital and then left her there in the parking garage.

Damn.

If it had been anyone else... Alexandrea would have never been so cruel. Why was her own sister so different from any other human? She didn't know, exactly. She just knew she hated that girl with a passion and wanted to see her dead.

The urge to be violent was overwhelming, so Alex took a page from Kira's book and started hunting gangsters in the abandoned buildings. After several kills, Alexandrea stopped. She heard a soft sob coming from a dark corner behind her and went to investigate.

[Alexandrea]

Alex's first thought was that she was looking at one of the fae. The slight figure in front of her with the pixie cut hair huddled in the corner looked almost like a fairy. The stranger's head was buried in their arms and those arms were covered in cuts, some that still dripped blood. She bent down to look more closely once she saw the wounds, she had never seen a fae before but she was pretty sure this girl was not one of them.

Now Alexandrea was closer, she could catch the other vampire's scent and knew what she was. Her eyes were also sharp, even in the darkness, and it was clear this was a young (VERY young woman) who had been turned and was in distress. The clothes she wore were practically rags.

"Hey, are you okay? Do you want some help? I'm Alex... I can help you if you will let me..."

The sounds the girl had been making stopped, and green eyes in the lightest shade Alexandrea had ever seen looked up into hers. The black hair tossed back and forth as the girl shook her head no but Alex wasn't so easily put off. Rather than just walk away, she sat down next to the raggedly dressed young vampire and carefully put a hand on her back. The girl shrieked and backed away, lashing out with a rusty kitchen knife. But Alexandrea had good reflexes and was faster. She grabbed the young woman's arms carefully and held them tight, gently disarming her and setting the weapon down between them.

"Here now, I mean you no harm. What's your name?"

There was still no reply from the girl, who shivered and tried to pull away. But Alex was stronger. She was still gentle but she kept a firm grip on the fledgling, and without thinking about it or knowing why.. Alexandrea pulled the girl into her lap and hugged her.

"I promise I won't hurt you. Let me help, you. Please."

The child, for she appeared to Alex to be just that, seemed to just fall apart at those words and sobbing, relaxed and clung tightly to Alexandrea.

Alex just rocked her gently, an stroked her hair. Murmuring soothing words and hoping the young woman would calm soon. The dry sobs eased after a short while, crying once you are a vampire is no where near as satisfying. And Alexandrea continued to hold her until her shaking shoulders relaxed.

"Let me take you someplace safe? I will make sure you get what you need to be full and give you some new clothes. You can even take a bath, if you like?"

The pixie like vampire still didn't say a word to her, but she nodded and moved away. Alex stood up and held out a hand to her, offering her help to stand. The young vampire looked at Alexandrea oddly, a strange expression on her face. But after hesitating a moment, the girl took Alex's hand and stood up. Alexandrea gently led her out of the building and towards Willow Court. There were too many people using the train at this hour, it didn't seem wise to risk panicking the fledgling by sticking her in a crowd.

[Alexandrea]

It wasn't an easy trip home, the nameless girl seemed torn between wanting to stand still every time the were in a shadowy place and bolting like a frightened horse at every noise. Alexandrea had them make a stop along the way, at a local shop in Wickbridge where she knew the owner and knew he would be on shift at this late hour.

As they went in, Jack greeted Alex with a wink and a grin, asking who her friend was. Having been friendly a long time, Alex used mind speak to explain the situation and ask if they could get several blood packs and the seclusion of the back room. Jack looked concerned, but he nodded in agreement and waved them around the counter and into the stock room and then brought out six packs of blood. Alex hoped it would be enough.

The young girl looked at the blood bags with wide eyes, confused. So Alexandrea took some time explaining what they were for and how to drink from them. And after spilling the first one, the fledgling managed to drink the rest of the remaining five.

It was only after the pixie like vampire looked around for more, that Alexandrea thought to appraise her with the special sight she had learned on the path of the telepaths. It was just to check her blood level, to see how much more the young one might require. But Alex saw more than that, she saw her comrade from the fifth column. Lofyn.

Now it was Alexandrea who had the wide eyes. And at first she was angry. How could any sire neglect a childe so? But the fury dissipated quickly, as Alex recalled the difficult time she had with reaching out to her own childe. Breyanna. Alex worried about the young woman often but all attempts at communicating with her had failed.

Seeing that the girl before her still needed more blood, Alex held up three fingers to Jack and he quickly brought out another three blood packs. As the fledgling drank, Alex sent a message to Lofyn's mind.

*I've stumbled across a childe of yours. She needs help. I'm taking her home with me and hope you will meet us there. It's number nine Willow Court.*

[Alexandrea]

Satisfied that the fledgling had her fill of blood, Alexandrea coaxed her into resuming the long walk to Alex's home. It would have been so much quicker to take the train but the young girl seemed to startle too easily at everything, and Alexandrea didn't want to risk spooking her.

After crossing the bridge out of Wickbridge, Alex decided to go straight north rather than zig zag through the streets to get to Bullwood so they could avoid the mall and the Necropolis Nightclub where the streets would be more crowded. As the large estates and mansions swam into view, Alexandrea slightly relaxed. Street traffic had subsided enormously and heading east, the two soon found themselves at Willow Court.

The house Alex shared with Kira was close to the front of the suburbia so it was only a few minutes before Alexandrea invited the youth inside and she was safe. For now. Alexandrea was concerned that this child vampire might have a bounty on her and until she could check, there was no way to make sure the girl would be completely safe. If there wasn't, all should be fine. But if there was...

She cut off from that train of thought and changed her focus to taking care of the things that were in her control. Looking after the young woman and earning her trust.

"The bathroom is this way..." Alexandrea said and led the fledgling there. She made sure there were plenty of towels, soaps, shampoos, a warm fluffy bathrobe, and anything else she could think of; then closed the door behind her as she left. But before closing the door, Alex softly told her; "Take a bath or a shower. Whichever you prefer. Take as long as you want and I'll find some clean clothes for you. Leave yours on the floor and I'll wash them for you later."

What she really wanted to do was toss them out or burn them but if they were all the young vampiressi had, chances were that she would want them back. Before she went upstairs however, Alex paused briefly at her computer. She quickly found what she had been worried she would see. A description that perfectly fit this girl who was in her bathroom. And it was for 20K.

Alexandrea closed her eyes an sighed. What could she do? She didn't know, yet. But she would do whatever she could to protect this child.

Making her way slowly up the stairs, Alex sent another message to Lofyn. *Your daughter is on Crow's most wanted list. Hurry.* And then proceeded to her closets to try and find clothes small enough for the pixie like girl.

[Lofyn (DELETED 481)]

*I've stumbled across a childe of yours. She needs help. I'm taking her home with me and hope you will meet us there. It's number nine Willow Court.*

The message woke the blonde vampire from her mid-evening nap. It took her a moment to realize who the message came from. Alexandrea. She'd found a childe. Lofyn's childe. And the childe was female. This left one conclusion to the Killer.

Desiree. The fifteen-year-old girl to whom she'd given this life to make up for the early end she would have found at the hands of nameless, faceless attackers. There had been so much blood, so many wounds, no doctor on the face of the earth could have saved her. Her powers had been useless in the face of so many deep stab wounds.

So she'd done the only thing she could, turned the child, taught her the basics of feeding, and let her to her own devices. She knew what a young girl could be capable of. She had been alone on the streets for so long.

But she hadn't been a vampire then.

She'd hoped that giving Desriee vampirism would give her a new kind of life, but she hadn't seen hide nor hair of the petite girl with the lightest shade of green eyes she'd ever seen in her life. Maybe that parting advice had been taken too seriously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The girl, her hair so short that no one would be able to grab onto it easily, took to feeding from humans like a fish took to a new tank of water. Perhaps too easily. As her victim, a woman in her late twenties, wandered away, those pale eyes met Lofyn's bright blue.

"Good job, Desiree," she whispered, smoothing a stray droplet of blood from the corner of the girl's mouth. "Now, listen close." The girl nodded vigorously. "Beware the wilds and those who would destroy you."

And she walked away, hips swaying lightly, leaving the girl to her own devices.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She'd never let her completely out of her mind, though. She wasn't a Telepath, but she knew, somehow, that her childe was doing well. No one had reported finding and destroying a young female vampire, so she was safe, at least for now.

Quickly, Lofyn settled to dressing. She dressed up for the situation, much like she had been that night, in all black with small accessories to set it off. With barely a thought, she was out of her apartment in Beta Towers and standing outside Willow Court.

She picked her way through to number nine, leaned against the doorjamb, and waited.

[Alexandrea]

The pile of clothes on the floor was getting larger but nothing smaller was coming out of any of Alex's closets. A small woman herself, Alexandrea was amazed that with all the clothes she had, she didn't seem to have anything that would ft the petite elf like fledgling.

After spending far too much time than she should have at the job, Alex finally settled on a pair of black cargo pants that had drawstring waist and a hoodie in a deep dark green. She grabbed a pair of socks and hurried downstairs to the bathroom. There wasn't the sound of water running, or any sound at all.

Alexandrea knocked softly on the door and waited. She was about to knock again when the door opened slowly, only a crack, and those pale green eyes stared out at her.

"Here are some clothes, you can wear for now. I know they probably won't fit but I can take you shopping... my treat... for others when you are ready. Take your time getting dressed, I'll be right out here in the living room."

One slender arm reached out to take the clothes and vanished quickly without a word. Alex sighed and sat down on the couch to wait. Where the heck was Lofyn? Alex checked her phone, there were no messages. She looked over at her front door hoping to hear a knocking or the doorbell ring. But there was nothing...

[Lofyn (DELETED 481)]

After waiting fifteen minutes without the door suddenly opening, Lofyn's impatience got the better of her. With two knuckles, she rapped on the door.

"Alex. It's me. I'm here."

That was all she said. All she could say. She found herself having to fight back a choking sensation in her throat.

Desiree didn't deserve this life. She knew that. But she didn't deserve to die. That was why she'd made that choice, without the opportunity to ask for the girl's consent. It hurt that she'd had to do that.

What to do?

[Alexandrea]

After surfing the channels for a little while, Alex turned of the tv and that's when she hear the knocking. Lofyn had arrived. She hoped the woman hadn't been waiting for too long. Hurrying to open the door, Alexandrea greeted her 5C sister with an apology.

"I'm so sorry, Lofyn. I must have had the telly too loud and didn't hear you. I hope you haven't been waiting long. Please, come in. The girl, she hadn't told me her name yet, is just changing I suggested a bath might make her feel better."

Alex motioned to the sofa as she closed the door behind the other vampiressi. " Please have a seat while we wait and make yourself comfortable. Can I get you anything?"

The bathroom door opened just then and the elf like young girl wandered out, eyes widening when she saw that there were now two blondes waiting for her. Despite the fact that Alexandrea was barely over five feet tall, the girl had needed to roll up the bottoms of the pant legs a little and the hoodie looked huge on her tiny frame. Her short dark hair was still damp but tossed from having been rubbed with a towel. She stood awkwardly in the door way, looking between Alex and Lofyn with wary eyes. Alexandrea wondered if the girl recognized her sire or not.

[Lofyn (DELETED 481)]

Lofyn laughed quietly, ruffling the long skirt she wore as she crossed the threshold. She almost reached for a hug, but there was somethimg more important on her mind; Desiree. Would she remember her?

"It's all right, Alex," she said, remarkably steady of voice. "Her name is Desiree. I...I wouldn't have, but she was about to die. I couldn't let her die. She was already unconscious."

She barely sat down, making a faint gesture to say that she didn't want anything, when the door opened. Lofyn's blue eyes found the slight frame of the small girl, and she couldn't help the quiet gasp that escaped her.

Lofyn stood up again. "Desiree, I am so sorry that I abandoned you. I wasn't ready, and you need the life I could provide."

[Alexandrea]

"Desiree." Alexandrea repeated the name to Lofyn. "It's a very pretty name."

Lofyn went on to justify her turning someone so young and Alex was torn. She just... didn't approve. But who was she to judge? Alex had recently begun to mellow towards the masquerade but was still against the bounty system it's self and the Crow. But lines had began to blur when it came to the "code" for Alexandrea. One of the 'code' was about siring children, and Desiree was little more than a child.

But would Alex have been able to just walk away from that unconscious child and just leave her to die? The shake of Alex's head was hardly noticeable and the small sigh would go unheard by anyone besides herself. The truth was, Alexandrea would have done the same thing.

Except she would have taken the girl home with her, not just left her alone. At least, Alex would have tried. You can't control other people. Alex's own childe, Breyanna, was proof of that. But Breyanna kept her nose clean and did check in with Alexandrea on occasion.

So Alex said nothing, just giving Lofyn a small tight smile and a nod right before Desiree joined them. Lofyn was quick to apologize and the look on the young woman's face made it plain that she had no clue who Lofyn was or what the woman was apologizing for.

"Come sit with us, Desiree. This is Lofyn and you've met her before. She is here to help me help you."

The small girl seemed unsure about sitting on the couch at first but after a moment's hesitation, Desiree sat on the other end of the sofa as far away from the two blondes as she could get.