The Search (Velia)

[Constance]

This was crazy.

She had to have a death wish. That was all there was to it. She must want to die. That would be the only explanation for why she was pacing outside of the dimly lit skate shop. She had been there for at least an hour, her heels wearing a hole in the floor as she paced back and forth. “I’m insane,” she said under her breath for what she felt was the hundredth time. As an agitated breath left her, she slammed her slender fingers through her hair and paused in her steps to turn her caramel gaze to the building. She had it practically memorized by now, as many times as she had simply stood there and stared, trying to figure out why a creature of the night would own such a place. It had to be a cover up, or maybe she lured humans in there to eat them. That was it. It was just a scam. The second she stepped her foot through the door, she was going to be on the menu.

“Oh, get a grip. You’re overreacting. You don’t even know if it’s true,” the blonde muttered as her fingers slid to the bridge of her nose. She applied pressure to ease the ache in her temples and took a step back until the back of her knees hit a bench. Falling down, she dropped her head into her hands and groaned quietly. She should have just stayed in bed this morning. She should have never answered the call from her mother. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have uttered the words she was sure brought her into this position. ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ Those were six words she was certain just signed and sealed her fate, because now she knew. Now she had seen. Or… she thought she had. Did she really see anything? It was possible she had wanted to believe so bad that her search was finally coming to an end that she had made the whole thing up in her mind.

No, it wasn’t possible. She knew what she saw. It replayed over and over in her mind, the memory as crisp and detailed as it had been when she had saw it the night before. She had been sitting at the café, a coffee in one hand and her copy of Twilight in the other. She remembered trying to figure out what the fascination with a sparkling vampire and a shirtless werewolf was, even as she scribbled down questions into her binder, such as if vampires actually did sparkle. If they did, she was totally going to re-think this search, because honestly, she didn’t know if she wanted to walk around looking like a diamond cave. Just as she had been about to turn the page, movement had caught her eye. It was a natural reaction to look up, to see who had crossed the street. What she had seen, however, wasn’t natural. The woman had passed beneath a street light, and it took Constance’s mind a moment to catch up and process what had happened. She had expected to see two things: The woman, and her shadow. Yet, after a double take when the woman paused to check something, she noticed the shadow wasn’t there.

It had only taken her a second to throw her books into her bag and run out the café’s door. She had followed the woman, careful to stay just out of sight so she wouldn’t be noticed. That had been the night before. She had tracked her to her shop, and had waited outside, much like she was doing now. She knew she was coming off as a stalker, and she would probably end up on one of those crime shows, but she didn’t care. She had thrown everything into her search for vampires, and she wasn’t about to back down, now. She knew what she had to do. She knew it, and she just had to gather the strength to execute the final steps of her master plan. If she didn’t, the past two years of her life were going to have been nothing but a waste of time.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed back to her feet and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket, fingers curling around her keys as she steeled her spine. “You can do it,” she whispered to herself, before closing her eyes and allowing her feet to move. Her heels sounded ominous in her head, the echo sounding like she was heading to her death as she pushed open the door to the building and finally stepped in. When she wasn’t immediately assaulted and thrown in a pot, she relaxed her shoulders and peeked open an eye to scan the shop’s interior. It wasn’t creepy at all, and once she was fully inside, the murderous vibe she had made up in her mind had dissipated. Rolling her eyes at herself, she headed for the counter when she spotted the woman from the night before.

Her throat dry, she leaned over, fingers gripping the edge in a white-knuckled grasp. “I know what you are,” she whispered, and knew in that moment she had just signed for her death on the dotted line.

[Velia]

The first night

She had gotten somewhat slack in her time since coming to Harper Rock, though luckily her heightened vampiric senses made up for any lack of training on her part. It hadn't taken her any time at all to notice the human that seemed to be following her, so she had even walked around in a pattern that didn't even make sense before ultimately heading to her store. If she had have been heading home, she would have changed her plans entirely - but there was nothing out of place at I.D.F.K.. She had half expected the woman to follow her inside, but that didn't happen. Each time the bell above the door signaled that someone had entered she looked up from whatever she was doing, but aside from that she did her best to go about her day, hoping that maybe whatever curiosity had the human trailing her had ended.

Ambroise did not lurk around his master all day. He had no wish to do so and luckily she had no wish for him to do so either. Mostly he lurked around her stores, only checking in with her occasionally when he thought something was important. The woman who had been sitting outside of the store for the last hour did not sit well with him, as her eyes kept coming back to the store as if waiting for something. She hadn't been there before Miss V had shown up and the master seemed preoccupied with who was entering the store as well. It was very peculiar.

He stood beside where the strange woman was for a while, just watching her, before floating back into the store and heading behind the counter to where Miss V was. She was ringing someone up so he decided to wait to speak - knowing it would likely startle her when she did. She may be his master but she still had yet to master the ability to see his kind, not that there was much to see. Once the customer was gone he leaned forward, enjoying her startled reaction enough to want to make the most of it.

The voice in her ear was all too familiar, though that did nothing to keep Velia from jumping on the spot and her hand from smacking against where her heart would have been beating out of her chest had she still been alive. Her understanding of the French language was basic and luckily enough to decipher most of what Ambroise said usually. "Damnit Amby." She knew he hated it when she shortened his name, just like she knew he knew she hated it when he snuck up on her like that. She also knew that he was perfectly capable of speaking English and chose not to because he knew it made it that much harder on her. The ***.

One of her employees, V wasn't exactly sure what the girl's name was, looked up at that, but she just smiled and made it look like she'd been talking to herself. She was good at that. The chuckling in her ear made her wish she possessed the ability to punch the unseen right in the carotid or something. "I'll just go finish up some paperwork. Why don't you go ahead and close up so you can go home?" That brought a smile to the girl's face and she skipped off, happy as could be. Velia made it back to her office just as she heard the front door open and close, the telltale snick of the lock even registering in her ears - the girl definitely was quick when it was closing time.

"Let me know when my new stalker has given up, will you?" That was all she said, which she did in English, and then she started work on the daily paperwork while she waited to hear his voice again. She couldn't see him so had no idea if he had actually gone, but as annoying as the *** was, he usually did as told for the most part. It wasn't long before he was making her jump again and she was dismissing him to go do whatever it was he liked to do. Surely, she'd be safe to walk home now, but she wouldn't risk it and put Saige in danger. So, instead, she grabbed for the rarely used tome that Oria had given her and activated it, teleporting herself to her sire's place to head home from there so there would be no way the human could track her.

The second night

She had almost stayed home, still put off by the human. She didn't though, knowing there were things that needed to get done and that she was probably over thinking it anyway. The human was nowhere to be found when she first got there, causing her to take in a breath of relief as she made her way back to her office to finish up paperwork. She'd all but forgotten the whole thing when that annoying French voice was in her ear, causing her to knock the folder she'd been working on on the floor in her startlement. "***." she grumbled, even as she processed over the words he'd said. ****, the human was back outside. Pacing of all things. Amrboise thought she was nervous about something, so it was probably something normal and she should probably stop freaking out.

She wasn't going to bank on that, however, so she'd made her way back out to the front room, not wanting to be out back with the stranger pacing in front of her shop. It wasn't long before Ambroise was whispering something that she was pretty sure meant "get ready" and then the bell above the door was ringing and the strange woman from the night before was walking in, walking straight up to her. Well ****. What was she supposed to say to that? Luckily, years of surveillance had taught her how to keep her expression neutral, so the only change in her expression was the slight raising of her eyebrow - a completely normal reaction to the question.

"That is a very odd statement to be making to someone who has never even seen you before." She had seen her, but she didn't feel like telling the girl her stealth mode could use a boost. She looked away from the woman then to look over at the employee that was in tonight, which happened to be the same as the night before. She raised her voice, speaking to the employee and not her new stalker. "It doesn't look to be picking up. You can take off early if you like? I can probably handle it until closing time, no need in both of us being bored here." Really, she just had a bad feeling about being overheard just now. The store had been fairly dead for a while though and it wasn't completely out of character - something that would be obvious by her employees quick thanks and taking off as if it happened all the time.

"Is there something specific I can help you with? We sell ice skates and accessories here, including special orders if you like. If it's costumes you're looking for, I have another store that sells those and I can give you directions to it."

[Constance]

If she was asked a week, or a month from now, she would be able to tell exactly what it was that triggered the memory. It was the way the woman paused, the expression she wore, like she wasn’t sure how to handle her. Like the lithe human girl was psychotic and she wasn’t sure if she should hold her, or call the cops – like she was a child. It was the same expression her father wore day after day. When that brow lifted, her head cocking just slightly to the side, her father’s face appeared in her mind, throwing her back into a time she’d rather forget.

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February 5, 2009.

She always enjoyed the way the rain felt against her skin, the way it tasted on her tongue. When it rained, she always took longer to get home, being too busy jumping into the puddles and spinning with her hands in the air, letting it dance along her face and soak her designer clothing to her skin. That night was no exception. With Flo-Rida blaring from her i-Pod earphones, she danced in the middle of the deserted street, all the cars gone as their owners packed up for the incoming storm. She had her eyes closed, her lips moving along to the lyrics as she spun and spun, so she didn’t hear her father as he yelled at her from the door step. It wasn’t until she felt the solid grip on her arm that she knew she was in trouble.

Her father wasn’t an abusive man. He’d never raised a hand to her, but he was strong willed, so when he pulled her to the house, she didn’t put up a fight. As she stumbled along behind him, she tugged her earphones from their place and wrapped the cord around the water-proof case. The music still played, the volume up to max and coming out muffled as she tucked the i-Pod into her jean pocket. “What’s up, pops?” she asked, fingers brushing some wet strands from her eyes. She had seen him angry before, but this was something new. His body was practically trembling with rage as he crossed his arms over his chest, a large envelope crumpled into his fist.

“What the **** is this, Constance?” he demanded, shaking the envelope in her face. A inch closer, and she’d have paper cuts, she was sure of it.

“I can’t really tell. You’re waving it around like a flag,” she muttered, her head tilting to the side as she held her hand out. She had a suspicion she knew exactly what it was, but she wasn’t going to risk being wrong and getting into trouble for two things in one night. Trailing her tongue over her teeth, she waited until his color moved from pink to red in a split second. The vein on his forehead began to throb, and she slowly took a step back as he ripped the paper to pull out the documents inside, one large finger slamming into the pages with enough force to rip them.

“When were you going to tell me you dropped out of school?” he screamed, spittle flying from his lips as he took a step closer to her, backing her into the wall. For the first time in her life, she was terrified of her own father. She had expected him to be upset, but she hadn’t thought in a million years he would be this furious. “What does it matter?” she demanded, her words coming out strained as she ripped the pages from his hand and flipped through them, shaking them in his face, much like he had done her. “We have moved so damned much, I was failing! There was no help for me, because you just had to get the next promotion!” she snapped, voice raising.

Neither of them turned when the door opened. No, their gazes were locked, his alight with pure rage, hers glittering with defiance. “It’s always been about what you want, what you need, papa. Principle Montero said I’d be better off dropping out because I was so far behind. So, I did,” she said, voice a whisper now as she shrugged. His expression changed, then. The anger faded, that cold indifferent mask coming into place. He cocked his brow and ran his hand through his short hair. “You’ve always lived in a fantasy world, Constance, so go ahead and live it. You’re no longer welcome in our home.” He said, looking at her like she was a stranger that needed to be coddled. When her mother gasped behind her, he walked past her frozen form to lead her away, dismissing her.


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It was the last memory she had of her parents, so when the woman looked at her just like he had, something inside of her twisted painfully. She began to doubt why she was there. Her search had proved futile so many times before, what made her think that this time would be any different? Clutching the counter tighter in her grasp, she lowered her head and took a deep breath, her eyes closing. She needed to think this through, but it was hard to do when she had the woman staring at her. For crying out loud, she had just walked into her store and accused of her being something! Thank god, she hadn’t said what she thought she was. She’d surely be on her way to the psych-ward if she had.

Just as she was about to apologize, the worker she had dismissed stood to leave. The shadow she casted was clear as day, but when Constance looked up into the eyes of the woman behind the counter, she noticed the subtle difference. It wasn’t something that was normally looked for. She doubted other humans even noticed it when they were near her, but it was something that she looked for. She spent her days and her nights researching their kind, and any sign of something unique, something different was worth investigating. She knew the other could see it in her eyes, the defiance that sparked in her dark golden gaze. She wasn’t going to be dismissed so easily.

“I’m not interested in your clothing. Do I look like a skater to you?” she said with a tilt of her head, voice pitched low until she head the door shut behind the worker. “You don’t cast a shadow,” she said, one hand perched on the counter as the other waved at her. “Did you really think you could get away with it? I mean, come on. Others might be stupid and easy to fool, but they haven’t put their life into searching for the truth like I have,” she said, the hand that had waved at her brushing through her hair. She was getting worked up, her pale skin tinting pink as her excitement shined in her eyes. She had proof, and any thought of her safety went out the window as she latched onto that one fact. With a grin, she bit into her lower lip and clapped her hands together, practically about to implode as everything began to click into place.

“I mean, don’t worry. I’m not here to hurt you or anything,” she said in a rush, her chipped nails tapping against the counter’s surface as she took a breath. When she met her eyes again, she gave a slight grin. “Don’t try to deny it, either. I know what you are. I’ve spent two years looking for something like you.” She whispered, leaning forward, her stomach pressed tight against the counter’s edge as she pitched her voice low once more. “You’re a vampire, and I want you to make me one.”

[Velia]

Well ****. She had definitely been getting slack if she'd forgotten to project her shadow. How often did the thought slip her mind? Wondering about it made her uneasy wondering about how many people had noticed and just hadn't said anything. Grey eyes focused on the stranger's - keeping her focus there as she concentrated on projecting the stupid thing. She knew where the lights were and knew what her shadow should look like, so it was easy. Once she remembered she was supposed to be doing it.

Once that was done, she let her eyes soften into a look that could almost be taken as pity or worry and shook her head, letting her arm twitch slightly as if she were resisting the urge to pat the girl on the shoulder in sympathy. "Are you okay?" She'd decided, the best bet would be to ignore it, maybe. Like the thought was so outlandish that she couldn't even think of what to say to it. She wasn't sure if it would actually work, having never been the one trying to convince someone they didn't see what they didn't see. "Is there… is there someone I should call for you?"

She hadn't even brought attention to the newly projected shadow, thinking it would be more effective if the girl noticed it for herself. If Velia brought her attention to it, she could get it in her mind it was trickery. Which it was. But if V just kept her mouth shut and let her see it on her own…maybe she could get herself out of it. Maybe. Her mind went over all of the other things she could do. Flash some teeth complete without fangs. That was the only other thing she could think of doing.

If she hadn't been trying so hard to look sincere in her worry over the girl she might have laughed as memories flashed through her mind of the night she came face to face with a vampire for the first time - or well, the first time she knew exactly what it was she was seeing. She'd known something was off in this city, but until she saw the feeding she hadn't been able to put her finger on what was wrong. And then Oria was there. She'd tried to weasel her way out of that the same way she was trying to weasel out of this. She wondered if this time would be more successful than the last.

[Constance]

Denial.

Were all vampires like this? So afraid of being caught, called out, that they hid from the truth? She had read that immortals were terrified of being caught, but she never understood why. They were stronger, faster. If the secret was exposed, what harm would it really do? They could lash out, take down the world, and not even bat a lash. Now that she thought about it, maybe that was the issue. They didn't want to dominate the world. Yet, none of that mattered at the moment. What mattered was the look of utter pity the woman was giving her, as if she was about to break down and scream in the middle of her shop. Was there someone she could call? Was she actually, finally, losing her mind? It would make sense, really. She had been hooked on this quest forever, and no one knew why. No one understood what drove her to this point, to actually go on a full out hunt to find something that was only seen and read in the media world. This wasn't just for fun. This wasn't because she wanted to find the truth.

She had to be turned. The feeling, the need, twisted into her chest. It literally clawed at her heart, and this woman, this vampire was simply staring at her and lying right to her face. It took all she had to not throw something at her, to grab her by the hair and demand she give her an answer - an honest one. Running her fingers through her hair, Constance forced herself to take a step back and breathe in deep. The air expanded in her lungs, causing them to burn as she held it there longer than comfortable. When she released it on a heavy sigh, she tilted her head to the side and curled her lips into a soft, inviting smile. She knew how to use her personality, her looks, to get her what she wanted. If she was pulling out all the stops, she might as well start using her powers now. "Look, I'm not crazy. I've been on your trail for years. I always get so close... and then nothing. This time, it's different. You can't honestly tell me that you're not a vampire, and that there isn't something really creepy about this town." she said, voice pitched low as she glanced behind her. For a second, she began to wonder if the woman was stalling her until someone came to 'dispose' of her.

Shaking the thought from her mind, she shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans, the expensive denim clinging to her hips as she rested back into the counter. As her gaze traveled back, she noticed the subtle change. Where there had once been a lack of shadow, the black shape of the female rested. It gave her pause, and her eyes remained focused before she finally tore her gaze back to the shopkeep. "That's... how did you do that? It wasn't there before," she whispered, voice beginning to shake as her nerves finally got the better of her. "No more tricks, please. I know what I saw, nothing you do is going to change that."

[Velia]

Tricky tricky. She didn't want to give up her position that all was okay, but she also didn't want to send the girl on a mental breakdown. God. This was so not the right role for her. Saige would probably be better, though she'd hate to think of Saige in a similar situation. She didn't look all that vampiric luckily, so maybe that would play to her favor. She was pale, but not deathly so. She just looked like she didn't exactly go out in the sun all that often - but that could just mean she was worried about skin cancer or something. The shadow thing had been a serious oversight on her part, but she'd fixed that.

She maneuvered around the counter, careful to make her projection move with her in a way that was at least close to how it should move. This was probably why she'd let her guard down - it was exhausting trying to remember to project and paying attention to light sources and blocking objects all the time. "Are you sure there's no one I can call? I can help you if you don't have anyone…" She was so not good at this stuff. She was sure no matter what she said was going to send the girl off in even more hysterics. She didn't even know what the girl's fascination with vampires was. That was probably the most dangerous part of this. A human who was on edge and clearly clinging onto her beliefs no matter what.

"Here. Look." Velia pulled out her cellphone and logged into her remote security system, going through until she pulled up the security camera footage of the shop they were currently in. It was real time so she could look in on her shop and employees whenever she needed to no matter where she was. It currently showed both of them standing there and talking, Velia clearly showing up on the footage. She was fairly sure that was one of the things that would throw her off. While she didn't actually cast a reflection, she did show up in footage.