On the run (Phoenix)

[Jamie]

The rock was safely tucked away in her pocket, her hand rested there as she followed the lady into Beta Towers, the frozen human tucked herself inside the elevator, ignoring the cheesy music as the lift wooshed to life and up they went. Phoenix, the red haired lady – started to make small conversation with her. She turned her body to face the woman and smiled. Nodding her head, a shower. God, she could use one.

“Thank you, Phoenix.”

It was true, she was thankful.

“Alright, I’ll take a shower – and find some of your own clothes, can’t be too hard.”

She smiled and followed the woman into the apartment, to the left she said. Athena gave the woman a firm nod of her head and headed left and into a small bathroom that looked rather modern, she admired it for a moment before reaching behind the shower curtain and turning on the hot water, she let it run – the steam collecting around the room, making it warm enough for Athena to strip down to her naked flesh, kicking her clothes to the corner of the room.

She climbed then into the shower, the water dripping over her skin as she began to wash herself getting rid of all of her worries for that brief moment. She forgot that she was a murderer on the run, she forgot how cold she was, and she forgot how mean the guy at the tavern had been, she sighed in content and scrubbed herself down with whatever bottle she could find.

Fifteen minutes later she exited the shower and turned off the running water, she rubbed herself down with one of the towels Phoenix had left her and got changed into some of her old clothes. Wet, damp hair clung to skin as she opened the bathroom door and walked out into the main sitting area to find Phoenix there.

“I feel much warmer now, thank….you.”

She told her, with a smile. Forgetting all about the rock in her pocket that was still in the bathroom.

[Phoenix]

While Athena showered, Nix had busied herself collecting the few garments that had been left behind by others - people of a normal size. People larger than her size 00 to size 1 frame. At once a blessing and a curse when it came to shopping, Nix always was able to find clothing in her general size, but none of it ever fit quite right. Too many angles jutting out where they shouldn't; too few curves to fill out where they should. With a sigh, she managed to slip into the bathroom and deposit the fresh, if not stylish, clothing without disturbing her future meal.

As she lounged on the couch, the redhead frowned. Was this really what she wanted? A quick meal followed by corpse disposal? Or to keep Athena tied up for a few days, feeding on her slowly until... again... corpse disposal. No, that wasn't it. That wasn't why she'd brought this woman all the way back here. Maybe it was the woman's confession, maybe it was her sheer helplessness in the grand scheme of things... maybe it was a combination of so many emotions she didn't quite understand, but no... Phoenix did not want to kill Athena. At least not permanently.

The moment she heard the water in the bathroom shut off, Nix made her way to the kitchen and set some water to boil.

By the time the bathroom door opened, Nix was back on the couch, one steaming mug wafting the faint scent of chamomile set on the coffee table and another, this one without steam at all, cupped in her hands. The pair of jet black mugs had been carefully chosen - even if this golden-eyed Athena happened to glance into Phoenix's mug as the redhead took a sip, the jet black surface would obscure the color of the blood.

Her lips twisted into a warm, welcoming smile as noted the fit of the clothing she'd left. Close enough.

"Come have a seat. You really don't have to keep thanking me... though I do hope you like chamomile tea." A furrow wrinkled her brow as her head tipped. "What are you planning to do here? After killing someone, I'm sure you're being sought after... wherever you came from... and I may just have a solution." Maybe she'd take the bait.

[Jamie]

Athena had entered the room her whole body was feeling quite warm, you could see the warm air rising off her skin. If you looked hard enough. There was a smile there, written against the woman’s lips. Her golden orbs looked down at the steaming mug that had been left for with. The woman was happy in that moment, she had a hot chocolate back in the tavern, and here – now she could have a cup of tea. She used to drink lots of tea back in her old place, before she had ya know, killed the guy and all that. She moved slowly, each bare foot caressing the carpet before she sat down beside Phoenix.

Her fingers reached out to the mug, clasping the dark mug within her fingertips as she brought it up to her eyeline, she watched the steam rise for a moment. Obsessing over it before lifting the rim of the glass to her lips and taking a swig, she slurped a little – the water was hot against the inside of her mouth, and she could –really- taste the tea, it was wonderful and it warm the inside of her body so now inside and out she was warm, this was turning out to be fortunate evening for her.

“I love chamomile tea.”

She said as she giggled lightly, her chest rumbled from the notion.

“I used to have it all the time.. before…”

She paused, letting her words hang in the air as she remembered the whites of the male’s eyes. She would never be able to get the image out of her head; she wanted to scratch at her own eyeballs in that moment to see if that would even help. But the remembrance was there, and it always would. She was responsible for his death, even if it was self-defence.

Then Phoenix began to talk again, this time about her killing the man. She looked intently at her tea, watching the steam rising but listening to every word that left her mouth. Finally she looked at the ginger haired woman, as the word solution left her lips.

“How?”

Was all she sputtered.

[Phoenix]

In these situations, her slight frame was an advantage. Nobody ever suspected the skeletal creature's strength nor her determination. Perhaps it was the element of surprise that had been if not wholly, but partially responsible for her successes in this life. Vampires, pop culture said, were perfect, seductive creatures. And yet few would call her emaciated frame attractive. She did have a pretty face, of that she was fully aware, but the hollows of her cheeks prevented it from being truly beautiful - at least as far as she was concerned.

There sat Phoenix, the imperfect creature of the night, idly swirling her mug before gulping down half its contents. If only it were alcohol; maybe it'd give her the insight on where to start.

"This is going to sound nuts, but hear me out, alright? Harper Rock is... a special place. Something happened here a few years back that changed things for a lot of people." It was a vague way to start, but perhaps news of the quarantine had leaked abroad. "You may have heard of what happened, but there was a disease outbreak in Gambondale - what used to be Gambondale, anyway. This is going to sound crazy, I know. What really happened was that... well... someone tore a hole in the fabric of this realm and created a window into the afterlife. More or less. Souls started leaking back and reanimating corpses. So they blocked off Gambondale and told everyone there was a virus or a diseases. But really, what happened was the zombie apocalypse at our doorstep. Just contained because the souls can only travel so far after they slip through the tear."

She frowned, letting that bit sink in. "But it wasn't just human souls that came back... some vampires slipped through, too. And those vampires created a new population of us in the city. That's what I am." She paused, flicking her fangs out before pulling back her lips. Of course they could have been prosthetic, or simply regular, enlarged canines, but the truth was there on display if she chose to believe. "You need to fall off the radar and I can give you that... by making you one of us."

Of course she was prepared in case Athena chose to run.

[Jamie]

Athena was never one for the supernatural. She knew about myths, legends – sure, her mother and father had taught that to her by telling her the stories they taught to other students she didn’t think anything else off it. She assumed it was either history or made up stories to scare children, either way she didn’t care but here she was sitting on someone’s sofa, someone she had only met tonight had treated her like a stray – fed her, clothed her, gave her warmth right now this woman seemed more or less like a savior, a good Samaritan of sorts. What she expected next was this woman to tell her that she was Jesus re-incarnate. That was possible, right?

She held the mug of tea in her hand as she blankly stared at the woman and nodded her head. She could hear her out. What was the harm in that? She let the woman talk – and she listened, first she spoke of a zombie outbreak. She tried not to laugh, anyone within their right mind would laugh it off. Someone was telling her that there was zombies walking around this place – this plane, and didn’t expect her to laugh. She kept her face blank, vacant of expression before she began to speak about vampires.

This time she had to laugh.

“Zombies, sure I can kind of believe that.”

She told the red headed woman.

“But vampires?”

She shook her head.

“Vampires are a myt—“

The woman opened her mouth, moving her lips aside to reveal two very sharp, very real canines. Athena sucked in her breathe. She didn’t know what to do next, her mind was telling to run, to move those jelly like legs of hers and get the hell out of dodge and never look back. Athena even considered it. She rubbed at her jaw then, but what Phoenix said next really shocked her, she offered this vampirism to Athena, to get her off grid. She had to ask, her mind was filled with questions.

“Will I die? Will I get a funeral; will they think I’m dead?”

The questions spew from her mouth fast paced. She didn’t know what else to ask, would this new chance of life – away from the cops would they stop trailing after her if they knew she was dead, would there be a death certificate.

[Phoenix]

Nix had to give Athena credit for not bolting, though she did seem to be considering it. While she waited for the woman to make some kind of decision, the redhead went back to sipping from her mug. It really wouldn't do to show that little slice of heaven off just yet. The silence dragged on just long enough to catch the woman off guard. Those large, honey brown eyes blinked over the rim of her mug. She lowered it slowly before giving a nod. Honesty here was the best policy.

"You will die and it won't be pleasant, but you'll come back. As for a funeral, that would depend on if you had a will or family back where you came from. They will think you're dead - I have connections at the morgue and I can have the autopsy report falsified." Saying it seemed strange, but all vampires really should have an in at the morgue to facilitate corpse disposal... or retrieval.

"We can arrange cremated remains to be shipped back to wherever you're from, if necessary. You'll have died of a drug overdose or in a hit and run accident." Her fingernails tapped against the mug as she watched Athena's reaction.

"It's your choice. I'll turn you here and you can adjust to your new surroundings, and then we'll bring you somewhere to lay for a while. All you have to do is play dead. Just for a bit." With that, Phoenix set her mug on the table and leaned back, patiently waiting for a response.

[Jamie]

Athena thought about it, she was much too young to die. She didn’t have any life insurance, or any kind of will written up. Why would she die now? She didn’t expect this kind of thing to come up. She didn’t even know she’d end up in Canada, but you know. Not everyone can plan these things. Athena grunted. Mulling Phoenix’s words over Would it hurt to die? She wondered as she drank another mouthful of chamomile tea. The taste of her dulled her senses, helping her relax as she nodded her head again setting the mug down on the coffee tea. She crossed one leg over the other.

“I think.. putting me in the morgue might be the best option.”

She said, wiggling her lips from side to side, as if in deep thought.

“I mean, if they see a death certificate they won’t chase me anymore. I died, and it would be true.”

Athena did something odd then, the damp brown hair that clung to her skin she pushed it to the side and bared the naked flesh of her neck as she gulped. Allowing Phoenix to come closer if she wanted to do it now, it was inviting her really to kill Athena, the human had made her choice. She run, run forever. She turned her irises over to Phoenix, with a soft pleading look to them. She was like a deer caught in the headlights. Then words left her lips unexpectedly, words she’d never thought she’d say to a stranger she had met little over an hour ago.

“I trust you.”

She watched as the red head put her mug on the coffee table, much like she had and she waited. Seconds felt like hours to her, as she waited. She knew how you became a vampire. She’d read it, seen it in films, programs. She had watched Buffy as a kid. She didn’t know if she was going to scream in pain. She didn’t want to but she feared deep down in the pit of her stomach she would.

[Phoenix]

"I trust you," Athena said.

Those weren't words Phoenix was used to hearing, and they had a strange effect on the redhead. Trust was such a simple, fragile thing. Fangs poked out over her lower lip as she chewed the flesh in thought. That neck was bared and ready, but there were other considerations. Like the couch; when people bled to death, it was generally quite the messy process.

Plan in mind, Nix pushed herself up and closed the distance between them. As she prepared the energy she'd need to put Athena into a trance, she smiled. It wasn't a bad smile; something soft and reassuring. Under different circumstances, in a different life, perhaps she'd have made a good hospice caregiver. Or a saleswoman.

"I'll turn you, and then call my friend at the morgue; then we'll arrange some wound that won't heal too quickly and leave your body somewhere conspicuous. You'll just have to lay there until they take you to the morgue, and Calix will take it from there."

With the last word, Phoenix let that building power go, subduing Athena before she leaned in and sank her teeth into that soft neck. She drank long of the woman's life blood, and as she drank, that beating heart slowed, stuttered and finally stopped. Once she was sure the woman's life was gone, she pulled away. The second bit was always the least pleasant - for her. She turned those fangs on herself, biting into the flesh and sinew of her wrist until the blood ran free, coiling in the air a moment before vanishing like so much black smoke.

That bleeding wrist was placed against Athena's lips, and Nix waited. Once the wound had healed, she pulled her wrist away and pulled out her phone; Calix would know what to do about the morgue situation. As she paced to the bathroom to wash away the blood that had dripped down her chin, Nix dialed her childe.

When the phone picked up, Nix smiled.

"It's Nix. I have a new childe who needs to go off the map. We're going to stage her death and have her sent to the morgue; when she gets there, I need you to switch the body and get her out before they do the autopsy. Can you do that?"

A pause came as she listened to the answer and nodded.

"I'll call you once they've found the body. Thanks, Lixy." Click.

Now all she needed was for Athena to wake.

[Jamie]

Morgue.

She was going to put Athena into a morgue. She numbly nodded her head. She didn’t know how any of this was going to pan out, but she was sure she was about to find out one way or another. The nape of her neck was still on display for Phoenix to see as she gulped. Her mouth was dry, it was uncomfortable for the suspense. It was horrible.

There it was, she saw the smile she flashed. It eased Athena’s muscles as she untensed herself and then quickly, the woman bit into her. She had seen this scene many times on films, and programs she had never expected it to be real. The small tinge of pain was quite nice actually, she didn’t feel copious amounts of pain. Perhaps that was Phoenix’s doing, stopping the pain. Her eyes grew heavy the more and more she drank. Lulling the woman into a sleep. She was barely awake as she smiled somewhat happily. Odd.

The wrist was pressed against her lips and blood was forced down her throat, this lifted her arms and curled them around her arm. Drinking deeply of the woman’s wrist. The blood tasted metallic but something in the core of her being told her to drink, drink it and she wouldn’t die. So she did. She yanked her mouth away then, she felt full. She sagged against the sofa and let the change happen she didn’t fight it. What was the use in that?

Minutes passed as she finally opened her eyes, her heart no longer beat within the confines of her chest as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She lifted her fingers to her mouth and began to prod against her lips, pushing against the fangs. They were sharp. She turned to Phoenix then, a wide eyed look to them.

“Am I….?”

She let the question hang, pretty sure Phoenix knew what she meant.

[Phoenix]

The wall clock counted the seconds, turned into minutes, but Phoenix wasn't paying attention. Time ticked by slowly after she ended call - patience had never been her forte, and this was no exception. She'd grabbed a book and kicked up her feet on the opposite couch as she waited for Athena to stir.

When Athena finally sat up, fingers pushing past her lips to explore the fangs within, Nix snapped her book shut. The redhead padded to the kitchen and quickly divvied up a blood pack into a clean mug. It was microwaved for a few seconds before she brought it to Athena. With a silent nod, she sat beside the woman.

"You are. Welcome to life as the undead," she smiled, handing over one of the warmed mugs. "How do you feel?" Hungry, she suspected. Probably disoriented. Phoenix pulled her book into her lap and re-opened it where she'd left off. She would listen, but she figured her new childe would need to adjust before anything truly coherent came out of her mouth.

"I think it's best to wait until you've adjusted before offing you, but I do have a plan for that. Once you're in control of yourself, I'll snap you neck and you can jump in front of a transport truck. It'll be messy, but I don't think anyone would doubt your demise if that's how you... ended it. It'll also
make it easier to switch the body for another cadaver." Her nose wrinkled thoughtfully. "Once you're switched, your new 'sibling' will get you out of the Morgue safely."