Alone Time

[Alexandrea]

She slid into the once familiar booth at her favourite club and admired new decorations. The brightly lit logo on the wall had been the winning design by her own friend, Zodiac. A fellow member of the Society of Allurist, and the teacher of the path of the Mystics. The only path Alexandrea hadn't studied yet, she thought with a sigh. She would get to it, in time.

She had lost a lot of chances to train and better her self being dead and was coming to really regret all that wasted time. The last few times Alexandrea had been in trouble had taken a toll on the Allurist and the fact that a part of her had begun to miss the Shadow Realm was a bit worrisome to her now and then. But she had been doing everything she could to keep her nose clean and her head low. No easy task for someone that seemed to attract attention wherever she went.

Even resting in her own home, she would sometimes be attacked. Not just by her own kind, either. It stuck Alex as kind of ironic that the same reason she had first gone gone the path she had made her a target to both vampires and the humans that she worked so hard to befriend but she knew that just as all vampires were different and had different agendas, so too did the humans. And it had always been that way. The worst of human nature led to the same kind of bad behavior in vampires as well only magnified.

The habit of altering her appearance had become a habit the last several months but despite allowing the blonde to pass by those who knew her unnoticed, she still found herself often recognized for what she was if not who she was more often than most of her kind seemed to. Her healthy complication and ability to blend in with humans was only effective to a certain degree.

Hanging out in places like the Metronome where most of the staff already knew her, getting noticed was a bonus. The Allurist seldom had to wait for service and was almost always given special treatment when she went out, even at places where she wasn't a frequent face.

But it was a double edged sword. Not even being able to get a nibble now and then, even though she had willing donors, was getting old fast. Alexandrea was sick of blood bags but was determined to stick to just them for the rest of her existence if she had to. Unfortunately unless things in Harper Rock changed drastically, it was looking a lot like she would have to.

And it had seemed to make a difference. Not getting spotted by cameras or nosy judgmental haters had made life a little easier, it was great to not have a target on her back for a change. And she wasn't get shot at on sight by the trigger happy Harper Rock police force anymore. A part of her still wondered if Jarrett had been the cause of the hated the brotherhood in blue. Not that she thought her ex would have anything to do with it, himself.

The memory of how things had ended with the handsome killer still bothered Alexandrea deeply. She had really tried to end things with the man face to face but had kept letting him talk her out of it until one night she just wrote him a 'Dear John' letter and left it for him to find, like a true coward. Feeling things as strongly as she did, the Allurist could sometimes get very caught up in her guilty emotion and it was far too easy to wallow in that dark place in her soul. She had handled the break up badly, she knew it and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it now.

That damn letter had led to a roller coaster ride of emotions for the blonde who had the bad form to fall head over heels in love with the worst possible person. Odin, Jarrett's brother. Well, 'sibling' was more accurate but the Yue' Shi family was a close knit one and Alexandrea was sure that she was the last woman in the world that Odin's loved ones would have ever wanted to see him end up with.

Alexandrea knew that but it hadn't stopped her from trying to be with the tall Killer who had captured her haert, even going so far as to declare her love for the man. And then be given an invitation by him to leave. What goes around comes around, that she knew, and deep down Alex believed that she had that torment coming as punishment for how insensitive she had been with Jarrett.

There was a lot to be said for having such deep feelings, the sense of wonder and magic with the good emotions could be like a natural high that lifted the Allurist up and fed her spirit, making her who she was. A deeply feeling person with a lot of love in her heart but a sizable amount of torment as well. You could see it in her eyes, they would light up like stars when she was up and shimmer with tears when she was low, no matter how brave she would try to be.

The past couple of years in Harper Rock had worked a special kind of magic on the blonde. A place she had hated being sent to as a kid, was now her home and she was loyal and protective of it as she was with anything else she loved. Training her skills and practicing with her abilities had changed Alexandrea from the bitter and cold self centered human who had come to town as a last resort when she had no where left to go. And back to the person she used to be before some painful experiences had closed off that Alex, leaving her a shallow and self centered one dimensional copy of herself.

After her turning, the emotions that the Allurist had buried and refused to deal with all came back. It wasn't overnight but in time she was once again the sensitive artist she had always been down deep inside and the strength of her feelings, although at times overwhelming, made her who she was and was what drove her art and her life now. She was glad of it. Both the good and the bad. Finding her balance was on occasion often a challenge but as she grew and matured, it was getting easier all the time to embrace what she was feeling but not let her emotions take over.

Alexandrea liked to think her judgement was improving. Knowing she had her own personal executioner had actually made a huge difference. Getting it done quickly and on her own terms was a vast improvement over the other alternatives and just by taking on the responsibility of keeping Odin informed herself when she got in trouble, Alex was much more mindful about the violations list than she ever had been.

She had been a bit concerned that she might be tempted to abuse the arrangement, just to have reasons to seek out attention from the Killer, but Alexandrea had given up on trying to blow dry that brick and decided that keeping Odin as a good friend was of far more value than hoping for something to change. What would be, would be and her acting like a love sick teenager had been an embarrassment to them both. They had a good working relationship now both as friends and team mates. Everything was just wonderful she kept insisting to herself even as she tried to stop herself from wanting to touch him every time she saw him.

Oliver, one of the waitstaff that knew Alexandrea the best, came by with a fresh hurricane and removed the glass that the Allurist hadn't even realized yet she had already drained and gave her a friendly smile. The blonde returned the gesture with a warm grin of her own and mouthed the words, 'thank you'. There wasn't much point to being heard over the jazzy band that had the club's patrons all tapping their toes tonight.

Alex did her best to sip on the second drink as slowly as she could, despite how much she enjoyed the rum concoction. Although she could consume food or drink with almost no issue, thanks to her path, after her imprisonment at the hands of Odin's sire Serenity that had changed. The heavy and consistent drugging the so called healer had subjected the blonde to back when Alex had been carrying the fade beast baby had seemed to somehow catch with the Allurist and she now had to watch out that she didn't actually get intoxicated.

A few sips later, and Alexandrea decided to powder her nose. She was grateful that no one else in the ladies room would be able to see her reflection, the Allurist had gotten used to it mostly but even 3 years later it still could be a shock to see a corpse in the mirror. As when she had been exposed to the Red Moon so many moons ago, Alexandrea's corpse was more a walking skeleton that anything else by now. Whether that was a curse or a blessing, the blonde never considered.

Seeing that sight as she did lightly dab a powder puff on where her nose should be, Alexandrea didn't mind it so much at all, it reminded her of one of her other weakness. The moon. Ever since that crazy night that had seemed to never end, Alexandrea's powers would refuse to work for her at some times during the cycle of the moon. And that reminded the blonde of another monthly occurrence that had messed up her plans while human.

Comparing her curse with a human woman's 'monthly curse' was the sort of bad joke Alex could appreciate, even if she had made it herself and in her own head, and she chuckled as her brushed out her hair. A glance from the other young woman in the rest room was ignored while Alexandrea acted as if she was waiting for a stall and then just left after the human had gotten her turn. The only real reason for using the bathroom just to stretch her legs and let some of the alcoholic refreshments sink into where ever it went now.

Chances were that food and drink just went where they always had, no big deal. They came out the same. Just only when Alexandrea chose to and not due to some 'call of nature.' The feeling she got of being 'too full' seldom came up, even as a human the blonde had been blessed or cursed with two hollow legs. Worrying about how the biology all worked didn't interest the artist in her at all, although she had recently gotten a lot more interested in anatomy.

Alexandrea stopped by the dance floor on the way back to her table and before too long was invited out on to the floor by a young vampire she recognized but didn't know. He was being a social butterfly,making the rounds at the club and Alex had no problem with being whisked around to the music when it was her turn to be his partner. He moved on quickly enough but the dance had been an enjoyable distraction and she stepped lightly back to her seat with a big smile.


((TBC))