Advice [closed]

[Lancaster]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Elliot d’Artois> As Skylar would probably readily tell anyone, Elliot wasn’t too good with technology. It wasn’t that he couldn’t use it, per se, but because he failed at checking it. When one is a backpacker, travelling from country to country, phones become a hindrance rather than an extension of one’s own arm. Normally, he’d have called home via pay phone, rather than with a mobile phone, and for so long the only mobile he carried around was an old Nokia brick. One of the kind that you’d play snake on. Though he never played games much.

So the fact that it had been… well, far too long since he’d checked the Crownet was an understatement. He cursed himself as he flicked through the different threads, glancing at the Welcome Thread due to some gut feeling that there was something that he had forgotten. One of the new ones had asked for advice, and had been entirely overlooked. Clicking through a couple of the other threads, he was able to find Aliyah’s phone number. He retrieved his phone from the desk beside him and composed a simple message:

Hey Aliyah. This is Elliot – from the d’Artois message board. Are you still looking for advice? I’m free, if you want to meet somewhere.

He made sure the phone was on loud as he put it down again, continuing to read through things that he may have missed while he was waiting for a response.


<Aliyah> The zombie’s head fell to Aliyah’s feet as her katana swiped it clean, the shambling headless corpse collapsing before her. She knelt down to sever the ear, placing it in her pouch for later. Whether she would sell it or use it for something, she didn’t quite know. Taking a cloth from her back pocket, she wiped the blade clean with a small grin.

Little accomplishments. Just then, she phone beeped, signaling an incoming text. She blinked at the unknown number, but the confusion faded moments later. Elliot. One of the Heads of the family, if she remembered right.

“Hello, Elliot. I would really appreciate that advice, still. Could you, maybe, make it Corvidae in the QZ?” she sent back, placing it in her pocket with a glance around. No one in sight. Good.


<Elliot d’Artois> It wasn’t long before the phone trilled to let Elliot know that there was a text waiting for him. He immediately turned to the device – dirt still clinging to the little cracks from the week before, when he’d gone digging through the Hunting Grounds for a Christmas tree – and was relieved to read the text. Any excuse, really, to get out of the cramped office was a good one. Even though this excuse should have been seen to two weeks ago. He stood and stretched his six foot six frame, before snagging the brown leather jacket from the back of the office chair. Only after pulling his arms through did he reply to the text: Can do. I’ll be there soon.

He didn’t even have to exit the pub via the front door. The way Pi had set up the Den, with all its different magic portals to every corner of the city – it made it easy to travel around. Far too easy, really, and Elliot often went for very long walks just to satisfy himself that he hadn’t turned into a slob. For the purposes of this meeting, however, he thought it best to be prudent with his time. So he pulled the tome from the inner pocket of his jacket, and re-appeared in the Den. Once there, he wandered down the platform until he found the portal that would take him through to the abandoned bar in the Quarantine Zone.

It would have been no more than ten minutes later that he walked through the door to Corvidae Flats. He stood just inside, surveying the weird lobby. There were people shopping, and drinking. But there were also zombies, and slaughter. He’d always thought it was a strange kind of place. And it was only as he stood still near the doorway that he realised he had no idea what Aliyah looked like. And when he reached into his pocket for his phone, he realised he’d left it on the desk back in the office at Lancaster’s. “****,” he murmured under his breath, bright-blues again dancing over those gathered, as if he might be able to pick her out of the crowd.


<Aliyah> A heavy sigh left Aliyah’s lips as she pushed all her belongings into her bag, having staked out the abandoned multiplex for a few days. It was a rather successful venture, as zombies practically appeared out of thin air, and they seemed to be good enough practice. A cloud of dirt rose from the floor as she wandered down the flight of stairs, suddenly in a hurry to be anywhere but there.

With no one in particular place to sleep, her bag was stuffed with spare clothes, a blanket and a flashlight. She groaned as she shifted its weight in order to reach her phone as it went off again, though it was little to her now, it was still a burden. Scanning the screen, she nodded to herself and pushed through the door.

As the usual, the streets were deserted save for an occasional zombie, or what she assumed were fellow vampires. How one could tell, she had no clue. And, in no time, Corvidae stood before her. She stopped at the door, stealing herself for a meeting with this…Elliot. What if he was a jerk? Even worse…what if he was oozing charm like a festering wound?

Aliyah shuddered as she moved inside, glancing around. Thankfully, she had come to recognize some of the regulars of the place, there comings and goings fairly easy to track. One male seemed out of place among the others, less at ease, and she took that to be him. Maybe.

“Excuse me? Would you happen to be Elliot?” she asked, gently tapping him on the shoulder.


<Elliot d’Artois> Elliot recognised no one in this place. He chewed at the inside of his lip as his gaze slipped over the elevator, and he glanced up toward the roof. With the four businesses, he made more money than he was used to, and he owned one of the apartments upstairs. He’d probably been there only twice. He thought it would be a good investment, and he’d given access to Dhara, a while ago. He wondered if she still used the place – he hadn’t seen her in a while.

After a minute or two of standing there, Elliot felt the tap on his shoulder. He stopped thinking about his apartment, and turned to look down at the blonde at his side. He smiled, and nodded, pushing his fingers through his hair to get the black locks out of his face. The smile was a little broader than usual. The accent dripping from Aliyah’s words was like a breath of fresh air. A nostalgic balm. A reminder of home, of heat and humidity.

“Yeah, yup. That’s me,” he said, his accent exactly the same as the female’s. He offered his hand. “Aliyah?”


<Aliyah> Aliyah blinked in surprise at his accent, but it quickly faded into a bright smile. She took his offered hand in her own and nodded. “That’s me. Most people call me Ali, but Aliyah is fine, as well!” she offered, loosening her hold a moment later. Rarely did anyone back home call her Aliyah, and her parents preferred to use her middle name. But, she wouldn’t offer that information to anyone, let alone a stranger. Even if he was supposedly blood.

Her blue gaze shifted to the bar and she canted her head toward it. “Shall we? I could really go for one. It’s been a rough couple of weeks…” she shrugged, an impish smile on her face. After running into a mooncalf and a feral vampire, not to mention taking more than a few shots from the cops, relaxing sounded like the perfect escape. One she would readily welcome.

As she lowered herself down onto a barstool, she glanced to companion, somewhat unsure on how to act. Was he to be treated like some King? One given only the highest level of respect, or was he just like any other? Her knowledge of the city and vampire life was about as vast an infant’s vocabulary.


<Elliot d’Artois> Elliot followed Ali to the bar. Because he would call her Ali – it was his habit to shorten names, for whatever reason. Maybe it was his Australian heritage, and the way Australians tended to want to be lazy about absolutely everything. It was probably why he didn’t mind when Skylar started calling him ‘Ellie’. It was a natural progression. As he eased himself onto a stool beside Ali, he cleared his throat. She’d said she needed advice, so he wondered just how much she actually knew. He supposed that’s where they would have to start. And better yet, he could start with path. Was she an Allurist like him? Was that why she had suggested they get a drink?

He could of course wait and see if she threw up whatever she consumed, but that would be cruel, if she didn’t know. Better to look like an idiot than to be cruel, he thought. So he gestured to the row of drinks up on the wall – all behind a grid of bars, and probably for good reason. “Have you… I mean, can you drink it? Have you tried, since you were turned?” he asked. If she could, then all the better. He could shout her one.


<Aliyah> His words struck a nerve, and Aliyah looked at him in wonder, and a healthy bit of fear. She had yet to really attempt eating or drinking. In the two weeks since she was turned, she had yet to feel any hunger pangs, outside of those that left her fangs throbbing in her mouth. Food and water was more of an afterthought, and one that she had never acted on in the past. Apparently, that might have been a good thing. “Wh-what do you mean? Should I not?” she asked, voice full of worry for her wellbeing.

As the bartender approached for an order, she chewed on her lip, Elliot having been unable to provide her an answer in time. So, she turned to the male, desperation in her eyes. “Uh…maybe just a water for the moment?” she asked, peering at the bartender from the corner of her eye, filling that momentary silence.

Aliyah frowned, looking down at her arm, the scars only now beginning to fade from her fight with the mooncalf. The days that followed were a tad painful, but the black blood…or shadows…were held at bay. She had been able to walk the streets with barely a glance, and now? Now she was learning things could get worse.


<Elliot d’Artois> Elliot shook his head as the bartender asked him if he wanted anything. Although Elliot could eat and drink to his little heart’s content, he wouldn’t do so now. Not now that he understood Ali didn’t know. He readjusted himself on the stood, his shoulders naturally slumped forward, as if he were trying to apologise for his own height. He assumed, given the nature of the Quarantine Zone, that this bar would probably serve blood, too – some of Ariadne’s Arbor Vitae, perhaps. But maybe he’d ask later. For now, it was okay just to sit, and as the bartender walked away, Elliot focused his attention on the blonde.

“Even water. Most of us can’t drink anything but blood. Or eat anything,” he explained. “It depends on your path. Has anyone told you about paths yet?” he asked, slowly. He was half leaning against the bar. It was unusual for his hands to be still, and even now his fingers twitched subconsciously, picking at invisible strings or dancing along the invisible bars of the piano. "You could try? But chances are, even if you can - you'll throw it up again. It's not pleasant."


<Aliyah> Ali’s eyes closed as she listened to Elliot speak, taking a deep breath that she didn’t need. As was her usual, her fingers found a strand of hair, her pointer and middle forming infinities around themselves. Moments later, the hair was between her lips. She didn’t chew on it, didn’t suck on it. Just put it there and pulled it free. “A man I met…Roderic? He mentioned something about a shadow? Does that have anything to do with it?” she finally asked, lifting her once mutilated arm to show him.

Feeling compelled to explain, she continued, “Black blood, or something came out of my arm after I was attacked by a mooncalf. He helped me hide it…” The mere thought of throwing up with enough to make her cringe, having always needed motherly attention when it did occur. She was a poor adult, really. “So, not all vampires can eat or drink…and, somehow, I doubt they all have black blood, either?”


<Elliot d’Artois> “Ah,” Elliot murmured, glancing down at the healing arm as he nodded, and then shook his head. “That would explain it, yes. Shadow – that’s your path, easily identifiable by your blood. They call my path that of an Allurist. I have very red blood. And I am one of the lucky few who can eat and drink, after having taught myself,” he said. It wasn’t as if he could just pick it up and eat and drink without his body reacting aversely to it. It took time, and practice, but soon enough he was able to keep the stuff down. He always wondered whether it had something to do with how human he wanted to remain. How much he hated becoming what he was.

The name sounded familiar, and Elliot had to laugh. “Roderic?” it wasn’t a popular name really, and it was a small city. He had to wonder whether it was the same guy. Someone he had only met once. And had they even met, or been properly introduced? “Spindly kinda guy… serious looking, longish brown hair?” he asked, curious.


<Aliyah> The male’s explanation said it all. There were differences, even among vampires, that would determine them from each other. Not as easily identified as with humans, but clear distinctions nonetheless. The thought was sobering, Aliyah’s mood reaching a relative state of calm. It was nice to know these things, even if they should have scared her, or worried her. Instead, they offered a peace she didn’t know she was even still capable of. “Well, that’s good to know, I guess. A Shadow…”

At Elliot’s laugh, she had to cant her head. But, his description was pretty spot on and she grinned as she nodded. “You know him?” she asked, vaguely wondering if all the vampires knew each other. Maybe it was just all one big circle. They knew a vampire, who knew a vampire, who knew a vampire, that could read minds. Or…something.


<Elliot d’Artois> Elliot shook his head. “No. Yes. I mean… I know of him,” he said. “One of my… well, Skylar – you may have seen her posting on the Crownet? She hangs out with a Roderic. Calls him Ric. It’s a small world,” he said, still shaking his head somewhat in disbelief. He couldn’t exactly accuse the guy of seemingly having a thing for d’Artois women. Maybe he didn’t even know. Though maybe he did. It seemed to be a thing with the vampires he’d met – they had a habit of immediately giving away who their sires were, and which family they belonged to. At least he assumed he could trust this Ric. He seemed to make Skylar happy, anyway.

“So what else have you been told? What do you know?” he asked. They could work by process of elimination. Figure out what she knew so that Elliot knew what else he could tell her. But then, he realised, maybe that wasn’t the kind of advice she was looking for. “Or well. You said you were looking for advice. Shoot. What do you need to know?” he asked, settling into the stool more comfortably.


<Aliyah> Ali nodded her head in acknowledgement to his words, though she had never met the Skylar he spoke of. Yes, she had seen posts up the girl, but never had she attempted to reach out. She wasn’t really the “reach out” sort, which is why Elliot doing so tonight was pure luck on her part. The idea made her grin. Luck had been on her side more than a couple of times, and eventually, it was bound to run out. So, best take advantage while she could.

“Honestly, Elliot? I’m not sure I know anything…I have been sleeping on dirt floors during the day, and killing zombies at night…only ever leaving the QZ to feed…” she muttered, almost ashamed to be saying it all out loud. She sounded weak and pathetic, by no means a creature to be feared. “I have managed a little bit of stealing, here and there, so I was able to buy myself a cheap katana?” she voiced as a question, unsure if that was even the best she could do.


<Elliot d’Artois> “Well, Jesus,” Elliot said. He knew that Jaeger wasn’t an attentive sire – given how Aidan had been treated – but having seen the guy posting on the Crow, Elliot had assumed he was around more. He hadn’t realised just how inattentive and neglectful he was as a sire. Not until now. He’d have to keep it in mind for future. “You should have said something!” he said, almost reprimanding. His glance slid across the interior of the QZ, before glancing up. There were at least two things he could remedy immediately.

It was easy to slip out of the stool. There was an ATM nearby, and he strode toward it, inserting his card and punching in a few numbers. When he returned to Aliyah, it was to hand her a wad of cash. “Use this to… whatever, anything. And there are threads on the forum for weapons – Skylar makes swords and Charlotte makes guns. You should ask them for something better than what you have. And… come on, I can show you to an apartment upstairs. I own it, but I never use it. You can stay there, if you want. I’ve given access to another girl, Dhara – you may run into her, and I’ll let her know you might be sleeping there,” he paused. “I mean, so long as… you wouldn’t hurt a human, right? Intentionally?”


<Aliyah> Though Aliyah had very little knowledge of her sire, she wasn’t sure she liked the tone Elliot used in the matter. It was true, Jaeger should have been around to show her, teach her. Instead, she was much on her own, doing things the only way she knew how…by winging it. And so far, that had landed her into some serious trouble. More than once, she could have given vampires away, which she now knew was a big No-No in Harper Rock. Rule #1: Deception.

Aliyah stood from her chair as Elliot moved away, unsure if she was meant to follow him. A moment later, he had returned from an ATM, a wad of cash in hand. Her eyes grew large, mouth dropping open. “I-I can’t accept all of this…you really don’t have to give me it!” she exclaimed, attempting to push his hand back. She had managed a solid $2000 on her own, but it would go quickly as she got more ammo for her pistol. Plus, her overly religious parents had raised her with the belief that you earned what you got…and did she really earn it?

Trying to steer the conversation another direction, she found her only other option was his offer a place to stay, and she found herself having to sit back down. “You…would really do that for me?” she gaped, noting that they were relative strangers. “And, no…I don’t think I would ever harm a human intentionally. I haven’t yet? Only to feed, and if she is off limits, then I can respect that.”


<Elliot d’Artois> Elliot laughed. “I don’t know if she’s off limits but she’s hanging around in the Quarantine Zone. I’m pretty sure she knows all about vampires and their… proclivities. You’d have to ask her if you can snack,” he said. It surprised him, sometimes, how casually he could talk about these things. Snacking. On other people. It wasn’t something he ever did anymore – on no one but Pi. Unless he lost control for some reason, but he’d prefer not to think about that.

“Take it. I insist. I swear to everything – I don’t want it. I never had much money in my life and now I have far too much of it, and it’s better being used by someone who needs it rather than just sitting there, doing nothing,” he said, completely serious. It was why he had so much property. He thought it could all go to use somehow. It was a way to get rid of his money.


<Aliyah> At his insistence, Aliyah took the money in her hand, then quickly deposited it into her bag. She glanced around, well aware of the few attempts that had made to steal from her while she slept. At this point. She trusted very few in the city, as they had given her very little reason to do otherwise. However, this male before her seemed to be quite the opposite, and it was like a breath of fresh air. “Thank you, Elliot…Truly. I don’t know how to repay you.”

She stood back up from the barstool and glanced over at the elevators he had motioned to earlier. “You mentioned it being here? The apartment?” she inquired, twisting her blonde locks around her finger once more. It was an awful habit, and one she should kicked long before now. “As for the girl…I don’t think I could bring myself to…drink from someone I could potentially live with…seems awkward!”


<Elliot d’Artois> Elliot laughed and shook his head. “Don’t repay me. I don’t need to be repaid,” he said. The thought almost horrified him, if he were to be handed back the money that he had given away. He felt like a greedy ********, and started to wonder whether he should just start giving his money away to people on the street. Why not? But not just yet. Right now he was preoccupied.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s up on the ninth floor,” he said, wondering how this building, out of all of them in the Quarantine Zone, had stayed erect and cared for. Every other building was abandoned and falling down, but this one was well lived-in. Someone had to have organised cleaning for the lobby. It always looked welcoming enough, disregarding the zombies. He started to lead the way toward the elevator.

“It’s not furnished, really, unless Dhara’s done something with it. But… you have some cash now, and you can go buy whatever you need to make yourself comfortable,” he said. “As for… well, you don’t have to feed on humans. You can buy blood packs from the shop over there,” he said, gesturing to the far corner. “If you feel like it.”

[Aliyah]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

<Aliyah> Though Elliot had said he would hate to be repaid, Aliyah formulated ideas in her head on how she could make it up to him. He obviously had more money than he could shake a stick at, whatever that meant, and so it would need to be outside the realm of monetary value. Something…sentimental. Which could be potential odd, coming from someone he just met and all. But, they were sort of like family, right? Family could do that sort of thing!

She followed closely beside him as he headed to the elevators, making a mental note that the apartment was on the ninth floor. With her memory, chances are she would forget and have to text him in the near future, but she have at least tried. “I promise not to do anything I think you would disapprove of. It is your space, after all. I am just a visitor.”

Her thoughts turned to her feeding habits as they waited and she frowned. Her feeding habits had never really crossed her mind as something out of the ordinary, but perhaps looking into the blood packets wasn’t such a bad idea. She could keep a healthy stock here, in case she couldn’t find time to make it to the other side of the river before sunrise. Still…blood packets sounded a bit like canned meat. Never quite as good as the fresh stuff.


<Elliot d’Artois> Elliot, too, had liked the fresh stuff. He’d liked it too much. The blood packs sustained him but they didn’t do much for him; but he didn’t like feeding, either. He didn’t like the idea of taking blood from a human. He didn’t like calling them human because that meant he was differentiating. And he didn’t want to think of himself as less than human. He still wanted to be human. Pi had offered the best solution. She had pulled him up out of that dark hole and had offered him something controversial. Something derided and frowned upon. But he woudn’t have it any other day.

The elevator doors opened, and Elliot slipped inside. He pushed the button for the ninth floor. “You’d have to do a hell of a lot to gain my disapproval,” he said with a crooked smirk. He was referring to the apartment, of course, and the décor. There were plenty of things outside of the ordinary that people could do that Elliot would disapprove of, but he didn’t think that he was a person that Aliyah should look up to in that kind of way. Even if she wasn’t sired into d’Artois, he would have helped her anyway. It wasn’t family obligation. He was just generous by nature, and didn’t like to see anyone struggling.


<Aliyah> Aliyah followed suit as the male moved into the space, hitting the 9 button so that the doors would close and carry them upward into the building. She couldn’t help but grin at his little smirk, finding it overall fitting. He looked like the type to smirk, more than smile. But, then, that was the best time for someone to prove you wrong. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I am sure I could find plenty to be disapproving of. Just ask my…parents…” she trailed off, glancing away.

She hadn’t spoken of them since she was turned, nor had she spoken TO them. At this point, they were probably worried sick. But, she couldn’t bring herself to pick up the phone and dial their number. How does one go about explaining their death…that didn’t end in real death? They were hate her…call her devil spawn. No, they could never know. And that broke her heart.

Clearing her throat, she looked to Elliot with an overly cheery smile. “So! What else is there that I should know? Enemies, People to avoid?” she probed, looking for any information she could find. She was that desperate.


<Elliot d’Artois> Elliot’s gaze dropped when Ali mentioned her parents. She seemed to trip over the word, and Elliot knew why. No, he didn’t know the specifics, but he knew enough. He knew that one couldn’t exactly go home and tell one’s parents that they’d been turned into a vampire. Elliot still talked to his own mother every now and again on the phone, but she was used to him not coming home. It had been three years, though. More. He’d never been away for more than three years before, and the phone calls happened less and less. She asked too many questions, and they were hard to avoid. Especially when one can’t legitimately lie.

The topic moved on, however, and Elliot let it. He wouldn’t pry into Aliyah’s business. Especially seeing as he had no idea how or if he’d be able to comfort her. It was a can of worms that could stay closed, for now. At the question, Elliot sighed and shrugged. “Well that’s all a matter of opinion,” he said. “There are Hunters. They are called Paladins. I’d avoid them if I were you, until you think you’re strong enough to beat them,” he said. “They lurk in the sewers. Aside from this Quarantine Zone, there are the catacombs, up to the North West. You’ll find things called Mooncalves down there, as well as Ancient Zombies. There are Fae in the wilderness that you shouldn’t go anywhere near, ‘cause they’ll happily tear you limb from limb,” he said, rattling off the things that he could remember, off the top of his head.

“Blood thieves? They’re like humans who get high on vampire blood. They’ll accost you and pay you for your blood but it’s probably best if you don’t give it to them. As for other vampires – I’d warn you against a faction called Tytonidae. I suppose…well I suppose they’re fighting for a cause they believe in, but I don’t agree with the way they go about it. If you … have you been told about the Masquerade?” he asked. He was rambling enough, and probably confusing the **** out of the girl. The elevator dinged, and they were allowed out onto the ninth floor.


<Aliyah> She was grateful when Elliot seemed to skip over her parents comment, positive she couldn’t stomach the conversation if were to be discussed in depth. Her relationship with her parents was far from perfect, as she hardly fit into their perfectly God-crafted lives. She was never meant for a life of devotion, that much could be said for sure. In fact, she was quite sure God would never bestow his blessing on a vampire.

But, if there was ever a time that Ali wished she had a notebook and a pen, it was that moment in the elevator. The names and places came and went from Elliot’s mouth like a breeze. There for a moment, and gone the next. She would definitely have to go over those again with him, maybe on another day, though. He had already done enough, and was still doing more than she could have ever asked. Best not to bother him too much.

“I have been told about the Masquerade, yes. After the incident with my arm, Ric explained to me that I can’t thing like that be seen. Black, shadow-like blood is a good way to draw attention, I hear!” she joked, peering up at him with a grin. “Good thing I am such an attention-seeker!”


<Elliot d’Artois> Sometimes when people smiled, Elliot wanted to be able to squint and see past the exterior. He wanted to know whether it was real, or whether it was hiding something. A mask. Though Elliot did have his tricks, of course. That one sixth sense he had for picking up on the emotions of others. From Aliyah, he couldn’t sense anything out of the ordinary. Relief, perhaps. But he could feel no great woe. Nothing too overwhelming. The smile had to, in part, be genuine. So he offered one of his own – and it came easily, too. One could tell just by looking at Elliot, when he smiled, that it was a thing that he did often. Or that he had done often.

Elliot just laughed and nodded. “Yes, well. I think most of the time? People don’t want to believe in anything extraordinary. They want to live their lives in ignorance, whether they’ll admit to it or not. If they see something supernatural, they’re likely to make up some excuse for it. That’s my opinion, anyway. Small things... I mean, I walk around in the dead of Winter wearing only one layer, because I need no other layers, you know? That kinda thing, I think we can get away with. But the bigger things, like… being seen feeding or using powers in crowded spaces – that could get you a bounty, and could get you killed. By Tytonidae. They just… they’re like a gang and they slaughter people without mercy,” he said.

“But! Hey, silver linings,” he said. “We can die, but we can come back. Did you know that? Just in this city, mind – something to do with some tear between realms. I’ve never died, I hear it isn’t pleasant. But, we can come back, if you’re… well, strong enough,” Elliot said, digging into his pocket for his set of keys. The apartment was directly to the right of the elevator. The key slid easily into the lock, and the door swung open.


<Aliyah> Yes, she could say for sure that smiling fit the male beside her. With so much depression surrounding the QZ, it was nice to see someone who hadn’t let the darker side of things take over. Perhaps he had at one point, but Ali couldn’t say, and so she was content to pretend he never had. She needed something to cling to, and that was to be her raft, then so be it. There was no point in fighting her feeling of sinking in this place. She could only make it to the surface for that breath of air.

News of the bounties was new to her and she looked at Elliot in shock as he continued. As far as she could remember, she had not been caught feeding or using her powers, even if the only one she truly noticed was her ability to walk on water. It was nice when getting in and out of the QZ, but otherwise, pretty useless. Still, the idea that they would kill each for such things sounded terrible. “Well, that is…sad?” she commented.

“I think I have to agree with you…ignorance is bliss…” she mumbled, once again considering her parent’s fascination with God. Shaking herself from the thought, she peered over Elliot’s shoulder into the apartment as he opened it, interested in seeing the inside. It she was going to be spending quite a bit of time there, she would like to think she would feel comfortable.


<Elliot d’Artois> Elliot didn’t know to which part of his ramblings she was referring to. The fact that people were ignorant? Or the fact that they were all pretty much ruled by a gang too powerful, with too numerous a number of savages within it, to actually feel free in this city? Though he hadn’t really said as much – he had already painted the faction in bad colours. He wasn’t giving an unbiased account. There were a couple of a members of the family who were in Tytonidae. And then there was Pi, who’d been so desperate to join, but who had been denied, and who had sulked for a long time before she’d got over it. He should probably try not to be so harsh.

The door was open and Elliot wandered inside. The apartment was fitted with things that most apartments were fitted with. Like a kitchen, and a bathroom, and two bedrooms. The laundry was attached to the bathroom, and there was even a small balcony. Elliot squinted at the windows. If Ali was going to be staying there, they’d have to do something about covering them up. There was no one home; Dhara wasn’t there, though it did look as if someone had been in there recently. No contracts had been signed. He hoped the girl wouldn’t mind a houseguest – but it was Elliot’s place, and she would have to deal with it.

It was only as he was making his way toward the spare bedroom, to see what the window situation was like inside, that he realised he wasn’t being followed. He turned and arched a brow toward the door.


<Aliyah> Aliyah took a moment to follow behind Elliot, somewhat unsure about her decision to stay in his place, now. Sure, he was technically a member of his family, and it was great of him to offer so much to help her out. However, part of her felt she was taking too much from him, that she was dancing in his good graces, ignoring the potential for backlash. Her teeth worried her lower lip as her thoughts warred against each other. Finally, she puffed herself up in confidence and moved to the doorway.

And she met an invisible wall. It was if he had shut the door, her face hitting something just as solid. She froze, blinking at the apartment just beyond the doorway, positive it was no illusion. He had just walked through it, had he not? With a frown, she tried once more, only to be met with the same force. “I…don’t understand?” she asked, looking around for Elliot in the apartment. “I can’t come in…”


<Elliot d’Artois> Elliot was just in time to notice the almost comical way in which Ali slammed into the invisible wall that kept her out. He wasn’t too sure how the magic worked. Something about owned places, and needing to be ‘invited’ in. If Elliot were to be pedantic about it, he’d have thought that telling the woman, earlier on, that she was welcome to use the apartment would have been invitation enough. Apparently not. A laugh erupted from Elliot’s lips before he snatched it back and contained it. He shook his head.

“Sorry, sorry. You are henceforth welcome, and invited into this here humble abode,” Elliot said with a flourish, even bowing and gesturing to the small space with a wide arch of his arm. When he straightened, it was with that usual lopsided grin. “It’s a thing. You have to be invited in to places. But I think… I think with your path, you might be able to break in more easily?” he said, the inflection a natural part of his native accent. He wasn’t too sure about the last part. The thoughtful frown that had settled over his brow vanished, as he thought of someone who might know the proper answer. He went to go fish his phone out of his pocket, but remembered that it wasn’t there. No matter.

“I’ll invite Pi, yeah? You can meet her. She’s the one who sired me and she knows more,” Elliot said. Maybe Pi didn’t know more, but she knew a different spectrum of things than Elliot did. There were a lot of things that Elliot chose not to retain. He reached out to Pi, telepathically. “Come meet Aliyah, love. Apartment 9007, Corvidae. Please?”


<Pi d’Artois> Elliot had spoke into Pi’s mind to come and meet Aliyah and Pi needed to put the food she was preparing in a holding pattern. Sure… where? Pi asked back, frowning as she tried to remember what that location meant something. Vaguely she recalled Elliot owned an apartment there but for the life of her she couldn’t recall when he bought it, or what apartment. Damn good thing he remembered to tell her. Since she was in the middle of whipping together the pasta Charlie had given her for Christmas. Open on the counter was the blank recipe book Skylar had bought her (Pi firmly believed in using ones gifts… immediately) and along the top of one page she’d scrawled the recipe for the bolognaise that was simmering on the stove. Her writing a messy scrawl that looped over the blank surface in a sporadic (and crooked) line. It wasn’t time for the pasta yet, the best bolognaise always took time on the stove to infuse the flavours, which meant she could probably spare an hour while her sauce simmered and reduced before she needed to consider pasta. Lifting the lid Pi inhaled the scent of basil and smiled. Smelled good. It better, cause it wasn’t like she could actually dip her spoon into the mess and taste. Well, not really. Sometimes she put a little on her tongue, just to test.

When she’d turned the stove down to low heat she pulled on her jacket, a soft lined wool coat that reached just below her knees, the design cinched in at the waist. She wore her weapons, the gun concealed in the holster in the small of her back, the blade Skylar had made in a custom harness along her spine, the tip of the blade snuggled into the groove where her waist met her hips. She absently curled the scarf around her neck, tying two ends off before twisting, and relooping the material around her neck until it fell in a waves of peony red flowers and green meadows. She expected she looked a bit like a Parisian housewife, lean silhouette in her form fitting jeans and tailored wool jacket with its collar pulled up and scarf decorating her neck.

Using her tome she flit into the portal room and right back out again, making her way through the Deserted Bar, out into the QZ proper and then forward to Corvidae. She rarely came here anymore and because it had been so long she walked and looked around like a tourist sightseeing somewhere they hadn’t visited in a while. Pushing through Corvidae she took the lift, Ninth floor and left to the apartment. (or was it right?). Putting her hand on the door she made to push into the residence and stopped dead in her tracks the door an immovable object. Tilting her head to the side she stood outside the entrance and spoke quietly into Elliot’s head. Love she stated quietly, a little bite creeping into her mental tone Would. You. Care. To. Let. Me. In. And then proceeded to wait outside for him to open the door, let her in and then he better well give her a damn key. She tapped her foot impatiently. When the door opened, she smiled widely, not a single bit of her annoyance at Elliot showing at all.


<Aliyah> As much as Elliot tried to hold it back, Ali caught the bark of a laugh at her situation. She pursed her lips at him, though the struggle to push back a smile of her own was tough. As he bowed and offered her official welcome, she did laugh, taking a tentative step into the apartment. Her fingers waved between the doorframe, an extra precaution before she moved completely inside. Either way, it was some serious magic that held vampires at bay, it would, but she supposed it was a necessary protection for humans.

She glanced at him with interest as he mentioned Pi, nodding eagerly. “Oh, that sounds perfect. I can meet you both at once, and learn some new things at the same time! Especially if it means I can break into places…like a criminal…” she whispered, attempting to be mysterious. But, now that she was inside, she set to looking around while they waited for Pi. It was spacious enough, definitely enough for two, though she saw no sign of the human he had spoken of. Then, she noticed the windows in the spare room and she frowned. That must have been what Elliot had been preoccupied with. They would be cause for problems, most definitely.


<Elliot d’Artois> Depending on how safe Aliyah felt, there were several options in regards to the windows. Heavy curtains would do in a pinch, but maybe Aliyah would want something more secure. Heavily tinted glass, locks, and wooden boards, maybe. He was certainly glad that Aliyah agreed to meeting Pi – because he’d already invited her. And, depending on what she was doing, he knew that she wouldn’t be too far away. It would take her the same amount of time to get to the apartment as Elliot had. Meaning – no time at all.

It wasn’t long before he could hear her voice in his head, and he cringed – an outward cringe that wouldn’t be missed by Aliyah if she was paying any attention. He went back out to the front door, which he opened with a flourish. He offered Pi the biggest grin that he could muster.

“Pi! Come in, come in,” he said sheepishly. Up until that moment, up until he’d allowed Ali inside, Dhara had been the only one with access. The place hadn’t been a secret; its inclusion in Elliot’s list of property was due only to a comment Dhara had made, once, about being unable to visit the QZ safely, because of her hot blood and her humanity. Elliot had wanted to invest in a place where she could stay – and any other stray that he might come across.

“Pi, this is Aliyah, one of Jeager’s newest,” he said, with a look that clearly said you know Jeager. He’s ****. “Aliyah, this is Pi. Perhaps Aliyah could get access to the Den at some point, Pi?” he asked, tentatively.


<Pi d’Artois> Her gaze slid to Elliot’s the expression as razor sharp as her smile. There wasn’t anywhere (she thought) that she didn’t have access to. They shared spaces and places as interchangeable as each other’s. It was odd to think there was an apartment of his that she couldn’t get into but she decided it wasn’t worth getting into now. Well, not much. She spoke into his head instead, her gaze already focused on Aliyah, her smile still in place Maybe we should talk about this… location… later hrmm Love? The internal aside to her lover aside Pi moved forward, not so close she crowded the other woman, but as was her way (because she was French and even the French as reticent as herself it was ingrained) she came forward and pressed first one cheek and then the next against the woman’s before pulling quickly away.

The place was barely furnished (as most of their places tended to be), utilitarian furniture was the norm. Instead of sating her curiosity on the apartment she’d never been before (and she’d talk to him about that too) she focused her attention on Aliyah. “How are you Aliyah.. I remember from Crow.. that Jaeger was your sire.” She replied. “He contacted me not so long after.. asking me if there was anything he could do to help the family so I hope you herald him being back more often. Sadly he is gone.. a lot. I wish he was around more.. but I expect that is why Elliot has called me here, in case you need anything to help you … in the interim.”


<Aliyah> The cringe did not miss Ali’s notice and she canted her head in his direction, curious as to his sudden aversion to…something. She glanced about the place, checking that it wasn’t something in the apartment, coming up short. As it would turn out, he was at the door a moment later, offering Pi access to the apartment. And suddenly, she felt as uncomfortable as she had when she had first met Elliot. If he was to be treated as some King, though she hardly had, then she was to be treated as a Queen. Whether they acted that way was an entirely different story, but the only way to find out, would be to expose herself to them. Starting now.

“Oh!” she gasped as she was greeted with a kiss to both cheeks, though she took as gracefully as she could. It was unexpected, for sure, but a pleasant enough greeting and one that she hoped meant Pi was welcoming and kind. So, she offered the woman a small smile, still on the verge of dropping to her knees before them. After all, the word “sire” alone sounded official, and these were Patriarch and Matriarch of her bloodline. Now that? That was official.

The introduction Pi offered was everything Ali could have wished to say, all covered in just a moment. She nodded at the other woman’s words, her fingers twining into her hair. “I had hoped that I could bring him around more, myself…I could use all the help I can get, I have gotten into some…trouble…on my own,” she explained, chewing on her lip anxiously. “It is wonderful to finally meet you, and thank you for being welcoming. I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

[Pi dArtois]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--


<Elliot d’Artois> Elliot rolled his eyes and nodded. He could have answered Pi then and there, but he didn’t. Because that would defensive, and he had nothing to be defensive about. There were thing that Elliot still did without telling other people about them Without telling Pi. Maybe he should tell her everything – but this whole faux marriage thing was new. And anyway, they had to have something to argue about, didn’t they? After rolling his eyes, Elliot laughed – but refrained from sending anything back to Pi mentally. He wondered whether they would start treating telepathy like they did telephones – it was rude to pull one out and have a conversation when in the presence of company.

Elliot pushed his hands into his back pockets as Pi and Aliyah became acquainted with each other. If the furniture was sparse in the apartment it was because Elliot himself hadn’t actually done anything to furnish it. Though, now he realised – if he were a real landlord, maybe he should. Maybe that’s what would be expected of him. He could figure that out later.

“You expected right, Pi, but at the same time, that’s not the only reason I called you here. I mean, I don’t think Ali here should just look at us as … as just… givers of information, right? We’re… friends!” he said, grinning and flicking the hair out of his face with a cocked motion of his head. “But I was just talking to Ali about the invite… thing. She’s a Shadow. Which means she can probably at some point forego that whole invisible barrier thing?” he asked. He assumed Pi would have the answer.


<Pi d’Artois> “I hope you can bring him around too Aliyah… but if you can’t… then there is always us. We’re a poor substitute.. but we try.” She finished with a self deprecating smile. Pi wondered what Aliyah thought of her and the tall Australian standing next to her. When you thought about vampires you didn’t really consider how international it could get, which is sorta how she considered her relationship with the soulful Australian singer. Between his good natured twang and her lazy vowel sounds of her reserved French, they were like a UN peacekeeping force in Uganda with their blue arm bands and their Swiss type neutrality. But they were here to help Aliyah, .. well, a bit like the UN, she supposed.

When Elliot called her a Shadow she frowned, one second away from correcting him and then stopping herself. In a way she was a Shadow, although it wasn’t her original path. She was a killer, to the bone, good at it and she knew it. But she was a Shadow too. And an Allurist, a Necromancer and Summoner, she was a Shifter and a Fadewalker, a Mystic and a Seeker. Hell, just this month she’d become a Telepath (thus the whole talking in Elliot’s head thing). He was right, she could help Aliyah.. they both could. As friends.. yes, they could do that.

It’s not like anyone actually neeeeeeded help. Or that no one could survive this city as a vampire on their own, because that just wasn’t true. It was just easier and nicer if you didn’t think you were on your own. And Aliyah wasn’t on her own at all and deserved to have whatever resources (and there were a lot) that Elliot and Pi could give her. Given the rather sporadic (and too often silent) activity of their current lineage it sometimes felt like her and Elliot were in a state of constant empty nest syndrome. Here they sat with a wealth of knowledge, resources, and inclination and so few of their vampires around to take advantage of it. That was either choice or by design but either way it happened it amounted to the same thing. Her and Elliot had time, time to spend to help someone new to this life and time to ensure that this same person was looked after.
Their real problem tended to happen after all this help had been rendered and for whatever reason (usually it was a fundamental difference of opinion) they went silent. Life though, worked like that, in mysterious ways or rather in ways a person couldn’t change. People were what they were and no amount of wishing them differently was going to change how things turned out. The best they could do really, was try. Which she supposed was exactly what they were doing right now. They were here to help, try again, with another new vampire and hope… this time, things would be.. different. “You are a Shadow Aliyah? If that is the case, then yes.. you will grow in your powers and one of the first many attain is the ability to enter abodes… at will.”



<Aliyah> Aliyah could hardly contain the smile that spread across her lips, somehow unable to believe the two of them could not pass for a substitute. Elliot had already done more than enough to leave her satisfied if they were never to offer their help again. In no way would Aliyah say anything bad about her sire, as she didn’t know him well enough to do so. If he were to be gone as she grew, she could hardly say he abandoned her. In fact, even now, she didn’t blame him for her mishaps. They could have been avoided, yes…but they could have happened even if she HAD known. Mistakes were just a fact of life. She happened to make a lot of them.

As she glanced between the two in quiet consideration, she pondered how the two worked. French were reserved people, soft spoken…while Australians were just, well, not. Perhaps the complimented each other in a way that she didn’t understand. Either way, they made a good couple as they stood side by side. She couldn’t say she had the pleasure of such a love, but perhaps one day it would cross her path.

The mention of her Path and the powers she would soon attain had her perked up, looking at Pi with interest. “Really? That is so!…creepy…” she finished with a wince, though her voice showed just how excited she was at the idea of a power that not all vampires could attain. At least, the ones that were not like herself, as Elliot had explained. “I suppose it could come in handy, though. Maybe I can practice that, be of use to you somehow?” she offered, finally finding that handhold she might very well be able to repay their kindness with…by being an asset to the group, instead of a hanger-on, that simply took up too much space.


<Elliot d’Artois> Pi was now doing what Pi did best. The woman might not be good at small talk, but she was good at the technical stuff. She was good at getting people settled in to this new life; at knowing the things that they should know. Hell, she was probably better at it than Elliot. Elliot, who’d just spewed a bunch of information in Aliyah’s general direction and expected her to remember it all. He’d been the same with Skylar, who’d managed to forget a few things. It was only to be expected, when he’d given a crash course of everything there was to know (that he knew of) in only a couple of nights.

Elliot nodded, though, edging himself into the conversation. “Pi’s probably the best one to talk to about that kind of thing. She’s more organised than I am,” he said, and chuckled. “But that kind of ability comes in handy with breaking and entering right, Pi?” he asked. Not really a vocation that Elliot would approve of, but he had accepted that it was required, sometimes, in order for them to collect things needed to craft. Or for rituals. Neither of which Elliot was familiar with. But Pi was.

Elliot, always restless, started to pace in a circle around the interior of the apartment. He glanced down at his clock, then toward the spare room, and then toward the door. They didn’t have long, in the grand scheme of things. He had to go back and get his phone so he could text Dhara, and he had to find some kind of material to cover up the windows in what will be Aliyah’s room. “I should go out and organise some things…” he said, inching his tall body toward the door.


<Pi d’Artois> “I’m sure we can think of something.” Pi offered the woman, thinking there were countless ways Aliyah could help, herself and their group as a whole. Pi wasn’t one to direct a person who to go, because that never turned out well. Instead she asked them what they had an affinity for, where they wanted to go, what powers felt right and natural for them to learn as they progressed and it was from there that they discussed how then those powers could be handy. She found this was usually the best way to go about it, attempting to subvert a vampire’s natural instinct never turned out well and she saw no reason not to do the same for Aliyah. “The key is to figure out what feels natural for yourself first and then we’ll work out how that can work best for all. Like Elliot said, it could be handy for BnE, if that’s how you lean… or other things too. Just got to figure out what comes naturally and we work from there?"

“Now.” Pi said, remembering what Elliot had told her earlier when he opened the door about the Den. “Elliot mentioned something about the Den. I’m sure you haven’t been there yet, but he’s right.. it would be the perfect place for you to have access to while you’re learning the city’s ropes. It’s a place we use as a haven and a location to easily access the city at large. When you feel up to it I can give you a tour if you’d like.”

The Den was a maze really, and could be hugely confusing to someone so new to the city. Hell, it proved to be confusing to those who had been here a while and she’d had to post on the family Crow about being careful in the corridors and not to step into any of the traps laid there to protect their halls. It was another lesson she’d learned. Don’t assume people know not to step into those locations, be very very detailed about explaining why they couldn’t do it and then be just as detailed about what would happen if they did. “I take it you’ll be staying here?” Pi asked, mostly Elliot since this was his apartment, her gaze sliding over and up at the man at her side.

The very same man who seemed to be jiggling on his toes like a small boy doing the wee wee dance. She wasn’t an idiot, she could read the signs and knew the man wanted out. Not that he was foisting Aliyah off on her, he was probably just wanted to get things done. “If you need to go… feel free. I’ll talk a few minutes with Aliyah, get her settled and then join you at home.”


<Aliyah> The fact that direct answer could come for her help in aiding the group shouldn’t have surprised Ali, as she was too new to really even consider doing so. She barely understood the city at large, and somehow she expected to take on aiding the bloodline, as well. That was a lot for a new one like herself, and she felt slightly ashamed for even bothering to ask. But, at least it was out in the open that she was willing to lend her hand in whatever way possible, as soon as she was able to lend it without losing her own balance. Not that she had one, but hell, she would eventually, right?

This Den had come up twice now, and Ali still had no idea what the place was. However, Pi quickly explained and she locked information away for future reference, in case she should need it. “I would love a tour, truly. Half the time, I think I need a tour of the city as whole!” she explained, offering the woman a somewhat joking smile, though it held her serious undertones about the Den. If that was where the family stood their ground, she wanted to be acquainted with it, too.

It was only then that Ali noticed Elliot inching for the door and she quirked an eyebrow in his direction. Was it truly so hard to just say, “I gotta go?” Maybe, for him it was and so she took Pi’s cue and offered him a bright smile. “If you do go, I want to thank you so much. With the help you have given me just tonight, I am infinitely better off than I was. I am extremely grateful, and I hope you have good night.” She raised her hand and offered a little wave, letting him know all was well.


<Elliot d’Artois> “Yeah, yeah,” Elliot said, waving away the thanks with a batting of his hand. He was a modest man who did most things selflessly, and not for the acclaim that it might bring to him. Hell, it was probably his generosity that had him labelled as ‘Mr Love and Peace’. But whatever. He couldn’t care less, really. People could think what they wanted to think. Of course, he hadn’t just said he had to go because that would have been rude, and would have interrupted the conversation she and Pi were having. Not that he hadn’t done that by telling them there were things he had to do, but…

…now given leave, Elliot waved his hand and exited. He would be back later with coverings for the windows, and with some extra cut keys. He’d snavelled himself a key cutter, illegally, which he kept in the den. It was easier than having to go to the damned locksmith every other night. As soon as he was out in the hallway, he pulled out his tome and headed back to the Den – from there, the portal to the office, where he sent his text to Dhara – he did hope the woman was okay. And from there, back to the Den. There was nothing there that would cover the windows, so he would have to go shopping.


<Pi d’Artois> Pi shook her head at his retreating back and wondered really if there was a thing about the male species, a missing chip they all lost that meant they could so easily wander off and do other things and quite happily left it to the women to complete. It rather felt like he’d called her here just so he could abandon her (which she knew it wasn’t true but it was rather hard not to draw the rather wide generalization when he did things just like that). Turning to Aliyah she smiled. “I’ll follow him in a minute after we set up a time to meet tomorrow for that tour. I have bolognaise on the stove I need to get to anyway, so this is as good a time as to make sure you have what you need and then plan to meet up again tomorrow night? I’d invite you over for dinner but I can’t eat and neither can you… and two of us staring at Elliot consume food might be a little … odd” she said with a smile.

There wasn’t anything wrong with joking about what they’d become. What could you do other than joke about something and weirdly, and wonderfully amazing as being a vampire. For her and Aliyah, there was no eating, and no more drinking. They could no more do those things than they could wander around in the sun in the middle of summer and not do their best imitation of a tiki torch. “I know what you mean about getting your feet under you.. It’ll happen, slowly, but it will and before you know it, Elliot and I will be tagging you to help up show a new vampire around and you’ll be the one offering tours and sage advice on what to do… and most importantly, what not to do. Sound good?”


<Aliyah> It was as Elliot retreated from the room that Ali decided she would get him for brushing off her thanks so easily. There was one thing that Ali did with calculated precision, and that was offering thanks, condolences, and advice. If she felt he needn’t have been thanks for generosity, she wouldn’t have offered it. So, if he would not take her verbal form, she would find some other means. Perhaps an ugly card with a kitten on it, that meowed obnoxiously as you opened it. Then again, she had assume he had a safe sense of humor for something like that. Maybe just a nice card, then…

Her attention focused on Pi only a moment after, and she nodded in understand the woman would be following suit. She couldn’t expect then to hang around all day, could she? “I have plenty, now, thank you. I have my pack…” she said, lifting the bag a bit from her shoulder “..filled with my essentials, and Elliot gave me a bit of money to get anything else that I might need while I stay here. I should be okay.” She shrugged up a shoulder, an easy-going smile on her lips.

“No worries about dinner. Elliot just informed me tonight that my eating and drinking would never be the same. To be honest, I hadn’t even tried until tonight, so I suppose it was for the best?” she joked, though her tone held a bit of bitterness. She would get over it in time. She always did. Brushing away the sting of food addiction, she cleared her throat. “What time would be best for you? I have little to do except kill some zombies and maybe try a bit of hacking…I have had minor success so far.”

That minor success was one that she was proud of, and she would hold to it that she could be. Still, as her schedule was extremely flexible, and doubted Pi had the same luxury, she could work on her schedule. Easy peesy.


<Pi d’Artois> "How about same time tomorrow night?" I'll come get you with Michael, my human helper. He'll have your tome on him and will hand it over to you so you'll have it and we can started right away with lesson number one. How to beam yourself up like Scotty on starship enterprise." The joke was an old one, but a goody. Pi wasn’t a star trek geek but even a moron knew Star Trek and beaming up and it didn’t take a genius to draw the correlation between tome the old sci fi show. It just put it into more palatable pieces she thought.

Pulling out her tome she showed it to Aliyah. “Tomorrow you will have one of these for yourself and I’ll teach you how to use it. It’s not hard. It’s what we use to gain entry into the Den and will take you to the ground floor. Nice and easy. From there, the tour and then you can ask any questions you might have.” Slipping her tome back into her pocket she secreted it away, figuring there was no need right yet to give an actual demonstration. “Is there anything you needed before I go?”


<Aliyah> The tome looked almost too tempting, and Ali had to fight the urge to touch it. She would have her own tomorrow, and the idea excited her more than it should have. Still, it was something she had to look forward to, and that didn’t happen for her very often in this city. “Same time tomorrow sounds perfect. I will probably be here, but you can text me if you would like me to meet you elsewhere,” she replied, giggled at the reference. She dated a guy once she loved Star Trek, and even now, she found the show almost too dumb not to enjoy.

“I think I am set for the night, but…thank you. I appreciate you coming, even if it was just so Elliot could con you into helping me.” She teased, wanting to reach out and hug the woman, but figuring that might be too soon. “I look forward to tomorrow, Pi.”


<Pi d’Artois> "Good, tomorrow then. Bonne nuit." She said quietly before pulling out her tome and winking at the woman before touching it and letting it take her back to the Den. It was a bit showy, she knew, but it was one of the cooler things they had to play with as vampires, so why not play it up. Death and blood and other necessary evils could come later. Why not a little fun before. She would have her time with Aliyah tomorrow, and then they could play with the tomes together.

[Aliyah]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

THE NEXT DAY

‹Pi dArtois› This talking telepathically thing was amazing. She had always rather envied Elliot for his ability to talk right into her head and for a woman who rarely liked to air her opinion it had a certain flair she rather liked. Unlike the rest of the vampire community who believed that spouting their views and opinions all over the Crow was appropriate behaviour, she didn’t. She had opinions, but only gave them when necessary and rarely did so in order to force them on anyone. And telepathy while at first glance looked like a power that was nothing but intrusive, in its way it was less so. Well, that’s what she thought anyway. After messaging Aliyah Pi waited a couple minutes, giving the other woman time to put on a jacket or get out of her pajamas, or out of the shower, whatever it was she was doing and prepare herself to be pulled from one side of the city to the other.

Actually, Pi thought, it was about one block she was pulling the woman, because the Den, conveniently, was located just on the other side of the QZ fence. Which made Elliot’s decision to buy an apartment inside that complex so… weird. Considering they had a huge complex, just beside it. Four minutes, that’s what she gave the other woman. Surely that was plenty of time to put yourself together and then she closed her eyes and let the magic linger across her skin and through her minds eye, focusing on the new vampire and sent out the call for her to come, body and spirit and form. It wasn’t always so ‘magical’ and Pi didn’t always have the luxury of delving into the feeling of inhabiting the magic she wove, but lately, with more time on her hands she did… no war time summonings or teleporting. No targets to kill or be injured trying. She was a retired solider, put out to pasture (by herself) and she had time to take it down gear, slow it u p and just enjoy what it meant to be vampire.

And then she waited for Aliyah to appear. It was an instant later, maybe less. Magic worked like that. Either right away or not at all, an all or nothing aspect that gave as good as it could take away. Not so much a fickle mistress as it was a picky one, choosing only the best of what came to grant powers to, only those who stuck around and put effort into learning how. Pi, well, if there was something she had plenty of now. It was time.

Today she was dressed casually, because she had no real intention of leaving the Den, seeing as how the portals, once Aliyah had access to them would open the city up to Aliyah and it would be up to her to traverse them at her will. On her feel were ballet flats, buff coloured with a small black bow on the front, barely discernable. Ankle length wool tights encased her slim legs, a hugely oversize bias cut sweater swathed her upper body hanging low past her ***, to sweep the back of her knees, the front a high scoop around her belly, the white shirt she wore underneath playing peekabook at her waist and wrist. Around her neck tonight she wore a monochromatic scarf with playful poodles cavorting across the edges that swept around her neck in a swath of soft fabric.

Her face didn’t have much make up, a little mascara, with a dusting of copper coloured shadow, more for form than any real attempt to beautify and on her lips a natural coloured gloss, just enough to keep her lips from chapping in the winter wind. Her smile was genuine as the woman came into view. “Bonjour Aliyah… I hope your night went well?”

<Aliyah> Aliyah stepped back from her dresser, inspecting the small trinkets she had bought to decorate the space she would not inhabit, if only to give it a tad more flare. The human that Elliot had spoken of had yet to arrive, at least that she knew of, and that was fine. It allowed her time to adjust to her new environment before it was to be invaded by the constant stench of human blood, the pumping ringing in her ears. She shook her head, stepping up to change the position of a picture she had of her parents when the sudden whisper of a voice clouded her thoughts. Aliyah froze, mouth open in shock. Never before had anyone spoken to her telepathically, though she knew it was possible by some vampires.

Regardless, it had certainly been Pi’s voice with a warning, and Ali flew from the room. She was hardly dressed to see Pi, but sweats and t-shirt would have to do, as she had no real time to change. Still, she at least put on a sweatshirt, pulling her head on top of her head into a ponytail. Rushing into the bathroom, she quickly applied mascara and eyeliner. Feeling she was as appropriate as she was going to get, she waited, completely oblivious to how this “summon” worked.

It was only an instant later that her body seemed to vanish, and in a blink of an eye, she stood before Pi. Her mouth formed a small ‘o’ of surprise as she looked at the woman. “That…was awesome!” she exclaimed, glancing around the room that had to have been part of the Den. Realizing she had ignored the woman’s greeting, she mentally slapped herself for being so rude. “Oh! Sorry! Hello, Pi. My night went quite well, thanks. How was your own?” she asked, stepped forward to maybe give the woman a hug. IF she did that kind of thing.

‹Pi dArtois› “Uneventful, which.. in its way is a good thing I think.” Pi replied, indicating an old park bench that sat on the platform for Aliyah to take a seat with her. Facing forward, she didn’t wait for Aliyah to sit before speaking. Out in front of her stretched the long cavernous tunnel that led nowhere. When they had found this place, located below the Training Room in Wickbridge, whole portions of the tunnel had caved in, other parts only reachable through tunnels with debris littering each staircase leading up. Which suited Pi just fine. She’d had the private elevator built as a way for her family to get in and then trapped the living **** out of the rest so that the only way to get into the place was to walk through a minefield of traps and summoned zombies and fadebeasts that could easily rip your throat out (and did). They, more than anything else was the best alarm she could give this place.

“We ate dinner. Okay, he ate dinner and I watched and laughed while he did. And then we went to bed.” Pi smiled, her expression amused and a little embarrassed. “I’m so boring really. It’s amazing to me that I’m a vampire at all given how incredibly mundane my life really is.” Except it wasn’t that mundane, not really. Like Aliyah she spent a portion of her night fighting in the Caverns, killing things she knew Aliyah couldn’t fathom, not yet anyway. But normal life happened to. Dinner, love, conversation and just quiet nights at home and maybe that was good, maybe normalcy was necessary and needed in order to be… what they were. No one could live blood and mayhem 24/7. Well she couldn’t and she was a born killer. “But it’s not always like that… and that’s why we have the Den, for when we all need that haven we feel safe in. Now, let me introduce you to Michael… MICHAEL…” Pi said loudly, her head arching behind her at the man loitering in the shop over the guns he’d just acquired, “Could you please come and meet someone… you have a tome she would dearly like to get her hands on.”

<Aliyah> Somehow, Ali found it hard to believe that Pi’s life could be anything outside of interesting and intense. Though she had not been in the city long, her nights were spent with new experiences every night. It could have been the fact that she was only a few weeks in to being a vampire, but she somehow doubted that those days really faded. There always had to be something new to learn and see, especially in a city this large. “I am sure you are far from mundane, Pi,” she teased, lowering herself down beside the woman, looking into the abandoned tunnels before her. They all appeared to have been recently excavated, but still little more than rubble, in the scheme of things.

Ali glanced over as Pi explained the purpose of the Den she now sat in and nodded, understanding the reasoning for such a place. When you lived and cared for your own in a city of vampires, it was hard to imagine being left defenseless. If a place like this was one of the best defenses they could afford, then she was positive it was one she could feel comfortable in. Pi sure seemed to be. And as the woman’s voice rang out, Ali jumped, the voice echoing off the surrounding walls and tunnels, coming back to them ever quieter.

Turning her attention to the male Pi had called for, she grinned at the mention of the Tome. It was obvious Pi could sense her excitement, she did not need to admit to it. So, she watched with bated breath, nearly jumping in her seat. “So, this Tome is what will get me in and out of the Den?” she asked, glancing back over at Pi for a better explanation than the one she had in her head.

‹Pi dArtois› Michael was a spare looking creature of a man, a little too suave, a little too slick. Pi had made him his thrall because Charles had asked her, a fellow physician, and one who Doc needed… silenced. And so he became Pi’s, in a way no human would want to become anothers. For his part, Michael really didn’t seem to care. He was Canadian though, local too, although he had rather grandeur presumptions about those facts of his life. He was a doctor. Pi always thought that was as much an affectation for him as was his swagger and his attempt at debonair. She thought as a kid he made a decision that doctors were sexy and had sought to become one, unlike other would be healers who saw the career move as a way to help their fellow man, Pi believed Michael made the decision in order to pick up more chicks. It was his luck he had the brains to get the MD behind his name, and the credentials to help him score women. She, would never have let the man attempt to heal her at all. Michael, for his part had made an early career choice not to actually practice medicine at all, preferring a more research position. This, suited him too… considering how inherently lazy he was. Pi shook her head as he sauntered over, his eyes lighting on the new woman with ill concealed zeal.

Ignore him Aliyah… most of us do. He can’t help himself and he is too useful to shoot.

The words spoken into Aliyah’s mind were followed up by a small smile even as Pi turned back around so she could see Michael come or what she knew would be flirtatious and somewhat embarrassing come ones he’d inflict on the woman beside her. “Yes, it will.. it acts a lot like what I just did to bring you here, but instead of fixing on a person, it brings you back to this building.” Pi explained, motioning for Michael to give Aliyah the tome, hoping he’d do it quietly, but knowing he wouldn’t. “Scattered around this area, you’ll notice signposted locations… in each of those areas, you’ll notice a pull, a small vacuum, a lot like the tome as well… but fixed here, to connect to different parts of the city…” Pi stopped, her smiled widening… “It’s a bit complicated to explain… so I’ll have Michael ..show you. How does that sound?”

Michael chose that moment to speak up, having taken a rather negligent position behind where they sat, one butt check leaned casually behind Pi’s head, the smoke in his hand making its lazy way to his lips. “I’ll be happy to show you anything you like.” He said, with a slick precision that made Pi want to spin and whack him upside the head. He was a menace, she knew it, but for the most part, he was a very … useless menace. “Ready for a test run?” she said instead, ignoring the male and his innuendo.

<Aliyah> Michael was everything that Ali would have expected of a thrall of a vampire to be. For some reason, a suave and charming individual was what she pictured, and what she got. His eyes that seemed to linger longer than they should made her squirm, but she did her best to ignore it and instead shot him a devilish-smile. She doubted Pi would be too upside if she gave him a couple bruises. They would heal, and he would hardly need any medical care. Besides, if Pi knew he was a menace, then she must know it could bite him in the *** someday. It would be a day that Ali would probably look forward to, in all reality, but that would have to wait for the future.

At that moment, her only focus was the Tome that would officially connect her to the rest of the bloodline and family she now had in Harper Rock, and she took it like it might break in her hands if she held it too hard. She looked down at it in wonder, it being the first truly magical item she had come in contact with. It certainly wouldn’t be the last, but this was special, and she treated it as such. She listened to Pi explain the way that it work, lifting her gaze to the woman to provide her undivided attention. She only ignored Michael and his commentary.

Pi was right, it was complicated, and it was starting to make her head hurt. But, in an attempt to appear competent enough to handle the information, she smiled and nodded. “A test run sounds good. What better way to learn these things than to try them out?” Ali sounded far more optimistic than she felt, but her words were still true nonetheless. “Just…promise to come and find me if I somehow don’t make it back?” she asked of Pi, looking momentarily worried that she might find herself in a black of hole of doom that she would never escape from.

‹Pi dArtois› “Oh I definitely will come looking if anything goes wrong.” Pi stated her smile encouraging and with a small twist she looked up at the male whose eyes were laser beamed to Aliyah’s breasts and she nudged his hip with her elbow. “You… will take good care of her won’t you Michael.” Her voice was threatening, neither was her expression which was a placid oasis, with no frown or anger showing, but there was something there, something not altogether nice and it was this that made Michael switch his stare to gaze down into the eyes of the vampire that held his strings, his own gaze turned serious. “Yes, of course.” He clipped out before standing and motioning with his hand. “Well, giddy up horsey.” He said then, her grin once again unrepentant as if the warning had never happened and hadn’t dented his overwhelming enthusiasm at all (and it probably hadn’t).

There were practical reasons why Pi couldn’t show Aliyah herself. Pi’s tome went somewhere different than the one the others in the faction held. Still the same building, but still different and there were only two tomes like hers in existence, only hers and only Elliot’s. Pi couldn’t show Aliyah, not like Michael could… and in this, she had to trust Michael could show Aliyah everything that needed to be shown. “Hunting Grounds first…? Then back again.. maybe bring me a wolf pelt if you can?” She said with a smile. .

"Ohhh and I've given you access to the Faction... so you can get up the elevator.." Pi said mysteriously, as if this explained something that she hadn't explained at all, but figured, well, figured Aliyah would find out eventually on her own. Probably in the next five mintues.

<Aliyah> Pi’s encouraging words eased some of the anxiety that settled over Aliyah and she smiled back at the woman, standing from her spot. Her gaze moved to Michael and the odd exchange he had with Pi. Ali had no idea what had just happened, but somehow, she figured it was something to do with him being a thrall. Either way, his attention almost immediately returned to her was enough to make her roll her eyes. “Call me a horse again…and I might bring the wolf pelt back without you…” she muttered, though she would never do such a thing when he was of Pi’s control. Still, the idea made her smirk and so she moved to stand beside him, looking down at the Tome in her hands.

“Hunting Grounds it is, then…show me how this thing works!” she said, looking to her companion for his instruction. She had yet to be the hunting grounds, but it sounded like it would be a good time all on its own. Wolves sounded like a fun new challenge that she hadn’t yet had, her only practice being zombies. Then, Pi mentioned a faction and she looked to the woman in confusion. “What is a faction, and why do I need to use an elevator?” she asked, even as Pi said she would learn it on her own. But, for whatever reason, she shook her head and settled in to learning the art of Tome usage.

[Pi dArtois]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--

‹Pi dArtois› Michael wasn’t the best of teachers, he was sauve when he thought he had something to gain, and his smile was genuinely interested in a person until he realised he was going to strike out big time. Right now, he rather thought his chances were good, so he was the epitome of solicitous. He bowed a little at the waist and showed Aliyah the way to the portal to the Hunting Grounds. “It’s a good thing you have warm clothes on… this is going to get cold.” He said glibly. “But you let me know if you do get cold… I’ll be happy to give you my jacket… or a cuddle.” He finished with an overly large smile. And on that note he showed her how to use the portal, going himself first and Pi watched asAliyah followed.

It didn’t take long to catch on to the portals and the tome. It was a rather simple magic but ridiculously handy. Out to the location of choice, and back again through the tome. They had the shops they needed here and other things their family could use, like some paranoid Cuban Missile crisis bunker where they could weather the next nuclear threat. Pi really hoped Michael was behaving himself.

<Aliyah> The male beside her really deserved a good slap, but at the same time, she found his attention amusing. It had been a long time since she had allowed a male the time of day when it came to charm. Sure, he was a thrall, but male attention was a attention, nonetheless. As they used the portal and landed in the Hunting Grounds, she looked around and immediately grew annoyed. She hated woodsy areas. “Wait here…I am gonna go and grab a wolf pelt for Pi,” she mumbled to Michael, wandering off to find a wolf. It didn’t take her long, and the quickly took her for the threat that she was. Pulling her blade out, she faced the creature and took it down in a few well-placed strikes. She quickly skinned the animal, a pang of guilt settling in her stomach. She did love animals…poor thing.

Either way, she then set off to find Michael, again, who she hoped remained in the same spot. When she finally came on him again, she smirked and offered him the pelt to carry. “I do believe you can have this?” she joked, pulling the Tome out from her bag and taking a breath. “Okay. I am gonna try this on my own. If you somehow do not find me in the Den…worry…” she continued. Ali placed her hand against the Tome, focusing all her attention on the object. It practically warmed to her touch, and suddenly she was before Pi once more. Blinking rapidly at the change, she broke into a wide grin. “I did it!”

‹Pi dArtois› “I’m a lover, not a fighter.” Michael intoned and dutifully stayed put. He had no intentions of doing anything else and was quite happy to lean negligently against the rough bark of a knotty pine carefully avoiding the golden sap the tree was prone to leak. He wasn’t a outdoorsman, that much was clear, he had soft hands that had rarely seen a hard days work (well, not the kind that would give a man callus) and those soft hands he tucked under the opposite armpit to keep them warm, the collar of his jacket turned up and he waited patiently.

“As you wish.” He replied, watching keenly as she disappeared from view and followed her. Pi told him to look after her and despite his natural instincts to look after her his way he was mindful of that order. He showed up beside her, bowed again in the direction she was to walk, away from the zombies and the fadebeast and the traps he knew lay in wait for her. Not that he’d ever got caught in one of them, he liked his *** a little too much to see it wind up for a week in hospital and that would have been the outcome if he’d stepped one step the wrong way. Turning his back on the traps he led her into the elevator and pressed the Den floor and crowded her a little in the elevator so their shoulder’s touched. He could have done more but the trip took about one second and Pi sat at their destination. Doing more was hardly a move to ensure he stayed in one piece.

So he stood beside Aliyah when she left the lift and crowed delightedly at the small French woman, now standing waiting for them to come back. Michael watched the smile dawn over Pi’s face and fell a little bit more in lust with the woman (which wasn’t that hard considering he’d turn himself inside out to do whatever it was she told him to do). Pi spoke quietly then, waving Michael off. “Could you please go back to find more gun parts. You’ve had a good haul but I really need higher quality. Some Master parts… if you can.” And so Michael turned with a nod, his gaze traveling over Aliyah again, caring not a jot if she caught his rather raking look, the look accompanied with a slick smile. “You need anything.. you just call me.” He gave as parting shot, his eyes falling to Aliyah’s breasts and back to her eyes before he took another portal, this one directly into Bullwood transit.

Not waiting for him to leave Pi spoke softly. “Easy non?” She asked, indicating the portal to the Hunting Grounds before arching her eyebrow at the hide Aliyah held. “Oh look… you got one! Very nice… very nice indeed. If you can put it on the Rituals table. That one comes in handy when I need to do a rather helpful ritual.” It was show and tell yes, but also a way to give Aliyah an idea of what could be done to be ‘useful’ like she had volunteered. It was things like this, wolf furs, or oils, volatile chemicals that she couldn’t source for herself. Aliyah could be helpful one day, depending on what she chose to do with herself later. And it would be like this, using her talents to source things the family might need. One day.

<Aliyah> Aliyah’s gaze shifted to Michael as she left, offering him a nod of thanks. He hadn’t done much, but his presence had been a small comfort as she practiced with the Tome, though she would likely never admit it to him. That would just feed the ego he so obviously already had. Best to keep his head as small as possible. Afterwards, she looked back at Pi and nodded her head, “It is quite easy! I suppose this will be very useful when I get myself into a tough spot. Which I am…sure to do…” she admitted, shrugging up a shoulder sheepishly. She was hardly the best when it came to luck, and tended to tip the scale toward bad. If there was ever a person that could use a pot of gold, it was definitely her.

At Pi’s request, she took the pelt to the ritual table. Yet another thing she had little to no information about. Wiggling her nose, she looked over the various items that were assembled there and did her best to decipher what they might be for. Occult and magic was never a big interest of hers, as it was more like taboo in her household. And now, as she stood before it, it was like a magnet, drawing her in. “What kind of things could you do with these…rituals?” she asked of the woman over her shoulder, her willingness to learn surprising even her.

‹Pi dArtois› Pi understood Aliyah’s expression when she spied the rituals table. The lingering doubt at what looked like something out of a medieval sorcerer’s den. Piled on the table were ingredients ready to be used, zombie ears, some oils mostly, flowers of different kinds and ritual knives, all of it clearly labeled and organized. Most of what Pi used were in the lock boxes upstairs, each lock box containing different items their family would need. Some for crafting, rituals and traps already made that she could use to renew the defenses of the Den if she needed. But the ritual table held its own magic, magics that as human you believed people on dabbled in because they were crackpots. But it wasn’t true, what rituals could accomplish were many and they were, in their own way.. very very handy.

“I make the tomes there.” Pi answered, moving over to the table and picking up the oil sitting on its side, righting it before cupping it in her palm. She held it out. “This, is the fixing agent… rituals work by summoning a fae into a secure circle. A Scarlet Ammiana, a ritual knife and diamond tooth are the offerings we give to the fae for the magic they impart.” She continued, juggling the oil in her hand before lifting her gaze to smile at Aliyah. “But the Fae work against their will and given half the chance a Fae will attempt to break out of the circle and attack the ritualist, ripping them to shreds and leaving them bleeding on the edges of the circle. The oil, is used to fix any potential breaches in the circle before the Fae can escape. A little dangerous.” Pi smiled, putting the oil back down. “But worth the effort if the ritual works. You can boost people’s powers, energies and blood. You can protect an area or crack it open like an egg to let people in. You can help someone be stronger, or pull blood out of their veins and weaken them. So much… once you learn them, and learn them well… it can be… very rewarding.”

"One day you'll know what fits for you... rituals isn't an easy fit for me, but I am adequate. I'm better at crafting weapons and gadgets, traps and more mechanics.." Pi shifted to point at the crafting table behind them. Then further still at the forge against the far wall. "Skylar works there, at the forge, to make her swords and her weapons.. everything a person will need... in one spot."

<Aliyah> The things that Pi spoke of, Fae, were something Aliyah had yet to experience. She had heard whispers of the creatures; that they could severely harm a vampire before they even had a chance to blink. They sounds like ones best avoided, even if Ali had no idea how or where she might even come across one. Still, the magic work that Pi spoke of sounded complex, but rewarding. “Wow, that is some serious magic work. To be honest, my family was extremely religious, and so…all of this…” she gestured to the table below, “…was taboo in my house. I’m pretty sure even a book about such things would be burned.” It was a little deeper into her family than she should have gone, but at least Pi would understand her lack of knowledge on the Arcane. Hopefully.

The forge stood out in the Den due to its glow, and Ali was happy to note that she had a vague idea on how of it worked. She had seem glass work done before, and make of the tools appeared to be the same, if not in purpose, than style. “You can all do such…amazing things. Rituals, Crafting…I suppose time in the city requires you find something you are good at, huh?” she assumed, a smile tugging at her lips. What had she been good at? Surfing. Surfing and rebellion. Somehow, she doubted those would do well for her here.

“I did get a bit more into practice hacking, and I have managed quite a few successful hacks. I haven’t gotten any SERIOUS money from the merchants, but I suspect they are cheap.” She gestured with her head toward the computer that sat nearby, it being her one of choice when she worked on her hacking skills. “It doesn’t really bring in any usable goods, though.”

‹Pi dArtois› Pi’s smile widened at Aliyah’s words. A hacker. That, was a very good thing, having someone who hacked, and hacked well. Madison was good, Pi knew that. It’s why Elliot used her at Lancaster’s, gave her a job, to help keep those who would hack their business out. But they were useful too, in their own way, for their own purpose. “Oh there is a use… if you find any source codes. Keep them, they’re valuable, and if you become a better hacker, then you can make your own scripts, and then sell them for ridiculous amounts of money.” She finished, her smile in place and her eyes dancing. “Having something to do is important, having it mean something I think is important too… someone to tell you it’s valuable and will help. And it will, what you learn… but it also gives us something to do to fill our time.”

Sitting on the tall stool in front of the table Pi tucked one leg up under her butt. “ I have found, that being a vampire, doesn’t preclude us from needing to do things with our time. Or having necessary connections with people. That’s what d’Artois is, just a place for you to come to where you are wanted and needed. And where, one day, whatever it is you do, will help. Sometimes people just give over money, if that’s what they want, and some just give over things when asked, if it’s something they have to give.”

<Aliyah> The smile that lit up the woman’s face was unexpected, but one that filled Aliyah with a small sense of hope. The last thing she wanted was to become a waste of space, one known for laziness or stupidity, and then have it come back on the people who were taking their time to acquaint her with the ways of the city. Sure, at this point, it was just the heads of the family, but that was enough for her. For three weeks, she did things on her own. Now, she didn’t have to. And, she was given a sense of purpose. If she could get better at this hacking business, she would be able to put it to good use, after all! “Oh, wow! I had no idea that I could get so much use out of it. I just thought I would get a bit of money out of it. So, in that case, I will definitely keep working. Look out for source codes, and maybe learn to write my own script,” she nodded, “Sounds not only challenging, but fun. I’m in!”

Ali sat down on the stool beside Pi and twisted her hair about her finger, looking away towards the forge. “You know…when Jaeger first turned me…I didn’t know what to expect. And, I just got used to doing things on my own, for me. I kind of hated it. When you are raised to believe in giving and charity, it’s hard to be selfish.” She laughed at her own words, head shaking in her amusement. “Even as a rebellious teenager, one thing I never did escape from was selflessness. I almost wish I had.” Her leg kicked up to rest over her knee, her elbow coming down to rest on it. “Do you like it here? Being completely honest.”

‹Pi dArtois› Pi didn’t have to consider her answer, and there was no hesitancy when she spoke. “I love what I am.” She answered truthfully. And that statement could probably be taken in many ways. In hindsight how could anyone not like being a vampire. Forever young. Eternity. Superhuman strength. But it wasn’t that, so much as the people she had come to know and bring into her world. Before being a vampire she was a loner, someone who rarely befriended others and was rarely befriended. Here, a chance to change that mold had been given to her and she was striving to make use of it. She wasn’t always successful. The person she had been prior to being a vampire was instinctively paranoid and her first reaction was usually suspicious. She’d managed to survive on her own from a young age, and had grown into the vampire she was now without any help at all. For her there had been no long talks and beneficial pointers on what to do and how. Not like Aliyah was receiving and would receive later.

“Both of my parents died when I was much younger, so it was only me. I’m used to doing for myself… happiest sometimes when I’m on my own. But I think, since I became what we are…. I have enjoyed having people around.” Turning her head she looked over at Aliyah, the woman playing with her strand of hair. “I’m not always nice you know… sometimes, I can be… harsh, but… no, this is better. And I think you may like it too, after you adjust. And there is a lot of adjusting to do. If you’d like to try out either rituals, crafting, or using the forge, just to see if you’d like it… then you can ask me or Skylar. Sometimes, it’s good to learn other things as well… eventually. I know, we don’t have an Enchanter yet.. although I don’t know exactly what that means yet, or how to train up to it. It’s something I’m considering looking into… because I’m curious. How about you? Have you heard of anything, that has you curious… wanting to try it out?”

<Aliyah> When it came to being alone as Pi had suggested, Ali could definitely relate. Her parents were particular about who their daughter spent her with, and made she had set curfews and the Sabbath was always upheld. The friends she managed to make often revolved around the fellow surfers that took up their free time with the waves. Even then, it was a friendship by association, nothing more. In reality, most of her time was spent being a pawn of someone else’s game. If she believed, she might have said it was God. But, she didn’t. Instead, she held it up to Fate or perhaps Karma. In truth, she didn’t know what she believed. Any shred of faith she might have had went out the window the day she was turned.

“I’m not…harsh, but I have a temper that lands me in more trouble than I know what to do with. And that temper can lead to failed attempts at any form of relationship, friendship or otherwise. I think that is why reaching out to others is so hard for me, here,” she explained, looking up at Pi through her lashes. The woman truly was beautiful, as were most of the vampires she had come across. It was strange, really. “I have an interest in surviving, does that count?” She laughed, knowing that it wasn’t much, but the truth nonetheless.

A pause filled the air as Aliyah considered her time, and how to spend the rest of eternity. Yikes. “Do you mind if I go and try out this Tome more, maybe learn the lay of the land around here? Go through the portals, see where they take me? I haven’t ventured outside of the QZ much…” she asked, not wanting to be rude and just say she was leaving. But, she wanted to make sure she understood the process, and didn’t somehow throw herself into oblivion. That…would be horrifying.

‹Pi dArtois› No, feel free.” She replied lifting her hand to wave at the portals that surrounded them. “I have had fun playing with them myself. All of them, lead somewhere of some use. Only one has a location use and that is the Docks.. but the rest, lead to locations known to house creatures we have been tasked to kill. Zombies, Mooncalfs, Ancients and Jogo’s. So many to count and these lead to places like those, and also to the transit, I use that a lot, right into the middle of the Bullwood transit and from there you can go even more places quickly. If you need me again, you can find me here.. or at Lancaster’s.. the pub Elliot and I own. Don’t be a stranger Aliyah… and come poke me anytime.”

<Aliyah> She stood from the stool, then, and leaned down to hug the woman, lightly. At this point, she didn't care if it was something that Pi found odd or uncomfortable, because it was the best way for Ali to show how much she appreciated all that Pi was doing. To some, it might not seem like much more than welcoming her to the bloodline she had become part of, but it was really so much more.To Ali, anyway. "I am guessing I should avoid some of those scarier sounding ones?" she teased, sure she would be avoiding most of them, anyway. This wasn't practice time, it was exploring time. She smiled brightly to the woman. "I will be sure to come bother you again soon, but maybe just for a social call, to block out all the technical stuff. Have a good night, Pi." With that, she turned and hopped across the room, taking the portal she knew was the Hunting Grounds.

[Skylar]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--
Aliyah:
The darkness of the Hunting Grounds surrounded Aliyah as she wandered beneath the trees. The portals had taken her once already, but she had had hardly any time to explore the space before returning to Michael. The soft growls of wolves a short distance away made her smirk, but she was in no mood to play tag. Explore, use the Tome, move on to the next Portal. And within no time, the exits to the Grounds came into view. Taking that as time enough to move on, she took out the Tome. Just like before, she concentrated, letting the Tome take her to the Den. As it materialized, she moved back to the elevator. 'Depot...' she whispered, to remember the proper floor.

Skylar:
With Ric gone there’s no point staying at his. He’s bolted, like usual. I sigh to realise I may have chased him out of his home, again. With damp hair hanging down my back, I take out my tome and read the inscription. This piece of paper is a godsend. I appear in the den just as the doors to the elevator are about to close. I reach out my hand to stop that from happening and walk into the metal box.
“Hey. Not seen you before. My name’s Skylar.”
I offer my right hand to the unknown woman. I may not know her but she’s obviously family. Or family adjacent. Either way, I’m pretty safe to assume she’s a friendly.

Aliyah:
The sudden hand led to a scream getting caught in Aliyah's throat, her hand covering her mouth. If she were human, it was a good possibility she would have had a heart attack right, then. But, the blonde that hopped into the elevator was no reason for alarm, and her muscles slowly relaxed. In a moment on annoyance, she berated herself for being caught off guard. Some vampire she was.
The annoyance quickly passed, though, and she took the hand that was offered to her. “I’m Aliyah. Pretty new face around here, I guess.” She really needed a sign…’NEWBIE.’ “It is nice to meet you…Skylar.” She tested out the name, finding she rather liked it. Common names were boring. Her blue eyes glanced to the door, checking that they were beginning their descent.

Skylar:
I recognise the name but my brain is still a little fuzzy from… well from the shower that was meant to calm me down. ******* Ric. He had no ******* clue what he did to me. None at all. I try to ignore the ever growing frustration I’m feeling and use the woman next to me as a focal point.
“You’ve posted on the family board… right? I’m sure I know your name.”
Aliyah. I pull out my phone and start looking through my recent replies. It may be rude to be thumbing through messages when you’re introducing yourself to someone but I’m almost certain I should know the name.
“Sorry. Just checking why I recognise the name.”
I turn the screen for a moment so she can see where I am and what I’m up to.

Aliyah:
The blonde nodded her head at the question about the family board, though she had been pretty sparse when it came to discussion with much of the family. In reality, she wouldn’t have posted much of anything at all, if it weren’t for her inability to find her way around this city. Even if she had a GPS. “I…think you might be the one I asked for a blade from?” she questioned, canting her head to the side in wonder.
The woman being on the phone hardly fazed her, and as the metal doors swung open, Ali stepped out. Her steps began to carry her toward the shop when she suddenly turned and looked back at Skylar. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to just walk away. I was on a mission,” she blurted out with a cant of her head toward the shop, unwilling to be rude by simply walking away with no word, and because this was supposed to be her meeting a family member.

Skylar:
I click the fingers on my right hand and point at her.
“That’s the bunny. You clearly have a much better memory than me.”
As the doors to the elevator open I step out. She’s off god knows where and I start off towards the forge. Force of habit. I was supposed to be heading for the mausoleum.
“Oh hey. No worries. If you have a moment though, I could grab that word for you. It’s over by the forge.”
I point in the direction of my new toy, the one Pi had installed for me so I didn’t have to work out of the abandoned factory.

Aliyah:
An eyebrow perked up at the expression the woman used, lips twitching into a small smile. It was definitely a new one. Still, her memory was hardly one to be commended, and in truth, landed her in more trouble than it did anything else. It had seemed to only get worse since her turn, too much information seemingly shut down her servers. Just like a computer. But, Skylar hardly needed to know that information.
Her hands brushed against her pant legs, teeth chewing on her lip. She was careful to avoid catching her lip on her fangs, something she was still unable to retract and hide from view. In fact, she was beginning to wonder if she even could. “Yeah, I have a minute. I was just going to sell some loot before doing some portal jumping. Exploring, if you will,” she explained, stepping up to Skylar’s side.

Skylar:
“Oh is that your mission?”
It’s a safe assumption to make, since it made a certain amount of sense. I hadn’t actually explored half of the portals in the room myself. Mainly as I seemed to be busy dealing with the men in my life while trying to keep up with my business and hobbies. If I had a spare moment I was with my guitar trying out new sounds.
“That sounds interesting. Though riding up in that lift is gonna get damn repetitive if you ask me. I’m not sure why we let out where we do but I’ll take it. Beats taking the train. I can get from here to Ric’s place in like half the time and I don’t have to go through the sewers. Which is a bonus. My shoes are ever so grateful to Pi and her magic paper.”
I look down at my strappy black heels. Yes they might be a little out of place with my jeans and t-shirt style but then jeans and heels worked. I huff ever so slightly as I remember how comfortable my trainers are and how I’d much rather be wearing them but I needed the extra height and I liked to remind Ric of the fact that I was a woman. Plus I’m pretty sure they make my arse look better. I half look over my shoulder before I realise what I’m doing.
“I’ll just grab that sword for you…”

Aliyah:
Her head bobbed up and down in a nod as the woman questioned her mission. “I just got my Tome for Pi, and I want to make sure I don’t find myself in a black hole of doom…” she mumbled, eyes going wide like it was a very real possibility. In her mind, it was, and the idea of the Portals still made her nervous. There was no better way to get over it than exposure. Pi had promised nothing would happen, and jokingly said she would search if it happened, but it hadn’t calmed the suspicious that it could.
Then the woman kept talking and the tension returned to Ali’s muscles tenfold. In her conversation with Elliot, she had mentioned Ric, not the other way around. And obviously, this woman knew him well if she went to and from his place. “Ric, hmm? I met him once,” she offered, quietly. ‘Yeah, and he is brother’ her mind snapped, and she fought the urge to wrinkle her nose. “Do you know him well?”
It was just a means of conversation, forcing herself toward the Forge. She was vaguely aware of her excitement for a new weapon, her palms itching it test it out. But, she would let Skylar give it to her on her own time. She had made it, after all.

Skylar:
I laugh. There’s not much else to do. The woman is curious about Ric which means one of two things; either he was a complete dick to her and she’s waiting to see if I’ll call him names first before she agrees, or she has a crush on him like I do. Good luck there woman. He’s mine. Even if he doesn’t quite know that fact yet.
“I probably know him about as well as anyone can know Ric. But I really haven’t been in his orbit for long. Just over a couple of months. We’re kinda, sorta, dating but he hasn’t figured that out yet.”
I don’t mind telling her that. I’ve told others the same thing. Probably best she know now if she does wanna take a crack at him. Not that I’m the jealous type. Normally. Or that Ric looks at women. Hell. I can barely get him to look at me. My cheeks flush with colour as I think about our time in the shower together. I push those thoughts from mind. I’d have time to concentrate on them later.
“Was he an arse?”
I ask half out of curiosity, half to see what she’ll say.
“’Cos that’s kind of his thing. I don’t mind it myself. I’m kinda into that I suppose.”
I shrug.

Aliyah:
The laugh was unexpected, at best, but one that Ali took as an okay sign. At the same time, the sound grated on a nerve, as it was a seriously asked question. If there was anyone that she would get information out of it, it would be those closest to him, because Lord knew he hadn’t offered her ****. Just a good dose of shock and disappointment. Not in him, but in her – their—family. She didn’t know a thing about any of them, and that bothered her.
And now, she knew that he was “kinda, sorta dating” someone. And that someone happened to be a member of her bloodline. Fantastic. The fact that Ric apparently didn’t know that fact made it all the better and as much as she didn’t want to, she laughed. “I swear not to tell him, then!” she swore, crossing her heart much like a child would when make a promise to a friend.
“Let’s just say…he has a way of rocking your world in the worst way possible?” she gave in way of explanation. “And not of the sexual rocking, either.” It came as an afterthought, and the last thing she needed was Skylar thinking they were doing the dirty. ‘Oh, ew…’ This time, her nose did wrinkle and she had to literally shake away the thought. “But, I can chalk it up to him being an asshole, for sure!”

Skylar:
“It’s one of his finer qualities.”
I laugh again as I say that, because in some ways it kind of was. Our relationship was built on the whole back and forth, playful banter thing. He could indeed be a complete arse when he wanted to, but I like to think I give as good as I get. Not that he’d care, or even notice at times. He can be pretty difficult to read.
I start sorting through the weapons, my phone still in my right hand, as I tried to find the number of the one Aliyah wanted.
“And I’m sure he’ll figure it out eventually. That we’re dating that is. He’s not stupid. He’s just got it into his head that he doesn’t date. And no worries about the sexual thing. I didn’t take it that way. Ric’s not really the touchy feely type. Even with me.”
More’s the pity. I sigh having said that, and a shiver runs down my spine. I have to half shrug, half roll my shoulders to get rid of it. That guy was more frustrating than even he knew.

Aliyah:
For a first meeting, the conversation took a pretty personal turn and Aliyah did her best to keep herself from stopping it cold. It was possible that was thing she might share in common with Ric, and that was dancing around subjects she didn’t want to discuss. His sex life definitely was one of those “Do Not Touch” subjects, and so she struggled to pull something, anything…forward in order to discuss that instead.
“So, you are Elliot’s childe, right?” she asked, rolling her eyes heavenward when the woman wasn’t looking. That was best she had? “He has been a really big help since my turning.” An image of the man flashed in her mind, and his obvious dislike of gratitude. No matter the times she had thanked him, he had brushed it off…like it was the least he could do. It was far more, but who was she to argue?
“Can I ask you something?” she muttered, eyeing the multitude of weapons Skylar sorted through. Weapon making would never manage to be an interest of hers, but from the looks of it, Skylar was good at what she did. Maybe, she would be able to find the same niche in the family with time. “How do you act around Elliot and Pi? I mean, like…head honchos and all that jazz…do I have to treat them like they walk on water? Cause, I can do that…and it isn’t so grand.” Again, a joke. A misplaced one, but a joke.

Skylar:
I don’t even blink at the topic change. I’m easy with who I talk to and what I’ll talk about. Ten minutes from now the girl will probably know all about Dillon and the fact that we were pretty much friend’s with benefits till I died and well… met Ric.
“Yeah. I’m Ellie’s brat. And erm…”
I scoop up her sword and twirls around to face her, holding it out before me triumphantly. Of course that’s not how you hand over a sword. I’d been reading up on this kind of thing, so I half tuck the blade under the arm closest to my body and hold the hilt towards her with my right hand. Swords were usually presented hilt first like this. I don’t know why. Tradition and/or safety were my guess.
“I’m probably not the best person to ask. Cos Well. Pi didn’t like me much when I first got here. Probably still doesn’t like me and she’s just better at hiding it. Ellie and I get on great. In the interest of full disclosure I should probably tell you I’m a bit of a flirt. It’s not my fault. It’s the way I was made. And well… Pi didn’t like that much. Ellie’s cool though. I don’t treat either of them any differently to how I’d treat my friends if I’m honest. Ellie’s my papa bear. Despite the flirty thing, he’s a lil’ outside my preferred age range.”

Aliyah:
The sword’s hilt was in her face before she could blink, and she looked at it for a moment too long before she grasped it in her hand, carefully freeing it from Skylar’s grasp. Aliyah took a few steps back, testing out the weight and her ability to move with it. It was near perfect, just long enough to keep at a safe distance, and not a bad design, either. It was by means a drool-worthy blade, but it was definitely one that could pack a punch. For the first time in a long time, a wide grin lit up her face. “This is wonderful, thank you. Your work is great!”
The blade came down to rest against her leg as Skylar went on to explain her situation with Pi and Elliot. So far, Pi had been really good when it came to helping Ali, though not nearly to the same extent as Elliot. Still, it was always possible for there to be dislike among groups, so why Ali had expected any different, she didn’t know.
But, then Skylar explained that, too, and her blue eyes went wide with understanding as she nodded her head. “Well, that would explain, then.” The words were quiet, and hardly meant as offense. “As for being flirt, you do what makes you happy, mate.” For the first time, the Australian truly seeped into her words and that just lifted her mood even higher. God, she missed that place.

Skylar:
“Oh hey. You sound like Ellie. That means Australian or Brit. I sometimes have trouble telling them apart.”
I practically sing this out with excitement. Though to be fair I’m an upbeat person so a lot of what I say comes out a little exuberant.
“And thanks. For the compliment that is. I’ve gotten tonnes better at making these things. You know what they say. Practice makes perfect. And I’ve had a lot of practice since I… well… you know… died. Wasn’t planning on that one I can tell ya.”
I can’t help but be a little jealous of the way she wields the blade. She may not be an expert, not like Ricky, but she seemed to have more potential with the thing than me. I mean I can feel when I have the balance right and stuff but that’s about as far as my skills go. For now. I’m kind of waiting, or rather fearing, for the day that Ric forces me to learn the basics.

Aliyah:
The sudden excitement in the woman’s words made her laugh, even if her accent was simply a part of who she was. Regardless, she nodded her head. “Australian, yes. I was born there, and my family moved to the States when I was 17,” she explained, “I learned to hide it, in order to fit in. Then, as I got older, I stopped caring.” It was more than Skylar probably cared to know, but it explained why it didn’t always appear so readily.
The depressing turn of the conversation made Aliyah look solemnly at Skylar, contemplating whether or not to ask how and when it happened. Somehow, that seemed like it would be rude. Much like asking a lady her age or weight. “I imagine all you have now is time to perfect the skill, right?” It was true, that eternity stared Aliyah in the face. To this day, she had no idea what to do with.
She grabbed the blade from her side and took a few steps back. “Would you up for some Portal hopping?” she asked, offering the woman a small smile. “Maybe we can get some practice in, while we are at it?” She had no idea how the woman was when it came to hunting, but what better way to find out, than this?

Skylar:
“Pfft. What’s so great about fitting in. It’s never been my priority I can tell ya.”
I’m not lying either. While I do run with a crowd, they are my kind of people. If my parents had it their way, well, come to think of it I’d probably still be alive as I probably wouldn’t have been caught dead in Lancaster’s then.
“And sure. I’m up for some portal jumping. I’ve not been through half of them myself. Though I’ll give the practice a miss. You can practise for the both of us if you like.”
I give her a wink.
“While I can make the things, I don’t play with them. I have about as much talent in that area as a new born baby.”

Aliyah:
As the minutes ticked by, Aliyah found herself liking the woman more and more. She had an infectious personality, and had no problem showing exactly who she was. It was not a statement that she, too, could make. Instead, she often hid her feelings and thoughts, appearing as the image of someone poised, and kind. Her parents would have a daughter no other way. They had an image of her perfect, God-worshipping life. The one she now had? Far from it.
“Do you not like to fight?” she asked, turning to move toward one of the portals she had yet to follow. The ones that she did know where spread out, and so she picked one at random. Perhaps the Caverns, whatever those were. “Have you gone through this one before?” Part of her worried that this would end in problems, for her, at least. She was hardly strong enough to take on anything stronger than a Feral.

Skylar:
“Me? God no. I’m a lover, not a fighter baby.”
I smile at her, the smile being warm and genuine. I knew my limitations and I wasn’t afraid to tell them. I’m up front about who I am. Though I’ve probably not been as upfront as I could be with Ricky. At least not lately. But then he was skittish about relationships. It was a far better plan to ease him into it without telling him exactly what it was that was going on. I mean he doesn’t seem to have any problems with the way we are now. No point spooking him. Though I may have already done that, since I’m here and he’s god knows where.
“Actually yeah. I’ve been through that one. It leads to a set of caves or what have you. They’re pretty cool though. If you outrun the critters that is. There’s gems in there too. Just laying around on the floor that you can pick up. Which is fantastic if you’re part magpie and into crafting jewellery like I am. I only recently found out about them myself. But man that’s gonna save me some cash I tell ya. And I am kinda, sorta, maybe a bit of a magpie. I love shiny stuff. The smaller the better. Cute, itsy bitsy, shiny things. And I know. I know. I’m such a girl.”
I hadn’t seen y collection in a few years. For all I knew mum had packed it all up and shipped it off to good will. And well, that wouldn’t be so bad, so long as the collection stayed together. Which it probably wouldn’t. I probably should have asked what happened to some of my stuff at Christmas but I really didn’t think about it.

Aliyah:
Aliyah smiled as Skylar went on and on about being a magpie with gems, creating jewelry. As it was, Aliyah had never been into creating jewelry, but she was like any other female when it came to her love of it. Necklaces, rings, bracelets…she loved them all. Her collection was small, her parents insisting that she was full of vanity with her desire for them. So, they were sure that she spent minimal money and only wore them for special occasions.
“I do love gems, and I am sure they would be worth a pretty penny. Which I could definitely use!” She giggled and stepped up to the Portal. “See you on the other side, then?” she asked, shooting the woman a wink before stepping through. The Caverns materialized before her, the darkness surrounding her like a blanket.
She skimmed the area, waiting for Skylar to follow behind. In truth, Ali had no idea where to search for any gems, or the creatures that roamed the area. If they were powerful, by any means…she might need Skylar just long enough to get the upper hand.

Skylar:
Aliyah seemed like a nice girl, or woman. Whichever. The label wasn’t important. She was nice. And pretty. Not that I’m into females. But women notice these things. I watch as she steps through the portal, run my hands over my damp hair and follow suit.
“Nifty eh? These portal things. So. We head south. This is like a huge cavern or something. Of and watch out for the gems, critters and holes. I mean you won’t kill yourself if you fall down them, but you want to be prepared. It’s quite a drop.”
I suddenly remember the footwear I have on and groan. If we go down a level I’ll have to take the things off and then jump. Stupid *******… I have no idea what part of the female psyche tells you heels are sexy, they’re a pain in the arse. I have no idea why I wear these things. Oh wait. Yeah I do. And he’s a bigger pain in my arse than these things are.
I look down at my shoes and then up at Aliyah.
“So you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend? Whatever.”

Aliyah:
Skylar appeared only a moment later. The groan that sounded from the woman caused Ali to notice her shoes, “…are you sure you want to go through her with me? That is…definitely inappropriate footwear.” Her feet could barely handle heels for a short period of time, walking across a flat surface. This was anything but, and the poor girl’s feet would probably feel it. Vampires, or not. “We can come back, or you can go home?”
Aliyah held the blade out in front of her, letting the small amounts of light twinkle off the metal. She couldn’t wait to see what damage it could do against the creatures that roamed the darkened walls. Her lips pursed and she looked back at the female beside her. “Perhaps I can do this area later? I know what it is now, and we can try one a little less…wearing?” she suggested, thinking about perhaps finding the one that led to Lancaster’s.
Sure, she wouldn’t be able to drink or eat, but she could enjoy the music. Not to mention she had yet to really set foot in the place that her bloodline owned. She could only guess that it was successful enough.

Skylar:
“Meh. Don’t worry about it. I can suck it up. Worse comes to worse I’ll take the shoes off and hoof it. Let’s work our way around this level and then tome out. That way I won’t have to twist my ankle by dropping down to the system below. That sound like a plan?”
I’m not sure if she’s avoiding the question about her gender preferences or if she just didn’t hear me, so I decide to try again.
“So you have a boyfriend? Or are you into girls? I like guys… in case you think I’m hitting on you. I haven’t met a woman yet that could make me go gay. But you know…”
I laugh.
“Never say never.”
What I did notice though - before I reopened this line of questioning - was that she seems drawn to the weapon I gave her. It’s almost fun watching people take in my work, appreciating it as they do.
I try not to focus on the fact that if we run into trouble that this new, young thing is going to have to save my arse. Usually I’d tome straight out but you can’t exactly go doing that when someone’s with you. It’s just not right. Besides. If I got hurt, I could have Ric stitch me up.

Aliyah:
The line of questioning finally registered into Ali’s mind and she blinked, looking at the woman in surprise. “Oh! Sorry about that, I tend to lose track of conversations. All it…overload, if you must,” she smiled over her words, but then, sighed. “To answer your question, no. I do not have a boyfriend, but my preference is males. As far as I know, anyway. Since…as you say, never say never.” Ali laughed, then, flipping the blade about in her hand.
The plan offered sounded good enough to her, and so she nodded her head and took a few steps deeper into the caverns. She had no idea what to expect, a spark of anxiety settling into her stomach. Usually, she was alone when she took on other beasts, but this time, she wasn’t. She had another with her, but one that preferred not to fight. So, in the end, not as much help.
“So…do you have contact with your…family? The human one?” she asked, thinking of her own family that remained in Pennsylvania. She had yet to contact them, tell them she hadn’t made it to Toronto. They were probably worried sick, her father, especially.

Skylar:
“No worries. I talk. A lot.”
I smile at her and then get out of her way. She looks like she’s hunting. I’ve been hunting before with others. Mainly Ric. But I know enough of her stance to know she’s readying herself for what might come.
“Yeah. I saw them Christmas day actually. I mean we aren’t close or anything. Well not as close as we could be. I’m kind of the black sheep.”
I shrug, but since I’m behind her she probably doesn’t notice.
“They don’t know what I am or anything. I took my… I took Ric with me, just in case. You know first time around the family since I vamped out. I think he came with to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid and give myself away. I took him because… Well… I kinda wanted to show him off to my family. Mum hates my choice in men and Ric… well… I think he’s gorgeous but he has that whole bad boy, doomsday prepper vibe. If you know what I mean. He’s not the kinda guy my mum wants me to settle down with. How about you? Your parents live local?”

Aliyah:
Listening to Skylar talk about her family brought a level of calm over Ali as she listened for signs of movement, on her guard in case the worse should happen. At the same time, scanned for gems and other such things that had been mentioned earlier. It was nice to hear someone else talk about their family since they became something totally different. Something that could kill them with the flick of a wrist, if they put enough power behind it. And that scared Ali…the possibility.
“How did you handle it? Being around them?” she asked, softly, but so full of curiosity. “I…haven’t called my parents since…I died. I am sure they worry…” she whispered, casting her blue gaze over to the woman. She could imagine the two of them being friends, had they met before. Not that they could not be friends now, but it seemed different…friends established at a different time, in a different place.
“My family lives in Pennsylvania. I hated them for moving us from Australia…but I was never the daughter they always wanted. They are…religious. Zealots, really. And, I never really fit into their perfect plan to find the Gates of Hea--…” she cleared her throat, fighting off the choking feeling that suddenly seized her. Her face twisted in frustration, and panic. Then, it passed, and she looked it over like nothing happened.

Skylar:
“Oh hey. You okay?”
I ask as she begins to choke.
For the rest of what she said it was just nice to know that I wasn’t alone. There was this other person that was rebelling against the family creed. It’s almost funny to me how I actually seem to care more for Elliot’s opinion of me than I do for that of my own birth family, but then they are used to me and my ways. It’s not really their fault that they don’t get me. Ellie gets me. In many ways Ellie and I are kindred spirits. I smile at this thought.
“And I didn’t really think about it.”
I begin to answer her questions when the choking passes.
“I was just me. You should probably ring your folks. I mean they are more likely to send a search party for you if you avoid calling them. I bet you don’t want that. And you know… over the phone they won’t notice any difference in you. Or at least they shouldn’t. I think my family were too distracted by Ric to give me a second thought.”
I laugh softly. Of course my family had paid me attention, but with Ric beside me they all seemed a little more uneasy than usual. Besides. They know me. And my moods. So expecting the unexpected kinda comes with the territory for them.

Aliyah:
The choking passes quickly enough, but her hand rubbed over her neck for a few moments afterwards, as if to rid herself of the feeling. “I’m okay, thank you…” she whispered, processing what had happened. It was the third time that it occurred, but she couldn’t seem to make a connection between them. So, she brushed it off and listened to Skylar talk about being around her family. It must be easy for someone like her to be, well… ;just her.’ She seemed full of energy and life.
“I have considered calling them, but I keep holding back. They trust me too much, and I have too much potential danger for them.” That was all she offered in reply, knowing it was the best she had. It wasn’t that she did miss them, didn’t want to hear their voices. It was fact that she wasn’t their daughter, anymore. Not really…she was dead.
Peering around the corner of the caverns, she came across a sparkle on the ground and bent to pick it up. “Oh, hey. A sapphire!” she smiled, passing it over to the woman next to her. “Maybe you can make something out of it?”

Skylar:
I smile and take the sapphire from her.
“I’ll keep a hold of this for you. Since you kinda have your hands full.”
I nod in the direction of the blade.
“So religious family but you can wield a sword. I’m sensing there’s a story in there somewhere. Don’t suppose you did re-enactment or anything like that did you. Oh **** me. You weren’t trained to be some sort of warrior of god were you? That would be some fucked up **** right there.”
I realise how I sound after I’ve said it. That damn filter of mine is hit and miss - more miss if I’m honest - so I try to correct what I’ve said as best I can.
“Sorry. That may have sounded rude. But like, if you subscribe to the films and that, vampires are like anti-religion or some such.”
I’d watched a fair few vampire movies since my death for research purposes. Most of it was utter bull.
“Did you maintain your faith… You know… After you… How do you say it nicely?”
I shrug.
“Kicked the bucket?”

Aliyah:
As hard as Aliyah had tried to avoid the topic, it seemed Skylar was in the mood to talk religion and her family. She couldn’t rightfully blame the woman, as most vampire horror stories involved religion as a topic. Whether it be as a means to harm a vampire, or just a vampire’s lack of faith. Except, in her case…she hadn’t had faith to begin with. She looked at Skylar for a long moment, blue eyes narrowed in concentration.
“I…was a black sheep, I guess. I didn’t have faith when I turned, and I’m not sure I have it now, either. My parents called it rebellion, and I took up various activities they found…sinful. I guess this would be one of them?” she lifted the sword, letting it drop soon after with a small clang that rang off the walls.
She paused, coming across a creature she had never seen before, almost afraid to get any closer. “I think my upbringing carried over, though…because if my memory serves right…every time I try to say his name, I choke. It makes me wonder if I can even step into a church. Maybe I am one of those old vampire classics?” she laughed, though the notion bothered her.

Skylar:
I smile as she explains her story. It’s not that I find it funny though; it’s just kind of familiar.
“Oh hunny, I’ve made a carrier out of disappointing my folks.”
I laugh and rub her shoulder reassuringly.
“Revel in it. That’s my advice. Whatever you do, do it for you, have fun and if you manage to stick it to your parents – even long distance – then it’s all well and good. I wish my folks were in a different city. Hell I wish they were on a different continent. Thankfully I don’t have to see them all that often. So… Wanna try the church experiment after this?”
I laugh and my voice echoes through the darkness. I see the creature ahead of us and wait to see if we’ll be dodging it or if Aliyah wants to take her chances with it. I kind of hope the former, just because I’m not much of a violent person.

Aliyah:
She keeps her eyes trained on the creature, quieting her own laughter as to not draw too much attention to themselves. “I think I done all the sticking my family can take! Hell, I would move back to Australia to escape them if I wouldn’t be so tempted to go out in the sun!” she gushed, thinking of the white sandy beaches and the blue waves.
With a small giggle, she turned to look at Sky and nodded. “Hey, maybe we should do the church experiment. It wouldn’t hurt to find out if that is really the case, right?” She shrugged up her shoulders, curious to know if it really was a religious context that seemed to cause her harm in some way or another. If it was, the blonde was sure she would need to burn everything her parents had ever given her.
“I think I am done poking in here before that thing comes at us…” she gestured just around the corner. “Want to head back to the Den, maybe pick a new location?” As much as she hated to admit it, the caverns freaked her out.

Skylar:
“I was never much of a day person.”
I tell her as she comments about being tempted to go out in the sun.
“The night life of the city was always calling to me. So I guess maybe I don’t miss it as much as someone like you would. Ain’t no decent beaches around here I tell ya. And sure. Let’s tome back. Meet you at the elevator.”
I grin and pull out my tome. I read the words aloud and wind up in the familiar location. I push the button for the lift and listen as it grinds into motion and starts to descend in our direction.

Aliyah:
I can’t imagine being a party go-er, someone that enjoyed the night life of a city or town. Too many people, and so many of them interested in being drunks and assholes. Perhaps it was her overwhelming fear and anxiety in crowds that kept her from it, but she didn’t complain about it, either. Yes, she would much rather enjoy the waves on a surfboard, than the bar scene in a big city.
She nodded her head, letting Skylar tome back before her. Her head canted as Skylar seemed to chant for her tome, but Ali had never done that. Her concentration was enough, it seemed, to make her own work. But, Pi had said that it works differently for different people. Now, the blonde had seen it in action. So, she held her tome out before her, hand over the cover.
Her blinked, finding herself beside Skylar and she smiled. “One of these days, I am going to find something to walk over there…” she whispered, gesturing her head toward the group of Fadebeasts and Zombies.

Skylar:
“Don’t even joke about that hun. Been there, done that. It wasn’t much fun I can tell ya. There’s traps too. You can’t see them but they’re there. Doc, he’s someone in the family, not sure if you’ve met him yet. I’ve only met him recently myself, but well Doc told me to stay put in here after that happened. **** that. I mean once you have a toe you can get around without being seen quite so easily. So I had Dillon bring me a jacket and camped out with my guy for a couple of days. In fact… that probably made the whole event worthwhile. Kinda. Maybe. Sorta. Helped that I was quite drunk at the time too. So the pain was like… nothing. Well not nothing. But not as bad as it could have been.”
I’m babbling and I know I’m babbling. Luckily the arrival of the elevator prompts us into action. Sometimes I had to do a little more of that. Less talking more doing. Though I also had to do more thinking before doing. I start ordering my mind. Think. Act. Speak. That’s probably the right order. Though not for every occasion. Think. Speak. Act. That probably was the correct order if I’m honest. So less talk maybe. Even as I think this though my mouth starts up again.
“So where to next? Portal to the unknown or are we going to the station to catch a train to a church?”

Aliyah:
Aliyah’s eyes widen in horror at the images that filled her head. Pieces of Skylar blown sky high, with no pun intended. At least, that is what Pi had said would happen if Ali were to happen to go over there. Maybe it wasn’t quite to that extent, but the way her companion talked told her otherwise. “That sounds terrible…how does one even recover from that?!” she asked, voice somewhat high from the possible terrors. No wonder it was the family trap.
A shiver raced down her spine as the elevators doors opened. She weighed her options, and then smirked over at the blonde. “Well…I wouldn’t mind catching a train to the nearest church. But, if I burst into flames, or something…you have to promise to put me out?” she teased, positive that wouldn’t be what happened. At least, that is what she kept telling herself as she considered the idea.
“I haven’t really used to the Portals to any stations, so which one is it?” Her eyes skimmed over the Den floor and the various portals set up there. Sky seemed to have much more time with them, and so left it up to her to get them where they needed to go. This time, at least.

Skylar:
“There’s one to Bullwood station around here somewhere. I mean there could be a church in Bullwood for all I know. Maybe we should google it and find out before we go portal jumping?”
It was just a suggestion, but a sensible one. Every district probably had its own church or three. If there was anywhere in the world that needed God’s help – if you believe in that sort of thing – it was Harper Rock. I probably should have known a few off the top of my head but Churches and religion had never been my thing.
“Oh and apparently we can sustain a fair bit of damage. Again, as I said. The drink helped. Numbed me good and proper. I still don’t really know what the **** happened to me. I mean I know the outcome. Burns, bullet holes and gashes made by claws. Luckily Ric’s not the squeamish type. So he patched me right up. Though truth be told. We heal so ******* quick, I probably could have just gone home, wrapped myself up and been done with it. I could have called Ellie but let’s face it. If you need to take your shirt off for someone… Are you gonna do it for your dad or your hot as **** boyfriend?”
Yes. Technically, he might not be my boyfriend, but that really was just a technicality. A formality perhaps. Something we had yet to put into words.

Aliyah:
The woman was a riot, and Ali laughed as she discussed her awful circumstances in the past. Of all things to worry about, Ali doubted her main concern would be who her shirt came off for. But, in a context of health, she supposed it made sense. After all, vampires are pretty damn tough. “Well, that is certainly one way to look at it, Sky!” Her words cut off, then, looking at the woman in wonder. “Can I call you Sky? People just always took up Ali on their own, and so making names shorter is just…natural to me.” But, she still knew that some preferred they not get a nickname. She couldn’t blame them.
“As for googling a church…let’s check it out,” Ali nodded, practically skipping over to the computer on the far side of the room. She booted it up fairly quickly with a sudden realization that she needed to get in her daily hack. With that mental note, she pulled up Google and typed in ‘nearest church’ in the tool bar. IT quickly showed one that was just a few minutes away from the Bullwood station and she grinned over at Sky. “Bullwood, it is.”

Skylar:
“Call me what you like. I answer to a lot of things. The only thing I tend to ask is that if you’re going to write my name that you write it in full. I don’t know what it is about people writing Sky that just doesn’t seem right to me?”
It was a pet peeve I’d had for as long as I could remember. No idea where it came from. Vocally I didn’t mind it. Sky, Skylar, same difference.
“And seriously…”
I tell her as she googles churches in the Bullwood area.
“It’s the only way to look at it. Some good has to come out of that kind of experience. Don’t get me wrong. I love Ellie. I do. I trust him with my life. My new one. Not my old one, as he’s kind of the reason I died and all that. But Ric… Well he’s got this thing about personal space. You’d think you asked him to skin a puppy or something the way he looks at you if you try and hug him. So having him tend to my wounds meant he had to touch me. That makes me sound creepy doesn’t it? I swear. I’m not some ******* crazy stalker. I just have to think differently when it comes to him.be creative and such.”

Aliyah:
Aliyah knew all too well what Sky meant as she talked about Ric, since he didn’t seem too keen on the idea of her invading his space when he cared for her arm the day they met. In fact, he was anything but polite, and he seemed to think turning her world upside down was no big deal. Yeah, he definitely operated on a whole different wavelength. “I can understand that. I had a…friend that I meant when I was a girl. His name was Maxon. He was a bit like Ric, I think. Affectionate is the last word to use for him.”
Maxon hadn’t crossed her mind in months, since his last visit to the States to see her. In truth, he was her best friend. She loved him to death, convinced he was her soulmate. But, what Sky could apparently handle, Ali could not. She stood from the computer and shrugged up a single shoulder. “As for your name, you won’t have to worry about that. I can’t even call myself ‘Ali’ on paper, let alone someone else. I, personally, refer to myself as Aliyah. I just let others call me Ali for convenience. So, I got you!”
Leaning back against the computer desk, she gestured to the portals. “So, which one takes us to our destination, oh lovely tour guide?” she asked, smirking at the woman. She could see herself becoming friends with this one.

Skylar:
I nod as she tells me about the guy she knew. I wonder if she dated him or not but for once I keep my mouth shut and my question to myself. If she wanted to talk about the guy, I’d happily listen but I wasn’t going to push.
“See… He is and he isn’t. Well mainly he isn’t. Whatever he is though I like it. Kind of. I mean I can get him to kiss and hug him these days with minimal complaining on his part. It’s like training a puppy or something.”
I wave my hand semi dismissively as I make the puppy comment. I don’t really like talking about Ric in that way. I don’t really see him that way but I’m at a loss as to how to explain it better.
“And we’re heading for that portal there.”
I point it out and head that way.
“Hey Aliyah? You ever had a guy bolt on you after you’ve showered together?”
The question is probably a step too far, but I can be the queen of TMI so I don’t even bat my eyes to ask it. Ric was just Ric, I didn’t really need to worry about that kind of behaviour, but still it bugged me. It dent’s a girls ego to be left like that.

Aliyah:
The blonde was glad that Skylar hadn’t pushed on the topic of Maxon, as he was a rather rough area to try and discuss. She had recently been in touch with him, but had yet to see if had replied to her email. So, she focused on the words that Skylar said, canting her head with a small smile on her lips. An image popped into her head with Ric as a puppy…a snarling, angry puppy, but a puppy. She just wanted to laugh, but felt it would be rude.
She moved in the direction of the portal that Skylar had pointed to, but came to a sudden halt as she voiced her question. Her blue eyes widened, her image shifted to the top half of a naked Ric. “Oh…” she mumbled, feeling an increasing need to throw up. She hadn’t been sick since her turning, and could only imagine how awful it could be with no contents to actually throw up in the first place.
“I, uh…” she stumbled, “I don’t think so? I haven’t ever showered…with…one…” she trailed off, looking the other woman. Showers were personal time, and that meant no guys involved. “Did that…happen?”

Skylar:
“You’ve never… Oh. Wow. Way to make me feel like a slut.”
I laugh. I’m not really feeling that way but it seemed a better idea to insult my wealth of experience as opposed to her lack of it.
“And yeah. But as I said before he moans if kiss him most of the time. I probably shouldn’t worry. It’s just Ric being Ric but still.”
I shrug my shoulders slightly.
“It doesn’t exactly leave me feeling loved, if you get what I mean. I mean one minute he’s kind of there and then the next. Poof. He’s gone.”
I stop by the portal and wait before jumping. I probably did need to get myself a girl friend to discuss this sort of stuff with. Right now all I have is Dillon and he really doesn’t want to hear it. Not his fault really. The guy is still kinda smitten with me, even though I’ve told him as clearly as I can that it ain’t ever happening between us… again.

Aliyah:
“It’s not that, Sky…It’s not from lack of opportunity, its lack of interest. I like me time, and the shower is just that.” She explained, feeling suddenly terrible that I may have made her feel like a slut. I hadn’t intended to, but at least it was an easy enough remedy to fix. Her sexual history was not lacking, but it was something she hadn’t wanted to talk about on the first meeting.
She considered the words on Ric, and tried her best to ignore the twisted pit in her stomach. “Well…maybe it’s all new to him, or he just doesn’t know how to react to you?” she suggested, looking over at Sky with a small shrug of her shoulders. It wasn’t much in terms of advice or help, but it was better than just ignoring the subject completely.
The portal stood before them and Aliyah waited for Skylar to enter before she followed suit. She wasn’t sure exactly where the church was in respect to the station, but hopefully her companion did. Her exploration of the city was less than complete, and this would just add more to map. She made a mental note to thank Skylar, later…with something other than just words.

Skylar:
“Yeah well that shower was supposed to be me time too…”
I leave the explanation there because telling the woman I was so frustrated I had been planning to take matters into my own hands seemed like an over-share even by my standards.
“I guess that fact he even joined me at all is a miracle.”
A tingle creeps up my spine again and once more I have to half shrug and roll my shoulders. I was still in need of a cold shower or some serious ‘me’ time.
“And yeah. According to him he doesn’t date. So… yeah… I’d say it’s pretty safe to assume sharing his space with me is something new to him. Right… Bullwood Station here we come.”
I reach out and grab a hold of Ali’s hand as I jump through the portal, practically pulling the woman with me. I don’t look like much but I’m deceptively strong, so her chances of holding back are slim to none. Not that I expect her not to follow, we were on a mission. I hadn’t actually tried entering a church myself so this experiment was going to be fun. I already knew crosses did **** to hurt us, Ellie debunked that myth for me on night but who knows. Maybe a church had more supernatural juice what with all the praying and stuff that went on inside.

Aliyah:
It did not take any other explanation for Ali to know exactly what the woman meant by her words on ‘me’ time and she looked away, feeling embarrassed for herself. She was hardly a prude, but she had yet to even discuss sexual lives with Dhara, her flatmate, let alone this woman she only just met. Still, it was nice to know that woman felt she could take so freely, if it wasn’t just her way.
News on Ric not dating was interesting enough, though far from surprising. If anything, she had already pictured him as too much of an asshole to have any kind of serious relationship. However, Sky seemed so smitten with him, it couldn’t even be funny. Ali hoped it worked out for them, if that were the case…even if it meant that Sky would learn she spoke about sex with Ric in front of his family.
“Okay, le--…” she never even got to finish her sentence before Skylar pulled her through, and she fought the urge to scream. She hated the portals, at this point, but their appearance outside the station made it a little easier to relax afterwards. "Okay..." she mumbled, rubbing at her forehead

Skylar:
I bump my hip against hers and flash Ali a smile.
“Right… So this church was…”
I look around trying to figure out which direction we were walking in but as blonde as I’m not trying to overlay the google street image I had in my brain over the terrain I was faced with now seemed impossible. I take a moment and actually have to concentrate. This is hen having Ric around really paid off, he seemed to have a natural sense of direction.
I’m still holding Ali’s hand as I set off in what I believe and hope to be the right direction. Though really, as far as I can figure, churches are like a city wide epidemic. We could probably walk a few blocks in any direction and come across one.
“Oh crap… Sorry…”
I say finally putting two and two together and dropping my hold on Ali’s hand.
“If you don’t like sharing your shower time you’re probably not much of a tactile person… Am I right? I mean you’ll get used to me in time I’m sure but I’m a definite hugger. So if I get in your space too much, just you know… kick me or something.”
I laugh as we continue on our way.

[Aliyah]

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--
Aliyah:
Blue eyes looked to Skylar as she seemed to struggle with her directions to the nearest church, and she raised an eyebrow up in question. At this point, she had enough faith to let the woman figure it out. The night air was cool, but not so cold that it was unbearable. So, she set to looking around the area, trying to remember the streets that connected to the station. It would be good information to store for later.
Except, she didn’t have much time to look before Skylar pulled her away in a flurry, apparently set in her choice in direction. The blonde smiled and shook her head, momentarily distracted from her earlier thoughts. The streets were fairly empty, and for that, she was thankful.
“Oh, it’s alright. I’m a pretty big hugger myself, I just like to test waters beforehand?” she explained as Skylar dropped her hand. “Call it a…restraint?” There had been a time when she was as openly tactile as Skylar seemed to be, and then she began to realize not everyone was quite so happy to be touched.

Skylar:
“Oh… Well in that case.”
I give her a playful grin as I link our arms by looping mine around hers.
“I don’t have a whole hell of a lot of restraint. I tend to just be me and see what happens. That whole think before you act thing never has come all that naturally to me. I’m not the sort to look before I leap. I like leaping. Gets me in trouble at times but…”
I shrug.
“Meh. I can usually handle the kind of trouble I find myself in. I guess that’s why I ended up as an allurist. I’ve always had the gift of the gab and talking my way out of things tends to come naturally to me.”
I rub Ali’s arm with my free hand. I’ve already decided I like this one, so we may as well be friends until the girl curse kicks in and she starts bitching about me behind my back. While I don’t usually get on well with women, I haven’t given up on them all together. I just tend to find myself surrounded by men, so the chances of making a new female friend is usually pretty slim.

Aliyah:
It was hard not to laugh as the female explained the way she operated, as if it was hard for anyone to tell. Aliyah just shook her head, coughing to cover up any possible laughter that escaped. She readjusted her arm so that it fit better with Skylar’s own, practically skipping like they always did in the Wizard of Oz. “What fun would life be without trouble, anyway?” she teased, looking over at her companion with a wink.
“I think I ended up as a shadow because I never really felt I belonged in my parents’ fantasy world, so I would find ways to hide from it…” she mused aloud, her ‘brows furrowed in thought. Without wanting to dwell on the thoughts, she glanced around the area and finally spotted the church spires in the distance. “Oh, look! There it is!”
Now, she was positively giddy at the thought of learning more about her religious restrictions. So far, she had only had reactions from trying to speak His name. If she was lucky, there wouldn’t be anything more aversive.

Skylar:
I bump her hip with my own as she tries to stifle a laugh. She could laugh at me. I don’t mind… much. I can be a bit of a prat at times.
“Well Miss Shadow. You really went from the frying pan to the fire didn’t you? I mean being a vampire… not exactly real world behaviour.”
I laugh. I’m right of course. I still feel like I’m in some sort of fantasy novel. Well maybe not a novel, a comic maybe, since I think we have superpowers and all. I guess it doesn’t really matter. Either way it’s fiction, or should be. I start to wonder where all the “known” vampire lore comes from and am kind of excited to be testing one. Though the excitement I’m feeling could righty be hers. It’s still difficult for me tell.

Aliyah:
Skylar’s words sobered her mood quickly enough, and Ali frowned. If there was one thing that she had considered in her new life, it was that she was once again abnormal. While the rest of the world carried on around her, she would be forever stuck in this body of 26. Her family would live and die, and she would watch. Her entire life was turning upside down.
“I was more thinking of a teen fantasy drama…” she finally replied, trying her best to smile. The blonde would rather stake herself than ever be part of a Twilight sequel. “I will even make myself sparkle?” That thought actually made her laugh, her free hand covering her mouth as some passing humans looked at her strangely.
The church finally came into view and she stopped before the gate, looking up at its immense beauty. “Are all city churches so beautiful?” she asked, hardly caring if Skylar hadn’t a clue or felt the same way.

Skylar:
“I’m sure I can rustle up some body glitter if that’s your thing.”
I wink at her. I’m teasing but again, it’s true. I don’t have any myself but I know where to buy it if I need it. It’s kind fun to wear to a party. Not so much on stage cos the glitter gets everywhere! I mean it gets everywhere at a party too but at least then I’m not finding it on my guitar six months later. I learned that lesson the hard way I can tell ya.
I look the church over. Is it pretty. Sure. Are all churches pretty? Erm.. no. Tends to depend on the faith, when they were built, etc. I kind of like buildings with a bit of character myself. I look the place over again. This one probably has that, character. I nod to myself.
“So… You nervous?”
I don’t feel nervous, but then I’m no expert at this ‘sensing what others feel thing’ yet. Maybe Aliyah was too awe struck to feel nervous. She’s kind of funny. I mean I thought she wasn’t religious and here she is gawping at the place like she’s been dreaming about it all her life.

Aliyah:
Aliyah tore her gaze from the building itself to the iron gate that stood around the perimeter protecting it. Was she nervous? A small knot began to form in her stomach, bouncing around like a toy ball. “You could say that…” she gasped, her hands suddenly sweating. As beautiful as the church was, the idea of her life on the inside during her childhood horrified her. There was too much history, it was pathetic.
Her arm slid out from Skylar’s and she walked up to the gate, chewing on her lip as she contemplated going in the space. “Ew, I’m scared…” Her glance in Skylar’s direction was one of fear and apprehension, momentarily worried that every story about vampires was true. The thought of the potential pain disgusted her, in a way. She was supposed to be strong, dammit.
“Did you say you have done this before?”

Skylar:
I watch Aliyah as she pulls away and sense the change in her mood. Aw, feck. I hadn’t meant to make her nervous. I walk up and place both my hands on her shoulders and lean in so that my cheek is next to hers. It’s a little personal perhaps but then I’m just being me. I want her to know I’m here for her.
“Nope. Never done.”
I say the words softly, partly because I don’t want to scream in her ear and partly because I don’t want her to be any more nervous than she is already.
“Tell you what.”
I pull back a little and turn her to face me, my hands still on her shoulders, only now they’ve had to switch sides.
“I’m a leaper right. I’ll be the guinea pig. I don’t mind. I’ll hop that fence and kick open the door all hero-like if you want. Though I’m warning you now. There’s a good chance I’ll hop the gate and end up flat on my face and you’ll have to come pick me up.”
I grin at her. What I’ve said certainly isn’t outside of the realms of possibility. That thing for trouble that I have does like to kick me in the arse and make me look stupid from time to time. Still, I was more than willing to go first if she wanted me too.

Aliyah:
Her sudden closeness was surprising, but in a way, it relaxed her. It was only slight and hardly enough to put her at ease, but it was better than nothing. The fact Skylar would offer that comfort at all meant a lot to her, even in her nervous state. The fact that she had never done this either meant it would be a new experience for them both, and there was a chance that nothing would even happen. It could be the most anticlimactic moment, ever.
Her shift in position so that she was suddenly facing the other woman made her blink, but the offer she made was enough to bring her out of her shock. “Wait, you will? I don’t want you to get hurt…but you can bet your *** that I will make sure to come and get you!” She pounded her fist on her hand as if it required brute strength to do so, but it hardly did.
She stepped back from the gate and nodded to Skylar, letting her do what she needed to in order to clear the gate. Now that she was going first, she really hoped everything was only a myth about vampire life, and religious objects did nothing to harm them. “You got this…”

Skylar:
Me offering to go first seems to relax her some and I flash her a brilliant smile. I can be the cocky sort and I know it, what’s worse is the fact that I haven’t even had a drink yet. Without giving the task any more thought, I eye the fence, back up and throw myself at it. I’m not very graceful but I get the job done. I grab a hold of the railing at the top and pull myself over. All that metalworking certainly helps with the upper body strength. I practically roll over the top of it and then just let go. In the slit second it takes me to fall, I realise I’m wearing heels. I probably should have taken them off but it’s too late now. I do my best to land on the balls of my feet and spare my heels; things don’t go according to plan. I land on the balls of my feet before crashing onto the heels and end up off balance and on my arse. I laugh. I ******* knew it.
“As you can see… Graceful I am not.”
I say this as I’m pushing myself up and onto my feet. I dust off my arse with my hands and walk closer to the gate. So far so good.
“Want me to give you a hand over?”
I put my arms through the gate and lock my hands together, lowering myself down as I do so that she can use my hands as a platform. Just cos I’m a tomboy at heart, doesn’t mean she is. The girl can wield a sword all right, but that doesn’t mean she can scale a gate unaided.

Aliyah:
Watching Skylar launch herself over the fence was interesting up until the point that she fell on her ***. Ali rushed to the fence with a gasp, “Are you okay?!” It would seem that the woman was fine, as she was quickly brushing herself off with a good laugh at herself. She relaxed when she was sure that her companion was fine, backing up a few steps to prepare her jump. “Maybe you should take the heels off next time?”
Her tone was teasing, hoping she wouldn’t mind it. If she did, then it would be easy enough to apologize. Ali nodded her head at the offer of help, and then took a run to the gate in order to grab the top. She hoisted one leg over and looked down to Skylar on the other side. “Maybe I won’t need the help…if I just…jump…” she trailed off.
It took her a moment to pluck up enough nerve to jump down, and when she finally did, she groaned. “I think I am getting a fear of heights…” she muttered, practically whining. With a smile in Skylar’s direction, she gestured toward the church. “Let’s go sin…”

Skylar:
I wait to speak till she’s over the gate as I don’t want to distract her. I back up a little to give her some room. I could partially see myself being kicked in the face if I’d of stayed where I was. She’s got a better dismount than me, that’s for sure.
“Now you’re talking my language. I live to sin.”
I move to loop my arm through hers again. We only had to get through the door and I don’t think we need to be taking turns when we do that.
“You know you’re not the first person to give me that piece of advice. About the shoes that is. Ric pretty much told me the same thing at Halloween. Though the circumstances were a little different then. I was kinda drunk off my arse and having trouble walking in the things.”
I laugh at the memory.
“Actually at first I thought he meant I should take my top off. And yeah, I know that makes no sense to someone who’s sober.”
I shrug.
“The heels are for him actually. Not that I think he notices. Pathetic right?”

Aliyah:
Aliyah took the woman’s arm happily enough, just glad to have gotten over the fence in one piece. They made their way through the yard in order to reach the door, and she listened to Skylar explain her affinity for the heels that seemed to only result in her finding struggles. Not that Ali was going to say that, since that was something any woman could take very badly…you do not insult a woman’s wardrobe.
The conversation went back to Ric and she fought back the urge to shudder, hoping that this conversation would not move too deeply into the realm of sex talk, again. “Oh? Usually heels are a bad thing to wear if you know you will be drinking. Thankfully, I can’t have that problem, anymore!” she grinned, looking at the blonde beside her. As much as drinking having no effect upset her in the beginning, she was okay, now.
“I don’t think males notice those things until they are taking them off…” she mumbled, distracted by the large doors they stopped in front of. No doubt they were probably locked, but it should be easy enough to break into the place. They were vampires, for goodness sake.

Skylar:
“Actually I hadn’t planned on drinking. It was auction night at Lancaster’s, the place Ellie and Pi own, and so I was planning on behaving. Pi practically broke my arm when I hugged and kissed Ellie. I think she thought I was hitting on him or something. But I was asking him to buy Ric for me… Which he did. Thankfully. Ric bought me too, which was kinda funny. But anyways, yeah. I lost myself in a bottle of jack to numb the pain and nurse my ego.”
For some reason I don’t mind admitting the ego thing. I mean it was pretty embarrassing. I’d managed not to let it show that she was hurting my arm but still, she didn’t need to manhandle me like that.
I don’t want to dwell on that part of the conversation so I launch straight into the first thing that came to mind when she said guys like to take a girl’s shoes off, or near enough.
“And god do I wish that were true. I tell ya. What I wouldn’t give to have that guy notice me and rip my clothes off.”
I fan myself with my hand as a shiver runs down my spine at the thought of it; the good kind of shiver, not the bad kind. I recall now why I needed to get home and have a cold shower.

Aliyah:
Ali had no idea what the auction was that Skylar had mentioned, but it sounded like the charity events affluent families would have to raise money for some big organization. Even if that was no how the auction worked, she felt better picturing it that way. “Well, Pi does have a pretty tight handle on her relationship with Elliot, doesn’t she?” she asked, canting her head in thought. It had seemed that two of them were polar opposites, and she wore the pants.
She regretted her thoughts on the male topic as soon as she brought it up, looking at Skylar with a wrinkled nose. She was fanning herself over Ric, more than likely. She shuddered at the mere thought, but tried her best to hide it. “Well, maybe you should ask him if he noticed, then…” she finally replied, voice soft from all attempts to avoid throwing up.
Her attention turned to the large ornate door, then back at Skylar. “Kick it in?” she asked, nodding her head toward it. It would probably shatter in piece, but they could probably replace it. “Or we can…knock?”

Skylar:
I let my reply about Ellie and Pi pass by unsaid as I catch her wrinkling her nose at my behaviour and laugh. I assume she doesn’t like Ric for all the right reasons, him being a complete and utter arse being the main one.
“How about we see if it’s open first?”
I reach for the door handle and shake the door.
“****. Locked.”
I’m already slipping my shoes off so that I can hold them by the strap in my left hand. If we were going to kick the thing open, then I really couldn’t be wearing heels when I did it. I’m pretty damn strong, so I’m sure the door doesn’t stand a chance, though there’s always the possibility I may have to kick it more than once.

Aliyah:
Aliyah canted her head with a small smirk as she watched Skylar try and open the door. Most churches were locked to the public on days outside of mass days, and those that were open were the ones used as tourist attractions. Still, she wasn’t going to be rude and point that out to the woman beside her, and instead began to slip off her own shoes once Skylar determined the door was locked.
“Okay…on the count of three?” she asked, gathering her flats into her right hand. The door looked strong and sturdy, but with the both of them, there was no doubt that it would cave in. So, she allowed the other blonde a moment to prepare herself, bounding on the balls of her feet.
Once she determined that Sky was ready, she smiled and got herself ready.
“One, Two…..Three!” she yelled, bringing up her leg to the kick at the door.

Skylar:
She tells me we’re kicking on the count of three. I can do that. I position my feet to get my balance right and then put my weight on my right foot, as I place it back a step, readying myself to kick. When she says three, my weight shifts to the left foot and I push off with my right, kicking the door as hard as I can. I aim to place my foot two thirds of the way in from the edge, so that I’m closer to the lock, as that’s the part we’re hoping to break open. As the flat of my right foot connects with the wood I can’t help but pray that my foot doesn’t just go right through it. It would be just my luck and I know it. Thankfully, I must be feeding off of hers or something because the lock gives and the doors swing open, allowing us access to the church.
“So… Shall I leap for the both of us or do you wanna try this on the count of three?”
I don’t mind going first again and seeing if God strikes me down, but we’d done this part together and it might be kinda fun to have a leaping partner.

Aliyah:
With their combined strength the door gave in fairly easily, swinging up with a loud crash. If anyone was around, chances are they heard the noise and would soon be coming to investigate, but Aliyah couldn’t bring herself to care. This is exciting, more than anything she had done in this city so far. Except walking on water. That was still the coolest thing, ever.
A bright smile was on her lips as she turned to look at Skylar, offering a lame thumbs up on their teamwork. It was something that little kids did when they played sports together, or wanted their buddies to know that everything was okay. Still, it seemed like a good enough gesture to show that she was happy with the way things were turning out, so far.
“I think…we can leap on the count of three. We seem to be doing okay with that, so far.” The blonde nods to herself, prepping her mind and body for potential fallback. She couldn’t say His name…and who was to say that she could stay in his church, either? Without allowing herself to think too hard on it, she nodded to Skylar. “Your count this time…” she said, sinking down ever so slightly as if about to jump over an invisible bar around the doorway.

Skylar:
I smile at her as she gives me a thumbs up. I’d kinda thought this night was a bust and was ready to call it a night after everything that happened with Ric, so I was kind of glad to be standing here on the precipice of this unforeseen experiment.
“Alright Aliyah. On the count of three we leap.”
I grab her hand and squeeze it gently. I’m excited. Or she’s excite. Or we both are. I’m not too sure. But I’m happy to go with it. I don’t really believe in all this religious stuff and I’m pretty sure that Elliot told me it doesn’t do jack, it’s all a load of Hollywood bull. Still, those myths probably came from somewhere, unless it was some sort of medieval marketing campaign. You know… Tell people that religion is the key to saving them from the literal evils of the world.
“One…”
I swing our joined hands forward on the one and pull them back in the brief pause.
“Two…”
Again our hands go forward, with the next swing, we’ll leap too.
“Three!”
We jump.
I land just inside the doorway, since the point of the jump wasn’t distance but simply crossing the threshold. Everything seems good to me, at least I don’t spontaneously burst into flames or anything. I start to laugh.

Aliyah:
The anticipation of the jump was practically killing her, if that were possible. This was a chance to finally learn if all that religious stuff was just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo when it came to vampires, and if it was, then she would need to look deeper into why she couldn’t say that holy name. Still, her palms would have been sweating if she weren’t so cold all the time. It was a shame that she couldn’t even be nervous correctly, anymore.
As Skylar began to count down and swing their arms between them, she glanced at the woman, momentarily worried for her if this all turned out to be true. But, there was no time to turn back now and so she moved with the swinging of the woman’s arm as she counted to two. When she heard three, she took her tiny leap over the doorway, and froze.
At first, everything seemed to be okay and when Skylar’s laugh filled the room, she began to smile. But, it quickly faded as she took in the long church corridor and the alter that stood at the end. Immediately pain began to radiate from every inch of her body. If was as if someone were taking a million needles and repeated jabbing them into her, her blood boiling beneath the surface. The pain was so great that she fell to her knees, a scream locked in her throat, but her expression one of pure terror.
It was only when she managed to lift her hands to her face that the scream finally let loose.

Skylar:
I turn and look at her as she pulls her hand from mine. I’m thinking she’s about to laugh or something and then I feel the sheer agonising terror. I’ve never felt anything like it and she buckles to her knees I half want to join her. I have to tell myself that it’s not me. It’s not my fear. I don’t give a crap about any of this stuff.
I’m useless to the poor girl for a minute or two as I have to push aside her feelings; the ones that are trying to overwhelm my senses. If I wasn’t feeling what she felt, I’d of said she was taking the piss. She’d of been one hell of an actress if that were true. But she isn’t. And she’s not. At least she’s not acting right now.
I don’t have any powers to calm her down or anything but since she was fine as we stood outside, I figure getting her out of here is the way to go and that’s just fine by me, as I don’t want to be here anymore either. I scoop her up in my arms and take a couple of steps back.
I’ve never held anyone like this before. It’s weird. I feel like I’m in some kind of gay marriage and I just carried my bride across the threshold, but it’s probably more like one of those situations where people have ungodly – no pun intended – strength due to some sort of adrenaline surge when they’re caught up in a crisis and I have to carry my friend to a hospital.
“Aliyah? You okay?”
It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever said. At least it feels that way in this moment, but what else can I say?

Aliyah:
The pain and terror that filled her mind was too much to comprehend, sending her into a tailspin of hysterics. It seemed she was hysterics a lot since becoming a vampire, and it was starting to grow old. And of all the thoughts she could have had while in the state of utter torture, that would have been the last one she would have managed to pull forward. Either way, every muscle was tensed, her body shaking from exertion. It was as if she was attempting to fight off a pain that she couldn’t see.
Skylar’s arms lifting her from the church went most unnoticed, though Ali was able to register the shifting of the church ceiling to that of the night sky. And once the night sky came into view, it was the like pain evaporated, leaving behind a dull throbbing. Every limb was exhausted, but with the debilitating pain gone, the blonde moved herself out of the woman’s hold to stand, though she stumbled.
“I…I don’t know what just happened…” she gasped in reply to Skylar’s dumb, though well-intended question. “Did you…feel anything?”

Skylar:
I let out a sigh of relief. I’ve not really taken to the whole non-breathing thing and as far as I can tell, it’s best not to allow the not-breathing thing to become a habit.
“Damn it girl, you scared the ******* life out of me. What the hell was that? Did you have some kind of allergic reaction or something? I mean I know the place has that religious stench but damn…”
I’m trying to make light of the whole thing by teasing her about the smell but I’m half in shock if I’m honest. I have no idea what happened to her or why she was so scared but she felt something in there; something I was pretty sure I hadn’t experienced for myself.
I set her down on her feet and wait till I know she can stand under her own power before I go to collect my shoes. Unsurprisingly, in all the madness, I’d dropped them. I look over at the church and see them just inside the door. Great. Like it or not, I’m going back in.
“Guess we’ll find out.”
That’s probably not the reply she was expecting from me as to whether or not I felt anything but what was I supposed to say? Sorry chica, but I couldn’t feel **** for myself because all I could feel was your mind numbing terror? Yeah. That’s great. I don’t think I’ve even told Ric I have this superpower yet, which I probably should do. I dunno. It just seems a little… creepy. I mean it’s not exactly natural now is it, picking up on other people’s emotions like that.
I step up to the doorway and pause. I could probably reach in and pick up my shoes without setting foot in there but for some reason I still don’t really fear the place. At least not for me. I tell myself to suck it up and step inside. I stand there for a moment and then turn to face Aliyah.
“Nope. I don’t feel ****.”
I scoop up my shoes and go back to join her.

Aliyah:
“I felt…it was like…torture…” she finally managed to explain, the terror of the moment causing a violent shiver to run down her spine. Something about the church had not settled well with her, and her body’s constant ache made sure she knew it. Nothing about the way she had felt in there had been natural, and now she knew that it wasn’t just mumbo-jumbo. Not to mention, she had totally missed the joke.
As Skylar went to move back inside, Aliyah fought the urge to stop her, straightening out in case she needed to run in and save her. As it were, she would probably be very little help, especially if she were to experience the same reaction she had just had. And that would only succeed in terrifying them both. And with that thought, she stayed rooted at the spot and just watched helplessly.
Which was all a waste of feelings as Skylar went and came without a single unfortunate feeling or event, leaving Aliyah standing there with her mouth open like a frog. “Why…would I react that way, but not you?” she asked, hoping the woman would know from being the city longer. “Why am I the stereotypical Hollywood vampire?”

Skylar:
“The **** if I know hun.”
Okay so maybe not the best reply ever but it’s the truth. I didn’t think it was a real thing. I’d never have suggested we test the theory if I thought she was going to have some kind allergic reaction to the place. Whatever happened to her, I‘m a little thankful I don’t seem to be similarly afflicted. Not that I have much call to go to church or anything, I’d just rather not have that kind of reaction to any place.
“Different strokes, for different folks I guess. I mean we have different paths and powers and such. No two vamps are alike and all that. I have a few quirks that seem to be unique-ish to me. Like… I don’t have fangs.”
I’m not telling her to brag, it’s not exactly something a vampire should be proud about. I’m telling her so she doesn’t feel like such a freak. So she can’t go in a church. Big deal. I can’t feed. Well not without tearing the person’s skin up something fierce. Add in the fact they remember the next day and blood from the vein is definitely off the menu for me.

Aliyah:
Her answer was less than comforting and Aliyah shot her a deadpan look. If that was the best she had to offer, then the blonde really needed to find new friends. If that was what Skylar had become. It would be one of those friendships where they constantly gave each other a hard time and the absolute truth, no matter how blunt and cruel it might sound. Oddly, Ali doubted she would mind. She would use that in her life.
At the mention of Skylar not having fangs, she blinked in surprise, fighting the urge to poke and prod in the woman’s mouth in a search for them. All vampires had fangs, at least, that was what she had thought. But, her companion did have point in saying that no two vampires were the same, and Ali was learning that with each one that she met. Elliot could drink and eat, Pi could do…well, she could do a lot, and Skylar had no fangs.
“I think I need to go home…” she mumbled, rubbing at her forehead. “Everything hurts…” she gave as a means of explanation. It was all that she had to offer, and hopefully Sky didn’t find it rude.

Skylar:
“Oh of course. Sure.”
I don’t mind the night coming to a sudden end. That shower was still looking good, only now I was also going to use it to scrub the terror from my pores.
“So where do you live anyway?”
I’m trying to work out which portal she needs to be jumping through and if I’m going her way or not. Not that it matters. I’m going to make sure she gets home safely anyways. I mean I’m partially responsible for the state she’s in now. There was one good thing though. If we were toming home, we wouldn’t have to hop the fence again.

Aliyah:
She stretched out, her body screaming in agony from the sudden movement, causing her wince. “I live in the QZ. Corvidae Flats…” she replied, rubbing at her shoulder in hopes of massaging away the residual pain. Her gaze moved up to the church and she frowned, half tempted to run in there and try it again. Maybe it was a fluke…but at the same time, she didn’t want to face the repercussions.
“Sorry to bring our night a close.” She didn’t sound all that sorry. That was because what happened scared her shitless, not because she wanted away from Sky. In fact, being around her had lifted her spirits, somewhat. Not only that, but she had finally managed to meet another member of the family. Even if that member was messing around with Ric-the-Asswipe.
“Are you going my way?” she asked, assuming that her companion wouldn’t be. She only lived in the QZ because that was what Elliot had to offer. Not that she minded. Dhara was the ****.

Skylar:
“Oh cool. We’re kinda, sorta, almost neighbours.”
I laugh. I know I’ve got to explain and she’s probably going to think I’m insane.
“I was off to the mausoleum actually. Ellie has a pad there and I’ve been crashing in it since I died. But I haven’t been home in like a week or something. I’ve been crashing at Ric’s and considering moving in there with him. He lives in Corvidae too. Hence the kinda, sorta comment.”
I pull out my tome and wait for her reply before using it.

Aliyah:
Aliyah arched a brow as Skylar explained her living situation, finding a small smirk settling on her lips. No wonder the woman was sexually frustrated, if she lived with the man. Still, it wouldn’t have been nice to tease her about Ric, even if he did piss the blonde off. No, she would just pretend that Skylar wasn’t sleeping with the enemy and then all would be good in the world. “Well, then…howdy neighbor?” she grinned, taking her Tome from her bag.
She used it as she usually did, a moment later finding herself in front of the elevator and with the shuffling bodies of the zombies behind her. She shuddered without looking behind her, pressing the call button for the elevator, knowing that Skylar would be right there with her. “I have a feeling that this ritual to get downstairs is going to get old…”

Skylar:
I tome back to the den.
“Huh? What’s gonna get old?”
I look about me, not really sure what she’s talking about. I wait for the elevator to descend and step inside.
“So what floor you on? In Corvidae, I mean. And please don’t worry if you’d rather not say. I mean I’m not sure I can tell you what floor I’m on even cos Ric is like super secretive.”
I’m not lying either. I’d known him a good couple of months before I even got to see his place. I probably should put more thought into why he’s so secretive, but that alarm bell that goes off whenever he’s near is telling me I probably don’t want to know the answer.

Aliyah:
The blonde looked over to her companion at the sound of her voice, shrugging up her shoulders. “Always having to go through his process to get to the Den. I hate elevators, and this place is sort of creepy…but maybe that is just me?” she asked, canting her head at the woman. It was possible she was the only one to find it unappealing, but it served a purpose. What better way to keep others away?
“I live on the ninth floor, by the way. With my…roommate…” she stumbled, shaking her head while keeping her gaze forward and away from Skylar. Elliot had placed her in the apartment, sure, but that did not mean that his childe knew of the human he allowed to live there, as well. And as it were, their living arrangement was a danger to them both.
She entered into the elevator as it opened and made sure that Sky was inside, as well, before taking them down to the Depot. The doors clanged open and she basically tripped out of them.

Skylar:
As we ride the elevator, I think over what she’s said and saying. The girl is more a neighbour than I’d thought by the sounds of it. Of course I can’t say that.
“Oh that’s cool. That you live close by and all that. And yeah. It seems like a bit of an odd way of doing things to get to where we want to go but it’s still quicker than going on foot and stuff, so…”
I shrug. I love the portal system and the elevator doesn’t bug me. It’s the traps that have me worried. Triggering those things isn’t exactly fun.
“You have a roomie? How’d you meet? Is the place yours or theirs?”

Aliyah:
“Oh, so then I guess you could come over and visit with me any time you want to get away from Ric.” Once the offer was out of her mouth, she wished she could take it back. Skylar being around Dhara could make for an awful situation, though she doubted that it would be that big of a problem. Still, it was a risk that she would rather not take. “Or, I can come and visit you…”
“I do suppose you have a point about the Tome and how this little system works. As repetitive as it is, it is better than walking.” She nodded her head in agreement, walking across the Den floor to the portal that would take her the QZ. She had at least managed to figure out that one without any trouble.
“The place is neither of us, we just rent it from someone else. But, I met her through moving in there…” she explained, not sure if Elliot’s owning of the apartment was meant to be known.

Skylar:
“I think I’d have to come visit you… Ric’s a bit… odd. I haven’t even told Dillon where I live and I can quite literally trust him with anything. Oh… Dillon’s my best friend and erm… I forget the word… I want to say slave but that’s wrong. He’s like under my spell or something, so basically if I tell him to do something, he has to do it. I don’t like the power much myself and I damn near killed him before I figured out that bit out I can tell ya. I have to kinda be careful what I say around him these days. I mean you tell someone to go jump off a bridge, you don’t expect them to actually turn around to go do it now do ya?”
I laugh because really there’s nothing else to be done. I’m pretty sure now that even if I didn’t have this power that Dillon would never out me for what I was. He cares about me - maybe a bit too much - but he does. He’d never want to get me in any trouble.
“So your roommate. What flavour of vampire are they?”
I assume they’re a vampire cos what self-respecting human would live in Corvidae. The place was pretty much a death trap as far as I was concerned and I wouldn’t be there myself if it wasn’t for Ric. Still, it was probably less perilous than the mausoleum where I’d been staying. The creatures there were made of more hardy stuff. But then I hated that place too. The apartment rocked, but with real estate isn’t the saying “location, location, location”?

Aliyah:
And there is was. Aliyah subtly winced as Skylar explained Ric’s desire for privacy, in not so many words. With Dhara living in the apartment, it would hard to avoid bringing other vampires around. It was possible to keep the vampires to a minimum, perhaps only bringing them around when Dhara was out for the night. It would spare the drama and keep both of them safe from possible backlash. Which there was almost guaranteed to be.
“She, uh….she is a…Shadow. Like me,” she finally replied, frowning at her lie. Since living with Dhara, her ability to lie had gone drastically downhill. And now, she was lying to a member of her family. If she had the mind to trust her family, she might have been more open about her living arrangement, but not all vampires were like Elliot. And her knowledge of Skylar was slim to none.
Unwilling to keep talking about her roommate, she shifted the conversation back to her companion’s friend. “Aren’t they called a thrall, or something like that?” she asked, recalling the word that Pi had used when discussing Michael.

Skylar:
I can tell something’s not right in what she’s saying, both her staggered words and her emotions give her away on this one but it doesn’t bother me. I’m a little too open with people but I understood the need to hold something back. Hell, you can’t date a guy like Ric without accepting that kind of thing. The guy was difficult to read and his answers to most questions could best be describes as cagey. I let the subject move on.
“That’s the bunny!”
I’d forgotten the term. Probably as I don’t much like it. The elevator comes to a halt and the doors open. Not long till she’s home and tucked up in bed or under a nice comfy blanket or something. That’s when it strikes me.
“Oh… ****. I forgot. I won’t be able to come over unless your landlord allows it. They’ve gotta invite me in. I don’t have that nifty little shadow power that lets you cross the threshold uninvited.”

Aliyah:
Damn it all if this chick wasn’t making it impossible to not give away the entire truth behind the apartment that she shared with human. Every word out of her mouth on the subject just pushed more and more into the details, and Ali had no idea how to reign the situation back in. It was all turning out to be epic pain the ***. But, she couldn’t rightfully blame Sky. In her world, she probably didn’t see herself as prodding for information.
“I don’t think getting permission would be that hard…seeing as my landlord is Elliot…” she finally admitted, looking to her companion with small shrug of her shoulders. If she knew anything about this woman, and she thought she knew enough, she would be going to Elliot to ask about the apartment. Pi hadn’t known it existed, and so there was little doubt in her mind that Skylar wouldn’t have known, either.
She stepped through the doors of the elevator, glancing around the Den to see if anyone else had happened to come in the time they had been gone. It was empty, as usual. For as functional at the area was, there was rarely anyone ever there.

Skylar:
Okay. So I’m a little surprised but I don’t really know why. Ellie’s a generous guy and it would certainly make getting access to the property easier. A soft frown plays on my features for a moment as I wonder why she didn’t’ just tell me that before but it soon disappears.
“Well that makes things easier. I’ll bug him later to invite me in then. I don’t see him having an issue with it. He’s kinda easy going. I love that about him. He’s like a male, me.”
I smile at Aliyah. I’m not sure how well she knows Ellie, and I know she doesn’t really know me all that well yet, but I’m pretty sure the similarities between Ellie and I are pretty apparent. Or at least they’d become apparent after she’d spent a bit more tie around us both.
“I’ll walk you to your door. That way I’ll be able to find your place myself next time. Cos I’ll be damned if the numbering in that building doesn’t defy all logic.”
I nudge her with my elbow. I’m pretty sure she must have noticed that too. The building was backwards in so many ways.

Aliyah:
She didn’t miss the frown that appeared on Skylar’s face at the mention of Elliot and the apartment that he had set her up in. When you shared such a strong connection with someone, it only made sense to be a little upset when you learned of secrets they kept to themselves. But, the expression was quickly gone and replaced with a smile.
Ali sighed as she nodded, moving in the direction of the portal that would take her the front door of Corvidae. In her head raged an epic battle, leaving her in a fairly bad mood. Skylar offered to take her to her door, but that would mean putting her in a position to sense Dhara’s presence in the apartment. The scent of her blood permeated the air, and nearly any vampire could tell.
She halted before the portal, looking to the other woman. “See you on the other side!” she said, throwing up a peace sign before jumping through.
In the blink of an eye she was standing the QZ outside her apartment building, the zombies stumbling about around her.

Skylar:
I follow suit. The girl has a thing for the peace sign, not sure why but we all have our quirks. I step through the portal and look up at the building. I wasn’t expecting to be back here tonight. I cross my fingers and send a quick prayer into the universe; please don’t let me cross paths with Ric.
I step through the door and enter the lobby. I’m always on my guard in this place. It’s not healthy. But it was an easier gauntlet to run than the one at the mausoleum. And the elevator was pretty quick. Quicker than me at the mausoleum when I’m trying to find the damn keys after a night out at least.
“You alright chica?”
I have to ask. She’s not really been herself since we entered the church.

Aliyah:
Stepping into the lobby was like going through a door to a different time and place. When the outside was so downtrodden and abandoned, it was almost unbelievable that the inside could be so well kept and cared for. The entire building was that way, and it left Ali to wonder just who had taken care of the building all this time. While it wasn’t the ideal place an apartment building, in a city full of vampires, it seemed to do well enough for itself.
She pushed her way through the lobby patrons, feeling the usual rush of anxiety at being around others with the usual zombies thrown in the mix. As she reached the elevator, she pressed the call button and turned to look at Skylar. It was obvious the woman was considered, and Ali was doing little help make her feel any better
Once the elevator doors opened, she stepped inside and wait for her companion to enter before finally sighing. “Skylar…there is something you need to know before we get my floor…” she began, chewing on her bottom lip. “And you have to swear this stays between us…and, I suppose Elliot.”

Skylar:
I step into the elevator and immediately I begin to relax. Zombies were mindless creatures, thankfully, and were yet to figure out how the elevator worked. The atmosphere about us changed though pretty damn quickly and as the door closes I take a hold of Aliyah’s wrist; not in a menacing way, but in that kind of friendly, supportive way.
“I can keep a secret hun. Don’t worry about that.”
I cross my heart with the index and middle finger on my other hand. I’m pretty sure she gets the gesture. Most girls do it. Or at least I think they did, when they were kids. Cross my heart and hope to die. Only I don’t say the words, the gestures enough. I’m dead already though, so maybe it means nothing now being what we are.
“Whatever it is you best say it quick. You look like you’re about to have a coronary or something. That church really did a number on you didn’t it?”
I bite my tongue to stop myself from asking if she blames me for that. I mean if I hadn’t of turned up, she might have been quite content portal hoping without much rhyme or reason.

Aliyah:
The gesture put a genuine smile on Ali’s face, positive she hadn’t seen anyone do that in quite some time. Not since she was little. But, in any case, it did help to sooth away some of her unease about her confession. She was putting a lot of trust in Skylar, and only hoped that it wouldn’t be misplaced. Especially when she was dating someone like Ric, who didn’t seem care about anyone’s personal feelings.
The smallest of smiles grace the blonde’s lips at the teasing words, “You could say that…” It was true, the church incident had put her entire body into a downward spiral, wanting nothing more than to collapse and hardly move for the next few days. That obviously wasn’t an option, but the desire was there. “But, I learned something from it, at least?” she asked, trying to be optimistic.
The door opened to the ninth floor and Ali stepped just outside the elevator. She moved no further, only turning to look at the woman she was trusting with her life. Quite literally. “Sky…my roommate? She isn't a vampire. She is a human…” Her words trailed off and she let the words sink in, sure that her companion would understand the implications.

Skylar:
I step out onto Ali’s floor and look around. The place looks to be a carbon copy of the one Ric lives on, but that’s to be expected. I blink as she makes her confession and then start to laugh. As my laughter rings out, I place my arm around her, letting it rest across her shoulder for a moment before giving her a light squeeze.
“Oh hun. Why’d you stress about that? I can’t go passing judgement on you. I was living on Dillon’s sofa when I died and I stayed there for a week or so before Ellie offered me his pad. So long as you guys get on, who cares what she is.”
I squeeze her again and offer her a warm smile. Like I care about races. I mean yeah, I don’t run around telling people I’m a vampire or anything but that’s just common sense. Then it occurs to me that the human may or may not know what Aliyah is. Dillon never knew what I was. Well not until my power connected him to me. He should have known earlier really, and probably did, seeing as how I bit him and all.
“Does she know… you know… about you?”

Aliyah:
Laughter was the last thing that Ali would have expected to come out of Skylar’s mouth, and her jaw dropped when it did. It there was any reaction she might have wished to see, this wouldn’t have even been a possibility. Unsure what to think or say in response, she took a few steps toward her door, but the woman’s squeeze of reassurance allowed her relax, somewhat.
“She does know what I am. On her way home from work, she stocks the fridge with blood packets. Which…is a complete Masquerade break. Which is why living with her is so dangerous…for both of us. She isn’t a thrall, she isn’t like Dillon…” As accepting at Sky was about the situation, Ali still needed her to understand that dangers that came with it. So far, Pi, Elliot and Sky were the only ones that knew of the arrangement. And it might be better that way.
She closed the distance to her door, rubbing at her forehead as a sudden throbbing pain reminded her of the reason she had come home in the first place. “Thank you…for making sure I got back okay. Even if you did have a pretty excuse to cover it up.” The blonde smiled at the woman, sure that was what had happened. If Sky really had just wanted to see where she lived, well…she liked to think better, anyway.

Skylar:
“Psshh. If she’s keeping her mouth shut, it’s all good with me.”
I’m not lying either. I’d probably tell the guys if I didn’t think I’d be unnecessarily rocking their worlds.
As we get to the door I grin at her. Okay, so I could have found the place on my own but I’m not gonna cop to that.
“Well take care of yourself Aliyah. I’m sure you’ll see so much of me you’ll be sick of me in time.”
I laugh.
“Just as soon as I ask Ellie for the invite that is. Oh and that’s kinda cool about your room mate… Means you won’t have to buy stuff in special for me.”
I wink at her.
“Take care hun. ‘Kay?”

Aliyah:
The ease with which Skylar took the news of Dhara’s presence in her life was more than Ali could have hoped for. There was still the issue of Ric, and even as she began to form the sentence in her head, she decided she needed to trust the woman enough not to tell even him. In time, it would probably come out, but for, she needed it be kept a secret from the vampire community…and human community, really.
She offered a smile up for the other blonde with a single nod. “I look forward to seeing you around more. Give me a heads up, and I can ask Dhara to grab an extra pack or two for you.” Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, having a girl’s night in the apartment, if that was something her roommate would be okay with. The way Skylar gossiped, it would be an awesome time for her.
“I will see you around, and thank you…” she whispered once more time before slipping inside her apartment, her bed calling her name.

Skylar:
“Oh shall do.”
I turn on the balls of my feet, my shoes still swinging in my hand. I head for the elevator and then realise I’m off home, home home, not Ric’s place. I take the tome out and read it through and quickly find myself back in the familiar surroundings. The night hadn’t gone as I’d expected but then, it seldom did. I shrug to myself and step into the elevator. Well whatever this new life is, it certainly isn’t boring, and at the end of that day, that’s probably a good thing.