Sinners Like Us: Gluttony

[Adelita (DELETED 5973)]

< Adelita > After the weeks Sirena and Lita have had, Lita decided to let the poor girl have a night to herself. Lita had physically shook the poor girl’s world and would need some time to recharge. Which was fine, because for all the fun Lita and Sirena were having, Lita’s business was starting to feel her absence. Money was still coming in, but when the woman was around, it appeared that she had been making more. Either her workers were scamming Origenes, and essentially her, or her presence was just needed. Adelita always had a charm about her; she was a shameless flirt and a people pleaser, until you insulted the Mexican woman. Adelita doubted the first scenario, each woman loved their job, was well paid and had a lot of freedom to alter the menu, and run the kitchen how they wanted to. Very rarely was Adelita under their feet, so long as money was coming in, and food was good, Adelita was a very happy lady.

Tonight, however, she was helping out in the dining room, delivering meals to customers because they were down a waitress. Adelita didn't mind a second helping her business flourish and be successful when it was needed and again, she got to have a little fun with the customers and make some pretty decent tips.

Her phone buzzed in the dark green half apron, while Adelita dropped off some Mexican desserts to a table. Once she told them to enjoy the flan she made herself earlier in the night, Lita was off to look at the message on her phone. It was Whinny. The thrall was wondering when Adelita would be home, if she would be home and if they were going to go out for the night. Adelita could feel the woman’s jealousy over Sirena through the phone, but that was maybe her over-imagination. Lita knew Whinny was jealous of Sirena, Adelita was very in tune with her thrall’s feelings, that at times, it felt like her own feelings, when they were in the same room. And Whinny was very jealous of Sirena taking her place. But, that didn’t mean Adelita loved her thrall any less than her new found friend Blake sired. Not at all, Whinny had remained at her side when things went south so many times, that Lita counted Whinny as a friend more than a personal servant.

We’ll have some time. We close at eleven and then I can run home, jump in the shower and we’ll still have over two hours to play. No one goes to a bar before eleven anyways. Only people who are desperate. Now let me work, puta. Puta was never really used spitefully, Whinny knew by now that was just who Lita was and how she referred to the woman, much like some of the names Whinny referred to Lita as. Though, Adelita suspected sometimes those words were truth, and not so much playful banter.

Whinny was raiding Adelita’s closet when the woman finally graced Whinny with her presence through text messaging. She read the message, rolled her eyes and mumbled the words, ‘typical,’ under her breath. Whinny was a tiny bit jealous of their new roommate, because lately, it seemed that the sun shone out of Sirena’s ***. As much as she felt it was petty to feel that way, Whinny couldn’t help but feel extremely petty when thinking about the roommate that bumped her out of Adelita’s inner circle. With over three hours to spare, Whinny grabbed a navy colored, faux-suede mini skirt from the closet and left Lita’s room.

The skirt was placed on her own bed, along with two tops that went with it, deciding she would figure it out when Whinny had the skirt on. A pair of heels were also placed next to it, before Whinny vacated the room and found the couch to lounge upon. She grabbed the remote and started flicking through channels, trying to waste time as she waited for Adelita to get home before Sirena came around. A night with the two of them was in much needed order.

<Sirena> Clutching a blood bag in her hand, Sirena glanced back at others she had already drained that laid about the room. She wasn’t hungry. She just felt like she needed to be filled. What was this? She didn’t presume it was thirst because she didn’t feel an aching in her stomach or her throat closing up. She hadn’t felt that sense she had been changed, so she could have been wrong. Still, the feeling was knew to her. Alien. She let out a long sigh and set the blood bag down on her bed, laying back to stare at the ceiling. Perhaps it was best just to ignore it for now.

She closed her eyes, hoping she would be able to sleep even though she was wide awake. She had no such luck, so she laid there and counted the seconds. She opened one eyes when she heard her phone vibrate on the hard surface of her nightstand. Hesitating a moment, she reached over and picked it up, expecting there to be a text from ‘Lita, But it was a text from someone else… Someone she hadn’t spoken to in a while.

Lory: I’m really worried about you.

Sirena stared at the bright screen for a few seconds before deciding to text her back. It had been a while since she had talked to her friend, so she figured she mind as well saying something back if only to ease her conscience.

Sirena: Why? I’ve been staying out of trouble. No worries! :)

Lory: But you weren’t in class today.

Sirena sneered slightly at the phone screen after reading the text. How would she know? Lory didn’t go to the same classes she did. Maybe she went looking for her during the day. She couldn’t imagine why. Last she checked, Lory still had her lover to keep her company.

Sirena: I’m sick

Lory: When has that ever stopped you?

Sirena: I just needed a day off

Lory: Or five.

Hesitating a moment, Sirena glanced around her room as though she would meet questioning eyes of someone peering out her shoulder. What was that supposed to mean? Lory must have visited her old classroom a few times in the past two weeks. That was surprising considering Lory hadn’t been the least bit interested in her before her change. That had to be because she was talking to her less now.

Lory: Your teacher said you transferred.

Sirena: So what if I did?

Lory: You could have told me!
I’ve been worried about you!

Sirena: Why do you care?

Lory: What’s wrong with you?
Why are you acting like this?
Hello?
Oh! Are you ignoring me now?
…seen at 10:47…

Sirena had tossed her phone back on her bed. She bit down on her tongue, shocking herself when she almost bites through it with her fang. She was frustrated and angry and her fangs had slid passed her gums and made themselves known. Without thinking, Sirena grabbed the blood bag again and drained it. she tossed the bag on the floor and jumped off of her bed, her feet landing with a ‘thud’ before she stormed out of her room, leaving her phone behind on the bed.

When she walked out, Sirena looked to the TV that was translating through channels as Whinny sat on the couch with the remote. “Adelita’s still not home yet, huh?” she says and sighed a bit softly. She knew they had plans tonight, so she was surprised to see that Whinny was still alone. “Do you mind if I sit and watch TV with you for a while?” she asked and walked over to stand behind the couch.

< Adelita >How can someone have TiVo and not have a single thing to watch? Almost everything was in Spanish, with the English subtitle rolling on the bottom screen. And if it wasn’t it was those stupid daytime drama things Adelita liked to rot her brain with. For someone who didn’t want any deep, underlying connection to anyone, she sure did watch a lot of shows that circulated around romance, relationships and scandal. But, scandal wasn’t a big surprise. Every day Lita woke up, was a scandal about to happen. Whinny was almost positive.

[Shadowcharmer (DELETED 7800)]

< Adelita > “No.” Whinny answered sharply at the first question. “She said she would be here in a couple hours. We’re going out.” There was no offer extended to the woman who was behind her. “And I don’t care. I would prefer if you sat down, rather than stand behind me. PS. Personal space.” Whinny grabbed some pillows and tossed them to a chair to the right so Whinny could sit down with her and watch some television. “What are you doing tonight? Watching...teleno-whatever these Mexican drama shows are called?” Whinny offered the remote to Sirena, not because she was being nice, but because nothing caught her attention for more than a couple seconds. “Pick something stimulating. I was hoping for a new episode of NCIS, but I heard they don’t start again until the second to last week this month.” Whinny slumped down in the couch a little further, disappointed with this fact.

<Sirena> Feeling a bit sorry for Whinny, but a little annoyed with her at the same time, Sirena walked around the couch and took a seat on the opposite side, leaving as much space between them as possible. Yeah, yeah, personal space. Whinny seemed to need a lot of that. But, then again, who could blame her? She lived with two vampires after all. “Well, I don’t have any plans so I guess so,” she said as she accepted the remote and began flipping through the channels. “There’s never really anything good on TV though…”

Sirena continued to flip through the channels as Whinny had been doing just moments before. She sighed and leaned back into the cushioned couch. “Where are you guys supposed to be going anyway?” she asked curiously, trying to keep their conversation going long enough for her to find something to watch. She stopped on a channel where she saw some program about vampires playing. The scene that was rolling was one of male vampire biting into their victim's neck. She hesitated to turn the channel, simply because she wanted to see if this stereotypical vampire might make her laugh a little and cheer her up. Without realizing it, she began grinding her teeth and her jaw grew tense. She still needed to fill that pit in her stomach.

< Adelita > After Lita did a quick tour of the kitchen and pulled the front til, she moved to the back office and started collecting her things. With her coat zipped up, purse on one shoulder and phone in the other, Adelita headed out to lock up for the night.

Once the doors were locked and checked, Adelita looked through her last few messages and then started texting her thrall. On my way home. Five minutes late. Be ready, because I am ready to have a good time after tonight. Lita put the phone away and headed for the station that would take her a few blocks from her sanctuary apartment.

Whinny looked at Sirena as she started talking and then asked a question of the thrall. “A club.” She wouldn’t give her any other specifications, because she and Lita were supposed to be going out with just the two of them. “Some place by the university. Cheap beer and rail shots.” She looked at her phone when it went off and snatched it up. “That’s her. She’ll probably be here in about half an hour.” Wynifred got up from the couch. “What are you doing tonight?” Whinny asked as she stood in front of the television, her eyes on Sirena as both arms came to her chest.

<Sirena> All emotion seemed to have drained from Sirena’s face in the few seconds they had been talking. Whinny’s last few sentences had slowly become muffled and drowned by a ringing in her ears. Sirena blinked as she watched Whinny stand and move in front of the TV. Her reply didn’t come very quickly and when it did, it was rather lifeless. “I’m sorry… what did you say?” she asked as she rubbed her eyes and shook her head slightly to try and shake the ringing from her ears. Oh great. What was this? Another disfunction of her vampirism? There definitely had to be something wrong with her. For a moment her thoughts stretched on… and on… she couldn’t refocus and it felt like she couldn’t open her eyes. Soon, her mind became completely blank.

The soulless being that sat on the couch across from where Whinny stood simply stared at her, waiting for movement. Her eyes seemed lifeless, and that was something that Whinny would be able to recognize if she looked into them. Sirena eyes traced over Whinnys moving shoulders as she took a breath and the monster on the couch registered that Whinny was indeed a living creature. One she could eat? Seemed so. She stood swiftly and froze for a moment, waiting to see what her prey would do. She was playing with her food.

< Adelita > Lita stopped at the row of post boxes to get the mail for the day when she entered the flats and waited for Whinny’s reply. “Puta.” She muttered when she didn’t get one, slamming the post box closed and latching it with the key.

Adelita smiled to the man behind the counter and blew him a kiss before heading to the elevator and pressing the button. Her phone was put away, because even if whinny did reply to her, it was pointless. Adelita would be in the apartment at any given moment.

”I said-” Whinny stopped to look back at Sirena, who was staring hard at her. She had never seen this look before, but it looked threatening. Malicious even. Wynifred moved back a couple steps before asking a question. “Are you alright?” There was nervousness in her voice as the back of her neck started to perspire and time seemed to crawl at this point. What was her problem? “Lita is going to be home soon.” Whinny said, indicating that whatever their new roommate was thinking of doing, she shouldn’t.

<Sirena> hearing the nervousness in her voice, Sirena simply tilted her head to the right and blinked at the human woman. “Is that supposed to frighten me?” She mocked, a wicked smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. Her voice was hollow and emotionless, nothing like her normal voice. There was less than a breath of hesitation before she darted forward and grabbed Whinny, forcing her to bent her neck to the side as her fangs slipped past her gums and she bit down into her fresh. There was now mercy in her predatory behavior. All Sirena could think about was the need to feed. Of even that- more of a need to kill. She needed to hear her preys heart slow and stop before she would even be remotely satisfied. The lights in the room dimmed and flickered slightly as she felt Whinny growing limp and any attempt to break free slowly dying. She would be dead soon, and Sirena found that thought satisfying.

< Adelita > With junk mail in her fingertips, Adelita moved to her apartment in the complex. She heard the television playing through the door-nothing unusual. One of the three were always watching a program of some description. Lita slipped her hand into her coat pocket, then the other as she searched for her keys.

The door was unlocked and the woman pushed the door open with her left foot, before allowing her shoulder to complete what her foot had started as Adelita finished looking through the mail for the day.

Her eyes glanced up to see who was watching what, but was met with an entirely different scene than was Adelita imagined. “What are you doing?!” Lita all but screeched at Sirena before the mail slipped through her fingers and fell to the floor.

The woman snatched up a decorative bowl that was used for a placement holder for keys and tossed it at Sirena’s back before Adelita leaped into action herself. The bowl landed to the far right of Sirena, barely grazing the woman's shoulder. “Stop!” Lita shouted as she came over the loveseat and laced her right set of fingers around Sirena’s shoulders, while her left hand pushed against Wynifred’s chest, attempting to dislocate the thrall from Sirena’s fangs.

[Adelita (DELETED 5973)]

<Sirena> Hearing Whinny’s heart begin to slow, Sirena started to become more like herself again. Then she heard Adelita’s screech and her whole mind shook with confusion. It didn’t take much of an effort to pull Sirena away from Whinny, seeing how she had began to release her hold on her already. Sirena, seeming to be back to her normal self for a moment, looked at Adelita as she sat on the floor, leaning on her palms which kept her stable. She didn’t seem to understand what had just happened, and she didn’t have enough to question it either. Her mind started fading again.

Sirena opened her mouth to speak, but what came out was a low, disgruntle growl. She moved quickly, knocking Adelita’s feet out from under her before she darted out of the open door Adelita had just entered from. She was down the hall and out of the building in less than a minute, disappearing to find a meal that she wouldn’t have interrupted.

< Adelita > If things didn’t look as bad as they did with Whinny, Lita might have noticed the feral and rabid look in Sirena’s eyes. Her main focus was her thrall, who was probably dying. Or very close to it because she wasn’t making any noise and Whinny wasn’t moving. As Lita moved to her thrall, she heard the growl from Sirena’s lips and then found herself smack dab on her ***. Lita moaned from the sharp and abrupt contact to the floor, and then snaked her head around to see a very open door and a missing Sirena.

Lita snatched her phone from her pocket and hurriedly typed in the letters B and l and Blake’s name came up. Adelita pressed the message icon and swyped her fingers across the screen with the message she had in her mind. I’m going to KILL your childe! Adelita looked at Whinny when she heard the woman gurgle besides her. “Don’t you die, you puta.” Lita grabbed the woman’s chin with her free hand and locked her eyes with her. “I’m getting help.” Sirena, bathed herself in my thrall’s blood. There should have been two warning signs to the male that Adelita was not impressed with Sirena’s behavior. The fact she not only used the woman’s name and referred to her as Blake’s childe, and not her’s or theirs should have rang some alarms in his head. I don’t know what to do. Should I call the policia? As furious as she was with Sirena, she also knew that things of this nature had to be dealt with...delicately.

< Blake >Having just finished a meal of his own, though his being admittedly more ethereal, Blake polished off what was left of the random floating spirit he had found making it’s way through Thornside park. A delicious rarity for him the natural spirits seemed to carry more of a….shock to them as if they actually provided more than the ones Blake would summon with his own blood. Pulling his phone from his pocket he gave a grumble. Wasn’t this how marriages were supposed to work? When the child misbehaved it belonged to one parent and not the other and vice versa?

Your thrall needs blood. Immediately and Sirena needs to be found immediately. Pick which one you’re dealing with and I’ll take the other.”

Short. Sweet. And to the point. Just like pretty much every conversation with Blake was. He may have seemed cold and calloused to the situation at hand but that was simply because, well, he was. Call it a strength or a weakness but for some reason Blake Andras had the keen ability to disassociate himself from a situation to the point that his decisions were based on nothing but pure fact and rationality. Which was exactly his reasoning behind the test message he had sent. After being drained a human would immediately need blood to replace what was lost if too much blood was taken during the draining. Fact. Sirena, left to her own devices and without knowing the perils of the city, would most likely find herself wounded, crippled or killed before very long. Fact. Sirena also suffering from an insatiable hunger would attract far too much attention to their kind and bring so many unpleasant things down on their heads. Fact.

Glancing over his shoulder Blake gave a soft and high pitched whistle, a call to his only supernatural asset in the city that would listen to him without question. A being he had affectionately come to refer to as Papa. The wraith was clearly insane given that any conversation would lead to a throbbing headache within minutes and never make any sense but, if there was one thing Papa could do it was to find people and while Blake had made it seem as if Adelita might have to track down his wayward childe it was more along the lines of ‘return said wayward childe to some place safe;’

[Shadowcharmer (DELETED 7800)]

< Blake >“Papa, I know I’ve not asked much of you in the past weeks but this time I need your help seeing as how I don’t have the ability to be in two places at once.”

The admittance seemed almost painful for the Shadow as he seemed to converse with a being that was not there. Apparently tonight was going to be a night full of the crazies. Joyous.

“Da, monsieur Blake. You lack that ability. I know this all too well.”

The wraith replying with English, French and Russian and with the slightest hint of a spanish accent.

“Apart from the fact that you have just butchered almost half a dozen known languages and broken rule number two...I need you to go look for Sirena. She just left the sanctuary apartments and is having a bout of the insatiables. Find her for me will you and then let me know where she is? Distract her or something. Do that haunty thing you do. Knock over trash cans or make weird noises or ******* talk to her! I don’t care just give Adelita or I time to get there before she runs off again.”

With those instructions nearly shouted to the invisible entity Blake sighed. Thankfully the spirit he had consumed earlier would be put to good use. With a soft popping sound he vanished from his spot in Thornside, a slight wisp of man-sized black smoke rising and then dissipating where he once stood while across town, more specifically outside Adelita’s door, the same thing happened only in reverse. The smoke would appear followed by a loud popping sound and then the appearance of Blake in all of his dark garbed glory. A brief rapping of his fingers against the door signaled his arrival as he stood in the doorway looking at the scene before him.

“Some party you had here….”

< Adelita > Take her pick. Had her thrall been more responsive, Sirena would have been the choice because Adelita imagined the worse. The woman was probably flashing her fangs, growling and snapping at everyone, maybe even attempting to feed off anyone she encountered. She made the choice. Her thrall. Lita hadn’t left Lita’s side when she was at her lowest and Adelita sure wasn’t going to leave her when Wynifred was at her lowest.

With the decision made, and Blake’s advice, Lita wasted no more time dialing nine, one, one and spinning a slightly different tale. Adelita was a neighbor, who saw the door open and her neighbor on the ground with a wound in her neck. Someone should hurry, because the woman looked to be in bad shape. The operator asked for Adelita’s name, but the woman hung up just before Blake arrived at her door.

“It was killer. Too bad neither of us got an invitation.” Lita sighed, and then wiped her bloody hands on her own clothing. “We have to find Sirena. She has a problem.” Adelita stood and continued to rub her hands on the bottom portion of her clothing as she moved closer to Blake. “She-is always hungry. I can’t keep bags in the fridge for longer than two nights. I buy two weeks worth and they’re always gone.” This little revelation would inform Blake of not only Sirena’s feeding, but Lita’s as well-if he didn’t already know. But she suspected he already did, since Adelita made it no secret she was more or less a half-vampire. A lack of fangs meant Lita had to do things the easy way, eye teeth didn’t pierce the skin like fangs did.

“And we need to go. Can you help her? At all?” Adelita’s eyes shifted from him to her thrall, whose breathing seemed to be getting shallower and shallower as the minutes passed by. “She’s my friend.” Friends, were on a very short list with Adelita, so each person she considered a friend was precious and something the woman wished to covet.

<Sirena> Not paying attention to where she was going, Sirena walked, allowing her feet to carry her. She was now far enough from the other vampire that her twisted self thought that the other vampire could not possibly disturb her next meal. There were plenty of humans around that she could attack… she walked by quite a few, but this predator that had control of her body knew better than to attack someone out in the open. That would make too much of a scene and draw too much attention to herself. The killer she was now wasn’t stupid or reckless, but more cautious than Sirena’s normal self was. This Predator she was now was simply her darker personality.

Soon, Sirena noticed she was walking down familiar streets. Why? She was close to where she knew Lory’s boyfriend lived. The vampire paused a moment as she glanced down the street that she could see his house on.

[Blake]

<Sirena> She could see in Sirena’s memories and she knew this was not a place her normal self wanted her to be. She hated him, and her friend knew that. She hated him, and her best friend took her away from her. After a few seconds a hesitation, the predator began trailing down the street, towards the home. He would definitely be home now. At least one of them would be, if not both.

Once she reached the house, Sirena stepped up on the small porch and walked up to the front door. She knocked. There was silence. She knocked again. Shuffling could be heard from inside the house as someone was forced to put a stop to whatever they were doing and answer the door. Sirena waited patiently. Maybe it would have been faster to just kick the door in, she thought at one point. The door opened and Lory stood face-to-face with Sirena in the doorway. She blinked at Sirena ad looked her up and down, shocked to see her friend here.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Lory finally spoke. “What are you doing here?” she asked. Her tone was light and confused. Not unwelcoming or cold.

Sirena blinked at the woman in front of her. Silence. Silence

Jordan, Lory’s boyfriend, appeared behind her in the home’s kitchen doorway as he bounced around, preparing dinner for the duo. “Who’s at the door?” he asked with his back turned to the front door. “It’s Sirena!” Lory called back to him. She looked back at Sirena and cleared her throat before stepping out of the doorway. “Do you want to come in? We just started dinner. I can make Jordan cook extra if you want to stay a while.”

“Oh, no,” Sirena said, stepping into the home slowly as if checking her boundaries. “I won’t be staying long. I just came by to say goodbye.”

Lory close the door and gave Sirena a very confused look, seeing that her friend had opened up her arms for a hug. There was a strange smile on her face, which Lory would have normally questioned, but instead she hugged her friend, thinking the smile was just a sad one. “Where are you going?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Sirena hissed lowly before biting into her friend’s neck.

< Blake >"Pity, it seems like it was fun."

Shaking his head he entered the small apartment and knelt down beside Wynifred. The wound wasn't the worst he had seen by any means but the amount of blood the woman had lost was sure to be problematic. Looking up at Adelita he had to think for a moment and then gave a soft sigh. Had she not called emergency services he could have had the human perfectly taken care of but now, as it was, he couldn't exactly stabilize the thrall without drawing undo attention to things that were best not paid attention to. Then again...perhaps there was an answer. 'Lita hadn't gone into too much detail about what kind of wound her 'neighbor' had suffered.

"I know this is going to all look very odd but bare with me. It's the best I can do for her right now."

Within moments he was channeling what little spare energy he had left until his hand ignited in what seemed like almost ethereal flames. Perhaps the shock of the cauterization would actually bring the woman back from the shock she was obviously suffering from. With one hand over Wynifred's mouth to keep her relatively quiet and to make sure no one was drawn by the forthcoming screams he placed the very tips of his fingers against the wounds his childe had made not all that long ago. At the very least it would prevent Wyni from losing too much more blood. Apart from that it was all on her and the paramedics to refill the lost blood which, truth be told, wasn't even a concern for Blake. Blood was easily replaced. Especially in Harper Rock.

Ignoring whatever disgusted or petrified look Adelita might give him he rose to his feet and simply sighed. A quick wiping of his hands as he straightened his jacket and cracked his neck. Now came the fun part. Hunting down a wayward childe. Oh if only he were still friends with the demi-fae and his ritualist skills weren't so rusty the night would have been a lot safer and shorter....then again, he wasn't exactly sure how he was going to handle Sirena and this newfound 'thirst' of hers. Hopefully it was merely a phase...if not then he'd have to handle things in a much more extreme manner.

"Let's go find Sirena now shall we? Chances are she's going to some place from her human life. She's not stupid enough to just go stalking the streets all to go after some random person. She's smarter than that. I hope."

[Adelita (DELETED 5973)]

< Adelita > Adelita had seen a lot of things since becoming a vampire, but this was not one of those things. But in saying that, what Blake was doing wasn’t out of the spectrum of common sense mixed with uncommon sense of vampire lore. Whinny had a wound. That wound needed to be closed to stop any further bleeding, and while the methodology was ‘unique,’ it was something she had seen before, if not in real life, than in movies. The most memorable one was heating a piece of piping and doing the reverse. It wasn’t a method used to help someone-it was meant to cause them a great deal of pain prior to their death.

Lita looked up at Blake when he spoke, and slowly nodded her head. He was probably right. Sirena didn’t seem the type to go around causing havoc on the city streets-Lita could barely get the girl to enter a strip club and take a lap dance. Not that Adelita blamed her-that night the entertainment wasn’t all it could crack up to be. Or the music sucked, the drinks maybe. Adelita wasn’t positive, but the charm of the place had lost its appeal that night before Adelita could even appreciate the tag team lap dance.

“Buen pensamiento,” Adelita said as she stood up from off the ground, moved to grab her coat to hide some of the blood that was on her clothes, tied it at her waist and then stood by the doorway. “I don’t even know where to begin.” Adelita admitted before lifting her shoulders in a shrug and sighing heavily. “I’m all ears on where you think some likely places are she might be at.” Blake had a plethora of knowledge and experience in all things Adelita had very little of.

<Sirena> After the second body had hit the floor, Sirena looked around the home in silence. Down the street she could hear music playing in someone’s backyard. An odd thought came to her mind. It was amazing that even after two lives had been taken no one would notice. No one would notice until their employers began calling for them or someone else decided to visit. For now, their lifeless bodies would remain here… Slowly, Sirena emotions started coming back to her. Anger, frustration, sadness and regret filled her. There was no hint of happiness. She had been angry with her friend for a long time, but she never intended to kill her. Now what? Would she be found out by some humans and hunted? Would her sire and her friend walk in to see this scene? What would they do when they saw she had lost control of herself this way?

At first she had been numb concerning her friend's murder. She looked back at Lory’s drained body and she backed herself away from them both slowly. The lights in the home flickered and shut off suddenly as she leaned against the wall and slid down it to sit. Everything seemed so quiet and peaceful. Normally she would welcome the silence, but right now that silence meant only death. “What have I done?” she asked herself quietly as she pulled her knees up to her chest and she closed her eyes tightly.

< Blake > Thinking for a moment in pure silence as he made his way out to the street he had to put himself in Sirena’s shoes. Where would she go? What would she do? She wasn’t feral so simply running the streets seemed unlikely. Possibly a friend? Or a relative? There had to be something in Harper Rock that would anchor his newest childe, something that would remind her of her human life. Looking in each direction Blake sighed, this night was going to drag on if he didn’t come up with something soon. Turning around he sighed and looked at Adelita with a frown.

“Did she leave her phone behind or anything maybe? Do you know of any friends she might have had or that she talked about having when she was human?”

It was a long shot but it was better than nothing. Blake wasn’t exactly out of ideas or things to try but if he could save himself from complete and utter exhaustion then he would. He didn’t know what shape Sirena would be in when he found her and the thought of having to contain her was one that left a sour taste in his mouth, to say the least. Taking a deep breath, more to steady himself than out of any needful thing, there was an almost buzzing silence as Blake let his focus wane. The city street in front of him dissolving as if it were a fine mist only to be replaced with a darkness. It only took a few moments for him to realize he was in a room...someone’s room. He could see a pair of bodies, the scent of blood on the air. Sirena was in someone’s home and, judging by the split second image he had garnered, his childe was upset. The best Blake could assume was that Sirena had gone to a friends house seeking peace and an escape from all of this….darkness he had forced upon her and The Darkness had gotten the best of her.

[Shadowcharmer (DELETED 7800)]

< Blake >It was a matter of seconds before the shadow smiled once again. Knowing what he knew now perhaps there was a way to get Sirena to come to them instead of them having to hunt her down. Softly he envisioned his mind floating through the darkness of the city and gently pressing itself against Sirena’s. Even though he spoke not a word as he stood in front of Adelita, Sirena would hear him just fine.

Come home Sirena, we can talk about things and figure out how to make it all better. I promise. Please come back to us? ‘Lita and I are worried. We can take you some place safe.”

< Adelita > Adelita looked at Blake a little dumbfounded. Didn’t everyone have friends? Scratch that. Didn’t most nice people have friends? Lita couldn’t ask that question because she didn’t have any friends-not any real ones. Nice people had friends, so ultimately that meant Sirena would have at least one friend. The petite woman sighed and then lifted her shoulders to shrug. “Maybe? In her room? IN the living room? I don’t remember seeing one. But then my attention was a little elsewhere.” She admitted, as the woman slowly spun around the streets, expecting to see Sirena at any minute pop out from somewhere. And when she did that, she would be back to her regular self too.

“I really don’t want to go back to look...With help on the way.” She confessed as Adelita faced Blake once again. “I know she doesn’t have a boyfriend.” Adelita confessed, only knowing that because Sirena had told her she was a virgin and wasn’t interested in that sort of thing anyways. “Or a girlfriend.” Adelita knew the woman was only into guys too-even if she didn’t want to sex their brains out. None of those things though, would be of any help to Blake, ‘Rina, or Lita in the woman’s mind. “I’ll try and call her?” Adelita offered as she started pulling her phone out of her coat pocket.

<Sirena> Sirena sobbed to herself for a while and was startled by the sound of Blake’s voice. She raised her head and looked around the home as if she expected to see him standing beside her. Of course he wouldn’t be there. He had no idea where she was. She didn’t want to stay there, but she felt like she had no right to leave after what she had done. She wiped tears away from her eyes, speaking with a cracked voice. “If I go out on the streets I might kill someone again,” she says, hoping that simply speaking would be enough for him to hear her words. Surely he would be able to hear her if he could translate a message to her the way he had.

“Is she angry?” she asked quietly, hugging her knees like a frightened child. Tears still streak down her cheeks despite her attempt to stop them. “I almost killed Whinny. I killed… I killed my best friend and her boyfriend. How can I just…” she trailed off, realizing that he probably didn’t understand her now that her sobs choked her words so the only sound coming from her were pained squeaks of regret.

The sorrow filled vampiress waged war on herself as she tried to come decide what she should do. Should she try running away from them? She didn’t deserve any comfort they might try to offer her, assuming they wanted to help her. On the other hand, they could be more upset than Blake’s worried voice led her to believe, they might just decide to get rid of her since she was too much trouble. Whatever the case may be, she decided to give them the address, knowing that they would eventually find her even if she did run from them.

“The address is…” she paused a moment, having to think of the address. After all, she had only been to this house two times prior to this night. “1607 Page street. It’s a housing street connected to Redwood,” she explained. Sirena cleared her throat, trying to make it a little easier to breath once she finished crying.

< Blake > Blake listened to ‘Lita halfheartedly, he really did try to give her as much of his attention as he could but at that moment his mind was far too busy trying to locate his wayward childe. He wanted nothing more than to be there for both women given the events of the night but unfortunately there was only so much he could do at once.. Whinny was upstairs barely alive (but hopefully stable) and he knew that had to be worrying ‘Lita even though the woman was standing strong and resolved in her desire to help him find Sirena whom, Blake assumed, was on the verge of a mental collapse given the state he felt her in. Even if Adelita was showing just how strong and tough she was there was still that hint of worry that Blake could just...innately see in her. Just there, in the corner of her eye, was that small shred of doubt and concern. That simply would not do.

Placing a pale hand on Adelita’s shoulder he smiled. A true, honest and genuine smile. She seemed to need the reassurance and given that he was doing his best to maintain control of the situation he was all to happy to give it to her.

[Blake]

< Blake > As a friend, as a mentor, as a man, it was his desire and his duty to make sure that he did everything he could for those around him when things seemed to be going down hill. As much as he may have seemed a cold and calculating monster more often than not, those that truly got to know him were all too aware of just how far Blake would go for those close to him. When they were as close as Adelita and Sirena though? There wasn’t a damn thing he wouldn’t do if push came to shove. Andras, Tytonidae, his childer and Adelita were his world now and he would protect his world from any threat that dared to rear it’s ugly head.

“Lita, darling, relax. Deep breath. Sirena will be fine and so will Whinny. Everything is under control. Trust me, okay? Sirena isn’t the first person I’ve dealt with that has hunger issues. It’s...just a phase.”

He was half worried that last part was a lie but there was a part of him that hoped that what Sirena had done tonight might actually change her and make her despise the thought of feeding from humans. Like sire like childe after all, though, Blake’s reasons would be far different from Sirena’s if that was the way things went. He chose not to feed on humans simply because he found a majority of them to be filthy and unworthy of such a thing coming from a vampire as great as he was. Ego. Again, the core of another of Blake’s ideals. Having blocked out most of Sirena’s thoughts and emotions it wasn’t until he felt her remembering something far more important that he tuned back into her. She, of her own accord, had dug up a memory of an address. She must have been trying to think of where she was!

Grinning happily he wiggled his eyebrows at Adelita almost flirtatiously.

“Hey doll, wanna go somewhere with me? I have an address in mind where we might pick up a little hottie.”

Yeah, it was cheesy as all get out but hey, if he could bring at least a little humor to the situation and spread even a smile or two on this unhappy and dreary night then it was the least he could do.

< Adelita > Adelita would love to just...relax, but in the back of her mind; her old and new friend were in dire condition, both in different ways. One could be dead in minutes, the other not long after if she didn't get herself in control. But oddly enough, as Adelita listened to Blake’s calm statements, Lita started to do just that. Relax. She believed him, either due to his words or how he said those words as Blake stood in front of Adelita.

The woman did as Blake told her, she took a deep breath and nodded her head. “Everything will be fine.” She said with a small smile as Lita confirmed his shared thoughts. A phase-a phase that only hopefully lasted tonight. Lita entrusted that Blake knew what to do and what would have to be done to correct this ‘phase,’ of hers. “It’s just a phase.”

After his quiescent mind seemed focused and fixated on a thought, or realization; there was a quick and playful movement on Blake’s face before he spoke. Adelita knew who this little hottie was-obviously it was Sirena, which brought a sizable smile on the woman’s red painted lips. “Depends, does she get to come home with me, or are we sharing her?” Adelita’s eyes held subtle hilarity in them from the question she asked, because it could have been taken in a multitude of ways and was interested in how Blake would take it as.

<Sirena> Left alone to wonder if she should run or not, Sirena waited for them to arrive. Were they really worried, or was Blake only leading her to believe that? She didn’t know if she should trust him considering a few choice events from the past. Sirena dried her eyes as she uncurled from the fetal position and stood slowly, looking away from the bodies on the ground. Should she try to hide the bodies herself and just leave town? She looked to the hook by the door where Lory and Jordan had their car keys hanging on wooden hooks that were nailed to the wall. Maybe if she waited for Blake than he would be able to make sure they weren’t found…

What was she saying?! this was her best friend and her boyfriend! They were murdered in their own home by her! She should be calling the cops and turning herself in! The human side of her wanted to do just that, but Sirena knew nothing good would come from it. She walked down one of the halls and into the couple’s room to grab two blankets. She covered the bodies so she wouldn’t have to stare at them while she waited.

Once they were both covered she laid on the couch and waited for her sire and Lita, hoping that this nightmare would soon be over. She closed her eyes, wishing that she could fall asleep and make time go by faster. They had to be on their way… They had to be.

[Adelita (DELETED 5973)]

< Blake > He looked at Adelita with a sad sort of smile and simply nodded. He could only begin to comprehend how the woman was feeling given that emotions weren’t exactly his forte more often than not. He was worried about Sirena sitting there in front of her own mess and having to digest and deal with what she had done and become….he was worried about Adelita who seemed worried about her thrall and about Sirena. That much worry would have just done him in if he weren’t such a control freak. Then again, being who he was, if he didn’t have at least a modicum of control in a situation it would be him who would start to worry and start to find some way to gain some kind of control. Like right now…

“1607 Page Street, over in Redwood. I can either go and deal with Sirena myself and leave you to take care of things upstairs...or you can come with me and hope that she responds better to a friend than to a sire. It would be...unfortunate if she did but you also know how I can be sometimes what with the tough and the rawr and all of that…”

He looked up to the window he imagined was Adelita’s and gave a soft sigh. He really did hope the human would turn out okay even if he did constantly belittle their existence. Perhaps some night ‘Lita or Blake would have the honor of turning the young woman to prevent things like this from happening again. Or simply to make her more useful and more resilient. A vampiric Whinny. Oh would that be entertaining especially given the attitude she already had.

“Choice is yours. I can get us both over there relatively quickly if you trust me. Otherwise I can call you in a little bit and let you know how things are going.”

< Adelita > The Mexican woman listened, eyes bouncing between Blake and the apartment complex she, Wynifred and Sirena lived in together. Lita had made up her choice a few minutes ago and the advancing of the sounds of the siren’s solidified that choice. She could be upstairs, helping Wynifred and talking to the paramedics, but what would she say that made any sense? What if they asked her a seemingly innocent question and she slipped? Said something she hadn’t intended on saying and becoming a focus of some investigation or something?

Trust. What a word in Lita’s world. She shouldn’t trust him-Adelita knew next to nothing about Blake other than the fact her was in charge of the Academy-not the most liked person, though she couldn’t figure out why and he was hot. And a good screw too. But, oddly enough she did trust Blake, even if her mind was ready to have her blurt out saying something completely different. Adelita trusted that he could take care of all things related to Sirena. “I’m going with you.” Adelita finally spoke up as her eyes landed on Blake, pushing past the dark, dwindling thoughts about Wynifred lying in a pool of her own blood; hair brittle and heavy from the blood that was in it now. “I’m positive you can maneuver me around with not a single problem. I trust y-that you can manage that.” Adelita gave Blake a continual nod of her head as she waited to see how the pair were getting from here to there in a couple seconds tops.

[Shadowcharmer (DELETED 7800)]

<Sirena> Sirena wished she could fall asleep, but that wasn’t happening. She laid awake, listening to the sounds coming from the streets outside. There were a few occasional honks, and a very few crickets singing. Overall, there was simply silence. A silence that whispered bitter words without there being any real sound. The hunger was slowly beginning to make Sirenas stomach ache again, and she didn’t know what she should do. She knew she had to stay put until Blake of Adelita arrived so they could make sure she didn’t hurt anyone else, but she wanted to leave the house more than she wanted to wait.

Sirena opened her eyes to stare at the wall in silence. They would be here soon. She wouldn’t lose control again. She stood and walked to the front door, opening it slowly to look outside. Were they close by? No; she didn’t see them. What would be the harm in leaving and coming back? Sirena closed the door quickly and backed away from the door, forcing herself to stay seat on the couch. She was determined not to hurt anyone else.

< Blake > Nodding curtly there wasn’t a word to be spoken as Blake began to visualize the general area that Sirena had been so kind as to provide him with. He could see the middle class apartment buildings (as was the norm for those that lived in the general area) and there, looming in the distance and overlooking the district like some silent guardian was Veil. His pride and joy and, quite honestly, a testament to his ego because, after all, every sociopathic and well aged vampire needed some kind of mark to leave on the mortal world. Veil was his.

A shake of his head to push those irrelevant thoughts aside before he looked around. The area was generally clear of humans though the reflections of the sirens in the windows of nearby buildings told him that the emergency services weren’t all that far out. It was now or never. Scooping Adelita up in his arms he winked at her. The first few steps seemed completely normal but then everything began to blur...street lights became streaks of white, buildings rushed by without a sound, cars and people were there and gone as quickly as they would appear and in next to no time the pair would be standing in the shadows at one end of Page Street. Setting Adelita down he cleared his throat and nodded down the street.

“Should only be a few houses down….figured I would stop here. Less chance of being seen and all of that. And don’t worry about when we left. Shadows are exceptionally good at not being seen when we don’t want to be.”

A simple grin as he began to head down towards where he hoped his childe was waiting for him.

Almost there, Sirena. We just turned down Page now. I will see you soon and make everything okay. I promise.

< Adelita > Without any word or indication as to what Blake was going to be doing-or how he was going to get them from point A to point B, Adelita was in his arms and they were-something. This power or ability seemed vaguely familiar and that was when she remembered. She learned this a couple weeks ago, but only dared to do it once. When she reappeared in town...Lita had gotten quite a few ‘interesting’ looks. Nothing she felt she needed to share then, or even now.