[Charles] Girl Interrupted

[Harlow (DELETED 8813)]

Harlow discarded the duffle coat from her shoulders to reveal no less than three holstered weapons. The smile on her face was bordering on feral, elongated fangs jutting unnaturally from the neat rows of perfect white teeth. She feasted on her victim’s reaction, her pupils widening at the sound of his quickening heartbeat. Now you get it… she thought, tickled by the expressiveness of his paling face. He turned on his heel to escape his fate and her fiendish smile widened.

Stupid, stupid man.

The wolf had shed its woolly hide and was eager for the chase.

Predictably, the guard faltered in the face of her inhumanity. With a chorus of muffled screams, he met his fate as her fangs ripped into his throat. It was a moment of bliss, afforded by his terror and imminent death.

Harlow swept the underside of her tongue past her lower lip as she rose to her full height, short frame now towering over the dying man at her feet. Wiping at her chin with the long sleeve of her black henley shirt, the vampire sidestepped the fallen guard and eyed the safe once again.

“You best be worth it…” she mused aloud, closing the distance between herself and the metal door squarely embedded in the office’s wall. With practiced ease, Harlow managed to unlock the safe, though the moment of suspense regarding its content was extended as she halted inches away from reaching for her trophy. A sound just beyond the open-plan office had caught her attention and stilled her movements.

Another guard? That wouldn’t be all that unexpected, really. It was, after all, a fancy office. One dead guard wasn’t anything to fuss about, but two could bring the red and blue sirens, and they weren’t Harlow’s favoured cup of tea.

“Bollocks!” she hissed under her breath, commanding the dark corners to swell and darkness to shroud the space she and her victim occupied. Shadows stretched from the walls, masking the puddle of blood seeping into the carpet.

Reaching for the gun holstered at her hip, Harlow kept an eye on the disturbance making its way down the adjacent hall.

[Charles Crafter]

There's always a pattern to the guards paths, that's knowledge any thief should know, even a new one. Charles knew this. He had studied the patterns of these guards and had taken care to follow the safest path. Cracking the safe would be the hard part. He walked calmly through in a suit and tie, better to look important if they caught you, maybe get your way out of it. Dress like a guard and they might recognize you are definitely not one of them straight off.

He rounded a corner, then another, keeping his steps soft but casual. A face without any specific recognizable emotion or thought on it, allowing him to conform it to whatever fit his need if something came up. However as he passed into the office he saw something he hadn't expected, a corpse. The dead body of a guard on the floor.

'Crap...I wasn't expecting that! This could be bad!' He thought scanning the room. He didn't see the vampire who had already opened the safe, though he did see the safe had been opened. Someone's here, or has been here.

He looked over his shoulder stepping to the side so that if someone passed they wouldn't see him straight off, Check if there is anything left then hightail it out of here. Oh wait, now I've forgotten the pattern timing. Great job moron. Someone dies and now you might get sent to jail for murder.

He rushed to the safe to check if there was anything left keeping an eye out for any movement or sound of footsteps.

[Harlow (DELETED 8813)]

Harlow had mistakenly considered humans to be harmless. She had also tailed a possible meal who had, much to her surprise, turned out to be much like her: a vampire. What, exactly, had allowed them to dissimulate their inhumanity was beyond her understanding. If she regarded the intruder with apprehension, it was because experience had taught her to be discerning.

From the looks of it, the man was not part of the security team. He wore no uniform, but that didn’t mean anything. While his attire suggested office worker, his attitude regarding the fallen guard did not suggest any familiarity. In fact, from the way he acted, the man—likely human (though she wouldn’t know unless she tasted his blood)—was as much of a trespasser as she was.

There was no time to formulate a plan. Like a mother watching her cub being approached, Harlow glided out of the shadows with her weapon drawn. As far as shooting went, she wasn’t stellar, but so far she’d hit every target she’d ever shot at. The only telltale to her presence was the click of the safety being disengaged. Around her, the shadows teetered, much like the dark silhouette of trees along a wall at night, except there were no trees, windows, or bright enough lights to create such movement and contrast.

“Thou shall not steal. Is that the eighth or the ninth commandment? I simply cannot remember.”

[Charles Crafter]

Charles ears perked up at the click but he saw nothing, which was disconcerting. Then he heard her speak. No! Already I screwed up. You have to be joking. A vampire maybe? Either that or their hiding is impeccable. The killer I'm almost sure of it, or why would they hide? Stop that. How do you get out?

He glanced around with his eyes but did not move his head and appeared to keep a cool presence. "That sounds about right. Although some interpretations say it is the seventh." He said quietly and carefully, "I'm gonna take a guess and say you're here for pretty much the same reason I am right? Theft. Which means we both seem to be breaking that rule. Good thing I'm not a christian or jew then isn't it?"

Careful with the jokes. I don't know how humorous this person is. They could still be a guard but if they are they are a very odd one. I haven't known one not to come in shouting. But I guess there is always a first right?

[Harlow (DELETED 8813)]

“Christian, jew, atheist, the lot of you bleed just as readily regardless of your beliefs,” she retorted unforgivingly, gun still trained on the stranger. Harlow had never liked smart alecks, notably those who were privy to her business.

The shadows stilled behind her, darkness receding unnaturally through the carpet and drywall. A glance at the security camera reassured her the system was still offline, as she’d left it upon entering.

“I’m going to take a guess and presume you know better than to steal from me. Am I right?”

She purposely mimicked his wording.

Whereas some vampires could pass as human, seemingly benign, Harlow gave off a queer aura; her presence did not appease, but rather, it agitated. The two weapons still holstered to her person were not necessary to make an unfavourable impression. Her smile, closed-mouth, was as sincere as she was innocuous.

Harlow has the unnatural aura curse. Defined as: Everywhere you go, humans are immediately put at unease by your presence. Something about you is unnerving, terrifying, or downright creepy. This makes normal interactions with humans very difficult, and stealth is nearly impossible.

[Charles Crafter]

Something just felt...off. And that was even more disturbing. He could practically feel the evil coming out of the shadows and would have shuddered if he didn't know better. Although, he considered just doing so anyway. Maybe ease himself a little.

He nodded licking his lips, "Sounds about right." He cursed himself inside for using the same wording he'd used a moment ago. This was a vampire, he was all but certain now, and he didn't know just how they would react to anything he said. He had no quarrel with vampires especially, this one was just so...off-putting.
"I suppose I'll just...go my own way and leave the thieving to you for now?"

It was more of a question than a statement. Essentially saying he wished to depart in one piece...and not drained of blood for that matter.

[Harlow (DELETED 8813)]

“Hm,” Harlow hummed noncommittally. She approached the stranger with such slow and steady steps that she could appear to be gliding were it not for the obvious movement of her short legs. Her boots made no sound despite their heavy soles; they were needed layer of protection from high drops which she’d long ago grown accustomed to. With the gun still trained on the stranger, she came to a stop just out of arm’s reach and motioned with the barrel downwards.

“Wouldn’t be very good at this if I didn’t get you to empty your pockets first,” she pointed out, fangs evident when she spoke.

“Unless you’d rather offer up an artery and I’ll just help myself thereafter. Either way, I have no time to waste. Which will it be?

Harlow set her free hand on the table, splayed fingertips dragging across the surface.

[Charles Crafter]

Dangit. He thought, "The former I think, I like keeping my blood on the inside." he admitted as he turned his pockets inside out. Most were empty, of course he had a lock picking kit, and a small safe cracking kit, a small knife used for tools, and a pocket watch, along with the obvious thing, a wallet. Actually, to be accurate, two wallets. One held a hundred dollars total in tens, fives, and ones, while the other held five hundred in fifty's. The more expensive one held his id but there was no credit card in either of them.

He made sure to mention why since things were already going so badly, "No point in bringing around something that could continue to hurt you if it get's stolen." He said shrugging still doing his very best to keep cool, even if he was failing on the inside.