Footprints [Raven Marie]

[Jesse Fforde]

Jesse chuckled. Mostly everything. It was almost a boost to his ego, to think he could be so interesting. Strange was a compliment.

"Guess," he said, simply. Without access to TVs or radios, would the girl be aware of the existence of vampires? It had been revealed, it had been all over the news for a good week or two. Every now and again there were flurries of new stories; new theories on crime sprees and murders, stories about blood banks and morality. Were vampires good or evil? Should they be trusted or branded? If she hadn't been privy to the stories, had she been told? Surely the people of the street, the homeless, kept each other in the loop, to keep each other safe. Solidarity, and all that.

Could she figure it out, without having to be told?

[Raven Marie (DELETED 9137)]

She looked at him confused. What did he mean by guess? "What do you mean by guess? I don't really know so how am I supposed to guess? I've never heard anything except that some people wander around here at night." That was the truth. That is all that she was heard. What was he talking about though.

[Jesse Fforde]

Jesse looked around and laughed. "Of course people wander around at night. It's a busy city -- the existence of vampires still doesn't exactly deter anyone," he said. Even though she was asking him questions, even though the topic had turned to his own 'strangeness', he was still learning a lot about the girl. She was young. It was showing in her innocence and her naivete.

Again, he asked himself the question: would it really be a good idea? Kaelyn had struggled. She still struggled -- or well, she had. Was this some psychological attempt to try to replace her? Was that what was going on? The thought was banished as soon as it had arrived. No, of course not. That would be stupid.

[Raven Marie (DELETED 9137)]

She heard the word vampires and became curious. "Vampires?" She hadn't really heard much about them. She heard the word every once and a while but, she never heard what people were saying about them. She had always been curious about new things yet she had always been some sort of a bad person. People hated her sometimes for what she did to them. Sometimes it disappointed her. But, it was always people who had tried something on her. She had shuddered at the last time that had happened. He had tried to rape her and that had not turned out very well. There was a lot of blood spilled and some of it had been her's.

[Jesse Fforde]

"Mm. You know, Nocturnal creatures that drink blood? Generally burn in the sun, have fangs?" he said. Clearly, he was teasing. She had to know what vampires were. "Immortal," he added, hinting at the offer he'd made previously. Guessing shouldn't be too hard from here on out. Should it? He held his hands out to hover over the flames; the ink of his tattoos was bright in contrast to his pale skin. Now, bathed in warm light, she might see the pallor to his skin, the way his eyes were a little too vibrant. The flames danced within them, that same gleam still present.

Jesse quite liked fire. Some might say Jesse was addicted to fire. The word pyromaniac might have been bandied about. But there wasn't much to burn here. The snow would kill the flames before they'd even had a chance to struggle to life.

[Raven Marie (DELETED 9137)]

She thought back the conversation and nodded understanding now. Though she knew some of it he was teasing her. The fire started to grow dim from the wind. She sighed disappointed. "Alright. I've heard about them but, I have never really known about them." She continued to warm her hands before the fire went out. She didn't really want to freeze anymore.

[Jesse Fforde]

"They are as real as the air we breathe," he said, peering at the flames and, for a few moments, lost in thought. He sucked in a breath, then, suddenly coming back to himself. He wasn't one to beat around the bush. He was upfront, he was blunt. Blunt, or so sharp that he cut to the bone.

"See, I knew a girl once. She was terminal -- had cancer. So someone turned her. Made her immortal. She was sixteen. It was hard on her, to be perpetually sixteen. She was stuck in the mindset of her age. She found it hard to adapt. She struggled, knowing that she would forever be considered less, somehow, because she was young. You aren't terminal though, are you? You're alive until you freeze to death, and I'm wondeirng if that's a better course..." he pondered out loud. He probably made no sense. Or maybe he made all the sense in the world.

[Raven Marie (DELETED 9137)]

She mostly understood but, was a little confused. She thought back to the times when she was stabbed and when she had cut herself nonstop she sighed and pulled off her coat. Her arms were covered with cuts and stab marks. She was wearing a black leather tank top. She closed her eyes as she showed them. She was usually not one that showed these marks. "I have more on my chest, stomach, side and legs." She said quietly nervous about what he might think about these marks. She had never shown anyone else before. She hated hearing 'Oh you poor poor thing' 'Oh you poor little girl. You can't protect yourself can you' She hated hearing those because these marks were from her protecting herself. So the others who said that could just shut up. She wanted to curse while she thought about it but, held back and calmed down.

[Jesse Fforde]

Despite the cold, the girl took off her jacket. She held out her arms, the white scars glistening against already pale skin. Jesse reached out, his fingers as cold as death as he took one of her arms, as he twisted it just slightly so he could get a better look. The temptation was there, to lift that slender arm to his wrist, to find the vein beneath the tender skin of the wrist and just drink. Instead, he frowned.

"Why are you showing me these?" he asked. It was a strange leap, he thought, but he wondered whether it had something to do with what he'd just said. Was she trying to show him that she was not an ordinary sixteen year old? That there were other dangers, despite the cold? He knew of those dangers. He was one of them -- to an extent.

[Raven Marie (DELETED 9137)]

She thought. His touch was cold but, she didn't care anymore. "I don't know. I just felt comfortable showing you them." She was surprised at her own words. It was odd. She had never been comfortable around someone before but, for some reason she was around him. "I've been stabbed and cut yet sometimes the other person also gets stabbed so my blood isn't the only blood that gets spilled during fights or times when tries to rape me. It sucks." She said calmly letting him do what he wanted. "Except the cuts um... on my wrist I made those." She whispered ashamed that she had done that to herself. She had to admit that she was suicidal sometimes. "Sometimes I am suicidal."