{CHAPTER 9} Citizens imperative (OPEN)

[Valerian]

Valerian knew full well he couldn't take on every vampire. He knew that what he was doing was going to potentially make him a target, and yet, he welcomed it. Especially right now, it was early in the night. Early enough for vampires to be out, but also where they were still enough humans roaming. He also specifically chose to do this nearer to the gangland slums, a place where he wagered there were plenty more people with guns.

He'd taken to walking around with a mirror and watched the checkpoints to see if he could spot when someone was a vampire, and would then follow them. He had to find a way to intercept them so he was between them and any group of people. He had brought his thrall with him, give a bit of background aid. They didn't need to kill it here, in fact, it'd probably escape. He planned to at least injure it.

"Vampire!" He said pointing to them as he managed to get in their way passing by a bar, his voice was loud and accusatory. He could see the fear for a moment in the dark, the way they looked to see who was paying attention. A few people outside the nearby bar, a few across the street, "You're hunting again aren't you? You were gonna feed on someone here?"

Sara spoke out as well, talking while near people, "We should get rid of it! It could kill someone!" There was more at work than just words. Valerian was not experienced in inciting riots. But he was a jorogomo, and that gave him certain advantages. He shoved the vampire back as he spoke, his every body movement was meant to attract attention, "You're just a beast! The soldiers aren't doing enough, they just tag em and let them go so they can feed on someone else! We have to send them back to where they belong."

Not everyone would try and react, not everyone wanted to deal with a vampire. But numbers were useful. No one else moved. He scoffed, pulling out his firearm, "Well someones got to do something." he said quickly pulling the trigger resulting in several rounds into the chest of the vampire.

He was fairly certain it wouldn't die immediately. Which meant there'd be a fight. But they were in public and if he was near enough to people they might defend him. He just wanted another one dead at this point since he couldn't seem to get enough people riled up.

[for_chaos][/for_chaos]

[Zodiac]

Spending your life unable to utter a word did have a few (precious few) advantages when it came to dealing with others. Ones ear’s and eyes played a much greater part in things when it came to people. Observation could tell you so much more than words.

Because of her situation, Zodiac was a people watcher. She had already passed through the checkpoint thanks to her fake ID and was leaning against a lamp post ‘enjoying’ a small coffee while smoking along with a few others who enjoyed the same habit when an individual caught her attention. A ‘do gooder’ type trying to help make the world safe by pointing out a vampire to the crowd. He certainly was being loud enough and she might have taken it at face value if she had not been watching him several moments before he spoke up.

His movements were smooth, almost calculated. He wasn’t just a random person who discovered a vampire by chance. He was hunting. Honestly, she was surprised more was not following his example. The people of this town had split into two groups. Half walking around like sheep waiting for the inevitable slaughter and the other half demanding action. Key word-demanding. Gods forbid they actually get their own hands dirty in the process, so the burden falls on the police and the military and who knows how many more up the chain. Paladins, in her view, didn’t count in this formula. It was their job, their nature, they had no choice in the matter, but people were another thing. People wanted results without damage to their conscience. A lot of possible errors were waiting to happen in this state of things, and she feared one day she would look on the news and see a bunch of ‘good old boys’ decided to kill a vampire but instead murdered a helpless human in the process. It would happen sooner or later.

The man was doing his best to try and stir up some kind of reaction. She did not recognize the (supposed) vampire he was drawing attention to, but the poor thing had the same ‘deer in the headlights’ look the surrounding crowd had going.

’Well, somebody do something.’ she thought to herself, and blinked in surprise when the would be hunter pulled out a gun and shot the vampire himself. This one had guts. Try that in the wrong part of town and he’d end up a snack for the rats.

Curiosity pulled her now as she watched the man turning and moving on along. Her eye had also noticed someone trying not to be obvious, but was keeping pace with the man. That was smart. Backup was a good thing in an endeavor like this. She fell into a parallel path with the second one while focusing on the shooter. She focused her mind and checked the shooter’s aura for clues.

’Well holy ****!’ She had heard of them, of course, but this was the first time she found herself in spitting distance of one. Hadn’t one of his kind sang a song on the radio a few years back? A boat load of chaos came from that and a lot of awkward moments once the spell had passed. She had been a victim of it herself. An honest to god Siren. Of all the other unique entities that roamed this town she had recorded information about, Sirens was a category that was seriously empty in the compendium she was working on.

She stopped and disposed of her cup in the trash while keeping an eye on the second one. Where the siren went, that one was sure to follow. She wasn’t getting much from the follower’s aura interestingly. She’d assume sirens might hunt in packs like others did, but this one was quite alone in this (so far) with only human backup.

Curious.

She made a display of lighting a fresh smoke and began to walk again. 2 blocks, perhaps 3 and she would reluctantly turn to another direction. If this siren was not keeping track of who was behind him, she would be very surprised. Talking with this one would probably be impossible (considering Sirens seemed to have nothing to say to her kind), and if he started to sing she’d punch his lights out before he got to the third note of the tune (Just in self defense. No throat ripping. Just leave him for his servant to pick up and take home). No, just casual observation was all she could hope for. Perhaps something would cause him to use one of his abilities. That would be something to observe and take notes on.


[no_confidence][/no_confidence]

[Valerian]

The vampire hardly lasted, their own surprise at being outed was probably enough of an indicator of that. They weren't one of the powerful ones, they were mediocre at best. The fight was over in seconds and the vampire lay dead, their corpse turning to ash and collapsing on itself. He didn't hide the slight smirk following his disgust. "Parasitic fraud." he muttered. To him, vampires were not even close to human. Whether they once were human or not was completely irrelevant. He believed that once a vampire, they were only taking the appearance of the human. For all intents and purposes, they were fakes that prey on the real.

Then he left, Sara would end up following. And catch up with him after they were at least out of sight of the crowd in which the vampire had been killed. He knew of course that Sara would follow him. And it wouldn't surprise him that another person would, sometimes vampires had family nearby, that was the risk with chasing them. You might run into kin. Add on top of that, he was used to killing. And as a result, he was used to the potential tricks others used to tail or attack.

So he would see Zodiac following him. Of course, even with that, he did'n't know for certain the why. And sometimes it wasn't always a real follow, and really was just coincidence. He had to keep going, she wasn't seeming to get too much closer. But she'd still followed him. He'd have to run a test, he turned a corner, and in doing so whispered quietly to his thrall, "Walk faster. Go somewhere with plenty of people, preferably cops or soldiers nearby."

She was about to speak but he interrupted, "No questions, just keep going." she obeyed. She was not usually used for combat, that was just not wise. Humans were good to have in ones command, but wasting them by sending them against a vampire was just poor planning. He would continue to walk, but a lot slower. And keeping his eyes over his shoulder. He had no interest in subtlety right now. He figured there were four options they would take, pass him up, slow down but still follow, come for him, or try and adjust their route. If they passed him, he'd follow them. If they slowed down, he'd keep getting slower until stopping just to prove a point. If they chose to actually close the gap, he would be ready to pull his weapon if he had to. Even if they were human, if they were a threat, he felt zero guilt in killing. If they adjusted route, he'd just have to continue on his own. Chasing them down was a great way to fall into a trap.

Valerian was arrogant in truth. He had skill and experience when it came to killing people, but that skill only contributed further to his arrogance. He didn't look down on people, it was a different feeling. He recognized also that there were those more powerful than him. It was merely that, even with all that in play, he usually considered himself the strongest in the room. Most of the time that might be true, but if he played it wrong when it wasn't, then it could truly screw him over.

[Zodiac]

A small shift in the atheir told her the vampire that had been shot was gone. It was either very young or had already been injured to go down so easily. They would return, if they could survive the madness of the Nexus. There was nothing she could do for them, so continued her walk. She could only hope whoever it was had someone to help them once they returned.

Her eyes kept bouncing back and forth between the two people like a slow motion game of tennis. Her tinted glasses helping to hide where her eyes were actually looking. Idly, her hand pulled her headphones from her bag and plugged them into her phone. One set into her ears, she called up a fave tune at low volume. Nothing to see here. Just another soul making their way through the darkness to safety.

But apparently he had seen something. She was sure she had been made despite her nonchalant way of following. The more interesting thing she saw was how his ‘wing person’ suddenly cocked their head a bit as if hearing something unexpected. Telepathy? Vampires did not have sole ownership of such a skill to be certain. A mental note concerning sirens and their skills was ticked off in her head.

Suddenly, the rabbit she had been following turned a corner while his partner kept going in the original direction. She cursed within. Her cat would have been most helpful in a situation like this, but when she went out for the evening, Ginny was enjoying a nap in front of the fire.

Clever, she thought. Even she could not track 2 people at once.

The gypsy smiled to herself as she continued to follow the thrall. (Did sirens call them thralls?) Logically it was her best move. The thrall would always return to their master. Besides, if she chose to follow her main objective, she could find herself in a cross fire between the 2. She knew the man had no qualms of opening fire, but the thrall was a mystery as far as what it would or could do. Too big of a ruckus would reveal herself and she had worked too hard to stay out of the gun sights of the living and others.

Without a glance in the direction the siren had went, she made a show of ‘answering’ her phone and kept her pace. Sooner or later he would call them back to his side or meet up with them where he may have told them to go. She had always been patient, even when alive, and she had all night to work with.


[no_confidence][/no_confidence]

[Valerian]

Gotta love when there are weak vampires. At least, that was how Valerian viewed it. Course, having good equipment, really did help. The surprise certainly helped too, they didn't exactly have the strongest of wills for the situation or they should have acted sooner.

Still nothing...yet. He looked back after his turning, well...she took one of the options. She kept going, same direction that Sara was going. He groaned. He didn't like that. Whatever cruelty that Valerian did, he had no desire for Sara to suffer for this. If they really were being followed, and it wasn't coincidence, then he really didn't like that she was following Sara. He wanted her to follow him.

Sara kept going. Somewhere with cops or lots of people, that's where he told her to go. That might take a little, probably need to walk nearer to wickbridge. There were often more people around there. Would take a few blocks, he wanted to take advantage of that.

She was following his thrall, whether or not she was doing it intentionally or not. And now he was following her, getting out a block behind her. He wasn't as discreet as whoever this woman was, he kept that distance because he knew how far away Sara was. And if he needed, he could just call her. If he was seen following her, he didn't care as much. He chuckled slightly, this might be amusing he thought taking out his phone, and taking a quick picture. He kept it within easy access, from this distance, the image was awful. Especially without flash. But just the concept slightly amused him. Mainly, that was in case she just...gave up if she saw him following her.

This was one of the options he gave himself at least. So he wasn't totally wrong, this was just the second most inconvenient choice for her to make, for him.

She looked like she was on the phone now. If she was following, it was possibly a trick...or calling for back up...that could be a problem. Still, he didn't do anything yet. He wanted to, he would love to just end it now. Just kill them. He did speed up, slightly, but tried not to be too loud about it. He wanted to be within firing range if the need arose.

In spite of all the precautions he was taking. The tests. He still couldn't be sure if this was a legitimate follow or not. They could very well just be coincidence. Hope for it, but never treat it as such automatically. That was a good way to leave yourself open.


[for_chaos][/for_chaos]

[Zodiac]

Whoever the thrall was, they didn’t strike the gypsy as intelligent. There was no natural flow to their movements, no looking about. Almost as if they had been put on a line, given directions, and a switch had been flipped. A straight line almost. Some thralls came out like that she supposed. Personally she favored ones who could think for themselves in the process of following an order. Even if she did decide to corner this one, she doubted any information of any value would come out.

Where had her original ‘prey’ gone to? His body language suggested he was a determined type if nothing else. If the sudden turn was totally random she would be surprised. Sharp instinct suggested itself. A sly push of a button set the device to take a ‘selfie’. Her body language suggested she was laughing as she raised the camera into the air to view the world behind her.

And there he was.

In reflex, she took a snap. He had an interesting quality to him visually. That silver fox/older man tone of appearance. Men were men and she did not trust them, but sometimes they were quite pleasing to look at.

So now she was in the ‘vice’ she had hoped to avoid. It happened on occasion. The only issue was the path his thrall was taking was pulling them into more congested situations. More witnesses limited what she could actually do if she wanted to stay unknown. Not that he would have any issues exploiting that fact. His earlier trick with the younger vamp was proof of that much.

What to do? She could tell they were drawing near to the Wickbridge station area, which would mean yet another checkpoint to bluff her way through and with it basically being the heart of the town it would be loaded with people who were out and about finishing their holiday shopping. Recently she had been pushing her luck with her hypnotic skills when it came to the troops in the checkpoints. Most of them were not veterans with years of skill and experience under their belts. They were fresh out of boot camp or the reserves with little to no focus. Hoping to kill an honest to God monster and take pix of themselves doing gang signs over the body for Facebook but little focus on anything else. It was easy to plant a suggestion into their childish minds that she was okay, her ID was good, and to let her pass without further harassment once she caught their eyes when the demand to 'take off the glasses' was issued.

But a major focal point like Wickbridge had more experienced people in charge. She knew that sooner or later she’d try her hypno trick and someone would shake it off easily and begin to ask questions. How did this turn into a pickle so quickly for her?

Before her options evaporated, the girl took the next turn to the right. She knew this part of town pretty well and what she wanted was located this way. A few quick steps and she turned into a blind alleyway. When she reached the wall blocking the alley from going across to the other street, she turned and leaned against the wall. The soft light from one of the store’s back entrance showed her quite plainly waiting there. If he chose to follow her, they could (attempt) to have a small chat or get violent if he chose that option away from prying eyes. Smoke trickled from the corner of her mouth as she watched.

[Valerian]

She would be right about his thrall mostly. She had little to do with her time then follow orders and ended up simply gathering items most of the time, mostly mindless work. He did not use her for violence most of the time, today was a bit of a rarity. Thralls were simply too weak in his opinion, if they could be enthralled, they were likely to end up as little more than fodder in any fight that mattered. She knew too little for it to matter if caught, even were what she knew to be revealed it would prove too little.

Valerian narrowed his eyes as she raised her device for a selfie. He really wasn't trying to be stealthy, it didn't matter to him much whether or not she realized he had come to follow her. He'd choose the way he acted based on it, but it didn't bother him either way. She did, however, notice him. And turn off to the side. This did cause potential issues, in a crowd, he had the advantage if attacked. But out here, there were more potential limitations...but on the other hand, he had more options for what abilities he could use without arousing suspicion. Turning into a half spider monstrosity of course was typically a bit of a warning sign. Many of the others he could sometimes play off easy enough. Pretending to be a sort of alternative sorcerer sometimes helped.

He cracked his neck as he got closer, grunting as he did so. It took a few moments for him to reach the area, but in those moments he checked his pistol, ensuring it was properly loaded should this turn into a combat situation. He turned the corner immediately, three yards away from the actual corner avoiding a potential spot someone would wait if they planned to immediately jump him. She didn't do that though, and was simply leaning against a wall. He smiled at her, a smile that was used so incredibly often it was about as close to a genuine smile as one could get. At least, as he could.

He walked closer, vampire, human, superhuman, whatever she was right now he wasn't planning on given the appearance of anything but the most basic of precautions. "Interesting choice. You know, it certainly could have been easy for you to have just walked off earlier. Instead you choose here, away from people. Or at least, away from other humans." he said, his voice was calm, if slightly entertained and curious, he was not sure if she was a vampire or not yet. If she was, and he could tell that, then there was no choice in the matter. He'd attack. Perhaps not all Sirens were that way, but it was for him. "Least you left the woman out of it. Now, why follow me?"


[for_chaos][/for_chaos]

[Zodiac]

[no_confidence][/no_confidence]

Part of her was surprised that he followed her. There was no audience here for him to play to that would rally in his support if he called out another vampire. She held her pose as he drew closer. The gypsy had played this game too many times before. As long as she did the bare minimum, he could only guess what she truly was. One hand raised still holding the cigarette while the other hung by her side ready to pull her own weapon if required.

It always annoyed her meetings like this came down to such things. She had no clue why he was doing what he was dong, nor did she care. Her curiosity always put her into these situations, sadly, and the other was always ready to answer with violence. She could return the favor easily if forced to, but for now…

She listened to his voice as he spoke. Ah, confident one. No waver in the tone and pitch of his words. A bit confused perhaps, but she got the impression this one was becoming used to having his way in things. Overconfident? That remained to be seen.

The corners of her mouth rose, forming a small smile. The hand holding the cigarette moved slowly up and tapped her forehead, then gestured at him. She had never found a way to announce to another what was about to happen that honestly made any sense, but she always tried.

’Greetings, and blessings of the night to you,’ her mindspeak held a soft and gentle tone to it as her words drifted into his mind. ’Why follow you? That is quite simple. I have never seen a Siren walking the streets before in such a non hidden manner as you do. Not much is known about your kind, so I tagged along to observe and perhaps learn something. I am a ‘student’ of the various ‘enhanced’ individuals that walk this town nowadays and try to learn what I can. The fact I am speaking to you telepathically should be clue enough I am ‘enhanced’ as well.’

She held back on telling him it was the only way she could ‘talk’ to him. There were others in this place who could not speak, but it was a short list. If he decided to try and seek/hunt her down later on he would find the ‘silent seer’ quite quickly. After seeing what he did earlier he would be just the kind of person that could bring 10 years of caution and concealment crashing down around her.

’I guessed correctly that following your thrall would get your attentions. No point in harming one unless your life is on the line.’ she added. ’They are simple things. Master says, thrall does, so who is really to blame if a thrall would overstep into another’s business, but that is a discussion that would be pointless to have. As I said, I was surprised to discover one of your kind out and about so openly.’ She took a unneeded breath to add to the illusion she was ‘alive’ before slowly taking another drag from the cigarette. ’I was curious. Nothing more.’

[Valerian]

[for_chaos][/for_chaos]

He didn't rush her to respond. He had enough patience for that. Wasn't like there was a way to actually rush her without escalating things, and that seemed unnecessary at present. And then came the response, his eyes immediately narrowed as he felt the voice in his head. Gentle or not, it was unwelcome. She knew right off the bat he was a Siren, or so she claimed. Telepathy, he never had to deal with it directly, but he was familiar with the possibility vampires had it. The issue was, such an ability could probably also be used by a blood thief. So even were the power that of a vampire, it still didn't confirm her as one. The issues of caution.

He crossed his arms as he listened, leaning to one side and waiting. She knew his thrall was a thrall as well. She claimed curiosity. Not a bold claim itself, but normally one that might have the addition of fear. Siren's weren't nearly as well as vampires, but those that were aware of them generally knew they could be dangerous.

"Unusual claims. But hardly reliable. How is someone even supposed to find out such a thing?" He prompted, And more importantly, does your ability extend to not just sending, but hearing thoughts. That would be far more fascinating. he intended to adjust, gather evidence, gather information. And prepare for scenarios.

Were she to answer, such denials as he gave would be meaningless. He did not doubt that she knew what he was. His only reason for denying it was the simple risk of either being over-heard, or recordings. He could not risk ebing outed so easily. He might recover better than many others, he already lived much of his life more in the criminal life than he did among standards. He could survive. But that didn't mean he was going to flaunt his species about. There was still risk in it, mainly from vampires.

[Zodiac]

[no_confidence][/no_confidence]
He was a cautious one. That was a good thing. He’d survive in this place if he could curb his impulsive actions. Perhaps he was a young one? The gods knew she went through her own ‘growing pains’ when she was first turned fighting urges and not giving in to rage and violence as the answers to all problems. He was careful not to admit what she knew was true. Her impish nature wondered how long they could play this game. Who would slip first?

She could tell there was more to his statement than what he spoke aloud but could not pick up the exact words. Only from a few she had grown very close to could she do that. Moods however was easy and add that to her original skills of observing and perceiving body language could she make a educated guess. Despite his calm appearance he was a coiled spring ready to pop. This was getting interesting now.

’In an ideal situation, one might hope to speak openly. Quid pro quo perhaps?’ She offered. ’But such a thing would never happen. Not in this place. Too much damage has been done, so to speak, to the situations that surround us here. I use my thoughts to speak to keep anyone from knowing my voice and I certainly do not appear to the world as how I normally look. Why? Survival– simple.’

‘The problem is,’ she continued. ’Only a fool would go with blind trust now. Hardly anyone knows how to keep their word now. I have been burned too many times just acting on the notion someone will treat me the way I treat them. How do I know what you are? It’s in your aura. Something I learned how to perceive when I was a child. Do not scoff. Even science has proven people give off energy patterns, but science only sees energy. To those who work in the metaphysical like me, those patterns can be read and clues gathered about who and what a person is. Even the vampires have auras and the monsters that appear in this town have some bizarre patterns as well. In some ways we are all open books if one knows how to ‘read’ said book.’

She finished her cigarette and let the remainder fall to the ground. One toe reached out and slowly grounded the butt out. So far only her lips, one hand and her foot had moved. She would learn nothing if she demonstrate how fast she could move.

’So since an open and sincere conversation without violence is impossible, observation is the only option I have to work with. Ironically, you brought yourself to my attention with that bit of gunplay you did with the fledgling. Either it was an older vampire that was seriously hurt or a young one to fall so quickly. More likely a young one. I have encountered only one of your kind before this night. They too were reluctant to admit anything, but at least they were civilized. I am not saying you haven’t been – at least so far. I have assembled much information about all of the ‘types’ of unique beings that now occupy this town but the ‘chapter’ on your kind is very empty. If this cannot be, then I apologize for delaying your purpose this night and would ask you to stand aside and let me pass.’

There was a chance she could subdue him. Drag him to one of her blind hiding places and learn what she wanted to know, but information drawn out under duress was sketchy at best. If only she could find the first Siren she met again. The girl had even given her a proper invitation to visit her. So much was still unclear and what she knew of why the Sirens hated vampires so much was too vague to be considered gospel. No one else of her kind was bothering to try and find out. Their methods involved bullets and blades and mass chaos when it came to something different than themselves. She doubted now he would admit to anything. Would he believe her if she came clean and admitted the truth?

If the situation were reversed, she doubted she would believe it either.