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While Athena showered, Nix had busied herself collecting the few garments that had been left behind by others - people of a normal size. People larger than her size 00 to size 1 frame. At once a blessing and a curse when it came to shopping, Nix always was able to find clothing in her general size, but none of it ever fit quite right. Too many angles jutting out where they shouldn't; too few curves to fill out where they should. With a sigh, she managed to slip into the bathroom and deposit the fresh, if not stylish, clothing without disturbing her future meal.

As she lounged on the couch, the redhead frowned. Was this really what she wanted? A quick meal followed by corpse disposal? Or to keep Athena tied up for a few days, feeding on her slowly until... again... corpse disposal. No, that wasn't it. That wasn't why she'd brought this woman all the way back here. Maybe it was the woman's confession, maybe it was her sheer helplessness in the grand scheme of things... maybe it was a combination of so many emotions she didn't quite understand, but no... Phoenix did not want to kill Athena. At least not permanently.

The moment she heard the water in the bathroom shut off, Nix made her way to the kitchen and set some water to boil.

By the time the bathroom door opened, Nix was back on the couch, one steaming mug wafting the faint scent of chamomile set on the coffee table and another, this one without steam at all, cupped in her hands. The pair of jet black mugs had been carefully chosen - even if this golden-eyed Athena happened to glance into Phoenix's mug as the redhead took a sip, the jet black surface would obscure the color of the blood.

Her lips twisted into a warm, welcoming smile as noted the fit of the clothing she'd left. Close enough.

"Come have a seat. You really don't have to keep thanking me... though I do hope you like chamomile tea." A furrow wrinkled her brow as her head tipped. "What are you planning to do here? After killing someone, I'm sure you're being sought after... wherever you came from... and I may just have a solution." Maybe she'd take the bait.

In these situations, her slight frame was an advantage. Nobody ever suspected the skeletal creature's strength nor her determination. Perhaps it was the element of surprise that had been if not wholly, but partially responsible for her successes in this life. Vampires, pop culture said, were perfect, seductive creatures. And yet few would call her emaciated frame attractive. She did have a pretty face, of that she was fully aware, but the hollows of her cheeks prevented it from being truly beautiful - at least as far as she was concerned.

There sat Phoenix, the imperfect creature of the night, idly swirling her mug before gulping down half its contents. If only it were alcohol; maybe it'd give her the insight on where to start.

"This is going to sound nuts, but hear me out, alright? Harper Rock is... a special place. Something happened here a few years back that changed things for a lot of people." It was a vague way to start, but perhaps news of the quarantine had leaked abroad. "You may have heard of what happened, but there was a disease outbreak in Gambondale - what used to be Gambondale, anyway. This is going to sound crazy, I know. What really happened was that... well... someone tore a hole in the fabric of this realm and created a window into the afterlife. More or less. Souls started leaking back and reanimating corpses. So they blocked off Gambondale and told everyone there was a virus or a diseases. But really, what happened was the zombie apocalypse at our doorstep. Just contained because the souls can only travel so far after they slip through the tear."

She frowned, letting that bit sink in. "But it wasn't just human souls that came back... some vampires slipped through, too. And those vampires created a new population of us in the city. That's what I am." She paused, flicking her fangs out before pulling back her lips. Of course they could have been prosthetic, or simply regular, enlarged canines, but the truth was there on display if she chose to believe. "You need to fall off the radar and I can give you that... by making you one of us."

Of course she was prepared in case Athena chose to run.

Nix had to give Athena credit for not bolting, though she did seem to be considering it. While she waited for the woman to make some kind of decision, the redhead went back to sipping from her mug. It really wouldn't do to show that little slice of heaven off just yet. The silence dragged on just long enough to catch the woman off guard. Those large, honey brown eyes blinked over the rim of her mug. She lowered it slowly before giving a nod. Honesty here was the best policy.

"You will die and it won't be pleasant, but you'll come back. As for a funeral, that would depend on if you had a will or family back where you came from. They will think you're dead - I have connections at the morgue and I can have the autopsy report falsified." Saying it seemed strange, but all vampires really should have an in at the morgue to facilitate corpse disposal... or retrieval.

"We can arrange cremated remains to be shipped back to wherever you're from, if necessary. You'll have died of a drug overdose or in a hit and run accident." Her fingernails tapped against the mug as she watched Athena's reaction.

"It's your choice. I'll turn you here and you can adjust to your new surroundings, and then we'll bring you somewhere to lay for a while. All you have to do is play dead. Just for a bit." With that, Phoenix set her mug on the table and leaned back, patiently waiting for a response.

"I trust you," Athena said.

Those weren't words Phoenix was used to hearing, and they had a strange effect on the redhead. Trust was such a simple, fragile thing. Fangs poked out over her lower lip as she chewed the flesh in thought. That neck was bared and ready, but there were other considerations. Like the couch; when people bled to death, it was generally quite the messy process.

Plan in mind, Nix pushed herself up and closed the distance between them. As she prepared the energy she'd need to put Athena into a trance, she smiled. It wasn't a bad smile; something soft and reassuring. Under different circumstances, in a different life, perhaps she'd have made a good hospice caregiver. Or a saleswoman.

"I'll turn you, and then call my friend at the morgue; then we'll arrange some wound that won't heal too quickly and leave your body somewhere conspicuous. You'll just have to lay there until they take you to the morgue, and Calix will take it from there."

With the last word, Phoenix let that building power go, subduing Athena before she leaned in and sank her teeth into that soft neck. She drank long of the woman's life blood, and as she drank, that beating heart slowed, stuttered and finally stopped. Once she was sure the woman's life was gone, she pulled away. The second bit was always the least pleasant - for her. She turned those fangs on herself, biting into the flesh and sinew of her wrist until the blood ran free, coiling in the air a moment before vanishing like so much black smoke.

That bleeding wrist was placed against Athena's lips, and Nix waited. Once the wound had healed, she pulled her wrist away and pulled out her phone; Calix would know what to do about the morgue situation. As she paced to the bathroom to wash away the blood that had dripped down her chin, Nix dialed her childe.

When the phone picked up, Nix smiled.

"It's Nix. I have a new childe who needs to go off the map. We're going to stage her death and have her sent to the morgue; when she gets there, I need you to switch the body and get her out before they do the autopsy. Can you do that?"

A pause came as she listened to the answer and nodded.

"I'll call you once they've found the body. Thanks, Lixy." Click.

Now all she needed was for Athena to wake.

The wall clock counted the seconds, turned into minutes, but Phoenix wasn't paying attention. Time ticked by slowly after she ended call - patience had never been her forte, and this was no exception. She'd grabbed a book and kicked up her feet on the opposite couch as she waited for Athena to stir.

When Athena finally sat up, fingers pushing past her lips to explore the fangs within, Nix snapped her book shut. The redhead padded to the kitchen and quickly divvied up a blood pack into a clean mug. It was microwaved for a few seconds before she brought it to Athena. With a silent nod, she sat beside the woman.

"You are. Welcome to life as the undead," she smiled, handing over one of the warmed mugs. "How do you feel?" Hungry, she suspected. Probably disoriented. Phoenix pulled her book into her lap and re-opened it where she'd left off. She would listen, but she figured her new childe would need to adjust before anything truly coherent came out of her mouth.

"I think it's best to wait until you've adjusted before offing you, but I do have a plan for that. Once you're in control of yourself, I'll snap you neck and you can jump in front of a transport truck. It'll be messy, but I don't think anyone would doubt your demise if that's how you... ended it. It'll also
make it easier to switch the body for another cadaver." Her nose wrinkled thoughtfully. "Once you're switched, your new 'sibling' will get you out of the Morgue safely."