Path of the Vampire forum

Shallow light pressed into the street as the door of the bar opened, bringing the sound of disappointed jeers and whoops. Levi took a long draw on his cigarette, blowing smoke out into the street as he leaned forward from the shadows, barely enough to catch the sight of a woman walking out of the bar and then looking around. He moved back into place with a frown. Who the hell was she looking for? This didn’t look good as far as he was concerned. He tensed and instinctively drew some darkness toward him, making the alleyway look like a dead-end between two buildings. He didn’t notice too much because the wall of shadows was behind him and the effect was rather subtle; besides, Levi’s focus was on the approaching female. She had to be that girl from the bar, one of his potential benefactors. He’d only assumed a couple of reasons for why someone would want to fill his glass and none of them were good, which was why he glared at her as she walked passed before stopping to ask him a question. The glare was brief, however, and she probably wouldn’t have seen it. For as quickly as he was annoyed and suspicious of her actions, he had decided to get the woman back at her own game.

“Sure,” he said as delicately as possible, offering her one with a light smile and looking her over.

Despite his friendly and casual demeanour, umber eyes watched her very carefully. Levi’s thoughts had quickly turned to suspect the worst about this girl, figuring that she was probably being hired by some idiot in his Family that wanted to see what he was up to. And even if that wasn’t the case, it wouldn’t kill him to behave like it was. The Patriarca had been far too lenient lately and even though it could just as very well have been some innocent consequence of his ability to stuff them full of money and keep them happy, he didn’t like it. He couldn’t relax, it wasn’t wise to sit back and just assume that everything was running according to plan and besides, it wasn’t like he could die from stress anymore. On the other hand, if she just wanted a cigarette and was going to be on her way, he could forget about this little incident. It wasn’t like he couldn’t spare a cigarette from time to time.

“So, were you in the bar just now?” he asked, leaning on his Italian accent to try and persuade her that he was somehow new to this country, maybe new to the way of the world. Maybe if he could spark up some conversation, get her talking, he could put his concerns to bed or… the alternative.

Mixed feelings compiled against her sarcasm and Levi narrowed his eyes at her. There didn’t seem to be any need for it aside from the fact that she must have loved her own humour because she quickly confirmed that she had been in the bar. It turned out that wasn’t the only confession this girl had up her sleeve either. When she talked about the whisky, he couldn’t help but raise a brow to that. Whoever she was, she had brass ones between her legs. You don’t insult a man’s pride unless you’re trying to feed your own ego or are looking to get punched. If he struck her as the kind of man that wouldn’t hit a woman just as well as he’d hit a man for that kind of insult, she was going to be sorely mistaken. The least he could do was eat her – seeing as how she smelt like prey. The worst? Well, he didn’t want to think of that right now and ruin his good behaviour. Instead, Levi rolled his shoulders back like he was working out the tension. He wasn’t going to say anything about her little stab because he was quick to decide that it was worth seeing this through without violence. He wasn’t convinced by any means that she wasn’t purposely following him, so he was going to find out why.

Levi took out his silver-plated lighter upon request; the one he’d had from Gino Valachi. It still had the man’s initials on it, G. A. Valachi, but the silver had worn with excessive use. The man had given it to Levi the last time they’d met on good terms; some eight years ago before he had moved to Italy to return to his career. Levi was always wary about Gino because he’d been the man to take him in when his father was busy being a douchebag. He’d taught Levi just about everything he needed to know about surviving in America, even if those lessons were often dealt the hard way. Gino had even been in contact during the time that his father was sent to prison, albeit, their contact was limited and over the phone mostly. Levi barely thought about the man when he was lighting up a cigarette, but this time was different. Seeing the man’s initials made him tense again, but he flicked the lighter open anyway, awakening a small dragon which hissed before breathing out an irritated flame. Levi moved the lighter toward the woman, expecting her to do the sensible thing and lean in to light her cigarette. She didn’t though, the ***** talked at him some more.

“Might as well ask you?” he parroted before he hummed to himself, showing some amusement.

It was one thing to send a man some drinks – that was weird in itself, but to then follow that man out into the street and accuse him of running off because he was scared? That was something entirely different. He knew this woman was after something and he knew he didn’t have all the pieces of this puzzle, but if she was going to insist that he ask her something, he wanted to ask her how much she knew. Pausing, though he’d kept the flame open for her to light her cigarette, Levi flicked his own to the ground and stubbed it out.

“Like ask you why you’re following me?”

Levi flicked the lighter closed and returned it to its designated pocket as she talked; his face empty of emotion save the trademark frown. He was just arrogant enough to think nothing of it when she confessed an attraction to him – regardless of how transitory the attraction might have been given her phrasing. The woman’s nonchalance matched his perfectly and it was like they were talking about the weather, about a passing cloud that could have signalled rain, but perhaps not. Most people probably wouldn’t have been so bold as to say these kinds of things to a stranger without being wasted, but it wasn’t sobriety or shyness that made him not return the favour. Levi did regard her – again – umber eyes passed across her facial features and briefly scanned her for assets. Being blunt about it, he quickly shrugged his shoulders and stepped back some to align his back with the wall and use it for support. She was attractive, this stranger, and ticked the boxes for the three B’s: build, bust and behind. Still, that didn’t mean they were about to rush off into the night for some foolish lust-struck fun. Part of the reason behind that was because he wasn’t desperate, and the rest had to do with the fact that he didn’t trust her arse for two seconds and her attitude was pissing him off.

Feeling the need for another cigarette, but ultimately deciding against it, Levi kept his eyes on the woman in front of him; his dark eyes looking darker with the building frustration. He was quick to add his own remarks when she started talking about that bottle of whisky again. Really, it was her own stupid fault for sending gifts out to people she didn’t know. Not everyone would accept a gift, so there was a chance her offer would be rejected. What was she expecting in that scenario anyway and what was she going to do, harass them for the gift back? It’s a lesson you have to learn when you’re an adult – sometimes you can’t always get your way. Levi was thinking it, but he wasn’t going to say any of it. He was used to feeling one way and behaving in another – he was a good liar – so it was nothing to shrug it off and approach her civilly.

“If you liked it so much you should have bought it for yourself,” he said – his accent stabilising. “It’s an old fashioned notion, but I uh, don’t take candy from strangers.”

It probably would have been enough to end this conversation. Levi did expect her to leave. She looked the type to give up on things easily enough, probably not because she was lazy though. She had that look in her eye that was something he’d seen before in people like him. If she was going to leave, it was because she’d have acknowledged the fruitlessness of this little venture and had better things to do than waste her time talking to a wall and asking it to bleed. In saying that, though, the look he knew expressed something a little more than mere perspicacity. Levi was clever, witty, whip-smart, but he was also a hot-head, which could undo all of that aptitude in an instant. He could make a hundred good decisions, but one bad decision could cost him more than he’d ever been able to make on the good ones. Levi figured that this girl could explode or leave at a moment’s notice too, so, maybe he would give her a reason to hang about aside from burning up his lighter fluid.

“So let’s be a bit more familiar,” he offered casually, smiling lightly but still looking to her like he was giving her a challenge. “What’s your name?”

The roll of the eyes hadn’t been lost on Levi, but he veiled his temper in reaching for another cigarette. She answered when he was just lighting up, so he stilled to savour that first sweet drag, channelling fire through the nicotine and into his bloodstream. For a while after his turning, Levi couldn’t feel the relief of this drug or any other for that matter, but then again, he couldn’t feel a lot past rage. All he wanted to do after rebirth was destroy everything he came into contact with and probably more importantly, destroy the woman that had done this to him. It took some time before that feeling waned; that trip to the Shadow Realm was probably responsible for a lot of that diminishing he’d felt. Still, Levi was stuck with this impression of a freshly born star, giving him a glimpse into his possible future. Levi still didn’t know how to explain the way he’d responded to his turning, or explain much about the way most of this Vampiri stuff worked, but as time went by, he began to stabilise. He began to feel like his old self again, just… improved. That burning urge to destroy was still there, not completely muffled by logic or sensibility, but for the most part, he could control it.

Having been a long day, however, and with the alcohol and nicotine being not quite strong enough to douse the fire she was stoking, Levi decided that the time for disguising his feelings was over. With her introduction and subsequent question provided, Levi just looked at her and breathed out slowly, projecting the smoke downward. He blatantly ignored her question, being more concerned with the way her name sounded. To him, it was more a silly moniker than an actual name, or in the least, it was a mispronunciation for Isabel. Levi repeated the name to himself once, leaving it to stretch over and over again in his mind like he was pulling sugar and expecting some kind of change. He didn’t feel any different about it though. It still sounded stupid. He puffed on his cigarette once more, directing the exhalation away from her at least, but still keeping his eyes fixed on those sour blue orbs.

“That’s a stupid ******* name,” he told her, keeping his voice calm so that the intention behind the vindictive statement became curious to say the least. “It doesn’t suit you,” he added.

Of course she was going to be pissed off, but then, that was the point. Levi watched her with something of a grin on his face. He was amused, but he was being careful nevertheless. It would have been easy just to let the fire loose and get caught up in the fury of a good feud, but what would that solve? Well, you know, other than feeling temporarily satisfied about a small victory that in the grand scheme of things really meant nothing when the reason you’re angry in the first place is because of someone else. Levi puffed on his cigarette, letting that thought leave him with the breath of smoke. He thought it might pass the time to consider her question with seriousness. When he’d told her that her name was stupid and that it didn’t suit her, he hadn’t really had a reason as to why. It was just something he’d felt. He had to look her over again, this time being blatantly obvious about it before his attention settled on her features.

“You don’t look French,” he said first, keeping his voice low and slow. “European, maybe, but not French. I mean, don’t get me wrong, you seem like an arrogant cow, but you don’t have to be French to be arrogant.”

He was reeling off his thoughts as they came to him. This wasn’t something Levi normally did, but he figured it didn’t matter. She was nobody, really. Just some random force that had come into his life, gave him something to do for a short while and would inevitably leave. He didn’t need to worry about making a good impression and as much as appearances could be deceiving, they were most often not. Levi was confident in his decision to just puff on his cigarette and tell her exactly what was on his mind.

“You know what you remind me of?” he said, then paused, even though the question was rhetorical. “You remind me of the women I used to know in Italy who were always smoking and talking and trying to be just like their husbands. And I’d see them slap the men sometimes when they’d lost their temper, probably because he’d done something stupid, but she’d be so proud of herself because she knew he couldn’t slap her back. Well, he could, but maybe not in public, ya know? Anyway,” he paused again for another long drag on the cigarette, the final one as it turned out, forcing him to discard the burnt up stick. “You remind me of those women. And maybe, one in particular I knew called Valentina. Yeah, definitely. You look more like a Valentina; a brave, hot-head woman of Verona.”