Path of the Vampire forum

When Verity put herself up on the auction block to try and make friends, to possibly drum up business and network, this wasn’t the outcome she’d expected. Much like last year, she’d not expected to go for as much as she did, as no pieces of hers ever went for nearly that much, nor did many pay attention to the person behind the creations. Even that, though, took back seat to the bomb that was dropped on her by the woman who’d bought her services for three days.

The woman had been nursing her drink, in high spirits as the bidding had closed, led off of the stage by Nolan’s trusty hand. She’d been fairly walking on air, in fact, feeling a bit of a buzz from the liquor she’d consumed to quell her nerves in combination with the overall buzz of the room. So, when Nolan mentioned that Alexandrea was making her way over, the smile gracing her lips was genuine, content, excited if a bit nervous. What would the woman want for three days? Would she want a piece created? Company? Would she be asking her to do odd requests like those that Stagger had hinted at during their talk? Hoping for the former, she braced herself for whatever was to come, prepared for what was to come.

…Or so she thought.

The wording choice was an odd one, once Alex started speaking. As the woman glazed over her name and moved onward to a friend, her face lit up. Morgan. She’d loved her talks with Morgan at the bank. Often, she was the one who’d quell whatever off feelings she had while standing in line, commotion breaking out around them. But, with Morgan, everything was normal. It was like she was the one normal part of her daily routine at that bank, her presence always a welcome one, a happy one. Alex was speaking of her connection with the woman in past tense, and it had Verity confused, that confusion etching itself clear as day into her face until the reality of it all hit home.

“She’s…”

All the air seemed to leave her lungs as her features fell. The buzz she felt from the alcohol was replaced with a sorrow, sweeping in as quickly as the air left, filling in all the spaces that it’d once resided. No tears fell, though her eyes watered, the tears threatening to spill over at any moment. There were no other words that left her lips for a long while, merely standing there as the news sank in, all the possibilities of the time spent with Alex out the window as her world came crashing down.

Another friend is…No, she can’t be…she…

The other woman’s words held a truth that Verity didn’t want to hear, striking too real a chord for her to continue to deny. Her knees felt weak, as did the grip on her glass. A hand blindly felt about for a table and, soon, a chair as Nolan helped her lower down. Glass taken from her grasp and set down on the cold, hard surface of the table beside her, she sat unmoving.

When she finally did speak, her voice was quiet, a ghost of what it’d been only earlier that night. “Of…of course.” Another pause as she caught her breath; the weight of the words somehow too much for her to handle without the reprieve. “May I ask how she…?”

How she died… her thought finished for her, unable to say the word aloud.

The Allurist was normally a very sensitive person but it had not ever dawned on Alexandrea that the young woman might not have known... she had been too caught up in her own grief.

Alex let the walls she tried so carefully to always keep in place around others crumble, allowing all the sorrow that was radiating out of Verity drown her for a few minutes. If she had still had been human, her heart would have stopped. As it was the normally healthy colour drained from the blonde's skin and one slender hand went to her face, wiping quiet tears as they streamed down her cheeks.

She moved closer to the other woman and almost embraced her but stopped. They hadn't met until this night, doing so would be too pushy. The empathy the blonde felt made her feel suddenly very close to the young human but to Verity, Alexandrea was a complete stranger. And one who had just caused her pain on top of that. A wave of protectiveness swept through Alex and she just gently touched Verity on the arm with her dry hand. Only for a brief moment, giving the slightest gentle squeeze.

"I... I am so sorry. So very sorry. You... didn't know. And I just went and blurted it out..." Alexandrea closed her eyes and took a few breaths she didn't need. "I hope you can forgive me. Please can we go some where and talk?"

The details about what had happened to Morgan had to wait until they were alone. And even then, Alexandrea wouldn't... couldn't tell Verity everything. Despite all that had happened, the heartbroken Allurist was still fiercely loyal to Odin and always would be.

There was a presence encroaching on her space, one that she assumed was Alex, but no touch came of it, not initially. As she took shuddering breath after shuddering breath, Verity clung desperately to what little composure she had left. She couldn’t lose it. She wouldn’t lose it. Not here. This wasn’t the place, not around her; Alex had enough to deal with without a blubbering woman she’d only just met when they were going to be planning this service.

A hand touched her arm, surprisingly warm against her suddenly cold skin. It pulled goosebumps to her flesh, forming faster than her hair could stand on end, her heart skipping a surprised beat as her head turned toward the feeling out of habit. Words, the woman was speaking again as her hand disappeared. What was it that she wanted?

To go somewhere to talk, came the apathetic voice in her head, repeating what she’d have otherwise missed. To get the details on what needs to be done and what happened. You want answers.

But did she?

“Alright.”

It was the only word that she got out right then, letting out a shaky breath as she pushed herself up from her seat. Nolan was at her elbow, whispering in her ear. There was a nod given, and as good a small smile as she could manage before holding an arm out to Alex as Nolan relinquished his hold on her with a final squeeze. Wherever they were going, Verity would follow.

She had her undivided attention.

Gingerly, Alexandrea linked her arm with the one that Verity offered and slowly started them towards the door, speaking in a soft voice as they went. "Well. I wish we could have met under better circumstances. I... knew of you. I should have sought you out. I apologize. I have to wonder...how much did Morgan tell you about me?"

It was one way of feeling out if the young woman knew that the Allurist was a vampire. Only one way of many but Alex hoped it would be enough. The sooner she knew how careful she had to be, the better. "We're just leaving Lancaster's now, I've got the door. And we'll turn just stroll over to the 8th dimension mall, if that is okay with you? I love the Chinese place by my shop..."

Alex knew she was rambling but kept talking anyway, the silence when she didn't speak felt strained as if both women were holding their breath perhaps. The air outside seemed colder than the blonde remembered from when she had first arrived at the start of the auction and she paused in the open door way. "Do you have a wrap?"

Arm linked, she felt more like a kite being pulled gently through the crowd by this new woman; a listless kite going wherever the breeze took her, held by a fragile string that could have been ripped from her to leave her spiraling until the inevitable crash. Truth be told, the crash felt like it’d already come to pass, the happiness she’d felt long since gone in the wake of this new news, barely registering that there was anything else going on around her. The white noise all but faded and those that brushed against her as she was led could have been bombs going off.

She’d have remained oblivious to it all.

Only one voice seemed to break through the wreck of her mind, through the mental anguish she was weighed down by, feet dragging one step at a time. Alex’s. Morgan had spoken of her to Alex, but never the other way around. Verity hadn’t thought much of it, as they didn’t generally talk about their other friends, opting to ask how the other was doing or what was going on in general. Connections were kept to those that were frequenting the bank or, if commotion broke out as it was wont to do, Morgan acted as her anchor and her center.

More talking. They were leaving? At this point, she wasn’t too picky about where this conversation happened. It was a necessary evil, an evil that she’d have sooner avoided if at all humanly possible…but death was the one inevitability of life. One way or another, she’d end up talking about this, and sooner was likely better than later. At the question of a wrap, she nodded. As though on cue, Nolan was at her arm, handing it off to her with a look at Verity and another at Alex before disappearing back into the crowd. For this, he’d give them space.

Wrap now about her shoulders, the woman’s grip tightened about Alex’s arm and her lips parted to speak for the first time since her acceptance of the offer to go somewhere and talk. “Morgan and I didn’t talk about you, really…” came her answer, quiet, devoid of much feeling as it was the only way to keep the tears from falling. “She and I spoke of a lot of things, but I don’t know anything of you, I’m sorry.” A shiver ran up her spine and it lingered in her lower lip as her eyelids fluttered to bat back the tears threatening to spill. Was it cold that lingered in her lip? Verity lied to herself and said it was, but she knew better given the lump in her throat and the way her eyes burned. “I’m going to guess you and she are…” A choked out sob cut off the rest of the sentence as she bit it back, hand raising to cover her mouth as she regained composure. “…You and she were friends?”

Morgan had not really told Alexandrea that many details about the young blind woman, besides the basics. The Allurist had loved her thrall like a friend or even like a kid sister but both had very busy lives. When Morgan hadn't been on the job, she had spent most of her free time with Marta or painting. Unless she had been hanging around Mike Barone, the young sorcerer Morgan had a crush on. Or rather had used to, she had gotten over it before the end. Unlike Alex, who seemed unable to move on from losing Morgan or Odin.

Alex certainly had no idea who Nolan was but Verity seemed to and he seemed devoted to her, bringing the young woman her garment and them withdrawing without a word. The Allurist nodded and smiled at the Vampire and sent to him quickly; *Sorry to intrude. But Don't worry. I promise I'll watch out for Verity.* The promise made as Verity's hold on Alexandrea grew a bit stronger, the Blonde made sure the door closed behind them to keep out the sudden wind before turning them both to face the west.

The west was unfortunately also the direction from which the wind was originating and the cold blast on Alex's face dried the still wet streaks of tears, a few drops still caught in her eye lashes freezing slightly into ice crystals. The street was too quiet for a Halloween night, or rather an early morning of a Day of the Dead. A slight smile crossed Alexandrea's lips.

Seeing no one within earshot, Alexandrea started to speak as she started to walk slowly towards to mall. "I'll let you set the pace. The cold doesn't matter to me." The Allurist left the subject of her being a vampire at that for now, if Verity knew about Vampires as Alex was certain she did, it should be enough to clue her in. The odds of her being unaware of Vampires was pretty slim in the Allurist's mind after she had assessed Nolan, who seemed to be the young human's escort and friend. Perhaps more? The blonde hoped so, she was such a romantic.

"Yes. Morgan was my friend. She also worked for me and lived with me. I loved her more than my own sister."

The blast of cold air that hit her the moment the door opened took her by surprise. Though it’d been chilly when she’d entered the establishment for the auction, it’d not been as windy. Now, with the wind kicking up, dead leaves swirling around her feet and crunching beneath her shoes, it was like the weather was trying to match her current mood: cold and alone.

As they turned into the cold, her cheeks burned nearly as bad as her eyes did. It was as though the wind was trying to take the tears that she’d managed to hold in and force them out, like it wanted to add to the pain she already felt. The wrap she had wasn’t doing nearly enough for her anymore, shivering against Alex’s arm, who seemed relatively unfazed by the sudden drop in temperature. How was she not as cold? How was she not torn apart by the biting cold of the harsh winds that near threatened to rip her from the woman’s arm?

Eerily on cue, she heard the woman’s voice start up and confirm what she’d been wondering on. So, the cold doesn’t bother her…Odd, came her mildly apathetic thought, setting the pace to one that was a bit faster. No matter how down she felt, frost bite would only make matter’s worse and she was more inclined to get inside somewhere than linger outside. Had it been any other day, the comment would have struck a chord and she’d have recognized the woman’s meaning without a moment to spare. But now? She didn’t catch on right off. Not everyone was bothered by the cold; it depended where they came from. Verity came from a place of warmth where, as people liked to remind her, “everything tries to kill you”. Who knew where Alex came from?

“You two were close, then,” Verity replied. The sound of her own voice was foreign to her, unusual in its apathetic tones. “I can’t say she and I were as close as you two were, but I considered her a friend…a good friend. It’ll be wrong now going to the bank and not hearing her voice greet me.”

What Verity knew of vampires and the like could be counted on the fingers of one hand. She knew what Nolan did, and Nolan wasn’t a foremost authority on the subject save for what he knew through trial and error. He’d no sire to help him through things. Maybe if he had, she’d have connected the notion of the cold not bothering her, and a human living with her being a thrall. As it was, she was tired all of a sudden, drained like the color that’d left her face.

“I’m not sure what help I’ll be able to be, but I’ll do whatever you need me to to make sure everything goes off without a hitch for her. …She deserves a proper send off.”

Whether or not the fact that the rumour mill that Morgan so frequently mentioned at the now infamous Wickbridge bank really did exist or not, word of Morgan's demise hadn't apparently gotten around. Alexandrea knew that Marta knew, Morgan's best friend had been there when the 'accident' had happened. The blonde put the thought about how she had lost her friend to the side for now, and wondered at who else she might have neglected to notify. Did Mike Barone know? Alex wasn't sure that the young man was even aware of the fact that Morgan had been interested in him. Maybe he didn't need to know?

With a long sigh, the Allurist pushed those thought aside for now. She would mention it to Father Freeman the next time she saw the man and ask him if he could let the 'Snow Gang' all know. He knew them all far better than she did and could decide who needed to know what. Except for Snow. The child vampire Alexandrea would tell her self. Alex murmured a quiet, "Yes. Yes we were pretty close." and took a step to the side as she opened the door to the mall, the warmth of the indoors spilling out into the chilly night. Looking into the young human's face, the Allurist could tell Verity was tiring.

"We're here, and it's just a few more steps to my office and then we can sit down and I'll make us some hot tea. Or Coco. Do you prefer Hot Chocolate? You can rest and then ask me whatever you want to know and I'll tell you all I can. Please don't feel pressured to help me, Verity. I... I really thought you would have already known. We can discuss planning a memorial later."

How long had they been walking? Verity hadn’t even paid attention this time around to the number of steps that it took, to the number of turns it took to reach the mall. For all her paying attention, she could have been walked straight off a pier and she’d not have been the wiser; she was lucky that Alex was kind and not one to take advantage, not like those who used to sneak into her apartment and lay traps. But, no sooner had she realized that she wasn’t paying attention, the warmth of the mall hit her in a wave and welcomed her. The warmth, however physical the temperature change was, didn’t feel quite the same. Something told her the rest of the world would feel a little less warm, would seem a little less bright, now that Morgan was no longer there.

Still following Alex’s direction, she didn’t say much. Honestly, the sound of anything had her stomach churning and bile rising in her throat, but she didn’t want to seem rude. “…Tea would be fine, thank you,” she replied with the lightest of shrugs. “I’m not sure what to ask, or even where to start… Harper Rock has a tendency to take what’s good from the world and remove it without a second thought, leaving those of us who care in the dark.”

For the first time since talking, there was a hint of bitterness to her tone, overshadowed by her wary. She’d have thought that, after all of this time, it’d hurt less each time someone was taken or vanished. It didn’t. Somehow, it hurt more to know that more and more of the people she held dear were dying, or turning, or simply disappearing into thin air. A hand rubbed at her temple as a sigh escaped her. “…I’m sorry. It’s not your fault and I shouldn’t have taken that tone with you…” All she wanted right then was to sit, to sit and not move as the weight of the world crushed her beneath its indifference.

“…She and I hadn’t spoken in some days…Was she, at least…happy before the end?”

The two rode the escalator together after Alex quietly mentioned where the tread and steps were, and went into the upstairs QCC shop. Alex guided Verity through the small art gallery and into her private office. Saying nothing in reply to Verity's words and only directing the blind woman as needed to get her seated comfortably.

Alexandrea didn't need her empathic abilities to know what Verity was feeling like right then, a person would have to be made of stone to not be able to tell. Between the words and the tone of Verity's voice when she spoke; it was plain to see, in Alex's opinion at least, the human was in shock.

Getting the young woman seated and a hot cup of tea was what the Allurist was focusing on, her own pain about losing Morgan pushed to the side by keeping busy. The kettle was put on with hardly a word. Alex softly named a few blends of tea she had as she set them and the tea service out, offering to get Verity whatever kind she would like unless she would like Alex to pick for her.

The silence after that was only broken by the tumbling water as it began to heat up and move faster, getting ready to boil but Alexandrea sat beside Verity after closing the office door. The blonde sat for a few minutes, listening to the music of the dancing molecules and then gently touched Verity's sleeve.

"I should have asked you, if you are allergic to cats. If you are? Let me know. There is one in the room and I'll remove her." Already Penny Valentine had woken up and was arching her back in a stretch, eyeing Alexandrea's lap.

"Verity..." Alex began and sighed, finding it harder to speak about out loud than she thought it was going to be. Still.

"Verity... to begin with do not apologize for your tone. It's more than understandable and I can't blame you at all for feeling ripped off. Harper Rock seems to have a way of taking away a lot from many people. I'm not going to try and show you the balance in that right now, I'm having a bit of trouble staying positive myself these days, but sometimes when life hands you lemons? Screw the lemonade, all you want to do it stick those lemons straight up someone's ***."

The kettle whistled, and Alexandrea got up to make the tea, setting the two cups down before retaking her seat. "Yours is at nine o'clock, Verity." Alex said in a distracted tone, confident that if the blind woman needed more help than that, that she would ask. Alexandrea had no wish to make her guest feel like she was any different from anyone else. The blonde sighed again and then went back to answering the human's questions.

"Was she happy?" Alexandrea hated to lie. She hated it. The blonde bit her lower lip hard enough to draw a drop of blood which she licked away without a thought and then took her own tea, a jasmine blend, and sipped it a few times. Still holding the cup, up close to her face so she could breathe in the rich soothing aroma, Alex did her best to not lie but to not tell the whole truth... while still being as honest and upfront with Verity as she could be.

"Yes, in general. I think she was. And the last night she had with us was a good one, to start. She had the night off and plans with her friend Marta. Do you know Marta? She's been known to frequent that bank. Morgan dragged her and Mike Barone along with her to look at that rumored alien ghost last year. She has to have mention that to you, all she talked about for ages was aliens." Alex chuckled a bit. Having gotten off the topic but allowing her self the fond memory before trying again.

"Any way. The two of them were having a girl's night of movies and poker. Morgan was... in a huge hurry and didn't wait for the elevator. She raced down the stairs. Fast. Too fast. She... jumped railings she was in such a rush. Like... like she had seen me do. And she... fell. I was called and I got there as soon as I could but... there was not a damn thing I could do. And I tried. I really did. I tried to... well. I tried to keep her with us. And I swear I thought I felt her still there... you know? But then she was gone. Just gone."

Alexandrea sipped the rest of her tea quickly and got up to make herself another. She didn't want to say anymore about what had happened that night and was dreading Verity asking her any more questions.