Path of the Vampire forum

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--


‹Nevaeh› Hi..
‹Macaria› Hi there
‹Nevaeh› I have something fo you.
* Nevaeh riffles around in her pocket before pressing the cold metal into one of Ria's hands. (You gave items to Macaria.)
‹Macaria› ... There's more? You really do spoil me.
* Macaria smiles wide, "You got me one!"
* Nevaeh beams a smile, "Of course! When i find more, they are all yours!"
‹Macaria› We really need to find you something to collect so I can find some of them for you.
* Nevaeh looks around the desolate amusement park, "Do you like it here?" Which was a silly question, who would actually like being in a run down park where there was a hazzard every twist and turn. Still, she waited before she continued on to tell her anything more of the place.
‹Nevaeh› Eventually, I will find something to collect, right now I have you and that is what is important. I don't suppose you can double yourself and I can collect more of you?
* Macaria looked around, an eyebrow raised, taking in the surroundings."What's not to like? It's like... a graveyard for rides. I can appreciate that."
‹Macaria› And... I could try? I don't know how successful I'd be, though. I mostly deal in summoning zombies.
* Nevaeh made the first big step she had encountered thus far between them, "My childe owns it." She said with the barest whisper of a voice.
‹Macaria› You have childer? That is the word, yes? Still fairly new to all of this.
* Nevaeh nodded once, "I haven't seen her in a long while, but yes. Last time I seen her she was burnt from being in the sun. Her name is Maggie. When I found her she was dying of Cancer, just found out the news and I turned her."
‹Nevaeh› And she is the one who owns this place. We were planning on remodeling and getting the rides up and running.
* Macaria nods, accepting the information without comment. "That would probably be good for the visitors, I suppose. Personally, I quite like it as it is. There's a certain... something about it deserted. There's an atmosphere that I really quite enjoy."
* Nevaeh gives her another smile, "That's what I said, it's a gem in the city. But maybe one day it will be more then a graveyard for the machinery. It will be full of sheep, I mean humans."
* Macaria grins, "I think you had it right the first time. They're not much better than cattle, are they?"
‹Macaria› If I could, y'know, eat, I reckon a human burger would be pretty good.
* Nevaeh chuckles despite herself she shook her head, "No, they are not. I suppose with a bit of fried onions they would be tasty. Human cannibals, they do need more of them in the world. It could be the lack of that which made us."
‹Macaria› You know, I really do like the way you think.
* Nevaeh grins. "I'm glad. Want me to show you around?" Another bold move was slipping a hand in hers looking to and fro thinking where to start since you could pretty much see everything around. Or would you like to go home and explore another night?"
* Macaria grins cheekily, "Dealer's choice. I really don't mind either way, and I'm sure both options will be... Fun."
* Nevaeh shrugged, "How about we go home tonight and come back right after twilight tomorrow. That way I can show you around and tell you where we wanted to put everything. There was some hefty overhauling planned."
‹Macaria› A deserted, abandoned amusement park at twilight? How could a girl possibly say no to that?
‹Nevaeh› Oh then it's a date!
* Macaria blinks, just realising that in fact, yes, it was.
* Macaria tries to hide an embarrassed giggle, "I guess it is, yeah"
* Nevaeh departs, heading home looking forward until tomorrow night. "Race you home?" She called out getting a head start by jogging out the hole in the fence.
* Macaria laughs, following Nevaeh through the gap in the fence, calling out as she did, "Oh, now that's not fair! You're the one that goes jogging regularly!"

Nevaeh ran her heart out, even taking the short cut in the sewer to the QZ. But as she rounded the corner a Hunter Footsoldier caught her in the shoulder. She stopped at the sharp pierce in her skin, turning slowly she looked at the smug male, "Big mistake." She said pulling out her gun and killing him on sight. With that, she doubled home only to find out Ria had already beaten her there.

Nevaeh says: "Winner gets a kiss. *smooches*"
Macaria says: "*grins* I can live with that, I think"

(Grid chat)

* Nevaeh wrapper her fingers around the hand of the other womans, "Let the tour begin. Over here we have a patch of dirt that use to contain an ice cream cone that some poor calf-ling dropped." She snickered.

* Macaria chuckled, "It's only fair. If we can't enjoy it, neither should they. And I do so enjoy the looks on their little faces when they drop them. Most rewarding."

* Nevaeh gave an appreciated nod. She knew right from a young age she wasn't the motherly type, kids never held an interest in her. "That moment before they burst out, puckering up. It makes me want to slap the parent for letting them be so bratty."

‹Macaria› And then the child, on principle. I cannot abide the noise they make. It's like nails down a chalk board, it really is.

‹Macaria› Random thought, are there dodgem cars here? If not, there should be. Those things are a lot of fun.

* Nevaeh agrees fully about the kids then steers her toward the back, "Over there. You mean bumper cars?"

‹Macaria› I do indeed. I loved them when I was younger.

‹Nevaeh› We need those and a go cart track in here. I miss the old go cart track. Have you ever been on one of those?

* Macaria thinks about this for a moment before replying, "You know, I don't think I have. I've seen them, though, and they look like a lot of fun? Wouldn't be against giving it a shot."

* Nevaeh beams, as she knew right where to bring her next. "We will have to wait until I build it in here but I do happen to know of a place. So long as they are not closed down by now."

* Macaria grins, "I like the sound of this. After you."

* Nevaeh shows off the old go cart arena then points to the ferris wheel that was laying more on the ground about ready to give way if the wind got to strong, "Shall we skip the graveyard amusement and go straight to the go carts?"

* Macaria blinks rapidly, faced with a tricky decision, "... There's a graveyard amusement thing? Like a house of horrors style attraction? As fun as go karts sound, do you think they'd be okay with waiting a bit? I'm a bit of a house of horrors junkie," she said with a mildly embarrassed chuckle, "They're kinda corny? But so much fun."

* Nevaeh slaps her on the bottom, "Let the tour continue!" She brought her over to the run down version of the House of Horrors. "I suppose we can go inside. I mean what is the worst that could happen, we get tetanus?"

* Macaria responds to the slap by pinching Neva's arm lightly and laughs, "Can we even get tetanus? I think it's worth going in just to find out. For science!"

* Nevaeh raised an arm in the air all victory style. "For science!" Before she could guide her into the house, she stopped at the manual start up box where the man would monitor this for all the people going in. She tried to hit the big button marked Start, when nothing happened, she shrugged, "It was worth a try, right?" At the door, she bowed, "After you.."

* Macaria chuckled "Always worth a shot," before heading in. It was dark, not that that was an issue for her, and she made her way a little further inside before waiting for Neva to catch up.

* Nevaeh instead of shuffling behind her, she went around to the corpse inside the box that was suppose to pop up when Ria walked pass the sensor, for her Neva grabbed the dummy and pulled it up, yelling out, "Arhhhhhh" for effect.

* Macaria jumped a little bit despite herself, laughing out loud when she realized what was going on. "Oh, I am so getting you back for that at some point. Just you wait. When you least expect it."

* Nevaeh laughs, "Just trying to help with the ambiance of the place." She started to make the movie killer approaching sounds, "Oh oh oh, cha cha cha!" Then seeing the mirrored hall ahead she kind of froze a moment, wondering what she would end up seeing in the old cracked mirrors. They were never nice to her.

‹Macaria› It definitely worked. Ooh, what's through here?

* Macaria moved away form the mirrors deliberately, thinking that it might be for the best to not confront their reflections, all things considered, and slipped into a side room

* Nevaeh motions her on rather docile for the moment until she seen her skip the room, she slid up beside Ria grateful for that. "What's in here?" She looked over the other woman's shoulder.

‹Macaria› It looks like there's rails on the floor? Could be it's supposed to have one of those little train things. You know the ones, where you ride along and stuff jumps out at you? Walking's close enough, though, really. Shall we?

* Macaria offers her arm to Neva

* Nevaeh links her arm through Ria's. "We shall. This time I won't make them jump out at you." She grinned, but a bit on the devious side. Heading down the rails, stepping over the poor placed wooden planks she mocked the sounds of Horror with quiet "Boooooo...." and "Ahhhhhhhh." But for the fullest effect, her mind reached out to Ria's sending over the louder yelps and images of what the ride should look like, a movie reel playing in her head through flashes of pictures from what she remembered as a child.

* Macaria couldn't help but smile as Neva provided sound effects for their little stroll down the tracks, thinking of the fun they could have in a place like this once it opened to the public. "You know," she began, "When this place opens, with your telepathic stuff and me being able to summon zombies, this place could win prizes. Most realistic haunted house... ever."

* Nevaeh hadn't thought of that. Sticking a real zombie behind the glass somewhere, letting it roam around trying to break the glass giving the human cattle a scare. "You know, you're right. That would surely make people need new panties when they leave, if they leave!"

* Macaria grinned wickedly, "If they leave? If they -survive-."

‹Nevaeh› I say we round up a few of those human hunters, leave them in a pit with the largest beasts you can summon up and charge tickets for this.

* Nevaeh nods

‹Macaria› ... I love it. We could get it started already, really. Round up a few hunters, let them loose in the park and then have a small group of us chase them down and put an end to them. See how they like it when the tables are turned.

* Nevaeh nods, "Just imagine their faces, better then the kids losing their ice cream treats. We should bring this up for the next family fight night!"

* Macaria grins, "Oh, definitely. Hunter hunting. Fun for all the family. Even better than Monopoly. And then we can have a normal fight night later in the week, 'cause I really did enjoy that last one. Didn't think I was going to, but I did. Funny how these things work out, isn't it?"

‹Macaria› Oh, look. I think a skeleton's supposed to come out of the ceiling here.

‹Macaria› Possibly bats.

* Nevaeh climbs up the wall, clutching onto anything she could grab, pulling the handle on the emergency lever to get the door to pop open. "Watch out below!" She called out in case spiders and rats fell out instead of bats and skeleton's.

* Macaria heads for sparse cover, using her hands to cover her head. "Ready when you are."

* Nevaeh yanks open the safety hatch for the door, just as she expected a stream of webs fell latched onto the skeleton form, the rats that were using the space fell out of the bones. "Sick! Oh catch one of those!"

* Macaria looks around for something to use, "What with? I didn't come prepared for rat catching!"
* Macaria made a grab for one, catching hold of its tail before it disappeared under one of the display cases
‹Macaria› Hah! Got one anyway

* Nevaeh jumps down from the wall chasing after another one. In a dramatic leap, she belly flopped on the rails trying to seem impressive. The rat scurried off, to which she whispered, "Until next time..." all diabolical sounding. But she chuckled getting up and wiping off the dirt on her clothes. "I am normally better at grabbing them in the sewers."

‹Macaria› Not to worry, I've still got mine. He's cute, in an odd way.
* Macaria waves the rat around for effect

* Nevaeh comes over looking at the rat, reaching up with one hand she scratched it behind the ears. "Too cute to eat."

* Macaria wrinkles her nose, "People eat these things?"

* Nevaeh looks at her in question, "Yes? There are some of us who only eat chickens and rats. Not everyone can do the same trick you can!" She smiled, but wondered if she really didn't know. "I like to call them farmers. For a long while, when I got back from the realm I stuck to them so I didn't have to worry. Chickens are far harder to catch."

* Macaria laughs, "I can't stop imagining people chasing chickens, now. Running around, arms outstretching, screaming 'come baaaack' at them."

* Nevaeh laughs then sent her mind the picture of Neva doing just that because she was one of those people upon returning from the shadow realm, and whenever she wanted a safe bet to eat.

* Macaria laughs harder, "Oh, you poor thing! Well, from now on, you know you can just ask me for a quick boost, right? No need for you to keep on chasing those chickens."

‹Macaria› Also, wouldn't it be worse if humans saw us all chasing chickens? I mean, sure, being caught biting one is bad, but seeing a load of random people chasing chickens has to be worse, right?

* Nevaeh laughs, "Actually I like it from time to time. Keeps you limber. Besides, now I have my own little trick of calling humans right to me. Then they never know what hit them."
‹Nevaeh› Maybe we are into voodoo... or worse hoodoo.

‹Macaria› Ooooh, fancy. I'm not too sure what I do, really? I just end up feeling well fed. It's quite nice.

‹Nevaeh› ... didn't anyone explain it to you? It's like... a transference of energy or sorts. Not all possess this, we all have different things. Like me talking into your head while you are out of the apartment.

‹Macaria› No-one's really explained anything to me, to be honest. I was left to fend for myself, pretty much.
‹Macaria› It's not been too bad, really. If anything, I think I've done quite well for myself. Got my own apartment up near the mausoleum and I've learned a couple of rituals, too.

* Nevaeh she nodded. "I think you are doing really good too. But if you have any questions, just ask. If I don't know the answer, I'll poke into Micah's mind."

* Macaria grins, "Sounds dangerous, that. Never know what you might find in there."

* Nevaeh grins, "I don't pull things out, only call into his head. Even I am not .... that dumb. Do you see how grumpy he is all the time, I don't want to know what he doesn't talk about. But sometimes when I am close enough to him, you can almost see the anger rolling off him like heat waves." She shook her head. "Otherwise he is a nice guy, not like I thought originally. Being as big as he is, kind of intimidated me."

‹Macaria› I'm pretty sure he just wants a hug, or something.

‹Nevaeh› Or something. I kind of miss seeing him laugh like he use too. That never seems to happen anymore.
* Nevaeh shrugs, "I think I seen a pirates bridge to cross upstairs. It might be a narrow fit!"

‹Macaria› Single file it is then? Shall we flip a coin to see who goes first? I have a couple you've given me

* Nevaeh smiles, "Don't lose them! Nah I will go first. If I get hurt, I can call for help!" She tapped her head winking. "If you get hurt, I'll be kicking myself."

* Macaria shuffles her feet, "Well, if you do fall, I'll do my best to catch you or something. Least I could do, really, considering."

* Nevaeh walks up the narrow rounded staircase to the upper level when another version of the horrors began, this section was a wolfman popping out from the shadows which looked rather grim and sad. The vampire man looked like that of a cheesy horror movie version from the 50's. She smiled walking right pass them out toward the bridge, it looked worn down but she stepped out carefully. Instantly she began swinging back and forth with each step. "Uh, this wasn't very smart!" She called out looking down to find out where Ria was. But she kept taking a few more steps holding on to the ropes on either side of the wobbling bridge. "Hey I think it's safe, you want to try it?" She said shy of making it completely over to the other side.

--The following transcript was a live chat roleplay--


* Macaria grins, "I'll give it a shot, sure. Might be best to wait until you get off, though, just to be safe. It's already swinging quite a bit and I don't fancy taking a fall too much. I'll get dust -everywhere-."
* Macaria edged her way up to the start of the bridge carefully

* Nevaeh raised a brow but didn't mention the thoughts that went into her mind. She could have sent a picture that would send Ria's face flame red. She hopped off the other side throwing her hands in the air like an Olympic fete had just been done. That was shot lived with her making her way downstairs in case the bridge did break on Ria.

* Macaria chuckles at Neva's finishing flourish and begins to make her way across the bridge. As before, the bridge began swaying wildly almost immediately and it was all that Ria could do to keep her balance. Managing it somehow, she progressed further and further, getting more unsteady, until she reached the far end safely and executed a small curtsy. "Made it!"

* Nevaeh from below, looking skyward toward her she clapped, "Bravo! Bravo!" She chanted out.

‹Macaria› Thank you, thank you
* Macaria makes her way back down to join Neva once again

‹Nevaeh› So what do you think of the House of Horror's? I think we should take out the mirrors but add in zombies and some fadebeasts!

‹Macaria› It was good, but I really think it would be better with those zombies. And definitely with those fadebeasts.
‹Macaria› Maybe a mooncalf petting zoo?

* Nevaeh laughs and pulls her by the hand over to the cotton candy stand, "Maybe we can find a way to make the cotton candy so we can eat it too?" She grabbed one of the funnels, it nearly broke apart in her hand but she mimicked eating the imaginary fluffy treat.

‹Macaria› That... would be really good, actually. We could try to find whoever it was that sorted out those drinks for that club the other night.

* Nevaeh thought about it with a nod, "I wonder if that girl can do it to food, but there is a cupcake place in Honeymead Market. Maybe they might know a good answer too."

* Macaria strokes her chin thoughtfully, "Definitely worth looking into, I'd say. Pretty sure the local night life needs some cotton candy."

‹Nevaeh› Give them all sugar highs and bumper cars, everyone will loves us!

‹Macaria› And that's without hunter hunting and mooncalf petting! It's just that good.

*Nevaeh spins in a circle then calls out in true circus style, "Come one, Come all! Pet the fierce Mooncalf! Watch the incredible fete of someone sticking their head into a fadebeasts mouth!"

* Macaria chuckles, "Can't see anyone being able to say no to that, I really can't."

* Nevaeh laughs with her. "Want to go ride those go carts now?"

* Macaria claps her hands, grinning, "Yes, yes I really do. Lead the way!"

* Nevaeh took her out of the park, hopping on the nearest transit back to her old side of town by Coastside, "I know there use to be one around here when I was growing up."

‹Macaria› I'll take your word for it. I don't know this part of town at all. I spent most of my time in Cherrydale until recently.

* Nevaeh shuffles a bit looking around before pointing out to a building, "In there with the lazer tag place." It wasn't the nicest of areas to have grown up in, that much she knew. But it was a place she'd thought of as more at home. Making her way to the building she pulled open the long white door set against the harsh brick tones.

* Macaria followed Neva over to the door, taking in her surroundings as she did so. It didn't look like the best of areas, but she had good enough manners to not say as much and decided to smile instead.

* Nevaeh headed over to the counter, hoping the guy behind the counter didn't recognize her from high school. "Two tickets please." She said keeping her face pointed more toward Ria then the male playing a video game as he worked. He rung up the tickets, handed them over as she gave over the money. He questioned if he knew her from somewhere but she shook her head and practically shoved Ria into the next room, "Hurry before he figures out who I am. I know that guy from when I was in school." There was a small eepp sound in her voice.

* Macaria does as instructed and hurries through the doorway into the next room, trying not to giggle at how earnest Neva was about not being recognised. She understood the impulse, of course - running into someone from her own mortal life would be unpleasant at the very least.

* Nevaeh tried to explain as she walked into the area where they had the cars, it was rather loud so she stuck to using the telepathic thoughts. "That guy hated me in school. He use to pick on me because I looked a little to long at the other girls, him and his friends use to joke about how they could change my mind. Jerks! What color car do you want?" All of this was sent without moving her lips.

* Macaria blinks, still a little unused to having her mind spoken into directly, it being a really rather bizarre feeling. "Er... purple, I think, if they have one," she decided.

‹Macaria› And that's... shameful behaviour. Even for guys at school.

* Nevaeh voice rose up for her to hear, "That's what happens in high school. Especially when you are quieter then others. The girls on the track team use to defend me because I wouldn't speak up myself. Maybe we should pay that guy a visit when he gets off work!"

* Macaria grins wickedly, "We could? I never leave home without a knife. You never know when one might be useful."

* Nevaeh hops into a hot pink jeep looking go cart. "And he will wish he never remembered my face." The car started up right away. She waited to see which one Ria picked out revving the mock engine.

* Macaria eyed Neva's selection, "Well, I guess the sport compact would be a bad idea then, really. Hmm."
‹Macaria› I'll go with... this one, I think
* Macaria hops in a purple 4x4 and makes engine revving noises with a grin

* Nevaeh waited for the green light to tell her it was safe to take off and merge with the rest of traffic. With the transits and jogging she didn't drive often. She was terrible at driving but was having a ball being all over the road.

* Macaria gently steers her car into the side of Neva's, "Tag! You're it!"

* Nevaeh steers the car toward Ria's trying to be as smooth as she was, it didn't work out that well when the two sides of the cars met bouncing off each other. "Oppss! I am not so good at this!" But it was still fun.

* Macaria laughs, "You still got me though, didn't you?"

* Nevaeh takes the turn a little roughly skimming the wall as she goes around. "You must have drove a lot." She didn't say anything about how she'd died yet, go carts were fine but a real car still sent a shiver down her spine.

‹Macaria› I've done a decent amount, yes. Kinda had to, really, for my job before I came here. Dig sites tend to be in the middle of nowhere and it's hard to get to them without some sort of vehicle

* Nevaeh noticed this one of those rare times she talked about her travels and past, Neva steered the car closer, "Where have you gone?"

* Macaria started to look uncomfortable, realising what she had said, "Oh, you know. Here and there. This place and that. Wherever the work took me, really. Rain forests are nice, though. Wonderful animals."

* Nevaeh noticed her not liking talking about it so she let it drop, "Hey it beats being stuck in this town your whole life, and after that." She shrugged to see if Ria would tell her more but it would be on her own time. No pushing, no matter how much she wanted to hear about other countries.

‹Macaria› I don't know, this town seems quite nice so far. Loads to do, fair amount of things to see. Zombies to kill.
‹Macaria› All that good stuff
* Macaria grins

* Nevaeh snickers, "Unless you grew up here. Mind you if you go into the danger areas, they say you are killed on site. Which is why humans are never allowed in there. If the government agents see them in there, they shoot first and ask questions later."

‹Macaria› Sounds a bit harsh, really. I mean, even we only rarely kill a human.

‹Nevaeh› It is so they do not contaminate the rest of the populace with whatever turned those people into zombies. It's for our own benefit, so says the government.

* Macaria laughs, "Oh, but of course they do."

* Nevaeh looks up to see the lights starting to change colors, the warning for the final lap to be finished. She rounded the curve, a little better this time then the last. With a nod to Ria, to make sure she knew that as much as she'd like they couldn't keep going around the track all night. At some point the place would need to close down.

* Macaria sees the nod, and shifts her gaze to the lights with a frown. "Well, that's a shame. It's been fun, though. We should do this again sometime. Race you to the finish?"

* Nevaeh revs the small engine as hard as it would go, hitting the rim of the bumper on the wall, she spun toward the finish thinking perhaps that had not beed such a great plan after all.

* Macaria swerves to avoid Neva's car, but only manages to nudge her closer to the finish line, "Well, that could have gone better, really," she laughed

* Nevaeh laughs as she finishes sideways, "I should have warned you I am a terrible driver!"

* Macaria chuckles, "Says the girl that won the race."

* Nevaeh looks down to see that she had, sideways, won the race. "I think it only applies to the cars that finish going straight!"

* Macaria considers this, "I don't think so? Crossing the line is crossing the line, really, however you do it"

* Nevaeh pretends to have a trophy in her hand, "I'd like to thank my mom. And I'm going to Disney world!" then she takes a bow, "Thank you to all my loyal fans." her conclusion was giving a Miss America pageant wave.

* Macaria laughs, "Very gracious, Neva. I approve."

* Nevaeh pulls her close and was about to kiss her when a familiar voice rang out behind them. The guy from the counter asking if they went to school together. She groaned and put her head on Ria's shoulder.

‹Macaria› Him again? Really?

* Nevaeh made a soft mhmm sound. "Shall we get him to take us back to his place?" She wasn't so good at feminine charms, at least toward men.

* Macaria "Or we could just kill him here and make it looked like a botched robbery?" She also wasn't so great with the feminine charms thing

* Nevaeh whispers, "Other humans around, we'd have to kill them all." Kind of like Pokemon, but with killing.

* Macaria curses softly, "I'd not thought of that. Any ideas on how we can make this work?"

* Nevaeh ignores him. "Maybe we should just leave him alive for now and come back to him later. When he is alone, stalk him a bit."

* Macaria grins, "I like that. Make his life a living hell for a little bit before we kill him."

* Nevaeh smirks, "Tomorrow drop off a little present of zombies to his house."

‹Nevaeh› And tonight, talk to him in his sleep to torment him.

‹Macaria› Hah! Yes. I can go with that.

* Nevaeh ignoring the man she brushed past him, fighting the urge to say something along the lines of see you in your dreams, but bit her tongue. "Let's get back home before the t.v. misses us."

* Macaria grins as she follows Neva past the attendant, pointedly ignoring him, "Can't have that at all, can we? Poor little guy, all alone in the apartment. Left on standby, waiting for us to get back."

* Nevaeh shook her head, "I think he is trying to text me to find out if we are ever coming home, we've been gone forever!"

‹Macaria› When your TV starts texting you, it's probably time to go home.

‹Nevaeh› When the t.v. starts texting you, it time to buy a new t.v. cause this one is a transformer!

* Macaria laughs, "Good point. Let's head off to make sure we don't have Optimus Prime in the front room, then, shall we?"

* Nevaeh opens the door for her, "Better hurry!"

Once the two girls were tucked back safely into the apartment, curled up watching a movie on the television, she began to whisper into Jack’s mind. Simple subtle thoughts like, “I know you.” And “You were a nasty jerk back in school.” She looked deep into his mind, to see if he had replied to the thoughts she sent to him.

“I was..” he said in a saddened tone. “I was scared. Scared that people would find out we batted for the same team.” She hadn’t expected that thought to cross his mind. “Really I just wanted to be friends.” Again the words caused some semblance of shock. She had been caught off guard with those words and didn’t know how to reply to that.

Instead of replying, she leaned against Ria’s side, legs folded behind her on the couch. “He says he was gay and scared to let anyone know back then. That’s why he picked on me.” By this point she was only half assed watching the movie, A Goofy Movie that flickered the only light coming into the room since she made more to turn off every other light. Just from them staying together, she seemed to notice Ria did better in the dark or darker places then in a nice bright apartment or even the hall. Whenever she could, she turned out as many lights as she could and still find it easy to locate her way around. When the apartment was not so new, she would just turn off all of the lights and not bother with them except for the television which seemed a main stay on in the house.

Now, seeing as the guy was having a bit of a conversation with her in his mind. She poked around listening to him practice apologizing to her after all these years. Then he whispered the one phrase she wished he had never said, “We all thought you died in a car accident. Some guy confessed to hitting someone who looked like you on a hit and run.” Neva tensed against Ria’s side. She had never thought the man who hit her, killed her, and would ever confess. If it had not been for Micah coming to the rescue, her father would have died alone in the cold hospital room.

“Ok, my moment of pity is over. We can kill him tomorrow.” She nodded with a solemn vengeance. This was something she was not determined to do. She went through the man’s memories riffling through like a thief in the night seeking out his address, but worse where he kept the secret key to get into the apartment.

“He lives in one of the apartments on Coastside and the key is … the key is in the lamp hanging in the hall. Apartment 203.” She said more to make the mental note but also to tell Macaria so she could go there before the dawn broke and drop several little presents into the man’s abode. For a split, very minute, second she had almost considered giving the man a break and letting him live. Nine little words had brought her back to reality; the man had to be killed. It also lead to the thought, maybe she had to do something to change her look.

“Maybe I should dye my hair, blond or red? So no one will recognize me again. Or get some contacts to put in. I don’t know something. Living in the town you grew up in, went to grade and high school in, makes it so people will recognize you when you are walking around and suppose to be dead.” It was more to get Ria’s opinion on the matter and semi wondering what she would like. Neva was not trying to pry, when they first met Neva hadn’t pegged her as liking women from what she had told to Zoey, but it was a pleasant surprise when the shots came out at the bar. With a feeling of a light head, the two had been more open and exploring. At the cost of some carpet, she would gladly tear up and throw out again.

She wasn’t too sure what it was that Neva was up to, really, not being privy to the secret ways of the telepath; but she assumed that there was quite the conversation going on through the aether. Neva had, after all, as much as said that she would be tormenting the assistant from the bumper car place almost as soon as they had returned to the apartment in Corvidae Flats, and Ria had been highly entertained by the idea despite the fact that she would be unable to take part in this psychic torture. She would join in when it came to summoning zombies, or laying a curse on their chosen victim. Those were both things she was perfectly able to do, and do well.

“He says he was gay and scared to let anyone know back then. That’s why he picked on me.”

Ria simply nodded in response, unsure of what she should, of what she could, say in reply. Understanding the workings of the human mind had never come easily to her, even when she had been one of them. Now, she rather felt, that such a feat was quite beyond her. She did, however, allow herself a small smile upon noting that Neva had made a significant effort to keep the room, if not dark, then significantly more shaded than was usually the case in dwellings that were not her own. She was unsure why it was that she preferred the dark, even thrived in it, but she assumed that it had something to do with her death and subsequent rebirth, though others of her kind did not seem to have the same issues. Perhaps, she decided, this gift affected each person in a different way.

“Ok, my moment of pity is over. We can kill him tomorrow. He lives in one of the apartments on Coastside and the key is … the key is in the lamp hanging in the hall. Apartment 203.”

Her smile turned into a wicked grin as Neva spoke, quite looking forward to the final reckoning with this guy. She could already picture the ways they would see him to his end in her mind, vivid in their detail and righteous in their deliverance. It was a strange feeling, being willing to kill for a slight that had happened years previously on behalf of someone who was still practically a stranger and yet it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Ria could only ascribe part of that to her new status, and her transformation into an apex predator. More than her willingness to murder, both in general and for Neva, she found herself wanting to kill for nothing more than the pleasure of it. She was still unused to that new side of herself, and unsure how to come to terms with what she now was.

“Maybe I should dye my hair, blond or red? So no one will recognize me again. Or get some contacts to put in. I don’t know something. Living in the town you grew up in, went to grade and high school in, makes it so people will recognize you when you are walking around and suppose to be dead.”

“I think red,” Ria began, “I’ve never been a big fan of blondes. It’s a popular hair colour and I have literally no idea why that is. Half the time it looks like straw. Nothing particularly exciting about straw, in my opinion. Red, though, red could be any number of things though blood is the obvious one.”

It was at times like this that Ria really would have liked to have shared with Neva in the gift of telepathy - knowing what was going on in her head would have been very helpful, at this point. It was not just that she was unused to attraction, she simply did not understand the mechanics of it. From the outside looking in it could only be viewed as a subtle dance through emotions entirely alien to her, and as a result the pursuit of something like intimacy, of any sort, with another person had never been high on her list of things to do in any life, let alone this new one; and yet here she was, in an apartment that the two of them practically shared, curled up on a sofa and watching movies together. It was odd, but she was not about to complain.

The more she listened to what this guy had to say, the more upset she became. If Ria had only known the nasty things he had said to her in high school, or the leery glances he gave to her in the hall. At one point it became physical, when he shoved her against the locker while she was walking by him in the hall. His arm just reached out and pushed her, she fell into the hard metal lockers and two girls from the varsity track and field group she was in jumped his case, screaming at him in the hall. Mainly because it was less than a week before they took on the schools rivaling team in the last event of that year. She had only been a sophomore then, but good enough to make varsity. She was brought to the nurses’ office immediately; even though she had argued she never needed it. He on the other hand was sent to the principal’s office and suspended for the rest of the day and the following day. He never again did anything physical to her, but he had other means to pick on her. Names, names where the worst. From Carpet muncher to homo and other derogatory jibs at her person. A few things left in her locker, like a tampon soaked in ketchup with a note, not in his handwriting of course, saying does this make you hungry. It was the little things that he did to torment her, those very things that she sent images of into his mind. She made him recall all of the horrible things he did to her when they were kids. It was because of guys like him, that she had thought of suicide, that she had tried to date guys and that she had nearly quit school over.

The torment went on to the name calling, just as he had so graciously done to her. Now she was the bully, she was the one in control and had the power. Damn, that felt better than it should have. Back to what Ria had said about blonds verses redheads, she nodded in agreement. “Red would go nicely with my eyes, make me look like an Irish.” She chuckled thinking that it was in perfect time for Saint Patrick’s Day, but the statement was more of an observation. It was a shame they could not drink the green beer, even as a human she would go out once in a while. The green beer was not that bad, the ones she had had a sweet flavor to it. “Straw belongs in a barn, not on hair.” Where had she heard that before, it made her snicker but she could not remember where she’d heard it? Maybe her dad had said that to her once, or an old friend. She’d have hate to become one of those bleach blonds with their skin so tan you know it was fake; this was Canada for gawd sake. It’s not like they had beaches where you could lounge in the sun and sunbath until you turn a nice leathery brown. This was the land of cold, where you donned a jacket in the middle of the hot season.

She was growing bored with tormenting the guy. Looking to Ria, a smile formed on her lips, “How many zombies are you going to leave in his apartment? “ But on a sudden urge, perhaps it was because she had shared only a small fragment of her human life earlier that night, “You can tell me anything about yourself, you know this right? I won’t laugh at you or look down on you for it.” The words came out faster than intended, “You can trust me with anything.” Trust was a sore subject even with her. The only people she had given so much trust to were her parents, and now Micah as her sire. It was past the beginning stages with Ria, much closer toward knowing the other woman would be there since the two were practically inseparable. Now that had come as quite a shock. Micah had always said come to these family events, but the shy urges took over and she did not go to many. Even still, by the time she heard of them they were over. He had wanted her out and socializing with more than one person, for her own good. Now she understood why. She had at that point in time too, but she couldn’t bring herself to show up to things when they happened. If by some small chance she was brought in, she didn’t speak much or at all. She sat in a corner and watched everyone else. Just observing them, their behavior and mannerisms, how they acted and reacted with one another. She had been happy just sitting off in the corner not participating but seeing how open they were with one another. It was merely because she didn’t know how to be with people. Her life had been pretty plain up until becoming a vampire. Her father was sick, her mother died. She needed to make the bills for two apartments, seeing as her dad told her she needed a place of her own. But every cent went into making sure there was food on both tables. The benefits he got only helped so much. Between two jobs at times, she did what she could to help her ole man. Her social life had been put on the side burner. Now that didn’t mean she lived like a hermit, there were girls occasionally she picked up in a bar. Needs had to be fulfilled.

Between her and Ria, it was different. This wasn’t fulfilling a need and moving on situation. Since the first day there was a strange connection between the two. An understanding. At first she hadn’t even realized the other woman was into other women, maybe she didn’t either. That night at the Metronome Club and bar had changed things, for the better. It opened doors, but it was still the same. The strangest, yet most comfortable part was she didn’t feel like she owed something to the other woman. They seemed matched on all grounds just being themselves. It was appreciated on so many levels; she’d not know how to express to the other woman. The only time she left her side was to go clean the tattoo parlor, hoping some day there would be a better position opened for her. Maybe eventually Ria would let her practice on her. “You know we can always call that eight hundred number when you put the zombies in his apartment, and get the government to do the job for us. Those agents will come down to cleanse the apartment.” A small part of her said that was the opt out so no blood was on her hands, no more than she already had on her hands. The first had been a mistake. Now, this was premeditated murder.