A Night Out [Open]

[Jadyn Hill (DELETED 6558)]

Even though she had washed, the stench of decaying flesh still clung to her nostrils. She remembered the first time she had been told about the existence of zombies. She didn't want to believe it at first. Zombies belonged in horror movies, television, and books. Not...in reality. And then she had met her first real zombie. She remembered the nasty sight of the creature slowly moving about. She was supposed to kill these things over and over again until she stronger.

She remembered her first fight with a zombie. It had been easier than expected. Then again, she didn't know she had it within her to bring harm to anyone or anything. She remembered the rush she felt during the fight. She had felt alive. And when the zombie collapsed she had felt...what had she felt? But the smell. The smell. It made her want to gag.

But something was happening. Was it strength? Jadyn couldn't really tell. She was still so new to this new life.

She had grown tired of killing zombies for the time being and decided to venture back into the city for...whatever. She didn't exactly have a concrete purpose. Maybe it was a need to surround herself with something other than nasty smelling zombies? She could go with that excuse. So here she was, out in Harper Rock after scrubbing herself clean from any zombie guts she may have gotten on herself.

Jadyn wandered around various streets, watching the night life of the city. She could smell the scent of alcohol lingering on many humans as they walked by. Her jaw clenched. She never realized how much she loved to drink until she had been brought into this new life. She wished she could take just a little sip but the idea of being ill kept her at bay. Instead she hung around the city and watched as people came and went.

I need a life.

[Zodiac]

She knew that look all too well.

The little mystic had not really paid attention to the girl much when she first appeared walking along. Another vampire. How odd to view things like that, she thought to herself. It wasn't that long ago they were something of a rarity and now you could not turn a corner without seeing a couple. She was a newer one. The slight scent of zombie hung about her. Not detectable to a mortal nose, but to her enhanced senses she could smell it. Obviously bored with hacking up the living dead and training, she was exploring now. A good thing in the gypsy's view.

This still was not enough for the girl to merit her attentions, but that look on her face screamed volumes. She was smelling the same thing she was. The hint of blessed oblivion sweet alcohol promised those who consumed it. It was one of her issues as well she found she had to deal with since being turned. She stood there leaning against a building, taking a short rest, and had been people watching when she found her in the crowd.

She lit up a cigarette (thank the Goddess for small mercies and distractions) and let the smoke dance upon her tongue as she debated making contact. Why not, she decided, as she made her way across the street and fell in step next to the girl. She looked her in the eye and smiled before reaching out with her thoughts.

"Hello," the simple word was projected into the girl's mind. A quick glance about showed the gypsy no one was looking, so she revealed her fangs for a second to assure the girl they were on the same team, so to speak. "Don't you find it rather cruel that becoming a vampire took away the ability to consume liquor, yet did nothing to quell the reasons why some of us consumed it? Personally I think the gods have a sick sense of humor in such things." she continued to project while keeping her tone light and friendly as she walked along at her side.

[Jadyn Hill (DELETED 6558)]

Two joyful humans walked by, deeply engaged in their conversation. Jadyn's eyes followed the pair as they passed, the scent of alcohol hovering around them. After realizing that she was staring, Jadyn quickly looked away. So far all those popular vampire novels had gotten this new life all wrong. The books and movies made it seem like this life was a breeze as long as you didn't kill your best friend. Wrong. She couldn't even have a drink. A normal human drink. It would always be blood from now on.

Not that only drinking blood was the end of the world...strangely enough. Still, being able to get drunk would have been nice.

The smell of cigarette smoke pulled her attention from the drunk humans, her eyes settling on a woman. Her gaze drifted down to the cigarette between her fingers and then back up to the woman's face. Before Jadyn could even say a single word, a strange feminine voice echoed in her mind. It was a voice she had no heard before, and the sudden greeting brought Jadyn to an abrupt halt.

The woman's lips parted, revealing a quick flash of fang. Vampire. She was like her. Jadyn could only assume that it was the woman's voice she was hearing in her head. Who else would it be? But how was she able to do that? The way the woman smiled at her made it seem like it was effortless. Vampires could mind-speak?

"It's wickedly cruel," Jadyn replied, glancing back at the drunk humans who had erupted into laughter. She returned her focus to the woman. "Didn't realize how good I had it till I entered this new life." The words felt weird, but she had been told the whole vampire deal needed to be kept a secret. Code words were the best option. Still, it felt weird. "By the way, I don't know how to do the, um, thing you're doing." She paused for a few moments. "I'm Jadyn. You?"

[Zodiac]

"Oh don't get me started on that subject of life and how it compares to where we are now. By the time I would be finished you'd be wondering what did I do to deserve getting this long winded witch's attentions." her laughter bubbling in the girl's head.

A gentle nod of her head encouraged her to keep walking. "Would be best we keep walking, lest someone thinks your crazy talking to yourself." Absently, Zodiac pulled the pack of cigarettes out and offered one to the girl. "These you can indulge in, if they were your thing before. No worries about dying from lung cancer and such now." The mystic looked the girl over again. Yes, defiantly a young one. She was not giving off that air of being clueless like she'd sense from others, meaning she had someone guiding her or at least informed her of the basics. It broke her heart when she encountered those who were simply turned and left to wander about clueless.

"The thing I do. Ah yes. Telepathic mind speak. In time if you work hard enough it can be a ability you can learn to do as well. There is no reason that with time and effort you will learn how to do all kinds of things. Took me awhile to learn this trick myself."

"Jadyn. That's a lovely name. But who am I?" The gypsy grinned as she spun in a circle and with a wave of her hand, a business card appeared. "Who am I?" she began with a dramatic flair. "I am the all seeing, all knowing eyes of the past, present and future. Mistress Zodiac-mystic witch extraordinaire, but my friends just call me Zo or Zoey." she placed the card into the girl's hand. "I tell fortunes for a living and bake cookies when the urge strikes me."

[Jadyn Hill (DELETED 6558)]

The woman's laughing voice echoed in her mind. There was a small part of her that found this mind-speaking business really cool. This was something she had only heard about and seen in books and movies. She never thought such an ability was possible. But a greater part of her still felt very strange about the whole thing. Then again, her whole new life felt strange. For the most part. The strangest thing was how satisfying it felt whenever she fed or was beating a nasty smelling vampire to a bloody pulp.

Her focus returned to the woman. How did she enter this new life? She had to be powerful if she could mind-speak. Could her Sire mind-speak? Jadyn shoved the question aside, deciding she would ask later when she came across her Sire again.

At the woman's suggestion, Jadyn immediately glanced around at their surroundings. She spotted a few humans mingling about but none of them were looking in her direction. Did they think her crazy? She wasn't crazy. This whole new life felt crazy, but she was sane. She started walking again, looking away from the mingling humans. They also smelled like alcohol. Lucky humans. "Some of them are probably too drunk to notice."

Her gaze shot down to the offered cigarette. She had never been a heavy smoker in her former life. She hadn't really had too many bad addictions to be honest. But maybe she secretly did because the urge just to do normal things like eat and drink were becoming harder and harder to ignore. She took the offered cigarette. "Thanks. At least I can do something normal." She pulled a lighter from her jacket pocket and lit the cigarette as she walked.

As the woman's voice entered her head again, Jadyn looked over towards her as they walked, smoking away on her cigarette. Telepathic mind speak. So that's the official term for it. And she could learn to do that and more in time? How old was this woman? In new life terms, of course. "I have a feeling it'll probably take me twice as long to learn that trick. Y'know, after I graduate from zombie slaying."

She watched as the woman spun in a circle, a business card appearing. Jadyn blinked. How did she do that? She took the buisness card, looking it over while the woman, Mistress Zodiac, spoke. "You can see into the future? Really? How does that work? And how can you see into someone's past?" The questions were rolling off her tongue left and right. There were so many things she wanted to know and she had no idea that a vampire could be a fortune teller.

[Zodiac]

The girl was full of questions as she should be. Perhaps she would survive after all. It was the ones who did not ask questions that soon found themselves deep in troubles that could cost them their new extended existence.

"I admit, it takes some longer to learn certain skills that others, but it all depends on the effort you put into it. Some learn faster, some don't. Is all about setting goals and pushing yourself along. Was almost a year before I learned how to do this, but I had the motivation to do it." she explained. "Trust me, whoever told you to work out in the QZ gave you good advice. You may not notice the improvements at first, but they do add up quickly."

The question about fortune telling made her smile. "Fortune telling is not exactly a vampire skill." she kept smiling. "Was something I learned how to do back when I was alive. I do it to earn money from both the living and the not so living now. I specialize in the tarot as my tool of choice. Reading the past is not as hard as one might think. It is just interpreting clues and hints and judging them against the person you are working with. Rarely are the cards wrong if one knows how to interpret them." she kept it light rather than going into her sales pitch how the girl could find all the answers she needed if she would trade currency for an hour of her time. She continued to walk, ignoring the smell of liquor in the air. Obviously there had been a large gathering and the guests had emptied out recently.

"So why did you drink so much before this new vista of existence opened up to you?"

[Eclipse (DELETED 6661)]

A woman sat between two trash cans in a nearby alleyway, using the stink of trash to overpower the smell of rotten flesh. She'd been killing off some of the zombies in the area - annoyances to her ears and nose most of all. But now the smell clung to her, and she couldn't seem to shake the scent.

As she sat, she was writing in a dirty notebook, taking her time with the words. Not that they were very articulate, but she seemed very deep in thought as the pen marked the paper in her lap. Her hand twitched every now and again, as if hesitant to write the next word. Eventually, she let out a snort and put the notebook in her bag before standing and kicking a soda can that was in her way. She cringed as it hit the opposite wall too hard and broke a piece of brick off. Thankfully, the humans passing didn't seem to notice, and she let out a held breath.

She frowned, looking down at herself. She was covered in zombie blood and guts, but had nowhere to wash herself. She recalled passing a river earlier and thought about that, but it might seem weird, or even suspicious by the cops. Her arms dropped, shoulders drooping a bit as she tried to figure out how to get herself cleaned up.