Path of the Vampire forum

Akaterine walked down the musky rows of the seemingly abandoned library. Being an occasional volunteer to alphabetically order all the books for the store keeper before retiring to her little apartment above the small book shop was a nightly routine. The lady who ran the place was in her late sixties and often needed a lot of help with the store but refused to allow anyone she didn't trust to work there. Because of the unfortunate shortage of people who wanted to borrow books, the business had been struggling for years and therefore the store keeper could no afford to officially hire and pay a working staff. So it was just her and Akaterine. This was the terms of the agreement to live upstairs. A form of payment. A form of protection for the tiny shop.

The girl had turned the sign from "open" to "closed" nearly a half an hour ago and usually left the locking up until she was finished her job of making sure all the books were back in their correct places. Plus, she liked the idea that if ghosts came out to play, she would have a quick and clean get away. She couldn't exactly kick a ghost's ***. It didn't work that way. Kat felt her allergies start to bother her and stopped every once in a while to blow her noise or sneeze into the elbow of the soft gray cardigan she wore before continuing on with her business, humming on offbeat tune.

Kat had an uncanny ability to relish in the darkness of night. It was a natural thing for her. She enjoyed the cover it provided. Most were shocked, if they ever learned, that by day she was busy training in a million different ways to kill a man and by night, arranging books in a dusty little shop down a little darkened alleyway. The short girl took a sip of her blueberry tea, eyes closing ever so slightly. The embers in the fire place near the sitting area were still smoldering and offering some heat. Kat made her way to the large couch and sat down, staring through the window into the fire. Was this what hell looked like? No wonder Dante called it his Inferno.

Akaterine had dismantled the bell that attached above the door to sound whenever someone opened it nearly a week ago. It was an inconvenience due to rust. However, without it, she did not hear the man enter the darkened book shop. Kat sighed softly into her mug of coffee and shut her eyes to listen to the soft crackling of the dying embers, wondering if she should just restock the fire and sleep on the sofa tonight as the shop would be closed tomorrow because the owner was out of town for the day.

With a soft noise of protest from her body that ended in slight cracking, Akaterine set the mug down and then sprawled out on the sofa in a luxurious manner, her sheer leopard pattern night gown riding up her thighs dangerously. She didn't bother to shimmy the fabric down as she was supposedly the only person around. Humming softly, the girl closed those blue eyes once more and tried to drift off into light, her hands placed gently below her chest.

The female's dark eyes snapped open almost immediately as the boy had been rather noisy. Not to mention she was sort of trained in handling sneak attacks and being a light sleeper to catch even the quietest of attackers. That is what she thought it was in that moment. She lay still, her hand slowly moving below the couch for something. Akaterine always kept weapons around. In case something happened. With her line of work, you never knew what could pop out at you and smash you in the face. Then, within seconds, she rolled from the comfort of the sofa and crouched down, a dagger held out like a military knife, blade adjacent to her shoulder, knuckles wrapped around the hilt so that if she needed to punch him with that same hand, she could.

"What in the hell do you think you are doing?" she snarled her demand, watching his every little movement with intense eyes of a hunter. If she had to kill the man, it would be easy to explain to the cops. He entered her closed shop and tried to attack her so she defended herself the best way she could. A little fib never hurt someone - especially when it could come down to life and death. Her dark curls had rested along her shoulders - the attire she wore not exactly 'battle'-like. She truthfully looked hilarious.

No one would ever think a pretty face in a sheer night gown with a dagger - not a little *****-made weapon like a seven inch switchblade - an actual dagger, could harm someone. She continued to crouch, her muscles coiling in order for them to be taut enough if she had to pounce at him. She peeled back her lip in a form of an intimidation method which definitely didn't suit her features.

Akaterine's guard continued to stand tall as she carefully lifted her body back into a standing position in hopes not to show any of her body parts that needless to say, should continue to stay hidden from view. The girl lowered her dagger a fraction and scented the air - as if she could tell what he was by the smell of him. She had been trained that way. Of course she knew of vampires. Most she met often were pegged dull by her on the spot. She was lucky none had ever tried to drink from her. In that moment, she confirmed he was one of the them. He had that same vague scent of blood that not many people often could decipher.

"The sign says that the store is closed, vampire..." she murmured and then made her way past him to grab a long silken robe from the back of the computer chair, slipping it on. She was a modest woman and some of her hostility had died down for the time being. Tying the strings, she continued to grip the dagger by the hilt in case he tried anything stupid. She sat down and begun to read the screen, her brow lifting quizzically at the name he had searched.

"Joe Hill?" she inquired aloud obliviously, twirling the dagger on the desk, the sharp end creating a small hole as she bit down on her free hand's thumbnail. What a curious author. "A forty two year old comic book writer," she recalled and turned her attention back on Cosimo. "Isn't he the son of Stephen King?"