Path of the Vampire forum

<Kaspar>

Kaspar rarely found it difficult to get what he want, he had the resources and contacts to find almost anyone or anything, so when he decided he wanted to get to the bottom of Vienna’s very dead friend he wouldn’t stop until the woman had that cd in her hands. In fact it had been relatively easy, she wasn’t overly conspicuous and he had a fair idea based on their brief discussions where the girl hung out. The Voodoo was a place he too had visited on occasion, mostly for the more private downstairs bar that sold a tasty bloodwine but he knew it well. Hands shoved into his pockets and head bowed to avoid too much attention as he travelled the last few steps to the door Kaspar brushed fingertips over the cd. Danny was dead, of that much he was certain. It had to be the same man, Kaspar’s first gig in Harper Rock had been before he’d lived here officially, when they family just came back to stay during holidays with his paternal grandparents. Danny had been front and centre, he’d been a big part of aiding the band’s popularity over the following years and Kas had always been happy to give the guy a grin or wave after a gig. No doubt he’d had hundreds of signed items, so why the cd? Why now? Was she lying and just picked a name out of nowhere? No, that letter was too damn specific.

His shoulder pressed into the door, forcing it open to step inside the building. Stormy blue gaze swept over the occupants, narrowing in with deadly precision on his target. Her. Looking so innocent and quiet, the one who he’d described and in response had referred to as, “Oh, yeah she talks to herself sometimes. I know which one you mean, man, trying The Voodoo i’ve seen her studying there.” She was indeed, studying or so it appeared. Kas pushed the hood off his head, shaking out gold spun locks as he stalked closer. Slipping the CD from his pocket, now signed, he dropped it unceremoniously in front of the girl right on top of her belongings. “We need to talk…”

<Vienna>

This was the last time Vienna was doing any favors for a ghost. Danny hadn't left her alone since the other night, complaining about how she hadn't kept her side of their bargain.

She studiously ignored the ghost sitting beside her, focusing on her work. If object A collided with object B, then...she was going to ******* kill him.

She shoved the CD off of her belongings.

"I told you I would punch you if you followed me." She didn't look up.

<Kaspar>

His height and arm length gave him advantage, advantage which he decided to press. His arms came down either side of her, palms flattening to the table top as he leaned down towards the woman, lips feather soft, stirring her hair where they whispered. “Please. Try it, but don’t cry to me when you break your hand. He’s dead, Vienna. He’s dead so why are you having me sign cd’s for him?”

He nudged his cheeks to hers, acting as if it were an affectionate thing, not letting other patrons in on the fact that it was a dispute. “Are you just ******* with me?”


<Vienna>

Her pencil stilled on the next line - the equation to find the velocity of A had flown right out of her mind. With a slight shiver, she jerked her cheek away from his, her face warming. "Back the **** off."

One thing good could be said to come out of this: Danny had finally shut the **** up. She glanced up for a moment to catch that angst-ridden expression on the ghost's face, wistful and frustrated all at once. Likely, trying to decide if he had the balls to try and haunt Kaspar himself.

<Kaspar>

Hel inched back slightly, just enough to let her breath. “If I do, will you keep those fists away from my face until we’ve at least talked? Then we can go out back and you can have at it. I really don’t care, Vienna, hit me.” He sighed, his jaw had tensed and he stretched it to relax it somewhat. “I just want answers, Danny was…”

He moved back, stepping around to grab a seat, tugging at over to sit near her, the man slumping into it. Important, he was going to say important, the guy had really loved the band and followed them from the start. “He was at my first show in Harper Rock, I was like 15 going on 16, we didn’t live here then just came to stay often. My father moved here when he was around 10 I think, he grew up here. Danny started the Hellions with some of his friends, we ended up going to the same school briefly before Father dear pulled us out and made us finish with private tutors so we were done by 17.” His jaw flexed again, a muscle ticking under his cheek.

Irrelevant, she didn’t need to know this, so why was he explaining? “He was important to Hel, the band not just me. I visited his grave. He. Is. Dead.”

<Vienna>

What the **** was it with this guy? Adley, Grey, and Jameson all liked him, and judging by the sheer number of fan posts on the online forums, plenty of people thought he was the hottest **** to ever strut a stage. Danny was spending his unlife wishing this guy would acknowledge him. Even in this cafe, they had drawn attention, a few envious glances and gossipping whispers from the younger patrons, because apparently, getting perved on by a creepy rock star was so ******* great.

At least he'd backed off. She relaxed slightly, looking up at him.

Had she really needed to know his life story? She didn't like that - it made him more of a person, when she was perfectly comfortable putting him in the "way overhyped creep" category. She should have interrupted him. As it was, she settled for keeping her expression flat.

"Look, I was ******* with you," she said bluntly. "I saw his name come up - he was a mod on one of your fan forums." Her voice dripped scorn - she didn't look at the ghost as she spoke. "Kind of an oversharer, so it was easy enough to get all the details together. It was a shitty thing to do, but how was I supposed to know he was your BFF?"

She didn't apologize. For one thing, she hadn't actually done anything wrong; for another, the extra note of indignation and whining might rile up Kaspar's temper. Maybe it'd piss him off enough that he'd just walk out.

She couldn't resist a quick glance to the side at Danny.

Danny’s eyes were on Kaspar, his expression peaceful and pained at once. "I wasn't sure you would visit. I always figured...you'd be too busy. You've come a long way since those days, you know? Thanks, man. It...means a lot." He put out a hand, cradling the CD tenderly. The tips of his fingers passed right through it.

<Kaspar>

Hissed out a sharp breath between his teeth, as if it might help his patience, a hand lifting to rub across his face. The man emitted a groan frustration between his fingertips, thumb running against his lower lip as he lower the hand to the bottom half of his face, peering at her in consideration. “I want to believe you, because that makes this whole thing a hell of a lot easier, I can walk away and just figure you as crazy. And yet…”

Why didn’t he? Something about her made him slightly uncomfortable, like he was being watched too closely perhaps, that there was some cold breeze creeping over his skin and teasing his hair into standing on end. What was it? “Why would you go to the effort to stalk old forum posts, to formulate some story? Especially after the fact. I’m vain, oh boy am I, but not stupid. If you were just trying to sleep with m-”

<Vienna>

"- my ******* god, you seriously think everything comes down to getting into your pants." She rolled her eyes.

"I'm done watching you play Sherlock Holmes. Guess you're just going to have to live with not knowing." With a sharp smile, she rose, closing her book.

<Kaspar>

He rose in response to the girl doing so, leaving him towering over and trying hard to control his facial features, to not show his irritation. “You seriously think everything comes down to YOURS. If you’d let me FINISH… If you were just trying to sleep with me, NOT saying you were, then you achieved that, trying to rile me up over a cd is pointless for you.”

He hitched his shoulders in a shrug, he didn’t step towards her but he wasn’t about to just let her walk out. “What’s your angle? You could do so many other things to cause me grief or get my attention. You don’t want it. Makes no sense.” He frowned, trying to work out the puzzle in his head, eyeing her like he could move the pieces into place.

“Vienna, I am asking you to tell me, I don’t want to make you. I don’t like to do that.”

<Vienna>

She snorted at that. “As if you could.”

<Kaspar>

“Is that a dare? Seriously, Vienna?” His brow went up, if she consented to it, well then she couldn’t exactly be mad if he did.

<Vienna>

She threw him a contemptuous look. “What are we, twelve? No, I’m just pointing out that you have no ******* chance in hell of succeeding.”

<Kaspar>

Damn, now he’d feel ALMOST bad if he did it. “I don’t know, are we?” A smirk, one that he knew would probably earn him a slap. The girl while being old enough to know better still let her age get to her, she was an adult now and perhaps if she acted like it more then she’d not have the need to get defensive. “Don’t push me, Vienna. I am far more capable than you realise.”

He side stepped, hand gesturing towards the door. “Leaving were you? I’ll walk you out. And on the way you can tell me what I want to know, then we are done.”

<Vienna>

Putting away her book and her pencil, she slung her bag over her shoulder and laughed in his face. Damn, he took himself seriously.

She took a step closer, staring him in the eye. You're not going to walk me out. This is harassment." She paused. "I'm going to leave on my own and you're never going to see me again, or I'm going to find a journalist to tell all about how you seduce and then stalk teenage girls. You’re married, aren’t you? I bet your wife would love to hear all about it."

Thank you, Wikipedia.

<Kaspar>

His eyes rolled up in his head, the man groaning out that sound of annoyance again. “First of all, you’ve not got a leg to stand on, you’ve behaved horrendously. Second, if you were telling the truth, then you were the one being more than a little bit stalky. Third, stop trying to get people to treat you like an adult only to whine and cry about how you’re an innocent, sweet teenager. No one is buying it. Want to be a grown up? Then GROW up.” He droned the words with a barely contained sense of annoyance colouring the monotone, trying his best to keep from persuading her with his tonal abilities.

Kaspar stepped around Vienna, lowering a distasteful look over her. “Legally? No. And it’s none of your goddamn business, you stay away from my family. Not because i’m worried what she’ll find out, the woman knows everything I do, everyone I do.” He clicked his tongue, the left side of his mouth quirking with a snarky smile. “She disapproved heartily of you, congratulations. She was right.”

He shook his head, slow steps carrying him towards the door. “If you communicate with Danny again, please send him my regards and tell him i’m sorry. Sorry he’s gone, and sorry he’s stuck with you for company. Poor ******* kid deserves better.” There was a slight tremble in his hands, anger building. How could she know that he’d taken some time away to think? That it had largely been because he’d had some hard truths presented to him by the very woman Vienna now tried to use as leverage against him.

She couldn’t, but she’d had no right, and part of him wanted to break her down, to tear at her and wound her. It just wasn’t in him, and so he kept walking. “Grey is an IDIOT.” He murmured to the door figuring even that might have more sense than the girl he’d tried speaking to, hand pushing to let himself out into the cool evening air.

<Vienna>

His wife knew? Her eyes widened in spite of herself, but her words had the effect she wanted.

If she'd thought that he was venomous in their last encounter, it was nothing compared to this. She flinched and then squared her shoulders, watching him flatly. He had no idea what he was ******* talking about.

She watched him go. They probably wouldn't be talking again after this. Her secret was safe, and frankly, why would she want to talk to a conceited rock star with boundary issues anyway?

"Shut up." Her eyes flashed a warning at the ghost. Her tone was flat and serious. "You're going to leave me alone as well. Because if you don't, it's going to hurt him."

There were probably people close enough to hear her talking, but despite the fact that she'd just spent the last five minutes trying to preserve her secret, she didn't care any more.

She grabbed the signed CD as she passed, tossing it in the trash along with her empty coffee cup.

"Spread the word. Tell your friends to stay away." Did the ghosts even talk to each other? She'd never asked. "I'm not some bleeding-heart medium who does favors for people.”

She left the ghost trying desperately to retrieve the CD from the trash can.

<Kaspar>

He’d let the door close behind him, tugging out a packet of cigarettes, tapping one free of the deck. Kas knocked the tip of it three times on the top, a stupid habit, before pressing it between his lips and flicking his lighter to life. The man took a deep draw, he could hear her ranting. Hurt him? What? Who the **** was she talking to?

“Don’t do it…” He murmured to himself, watching the smoke curl out into the night air. His hands shoved the items into his pockets, he figured he should start moving. He should go somewhere, anywhere instead of loitering out the front of the damned cybercafe.

Yet he just stood, puzzling over what had happened, what WAS happening. Maybe if he hovered long enough he’d see her leave with the person she was speaking to, confirm it was someone real, someone tangible. There was no way she was really communicating with Danny, he’d heard rumours of those who could be haunted but of all the things he’d learned that one he struggled to accept.

<Vienna>

He was still there, smoking. That habit was going to kill him one day - she’d seen enough dead people to know that - but she didn’t care enough to point it out.

She glanced away from him, walking off briskly.

<Kaspar>

Another puff of smoke was exhaled as her back turned on him, “Medium.” He cleared his throat, “That’s what they call people who talk to the dead, yes?” His tone was gentle, calm as he spoke it. “Is that it?”

<Vienna>

There was no way he could have overheard her - he’d already left by the time she started speaking with Danny again. “They call them psychos, actually,” she said dismissively. Her hand bunched around the strap of her backpack. She kept walking.

<Kaspar>

“Ok, if you prefer psycho I can call you that.” Kaspar walked a few paces behind her, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket once more, stare levelled between her shoulder blades. “Vienna…” He almost crooned the name, he was tired of arguing, tired of disappointment and frustration. He wanted answers, and he knew the only way to get them from her. “Please, I just want to know if he is alright, what happened… I mean, what is it like?” He wasn’t singing, no, not exactly but his words had certain rhythm, a melodic tone that let them flow together to her ears.

A few larger steps had the distance closing between them, not entirely but close enough that he could speak in hushed tones. “I don’t want harm to come to you, I just want you to stop teasing and be honest with me.” He hated it, he hated resorting to this and with other humans he’d never had to, not the way he did so frequently with Vienna in their short time being acquainted.

<Vienna>

Her steps slowed. She turned, taking a step toward him.

Why not be honest with him? She was so tired of lying. He had a beautiful voice, when he wasn't bitching at her about how she acted like a child.

"He's not all right." There was almost no emotion in her words. "He died smashing into another car. He still hasn't let go of the fact that his time is over yet, and he's lonely." She paused. "He was happy to see you and to hear you talk about him. He might be less all right now that I threw away his CD."

<Kaspar>

He was somewhat stunned by her explanation, he’d heard about the accident, rumour had it that he was under the influence but Kas hadn’t looked into it further just taken the information given and done what was expected. He sent a note to the family, put something up on the forums and website, a picture of them snapped at a show with Danny grinning and singing along as Kaspar crouched at the edge of the stage reaching out into the crowd.

He’d visited the grave, he couldn’t make the funeral and so had sent flowers. All the right things, all hollow gestures that meant nothing to the dead. Or did they?

“I’m sorry. Wait, you threw… Why? You should put it at his grave, or something. Ask him what he wants you to do with it.” His voice was tight, he didn’t think he could continue with his persuasion over her.

It could’ve been him, dead and haunting, seeking someone who might listen. Who might understand. “He’s not alone, but he should move on.” It always seemed to come back around to mortality, Kaspar had to face his as did Danny, it’s just that one of them got to keep walking the other.

<Vienna>

She knew very well that she let her temper run too freely, but why had she told him? It was too late to take it back, though.

How dare he judge her for it. He had no idea what it was like to have the ghosts following her, tricking her, threatening her. And the pleading, it was the worst - no, do this for my kid, I shouldn’t have died, just tell him I didn’t mean to do it -

"That's your ******* problem, not mine." She drew in a deep breath. "Go talk to him yourself if you care."

"You know what else happened in that accident?" she asked. "The people he hit. One of them's still in the hospital. All because your friend was too ******* stupid to realize that he was too drunk to get behind the wheel! So excuse me if I don't give a ******* damn about how sad and lonely he feels."

<Kaspar>

“How? How do I do that? I don’t know how to find him.” He figured the guy had to be nearby, then again, maybe she’d done something to send him away. He didn’t understood how it worked, and if hadn’t aided her in being convinced he probably still wouldn’t believe it.

Her words would have stung more has Kaspar been capable of feeling for the plight others as most normal people would, but his emotional capacity what it came to caring for those who did not impact his life was severely lacking. He tried, but it just never fully hit him “That’s unfortunate, and hopefully they pull through. Yes, he was ******* stupid, and he’s paid for it has he not? He’s dead, Vienna. Dead.” He finished the cigarette, letting the stub of it fall to his feet, stamping out the glowing end.

“Being dead ain’t any fun.” He murmured mostly to himself, swooping down to collect the butt, taking into his pocket to dispose of later. He may be an ***, but he respected the rules and preferred his cities clean, littering wasn’t cute from anyone. “Look, I figure he’s hanging around for a reason, if it’s connected to me and there’s something I can do to help him let go, then maybe he’ll leave YOU alone too.” His brow raised in challenge, “Then you’ll be done with, and me with you other than perhaps if we end up with a mutual friend…”

<Vienna>

The truth was she didn't care much about those people either - had they been the dead ones coming to her for help, she would have found some reason to hate them too. She wasn't a good person, and she knew that. All she wanted was to fling in Kaspar's face that his precious Danny wasn't as perfect as he thought, that he was just another one of the dead playing the victim.

Her eyes flashed, but she let the hint about a mutual friend pass.

It wasn't as simple as he made it out to be. Help one of the dead, and the others would take that as evidence that they had hope too. Then she'd be mobbed again by the dead, like she'd been in the beginning. The first year, she'd barely gotten any sleep at all.

But he knew.

"He's probably still inside. I'll help you look for him, and I'll even play translator. And afterwards, you don't tell anyone about this, and we stay the **** out of each other's way. Deal?"

He didn't need her help, she thought. It wasn't as though he was hunting a ghost that was actively avoiding him, and she was willing to bet that Danny was still by the trash. But, she had a secret to protect and she needed a bargaining chip.

<Kaspar>
He huffed out a breath, almost a laugh but nothing so simple as that. “Vienna we all have secrets, and i’m not certainly not about spilling yours, especially if you learn to respect mine. You treat me like i’m the enemy, the worst guy to walk the earth for what? Yes, I can be an *** but lord have you got a chip on your shoulder. I’m sure you’ve got your reasons, and those are yours to keep close to your chest. Just… Please, ease up.” He grumbled, a hint of pleading in his voice.

He was so utterly tired of people giving him **** this week, like he deserved it more than others. Not a chance, had he been the dickhead she acted like he was she’d probably be dead in the ditch right now.

“After you, let’s get this over with.” The door was opened, his hand gesturing her back into the cafe, they had a ghost to deal with so they could go their separate ways. Fast.

<Vienna>

He sounded almost goddamned reasonable. She frowned - that bothered her almost more than their conversation earlier had.

He wasn't the first person to tell her that she had temper problems. Hell, even she knew it. But the thing was - this 'chip on the shoulder' he talked about worked for her. It kept her alive in the face of all the spirits wanting attention, and if she kept people focused on the attitude, they focused less on the crazy.

She would have responded, but he'd moved on to business. She could deal with that.

With a nod, she headed back inside. The ghost was still there, standing by the trash can.

She ignored Danny’s curses and reached into the trash can and fished out the CD, grimacing at the stickiness from touching someone's leftover coffee drink.

Taking a deep breath, Vienna glanced between the living and the dead man. "All right. Let's talk."