Path of the Vampire forum

This thread is back-dated to November 18th 2016

Generally, dawn was a time in the day when most people slept and when few people were getting up ready to face what was coming. The entrepreneurial sort would be threading sashes of silk in various loops and twists, hoping to achieve that coveted Half-Windsor knot. The versatile knot said casual, elegant, and adaptable – appealing to associates and investors alike who were cut from the same kind of cloth, practically guaranteeing a sale. It was all in the appearance, the commitment, the ability to show that you’ve got what it takes to get the job done. Of course, they weren’t the only ones awake at this hour. Some had been up for hours, tending to over-enthusiastic offspring and/or pets which had determined a new play hour. The dark circles around their eyes were not only a badge of honour, but symbols of their obligation for the next 18 or so years when the kid had moved out and the cat had kicked the bucket. Some over-achieving folk hadn’t even slept at all, deciding to start the weekend a day early. It wasn’t exactly safe to travel the streets at night anymore, so it made for the perfect excuse to drink until the sunlight bleached the streets of criminals. Creatures like Levi, meanwhile, were few and far between, and were perhaps so rare that they could even be regarded as an endangered species.

It wasn’t typical for Vampiri to sit before a bare window at the crack of dawn and watch the sun rise, but, Levi had found a way to make it both tolerable and enjoyable. The floor to ceiling windows that made up a quarter of the room were treated beyond just the standard. Most buildings simply get an enveloping of treatment which creates unique climate adaptive conditions, cutting the costs for heating, air-conditioning and lighting. Levi had gone one step further and opted to have the most cutting edge glazes applied to his office windows. Blackout smart glass blocks 99.4% of ultraviolet light, and when used in combination with Nanocrystals, also provides selective control over both visible light and heat-producing near-infrared (NIR) light independently. Of course, it wasn’t entirely evident what in the sun’s unique spectrum caused a Vampiro’s skin to smoulder or burst into flames as spontaneously as a Disney characters might burst into song, but it was sensible to cover all the bases at once. Don’t protect four weaknesses when you had five because it just left that one chink in the armour open to abuse. That was how the Death Star got fucked.

Although the sky was over-cast, with bands of clouds dividing the belly of the sky, Levi could still make out the sun’s trajectory. It was the colours that gave it away. The bands on the cusp of the horizon were slate-grey filtering into muddy navy, suggesting that the sun was just popping its head up above the pillows of the Earth, stretching slowly into life. The forecast for the day spoke of cloud, maybe even some rain, with temperatures between 0 and 10 degrees (32 to 50 Fahrenheit). The waters would be something considerably worse then, maybe even colder than a polar bear’s nose, which reaffirmed his earlier theory about taking Hannah swimming elsewhere. They’d agreed the coast – sort of – and since he had to keep in the mind the fact that she was still vulnerable to hypothermia, he’d had to plan their trip abroad. Granted, he hadn’t exactly meant to push the date so far back that it would be the middle of November before they would actually be going anywhere, but the Italian had suffered a couple of set-backs recently, things he couldn’t leave alone at the risk of his entire business exploding, or worse, finding every single one of his minions had been drained of their blood.

It was actually that bad. Not that he blamed the minions exactly. As a matter of fact, he blamed himself for this ******** in its entirely. He hadn’t trained them to deal with the level of threat that they were under – even though none of them were actually aware of it to deal with it. It took a few months of silence before the Vampiro was convinced that he’d covered his tracks well enough to avoid revenge. Snooping into organisations like the Hebigumo Foundation and the Lionelli Crime Family wasn’t something you did on a lazy Sunday afternoon before you settled down and read the papers. It involved a certain degree of subtlety and no end to the amount of balls inserted when pulling something so dangerous like that off on your ******* own. Levi had many skills, with subterfuge and shooting things in the face wrestling for pole position, but he didn’t know all there was to know about covering your tracks. He was as careful as a Shadow could be, but, he didn’t know if that was enough. And while it had been several months since he’d gone in and wheedled out some intelligence, he wasn’t entirely convinced that he’d gotten away with it scot free. Nevertheless, he wasn’t about to put his life on hold while he waited for a strike-back.

While it had been a little too dangerous to leave his place of business for extended periods of time, that hadn’t meant that he and Hannah had been completely out of touch. They’d exchanged emails, text messages, and even a phone call or two. Levi had occasionally stolen a few hours of the day and night to visit her in person too. Nothing overly substantial happened, but, these moments were certainly the beginning of some kind of relationship, something he could no longer disregard as mere acquaintance level interactions. Of course, with the Italian being stubborn and hopelessly naïve in all things social, he couldn’t exactly put a label on what they were. And he appeared to very much need to quantify these things, to put them in neat little boxes so as to know exactly what he was meant to be doing. It was trickier to do that with people he didn’t associate for work reasons or Vampiri reasons. Those relationships were easier to maintain because he didn’t really give too much of a **** about their shared personal opinions; they were together for a mutually beneficial purpose and didn’t need to even like each other to achieve their goals. Levi was better at being detached from people because caring was dangerous. Caring led to him giving way too much of a **** when they left and allowed his anger get the better of him.

Rage was a familiar emotion to the Italian, but, that didn’t mean it was always welcome. Levi was perceptive enough to realise that his anger often created obstacles for himself, and since he had entirely too many challenges as it was, he could do without losing his damn temper and making things worse. Luckily, he could store some of that fury away and release it at more appropriate targets; like punching in the faces of those Fae bastards until his knuckles came away red and coated in pulp. That was one way he found relaxing, a leisurely retreat from the monotony of his days. Another pass-time of his involved swimming, which was just as well because that was on top of the agenda for the day. He’d been researching for months on and off, and given he and Hannah didn’t have the time to fly over to Italy for a quick dip and come back again, his focus had been a little closer to home. Around this time of the year, Florida would be their best bet for warmer waters. Well, maybe not Jacuzzi warm, but, like… there was less threat of having one’s extremities attempt to leap back into the core of you.

Levi had informed Hannah that she would want to book a hotel in Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West. He’d also informed her that he was taking a flight out and would meet her there sometime in the evening. Of course, there had been a mention of meeting him at the bar of the hotel once she had determined their venue, which invariably led to another jab at him being a lush. He found it amusing. The truth was often funny. There were several Resort hotels dotted on the coast of Florida, so he was sure she would choose well whatever she decided in the end – even if she was going to be petty and pick a destination lower than 3 stars. He wasn’t worried. Fort Zachary is one of Florida's most beautiful spots, with wide stretches of sugary sand and tranquil waters, a rocky secluded beach and countless picnic spots. The word paradise might have been apt for once – particularly if few people visited in November and especially if fewer ventured out at night. Regardless, he was looking forward to having some time away from work worries, away from the stresses of being a monster, and away from troubling questions regarding their relationship status. Levi was just looking forward to seeing Hannah in a bikini and, obviously, beating her in this swimming contest.

With a smile, Levi reached for his phone that sat like a perfect rectangular sheet of black glass on his desk. He scrolled through the list of contacts, found her name, elected to send her a text message and began to compose.

From: Levi D’Amico
To: Hannah Lynn

Message: Rise and shine. Today’s the day we toast to my inevitable victory. Hope you’ve had a hearty breakfast.

Typically, Hannah didn't have to be to work until eight in the morning, unless Adam requested she came in earlier. Which meant, that Hannah didn't have to typically get up before the sun came up, or at least some shred of day light started to rise. And while Hannah was never late for work, she occasionally waited until the last minute possible to wake up and start her day. It wasn't because Hannah disliked her job; the opposite. Once she was there, she gave it her all, even if she wasn't feeling good. Hannah just enjoyed sleep when she could get it. Maybe it wasn't so much as enjoy it, as she needed it. Her typically work week was anywhere from forty-six hours, to just under sixty. Add in travel times to and from work, her work week was typically no less than fifty hours.


So when her phone buzzed beside the bedside table, Hannah raised her head a little and gave it an evil glare. Then glared at the clock beside the bed, because it was about thirty minutes too early for her to get up. Her plane wasn't leaving for another four hours, and Hannah wasn't planning on getting up for another hour. Her left hand stretched out and grabbed the phone and brought it under the duvet she was burrowed under. The initial thought of...If Adam thinks I'm coming into work... entered Hannah's mind before her eyes adjusted and the foggy blur of sleep disappeared. Her eyes focused and she saw the tiny words; 1 New Message with Levi's name attached under it in an even smaller font. A few weeks ago, during their occasional text to the other, she assigned his name in her list of contacts, instead of having a message pop up with a nameless number.


Hannah sat up, the duvet cascading down her shoulders and landing in her lap as Hannah's fingers pressed the message icon and she read the message. An eye roll followed, along with a small snort before Hannah replied back.
To: Levi D'Amico
From : Hannah

Message: The only thing you’ll be victorious at, is drinking me under the table after I win.


With that sent, Hannah pulled the duvet off her body and allowed her feet to find the floor in her bedroom. Doing this allowed the phone to be digested by the mound that was the duvet, lost until she dug it out when Hannah remembered to grab it before she left for the airport. Deciding to leave the shower until after she packed and ate, Hannah headed into the second bedroom and found her luggage after a few 'checks' on where it might be. Closet was where it was. She brought the small luggage into the bedroom and hoisted it on the bed, before Hannah moved to the closet and started packing a variety of things. Florida was nice enough during the daytime, but at night it could get a little chilly this time of year. As in, not wearing a tank top, or something sleeveless once the sun went down.


Once Hannah was packed, and she double checked the flight details, and made her typical bagel and coffee breakfast and scrolled through the few emails that had been sent to her work account in preparation of her return from this small 'vacation.' It wasn't actually a vacation; but two days of not working had not been done in months, so it ultimately felt like one to Hannah. As she poured another splash of liquid creamer in her coffee, and exited her email, Hannah thought about the last few weeks. There had been some 'changes' to say in the least since she saw Levi last-specifically in the last two weeks. Nothing that she would bring to Levi's attention, but the facts remained. She was, and would never be the same person again; Gino saw to that. Hannah polished off her coffee and threw half her bagel away, then moved to do her usual routine of showering and dressing. Once those tasks were complete and she double checked the weather in Key West, Florida, she headed to the airport where she would park her car in overnight parking since Hannah didn't want the hassles of trying to flag down a taxi when they returned from Florida. As she sat in her claimed seat on the plane, Hannah took the courtesy of sending Levi another text message.
To: Levi D'Amico
From : Hannah

Message: Meet at the poolside bar when you get in? Have a safe flight.


She didn't wait for a reply, because the steward and stewardess were busy doing their whole 'where to find the flotation devices,' and 'where the oxygen drops down from,' presentation, which got half of Hannah's attention. She figured if she could make it across the world just fine, the chances of flying for a handful of hours wouldn't be nearly as dangerous as flying over an ocean. Still, Hannah wasn't rude and everyone had their job to do, so she listened while looking out the window while she buckled up.


Eventually, when the go ahead was given over the speaker, and Hannah could turn on electronics, her tiny earbuds found a home in each her ears as she enjoyed the flight there, listening to nothing other than her favorite band the whole way there. When she landed at the EYW (Key West international) airport in Florida, the earbuds were tucked away in her carry on as Hannah listened to the stewardess welcome everyone to Key West, tell them the temperature, and wish them a great stay for however long they were staying. And please remember to fly back with them, if they enjoyed the flight. Hannah wasted no time in getting off the plane, securing her bag, and hailing down a taxi to take her to the hotel, that was merely a mile away from the International Airport. Once there, she checked into her room, and decided to grab a bite to eat at the small restaurant in the hotel, eyes on the shoreline of the ocean that slapped against a beach she would never have seen in Illinois, Canada, or even Japan.

When you become your own boss, you quickly realise that there are no vacation periods and there are no rules dictating that physically being away from your desk meant actually being away from the office. Levi had never been to Florida before, but that didn’t stop him from keeping his eyes on the screens of his laptop and phone the entire time he was on the plane. When Canada melted into America and the glistening not-yet-winter snow gave way to glistening white sands and palm trees, Levi had been checking on the next week’s work rota and meeting schedules and also occasionally checking for messages from Hannah and wishing her a safe flight in return. Besides there being an endless amount of work to get done, the Italian just wasn’t one for travelling or leisure activities of any kind as it happened. And despite him being a detail-orientated type of guy, he just wasn’t interested in the tiny things that made journeys like this special for ordinary people. As far as Levi was concerned, you get the same **** everywhere you go. The sky is the sky, the ground is the ground, and everything else is just whatever it is: grass, trees, mountains, water, etc. He didn’t give too many fucks about the wildlife either provided it stayed a good distance from him. Honestly, the only thing the Italian did care about was himself and everything that belonged to him, as well as what would belong to him soon enough.

That was the reason why he was so thoroughly engaged in the task at hand and why it took the stewardess three attempts to get him to shut down his laptop because they were landing soon. By the time he’d finished growling and glaring at the woman’s backside, the plane had hit the runway, careened into the terminal, and they were ushered off the small plane like high-class cattle. Their hide was business suits of various tones of grey, black, and navy and Levi found it amusing that he was surrounded by more men like himself who had elected not to wear a tie. It felt like a shift in the trend, as if the new blood was pumping through old veins and renewing the body of industry. It gave him something to feel proud of, certified – like he had seen the rights from the wrongs and now the whole world was starting to change to suit his viewpoint. It was a small gesture, but it was a symbol of change. Levi might have worn suave Italian suits for any given occasion, but he found ties about as comfortable as a noose. For all intents and purposes, that’s what those thin sashes were. Plenty of men in his world had been chocked unconscious or to death by one of those silken bastards. Since Levi gave a whole load of people plenty of reason to want to kill him, it was best to give them one less opportunity by which to make good on their desires.

The sun was a golden yolk sitting on the belly of the horizon by the time he was mincing through the airport lounge. Standing still or slowing his pace allowed too many opportunities for the sun to expose him for what he was. The tall windows let every ray of light blast into the building and so Levi made short work of walking in the available shadows and threading through what could only be described as small swarms of Humans. The Italian remembered why he hated people – crowds of people in particular and especially when they were distracted. Families of four or more, which generally included two clueless and exhausted parents trying to maintain and control a gaggle of over-stimulated children. They rushed this way and that like schools of brain-dead salmon, not knowing which way the river was flowing; where the exit was or which was to the shopping malls and restaurants. They divided like terrified fish when they came in contact with obstacles too, making it that much harder to predict where tiny little kids were going to dash and how Levi was going to continue at his hurried pace without stomping on them. Honestly, by the time he’d reached the exit, he was exhausted. Thank **** Hannah had arranged to meet him at the hotel bar.

At least getting to the hotel was easier. Levi being the overly-prepared *********** that he was had already arranged for a driver to fetch him and take him right to the designated place. The second the exposed reaches of his cinnamon skin met the sea-soaked Florida air, Levi had been ushered into the back seat of a black Sedan. The smouldering process hadn’t had a chance to start let alone catch anybody’s attention, so he was left with a moment of reprieve. Traffic permitting, it would take another 50 minutes before he arrived at the hotel, so the Italian took the time to finish off the last of the day’s work and also shoot a couple of messages back and forth with the Japanese ********. After all, someone had to take care of Bester while Levi was away and the Vampiri didn’t really trust anybody else not to get ******* eaten. Also, by the time Levi was about 10 minutes from his destination, he decided to give Hannah a head’s up. It was the courteous thing to do, or so he figured. Though, realistically the courteous thing would actually have been to give the girl a head’s up on his current mood which was frustrated at best – a problem only whisky and good company could solve.

From: Levi D’Amico
To: Hannah Lynn

Message: Be there in ten. Keep a seat warm for me.

By the time the Italian arrived that yolk of the sun had split across the sky; rich tones of gold and orange bled into navy and dappled across the waves of the pitch sea. Twenty minutes or so prior and that sunset would have been at its peak – a miracle to see against swaying palm trees and drifting sail boats. Levi had kept his eye on the skyline for purely practical reasons, however. By 6pm, the sun had melted away and it was therefore safe for him to be seen in public without plumes of smoke billowing from out of his cuffs like someone had set fire to his minimal body hair. As it was, the Italian had dressed fairly casually with a pin-stripe navy blazer and slacks, a white t-shirt if it is to be believed, and a pair of brown mules that might as well have been ebony given their relative darkness. He lugged a small travel satchel with him – the mahogany colour also looking as dark as black – and made his way to the lobby. He figured he would check in and put his **** down in a safe place before he met with Hannah, which took less time that he was expecting when he decided to just shove the entire bag into the room’s safe. After that, he was on the hunt for familiar blue eyes and a cheeky smile waiting for him by the pool side bar.

With time to kill, it wasn't difficult for Hannah to not only order something to eat, but to sit down and enjoy it under the umbrella veranda outside the small diner. Hannah picked at the smoked turkey and bacon panini she ordered, while sorting out an email to her sister. Miaso was far too nosy for Hannah's liking, so it hadn't taken the girl very long to email Hannah wanting to know what the 'scoop' was for going to Florida, thanks to the girls' father. Hannah made a mental note to never tell her dad anything, ever again. After addressing all Miaso's fifty or so questions (at least that was how it felt), Hannah was able to put her phone down and finish the remainder of the sandwich, after scraping off the spinach. How people liked cooked spinach, or any sort of 'lettuce' family member cooked, she would never understand or get behind. It was lettuce!

Once her bill was paid, Hannah decided to duck back into her hotel room. There was still an hourish to kill, but she wasn't planning on meeting Levi in what she had worn on the way to Florida. Hannah liked to be comfortable while she traveled, so the long length, powder blue tank top paired with leggings had suited her well during her travel time. Hannah's fingers traveled over the clothes she had hung in the closet before she grabbed a bite to eat and finally decided on a red and black one piece dress, with a plunging neckline.

After she changed into the dress, Hannah stood in front of the mirror that was behind the door of her room. While her and Levi had 'talked' through various media forms, it had been a while since they had seen the other. For the most part, not much had changed about Hannah, but, there had been some changes. She wondered if he would be able to tell. No one at work had, but Levi had a keen sense of observation to him. The dress showed off her arms, which had always been slim, and slightly muscular, but in the past few weeks, there had been a little more muscle definition in some areas; those being her arms and her calves. A tall tell sign in Hannah's mind that Gino didn't realize just what he was signing her up for exactly. Hopefully, the neckline would be enough to take any attention off her newly formed muscles, and place Levi's attentive eyes elsewhere.

After running a quick brush through her hair and leaving it down, since Hannah ran out of time, her phone lit up and a text message arrived. She opened the message, read it and then realized she needed to get a move on it. Her feet found her heels, which were secured around her ankles, before Hannah grabbed her key card for her room and purse. It took her three minutes to leave her room, take the elevator down and find a spot near the poolside bar. The roof had been crafted out of dried palm leaves, maybe? Hannah didn't know, but it was a good guess. The oblong shaped pool had been passed as Hannah made her way to it, the sound of music she had never heard playing from some speakers on each corner of the bar, tucked away under the leaves of whatever plant they used for the roof. Three sides of the bar offered six seats of plastic, the front of the bar being the heaviest populated and full. That was no problem for Hannah, she preferred to be off to the side anyways. She suspected Levi wouldn't mind either; in fact he might have preferred it as well. After a couple of minutes, the single bar tender made his way to Hannah and asked in a thick accent that bordered close to a place further south than Key West. At first it was difficult for Hannah to understand him, but when there was silence, she decided to just place the order. There would be no small talk, not that she needed any. Levi should be here soon enough. “I'll have a whiskey, doubled, and...” Hannah glanced at the plastic menu in a protected case and pointed to the picture of an ocean colored drink with a chunk of pineapple that garnished it and said, “That.” Because, why not? The bar tender nodded his head and went off to make the drinks, while talking with the group at the front of the bar. The whiskey had been brought first, while the other drink required a mixture of alcohol that had to be shaken. Hannah fished out her debit card and offered it to the guy once he came back with her drink, because she hadn't even thought of converting any money Canadian money to American. Not for a couple of days. Why? When someone could just call their bank and let them know where they were going and for how long, to prevent them from thinking the card might be stolen and locking it. Her card was set back on the bar's surface, and then tucked away by her, back in her purse. Just as she was about to slide his whiskey over to the seat next to her, a body appeared and tried to sit next to her. “No. Sorry, I'm waiting for someone and this chair is reserved for him.” She told the guy politely, even going so far as to raise her legs and place them on the chair, the left over the right. He eyed Hannah's drinks, then nodded his head before shrugging his shoulders. Once he started to leave, Hannah scooted Levi's drink over to where his chair was and waited patiently to see signs of him.

When her eyes landed on Levi, she smiled. Was that a t-shirt he was wearing? Hannah wouldn't believe it until he was close enough for her to actually see if it was, but it sure looked like it. Her legs were lifted off the chair, while she waved him over. When he was within earshot, Hannah's blue eyes bounced over to the drink. “I thought you could use this.” Which was true, but maybe Hannah ordered a double instead of a single, just in case he wanted to get their little swim race over and done with today. She was here to win a race after all, and if Levi drank too much and lost, well, he was a big boy.