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Late summer sun hung low in the sky, illuminating the horizon with a fiery glow. The redhead was outlined by this glow as she leaned on her car door. Meara slipped her hand into her pocket to retrieve a cell phone, sending a text to her mother to announce her safe arrival. A hand reached to open the back driver’s side door, leaning in to grab her purse and violin case so she could keep her most valued possessions close as she started to head down the street in search of the hostel she had seen on Google. Apartments seemed to be hard to come by, so it seemed that the place was growing. Always a good sign for street performers like herself.

Meara had arrived in Toronto, ON in early December after driving her car northward from Greenwich Village. She had been living in the Village for nearly 6 months, and overall had loved her time living among the artists, dancers, and performers that made the place home. She had dabbled in odd modeling and accompanist jobs alongside music lessons as she saved up for her busking permits and auditioned to be a MTA sanctioned performer. All of these costs were starting to add up, almost to the point it costing her more to try to get established than keeping a roof over her head. So, Meara stuffed her hatchback full of her belongings again, and drove northward to the next great adventure: Canada.

Much to her surprise, Meara found Toronto had all of the benefits of New York at maybe a third of the price. Within a week, she had already secured a month to month studio to rent and had gotten a variety of permits. As it was winter still when she arrived, Meara preferred the sheltered warmth of the subway system. Things seemed to be on the up and up, and she was starting to get a little bit of a following, which resulted in daily takes close to 500 dollars on her best days.

During lunch on a sunny July day with a few of her fellow performers she had befriended, they would often talk about the latest gossip they had overheard as well as discuss trends in foot traffic. Meara’s little collective as she liked to call it, was much like the group she left in Asheville. Happy to help each other out and keep each other safe from the undesirables that tended to stalk them. One of the other performers, a trumpeter, mentioned he had heard about some strange dealings in a small town called Harper Rock, a few hours to the north of the city. He regaled all of those assembled with a vampire story that sounded straight out of The Vampire Lestat. They all shared a laugh about the grandiose nature of the tale, and commenting on how unlikely it would be for bloodsuckers to set up shop in such an uninhabited place. They would surely starve to death before too long if they didn’t have enough blood sources.

When Meara had gone home that night, she scoured the internet, reading every newspaper article she could find on the vampire menace in Harper Rock. A few clicks down the rabbit hole and Meara found that people had been travelling there in droves. Meara contemplated for about a week before deciding she would chase the droves of tourists, go make a quick buck, and then come back to Toronto to take up residence in the subway for the winter. So earlier this morning, Meara shoved all of her belongings back in her car, said bye to her roommate, and set out on the road. She got lost a couple times trying to navigate the rural roads, but eventually she made it.

And thus here she was walking doe-eyed down a nearly empty street in search of the new adventures she might get into.

Mid March, 2016


It had been ages since Alexandrea had set foot in Toronto. She tended to stay close to home these days for the obvious reason... if she died beyond the boundaries of Harper Rock, she wouldn't ever escape the Shadow Realm. The very thought made her feel slightly ill. It wasn't so much that the Shadow Realm was that horrible a place, at least not to Alex who had 'visited' it over a dozen times (willing or not) but it was the dullest place imaginable. No colour of any kind could be found anywhere, not even when looking through a fade window. And being an artist, that in of it's self-was torture to Alexandrea.

The sensitive Allurist had always been a lover of all kinds of art. And so on her rare trips to the big city she had grown up in, she treated herself to as much art and culture as she could squeeze in. It was the only reason she didn't delegate the business trips to one of her human employees. And she always had an eye out for new talent to try to tempt to the growing community of artists back in Harper Rock.

After an especially disappointing concert one evening, she had taken the subway back to her hotel rather than walk. It was early spring but the weather was still bitter cold and despite her immunity to the temperatures, there were so few people walking the streets in the miserable weather that she would have stood out as odd. 'Discretion is the key' was the mantra she lived by now.

The sounds of a violin, played by expert hands it seemed, echoed in the train tunnels all around Alex and she sighed. Now THAT was more like it. Where was that talented artist at tonight's sad excuse for a concert? The blonde looked around in vain for the source of the music, not even her sharp eyes could spot who played the instrument or where the music originated from. The acoustics of the subway were wonderful for magnifying sound but it made pinpointed a direction of a sound maddeningly difficult.

And then a train pulled out, it's roar of metal wheels on metal rails temporarily drowning out the sounds of the solo violinist for a few moments... but then, revealing the young woman who the source.

Alexandrea watched for a few minutes in awe as the redhead captured Alex's gaze, leaving the vampire transfixed. Too late, Alex decided to make her move. And by the time she had made it down the stairs on her side and up the stairs to the opposite platform... the talented young redhead was gone.

The blonde was crushed for a second or two but having the emotional longevity of a yo-yo, she recovered quickly. It didn't take too long for the Allurist to put the near miss out of her mind and back onto business. If she was going to be in town longer, she would try to find the violinist again but sadly that was not the case. Her flight left at 1 am to go back home and Alex didn't fancy being away from Harper Rock any longer than her business required.

When she arrived back at her hotel room she quickly drew a sketch of the amazing little redhead from memory and then filed it and the thought of the beautiful sounds of her violin away. Alex had a lot of packing to do. As usual, she had arrived with almost empty suitcases and then bought several new outfits for herself and lots of souvenirs for friends and family at all the best stores in Toronto.

Meara’s instinct on the hostel had proven to be correct. She had been able to secure a private room in exchange for a small amount of cash as well as doing chores and clerk work at the hostel. In the evenings, she would often hang out with the other guests and share music and conversation with them. Meara even tested a few new songs out with them, using them as her Guinea pigs before she was going to take them out on the town as a matter of speaking.

Tonight, she was going to go on her first busking excursion. During her walks around town, Mea had discovered a lovely Riverwalk area that happened to be heavily populated at night due to the high concentration of restaurants, shops, and nightlife. The petite redhead piled her amp, case, and all her promotional stuff into the trunk of her car and drove across town. Once she arrived, she stashed her car in a public parking lot, loaded all her gear onto a little hand truck and pushed it across the street. Meara had scoped out the area just a few days prior, and to her opinion, had found the perfect spot. There was a stately looking gallery or museum nestled between the restaurants across from the park. It, and its grand front steps, would make the perfect backdrop for her performances.

In a very methodical and almost ritualistic way, Meara unpacked and set up her equipment. Great care was taken to tape down her daisy chain of extension cords and leads, mainly to prevent herself from tripping as she would dance back and forth. Once she was satisfied with her handiwork, Meara took up her instrument and started to tune, using the sounds she made to adjust her amp levels so that the music she created would not sound too harsh over the speaker. Meara was becoming aware a small crowd was already gathering as she stopped a moment to tighten her flannel around her waist. She gave those gathered a sheepish smile as she set her bow on the strings of her trusty violin, and started to play.

Music filled the air around her as she moved through her standard set list. She always would start with covers of well-known songs like Green Day and Imagine Dragons, interspersed with more traditional classical offerings. She would take breaks to get a drink every few songs, taking the opportunity to interact with people who would stop and drop offerings into her case. Sometimes they asked questions or inquired about how they could hear more of her music. She would continue this song and dance for hours if she could, but tonight she was content to go for a couple hours, and see what the reception was. Maybe she would get lucky and meet a promoter or really anyone with connections to help her get better settled or plugged in in her new home away from home.

July 6, 2016, early evening

The warmth of summer always lightened her mood and Alexandrea decided to exercise her rights as 'boss' and take off early from work. She only felt nervous about leaving the shop in Breyanna's hands for a few minutes before getting distracted by the sounds of people on holiday. Off in the distance, fireworks still were being played with somewhere along the river, even though Canada Day had been days ago and it was the middle of a work week.

The blonde bought a cup of crushed ice, painted brightly with cherry and lime syrup flavours, and wandered in behind the tourists as the headed down the main road towards the river and then followed them along the shore. She enjoyed playing copy cat, buying the same treats they did and taking selfies at some of the so called historical sights. She even played along as they asked passersbys about the rumors of vampires and other supernaturals.

The evening grew dimmer as twilight faded, and the Museum lit up the water fountain and front steps with spotlights in red and white. A street performer was there but she seemed to be in between sets. The red-haired young woman was tuning her violin even while she chatted up her captive audience. Something about the human girl seemed familiar.

And then she began to play. And Alex knew instantly who it was. With a grin, she shoved her rainbow coloured cotton candy into trash bin and made a beeline for the talented violinist.

The Allurist spent stayed glued to her spot as the redhead put on her show, besides cheering and clapping, she only moved at the end. The blonde put a business card, a twenty and a gift certificate for her shop valued at 500.00 dollars into the case that was on display for that purpose as the crowd broke up and then blended into it. And as the Musician took her bows, Alex took a picture of the redhead with her phone.

Now that Alexandrea had spotted her again, the vampire would keep a lookout for the talented violinist. She hoped the young woman would just call or come into the shop. But the Allurist was willing and able to track her down if she didn't. Alex was great at stalking people, she just thought it was very rude to do so.

When Meara had returned back to the hostel after backing up two days ago, she had sat on her bed to go through her case and tally up the evenings earnings. She was pleased to find that her guess about the water front was spot on. Between the change and the bills, she had about 350 dollars to show for 90 minutes of work. However, among the bills she found a business card and a hefty gift certificate to a shop called Quartermaine Custom Creations. It seemed that the owner was trying to get her attention, but for what reason Meara didn’t know. No one had introduced themselves during the set, so Meara didn’t have a face to go with the card. When she flipped it over, there was a map of the mall it was located in as well as an address. Meara was impressed with the detail of the card, and decided she would drop by so she could thank this Alexandrea person for their generosity.

However, she had to first figure out how to get there. The earliest she could venture would not be in the morning. She had a lot of work to do for the hostel and needed to get a Canadian bank account figured out. So it would have to wait until the day after tomorrow. The next day and a half flew by as she scoured the hostel’s common areas and fought with the local bank some. Once she finally was able to get the account open, she deposited most of her earnings and then marched right over to the nearest transit office to purchase a metro pass. A quick stop off to the hostel to change purses and pick up the gift card and a protein bar, she was off to catch the train.

According to the transit map, the hostel was closest to Elmwood Station, and she had to head to Wickbridge. The rail system seemed pretty organized to Meara, and ran quickly. She was off to her intended stop in about 15 minutes, and hastily exited the seemingly deserted train. It was almost a little too quiet, Meara thought, for three in the afternoon. As instructed, she moved southwest out of the station and quickly happened upon the 8th Dimension Mall. She thought the name was a bit odd, but she slipped inside. As the door closed behind her, Meara spied the shop and walked over, pulling the door handle. Meara was expecting a quaint little jewelry gallery, but instead discovered that the business had quite the array of wares. It even had workbenches dotted around the well decorated space. She hoped those were able to be used by the public for a fee, because she did not have the space she needed to mend her performance attire or work on her violin.

Out of the corner of Meara’s eye, she spotted a clerk at the counter who was eyeing her up while she had been daydreaming a bit. She managed a sheepish smile and walked over to her. “Um hello. I was looking to speak to Alexandrea Quatermaine about her designs.” The woman nodded and seemed to go off in search of the other woman, leaving Meara to her own to browse.

The woman had just hung up her jacket and purse in her locker, and after a quick smile up at the picture of her husband and twin babies that she had taped inside, she left the employee's lounge to head for work. Less than a minute later she felt Alex's voice in her mind and Kitty sighed, frowning. She really really hated it when her employer talked in her head.

'What's the emergency this time?" Kitty thought to herself as she slipped into the shop and headed to the computer. At least Alexandrea had been brief. Just a quick; 'check email asap'. It was pretty considerate of the Allurist, Kitty knew. Given how frequently Alex had 'emergencies'.

The email had just been an image of young woman with a violin. But the message read that the redheaded violinist had just been gifted with a freaking huge 5 big ones G.F. "omg, Alex! wtf?" Kitty muttered under her breath and made the necessary entries into the shop's computer.

"Have to be out of her own personal expenses, this time. Petty cash is done for the month." 'See attached image'. Was written in the field where a recipient's name should go, along with the code; 'A.Q.' It was as Kitty attached the image file, that she first took a real look at the human woman. And found her familiar.


It took the rest of the day for Kitty to figure out why that young musician's face had rung a bell. And once it clicked, she went through her boss's deck until she found Alexandrea's sketch pads. The one on top was marked Feb 2016 - Jun 2016. Opening it up, the brunette flipped quickly through the pages until she found March. And there she was. The redhead with her violin.



It was just a couple of days until the redhead in question had walked in but once she did, Kitty couldn't help but check her out a little. She was about to go offer QCC's latest customer some assistance when Meara beat her to it, asking for Alexandrea and cementing what Kitty already knew, that she was the one Alex had given the 500 bucks to. A slight raise of an eyebrow and a polite smile with a nod of the head where all Kitty gave her back at first.

But then after the slightest pause, Kitty took an elegant step back and murmured softly; "Just a moment, please." Before turning away to go call her boss, Alexandrea Quartermaine.

Being a vampire was quite simply, awesome. Or at least Alex thought so. And things just keep getting better once she was able to walk in the sun again. She tried to avoid the direct sun, staying in on the brighter sunny days. But at least she was able to stay up and not hide away underground or something creepy like the old movies had shown. It was amazing how much you could get done with you didn't need to sleep. Or at least MUCH sleep.

Alexandrea had an addiction. She was addicted to being awake. And every so often, she would crash because of this. And when the blonde crashed? She crashed HARD.

After spotting Meara again, Alex had been on a 'high'. She had planted herself at Quartermaine Custom Creations for almost 48 hours straight before she fell over backward out of her chair up in her office. Kitty had been downstairs when she heard the telltale THUD and after checking out Alex's office to be sure, had called Harry to come take her home.

Unceremoniously dumped into her bed in the townhouse at Willow Court, Mz Quartermaine slept like she was... well, dead. When her cell started to buzz, the Allurist just stirred briefly before rolling over and burying her head under her pillow. But Kitty was used to such nonsense, and so just kept dialing and dialing and dialing... just like she was supposed to do.

After about ten minutes, a very sleepy Alexandrea finally managed to wake enough to answer the millionth call.

"She's here." Kitty said as if nothing was unusual.

"huh? Who? Where? What??" Came the drowsy reply from the blonde

"Your Violinist. The one with the red hair and THE FIVE HUNDRED dollar gift certificate!"

"OH. ****. Be there asap." Alex hung up and then tried to get up but her feet were tangled in her sheets and she fell facefirst into the fuzzy rug and her pink bunny slippers.

As the girl at the desk made her calls, probably to the shop’s owner, Meara busied herself with walking around the shop. To the right of the desk was a little forge, likely used for silver and goldsmithing. To Meara’s guess, this was likely where most of the wearable art got created. Meara’s brain started to wonder about possible designs of something she might like to spend the money on. Maybe a full matching set of sterling silver with bright colors. Something she could wear with formal performance attire and look classy.

As she continued to walk around the spacious store, she noticed a koi pond and large fish tank in the back nestled to what appeared to be a little lounge area with books and nice cushy chairs. Behind that, looked to be some kind of altar or table like one Meara had seen at a Samhain ritual one of her friends invited her to. Maybe some of the wearable art were spells or charms that a Wiccan would make. But Meara would never know – she hadn’t seen one in her 26 years that included Catholic school. However, her mother taught her to not stare so Meara didn’t linger and continued her way around past another workstation.

Her waif thin frame took a seat in the chair as she looked at all of the different labels. Meara tried to hide her giddiness, but she was bursting at the seams thinking of all the DIY and sewing she could get done at a crafting table as well outfitted as this. Before she got too lost in her daydreams of costumes, wigs, and sparkly violins, she pried herself up and continued her loop through the place.

Much to Meara’s surprise there was a full service bar intermingled between the retail shelves of various knickknacks, clothing, artwork. There was even an ATM, how convenient. Meara was admittedly impressed with her patron’s digs, but where was she? It had been nearly 20 minutes since the assistant walked off. But Meara remembered that fine art or artists couldn’t be rushed. So, the petite redhead walked back over to the waiting area, and sunk down into one of the overstuffed couches. Fingers pulled out her phone, and set about entertaining herself until the owner arrived.

No one saw as Kitty rolled her eyes while setting down the phone. But the brunette had to take a moment to put on her poker face before seeking out her employer's guest. Although it had only been a few months since Kitty had started working for Alex, unexplained absences and odd behaviour had already grown routine. With the confidence of a professional and the attitude of a long-suffering saint (or a mother of twin boys... same difference) the woman quickly made a tray with tea and scones, then took it upstairs to the office. Coming back down from the art gallery, Kitty soon found Meara. She sat down next to her with a kind smile before explaining the delay.

"Ms. Quartermaine is on her way and asked me to show you upstairs to her office. She'd had to step out right before you arrived, but she's only a few minutes away now and will be here soon. She sends her apologies and hopes you wouldn't mind waiting just a little bit longer?"

Stepping out of the shower, Alex noticed the bruises on her legs were already almost completely faded away. She had only just received them after banging her way out of the bedroom and into the shower. The picture of poise and grace, Alexandrea was not. At least not after first regaining consciousness. Hang her upside down in a room full of sensor alarms and lasers and she was as graceful and agile as a cat.

Dressing quickly had become an art form, and the Allurist keep several outfits put together on hangers in her closet at all times. She hadn't even bothered to turn the lights on as she threw her clothes on, and then ran a brush through her hair. Securing her ponytail with a scrunchie, Alexandrea stepped through the fade portal that led into her office just in time to see the tail end of Kitty as her assistant made her way down the stairs to the main shop. Alex quietly closed the office door and started to relax. She had a few moments at least.

"Tea!" the blonde exclaimed gratefully and immediately fixed herself a cup before sitting down at her desk. She turned on the desktop computer and brought up the surveillance cameras to get a good look at the lounge area where the young woman sat below. Alex smiled and went to pull the file with her sketch of the violinist. Alexandrea saw right away that someone else had already found it and smiled, knowing it had to have been Kitty.

She left the notepad open on her desk and watched as her assistant invited Meara upstairs, supposedly to wait for Alex.