Path of the Vampire forum

EDITED

Himiko had been somehow dropped off in the center of an unknown place, This Asian girl not knowing why or what had happened seems to be clueless, she had no weapons nor gear like she used to back in her homeplace, but now she had been placed in this unknown area, a place she has never even heard of, she had been trying to look everywhere and anywhere for help, this was certainly unknown territory for this young Asian Girl.

"Where is this?" she asked "This is not my Home." she said being alarmed as she had no territory, and no place to go, and she was all alone "Hello?" she asked "anyone here?" She asked running around in circles without a clue as what to do or where to go, this was definitely unchartered territory for this young Asian Girl who never knew what to do or where to go...

She let out a huge cry for help....

(Feel Free to jump in anytime)

A toxic kiss complicates hunting. It was a lesson that the young vampire had been learning all too well these past months. Keeping to the shadows, he tailed his most recent victim. She was the punk rocker type, head half shaved, other half filled with neon green locks, gauged ears, snake bites on her lips, a body full of tattoos. She was petite and full of spirit, no zombies were scaring her away from Harper Rock. In fact she planned to dive right into the belly of the containment zone just to photograph them. They’d met at a bar show earlier in the evening and now Jack felt awful about what he had done. Not so much for stealing a bit of her blood, but rather because of what his kiss might have done to her...what it might transform her into. Her fearlessness, the reckless youth in it, it had just been too irresistible. Her blood tasted truly of life. Oh how sweet she had been! But now he had to stalk her through the darkness, just to be sure that she stayed her.

A cool spring breeze drifted through the night, it rippled through the reddish brown of his tousled hair. His midnight blue eyes watched as the punk girl, Sally, pulled her long black sweater closer around her. She stopped for a moment and the young vampire cursed under his breath, thinking she’d made him, noticed that he was following her. Jack was relieved to find that it appeared she was just pulling out her camera probably to take a shot of an old building or maybe the strangely silent and eerily empty streets of the city. Truly it was like something out of another world sometimes, here in Harper Rock. Reaching into his black, weathered, leather jacket, Jack pulled out a pack of cigarettes. The guilt that was driving him needed a bit of menthol mitigation. Leaning against a stone building opposite his victim, Jack brought one of his smokes to life with the hiss of a match. As the allurist was letting the cool smoke tango with his lungs, his preternatural hearing picked up a small voice in the distance.

Normally, Jack would drown out the background noises of the city. The squeaking of aimless chatter, the woosh of speeding vehicles, the scream of sirens all just jumbled together into the call of the concrete jungle. But for whatever reason, the tall, skeletal vampire’s mind had honed in on one voice. Perhaps it was the silence of the evening or the breeze carrying the desperate sound to his ears. Taking another drag of his cigarette, he decided to ignore it for the more pressing matter of the photographer’s wellbeing. 'Jack, follow the voice…’ the familiar tone of May’s own voice teased through his brain cells and he could feel her spectral presence pushing him in the direction of the sound. The punk rock picture taker still appeared unchanged, which was good, though as he turned from her, Jack had an unusually sick feeling that he was making a mistake. Still he caved to the whims of May’s phantom, dropping his cigarette in a haze of smoke and floating ashy embers and dipping into an alleyway, following the sound.

The vampire made his way through the maze of the city, turning a few corners and slipping through another alleyway before coming upon a rather strange site. A young woman was running around in circles in the middle of the street. She seemed to be in quite a panic. Not quite understanding May’s motivation of leading him here nor even the type of situation he’d walked into, Jack was initially a bit taken aback. Though knowing that the city streets had become quite a dangerous place, not just due to the zombie infestation, but also because of the criminal scum that seized on the general hysteria to increase their enterprises, Jack had to step in.

“‘Excuse me, Miss,” he began in his gruff, drawling voice as he stepped slowly from the shadows towards the woman, “but might you need some assistance?” It may have been his imagination, but Jack was sure he could hear the low moan and the slow shuffle of the dead in the distance.

Himiko could hear a man's voice as he caught up with her, her trust in men was 50-50 Iffy, but apparently he knew about the area, but she was unsure on him even though they never met, she responded to him "Yes I need all the assistance I can get sir." she said to him in this unfamiliar territory, but was reluctant to trust him just yet via a somewhat questionable past....

Although she could use the help also, but she is skeptical of the man as well, not sure what Nationality he was and never having seen him before, apparently the man found his way to her, she does not know how she got here either...

"Look Sir, I do not know what this place is and I do not know who you are, but I woke up here and I do not know how I got here or where to go or what to do." she said whilst being somewhat hesitant of the man that asked her...

While awaiting the man's help and reply, she was also hesitant on the same token with somewhat trust issues at hand...

Vampirism took some getting used to, but Jack was well on his way. One of the more difficult aspects to acclimate himself to was determining whether a person was or was not still living. Some were rather obvious, be it a certain preternatural beauty that made a vampire look more moviestar than human or an otherworldly physique that created too swift goliaths. Others though still had an aura of mortality around them, a certain flame of innocence that the cold, darkness of death hadn’t yet snuffed out. When encountering folks such as those, Jack focused his ear on one thing, the heartbeat. It was the only sure tell. The young lady was clearly panic stricken, Jack’s vampiric hearing should have been able to detect a fast thumping, yet he heard nothing. So he was standing face to face with a vampire in Harper Rock who didn’t know she was in the vampire capital of the world. Curious.

“Well,” Jack began as he extended his tattooed hand towards her, “let’s start here then, Jack Diddly’s the name, pleasure to meet ya.” Laying on his typical charm with a soft, kind smile, he hoped to put the startled lady somewhat at ease, “and we’re standing in Harper Rock, it’s a rather cold city in Canada.” Jack wasn’t sure if she was suffering some sort of amnesia. The girl didn’t look disheveled or beaten down, so he couldn’t imagine that she had been attacked. He hoped that her memory loss was temporary. Jack couldn’t imagine anything more jarring then waking up in a strange place with no recollection of how one arrived there.

“Do you happen to recall where you were before you found yourself standin’ here?” Jack asked trying to jog the girl’s memory before adding, “Maybe we should get you off the streets, they’re not the safest these days.” Knowing now that it wasn’t merely his imagination, Jack could hear them in the near distance, the walking dead. How close were they to the quarantine zone? His eyes quickly scanned the darkness for a street sign or a landmark, anything that could help determine their location. He knew he could hold his own, but if this girl was unfamiliar with Harper Rock, she definitely didn’t need another shock. Especially the ghastly, crawling corpse kind.

Himiko responded to Jack as he extended his hand first, she was uneasy but shook it "Name is Himiko, nice to meet you I guess Jack!" she said very hesitantly. Then he mentioned 'Harper Rock' and 'Canada' she then responded "I have never heard of Harper Rock but I have heard of Canada, but have never been there, in fact, I have never been outside of Asia." she said to Jack "The last thing I remember I was in a girls dorm room in Tokyo, Then everything faded to black and I was unconscious, knowing nothing, Then I woke up here in this place that you call Harper Rock, in the middle of outside with everything gone except these clothes," She added...

Himiko has heard of Canada, but never the name of Harper Rock, in fact she really does not know anything outside of Asia, being here, she could use all the help and assistance that she can get "I will gladly appreciate anything and any help I can get Jack." she said politely to him, though still feeling uneasy about the man, but she knew she had no other choice, like a chess piece without a move to make...

She followed him to wherever he had lead her "Yes anywhere to get on my feet and off the streets." she said "I know what it's like to be on the streets back at home, not fun." she said "I'll follow you." she said as she knew she was unprepared and not ready for this new journey in Harper Rock yet, in fact, she does not even know anything about Canada, only heard of it...

So she took the man at his word, because although she was still somewhat hesitant, she also knew that something was better than nothing.

“Tokyo?” The young vampire answered with a bit of surprise in his voice. He ran a hand through his wavy hair, just trying to think for a moment. “You sure are a long way from home…” he said the words softly, absentmindedly. They were more of an verbalized thought than anything else. Jack’s imaginative mind wondered what type of mystery he’d stumbled upon here. Then it occurred to him, if her last memory had been hanging out in some dorm then perhaps she didn’t know that she was dead. ‘Is dead really the right word, love?’ May’s ghostly voice hummed like a swarm of bees around the hive of his mind, ‘I’m dead, but her, she’ll live forever or until she gets tired of living.’ Now Jack was quite aware that the phantom speaking in his head was no longer of this world, nonetheless, hearing that truth was like a knife twisting in his chest. So much so that the vampire winced a little. “Welcome to Canada, anyway,” he added with a shurg.

The thought of contacting the authorities came to mind, but Jack quickly dismissed it. The risk of mixing up the police with the affairs of a vampire was too high, especially in the current environment. There were too many trigger happy hunters ready to mount any supernatural trophy they could get their hands over their fireplace. Not to mention the corruption that Jack suspected had already infected all levels of the city’s civil services. And without a cellphone, they were on their own for the moment.

“There’s a small coffee house just around the bend,” he said in that strangely smooth, yet rugged voice of his as he signaled towards the corner just behind her, “maybe we can sit and try to figure this out.” Jack knew the place, he’d played it once or twice. The female proprietor, a relic of the sixties, kept it open late, despite the monsters that lurked in the shadows. Jack wasn’t sure if it was a wise move. He’d dispatched a rather decrepit zombie on her behalf one evening. The fetid corpse had been lingering around the glass doors, though Jack suspected it wasn’t the amora of java beans, but rather the smell of flesh that lured it from the shadows. Still he respected her resolve. She wasn’t going to abandon her passion.

Jack took a few steps forward in the direction of that coffee house, passing a few inches behind Himiko hoping she’d follow. “No, you definitely don’t want to find yourself lost on streets like these, Darlin’.” Jack had spent most of his life on the streets down in the states. It was a rough lifestyle, you learned how to take what you needed, you learned the cost of survival. Harper Rock was quite a bit different, though when you came right down to it the same rules applied. “So, never been to Japan, what’s it like?” Striking up a conversation about the familiar could help ease the girl’s worries and maybe even help her remember. At least that was what Jack hoped, “Read a bit about it though as a young man, mostly fiction. I remember some author describing it as the land of one thousand autumns...the way he described the colors of the leaves that graced the hillsides and the buildings that seemed to float above the ground. It sounded like quite the place.”

Yeah she was dead and was indeed a vampire, but she however did not show it as she appeared in human form, keeping the vampires secrecy. She thanked Jack for welcoming her to Harper Rock in Canada "Um thank you Jack." She did not bother asking about cops or authorities, to her that is kind of a mixed bag, and she normally does not do real well with Authority...

She followed him to the coffee shop, she does lover her some coffee "Sure Jack, we can discuss things there." she added to what she said as she sat down. She saw the female owner in there and smiled. "Hello Beautiful." She said.

Then when he asked her about Tokyo, Japan she responded "Its in the Continent of Asia, In the Middle East. There are Ninjas, Samurai, Ronin, Dragons, Blades, Martial Arts and plenty more in not just Japan, but all of Asia." she said smiling in talking to him....

She then asked him "So, we're you born here in Harper Rock, Canada? Or we're you brought here too?" she asked "What do you know about Canada?" she asked in replying to the man while resting and enjoying her rest in the Coffee shop. 

It was a short hike to the coffee shop, a small establishment sandwiched on both sides by tall buildings that twisted upward into the darkness, as well as a second and third story that pressed down from above it. It’s glass sliding doors and a large glass window would have allowed for the morning’s rays to flow over the coffee drinking patrons, or so Jack imagined. He’d never seen this place in the light of day. Still sitting at a table near the large window, one had an excellent view of the stars as they twinkled silently over the city.

Sadie, the owner of the establishment, was present of course, along with three or four hipster type patrons. There was no musical act tonight, but the radio blared some soft rhythmic jam. Sadie, her long flowing gold and grey hair swirling around her, greeted Jack and Himiko upon their arrival. The hippie styled barista giggled girlishly at Himiko’s greeting, her kind eyes lighting up behind the circular frames of her red tinted glasses. “Sadie, Himiko, Himiko, Sadie,” Jack said by way of simple introduction. Sadie was only an acquaintance, but she had a way about her that made you feel like you were an old friend. “Order whatever you’d like, I’ll pick up the tab,” he said to Himiko with a smile. Jack wasn’t much for drinking coffee these days, or for drinking anything really, but he loved the way that the aroma of the freshly brewed java played with his preternatural senses.

Upon describing Japan and Asia in general, Himiko seemed to be stroking Jack’s imagination. She made it sound as if it were a magical place, laying somewhere between the realm of reality and fantasy. The young vampire was beginning to wonder if it was some supernatural force that plucked her from an airy daydream and tossed her down the dark well of actuality. Stranger things had happened.

“Well, I was born here, but didn’t spend much time here. Grew up in the states, really…” Jack explained with a bit if hesitance in his voice. He had a distant look in his eyes for a few moments before continuing, “Didn’t really plan on stickin’ around for all that long, but here I am. Can’t say I know all that much about Canada though, other than it’s cold,” he chuckled a little, “I can tell you a tale or two about Harper Rock though, but first I gotta ask,” he leaned in on the table lowering his voice a bit, “Do you recall anythin’ strange happenin’ to you in that dorm room? Or anythin’ strange happenin’ at all before you found yourself here?”

Himiko smiled in the coffee shop, pretending to be drinking her coffee and talking to jack, before he introduced her to Sadie, the owner, she smiled and spoke to Sadie "Hello there cutie." she said with a wink toward the owner before responding to Jack "Yes Herbal Coffee and Cigarettes if they have them." she said, then she answered his other question about the dorm "Nothing really happened that was out of the ordinary at the door, but everything went to black and I was unconscious, then I ended up here in Harper Rock in Canada." she stated to Jack "I originally did not plan on any of this happening either." she said...

The Asian then listened to any stories Jack had to say while enjoying herself in the coffee shop, smiling to Sadie "Your turn Jack..." she said nodding, because even she knows any and all things can help her, and knows that she has lots to learn about not only Harper Rock, but herself...

The glow of the soft light washed over them. Jack, always more accustomed to the dim lighting of bars and clubs, found it oddly relaxing. Coupled with the choice of tunes and that aroma of coffee, Jack could understand why folks still found their way here in these troubled times.

Listening to Himiko’s explanation of the events in Japan left him a bit baffled. He stroked his scruffy chin considering it. The aspect of a vampire glamoring it’s victim was certainly present, but it still didn’t explain how she’d come to be a vampire. Perhaps her sire shared Jack’s curse, that of a toxic kiss, something that could spread their peculiar state like a virus. Though that didn’t explain how the young vampiress had ended up thousands of miles away in an unfamiliar place. Something vital was missing from this story.

Himiko seemed a bit calmer now at any rate, so when asked Jack figured it couldn’t hurt to respond honestly. At worst she’d just think him crazy, dismissing what he had to say. “Well Harper Rock, it ain’t your ordinary city. It’s a bit more complicated. Not sure if much news of what’s been happenin’ here made it to Japan, but the Rock is currently suffering from a bit of a zombie infestation…” Jack paused for a moment, considering his next words carefully, “From my understanding, this city was built in a spot where the divide between this world and another was paper thin. Somethin’ came along and tore a nice hole in reality and all manner of the supernatural entered this world…”

The barista called for their order, Jack stood, “I’ll grab that for us,” he offered simply as he made his way to the counter. He figured that by the time he returned to their table, Himiko would either be laughing, already out the door, or willing to hear more.