Path of the Vampire forum

Follows the events in Serenade for a Shark
A few days had passed since her fateful meeting with Jack in the Mall. Between then and now Meara had been busying herself with various aspects of a new hire. Direct deposit info, calendar access, employment agreement that touched on all the freedom of expression rights Jack wished to retain, and so on and so forth. She had taken time to speak with Tori to get him entered not payroll as well as check up on real estate prospects. Apparently, a new business district that had recently been built to attract more people to come back into town despite the zombie crisis that was happening. As a result, unit prices were low. Lower then anything else in town. And to boot, Alex had dropped by with a message asking Meara to chat with her if she was interested in getting a store front. There was no way Meara would let her sire give it to her for free, but the bank of “mom” was a valuable thing so she didn’t have to take a loan out to finance the purchase.

When Thursday came, Meara rolled out of bed with a little spring in her step as she hustled around her place to clear out the days old take out, trash, clothes all over the floor, and so on. As she started the cleaning, an electronic station was pulled up on her phone, giving her something to bop along to as she worked. Granted, cleaning with Willow stealing her rags, dustpans, or running over a freshly mopped floor meant it took twice as long. However, Meara didn’t mind cause the Corgi was adorable with how she waddled around.

A couple hours later Meara’s meager five room apartment was ready to serve as an office. She placed her phone on the charger, sure to turn the ringer up all the way so she would hear the text notification she was expecting any time now. A stack of papers along with a fresh pack of business cards and logo stickers were placed on the coffee table, awaiting their owner. Coffee was made, violins tuned, bows rosined. Meara almost felt like a fully functioning adult. Who woulda thunk.

Meara took a seat on the floor, smiling as she admired her handiwork. All that was left to do now was to wait and stretch out her body for her little performance she was going to give. It would not do to just half-*** it and just play. Jack had been his authentic self with her. So, she would do the same, ballerina act and all.

You know things are getting bad when you can light up a corpse like the Human Torch in an alleyway and no one bats an eye. As the fire of flesh and bone sizzled and popped in front of him, the young vampire wondered how he had gotten to this place. A charred scent that would have satisfied a raving member of the Donner Party gently breezed by his nostrils and a dismal sigh escaped his lips. This had been what he was reduced to, the fruits of his own mad starvation.

Burning hair was the worst odor, the most wretched part of the ordeal. That part was over quick though. He recalled how her soft brown locks had smelled of gingerbread and honey. A shadow of Christmas lingering in the spring night. It was amazing that only thirty minutes ago she’d been in his lap, his hands running through that gingerbread hair, his lips against hers, then against her the warm, delicate skin of her neck. Amazingly awful, really. The tall, skeletal vampire would keep his vigil over her pyre, watching her elfish features melt away into the orange glow of the flames. It was better this way, better than what she would become.

Ashes of Holly drifted up into the starry sky. Yes, her name had been Holly, he’d never forget it. He never forgot any of them. It wasn’t a chance occurrence, they’d been acquaintances, sharing the same sidewalk almost nightly. He going and she coming. The vampire struck up their first conversation a few weeks back. It was about Tolstoy, the bookish girl had been reading War and Peace then. Tonight it had begun because he needed to borrow a phone. He knew that he should have waited, that the desire to feed was too much to bare. The monster took over, that charming ******** that kept him alive, so to speak. She’d been all too eager to invite him into her apartment, only a stone’s throw from where he himself had been staying. All too willing to invite him into her arms. A naive soul believing that danger could never penetrate her bubble. It was why she hadn’t left her place. That and the rents were low.

Watching the flames now Jack wondered if she knew him to be a vampire when she made the fateful decision to invite him in for coffee. Would it have mattered? He’d glamoured her with ‘Evenin’ darlin’, his voice had become a dastardly and effective weapon. One he’d use right until the very end, when she was nearly drained, stumbling, weak. She wrapped her arm around her waist as if in a drunken stupor and the vampire led her into the alley where he’d finish it, where he stood over the conflagration of her remains. It didn’t take her long to show signs of the mutation, the curse that graced his kiss.

Jack was so wrapped up in his own head that he didn’t realize that the open flask was still hanging from his hand. The pungent smell of gasoline mixed with that of the flames as a few fleeting drops escaped to the pavement. He’d need to refill it soon, just as he filled the other silver flask that was tucked safely inside his black, leather jacket. That flask though had a pint of sweet Holly, something to tie off another night with. This hadn’t been his first rodeo and fire was the most efficient method, it seemed. The only sure method. He closed up the flask and tucked it in his coat, next to its twin. Gasoline was really only to get things started, it wasn’t necessary to keep the fire blazing. The preternatural flesh took care of that. It was a supernatural kindling, it burned bright and fast, consuming everything, leaving only dust.

The dust confirmed what he’d already known as Holly’s figure finally burned into nothing and the flames burned themselves out. Though there was nothing left of her to be seem, her face was etched into the vampire’s mind. Not the girl with the impish smile, but the monster with the contorted mask of ravenous rage. Eyes popping out of an emaciated skull, mouth full of impossibly elongated fangs, twisted into a snarl. It would remain there, a reminder of the cruelty that pervaded his nature. A single red teardrop streaked down his cheek from his left eye. A soft springtime breeze picked up the dust and began to scatter it into the darkness. Jack wasn’t sure if she’d find her way out of the rift or if she’d be forever lost, a demon lurking the void, waiting for the day the vampire himself would arrive.

Jack was punching the digits into the poor lass’s phone even before he left the alleyway. He’d reached up dug Meara’s card out of the lining of his blue and grey patchwork cap. Good place to keep things safe or hidden. Leaning his shoulder against the brick of the building, composing himself, he waited to hear her voice on the other end. He’d tell himself that in a world full of monsters, one less was surely a blessing. Deep down though he knew, that there wasn’t a greater monster than himself.

After her ten minute stretching routine, Meara had picked up her old faithful friend from its resting place. It had been hand carved by an Asheville luthier out of maple, and finished with a cherry stain. However it was far from pristine at this juncture. The body of the instrument was nicked in a couple places and was covered with flecks of glitter. The black paint of the tuning pegs was worn, and the chin rest seemed to look perpetually dirty as it was smeared with make-up. She picked up a bow and started to noodle through some arpeggios and scales.

She was about to change gears to play through an excerpt of Brahm's Third Sonata, when the redhead's cell phone began to ring. Meara walked over and lifted the device out of the charging cradle and up to her face. She didn't recognize the number, so maybe it was Jack? Or it could be any number of potential clients that she had been working on lining up for Jack to choose from to establish a weekly gig. She couldn't be sure until she answered.

"Hello, this is Meara." She stated in a friendly, cheerful voice. As she waited for the reply, she set the instrument down and moved to get Willow's leash. If it was Jack, Meara was intending to walk up to meet him and take the dog out so Willow wouldn't be a pest during their meeting.

As soon as he heard the cheerful voice of the vampiress he started out of the alleyway. The smell of flames and gasoline drifted out along with him, but nothing else. For that, Jack felt a distinct sense of relief. It was apparent in his voice, almost as if a burden had been burned from his soul. “Evenin’, Meara, Jack Diddly,” the vampire began in that smooth, yet gruff drawling tone of his. Even when he spoke there was an almost musical quality to his voice these days. It lent to his peculiar charms. Holding the phone to his right ear, he reached up with his free arm and wiped the streak of cold blood off of his face. “Still on for tonight?” the allurist asked simply, hoping that the answer would be ‘yes.’ Music was the greatest way to get the horror out. He could always wrap up the vibes in notes and harmonies and send it sailing into the ether. Some would find it utterly bitter and others would think it the sweetest sound to ever hit their ears.

The clocktower stood out on the near horizon like a familiar beacon. He’d been walking towards it on autopilot. Part of him knew he’d have to head back to his apartment, after all he needed his guitar. But another part of him always seemed to head in this direction when he was lost in his own head. He often found himself sitting in the courtyard, near the water, just strumming away. They were nonsensical, yet lovely tunes that would float out like tongues of flame to light up a dark evening. The tower would stand above him like a silent sentry keeping watch on over the damned and the doomed.

May was dancing down the street ahead of him, vanishing under dimming street lights and reappearing in the darkness between them. Perhaps she had latched onto one of those silly little melodies he’d strummed up at one time or another. The spectral, blue haze that emanated from her being often made Jack wonder if the dead, the true dead, really knew darkness. Or if darkness was merely limited to the physical realm. How beautiful she looked, with her long, loose auburn curls bouncing around her petite figure and those large hazel eyes filled with laughter, filled with sunshine. Jack couldn’t hear her, but the way her lips moved as she spun, he was quite sure the ghost was singing. She often was. She always took delight in his kills, almost as if she experienced tenfold the high that the blood brought on. Yeah, a little music was definitely a needed reprieve for the madness that had become his everyday.

A smile crept onto the redhead's lips as she heard Jack's voice on the other end. "Hi Jack. Good to hear from you." She replied, happy to hear that Jack did not forget about their meeting. Now that she didn't need to worry about staying nearby to a planner or a notepad, Meara meandered over to clip Willow's lead to her collar. This small motion caused the Corgi to get very excited and start pulling Meara towards the front door.

"Yes of course! Come to the Sanctuary towers in like 20 minutes? I'll meet you out front. Its just southwest of the Wickbridge train." Meara explained as she reached to grab her house keys so she wouldn't lock herself out, which she had done several times. "See you soon!" She quipped cheerily, before ending the call and stepping into the lift to head up to the surface. Her cell was placed in the pocket of her shorts as she exited the elevator and slipped out the front door of the building.

Twenty minutes. Enough time for the duo to make their favorite route around the block. It was a night early summer evening, so she might as well make the most of it. During their evening walks, Meara made it a point to stay off her electronics and be present in the moment. Most commonly she got lost in thought about current events, work, or simple things like nature. She always loved how the moon looked in the early evenings, casting everything in a silvery alluring light that almost made one forget about all the baddies that crept in the shadows. On nights like tonight, where the moon was relatively full, the glowing orb reminded her of the sun. If there was one thing Meara disliked as a vampire, it was the inability to be in the sun.

She wasn't sure what voodoo or skills Alex had learned to get around this curse of their species, but Meara was determined to figure it out. Maybe it was time to visit those wraiths to absorb more of their teachings, even if she thought talking to ghosts was a bit unnerving.

“Righteous, see you shortly, darlin’,” the young vampire responded before clicking out of their call. He paused for a moment, so close to the clocktower now that he was standing in its shadow, quite near to the courtyard really. Holding the slim phone in his hand, another pang of guilt ripped through his chest. He looked left then looked right, not a soul in sight, though his ears were picking up some chatter in the distance. Jack tossed the phone over his shoulder, it landed with a metallic crash in a nearby dumpster. The ping reverberated into the night.

In and out, Jack didn’t dawdle in the apartment. He just grabbed his guitar, refilled his empty flask, and splashed some hot water on his face. Then he was back on the ground again, looking up at the clocktower. The moon hung heavy behind it tonight. The strange lunar face seemed to cackle down at the city below, almost as if complicit in the plight of its inhabitants. As Jack swung the black, leather guitar bag over his right shoulder, the common thought of swimming out into the sea of star and dark to touch the island of the moon became foremost in his mind. Surely out there, in the heavens, a vampire could be spared the haunting memories and the dark desires. Perhaps he could even lose himself in a similar madness to that smirking moon. Become one with it and shine down on the hell below. “God, what a pretentious thought,” he said aloud to himself as he shook his head, returning to reality, returning to earth. With a bad taste in his mouth he turned from the clocktower and began again into the evening streets.

May was twirling before him once more as he made his way toward Wickridge station and the spot where he was set to meet up with Meara. Only this time the spector didn’t keep her distance, she danced right up to Jack, the toes of her bare feet just barely scraping the the gray stone of the sidewalk below. She reached out to take his hands. It was a silly gesture as the two could never touch, she was nothing more than a slight cold breeze beneath his fingertips. Yet she still did so and playfully pouted when Jack didn’t reach down to take them. Despite how she floated, tall,skeletal Jack still stood about a foot higher than the phantom. She whirled around him in a free spirited jive to a song he couldn’t hear. Her sweet laughter also danced around him. The contagious nature of it brought a smile to his face. She didn’t have to say a word, Jack knew it was a reminder. A reminder to live in the moment and not brood in the past. A reminder to be grateful for one’s lot in life and that despair did no one a lick of good. It was how they had lived, what seemed like a lifetime ago. Mirth and mischief was what they strived for, what they provided to the people who were lucky enough to cross their path. Jack knew it was time for that type of thing again.

So he was a murderer, it would have to be something to embrace. It was in his very nature to hunt, to kill. No use hating what he was. Vampires were, after all, the superior species. Vicious as they may have been, they paled in comparison to the sick designs of man. Not justify, but killing for survival was preferable to killing out of some sick compulsion or twisted pleasure. There was plenty of song fuel to be had this evening, that was for certain.

Jack hadn’t realized how far he’d walked. So lost in the ghostly movements of May and the musings that ran through his own mind that he hadn’t realized he was looking up at the rendezvous point. Sanctuary Towers, he’d passed by the apartment complex more than once, never taking too much notice of it. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. It had been May that stopped him, truly. She’d paused in front of the building, before floating up and vanishing into the moonlight. He kept his eyes up in the air for some moments, wondering if she’d reappear, falling from above. He imagined her swimming down the length of the building, in some spectral ocean of light. There was nothing though, except the rush of a passing car, a distant siren, and the yipping of a dog. It was the later that brought his eyes back to the street and then he saw her. Not May, but Meara. The red haired vampiress was on the approach with a small pooch in tow. Jack pulled his left hand from the pocket of his leather jacket and raised it in a still wave of greeting.

Meara's thoughts had transitioned to daydreams as she had made the loop around the block on autopilot. Visions of boardwalks and sand danced in her head as she devised a scheme to let her go to Hilton Head for business. Tourists loved that stretch of beach, and she loved their money and attention. What could be better? As a result of her overactive imagination, Meara did not notice Jack approaching.

Willow however did not miss a beat when she saw the man approaching them. The pooch noticed the man's wave as a greeting, causing her little stumpy tail to practically vibrate out of excitement. She started to bark at Jack as she struggled against the taut lead that bound her to Meara's hand. Suddenly, Willow barged forward and took off like a rocket running toward Jack and ripped the leash along with her. This jerking motion caused Meara to immediately lose her balance and go flying forward onto the side walk.

In seconds, Willow was at Jack's feet and bouncing up and down as she attempted to greet him. Meara glanced up from where she ate pavement with a little bit of a groan. Blue eyes focused ahead, bringing Jack into focus. She did feel a little bit of relief knowing that the pup had spotted their guest. But on the opposite side of the same coin she was equally embarrassed at splatting onto the ground. She scrambled onto her feet and hurried down the sidewalk to scoop the dog up in her arms.

"Sorry about that...she just loves people." Meara offered with a sheepish grin before turning to head towards the Towers.

The small puppy bounded towards him. It always amazed Jack how happy a dog could look. Sometimes it was as of they were possessed by some carefree spirit and life was nothing but play. It wasn’t a characteristic of all members of their family, of course. Some looked cruel and vicious no matter how they were feeling. It made them similar to humans, or even vampires, in that each was an individual. This particular pet seemed a bit over excited, taking poor Meara for a flight into the pavement. Jack winced as he bent down on one knee to greet the petite pup with the preternatural power to pull down a vampiress.

“‘Ello, Pooch,” Jack said, not meaning to sound British, as he ran his hands through the diminutive creature’s fur. Meara approach them looking a bit frazzled, but who wouldn’t be after a betrayal by man’s best friend. “No need to apologize,” Jack began in that gruff melodious voice of his, “but this little lass,” he nodded towards the dog that she had scooped up as he moved to stand again, “she may owe you a sorry or two,” he finished with a wink as he adjusted the strap of his guitar bag so it sat comfortably on his back once again. Then the young vampire asked, “You alright?” He’d taken a dive into the blacktop himself quite recently, it wasn’t a fun experience.

“It’s good that the pup doesn’t know I’m not ‘people,’ must be doin’ somethin’ right,” Jack said with a grin as he moved to follow Meara’s lead. The dog wasn’t trying to attack him like he was some son of Satan, so perhaps there was a bit of hope for him yet. Plus it was always good to feel like he blended in. The vampire was trying to live as inconspicuously as possible. A peculiar goal for a performer. But keeping up the illusion that he was still amongst the living could prove quite useful. At least he hoped it would.

A hand reached up to press her fingers at a fast forming bump on her forehead. "Eh, I'll manage. It will heal away soon enough. I think my pride is more nicked up then I am." Meara admitted with a sheepish grin. She was clumsy at times and prone to zoning out, so it wasn't the first or last time the over-excited loaf shaped dog would victimize Meara when she was distracted. "Right this way, its not far." Meara gestured before turning to walk towards the high rise in front of them.

"I don't think she has figured out that I'm not a human either." Meara commented as she clipped Willow's leash back on before they entered the apartment's lobby. "I think it's something common in Alex's line, especially with the allurists like us. She had me fooled for the longest time." As she was talking she had pressed the button to call the elevator. It dinged softly as it arrived to the ground floor, ready to carry them down to the third basement. "I worked for her for like 4-5 months before she let me in on her secret."

The redhead stepped inside the metal box, and waited for the doors to close before she continued her next thought. "I suppose it is fitting for a vampire to live in the basement. But what I wouldn't give for a window, or some sun." She seemed to trail off a little on that last thought, her mind wandering back to what she had thought about on her walk before Jack came by. She however was not afforded a lot of time to linger on the morose thoughts lingering in her head as the car stopped and opened at the correct floor. Mea stepped out and began down the hall after placing Willow on the floor to walk along side her. This motion freed her hands enough to start fishing for her keys in her pocket so they wouldn't be forced to linger in the hall long.

As he began to follow Meara towards the entrance of the apartment building, it occurred to him how very mortal the vampiress still seemed. Heck when he’d first met the girl, he hadn’t been sure if she was immortal. There was even a moment in time when he had considered what she would taste like. An appalling thought now to be sure, as there was nothing desirable about dead blood. Still it was a rather curious trait, like a preternatural camouflage, which let Meara linger inconspicuously among the living. Jack hoped that she was right when she said it was something that the vampires of Alex’s line carried. A knowing smirk crossed Jack’s lips as Meara recounted her initial encounters with their sire, “I thought Alex was an underage barfly when we first crossed paths.” What a night that had been. It’d been the last night he’d had a drink or three. His head still buzzed with the memory, the pang left in his chest, sharper than any stake.

Speaking of buzzed, the elevator hummed up to greet them. It came to an abrupt stop, before opening its maw with a welcoming ding. He stepped in behind the vampiress and her pup. Once the doors closed Jack expected to be pulled upward, but instead the elevator descended. It was the standard curse of vampirism, to always find oneself plunging downward into the darkness. There was a hint of melancholy in Meara’s comments though. Something that rang true with the young vampire in many ways, though his sun had burned out quite some time before he’d taken his first drink of immortality. He nodded in a quiet understanding. There was nothing to say, nothing that wouldn’t dig the knife deeper, no bright side to look on in the world of everlasting night.

The rhythmic humming of the elevator only seemed to last a few moments before it came to an abrupt halt. The doors slid open and the occupants stepped out. Jack followed Meara down the hall, wandering a bit behind as he did so. The vampire was just taking in his surroundings. The subfloor seemed pretty standard, but he was searching for an alternate exit. Elevators weren’t always the most reliable form of escape. Not that he was looking for a getaway, but rather he liked to have his bases covered in case one was necessary. The results of a lesson learned what seemed like a lifetime ago. He meandered up the hall towards Meara, checking signs, counting doors, and reading the various postings on the walls.