Path of the Vampire forum

((Only one part of this is accurate by the grid; Vivi really did slaughter a Feral Vampire by chopping its head clean off. I'm very proud of my beauty for that. ))

This is the face I have written Allerleirauh the Blood Thief based upon, loosely, with larger green eyes.

Vivi sat against the wall, knees bent, thighs against her abdomen, right hand raised with a vial of blood between the fingers, glittering in the sunlight filtering through a crack in the boarded window. Feral vampire blood. She'd killed the creature herself, cleanly slicing through its neck, and she felt distinctly proud of herself. She had plans for this particular vial.

She'd chosen to rest in this particular place, the abandoned warehouse near the edge of town. She knew that one of her acquaintances among those who paid for a pint of vampire blood slept here. They'd discussed it several times before.

With a soft smile, Vivi turned her blue orbs to the dirt-smeared black sleeping bag that lay across the warehouse from her. Four fingers were curled around the top of the bag, and around the base of the second finger, the "bird finger" as Vivi liked to call it, was a silver ring with a heart-shaped sapphire set into the center of the band.

Of course Allerleirauh keeps herself well-groomed and bejeweled, Vivi thought, smirking just a little. That was the acquaintance's name - Allerleirauh. Her group was named entirely after characters figuring in classic Brothers Grimm fairy tales. Vivi had started using a shorer version of the codename that was easier to pronounce - Allera. It's probably just a codename. I doubt that, in her profession, she'd use her real name.

Sunset was close. Vivi could just feel it. With a soft huff, she made her choice. She'd wake Allerleirauh up and make her sale before anyone else was awake to realize that the beautiful, dark-skinned girl was a so-called "blood thief."

Vivi vaulted herself upright and across the building, gently nudging the girl awake.

"Allera, wake up."

As expected, the girl's left hand snapped out of the sleeping bag, a gleaming and brand-new knife clenched in her fist and coming straight for Vivi's face. The blond caught the girl's wrist, gripping it gently. "Allera, chill! It's me!"

A pair of large green eyes peeked over the top of the sleeping bag, wary, for just a moment, before the girl broke into a grin and loosened her grip on the knife. "You selling?" she asked, as if she didn't know already.

Vivi winked and settled next to her, stretching out her left arm. "Let's get this over with." Allerleirauh extracted a vial, needle, and other things. Vivi, feeling queasy for just a moment, looked away from the medical-grade instruments. "Can you do me a favor?"

Allerleirauh smiled, just as the needle slid into Vivi's vein. "Sure. Whatcha need?"

"Can you tell Hazel and Water-Nix that I'm sorry they almost landed on my sword? I've been a bit unreasonably jumpy for the past week or two."

"Yeah, Hazel told me about that. She gets it."

"I brought your some things." Vivi dug into her pocket, extracting a photograph. "This guy helped slaughter me in May. He got the final hit. I'm not sure what his name is, but I'm pretty sure you need to keep an eye open for him." She slid the photo over to her friend, smiling faintly.

"I'll spread the word," Allerleirauh said quietly, flicking the corner of the page gently. "Anything else?"

Vivi placed the vial on the table, grinning. "This is blood from a creature I decapitated in the Quarantine Zone yesterday. I'm willing to trade this for rumors that might be making the rounds amongst the Grimm Merchants."

"What's the topic?" Allerleirauh asked coolly, checking the tube that ran from the needle in Vivi's arm to the receptacle. It flowed fine, unhindered.

"One of the elders of our race, Mircea -- the most ancient member of my bloodline, in fact -- has made a claim that some big guy in your organization, some guy with the name Broussard, has approached him to to try and make a deal with us."

Allerleirauh nodded. "Water-Nix heard something like that. He knows more about the rumor than I do, but it seems like a blanket thing, like the top of the Grimm Merchants is under this guy."

Vivi nodded, stretching out her right arm.

"Can I...?" Allerleirauh said, gesturing to the slim vial of blood.

"Go ahead. Only one I've got that I'm willing to share. Tell Water-Nix to keep his grey eyes open for me, all right? I'll be looking for him."

"Got it, Vivi." Offering a bright, very welcome smile, she gestured to the blond's right forearm. "That's new, right?"

Vivi looked at the dark red words that curled over the underside of her arm. "Yeah. Got it a couple days ago." She pressed a platonic kiss to Allerleirauh's temple and grinned. "Good luck to you, Allera. Keep a whether eye on the horizon."

"Always do, Vivi. Always do."

A moment later, Allerleirauh pulled the needle from Vivi's arm and capped the container of the blond's potent blood.

"Take care of yourself," Vivi said, rubbing her arm slightly.

"You too." And with that, Allerleirauh slipped away, just like the character whose name she bore, back to the grind of her life of hiding.

Had to fix a broken link and a logistics error

Vivi wiped the zombie goo from her hands, blue eyes skimming the alleyways of the Quarantine Zone, looking for the familiar whip of an ancient, leather trenchcoat, such a dark brown that many mistook it for black. This was Water-Nix's usual hangout, where he often sought out his sellers while they hunted down the various beasts that lived there.

Scoffing at being so obvious, Vivi walked to the western wall, preparing herself to jump over it, when a pale blue feather fluttered down past her face. Plucked from the wing of a female bluejay, of course, Vivi thought, picking up the plume and looking overhead.

There, on the roof of the deserted fire department, a figure stood as though he waited for her. Water-Nix. Laughing softly, the blond launched herself onto the building, landing right beside him.

"I've been looking for you, man," she said, grinning.

With a wink, Water-Nix replied, "Glad to hear it."

What a flirt, Vivi thought. "I need information."

"What kind of information are you after?" What's the information worth to you? was his real question.

Vivi dug around in her pockets before extracting a miniscule Ziploc baggie containing one zombie ear. "I don't know if you've found out, but you can rip these off of the walking corpses around here."

"Got six zombie ears already."

Rolling her eyes, Vivi slid the baggie back into her pocket and dug around some more. "How about a vial?"

Water-Nix laughed. "You know my rules for that." He wouldn't give information for blood, only money; information was a bit more special.

With a huff, Vivi brought out the only thing Water-Nix might like - her only vial of black feral blood. She'd won it from the Moonlight Warehouse auction, and she figured it was worth it.

"This is blood from a kind of beast that hangs out here - a feral vampire," she said, holding it out. "They're, like, half zombie and half vampire."

Water-Nix took the vial and shook it a little, studying the movements of the contents, before his eyes turned to the figure of the blond before him. "Hazel's dead."

Vivi had been staring at the moon -- these words, however, brought her breath to a stop. "How long?"

"Couple weeks. I didn't tell Bambi 'cause I knew she'd wanna catch and torture you for the info."

"There was a blood hunt; a bunch of vamps went on a killing spree of your guys. Anyone else I know?"

"Grethel and Rosie."

Not them, too, Vivi thought. Rosie had been the one Vivi had first sold her blood to. Grethel had kept watch over Tyler, Simone, and Karen. They were her friends. They were dead.

"Those bitches are gonna pay," Vivi whispered, blue eyes meeting Water-Nix's grey orbs. "I'll make sure of it."

"Good," Water-Nix replied, tossing the vial back to Vivi, who caught it deftly. "Now -- what's the information you needed?"

"Someone, an elder, claims that a bigwig in your business has come to him with a deal. What do you know about that?"

"Oh, you mean that Broussard thing? Yeah, I heard. Willow-Wren told me that I had to watch my back; she doesn't like him, from what I understood," Water-Nix said, settling cross-legged on the roof. Vivi sat across from him. "Apparently, unless you guys reply, in, like, some overly-courteous way, you're all fucked."

Leave it to Water-Nix to put it bluntly, Vivi thought before smiling sweetly. "Thanks, my friend. Give Willow-Wren my regards concerning Hazel, Rosie, and Grethel. I know they were some of the best in your gang."

"Will do."

Vivi held the vial out to Water-Nix. "You gave me the information I needed; this is yours."

Water-Nix shook his head. "You've lost as much as we have, Vivi. I won't take anything for information from you." He pulled her close, hugging her tightly and offering comfort. "I have faith in you. You can teach those fuckers a lesson."

"Thanks, Nixie. See you when I see you," she said, detaching, standing up, and preparing to jump out of the Quarantine Zone.

"Good luck."

But his words went unheard as she leapt into the air, landing just beyond the boundaries.

"I know you need it."