Haunted Roads

Who: Justine and Tony
Where: Chroma
When: After dark, of course

Chroma had for so long been her shelter outside of the penthouse she and her siblings shared. It had been a place of her own creation, under her own control where that inevitable feeling of safety that tended to come with the familiar settled in. The recent visits of Mikkos, his son, his wife had shattered the solitude it had once provided. Now the evenings where she had once looked forward to spending her hours amongst her patrons were dreaded, that unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach, never knowing who might show up next in this same unexpected manner. She felt hopeful that no sign of any of the Aristedes family in recent days meant perhaps she was truly going to be left out of whatever familial drama was going on amongst them. She hadn't been tied to them for years, for lifetimes. Whatever softness her heart held for Mikkos, or his for her, was surely just nostalgia - or so she wished, so she tried to convince herself.

She'd kept word of all visits but that very first from her siblings, from Chloe especially. She loved her younger sister, but given her propensity towards brash action, Justine feared the worst outcomes should the littlest Baptiste discover all the tawdry details of the recent going-ons at Chroma. It was obvious that something ate at Justine, disturbed her usually unflappable grace, but her siblings respected her privacy enough not to pry - something she couldn't have been more grateful for. She couldn't sort out her own emotions when it came to Mikkos' grand return, she had no desire to try and discuss them aloud.

It was late when she finally gathered herself together enough to ready herself for Chroma. Dark hair was pinned up elegantly, back and out of her face, accentuating those stormy jade-hued eyes of hers, a light dusting of make-up covering her pale skin. She went with black for the night, wanting to blend into the crowd that was surely already filling at least the main bar area. It took only moments to select a pair of shoes, to grab a small clutch and take her leave of the Penthouse.

Sure enough, the parking lot was full when she arrived and though a line had formed outside, she obviously made her way in without an issue. Justine dropped by her office only long enough to lock away the small purse she'd carried, the keys on a stretchy chord around her wrist as she headed back out to assist her staff behind the bar. Lingering alone in her office seemed an invitation for trouble as of late and there was no need for that tonight.

Who: Nox and Hesper
When: Tuesday night, sometime after 10:00
Where: their apartment

Nox was feeling somewhat drowsy. He'd had a busy day, and the previous night was a mentally taxing one. It had taken a lot of patience to explain things to Alex, but in the end it all paid off. Alex didn't fear that Nox would rip his head off and drink from a blood pool. At least he didn't seem as though he feared it. By the time they'd finished talking, they were joking once again and making plans to build a car together. All in all, it had been a successful revelation of a very big secret.

It had never been the plan to let Alex in on Nox's supernatural side, but Nox didn't see another viable option. He wanted to help in the situation involving Serena and Kayden, and Nox didn't know how else to make Alex see that his sister wasn't crazy. Besides, Alex was a good guy, and Nox had solid instincts. He felt he could trust his new friend with such information.

Hopefully Hesper would agree, since in revealing himself, Nox had outed her as well. Hale's secret was out there too, but Nox was confident Hale would trust his judgement, especially since Alex seemed to be ok with it all, at least where Nox was concerned. Alex wasn't fond of Kayden being a vampire, and it worried Nox as well, but hopefully after some investigating, Nox would find out that Kayden was a man worthy of Serena.

Hesper didn't give any indication of when she'd be home, just said 'tonight'. Usually that meant she'd arrive just in time for dinner, or just as Nox was headed to bed. Well, dinner came and went, with leftovers ending up in the fridge for her whenever she decided to munch on them, and Nox's eyelids were starting to feel heavy as he read, legs stretched out across the length of the couch. In fact, his eyes were just about close for the count when he heard keys in the door.

Who: Cecily and Tony
What: She's responding to a modeling ad
When: Night
Where: Tony's condo

Busy, busy, busy. That's all Cecily ever seemed to be lately. But it was kind of hard, being in the position she was in. She and her brother supported each other. He held down a more major job to pay the rent and provide for most of their every day needs. Cecily had her two jobs for extra expenses. All of that combined with going to her college classes on a regular basis had her flitting about like a buzzing little bumblebee. There were other girls like her in the world, it was true, but on top of all of that she had a secret to keep. The secret having to do with her brother and his being a part of the supernatural world. He was a werewolf while she was just human. And yet he refused to change her too.

That confused her to no end. She was a defenseless human living in a world where supernatural creatures existed. And could potentially hurt her. Garrett just insisted on protecting her his way, which usually just involved setting a whole bunch of rules for her to follow. Don't stay out too long after dark, call him every so often, blah, blah, blah...it got so aggravating! Cecily didn't like feeling like she was bound under layers and layers of rules! She wasn't a baby. And being a teenager, she didn't like being treated as such.

That's why, when she'd seen the ad posted up on the campus of the school, she hadn't told him a thing about it. This would be something she acted on for herself, without her brother's input. It was an ad put up by a photographer at the school, looking for girls to be models. Cecily had never been the type to be a model, or so she thought, but people had told her before that she was pretty. Curious, she'd made a mental note to answer the ad. If nothing else, it could be a new experience for her!

Oddly enough, the photographer worked out of Old Town Towers. That just made her curiosity peak further. She was practically skipping home, thoroughly excited for what she was about to do. And her brother couldn't stop her. That was the best part.

The only specifics the ad had said was to come by at night and that appointments weren't needed. Once again, her brother was out. So, she picked up her bag that she took everywhere with her and took the elevator up to the eleventh floor. It wasn't hard to find D11 and soon Cecily was standing in front of the door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. No need to psych herself out of it now.