Haunted Roads

WHO; ALPHONSINE & VALLIS
WHEN; Satruday, nearing midnight
WHERE: An upscale club in downtown Seattle
WHAT; Ally's night of intended fun goes sour--or does it?
RATING; TBA

Alphonsine had decided to venture out on her own after an early evening of posting flyers about town to promote ROARKE's upcoming gig next week. Not only had she done her good deed with that for the day, but she had met a potential city-dweller named Serena, from the east coast. Ally had set her up with a couple places to check out, the management's number for Towers if she wanted to get a decent apartment, and there was a good possibility that she might even come to the show next week. With all of the good today, the vampire was feeling up to being a little bad. Upon returning home to C9, she found that her usual clubs and discotecs were not up to par with what she was in the mood for. Instead, she went a little more for the glamorous but elegant, something tasteful and something fun. Diamond studs, and a little bracelet, she was good to go.

She had been in the club, one of the higher-class ones with the cool name from another language, for about an hour before she was ready to give up. The man whom had approached her at the bar and was keen on chattering away about his business and his fancy car was an absolute bore and there seemed almost no chance of getting away quickly. Alphonsine could be harsh when she needed to be, but she could hardly get a word in. Instead, she let her eyes wander over the people as she sipped her gin. She was almost pinned between the bar and this man, Mister Rich, on the bar stool with her legs crossed at the knee--if only to give herself a little space. "Mhm," the vampire gave softly as she scanned the floor again.

He was detected, though not with the greatest of certainty. There had been a fair number of people that moved in, out, and around, but she knew that there was someone else like her present. Not like her as in terribly bored, but her as in vampire. There were more of them in the city than people could ever imagine, and it always piqued her curiosity when she and another walked past one another on the sidewalk, or she served them at the Alibi Room. But then she lost him, and turned her attach back to the rambler.

"Did you just hear that?" she interrupted and it took him five seconds to stop what he was saying to look at her strangely, as if to ask why she would want to keep him from finishing the story. "That man over there said someone hit a car just like yours in the lot."

"What! Who said that? Where?" Immediate panic, the twat.

A finger pointed in the direction opposite of where they sat and stood, "Him, that man, with the black jacket." Half a dozen men wore black jackets on the other side of the bar; not that any of them would know what he was talking about anyway. He asked her to wait for him to get back and said just smiled. As he wandered away, she was certain that she could not be more annoyed than she was right now, and had half the heart to gulp down her drink before she called it a very, very early night. Maybe there was something happening on the other side of town, or one of her friends might be at the bar at the Alibi Room. Ally held her glass lightly between her fingers, the pad of her index ran the rim of the glass, and she contemplated what to do.

Who: Serena and Alphonsine
When: 7ish
Where: Alibi Room
What: Serena is trying to track down ROARKE.

The past few days had been something of a blur and it was amazing that she had ever found time to stop and take a breath. When she wasn't meeting with the director of the hospital, she was combing the city's bars and clubs in an attempt to locate Kaden's new band. It felt like she was always two steps behind because they had either just played or hadn't booked another gig. Striking out over and over was frustrating to say the least and there was only so much venting she could do over the phone to Ryan. What was she going to do if she couldn't find him? She needed to get her closure and there were only so many meetings she could take before she would have to give the hospital a decision. A hospital that she was unfortunately growing very fond of at the moment.

Today had been the one day that she didn't have a meeting and so she decided to spend the morning and good part of the afternoon bundle up and outside with Tony. The poor guy had been locked up in their hotel room for most of their stay so far and there was no way she could keep him inside any longer. There was no question that he appreciated the time out to explore the city, the big guy practically drug her around the first hour. It was also good for her because it gave her some time to just think about everything. Not that she didn't do that constantly anyway but it was nice to be able to just wander around with her thoughts.

When it was finally too cold to stay outside any longer, she and Tony headed back to their room for some dinner. While the room service was good, she did miss having a kitchen and some home cooked food to eat. If she decided to stay in the city any longer she would seriously need to consider renting an apartment or something because this hotel living just wasn't going to cut it after a while. Once dinner was finished and sent away, she traded in her sweater for a royal blue turtleneck and black pea coat and headed on out again.

The first bar she hit was a complete waste of time, the bartender didn't seem to know anything expect how to maybe mix a drink and even that was questionable. The second wasn't as bad but she still got nothing. The third was some place called the Alibi Room and seemed promising enough considering it at least had a stage. Fortunately it was still early enough that there weren't too many people there but at the same time there were enough that she would hopefully be able to get some information.

Serena had been in the process of scanning the crowd for someone who looked like they might know their music when she turned, bumped into a blonde woman and promptly sent the flyers she had been holding falling to the ground. "Oh God I'm so sorry," she said quickly as she bent down to retrieve the brightly colored pieces of paper. And that's when she saw it... ROARKE spelled out in bold lettering with a date at the bottom. Maybe this was her lucky day after all. "Here," she said as she handed a stack of flyers back with a small smile. "Sorry again." A light chuckle that was slightly nervous parted her lips. "So is band any good?" she asked motioning to the top sheet. "I'm new to the city and always looking to find someone good to go and see."

WHO; ALPHONSINE & KADEN
WHEN; Thursday, in the evening
WHERE: The Alibi Room
WHAT; Ally is behind the bar at work when Kaden comes in to book a show for his band
RATING; G, can be changed if necessary

The cocktail bar is open from four in the evening until two in the morning; since it is still a little too sunny for the woman at four, she leaves her apartment in the Towers as soon as it is possible. Management initially was not thrilled with her request to come in later once the seasons changed and it was lighter for longer, but they considered her a valuable employee as she often stayed longer than anyone else could or would even want to. Tonight may very well be one of those nights.

It was not especially busy, not all at once, but the patrons had been coming in a steady and consistent trickle. That suited Ally just fine. As she moved about behind the bar, she liked to keep her eyes open for people she knew and others she might like to come to know. Every place had their usuals and tonight, a few had been seated at and around the bar. As she poured another glass of Rosemont Shiraz for a woman named Elizabeth, Ally smiled, because she really did enjoy what she did. This was a very social occupation; it was easy to come to know people, if they wanted to be known, and she liked the atmosphere.

One sleeve of her light, plum sweater was pushed above her elbow, then the other, and she tucked a stray strand of blonde behind her ear. Even as the other ladies wore flat shoes, since they were on their feet all night, she liked to wear heels. They were not always in the best shape, since spills did happen from time to time, but overall, she was an attractive woman with a natural beauty and required little fuss or make-up. Eternal youth had that bonus, after all.

During one of the lulls in service, Ally leaned shifted her weight into her hips and leaned against the counter. Tables scattered the room in an organized fashion with small, lit laterns as centerpieces. There was the restaurant upstairsm, with the bar and the club scene downstairs. DJs came in on the weekends and during the week, exceptional local bands often books their shows. Her pechant for bars and clubs, for their atmospheres and agreeable hours, had allowed her to come to know a lot of bands and their members.

One of which, had just come down the stairs.

WHO; ALPHONSINE & FUA
WHEN; Wednesday, in the early evening hours
WHERE: The Underwater Dome Exhibit, Seattle Aquarium
WHAT; One of Ally's nights off leads her to take in the peace of the underwater life
RATING; G, can be changed if necessary

It was so quiet here; she wondered what it would be like to really be at the bottom of the ocean or even suspended in the middle of it. The looming darkness below, the haunting unknowns of creatures and places that had yet to be discovered--the only uncharted waters left in this world. Here, she could be at the bottom and be safe from harms, but she wanted to feel the quiet against her ears. Maybe, just maybe, one day she would have to make arraignments for one of the private dives into the aquarium. There was always tomorrow, and the next day, and the next...

The Underwater Dome Exhibit was her favorite in the whole of the Seattle Aquarium. The regular hours had ended some time ago, but on particular nights when no other events were scheduled, and if one knew the right persons, people like her could have all the time that might like to wander through. Some nights, she would buy her ticket and stand against the glass at her favorite patch of reef and watch the fish live their lives. They darted in and out of the many holes as if in play, in their own backyard, until they felt the desire to rest as all living creatures do. Other nights, like tonight, she was content to lie on the floor in the middle of the room and just look up, very much as she would when the skies were especially clear and revealed the stars.

She wondered what other creatures might move like sharks--snakes, perhaps, but it was difficult to say. There was something in the way they glided through the water that reminded her of how quickly snakes could slither across the ground. It was their grace that made her take notice. Even the especially large sturgeon was a beautiful swimmer. Ally imagined that human bodies looked terribly uncoordinated to these creatures, if they had the capacity to make judgments.

Hands folded on her stomach, legs stretched out before her, Ally was fine to lie on the floor. It was carpeted and they did vacuum it often, so it was not as if it were a filthy practice. Her blonde curls had softened and began to lose their shape, splayed out a bit around her head and above the collar of her leather trench coat. She looked like any other stylish, young woman that cared to venture out on this Seattle evening, save for the fact that perhaps others would be a bit more reserved with where they laid their head. The only real differences were, of course, that as she laid there, her chest did not rise and fall as another's would; and when she grinned, which Ally did from time to time when the fish did something that amused her, she was careful of how much tooth she bared, as two were a bit longer than usual.

A shark gave a short chase to a smaller group of the salmon and they darted over the glass and past Ally's head. She tilted some to see where they had veered off, but she knew they would be fine. They traveled in a great quantity and must be able to avoid predators. Ah, the shark, though; she wondered how solitary their lives truly were. People came and went behind her, or rather above and behind her head, but she paid no mind. Times like these, she wondered if there really were mere-creatures and if Ariel had been a real creature before Disney stole her identity for profit.

When: Night
Where: Bar or strip club
Who: Nikolaos and...

The air was cold, so cold that breath came in puffs before a persons lips. The sting of it clung against Nikolaos's skin and yet he'd barely blinked an eye to it since coming to the surface. Others had complained, low mutters of the chill compared to hells heat. Such whining earned them nothing good, a weakness that Nikolaos had decided to force them to face. It took little work to break into the kitchen of the hotel they were staying in after hours to throw the guards into the walk in freezer. But after a few hours the pair had ceased to complain about the surface world’s cold...all they had needed was a bit of perspective to what cold really was.

The first few days were spent adjusting, settling into the hotel and gathering up information so that all would know exactly what they were doing here. Or at the least...most of what they were doing here. The guards were unaware of any reason to think plans would change. it was best that way. It wasn't on them to keep everything going on schedule, it was Nik's. Yes he recalled the growled pleads of his mother well, claws digging into his hand, her eyes black. She knew better then to demand, all the woman of their family did. But she knew that Nik had the same...disgust...that she held towards all that could possibly come to pass on the surface.

For tonight he'd left the hotel and his father's side. He gave only word that he was going to do a bit of...exploring. If he was to work on the surface he had need to know the city now didn't he? The surface was not completely foreign to him but he'd not spent near the same amount of time on it as his father had. He was born and raised in hell, the ways of that world were what he kept to...not the pathetic rules made on the surface to protect the worthless weak. He'd already been given warning by his father to behave. Nik had merely smirked and said of course.

Ones definition of behave was rather different with all that you asked. But he knew what his father spoke of and Nik would attempt to walk that thin line of enjoyment and pushing the law here too far.

Cloaked in the nights shadows he moved, silently cutting his way through the city to finally reach the destination of some bar, strip club, tavern, as though he cared or knew. The bright lights and woman dressed in little had drawn his attention. There was the scent of sin and pain in the air, a familiar scent that made gray eyes nearly flash in anticipation. But there was a distinct problem with the surface world...the shows they gave were so...weak. The strongest dominatrix and the pet that loved pain...it still paled compared to the shows that Nikolaos could put on. Sitting to a back booth with boots upon the table and a waitress or two buzzing around him he had the distinct urge to show them all. One show, just a few moments, that’s all it would take to open their eyes...

"Another drink..." one of the girls sweetly cooed, breaking his focus away from the stage. "Not unless you have something better then this piss." he returned in that same sickly sweet tone with a bright smile flashed. The girl looked confused "But...this is the most expensive we have!" a pointless argument, the liquor tasted hardly better then water. Shelling out money for something that could barely be called sub par, Nik couldn't help but sneer. “Your best is pathetic, come back when you can really offer me something.” Nik hissed, waving the plastic looking creature away from him like he was swatting at a fly.

The girl hmphed, hands on her hips and her eyes attempting to shoot daggers but it was such a pathetic attempt that Nik could only laugh at her. The girl ran quickly away, one gone but he had no doubt others would soon try to get money out of him. Nik simply shook his head in disappointment and let his eyes draw back up to the stage to watch the next worthless attempt to entertain start.