Haunted Roads

When: Night
Where: Towers
Who: Keisuke and OPEN

Vampires for the most part, hated to travel. It was understandable really. For a species that could not bear sunlight and one that was weakened by its need to stay away from light, traveling meant being at the mercy of whatever unknown environment or people they were near during the daytime. Traveling was a hassle, a risk to be avoided. This was one of the reasons many and most vampires chose to stay root in their native home. Keisuke traveled more than any of the other "siblings" of his clan- he'd always been a bit of an outsider, this was merely one more strange characteristic to set him apart.

He didn't especially like traveling, much for the same reasons any other vampire wouldn't like traveling. Although he had safety spots, rooms, places he knew he could get to if he needed to stay somewhere in emergency, the chances of being trapped by daylight somewhere brought uncomfortable memories and the closest thing to fear that the vampire could feel actively. The faint scars from his last experience with daylight still decorated the back of his hands, though they had long since faded from their original burnt flesh look.

He'd been gone for a good few weeks, delayed by publications then by his own desire to stay put in Los Angeles to regain some security and establish a few more connections before returning to Seattle. He'd finally booked his return flight through the internet, marveling at the ease that modern technology allowed things to be accomplished these days. No longer did he have to worry about having to buy things at night, limited by what was open or relying on a third party to do his purchasing for him. Now he could order whatever he wanted from the internet. Amazon was your friend.

The flight was on time and he'd taken a taxi from the airport back to the Towers. Time was a strangely viewed concept for the undead and the few weeks that he'd been gone felt both like no time at all and like forever. It didn't matter. There could be time for getting to relearn the place. Holding the small travel duffel he'd lived out of during the trip to California, he made his way through the double doors of the Tower into the central lobby, shaking off the bit of rain he'd gotten on himself from the taxi to the building entrance.

Who: Jade and Tavin
Where: The Towers, 13th floor - Pool Area
When: Evening
What: Imagine meeting you here...

Jade had a night off from work, and after she'd been awake for a while, she'd decided to try out the indoor pool that she'd seen before but never swam in. She was sure that other tenants must use the pool, but there was nobody else up here, same as the day she'd toured the building. She didn't mind that. At her job, she spent so much time dealing with people that it was nice to have some downtime. Hotel management was definitely not a job for the meek.

Once arriving at the pool, which was dimly lit and surrounded by deck chairs and foliage, she put her towel and robe down on one of the chaises and strolled to the deep end. Pausing briefly, she seemed to be waiting for a signal, or possibly just orienting herself to the humidity in here. Once she was ready, she dove into the water, propelling herself through the light and shadow cast by the lights beneath the surface. It was soothing, and she turned to float on her back after she'd swam for a few minutes.

Life had been busy lately, and when it hadn't, she'd made it so. She needed distraction from her Sire and his machinations and manipulations and from the knowledge that Tavin and Jerzy lived right here, in the same building. She'd made it her business to find out which apartment they occupied, though she'd done nothing with the knowledge. It had upset Jerzy terribly to see her as she was now, and she could only imagine what he'd told Tavin. She was probably lucky that Tav hadn't come to hunt her down with a stake and holy water, she thought wryly.

She'd love to see Tavin again, which was an excellent reason for her to stay away. One, he didn't want her, and she couldn't imagine that her being a vampire would change that, and two, she could be dangerous to him. Well, him and Jerzy. She hadn't given in to Tony's... unique information gathering methods at the Theatre du Macabre that night, and she didn't plan to. She supposed he could try to torture the information out of her, but he hadn't taken that tactic yet. She'd be rather surprised if he did. It wasn't that she didn't think him capable of it, but it hadn't been a tactic he'd seemed to have any interest in using on her thus far.

Ah, well. Right now was for forgetting problems, not trying to create more. Jade floated, occasionally trailing her hands through the water to achieve a small amount of movement.

Who: Jade and Jerzy
When: early evening
Where: the Towers' mail room, main floor

Jade had been able to make her way over from the Grand to the Old Town Towers earlier than she might've been ordinarily due to the weather. From late afternoon on, the skies were dark and the clouds low. All she had to do was put on a hooded jacket with the hood pulled down halfway obscuring her face as she walked to the car she'd borrowed from a co-worker. She actually liked cool, cloudy weather, which was a good thing considering that she was living in Seattle. There'd been very little of it where she'd grown up.

She'd spent a while in the office talking to the leasing manager about renting an apartment, something she'd been thinking about since she'd visited Tony here. Despite the fact that living and working at the Grand had worked out well for her so far, she was intrigued by the idea of living in a building that contained other supernaturals. According to her Sire, there were several vampires here besides himself. She'd thought that it might be a good idea to live closer to him, as well, considering that he'd agreed to assist her with the skills that were latent within her since he'd turned her.

She had no interest in living too close to him, though, which was why she'd decided to rent a one-bedroom place on the second floor. She'd discussed having the windows tinted with the leasing agent, something she never would have thought of had Tony not mentioned it to her. The interview had gone well, and she'd been shown the apartment and signed the papers on it. She'd be able to move in by the weekend.

Once she was finished with her business, she'd decided to wander around the place and see what amenities were offered. She'd taken the elevator to the top floor to check out the pool area and the enclosed gardens, noticing that everything seemed to be in terrific shape. She particularly enjoyed the gardens in the dim natural light. The residents' floors, while attractive, seemed to be pretty much the same, so she didn't linger there, but exited the elevator on the main floor. Before long, she'd have to drive back to the Grand and her evening's work.

Jade wandered through the commons area, idly glancing around and nodding to the occasional person she encountered, then crossed the corridor past the elevators, heading in an aimless way toward the lobby and the front doors. Fishing in the pocket of her coat for the car keys, she looked into the mail room area that was just to the left of the main entrance... and stopped. There was someone in there who looked very familiar, and she blinked as she stared at his back. No way. Could that possibly be Jerzy Luvic, here at Old Town Towers?

Who: Jade and Tony
When: late evening
Where: Old Town Towers, D-11
Rating: there's absolutely no telling...

Jade was off from work tonight, and she'd been taking advantage of that by wandering farther from the areas where she usually fed. The day had been cloudy, and now that night had fallen, a chill had invaded the air, making the leather coat she wore over faded jeans and low-cut silk shirt completely reasonable. She did not feel the cold as she once had, finding that she was able to tolerate it very well now; formerly, she'd been the sort who complained every time the temperature dropped below fifty. She'd grown up in the dry heat of Arizona, and strangely she missed it even now. Still, that was the past and she knew that she'd likely never live permanently in Sedona again.

The heels of her battered brown boots clicked on the sidewalk as she walked briskly away from her latest victim, her stride fast yet somehow still nonchalant. She wore a thin silver wire necklace threaded with chunky amber and topaz-colored stones, and it thunked against her chest as she walked. It matched the dangling earrings she wore; she'd made the set herself before she'd been turned, when she'd been home for Christmas. Jade cast one last quick glance at the man she'd left on the bench, seeing that he was still sitting as she'd left him, hands folded loosely in his lap and his head lowered as if he might've dozed off while waiting for the bus. He wasn't dead, but he'd probably wish he was once he woke up. She was learning the fine art of how much blood she could take and leave a person reasonably coherent, but she didn't think she'd applied it in this case. She'd been too hungry.

Once out of sight, she licked at the end of one finger and dabbed at her lips, particularly in the corners of her mouth, wanting to make sure she hadn't left any blood on her face. As she walked along, she pulled a silver tube of lipstick from her jacket pocket and applied some more, blotting her lips with no need for a mirror. It was a trick she'd always been good at since the days when she'd first started wearing the stuff. Jade turned her head and glanced in the window of the shop she was passing, pleased to see that she looked the same as she had when she'd first left the Grand. Normal. If it weren't for the fangs that were ever-present in her mouth, she might think that she was normal.

( dark water )

Lunch break had taken on a whole new meaning to Jade in the six weeks that she'd been a vampire.

It was one a.m. when she left the Grand Hyatt through one of the back entrances, her brass nametag carefully left in the desk drawer in her office. She'd also left the black blazer she'd been wearing in there and unbuttoned the top two buttons of the stylish white silk shirt that was tucked into her black skirt. Now she was less business professional and more anything goes. She strode across the back parking lot, not minding the chilly air that surrounded her. Rain was forecast for later in the day, but Jade would be tucked into bed in her newly modified suite by the time it arrived. Once she reached the sidewalk, she headed away from the massive hotel where she lived and worked, her high heels clicking on the concrete as she walked along, the sound hollow in the quiet early morning.

You don't shit where you eat. It was something one of her unfailingly vulgar older brothers might have said, but the adage applied very well, she thought, a faint smile curving one side of her mouth upward. Despite the sheer number of rooms and floors at the Grand, Jade would not slake her hunger there. The last thing she'd want would be news reports of a crime spree at the Grand Hyatt. Thus far she had not killed anyone, but guest after guest sick and pale and drained of a large quantity of their blood would cause a stir, wouldn't it?

Jade had a talent for missteps and a penchant for calamity, but she had every intention of becoming less so. Never mind that she'd been dazzled by yet another fucking man who'd hauled ass when he was done with her. She didn't need him, she stubbornly told herself every day, even as she felt him somewhere in her mind. He was not truly done with her, nor she with him, though she would not acknowledge that fact. There was no way it could be that simple.

Nothing ever was, except maybe this.

She stood at the curb once she'd gotten several blocks away from the Grand, wrapping her arms around herself and glancing around, attempting to look uncertain. The wind blew her blonde hair around her face, and large green eyes peered anxiously at the darkened street. There was still traffic at this hour, still people emerging from the bar several doors down. After a few minutes of fake-shivering in her stiletto heels, one of these mildly inebriated patrons approached her. "You need some help, hon?" He was slurring his words, and Jade had to bite back a smirk.

Like shooting fish in a barrel, this was.