Static Life [Closed]

[Lucyfer]

For Lydia Vespyr, the world was full of changes. It was the main thought that crossed her mind, over and over again, as she sat on the train and toyed with the tablet she had. ‘I never would have dreamed….’ Though she knew many years had passed, it didn’t feel like it had been all that long since she became a vampire and was removed from the world proper.


Technology had always seeped in. Her sire had been obsessed with it. It was how she understood the tablet well enough to access the internet, and she understood that well enough to siphon funds from her sire’s bank account into her own. It would be a gradual process, but eventually, everything the man ever had would be hers.


Her final acts of revenge.


An announcement echoed over the intercom to let her know they would soon be stopping at the next city, Tristram. It had been the first place to catch her eye, since she’d heard of it before. It was a city she could get lost in, and so it had to have others like her. Her sire had suggested it was the norm for vampires to gravitate towards the large cities.


When the train stopped, Lydia grabbed her one bag from above her seat, slipped her backpack over her shoulders, and walked out. She held the tablet close to her chest and navigated her way into the train station, which may as well have been union station in Chicago for how huge it was to her. Plenty of screens were around detailing train information, and directions were written on signs. The brunette vampiress did her best to follow those signs, and eventually stumbled out into the night light.


She paused there on the cement steps and took in the city, blue eyes widening. Never in her life had she seen a place like this. ‘Deep breath.’ Unnecessary, but it helped her to get her bearings. ‘What did he say about finding other vampires?’


Look for the rich places, he had suggested. If that fails, look for the bars and the clubs to find them hunting. At the thought, she licked her own lips, but then swallowed back the thought. Not now. She could wait at least one night.


There were taxis lining the street, and Lydia walked right over to one, “Excuse me,” she moved to stand by one of the drivers who was outside his vehicle, “I need to get to the downtown area, please.”


“Sure, any place in particular?”


“No,” she shook her head.


The man then let her into the backseat and within fifteen minutes, she was in the downtown area, full of lights and activity. She paid, and left, and then just started to walk, listening for music. It didn’t take her long to happen upon a place that read The Grand Event, with bass so loud it nearly blew the doors open. That wasn’t what caught her eyes, though. Right besides the theater, in the shadows of it, were vampires feeding. ‘What luck.’


Lydia bypassed the doors and walked into the alley where they were, and cleared her throat to draw attention, just in case the red dress wasn’t noticeable enough.


~***~


Elsewhere, Sir Roland Gerard found himself in the meeting room of the Hyatt hotel, tapping his fingers on a glass table and waiting for all the others. A few of the others had arrived, but not nearly all. ‘Not nearly enough for what’s going on.’


There were always problems in the domain of Tristram. Roland dealt with many of the problems since he was more or less the town sheriff. Knight was more appropriate, but since this was America, sheriff was the popular nickname.


The problem this time was not hunters, nor rival vampires.


The problem this time was an old problem. The abandoned old person’s home was starting to draw attention. Accidents were happening around it. People were starting to acknowledge it was ‘haunted’. Televisions nearby were going to random static and showing a difficult-to-see face, or playing an incomprehensible noise.


Roland had quickly bought a house in that area to try and figure it out for himself, but so far nothing had manifested on his television. No strange incidents. Nothing.


The stories didn’t stop, however. Others were hearing it. Roland wasn’t the one to call the meeting, after all, and he knew that more than the usual things were going to be on the agenda.

 

[Ordinary]

Caroline waited just a few paces outside The Grand Event, a popular club, and a place of great selection when a pair of vampires needed to feed. She leaned against the brick wall of a building, positioned in the darkest part between a set of streetlights. She tugged down her dark blue dress after a group of men whistled at her.


A large rock was soon placed in their path causing most of the group to stumble or fall. While some would call it a coincidence, Caroline knew better than to be so foolish. She turned her head back to the alleyway and whispered a gentle "Thank you." She saw Alex give a faint nod before retreating back into the shadows. While Alex was perfectly comfortable teasing Caroline, he hated when others made her uncomfortable. It was something like an older brother mentality.


Caroline redirected her attention to the people leaving the club. Finally a guy by himself, stumbled around the corner. He could barely walk. Caroline rushed over too him, playing the part of a worried girlfriend. "There you are. Oh god, look at you. You're a complete mess." She said pretending to struggle to support his weight. Of course she could easily lift the man, but that would ruin the illusion and draw unnecessary attention.


The drunkard looked at her strangely, then decided that she was someone he knew or at least someone he met recently. He allowed himself to be led away by Caroline. The black haired beauty pulled him into the alley where Alex was waiting.


He quickly sank his fangs into his neck and covered his mouth, as they dragged him away from the street. The club-goer twisted and struggled, but lost whatever fight he had as Caroline sunk her fangs in as well.


After several minutes of feeding, Alex noticed someone approach them. He wiped his mouth off using the back of his hand and looked up. "Is there something I can help you with sweetheart?" He questioned rather angrily at his meal interruption.


Caroline on the other hand, hadn't noticed the newcomer until Alex started talking, even though she cleared her throat. With a small jump, she stopped feeding and turned around. "Alex. How do you know she's one of us?" She asked timidly.


Without looking in Caroline's direction, he responded, "A human would have ran screaming. A vampire asks if they can partake." He explained, his eyes never moving from the vampiress.

 

[Lucyfer]

“You’ll note I didn’t ask to partake.” Nor did she run away screaming. Although the scent of blood made her hungry, she didn’t step any closer or ask.


Rather, she pressed her shoulder into the wall and looked over first the man, then the woman, who were clearly vampiric. She got the impression from the man that he was angry, the emotion wafting off of him. She could make an effort to change it, but chose not to.


First introductions shouldn’t go the route of power abuse. “You can continue,” she informed him, “I’m new to the area so I simply need instructions on where is safe to sleep, and information regarding who is in charge so I can properly introduce myself. I may be staying here a while.” She hadn’t figured out yet if that would be the case, but she knew she would be here for more than one day.


That meant she should introduce herself. “My name is Lydia,” she offered, but didn’t extend her hand. If he did intend to finish his meal, he wouldn’t want to come over and shake her hand. It’d be a further interruption. "and I can wait. I'm in no rush." She explained, hoping her words of patience would be enough to calm the vampire's anger towards her.

 

[Ordinary]

Alex scoffed. She may not have asked to partake, but he could still see the bloodlust in her eyes. Seeing the hunger in her eyes reminded him of his own, as he licked his lips. He gazed back at his meal, and sank his fangs back in.


When it was clear that the newcomer wasn't there to interrupt but to inquire about instructions, Caroline piped up. "We aren't natives, but we're currently staying in a hotel. I can't remember the name right now. Where are we staying Alex?"


The male glared at his companion. Not only had she given out his name, but she almost gave out their location. "I really don't think it's necessary for her to know our room number, do you?"


"Well, no. But that wasn't what I meant-"


"I know what you meant." Looking at the newcomer he added, "Most of us check in at the Hyatt. A few others prefer more remote locations." That was the last either girls would hear from him until he was done feeding.


"I'm Caroline and that's Alex." She introduced when it became obvious that her partner wouldn't. "Now if you'll excuse me." She said politely as she finished feeding.


"So what brought you here?" She questioned as she smoothed out her dress.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Are they going to kill him?’


It was strange for Lydia to watch, and she did wonder how one human could survive having its blood drained by two vampires. Was that how things were meant to be here? When Caroline, as she later introduced herself, mentioned she wasn’t native, Lydia understood that couldn’t be the case. They didn’t know who she could introduce herself to, but it seemed the Hyatt had the capabilities to deal with them during the day.


‘A vampire will be behind it.’ A negligent vampire if they weren’t checking the records of who needed the rooms with the sun protection.


Things were going to be quite different here. “Thank you,” she said to Alex when the hotel was named. She then gave a smile and a nod to the woman to let her know it was fine to return to feeding.


Eventually, the two finished feeding. Lydia could have left before then, since she received all the information she needed from them, but stayed. It would have been rude to just walk off like that. Caroline continued the conversation with a question, and Lydia shrugged, told the half-truth, “I wasn’t happy where I was. You?”

 

[Ordinary]

Caroline wasn't upset by the vague answer. She just assumed it was a painful memory that she would prefer to leave in the back of her mind. She understood and wasn't going to push the issue. She was a bit surprised when the question was turned back on her. While most people, including vampires, travel with purpose, Caroline has been drifting since her creation. Or, more accurately, since she met Alex. But still, it was the female of the duo who had chosen their current location. "Um. A gut feeling I suppose." She said softly.


Alex watched the two converse, and he was rather upset when Caroline admitted to dragging them here on a whim. He hated this city. While it would've been pleasant back when he was a reporter it was extremely boring as a vampire. He heard the rhythmic shallow breathing of their meal come to a stop. He was surprised by how much of a fighter the drunkard was. When he was on his on his own he would just kill then feed. But somehow Caroline had convinced him how painful and inhumane it was. Some bullshit about it being more peaceful for the human. In reality the only plus side was how much more quickly the blood came when it was still pulsing.


Pulling a pocket knife out of the pocket of his black jeans Alex connected the pair of fang marks to cover them. He cleaned the blade off on the guy's shirt and tucked it back into place. Now he was ready to go. Grabbing Caroline's arm, he pulled her behind him. He looked at Lydia and grimaced. "Thanks for the interruption." He spat before turning around and leaving. He pulled Caroline behind him.


Holding her own, she forced Alex to stop. "Shouldn't we be nice and show her to the hotel?" She whispered to him.


"No." He said not bothering to lower his voice. "I want to go lay down and she can find her own damn way."

 

[Lucyfer]

A gut feeling? Lydia canted her head at the statement. She could say the same. Many options had presented themselves before Lydia, but she had chosen this location over any other location in the world.


When Alex disengaged, it was before she could inquire more about the gut feeling. An eyebrow arched as the body slumped, dead. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out, and Lydia’s nose wrinkled in disgust at the way Alex chose to deal with humans. It was completely unnecessary to kill. ‘So says the murderer.’ Lydia ignored the thought.


Alex was still angry, and now unnecessarily rude, too. She let her eyelids lower to show her distaste, “You’re welcome,” she responded to his ‘thanks’, and then focused on his back for a few seconds, working to push fear into his heart so that the next time he saw her, he’d just recall that immense fear he felt on turning his back.


She did not stick around to see if the emotion would stick and bubble up, or if there would be any reaction. She had the name of the hotel, and she could call a cab. That was exactly what she did, too. She stepped out onto the downtown street, and located one as she’d done before. “To the Hyatt, please,” she instructed the driver.


~***~


Roland’s official business had ended, but he and his liege lady remained in the Hyatt, sitting at the bar with glasses of red blood. The Hyatt was Veronica’s, after all, and entrusted to keep safe the vampires of the domain.


In the silence, broken only by the piano, they were both thinking the same thing. Someone just had to vocalize it. “What will we do if it is that?”


Roland let the blood travel down his throat in a gulp as he considered Veronica’s query. He shook his head. “I don’t know,” he answered. Their research into the entity had slacked in recent years. “We must hope it isn’t, for now.” He would investigate it. That was the plan.


“You shouldn’t go alone.” He’d been ordered to go, but none of the other grand nobles of the area volunteered to go along with him. The knight would never ask anyone to. Too many in this domain had forgotten how to fight, preferring instead to do battle with money or charisma.


Roland turned his head with a lazy smile to Veronica, one of those vampires, "Would you come along with me, darling?" He asked, a smirk as he saw her blue eyes harden at the term of endearment.


"I would."


Roland looked surprised, but then shook it off and shook his head, "You can't." They both knew it, "You're the leader here, and if anything were to happen we'd have to deal with that shithead Marcus." And he had no inclinations to follow Marcus's orders.