[IC] Into the Harsh Light of Day

[Kidd]

The mob dispersed and Klaus slowed to a stop, scowling at the humans as they retreated around corners and down alleyways. Admittedly, the vampire liked mortals quite a lot and would choose to spend time with a human over another vampire. So seeing them respond to loyally and entirely to a fellow vampire irritated him quite a bit--not that he'd ever say so. Still, he straightened himself out and fixed his hair before his gaze flickered about, waiting for the culprit to show herself.

"Oh, I thought you liked it when women threw themselves at you, Klaus," Caroline purred.

The corner of his lip twitched into a smile despite the grumpy haze over his eyes. "Certain women," he responded curtly. And when she responded by flirting, he grew a little cold and glanced away instead of watching her...until she came quite close. His eyes drank in her figure and he found himself leaning into her, drawn to her silky voice like a magnet--

Only for her to turn away.

He blinked, irritation furrowing his brow for just a moment. "If you're lucky," he responded, a lazy smile reappearing on his lips as he stepped forward to follow Caroline. "Unfortunately, love, I'm here on..business of sorts." When he caught up to the French vampire, he looked her up and down and then away as his smirk faded. When he caught up to the French vampire, he looked her up and down and then away as his smirk faded.

He was a sucker for flirting and was always caught off guard when not the initiator, but he still quick to join in--typically. However, the woman was right and he was feeling quite sunken into himself that night, and probably would be during his stay in Chicago. He would never admit to it, but nightmares still plagued his days of his fledgling days and he knew joining The Society's action against Ferals would make it worse. And so, with his thoughts so heavy, he wasn't feeling up to carrying even a fun conversation.

[AtomicNut]

"Playing hard to get, now, chére?" Caroline purred as she lead the way towards the alleys. "Don't do that to me, now...I'm hurt." The french vampire feigned a somewhat sad tone, even thought she was pretty obviously messing with the other vampire as she walked by. She then stopped short in her tracks, and turned her sight. "Are you even Klaus? Because I have never ever heard the word business coming from your mouth."

Her head tilted slightly. as she undid her steps and grabbed Klaus' arm. "You're aching inside. Ghosts and skeletons from the past? Or worries of the present?" Caroline said in a soft, tone. "So much you can't have fun with a proper lady. But it's okay, chére. You've still got my good graces. I'll bring you to a place." She whispered. "A place of trust, what with hunters and vampire loons eating other vampires these days."

Her gaze rest upon Klaus, and then upon the neon lights a little way away. "The Twilight Match. Two lovebirds started the club. They were coworkers at my clinic. I even forwarded some money for their business to boom. They are of trust." The French Vampire accented as she leant towards Klaus even more. But not playfully, not smiling.

"Les cochons attacked and ruined part of my clinic. They also took my fledging. All while I was supplying a blood delivery to some meeting." She said in a somber, scowling tone. "Not even hunters do that." Her arm was becoming a steely grip by the moment. "A proper lady has to be beaming and smiling, but even I won't be able to keep doing that if I don't get a little break from this. At this rate, I'll rip their hearts out of their chests, and watch them struggle with what left they have of life."

And then, all of a sudden her smile and coyly nature was back, as she giggled slightly. "Well, what do you think of this place? Good as any, huh?"

[FateWeaver]

Bernard followed his progeny from a good distance, tracking her more by scent than sight. He already knew the route, but that was not the point. She had not followed and investigated the shadows, and so he once more followed her. It struck him as quite sad that he had nothing better to do than follow this younger vampire around, but a near two centuries in the shadows had left him a bit estranged from the goings-on of the world. He of course knew about the rising feral epidemic, and had been required to defend himself several times recently.

Maxine was well ahead of him when the doors of a club nearby exploded outward with the haste of those trying to move through them. At first he noted only the music with mild distaste, then Bernard found himself suddenly surrounded by terrified humanity. They rushed around him like so many mice scattering before a hunting feline, and his urge to feed rose to the forefront of his attention. He had lost Max's scent in the crowd anyway, but he could catch up to her later. At the moment, he had other needs to satisfy.

His selection was almost random. The first woman that came close enough to bump into Bernard found her wrist in a cast iron grip, though he was not overly rough. "This way," he muttered under his breath as he started toward a nearby alley, and in her panic the woman followed. Had she not, he simply would have drug her along anyway. Nobody was likely to notice in this group. As they neared the alley his prey spoke up, causing him to grimace.

"Who... who are you?" she asked, and finally Bernard turned to regard her. They were deep within the shadows between two tall buildings now, well out of sight. When the woman saw his red eyes glowing faintly in the darkness, she looked about to faint. Pushing her up against one wall, his kissed her cheek almost gently. His tongue flashed between his lips, and his prey shuddered when it touched her skin.

"I am the man you will never remember," he whispered solemnly, letting a smile touch the corners of his mouth. He kissed her neck once, and then bit viciously into her carotid artery. As Bernard drained the woman, he kneeled with her as she slumped to the ground. When finally he could take no more without snuffing out her feeble life, he lay her carefully on the ground. The nameless woman would only remember the panic of leaving the club when she woke. If the darker elements of the city allowed her to wake.

Feeling much more himself, Bernard set out towards Maxine's home. She would get there far before him, but that bothered him little. The night was still young.

[BreakingMe]

Max reached her building safely. She made the trek up the four flights of stairs to apartment 4013. The elevator never seemed reliable enough in her opinion and besides, she walked to and from work so what was another few minutes of walking? Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult blasted loudly in her ears. She hummed along to the catchy tune. She slid her key into the door handle but the door popped open before she had a chance to turn it. That’s odd, she thought. Living alone in the city had always made Max a cautious person. She never left the house without locking the door.

She pulled her headphones out of her ears, still hearing the music blasting loudly. She pushed the door open all the way but didn’t step in yet. She looked around. Her sight was better than a human but the room had blackout curtains and she couldn’t see much of anything. “Hello?” she called out. Yes, because the robbers will be sure to announce their presence for my comfort. Stupid girl. She took a few steps forward into the front entry way. The living room was directly in front of her but the kitchen was around the corner to her left and her bedroom and bathroom were down the hall on her right. The doors to both rooms appeared closed from where she could see.

She made a few more steps in, taking her jacket off slowly and dropping it with her cell phone to the floor. She peered down the hallway, hoping her eyesight would adjust to the darkness in time to spot any danger. She listened for a sound and heard nothing. “Pandora?” she called out. Her stub tailed alley cat usually greeted her at the door, begging for food. This can’t be good. Just as the thought entered her mind, she heard a slight creek in the floor. She froze. Silence filled the air. Maybe it was just the cat? Maybe my super opened the door and didn’t lock it when he left? Maybe I’m just being paranoid? She tried to relax but failed miserably. “Pandora?” she called out again. The silence still lingered. Well, I might as well get this over sooner than later. If someone had broken in, Max would most likely be able to overpower them enough to scare them off.

She reached for the lamp sitting next to the door and clicked it on. Immediately an ashen face, blonde woman leaped at her from the middle of room. Max was startled and knocked off balance. The blonde landed on top of her as they both hit the floor. Max reached out and grabbed the stool pushed up against the wall beside her. She cracked it over the blonde’s head, catching her off guard enough to stun her. Max squirmed out from beneath her and ran toward the hallway. She kept a loaded 9mm in her bedside table for protection. It wouldn’t kill the vampire but may subdue her enough for Max to get away. The blonde recovered, leaping up and tackling her again. This time she took Max down hard. Her skull cracked against the hard wood flooring, blurring her vision. The blonde crouched above her face, grabbed her around the throat and laughed. “He told me it would be easy. You newborn vampires are hardly stronger than humans. But your blood…that’s definitely stronger. And I’m starving.” Max tried gasping for air as she took in the woman’s words. This was a feral vampire and Max’s life was in danger.

The blonde traced her free hand along the side of Max’s face. “You know,” she smirked, “you’re almost too pretty to kill. If I wasn’t so hungry, I think I’d try to convince you to my side of thinking. You’d be a wonderful pet.” Max was thankful that this woman seemed to like to play with her kills. It gave her enough of a chance to catch her bearings and choke out a few words. “How did you find me? Did…did he send you?” She didn’t want to think that her sire had a reason to kill her - she always liked to think of him as more of a guardian angel - but she didn’t really know. The blonde’s grin widened. “Yes. He did. He knows where all you newborns live. He said I could choose whoever I wanted to eat. But I didn’t know you’d be beautiful. It’s a shame really.” The blonde tightened her grip on Max’s neck. “But no more talking… I need to eat.” Max looked around for something to grab or some way to escape as the blonde leaned down to her neck. Black spots dotted her eyes as the remaining oxygen left her body. The blonde’s teeth grazed her neck and Max gasped.

[EthTenshi]

Azreil stood in the midst of a travelling crowd with both hands on his cane smelling the air, a number of people had stopped and stared at him. Who knows maybe they were expecting a show? Lord knows it looked like he could start a performance at any time, but they would be sadly mistaken when he had finished analysing the air. To maximize his sense of smell he had already blinded himself by closing his eyes, numbed his sense of feeling through willpower, and clogged his ears with the drowning crowd that surrounded him. Ignoring the more obvious smells like perfume, cologn, beer, urine, feces, pizza, spaghetti, and such he caught wind of mixed blood, the smell he had been looking for earlier.

With it he smelled burning flesh, that one generally meant hunters. Or a rash case of idiocracy either way it could be worth checking out, or it could be a bit of a stale situation. He decided to track the smell of mixed blood, after all his job leaned more towards ferals as opposed to hunters. Of course a normal hunt would not ne this detail and could easily be confused by the myriad of smells in a city, but his were heightened by many folds from cutting off his other primary sense. As he stepped forward the crowd became curious, with his exagerated limp he could sense a few of the crowd memembers become embarrassed. That's what you get for being overly curious. he thought to himself wanting to snort but refused so he did not loose the scent trail. Before long he came to a certain street block and hid in the shadows watching the area.

Azreil noticed something that he knew only meant trouble, a limousine circleing the block, much like a shark would close in on chummy water, quite a few number of times before coming to a halt. He sighed inwardly, only one person would do such a thing and not care. A very high profile person who cared little about attracting attention, the son of his late master and the face of the Octus. Giving a moment to the thought of actually telling the purebred that he was in the town gave him a string of mental problems, the first of which was a chewing out. Although that would be much worse later than sooner the outcome would be the same, and then there was always the possibility of extra demands. Then again Octavious seemed to understand the need for singular pursuit, but who knew exactly what he would require from Azreil to stay within his good graces.

He sighed as silently as inhumanly possible and pulled out his shelltop phone slamming in a message. To Octavious:My deepest appologise that I have not contacted you sooner about entering the city. as I have been scouring Chicago, but I do believe that I see your limousine circleing the block. Is there sommething I should be cautious of in the area? sending the message he grew anxious over the next few moments. He really did not know who he thought he was fooling, as the purebred would know full well that Azreil would have had an idea of what was in the area. However what he wanted to know was what Octavious knew.

[FateWeaver]

Long strides brought Bernard to his destination in relatively short order. He hadn't stopped long to feed, and had walked with purpose since. Now nearing her building, he stopped and moved to one side of it. Not wanting to chance her spotting him on the stairs or elevator, he would take another route. As he disappears into the shadows of the alley he closes up the front of his duster. It would make less noise and obscure him more that way. Rolling his shoulders, he starts to extend his wings. There was a separation between the mantle and the main body of the coat, allowing him to fly with it on and otherwise easily conceal nearly anything on his person.

Crouching down low, the purebred makes a standing vertical leap. Between his legs and his wings, he is able to to get onto the roof of the next building over with little effort beyond the jump. He was just above Maxine's apartment now, and could see light splash against a window as a door opened. Listening intently, he could barely make out her voice as she called to her cat. That was unusual, for the feline was usually at the door. Bernard had run across Pandora several times, and the cat always eyed him curiously. While considering the possibilities, a muffled crash returned his attention to what was actually going on. He heard another voice now, another woman, and that decided it.

After considering the angle for a moment, Bernard pulls his wings back under his coat. With a running jump, he hurls himself towards Maxine's window. In the air, his hand dives into a pocket of his coat to retrieve his Taurus. He hit the glass feet first, crashing ingloriously to the floor on the other side. Righting himself, he doesn't take the time to consider the situation. Lining up his revolver with a mass of blonde hair, he squeezes the trigger. The first shot throws the woman's head forward, bouncing it off the floor. Before the assailant can react five more shots ring out, causing it to fall to one side of Maxine.

The stranger starts to weakly push itself up, unsteady but clearly still alive. Thoroughly worked up by now, Bernard isn't done. As he walks toward the crumpled blonde he throws the empty revolver at it with enough force to crack what remains of her skull. When he reaches her, he picks her up by the neck and forces her against the wall. Now he could see the fangs in her open mouth, and it clicked.

"Feral trash!" he snarls, slamming the limp vampire into the wall again. He raises his free hand, driving his stiff fingers into the base of her throat. His claws part her skin easily, allowing him to hold her up with that hand while moving the other. Repeating the motion, he takes a grip at the bottom of her jaw. Muscles straining, Bernard rips the feral vampire's head from it shoulders with a grunt of effort. Still seething, he looks over at Max with wild eyes. There was no telling what she would think of his sudden appearance, and he longed to rush back to the window. It was too late now though, she would have had plenty of time to see him in action.

[Kidd]

"I've been goofing off for nine hundred years. You gotta settle down and get a job sometime," Klaus said sternly, though the crooked smirk that showed off a fang gave it away as a joke. The smile still didn't reach his eyes, though. And when Caroline's hand reached his arm, he stiffened for a moment and his smile faded as he watched her face. Women were annoyingly perceptive and Caroline was no exception--hell, it was infuriating how perception this one was, and he had to glance away as she invited him to a place of trust. As if that was easy.

Her fingers on his arm tightened and he glanced to her pale hand, reminded of a child gripping their parent's sleeve as they stared with caution at a stranger. He remained quiet, unresponsive. He let her say all that she wanted, and only nodded in agreement: "I'll rip their hearts out of their chests, and watch them struggle with what left they have of life."

Then, like a switch was flicked, she was back. It was only then that an honest smile came to his face--a tired smile, but an honest one nonetheless. He patted his hand to the one she rested against his arm and nodded. "Sounds refreshing, love. Thank you." Then, he sighed and his gaze flickered about the cold city once more. He stood a little taller and his eyes suddenly gleamed with amusement. "Would you like a drink? I could use one myself--warm or a cold one on me, I don't really care at the moment if I'm being honest," he added with a wink.

[Wraithblade6]

Aldaric quickly held up his hand as Ehren reached out and grabbed another vampire with his sheer speed and strength, signalling to the congregation of ferals not to intervene. The look on Aldaric's face was a frown as Ehren drank from his unfortunate victim like prey. Aldaric's disapproving cold stare remained as Ehren pushed the feral vampire away, allowing him to survive, yet was softened only by the feel of Katarina's soft arm slipped into his.

He took her arm as Katarina spoke her peace. Aldaric glanced down at her for the moment a gentle and loving look that one might give a little sister, or an adored sweetheart. Yet the sight of her, the faint capitulation in her bend, the slightly hanging head and despondent purse of her lips called to him, and he realized that he needed to lead the way for her, right now. It was time to make his stand, to make his peace and let it be known for once and for all. His eyes flared in a beautiful green that no pureblood vampire could ever begin to emulate. He looked back at Ehren with such inner fire. Aldaric was not ready to back down in the least.

"You're free to do as you wish, lord vampire, but keep in mind... more than half this room would kill to find out what you taste like. Respecting another vampire's freedom is the only way to justify your own. Savvy?" The turned vampire's tongue hissed like a snake.

Aldaric jerked his head toward the vampire's corpse in the backround. "You've got it all wrong, 'friend.' I could let them go, the Society, but they certainly wouldn't let any of us go. They are cowards..." He said with a sneer. "...living under the boots of humankind, skulking and begging for their feed. Oh how far from grace they have fallen." Aldaric gestured inclusively, "We are gods. We cannot coexist alongside humans and expect to survive, so sayeth my predecessor. For what do you think humans will do once they grow numerous and feel they have had enough of tolerating our existence? Hm? Genocide, my near-sighted friend. And although you feel confident in your power now, what you don't realize is there are already enough human bodies walking this earth to bury every single one of us. They have the weaponry and the numbers. All they need is to realize it. All they need is for vampires to fight amongst themselves. Don't you see? There is no such thing as hiding for eternity! If the society prevails, then we are doomed. For one day, when there are only a handful of our most supplicant and pathetically broken brethren left, grovelling before mankind, they will decide to finish us off entirely, for they have no use for us bloodsuckers. No. We cannot allow that to come to pass. We must rise as champions and take back this world as is our birthright. Surely you must see it by now, as I do." Aldaric straightened, giving the aire of a great leader. "We are already fighting for our lives, pureblood, and so are you." His belief in his cause, his fervor, was evident in his aura of sincerity and strength. "Even if you have yet to suffer personal loss, as I have, we cannot let this 'Society' dwindle us into extinction. That is why they must be eliminated." With his ruby red hair and almost boyish face, Aldaric looked in that instant like a younger brother, a best friend from childhood to whom one would innocently confide their soul, and he was desperately explaining something of utter importance.

"And there you have it." Aldaric once more ended the speech he must've given a thousand times. There was no elation or prideful satisfaction. After a moment, he spoke more quietly to Katarina in a mildly British voice, "Come now milady. We must adieu. I've more hunting to do, and I absolutely hate rave music."

[AtomicNut]

"A drink AND business." Caroline giggled slightly. "Just like the kind of thing I do, really." The french vampire cooed, gently leading Klaus by the arm towards the entrance of the club. A large, well muscular bouncer turned their attention to them, his gaze appraising what sort of customers they where.

"Hello Johann." Caroline chided, and the bouncer's pokerface melted in a friendly smile as he opened the door.

"Ma'am." He added with a slight curtsy, inviting them in, as if they were old acquaintances. It was at this point when Caroline tilted her head.

"How are things?" She smiled, confirming the fact that the bouncer and she knew eachother. A little small talk, even if unsubstantial never hurt.

"Same old, Ma'am. Amanda's still in her rebellious teenager stage." The bouncer shook his head. "It's driving me and May nuts. As if managing the club wasn't enough." The bouncer sighed.

"Hang in there, Johann. She'll grow up." Caroline replied. "Ah, by the way, this fine gentleman is Klaus. He's an old friend of mine."

"Pleased to make you acquaintance, sir." The bouncer nodded as Caroline led Klaus inside. The faint rythmical thumping of heavy metal bass grew increasingly louder, as the smell of drinks and smoke invaded their nostrils. Inside the club, lowly illuminated by faint lights, as more than a hundred bodies dressed in subculture fashion danced, drank and squirmed together.

Moses raised the staff and divided the waters. Caroline didn't even need to make a gesture. All in a sudden the hundred clubbers looked at her and quickly parted to the sides, each one with a slight polite nod of servitude and acquaintance. Klaus could recognize that many of the clubbers had been in the earlier "fan craze" prank.

"I told you, place of trust." Caroline beamed with glee. "Carry on, I'm just here for a drink."It was totally worth to bend the rules for this. She added mentally.

And then the rave resumed, but not before the participants tastefully cleared a path to a VIP booth in the club. Many of them had a familiar tatoo, a serpent eating its tail, the same symbol as Caroline's medallion. Her minions.

She sat down in the table, indicating Klaus to do the same, as a waitress approached her no sooner she had finished accomodating.

"Hello May." Caroline didn't even need to turn to know who she was. There she was standing, a woman in her 40's, still in clothes that only a teenager would dare to wear, showing off a large pattern of tattoos all over her body. Her short, brown hair had been dyed in blue highlights, and her brown eyes scanned the newcomer. Even if she was starting the signs of age, the overall look and clothes looked good on her still.

"Hello, 'line." She added, correcting herself when she noticed the other figure besides her. "I mean, lady Caroline. I didn't know you uh.. had esteemed guests." She hesitated for a bit, before venturing "What can I...uh...get you?"

"Reconstituents. Vintage." Caroline said in a stern tone. Those were keywords. Human Blood. With the recipient. Eyeing the waitress intently, she decided to break the ice with some smalltalk. She doesn't like spotting other vampires than me, she needs to learn to hide it better... "I heard Amanda's giving trouble. Maybe I should have a talk with her from aunt to niece."

That seemed to hit the spot. May's face relaxed. "Nah, won't be necessary. Got her grounded. Just a bit." She ventured, as she wrote Caroline's request in her notebook.

"20 years, 30? We don't serve anything less than 18 aged. Strong or delicate flavour?" The waitress repeated, winking slightly at Klaus.

"Flirt." Caroline muttered under he breath.

[BreakingMe]

It all happened so fast. One minute Max as on the floor with her life flashing before her eyes - her childhood, her parents, the fact that she hadn’t called her sister in almost a week - and the next the blonde was off of her, pushed against the wall by a huge man. He swiftly removed her head from her body. With his bare hands. He turned to Max, a massive dark figure looming over her on the floor. His wild, fire red eyes burned into her own. She could hardly breathe. What the hell? He had swooped in at the very second he needed her. Like a dark angel of death. But not her own death; rather, a dark guardian angel. It’s him. It has to be him. She sat up slightly, but remained seated on the floor. She scooted back, using the wall for support. Even if she was right about this stranger being her sire, it didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. He was a purebred vampire, after all. It would take little to no effort on his part to wipe her from existence. Max glanced over at the remains of the vampire he had killed. What was left of the ashen blonde was evidence enough that Max was in the presence of a badass killer. But, oddly enough, she felt no fear. In fact, all she felt was safe and…at home. And curious. Always curious. It was this curiosity that prompted a question in her head. It was an inappropriate question considering the circumstances. She wasn’t going to ask how he got there, how he knew she was in trouble or how he even knew who she was. She was going to ask the wrong question of a man who had just taken a life right in front of her eyes. The one question that always burned in her. “Are you him?”

[Mythos]

Ehren kept his eyes on the woman, even as the other spoke. He watched the realization fill her eyes and quickly turn into curiousity. Curiousity turned into something else and she called for her things. Deep red hues stared down at the small female frame, studying her and her every movement. He could snatch her in his arms with such little effort and take her blood for his own where he would then offer his own in peace, only to bask in the fact that her pleasure would be his while his blood ran through her veins. Something told me that this 'leader' of hers wouldn't take that so lightly, and it only made him smirk. If he was like this with his words, what were his fighting skills?

Keeping note of the way Aldaric looked at him after feeding, the disapproval in his gaze made him wonder. How could he look at Ehren like that when he just put on an entire display of one vampire feeding from another until death, but what he did was not okay?

"I've lived in a society where vampires and humans alike coexisted. They offered us sustenance, and we offered them protection. I've lived that that for centuries. A few have given an entire race a bad reputation, one that was taken off by the human imagination, fueled by fear and ignorance. We do not need to make that worse, for humans kill each other enough on their own as it is. Do not speak to me of birth right. You were not born this way." Ehren's hands gripped the collar of his shirt and pulled open the first few buttons, enough to show the tree limbs coming over his shoulder to his left pectoral where the names of his family rested.

"If anyone wants to speak of birth right, it'll be I and what my family deserved," said Ehren with his own growing fierceness. He took a moment to pull himself back together, regaining his calmness.

"You say your war is against the Society, but you speak of human threats. They are not one in the same, dear brother. You need to decide who it is you want to fight against, because taking on the entire population isn't war. It's suicide." He clapped the fellow man on his shoulder as a gesture to show that it wasn't a fight between the two of them he wanted. Ehren just couldn't wrap his head around what this guy wanted, and for some reason that didn't surprise him. He was feral after all. Perhaps it was his own insanity.

With his gaze back on the woman, he reached out to bring her attention to him once more instead of focusing on getting her partner out the door.

"You... How can you willingly put your entire being in a war to prove yourself to another, when you're not willing to fight for yourself?"

Taking a step back from the pair and glancing around the room, he sighed and looked at the two once more with his last words.

"When you figure it out, find me. My fight is against the Society and their rules, not against the human population. It hasn't been them who has punished me for looking for strength that I didn't have to protect my family." With that, he bowed his head and began to make his way out. He needed to feed on something more sustaining than a sip from another feral. Something to quiet his mind. Besides, this was not the place you wanted to be when the wrong person came knocking on the door.

[Wraithblade6]

Whether Ehren fully understood him or not, Aldaric believed they were more alike than Ehren realized. Truly, Aldaric envied what the pureblood had had so long ago, the position of a god, dominance, to have been worshiped and feared, even if he had offered some form of protection to his cattle in return. There was no shame in caring for humans, even loving them, as long as proper respect was maintained. Humans had to be kept under control, not vice versa. Such as Aldaric Weirven's opinion.

Aldaric kept quiet for a moment as he listened, noting the direction of those red orbs. As Ehren turned with his last words to depart, Katarina would be suddenly caught off guard to find Aldaric was peering down at her silently from the corner of his eye while she casually held his arm. He sensed her consternation, but did not give voice to it. Exhaling a soft sigh through pursed lips, Aldaric took his gaze off her and watched Ehren exit out of earshot, apparently thinking.

Finally he reached a decision. "Katarina." He let go of her arm intentionally. "I want you to follow him. Learn what you can and report back to me." He told her this coldly, revealing nothing of his true thoughts. It was a simple spy mission. In truth however, Aldaric knew the pureblood had suffered, and was being hunted by the Society just like the rest of them. Even if Ehren didn't fully appreciate Aldaric's slightly warped logic, he was an ally.

Ehren would also be a far better influence on Katarina than he himself would be in his tenuous sanity, and Aldaric knew it. Plus, the two of them together would better able to protect each other against an executioner, should they be attacked. The pureblood might have been too proud to admit it, but even he, with his feral power could be destroyed if the advantage were against him. Aldaric wasn't about to let anymore innocent vampires be slaughtered by that cowardly, human-worshipping cult. It was just insulting.

[Temperance]

Katarina listened to Aldaric but could not help feeling a watchful gaze looming in her direction. Eyes flickered to the pureblood who seemed to be intently studying her and she swallowed nervously. If her body could react like a human's; pale cheeks would instead be rosy from blushing while her body would feel flushed. Thankfully she could hide such emotions the majority of the time without said characteristics selling her out.

Nevertheless, these two clearly did not see eye to eye. At least not yet but both meant well and had valid reasons for what they believed. Katarina could tell this by the family tree on Ehren's upper body and it could be heard in Aldaric's passionate voice but what about herself? What was she fighting for besides Aldaric's affections? This war really has nothing to do with her and vice versa. Ehren seemed to know this but fighting alongside Aldaric for his cause was enough in her opinion.

After Ehren departed hues lucid as crystal revealed a slew of emotions as Aldaric asked his new progeny to leave. Confusion, sadness, and then anger welled up inside and she could not help but stare into deep emerald eyes for a brief moment before placing a gentle kiss upon his forehead. Even while adorning such high shoes the red haired vampire still towered over Katarina. A confirmation nod was given along with a delicate smile, which hid true feelings of heartbreak.

“As you wish.” She quietly agreed without refusal.

While turning to walk toward the back exit of the rave a stabbing pain shot through her entire being unlike anything she'd felt before. He was letting her go, and not just for intel. She thought they were to stop The Society together but instead he was still trying work at it alone. Dangerous. Suicidal. Stupid. Katarina would have died for him, in fact, that had been her intentions since joining him. Death held no sway over the Swedish vampire. Sometimes, she even yearned for it but now she wondered if he truly did not wish for her company any longer.

“Goodbye, Aldaric.” She whispered trough a tiny whimper hopefully not loud enough for him to hear.

After the door closed behind her shaking frame a hand covered her mouth as she silently sobbed, back resting against the icy wall of the rave. This exterior just as cold and hollow as herself she noticed yet not one shiver from the bitter temperature arose. Instead, red droplets trickled down pale cheeks where they glided down toward her jawline and rested there. Whose views were skewed here? She found her love rejected once again and her dead heart somehow hurt. She had felt more agony since becoming a vampire than she ever had as human.

Hands clenched into fights so tight that long nails drew blood from her palms. Heeled shoes took a few steps forward before coming to a stop. Finding Ehren in this state would only cause more issues. He had probably heard enough feral rabble to last another century. No. She would not plague him this night. Instead she weakly sniffled wiping away streaks of blood tears while remembering the silver knife left at Mr. Pinkis' dead feet. Leaving such a precious heirloom behind given to her from her sire would further devastate her. It was one of the only things she had to remember him by since he too cast her aside like rubbish.

Unfortunately the door had automatically locked making reentry from this side impossible even for a feral vampire. Katarina would have to travel to the front entrance to retrieve her item this time. That feeling of unease never left and she feared that something awful was still on its way. Instead of heeding her own advice she began walking through the alley to the side of the building lined with garbage containers and ceaseless smog. Horror films were made of material such as this but instead of her being the victim it would be whoever dared to interfere.

[Mythos]

Ehren leaned up against a building across the street, watching the entrance. He could swear that the whole block wreaked of blood and he should really be getting out of there, but truthfully he waited to make sure that the others would get out safely. Even if Ehren didn't agree with what happened only moments ago, they were still his brethren, and with the Society lurking about, it was important to look out for one another.

It was one scent that invaded his nose that already smelled familiar. It was the girl, but where was the man? A frown creased his brow and he began forward, pausing only at the sight of her crying. Even if her cries were quiet, she was easy to see in dim light and he recognized the motions from his days of being married. His palm idly rubbed at the left side of his chest as he thought about what to do, but his decision was made for him the moment she pulled herself together and started forward. With the speed of a pureblood, in less than the blink of an eye, Ehren had been in front of her with her wrist in his hand, not even staggering when her small body collided with his. He looked down with a scowl on his face, turning her palm towards her.

"You bleed..." He paused and shook his head, almost like a father would do catching a child's hand covered in mud and wanting to touch the furniture. "You bleed near a place full of feral vampires... and a pureblood lurking about in the shadows. When you choose this lifestyle, you have to be careful just as the humans do. Are you sure you're ready for war?" Ehren's gaze bore into her as if he were challenging her, but Ehren showed no threat toward her safety. His gaze then dropped to her chin, his free thumb coming up to wipe along her jaw with a touch surprisingly gentle. Ehren then proceeded to place that same thumb between his lips to suckle the blood from his skin. It would seem as if he did that merely to prove his point, but he was more interesting in tasting her - almost as interested in tasting the male still in the building and the power he had running through him.

[VarionusNW]

Octavius had been biding his time, waiting for the hunters to arrive. The girl was still unconscious, but now clearly moving, turning in her sleep as she slowly slid from deaths jaws and into the clutches of Octavius' brood. Octavius had begun to watch the world outside the window as soon as he saw a man move with speed only a pure could possess. He went from one place to another in the blink of an eye, maybe even less. Octavius would have missed it if he had not seen the same thing a thousand times before. Though, what intrigued Octavius more was what the man had sped towards, a young woman who was right next to the building that reeked of blood and death.

"Jeeves, I think we have a fellow pure here. We should probably give him a gracious greeting, right?" Octavius gave off a little chuckle as he sat back, relaxing in a limousine with the girl he had just killed and a mute driver. "Though, maybe he has something to do with that damned party? and if he does..." Octavius sighed, with his right hand across his forehead. "It's probably best to wait for those wastes of space, isn't it?" Jeeves just sat there, silently, as Octavius confined himself to even more waiting. Octavius was a lot of things, but he wasn't reckless.

After a few moments in that abyss of silent thought, Octavius' phone rang out in the dark. He quickly checked his latest text message.

"Unholy shit." He said. Someone he hadn't seen in years had finally decided to acknowledge that he exists. "My old friend, Azriel, is here, Jeeves. Seems he's looking around for the same scumbags we are. He's trustworthy, I think. Well, from what I can remember, he was at least somewhat trustworthy." Octavius typed out a message as quickly as he could. He didn't want to have to rely on those hunters for everything, since they couldn't even arrive fast enough.

Hello, Old friend. I'll try to make this quick. There are ferals in the area, and the building next to where I currently am is the residence of a small party full of them. I would like to talk with you a bit, but first, I need you to deal with something. If you come near the limo, you might be able to see a strange man up against a young woman, just outside that building. That man is most likely a pure. I want you to go over and see if you can find any information on the ferals. Be careful, though, they could be ferals themselves. If you need any assistance, I have some allies on their way here.

Octavius sent the message, and resigned the phone to his pocket. He took the next few moments to watch the sleeping girl, who's life he had drained not long ago. He was curious as to how she would deal with dying just to join the horrible world which she had barely escaped from beforehand.

[FateWeaver]

Taking a long moment to compose himself, Bernard closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before letting it out as a sigh. The threat was gone, and Maxine was safe for the time being. But now there was the matter of her curiosity. While there was always the option of simply remaining silent and returning to the shadows, he felt that he finally owed her some explanation. The night was not so empty as he had left her to think, and he no longer wished to wander it alone.

“Yes,” he says finally, opening his eyes again to regard Maxine. “I am the one who made you what you are now. My name is Bernard.” Moving slowly, he walks over to his discarded weapon to retrieve it. Flopping the cylinder open with a lazy flick of his wrist, his fishes around in his coat pockets for a handful of loose rounds to reload the gun. Properly re-armed, he returns the revolver to his coat pocket.

"Are you okay?" Bernard asks in return, now walking slowly to stand at Maxine's side. Crouching next to her, he offers a hand to help her to her feet.

[Nytem4re]

Elijah Harding

"I'll move on ahead and go to the club first. Scout it out a bit. I sorta know the area, so I'll be fine on my own." Elijah jumped into his car and sped off into the street. At the moment, he hardly cared for street regulations, speeding as fast as he could while still maintaining some semblance of control, and weaving in and out of traffic. This caused the ire of pretty much every other driver on the road, but Elijah could care less. The police barely patrolled this part of town, as this was a seedy, poverty stricken area. His chances of getting a ticket were close to zero.

The authorities' indifference in the area was probably why there was so much vampire activity around here. They could murder as many homeless people they wanted, since no one really cared much about them. If you thought about it, when was the last time you saw the same homeless person twice? Only other homeless would know if they were missing, and even then, the police weren't going to take a report of a hobo missing seriously.

Elijah's car came to a screeching halt across the street from the club as he slammed his brakes. He grabbed his Mossberg in his passenger seat, and stepped out of the car. The brief noise of electronic music radiated from the club, as well as excited screams, and had Elijah not been informed of the situation, he would have passed it off as any other gathering.

Seeing Octavius's limo, he walked up to it and gently rapped on one of the passenger side windows, trying to get the purebred vampire's attention.

[Temperance]

A small snarl escaped Katarina's mouth which slightly exposed two pearly white fangs. Ehren had caught the lithe vampiress by surprise but not so much as to warrant retaliation. If his touch had been less delicate her other hand would be wrapped around his strong neck, and if he had been anyone else they would not be enjoying her teeth buried violently in their soft veins.

Katarina did desire to sink her teeth into the pureblood but not in an act of rebellion nor even hunger. She just simply wanted to savor him out of desire. A delicious aroma emitted from him and the scent was Katarina's favorite. Discussing any other topic at a time like this was damn near impossible for the addict, and as such she unintentionally ignored his question of war.

Instead, slender fingers reached for his to retract them from his mouth. Unfortunately, he had already tasted the blight residing within her blood. She felt ashamed for someone of his stature to sample a product so lowly. In fact, the Swedish vampire wondered why he was even speaking with her after she made her position to participate in Aldaric's war quite clear yet she didn't bother asking.

“My blood is not worthy to be tasted by you. It is diluted. I am afraid there are so many others mixed within my veins that none of my actual blood is left.” The tone of voice resounding from Katarina gave the impression of her low self worth but her depressing tone changed as soon as she begun to speak about Ehren's blood.

“Yours, though tainted is still like no other.” Gently a single fingernail glided across Ehren's collarbone leaving a minor nick where a drop of blood squeezed out.

Katarina felt saddened by his choice to become feral. Why would he purposely choose to corrupt his blood? He was born just how he should be; pure and strong. Intent eyes watched clearly fascinated by the ruby liquid though she restrained herself from trying any. In the past she had lost control and savagely bit into her sire without permission. Katarina was surprising herself by not indulging in this vampires life essence but it was the hurtful memories that made her stop and take a step back.

“You should leave pureblood. My willpower is not yet strong enough. I am afraid I may not be able to resist your charms in such a public place.” A captivating half smile sugar coated how much pain she was truly in. Drawing both hands from his grasp she cleared any remaining tears, and rubbed both palms together trying to remove any traces of blood from her cuts.

It would seem the vampire was determined to head back inside though she did not say why. Once she was able to pry blue hues away from the pureblood she noticed something in the short distance. A limo and a man tapping on the tinted window of the vehicle. This was highly suspect.

[Squad 404]

Alexander silently thanked Locke as he chided Elijah. As word was given about crashing a party Alexander noted the information and made the mental note that the Locke was talking about wasn't that far from here. It was time for some action, apparently. Elijah took off pretty quickly, assuring them he would be fine on his own. Alexander scowled once more at his hotheadedness, and wasn't amused by him flooring it down the street to the club.

There was at least one good effect to come of Elijah's speeding, even if he didn't get a ticket people seemed to shy away from someone driving so recklessly, so the streets would clear up a bit after a short while. Looking over to Locke Alexander posed a brief question. "You got a ride?"

What Alexander did next would depend upon Locke's answer, so Alexander had to wait and see what he would say. Hopefully it wouldn't take too much time for him to answer since Elijah would likely get himself killed trying to storm the club by himself.

[Mythos]

A frown once more creased his eyebrows as she tried to keep him from tasting her. It deeped when she further explained why. He thought for a long moment on what to say to her, but the hairs on his neck started to stand up. He straightened his shoulders the slightest bit and took notice to the limo. Alright, so how do we make this look different than the fact the building is still crawling with ferals?

His eyes slowly closed as she drew blood and he waited to feel warm lips against his skin. When he didn't, he opened them to look at her, only for her to tell him that he should leave. Ehren tried to hide the disappointment in his red eyes, and in return, his head dipped down slightly and he placed a few noticable kisses along her jaw towards her ear.

"Please forgive me," he whispered almost silently against her earlobe. "I know you see them. They're watching us." His voice was a warm, soothing murmur. He kept his tone slow and soft in case anyone could hear them, but his words were quiet and monotone enough to where only Katarina would able to make them out. Ehren walked his body forward, using his legs to move hers to push her gently against the cool wall, wrapping his arms around her waist in the process. He would pretend to whisper sweet nothingness into her ear, and nuzzle along her neck, but not once did Ehren move to take a kiss from her lips. Hey may be completely over stepping his bounds by invading her personal space, but he didn't dare take what wasn't offered to him. Ehren still had honor, and his mother raised him right. Especially since he believed that she belonged to the man inside.. so why was she out here crying?

Now, how to get out of here without them being even more suspicious? He tried to form a plan, but the smell of her hair invaded his nose and distracted him. With one last deep inhale and fighting the urge to suckle her neck, he pulled back and grabbed her hand. He knew that he couldn't stay here and keep up the ruse without getting himself in trouble. She belongs to someone else. She belongs to someone else. She belongs to someone else... Oh but maybe one more taste.. Nope, she isn't yours. Ehren fought a battle of his own to keep from sinking his fangs into soft flesh, and he knew if they would stay there his own willpower would fade and he'd give them away.

"My place is just down the road. A beautiful woman needs something better than a dirty alley.." Ehren said with a smirk, even though it really wasn't. If it isn't a public place she wanted... Stop it! She isn't yours. And you have the Society watching you - pay attention!