Mira gazed into the decorative mirror, applying a dark, deep red to her lips. She pulled away with a smack of her lips, satisfied but unsmiling with the woman in the mirror. She fixed her dark hair until there wasn't a strand out of place. Then she smiled, turning to leave the master bedroom of the large New York estate. As she did, the clock chimed six times and she could see that the sun began to disappear behind New York's buildings. She swept into the kitchen, her skirt billowing about as she turned to open the freezer: there was frozen foods and even ice cream, though when she pushed the drawer back into the box, blood bags were revealed. She picked one out and began preparing a simple breakfast: warm blood in a mug (with a hint of chocolate).

The home was an older one just on the outskirts of the city. Although Mira kept it well--typically with human labor--it still looked like a house out of a scary movie. The kind of house the white family would buy when looking for a new start despite the warnings from the locals. However, to the local dead, Mira believed it was always a good place for a new start. Annoying-so, like a Church that kept its doors open in case a nonbeliever ever wanted to give the Lord a shot. Needless to say, the front door was left unlocked; she didn't fear humans and on the rare occasion another vampire was unwelcome, a lock wouldn't matter.

Praetor hummed as he walked towards Mira's having just left his pent house at the top of The Benjamin hotel, he loved the place it felt like the nineteen twenty's in there, one of his favorite time periods here in US. He would often cook and entertain guest's as his human life consisted of working as a Latin teacher for a local high school. When he looked in the mirror he found it hard believe that he was 2114 years old. He sighed shaking his head he checked to make sure his sword was tucked away at his side, hidden under his ornate white trench coat. Ever since he had started working with Kingston's he'd had to stop killing Vampires and started his job as Professor Van Helsing. He walked up to the door and opened it stepping in "Mira, it's me I hope your decent." He walked into the kitchen seeing Mira he decided to explain his presence. "I have the day off from work, mind if I tag along with you today? I am supposed to be your bodyguard."

Adelisa noticed the time as she stopped reading and smiled. She threw off the blanket she had laying on her lap and ran downstairs with a gleeful stride. As she turned the corner to enter the kitchen, she started saying "Mira! This is going to be the be-", stopping mid-sentence when she saw Praetor also in the kitchen. Her eyes widened and she said "I'm sorry! I... I'm just going to head out to the laboratory. I didn't mean to interupt." She immediately turned around and walked out of the area, wanting to get away.

---

Romulus' Opening Theme

The clock struck at six as the grandfather clock in the Black Rose mansion indicated the start of the evening, and then there was Romulus, sitting upon his throne, which the throne itself was rose upon a small altar; yes a throne room in the mansion just for Romulus Nightshade. Next to him was his maid, human but loyal to him forever. The clock started to ring; gong....gong.....gong.....gong....gong....gong...it is the evening officially.... now it is time for Master Romulus to go feed.

Sakura the maid awaited for Romulus to stand up from his throne, straightening her dress and wiping off any dust as to look good for the Master. She felt the knives in her pocket, her magical hammerspace of pockets....only the Master was kind enough to bestow upon her part of his vitae to a human such as her...

Romulus at last stood up, picking his black elegant cane from the right side of his throne, giving a small smile to Sakura as she awaited for any orders from her Master.

Romulus spoke in his seductive and charming Spanish accent, "I will be gone for the night, my dear...you are free to do whatever you please until I get back." he said, smiling at her.

Sakura bowed and walked away, going to bed for the night to read a book. Meanwhile Romulus began twirling his cane, passing by the grand staircase which led to their rooms, and of course the room of Romulus' daughter, but she is to be introduced later in Romulus' story. Romulus at long last arrived at the door, grabbing the fedora at the coat hanger and heading out for the night. A wonderful spring breeze enveloped the Ancient Vampire as he disappeared in a flicker of teleportation, off to find his prey for the night...

In the seediest neighbourhood of New York City (or more technically its outskirts) was Clan Blackmoore's base of operation, Skye Manor. Unlike its namesake, the previous vampiric headquarters back in Scotland, this one looked almost derelict from the outside; an ugly thing. Slate tiles clung to the roof in clumps like concrete scabs, the garden an untamed jungle full of listless orchids and strangling vines – all pallid with death. It was about as welcoming as its residents.

Alistair, the current chieftain of the family, sat in a plush armchair in the lounge downstairs where any of his followers had the freedom to access – a gaudy room that couldn't have screamed vampire anymore than it already did even if the walls themselves had been coated in blood. Everything was black and red, decorative pentagrams engraved on the ceiling and shelves full of musty books on witch-hunting and other examples of human stupidity. It was lit only by candle-light, even though the manor miraculously had electricity, all for the thematic purpose of looking intimidating.

As it was, he was bored out of his skull without the inclination to go out wandering in the city alone. If he did, he would surely find something to do, some rule-breaking vampire to slaughter mercilessly or a meek, human-loving one to mock just as ruthlessly. It was just more fun with friends.

Night fall, a time that all Vampires enjoy. Franklin and a couple of the other members of the court walked into the Blackmoore mansion from the Library tunnels. His cane clicking against the ground as he walked. Wearing a blood red formal suit and a maroon tie he looked fairly handsome for 1000 years. They made their way to see the head of the Blackmoores, and once arriving he stopped giving enough space between them and Alistair.

"Good evening my lord." He said with a bow with the other two members of the court. One of the court members was carrying a scroll and quill. "It is time for the weekly blood report and exposures" he spoke in a very calm collective tone. Then they waited for the responce so they could then head to the Kingston home

Theodora stretched and looked out the window. The sun was setting and it looked pretty clear outside. She reached out a pale, slender hand and stroked her cat Hunter who looked up at her with green eyes and purred. "What do you say Hunter? Should be go and have some fun today? Druggies or Drunkards?" She giggled and flung back her white covers. Everything in her room was either white or crimson. Her bed, pillows, sheets, and all other furniture was white. Her walls were white and the curtains that blew lazily in the breeze of her open window were white. These reminded her of the days when she was a human, innocent and pure. The crimson rug and crimson rose that sat on top of her bed side table reminded her of what she had become.
Theodora showered, curled her hair, put on some make up, dressed herself in a long black dress that had a train, and ran down the stairs. "Come on Hunter." She called to her cat. The black cat leaped from the bed and followed Theodora down the stairs. As she drew closer to the kitchen, she heard voices. Then she saw Adelisa hurrying back away from the kitchen. "What's wrong princess? Is there a big scary monster in the kitchen?" She smirked at Adelisa and quickly walked into the kitchen to see what had made Adelisa leave in such a hurry. She curtsied when she met eyes with Mira. "Hello Miss Mira. I hope you slept well.." She let her eyes slide over the man standing a few feet away from her. Theodora cast him flirtatious smile "Hello again Praetor." She felt a brush up against her leg. As she bent down to pick up Hunter, she leaned forward to show off her bosom She lingered for for a minute before straightening back up. "What are you two up to today?" She crossed to the freezer and pulled out a blood bag. She sniffed it and groaned, but proceeded to open it and sip from it as she waited for one of them to answer.

As her mug warmed in the microwave, family members started to spill into the kitchen. First was her trusted Praetor and she offered a warm smile as he found her in the kitchen. "Good evening, Praetor," she greeted. "You're always wel--"

"Mira! This is going to be the be-"

When she looked to the female vampire, she looked terrified to be interrupting. Which was fair--even in mortal life, Mira would scold children and adults alike for being so rude. Though, Adelisa already seemed well aware of her mistake and Mira opened her mouth to reassure her she wasn't in trouble when Theodora bounded into the kitchen to steal the show. Mira sighed and turned to fetch her mug from the microwave just before it beeped.

"Well, I've a few errands to run," Mira answered Theodora, sipping at the blood laced with chocolate--it hid her frown of disapproval at Theodora's flirty behavior. She went over the night to come in her head: put in orders to get the gutters cleaned out, gather some sustenance at the blood bank, gather some more chocolate... "Praetor will be joining me. I'll be shopping, so is there anything you or Adelisa need?" Then she turned her attention back on Praetor for a moment to ask, "Are you thirsty?"

Otto lounged on the roof of the Empire state building as the sun slowly but surely went down. He liked it up here, it was quiet, he felt like he could see the whole world. Otto loved to big city, he had watched the city grow from a small settlement into the huge metropolis it was now. Otto sat on the railing of the building, sometimes leaning off the edge dangerously before grabbing the rail one again for safety.

Once nightfall hit, Otto would head back to the Kingston Manor in order to join the feeding frenzy that they would embark on. Otto had not eaten since the night before, he was hoping to enjoy the buffet that would presented to him tonight. Unfortunately, Otto still loved the sun, it's warmth and life giving light, he hated that he had to hide in the shadows or wait for nightfall in order to do anything, but he learned to deal with it. He found ways to enjoy the sun in other ways, who knew that once someone lost something, it would haunt him for eternity.

Otto was startled out of his thoughts when he realized the nightfall had finally arrived. Otto climbed onto the rail, and jumped off. Instead of falling downwards, he was blasted forward into the air like he was shot out a cannon. He flew over he clouds, and then fell back down to earth. He wind milled his arms once and once again flew back into the air, continuously manipulating his kinetic energy. After a few seconds in the air, Otto free fell back towards the ground. He could see the manor in the distance, Otto forced his kinetic energy into potential and landed softly onto the ground in front of the manor. Otto opened the door, which was always unlocked, and walked into the home. He immediately noticed the vampires, Adelisa who was standing around nervously, Theodora and Mira were drinking frozen blood in the kitchen, and Praetor, who was in the kitchen also. Otto decided that interrupting them would be rude. He took a seat on the couch in the living room, closed his eyes and relaxed.

Praetor sighed looking at Theodora before shaking his head, she reminded him of one of his students. He then looked at Mira "I just had breakfast, one of my students dropped by for tutoring and he brought Chinese, I had a blood pack after he left. Once we get back I'll be making lunch if any of you would like to join me." He spoke leaning on the table his sword scabbard could be seen poking out of the side of cloak obviously he seemed to be bored waiting for the others before he could leave. He looked back Theodora for minute looking her up down trying to figure out why she had flirted with him, his military mind still had trouble with women even after all these centuries.

One of the new scribes hurried over to Mira, he was part of the Kingstons after all, but he still worked for the Blood scribes, he slipped when he got to the room where mira stood, when he stood he tried to catch his breath, "I...come with a messege and notification from the Elder Scribe, he will be on his way to collect the weekly blood reports and exposures and to notify you of this weeks blood order shipments for the kingston clan." he bowed and waited for a responce before he turned to leave, he had a bag of scrolls, most likely orders and notes from other scribes seeing how he was a rookie

Alistair's head rolled back with a melodramatic yawn as the scribes appeared. Why had he even agreed to grant them access through the tunnels? He waved a hand lazily in greeting, as they moved closer. Clan Blackmoore's leader and, by association, the clan itself had never been one for keeping history. Scratching down the exposures meant only one thing -- mistakes could not become water under the bridge as easily as he liked.

Even so, he was duty-bound to the scribes to give a response. "Nothing new on either front," he lied, the words bitter on his tongue but something he had done before on many occasions. He preferred honesty, when he could manage it. Currently, there was one vampire on the brink of exposing their culture to a human girl, of all things, but he would deal with him personally without involving outsiders.

Sarcastically he added, "Is that all, Franklin? Not come to steal a few of the fledgelings for your Court?"

"Well that sounds.... boring. Come Hunter. I heard someone enter the house. Maybe they want to go clubbing with me." Theodora scooped up her pet and left the kitchen, sending a wink in Praetor's direction. She floated into the living room and spotted Otto lounging on one of the many plush couches. "Mira would kill you if saw that were messing up one of her good couches." A wide grin spread across her lips as she bounced over to Otto and landed beside him. "Hello gorgeous! How's about me and you take a night on the town? Mr. and Mrs. Boring are going shopping. I want to go dancing!! I heard of this great new place with a singer who is supposed to be amazing!! Plllleeeaassseeee?" She got on the ground and sat on her knees with her hands clasped in front of her. She looked up at him with big eyes. "It's finally night time and I want to have fun! You can come too Adelisa!" Theodora called into the other room.

Béatrix awoke to the solemn chiming of her mobile phone. She might be in her sixth century, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t keep up with the times. Trixy glided out of her bed like a shadow, letting the moonlight spill into her room when she opened the curtains. Her little nook of Skye Manor was designed to represent her, an eclectic mix of new and old. A lot of the furniture and fabrics echoed the favored Victorian and Renaissance times of her past, but the art and accent pieces were all modern.

A familiar burning made itself at home in the back of Trixy’s throat -- she was thirsty and ready to go hunting. That being said, she sauntered over to her ornate gothic armoire to find a killer outfit to paint the town in. Let the streets run red. she thought with a hungry smile, she would never deny her nature. Her vampirism was a blessing from Francis, she would cherish it as humans cherished their religions. Trixy paired a black lace corset with dark-wash skinny jeans and knee-high leather boots. New and old, just like her room. Always cautious, as one had to be when your list of supernatural enemies was as long as hers, Béatrix fastened her dual glocks on hip holsters that sat just above her buttocks. She polished the look off with her long leather duster that covered up the weaponry.

After touching up her simple hair and makeup routine, Trixy moved on to the most important way to start every night – chartreuse. She always kept a bottle of the potion-like green liqueur chilled on ice in her room. Chartreuse was as potent as it was illegal in the states, but she wasn’t ever one to follow rules and deny her fine, French palate. She filled up her flask, etched with a black rose, and headed down to the lounge to see who else was up and looking to go for a romp.

The cliché décor of the vampire lounge always gave Trixy a chuckle. As she stepped in the doorway, Béatrix took a swig from her flask and liquid burned down like friendly fire. Food and drink did little for vampires, but the strong alcohol sometimes quelled the underlying thirst for blood. Her ever-watchful eyes scanned the room and found Ali, bring a smile to her lips. “Bonsoir, chieftan.” She said in her thick old-french accent, bowing with the otherworldly grace that all vampires possessed if they cared enough to be proper. She wondered what his plans were for the night, perhaps he had a mission for her? Whatever it was, she hoped it wouldn’t interrupt her plan to go hunting.

As the sound of French reached his ears, Alistair opened his eyes, giving Béatrix a mocking salute in acknowledgement of her good manners. Thankful for the distraction away from the bureaucracy of the scribes, he greeted her with a cheerful, "Béatrix! Going somewhere?" Of course, she was allowed to do what she wanted -- anyone above a newborn were practically free and with vampires just as old as he was he really had little control over them to begin with. Without even lowering his voice, he continued, "I'm going with you. Nobody ever told me that immortality brought with it the greatest curse of all: work."

Rolling his eyes in the direction of the scribes, he said, "I think we're done here. I hope so, anyway." Eyes glittering in excitement, Alistair picked up his coat and drew it over his shoulders. "Clan Blackmoore needs a night of good, wholesome family fun." Fun meaning the humiliation of a rule-breaking and slightly idiotic vampire, but that would be the dessert in terms of entertainment; the big finale. First came the feast. "Think any of our friends would be willing to accompany us on a hunt?"

As Praetor spoke of lunch plans, Mira took the time to finish her mug of blood and turned to wash it in the sink. There was a washing machine, though she advised against letting anything blood stained sit around. She heard a couple people enter--the first revealed to be Otto and she could hear Theodora making chit chat with him. The second caused quite a racket, prompting Mira to turn and size him up. When she saw the Blood Scribe struggle to his feet, she relaxed a bit and listened patiently as he spit out his message. She thanked him for the message as he scrambled off and sighed.

"How excited do you think Theodora would be if I asked her to stay a few hours and wait for the Elder?" she wondered aloud, half to Praetor and half to herself as she dried the coffee cup and put it away. "I suppose Otto or Adelisa wouldn't mind, but Theo could use the responsibility." All in all, the vampire would prefer to meet with the Elder herself. Though she also felt the little birds needed to learn some things for themselves.

As night fell the things there in began to awaken. Lucian sat up hard having been lying in his bed, "God damn it..." Lucian ran his fingers across his face and a sick feeling washed over him, where was Fang? Lucian jumped out of bed half naked and tore his room apart making quite a bit of noise in the process. "Where the hell is my sword!!!???" Lucian flipped his bed with his strength sending it fly across his room and there lying on the ground where his bed had been was a well polished and beautiful sword, "Fang...So thats where you were hiding." Lucian knelt down and placed his hand on the scabbard and suddenly his mind flashed with images, so much blood all those children, Lucian let out a scream as he grabbed the sides of his head. These occurrences had become common in this house so the people downstairs tended not to come running anymore. As the images faded from his eyes he stood silently, clipped the sword to his belt and made his way downstairs seeing Preator and Mira he waved and grabbed a bag of blood and sat down near them, "Sorry about the noise...Whats the agenda for tonight?" Lucian was in a pair of black jeans and still had no shirt on his muscular and strong body seeming to almost glow in the light of the room, "If your going out i suppose I'll come."

Otto was truly enjoying Mira's plush couch, he really wondered were she got it from, he would have to ask her one day. Otto had noticed the Scribe, but had ignored him, the vampires information was not for him to hear. Otto was interrupted from his lounging when Theodora entered the room and begged him to join her for clubbing.

"I'm not doing anything better with my time, sure why not, I'll join you, just make sure you provide the meal." Otto replied smiling and her.

Letting go of her previously held propriety, Béatrix chuckled lightly at his suggestion. “Wholesome, you say? Last I checked that wasn’t an accurate adjective for our family.” She smiled at that and a dark sparkle lit up her already unnaturally blue eyes as she headed over to him. With shoulder-length hair, even in his slight annoyance with the scribes, he was a decidedly handsome Scot. Although, with his uncanny resemblance to her late sire and mate, there was no real question as to why she’d think such a thing. Just a thought though, thoughts were safer than workings of the heart.

“You’re in luck, though, I was indeed looking for a night of hunting and debauchery. Maria has a show tonight, maybe the others would fancy a sanguine stroll. We could even visit her at Tortuga, but first…” she was close enough now to offer him a taste from her flask. Both of their senses were strong enough to identify its contents. Trixy playfully waited for his look of feigned disappointment at her illicit indulgences.

Simon relaxed on a random persons rooftop starring up into the somewhat darkish sky. A stream of blood could be seen coming from his mouth as he spoke as if he was talking to someone. "It kinda sucks that we have to kill are prey after we drink from them." He says talking to a decapitated head that he held by the hair in his right hand. Simon carelessly throws the head in any direction and stands wiping his mouth. "Welp better go check out the manor and see if the higher ups are planning something." Simon runs across the building rooftops towards the blackmoore manor and stops at the front door knocking lightly.