Helo

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time: Night
Location: McDonalds
Interaction with: Adrian @role model

Noah tilted his head and laughed at Adrian’s words, ‘bone her,’ as if he would be interested in such a mortal desire. He knew Adrian to be old, much older than he, and wondered how, and why, the other vampire seemed to remain so stuck on base human desires. Drinking coffee, looking for cheap hook ups, and even the strange obsession and pride the vampire had with his truck; all of these things were far too human to hold any interest with Noah. Noah had once known the absolute rapture of pain and torment so complete it became pleasure. Sex, when compared to such a thing, was just as meaningless as any other boring human pleasure. There was only one vampire that he held any interest in beyond what they could do for him, and that was his sire. A deeply ingrained obsession that fueled all of his goals, his need to be powerful, to earn approval from older vampires, to fully rid himself of humanity, he did it all for Celeste. Noah would prove himself worthy of her gift, she had freed him from mortal life, from his imprisonment as a bloodbag, and he would earn his place by her side. All he needed to do was push himself beyond all sense of humanity, become a perfect monster, a flawless vampire. The old one he met at the pit was not vampiric perfection, and she would not be of any help to him in his goals.

They trip to find the hunters proved fruitless; they were long gone by the time they arrived. Noah was angry and hungry and now there were no hunters for him to play with. Once they were back in Adrian’s truck the vampire offered him a blunt. Noah could hear his parent’s lectures on ‘just say no’ in the back of his head, and it almost made him want to try it, just to spite their memory. But he simply shook his head no, he didn’t want anything that would calm him, Noah did not want to be mellow, he wanted to kill something. “I have no interest in the old one, she is a dull and fading cinder when compared to the raging inferno that is my sire.” Noah said as Adrian once again brought up the vampire they had met earlier. “But I’m beginning to think she interests you, Adrian. Getting lonely in your age? Looking for someone to reminisce about the time before lightbulbs and telephones?” Noah asked, playfully taunting the other vampire. He kept a watchful gaze out the window, looking for any sign of the hunters but the few people he saw all looked just as boring as the rest of the prey that spent their nights at The Pit.

For some reason Adrian brought him to a McDonalds, a place where the prey smelled like fryer grease. Noah didn’t care for the way grease soaked into his prey’s skin and made their blood tasted like old French fries. He didn’t understand the reasoning for a vampire to desire things like coffee or food, these were just remnants of things mortals required to stay alive. Vampires were evolved beyond such thing. “Coffee? Why? Noah said as he watched the building, there were very few cars there, maybe only a handful of people inside. If the hunters were gone, then maybe a small fast food place would be a close second for where to unleash his bloodlust. “Hey have you ever dunked a bloodbag in a deep fryer? Cause I haven’t. I wonder if they’d taste burnt.” Noah laughed as he thought about it.

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time: Night
Location: The Pit
Interaction with: Ava@Pink Khione, Adrian @role model

Her words about stupidity reminded him of the quotes his father used to write on the white board that hung on the refrigerator, ‘words of wisdom,’ his father had called them. All spoken by people who were long dead, and Noah put no stock in the wisdom of dead men. He did, however, care very much about the opinions of the undead. He was pretty sure she had just called both he, and Adrian, stupid before following such a statement with a vague threat. Did she actually feed from other vampires? Such a thought was beyond disgusting to Noah. While he had respect for those with age and power, he would not be insulted in front of his friend without returning the jab. He could not afford to be so young and look weak in front of the other vampires in his clan.

“Is that a threat? Now that would be very stupid, because here you stand all alone, while we stand with the clan who truly controls this town. How sad, to be in a new town all alone…” Noah taunted the older vampire while from the corner of his eye he saw the human who smelled of blood with another who had the hunger in her eyes that only his kind ever got. “Say, wasn’t he supposed to yours?” Noah asked gesturing towards the human with his head and grinning. He backed away slowly, keeping up with Adrian as he left as well, his friend much less interested in the strange vampire than he was. Noah didn’t really want a fight with the older vampire, but he knew better than to turn his back on one who might be an enemy. He waited until they had moved far into the crowd and she was out of his vision before turning around to better follow Adrian.

Noah was more than happy to leave with Adrian, the club had pulled to surface too many remnants of his humanity and he craved violence to forget that life once again. He pulled the ear plugs from his ears and tossed them in parking lot before climbing into the truck. He realized he’d forgotten to tell his friends he was leaving but decided he didn’t really want to share this kill anyway. If there was anyone who could keep Noah tapped into his evil nature, it was Adrian. He starred out the window as the car sped through town, towards where ever the hunters where. Noah shrugged as Adrian asked who the other vampire was, realizing that he hadn’t actually learned her name.

“Don’t know, but I saw her compel a human to near perfection. She wouldn’t share her secret though, ah well, it’s more fun when the bloodbags try to fight back right?” Noah said disguising his disappointment. He doubted the other vampire would be of any help now, and since she didn’t seem to know any witches either he wasn’t too interested in her at the moment. His mind had moved on the hunters, and his hopes that they’d prove more useful than the witches from earlier and the unhelpful vampire at the club. “Did you get a good look at them? Did they have crosses on like the ones who look for witches?’ Noah asked, now interested in killing, feeding, and finding Drake’s lost pet. Whether or these hunter’s were witch hunters or not, Noah had already decided he wanted to torture them some, just in case they had any useful information for him.

Avalia

Time: Evening
Location: Roshmi City
Interactions: Risa @princess

Cade noticed the change in the music as he finished up his snack, and he offered up a bow and a wave to Artemis before following the enchanted paper towards his next dance partner. Although he hadn’t learned anything more about the rebellion, he felt he had at least found another friend, and that was just as important to him. As he made his way through the crowd of dancers, he caught sight of a hopelessly drunken elf being escorted away from the dance floor by a female orc. It seemed that no matter the level of class an event attracted there always seemed to be at least one jester unable to hold his drink, a thought which made the feline chuckle slightly. Eventually he spotted a more pleasant sight; the familiar faces of both the elegant Sakura and the delightful faun Ilan. He smiled at both of them, hoping their time here was going as well as his own but before he had a chance to ask them about the evening, he noticed his paper had stopped fluttering about, signifying it had found his next dance partner.

Cade was astounded to find that the paper had led him straight to Princess Millinia. This was an honor he felt wholly undeserving of; while he aspired towards greatness, he knew he had a long way to go before he could even become close to achieving it. Did Avalia herself have faith enough in him that he would be brought into the company of royalty so soon? It appeared so and Cade would not waste such an opportunity, he would be sure to let the princess know where his loyalty lied and hope that she too would judge him worthy enough to fight at her side. His parents had raised him on the stories of those who once ruled with benevolence and light, and his trust that those same values existed in one of the few remaining heirs to such a time was absolute. Cade, with his deepest respect, bowed and avoided looking directly into the royal fairy’s violet eyes.

“Your Majesty, it is an honor to stand in your presence.” He spoke with sincerity and reverence as he approached the royal. He felt a strange awkwardness to be standing taller than his royal counterpart, again feeling that it would be much more appropriate to kneel in the presence of a princess rather than tower over her. But in a room most likely filled with lich loyalists such actions would bring them both a dangerous amount of attention. Instead he choice his words thoughtfully to express his admiration of her position, royalty that was only recognized by those who believed that Avalia could once again be turned towards the light. “Words do not express the hope it brings to see you here, dressed as boldly as you are. I will, no doubt, spend a lifetime earning such an encounter.” He added before offering his hand for a dance.

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time: Evening
Location: Ember Grove University-Art Exhibit
Interaction with: Shay @Potter, Angel@princess

Eli caught a glimpse of the radiant smile on Shay’s face just before she sent a reign of hellfire towards the vampires blocking the exit. He fired off a couple shots at a couple other vampires but another ran straight for the witch. He saw a vampire drenched in blood making its way towards the witch with ferocious determination. That, along with the mutual look of hatred shared between the vampire and witch, was more than enough for him to know that their fight was personal. As a handful of vampires circled around him; he had much bigger problems now than what was going on between those two. He really wished he had his machete strapped to him but walking around a college campus with it strapped to his back would get him much more attention than he cared for.

“Come on guys, three against one’s hardly fair.” He said shaking his head, one of the vampires snarled and charged forward. Clearly, they didn’t care. He shot the first one that came for him with deadly aim. “You know these bullets really aren’t cheap.” He added as the other two came for him as well. The last thing Eli wanted was to run out of the UV bullets in the middle of this fight. So, he grabbed the nearest of the two as it charged forward, used the vampire’s own momentum to spin him towards the second vampire. He took off before the two vampires even collided, grabbing a shattered piece of wood from one of the broken tables that used to contain refreshments. Without a blade to wield, a stake was a close second. As soon as he’d grabbed the stake one of the vampires was already lunging for him, its teeth aimed for his neck. But Eli had the stake ready and the vampire practically propelled himself onto it. Eli pushed the now dead creature back with his forearm, pulling the bloodied piece of wood back from the vampire’s heart as the creature fell to the ground. He quickly scanned the room, anticipating another attacker.

The vampire’s that remained however seemed very focused on the wolf, shouting at each other to stop the wild beast. He also saw the child lighting a hat, attached to a decapitated vampire head, on fire and chucking it at another vampire. That hat looked surprisingly exactly like his own and as he reached up and scratched his head, he realized his was long gone. It was abundantly clear that this child was deeply disturbed as she then went on to shoot the vampire and his recently acquired hat several times. He shook his head, someone needed to have a talk with that kid’s parents once this was all over. With the vampire’s now focused on the those putting up a fight, and the exit now cleared up, the majority of the humans that still lived used the opportunity to flee. He took a brief moment to catch his breath and glanced around for the rest of the group, to see if the witch and the redhead were still alright.

He spotted the red haired hunter who had grabbed the witch by the wrist and was accosting her about something. He didn’t take the redhead for a Holy Savior, if Father Xavier caught one of his flock in a dress like that the man would surely have an aneurysm. But he was more than sure other groups of hunters could be just as radicalized, few shared his live and let live attitude towards the supernatural. Super-Witch also looked beyond tired at this point and he certainly wasn’t going to let another hunter take innocent life in front of him. The witch had helped out more than her fair share in the fight, and he hoped someone who seemed to work with a werewolf would have a more open-minded view on the supernatural. “Ease up Red, we’re all on the same side here, and in case you haven’t noticed there’s a more pressing matter at hand.” He shouted at the redhead as he began approaching.

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time: Night
Location: The Pit
Interaction with: Ava@Pink Khione, Adrian @role model

The all-consuming hunger held Noah’s focus with enough intensity that he barely noticed the older vampire petting his hair. Her words vaguely registered but he understood that she was not sharing her secrets with him. His gaze only left the human when he felt the nails of the other vampire digging into his arm. Her grip was strong enough to hurt and his attention snapped back to her. Noah turned his head back towards the other vampire with an amused smirk. He found that the calm and indifferent vampire he had first approached now had eyes that shone with ferocity. He immediately realized his mistake, he had thought her done with the human but clearly, for some reason, she wanted it left alive. While he knew he wasn’t supposed to leave those who could identify them for what they were alive, he also knew it was not his place to question his elders either. Her claim was made and Noah respected that.

“Yours, won’t touch.” He agreed and nodded his head, a bloodbag was certainly not worth invoking the wrath of one far more powerful than he. He thought briefly about asking whether this command extended past this one human and to the others at the club, but decided that if he didn’t know then she couldn’t be cross with him about whoever else he decided to kill tonight. Besides, while she may be old, and Noah could certainly sense that, she was nothing compared to the age and power of Drake, and all of Ember Grove was most certainly his.

Then the cell phone in his pocket rang, and, seeing the name of another vampire named Adrian, Noah answered it. As Adrian talked about finding some hunters to eat the younger vampire couldn’t help but grin. He’d already done something more exciting than that and he couldn’t wait to brag, knowing that the other vampire shared an appetite for destruction.

”You missed out, we had a nice little fire in the woods. Burnt up a witch but the other one wasn’t very helpful. They didn’t know where Shay was, but I’m gonna find the right witch.” Noah told the other vampire all about his exciting adventure earlier in the night, gleefully reliving the memory as he spoke. The mention of hunters peaked Noah’s interest, they were much more fun to kill than the regular humans, a stronger light to extinguish. ”Can we go find the hunters? I’m hungry.” Noah asked his tone full of excitement. Not only at the chance to hunt hunters, but hunters might also have something useful he could learn, like where to find sneaky witches. With his phone call ended, Noah’s attention then turned back to the other vampire.

”Hey, you don’t happen to know any witches do you? I’m looking for one, she’s all lost and far away from her cage. She has eyes like a hurricane and hair like a raven. It’s very important that we find her.” Noah asked, his tone suddenly serious. While he waited for her answer Adrian made his presence known, drawing Noah's attention from the other vampire.

”No need to be so crass, Adrian, this one has power.” Noah said as Adrian put a hand on his shoulder and Noah shook his head at his friend’s choice of words. Poor Adrian, he hadn’t had a proper sire, not like Noah had, his friend had no one to teach him things. His sire would never tolerate such insolence from him, he was trained better than that, Noah was taught to respect power above all else. But the word hunter had floated back into his mind and he was really getting hungry.

”I have to go soon, there are hunters that need dealt with.” He told the older vampire with malicious grin. ”Unless you want to have fun too?”

Avalia

Time: Late Afternoon
Location:Roshmi City
Interactions: Artemis @Potter

“Not at all, I am trying to cheer you up. If you think that’s funny you should have seen me falling out of trees as a cub, no doubt I gave my poor mother quite the headache trying to prevent both broken bones and furniture.” Cade offered to reassure his new friend that he was not at all offended by her joy, quite the opposite as he beamed at having made Artemis laugh. While his feline pride often got him into trouble it was not as if Artemis was mocking him, and seeing his new friend looking so sad moments ago only made him more than comfortable with looking foolish if only brighten her day for a moment. “If the cause of your sadness tonight lies here, do not be afraid to seek me out, should you encounter any further trouble, or find yourself in need of friend.” Cade spoke with absolute sincerity, not wanting to see anyone look so troubled at such an exciting event filled with the grandest of feasts.

He found her response to his question to be delightful as well as his tail flicked with excitement at the mention of food. He hadn’t expected to have so much in common with the average attendee at such an extravagant event. Then again Artemis didn’t exactly seem average either, but he was certainly enjoying the company of the mysterious woman. “Food is an excellent answer. The feast here tonight is easily the most impressive I have seen but even a simple meal shared with the right people is a joy few things can compare to. Food, a grand adventure, and meeting people from all over this land are all things that I find great fulfillment in, but of all things, I treasure my halberd. A beautiful weapon crafted by my brother, I carry it now in his honor. I do feel almost naked to not have it with me tonight. I hope to be a great warrior someday, to use my brother’s weapon to defend the people of Avalia.” Cade said, rather boldly as he did not truly know whether Artemis was loyal to the vile lich or member of the rebellion. He did however, not sense any malice about her, and he trusted her because her honest apology for her laughter indicated that she had a kind heart.

---

Time: Late Afternoon
Location: Roshmi City
Interactions: Corvina @Potter

Boreas watched carefully as the girl leaned in to whisper, but Bowyn kept himself calm so as not to further stress the merlin. He studied the girl for a moment, not sure what to make of what she’d whispered. While the most likely scenario would be that she was a part of the rebellion, and that this was the sort of information that they had sought out here tonight, another possibility nagged at him. It could be a trap, to lure rebels and humans to a slaughter. But the innocence in her eyes as she spoke did not seem fake or forced, and he did believe that she too was involved in rebellion. More concerning was that she had said she learned this from a fairy, and he hoped for his sake and those he considered his friends that the fairy wasn’t Princess Risa. His impression from seeing her here tonight was one of recklessness and he was not about to put his, or their, lives in danger on the whims of a disgraced princess. He had allowed himself to hope that whoever was behind bringing humans here was someone with tact and power, someone who could actually stop Aklenroth. The thought that it might be some indignant member of a practically defunct royal family that brought so many humans here just to die made him more than a bit angry.

“A wise fairy? Not sure I’ve ever encountered one before. I do hope that this fairy doesn’t have pink hair and a certain historic and attention-grabbing dress on tonight.” Bowyn saw no need to put on a façade now, letting his sarcasm and disdain leak into his words as he whispered back. “I hope the fates of so many don’t lie with someone so young and reckless.” He added in a hushed tone as he shook his head with disapproval. He let out a small exasperated sigh, it wasn’t this elf's fault that she was young and hopeful, he had been that way too once. He knew that this was risky information to share with a stranger and didn’t want her to be left with the impression that it was given to their shared enemy.

“Do not worry though, I am not your enemy. For your own sake though, be cautious who allow to lead you, good intentions are not enough to win a war.” He added, his voice softer, without any of the forced charm or jaded sarcasm he’d had before. He couldn’t be sure whether she was yet another human unlucky enough to have been brought here or simply a young elf yet to witness the horrors this world had to provide but either way he choice a more sincere approach rather than to continue with his earlier façade. The bird on his shoulder relaxed as Bowyn did, the stress of pretending to be someone he was not had left. “Truthfully, I’ve lost all taste for such things; the extravagance here is all just a show of power and wealth. I’d rather be in a run down old tavern any day, can’t say I’ve ever been truly comfortable in these sorts of places.” He said, answering her question about the ball with honesty this time.

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time: Night
Location: The Pit
Interaction with: Ava@Pink Khione

Noah tried to focus on her question thinking hard with a furrowed brow but her question was difficult for him. Time was difficult for him, sometimes it went by so quickly he couldn’t really keep track of it and other times it seemed to crawl along, so slowly that he wasn’t even sure it was moving forward at all. He tried to remember exactly how long it had been since he’d become a vampire; he certainly remembered being given the gift but after that it was just darkness and hunger with the unbearably long stretches only broken up the blood, when he’d been given someone to eat. “Years, yes, that sounds right. A decade no, not that long, I don’t think so.” Noah answered slowly becoming more agitated as he thought about it.

Why was she asking about time anyway? He didn’t understand why it mattered, what use was time to something immortal. Time was boring and human. He didn’t want to think about time anymore and was even more annoyed when she told him to ask again in a century. In a century the witch might already be dead, or Drake would find something new to play with, and he didn’t want to wait. Noah hated waiting almost as much as he was discovering he hated thinking about time. “I learn quickly, they let me go out on my own now. You don’t have teach me, just tell me how to learn it. If I do better, she’ll come back for me.” He said, wondering why she didn’t just tell him how. If he impressed Drake by compelling the witch back then maybe his sire would hear about what a worthy vampire he was becoming. But this vampire didn’t seem to want to help but, maybe, she had other helpful secrets he could learn.

“Hey do you know my sire? She has eyes like a demon but a voice like an angel and-” Noah abruptly stopped his unhelpful description. He didn’t like that word, it reminded him of something, something bad and human that he wanted left forgotten. He wanted the memory gone, he wanted blood; to wash such things out of his mind once more and to replace the foul taste in his mouth that the word had left. He looked back over his shoulder, his eyes scanning The Pit for the human who had the smell of blood on him and a low growl crept from his throat. Noah quickly forgot about the other vampire and his thoughts returned to finding someone to eat.

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time: Night
Location: The Pit
Interaction with: Ava @Pink Khione

Noah caught the scent immediately; fresh blood filled the air of the club and had his eyes not been hidden beneath the dark glasses anyone who saw him would notice they were bright red. The hunger peaked again, he needed blood, he could smell blood, and from the second it was in the air it was the only thing that consumed his mind. He moved towards the scent, barely even aware that he was moving, but stopped when he caught sight of a woman collecting blood into a flask. The compelled man staggered back to wherever he came from leaving tiny drops of blood along his way. Noah’s head tilted to the side with curiosity as he starred at the strange vampire who had let her meal walk away from her. He wanted to rip out the guys throat with his teeth right there and, every instinct within him screamed at him to do so, the hunger was almost unbearable. He would have to do this later though, not only to quiet the hunger but to ensure that this man didn’t live long enough to remember that he’d seen a vampire. Every muscle strained as he forced himself to resist his instincts and approach the vampire rather than the follow the smell of the blood. Right now though, there was something Noah wanted more than blood, he wanted to know how to compel.

”I know what you are.” Noah sang softly as soon as he was within earshot of the other vampire. He flashed a quick grin, exposing his own fangs before willing them to retract. It didn’t take much for him to infer that this vampire was older than him, she showed a great deal of control in the way she had collected the blood, not even biting the human, and the ability to compel so completely was not one he’d often seen. ”Tell me how you did that.” Noah asked, intensely curious, acutely aware that there was so much to being a vampire he did not know. He had been taught very little, and he had decided that his sire’s failure to teach these things must be some sort of test, if he learned them all without her then it would only make him more worthy in the end. ”Please.” He added quickly with another smile, remembering that he needed to show due respect to other, more powerful, vampire. He had nearly forgotten this in his excitement to meet her, and he was almost certain that this vampire was even stronger than Silas, who he’d never seen compel a mortal. The wheels in Noah’s mind began turning as he thought of all things he could do if he learned such a skill. The thought of compelling Drake’s witch pet back to New Paeonia fixated into his mind, how impressed his master would be if he could accomplish such a thing.

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time: Evening
Location: Ember Grove University-Art Exhibit
Interaction with: Shay @Potter

As the artist announced his departure Elias noticed caught sight of a small group of men who entered the art showing. Some of the men dispersed through the crowd without a word to each other, while others remained at the front doors. Although it was possible that they were additional security his instincts told him they were not; adrenalin shot through him and a bad feeling set in. Everything in him was on alert, his instincts screamed danger, and he kept tabs as best he could on the men who traveled through the crowded showing. A woman he’d seen talking with the artist approached them offering the painting to the mysterious art lover he’d tried to chat with, which was a lovely and generous act. Her choice of words seemed to confirm the bad feeling he had gotten only moments ago. His eyes glanced at the men who had just arrived as the redhead spoke the very deliberate phrase of ‘there are wicked things that like to come out to play.’ Something bad was about to happen, not too surprisingly as it was a Friday night in Ember Grove. He glanced down at the business card she’d handed them for a place called The Witches Brew and chuckled slightly. He’d heard of it but had never been there, Father Xavier had always chastised it for being filled with demonic sympathizers. Seeing as he was now also a ‘demon sympathizer’ he just might have to check it out, no sense turning down a free treat either. He offered a quick thanks to the woman who quickly made her exit.

His attention turned back to the mysterious brunette who seemed incredibly attached to that particular painting and he couldn’t help but smile to see her get what she’d wanted. He gave a slight wave as she left, clearly sensing the heavy aura of danger that filled the room as well, and was momentarily relieved that she’d be spared the sight of whatever was about to happen. Then the screaming started. The men that had given him a bad feeling were, unsurprisingly vampires, and they sprang their attack on the dozens of helpless people in the room. Three of them blocked the main doors, slaughtering those that tried to flee, while the other vampires in the room fed on the confused masses. A howl erupted from a man as he transformed into a werewolf in the midst of going after the vampires. The redhead he’d seen earlier, most likely a hunter, and a small child joined the fight was well. Though Eli had a lot of questions about why a child had a gun and a pet werewolf, he didn’t really have time to think about it. He was more than pleased to know he was not alone fighting about a dozen vampires in a packed and panicked room.

In the midst of the action he spotted the woman from a few seconds ago returning only to see the man, well, vampire, who had been selling the paintings attack her. Eli quickly drew his gun, which was loaded up with the UV bullets as vampires were often the biggest threat lurking around town and went to take a shot at the vampire. But the woman, who he now knew to be a witch, threw the vampire across the room and transformed into a completely different person. Since she clearly didn’t need his help, he turned his attention back to those who did, firing a shot at the nearest vampire as it lunged for a victim. Despite the attempt at carnage by the vampires the whole scene had a sort of beautiful unity to it; hunters, a werewolf, and a witch all working together to protect innocent lives. While many people sought protection by sticking close to the wolf, hunter, and child many others still rushed towards the doors. If the strange trio were handling crowd control it was clear that he needed to prioritized those by the door in order to get people out.

”Sorry handsome, I’m not your brunette.” He heard the witch address him causing him to immediately grin like an idiot.

“Nah, Super-Witch, I’d say this look really suits you.” He answered back, unable to stop himself from stealing the occasional glance at the witch as she fought, absolutely enamored by the warrior witch who was lit up like a goddess by flames that engulfed her fists. It was, admittedly, incredibly stupid to allow himself to be so easily distracted. A hard right hook to the face reminded him exactly how stupid it was and as he staggered back a bit, a hungry vampire lunged at him. Though his reflexes were fast, they certainly weren’t vampire fast. Before he had the chance to aim and shoot, he was flung to the ground but somehow, likely a magical somehow, the vampire was unable to tear into his skin. The impact of being knocked to the ground had left him struggling to regain his breath but he managed to fire a shot into the vampire’s chest as the creature struggled to break through the invisible force that prevented it from turning him into a blood meal. He wasn’t entirely sure how he kept managing to come by so much good luck as it certainly wasn’t from his own karma.

He shoved the scream vampire off him as it began to burn from the inside out and jumped back to his feet. Eli made eye contact with Super-Witch again and gestured towards the door. “Whatda say we clear the exit?” He suggested.

Ember Grove - Reboot

Time: Night
Location: The Pit
Interaction with: His very first shot of whiskey

Noah had thought that they would leave after disposing of bodies but this was not the case. Silas grabbed Noah by the back of the neck and quickly shoved him through the side door and into the thunderous room of The Pit. The club’s music rattled around in his head and the lights inside strobed and flashed. Random faces lit up for fractions of a second, not long enough for him to focus on one but forcing his eyes to dart wildly around as each sweat covered meal was lit up under colorful spotlights. Nothing stayed in focus, there were swarms of people everywhere and every single body in the room smelled like dinner. Even after having just eaten the overwhelming scent of warmth, sweat, and lust caused his vampiric hunger to claw its way back up his throat. He didn’t understand how other vampire’s hunted here, how they could control the vampire instinct when everything about The Pit seemed designed to strip control away. Noah had never really learned control to begin with, the only thing that stopped him from massacring every living thing that crossed his path was a desire to please his clan and its leader.

As he stood frozen and wide eyed he felt his hand being pried open and something forced into his hand, startling him out of his trace-like state. Noah stared for a second at the objects placed in his hand, a dark pair of sunglasses and two strange squishy things. He then looked back at Silas and tilted his head in confusion. The older vampire gestured to his ears and it look another few seconds before Noah understood what the squishy things were; ear plugs. He twisted the ear plugs into his ears and put on the dark tinted sunglasses. He slowly realized why Silas had shoved him into The Pit, it was just like when he was a child and his older cousin had pushed him into a pool to teach him how to swim. Sometimes you either sink or you swim and Noah had learned to swim that day. And now he would learn to walk around with the humans in their noise pit, and he would learn control.

“Better?” Silas asked. Noah could still hear the vampire but the volume of everything in the club had now been turned down, and the lights where much less distracting. He nodded slowly in response, more able to focus than before as the distractions of the club dull slightly. His hunger for blood still gnawed at him, and the smell of the place was still overwhelming but now he at least could hear his own thoughts over all the noise. It was then that Sierra appeared holding small glasses that clearly did not contain blood. He hadn’t even noticed when she had left but he took the glass offered to him and starred at it. The other two vampires were drinking from their glasses so Noah did the same, although he wasn’t sure why he would drink anything that wasn’t blood. What purpose would that serve?

The dark liquid burned its way down his throat in an entirely different way than the hunger burned. It quieted his hunger for blood just enough to that it wasn’t the only thought that occupied his mind, and sent a warming sensation throughout his normally cold skin. He starred at the empty glass thinking, at first, that it was some sort of witch potion but upon smelling it recognized it as something his father would occasionally drink. Whiskey. Noah had never had alcohol before, and he decided that while it paled in comparison to blood, he still liked it. Noah looked up from the small shot glass and grinned. Sierra responded by clapping her hands in amusement and plucking the shot glass from his hand. He followed her back to the bar where they got more whiskey.

The whiskey helped Noah relax more, and after some time the club seemed less and less unbearable. He watched how the humans acted in the club, doing his best to imitate them, trying to seem less out of place than he normally did around his prey. He was understanding the point of the exercise; to be a better vampire he would have to learn to blend in, and he had to learn quickly in order to locate more witches if he wanted to find Drake’s lost pet. It had been a long time since he had been around so many people, and all of his normal human experience had ended at fourteen. From then until he became a vampire, he was nothing more than cattle in a cage. He held no ill-will towards his captors, as that experience had led him towards his elevated state; a vampire. It did, however, make blending in with other humans particularly challenging for Noah. After being turned his vampire conditioning consisted of only how to kill and torture, which he greatly enjoyed, but was also not a huge help in blending in with his prey. This experience gave him a chance to watch the humans, as well as hunt them, and to work on his ability to focus and control himself. All while not having to have too much interaction with his prey, it was clear that no one came to The Pit to make conversation. This realization made Noah see The Pit as a new training ground, rather than the dreadful place he had thought.

---

Time: Evening
Location: Ember Grove University-Art Exhibit
Interaction with: Shay @Potter

Elias continued with his attempt at understanding the whole art scene, carefully studying each painting as he wondered around the rest of the exhibit. The only one he’d found to be truly interesting was the one that had apparently been vandalized earlier in the evening with a moustache drawn onto the woman and horns and a tail on the baby. That one made him chuckle slightly, and he wondered if it was some sort of protest against the artist. He found himself more interested in the people watching than he did the art appreciating though, and at least the people walking around looked far less miserable than the one’s inside the portraits. He caught sight of a redhead who shot him a wink and while his first impression would’ve been ‘vampire bait,’ with the blood red hair and eye-catching outfit, he noted that she moved with the fierce determination of someone on the hunt. Possibly another hunter, or judging by her clothes, vampire seemed pretty likely, but his attention was soon drawn elsewhere.

A nearby pair engaged in a heated bidding war over one of the paintings, heated enough that it ended in the older man being escorted out of the exhibit. Eli certainly hadn’t expected an art showing to need security, or even be all that exciting, but apparently the art crowd was rowdier than he thought. The other half of the bidding war, a college aged woman, returned just after the man was led out of the building, to try and by the ridiculously expensive piece of art. From what he overheard it was a staggering eight thousand dollars for the thing, which was a whole hell of a lot more than his beat-up old truck had cost him. Seeing as how she seemed more than eager to drop that kind of dough on one painting, he figured she’d be the one to ask about the art.

“Interesting choice of dorm décor, college isn’t depressing enough?” He said jokingly as he approached the woman who was intent on purchasing a painting. “But to be fair I can’t say I know a thing about art. Hey, since you seem like you’re here to buy, maybe you can help enlighten me on what the appeal is of dozens of paintings of people who look so sad? I’m trying to broaden my horizons and all, but not sure I really get this particular horizon.” He asked, though as he rambled on, wine tended to make him rather chatty, he noticed she seemed on edge and maybe he’d picked out the wrong art fan to chat with.