(OPEN!) "The Way It Should Be, a Vampire Roleplay" co-owned by ELC and CS (T-T+)

Kalypso nearly tripped over a certain bushy tuxedo cat, who rubbed up against the front of her leather boots just as she finished coming down the stairs. "Boone!" she said, sounding annoyed, "I fed you when I got home!" She decided that she needed some coffee. She'd pulled an all-nighter the night before, studying for a test in one of her classes at the University. Throwing on her black hoodie, she was out the door. She pulled up the hood, realizing that it was raining. Not that she minded the weather, but she didn't like being soaked.

She started the trek to the cafe, with the usual serious expression on her face. Kal learned from the neighborhoods she'd lived in before to walk quickly and with purpose. That way people... or anything else... would be more likely to leave you alone. The lack of sleep gave her a much shorter fuse than she usually had and she didn't really want to have it out with someone on the street.

Her hand closed on the handle of the cafe's door and she came inside, lowering her hood and looking around. There seemed to be a lot of tension in the room...

Tommy started toward the door, his gaze downward, as a girl in a black hoodie walked in. He nodded, acknowleding her presence as he walked out, holding the door slightly for her. He stared ahead, though his head was down, shoulders hunched as he crossed the street, heading for the hotel. He didn't seem very attentive, or as though his mind was even on the place he was walking to.
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Andrew took this as a moment to leave as well. Perhaps he would go somewhere else tonight... there was not much more reason to stay here.
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Danielle stood as another customer entered the cafe. She took a deep breath and regained her composure. She headed behind the counter, putting her apron back on. The cafe was strange in a way; how workers could wait on customers, though they didn't need to, or customers could just go to the counter without being waited on. Things were starting to settle down around here, at least the fact that people were generally taken care of now.

Leonardo sat patiently in his chair, a little pleased with himself for making Danielle both feel better and blush. It was good to know that- "I still got it." he said to himself, yeah, that pretty much explains what I Leonardo's narrator was about to say, oh, but also that he had helped make somebody feel- OK that's bull spit (learned that one from a clean airplane version of Watchmen. XD)

While Leonardo sat there waiting for either Danielle to return, or for his new partner to appear, he began playing imaginary rubix cube. Lesson 4 in Leonardo's tips for life, when waiting always play imaginary rubix cube, it makes you feel somewhat productive, it fends off boredom, and it makes you feel smart, because in the end you can always just imagine you win every time. While he did this he also pondered one of the great mysteries of life. "How do they get the caramel inside the chocolate?" he hummed the theme of Harry Potter while he did both of these things, though he picked up the troubling scent of gunpowder a smell he was all too farmiliar with.

Elouise looked around the cafe, making sure everyone was taken care of. Everyone was, so she turned to Danielle. "I think I'll take my break now." She took her apron off, and grabbed her jacket and bag. "I'll be in that bookstore if you need me," she said gesturing in it's direction. She stepped out from behind the counter and through the door.

Thankfully she didn't have far to walk in this rainy weather. She heard a familiar tinkling sound from the bell above the door as she opened it. and stepped inside.

Tommy entered the hotel doors, and headed for the counter, asking for another keycard. So someone had discovered his particularly-vampire-aimed-weapons. And definitely someone he didn't want to have discovered them... now he had the feeling that things were just going to infinitely get worse for them. There was a point in getting this room right across the street though, right?

Or maybe you should just go home... she's right, you're hopeless. And this may very well be pointless...

The girl behind the front desk handed him a new key. He thanked her and continued back to his room. He tossed his bag on the floor and looked across the street, sighing. He shut his curtains, taking off his jacket and shoes, before falling onto the bed. He closed his eyes, and laid there... this "mission" was not yet completed, but maybe some rest wouldn't hurt...
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Danielle nodded to Elli. "Alright. Have fun," she said, as she watched her friend/co-worker leave. She continued waiting behind the counter, to see which of the options the new customer would do. A part of her still wished she was talking to Leonardo... she was looking forward to seeing him more here. But she was a slight bit still shaken by Tommy's idiotic boldness in what he'd brought here. She knew he had problems, but this was pretty extreme. She thought she might want to avoid him for a little while... she didn't have to tolerate this.

Why don't you try talking to him again instead of blowing up and/or kicking him out of the cafe?...

Maybe it was just tiring. Maybe what he did was tiring... well, of course it was. She sighed, and walked to the machine, making herself a latte, making sure her steamed milk was extra foamy. She used hot chocolate for her mocha instead of the actual thing. She took a sip and sighed. Though it had expresso in it, one of the most concentrated kinds of coffee, the drink was calming her...
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Andrew wandered the streets of the city. He'd never really seen it, at least paid attention to it. Mostly he went out there to retrieve... prey... He now noticed how bright the streetlights were, how busy it was out. Vampires, mostly MV's, were ones out on the streets then, heading to and from university classes or just experiencing whatever the city offered. Traditionalists, like himself, were possibly out "hunting". Humans were out, but cautious... well, the "smart" ones were cautious. They still didn't stand a chance.

He recognized some people, from the people he'd... erm, met, before. They looked similar, their blood smelled similar. And they would never know what happened to those people... well, they wouldn't know who did it. Vampire attacks were utterly difficult to track, and though most vampires were good at being secretive about their "eating" habits, set witnesses were what could make them caught... and usually, vampires like himself would make sure those witnesses were disposed of.

Of course, there was a witness of an attack he'd made, about 30 years ago. For some reason, he also hesitated to do anything about that one... tonight had not been the first time he'd "spared" her.

Tatiana looked up as the door opened, slightly startled by the jingling bell. "Hello." She said and smiled. Quickly pausing her lesson, Tatiana stood up. "It's really coming down out there." She commented. Things probably settled down by now at the cafe, but it's still nice to have some company. She thought to herself.

James was zoned out for what seemed to be a minute, but when he glanced at his watch it was time to get going. His head shot up as he quickly scanned the room for his charge. Tall... white hair.. tall... He spotted the man fairly quickly and strode over, raising an eyebrow at his odd choice of entertainment, but not saying anything. After a year and a half of Leonore, he was used to such things.

"Leonardo Halse? I'm your new handler, James. Pleased to meet you, now let's get going." James said in a fast and formal tone. He really just wanted to get this over with, and go home.

Danielle noticed a brunette vampire guy... how could she have missed him earlier? Oh well... it seemed like he had a purpose of his own. She noticed how he spotted Leonardo and began speaking with him almost immediately. She wondered what he was up to, that was so important...
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The first time, actually, was the night he changed her... though it was accidental, he had spared her then as well. Otherwise, she would have been dead and forgotten, like the rest of those Andrew had attacked. Hm... interesting history, he admitted.

Leonardo was shooting down his latest method, deciding that injecting the chocolate with the caramel that ate away at the inside of the chocolate would be far too inhumane as he heard a man behind him.

Leonardo spun in his chair to see the MV named James. He was relatively tall with longish wavy brown hair. "Slow down sparky." he ordered his handler. He picked up the partially empty bottle of blood sup, and held it out to him. "Smell the roses and have a drink." he said to the brunet MV, and then placed the bottle on the counter in front of the chair. "Nice to meet you James I require a last name to work with you." he said sarcastically, making the last part run on with his name, before he spun around in his chair again and continued his imaginary rubix cube game.

"Slow down sparky, Smell the roses and have a drink. Nice to meet you James I require a last name to work with you." Leonardo said before returning to his.. what seemed to be a rubix cube.

James huffed and took a seat nearby the glorified police dog. "James is my name, both of them." He started bouncing his leg. "I've already had a drink and would prefer to finish this mission as soon as possible, so I can go home to my family. Now let's go." The last part was said with some force behind it.

Kal noticed that there were a few vampires in the room. The hairs on the back of her neck rose. A slight nervous feeling seeped into her, but she ignored it. After she pulled off her soaked hoodie and tied it around her waist, she walked up to the counter. Her eyes flashed quickly to the board with some of the drinks. She looked at Danielle, giving her a slight smile, "Excuse me? Could I have a double shot espresso, please?"

"That's interesting. James James, I like it." said Leonardo, finishing with his imaginary cube, and then looked over at James. "So James James, where exactly do you plan on going? The only thing we know is that the TVs pick up their prey around here, we have to wait for them to make the first move before we can do anything." he continued, and then he pointed out the window. "See out there that girl flirting with the guy? Well the guy is a little too interested in her chest to notice that she's a TV." he said tapping his nose. "Your next thought is, well let's pursue them. But then you need to remember that we are currently unarmed facing a group of TVs. Then our first move would have to be to grab the weaponry in the trash bin out back." Leonardo said, taking the bottle of blood supplement from in front of James. "Now you don't get your treat." he said in a sarcastically ashamed voice. "Sorry Danielle I'll be heading off now, good luck with Dave, and tell your boyfriend to watch what he carries around in his backpack!" he called before heading for the back door of the cafe. "Come on Rookie, we've got work to do." he said to James.

"It's really coming down out there."

Elouise nodded her head, dislodging many droplets of water. "It sure is," she replied taking off her jacket as she gracefully plopped into the armchair at the end of a bookshelf. "Thanks for that by the way," she said referring to the fiasco in the cafe. "That was really nice of you, I'm Elouise, but I'll answer to Elli too." She smiled, waiting for her response.

Danielle nodded, lightening up a little from her distractions. "Sure, no problem," she replied to the customer. She poured her requested drink into the cafe's logo-marked cup, before handing it to her.

"Sorry Danielle I'll be heading off now, good luck with Dave, and tell your boyfriend to watch what he carries around in his backpack!"

"Thanks," Danielle mumbled, as she watched Leonardo leave. She winced slightly as he called Tommy her boyfriend. He was far from it, especially now.
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That made it three times, where he could've killed her and she lived. Great. There was always something holding him back... of course, the first time, it wasn't as though he had a stake on hand. Andrew tended to avoid those... for some reason, these thoughts were a slight bit discomforting, disheartening.

And for some reason, he'd wound up in front of an apartment building. There it was again. Out of all the strange and crazy Modernist Vampires cooped up in there that night, her scent was amplified, because some of her was on the outside. He cringed.

He stared up. She wasn't very high up; about the second or third floor. Hm.

((*cue "Johanna" from Sweeney Todd* XDD))

Garrett would have chosen that exact moment to just leave early, but his boss was now in a nice mood, and let him leave early, saying that one person was enough. It had shocked Garrett, but he said nothing. For his boss to do something this nice was... extremely rare. So he didn't ruin it by saying anything. He just left quietly, pulling of his name tag as he went.

He decided to take a detour to the coffee shop/cafe like item and get a coffee before going home. When he walked in, Garrett noticed a sort of tension in the air, and knew it was probably from all the vampires in there.

"Hi. Could I get a venti mocha frappuccino?" Garrett asked the girl at the counter, trying not to drip too much water onto everything.

(xDDDDD That's great!))

((xD It's so true though. Gasp! Ella-chan.))

Danielle nodded at the new customer, a brunette human guy with glasses. He looked like a stressed, unappreciated college student.

"No problem," she said, and started on his blended \"coffee\" drink (because this roleplay alternates from mistaking the cafe for a Starbucks to being a legit, privately-owned... no offense to anyone. ^^\').

She slipped in the mocha flavoring, and other ingredients, blending it quickly, before pouring into the plastic cup.

"Would you like whipped cream on this?" she asked.
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Andrew sang "Johanna" to the window of an apartment, except replaced the name with "Charlottle". Andrew stared up, locating her exact apartment. It faced the street, like his. It seemed she was asleep. Probably good for her now, after the earlier situation. Regret seemed to be sneaking into his system, though he pushed it away. That wasn't how he should be... she was nothing more than...

...she's just like you... a vampire, someone living their life the way they think they should...

No, she's definitely different. Only a Modernist... nothing more... and all you're doing is changing her back to the right way. Monitor her for a while, and then ditch again... but she could just change back again... well... then you know what happens.

But for some reason, it didn't sound like a good idea anymore. It was still a failure, if he only caused her death as though she was a mere human. What was worse, a human or a Modernist Vampire, after all?

He turned away from the building, and continued down the streets. Perhaps it was time to get back. It wasn't as though he was truly going to communicate with anyone, not that he minded being out here... well, alone.

James was embarrassed at the taller man's observations.

"Come on Rookie, we've got work to do."

As he followed Leonardo out of the cafe he was trying to snap back into focus.

There must have been a defect in that CellsPlus I had earlier...
__
-At a little known factory the next town over...-

A man with black hair watched on his laptop as the workers of the factory continued their drone-like work. He slowly smiled as his interference went undetected. The chemical compound he had added to the mix would deal with those freaks of nature, with every sip eating away at their insides, withering them away can by can...This second batch of poisoned product was one more step in the right direction.

The blood suckers won't know what hit 'em.

"Uh... sure. I'll take some whipped cream," Garrett answered, adjusting the glasses that were slipping down his nose.

He waited patiently for the girl to finish his coffee, humming quietly to himself.
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Charlotte was having a dream of epicness... no, more like a nightmare... a memory. A very nightmarish memory.

She was alone, walking through the forest as she like to do at night. There was just something so calming about it. Something so peaceful that she couldn't resist sneaking out to take these lonely walks.

It was a quiet night, with the moon only a sliver, a slight chill in the air, the crunch of leaves and twigs under her feet.

Too soon, it was time for Charlotte to return home, so she turned around, ready to go back, when she saw a very handsome man just feet away from her. There was hardly any time for her to be startled, however, because in seconds, he hands were on her neck, almost like a caress.

Charlotte didn't comprehend what was going on until a pain sparked in her neck. Pain and more pain, until she started fading, but then more pain again. So much pain.

"That was really nice of you, I'm Elouise, but I'll answer to Elli too."

"Well it's very nice to meet you Elli, I'm Tatiana." She replied. "No problem." Tatiana grabbed her stool and placed it in front of the counter. "You know, sometimes I wonder if my parents are right, if I really am crazy for moving here. But, you know, I'm curious, what sparked all that?" She asked, settling down.

Danielle put on a normal-ish helping of whipped cream, trying to prove Elli wrong on the fact that she "skimped" on it. He probably needed a little extra sugar, anyway.

"Here you go. You know, local college students get a discount here," she replied, handing the drink to him.
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Andrew hurried back to his apartment at a less-leisurely speed, running so quickly, that the human eye could not spot him. He sped up the stairs and into his apartment. The energy from the blood from earlier had finally been put to use. And now he was out of it, entirely. He couldn't hardly bear to sleep at this hour, however. It was only almost midnight. This was the time he would usually hunt... or, at least be finishing his "meal" on some nights. There had been few nights where he'd gone hungry.

One in particular lingered in his mind.

It had been days since Andrew had stopped to satiate his thirst. He'd been traveling, wandering the states, trying to find a place to stay. He had been testing himself, perhaps. Or he just hadn't had time. Traditionalists were hiding out, with the government becoming the way it was now, and now with the many becoming Modernists now simply out of fear.

He wasn't weak like them. He wouldn't succumb to those pathetic ways.

Yet he wasn't strong enough to keep going without something to help him through these next days... he'd been traveling even in the day, entirely invisible.

The moonlit forest was a welcome resting spot. But more than that, the scent of human blood was near. He tilted his head as quickly as possible, to locate its source.

It was a young girl, around 17 years old, wandering the forest at night. Absolutely perfect.

There was no time for anything else. He took her neck, almost gently at first, in his hands, and then sunk his fangs into her jugular. Yes... sweet, sweet blood filled him, nourishing him now. He was practically draining her now. She seemed too weak to even try to protest, he was too fast to startle her.

She was close to death before he slipped. Venom dripped from his fangs into where he had just drank her blood. With his senses now heightened, he realized his mistake. He tried to get it out, but it was too late... a drip of venom was enough to create a vampire, an ounce of blood enough to spread and be transformed.

Pain... pain... so much pain... Not only in her neck, but also her ribs, there was pain. Charlotte woke up to find herself gripping her neck tightly, nails digging into it. She let go quickly and looked down at her chest. It felt a little better, but it would still need time to heal. Probably more time than she wanted to give up.

Groaning, Charlotte sat up and looked at her clock. It was just past midnight, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep again. Every time she had that dream, she was up for the rest of the night, whether she wanted to be or not. Although this hadn't happened since she had decided to become a Modernist.
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"Thanks. Really? How are the college and this place connected to each other?" Garrett replied, taking a sip.

"Well, the UVU supports it, and they help with the funding and all, so yeah," Danielle replied, politely, shrugging slightly. "Thirty percent off whatever you buy if you go to any college in Midnight Heights."
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That was one of the worst nights of his life. It was like anything one didn't mean to do, but tenfold. He'd never wanted to create another vampire, never wanted to have someone so prone to going to the wrong side, someone he might wind up having to be with the rest of his life. A commitment to training them.

Many vampires, especially male, created vampires of the opposite gender on purpose, for the sake of making a mate. His family line was made up entirely of that kind. His parents wanted him to do it. His grandparents, everyone who was still alive in his family wanted that for him.

But this wasn't what he wanted. He liked his handling of human women. There was always nothing left to worry about afterwards... because they were truly just blood to suck for him in the end. But everything would change now...

He wouldn't let this vampire girl be his demise. He wouldn't allow her to become Modernist; he was determined. At the same time, he wouldn't make her anything more than an apprentice. Two... overly simple-goals in his mind, that he knew would be much more difficult in the future. Yet he decided not to think of such as he watched her now, writhing. Thank goodness he hadn't been changed... it looked incredibly painful...

"You know, sometimes I wonder if my parents are right, if I really am crazy for moving here. But, you know, I'm curious, what sparked all that?"

Elouise chuckled. "My parents said the same thing, but they're both vampires so you'd think they'd understand a little better."

She sighed, "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. This man came into the cafe, I caught his scent, and all of a sudden I'm all tense and defensive like he's going to attack me or something. He smelled a lot like a Traditionalist, but the aroma was sharper somehow. It was so strong it almost hurt." Elouise shrugged. "And I'm guessing that's what freaked everyone out."

"Ah." Tatiana nodded. "That makes sense. I mean, it even felt tense from the moment I stepped in there." She sighed. "But parents really are just paranoid for the safety of their children." Human or not she added in her head. "It's just their nature, I suppose." She added a shrug. Tatiana pushed her hair back behind her ears and thought about her parents. They never really know....

"Oh. Alright. Thanks," Garrett said, paying her, before he sat down at a table, drinking his coffee. But then he got up again and left, deciding that it was high time to be getting home.
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Though Charlotte didn't want to, she kept thinking about what happened after being changed.

He's back. No... no... I don't want anymore! Please no! Those thoughts raced through Charlotte's head when she saw Andrew again. He told her that he wanted to help her survive as a vampire. That he was going to help her, protect her until she was ready to go off on her own. He told her so many things. And she believed him. Charlotte believed him on everything. Traditionalist was the only way to go. Modernists were weak. And so many other things.