Thalia didn't want to go in there alone. "Could you come with me?" She hates bejng alone and she wasn't on starting something. She looked at him and he kept a straight face which made him look intimidating. She got out of the car and waited for him to get out of the caf.

Her stomach growled louder ths time around. She looked down at the ground and put her hands behind het back.

((It's okay!))

Erasmus Ambrogio

"Could you come with me?"

Erasmus showed no signs of change in regards to his moved. He simply nodded an affirmative, shut the engine off and opened the car door. By the time he'd crossed in front of the car and met Thalia on the other side he was his usual self again. Small smile turning up the corner of his lips and a twinkle in his eyes.

He formally offered her his arm again, should she want it. "So, what are we looking for, Leonessa?" he asked. "A quick dinner or something to last you a week or more?"

(It's fine I understand about the virus everything okay with em )

Alexandrix was tense as he listened to Reinette spoke to him."I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. It's just... Well, now we've both made ourselves feel a bit silly tonight, haven't we? Thank you though, For both the compliment, and for making me feel better. I needed a good laugh." "Y yeah I think so, uh no problem. I'm always obliged to make someone feel better." he said putting on a nervous smile. He really hadn't ever talked to a girl like her, ever really he was always focused on work as a mortal and as a vampire he was ether shoved out of towns or inside all day and sitting here at night.

"Well, to be honest, I have a tendency to... wander off when I get upset. Its like, I have to walk to calm my mind. And," she blushed as she spoke the next part. "I have a problem with paying attention to where I go when I do wander off. Its a problem I know I have to fix, but... I'm not quite sure where to start." Alex thought for a moment. He had read a few books on human nature and there were many cases like this. "It isn't a problem, it's simply..." he gulped "...human nature." he said carefully hating to use the word human since it separated him from normal people.

"I didn't realize it was so late. I don't want to keep you from anything..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced around herself once more. "I suppose I'm going to have to figure out where I am, exactly. Before it gets much later, or then I'm really screwed more than I am now..." Alex shook his head, "No no it's fine I don't really have anything to do at the moment. If you want I could help you find your way home." he said shyly as he stood up and brushed some of his bangs from his eyes.

Luke

”Are you foreign?” When the girl spoke those three simple words, Luke almost laughed but he smiled. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings again.
Was there something to him that looked foreign? Maybe the way he spoke or moved. He had to bite his lip to resist the urge of telling her that it was just because he was dead, a vampire.
“Why do you ask?” He said, returning her question with a question. It was reasonably fair – to know what she meant before she received her answer.
Maybe it was about time that he told her about his vampirism. Wait, he can’t... She’ll run away.

It was a little strange to have her in his room. No one had been in here since that night, when his father’s mistress came to turn him into a monster. It was actually pathetic how a vampire like herself was so dependent on a human man who was just weak.
Luke looked at the girl, studying her reaction to his room. He looked at her carefully as she ate the triangles. Luke pulled the hoodie from his back and put it on his bed so it would be ready for when he needed it again.
This was strange. Perhaps he should tell her now. She kept using human terms to describe him. What was he supposed to say to her statement, ‘yeah, I rescue a lot of cats from trees.’

Instead of making something up, Luke walked back over to the door and closed it. He didn’t bother to lock because he didn’t want to make her feel too uncomfortable.
Luke then took the bag of edible triangles from Philomen’s hand and dropped it on the nearby table.
“Philomen...” He said her name softly as he stood close to her, a little closer than what he would consider comfortable. He could just feel the warmth of her body stroking his cold skin. It seemed normal to him, her body temperature. He wouldn’t even notice if she was too hot or too cold

The feeling of her being trapped was one that made Luke feel uncomfortable. Perhaps it wasn’t the right time to tell her. But he had already closed the door and he had already gotten this close to her.
“Philomen...” Luke said again as he readied himself to break the news to her. He gently, afraid of hurting the fragile thing, pressed the back of his cold fingers to her jaw line to ensure her attention. He was so close he could smell the spices of the triangles and the scent of her skin, her hair, her blood.
“I am not human. I do not have a heartbeat or a pulse.” He started, then paused. He felt a little cliché.
“I am cold, from my heart – the very core of me – to my skin. I am not foreign, but roughly three hundred years old. I am a vampire, Philomen.” Luke eventually reached his point. His eyes fluttered a little, as if it hurt him to break the news to her.

This girl had some kind of effect on him, after only an hour. Luke’s hand went from her jaw line to stroking her cheek in one smooth movement and he took a step away from her. If she really wanted to run, he would let her – but he didn’t want her to go.


(( So... many... posts... =D ))

Malice looked up into his eyes with confusion. There was no fear in his eyes, the man didn't crumble beneath her wrath like she'd seen so many countless times before instead he smiled, she could have sworn he even relaxed into her. "Why are you smiling?! Are you not afraid to die?" she questioned still looking into his eyes, hunting for that glint of fear she had grown to love. The little glimmer of hope that people lose when their faced with the impending threat that was Malice.

How?! How can this man stand here and not even have the decency to run away from me!. "Who are you mortal? Why are you not scared?" Malice had to admit to herself that she was impressed, she'd made the strongest of men cry in her life. No one had ever looked her in the eye and smiled! His next words chilled her, “You’re looking for a little excitement?” Malice punched him. Not enough to give him any sort of physical damage but hard enough to have caused the desired pain. "How DARE you insult me! You pathetic little mortal! I am NO ONE'S fucktoy! Especially not a mans!" she turned her back on him, feigning walking away before spinning herself around and stopping with the dagger barely an inch from his face. Still there was no fear. Just who was this man?

"You remind me of someone, do you know that?" Malice stepped back from him, seemingly lost in thought but her gaze never wavering from him. "In my life I've only met one person who could ever look me in the eye without fear. I admire that." She walked back to the counter and re-filled Marcus' glass. "I won't kill you yet. I wish to know more about you, I want to know what makes a mortal so unafraid to die." Malice's mind wandered, some long lost memories were beginning to surface, memories that were robbed from her when she was just an experiment.

The thought alone made her angry, the bastards who locked her away, chained her and exposed her to day light just to see what happened. They tested to see what things made her suffer, what could actually hurt a vampire, how much pain could they take how much could starving them of blood make the crave it. Just how strong bloodlust can become and what kind of emotions it brings out in them. If Malice was anything to go by it really pisses them off and makes them hate fueled killing machines bent on revenge.

Her mind snapped back to reality, her grip on the knife had tightened so much it had actually drawn blood, her own blood. She stabbed the knife into the table and ignored the blood dripping from her hand, it dripping beside her heavy boots.

"You remind me of someone, do you know that?"
Marcus looked at her carefully. He felt more sorry for her in some way. Not that he would admit it, she seemed like the kind who would take offence to that.
"In my life I've only met one person who could ever look me in the eye without fear. I admire that."[/i]
“ I feel it is best to accept certain situations.” Marcus answered simply. He was actually still a little rattled. It was pretty awkward for him. If this woman was really a vampire, which he had little doubt about now, then she must be a few hundred years old.

"I won't kill you yet. I wish to know more about you, I want to know what makes a mortal so unafraid to die."
It was actually simpler than that. It was because Marcus had no one, he was no one. When you have nothing to lose, nothing to fight for but just to be alive – for nothing – then you lose your fear of dying, of falling, of getting hurt.
Marcus took the glass again and raised it to Malice, toasting to whatever it is there was to toast to. He put the rim of the glass to his lips and finished his drink again. He was starting to feel a little out of it.
Marcus put the glass down, then nearly got a heart attack as Malice jammed the knife into the kitchen table.
“You’re ruining the counter.” He said with his hand to his forehead. It had automatically moved there when he got the fright.
Marcus looked at Malice. She seemed angry, almost sad. He only then noticed her hand, when her ’I am not a fuck toy!’ outburst resonated in his mind.
He really didn’t mean anything that way. It was strange though how quickly she picked up on his mood.

“Malice, you’re bleeding...” Marcus said as he grabbed a drying cloth from the table and wrapped it around her hand, just to stop her from making a mess. He held her wrapped up hand between his and looked at her.
“I didn’t mean to offend you.” He said to her, there was no smile on his face this time.

Malice glanced down at her hand, watching the blood run down between her fingers before dropping to the floor. Marcus could see the shadow of hate still holding her, the anger in her now once again green eyes she had suppressed the memories back again. Those fuckers could wait, she would find them all. All she had to do was wait for them to think it was safe. She followed his gaze to the counter, she had buried the knife much further then she had realised, at least half of the blade now being buried in the surface.

She went to pull away at first when Marcus touched her hand, this felt very foreign to her. Having a wound tended to her had always seemed pointless anyway, 800 years of regenerating flesh tends to make you stop caring about things like that. When he looked at her again she felt the uncontrollable urge to either bite him or head butt him. Her system couldn't handle this amount of care from a human, it actually took her some moments before she realised he had actually spoken. Damn it! Why did I let myself freak out like this and in front of a mortal of all people! I should have gutted him when I had the chance! "Don't worry Marcus." her voice was slightly calmer now, her great anger under control.

"Tell me, Marcus. What really brought you here tonight?" she looked him up and down again, he couldn't have been a hunter surely? He just didn't have the cocky attitude of one. She removed her hand from the cloth and licked the last of her blood from her hand the wound now healed. "You don't have the look of a hunter and you sure as hell didn't just go for a walk to get here." Malice was determined to find the secrets of this man what could possibly make him so bloody special. "And most of all why would you try to help me after I have just waved death in your face?"

Philly Bellerose

She watched him for his reaction, crunching softly on a potato chip. He looked like he wanted to tell her something. She wanted to know what that was. Really, really badly.
"You don't speak right." She said, thogh she was not pleased with how it came out. "I mean, you have wierd ways of describing things like doritoes. Like you're not familiar with them. So I was wondering if you came from a different country that didn't have these things." She said holding up the bags to demonstrate what things she was talking about, as if it wasn't clear already. "Though, you don't sound foreign. Which means if you are you're really good at faking our accent. And if that's the case youhave got to teach me. I've always wanted to try and sound Russian."

She made herself at home next to his hoodie on the bed after unabashedly watching him undress. Not that she saw much. But it was always nice to try and see if a guy's shirt came up off him when he tried taking his hoodie or coat off. Come on, don't look at her like that, you know you try to sneak peeks, too!
She did make sure she didn't get crumbs or flavor powder or grease on his comforter. She hated crumbs on her bed, so she found it only polite to keep them off his. She didn't worry about it too much, though. Luke had nabbed them from her. "S-s-s-sorry. I was g-g-ggoing to mm-ake sure I d-d-dddin't g-get any crumbs on you-"

"Philomen..." He interupted,voice as soft as a mouse's footsteps. It took her off gaurd. She shut her mouth and gazed at him with big doe eyes. He was incredibly close. So close in fact she could feel his hips touching her knees. She unconciously crossed her ankles. What was he going to try? Why was he so cold? He was like ice even throuh his jeans and her heavy skirt.

"Philomen..." He began again, as if what he was trying to say was incredibly difficult. Like he was confessng a secret he'd held back for a hundred years. the weight of the world on his shoulders and he was just about to release it. He touched the side of her face with his fingers. It was incredibly tender. Her eyes were locked on his. Her heart pounded in her chest. She was sure it was visible it was beating so hard.

“I am not human. I do not have a heartbeat or a pulse. I am cold, from my heart – the very core of me – to my skin. I am not foreign, but roughly three hundred years old. I am a vampire, Philomen.”

She was silent a moment. This... was his huge secret? She burst out laughing. Not a light chortle or a giggle, but downright knee slapping, side-splitting laughter like he was a world-reknown comedian who'd just told a joke good enough to make Scrooge laugh his miserly butt off.
He took a step back, but she didn't notice. She was too busy laughing.

"Lu' that's the best joke I've heard in ages! You really had me going there. Oh my gosh! That was great."

Luke

Philomen’s laugh shattered through Luke’s serious silence like thunder would rip through the sky.
He really wished she had put her wonderful voice to better use at that moment. If Luke could have gone red, he would have been redder than a ripe tomato. Almost like he was too angry to breathe. That’s just the problem with vampires, if he was human he would have stuffed the ‘Doritos’ back into her hands and made her get out of his private zone, his room. But he wasn’t a human and a human would have laughed with her.

"Lu' that's the best joke I've heard in ages! You really had me going there. Oh my gosh! That was great."

Her almost ignorant statement drove Luke a little too far. He was already so full of self hatred considering his vampiric state. Plus, she was the first person he had ever told about it.
Luke moved fast, as fast as a vampire could, and trapped Philomen on her back, on his soft bed.
He looked into her beautiful blue eyes with his now pitch black eyes. The skin under them had darkened and the veins were showing through the dark skin. Luke’s fangs were also visible as his lips were parted to allow for his heavy, and unnecessary, breath to pass through.
“I wasn’t joking...” He said with the kind of voice that proved how he was holding himself back.
He could smell her hair and her skin and her blood even better now, he was much closer to her and more of their bodies were touching.

Luke’s gaze moved from Philomen’s eyes to her hair that was lying spread out in all directions from her face. Some of the strands have landed over his fingers. Then he realised how close he was to her. It was strange to think that he hadn’t been this close to a human since before he was made into the monster he is.
Luke’s gaze shifted back to Philomen’s eyes. He kind of liked being called ‘Lu’ but right now he was focused on convincing her he was a cold monster.

Marcus

Marcus made himself look somewhere else for a moment. He felt a little overwhelmed with all the happenings.
“I don’t know. Perhaps my imagination, maybe even fate or some sort of similar shit.” Marcus answered the woman. He wasn’t sure what brought him here either. He felt greatful that Malice took him in, the reason he wanted to bind her hand. Something to do with trust and favours.

Marcus stepped away from Malice and sat down in one of the chairs.
“You probably mean vampire hunter. I can’t even kill a spider; I am too fascinated with the creatures everyone else is afraid of.” Marcus confessed as he took the liberty of pouring himself another drink.
This time he spent a little more time sipping on the strong liquid.

“I walked .” He said simply, trying to get her questions of his little walk to stop. If she continued, he would soon tell her about his imagination and the way he believes he sees things when he is tired, like he was tired now. He had just walked what felt like halfway around the earth.
“Death is a dark shadow, not a pretty girl.” He muttered to his drink and took another sip of it.

Malice raised an eyebrow at his answer. She could tell he was avoiding telling her the answers she wanted but she let him do so. She watched him move across the room, noting the slight wobble, the whiskey had evidently began to effect him. "Good, if you were a hunter then it would be customary to introduce you to the others." her cruel smile crept back upon her face, her sadistic tendencies back in check. She pulled her knife from the counter sheathing it in her belt revealing a few more of her assortment of weapons before her coat fell back across them and hid them all away.

"You walked? This is hardly a few streets away." She pressed again, she couldn't help be curious and besides with all the happenings going on the mansion today it almost didn't seem worth going hunting now. "Flirtations won't change anything you know, I'm still going to kill you. Best you continue to amuse me for a while. Perhaps by yourself time." she studied the man, perhaps there was a simpler meaning to it all, perhaps he was as mad as the maid.

She noticed his eyes starting to droop, he was tired. Pity. "If you would like to sleep I can show you to a room. But I will warn you, if one of the others decides that you're not worth keeping around, I have no great intentions on saving you. You're more a passing phase then anything else." She warned him, her eyes not showing any sort of consideration. "My interest in you doesn't change that I still hate your kind." She picked up another bottle of the deep red liquid and pulled the stopper drinking the thick blood straight from the bottle.

Finishing a large swig she led Marcus from the kitchen back out into the main hall and took him over to the stairs beginning to walk up them her boots thudding with each step. "You may as well have this room, I know it's not been used for a while."

Thalia was happier now that he was back to normal. He offered his arm to her and she accepted it, linking her arm with his. They walked into the store and she was thinking about what she should eat. "I would like something to last longer than a week." She didn't want to have to keep driving here everytime she was hungry. She picked up a basket that was stacked with others by the door and started walking to where all the fruits and vegetables were.

She grabbed many different fruits and many different vegetables. All the colors of the rainbow filled the basket and it was making her hungrier. She figured this wad enough and looked at Erasmus. "This is enough."

(Oh man, I shouldn't be laughing this hard. I'm a terrible person. XD)

Philly Bellerose

Philomen had just caught her breath when she realized how angry he was. It radiated off him like light from the sun. It rippled on her flesh like the hot wind from a furnace, the hairs on the back of her neck and her arms stood straight up. Before she could fully process it he'd pinned her to the bed. Of course she screamed. A sharp surprised yelp from the force of him pushing her down. The grip he had on her wrists was terribly painful. He must be quite strong.

Instinctivly she struggled against him, but to no avail. He was indeed quite strong. Instead she lay back quietly, trying to sink into the matress as best she could. Doing everything in her power to press herself away from him. He just seemed to come closer. She swallowed hard. Her heart pounded harder than it had ever been before. She willed it to stop. She was painfully aware of her situation. The fact he'd be able to see her pulse in her neck. Feel it in her wrists.

He was a creepy kidnapper. That's why he led hr away so quick. That's why he sniffed her. Oh man. He was trying to fatten her up for dinner. Why else would he feed her. Everything was just an act. Get her relaxed. Prepare and easy kill. Put a lobster into cold water and slowly turn up the burner's heat till they boil to death.

What seemed to frighten her the most was his eyes. Pitch black like a demon's. She'd seen stuff like that before and she didn't want to tangle with that kind of creature before. He felt like the shadow that had been following her in the graveyard. They hunted her down like a pack of ravenous wolves. But it was better she knew to stare at his eyes than his teeth. She didn't even want to know what they looked like. A viper's fangs. Or a lion's huge canines. She hoped at least it would be over quickly.

“I wasn’t joking...”

Philomen swallowed again and nodded. She got the point. It was painfully clear.

Erasmus Ambrogio

"I would like something to last longer than a week."

Erasmus rose an eyebrow in response but said nothing. Apparantly she had made her choice. He simply walked with her and looked everything over. He looked like a tourist. It was obvious he wasn't often in supermarkets. He kept picking things up and inspecting them before setting them back down. A couple of times he sniffed it - made a face and then set it down. It was however,very conspicuous that he stayed away from the garlic. Apparently it wasn't just a myth. He also kept a keen eye on what she bought. He didn't want to take her home only to find out she'd brought something poisonous to them home.

After a few minutes of inspection he finally spoke, his eyes were locked on the potatos, tomatos, corn. New World foods. "I remember when we found these." He said absently. "Columbian Exchange s'what you call it now, I think." He picked up a ttomato and tossed it from one hand to the other. That tomato was no longer edible. It'd be all squishy. "Changed the world."

It was unclear whether or not he liked that fact. Whether or not he wanted the world to have stayed the same or changed. He tossed it back into the others.

He turned to her and smiled. "Very well." He took the basket from her - it had to have been quite heavy and carried it to the counter. He paid in cash. Which was remarkable. Not only did he carry that much on him, but where did he get so much in the first place? He seemed comfortable enough handling it. Perhaps he'd grown used to possessing such wealth.

From there he carried the bags back to the car for her. "Any other stops, Merendina?" He asked, putting the groceries in the back seat.

Luke

’God, Luke. What are you doing?’ Luke thought. He hung his head and loosened his grip on the girl’s wrists before letting her go completely.
He stepped away from the bed, looking at her in her vulnerable position.
Luke wanted to say sorry, but he convinced himself not to. He cannot justify all his acts with that one word.

He ran his hand through his hair and glanced at the girl, his eyes normal again, before looking in a different direction.
Her silence scared him the most. For the hour that they have known each other Luke had realized that she was a talkative and bubbly person.
He shouldn’t take that away from her.

Luke stood in his room, looking at the wall like a child waiting to be scolded by an angry parent.
“Are you scared of me?” Luke asked, still not making eye contact. His voice was strong, yet it was clear that he wanted to know what she was thinking. As if his whole world would crumble if she didn’t approve of him being different.

All Luke wanted to do was make up for the one moment that had now passed. But how can he do that? What do girls these days even like? Maybe they like clothes and dresses as much as his mother used to, or treats like the chocolates his father used to share between them before bed time.
“I...” Luke started, he stopped himself and closed his eyes, as if them being closed made things better.
“I want to make it up to you, tell me what you like?” He said eventually then looked up at her.

Marcus

Marcus ignored almost everything the woman had said. He knew he was being a bit rude. He just looked at her and put the drink down. He had more than enough.
Marcus followed after her then, silent as well. His head was pounding a little.
“I get a room?” He asked as she mentioned that he would get one. When Malice pushed the door open he smiled and nodded approvingly.
“Thank you.” He said as he walked in and sat down on the bed. Marcus looked up at her.
“In the morning I will be on my way, unless you wish to learn more about me?” Marcus suggested with a bit of a smile.

A part of him knew he would never leave this place, unless he runs away in the middle of the day when the vamps are sleeping. He was still processing the fact that they really existed, but he was calm about it. The only thing that can truly freak Marcus out, is his own imagination.

“Where will you be?” He asked, like he was scared of being left alone in a strange place. It wasn’t because she mentioned the others and that they can kill him if they like. He sure hoped no one else heard her. It would have been like an open and very clear invitation.

Marcus looked at the pillow, then at Malice again. He wasn’t really as tired, the overwhelming factor was actually that he wasn’t in the mood to sleep.

"You asked for a room for the night. This room is empty. Therefore, you may have this room." Malice pointed out, gesturing into the room. She watched him walk over to the bed, he seemed apprehensive. "You may stay if you so wish but I won't stop you if you decide to leave, I don't like keeping pets. You may have to act quickly though, the others may still stop you." she was being merciful to a human. The thought made her sick. By now she should be draining the very life of him but what was the point if he wasn't scared of her?

"I don't know. I could be anywhere. You shouldn't worry where I will be. I'd be more worried about the others." She smiled coldly, it didn't really make to much of a difference anyway, the other vampires were all busy with finds of their own anyway and even if they did come across him most of seemed to have a soft spot for anything living anyway. Blegh.

She watched him glancing between her and the pillow and rolled her eyes. "What is it? Would you like me to check for monsters in the cupboard or under the bed or something?!" She growled at him, patronisingly. "Or were you hoping that I would stay and hold your hand whilst you fell asleep?" She raised her eyebrow at him, she wasn't very good with niceties and this was no exception, she couldn't have felt anymore uncomfortable if she tried. "What is the problem?!"

(Ahhhhh! I was almost done then I lost it! D:)

Philly Bellerose

Philomen lay there for a moment after Luke released her, trying to keep her composure. She closed her eyes tight in an attempt to keep herself from crying. She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath until just now. She let it out, slow and shaky. She breathed in, trying to keep herself from panting in fright. Once she was confident she wasn't going to have a freak-out if she met those inky black eyes she sat up only to find that he wasn't even looking at her. He seemed to have returned to normal.

Unconsciously she drew her knees up. Not so she was in a fetal position, but definitely on the defense. Her ankles were still crossed as well. She drew her arms in tight to her chest, fingers massaging the sore spots on her wrists where his fingers had dug into her flesh. Hopefully they wouldn't bruise, though he might actually enjoy seeing them. She wasn't sure what sort of man he anymore. He'd changed so quickly.

And yet watching him now, it was painfully obvious to her. He was ashamed of what he'd just done. Sincerely ashamed. Some people could act their way through something like this, constantly pulling strings, making anyone and everyone believe exactly what they wanted. This man was incapable of that. He could wear a mask sure, but he could't pretend to be a completely different person. It was as if he had a gaping wound in his stomach and was trying to feebly push his organs back and assure everyone he was fine but everyone knew the reality of the situation. He was a dying man. Not physically, but emotionally, mentally. His spirit was dying, or wished for death but dwelt in a body incapable of granting such a release.
It struck a chord in her heart. She wanted to try and help hi- No.

None of that. He'd just pinned her to the bed for heaven's sake. She was not going to try and fix him. He wasn't a project. He was a vampire. Cruel vampire. He ate people like her. He wasn't human. He couldn't be fixed or renewed like a human. He was static. Unchangeable. She cautioned herself not to slip into thoughts that didn't coincide with that. Those sorts of things would cause her pain and grief. Such thoughts could put her in an early grave.

...But he had been human once...

“Are you scared of me?”

Philomen was quiet for a few minutes, thinking about what to say and how to say it. If she said anything wrong it could end badly. But she didn't want to lie to him either.
"I believe that is a silly question," she began, her voice soft and her stutter as strong as ever. "You wish for me to feel comfortable around you, to be open with you, to spend time with you," She gestured to the room with a single finger, not dropping the guard her arms kept. She was referring to his invitation to come to him whenever she wanted. "Yet, you have given me no real reason to feel safe around you, or desire to be with you. You have hurt me." She held her wrists out to him but quickly drew them back. She'd seen plenty of shows where a vampire fed from the wrists. She was very aware of the strong pulse that was in them. She didn't want to make it seem like she was offering herself to him. She was not intending to become lunch. "You have given me no reason to trust you."

She again fell quiet. She had thought that was everything. We can't be friends now. We're over. You had your chance you missed it. Something nagged at her though. That deep need to guide him toward rebirth, to fix him. It overwrote her brain's caution.

"But..." She began, stuttering in nervousness. "Trust can be earned again.

For the first time she looked away from him, down at her toes. She'd been watching him like a gazelle watches for a cheetah. Waiting for a hunter to come round and try to pounce and devour it. Never taking it's eyes off it's surroundings, never dropping it's guard. To do that would spell death. Perhaps she just wrote hers down by taking her eyes of him now. She did it anyway. Parts of her were running off and controlling her tongue and her body, leaving her wiser more careful parts in the dust screaming 'No! Don't! You'll be killed!'

She bit her lip, once again thinking before she answered his second question. This time she didn't look at him when she spoke. "You cannot buy me," she said quietly. "But I will tell you that I like picnics, and dancing, and gardening and graveyards. My favorite color is green and my favorite animal is the kiwi."

Luke

Luke moved over to a window and leaned against the frame, looking at the trees and the graveyard beyond that. He was being stupid. Plain and utterly stupid. He had no intention of eating this girl or of hurting her, yet that was the only thing he was showing her.
"Yet, you have given me no real reason to feel safe around you, or desire to be with you. You have hurt me. You have given me no reason to trust you."
Luke’s dead heart dropped in his chest and caused his body to jolt a little. He was sorry, he felt terrible about what he did. There is no justification for it either and he refuses to say that he let his dark side take over.

“Please, don’t be under the wrong impression – you are free to leave whenever you wish.” Luke whispered to the glass of the window. His breath left no warmth on the glass. He was cold, but somehow her words made him feel colder. Like he became aware of his lifelessness. Already it would hurt him to lose her. Luke needed to fix this, but he had no idea of how to do that. The lovely medieval dresses that made him feel like dancing and singing and the candies that made him feel like snuggling up by a fire, reading, talking – all those memories and ways of cheering people up felt poisoned. It wouldn’t bring her back to him.
Yes, he felt like she belonged with him as he belonged with her. That small sentence, thinking about it again, made his heart drop even further as his skin crawled with regret. ’You are free to leave whenever you wish.’

"But... Trust can be earned again.”
When Luke realised that Philomen spoke again, his miserable thoughts were interrupted. He was so caught up with it that it seemed like her voice and what she said was just a memory or a thought. Luke was too afraid to look at her. Her stuttering was a special touch. He knew she was nervous, yet it didn’t make a difference to him. She is a guest in his house, not a blood bag.

Luke’s mind felt empty then, like a man standing alone in a library but there were no books, none at all. The one book he was searching for wasn’t even in there, not even hidden – it was in Philomen’s possession. The book was a clue, an idea, of how he could fix things or just what he could say next to try and fix things.
He knew it wouldn’t happen overnight, but he had eternity to fix it.

"You cannot buy me, but I will tell you that I like picnics, and dancing, and gardening and graveyards. My favourite color is green and my favourite animal is the kiwi."
There was the book, the clue. Luke smiled a soft, yet distracted smile as the lone man stumbled upon a few books in the library.
He was staring right at his possible answer.
Luke turned around to face Philomen again. He went on his knees in front of her, besides the bed, and looked up into her blue eyes.
“Would you like to go for a walk with me? I can show you the graveyard.” Luke offered. He pulled his black hoodie closer and offered it to her. She had said that she was a little cold earlier.
This was a nice gesture, was it not? Yet, Luke was not hopeful, he didn’t expect her to say yes, or no for that matter. She can sit there for as long as she wants, she can be silent towards him all she wants.
Luke had nothing to hope for or to expect in life. All he needed at this moment was to fix things with Philomen. He can’t make her trust him, he can just be himself.

They got back to the car and Erasmus put the bags in the back seat. "Any other stops, Merendina?" She didn't have anywhere else to go and she didn't need anything. "No. We can go." Thalia didn't wait for him to open the car door for her. She slipped into the passenger seat and put on the seat belt. She was hungry and just wanted to eat her food. She leaned against the window trying to think pleasant thoughts as they drove to the non-pleasant mansion.

((I hate my short post! Major writers block))

Marcus

Marcus rolled his eyes as he fell back on to the bed and crossed his arms behind his head. This woman, this vampire was really a tough one. Marcus sighed and looked up at the roof.
“It seems like the problem here is all in your head.” Marcus said to her in a calm tone. The last thing he wanted to do was to start a full blown yelling fight with a vampire that clearly hated him.
Marcus sat up again and scratched the back of his head before getting to his feet.
“I apologize for having burdened you, madam. I will be on my way immediately.” Marcus stated as he fixed the creases he had made in the comforter of the bed. He gave Malice a sarcastic smile and a bow before walking past her to the door. He’ll walk home, he didn’t care. If he died he would feel better and Malice here will have him off her hands.

“Malice, what a fitting name...” Marcus remarked as he attempted to straighten his steps by leaning on the wall with his hand. “There are monsters everywhere, even in my head.” Marcus said softly. He wanted to say that Malice would be a perfect cupboard or bed monster. Just waiting there for someone to claim as her next victim.
Marcus leaned back against the wall as he lost his footing a little. He leaned his head back and chuckled. It would be quite an adventure to walk home like this. He looked at his watch; it was just a little past midnight.
He’ll make it there by sunrise, but only if he can get out of the house in the next five minutes.
'God damn you whiskey, God damn you to hell.' Marcus thought to himself, then it occurred to him that the 'whiskey' can be replaced by 'Malice.'

Philly Bellerose

Philomen knew her words had struck deep. He wasn't all that great at hiding his emotions. He was as easy to read as a book with wide spacing and large print. There was no need of magnifying glasses here. She watched him struggle with her words, a tiny frown on her face. Not of judgement or anger but of concern. He was definitely in need of some tender loving care. Her heart ached for the poor boy. Her mind told her she was a fool - she promptly shoved that part of her into a dark place. She didn't want its opinion.

“Please, don’t be under the wrong impression – you are free to leave whenever you wish.”

Philomen wasn't sure she believed that. Not with the way he'd treated her when they first met. She remained quiet. She'd hold back her thoughts and opinions regarding that.

Suddenly he was in front of her, kneeling at her feet, gazing up at her. She jumped, startled by his quick movement. How did he move so fast?

“Would you like to go for a walk with me? I can show you the graveyard.”

She licked her lips and blinked at him, totally caught off guard by his sudden change in mood. He was quite excited. She nodded, a bit, offering a small smile. Boy, you are crazy. "O-okay..." she said as she took his hoodie from him. Course, she grabbed his hand instead of the hoodie. She quickly drew it back with a blush. "S-sorry."

She pulled the hoodie over her head and straightened it out. She was now ready. "Are we seeing anything special?" she asked out of curiosity. Only to regret it later. He must know a lot of people in that graveyard if he was three hundred years old. Again she apologized.

Luke

Luke shook his head at Philomen’s apologies and got to his feet again.
“A graveyard is a graveyard...” Luke shrugged as he offered his hand to Philomen, looking from it to her. There was something, her blush, her nervous stutter and her apologies. That told Luke that a part of her wanted to be here, unless he was reading her wrong.
Luke was careful with her this time. He didn’t mean to hurt her earlier, but he still could have stopped himself from acting like a monster.

Luke led Philomen from the room and out of the house, glancing back at her every now and then with a smile on his face.
“Phillomen?” Luke started out of curiosity. He slowed his pace down to allow her to catch up. He wanted to ask her a few things because he was curious about her and her ways and her likings.
“Where were you raised?” He asked, looking ahead now without glancing back.

Luke slowed down a little more before they got to the trees. They were taking a walk and he had been a little too eager to get to the graveyard. He should walk at an acceptable pace. Luke offered her his arm now, the way he was raised to, with a smile on his face. He was opening up, he was showing her the real Luke – how Lukas used to be before he became a monster.

"Y-yeah I think so, uh no problem. I'm always obliged to make someone feel better."

Reinette couldn't help her thoughts as he spoke. He seemed altogether nervous, and even a bit shy about the whole conversation. 'He just seems that much nicer every time he talks. I'm glad I ran into him...' she thought, a cheerful smile sneaking its way onto her face.

She nodded as he gave his opinion on her confession of wandering away. She had been sure that he would judge her for it; tell her she was silly, or something of that nature. She was surprised to hear his view that it wasn't a problem, and that it was normal human nature. A feeling of relief washed over her, and she could feel her shoulders relax a bit. Rei was absolutely sure that something was wrong, and while she still did believe she needed to fix her actions, Alex at least seemed unaffected by her confession.

"Thank you," she began. "I'm glad to know you don't think I'm weird then." She laughed, feeling the rest of her tenseness rush out of her.

At her announcement that she would need to figure out how to get home, Alex suggested he could help her find her way home. Reinette took a step towards him as he spoke, seemingly excited that he would accompany her to attempt to try to figure out where her home was. A stunning smile broke out across her face, as she spoke. "Really? That's so nice of you!" She hiked her dance bag up on her shoulder once more, re-situating it. In her mind, she was doing a rather obnoxious 'yes yes yes!' dance, but she tried her best to stay composed on the outside. 'I can't believe he's gonna come with me,' she thought, blushing slightly.

"I'll be glad to have you come along; it can get really creepy out here at night, especially when you're by yourself." She smiled at him, and offered her hand to him, feeling her own state of nervousness kick in. She knew she was being a bit bold, but she couldn't help it. There was just something about him...

"Shall we?" she asked, hand outstretched towards him in an invitation.

Philly Bellerose

"Not really." She countered as she slipped back into her flats. "Graveyards are sacred places. I cannot begin to count the reasons why. Any place where someone has died and been buried is immensely special, both to the dead and to the living." She continued to talk as she followed him out of the house and back into the graveyard. She was grateful for the hoodie he'd given her. "It is the final resting place for a man, and when it's disturbed you get very angry and hurt people. Even in death people don't like being evicted from their homes and moved to another place. No one liked being a refugee. That's why you have to be careful remodeling, too. Sometimes they don't just live at their grave, they live in their old home. Or the place where they were killed. Depends on the reason why they stay, really. They have motivations and emotions like we do. Just no body to express these things with. Or at least not normally."

She glanced back at the house. She was sure there were spirits that hung around there. No telling how many people died in that house at the hand's of its residences. She had to tread carefully with her cleansing. She didn't want to hurt the people that lived there. Not to mention, she didn't want to anger the ones that were already unhappy with the circumstances of their death.

“Philomen? Where were you raised?”

"Here." She said simply, looking at what he was. "In town."

"My turn for a question. Do you ask permission to eat people?" She looped her arm around his before he could answer showing that while she may distrust him she was giving him the benefit of the doubt.