Hello, Fascination [open] [PG-13]

[kitsune]

Riley leaned against a decaying apartment complex, icy eyes surveying both the dusk that was rapidly falling and the few that hurried by. The sun had already set, the sky an overcast grey that was slowly starting to drop dirty grey snowflakes. Soon the flickering streetlights would flash on, but for now the smoldering end of his cigarette was enough illumination to see by. His relaxed posture sent the subconscious message that he didn't want to fight - and his clothing, ragged and secondhand, made it clear that there wasn't any money to shake out of him - but his almost hawklike gaze suggested something different.
He was hunting again.
So far, he hadn't picked a suitable victim out of the sparsely populated streets; the few he'd half-considered had given him a wide berth, and he hadn't felt like pursuing them. He'd been standing here like a statue for quite some time; the remnants of two cigarettes were crushed on the cement. Still, some of the less savory residents would come crawling out of the woodworks with the night like termites, and perhaps there would be someone with them that would picque his curiosity.
It only seemed appropriate, after all, to coinside the fourth with the anniversary of the first. True, Riley couldn't remember the exact date - the entire event was clouded over from the feverish, intoxicating excitement, and only the cold clarity of his photographs had assured him that it had happened.
He knew that he had killed her in late winter, though. There was a picture of her at the bottom of the shallow grave, blonde hair splayed around her face like a bride's veil and a luminescent blanket of snow already settling over her.
They'd mentioned her in the newspaper last week; a skeleton - an 'unidentified female' - had been found in the country by two children hunting for treasure. Their metal detector had probably picked up on her jewelry; Riley snorted at the thought. Digging for gold and finding her, a skeletal Sleeping Beauty waiting for her prince.
The student had been upset that she lay anonymous, though, and had corrected this with a careful, untraceable letter to the paper; a picture of her in her grave, a tooth (he'd been loathe to part with his souvenir, but he had a second), and a careful note in default lettering:

Her name was Eliza Moors.
She was a prostitute.
She was
delicious

Riley had agonized over the last word for an hour; she was what? Beautiful, pristine, like a crippled bird with broken wings? He'd chosen 'delicious' because of the impulsive nibble he'd taken before burying her.
'Cannibalism' was a dirty word.

Riley's gaze had faded from alert to bored; he took a long drag and blew a lopsided smoke ring into the frigid night air. The snow had started; he watched the lumpy clumps drop from the ominous clouds and flicked a bit of ash onto the sidewalk. "No point in f-freezing my ass off," he mumbled under his breath.
Still, abandoning the tenuous search would be like hammering a nail into his own palm. Perhaps a few more minutes wouldn't hurt...

---

word count: 539
currently playing: Breath Carolina - Hello Fascination

[Spottedshadow]

Brown hair wrapped around her perfect face. Iris blinked her dark brown eyes at the surrounding world. She picked up many different sounds. Sounds everyone could hear, and sounds only she could hear. She could also hear the thoughts running through all the people's heads. One caught her attention. Cannibal? What an incredibly delicious human he would be! she thought. Iris set her sights on the boy standing and staring at the people, pondering who he wanted to kill. Iris tossed her hair over her shoulders and smoothed her beige dress. It was a rather short dress. The bottom barely cover her bottom. Iris's long, spindly legs strode confidently toward to boy.

Her brown eyes reflected desire, but the desire was not sexual desire, it was hunger. Most guys however did not see hunger. Iris began to influence the boy's mind, opening it up to her advances. Iris stopped in front of the boy, and winked. "Hey, I couldn't help but notice you. I'm a sucker for blue eyes," she said, her voice velvety and flirtatious. Iris shook her head, releasing her hair from the confines of her shoulder. Iris was overwhelmed with his scent. He smelled like smoke, blood, and his thoughts reeked of killer. Delicious, Iris thought, passing her tongue over her teeth. Let's through the dog a bone, she thought.

Iris placed a polished hand on the boy's chest. His heartbeat faint and tantalizing. Focus on the seduction, she reminded herself. Iris trailed her finger from his chest down to the waist of his pants. She ran her hand back up to his chest and grasped her strong fingers around his shirt, and pulled his face within inches from her own. "It's awfully cold out here, perhaps we could go somewhere warm, like your house or mine," she said in almost a whisper. Iris technically didn't have a house in the Outskirts. She had a high rise in the City, but she wasn't planning on going all the way back to the city for her dinner.

Iris released her grip and dropped her hand to her side. The gold bracelet slipped off her slender wrist and clanged to the ground. It rolled behind her and clamored to a stop. Iris turned around and bent to get the bracelet. Her short dress rising even higher. When she stood again, she slipped the bracelet on her wrist. Iris took her time with that action. She knew that her dress had risen up to a point that her lingerie underwear were reveled. A motorcycle roared by. Idea, she thought. Iris jumped and backed up. She collided right with boy, her shoulders were against his chest.

The bracelet, perhaps on purpose this time, crashed to the ground again. Iris turned her head again. "Excuse me," she said and bent her upper half over to pick up the jewelry. Iris dress rose ever higher. It's bottom now rested at her waist. Iris's thong was fully revealed, and she could see other guys eyes. She stood back up terribly slowly, "losing" her balance and falling backward. Iris forced her face to flush. She turned around and finally pulled her dress down. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Iris," she said. She turned around then and slowly passed her tongue across her upper lip. Iris was definitely turning it on.

Word Count;; 615
Muse;; Amazing!!
Outfit;; Clicks!
Tags;; Riley

[kitsune]

Riley's eyes had rested on the woman only a few moments before her own attention settled on him; his gaze flowed smoothly from the dress (was the fabric even long enough to be called that?) and the flawless skin below it to her face. Admittedly, that was slightly less entertaining than her sleek, catlike figure - she certainly didn't leave much up to the imagination - but there was perfection written in its lines as well. She couldn't be over twenty, if even that. He couldn't help but wonder how a Glasgow grin replacing her current flirtatious smile might accentuate an almost otherworldly beauty.
(number two had had a Chelsea smile to replace her jaded, cocky smirk; good lord how she'd screamed as the skin tore)
It wasn't the place and certainly wasn't the time for such thoughts.
The young man was trying to reign in his scattered thoughts when she pulled him ever-so-slightly closer, her uninvited touch similar to static electricity crackling across his skin. "You c-c-certainly aren't s-s-subtle, are you?" He managed, wide eyes not daring to stray from her chocolate ones; he bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood after his mangled words, pale face flushed.
He wanted her. He wasn't quite sure how yet, wasn't quite sure if it was bloodlust or its common counterpart, but that could be decided later.
Then again, why would she go to a random stranger lurking on the streets...? If she walked into a bar, he was almost certain that she'd get any man she wanted, and he wasn't notably good-looking.
He didn't dwell on sucha thought for long, though; suddenly she'd bumped against him and fallen, and...
Riley dragged his eyes back up to her face and locked them there, though it certainly wasn't without effort. "Your manners are c-c-c-" damn it, why couldn't he spit it out? "definitely not here, n-not that I'm c-complaining." The man dropped his cigarette, carelessly casual with the movement, though inwardly he was trembling with anticipation. She was the one, without a doubt. Perhaps a little stronger than she looked - she'd pulled him forward and nearly made him trip over his own two feet with seemingly little effort - but he could overpower her if necessary. He crushed the smoldering vice underneath his heel and gestured vaguely at the dark street. "I live just a few b-blocks away..." There was something ironic about living at the edge of an area typically called 'the Outskirts,' but he paid little attention to that. "It's warmer than h-here, but I doubt that we'll have to w-worry about that... I'm Riley." He tacked on his name as a hasty afterthought in response to hers. Iris, eh? He vaguely wondered how what hers would look like when torn out.

---

word count: 487

[Spottedshadow]

Iris grinned mischievously. Sold. She reached for the guy's hand, but pulled back as their skin brushed lightly. Iris didn't usually have issues with contact, but this was different. A pulse of electricity shot up her arm. Can it be? Iris thought. The Soulmate Principle. Suddenly Iris's mind felt overwhelmed. Certainly she couldn't refuse to go with him now, but would she be able to take his blood? Iris sighed inwardly. No, she didn't think she could. "Then let's get out of the cold," she said. Iris found herself no longer hungry, she just wanted him. And not as her dinner.

Iris looked at Riley again. Her brown eyes filled with desire and some strange emotion that she couldn't place. What is that emotion? she asked herself. Only one way to find out... Iris took a deep steadying breathe. She allowed her mind to search his for a moment. It appeared that Riley wanted to kill her. Delicious. But the thought was abrupt. Iris no longer desired his blood. Iris let all thoughts escape from her head. She let her own instincts take over. Iris put out a hand, placing it on Riley's chest and stopping him cold.

Iris took a few steps forward, catching up. She kept her hand on his chest and pushed him against the wall behind them. Iris's eyes were wild and animal-like. She put her other hand on his chest. At the same time, she traced her other hand to the waist line of Riley's jeans. She looped her long, elegant fingers in the loop reserved for a belt. Her other hand traced up his chest and wrapped itself greedily around his shoulder. Iris felt her upper lip tremble slightly with the tension and wanting.

Iris knew that this wasn't smart. She shouldn't be having feelings like this. She only ever used guys for food. She never wanted one for the sake of wanting one. Iris traced the hand around Riley's shoulder up to his neck, sparks erupting from her touch. She pulled her face closer to her. "Screw the apartment," she whispered. Iris scolded herself, but she was running purely on her animal instincts. There was nothing she could do to stop them.

With those words, Iris closed the distance between them. Her lips meeting his, the sparks seemed almost happy and danced gleefully down her arm and across her lips. The hand that was looped in the belt loop moved with voracity to his waist, drawing him closer. Iris could hear the thoughts surrounding her. She could hear the jealousy in many of the surrounding men. All of them, pigs. she thought. Iris continued the kiss for a solid minute. Then she broke away. "I'm so screwed..." she whispered, almost too quietly for Riley to hear.

Word Count;; 511
Muse;; Yay!!!
Tags;; Riley

[kitsune]

Riley had automatically pulled away from her initial touch, a slight crooked frown on his fact; it had felt like he'd grabbed a live wire and let the jolts burn his bones black. Not necessarily unpleasant (to his surprise) but it captured his attention all the same, the same way a terrier might snatch up a rat. "Static," he murmured under his breath, not quite believing his own explanation but hiding his agitation nonetheless. His eyebrows met at her first comment, though, and his pace subconsciously slowed; her words weren't flat, per se, but they lacked the subtle quality that had laced them earlier... The killer's brain worked mechanically trying to name it, but his darting thoughts were suddenly drawn to the manicured hand planted squarely on his chest.
'Stunned' would be the simplest way to describe his expression when he suddenly had the frigid bricks to his back and Iris at his front. his cracked lips parted slightly parted but no words escaped as her arm curled around his waist like a hungry vine --
Hungry, he thought detachedly, though this thought dissolved like mist under the sun within seconds. Before, she had been... hungry.
Hardly mattered now, though; Riley's hands clumsily found their way to the small of her back and his icy eyes were only half-lidded as the kiss continued, mind spinning in a thousand different directions.
Then suddenly the stranger pulled away; he tilted his head to the side, barely catching her tense words. Riley could feel several pairs of eyes furtively burning holes into his skin; he couldn't quite tell if their owners wanted to kill him or wanted to be him, but there were more pressing matters at hand.
He couldn't quite seem to follow one train of thought tonight.
"What, afraid the P-P-PDA p-police are going to track you d-down?" A serpent's smirk had wormed its way onto his face despite his reluctance to display it, and he abandoned the wall, pushing her to it instead. One hand fit into the grooves of the brick, while the other slid to her hip and rest on the outline of the black lace beneath. Even a blind man would have been able to find her beauty just by mapping her curves like a topographer... She certainly didn't seem to be cold, but he was freezing despite the layers he wore; he felt like his marrow was crystallizing to ice, whereas she was wearing next-to-nothing and showed no discomfort in the winter air.
Suddenly painfully conscious to their lack of privacy, Riley was the one to move away this time, glancing about and exhaling vapor like smoke. "You might not be cold, b-but it'll take m-m-more friction than that to keep m-me warm," he wheedled, taking a few slow steps towards the corner and apparently not noting her discomfort. "Come on."
The three teeth against his skin felt like fangs of ice and, though his eyes might not have shown it, he was trying to remake his malformed plans. Killing her would be... an ultimate thrill, admittedly, but painfully brief no matter how long he prolonged the final blow.

---

word count: 532
listening to: Voltaire - Dead Girls

[Spottedshadow]

Iris trembled, though not from the cold. Vampires were pretty much indifferent to temperature. She was screwed. The council would come and murder her and Riley, and it was all her fault. She had found her soulmate. In a human... And now she was dead. Iris felt her self-preservation kick in. There is only one choice, and I'm afraid I'll have to give him an ultimatum... she thought. Either way, Riley had to die. He could either die forever or come back... It's not a choice I want him to have, but we can't live unless he's apart of my world...

Iris stopped dead in her tracks. "Before I go anywhere," she began in a whisper. "You have one choice to make. It won't be an easy choice, and both entail something painful and uncomfortable." I can't do this, Iris thought with a panic. She would need to ask, or they would both die. The vampire order were very strict on the rules. Only those of the Night World may know of the Night World. Iris took a steadying breath. She advanced on Riley, placing a hand on his chest. "This is hard to say," she said. Telepath! It would be easier that way... she thought.

Iris focused on Riley's mind. I need you to understand something, she thought to him. I'm not what I look like, and something terrible has happened to the both of us. Iris looked at her feet. I, while not cannibal, feed on humans. And you, my serial killing friend, are what my world calls a 'Soulmate'. If it helps, you wouldn't be able to kill me easily, only wood would do the trick. However, I'm sure you would be delicious.

Iris shook her head. That was not something you said to someone. It would only freak them out... Erm, yea... Sorry about that one. We can still head back to your place, but you need to decided something for me right now. Life or death? Either I make you like me or I have to kill you.

Iris winced at her own words. She didn't even want to do that, but she didn't have a choice. "Police? They couldn't catch me if they wanted to. Something about people that chase me, they tend to forget almost instantly," she said with a laugh. Iris couldn't help herself, she was compulsive. She ran her long fingers through the curls atop Riley's head. Delicately, she let her touch drift down his face, sparks dancing along her skin. She passed a single finger across his lips, and leaned up to kiss him again. She just couldn't keep away from him.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, gently pulling his forehead to rest against hers. "If I'd never come over here, you could continue to murder all the people in the world. If you choose life, you'll have to be more careful." Iris didn't bother to mention that her telepath had picked up his killer thoughts. In fact it was those thoughts that lured her over to him.

Word Count;; 573
Muse;; Fantastic!!! ^^
Tags;; Riley

[kitsune]

There was something eerily familiar about Iris; Riley couldn't quite lay a finger on it, but something about her... everything, her mannerisms and voice and very being, like he'd known her since infancy and had only half-forgotten about her. Even his traitorous tongue was tamer than usual - a change he wasn't going to complain about - though he was certain that he'd never met her in his life.
His lips stretched into a frown, though, at her ominous interruption; his hand folded over hers as he tried to give her hesitance a reason. "I d-don't follow..." he murmured warily in response --
And that's when things started to go downhill.
She continued talking, her voice crystal clear and no longer distorted by the sounds of the outside world; they were no longer simply words, either - he tasted them as much as he heard them, saw them, even. Riley clicked his tongue, shaking his head rapidly with finality. Yep, this was his divine punishment for dropping a bad tab of acid when he knew that, four times out of five, it had driven people out of their minds and had taken longer than usual to bring them back. True, that had been almost a year and a half ago, but... flashbacks happened, didn't they? Or maybe the LSD had just triggered a mental disease, dormant and inherited, that was only now starting to crop up. Voices in your head were a typical sign of schizophrenia, weren't they? Or... something else, really, the possibilities were endless --
Admittedly, that might've been a bit of a stretch, but that was an easy explanation to latch onto than whatever this was. There was no way in hell that a gorgeous girl had just spoken in his mind and called him a serial killer.
And then, he realized with a stab of poorly-timed bemusement, the crazy part wasn't that she was talking about life without a pulse or some bizarre dilemma. The crazy part was that he - somehow, ridiculously - believed her.
Riley couldn't muffle quite a snigger when he started to break down every thought that had been transposed in his brain without his permission or influence. "I'm afraid I'd b-be a bit s-smoky," he replied under his breath. "but you'd be t-tasty."
Riley closed his eyes a moment, his arms wrapping around her waist as if that was their natural position, silently ruminating over the situation. "I am careful."
There. They could leave it at that, couldn't they? Pretend she hadn't just used the m-word, pretend she hadn't just poised an ultimatum (not much of one at that, Riley thought privately. Either way, sounds like I'd wind up without a pulse), and pretend that she hadn't just spoken inside his head (she couldn't have). There was nothing wrong with talking to the bodies on the autopsy table, after all; the problem was when they talked back.
"A-and anyway, I'm a little old to b-believe in the b-b-bogeymen." Riley spoke quickly as he released her began walking again, turning a decaying corner and exhaling; his breath formed little vapors in the air that danced like dragons before disippating.
Riley hurried into a building seemingly at random - it was brick, like most of the the city's backbone, though past it there were only a few rings of buildings before the outskirts dissolved into wasteland. He stopped at a door near the end of the shady hallway, fumbling with a string of keys before finally opening the door and disappearing inside.
Inside, it was just as plain as the building's shell; a stuffing-belching sofa was crookedly near the center, a card table desk near one wall. A loaded bookshelf rested in front of the window, blocking out any natural light; the. A closed door was to the left, a second to the right, and also to the right the grey carpet gave way to chipped tile and a secondrate kitchen.
"Home sweet h-home," Riley muttered under his breath, sitting on the left side of the couch and gesturing in invitation for her to join him. "I d-don't do d-dillemas on weekends, s-sorry, try me again in a f-few days... but w-what did you mean by that?" Soulmate.

---

word count: 727
listening to: (Still) Dead Girls by Voltaire
notes: Running out of time so it's probably terribly rambly, sorry.

[Spottedshadow]

Iris had to smile at his naiveness. Humans could be so brain-missing. "Smoke would act like a spice, and killers always have a different flavor then regular humans," Iris explained. She hadn't yet come out and told him what she was. She prepared a surprise since the truth hadn't been deduced... Only tasty, if you consider rich and potent, she thought to him. Iris raised an eye-brow. This foolish, yet somehow mystifying human, was unable to believe that she was in fact speaking to him in thoughts. I always thought that was obvious... she thought to herself.

Iris let out a laugh. "Not nearly careful enough for my world," she said. "The council would have you killed in a matter of moments." And the council was just that powerful. Iris felt her body tremble slightly under his touch. She couldn't have desired a person, let alone a human, anymore then she did him now. Random murders are a big no no, she said to him, as though her were scolding a child. Bogeyman? Ha! I only wish it were as simple as that... With those words, Iris turned her back on the boy sitting on the couch.

The transformation was quick and drastic. Iris felt her teeth elongating, their slender points resting against her chin. She knew, from experience, that her face had taken on a dramatically beautiful, predatorial appearance. But the most shocking, if not stunning, were her eyes. The dark brown spheres turned the color of liquid cooper, metallic and reflective. Iris whipped around and was pinning Riley to the couch in a matter of moments. She'd moved with an inhuman speed, and her delicate hands possessed and inhuman strength. Her shimmering eyes met his ice blue ones. "The bogeyman isn't so scary," she said, her voice hard and deadly. "Now, vampires on the other hand, are very much real and very much deadly."

Iris continued to stare at him. She didn't usually play with her food, but she wasn't planning on eating him. "Don't do dilemmas?" Iris asked, her voice slurred and alluring. "I suppose I'll have to make up your mind for you." With that, Iris made the snap decision to share blood. She kept one hand pinning him to the couch, yet moved her other hand and tilted his chin up and to the side. The electricity tingled down her arm. Stay calm, she thought and Iris moved her mouth to his neck. Quick and accurate, she sank her fangs into his flesh. Blood spilled into her mouth. As she thought, delicious.

Iris drank greedily for a moment. Or rather, several moments. Finally, she stopped. She pulled her fangs out of the flesh and drug her tongue over the wound. Her saliva would heal the wound, making it invisible to anyone. Iris's chin was crimson with blood, but still Riley would need some of her blood. She lifted the wrist that was holding his chin to her mouth and made a slight tearing motion. A long cut opened up on her wrist. Iris held out the dripping blood. "Go on, drink it," she instructed. Iris still looked inhumanly beautiful and like that of a great predator.

Word Count;; 596
Muse;; Hehe, beautiful!!
Notes;; You can choose whether or not he drinks the blood...
Tags;; Riley

[kitsune]

She'd turned away from him, but Riley was left contemplating her cryptic comments, perturbed as his subconscious stitched together a ragged image for him. Not careful enough? Even if he ever left fingerprints on evidence, the police wouldn't have them on file, and there were two bodies that hadn't been found yet -- wouldn't be found, with any luck. The murder of a prostitute from the Outskirts wouldn't raise any red flags, the student was certain of that; death, rape, and robbery were all commonplace in an area of town ruled by gangs and drug dealers first and an underfunded, overworked, and probably corrupt police department second. Hell, last week they'd found a body in a dumpster about a block from the local McDonald's, and after it had been identified no one ever even gave it a second thought --
There was something hypnotic about the russet eyes, as if they were pools of melted bronze that held a captive sun somewhere within their depths; he was transfixed the same way a mouse might be by a rattlesnake, reasonable thoughts encased in ice as his gaze trailed from her eyes to the teeth. They were almost like a snake's, he noted detachedly, startlingly sharp and curved like two elegant scythes. The man reached forward to touch them -- or tried to, at least; his entranced expression shattered when he realized he couldn't move, and his attempt to break free seemed to be no more than a violent spasm.
Vampires...?
(remember jon's friend, the one that got killed senior year? DRAINED OF BLOOD that was what everyone said at first DRAINEDOFBLOOD and then no one cared)
(here's your superior predator, idiot)
"The f-fuck --" Riley snarled as his chin was jerked to the side and his neck exposed, vulnerable throat stretched out like an offering to some hungry goddess; a primordial panic racing through his veins alongside his blood. Humans might have thought that they were at the top of the food chain, the apex hunter, but the half-buried instincts hardwired into his brain suddenly knew otherwise. "G-get off of m-me..." He'd tried to shout it, but his voice was only a strangled gasp as the fangs dug into his skin. Riley could feel the blood flowing from him - it was like another pulse - but the revulsion he would have expected didn't come. There was just a curious blankess; his form remained tense but the pointless struggles abated. She wasn't going to kill him, he was somehow certain of that, but...
Finally the bizarre sensation came to an end; his head spun, but he couldn't have lost any more than when one donated blood. He focused on the blood in front of him and hesitated, the scent intoxicating.
(you want this you want her)
He did, and she'd made it clear that it was either this - become like her, whatever that might have been - or die. But either way, he'd be dead, wouldn't he? Call him a fool, but he was attached to his pulse. Riley's lips brushed Iris' wrist but he pulled away without drinking, her blood the only color on his face. "Can't I have a w-week, j-just to get things t-together?" Not that he'd need much of a will, but he couldn't help but make one last bid for time. "If I d-drink this..."

---

word count: 582
listening to: People=Shit by Slipknot
notes: sorry. ._.; *headdesk*

[Spottedshadow]

Iris knew what Riley's reaction to her true self would be. Yet, when he panicked at her the contact of her teeth to his skin. Iris felt as though she'd ripped out her own heart and was stomping it into the dust. She was about to drag her teeth away, when the electric feeling crept to her mind. She felt close to him. It's never been like this when I've fed before... she thought. Iris knew the instant that she thought that, Riley was able to hear her thoughts. It was some sort of connection. Iris liked it. She'd seen into his mind, the dark place it was.

Iris knew then, exactly then, that he was truly endanger. Any elder that took even the slightest glimpse at her thoughts would know the truth. Iris was illogically, irrevocably, and hopelessly in love with the human. And that itself was a capital enough offence, enough to get them both killed. That and she'd revealed herself, drank from an unhypnotised human, and had no intention of mind wiping him. Iris was a fool, and her errors were to get them both killed. If Riley were a vampire, then she could petition the council, or even the two could hide away from the rest of the Night World.

Iris shook her head as the human's plea for time. "I'm afraid that would be impossible," she said, her voice sickly sweet like that of a great cat trying to lull it's prey. "I can give you another day, as you'd need one more dose of my blood before you'd turn, but anymore then that would be too dangerous..." Iris wished she didn't have to do this. She'd prefer to be able to walk away now, wipe his mind, and pretend she never met him. But somehow Iris felt like she'd known him forever. If she left now, it would be like walking away from a long lost childhood memory...

"Too dangerous," Iris repeated, her voice thick with beautiful sadness. She hoped she wouldn't have to force feed him the blood. She'd heard tell of that. It was said to be dangerous, the drinker didn't always survive the change. But then again, they sometimes didn't survive anyway... Something about when the vampire blood and the human blood fought, sometimes neither of them won... Iris could only hope that Riley would be a survivor... "But you have to drink this today, you'll be weak for a while, but in the end it'll be worth it." Iris didn't exactly believe that. She wasn't proud of what she was, of what she'd done, but she had to convince him without forcing...

Word Count;; 493
Muse;; It's all right....
Tags;; Riley

[kitsune]

He could hear her.
Her thoughts were crystal sharp, beautiful as ice butterflies and at the same time sharp, like he could cut his jugular on the edge of their wings. She was like a sundew, intricate and glorious and at the same time an aberration of nature --
No, not quite. A perfection of nature, something much more sophisticated than a human. Why would he ever hesitate to become that? What would something as petty as a pulse matter when you could have endless days and nights?
Riley frowned at the knowledge that followed this realization; this talk of elders and councils and ridiculous rules. "What's it mm-ma-matter that you drank if you're pluh-planning on killing me anyway?" The student challenged softly, a sulky tone finding its way into his voice. "I m-mean, a human with n-numbered heartbeats hardly counts." He considered the offer of a single day, chewing on his lip hard enough to draw blood as he mentally threw it around; finally, Riley merely shook his head. What good would one day do? Twenty-four hours to consider the already-close death creeping towards him? He'd just make himself sick with anxiety or drive himself insane listening to the far-too-temporary thuds of a dying heart. It wasn't like Rily needed to make a will, and for the contents of his little ground-floor apartment... he'd leave his camera's memory card for whoever might find it - police, family, Salvation Army, what did he care? They could take it to hell.
Riley leaned forward to drink, staring at the drops of blood that slid down her arm like crimson ambrosia. He hesitated again; why should this feel like making a pact with the devil? Finally, though, resolve appeared in his icy eyes and his lips met the jagged wound she'd made herself. He guzzled the blood greedily, paying no mind to the way it burned his throat as it raced down. Delicious. A thousand times better than he'd thought.
When Riley leaned back, his eyes were half-lidded and his lips and chin were both stained with it. He'd drank the same amount that she'd taken from me, but it had felt like no more than a mouthful; the dizziness had only increased.
"You can get off of m-me now." He muttered, voice half-teasing but detached; to his own ears it sounded a hundred miles away. As a college student, he could think of several situations where one wouldn't mind being pinned to a couch by a beautiful woman; he wasn't entirely sure which category this would fall under.
"What'll happen when I take the s-s-s--" the sibilant /s/ again, dooming any attempts he made. "another dose?"

---
word count: 471
listening to: Polyamorous by Breaking Benjamin

[Spottedshadow]

Iris felt all her natural instincts scream at her. Allowing someone to drink blood was a sign of dominance in the vampire world. That was why Iris offered her wrist. That was a sign of mutual respect. However, Iris knew that she was higher on the food chain, so she still took his blood from his throat. Iris pulled her wrist away, and settled next to him on the couch. "Sorry..." was the only word that she could mutter.

Iris had to laugh at Riley's next question. He seemed so innocent and naive. "Well, that is the simple part. You go to sleep and you wake up a vampire," she said grinning. "Somehow we have to stage it so that it looks like your dead. I suggest that after you "die" that I set it up so that it appears like you hung yourself." Iris didn't think the talk of death would bother the serial killer, but she could never be sure...

"You won't have to worry about that part. Once the world thinks that your dead, they'll hold your funeral, I'll be around to make sure it gets done immediately and with any embalming chemicals," Iris continued. She knew the general ritual. She would not, however, attend the viewing they were bound to have. Although she would influence everyone to have a closed casket. Riley's face would be changing. It was not something to be viewed by humans.

Then after he wakes up, we'll have to flee, Iris thought. She was breaking the laws, all of them, right now. She'd fallen in love with a human, told a human of the Night World, and now she was making an illegal vampire. They would be on the run for their whole lives. And seeing as they will be immortal, that would be a terribly long time.... "Then, we have to go somewhere so remote that no vampire would think to look for us," Iris said. "Even though you will be apart of the Night World, you'll still be illegal..." What had she done? Iris's selfishness was about to ruin the life of someone who had no business being bothered by vampires and the Night World...

"We'll go and live in the Country," Iris continued. "We'd have to feed off animals most of the time, humans would eventually catch on, as would the werewolves and shapeshifters. They won't be happy to find two vampires in their territory... We just have to equip ourselves with silver and try our best to remain hidden." Despite the sorrow she felt for ruining his life, Iris found herself overjoyed at saying the words "we" and "our".

Word Count;; 493
Muse;; Good, but it was tons better before...
Tags;; Riley

[kitsune]

Riley bit back the initial scowl at her laughter; his first thought was to think that she was mocking his stutter, but this poison annoyance quickly abated when he realized it wasn't his impediment but his ignorance that she found amusing.
That was the simple part?
It would be for him, he supposed; just close his eyes and open them. "I will wake up?" he repeated restlessly, though there was no real curiosity in his tone. Riley's gaze strayed to the marks that crawled across the ceiling like cracks on a mirror, and he chewed at his lip as she continued; her thoughts were still a whisper against his mind, but the man couldn't help but marvel at her calm tone. It wasn't like this was an everyday occurance, after all, but her voice sounded placid to his anxious ears.
Was he, though? He wouldn't call the emotion choking his heart fright, per se, but it certainly wasn't entirely positive - a sour sort of anticipation, maybe, almost like a child about to don a new mask for Halloween. The mask wouldn't come off at midnight, though, the masquerade wouldn't slow, and that wasn't necessarily negative. The student pictured the stark white fangs curling down to his chin like daggers embedded in his gums and suppressed an ambiguous shiver, standing and starting to pace despite himself.
We, though. Our. There was something solid and inherently reassuring in that.
"There's a..." What was the proper term? Joist? "A metal b-beam in the bedroom. It holds up to two hundred pounds, that's reliable when it comes to h-hangings. And there's rope..." It was eerie, talking about the most efficient way to hang himself - well, to stage his own death, but that fact only made it more surreal. Admittedly, the bar bolted to his ceiling hadn't been tested, but it was modelled after what hunters used when hanging deer up to dress. Too bad he'd never gotten to use it, but surely he'd find a substitute somewhere along the line. He had a million nights stretched out before him.
He'd jot down a quick suicide note to complete the scene, though that probably wouldn't even be required. If faking one's demise was a machine, then Iris would probably grease the gears and rig it until it was like he'd never existed.
Riley almost asked if she was certain he wouldn't be cremated - funerals were expensive, after all - but he bit back the ridiculous question, crossing to the card-table desk at one wall. The murderer rifled around for a pen and a scrap of paper, sitting and...
Drawing an absolute blank when it came to writing something coherent.
He glanced back over at her, but his hand dragged the pen across the paper seemingly of its own accord, doodling black eyes in the margins. "How w-w-will I still be illegal?" Riley challenged, gesturing towards the door. "People out there are alive. I'm n-not alive, not when I'm about to become l-like you." He chose his words carefully, and then a look of utter surprise crossed his face. "Werewolves?" What was next? Was she allergic to garlic, or were there any other childhood monsters about to spring to life? Any more surprises in her seemingly-bottomless bag of tricks?
One step at a time. They'd cross the not-quite-dead hurdle first, and then get to the rest.

---

word count: 533
listening to: Out of Reach by Voltaire

[Spottedshadow]

ooc: Due to my lack of muse, I think this thread can be done...

[kitsune]

ooc: Alright. xD