Lia stood leaning against a grimy brick wall. The back of the alley where she stayed was surprisingly clean and covered in a charmed tarp. The handy charm kept any from hearing any sound from within the home she had built for herself beneath its crinkled blue folds.
Under her makeshift tent lay all she owned of unimportance (as things of importance were kept far more hidden), not that she owned much. All her life she had lived a certain way.
Nomadic.
Since the day she had first taken human form in this life she had moved from land to land, sticking close to the wilderness. Towns were full of ‘decent people’ who would not abide her presence, nor would they fraternize with anyone they referred to as ‘gypsies’, after all.
This city was relatively small. So small that she didn’t even bother destroying it. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have some fun. No, just the occasional shock em’, fry em’ sort of thing. The last grunt’s screams had a damn near melody. Deck the halls? No… Yankee Doodle? No...wait! Jaws!
Lia walked back to the tent and grabbed her things that she would need then proceeded to light the alley way ablaze, the putrid stench filling the air and making her scrunch up her nose in disgust.
A smile soon bloomed on her lips as she thought of the warehouse district’s wayward demonic inhabitants that she had used to play games with her. And what fun she had! But they had grown boring and rather troublesome. Therefore they had outlived their uses.
Pity.
Still smiling to herself, Lia blinked out of the small city in eastern europe to Maedbell, Connecticut.
Lia sat on a cold brick doorstep in a back alley, bored. The male vampire she had been torturing hadn’t lasted long. The sad thing? It was supposedly a warrior, a high ranking one supposedly within a rogue band if you could even label such a weak creature a warrior of all things. She had squeezed all the information he had out of him fairly easily. He had been a pussy, the only really interesting thing he kept secret, or tried to anyway was a location of a gate.
Gates were the doors to other realms, dimensions, etc… This one was apparently a gate to an underworld of sorts where rogue bands of vampires met to scheme and shit.
When she was told this information, Lia thought back to the twenties when she had decided to keep a spy in the burgeoning Order. Under a guise of course- gods knew she had too many enemies to risk revealing her movements- she had compelled a member of their group to unknowingly smuggle information on their workings to her.
She had made damn sure he would never remember her, nor would he know just how he was being used.
The Gate was close, too close to their current home. The vampires of this world were so ignorant, it was almost funny, almost. Not quite.
They had no knowledge of races beside a few select ones- nor did they know how there were countless subspecies to each race. It was pretty sad, actually. Other immortal races could be good allies, but most of them were strict and kept out of the businesses of races who were unaware of them. A ‘if they don’t know about us, we don’t want to work with them’ policy.
Lia was a supernatural mixing pot for the preternatural community. A mix of vampire, witch, and kitsune, she travelled not only out of boredom but because she had acquired many enemies over her time. Her Kit was almost all dead, all except for her twin brother and herself, of course. Though she had not heard from him in far too long…
Other Kit’s would automatically attempt to kill her, but Kits tend to stick to their own realm. One per, you could say.
Sighing, Lia stood and blinked to an alleyway behind a club she had taken to frequenting- a vampire owned nightclub that she chose to get wasted at to abate the apathy that toyed with her existence.
Walking up out of the alley’s shadows, she slid off her trench coat and with a wave it dispersed into shadows, leaving her clad in a cropped navy halter top and a short a-line leather skirt that put her legs on display. She caught a glance of herself in a neighboring shattered mirror- her long almost white blonde hair was kept partially up and out of her face, a navy ribbon pulling some of her hair up into a ponytail- the rich color making her milky skin glow. Her eyes were the darkest of violets, lined by thick kohl lines, curling up at the corner into cat eyes. Her lipstick was near black tonight, but in daylight could be considered a rich red.
Walking past the long wait line up to the bouncer, she flirted ceaselessly until she was allowed in, bringing a collective groan from those in line.
Lia smiled at the charmed bouncer and flitted inside.
Stepping within the club, it was clear to see that tonight it was bustling with energy.
Going to the bar, she ordered a scotch and made her way to the VIP balcony, flirting occasionally with the grinding humans and the rare vampire who came up to ask who she was. Spotting an open booth that would keep her discreetly shadowed out of immediate sight, but not too far from the Order’s reserved table, she quickly sat down, eyes scanning the gyrating crowd.
By the time the Order’s warriors had made their entrance she was on her second scotch and in the middle of a drinking contest with a rich frat boy.
They were each tall and extremely attractive by present day standards, but each were utterly unique. Each had a different aura about themselves and it was clear by how they held themselves that they held a loyalty to one another that was undying. It was such a rare thing to see in this day and age and a trait that even Lia adored. Lia got the feeling that no matter how long or how creative she fot, it would be a waste of time torturing a single one for information. Pity, she was always ready for a bit of fun.
Setting down the empty shot glass, still irritatingly sober with only a pre-buzz, Lia grabbed the hand of a drunk young man. Pulling him into the booth, she rose to her knees and put a knee over his right leg and another over his left. She looked over her shoulder at the frat boys.
“Go away children. Mommy’s busy.”
Lia blew a kiss as she waved them off. She smiled at the sight of their confusion. They didn’t even recall how they had gotten to the club.
Turning back to the drunk, she leaned in close to his neck and began to kiss her way down. Placing a kiss over his jugular she whispered in his ear.
“You’re getting good at playing human.”
Lucas groaned, “Damn, and here I thought I had perfected my impression.”
“A little too much if you ask me. But seeing as how my half-sisters so love to wreak havoc on men of all kinds, I knew the signs to look for. Beside, I know enough about you to definitely know it was you and not a human.” Lia smiled, remembering her sisters’ motto: ‘Let’s get so drunk that we don’t get a hangover!’
They had yet to achieve such, but that was beside the point.
“Lucas, I’m hungry and you smell like a particularly juicy steak right now. What do you want?”
“Lia, can’t a man just visit his favorite cousin once in awhile?”
“Well ‘he’ could, but ‘he’ doesn’t unless ‘he’ wants something.”
He sighed.
“Cassandra had a vision and in short? She told me that if I didn't tell you she'd cut up something very important and shove it so far up my right nostril that it would pop out my left. She seemed kinda stressed."
Lia snickered at the understatement. Her seer cousin certainly needed an outlet, maybe they could bond over Lia's…
Reaching into his front pant pocket, she withdrew a cell phone and answered on the first ring.
"Cassie girl, thanks for sending a snack... No I won't main him permanently... or kill... yes, no scars... Tell me about the vision, doll-face."
"I saw a mansion, kind of like the ones you can rent for parties? Anyway, I saw you there in an office, talking. Not sure about what. But you were surrounded by gorgeous, no, glorious MAC trucks. Huge, hot men, what could be better? I know, side-tracked, but they were all just staring at you as if you told them that you had eaten all of their dicks while they were asleep.
"But I digress. Be sure to tell me if it helped! Oh and be a dear and speed up Lucas' transformation? I have a job that requires a full demon." She paused then burst into loud ominous cackles, "See ya Lia-Bia!"
Well that was a witch for you, lucid one moment, mad as a hatter the next. At least she wasn't speaking in riddles again.
Lia's teeth grinded together for a moment. "Thanks Bitchy-Witchy, I'll send your pet back intact." With that she hung up the phone.
Glancing over at the Order’s table where the warriors now sat, Lia smiled. She dissolved the shadows concealing her booth from view, allowing them a near direct view should they glance her way.
Bending back down into Lucas’ neck she murmured softly in his ear.
“I’m hungry.”605Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBcFbE5EWrF
He shuddered beneath her, “Then feed.”
Lia muttered her thanks beneath her breath and latched onto his jugular. Smooth, rich blood crawled down her throat like the richest of chocolates, the sweetest of wines. Blood of immortals was always the sweetest, But alas, Lucas’ blood was diluted, made impure by his mortal mother. He needed to die to complete his transition to an adult male of his species. Luckily, Lia felt particularly deadly as she drained him.
Lifting her head from his neck, Lia smiled, satisfied.
She felt the weight of a glare upon her neck and she flicked her own gaze over her shoulder to catch her watcher in the act.
She was a ghastly sight no doubt- an angel with blood dripping down her face.
Shock, confusion, and anger crossed the male’s face. Sliding out of the booth, Lia heard a pleasant thump as Lucas’ form collapsed face first into the table, dead. Or at least for the moment. The change. Death is a rite of passage indeed.
Still smiling, Lia made direct eye contact with the Vampire King. Fury brewed in his right cerulean eye, the left made entirely of glass.
Dispersing into the shadows, Lia smiled.
The game had begun.
ns 15.158.61.17da2
