your venomous heroine

Amari chuckled to herself while she walked with Elsa.  In some ways it was nice to see a familiar face around.  Shadow Falls was a nice town, but Elsa was right.  Things did get boring.  Things got dull.  She liked having new people around to help mix that up, even if it meant new people she hadn’t seen in a century or more.  “You know the best thing about this club it’s underneath a church.  There’s some great fun in being sacrilegious.”

Elisabeth raised an eyebrow. “Underneath the basement?” she mused. “Now who’s ingenious idea was that?” She loved the idea. It was one thing to find entertainment around town, but to do so right where the humans gather and worship. It must stir up problems between the two groups, and she was eager to get in the middle of it. “Now I have high expectations of this place. I’m sure I’ll be visiting regularly at this rate.”

Zeke’s own switch of identity hadn’t been nearly as Byzantine of a process as hers, he had simply taken the name and run with it. Still, he could relate to her struggles. It wasn’t always comfortable, pretending to be someone else. Always policing one’s own words — ‘Does it make sense for me to have this information? No, Zeke was never that interested in politics. I need to feign ignorance’. All of that had been so long ago and yet the memory was still nothing short of arduous, irritating enough that he was glad not to be in her shoes.

Taking a picture would be easy enough, but he would wait until they had settled the other matters. “You don’t really seem like a Susan,” Zeke confirmed, dry humor in his voice. “If I saw you on the street, I’d peg you as more of an Astrid or a Helena.” He used to own books with name suggestions, but nowadays it was faster to just look it up online. Keeping that in mind, he searched for a fitting website, before turning around his laptop and sliding it closer to her. “‘Knock yourself out’, as they say. Not a very elegant process, is it? The movies always make it so much more interesting.”

“Oh believe me, I had worse,” she replied with a wave of her hand. She had her fair share of difficulties when it came to creating documentation. She had to appreciate the fact that she did not have to make all of this herself. As the laptop was placed in front of her, she froze. She was not a big fan of most modern technology. She shifted in her seat and leaned closer, a finger hovering over the touch pad. While she held little motivation to click or scroll off the main page she wanted to play along. “Let’s see... popular names,” she mused. “Isabella is a no... Then number two. Sophia it is. Surname can be Smith for all I care.” As she sat back in her seat, she gently slid the laptop back his way. “Anything else we need to generate while we’re at it?” She was in no rush, simply wanted someone else to take over the internet surfing. 

Amari laughed and moved towards the register so she could finish up.  “Not at all.  Give me five minutes and I’m all yours,” she told her.  It wouldn’t take her long to finish up and they could be on their way.  Between her increased ability to do things and the fact that she’d been closing this store for nearly two decades, it wouldn’t take long at all.

After a moment she disappeared into the back to lock up the cash from the register and finished the remaining things.  When she reappeared, she smirked at Elsa.  “Ready?”

With everything wrapping up, Elisabeth pushed herself away from the counter. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied with a smirk. “I’ll try my best to behave myself tonight.” It was nice to finally find some excitement around here. She had to remember to tone it down for the first night. As she headed out the door, she held it open for Amari. “Lead the way, dear.”

“I understand. You don’t have to tell me more than that.” It wasn’t too outlandish of a request. Sometimes Zeke was asked to craft a new identity for those that wanted to hide from bigoted human parents or ex-lovers — witness protection, essentially. He didn’t think her problem was quite like that, but it had still given him the skill-set needed to help her out. A speculative gleam entered his eyes as he glanced away from her. This wasn’t just an ID, a lot of work went into creating a new person, a new human. Proof of Insurance, any licenses she might need, bank statements… It sounded as if he would be having a great weekend. “It can be done.”

Not all of the equipment he would need was here. Keeping such a large amount of illegal gear in one place seemed like a horrid idea, no matter how warded it was. Again he approached the drawer, but this time he stood up, so that he could rifle through its contents properly. Overly organized cretin that he was, it didn’t take too long until, accompanied by a victorious “A-ha!”, he found what he had been looking for.

Zeke returned to the desk and placed the papers in front of her. It was a simplequestionnaire, the kind that could just as easily have been found on a social media website or a dating app. Everything superficial he needed to know was on there; her chosen profession, whether she owned a driver’s license, et cetera. The rest could be made up. “I’ll also need a picture of you, for the ID,” he explained softly, pushing the pen holder in her direction. “It can be taken here, but you can also drop one off another time.”

As she scanned the paperwork before her, she let out a sigh. Full name, birthday, minor details she could care less about. She began to scribble down numbers, leaving a name blank for now. At one time she had a few aliases to choose from. Now with the new computerized technology and data tracking, those names would be unavailable. It would be easy to find the records of all the personas she killed off for herself. She missed the days before identification cards. 

“You will have to take the picture here. That’s something I don’t carry around.” She quickly finished off ticking boxes and adding random dates. She tried to hide how little she cared from her outward appearance, but it was hard to avoid. “Do you have a list of names to pick from or something?” she asked as she looked up from the stack of papers. “I need something new. Something unique. There’s only so many times you can pass for a Mary or Susan. It’s almost expected now.”

”Thankfully. I prefer being busy.” With practiced movements, Zeke gathered the documents and turned around in his seat to store them in the drawer behind him. “I can help you with both of those matters easily enough. I always keep an eye out for property listings. If you’d like, I can point out those that won’t check your documents too closely.” His IDs were perfect forgeries down to the magnetic strip, but if anyone checked to see if their number was registered, they would come up empty. Such was the tragedy of the digital age, that some things couldn’t be forged, even with his abilities. It was up to the new ID owners to act in a way that wasn’t suspicious enough to cause such extensive measures. He couldn’t help them with that. Thankfully, authorities rarely had the time check, so it shouldn’t matter too much.

Zeke turned back, throwing her a glance over the laptop he pulled towards himself. “Among other things, I’ll also need you to tell me whether you’d like to masquerade as a declared vampire or human.”

“Honestly, that would be wonderful.” So far Elisabeth has spent little time looking in to local apartments. She was not picky; she would not be residing in the space for long throughout the day. Yet knowing of a place with high quality yet low precautions would be convenient. She hoped to draw as little attention as possible and to be left alone.

His question made her pause. She took many safeguards to protect herself. She spent many centuries trying to stay in the shadows and hide. Each time it seemed to fail. Perhaps now it was time to change up the strategy. “You know, this is going to sound crazy...” As she spoke, she folded her hands together onto the desk between them. Her gaze dropped to the floor as she stopped once more, debating if she would continue down this route. She would never consider masking herself as a human and she hated changing her name. If she was to make a public appearance, she was proud to say who she was. But any sign of her survival brings trouble; trouble that should have died out centuries ago. 

“Human would be ideal. Perhaps an alias too.” As her gaze turned back to him, she had confidence in her decision. “That is, if you could do all that. There are some people who will find me if my name is out there. How they continue to track me down after centuries I don’t know, but they cause too many problems. I just want to be safe.” It was something she rarely went into detail about. Hiding from your own family would be hard to explain quickly. It was for the best to leave that drama out of this meeting. 

It was a little pathetic, wasn’t it? By all accounts he should have been able to deal with this guy easily. He was stronger, faster and, most importantly, also more handsome. But Nate wasn’t a rebellious teen anymore, he had reaped the consequences of violence towards humans often enough to know that nothing good would come out of it. Whether he acted in self-defense didn’t matter. This was Shadow Falls after all, in all of its backwards town glory. ‘Course, there was a second reason for not just walking out and whaling on him: Giving a strong reaction would be taken as encouragement and provoke more extreme behavior, a fact he wished he didn’t know intimately.

Nate felt like shit for dragging her into his mess, but he was grateful that she still helped him. Her presence was grounding, helped him breathe. At this point he was unsure how he would have gotten out of this on his own. “If we’re lucky there’s a third option,” he started, voice pointedly cheerful. “Someone here will fall under my enthrall and help us out.” He wouldn’t count on it though, because luck very obviously didn’t want to see his mug tonight.

Elisabeth cocked an eyebrow. “Did you try that on your friend out there?” His third plan would have been her first when the matter originally began. To her, it was an instinct if passive-aggressive threats did not take an immediate effect. They could have easily gathered enough bodies to shield themselves while they ran away. The fact that they made it illegal many years ago did not phase her. A little forceful persuasion rarely harmed anyone.

“You should have said that sooner,” she mused. She scanned the restaurant floor for anyone who could be useful. Diners would not matter unless they had a specific reason to push the man away. One of the staff, a manager perhaps, would be their best weapon. “I bet between the two of us, we can compel someone to help. Start with the maître d' until we can find a manager to shoo him away.” 

The last few weeks hadn’t been kind to Zeke, a fact he dealt with in the usual manner — by focusing only on his wards and his work. Breaks? A waste of his time. Ever since Cara had left their makeshift family, he had been more stand-offish than before. His face, which had never been particularly disposed to expressiveness, was now a permanently blank mask. He didn’t like this side of himself, but at least it was efficient.

The Hamlin Group’s announcement hadn’t been bad for his business; more than a few Supernaturals had asked for his help, scared of being found out and turned into a human against their will. While he appreciated the extra work, he resented the reason for its arrival. The mere idea of the cure made his skin crawl.

By the time the door opened, he had finished another ID and was glad for the distraction. He remembered her, of course, as the woman who had kindly not knocked his arse unto the cold ground a few weeks ago, despite having had the power to remove herself from his wretched company. “I prefer Zeke, if you don’t mind.” He motioned towards the chair in front of his desk with a casual wave. “Take a seat.”

Upon his offer, Elisabeth joined the man at the desk. As she took her seat, she quickly scanned the room. It appeared he had a long list of services to offer. She would need to keep this in mind for later, as long as she could come to trust him. There was something to be said about how easy it would be to remain in town over returning to a home base over a piece of paper.

“Well, darling, you look busy,” she said, noting the amount of work on his desk. Whether or not this was normal for him, she did not know. She had to assume he was the only guy in this small town involved in this business. “I’m looking for an ID, or something to help me get an apartment. The less I have to keep track of, the better.”

There was nothing subtle about his steps. They were restless, but it didn’t matter. The closer they got to safety, the harder his heart beat. Thump, thump, thump. He had dealt with worse before, oh in-fucking-deed he had. But he was still uneasy, still eager to get away. Could anyone blame him for being influenced by his survival instincts? All of the adrenaline was out of his system now, a fact he realized as soon as they entered the building. His superior stamina didn’t protect him from the exhaustion that grabbed for him, taking its chance to claim him. But it didn’t matter, because there was no way he could follow them inside. Safe at last.

A dopey grin was pasted onto his face, his chuckle light and airy when she talked to him again. “Wine is fine with me.” He wasn’t big on alcohol, but he might as well celebrate. A drink for the Gods that had gotten him out of this. “’Sides, it would be rude of me to get black-out-drunk in your presence, wouldn’t it?” He threw a glimpse over his shoulder — and the smile on his face froze. The follower was still standing outside, arms crossed.

Shit.

While waiting for a table, Elisabeth glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, their stalker would remain outside. It appeared he would remain inside, but it was obvious it was not easing her companion’s nerves. They would be safe inside, but it made her wonder how long this man would last.Even if he left the window, there was a chance he would hide out and wait for them.

“It seems we have two options.” As she spoke, she turned to have a better view of the door. A hand was on her hip as she no longer cared about being subtle watching their follow. “We can wait it out, but that may result in both of us becoming intoxicated.” She would not deny the longer they had to wait at the restaurant, the more inclined she would be to drink the night away. “Or, we can risk sneaking out the kitchen door and hope we don’t run into him again.” At this point either option was favorable for Elisabeth. She was intrigued to see how long this man would last with whatever they threw at him.

Elisabeth was beginning to realize she has spent too much of her time living out of the local bed and breakfast. There was little she could do without drawing suspicion in the communal living space. It was only a matter of time before the staff would lose their inviting hospitality towards someone who comes and goes at all hours of the night. It was time to find a place of her own. Of course, that would require one thing; paperwork.

With the business card in hand, Elisabeth descended into the depths of Saints and Sinners. While she despised paper trails, it was unavoidable. She was guided to a back door far away from the action of the club. Knuckles lightly rapped on the door. She hoped the kid would not find a way to make her regret this.

“Hezekiah Reynes?” she called out as she stepped through the door. Eyes scanned the card once more before looking up at the male. “I was hoping you could help me... fit in around here.”

Amari chuckled.  She and Reid were close, but she would never consider Saints and Sinners even remotely hers.  That was his baby, or well, his and Gabe’s.  They managed to make it work and she was very proud of what they’d developed.  “Oh you’re right about that.  Usually the humans at Saints and Sinners are the ones looking to dabble in the supernatural.  You can usually find a meal outside of the feeding rooms too, if you’re willing to put in a little work.”  Sometimes that was much more fun.  She and Reid had made a game of it before, seeing how many they could each feed on in an hour without using compulsion.

“Then what’s the problem?” Elsa chuckled lightly. “I suppose you have the option if it was a long day. It’s nice to have.” She hoped it would never come to paying for a meal, but it was good to know her options. She took a step back from the register. She was ready to see what this club had to offer. “I’m not keeping you from closing, am I?” A hand gestured towards the register. “We should be saving some conversations for when we get to the club. I doubt we can spend the whole night feeding and ignoring each other.”

“Control is second nature when you’re this old,” she laughed, but there was no humor in it.  There was nothing funny about living to see seven centuries.  Even the Eamonn himself hadn’t reached her age.  Her gift of longevity made her the oldest vampire alive.  “It’s when I relax control…that’s the true challenge, Elsa darling.”

Her lips twisted into a grin and she chuckled.  “Well, Reid owns it,” she said, speaking of the man she had taken under her wing nearly two centuries ago.  “There are feeding rooms in the back.  I usually go there to get my meals it’s a little more legal than any issues I could face for picking up the wrong person in a bar.”

Elsa’s lips twisted into a grin. “Reid? Then I guess you got your club after all,” she said with a laugh. That bit of information made visiting the club more intriguing. However, the idea of feeding rooms was a bit unsettling. They had its use for legal stances as well as helping many vampires. For someone like her, they were boring. She spent centuries with the thrill of finding her own meals, and she did not intend to change that now. “But that is where the fun is. You either luck out and find the right person right away, or get to convince them otherwise.” She shrugged her shoulders lightly. She knew here she would need to behave, but she hated following the rules. “I doubt any human would enter a vampire’s club if they were against our nature.”

Honestly, Nate would have loved for this to be a more interesting story. As it was, he got nothing out of it besides derailment and a vague sense of danger. “I’ll try harder next time,” he replied pleasantly. “Maybe I’ll draw them into a conversation myself.”

He would have been able to lead the guy into an alley and then beat his ass up, but he didn’t want to try that — that’s how supernaturals got themselves spirited away by some bigot group or another. Even if they had returned, the fact that they had been taken in the first place was still cause for caution. Fuck those creepy scientists for claiming that those now-humans had done all of that out of their own volition. “A drink sounds great.” Not his scene, but certainly not the half-life’s either. Maybe he could lure him into the restaurant and get him to order something overpriced in order to fit in, that would be beautiful.

As Elisabeth entered the restaurant, she scanned the room. It was relatively empty for the pre-dinner rush, which was either a blessing or a curse. There was no losing their friend in this crowd. Maybe he would wise up and leave them based off of their setting alone. If he stayed, she was not against keeping up the game to bother him. This was not as painful as she imagined. If push comes to shove, she was not against the quick solution of compelling him to leave. She was only against it for the dull ending it would cause. 

“Well I hope you like wine. I doubt this place will want to serve anything else.” She turned her attention back to the male at her side. “I hope this place has a decent bar. Wine can only go so far. If not, once we get you food we can get you a real drink somewhere else.” 

Amari nodded.  While she didn’t know exactly what was going through Elsa’s mind, she could imagine.  It was the same sort of thing that had raced through her thoughts a few centuries ago.  “Yeah, I know it’s not much.  I still travel though, I just always have a home and a shop to come back to after I’m gone.  It’s not perfect, but it’s a comfortable life.”

Shrugging one shoulder as she finished closing out the register, Amari glanced at Elsa with a sigh.  “I don’t really have a secret,” she admitted.  “It’s more…a mentality that I can cut loose when I want to, I just can’t let it infringe on the life I’ve crafted for myself here.”

With a light shrug, Elsa wandered towards Amari and the register. “No secrets? You found a way to keep to that,” she mused. “Honestly, it’s impressive. More control than I have.” Elsa took full advantage of the nature of her job. In a typical major city, she could act however she pleased without interference to her life. With the change of scenery and lack of a large population to hide behind, she regrettably knew it was time for a change. 

“So tell me about this club.” She stood leaning against the counter, elbows resting on top. “Besides the fact that I’m sure it’s the only club in town, why do you go back? Free drinks? Someone cute work there?” As she spoke, she watched the other female finish up her work. 

“Oh no, they just looked at me,” he replied, resisting the urge to glance behind him. Bizarrely, Nate was starting to feel a sense of pity for this man who had nothing better to do than follow a dude like him around. Mostly he felt sorry for himself though, because he deserved it. This wasn’t the first time that something along these lines had happened to him, but it was starting to affect his morale just a little bit. He might be a hardened dumbass, but he wasn’t an invincible dumbass.

“Some people are too shy to speak up, they probably didn’t want to be a bother.” It was a good thing his back was to the offender, not rolling his eyes would have been impossible. “A shame, really. I would have loved to have a chat with them.” He couldn’t believe that he was thinking this, but it would have been nice if they had been enthralled, that way he wouldn’t have to deal with any of this bullshit now. Alas, his dashing incubus features and youthful charm hadn’t been enough.

With eyebrows knitted together, she glanced over at the male. She expected the man to be running from a threat or challenge from their follower. A general protest would be a decent reason to seek out help. Those were the situations she preferred. She would love to tell someone off about their quaint town. To discover there was no threat, but a bad look, would be a disappointment. A few moments of dodging through a crowd would solve the problem in an instant.

“That’s unfortunate,” Elisabeth rolled her eyes. “Would make your excuse more interesting, instead of someone gawking at you.” With their destination in sight, it would not be long before their problem was out of their hair. “So shall we see how long the wait is?” she asked as they approach the building. “You deserve a drink after dealing with that nonsense.”

She chuckled.  “Oh trust me, Saints and Sinners is right up your alley.  I’m there more than I should be.”  Usually she was there to see Reid or feed but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a good time.  There was plenty of debauchery happening there on a nightly basis.

Amari shrugged a little.  “Honestly?  I just wanted a break.  I mean…I’ve spent centuries living it up, partying, and having a great time.  What’s a couple of decades running a shop in a small town when I have an eternity to enjoy myself?”  She thought of it the way humans needed a break to rest and recharge.  That’s what Shadow Falls was doing for her.  “The shop was definitely a better idea.  The last thing I want is to be working till four in the morning every night,” she chuckled.

“Believe me, I know. You have no idea how much I want a change.” Elisabeth gave her shoulders a light shrug. She understood where Amari was coming from. Sometimes life became too predictable, too boring. Instead of finding something exciting and reckless like Elisabeth preferred, she took on another route. “But this is the town?”

Elisabeth knew the rumors. A town for everyone, yet not at the same time. The short time in town was already trying her patience. “You need to tell me your secret. Not just the fun stuff, but how you can put up for so long with this welcoming hospitality.” 

Nate was used to weird situations, but even he had to admit that this left a bizarre aftertaste. Pretending to be in a close relationship with stranger whose name he didn’t even know, all to trick a stranger whose name he didn’t even know. Maybe he should be concerned about his ability to go along with the flow, but he didn’t feel like it. Sometimes the Gods worked in mysterious ways, who was he to judge their methods? And besides, this already felt like something that would make for a good story later. When he finally got home, he was sure he’d be able to appreciate all of it more.

He pretended to think it over, as if he didn’t want to get rid of the guy as soon as possible. “Well, considering I do owe you, why not check out Bésame? If you don’t mind a little more waiting, that is.” Obviously it wasn’t something he’d offer just anyone, he wasn’t a goddamn Sugar Daddy, but she was doing him a solid and so he’d deal with it. Nate didn’t pay rent and he didn’t need to spend money on food, he could afford splurging every once in a while.

To say Elisabeth was surprised with his choice would be an understatement. She did not imagine anyone would be willing to take a stranger to an upscale restaurant. While this was only for show, it was uncertain how long they would have to keep the act up. They may hope it ends with entering the building, but there was still a chance they would be followed. Regardless his money would be safe. All Elisabeth could appreciate of the trip would be the atmosphere.

“Alright, darling. Bésame it is.” It would not be long before they reached the restaurant. She figured they could waste the time with small talk. Perhaps that would draw their follow away. “So these fans of yours stopped you after work?” she asked, referring to the man following them. “What did they want? An autograph? Your phone number?”

The sudden closeness coupled with the words being spoken set off alarm bells in her mind,  her hackles raising at the mention of five fucking centuries. That alone explained the bizarre flip-flop of her emotions throughout their brief conversation, as if the more instinctive side of her brain was trying to keep her in check. Murphy had been around older vampires a lot throughout her lifetime–it would be hard to avoid them, given who her sire is–but there was usually a warning before the meeting. A be on your best behavior, Maeve. This was wholly unexpected, unwelcome, and she was unsure of how to proceed. Grin and bear it would be the best approach, maybe smoothing over any offense she might have given. With her, that was always a risk.

“Then I’m sure we’ll be the best of friends,” her smile was tight, uncomfortable with the close proximity that she hadn’t initiated, but she forced herself to relax. It shouldn’t be difficult to make at least acquaintances with this woman. It was obvious that they had their similarities, likely more than she had anticipated. Focus on the positive, maybe have a bit of fun, and hopefully not get her head ripped off by her betters. “I’m Murphy, just for future reference since I’m sure we’ll be seeing loads of each other in the coming months. How long are you in town for again?”

Her lips pressed together in a smile. It all seemed to come together perfectly. With a few ‘friends’ to utilize, she would be back to work in no time. And who knows. Maybe she could find herself an accomplice. “I’m sure we will.” 

Elisabeth took a more thorough look at the female. “Murphy, you said?” There was something familiar sounding in the name. There was no reason to dwell on it. After all this time, she was bound to run into someone with the same name in the past. “I’ll be here until I get bored. Trying to give it a few months, but we’ll see.” She hoped matters were settled within months. If not, she would take matters into her own hands. “I’m Elisabeth, by the way.”