The Light of Shadows - A Vampire Roleplay (Official) (CLOSED)

The Light of Shadows - A Vampire Roleplay

Announcement Board:
(Please check in for any updates/notices.)​

 

Opening Post
​

It was almost sunrise. The windows of the many homes around the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona were covered by a variety of curtains and blinds. However, unlike other places in the world, many of these would remain closed to keep the heat at bay. The desert sun harsh and unforgiving to the humans who resided in the American Southwest. However, for a vampire, Variel found it to be an odd haven. A place where no one questioned if she stayed inside all day or had thick curtains covering the windows around the clock. Besides, one would never expect a vampire to live somewhere so dangerous and beautiful. So, Variel went about her life. Her morning routine has been unchanged for years.


She went to check all the window coverings that were secured with velcro, grabbed herself a glass of blood from the fridge in her garage. True, she could have kept it in the kitchen, but Variel was worried a human might stumble upon it. The garage fridge was more secure as she decorated it with green camo patterns. This kept most humans out as many assumed there were dead animals within.


However, Variel did none of this when she woke up to the alarm on her nightstand. She crawled out from under the bed and got ready for the night. As she brushed her hair, she wondered again if she should find another job. But being an over-night stocker at a local mega store was far more undercover than working in a hospital. Besides, she had friends who could help her secure all the blood she wanted.


Speaking of...


Variel glanced at her phone and after a moment, dialed Molly MacLeod. Because wasn't Caster's birthday party tonight? Variel couldn't remember and she didn't want to remind Caster in case Molly and Elias had planned a surprise.


(@Louanne Learning and @big soft moose and @Sledge - Have at it! Feel free to make an opening post. Elaborate on how characters met, what they do, etc. Also, I am excited. I love the Arizona setting. And this is how you do short OOC notes in the Roleplay.)

 

Why was it so stinking hot? Gone was Caster’s air-conditioned limo, his chilled in which floated gelatin globs of his favourite type. Being spoiled on his birthday was a great tradition, one he’d been missing for over two hundred years.

Variel’s invitation to the deep south came out of the blue, and on this day, felt kind of suspicious. And leaving a city full of shadows to arrive in another seemingly devoid of such, was sort of ludicrous in his mind. If it hadn’t been sanctioned by the council, Caster would have begged off.

“Keep and eye on that little Variel,” they had ordered. “She’s been away from the flock for too long.”

Caster hated the way they chained him and was determined to break them of that control. His hopes rested on Molly’s shoulders, maybe with luck Alias would play along too. All their names had come up at that meeting, and the old human saying ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ crossed his mind.

 

Molly’s cell phone rang. She checked the number displayed, and didn’t answer it. She couldn’t deal with Variel just then.

She was hungry, and grabbed a copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude and a ring of keys hanging by the back door of her little adobe house on the outskirts of Phoenix. Under the stars, she made her way through her desert garden of cacti, to a shipping container at the back of the property. She’d had a basement at her previous house, up north, and while it kept her meal secure, she found she preferred this container set-up.

Not for the first time, Molly wondered if she was more like Elias or Variel. The two of them had such different methods of feeding. Elias always sucked them dry—dead, and Molly certainly understood that compulsion. But Variel, on the other hand, got her blood from friends and drank it from bottles—in Molly’s experience, a poor substitute for the warm, rich liquid from a living body.

Molly had once tried to follow Variel’s example. Reduce her vampire footprint, she thought. But the craving could not be denied. She could not deny herself. It was dangerous to think of a human as anything other than a meal.

But she’d found a good compromise.

She unlocked the man door on the shipping container and slipped in, pulling the door closed behind her. She flipped on the dim light. The windowless box was well furnished. On the bed, a young man curled in a fetal position rolled over at Molly’s entrance. His face remained expressionless. “What are you doing in the dark?’ she asked.

He did not answer.

Molly went and sat on the edge of the bed. “I brought you a book,” she said.

“Thank you.”

Molly glanced at the empty plate on a tray on the bedstand. “You ate your dinner, that’s good,” she said. “Keep up your strength.”

“What for?”

Then Molly made the two offers she made every time. “Would you prefer to die?” she asked.

The young man didn’t answer.

She smoothed his hair back from his forehead. “Do you want to drink my blood, and be turned?”

He closed his eyes, and slightly shook his head. “Let’s get this over with,” he said.

Molly’s cell phone rang. It was Variel, again. And then Molly remembered—there was a party planned for Caster. “Oh, shit, sorry,” she said to her meal. “I gotta take this.”

“Hello Variel,” she said into the phone. She listened for a moment or two, then interrupted. “Listen, Variel, what do you really know about this Caster?”

 

A small group of teenagers congregated under a lone park light. Huge clouds of vapour billowed out of them one after another. They’d cough and hack, but sure enough when it was their turn, they queued up to puff again.

Caster thought about pulling one away; there was a stocky male who looked extremely well off in blood. The drugs always posed a problem. Sometimes he’d be desperate; and paid for that decision with weeks of bed rest, curtains drawn, and his blood provided intravenously, feeling the pains of being alive, rather than the blissful numbness of death.

“Hey, wait up!”

The decision was made for him as the large boy got up from his sitting position and staggered off to follow his departing friends.

“Probably for the better,” he mumbled, though part of him still yearned for that sensory enhancing drop. Instead he snatch up one of the many rats wandering about the alley. It lacked the human quantity so a dozen more joined his meal.

Sated, Caster turned his watchful eyes towards Variel’s domicile. Still no movement.

“Ahh.” He laughed. In order for his plan to succeed, he would need them all on his side. Confrontation was best when it came to vampires. They had enough with playing in shadows. "Let them wonder."

(Mini-mod note: I edited this to remove the spy-bug thing. I don't like editing dialogue as that feels more personal. Feel free to do that, though.)

 

(I'm gonna roll with what we have here. I think the less we edit as a collective in the beginning is better. Like all stories, it's a matter of getting in the swing of things.)

Variel groaned as her call went to Molly's voicemail. Sure, she was calling early, but this was important. Not just for Caster, but for social development. It was a weird hobby of Variel's to read 'how to meet people' books. They gave her a lot of tips on how to interact with people, specifically humans. This party gave her a chance to show off her skills and maybe have some of her new 'human manners' rub off on the others.

The last thing she needed was for any of her friends to be caught by humans, or worse, the Vampire Elders in the Old World.

"Hello Molly," it didn't hurt to leave a voice message, "it's Variel. I'm calling because I wanted to know if you had any plans for Caster's birthday today. Or if you want to just wing it. No, not like a bat. Like grab a gift from the thrift store or something. Anyway, call me back."

She hung up and went back to applying her makeup. Even though she was going out at night, her skin was still a few shades too gray for the random humans she encountered. Many were drunk or tired, but the fact they were up so late now, made Variel wish lightbulbs had never been invented. It wasn't only the land that the humans slowly consumed, but also the night.

Variel was almost finished with touching up her nails with a flattering emerald green nail polish when she decided to try Molly again. Because she honestly had to know. Caster could be lingering outside her house for all she knew, waiting for a surprise. Thankfully, this time Molly answered. Variel repeated the message she left as well as she could remember and asked, "do you think we should find him a nice catch? Like a healthy jogger, or someone who- do I know Caster? Not very well, no. But we need to stick together, even if we don't like one another. Do you know something about him I don't, Molly?"

Variel was so ready to gossip.

(Louanne and @Sledge, if you want, you can come up with some fun rumors and stuff. It's also okay, if you don't. Just have fun.)

 

Clavio opened his eyes and screeched in a way that echoed through the underground sewer system. He did that whenever he rose from the dead. A feral cat hissed at him and then darted off into the darkness. These vermin, he lamented. Why did they bother him so?

He pulled himself out of the filth and climbed the ladder. By the time he exited into the sultry Phoenix night, he appeared young again, healthy and strong, dressed in the latest fashion of the day. The thirst, the everlasting thirst, there was no quenching it. He was a slave to it and it was his master.

He walked the downtown streets until he came to a nightclub with several men congregating out front. Music could be heard thumping inside. He stood silent and motionless until his turn in line came. The bouncer did not look impressed.

"Sorry, you gotta be 21 to get in," he said.

Clavio handed him a laminated Pokemon card and changed it to look like a valid State ID. The man inspected it twenty ways to Sunday but could find no fault in it.

"It's a twenty-dollar cover," he said.

"I've got that for him," a forty-something-year-old man said. He peered at him from head to toe and looked enticed by what he saw. "I've got lots of things for him, in fact."

"Down boy," his friend said. "Save some for the rest of us."

He passed through the seating area and entered the large open floor area where dozens of men were dancing with their shirts off under the strobe lights. The music was mesmerizing, with electronic grinds and deep base. Clavio stripped off his shirt and joined in, but he looked scrawny and young compared to the others. It didn't take long, however, until he was being courted by eight or nine potential suitors.

"You into daddies?" a muscular man in tight jeans asked.

"They're to my taste," he replied.

"I've got a hotel room down by the bus station. We can be alone there."

"That sounds...acceptable," he replied.

 

Molly, sitting on the edge of the bed, impatiently tapped her foot. Variel, on the phone, was digging for dirt about Caster. “Do you know something about him I don't, Molly?” Variel asked.

It was best Molly kept her cards to her chest, for now. “No, I, um,” she replied, “I just don’t know if he is friend or enemy … Listen, we’ll have the party, although I don’t know why we are taking the risk for him. Besides, as any good vampire knows, one’s deathday is cause for much more celebration.” Molly stroked the arm of the young man curled up on the bed. She didn’t even know his name. She’d never asked, and he never volunteered it. “But anyways,” she went on to Variel, “sure, we can find Caster a good catch. I usually do really well down in the Zone … You know, the Zone, where all the homeless people hang out … Uh, roughly 7th to 15th Avenue, between Jefferson and Harrison … How about if we meet at Library Park?”

 

"That works," Variel knew where that was thanks to the map she had framed on her living room wall. It was meant to be more decorative than useful, but it was all she had, because she couldn't seem to find another copy for her purse. Since she returned to the human world last year, everything had changed. Humans were using weird hand-sized computer devices all the time and finding analogue items was becoming difficult. Variel wouldn't have left if she had known technology would change so fast. But after meeting other vampires, she wanted to know what it was like the 'old world' as they called it. So, she went on vacation, but time flew by and she found herself returning 4 years later. "And that's what I meant. I just think it works better to call a deathday, a birthday. Besides, it sounds human and draws less attention. Anyway, how about we meet at Library Park in an hour? We can figure out what we're doing for Caster's party there."

(I like the deathday thing! It's great. Variel's trying too hard to be human. Feel free to have Molly be snappy with her about it. Because she's really trying too hard here. Also, I hope someone around here knows how a smartphone works.)

 

Molly, on the phone, rolled her eyes at Variel. Vampires were meant to be big, not small—not like humans.

“The sun will be up in a couple of hours,” Molly replied to Variel. “Let’s wait until tonight, so we’re not rushed. We’ll pick out a nice body for Caster’s present … I think we ought to go through the door for the party. I could use some fairy blood. Nothing like the high of drinking fairy blood. And, Variel? At the party—no pinatas.”

Plans made, Molly hung up.

The young man on the bed had his troubled eyes on Molly. He knew what was coming. Molly had had a female before him. Clavio preferred men and Elias preferred women, but Molly, when she was feeding, could not tell the difference. Blood was blood, although some was sweeter than others.

The blade of the chef’s knife gleamed. Molly put out her hand and the young man placed his wrist in it. A quick slice, and Molly’s mouth was over the wound, and she imbibed the sweet nectar of immortality. She had to close her eyes, it was so intoxicating, and she felt gratitude for the rush.

Sated, she lifted her bloody lips from the slit wrist and pressed her layered hands over the gaping wound. “Sana, sana, sana,” she murmured, drawing upon all of her being.

The wound closed, draining Molly. Spent, in the otherworldly place of the greatest power and the greatest calm, all at once, she lay shoulder to shoulder with her meal. The universe had a way of evening things out. She took the blood of others for her immortality, but she had to give in return. You can’t get something for nothing … unless you let them die.

“Let me go,” he pleaded in a tortured whisper. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Molly smiled. “Now, why would I do that?”

She wrapped a hand around her forehead, then reached for her phone. She dialed Clavio. “Do you think this party is a stupid idea?” she asked him.

 

"Agreed. Caster may enjoy going to the Old World," Variel was happy to do what the birthday man wanted, after all. As for Molly's insistence on no piñatas, she felt a bit disappointed. What if it was a human piñata? Would that be better?

She set the phone down on the bathroom counter and finished putting on her makeup. Following this, she checked the time once more and stepped outside. The moment she did, Variel paused on her doorstep. Why is there a black limo sitting out here? Wait, is that Caster's car? I wonder what he wants to talk to me about. I hope he doesn't know about the party.

With this last thought, Variel walked over to the vehicle and gently knocked on the window. If it wasn't Caster, she would be pretty damn embarrassed. Or maybe thrilled? It could be a movie star, after all.

(Oops. I didn't realize it was my turn and misread. Sorry! Continue on.)

 

A motel television played a sitcom from the 80's, its screen covered in blood. Most of the room was. Clavio liked a good fight with his prey - it made him feel like he'd earned his keep. In that regard, the man had a military background and lasted 37 seconds. Not a bad accomplishment, when you stopped to think of it. He clutched and sucked on the man's neck, filling his gut with the man's essence - it felt so rejuvenating. When the show ended and a late-night infomercial came on, he changed the channel over to a movie on the Hallmark Channel.

A buzzing sensation manifested itself on his left thigh. He pulled out his cell and hit the button to answer. It was his beloved friend Molly (@Louanne Learning), whom he'd been longing to see again after all these years.

"Interesting, love," he said in his natural British accent. "A party you say? I could use some time away from these intrepid sewers. You can count me in on your little soirée, my darling."

**hugs everyone in our group xo**

 

The young man on the bed was crying, a silent, pitiful sight. Molly wiped away his tears. “Save your fluids,” she said, with a wry grin. “You’ve just lost a lot of blood.”

She turned her attention back to the phone. “Uh huh, uh huh,” she replied to Clavio. “Your darling, am I? I haven’t been called darling since 1949. Ah, I remember him well. Such a confused man. But I’ve never had blood sweeter.”

She listened to Clavio for a while, then let him in on the plans. “Variel and I are meeting in Library Park tonight, to pick up a body as a present for Caster. Then, we’re going through the door, to the Old World. Meet us there? I’m thinking midnight. Do you know Ambrosia Castle?”

All of a sudden, a loud banging on the door to the shipping container turned her head. “Clavio, I gotta go.” And she hung up.

“Pheonix police!” came the call through the door. “Is anyone in there?”

“Help!” the young man on the bed screamed.

Molly flashed him an angry look. “You’ve just killed that man,” she sneered.

 

Swords and blood he understood, modern technology not so much. So, when Molly disconnected, he stared at the glass contraption for a few seconds and wondered if he was using it wrong. Then, after he realized she'd hung up on him, he felt silly. And just like that, he longed for the simplicity of the sewers all over again.

"Well, that cheeky little tart," he said (****).

He peered through the motel window at the police car entering the parking lot. How thoughtful of them not to come in sirens a blaring, the thought. With a flick of his wrist, he used his illusionary powers to switch the numbers on a few of the nearby hotel doors. That ought to keep them busy for a while, he figured. As anticipated, a juicy-appearing police officer walked the hallway and knocked on the door a few rooms down. Seeing his opportunity to leave, he transformed his appearance into that of an elderly Asian woman and slipped out the front.

"Now to find this beloved park near the library," he thought. "How lovely it would be to see Variel again."

 

If Molly had a heart, it would be pumping out of her chest just then. She had to think fast. Police cruiser—there’d be a police cruiser! She was sure she’d have no trouble taking out whoever stood on the other side of the door, but what could she do with a conspicuous car?

She’d have to figure that out. “Stay here,” she said to the young man on the bed. “Don’t move.”

She licked her lips and, with the sureness of ages, glided to the door, and opened it to reveal a goofy grin on the stoop.

“Surprise!”

Molly relaxed. “What the fuck—”

“Had you going, didn’t I?”

 

About a whole minute later, Variel walked away from the limo, just as embarrassed as she swore she would be. Then, she wondered what a celebrity was doing all the way out here, but it was none of her business. It could be one she didn't like anyway.

Besides, she had more important things to do than figure out who it was, such as meet Molly at the park before work. So, she went to her old car in the driveway. She wanted to park it in the garage, but the door was broken, which was a shame. Thankfully though, she wasn't getting into the vehicle during the day. So, the seat was not too hot. Once Variel buckled in, she began driving toward the park.