Stroll By Starlight (Open)

[Elod Springfield]

What little sun that shone during the day had disappeared behind the horizon a few hours ago by the time Elod emerged from hiding to stroll along the dark streets of Dawson. Not particularly hungry tonight, as he had eaten the night before, Elod merely came out to stretch his legs a little and soak in the bitter night air. Elod's eyes flicked left and right, constantly scanning dark corners and alleyways, on the lookout for hunters. It always felt to Elod like he was gambling his life when he came out in the open like this, but there wasn't much he could do about it; creatures weren't meant to stay inside for long, especially not vampires.

It was cloudy tonight, as it had been throughout the entire day; only a few splinters of moonlight danced across the bare, cracked pavement in front of him. In times like these, Elod found it too easy to wonder about issues concerning life, matter, the universe...he had to admit, sometimes he was a bit of a philosopher. It frequently crossed his mind that he might live to see the end of all things, assuming the sun going super nova didn't destroy him, and the human race didn't find some way to eradicate vampires or all life on earth by then. A smile crept across Elod's lips; if someone stepped inside his head for a day, they'd probably think he was bonkers; then again, it wouldn't surprise him if he actually was.

Elod leaned against a nearby lamp post. He'd normally be out at a bar or club somewhere by now, but for some reason he didn't feel like it tonight; the peace and quiet was unexplainably fulfilling on days like these. Elod gazed through the hazy mist along the path at an emerging figure; un-discernible from here. Tensed, Elod sank back into the shadows, taking precautions in case it was a hunter. Tawny brown eyes on the alert, Elod kept his vision locked on the approaching humanoid, glaring suspiciously.

[Juliet Blackwood]

Juliet wiped a droplet of blood from her lower lip before gliding out of the alley way in which she had taken her meal of a pretty girl that had happened to wander into Juliet at the wrong moment. She used to feel remorse for taking a life but no more. She had been a vampire for too long. Her mentor and previous vampire queen had helped with her human feelings after Juliet was turned. She made Juliet realize that there were more being born every hour of the day. What was one person in a world of more than a billion?

Glancing down at her white shirt Juliet made sure no stray blood had managed to leak onto it. It was always terribly embarrassing to have someone point out that there was blood on your shirt. Fortunately there was none so Juliet did not need to return to her home and change. Shoving her hands into her black skinny jeans pockets, she listened to the click of her high heels as she made her way down the street.

A slight mist was rolling in and made it difficult for any human to see. Juliet had excellent sight and her heightened sense would warn her of any imminent danger. A few yards down the street and she smelled in the air the scent of another vampire. Her walk slowed a bit but she kept moving. Closer she moved and then her eyes picked out the form of a man hiding in the shadows. He was tensed for a fight. There’s no need to fear me. She spoke aloud. Well sometimes there was reason to fear the vampire queen of Dawson but not tonight.

[Elod Springfield]

As the approaching figure emerged from the mist, it became pretty obvious that she wasn't a hunter, but another vampire. Elod felt very relieved that he wouldn't have to confront any hunters yet; after all, they were one of his biggest fears. To Elod's slight surprise, it also appeared that the vampire was Juliet, whom he hadn't run into in quite a while. Elod was a little embarrassed that he hadn't recognized her earlier; his senses must be dull tonight, he thought. Typically, Elod disliked figures of authority, especially ones that counted themselves as royalty; it was very common among the human population for people in power to expect special treatment and abuse their privileges. However, Juliet was a nice person, so he didn't generally object so much to her being a vampire queen.

"Sorry, " Elod laughed a little nervously, "I thought you might be a hunter; never can be too careful." Elod eyed the area shiftily, half expecting someone to dive out and attack him that very moment. He realized he must look completely paranoid, especially considering he'd never yet had a bad encounter with any hunters; he'd only heard the stories. Then again, maybe he was being paranoid. Juliet would probably better understand the danger of hunters than he would, since her own mentor was murdered by one.

[Juliet Blackwood]

No need to apologize. It is always smart to be on the look out for hunters. Juliet spoke. She had seen a few hunters since returning to Dawson, which let her know that the breed wasn’t completely exctinct. But when you think about it, hunters would only cease to exist if grudges were no longer held or all vampires had died off. Juliet seriously doubted either would happen.

Juliet looked over the man before her, she hadn’t seen him before. He might of moved to Dawson either during her time abroad or just recently. There were quite a few new vampires in the surrounding city after all. Beg pardon for my momentary lapse of manners. My name is Juliet. Might I inquire as to your name?

[Elod Springfield]

Elod felt justified and relieved to hear that he wasn't being paranoid about hunters. Well there was sillier things to be paranoid about, so somebody that could kill him didn't seem like such a insignificant problem after all. A few crows flew overhead, fighting over some scrap of food. Animals had a pretty un-complicated life, Elod thought, vampires, werewolves and humans all just think too much.

Elod looked away from the flying birds as Julet asked him a question. "Elod," answered Elod, "I could've sworn we'd met before, but maybe I was mistaken." Elod hoped he wouldn't continue to have such an inaccurate memory, it was rather inconvenient. It did seem unusual to him that he wouldn't have run into Dawson's resident master vampire by now, since he had lived here his entire life.