Introductions
Blinking owlishly in the late afternoon sun, the weary travelers stepped off the Greyhound at the bus terminal. Some meet friends or relatives, happily chattering as they left the station, while others without contacts wandered quietly, aimlessly, out, looking around at the sun-drenched city that would be the next, and perhaps last, stop on the trail of their lives. One woman moves off alone, meandering towards the sound of the ocean with a distant look in her eyes. She has no suitcase, only a small backpack hung carelessly over one shoulder.
The boardwalk is full of life as she draws near, happy families moving between the surf and the many carnival attractions. Scents of deep fried food, burnt sugar and grilled meat greet her arrival, as does the clanging of prize bells and joyful screams of passengers rushing, twirling, spinning past on brightly painted rides. She moves towards the railing of the covered walkway, partially shaded from the slowly sinking sun, only to rest wearily against a red pillar by the stairway that leads down to the beach.
Time passes as she rests there, for all the world looking asleep on her feet, only her faraway stare and slow blinking to counter the notion. Only the setting of the sun finally rouses her, and she stands, slightly disoriented, moving towards the railing by the staircase to look out across the ocean at the deepening twilight. Grasping the railing she suddenly goes rigid, eyes wide, staring at the unknown. Scenes flash across her mind, snippets catching here and there. Monstrous faces with glowing eyes, fire and blood-stained beaches, dim light seen through a thick jeweled bottle filled with viscous liquid, a house filled with bones and smoke and the stench of death. A final scene passes murkily across her consciousness, misty shapes that shift between a lone figure hunched in agony and a small group huddled around a fallen comrade. The premonition phases several times before dissipating in the fog of her mind.
The lights of the boardwalk flicker above her, people milling around as unaware of her as she is of them. A quartet of men move to walk past, glancing briefly at the oddly still figure before continuing on. She gasps then, body convulsing to let go of the railing as though it was electric, and lurching back catches the leader of the group unawares, taking them both down to the ground in a heap.
The wild-haired blonde in the group is the first to break the stunned silence. "Whoa, dude, I'll have what she's having!" he laughs.
The other two standing figures snort in response, the curly blonde chewing on a gloved finger in an apparent attempt to refrain from actual comment, eyes flashing with ill-concealed amusement. The pale blonde on the ground turns a stare of cool disdain on the figure in his lap, much as though he'd just found gum on his shoe.
The woman turns over to get purchase to stand, drawing further ire from her erstwhile cushion. The moment she turns to face him she's struck still again, blood clearly draining from her face and eyes wide with panic. With raised eyebrow he bends his thoughts towards hers, brushing her mind to see if he can get a glimpse of what he's dealing with. He's met with a confusing miasma of recognition, fear, echoing pain and a cavernous sadness that leaves him momentarily stunned. Very slowly she crawls backward and stands, for all the world as though she's trying not to draw attention from a dangerous creature, which is perhaps not far from the truth.
He stands smoothly then, moving to tower over this odd diminutive figure. He feels no fear from her now, only that deep sorrow and a growing resolve.
"Let me help you." She whispers.
"Excuse me?" He snidely remarks, his eyes flashing, eyebrows lifting in amusement. Behind him his men shift and chuckle, tense moment past and now eager to see how their leader will handle this clearly maladjusted person.
"I've seen what Max has set you to, I've seen how it will end. Please, let me help!" she cries. She's becoming agitated, drawing stares from passersby. The men's demeanor hardens at the mention of their sire's name, the leader in particular nearly furious as he considered her statement. He grabs her arm and moves to lead her down the stairs when the boardwalk security guard interjects.
"You need help, miss?" the portly guard asks, staring hard at the leather-clad group surrounding her.
"No, thank you", she returns, startling the leader, certain she'd use the excuse to get away. "I'm alright, thank you for asking." She states clearly, smiling now, face calm and pleasant as she reassures the guard, arm relaxed where the pale blonde holds her.
The guard's face shows he clearly doesn't believe her, but he's got no way to proceed if she doesn't ask for help. "Are these boys bothering you?" He says, trying one more time to offer her a lifeline. He knows the gang around her is always trouble. It'd only been a few days since his buddy's altercation with them on the carousel, and while he had nothing to prove it he was sure they were the reason his friend had gone missing.
Smiling again, she shakes her head. "Not at all, we were just meeting here so they could show me the town. Isn't that right, David?"
The leader looks down at her, giving his most ingenuous smile, while his eyes flash dangerously. "Of course," he drawls, turning toward the guard. "Me and the boys will take good care of our friend, won't we?"
A chorus of assent come from the rest of the group, the looks on their faces as close to angelic as they can manage. At an impasse, the guard has no choice but to let the incident go. "I'll be watching you!" he grumps as he glares at them before turning to walk away.
"And we'll be watching you" David says quietly, eyes following the portly man as he wanders from view.
The girl at his side speaks up, "I think we should talk".
He turns a predatory smile toward her. "You read my mind."
She looks up at him, a concerned look on her face. "No, but I have seen your future."
He pauses momentarily, before a feral grin graces his features. "Well then, lets walk a bit, shall we?"
Releasing her, he offers her the crook of his left arm with a mocking gesture, waiting to see if she'll try and run. He hides his surprise as she slides her right hand around it, closing her left on top and smiling up hopefully at him. Twin snorts of derisiveness come from behind him as the two golden blondes watch the interaction. A sense of questioning brushes his mind, this from the dark-haired man in the group. He sends reassurance back to them all. Whatever this girl is about, there's no doubt in his mind they can handle it.
The small group proceed down the stairs and out across the beach, moving to a section that's darker and less likely to have people walking past.
He turns toward her then, eyes flashing briefly gold as he draws her in front of him. His men circle her, their faces now grim and hard. "How do you know Max; how do you know us?" he says in a velvet voice laced with menace.
"I really don't" she says, "I have seen some of what he plans, and where that plan will lead."
"Keep talking" he snaps.
"I've seen him courting a lady, I know he wants you to turn her children to be like you."
"And what would 'like us' be, exactly?" he drawls, voice dangerously silky.
Her face creases in distress, but she stares at him unafraid. "Vampires."
At this all their eyes flash gold, and David grins evilly. He wraps a gloved hand around her neck, squeezing slowly. "Give me one good reason not to kill you where you stand."
"I'll give you three – your brothers." She says calmly. "If you follow down this path without me, their lives will truly end."
"Is that a threat?" He snaps, fingers tightening further. Around her his brothers faces shift, sharp teeth drawing down.
"It's simply what will come to pass. I am not the threat, David, I'm here with you trying to help reduce it." Her voice is soft and steady, looking up at him with clear and earnest eyes. "I know I can't explain this well, but I ask you to believe me when I say I want to help you manage the storm that's coming. I know it doesn't make sense right now, give me time and I'll show you that what I say is true!"
He stares at her for a moment. Her calm in the face of clear danger is bothering him in a way that's difficult to pin down. He glances at his men, silently questioning them.
"For what it's worth, she smells clean." Paul comments through their mental bond.
Dwayne nods, adding, "she might have mental issues, I definitely felt something strange when she first bumped into you."
Marko joins in "There's something not quite right here, but she hasn't given us enough to really tell."
He glances down at he again, as she stares patiently up. Not really the usual reaction of someone faced with imminent death. "Tell me again, what's to stop me from killing you now?" he purrs.
"Nothing at all" she says. "I couldn't stop you even if I wanted to, we both know that. From here on, I live at your pleasure, dependent on your regard."
He admires the turn of phrase, appreciating the subservience embedded in it. "How do you know what's coming?" he asks, loosening his grip on her neck.
"Unfortunately, it's a curse I've had for a long time. Something I call fivesight."
Paul can't help himself, "Fivesight? What the heck is that?"
She cocks her head to eye him, "you know, just a little bit better than foresight" she deadpans, lips twitching slightly in amusement that doesn't reach her eyes. She turns a serious face back towards David.
"The truth is it's a little better and worse. I can see events, sometimes clearly from start to finish and sometime only short highlights of occurrences and the final outcome. And I'm powerless to change the full course, only lessen the impact."
"So, you think you've seen us die and you can't change it? Then why should we bother keeping you?" Dwayne asks.
"Hear me clearly – I can't change the events but I can reduce the impact. I'll give you an example – if I knew a friend was going to be sick, I couldn't change that, it's going to happen. But I can make sure he takes time off and help him get to a doctor, and bring him soup to help him feel better sooner. I don't know how much I can do to help you, but I feel I have to try. You have no hope without me, please, please let me help!" She's almost crying as she fists her hands in David's jacket, looking up at him now with tears in her eyes.
Shaking his head, he asks, "why would you want to help us? Knowing what we are?" He concentrates on her, looking for deceit or any hint of betrayal in her mind.
She breathes deep, and he gets a brief glimpse of an image in her mind that could be a lone figure bent before what is somehow both a monstrous fire and dark empty space. "Because I know what it's like to lose all you care for, have all that gave meaning to your life ripped from you with casual senselessness. And I would spare even you that if I could." She rasps in a voice laden with anguish, heavy with remembered loss.
David stands quietly, bright eyes fading to icy blue. There is no doubt she believes what she says, that she speaks truth about her loss and her desire to help. He glances again at his pack, as they too stand down, faces smoothing to youthful charm. He raises an eyebrow in question, and sees shrugs in return. "We can always eat her later if she goes off" Marko says silently.
"So how do you propose to prove your word?" David says, addressing her once again.
"I can tell you what's going on now, I think. Has Star met a young man with curly dark hair that was hanging around with a younger blonde boy? Did Max talk with a lady with short hair in the video store?"
Now David's interest was piqued. He remembered the two, and the lady in the video store that was clearly drawing his sire's regard. "That was just last night." He said. "Did you see them?"
"No, I just got here this afternoon. Star has left Laddie to wander by himself, while she chats up the older of the brothers Max wants you to turn. I believe he got himself a leather jacket, can't imagine who he's trying to imitate." She lifts an eyebrow as she glances obviously around at their attire.
Dwayne grumbles softly, concerned about the little boy.
"If this is true, we have the makings of a deal." He said. "What do you want in return?"
"Nothing, I've told you that." She said. "well, maybe something small and relatively easy to grant."
"And that would be?" he prompted.
"An agreement to keep me alive till after the final outcome. To wit," she said dryly, "you will agree to not 'fold, spindle, mutilate, or perforate my person, nor cause me direct or indirect harm. I don't think that's too much to ask?"
"And when it's all done?" he prompted.
"Well, one way or another, my life is done." She said sighed wearily, shadow passing briefly over her eyes. "I really didn't come to this city planning a vampire vacation. I was coming," she paused, drawing ragged breath, "to end my life."
He stared down at her a moment, once again taken aback, as the stark truth of her words echoed in her mind.
"Haven't you wondered why I'm not frightened of you? You can't possibly harm me more than I was planning to harm myself." She whispered. "Feed the fishes or feed you, it makes very little difference in the end."
Glancing again at his brothers, he straightened, letting his hand drop. "Fair enough, ah?" David asked, questioningly.
"Mina" she replied.
"Mina. I suppose we have the start of a deal." He returned, offering her his hand as if to shake. As she took it he pulled hers close, nipping a finger with a fang to draw a drop of blood. She frowned slightly, but made no move draw her hand back. Licking the drop, he let go her hand. It was sweet and clean, as he anticipated, but it was good to confirm. She arched an eyebrow at him, her lips twitching into an almost smirk.
"You do know we'll end you if your words prove false or you do anything against us?" he said.
"Implicitly understood." She shrugged, "though that's probably not as much of a threat as you'd like it to be."
He lost his smirk, but raised an eyebrow at her. "Shall we check on our wayward Star?" he drawled, turning and heading back towards the boardwalk and their bikes. Paul threw an arm across the girl's shoulders, pulling her along as they walked.
"So, tell me what 'live for your pleasure' entails, sweetheart." He said, wicked smile on his face.
"The chasm between 'live at' and 'live for' is as broad as the galaxy" she quipped, giving him a cool glance, before shrugging out from under his arm and trailing after David.
"Wait, what?" he questioned, following along.
"That'd be a no." Marko snarked, coming up behind Paul only to yank his hair and scoot around him as Paul turned to retaliate. Dwayne walked past the two, rolling his eyes at their antics as they climbed the stairs back to their bikes.