Chapter 1

A stranger in the park

Bright light from a full moon illuminated a vampire as she crouched in the bushes, waiting for prey. An eager glint was sparkling in her eye while she hid. It had been so long, too long, since the taste of fresh human blood last touched her tongue. Licking her lips, she imagined what it would be like to take a bite out of the lone jogger unwittingly heading her way. Judging by the way her muscles moved, and the bright red flush that stained her skin, she would make a delicious target. Silent and deadly, Kanaya started to follow the human completely unaware of the trouble maker she was about to invite to wreak havoc on her life.

The girl she had chosen to be her next meal had long, wild blond hair that cascaded down her back nearly touching her butt. It would be good for grabbing. Since her victim was probably in good shape, running wise, having some sort of predominance was necessary if she planned on catching her. If Kanaya chose to, she could easily match any speed the human managed however it always felt like that took most of the enjoyment out of the hunt. Instead she preferred to run at the same pace she did before attaining super human strength. After all a game like this is no fun when you use cheat codes every time.

Another feature Kanaya figured she could use to her advantage were the human's glasses. Judging by the thickness of her lenses she had horrible eyesight. If Kanaya had any luck she would be farsighted. In which case Kanaya could just sneak up behind her and pull off the glasses before biting into her soft, pale neck, and drinking her fill. Then she would slip away into the night, leaving the poor girl with no idea who had attacked her. She would not even have a bite mark as evidence that the events had been anything other than a figment of her imagination due early morning/late night delusions. Kanaya's bite marks always healed in a matter of minutes, with no scabbing or anything.

After trailing the girl for about ten minutes Kanaya decided it was time to strike. The blond was resting against a tree, drinking water. Her neck was in a perfectly vulnerable position. As she drank from her water bottle Kanaya watched, captivated by the way her throat bobbed with each gulp of the liquid. It was almost as if the human wanted her to chomp down on her neck and suck her dry.

The blood pumping through her veins smelled so tempting her fangs started to elongate on their own. Slowly, she moved toward the woman, coming from behind; ready to spook her and make her run for her life. Kanaya always let them get a head start before she fed, because in her opinion the chase was the best part. Unfortunately for the vampire, and fortunately for the human, there was a bird resting on the bush where the predator hid. When she lightly rustled the bushes to get closer to her victim, the bird woke up and made enough noise to alert the blond.

At this point Kanaya was already halfway out of the bushes so trying to hide again would just look silly. Not to mention incredibly creepy and stalker like. So when the jogger turned her head to investigate the sound behind her she saw the vampire immediately. Much to Kanaya's astonishment, instead of ignoring her or walking away, the woman started advancing towards her with a wide smirk on her face.

"Heeeeeeeey there, Stranger. And here I was, thinking that if I started jogging at 2:08 in the morning I could avoid people. But I guess the city never really sleeps." Kanaya didn't reply. She was too perplexed by the amount of energy the human seemed to have even though she was running around so early in the morning. "So, you like to come here a lot, or is this just a onetime thing?" When she stopped walking she stood so close to Kanaya that the fumes of her blood were starting to make her dizzy with hunger. The vampire was too experienced to let her urges quell her manners however. She willed away her animalistic side long enough to respond, though her fangs desperately wanted to break free from her gums.

"I would venture to say that coming here in the early morning is borderline habitual. But I don't believe I have ever seen you around."

"Yeah, I guess you could say I'm new here. To this area anyway. We're in such a big city though, what does it even matter if you've been here five years or two months? It's still easy to get lost, and you wouldn't know everyone since faces just kind of blend in, amiright?" Kanaya couldn't help but nod her head in agreement. The immense numbers were one of the reasons she chose New York to be her place of rest for so many years. No one notices if a homeless bum goes missing, or if your twenty five year old face hasn't aged at all in nine or ten years. People are too busy with their own ever changing lives to care about petty things like the how old a smalltime fashion designer really is.

"Truer words are very seldom spoken. May I ask where you hail from?" she inquires politely. Striking up conversations with strangers she intends to eat isn't something she normally does but for some reasons this person piqued her interest. Maybe it was the way she held immense amounts of confidence in her stance. Or the way she looked straight into Kanaya's eyes while they spoke. Or the way her blue lipstick managed to not look tacky at all. Whatever it was, Kanaya was trapped. It was like an invisible web had been spun around her keeping her still while the strange woman talked.

"No where special, really. I'm from a suburban town in Pennsylvania. I've always preferred the city though so once I turned eighteen I packed my bags and moved out here. I've been here about, 3 or 4 months I think? Chose here since this isone of the fashion capitals of the world. Fitting place for an aspiring model, hmmmmmmmm?" At the last question she struck a mock vogue-esque pose. Kanaya just stared at her in surprise. "I don't really have much experience or whatever. Like, I never modeled as a child or anything but the portfolio I put together is decent so I should be able to get in with a good modeling agency. Keeping my fingers crossed." She said showing Kanaya her crossed fingers with a cocky smile plastered on her face. She had a half grin half smirk that was incredibly toothy. It adeptly showed off her teeth that were so straight and white they could make any person jealous. "But luck doesn't really do jack shit for me most of the time so really I'm just going to have to rely more on my own hard work."

While the woman went on a tangent and ranted about how horrible her luck was, Kanaya took the time to examine her body with a more fashionable eye, rather than the predatory way she had observed it earlier. The girl was not ugly at all, but her choice in career was still surprising simply because it wasn't everyday one came across a girl with her body type who had so much confidence in their ability to be a model. Her hips were angular, yet fleshy and her bust was large. Her cup size was probably DD. From what Kanaya could tell by the tank top she wore, the jogger's stomach was probably a little bigger than desirable but calling her fat would be a vast overstatement. The sweat pants she wore were too baggy to give Kanaya a clue to how her legs looked but she assumed they were just average.

"Hey, don't look at me like that!" she laughed when she noticed Kanaya staring. "I know I'm a little overweight. Don't worry I'm not delusional. I plan on being a plus sized model. Those exist ya know." Of course Kanaya knew. She worked with models all the time. "Besides, even if I've got a lot of tummy, I also have a fine pair of legs, if I do say so myself."

Once Kanaya saw them, she agreed whole heartedly. Underneath the sweat pants hid two of the most perfectly sculpted legs Kanaya had ever seen, especially on a larger woman. As the porcelain appendages were revealed the vampire found herself wanting to touch them. They were like dancers' legs, only better because there was more to look at. Just looking at them gave her inspiration for a new dress designed specifically to show them off. "You truly do have an admirable set of legs. They would be highly capable of flattering innovative pieces of fashion. Modeling would certainly be a fitting profession for you to pursue." Kanaya was not the type of person who gave out compliments easily, especially when it came to important things like fashion but the stranger she had just met definitely deserved it. She worked the meat she had on her bones in a very tasteful way. Confidence oozed out of her skin the way it should out of a true model's. She had just enough to be sexy but not arrogant or annoying. It almost seemed practiced.

Normally, when Kanaya found girls who wanted to become models they were cocky and thought as long as they looked pretty and could walk in heels that every modeling agency would want them. This girl on the other hand seemed to have her ego in check, for the most part. She was aware of her finer points and her flaws which was very important. If she could maintain her bravado when placed in the real world then she would do just fine. But apparently she had only just left home a few months ago. She had not spent much time living on her own in the real world yet. She was still young enough to be naïve and have no idea what to do when it came to actually applying herself. Hopefully she would get her first job would with a good company.

After a few minutes of standing around, talking, they decided to start jogging again. The woman was under the impression that was the reason Kanaya came to the park in the first place and the vampire let her believe that since she didn't have any good excuses prepared. Also because she figured a little more fun with the human wouldn't hurt and she already had on the proper clothing for the activity. So when the blond said "I bet I can hold out longer than you." Kanaya had no reason to deny the challenge. Almost as soon as they started jogging the blond purposely picked up the pace and it eventually turned into more of a competitive race of who could run faster for longer. It was at least 25 minutes before the human conceded defeat to Kanaya.

The two of them sat on a park bench breathing heavily, Kanaya's breathing being feigned of course. There was plenty of light due to the city being ever lit but regardless it was still easy to tell by the sky that it was the middle of the night. They were no other people around. Just her and the woman she met who felt far too comfortable in her own skin. Kanaya's only thoughts at that moment in time were 'this feels nice'. The warm air coming from the human beside her, who was overheating due to the long run, made her feel a bit more alive than usual. Normally only feeding did that, which is ironic considering the fact that feeding was one of the things that made her least human. It just wasn't often that she got such a rush from doing something so innocent. When she looked over at her companion she realized she didn't even know her name. A stranger whose name she didn't know was capable of making her feel human again. Funny how the world work, isn't it?

"Dude, you are fucking faaaaaaaast!" The jogger shouted the last word at the top of her lungs and followed it with hiccups of awkward, euphoric laughter. "The last time someone matched me that well in a race was probably way back when I would run around with my sis." Yawning, the jogger rolled her shoulders back while cracking her neck. "I think it might be time for me to hit the hay. Goddamn you sure tired me out."

She stood up, stretching the muscles in her back and reaching her arms to the sky, rising to the top of her toes. Then she bent over completely, putting her hands flat on the ground right in front of her feet. While she was doing cool down stretches Kanaya took the time to appreciate the wonderful booty her apparently flexible new friend had. She definitely needed to make a dress tailored specifically for this woman and her assets. While she was lost in her thoughts thinking about all the different cuts and fabrics that would compliment her figure she failed to notice as the jogger finished her cool down. She didn't register her words when she talked about heading home and just absentmindedly waved good bye in response. It was at least another twenty minutes before she realized what had happened. By then it was too late to try and find her again.

Frowning at her lack of attentiveness Kanaya started to walk home, upset by the loss of her new muse. She decided that as soon as she returned home she was going to draw as many sketches of her as she could before her image can elude her memory. It may be viewed as creepy by some people but when you drink blood to sustain some sort of life, it becomes hard to views things as creepy.

As soon as she got homes she pulled out her sketch book and started to draw. The first thing she tried to remember was the details of her face. Her eyelashes had been long and very blonde. Beneath them were sparkling blue eyes. The color was so nice Kanaya made sure to color them in before she moved on to sketching the body. She would hate to forget that color.

After the face was done she started sketching the neck, shoulders, torso, etc. When she was finished the first part she realized the jogger had a very hour glasslike figure. Then she moved on to drawing her from behind and the sides. Soon after she added shading in certain ways to show the toned muscle definition. Once she finished that she started to add little bits of color. While she started adding laces to the joggers red sneakers she realized her infatuation with the human was not typical behavior for her. The last person she had been remotely interested in was Rose from back when she lived in Europe. Thinking back on it, Kanaya's initial feelings about the stranger she met was very similar to feelings she had when she was with Rose.

But could she really compare the two? Rose was sweet and delicate. They had many intelligent conversations. Being enamored with her made sense. This stranger however was unlike Rose in many ways. She was just… a stranger! No more than that. The only reason Kanaya was so caught up about it must have been because her body type was perfect for an upcoming fashion show she was suppose to be designing for.

At the thought of the fashion show her hand automatically flipped back to her unfinished designs. Staring down distastefully Kanaya considered actually finishing one of the many dresses she came up with. After 10 minutes of having no idea what to do with the half done clothes she decided to start from scratch.

It was almost Spring so she started out with flowery, off shoulder sleeves. She made the dress loose around the chest area then it lightly hugged the waist. The rest hung down lightly over the stomach and butt. It would reach halfway down the thigh then stop on the front and slope down in the back.

After the basic design was finished, Kanaya spent the rest of the night perfecting it. The end product was a beautiful, flowing dress with cool spring colors. At the top it was jade green like fresh grass, and then it blended into a cerulean blue, like the sky on a nice day. She couldn't wait to show it off to her design team. Unfortunately the sun still hadn't completely risen yet so they wouldn't be quite ready to observe her masterpiece. Instead Kanaya would start the day off by heading down to a modeling agency to find someone for them to test the clothes out on.

Before she truly went outside though, she would need to take a shower and put on a change of clothes. And maybe try to find some left over blood sitting in her freezer before she had to go out and face another day in close proximity with her only food source.

A/N: I don't really know a lot about fashion and the fashion world etc. so if there are any inaccuracies that you see PLEASE point them out. I love constructive criticism.