The Kiss of Moonlight (For Drum and Menarae)

[Drum]

Viktor quickly said his goodbyes, making sure to touch base one last time with a few select party-goers. As he walked out the front steps, he briefly considered tucking his card under the wiper blade of Carlotta's car (It hadn't been difficult to figure out which one belonged to her. Her scent and perfume lingered just enough near her door to lead him quickly in the right direction.), but decided that he'd probably made himself too memorable to her at this point. Still, it was tempting.

He walked quickly on to his own car, tossing the top hat and cane into the passenger seat and putting the car into gear. He'd told his guardian he'd be home late tonight, but even so, she'd probably be up. She was fresh out of training and still very by-the-book. Maybe she'd relax in a few more weeks.

 

[Menarae]

At the end of the night, Carlotta collected the certificate for her chalet weekend, bid her goodbyes to the few people she considered friends, wrapped her shawl around her shoulders, and headed out to her car. And stopped dead in her tracks as she caught a whiff of Viktor's scent. She went all around her car, scanning it intently. But he hadn't done anything to her car. She relaxed a little.

Sliding into the driver's seat, she dug out her phone from her purse and hit the speed-dial number for her home. She got the answering machine, which was normal. Carlotta routinely screened her calls, and she insisted her guardian did the same with the landline. "I'm on my way home now. It's a shame you couldn't come, dear. You missed a lovely party. And a most interesting meeting...I will tell you all about him. Oh, and you'd best consider what you'll pack for a weekend in the mountains. I'll see you when I get home." She hung up and started the car.

 

[Drum]

Sophie hit the mute button on the remote to listen to the message. She smiled at the sound of Carlotta's voice. She was on her way home, good; Sophie had nodded off twice on the plush couch with the afghan tucked around her legs and feet. She had now added a copy of a gardening magazine, of all things, to her TV show to try and occupy her mind.

She listened as Carlotta mentioned the party and a weekend in the mountains, which sounded like fun, but that part in the middle was what really caught her attention. An interesting meeting? With a 'him'? Sophie was immediately awake at that revelation. Sophie couldn't ever remember Carlotta using the word interesting and a male pronoun in the same sentence. She knew it would be a few minutes before Carlotta arrived home, so she went to her bedroom and began pulling out luggage, more to occupy herself than to really prepare for what sounded like an imminent trip.

 

[Menarae]

Carlotta arrived at her building about fifteen minutes later. She parked in the secure underground lot and headed upstairs. Halfway up the stairs, she stopped to kick off her heels. Her feet were tender, her shoulders stiff. And while she was exhausted, an inexplicable buzz kept her alert. She decided the cause must have been her tangle with Viktor. It had been a long time, decades, since she'd had to remove another vampire from her territory.

Carlotta unlocked the apartment door and went inside. She relaxed. The spacious apartment was her sanctuary. "Sophie? I'm home."

 

[Drum]

She heard the door open and Carlotta announce herself and strode out to the living room to greet her. "Hi Carlotta, how was the party?" she asked, biding her time and trying to keep her curiosity at bay. Of course, the questions were written all over her face. She was new to this gig, but her interest wasn't really job related this time. She'd only known her 'charge' for a short time, but she liked her already.

Sophie could remember being nervous the first time she came 'home' to spend the night with her vampire. Despite the training classes, she'd been very worried about going to sleep that night. Ridiculous old horror movies had been playing over and over in her mind. Carlotta had, instead of being adversarial or treating Sophie like an annoyance (which she'd heard some nobles did with their guardians), instantly tried to make her feel at home. She'd given Sophie her own room (which had a sturdy door and locks, Sophie had noted), and offered to answer any questions about her lifestyle, job, and... diet.

She genuinely liked Carlotta, and had quickly noticed that the noble didn't make many friends, seemed to avoid getting too close to those she did make, and didn't have any interest in romance, which was a major contrast to Sophie's mindset. She'd decided recently that she wanted to try and be a good companion and not just some sort of hall monitor, as Carlotta didn't really need monitoring but, in Sophie's opinion, did need companionship.

 

[Menarae]

Carlotta couldn't help a small smile at the girl's eagerness. Such displays of youth always touched her this way. "It was a lovely party, as usual. Edgar has always been a talented host."

The vampire went into her room, leaving the door open as she put away her shawl and shoes. "You would have enjoyed yourself, too, I think. Plenty of interesting people to talk to." She knew, from the look on Sophie's face, that the girl was dying to hear about her encounter with Viktor, but she decided to make the girl ask for herself. She sat at her vanity and started brushing out her hair. It smelled funny, thanks to a new hairspray she'd tried. Unlike Sophie, who could only smell the perfumes added to the spray, Carlotta could smell every one of the chemicals added to it. And really, the spray hadn't made a difference in how her hair looked.

 

[Drum]

Sophie followed after Carlotta as she went to her room. She'd caught the little smile at the corner of Carlotta's mouth, and she caught the fact that Carlotta hadn't come back to the 'interesting' 'him' that she'd mentioned over the phone. "Alright, come on Carlotta, stop teasing me," she said as she stepped in the room with a big smile that she couldn't hide anymore, "tell me about this mystery person you met. Please?"

She sat down on the edge of Carlotta's bed so that she could see the vampire's face in her vanity mirror. Then she pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned her chin on her knees. She was purposely trying to look like an eager teenage girl at a sleepover, wondering if a little cuteness might fish the details out.

 

[Menarae]

Carlotta laughed a little, genuine amusement that wasn't heard all that often from her. "I knew I shouldn't have mentioned it over the phone. But yes, he is quite the mystery...for now, anyway. His name is Viktor Krauss, and I'm assuming he's a recent transfer to the city. He's quite old, and I'd heard no word of another noble moving in." She tossed a quick glance at Sophie over her shoulder. "Did you?"

 

[Drum]

Sophie blushed just a little when Carlotta asked if she'd heard anything about Viktor. "I, um, haven't exactly been reading the newsletters or message boards diligently," she admitted sheepishly, "I mean, I kinda thought word was out that..." She stopped short, blushing deeper. "I mean... there haven't been any nobles that have really expressed an interest in moving to the area for a while," she tried, hoping she hadn't offended Carlotta. She knew good and well that the much more experienced woman had caught that faux pas.

She looked around for a moment, uncomfortably, then added with a touch of her earlier exuberance, "I'm sure I can find something out about him, though. Do you want me to?" It was less than subtle, but Sophie wanted to get the conversation back to something a little more positive, at least from her perspective.

 

[Menarae]

Carlotta set down her brush, patting her hair gingerly. She wrinkled her nose at her reflection. She still reeked of the hair spray. "Of course," she murmured vaguely, her tone neutral. She could hardly fault the girl for believing Carlotta's claim on the region would remain strong. Because Carlotta had believed as much, and she hadn't bothered to keep up on the whereabouts of her fellow nobles. It was just so exhausting when she no longer cared about any of them. But she wasn't about to let Sophie think it was okay to sit idly by just because Carlotta didn't care to keep up with anyone.

She opened a box of makeup remover wipes and gently wiped her face clean. "I'm sure you could find out plenty about him. He's a rather...flamboyant character. Emphasis on character." She cleaned away the dark mascara from her eyes. "I want to know when he arrived, where he's living, and what he's doing for blood. Because he hasn't approached the prisons. Speaking of which, I'm due at the Big Building tomorrow to discuss an execution."

 

[Drum]

"That shouldn't be a problem," Sophie answered her. "I can make a few calls to the Agency as well as a few friends." She might even be able to get a hold of this new guy's guardian. When Carlotta mentioned the execution, she winced just a little.

The training had covered the vampire diet, as well as some videos and training designed to make guardians less squeamish about blood in general and especially blood from a fresh kill. But Sophie had had a bad experience the last time she'd watched Carlotta 'work'. In truth, it wasn't even Carlotta, but the man she'd executed. The inmate was a serial killer that had targeted young women, and he'd been a little more... excited... than he should have been about having a vampire coming for his throat. "If you don't mind... I think I'll just stay here and figure out about this Viktor fellow, as this is only another prelim meeting. I should know something by tomorrow," Sophie finished.

 

[Menarae]

Carlotta watched Sophie in the mirror, arching one brow curiously. She'd been a little...wrapped up in the actual execution that she'd missed much of Sophie's reaction to the inmate. She'd long since grown bored of her meals' reactions to the attacks, be they planned executions or the late-night stalking hunts from decades ago. But once the inmate was dead and the bloodrush began to ebb, Carlotta realized Sophie was a little worsde for wear. Even still, she hadn't spoken to Sophie about that day. She was too disconnected from the human race to sympathize.

"Very well," she said softly. "Mark also mentioned something about setting up an interview room for you to work in during the execution. So you don't fall behind. I don't think he's discussed it with your superiors yet, but I don't see a reason why they'd disagree. I've been working with the police for decades, and there will be plenty of officers to keep me from going too far with the bloodrush. But I'll ask him more about it tomorrow." Mark had said no such thing, but Carlotta had every intention of bringing it up at the meeting. Just because she couldn't sympathize with Sophie, didn't mean she wanted the girl to be uncomfortable with her job.

 

[Drum]

Sophie's eyebrows perked a bit at the mention of a separate room away from the execution chamber. Her initial reaction was to blush, more embarrassed than relieved. Obviously she hadn't hidden the fact that she'd been unnerved all that well. Still, she wasn't exactly going to pass up the opportunity. She determined right then that she was going to do her job better, but it still made her feel good to think there could be somewhere to run if things got a little too... weird.

She nodded sheepishly and said, "Tell him thanks, that should help." She looked at Carlotta in the mirror and then looked away again, "I think I'll go finish packing." She gave one more embarrassed smile and then hustled out of Carlotta's bedroom.