Blood curse (DTH and Omerta.)

Gas fumes and blood. That was the smell the constantly permeated the back alleys of the city. Serph stalked through these alleys, his black trenchcoat dragging behind him. Long, sleek black hair flowed from his head as he jumped from the alley to a high fire escape with the grace of a cat jumping froom the floor to a windowsill.

Gasoline and blood... but something new. A faint scent hid under the normal ones. A vampire scent. Serph's lids narrowed upon his smoky grey eyes. This was HIS hunting ground...

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...well, the edge of it, anyway. Judging by the scent, the other was too damn close to be within their own hunting ground. They'd trespassed.

Serp climbed onto the handrail, launched himself off of it, and erupted into a swarm of squeaking bats. They flew up to the roof, materializing not into a human form, but a large wolf with red eyes and bristling black fur, steam pouring from its maw. He sprinted, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, seeking out the strange smell.

Things were quiet. Sheya was as silent as a leaf on the wind. She knew it would be hard to cover her tracks. Not from humans, that was simple. Her dark red curls were bloody and her hands were stained with it, she needed to disguise her scent from other vampires. She had been running through the day and now into the night. She was getting weaker. Humans were becoming much more aware of the presence of vampires, making it harder for her to find a decent meal.

Something faint had caught her attention, something off in the distance. Bats? Yes, definitely bats. She came to a dead stop. Sheya knew she wasn't in her territory anymore but, she hadn't realized she was intruding. She had to think fast. Quickly she changed into a wolf of her own. Deep red coat, piercing blue-violet eyes. But where would she go? There was an alley, there was a tree, a roof top.. Perhaps she should meet the thread head on. But she may have been too weak for that. Sheya climbed the tree effortlessly and stood her ground.

Serph followed the scent , finally seeing a wolf in a tree in the distance. (Seriously? You have some balls) he thought to himself, slowing his pace a little. No need to hurry, right? The intruder was sitting right there, after all. Almost in plain view. Serph casually walked toward her, fangs barred in a sinister grin. A low growl escaped him as he approached the tree, and eventually changed back to his vampire form, laughing. "So. I find another vampire intruding on MY hunting ground. Now, I'm not..."

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"... entirely unreasonable."

Serph drew a small dagger from his trenchcoat. He wasn't brandishing it, but more talking with his hands, using it for emphasis. "I'll give you three choices, then. Run back where you came, roll the dice and tell me why you're here. Maybe I'll take pity on you, or..." Serph made a cutting motion on his chest to illustrate his next statement. "Or you can stay, and I'll cut your fucking heart out and eat it while you watch!"

Sheya was not a coward. Given, she was more the lover than fighter type, still she was not about to simply run away like a scared little rat. She changed back into her vampire form and jumped down from the tree. Her dark red curls still soaked in blood, hands still stained. She looked over his face with her blue-violet eyes a slight smirk spreading across her face. She couldn't help but let out a small giggle at her third choice. It was a cute giggle, not meant to emasculate him, it was accidental. Just the was he said it... she couldn't help but let it slip. Sheya covered her mouth quickly, and looked at him again innocently. "I'm sorry, i hadn't realised i had come so far. I thought i was still in 'No man's land.'" She spoke softly with a sort of passionate tone, taking a step closer so that she was in the little bit of light and out of the tree's dark shadow. "I'm weak, unarmed, and haven't fed. I've been running since noon with nothing to sate my thirst. I would be no match for you. Surely even such handsome vampires as yourself have a mind for Chivalry?" She spoke in an alluring tongue with hope of the offensive vampire's decline to unnecessary violence. "I'm sure there is some way we can work this out civilly? Am i wrong to think that you're not a feral beast?"

Serph chuckled at the notion of being a feral beast. "No, I'm not one of those blood obsessed freaks that can't even maintain a pleasing form." Serph's tone turned friendlier, less offensive. Although he still held his dagger, wary of this vampress that was in his own territory. He spoke in a mock Irish accent, saying "Speaking of pleasing form, yours is quite pleasing, wee lass. And your eyes are as violet as lavender growing in the Irish fields." He dropped the fake accent, pondering aloud "Oh, shit... "

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"... Do they even grow lavender in Ireland? Well, hell if I know." He may not seem to have been taking things too serious, but his playful banter was more for his own amusement. "So. You're covered in blood, and you're running. What, pray tell, have you been running FROM? If you're afraid of something, why not seek asylum with the elders in the Citadel? "

Sheya smiled at his mock accent. The Irish was her favorite but, he couldn't have known that. Considering this was her natural form, she was quite pleased with herself. "Well thank you, Sir." She smoothed her deep red locks of hair before speaking again. "I run from death. And i will NOT hide away with the elders. I feel i have more strength than that." She turned away from him. "Now, is there something else you would like to discuss or should i be on my way?" She looked around for signs of humans, she needed to feed before this situation happened again, or got any worse. There was little she couldn't talk herself out of but, she would rather not have to try. "That's a nice tree you have there by the way." She said with her own little comedic twist. Sheya should probably be trying to make allies with other vampires but, she had a sort of moral value that people seem to refuse to respect. There was some sort of connection with this guy she couldn't quite pin point. Instead, she awaited his next response of which would decide her next more.

"Death? Now what kind of death. That's not very specific you know." Serph tapped the dagger against his chin, faking a ponderous look upon his face. "You're running from... what? A skeleton riding a pale horse, carrying a scythe? Or an angel with a sword of fire? Those are the two figures that come to my mind. Silly humans and their religions, eh?" She hadn't given him a straight answer, so he certainly wouldn't return with seriosness. "And all this blood on you. Tsk tsk. Such a messy eater. You must..."

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... "Have gotten more on you than in you." Serph was taunting her a little at this point, but he wasn't being untrusting. "So, does this messy eating reaper fleer have a name? Or should I just call you... lass?" Serph's smile turned stern as he heard humans. His hunger was growing, and he decided to put the intruder issue on standby. "You need a meal? I'm feeling kind. You hear them, right? Drunk. That will make them taste sweet." At that he dissolved into mist, wafting slowly toward his victim.

Sheya nodded, changing quickly into a young girl. Like a smaller, human, version of herself. She approached the drunkards with an anxious vibe, even forced what seemed to be tears. "Help me, please. Help me, i lost my mommy and daddy, please. Help me.." She pulled on their shirts for attention. "Excuse me, please help me.." She was a halfway decent distraction for these drunken fools. "They were in there when i saw them last, my parents. Now they're gone!" She pointed into the dark of a nearby alleyway and looked up into the drunk's eyes. "Help me, please?"

One of the drunk men seemed to not want anything to do with the child, but the other was more kind hearted. "Awww, poor little girl! Are you ok, sweetheart?" His voice fluctuated in that familiar sing-song way, cracking a little and horribly slurred. As he bent to pick Sheya up, Serph materialized, slashing open the apathetic man's jugular and wrapped his lips around the wound. He closed his eyes and gripped the man as memories of the man's life, his children, his heart wrenching divorce from his...

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high school sweetheart, the man's attempts at suicide, and the feeling of embracing death with welcome arms washed over Serph's senses.

As he finished feeding, Serph through the man to the ground. A cold feeling of shame engulfed him. He loved the power he had. He loved his powers and his freedom. But all things have a dark side. There was a reason why Vampirism was known as the blood curse. "At least this one wanted it," murmured Serph.

Sheya dissolved into a mist and quickly changed back into her vampire self behind the drunken man, holding him steady as she sank her fangs into his pulsing corroded artery. One arm around his head, the other holding both arms behind his back. She drank quickly taking in his horrible demeanor and apathy towards the world. She didn't enjoy drinking from men like him. Sheya took just enough blood to sate her thirst before snapping the man's neck. Her head was burning with the man's memories of prison and hate. "Ugh, disgusting!" A shiver flowed through her body as she felt her strength returning. She much preferred the taste of a warm woman's blood. Drunken men usually had too many issues. This man being a perfect example.

After a moment of suppressing the mans images she turned toward the vampire. "Sheya." She spoke her name and did a slight courtesy. she hadn't spilled a single drop of blood as she fed. She wan't a messy eater, she was very clean.

Serph shook off the man's suicidal urges which, for a moment, became his. As the last of the depression quieted itself, Serph turned back to Sheya, his face and the breast of his clothes spattered with blood. He smelled of rum, most likely what the man had been drinking, and blood. Serph's playful demeanor was gone, as the weight of the things he'd just experienced weighed heavily on him, as they had so many times before. "I'm Serph. You said you're running from death. Now, no bullshit.If this can kill..."

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"... you, it can kill me. What is it? If something or someone is chasing you, you've lured it her, to my hunting ground, and the territory of my clan. You've endangered me and my kin. So why did you not turn to your own clan? Why run? That's no life." Serph chuckled and shook his head as he sheathed his dagger, showing her he wouldn't try to hurt her at this point. "You're a fucking vampire. Have some pride, woman."

"First of all, I didn't say i was running from someone or something, i never mentioned being chased. I said simply 'Death.' And since it can't harm you, only me-morally. I don't honestly think it's any of your concern." Sheya adjusted her clothes and brushed out some wrinkles before she looked up at him again. "As for my pride... I'm not a lion, i don't need to go around strutting how epic i am." She paused for a moment. "Now, I'm going to find that damn lake. I know it's around here somewhere, between our hunting grounds. I have some blood that needs to be washed out of my beautiful curls." Sheya was very proud of her locks, it wasn't every day you saw a ginger with thick bouncy curls. Of course he was welcome to join her. It's not like she could stop him, or even wanted to. She welcomed his company, he clearly wasn't going to hurt her anyway. She could probably clarify for him that he was welcome but, it didn't honestly seem like it was necessary. Sheya changed into her wolf form and stretched some before she started off, turning around for a moment to see if he was coming.

At first, Serph didn't really see the point in coming after her. She was leaving. But as she turned to look at him, he chuckled and shook his head as if to say 'why not?' He shifted into a wolf, taking off after her as she ran. He followed close behind her, steam pouring from his maw in the cool night air. His tail swayed behind him as he ran, and the gentle thudding of his paws on the ground echoed out into the night. He didn't really know the lake she was talking about, as his ventures outside of his...

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... hunting ground had been with his clan to the Citadel to ask for more territory to hunt in. This might be interesting.

The girl took him quite a ways before finally coming to a halt in front of a wall of trees, there was light faintly glowing through the cracks between them, a cool breeze and the smell of fresh water. Sheya hadn't turned again to look at Serph. She could hear him behind her. She walked now, slowly through the trees and into the glow of the moon's reflection onto the lake. The water was icy and steam lifted from her wolfen form as she stepped into the lake. The blood in her deep red fur began to leave a faint tint of red in the water as she got deeper into it. She dove under for a moment and the water turned a darker, more blood-tainted red. Sheya surfaced, her fur glistening with droplets of water, facing opposite the direction she started in looking toward where she had come, waiting.

Serph smirked as Sheya entered the woods. A moment after she entered, he did as well, stalking slowly behind her. He waded slowly in the water, his dark, bloodstained fur washed pure. As he paddled with large effort in the icy lake, he decided to take his own form to swim more easily. His dark hair glistened in the moonlight, water dripping from it and making gentle ripples in the water. "You never told me what kind of death you were running from. Did you piss off your clan leader?"

"Like i said.." Sheya changed back into her natural form, "It's none of your concern." She eyed him slightly before turning away, she knew he probably wouldn't ease up on the subject, not entirely. She was pleased with the feeling of being clean, once the blood was fully washed away. She wasn't sure why she led him to her special lake, except that he hadn't forced her to fight him.

Serph walked toward the edge of the lake, his eyes still on Sheya. "It is my concern. If you're running from 'death', perhaps death will come to me. My clan. Unless it after JUST you because of something you did. If that is the case, I don't give a fuck where you are, or whose territory you tromp through. But if death comes for you because of what you are, it will eventually come for me and my clan."

Serph was afraid of only two things. Competent vampire hunters of any race, and demons. If the thing...

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... her was either of those things, Serph felt he had every right to know what she was running from. "At least tell me if I and my kin may be in danger."