Artful Espionage

[Guest Karei Knight]

November 8

8:00 P.M.

Central Park

 

 

In the cool freeze of Central Park, a lone feminine figure sat, pencil and sketchbook resting lazily within her folded lap. A serene, but strange sight so late into the night. The colored leaves of the tree she lounged under wavered as persistent dew clung to the green grass around her, absorbing into tight, black leather pants with each second that passed contently by.  

The black-haired woman, however, paid the invasive wetness little mind, absently finding such inconspicuous follies to her person and clothing rather unimportant within the current moment. There were far more interesting things to occupy her attention- like the queer sight just across the pond.

Karei's icy blue eyes narrowed in thought.

It was quite curious in a way, how her object of attention could be so oblivious to his surroundings. To simply not have a single clue he was being watched, and by a predator like her no less, was nearly laughable in the hopelessness of his situation.

He wasn't the most handsome of males by any means. From the dark-set bags under his brown eyes from lack of sleep, to the rooted wrinkles inbetween his brow; furrowed in worry with something Karei was hardly concerned, the human made for hardly a swoon worthy visage.

'But...' Knight's lips curved upwards into a somewhat of a pleased smirk. 'That's what makes drawing the man more fun, right?'

Surely it did, she had to believe such. Otherwise the entire picture was a mere charity case, and Karei Knight was hardly an advocator to philanthropy.  

As it was, the vampire-like being was still apprehensive about the entire deal. The current project was a commission work for some woman named, 'Elise Swerin'; an oddball of a shy thirty-something, with a near psychotic and stalker-estic disposition for the man known as Jerry Dorrel, her present and unknowing model of the week.

Normally, Karei would have refused such a job as this, simply not enjoying the fact of having to spy while working, but as much as she refused to admit, the unsightly puppy-dog look that the woman wore when watching the painfully, plain man walk by was just far too utterly unbearable to behold.

Karei was willing to believe the large cash bonus was really what swayed her into the deal, for she was almost positive this painting was going to turn up as a centerpiece to some alter of worship in the back of Elise's room, but c'est la vie.

Honestly, it's not that she really minded, truly. It was even a bit flattering in a creepy sort of way, and a job was a job wasn't it? Certainly so, and she did have a reputation to keep.

Afterall, as expensive as New York tended to be, she was quite comfortable in her small, single bedroom apartment and incredibly fortunate enough to get by with what she did as job prospects went-even if some of her clients turned out to be a bit unsavory in certain regards.

 

Especially considering how hard it was for Karei to even walk into a grocery store without staring the humans milling around there down like succulent beef patties. There was no way she would have made it with some office job.

 

Nuh-uh. The ever hungry woman would have swapped out the water-cooler with her co-worker's blood before noon. No, this was the perfect setup, and more importantly safe.

Sighing softly, ice blue orbs shifted lazily up to regard their content quarry.

 

Jerry was decidedly fickle tonight though, wasn't he? Usually he would have been off to head home by this time, where he would warm up some leftover takeout no doubt, before tuckering down to sleep. Naturally, this knowledge had come from no small part of her dear little client, who even knew the exact time he took his showers and got off from work.

 

It had been absolutely disconcerting when the odd Elise had handed over the poor man's entire week schedule, in all honesty. Yet, it was useful nonetheless. She could hardly wonder around during the day in search of the man, after all.

 

'Are you being a tiny bit spontanous today, Mr. Dorrel? Your stalker would have a field day.' Karei thought with humor, watching as the man absentmindedly dropped a few crumbs for the pigeons that gathered around his lonely bench.

 

Why he was feeding birds so late into the night but a mystery in itself to, but such worked out in her favor. Maybe she'd be able to paint later that night and be done with the whole assignment.

Almost satisfied herself, the dark beauty was just about to add the mole under Jerry's lower lip before a startling smell invaded her senses, effectively making the pencil drop forgotten onto the smooth sheet of thick paper upon her lap.

Blood.

So clear and fresh, it taunted the dark sinner, who could practically taste it in the frigid air. The smell was utterly pungent in it's intensity and had come so sudden, Karei had to school her surprised features swiftly as some mumbling homeless woman passed the quiet tree from where she leaned against, fortunately oblivious to the startled vampire.

 

'Who?' The Khered could practically feel the angry throb within her gums as the sweet and delicate scent invaded her sensitive nose and created a deep seeded need within her gut.

It was entirely easy to fall into fantasy on who the bleeder was, Jerry-now entirely abandoned in interest, as the lust and hunger began to momentarily overpower her senses. Even with the full stomach she made sure to keep when venturing out into public, it was terribly difficult to control the near animalistic urge that drove her to insanity.

Still now, sitting motionless as she was, Karei could feel her predatory fangs twitch painfully behind her soft, parted lips.

Holy hell, was this feeling unlike anything else.

 

With a chuckle, she instinctively tasted the air with a curled tongue that rose to caress her upper lip in seduced silence. It smelled downright divine.

Luckily, the Sheut couldn't help but feel grateful for as dark humor consumed her, she had already ate. How very lucky indeed.

 

Allowing her tempted tongue to drag downwards along her lower lip before encasing it back within the walls of whitened teeth, Karei sighed.

 

Unfortunately, even if she could curb herself now, there was no escaping the curse-or whatever it was that plagued her, especially in such a crowded city like New York. The tantalizing liquor of life was everywhere, prodding and calling, and she would eventually need to feed again. This was afterall, just her nature.

Karei's eyes shimmered briefly as the thoughts echoed in her head.

 

But, hopefully not quite yet.
 

[Mana Aizawa]

Mana had a new used coat.  She was still cold.  She had walked from the Kimono House on 131 Thompson St. and it had turned out to be a much, much longer walk than it had looked on the map.  By the time Mana had gotten to the park, it was night and Mana was wearing a cheongsam underneath the coat with a side slit that went up to her hip, letting in way too much cold, night air.  Mana was shivering.  Her blood seemed to have coagulated and frozen like a slurry.  

 

Worse, the interview at the Kimono House hadn't gone quite as well as Mana had wished.  No, they didn't need help in the shop.  No, they didn't have an empty closet Mana could hole up in.  But, if Mana were willing to "entertain" some special guests, well, then they might be able to find a loft for her.  

 

Mana's heart had fallen as she heard their pitch.  She was Japanese, and she had naively imagined that they might feel a bit sorry for her and rush to her aid. And Mana had thought she had left "that" life behind in LA.  She didn't have much of a choice though.  She had nodded a half-hearted acceptance and she immediately had felt like she was swirling into an abyss that she might never get out of.  

 

She still had her "task" to accomplish, to simply slip a few pills into a person's drink and disappear.  She wanted to talk, needed to talk, about that.  But talk to who?  

 

Mana was a natural optimist, but at the moment, she was feeling downright depressed.  NYC was so cold and different than LA.  The Black Mask was a pretty looking Soho dive, looked at from the outside.  Mana wanted to peek in to see if anyone resembling Nora Sheeley was inside.  But then what?  Oh, Mana had been sleeping really badly.  This was not her life, not even her world.  Just how had things turned out so horribly wrong?  

 

Mana felt wrong being in this park at night, but she was so lost and miserable she didn't really care--almost wished something would just happen--anything.  

 

There were a few people in the park and had Mana been a wiser or more experienced person, she would have paid attention, she would have taken precautions.  As it was, Mana stumbled along like a drunk with worries about two tiny pills and a person she didn't know who supposedly sometimes frequented the Black Mask.  

 

If only she knew someone, anyone, a person to talk this through, talk everything through.  

[Mana Aizawa]

The moon.  It was really cool, really big and sort of orange-ish.  Mana thought it looked almost full, so she giggled to herself, probably there will be werewolves running about.  She further thought it would be actually pretty darn exciting to see werewolves howling at the moon.  

 

Sadly, all Mana saw was a rather young woman sitting on a bench with what looked like a sketch book (no werewolves at all).  Mana sighed with disappointment. 

 

The woman on the bench was truly very young and wearing black leather pants which Mana took to indicate that the woman was something of a slut or thought herself hot or something.  

 

Mana felt she could observe the woman without being noticed since it was really pretty dark.  Mana wasn't really dressed all that normally either, wearing a ridiculous red cheongsam and a second-hand winter coat.  The cheongsam was because she only had those three changes of clothes: a super tight and super short burgundy dress, a flashy blue party dress, and this cheongsam.  

 

She would have been content to stand in the shadows and watch, but the night was getting cooler (cold actually) and Mana's breath was fog.  Mana needed gloves but didn't have any and rubbed her very small hands together.  The friction felt good. 

 

Mana decided to call the woman she was watching Valerie.  Mana laughed at the name she had chosen--it seemed super appropriate, so cool, just like the bench-sitting young woman.  Mana then laughed again to herself because said guessed that the young woman's actual name was Olga.  But Mana liked Valerie better--so Valerie it was.  Mana was having fun playing this imaginary games.  

 

Now, Mana wondered if the woman would ever notice that Mana was observing her--who is fooling who? 

 

Mana decided to compose a Central Park poem, maybe for the artist girl on the bench.

 

Featureless people sit with sketch pads on cold green benches;
Boats merge with the bronze-gold welters about their keels.
The trees float upward in gray and autumn flames.
Night clouds, night bats, trees, all gliding up a hillside
After some black leather clad young women deep in her own thoughts
 

From falling shrouds of leaves   

Thin fingered twigs clutch darkly at nothing.
Crackling skeletons shine.
Along the Central Park path 
The benches and trash cans loom
While werewolves howls slice through the night quiet,

And another creature screams, "I am a monster and that is all I'll ever be." 

 

Mana wondered just what was it with her and werewolves this night.  She guessed she was a little scared. 

[Guest Karei Knight]

To say Karei had grown a little restless was an understatement. From the blood in the air- which, unfortunately still clung to the inside of her nose like the sweet smell of cooked apple pie upon a windowsill, to the probing eyes of some human nearby; the Khered was practically close to bursting at the seams.

 

It was a queer thing. She had felt the stare upon her visage no more than a mere few minutes prior, but felt no inclination to allow her gaze to seek out the interested observer. Instead, her eyes remained downcast, while a small smirk of amusement twitched upon the corner of her blood red lips. She found the mystery at the moment far more entertaining than her own curiosity.

Was it a potential mugger? The thought amused her to an imaginable degree. She had been targeted. Once. Though, it had turned out very poorly for the greedy man; who Karei had dragged, drank, and then stuffed unceremoniously into a large trash bin only to be found possibly hours later by a unsuspecting child, no doubt. She could still remember the look of surprise and then subsequent fear that had laced the dirty, pale man's face as she pinned him to the wall, screams muffled as sharp fangs dug savagely into his neck when the ever present hunger took over.

Normally, she would have pitied him, like she seemed to do with all her past victims. Yet, for some unexplainable reason Knight couldn't summon up any feelings of care. He had attacked her after all. Then again, maybe she was finally losing herself, or perhaps just done pretending. This was who she was now after all, wasn't it?

A killer. A monster.
 
Something flickered in the black haired woman's ice blue orbs then, a shimmer of sorrow and regret, yet wavered so fleetingly it could have easily been argued never to have occurred at all. Was she really so far gone? If so, then why did the thought of accepting this new life feel so utterly disgusting? She had turned at what seemed like a lifetime ago, but these thoughts and morality of her being still plagued the Khered every step.

Perhaps, it was a question far better to be left considered for later. The last thing Knight needed now was a revelation on her so obviously damaged psyche. Her therapists, for surely if she had any professional help at all Karei would need more than one, would have a field day on her musing alone.  That was if she didn't get thrown into an insane asylum almost immediately.

Chuckling self-deprecatingly, Karei gaze rose from the paper to lock, finally, onto the human-or rather woman, who had been staring unabashedly at her lounging form during those frequent, but quiet musings.

'Oh. Well, now.' The vampire mutely mocked a hardly convincing surprised look, mouth forming into a taunting small 'O', before her eyes narrowed and lips curved upwards in barely concealed delight. 'Hello there, sweetling.'

 

Petite was the best word to describe the girl, who couldn't have been any taller than five feet, if that. Her Asian face was round and pretty, framed by black, glistened hair that was fashioned in such a way, it only seemed to accentuate her features further. Offset with some Japanese dress that hitched delicately at her hip and splitting almost provocatively down her thigh; it seemed oddly fitting for the stranger, who's scent drifted near, smelling of perfume and possibly something else. It was such a shame the cold had her bundled up in a coat that hardly seemed to keep the shivering girl warm. However still, she was rather quite a delectable treat in an otherwise uninteresting night.

Not to give Jerry any discredit, who was still oblivious to nearly everything other than the two birds that fluttered greedily at his feet, but simply put, he was work and like with anything, at some point one just needed a breath of fresh air. Which, this girl most certainly was- or was about to be, now that she had Knight's undivided attention.

 

She could feel the hunger burn at her throat as she took in the small Asian. Though the Khered hadn't had the desire to hunt whatsoever, the feeling was always there, especially more so when under scrutiny by such a delicious piece of prey. It was difficult to think of anything other than the beating pulse along the girl's throat, and unable to resist the black-haired predator smirked.

 

Mischievously, Karei rose a finger into the air and tauntingly beckoned the girl forward, invitingly. Where she was now simply wouldn't do. Truly as well, if the human was going to stare, she could at least do so at a more intimate distance. Perhaps even the girl's voice matched her cherub face? That would certainly be a pleasing thought. That was of course, if the brave little deer had enough courage left.

'Come on then, darling.' The predator thought wryly. 'I won't bite...yet.'

 

 

OOC: bit of a rush post, sorry. I just really wanted to get this up for ya. Next one I do will be better quality, hopefully. <3

[Mana Aizawa]

Black tight pants, dark hair and a look of amusement was what Mana noticed as the woman looked her over.  She had been caught out "spying" on the lone woman sitting on a park bench.  No big surprise there that she was caught out, but still there was that embarrassment that always came with being caught out and that led to nervousness.   

 

Mana's mouth was contorting in various ways as her mind tried grasping and responding to the situation.  Finally, Mana blurt out a long monologue that surprised even herself:  "I didn't mean to, like, stare and be annoying, I just noticed you and you were, I mean you are alone, and I was cold and sort of frozen and, well, I mean I  am cold.  Now, I see you looking at this cheongsam.  Nope, it's not very warm.  And I'm not Chinese either--pure Japanese.  The cheongsam was a gift, well, sort of a gift and I didn't have anything else to wear.  So, this is it.  Oh, I am rattling on aren't I?  I didn't think it would take this long to walk to Central Park, not nearly this long and by the time I got here, well, it's my first time to the Park you see and I decided to give it a look at, even if this is not the really safest time to walk the park, especially alone.  Oh, I am still talking, aren't I?  Well, my name is Mana, Mana Aizawa and I am glad to make your acquaintance, I am sure I am.  You know, I haven't really spoken to hardly anyone since I arrived in New York, but then, you wouldn't know that.  Oh, I . . . I am so sorry for blabbing on and on and to do so is really just so impolite.  I think maybe it is because I haven't eaten in ages, and my blood sugar is down or something, I mean I could eat a horse--no, not literally, you know, I just mean.  Oops, so sorry, really sorry for talking and blabbing. Oh, and I guess I need some lessons in spy-craft."  

 

Mana bit her lower lip and looked shyly down at her feet thinking she had made a complete fool of herself.  Somewhere in the far distance she heard what sounded like "All Long the Watch Tower."  She thought "and the wind began to howl" which was a line from that song, and seemed appropriate now.  Mana was shivering and she wasn't sure if it was just the cold or if maybe it was that the woman was looking at her like she would like to have Mana for dinner.  

 

Now, Mana thought she really needed a friend, only, Mana told herself, if she were to pass fifty people and this woman was one of those fifty people, Mana would probably place her last on the list of people Mana would like to meet.  She was so scary looking in her tight black leather pants and her black hair--sort of like a woman Mana had once seen in a movie, yes, Kate Beckinsale as some kind of Vampire super hunter.  She was always in tight black leather just like this woman.  

 

Mana figured she would be very, very wise to say goodbye and leave fast, even if she really didn't have a home to go to, but despite the outpouring of words Mana had not excused herself--at least not yet.