Restless Night (open)

[Mu Satach]

Mu walked along the deserted street and wrapped her long black leather coat tightly around her against the cold wind. Her insomnia had come back with a vengence. Dark circles embraced her eyes. Hopefully the walk would clear her mind and allow her to sleep.

[H. A. Ferenczy]

Hannibal walked among the masses of humans in a humanistic pace, absorbing the scenery, listening to snatches of conversations: one of a girl's time of the month, another of how much his bills were, a woman bragging about her child, and so on and so forth. He smiled grimly, and noticed the woman. She was insomniatic, for the dark rings had formed around her eyes. He studied her: her long black hair, each strand floating in the air as the cold, midnight breeze blew. The slight goosebumps that only his superior vampire eyes could see underneath the flowing hair. How she clenched her coat closely. She was obviously in need of some sleep. Perhaps he could help her......by putting her to sleep....perhaps for good, perhaps not. But the way she looked, she would be very strong...if she got some sleep. Her heart beat was weak....the fatigue of her body was apparent. She needed some relaxation, something that would put her down. He grinned as he moved like the vampire he was, passing through the crowds at such a fast rate that his shadow was unnoticed as he zipped past them. He was instantly behind her. Instead of trying to speak, he quickly brings out his booted foot, tripping her with such blinding speed that she would have no chance of seeing his movements. As the woman fell, Hannibal waited for a few milliseconds, and then stooped, stopping her fall at three-fourths of a way to the ground. As she stopped, she got a good glance at his features: his white skin, pale, a compliment to his dark brown eyes and wavy, shoulder-length hair. His clothing was mostly black, gloves, longcoat, slacks, and a silken shirt. It made his skin tone seem much paler than what it really was. While he looked pale, he did not have a sickly look to him: in fact, he seemed very healthy, but not in excess. In such social roles he used a universal truism: "Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, but not expressed in fancy; rich, but not gaudy; for the apparel oft proclaims the man." He smiled at the young woman, seeming nice and caring yet maintaining a look of shock at the close call, and spoke.

"Are you alright?"

[Mu Satach]

"It never rains but it pours," she thought. She had felt the brief chill pass by her a moment before she fell. The darkness around the man gave away his true nature, "of all freaking nights, I get a bloodsucker." She squinted her eyes a bit, inwardly sighed and closed off her mind. Taking a guess that the cause of the fall was the man holding her she replied "I would be better if you hadn't tripped me."

She pulled herself up and took a step away from him and straightened her coat and absent mindedly tucked her hair behind her right ear.

"Do you normally trip people you want to meet?" As she asked the question she chided herself quietly, "you must be tired girl, last person who touched you without asking had to have his arm surgically reattached."

[H. A. Ferenczy]

Hannibal smiles and lets out a small chuckle. She apparently was not uneducated to the ways of a Vampire, for her guess was entirely correct. He answers the question slowly and rhetorically, the undying habit of his several-centuries-old aristocracy and genteel breeding.

"Well, the true question is: had I actually spoken to you in a.....hmm....civilized fashion, would you have responded? After all, I am nothing more than a 'bloodsucker' to you."

He decided to use her own terms to give his statement an impact.

"I apologize if I have offended you, milady. I am Hannibal Ferenczy, Vampire of the Shrine, if you have not guessed yet."

Taking her hand in that vampire fashion, so that she didn't his hand as he grabbed hers, but only felt the warm flesh (he had fed already on this night) of his fingers and palms. Slowing into a humanistic speed, he stooped low and kissed the top of her hand, noticing the pulse in her wrist as he did so.

"So, can I buy you a warm drink on such a cold night? It might help you sleep a little."

[Mu Satach]

"Apology accepted." Mu withdrew her hand carefully and smirked a bit. "Ahhh the consequences of your actions," she paused and took a breath, "you'll never know if I would have responded to a friendly greeting." A wry grin spread across her face, "I lack the milk of human kindness when I am played the fool." Her smile slid away.

"Hmmmm... the Shrine," she took a good look at the man. "I've heard of them. You are however, the first I have met, Mr. Ferenczy." She tilted her head a bit, "And I must say, you are exactly how I imagined one of your order." She turned slightly as if to invite him to walk with her, "I am Satach, Mu Satach. You may join me for a drink as long as you keep your fangs," she began to stroll, "and other apendages to yourself."

[H. A. Ferenczy]

Hannibal smiled, his fangs being slightly revealed in the toothy grin.

"Ah, yes, I would like that rather well.....I do require some 'friendly' company..."

The Vampire realized and took the invitation. With his superior speed, he was beside her in a short instant. The "Elder" Vampire could not seem to slow down to the rate of a human. Oh well.

"....I did not mean to play you as 'the fool.' And some people have a bad reaction when they see the likes of me....some get unsettled. And I promise I will not bite, but as far as the other appendages, I also will not trip you again, if that is what you mean."

[Mu Satach]

"Darling, I never explain what I mean." Up ahead Mu spotted the flickering neon sign of her favorite coffee shop, Cup of Joe's. Already she could hear the faint sounds of the live band and the scent of coffee tantilized her senses.

"So tell me, how long have you been walking the relms of the undead?"

[H. A. Ferenczy]

"Well, milady, that depends upon what you mean by walking the realms. If you mean living, even in a comatic sleep, roughly five hundred years or so. If you mean it literally, it has been around three hundred."

As the coffeeshop became closer, the scent and sounds were being amplified even more. He could hear things Mu could not; Hannibal knew that the coffeeshop was there even as they were a block away. His senses were so keen that he could tell you the lyrics of the singers and what kinds of coffee people were drinking. Such was the innate senses of the Vampire.

"You do not make much sense to me: if the hands of insomnia grip you, then why drink coffee to strengthen the fingers? I would think that you would be reading a book with small text, exercising until you dropped, or other such activities to bring weariness to your limbs..."

[Mu Satach]

"People exhaust me..." she grinned as she opened the door. "and the music is always good." She lead the way to her favorite table in the far corner where she had the walls to her back and a good eye on everything moving. Her movements were fluid as she removed and hung her long coat on a nearby coat tree. As she sat at the table her hand automatically held still a finely etched silver lightsaber hilt attached to her belt. Once seated she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the rich aroma hanging in the air.

"Besides," she clasped her hands loosly together on table and looked at the vampire, "you've perked my curiosity. I've never had a chance to chat with one of your kind."

[H. A. Ferenczy]

"Yes, people do exhaust me.....well actually they don't. They feed me, so I simply cannot complain."

Hannibal turns to see her face.

"And do not get too used to these kind of conversations....for most of 'my kind' do not usually talk to their food, unless it's the drama before dinner they want....."

Seeing her look at him, perhaps in anger at the mentioning of her being 'food,' Hannibal smiles at her, chuckling softly yet loud enough for her to hear.

"I was only joking. Besides, you would make a much better Vampire than you would a dried corpse.....all that energy, all that vibrato. And when you become, all that will be manifested into insurmountable power. You would be practically unstoppable, if you wanted to be..."