Chapter One - Daywalker
I usually move from town to town on a regular basis, avoiding any attention given to me. I'm not a huge fan of being noticed, and I'm a rather subtle person. I mean, female Daywalkers don't usually enjoy being the center of attention at the best of times. You always have the odd vampire trying to hunt you down, fangs bared and eyes flaring red with anger and bloodhunger. I never stay in the same place for too long, which is why I don't have friends, or any relatives (anymore) and anyone I do get close to is...well, a subjugate of another, I should expect. Female Daywalkers are extremely rare, but I'm the last of my kind yet to blossom, in a sense, so I'm the biggest threat to demons and such.
My name is Flow Constantine, but that's hardly important anymore. The closest anyone gets to calling me by my name is calling me half-breed or Daywalker. Very original, I must say.
I've lived most of my life running from rage, battle and pain, remaining with just myself for company, because in my eyes befriending someone only slows you down. I've never had a boyfriend, or any kind of partenr in general, mainly because as a child I was taught that loving someone is also their destruction. Love is bad, it's horrible, in my eyes, and anger, pain, fury, they are the main emotions of which mortals and immortals alike should be aware of. Suffering should be known by all, not just by the lowly and poor, those that wish for deliverance but instead are damned.
I open my eyes silently, looking across the park. The sun is shining, and there isn't a cloud in the sky. The grass is green, the colours of mid-July contrasting and painful on my sensitive eyes, and the small children, mothers, dogs and other mortals running around and enjoying the unnatural sunlight in Central Park irritate me. Summer is the worst season of the year. Everyone is enjoying the sunshine, acting as though they don't have a care in the world, there's never a quiet moment in the day. The sounds of children laughing, dogs barking, cars humming outside my window and music playing from the fanciest cars you'll ever set eyes on inhabit the day, and after dusk, the real games begin. Nightclubs filled to the rafters with young adults getting high, consuming too much alcohol and large crowds of unsuspecting mortals dancing to obscene, deafening, throbbing music in large warehouses. The only upside of this scenario, sick as it sounds, is when an Ancient decides he wants an easy snack, and can lead a young female or male astray, and into one of the bathrooms, where they can suck every last drop of blood out of their system, relishing the thick texture of the blood, basking in the demonic high the extra doses of haemoglobin give them. They always crave more, and a few times I've had to stop them, almost becoming the victim myself.
I yawn, and a soft breeze blows at my red hair. I look around me silently once again, looking out for other Daywalkers that perhaps crave the taste of a rare, un-blossomed female Daywalker's blood, but no one in particular stands out to my attention. I shrug, grabbing my backpack full of my few belongings, and stand up, walking quickly through the park. Thanks to glamoures (a camouflage for immortals) no one really looks at me anymore, and that means I can move as quickly as I want without people feeling they're in mortal danger. I begin flitting, feeling the shivery sensation of the sokumen (or the 'aspect') run over me. My skin feels cold, and I can feel my eyes burning their bright green-and-yellow colour. The sokumen usually makes female Daywalkers and dhamphir more aware of their surroundings, making half-breeds more like fledged-immortals for a short space of time. Certain emotions can trigger this reaction, but with me it's just natural. I don't feel anything, I just...run. It must be adrenaline, I guess.
After a few minutes, I look up, and see the hotel I've been staying in for the last few days, and quickly walk through the large glass double doors. I proceed across the lobby towards the elevators, and step inside, pressing the button for floor six. I lean back against the wall, and memories flood back to me of the last time I was in an elevator. I've never really liked these things much, because my father was shot in one of these damned things, when I was only seven. In my mind's eye, I see the blood streaked across the back wall, and my father's crumpled body lying on the ground, his pale-blond hair tousled and matted with blood. His face is unrecognisable from this angle, but I feel bile rising in my throat at the memory and mental image, and swallow quickly. The doors open on my floor, and I step out silently, moving along the corridor to my room. I unlock the door expertly, bumping it open with my hip, and drop my bag on the sofa as I walk through to the kitchen. I grab a can of soda from the refrigerator, and yawn again, sitting at the table. Nothing much happens around here anymore, so it's probably about time to move on. All I do is hunt nowadays, anyway. Not much fun in doing the same thing day in, day out, is there? I quickly drink my soda, almost retching at the foul after-taste, and then grab my daggers from my bag in the front room. I grab clean clothes from my bag - a black corset-like t-shirt, black skinnies and combat boots - getting changed in the bedroom, and slide my daggers into my boots silently. I pull a brush through my hair, and then quickly lock the door behind me as I look down the corridor towards the elevator.
Not now. I'll just freak out again. I decide to take the stairs instead, and take them two at a time, flitting to the very bottom, and by the time I step out onto the street, my features are vampiric and enunciated through the sokumen. This could alert Others that I'm an un-blossomed female Daywalker, but frankly who gives a damn?
I take a short cut through an alley, and within seconds I feel my palms stinging. Someone's here... My palms always sting when an unwelcome presence is detected, and I bite my lip, bracing myself.
Sure enough, I feel hands on my neck, and I elbow back into my assailant's chest, winding them momentarily. I grab my daggers quickly, clutching them in both hands, and snarl inhumanly as I see a dark, shadowed figure closing in on me. I hear a dark growl behind me, and take a wrong move by backing into the wall. I hold the daggers out, and as vampire A steps up to attack, I lash out, not paying considerable attention to vampire B. I feel hands on my throat, tight, and the first vampire pins me up against a wall. My air supply is cut off, and the disadvantage of being un-blossomed is that Daywalkers need to breathe, just like a mortal, before they've developed. This sucks (what a painful pun). I close my eyes tightly, dropping my daggers instinctively, and then bring my knee up to pound against vampire A's balls. He drops to his knees, and I bring out a quick roundhouse-kick on the first vampire before the second grips me even tighter, slamming me against the wall again and almost cracking my head open like a boiled egg. I groan, and feel thick, sticky blood trailing down the side of my face. The vampires both perk up, sniffing enthusiastically, and I hear one hissed word.
"Daywalker..." The familiar term for what I am is whispered in my ear, and I feel vampire A's fangs extending against the skin at my throat. I brace myself, but nothing happens, and the second vampire's grip loosens, before I'm released. I open my eyes quickly, and see the two vampires crumpled on the ground, unrecognisable. I can't help thinking that they'll be nothing but a large pile of ashes by morning.
I look around me, and set eyes on one of the most handsome beings I've ever come across. Thick-lashed, slanted eyes, narrowed in question, and I can see the central-heterochromia in his eyes just vaguely in this dull light; his eyes are ice-blue, with silver in the center. Silver-blond hair falls over his face, tipped with blood red, and I can see the scars on his face. His build is tall but not exactly gangly, and his whole face seems to scream "vampire!" as I take him in.
I pick up my daggers again, clutching them tightly, and the vampire grins. His teeth are perfectly white, his lips a perfect cherry-red, like a child's after coming inside from the cold.
"You can stop grasping your knives so tightly now, I won't hurt you." His accent is purely American.
I snort. "How can I be so sure of that?" I ask, and he grins again.
"Well, for one, I'm just your friendly neighbourhood vampire. Just passing by, and I saw a young woman being harassed by a couple of fellow vampires. Thought I'd help out. Got a problem with that?" I shake my head quickly, and he sticks out a hand. "Well, the name's Ryu Christophe Jace Daggers. Everyone just calls me Jace." I blink in surprise.
"Flow Constantine. Uh...thank you?" I put my hand in his to shake it, but I flush red quickly as he brings my hand up to his lips, kissing the back of my hand gently.
"Pleased to make your aquaintance, Miss Constantine. And pleased to be of assistance." He lowers my hand, and then lets it drop again. "What's a young female Daywalker such as yourself doing in Manhattan on a Friday evening, anyway? Isn't it a little dangerous? Are you asking for trouble, or searching for it instead?"
I frown, narrowing my eyes. "I hunt vampires. Possibly those such as yourself, but I tend to leave introductions until after I've killed them."
"And why might that be, might I ask?" He cocks an eyebrow.
"Didn't you know? It's a well-known fact that once you know something by name, you tend to become more attached to the individual, whether it be vampire, mortal, dog, rock..."
"Rock? I take it you don't like animals, then?" I shrug, and he chuckles quietly.
"But can I just ask...why aren't you going all psycho-vamp on me? I mean, I have blood on my face, I'm a goddamned female Daywalker, and I'm an open and vulnerable target. Why not eat me now?"
Jace grins. "Didn't you know? It's a well-known fact that once you know something by name, you tend to become more attached to the individual, whether it be vampire, mortal, dog, rock..." He chuckles as he walks away quickly, and I scowl at the back of his head.
Location
Job/hobbies
Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:13 am
