Buried Way Too Shallow -open-

[Cody Lambert]

[bg=0A0702] Look at him, look at me That boy is bad, and honestly He's a wolf in disguise But I can't stop staring in those evil eyes I wasn't exactly sure how I got here. I had left Blood Reign and the comforting press of the crowd to come here. I was curious to see who else of my kind I could find and I knew they inhabited this area. At least the more refined ones did. The more unsavory characters stuck to the swamp where they could drown prying humans and dump the bodies of their dinner. I didn't like to associate with the type. It would probably mean bad news for me if I did. It wasn't unusual for them to bend the rules until they snapped. That's what makes them dangerous. They have no regard for secrecy which would be a lot of trouble for the entire population of us if the humans discovered we existed. I'd had run-ins with the vampire hunters in the past and it usually ended with a lot of irritation on my part. I would have to move again and deal with them following me for a great deal of time. So far, they hadn't come up with a hunter good enough to catch me. I didn't want to press my luck by keeping reckless company. Either way, I ended up here. I'd been having some trouble with someone lurking outside my club causing trouble. I suspected fledglings, a group I had called 'Young Bloods'. They were the new vampires and hybrids that didn't have any finesse and killed unheedingly. I figured if I could find somebody here, I could ask if they had heard anything. I had lost touch with the community recently but didn't notice until I realized I had nobody to ask. I sighed, pulling off my glasses to pinch the bridge of my nose for a second. New vampires were a headache. I replaced my glasses before continuing through the trees. When I had become a vampire, I had thought that I wouldn't need the glasses anymore but I was wrong. Vampirism doesn't cure damage done during human years. That's the bad part of being a changeling rather than being born vampire. Born vampires are generally flawless while changelings retain their scars and injuries even though no new ones can be made. That's why my tattoos remained. I had discovered that it is very difficult for born vampires to retain tattoo ink since their skin tends to heal too quickly and reject the ink. It was a small blessing of being a changeling that I welcomed. However, any new tattoos did the same for me. I remember watching it happen. My skin never bled during the process but the ink ran off it like water leaving no marks where the needles had penetrated. I had done some research into it and there were some underground artists that had methods to make the ink take but I hadn't had time to go looking for them. So, I stuck with my current tattoos and my flawed eyesight. When I was in the club, I often went without the glasses since girls had the unfortunate habit of removing them and leaving them about while they dragged me off somewhere. Thankfully, I could see without them, though not everything was clear. I took a path that led up to the top of a hill. I had heard that this was where they usually congregated. There was a clearing and a stone building to one side. It was about the size of a small store, likely for more private meetings. I sat on a bench that was on the edge of the clearing and laid back to look at the canopy of pine trees and the cloudy gray sky. It was deathly quiet out here, the trees cushioning all the sound. It was also cold, the onset of autumn bringing a chill. Despite that fact, I was not cold in my t-shirt and jeans. I turned my head back to the empty clearing. I wondered how long it would take before someone showed up. That boy is a monster... Word Count: six six two Song: "Monster" - Lady GaGa Notes: None

[guin]

[atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=width,490,true][atrb=border,0,true]

My lengthy stride carried me into the clearing in a flurry, I could practically imagine my heart fluttering, were I human, with the strain of running. I loved running, nothing could compare to barreling full speed past trees darting between trunks and leaping over brush, nothing but silence as the creatures of the forest fled from her, that sense of danger flooding them. I slowed quickly, throwing myself to the ground, sprawled on the grass, back down. A fit of giddy laughter erupted from my chest, euphoria was something like this, this sense of freedom. The chilled air could not touch me, in fact it never had, but the smell of the coming frosts was infectious and beautiful. I was rarely like this, so careless, so unrestrained, but tonight was rare, for tonight was a day I would always remember, the night I fled home, fleeing through a forest much like the one I had just emerged from. Though that was so long ago the memory of the feeling of liberation much like now remained as fresh as a springtime bouquet in mind. However soon, suddenly so, the sense of loss flooded me, my bright smile faded and I could practically feel my eyes darken, deep with that small, faint sense of sorrow. I was older now, much older, but some part of me still relates, all too well, to that scared girl who wanted nothing but her mother in those first few years. Quickly I regained my composure, recalling that regardless of that yearning I never turned back and it was too late to do so now. As my mind wondered my senses sharpened and the scent of another flooded me. “Hello.” I said simply, still sprawled on the ground, eyes now closed, head turned to the side in utter relaxation and nonchalance. I knew that there was no danger, not in this place, this place was a sort of Mecca for vampires, no one, no matter how deranged, would dare make any irrespective move in this place. Regardless I knew what I was capable of and at the least, in any situation, I was capable of at least fleeing without being scathed. Then again at the moment I’m not entirely sure I would want to leave, after all death or injury was something I had been contemplating experiencing. However if the stranger had meant hard they would’ve made their move or at the very least made their presence known long ago. My smile returned, this time with a mischievous, sort of tired feel to it. Exhaustion was something I have never really known, but there were so many ways to feel tired, something I suddenly realized I was. Tired of many, many things. Carelessly I picked a twig from my hair, the first and only movement I had made since taking my place on the grass. The mess of dark hair was undoubtedly tangled, somehow it had worked it’s self loose during in my run and now lay tangled and curly in a halo about me. I could only imagine what the stranger must think of me, if they were human they’d probably would’ve though I was a talking corpse of some victim of violence. After all I was dressed in nothing but a simple, too big grey shirt dress, bare footed, too pale, and flawless. I knew that at the moment even a vampire would find me an odd sight, across no doubt of something like a hippie/nymph and a, well, vampire. It seems that, for the night, every shred of normalcy I possessed was gone and what was left was something too different from myself for even me to fathom…

[/color][/size][/ul][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[Cody Lambert]

[bg=0A0702] Say goodbye, As we dance with the devil tonight Don't you dare look at him in the eye As we dance with the devil tonight I literally felt her arrive, much as a shark would sense its prey with its lateral line system. It was like a momentary electrical charge, breathing life into the lifeless. My body beckoned me to the one of my kind, as if it was starving for the proximity of something other than humans. The breeze that had been carried in her wake rustled the fringe that hung barely in front of my eyes. A deep breath pulled air into my lungs, bringing the sickly sweet scent of ancient vampire blood along. My eyes snapped open and I turned my head to look at her. This one was not a changeling, this was a pureblood. I sat up with preternatural speed, the motion appearing blurred. A crooked smile crossed my features. "Hello there, darling" Being in the presence of another vampire sent sparks along my skin. Prolonged separation from the species did that to me. I felt a twinge of self-consciousness because she was pureblood and I was changeling, but I crushed it quickly. There was no difference in she and I except in how we came into being. I abruptly became curious about why she had arrived here. I wondered if it was just a whim, or if there had been another purpose. I had failed to check the stone building to see if it was occupied, an act that could prove to be a mistake. In my mind, I hoped not. This new vampire brought distinct memories back to me, specifically of my mentor, my creator, my killer. She had been pureblood also, yet I had never learned much about her. She had taught me what I needed to know, how to survive, and how to behave properly, yet she had carefully avoided the topic of her past. I never learned her name, mostly because she would not tell me. She resembled this new visitor in many ways. She'd had dark hair and eyes and appeared exotic. She'd had the fire of life in her despite the fact that she had always been undead. Even before I knew what she was, when I was still human, I knew there was something different about her. Something that made me feel hunted, caught in her predatory gaze. I had rarely felt like that in my life, having infallible confidence ever since I was young. But she had made me feel fear in a way that made me wary of her instinctively. Maybe that's why she waited until I was asleep to steal my life and give me eternity. I was never angry with her for doing it, for she cared for me afterward. Through the rigors of changing and the hard lessons of adjusting to the new lifestyle. She cared for my wounds when I stood too near the window in the daylight, and calmed me when being near humans became difficult. Then, when I was starting to become comfortable, she disappeared. I'd never understood why she left. I always figured it was much like how birds were. As soon as the young ones can fly, they're on their own. I wanted to find her for a time after she left, but the attempt was useless. Vampires as a species know how to cover their tracks unfailingly, even to others of the kind, especially fledglings. I stood up, breaking out of my revelry and strode toward her, a bold move that could seem like a challenge to another if they were to take it as hostility, which it was not. My interest in who she was made me bold. I nodded my head in greeting, lapsing into my old respectful habits. "How do you do? I'm Cody." I wasn't sure if she would think me odd. It was something that was not uncommon amongst vampires. Cross that many generations and you were bound to get some misunderstandings since people of different eras behaved differently. I didn't think she was too far off from me, so maybe our eras were the same. Trembling, crawling across my skin Feeling your cold, dead eyes Stealing the life of mine Word Count: six six six Song: "Dance With the Devil" - Breaking Benjamin Notes: It's okay, I'm having trouble adjusting myself, lol

[guin]

[atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0,true][atrb=width,490,true][atrb=border,0,true]

I heard the baritones of the creatures voice and the subtle steps he took my instincts took hold I sat up too quickly. No he had not startles me, no I did not find the possible challenge, merely I was curious, and above all else alert. My legs folded to the side so as not to come across as unlady like, a knee jerk reaction to the mannerisms I was taught in my true youth. I opened my bright steely blues and gazed upon the figure before me, dark haired and eyed, a changeling no doubt judging by his glasses and tattoos, no pure blood could hold such flaws. However luckily for this stranger I had dropped my prejudice far too long ago, to some like me, to those raised like I had been he was considered less. However to me, as it always had been, I thought of him as a stranger and nothing more or less. Though that would be like most when first acquainted. “Formalities are not of this time, but I suppose I should respond with ‘I’m fine’ though since we seem to be on the same wave length a more appropriate response should be ‘ho do you do?’ or perhaps ‘pleasure to make your acquaintance’. Then again ’How now?’ could work just as well, perhaps a bit old fashioned. Hmm choices, choices…” alright so admittedly I was playing games, but in good fun. No offense was meant and in a way I sort of sought to lighten things, show that I was of no threat. None the less I was drawn to this stranger, this Cody, just as blood calls to blood so do vampires call to one another. It had been my experience that when withdrawn from your own kind for so long to come across one is like satiating a thirst you never knew you had. Truly there was nothing like the draw of likeness to likeness. I stood then, a soft smile upon my face, hand extended I continued, “pleasure to make your acquaintance, Cody, I am Lucinda.” I studied him while going through the pleasantries, a habit I had formed long ago. His build was modest in a way, not flashy, a sign of his possible lack of vanity, something Luce find pleasing, after all most who are vain are pompous and no one enjoys the company of such people. Then again I had never been good at judging a book by it’s cover so there was still hope for him. Regardless there was something about the fellow that I decide I liked. This meeting would no doubt be peaceful, then again there’s always hope for that as well. I gathered my hair and twisted it before pulling it over my shoulder picking a piece of dry leaf from it before coming to cross my arms. I only hoped the stranger, though now technically he was not, would not take the gesture as hostile, something I was not, though admittedly I could barely contain my curiosity. I felt like a child in a candy store, it had been too long since I had seen let alone been near another immortal, something I hadn’t realized I missed till now. Perhaps the situation could better be related to Death meeting Dr. Kevorkian, they were different yet had so much in common, a like though still individually different. It was then that I notice the building out of my peripheral. Decidedly I was asleep until now because I had barely noticed a thing. No doubt the night was not on my side, I was off and to someone who knew me it would be apparent. Still I could revel in the fact that I kept my composure, regardless of how out of element I felt. I could only imagine what Cody must think of me, a strange pure blood, dressed anything but normal, sticks in her hair, and obviously unobservant. No doubt if I were human tonight I would be far too easy pray.

[/color][/size][/ul][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[Cody Lambert]

[bg=0A0702] I want a normal life Just like a newborn child I am a lover hater I am an instigator She moved just as quickly as I, and I tracked her movements with dark eyes locked onto her. In my experience, this is what most meetings were like if the two vampires didn't know each other. It was like putting two feral dogs together; they were likely to hold pleasant distance before moving on to greetings and becoming comfortable with one another. I'd heard that dangerous criminals in prison often behaved the same. It was a wonder how different we were from humans. We acted much on instinct, yet at the same time were highly refined. As she spoke, I relaxed my posture, putting my hands in my pockets despite the fact that the warmth was unnecessary. My smile quirked to one side as she riffled through the possibilities of responses. Again, it was an action typical of multiple generation vampires. Our brains worked much like computers, tossing up multiple possibilities for us to choose from. Unlike humans, we had to calculate which one would fit the situation best and it usually had to be done rapidly. Sometimes I wondered if any scientists that were aware of our existence had ever studied our brains. They had the technology and I'm sure there would be some willing to undergo the process. But then again, if the scientists were to discover something that could be used against us, it could mean certain destruction for our species. I couldn't imagine the implications if a society of vampire hunters were to get a hold of information like that. Still, it made me curious about how we worked. Humans had been studied into minute detail while we still remained a complete mystery. It was much like how science knew much about the solar system but very little about Earth's own oceans. Obviously our priorities were a bit out of order. I took her extended hand into my own, clasping it gently before raising it to my lips for a chaste kiss. "The pleasure is all mine." This action too, seemed a throwback to ancient times. Some locations upheld the tradition and I utilized it when the situation seemed right. This was one of those times when formality seemed correct. I noticed her scanning me, taking in my appearance and did the same to her, rather inconspicuously. It had been so long since I had been in the presence of another vampire that I never noticed how differently we greeted each other. Humans now seemed very flippant in their greetings, usually saying 'hello' before drifting off to another activity. They usually did not take great care into seeing exactly who they were meeting. Vampires analyze every situation in great detail. Realizing this made me wonder why. It came naturally, as if it was instinct. I noticed her gaze flicker to the building, and I wondered what she knew of it. It made me curious myself, as a human would have never built it up here. It was on top of this great hulking hill, entirely too out of the way to be of any use to a human. Therefore, either a vampire or hybrid must have built it. I pondered on its purpose and how often it was used. And whether anyone occupied it now. I brought my attention back to Lucinda. "So, what brings you to this hill? I must say, I have not seen you before." I realized belatedly how pointless the second half of my words was. It was obvious that I had been out of the presence of my kind for quite some time and therefore would have had not opportunity to see her. I often did this, speaking too quickly for my mind to catch up. Usually it was because my mind was on something else by the time I spoke. Just call my name You'll be okay Your scream is Burning through my veins Word Count: six two seven Song: "Sooner or Later" - Breaking Benjamin Notes: Thank you =) I guess the difficulty arises because Cody has an odd personality. He's very confusing, lol. This one kinda ended oddly because someone said something that upset me as I was typing the end of it. Sorry 'bout that