Can you smell the danger in roses?

[brighteyedbeauty]

Maika LaRuge's foot stepped down gently on the cobbled walkway, ballet flats making a slight tapping noise. The overgrown plants and vines twisted graceously around the everstanding willows in the garden. A reflective pool mirrored back her now creamy gold eyes. The gold sequins on a strapless tunic caught her eye color as well. She gasped, a pale hand sild over her own pale shoulder. Maika smelled roses, and a slight hint of evergreen. Gary peered over her shoulder. Gary was an old friend of hers. They had met in 1940 near London, pairing up. Later on, they had seperated, Maika wanted to be alone for awhile and she got her wish.
"Can you smell the danger?" he always asked her. She usually responded with the casual, "Only in the roses."
It was an inside joke of theirs. Gary had loved Maika but she had always saved her love, he was afraid to know why. Maika slid into the murky shadows of the willow, moonlit shadows making her even more unearthly. He bent around her to kiss her neck, she jerked away, eyes furious.
She jolted away into the stone area of the garden. A babbling fountain eased her slightly, flashbacks were common for Maika. Axelle, she had hated her so much, biting her neck, blood spilling, the red eyes, the shard of glass, the sirens, Pierre..., the humans, the thrist.
She couldn't take it, she ran, hard and fast, out of the garden and into the welcoming arms of the ongoing darkness, making her feel at home.

[moonlightxxdance]

Emberr had walked into the garden in time to see Maika run away. Interested, she silently stalked behind her and hid in the shadows next to her. She knew if any gave her away it would be her eyes so she looked down, eyelids smudged with eyeliner covered her bright green/blue eyes. She was thankful she decided to wear a black hoodie with almost no detail on it today, along with dark wash skinny jeans.

She also stood by the side of a tree to hide her even further. Her small figure went up against the tree easily making her invisible. She tried to go into the tree mostly just to camouflage the scent of her skin's perfume. She always smelled sweet and if anything gave her away it would be that, or just her presence. Whenever she was by another being, especially humans, they cowared away. Her presence had an unatural, haunting feel. Of course anyone who stayed despite the danger hanging around her learned it was her that presented the danger, but what followed her. She had enemies everywhere she went and they often stalked behind her.

After she lost her one friend whom she truly loved she had been alone. He had always kept her safe, but without him, those hunting her greatly outnumbered and outstrengthened. They hadn't managed to hurt her yet, just torture. Their presence made her uneasy, along with everyone around her. No one could ever find them except her, and her lost love Poison. She had a feeling they would betray her to this person like they always did. She sat waiting in the darkness for whatever happened next.

[brighteyedbeauty]

Maika slowed to a stop, her legs shook violently, which wasn't odd for her, she often overplayed her limits. She fell to the ground in a motionless lump, legs in a W sit and forehead in hands. Her long fingers caressed her oncoming tears, of course, they never fell. Maika heard a sound in the distance, she stood, brushing off her brown tights and golden sequined tunic. She closed her eyes and opened all her senses, becoming like a transmitter for everything happening. Cool breeze brushed arcross her already cold skin. Wisps of light blonde hair flew in her face, even though it was cut short and had highlights, it was amazing to glance at for a regular human. Then her blue eyes fell on a shadow once she had opened them. It was unnatural, against a tree. She heard the shadow's shallow breathing, threatening to stop. She gasped as she saw the face, it was lovely, enchanting even, mussed up hair and pretty eyes. She screamed inside her body and ran, falling face first on the cobbles.

[moonlightxxdance]

Emberr. realizing she terrified another person with her always following enemies, slowly stepped out of the shadows. She looked at the girl first with a hint of anger in her face at the assumption of everyone, she was dangerous. Then she worked quickly to calm her expression and put on one of concern. Stepping forward at an unnatural speed she was at the girls side. She reached out a hand and then pulled it back quickly remembering the scars on it. She took a step back so the girl wouldn't see the bruises on her pale skin.

"Umm, miss?" she hesitated. "Are you okay?" She looked at the girls blonde hair and it just proved to her even more she was another vampire. Emberr had sensed it right away, but this just helped prove it. She was usually straying away from her own kind knowing that many didn't accept her diet. She smiled hesitantly balancing on the toes of her feet, like she always did when she walked. Well you could barely call the way Emberr moved walking, but still.

Then Emberr let he eyes wander across the girls body. She had to supress a laugh at what she was wearing. It hardly fit in with Paris life. Then she sighed waiting for a response.

[brighteyedbeauty]

Jerking upward, Maika let out a sigh of relief. She could see the concern on this vamp's face, it helped calm her shortending nerves. She spoke quickly, "Who are you?" she waited and as second nature, found every escape route and didn't dare touch the girl. Touching ehr might throw off some trigger that made both end up hurt in the long run, this girl seemed kind enough, even if she was speculating her outfit. Maika knew it didn't fit in, but it was for comfort, not for fashion. Her eyes sparkled and Maika started to giggle uncontrollably.

[moonlightxxdance]

Emberr saw that her mask of concern had touched the girl.
"The name is Emberr, everything else will take time to learn." Emberr said calm, "Now tell me, why are you laughing?" Emberr was about to take a half step back, but didn't and showed no sign of ever wanting to. She rubbed her arm the sleeving revealing some of her scars for a brief moment. Her eyes looked watery with old thoughts coming into her head and she quickly shook out the despression and looked back at the girl purely curious.

[brighteyedbeauty]

"I'm laughing becasue I'm relieved. I haven't met another new vampire in ages! No, don't stare at me with confusion. It's easy to tell once you get used to the gait, the beauty, and the voice. I'm Maika by the way. Maika LaRuge. Why are you here? I mewan, I know why I am but I didn't expect to see anyone else, this place is nearly deserted."

[moonlightxxdance]

"Oh trust me, I know how to tell them apart. I may be young, but I'm not stupid." Emberr said calmy, "I bet you couldn't even guess my age." Emberr was growing impatient and started walking as they talked. She walked through the gardens, staying where shadows covered her, but the moon was still visible. She beckoned Maika to walk with her. She hummed a song she had written a while ago to try to keep the sadness under control as she walked.

[brighteyedbeauty]

"Beautiful song..." Maika said quietly. The girl....Emberr....had started to hum. She looked sad, "I'm sorry, truly, I just haven't talked to our kind in awhile except for Gary..." Maika looked around her with wariness. She spotted his face in her mind's eye and looked toward the water, looking closely. He was still there, holding a velvety box. Gary opened it, inside stood a dazzling ring with a diamond in the center. Jewels the color of her eyes stood in a rind around the diamond.
Maika gasped and her eyes went as wide as a doe's. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Gary was going to propose...she shouldn't have run away. SHe shouldn't have flinched. She shouldn't have ran away from Axelle in the first place, she wouldn't have gotten bitten, she wouldn't have had to live forever, she wouldn't have had to met Gary and Emberr in the fikrst place.
She was worried about getting too attached, it worried her, she might have to leave. Maika's hand flew to her neck, carefully sliding it around to feel her shoulder, a knotty scar bumped out, she quikly recovered it with her tunic and turned to face Emberr, hiding the emotion from her face.
"I....I have to introduce you to someone."

[moonlightxxdance]

"Thank you, I wrote it for someone." Emberr said looking down trying to hide the blush, but it was clearly visible on her pale skin. "Oh okay," Emberr said looking up at Maika again knowing that there was no way of hiding her blushng. She walked on her toes closer to Maika keeping a small distance and subconciously touching one of her own scars when Maika touched hers. Emberr accidently wandered into the moonlight and gasped as all her scars shined. There was no way Maika would have missed it. She slowly sunk back into the shoadows.

She kept her eyes on Maika waiting for her reaction, first her reaction the words and her blush, then her reaction to her appearence. Emberr hoped that the beauty of her face wold help her mask the despair of this. She tried to look interested in Maika still, but her thoughts were wandering to Poison and the hope of finding him. She knew when he was alone he would have came here and that's what she was really doing in the gardens.

[brighteyedbeauty]

Maika blinked a few times, moonlight shown on Emberr, scars gleamed a ghostly white. She was hit by recongnition of trying to hide those kind of scars, she knew how it felt.
"The scars....where'd you get yours? I mean, I knew you saw me touch mine...I was also wondering who that song was for, I really like it. We have a long walk to the friend I'm going to introduce you to so we have the opportunity to make friends. I'd like to be your friend if you'll like me, our kind should always extend and reach out to each other, so little people do..."

[moonlightxxdance]

"Well the scars, they are hard to explain. How well you feel my presence depends on how I can explain it. When I first approached what did my presence feel like to you?" Emberr said quickly like she did when she was scrambling for words. "While you think of that the song was for Poison. He was a very close friend of mine, he helped protect me, but he was dangerous at the same time. We accidetnly got seperated and I'm searching for him now, but I have time to make friends of course." Emberr tried to smile, but her full red lips only turned halfway up and her eyes weren't touched at all.

She paced along the fowers and looked questioningly at Maika, "I'll explain that in more depth as we talk about the scars, but first I need to know what my presence made you think of, and what it made you feel about me, and just what you felt in general." Emberr was confused why she being so open, but it felt good to let it all out. She walked on the edge of a piece of higher ground going around the gardens like a ballerina almost.

[brighteyedbeauty]

"Well to me, your presence felt like I knew it before. It felt like when you started to look at me, an old spirit was returning. We felt like friends already. At the same time though I sensed that you feared your own power, I don't know if you do of course but that's sure what it felt like," Maika reviewed this answer in her head. It sounded right,. She had spoken from her soul, "Poison must be an awfully lucky man. Were'd you see him last? If you know, maybe I can help, if you want me to of course..."

[moonlightxxdance]

"Hmm that's a very interesting response," Emberr deliberated. "And it's not my power I fear, it's what follows me. As you have probably noticed, even for a vampire I am well more attractive and I stand out from a crowd even better. I know it may sound conceited, but trust me I don't enjoy it. It makes me easy to find when I have enemies. See, when Poison found me," she paused nearly choking out his name, "I was fighting with my enemies again. They can always find me and they always torture my thoughts and they make other people fear me noramlly. I can tell you are more insightful than most." Ember said thoughtfully half smiling again. "Well, Poison could see them like I can and he could sens I waasn't the one to fear and he helped me fight them. There is often more than one of them so it helped having him." A tear slid down her face as she mentioned the next part, "Since then we grew close and one of the times we were fighting there were more then we thought. They seperated us and pushed him in oppisite directions. I know he escaped I can feel it and I can here knowing that we both came to Paris when we were in danger so I though I'd find him here." Emberr looked down pausing even longer this time.

"Sadly, the scars aren't only from my enemies, but from him as well. You see, he has a bit of a temper and everytime he lashes out I stop him for his own safety. He has accidently scratched seeing that he is about twice as strong. Of course," Emberr said quickly, "He is a sweet guy, when he first got seperated I thought of the song. Most of my scars are from that night."

Emberr's pace slowed just a bit as she started following Maika's lead saying most of what she would say tonight. "And yes, I would love the help, but that doesn't need to be attented to today." Emberr found no need to mention her friend because she knew that she didn't have to mention him to keep him on the path. She would probably continue with her own story until they reached him. "And I could feel the same thing when I saw you. Strange isn't it? For all I know I could have known you while I was human, but you still would have been a vampire, like I said I am young."

[brighteyedbeauty]

"You are very beautiful, you even stunned me and thats saying something," she laughed, "As for the insightfulness on my part, I guess being 114 does that to you," she put a morose look on her face, she hated living forever, sure, she used to fear death but right now she thought death would be better that watching the deaths of others that you cant stop, "How young are you? And wait....," she stopped walking, well, sort of like gliding, she felt like a bird but across pavement, "I think I did know you....but that's all I can remember, too much spite in my past. We'll be with Gary soon, that's who I'm introducing you to, even though you probably already figured that out."