happy saturday fun time with tarot cards (open)

[blackmagicwoman]

curiouser and curiouser.

Wake up sleepy heads! I'm DJ Lupe, the WOLF, it's seven o'clock in the morning, time to start the weekend! Today, it's partly cloudly, with a chance of light right, tommorrow, true to its name will be bright and sunny...

It took her a few seconds to realize that she was in the real world, in her bedroom. Last night, she had dreamed that Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, and Robert Johnson were on a canoe (she was the one who rowed the boat) on the Hudson River. They had an interesting conversation that involved philosophy, antidepressants, and (of course) music.

It ended on an interesting note, before she woke up she asked all three if they regretted the way they left the earth, they all answered in a different manner, but it was the same answer...no. The night before it was Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon in a weird, Jackson Pollack-esque dreamscape. They gave her the same answer, no.

Her dreams, in these last few weeks, were always about same thing. Dead rock stars. And they always gave her the same answer and yet, different answer...no. So far, Alice, had met; Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Mama Cass, Georg Harrison, Freddy Mercury, and John Lennon.

She wondered if Elvis and Michael Jackson were next in that list. "That'd be an interesting conversation...", she thought, stretching her limbs and groggily standing up to enter the bathroom. She had to get ready for work or Maria would put a 'hex' on her. Inwardly, she laughed at the idea. "If she does...I hope I turn into a cat..."

episode one: happy saturday fun time with tarot cards

"Okay, so that's: one copy of the Satanic Bible, two pentagram necklaces, and one baphomet statue. That's a total of, $13.55. With tax." The ebony clad teen grumbled something under his teeth about scam artists and handed her a twenty dollar bill.

She smiled, "Thank you for shopping at The Black Cat! Have a good day."

The teenager snubbed her and left in a huff, muttering several curses directed at the facility. Alice, being the cheerful person she was, simply let the customer's rudeness go. He personally didn't do any towards her. And, of course, she knew that usually spells never worked in a "novice's hands", as old Maria Leon would say.

Alice shared a living arrangement upstairs with the elderly occult shop owner, Maria Leon. On Saturdays, Maria would do her grocery shopping and other errands while Alice (and her dog) handled the store on their own. Alice used her natural bubbliness to lure in customers who wanted to delve into the left handed path.

All of this was very ironic, considering the fact that Alice was a somewhat, devout Catholic. She had already picked out her suit for mass, tommorrow.

Aleister Crowley and Anton LaVey were just a few names spotted in the library section of the small business venture, statues of several gods and goddesses were dusted and put on display, next to the incense and candle holders. Oils and gemstones with supposed magickal powers were put on display beneath a glass on the counter. The store was lit to come off as mysterious and enchanting, Alice just thought it was too dark.

Boredom, was a common emotion in the Jones-Leon household/business. It was lunchtime and apparently DJ Lupe had been lied to about the weather, it had stopped raining and now the sky was waging a battle about staying gray and damp or bright and sunny. Streams of sunlight beamed through the large studio windows with the words, "orgeN otaG LE" (EL Gato Negro) with the image of a smiling black cat painted across.

Wind chimes, someone had entered, Alice gave her best smile and said, "Welcome to the Black Cat! We just had a large shipment of tarot decks, yesterday. Would you like to see what the future holds for you?"

[blake]

4:30 am

New York City, the stench of the urban landscape was unmistakable, it didn’t take her supernaturally heightened senses to pick up the less that subtle odor that permeated through the streets. Sixty-nine years she had spent immersed in human-crafted cityscapes, but the products of humanity living in such close quarters still remained bothersome. To emphasize the filth, Shane stepped off the train into the abandoned subway station to be faced with a homeless man relieving himself in plain view. She reeled at the sight, her brow furrowing in distaste at the visual, urine now laced the aroma of the underground train stop. Hit by a sudden wave of hunger, Shane eyed the pissing figure hesitantly, he was filthy, but that grime held liquid gold. The packaging was far from appealing, but she wasn’t about to be picky when such an ideal scenario presented itself; they were alone.

A repetition of clacks bounced off the tiled walls of the subway, damn, not as ideal as she had hoped. A woman, dressed in business attire hurried down the steps to the underground, attache’ sandwiched between her side and arm. ”Damnit!” The woman called at the glow of the departing train, retreating further into the black abyss of the tunnel. Shane tore her eyes from the more refined creature back to her original target. The bum had passed out face first into a puddle of his own piss, no way conscious enough to be woken by a stomach churning scream or a whimpering cry for help...

Shane approached the woman with a casual stride, she enjoyed games and wouldn’t carry them immediately to the final act, the woman’s final act. ”Morning.” Her greeting was met with a non reply, silly New Yorkers, one day they would all be forced to learn some manners. But Shane was patient, she was old enough to be this thirty-something’s mother and had developed a high tolerance for blatant rudeness. The woman pushed up her sleeve to glance over her timepiece, Shane noted the quality of the watch, this was someone of importance, perhaps in the field of business.

It didn’t matter, any sort of fancy job title that accompanied the woman would be learned when the discovery of her brutalized body was posted in the papers, Shane always appreciated reading up on her work. ”Heading to work?” There was a sigh, but it was all too recognizable as the preface to giving in. Finally the woman met Shane’s grey eyes with her own, ”Yes, I’m going to be late.” She gave her watch another look, tapping her heel impatiently. ”No I don’t think you’ll be late. You won’t make it in at all.”

The woman looked up from her watch, wide eyed at Shane’s words. When all she met was a smirk, that parted lips just enough to display the pointed canines, the woman laughed nervously before turning slowly to leave.

Shane made quick work of the woman, sucked her dry and tossed her into the tunnel, enjoying the idea of the drama that discovering the woman cut in half by an unaware train would add to the finding of the body. In a flash she was gone, emerging to greet the streets, the layer of cement and steel that coated the crust of the Earth. A homeless man would wake in the station, excited to see the glint of a Rolex strapped to his own wrist. That shine would prove to be more trouble than it was worth if he chose to linger around in his own urine for much longer.

A charming boutique with lovely feline imagery stuck out from Shane’s position across the street, she halted and changed course to the cat. The hours painted on the door said specifically that they were closed, but she was incapable of being a patron during that species limiting window. The latch to the tight squeeze of a window into the basement was forced with ease, her strong hands breaking the mechanism altogether. She slid herself into the underground room, shutting the window behind her, but unable to lock the thing. Objects projecting various cultures of off-beat religions and other socially irrelevant nuances littered the room, Shane quirked a brow, well, what did she expect from a shop that played off a silly superstition such as the iconic black cat.

But the wares upstairs were more intriguing, after all they would display the best the store had to offer in hopes of luring potential customers. Shane cleared the flight of stairs and cautiously crossed the threshold to explore the shop. Before she could peruse the selection of strange literature, a warm glow began to filter through the painted on window. ”Shit!” In her own search for something amusing in the place she had forgotten how inopportune a time it was to embark on a new adventure. Her ears honed in on the muffled footsteps from above and within an instant she was back to the basement, lingering behind the door, propping it open enough to peer through a crack.

Bored with hanging around to watch some woman tend to her business, that apparently functioned as her home, Shane retreated further into the dungeon of a room to find something more interesting to spend the hours until night fall doing. Within a few hours she had sifted through half the trinkets that were offered up as back stock, a bubbly voice from upstairs playing as her soundtrack for the time being. It was only mid day and she would be forced to sit through nearly a dozen more hours of tedious loitering before she could move on to some real entertainment. She tip toed up the steps once more and peered through the small opening, lurking a rather hostile encounter between the shop worker and a grotesquely cliche’ goth boy. Well, the girl was not giving into any emotion that extended beyond courteous, the walking incarnation of ‘gloom’ and ‘doom’ however was proving his maturity quite nicely with his mistreatment of the employee.

She was jealous, tormenting the sunshine of a woman, getting her to break her bubbly nature, would prove to be nothing short of the most amusing thing she could partake in during her stay in the city. She slipped out from behind the door, using the sound of wind chimes to distract from her more discreet entrance into the dark shop. Avoiding direct contact with the shafts of sunlight, Shane leaned against the wall adjacent to the counter and the girl behind it. She stuck out from the more eccentric wares offered up for purchase, her casual dress of a leather motorcycle jacket and jeans not quite melding with the novelties that cluttered the room. The other entrant brushed off the girl’s offer of a reading, but Shane tilted her head with interest.

”Predicting the future through cards, isn’t that unnatural?” She announced her presence, her voice an octave lower, giving even the most intention free phrases an air of seduction. A smirk tugged the corner of her lips toward the heavens, she knew full well that if anything was ‘unnatural’ in the room, it was her.

[blackmagicwoman]

"How wonderful. " She thought, "Another one of those, I suppose?"
Her lips turned into a small smile, as she swiftly analyzed the source of the question. She was the female version of tall, dark, and handsome. Her attire gave Alice insight into her personality, "Apparently she's on the wild side of life. An adrenaline-junkie? No. She could be a biker...I don't see a bike."

"Well, if you ask me, I don't think it does." she chirruped, "I know some religions, like my own, condemn it. I'm Catholic, by the way. But, personally, I think if you believe it and you do it the most purest of intentions, I think you're safe."

She paused for a slight moment to look into the woman's eyes. They were beautiful. Both a lovely shade of gray, but she could that the beauty was only on the surface, there was something empty about them. Vacant. Almost comparable to a doll's, or even, a corspe's eyes.

"But. You don't have to take my word for it. According to the original owner of this place, who is not in at the moment, claims that things like tarot and other forms of diviniation are very much real and can be dangerous in the wrong hands." She cleared her throat, and continued.

"People like, Miss Cleo and other frauds have no idea what they're messing with, I'm afraid." Alice gave a nervous chuckle at the end of her explanation. She felt a bit incompetent, she spoke a bit too fast at parts and she hoped that her explanation was coherent. She smiled again, "Anything else?"

[blake]

Catholic? Oh, this was too good. This girl, it was hard to think of her as a woman when her persona was so chipper, a woman would be more hardened to life, exposed to the harsh realities that the world presented. This girl was, in a manner of speaking, defying her own religious beliefs to work in a place that directly contrasted the ideals of Catholicism. Did it make her a hypocrite? Not necessarily. Shane knew the struggle to make ends meet in a city that offered sky-high rent prices and outlandish living expenses. At least she hadn’t taken to selling herself to get by. Though she would have no trouble selling her own assets, such refined prostitutes were hard to come by, not that Shane was a patron, but she walked the streets at night enough to know that the girl would make it as a high-ender.

It was interesting that she would openly offer such personal information to a total stranger, especially one that had seemingly popped up out of nowhere, well in her case a basement. Shane took a moment to assess this quality, this openness. Perhaps the girl hadn’t been in the city long enough to transform herself into a safe, keeping anything personal locked safely away so the more devious city slickers couldn’t use it to their advantage. She logically deduced that the girl possessed some amount of naivety, if she was fully aware of her surroundings, she would have gathered that Shane was one of those who picked up on even the most minute of details and made a mental note for further speculation into her character.

Keeping to the sun-free territory of the room, Shane dawdled along the edge of the counter to move closer to the girl, running the pads of her fingers over the glass counter space to trail her movement. She came to a halt a few feet from being directly across from the speaker, who was now running of some mumbo-jumbo about the dangers of misusing the more spiritually inclined art form of tarot. There were some parallels between religion and tarot, did the bible not make an attempt at foreshadowing the apocalypse? Shane couldn’t keep track, in her life time half a dozen apocalypses had been predicted to happen. Given the fact that she was still walking the Earth it was obvious that no predictions had been correct.

She leaned her forearms against the surface between them, drawing random shapes in the dust on the counter. Despite her feigned disinterest, Shane took in each word while simultaneously tracking the movements of the other stranger in the room. Their steps were uneven, they had some sort of leg injury that caused a limp. Even though she hadn’t so much as glanced at the other entrant, Shane picked up on this weakness, one she could easily exploit if the circumstances were different.

After taking in her dust masterpiece of several squares, her grey eyes lifted to meet the girl’s for the first time since her long-winded speech on the complexities of Tarot began. ”Unfortunately a lot of people don’t know what they’re messing with until it’s too late. This Miss Cleo that you speak of, I’m sure she will discover that in the end.” With her lean the two were at an even level, it was no fun to intimidate them from the start. She smiled as she entertained the idea of divine justice for all the bogus practitioners of the arts they didn’t teach in high school as part of a standard curriculum.

She perked up at the question, her eyes beginning to drift down the rest of the girl’s form shot back up to her face. Not ready to retreat back into the basement, and frankly it would be rather difficult to explain why exactly she was going down there, Shane needed to buy herself some time and not just the kind that rattled of explanations on divination could fill. She focused her eyes on the other’s, tilting her head dreamily as she projected enough warm energy through the gaze to make her next question all too answerable for the girl. ”Why are you Catholic?” It was a personal inquiry that most would dodge, but with her glamour in effect only the strongest of will could fight off the urge to respond.

[blackmagicwoman]

There will be a time where a man or a woman will come to a point in life that can define who they and what they are. A little tidbit about Alice could explain everything and anything about her, she is not from New York. She never grew up in the Bronx and the first time she went to Coney Island, was during Spring Break '07. Unbeknownest to her, Alice had a rich bloodline that was a mixture of Black, Native American, French and Spanish.

All thanks to the fact that she's from Louisiana.

Baton Rogue, Louisiana was her birthplace. It was the also the birth place of Louisianan Voodoo and Catholicism. A long time ago, France owned Louisiana as a colony, and at that time (and it probably still is, although Alice was not sure, anymore.) the official religion was Catholicism.

And so, some of her ancestors were either already members or were forced (namely the Black and Native American part of her family) to do so. And it soon become the official religion of, not only her family, but hers as well. And although she was devout, she altered on how she followed her religion. She decided that Homosexuality was not a sin, some people are born that way, some were not. She recognized other faiths and respected them (which was why she was able to smile and laugh with Satanists and Wiccans without having to douse herself in holy water), and kept a note that if she had children one day, they will not be left alone with a priest.

The thought alone made her heart beat faster, and wasn't even, yet. And of course, the fact that she's still a virgin, isn't exactly a choice. Although, the woman before her wouldn't know that.

Her she was, the great-great-great grandchild of Biracial voodoo queens and sex fueled witch doctors, being 'called out', so to speak, by a woman, who, if she were a man, Alice herself would almost find irresistible. But, since she found women no more than caregivers and friends, the woman's questioning did not faze her.

She gave her a coy smile, "One minute, please." Near the counter was a young, black man sporting dreadlocks and a pair glasses, "Hi, Daniel. Is that another crystal? Is it...a Rose Quartz?" The young man smiled sweetly and simply said, "I've finally gotten my date with Lisa. I was hoping this would give me some luck with her." Alice applauded him and quickly rung up his purchase, "Goodbye, Daniel! Have a great time with Lisa!"

"I'm sorry, but the customers are always first, here. Now, about your question. -ahem- Why do you even care? It's just a religion and I follow it, although, there are some things that I don't agree with. Like, their ban of birth control and abortion, and the very strong stance on Homosexuality. But, all in the same, it's a belief system. And I don't think that it's really your business, Miss..."

She was very courteous in her replie, she was never condescending with the woman and she even left it open for her to tell her name. If she knew her name, everything would make sense.

[blake]

Hailing from the once great American city of Detroit, the former economic center of the country, Shane was in tune with the industrial collapse of society. Her father’s work in the auto industry made the fall of the bustling city personal, even though she experienced it at a distance, safe from the economic decline in her dump of a lair in California. But she still felt the waves of depression that rippled across the lands, stemming from the midwestern auto capital. What could be said about the now vacant and ever diminishing skyline of Detroit that offered any semblance of hope for humanity? Nothing, no religious faith could be salvaged from the ruins.

Humans used religion to attribute meaning to their lives, to construct a box of morals to exist in and guide them on their meaningless path through the realm of the living. If that was what is took for them to make do with the time given to them to spend on Earth then they were just as weak and fragile as Shane was led to believe with the ease in which they fell to her heightened abilities. She could snap the girls neck in one swift movement, defy all the teachings that each life was precious by giving no thought to the act beyond the instant gratification that her still warm blood flowing into her thirsty mouth would provoke.

The only thing that would meet the girl in death that would stem from her religious beliefs would be a traditional funeral, even that could be abandoned if Shane took the time to dispose of her body in a more brutal fashion. She could be left to rot in the sewers, add to the stench of the city with her decaying corpse. There was nothing holy within such a fate. It was tempting to go through with this course of action just to juxtapose the girl’s ‘enlightened’ existence with a slaying that brought her down to the same level as the rest of the morally corrupt.

But who was to say that religion in itself was not moral corruption? Had the crusades not proven that religion was nothing more than a vehicle of control for those in power? Beliefs were forced onto those that were living outside the guidelines of European practitioners and posed a threat to their ‘higher’ way of life, subjecting those that lacked a Christian faith to the wrath of ‘God’s’ teachings only to ensure they would not bring down the established boundaries of such a religion. It was hypocritical, to preach love as a means of control, but Shane could respect the manipulation involved. She herself was a fan of feigning emotions to gain an advantage over an opponent, the difference was, she was honest with herself.

She let her introspective musings on religion entertain her mind while the other female dealt with the interruption, the other ‘customer’ finally settling on a purchase. Once the transaction was completed the two were alone, Shane eyed a ray of light that drew a visible line between them in annoyance. Once the sun set behind the the building opposite The Black Cat there would be no tangible barriers prevent her from lunging over the counter and enacting the distasteful thoughts of the girl’s eminent death that circulated her mind every few minutes.

”Of course.” She chimed sarcastically as the girl defended her choice to pause their discourse by attending to the other customer who actually intended on making a purchase and keeping the business alive. Shane would not be adding funds to something that would inevitably fall to economics like her own city had. The destruction of Detroit had not made her sympathetic to future capitalist falls that resembled the same path. The meager business would not share in Shane’s eternal life, the smallest hiccup in the overall financial state of the city and the oddity shop would be the first to go.

The girl’s answer puzzled her, it was not as complete as she would have liked, there was some resistance to Shane’s mind-controlling abilities. Damn, religious folk always had greater will-power than the average city-dwelling whore. She released her gaze from her and scoffed at the inadequate reply. ”Essentially you follow it because you need something to base all your decisions on. By listening to your faith you are denying your instincts, not making choices via the animal within. So your faith in itself is unnatural, just like the cards, just like Miss Cleo’s manipulation of superstitions that your own institution has engrained into society. What a way to live, with no control of your own self.”

Her eyes fluttered back up to the girl’s features, the friendly nature still mocking Shane’s own cynical self in the lack of grimace to accompany her words. Sun be damned, what she would give to rip that neck open to inspire an expression of a different brand entirely. ”Miss? Cut the customer service bull, Shane will do fine.”

[blackmagicwoman]

"Okay, Shane, Miss, whatever you like." What she wanted to do was laugh and throw her ass out into the street. She was beginning to bore her and it was almost time to close shop. Did this...Shane, realize that she had to sit through a conversation like this almost every other day? Hello! She's the member of a congregation that's been around for centuries and she works in a store that sells wares for the so called, "sinners" that Christianity, in a whole, hates.

"So my faith is unnatural, in the gospel according to Shane, correct?" Alice didn't wait for a reply.

"To say that, then, that means that Buddihism is unnatural?"

"Hinduism? Islam? Judaism? Lovecraftian literature?"

"Then that also means that if someone is an Atheist, then that's unnatural, as well?" Her face was blank and without expression, her eyes gave Shane a look of disbelief and while her voice still had the same tone of sweetness in it, she was very sharp and almost scolding of the woman's comment.

"Do you know how many people you just insulted with that comment? And, I was supposed to be the closeminded one..."

She sized her up. Shane was obiviously larger than her and could easily beat her in a fight, if she wanted. But, Alice wasn't concerned with fights and getting hurt. What came out of her mouth was just too stupid and borderline discriminative for words.

"I don't want to know what trailer park or Klu Klux Klan convention you crawled out of, but I know, one thing, Shane."

Alice gave extra emphasis to the woman's name, the stamp or signature of her message, to signify that this was for her and only her, "It is YOU, Shane, yes YOU, who is the pathetic one. Is this all you can do, walk into shops with buying anything, I may add and say something so stupid and so ignorant that if this were a conversation about race, you'd be labeled a racist. And where I'm from, they're easy to pick out of a crowd."

She didn't yell, although her voice had lost its sweetness, it was now mature and businesslike with a biting sarcasm, underneath. She slammed her hand, hard onto the cold, glass surface, "Now, if you're not going to buy anything. Then I'd suggest you'd leave or I'll have you arrested."

[blake]

[excuse the change of tone, but I think we’ve both conquered enough heavy debate for one thread. haha!]

It was a victory-less argument, this girl had her beliefs, and words from a stranger weren’t going to change them. She needed to be exposed to more life, then maybe she would begin questioning her established ideals. Shane rolled her eyes at the persistence of the girl, pulling epithets out of left field to distract from the matter at hand. Racist? This girl was too young to see the insanity of the, what her late father referred to as, ‘the good ol’ days’ of segregation. Shane herself had undergone countless lectures from her father on who to associate with, people of color were off limits. But she was a rebellious youth and never cared much about having to concern herself with harboring hate over another’s skin color or culture.

This human was bothersome, challenging her in a way that was both bold and stupid. Anyone with a lick of sense could read that she was more threatening than the average woman. But she had already proven to be delusional with her blind following of religion, maybe she was blinded to the obvious power that radiated from the leather-jacket clad form across from her. After having stowed away in that basement for hours she was relieved to come across something more entertaining, but this girl was becoming more of a trouble than she was worth.

Shane turned her head away to eye the street beyond the glass, the sun was getting low and clouds were threatening a night time storm. If she could just stall for a few more minutes she was in the clear, able to walk out like any other being. But the orange ball hanging low in the sky illuminated the city with a warm hue, one that stung Shane’s eyes that were unaccustomed to all the exposure to natural light. Had her body been capable of producing such moisture, and had she been capable of an emotional response, she would have cried at the sight.

There were moments where she missed being able to run freely through the grass with bare feet, the sun caressing her face, as she had done frequently as a child. In retrospect she took her youth for granted, spending ludicrous amounts of time in the garage with her father when she could have been out soaking up the sun. Now it was too late, an eternity of indoor days awaited her. Sometimes, if she went out early enough at night, she could still feel the lingering Vitamin B that was the only trace of the sun’s presence, it was also housed in the sun-kissed flesh of humans, practically seeping out of the pours of the frequent tanners and beach dwellers.

Unable to take the glow of the outdoors anymore, Shane turned her attention back to her company that was becoming more undesirable by each statement that escaped her lips. Her eyes, reddened by all the outward gazing focused on the mouth of the speaker, more specifically on the thought of tasting the daylight that most assuredly clung to the full, warm, lips. But the grey pools did not stop there, they traced the features of the girl while she became more heated in her words. Shane was all too captivated by what she was taking in visually and chose a more selective hearing method. Her rambling was eating up the time until sunset, and Shane was hardly about to interrupt despite projecting a loss in their little disagreement. If the human wanted to waste her time trying to justify herself to a stranger, that was her prerogative. Unlike the walking dead of the two she did not have an infinite amount of time to spend trotting the Earth’s crust, to add to the decomposing of the planet.

Finally the girl seemed to have had enough, threatening to call the police if Shane did not leave on her own accord. ”That would be silly.” She scoffed, as if an entire police force could detain her for more than the length of time that she was amused by it. Fate was on her side and there was barely a glow emanating from outside the shop, a cloud bank had rolled in and began showering the city with a cleansing rain. There would be an initial sting, a slight burning sensation across the minimal amount of exposed skin, but that would last only the length of time it took for the sun to fully set, or at least until she found some place else to retreat to and busy herself.

Without giving the girl more time to make empty, human, threats, Shane shrugged and made for the door. She kicked open the gateway to the streets, stopping once she stepped into the sea of street walkers. Pausing, she let the rain wash over her, the heavy downpour splattering against her. The coolness of the rain countered the rising heat from beneath her flesh, the juxtaposed sensations coalescing to create an all around pleasant feeling. But what still boggled her mind was the sudden racially motivated outburst on the girl’s behalf that had been picked up despite Shane’s growing fascination with the girl’s soft feminine features. She turned her head to glance back at the shop, spitting out some of the rain that managed it’s way into her mouth.

If she wasn’t going to kill the girl, she was sure as hell going to disprove her. Clearly words did not get through to her, this abolishment of her Shane’s a racist theory would come only via rash, unexpected action. The girl had already been given enough time to relish in her victory, it was her turn to make a point.

Shane swirled around, kicking off the street with her combat boots to re-enter the store. ”You can keep your religious convictions, but there’s one thing I have issue with.” She advanced quickly on the girl with a pace that shattered the speeds of even the most rushed walker, leaving a trail of small splatters behind her. Hopping the counter with the grace of a street-wise alley cat, Shane was in close enough proximity to smell the liquid beneath the girl’s skin. But simply attacking her would not be as ideal shattering as her chosen course of action, that would be too expected after such a heated exchange of words.

Swiftly she took hold of the collar of the girl’s shirt, using the fabric to pull her forward into a rain-doused kiss. The mashing of lips was as gentle as her vampiric strength would allow, but was brief none the less, she was proving a point, not trying to engage a heated make out session. She released the girl from her grasp, smirking and quite pleased with herself she said rather smugly, ”Still think I’m racist or do I need to give you further evidence that I am not ‘Klu Klux’ affiliated?”

[blackmagicwoman]

(Oh, Blake. I almost died laughing near the end.)

She thought she had won. But she was wrong, she was dead wrong. As soon as their lips connected, she realized she was beaten. If only Shane was a boy, this would've been a slighty sweeter defeat.

"suppose that proves me wrong, then?" Alice began in bewilderment.

"I apologize. " Her sweet temperment was back, she rubbed the back of her head in bashfulness. "I feel like such an ass, accusing you and such, but when an argument like that is started with me, I change." She checked her watch, "Okay, she should be here in 1...2..."

"ALICE! What time is it? The shop should've been closed an HOUR AGO! Look at this! Why are these lights still on? Will you take this damn dog of yours upstairs? Why are you so lazy? By Yemeja, I will not let you spend another sunday off after this!THIS IS ALL COSTING ME MONEY!" Maria Leon, the real owner of the shop, was a short and somewhat chubby Cuban women who wore a flamboyant red dress and a head wrapping that matched in color. She stood impatiently at the doorway, tapping her feet with the bundle of groceries and a small dog on a leash.

"Wait one minute, please." She took an armful of groceries and went upstairs and then came back for the dog to put back upstairs before she resumed her conversation with Shane, "Also, I'm not the owner. She is. " Maria scoffed and went upstairs yelling, "I need to change my clothes, look, let the girl buy whatever she wants and get her out of here! This a business! Not a nail salon where you can chat up with your girlfriends, honestly Alice, I thought I taught you better than this..."

She sighed. "Me and my dog live with her."

[blake]

[Haha! Yeah sorry about the slight god mod! =D I probably should have got your permission first. Whoops!]

The kiss had a particularly potent effect on the girl, any bitterness that slathered her words was gone as she spoke in awe of what had just happened. Shane didn’t know what she had expected, the thought of a possible rejection had not even crossed her mind. After all, she was capable of over-powering the girl with ease, but it was more than that. No one refused her, it would have been practically going against the laws of nature, like there was some principle of Science that stated ’no person male, female, dead, or alive is able to turn away Shane’. Had the girl made an attempt to fight her off she would have insisted on continuing to pursue her, if only to watch her squirm away.

Rarely did she need to rely upon her Vampiric powers of persuasion, most beings were superficial enough to be roped in by her looks alone, and when she added her gilded tongue to the equation it was a done deal. But she had not delved into her insurmountable charm to throw some verbal persuasion at the girl, in fact their conversation had consisted of nothing beyond feelings that encroached on animosity. Yet still the brief lip contact seemed to send the girl down a radically different road, her tone returning to the endearing nature that Shane had first heard form the basement. Not that it evoked much feeling within the vampire beyond amusement, it was intriguing that such a relatively meaningless thing such as a kiss could change the tone of the girl altogether.

Her brow arched at the apology, apparently no further demonstrations were required to solidify her stance on prejudice. But hey, if the girl wanted to go for another round Shane would be more than happy to oblige, she lacked boundaries that most kept up to protect themselves. She didn’t needed to hold herself within a suit of armor made up of emotions such as regret, dread, paranoia, self-consciousness, she was a vampire for Christ’s sake! Untouchable to most and quite the force to be reckoned with. SIlly arbitrary, human, emotions were not about to hold her back from enjoying her ludicrously long undead life span. If she did she would get bored and see no more point in her existence, the only logical solution to that would be a self-induced death.

But their close proximity was bringing a more primal feeling into the forefront of Shane’s mind, she was hungry. She could smell the liquid flowing through the highways for the traffic of blood cells beneath the girl’s skin. Shane’s eyes fluttered at the visualization of her pulse slowing as she was drained of her life... Well she hadn’t made any definite promises to herself not to kill the girl. She was now victorious, had proven her point, there had been no thought given to what came next, but a snack couldn’t hurt. Maybe if she left the girl alive she would be doing her an even greater favor, open her eyes a bit to the world.

Shane inched forward, a sly smile pulling at her lips as she spoke in a more muted tone, ”Fair enough, besides I like a girl with a bit of a bite.” Ironic coming from a vampire. Before she could corner the girl further a countdown was being made by her company, Shane reeled back slightly, curious as to what exactly happened so precisely within that three second window- and then the tsunami blew in.

Her head snapped to take in the image of the sausage of a woman. ”What the fu-” A verbal berating of the girl, Alice, cut through the shop, bringing pause to Shane’s exclamation of pure shock of what she was seeing. Alice moved around her, and Shane stepped from out behind the counter, crossing her arms and leaning against the glass nonchalantly as she watched the exchange take place. The woman was revolting, even to someone that enjoyed stirring up trouble as much as Shane, she was pretentious and acting very ‘queen of the castle’. What would it take to prove to that broad there were greater things than herself walking the streets.

”Bitch.” She muttered as the woman trounced up the stairs to change, the only thing preventing her from following and teaching her a lesson on the chain of being was that her blood probably tasted every bit as rotten as her persona. Shane’s face contorted at the mere thought of sucking off the bint, releasing a blech sound from her mouth. But Alice returned and Shane tilted her head toward the girl, ”You live with that? I don’t normally say this sort of thing, but I actually feel a little bad for you. I’m sure I could arrange for her untimely disappearance... I know a guy, well girl really, but you know how the saying goes.” She chuckled for the sake of the human, though it was a jest the prospect of ridding the earth of that beast upstairs was all too tempting to play through in her mind.

[blackmagicwoman]

Maria Leon. Crazy as she appeared, she was actually, dare I say it, nice.
Alice remembers being told once about the story of the place the day after she moved in.

"I'll tell you once and only once," she began.

The original owner of the store, her mother, left it to her after her death. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, she, her parents, and her six other siblings came to the States for a better future. They were both devout followers of the Santeria faith and wanted to share it with the world, two years afterwards, the El Gato Negro had its grand opening. During the late 60's and early to mid 70's, the small little corner of the occult, sparked a bit of a controsversy with its once popular products, Marijuana and issues of the infamous, "High Times" magazine.

When the word got out about their distrubution of, "Alternative Religious Paraphanalia", there was an uproar. The local churches and synagouges labeled them as, "sinners" and "devil worshippers". The story frightened parents and enamored rebellious children. When Anton LaVey, (yes, THAT one) got wind of it, he personally asked if the family would sell his books and philosophy on their store shelves. Soon, more, people requested for items that involved, "Diananic Wiccanism" or "Asatru". They quickly abandoned the selling of drugs for being a full blown treasure chest for the occult.

When Shane asked her if she wanted to get, "rid", of her landlady, she laughed at the thought, thinking she was joking.

"No, It's okay. Without her, I'd probably be strung out on drugs somewhere." She looked outside, the sky was a deep navy blue, and the rain was soft and clear sounding. There were a few stars out, Alice could barely make out the figure of the reclining feline on the window.

"Okay, okay. Enough private talk. You do have to leave soon. So, if you want to buy something, do it now."

[blake]

Strung out on Drugs? Shane remembered the sixties and all the mass dropping of acid until it became an illegal substance. She had taken advantage of the decade of free love and sucked many naive ‘hippies’ dry, being welcomed into their homes for a place to crash. There was no drug that could affect her, and back in the day she felt slightly left out of the progressive movement, but narcotics had never been of much interest to the vampire. She needed a fix of an entirely different sort. Without her blood lust being satisfied on a regular basis she would turn into more of an animal than she already was, ignore any shards of a remaining soul and leech off the nearest victim.

There was a time where she let herself slip to this level of desperation on purpose, entertain the beast within by letting it run rampant. No control meant a greater amount of chaos, something her psychotic self yearned to cause. Crossing that line came at a cost, she risked exposure, and as much as this element of danger appealed to her desire to be excited, Shane understood that revealing her undead self could cause more problems than the instant gratification was worth.

But the idea that this girl could spiral without the presence of her boss and roommate was too tantalizing. Shane’s brow lifted at Alice’s words, making a mental note to return some night and drain the elder woman just to see it’s effect wreak havoc on such innocence. ”You strung out? I’ve seen the low life’s who wind up comatose in their own filth, a needle dangling from their vein... You my dear are not one of them. I cannot envision you in such a position.” But what she could envision was the girl alone in the dark, fangs sunk into her youthful flesh. The provocative image spurred yet another hunger pain within Shane, her eyes narrowed deviously as she gazed at the girl from her position against the counter.

The provoking of Shane to leave sent the need to feed to the back burner. If she was going to get that precious fluid she would have to work for it, at least if she wanted it from the source before her. ”Buy something? Oh I have no intention of paying for any of this superstitious nonsense.” She pushed away from the counter and made towards the girl, not removing her gaze from the chocolate ones that belonged to Alice, Shane stopped in front of her, reaching out and snagging a satanic bible from the shelf beside them.

”I’m going to walk out of here with this, you will be forced to follow after me. Once we go for a nice walk and engage in a bit more private talk you can have it back.” She didn’t unleash her glamor on the girl, the smirk she donned was plenty enticing enough to get what she wanted. Shane picked up her stride once more toward the door, tapping the girl on the arm with the book as she passed. ”Come along now, wouldn’t want to have that savior of yours coming down on you for letting her merchandise get nicked.” She pushed open the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of the shop, the majority of the foot traffic from before had died down with the setting of the sun.

[blackmagicwoman]

She scoffed, "Flattery will get you nowhere, Shane." Alice said in a singsong voice. Honestly, how long was she going to keep this up?! Alice hated to fake her emotions, but she had to, she was known for being especially kind to her customers.

And plus, she needed their money.

"Superstitious nonsense? Really? Then why are you- "

Her brown eyes met steel ones, she was beginning to be uncomfortably close. "Um." Her head began to spin, the fight or flight response in her kicking in. Shane had stolen something that had belonged to the store!

”I’m going to walk out of here with this, you will be forced to follow after me. Once we go for a nice walk and engage in a bit more private talk you can have it back.”

Bitch.

She DID not, like this. She jumped over the counter and grabbed her sweater, a bright red one with an etching of a barn owl on each pocket, "Hey, Maria! I'll be back in a minute, if I don't come back in at least thirty minutes...call the police!"

She walked, no, she stormed out of the boutique and locked the door shut. 'I can't believe I'm chasing after that...that FEMALE! Ugh! This is becoming extremely irritating! Seriously, what happened to just, leaving if you didn't want anything in the place? A BUNCH of fundamentalists did that on Memorial Day!'

The issue of a group of Christian Fundamentalists (who, obiviously had, NOTHING to do that day) once again made local news. It was embarrassing and it hurt the business for almost a month. Needless to say, Alice was still bitter about it. She face Shane, annoyed, and asked, "Please don't let this be about religion, okay? I really don't feel like arguing with anyone, just make it short and simple, and no kissing. Please, I'd give you half of what I got in my purse before we do that"

It was a joke, of course, but, she paused and said, "I'm joking. But, no kissing, or touching, or anything that might border on sexual harassment. I get that from enough old perverted men on the subway!"