A plan for the future

Josette just ran. Ran as fast as her legs allowed her to. The wind was cold, but it didn't bother her as much as the stares she got. Luckily she passed them by ease and no-one seemed to want to stop her. She knew she had to stop at some point or she would end up running in to the ocean, and it was as if at that thought she bumped in to something. Or rather someone. She froze up, looking at the dark haired guy who was now on the ground before her. Her eyes still filled with tears, her body trembling from fear. He got up and she took a step back, fearing he was like the lycan too. Would he grab her and touch her without permission too? Would he not make any sense in his words as well? But as she was asked if she was alright she shook her head, looking down as she started shaking again, sobbing softly. "I need to hide," she pleaded with him, reaching over to take his hand, "please help me," she was ice cold compared to his skin. And yet he wasn't as warm as the lycan had been, therefor he wasn't as scary.

She followed him, and while she didn't feel fatigued the same way as a mortal, she was awfully tired. Scared still as she held his hand, she decided to trust him, following him through the ins and outs of the streets that she herself barely knew the names of. Arriving at the apartment complex it was clear it had seen better days, but she didn't really have the luxury to be picky right now. Or well she had, but in the midst of it all Josette hadn't thought things through. She had done the least vampyric thing of it all; going with her instincts.
Once inside the apartment she looked around, but didn't seem to react much at the mess. At least it seemed clean. Or clean in the sense that she didn't see live bugs scurry across the floor. He spoke about a drawer set that contained clothes and that was when she finally looked down herself. Her dress torn, still wearing Eden's jacket. She froze for a moment as she got flashes of how the lycan had torn at her clothes and had ripped her undergarments off with no real consideration. The stranger gave her some space, and she seemed to go with the motions, searching through the drawers until she found something that could fit her. It wasn't anything special, just some underwear and what she presumed to be a nightgown in black satin. She also grabbed a pair of pants that were ripped and what she guessed was a hoodie-cardigan hybrid. He was looking away, but she still felt rather self-conscious, moving out to the small bathroom. It wasn't much prettier in here, the grime alone on the tiles told the story of neglect.
Shaking she got out of her torn dress, just dumping it in the dirty bathtub before hurrying to get dressed. Taking a few moments for herself she returned out in the apartment, going over to the stranger that she handed Eden's jacket to. It wasn't anything special, but it was better than what he was wearing. "Here," she whispered. It was a small token of gratitude, but it was all she had right now.

Need it more? But he was a mortal, and even she could feel he had been cold. "I insist," she said, not taking no for an answer. He seemed genuine, but so again, so had Lucius to begin with. At least this young man wasn't a lycan. She took a small step back, clearly just to keep her distance a bit. It would take her some time to trust someone again, even a stranger who treated her kindly. He asked about her hunger and she frowned a little. Was he offering himself up? "I'm a little famished, but nothing too bad," she told him, just being honest. Sure, her and Eden had had a large feast before they had departed, but all the running and fear had drained her. "Really, it's no trouble," she insisted, moving over to look at some of the books. Some of them were even children's books that she knew in French. "Do you read a lot?" she asked.

Food? Didn't he know what he was talking to? Vampyres; You’re all dirty through and through. She could hear those words ring in her ear as she probably looked a little out of it. Deciding to focus on something she at least could touch, she decided to speak about the books. Such a great conversationalist, huh? The books didn't make sense to him? "You don't know how to read?" she asked, his accent sounded different than what she had expected. "I get it ... Learning English as a second language is hard," she sighed, picking up one of the books, actually smiling slightly at the cover. It was a children's book alright. A story about a rabbit. "This one I know Le Lapin, the rabbit," she said, though she wasn't familiar with the English version as much as the French. "It is quite the selection you have," she hummed, sitting down with the rabbit book in some worn out couch, looking at the beautiful binding. Of course it didn't look like a children's book, the binding much more traditional.

Borrowing this place? She didn't know if she liked the sound of that, but she guess she couldn't really judge someone for merely surviving. As he asked if she could read it for him she looked at him a little surprised. "Sure," she said, pulling her legs up on the couch, opening the book. "The Rabbit," she read the title, looking at him, her eyes seemed to soften up just a little bit. She was a bit naïve, but she hoped that this guy would turn out to be genuine.
""It is not an easy feat being a rabbit; Our fur, our wiggly tail and our long ears make us incredibly easy to spot as prey" said father rabbit as he had gathered all his children near the fireplace. He was chewing on a carot, taking his time, just one nibble at a time. Everyone had gathered in the greater part of the house to listen to father rabbit talk about the season of spring coming up ahead and none other than their oldest rabbit was more excited for it. It would be his first spring as a grown rabbit. He would have to learn the ways of finding a mate and eventually getting his own house with a special someone," she read out loud of the stories of the rabbit. How it was stumbling through spring, making friends and figuring out how flowers made him sneeze. About how he learnt to jump so high that he almost reached the moon and spent his nights sleeping in a field full of carrots. Life was easy for the little guy, he was young and happy, and soon enough he found himself interested in another rabbit. "Her ears were white as snow and her nose pink as newly bloomed roses; Ah yes, the young rabbit felt himself mature in that instant as he saw her, but for this season it was all about play. They would jump around with the other rabbits, chasing one another through the fields and play hide and seek. But one evening the female rabbit turned to him and said: "Sweet sweet rabbit, I want us to enjoy not only spring, but all the other seasons with you." This made the rabbit burst with joy, and he jumped so high that he jumped all the way to the moon," Josette was a good story teller, making up voices for each character and speaking rather dynamic with the text. But now the poor rabbit was stuck on the moon! And as the chapter ended on a cliffhanger, she looked up to look at this stranger. "I know, it's very silly," she chuckled, looking down at the book in her hand.

She was surprised to hear him find value in such a silly story, but she had to agree. She looked down at the pages, seeing it was well worn. It must've been a book that was read quite often wherever it came from. He complimented her and she looked at him rather surprised. "No, I-I haven't read aloud in quite some time," she confessed, touching one of the pages gently. He looked so relaxed, so calm. She was scared of what monster might be beneath that sweet exterior. Her eyes looked back at the page, "I used to read to the younger kids in the orphanage, " she spoke softly. Those days seemed so far away. Her just any other orphan and with no real future if it was to be like that. Breathing out in a small sigh, she touched the page as if she was remembering something. "It used to be my way to escape ... Like if I could bring the pages to life, then surely they could take me somewhere better."

"I like journaling," she said, smiling sweetly at him. "And sometimes it's not so much about writing down information as much as thoughts," she argued. He did seem genuinely nice, but she was also starting to feel thirsty. "What do you have in the fridge?" She asked, because she wasn't sure where to even find it when the whole place was covered in books.

He left briefly and she folded the book, staring over at the window he had been sitting in. The view wasn't half bad. As he returned and held out the vial to her, she frozen for a second, her eyes locked on to his veins. Even though he smelled different, it wasn't what mattered. She could hear his blood pumping in his veins, and yet she couldn't understand. If he was mortal, to some capacity, then why didn't he eat? It took all of her not to just snap out after his wrist, but she composed herself, grabbing the vial with two careful hands. "Thank you," she said in a timid voice, trying to not play up her vampyric side. She popped off the small cap, emptying the vial rather quickly, but it wouldn't quench her thirst for long. "You really shouldn't bear your wrists to creatures of the night," she said, wrapping her arms around her legs as she let the blood enter her system.

Was he just acting stupid or did he have a death wish? She wasn't sure, but she could see the confusion in his eyes. "Leech? Bloodsucker?" She mentioned a few slurs that she had heard in her time. "Vampyres? Don't you have vampyres where you come from?" She asked curiously.

Josette frowned, getting up from her seat and walked closer to him. She was a bit weary of course. "You are definitely not from around here," she said softly, almost to comfort him and as she reached him she inspected him more thoroughly. Not that he would be able to tell. But she could smell his scent, hear his heart beat. He smelled different. Exotic. Like what she imagined papaya and pineapple to be like for humans. And yet there was something different too. Something with a bit of kick. "Do you want me to explain what a vampyre is?" she asked. That way he didn't have to disclose anything he didn't want to, and she could inform him of whatever knowledge he seemed to lack.

Josette felt bad for him. He was clearly confused about all of this, but she felt the need to talk about something that she at least had some knowledge in. "Well we aren't really leeches, though that is a slur that people use," she said, turning her eyes to look out at the city. Okay, they needed to start with the basics. "Take my hand," she said, and if he did he would feel how cold she was, even after getting dressed and in a warmer place, she hadn't heated up. But she could feel the warmth in his hands, feel the blood rushing through his veins in a beautiful symphony. "We are born cold and with hearts that do not beat," she said, lifting his hand carefully, letting it rest over her clothed chest, letting him feel what wasn't there. She went on to explain why the vampyre's had the slurs they had, telling how they drank blood from mortals and that in the olden days it was normal for vampyre's to hunt to kill. "I don't kill; I don't think I've ever really drunken from anyone alive," she confessed, though she couldn't speak for herself as an infant.

"We need hearts to be alive, and piercing them with a certain type of weapon we die," she explained. She didn't know if there was a scientific reason, but to her, her heart was just there as more like a target. He asked about the vial and she nodded, and the follow up question made her chuckle a bit shaking her head no. "No, it's not really a need as much as it is something instinctual," she explained, looking down at what he was writing, but she understood none of it. It was clearly another language, and indeed one she didn't understand. "If I get really hungry I can lose myself a bit to the instinct ... My body will start pumping out pheromones, luring anyone near me closer and if I follow that lead, then I'll eventually get to drink," she explained. It was a bit more complicated than that, but she hoped he could follow. "I can smell your blood from where I'm standing now and based on that I can decide whether or not I'll like it."

He sounded so ... Bored? She wasn't sure how to take that, and yet she felt a little confused. He asked and she nodded, though it wasn't really a question, more a statement. That was when she mentioned his smell and she was surprised to hear him wanting to hear what his blood smelled like. That was a harder question to answer. Carefully she stepped closer, "I think I'll need to be closer to be sure I get it right," she said, feeling a bit nervous. The last thing she wanted to do was be invasive or perhaps make him feel uncomfortable. If he let her, she would dip her face down to his neck, seeing his veins pop out as if it was her will drawing them forth. Breathing in his scent, she closed her eyes. It was a little intimate and she hummed softly. "Exotic," she whispered, breathing him in once more, knowing she was reaching her limits before she had to lean away, and so she did. "Not as much fruity as spicy," she said, humming as she didn't know if she had ever smelled one like him.