Welcome to Gaia! ::

Victor watched as the assailant vampire dissappeared into the night and he resisted the urge to give chase at the risk of exposing his position.

Observing the interaction between the four figures, he could only assume what had transpired. As the other two walked back inside and dissappeared while the one that remained on the ground stayed there, curling up beside the tree, alone.
She was a human, that much was certain, young as well, barely having finished maturity.

She whimpered as she sat by herself. She nearly jumped as Victor appeared from the shadows.
"It's alright. I am not here to hurt you, nor am I one of those fiends..."
As a sign of good faith, he even opened his mouth, showing no elongated incisors to be found.
He smiled slightly and could see she was still frightened, but more at ease than previously.
"This party is not a great place to be if you do not enjoy the suspense and danger it provides."
Still saying nothing, he took the risk of revealing himself.
"I am Victor. I am here to... enjoy the party with the patrons of the event. Who, may I ask, are you?"

Skyler looked at Victor as he talk. She looked down as he asked her, her name. She wrote it in the dirt. 'Skyler' Then she looked back up at him. As her shaking began to slow down, but her sicking feeling did not fade. She backed away some unsure of what to think or whom to trust. She fixed her black cloth that sat over her eyes to make sure it stayed. She began to hum and old song tune to clam her self. She leaned agenst the tree as her heart kept on pounding. It felt like it was going to bust out of her chest.

She franticly tried to move her legs but she had no luck. She just stood there and kept an eye and ear on every thing around waiting for someting else to happen. But nothing did.

Victor wasn't entirely sure what to make of the spectacle. So he simply just spoke his thoughts aloud.
"Skyler... An odd name. What is even stranger is that you do not speak... Hmm. Well, whether your reason is that you do not trust me enough, I am unable to discern. But I do know that you are not mute, for if you were, you would not have been able to scream earlier, thus alerting me to your presence. If you do not trust me, then trust my words. Keep to yourself and be wise of whom you associate with, the vampires will leap at the opportunity to draw your life force from you. I will be hidden in the party as well, so you may very well run across me again, or perhaps not at all. Just be careful. From one human, to another."

With that, he slipped back into the mansion and returned to the party.

The night wore on, people seemed to gravitate back and forth switching out between dancing and conversing as they had been for the duration of the night, but the main hall itself seemed to be becoming less congested. Mostly due to the fact that many people had wandered off to their individual rooms, most likely for permiscuous purposes.

As he returned to the ballroom floor, he glanced upwards, catching a couple leaving a small alcove. They stumbled forward as he caught a glimpse of an angry girl, very similar to the one he had seen earlier that night, slam the door shut behind them.

Victor chuckled and made a path leading to the alcove above. Keeping the brim of his hat low and cloak wrapped tight around his body. Up the red carpeted steps he went, and across the decorative balcony to the emblazoned doorway and knocked three times.

When the door opened, the masked face of the woman he had recognized from before was there, with the angriest tone behind it.
" I already said for you to stay out of m-"
He smiled from under the brim of his hat and caused her to pause for a moment.
"Who are you?"
"I do believe that's against the rules of a masquerade, my dear."
"Heehee... Good point. I do recognize you from somewhere though..."
"It's possible. I've been wandering about the mansion most of the night, enjoying the festivities. I just so happened to see you up here and wondered if you could use some company."
With a smile hidden beneath her mask, she opened the door further and outstretched an inviting arm into the alcove.
A grateful nod coming from the hunter heralded his first steps into the room.
Neither knew what would transpire next.

He sat down in a chair opposite of her and smiled as she offered him a drink.
"Yes, please."
He glanced around the room for a moment and then returned his gaze to the masked woman in front of him.
"Quite the setup you have here... and thank you."
"So, why have you distanced yourself from the rest of the party?"
"I could ask you the same," Victor said with a chuckle as he non-chalantly sipped his wine.
"I simply needed to get away from the clutter," she shot back.
"Same."
"Liar."
"Hah! You're quick. I like that."
"You still haven't answered the question."
"Direct as well! Kudos. Truth be told, I've been watching you, little lady. You've caught my eye more than once, and I believe I have seen you looking at me."
She said nothing, only enjoying the spectacle.
"You saw me leave with the young lady who never came back," he said standing up," You saw the group of men go outside with me, only to see myself return alone," he took off his hat, revealing his chiseled face and gray-blue eyes," and you saw me notice your pale skin."
Her form froze for a moment.
"You saw all of this, you knew what I was doing, or at least could suspect it; yet, you have done nothing to stop me. You knew that I was aware of your true nature, vampire. And yet you have still done nothing... why?"

"It is in poor taste to come so tardy, especially with such a kind invitation...well it couldn't be helped," Raoul murmured as he walked away from the sentry at the door and walked toward the gracefully sweeping stairs leading to the galley below. The ball was well and truly in full swing, he noticed the marked opulence surrounding him in the hall, mirrored even more so by the other guest's attires. Raoul preferred to keep his dressing to the minimum mostly because it made no sense to suit up with every trapping when more often than not they'd be off come morning and the grand occasion did not quite manage to make him change his mind. His black long shirt was made of fine silk, elegantly embroidered with silver along the cuffs and lapels and a small symbol emblazoned with bold red over his heart. It was a raven, the symbol of his house, and calling card to anyone who was savvy enough to understand...

He took his time down the stars, scanning the masked faces and figures milling around him, some dancing others in pairs and even triplets cavorting arm in arm...the thrilling sound of laughter carried over the ball music...everyone, it seemed, was having a good time. Raoul smiled softly and slipped a hand into his pocket, humming under his breath along with the lilting notes of the particularly talented violinist He arrested the gaze of a passing waiter-chiefly because they were looking eyeball to eyeball- and relieved him of a champagne glass with a murmur of thanks, "Remind me not to eat you at some point tonight."

Raoul savored the bubbly headiness of the drink and set it aside, reaching into his pocket for a soft silk material. He'd seen and taken note of all he needed for the evening; a game was afoot, that much he could already tell, and he was intrigued enough...he pulled the small black mask over his eyes and deftly tied the knot...well time to join in...

Here she was seated in the alcove talking to none other than a slayer. They were actually conversing and finding things out about each other. She had learned much about him in a short time as he would learn more about her. It seemed he wanted that knowledge. He claimed to note a diffference in her..a difference from her kind, and it wasn't due only to her being a cruznik. She was slightly angered at his description of what she should be.

"You and your kind have such mis-conceptions of what I am, what I should be, and what I will become. My clansmen and other families share the same notion. Did you think that I wished to be what I am. I was born into this Victor. Im neither a saint nor a savior, but this does not mean im a demon. As I stated before I am feared by both. Vampires dislike and distrust me because I can feed on them and do. Humans fear me for I can feed on them as well, yet there are those who consider me a savior. The one who will wipe out the vampire race. "

"Can you understand me? My loneliness? My troubles? I must be on guard at all times. Do you want to know why im different? I'll tell you. Nosferatu in my own clan betrayed me. My family, the De L' Cor's is one of the strongest clans in existence today. My parents were the heads of the clan. By copulating I was born the heir to the clan and would have dominion of it. In the stealth of night they came, my so called clansmen to dethrone my parents and be rid of me. Oh yes my parents fought long and hard to protect me but even so they died. You want to know how It was discovered I was a cruznik? Well..watching my parents die changed something in me and I went berserk. Each vampire that attacked me met a tragic fate as I crushed their bodies and feasted on their blood. I was found later surrounded by bodies and feeding on the last of the attackers. Thats is when I discovered who I was and it was all due to the pain of losing my parents. I was only a fledgeling and all I knew was their love, not the horrors of the world or my true nature. I never fed on a human. My parents fed me by other means. But on that night I learned everything. Im am not some perversion of nature as you put it or a blood thirsty monster. I am still young by vampire years and there are those who question my rule."

"I wish to be different. Watching someone you love die in front of you changes a lot of things. I do not wish to see that pain visited on others, even your kind. Yes I feed on them but I do not kill and I make sure to erase memory of me from their minds. I cannot vouch for my kind nor am I making excuses for them. But I find ignorance in your assumption that I should be what you expect me to be. That is why I did not care that you dispatched others like me at this ball. As a matter of fact I almost dispatched one myself. He tried to feed on a girl in the garden."

" Just one night that is all I asked for. One night to deny what I am. To walk among others without fear. To flirt, and dance...to feel someone cared for me even if it were not true. Can you believe I have never been kissed? So Victor you can think of me what you wish. But I refuse to take blame for something I did not do and for being born what I am. If you want to get rid of me go ahead but I will fight you till my last breath." She looked at him her emerald eyes softened displaying her loneliness and sadness but just as quickly they changed and hardened. She would not die tonight.. not here.. not like this..not without even being kissed.