Lauderhill Second Time's a Charm
#1

Woofer Snoofer



Alright, the first time that she had tried doing this on her own things hadn't worked out so well, and so she had sort of been avoiding doing it a second time. This was a power meant to help her though, and she would never get used to the body of a dog unless she went out and walked around as one. She would never get used to hunting as a dog unless she practiced doing it, and now that the new moon had just passed, this was the perfect chance to just that.

Keeping to the city sidewalk, Evelina would try out her stray dog routine a second time, keeping aware of any dips between buildings or hideaways that she could easily lead a meal into. If for whatever reason trouble decided to make its appearance a second time, she would be hightailing it east.

Tonight would be drama-free... Or as drama-free as hunting allowed.
#2

outfit



Winter was so fucking lame. Mari was straight over it, with no thanks to the fact that she hadn't exactly dressed for winter. Some part of her cursed herself for not having worn, like, tights or some shit. She was wearing a god damn sweater, after all - but strutting down the dimly lit streets of lousy Lauderhill, her legs were fucking cold. She was over it. She missed Miami. She missed midnight asphalt that still held heat from the high noon sun.

The sight of a dog as she turned a corner sucked her right out of her self-pity. Mari jumped a little, sucking in a breath of surprise for the sight of some loose... doberman. The thing was fucking huge! Was it someone's pet?

"Jesus," she breathed to herself, eyeing the dog warily. Swear to god, if this thing bit her, she would fucking die.
#3
Already this was turning out a million times better than the last she had attempted this trick, a psychic appearing around the corner as if Evelina had summoned her herself. Steps halting, Evelina's ears would pull forward for the gasp, only a second of thought offered before Evelina picked up those embarrassing dog habits. Tail forced to wag, Evelina's dog rump would wiggle as she allowed her tongue to loll out in a friendly smile.

She was a very good puppy, she did not even bark!
#4
Mari was never much of an animal person. Sure, she liked them well enough, and could genuinely enjoy a good petting session. But the lifestyle of owning a pet struck her similarly as motherhood - too much responsibility. This dog was undeniably pretty, though, all sleek and ginger, and Mari was nothing if not a sucker for beauty. She would like a dog like that for the sheer sake of vanity. How fucking sick would she look walking this dog down the street on a bougie leash. And look at it, wagging its little nub tail at her. That was better than growling and snapping.

What was she supposed to do with it, though? What if it tried to follow her?

"Hiii," she crooned to it uncertainly, one hand extending just a few inches out, manicured fingers wiggling cautiously. "You got a pedigree, huh, perrito?"
#5
This was probably the worst part of playing dog, the actions that were required to fully sell her act were over the top embarrassing if she imagined doing these things as a human. No animal impulses like the few Weres that she had met to guide her through this miserable time as she continued to force her tail into a wag. The fingers inched closer, and while Evelina would have much preferred there to be no touching, she knew no dog that would not be eager for a good head scratch.

Bumping her head forward to close the difference, the tongue would continue to loll happily allowing whatever scritches the woman wanted to give before pulling away. A soft whine tugging from her throat as she took two steps back, and then another whine.
#6
Pretty dog was also pretty friendly. Mari considered the short, coarse fur under her hand with wonder, noting the general lack of dirt and oil. This thing was impeccably clean. No way it didn't have an owner. Why no collar? Maybe it'd slipped out of the yard. Mari considered the street around them, as if she could pinpoint where the closest neighborhood was to this more commercial strip.

The firm head disappeared from under her hand, and she glanced back to the dog uncertainly, watching as it whined and stepped back. What! Frowning, the woman looked over her shoulder for some sign of... something that might frighten a dog into backing away. Nothing to see! She looked down at herself - had she spilled something offensive? Nope. Didn't look like it. She looked back to the dog, perplexed. "Why you crying?"
#7
The woman did not follow, but Evelina maintained her attention, which was enough encouragement to keep her going as she paced forward a few steps. A small debate of whether to grab for her clothing or not, and deciding otherwise as she moved instead to nudge at the woman's leg. A soft prodding for her to walk forward and out of the spot that she had frozen in, if Evelina wanted any of this to be beneficial, then she needed her off the sidewalk and somewhere more private.

Perhaps she should invest in a service dog vest? It would require help to get into though....

A thought for another time, instead she would offer another low whine and another nudge.
#8
What followed was, of course, no verbal response, but further whining. The dog crowded her space, and she tensed up a little bit as its long nose poked into her leg. She blinked, shuffled forward a little bit, hands up. "Yo!" she laughed uneasily, waving a delicate palm in the air. This dog was like... herding her, maybe? Was it trying to take her to its injured owner or some shit? "Okay okay, what is it? Where we going?"
#9
Good, that was what she had been looking for! Evelina would have grinned for her victory had she been a human, but instead, her tongue would loll instead, pushing back past the girl to lead her back towards a less populated spot. Dimly lit alleyways were an easy find in the city, especially at night, the only issue was getting her new snack to follow her into one.
#10
Alright. Happy dog was taking the lead, eh? Mari frowned thoughtfully, followed slowly, one manicured hand gripping the strap of her purse. Maybe there was some fucked up person waiting for their smart pretty dog to bring help back to them. She didn't have the wit to consider the element of a missing service dog vest - dogs could be smart even without clothing, right?

Mostly, she was considering what sort of reward she might earn for being some accidental good samaritan. Her other hand plunged into her purse to rifle around for her phone as she followed this too-smart dog, prepared to dial some emergency line.
#11
Perfection, no further prodding needed to get the girl into a more secluded area, dog claws clicking happily against the concrete as Evelina led them both away from potential threats. It was when she felt they were decently hidden away that she turned back towards the human, a sharp yip given for her attention.

Dark eyes searching for a connection with hers so that they could move on to step two.
#12
Mari's phone was at the ready, but wherever this injured or sick or dying whatever owner was, they were really tucked away in this grimy fucking alley system. The woman frowned at passing chainlink and paint-splotched dumpsters, trying to see any sign of someone sprawled on the cold concrete. There was no one, not even a homeless person. What in the fuck.

The dog yapped at her, and Mari jumped some, looking to the animal with the same confused frown as one manicured hand wiped mindlessly at her skirt. "You takin' me on a walk or what?"
#13
Courage was not something that Evelina had a lot of, but it was definitely something that someone needed whenever they made an attempt at a suggestion. Something that Evelina had been pushing to gain more of as she experienced more and more of what it meant to be a vampire.

Still, she could not help the jumble of nerves that filled her stomach as she knew what was to come next. If she messed this suggestion up, then it was not likely she would be getting a meal of this girl. A chance would arrive for this encounter to blow up more than what Evelina had bargained for.

If the suggestion stuck, then things would have a chance of going much smoother. Leave Evelina with much more control over the situation than she would without the power.

Hunting was all about chances, and Evelina would take one now as she looked the woman in the eyes, and spoke, finally revealing that she was not truly what she appeared to be. "You will not resist me." The relief that filled her as her words stuck was both unimaginable, and so very welcome.


Hit

#14
The dog fucking talked.

Mari was so taken aback by this fact that she didn't immediately register what the fuck it had said - just that it had fucking said something. She blinked, surprise scrawled blatantly in her widened eyes and wrinkled forehead: "what!" in neon red. God damn. To think just months ago she'd been kind of bored with the idea of magic. Ridgefield was just fucking full of it, huh.

The words circled back to the front of her mind, then - she would not resist her. Her, this dog who'd just spoken in a weird voice that was absolutely a woman's. Her pulse launched into a runner's beat, stricken with nerves - and, of course, her response to fear was always anger.

She planted her hands on her hips, fixing her face into a cold look. She was in way over her fucking head. Had no idea what was happening. And yet. Buck up, chica.

"Why? You putting me under arrest?"
#15
Now that her suggestion had stuck, Evelina saw very little need to remain in this secondary form. A blink of the eye and she was back to her usual self, head shaking for the angry question that the woman had to offer.

"No," she answered, blinking. "I just want to feed from you, and then you will be free to go on your way." It was said with the intention of calming the woman, but even Evelina knew that she had mucked that one up. She could hardly imagine that the words feeding brought any sort of comfort with them, but still, it was what she intended to do as she reached for the woman's wrist.
#16
The dog was -

There was no dog. Just a woman. Mari blinked, taken aback. Whatever stupid magic instinct inside of her that triggered some destructive bubble out of fear didn't click. She didn't even find it in herself to shuffle back as the once-dog-now-woman answered her question.

Slowly, and somehow not slowly at all, it sank in. Feed from her! Mari's heart leapt, perhaps some instinct of its own, but she felt no lingering sense of fear. Maybe stupidly, she felt some sense of opportunity instead. Her eyes were wide, eyebrows up, and she thought to pull away, to hold her own wrist hostage.

"A vampire," she muttered, mostly to herself, and perhaps partially just to get it off her chest. "Ey, I've been fed from before, lady. I'll get you high, you know that, right?"

Maybe that was the goal. Party vamps.
#17
Given that this woman was a psychic it was not all that surprising to hear that she had been fed upon before, she imagined that most in her predicament had been at some point or another regardless if they remembered it or not.

The unfortunate outcome of having blood that called out especially to her kind.

"I am aware of that, yes." Evelina answered, pulling the wrist closer. "But I am not too concerned with that, you just so happened to be the one who came when I called."
#18
She wasn't concerned with that, eh? Nothing real special about getting high. Nothing real special about Mari. Just a hungry redhead. Mari wasn't sure how she felt about that. A little miffed? Definitely not special! :(

"That's some clever shit," Mari pouted, watching her narrow wrist in the woman's pale, deceptively delicate hand. "No dog's that fucking smart. That work for you a lot?"

Here was this Russian chick trying to get a good meal, and Mari just couldn't shut up, eh?
#19
The compliment definitely settled nicely with Evelina, though she did her best not to show it on her face, her shoulders giving a shrug for the question asked.

"This is only the second time that I have tried it." The wrist was pulled closer, "but I am two for two on snagging someone out of the crowd." Even if the first had been a stupid vampire that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with ever again.

And now that the woman's question had been answered, Evelina would bite into the slim wrist that she had captured.
#20
Second time and two for two. The chick was good, or else just lucky. Mari didn't know if this made her dumb, but god damn if she'd let it happen again. Fuck giving blood out for free.

She watched with some familiar feeling as the woman bit her. Unusually long teeth disappearing into her arm, and her eyes decided that it definitely should have fucking hurt, but it never did. Just a little pressure, and then nothing. That was some National Geographic shit right there. It was fascinating, for all it also made her distantly nervous. Who was to say this lady wouldn't take too much? And Mari was just standing here. It was all she could do.

The time wouldn't pass idly on her end, though. Even as Red had a mouthful of her arm, she decided she'd go ahead and pose the next question that popped into her head, for all it might be a moment before she got an answer.

"Don't guess you'd be down to buy me dinner or something for this, would you?"

Never hurt to try.
#21
The answer would not be given until Evelina had gotten her fill of the woman's blood, not out of rudeness, but simply because it was hard to stop yourself from drinking something that tasted in the way that psychic blood did. The flavor filled her mouth and before she knew it, her brain was already starting to buzz from the typical high that it always offered, a fluttery feeling filling her body as she carefully counted the seconds.

She would not accidentally be the death of this girl.

Once she neared the end of her time, Evelina would reluctantly release the woman's wrist, eyes blinking heavily as she finally considered the woman's words. "Would you like that?' Was the sluggish response that Evelina had to offer.
#22
The silence stretched awkwardly. Awkward to Mari, at least, even though she'd known to expect it. The immediate response was the sound of this woman's mouth and throat chugging blood, and the sound of her own heart in her ears. Thump. Thump-thump. Thumpthumpthumpthump. Vampires had taught her that blood loss made your heart beat faster, and she held onto that sliver of science for all it didn't make any sense to her. It beat any confession of unease.

There was relief in the release, at least. The redhead's grip was slow to come away, and Mari wasn't in any position to yank her hand away. She did look down at her freed wrist, the clean little pinpricks that were already practically invisible. What a trip.

Her question was finally answered, with another question, and Mari considered the woman' face as her heart continued to hammer against her stomach. Slow speech and heavy eyes. Vampires might be tricky. Intoxication was familiar territory.

She smiled, sultry and sweet, trying to stay relatively still to keep from getting all light-headed. "I'd like money more, but beggars can't be choosers or whatever." She leaned, slowly, closer to the vampire, smelling some faint perfume of metal. Blood. Her blood! "Girl's gotta eat, you know?"
#23
Evelina nodded, slowly at first, but as her resolve strengthened the speed picked up a bit, became more confident as she released the woman's wrist.

Osvald had fed her when he'd fed the first time, it only seemed right that she do the same if asked.

"I can get you fed then," she answered, "but I do need to make sure of something." A search for eye contact as she looked to the woman's face.
#24
There seemed to be some serious thought going on in that pretty head. A nod that started slow, then became more certain of itself. She'd be fed, then! But wait, there's more. Mari met the woman's eyes, warm and foolishly confident. How could she not know what she didn't know, after all. "Listen. Your secret's safe with me. I know how to cut a business deal." She could be smart, quiet, friendly. This was the first vampire she'd managed to get her hands on in the entire city of Ridgefield, and she didn't want to let that go, god damn it.
#25
She seemed to get the gist of things, but Evelina was never one to leave it up to fate alone. The woman could just as easily be lying to her, and given that she was not Safiya, she had no way of knowing.

No, better to have magic on her side as well, and since eye contact was there, no need to shy away from it either. "Good, do not go back on your word then." She answered, relief filling her as it stuck as it was meant to. "I do not want trouble for either of us."


hit

#26
Prickly chick, huh? Mari's smile remained, smooth as glass, hinting at teeth. Her word wasn't a valuable thing. Gossip was a commodity. Information was sometimes as good as money. As far as Mari was concerned - in her sweet oblivion - this woman was as good as under the bus if she made a bad move.

And still, she put out her hand, manicured fingers extended like a diva turned businesswoman. A deal with the devil? "Name's Mari, by the way."
#27
Names.

Evelina was so terrible at lying, and equally terrible with coming up with names, and so she wouldn't bother with it. There would be more problems gained if she offered an obvious lie in its place.

"Evelina." She answered taking the woman's hand into her own. "Did you have an idea for what you might like to eat?"
#28
Evelina. Fancy. So fucking Russian. The question earned a brightening of her smile, and she released the icy hand from her own. She felt more in her element here, sober and alive in the presence of a stoned vampire who was offering her dinner. Even if it had had to be prompted.

"Yeah. My favorite restaurant is a bistro downtown." Hell yeah, Parisian food in Colorado. Expensive. Fine. Dining. Baby. "It's on the top floor of a skyscraper, you believe that shit?" She paused, batting her eyelashes. "If that's a hella drive for you, I'm down to just doordash it." 0:-)
#29
Bistros. Top floor. Skyscraper.

This all sounded really expensive... Evelina was not a very rich gal, but she had been saving up for a car so she technically had some money hanging out in her bank account... But her car... :(

A deal was a deal though... Only... "Downtown like Ridgefield downtown?"
#30
The woman seemed to think on it, and then questioned the whereabouts. Mari's smile shifted again, a pleased, toothy smile. Yeah, Ridgefield downtown. She was a fancy bitch, alright. "Yeah. Right in the heart of it." As if to clarify what she meant, she patted her own chest, her palm thumping solidly against the fabric of her sweater.
#31
It looked like Evelina would be doordashing it for her then, because no way was she risking her neck to appease a meal.

"Give me your address and I can doordash it to you then." Evelina answered with a shake of her head, "or I can just give you the money to go."
#32
Well, looked like homegirl wasn't down for the road trip. It was an address for the 'dash, or it was cold hard cash. The latter was more appealing. Mari could eat whatever was stacked up in her kitchen and fold up paper in her mattress. It seemed like she might get less bang for her buck, or the other way around or whatever, if she asked for the money. Sigh. Maybe a fancy meal wasn't that much of a low ball, right?

"I'll give you my address," she purred agreeably, whipping out her own phone. "You can have my number, too, if you ever get thirsty again." This was delivered with a playful wink, because Mari was not one to skip any potentially worthwhile avenues.
#33
This would be the second psychic's number that she would place in her phone specifically for a meal... Maybe she was getting pretty good at this whole vampire thing.

"Sounds like a plan." Evelina agreed, pulling out her own phone so that she could get started on the requested delivery. "You can put what you want, and your number in if you would like." Evelina would just pay for it all and sob about it later.
#34
Money was no object here, so far as Xiomara could tell. Evelina was agreeable enough, all civil and cool as she took out her own phone. Mari fantasized about a glass of wine and chicken cordon bleu, caneles and profiteroles, all through the frantic-bird beat of her own faint heart. Fancy French people shit could make up for it all, at the very least, right?

And so, she did as was offered to her, checking off her gluttonous order, plugging in her address, and her phone number. Any other time, she might be utterly keen to share this entire endeavor, too - to go gossiping to Zareen and Bobby and Diego - but it wasn't even crossing her mind, somehow.

"Viola," she trilled smilingly as she passed the cellphone back to Evelina. "Thanks, chica."
#35
Evelina did her very best not to watch the number of times that the woman's fingers would press against a new button. Did her best not to imagine the amount of money that was being wasted at this moment. Vampire hearing, however, left her very aware of it all however, and her imagination ran wild, even as she promptly exited the app to save herself from viewing the total amount that had been spent.

"Of course," she answered as nonchalantly as she was able, that high from earlier ebbing slightly as her crisis brain set in instead."Consider us both even then."
#36
Of course, of course. Were they even? Mari struggled to think back to the total of the meal, to compare it to what she and Zareen had discussed asking for online, but it was all up in smoke. Yeah, they were even enough. This could have been humiliating, or far worse. Tricked by a dog, coaxed into this fucking alley. Could've been axed up into pieces. And somehow her fear felt so small, even looking back at it right now, from not so far away. Huh.

"Yeah, true," she piped keenly. Even it was. "Let's get out of this shady-ass alley."
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