Rice Bluff The Invisible Vampire

It was late and apparently, Riddhi had found herself in a rather sketchy part of town, which made for perfect hunting grounds. It hadn't taken her long to seek out someone stumbling around on their own. They were clearly stupid or had nefarious intent themselves. Either way, the man was an excellent target.

Having suggested her most recent prey to forget her the moment she spoke again, Riddhi stole a moment to turn invisible before her fangs met flesh. She drank hungrily, the blood soothing the effects of the upcoming new moon in a few days' time. She covered the person's mouth to prevent them from screaming and alerting someone to their presence, rolling her eyes as they tried to wriggle free unsuccessfully. Focused her attention on drinking, albeit a little greedily. Realized the person's pulse was slowing but refused to stop just yet. Riddhi wanted more. Craved it, and so she continued as she pulled them further into the alleyway behind a dumpster and out of sight from prying eyes.

---

Invisibility lasts 18 minutes

Prying eyes may have worked, but what about non-prying eyes? What about poor Jacky, beautiful crow form, vibing on some wrought iron hanging off the side of a building, suddenly being forced into this attack by simply being in the same alley?

The smell of blood was thick, and Jacky’s beak clicked hungrily. The vampire doing the feeding was seemingly MIA, but considering blood was being lapped up and the man’s mouth, while opened, was only making strangled noises, it was obvious that there was a vampire still there. Invisibility. How useful.

Jacky hopped off from the wrought iron and without even one wing flap, successfully landed on top of the man’s head. Hmm. Near death.

"You know he’s almost dead, right?" the crow asked, in a very bored sense.

Riddhi broke away as she felt the presence of another vampire. Her hand still covering the strangled cries of the man who was growing weary and off-balanced. A crow had joined them, landing on the man's head. Riddhi smirked, even though the gesture wouldn't be seen by the other vampire. She let go of the man, who slumped down to the ground. Heart still beating, albeit slowly. Near death, perhaps. But she didn't care.

"Away," She spoke to the human if only so he'd forget their encounter if he survived it. Riddhi thought she heard a grunt, which was enough for her.

Taking a step back from the crow, wherever he lingered now, she leaned against the wall of the deteriorating brick building behind her, unafraid. "He's all yours, if you want him."

The minute the man started to slump, Jacky hopped off and became Jacky once more. He leaned against the wall of the alley, smiling coolly at the space he thought the vampire was in. He had no idea she was on the opposite side of the alley, but it wasn’t like it really mattered where she was.

Jacky scoffed. "I’m not a sloppy seconds kind of vampire," he lied, though how would she know. He looked at the man, pitifully trying to gather enough sense to get away.

With a wicked grin, Jacky took a step forward and delivered a solid kick to the man’s temple. The man instantly was out, perhaps permanently. Jacky didn’t know or particularly care.

The smirk on her lips widened into a grin as the vampire transformed back into human form, claiming he didn't want her sloppy seconds. "So be it." She watched, head tilted in curiosity as he kicked the man in the head, rendering him unconscious. She thought she could still hear the faintest of heartbeats if she listened closely, but it was only a matter of time. Perhaps he'd never wake up. How thrilling!

"Nice form," Riddhi complimented, still eyeing the vampire from her spot against the wall, wondering what else he might be capable of. At least she knew she was safe from suggestion in her current state. He seemed as strong as her, though perhaps a rogue as well. Had he been in Ridgefield long? Hmmm.

Jacky shrugged, though secretly liked the compliment. It was t often that he could do something violent to a human and not have someone make a fuss over it. Unless she was just bluffing. Hard to tell since she was invisible.

"So do you plan to ever actually show yourself or are you afraid I’ll find you repulsive?" He grinned at the spot he thought she was at, which was close to where she was, but not at all exact.

Ahhh, so he wanted her to show herself. That was something she didn't plan on doing, not yet anyway. Didn't care what he thought of her appearance, as she didn't particularly care what strangers thought in general.

The grin on her face could be heard in her tone as she replied. "Why should I show myself to you?" Riddhi asked simply, amused and eager to hear his answer.

---

3/18 minutes

"Well, it’s boring to just talk to a wall," he said with a shrug. And it was. He liked being able to see some sort of physical presence, whether that be an animal, a human, or even just a hand flipping him the bird.

"Besides, better to go ahead and let it go than to keep pushing it and suffer the consequences, right?" Jacky knew that most powers had a consequence of being used for too long, and though the consequences varied by person, they had all seemed unpleasant in their own way.

Hmm, he had a point. Even if Riddhi didn't feel any side effects yet. It wouldn't be long before feelings of dissociation set in. She didn't exactly want to appear weak in front of another either.

So, she dropped the invisibility, starting first with her boots and ending with her head. Her eyes flashed purple once more before turning back to brown but they didn't meet the gaze of the other vampire.

"Better?"

---

Look with boots and a beige trench coat.

She wasn’t ugly by any means, but Jacky wasn’t exactly a nice person. And he’d been in a bad mood for a long time, so maybe it would just feel nice to take the piss out of someone.

He wrinkled his nose in disgust as wickedness blazed in his different colored eyes. "Oh, no, you are hideous. You should stay invisible as much as possible."

Her lips curled upward into a smirk. While she was tempted to give in to her annoyance, she let it go in favour of her own amusement. Riddhi knew what she looked like and was quite happy with it, thank you. She also didn't need the words of some stranger to justify her own beauty.

"Look who's talking," She replied back, one eyebrow raised, her expression cool and collected.

Jacky held himself in high regard, but he was also aware of when someone was just trying to match his energy, so this was fine.

He chuckled and pushed off from the wall, stepping closer to the woman. "When I was a prince, I had men and women fall to their knees around me. I was the third born son, so I didn’t have power on my side. It was," he paused to wave his hand around his face, "my looks. My beauty."

All lies, of course. He’d definitely been called ugly before, but most people were at least drawn in by his eyes.

It was possible what the stranger said was true, but she still wouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt of looking him in the eye. He was attractive if you were into that sort of thing. Riddhi was, decidedly, not.

"How fun for you." Even if he was a prince, he wasn't now. He was in an alleyway and possibly just killed someone with a mere stranger. "Can't say I've ever cared much for royalty." That much, at least, was true. While Riddhi had always craved power herself, she didn't care to bow in the presence of those born to a certain bloodline. Didn't care for it, but she would do it if it enhanced her own status. She could play a part when she wanted something.

Jacky arched an eyebrow at the woman. "Oh?" he questioned, like every clueless monarch would do, he supposed. "Why's that?" He allowed his smile to twist into another grin. "One kill mother and father?" He had no idea how old she truly was, but her power signature matched his more or less and it had taken him over 400 years to get and maintain his own.

"The English were responsible for the death of my mother, yes," Riddhi spoke flatly and honestly, but she didn't intend to elaborate further. The memory was a painful one and not one she wished to share with a stranger, let alone this... sort of vampire.

He was a lot like her though, searching for weaknesses, hiding who he really was. Probably out of fear. Riddhi smirked.

"Have you been in Ridgefield long?"

Ding ding ding! He'd been right. He chuckled after she spoke, not in the least bit caring about how she felt to lose her mother. "Well, I'm not English," he said offhandedly.

She smirked though, which he found weird. Decided to tap into her thoughts, but alas, it seemed as though whatever she was thinking had already been thought. Shame he'd been using his power already so much tonight. He could tell he was nearing the end for it.

At the question, he hummed in thought. "It'll be a year in April. I take it you're new?"

---

53/60 for telepathy

Riddhi wondered where he was from. How old he was. If he was truly a prince or if he was pulling her leg. Kept these thoughts to herself, as she focused on that spot just above his eyes. She was more inclined to push any and all thoughts of her mother out from her brain. It was too painful and Riddhi hated nothing more than being in pain.

He'd been here under a year which meant he could be of some use to her if he wanted to be. Which was... difficult to say.

Did her no good to lie about being new, so she'd tell the truth.

"Yes. I arrived here a few days ago. Have you learned much about the area during your time here?"

Ah, the questions that popped up were entertaining, but Jacky kept the answers to himself and let the power drop. No use hurting himself in order to find out that she was confused about everything. She admitted she was new, which, duh.

The question was a good one, and Jacky took a few moments to think about how he wanted to answer it. He could be friendly and helpful. He could be manipulative. Or he could just outright be an asshole. Decisions, decisions! "Lots," Jacky decided to start with, letting his eyebrows rise and fall with emphasis on the word. He hadn't made a decision yet on which way to go, so instead, he just asked his own question. "What are you wanting to know about the area?"

What did she want to know? Well, just how much supernatural activity could be found in Ridgefield? Were there clutches to be wary of? Weres to watch out for? Psychics?

Figured she'd start with vampires, as that made the most sense.

"Are there many clutches in Ridgefield?" Would he give her a straight and truthful answer or would she have to compare notes with someone else?

Jacky grinned. And then hummed. "Yes, and I can tell you how many and more stuff about them. But I want to know what I can get out of telling you this information. It's a pretty rough world in Ridgefield and information doesn't come free." He gave her a shrug, leaving it all up to her.

A rough world, huh? Riddhi wasn't frightened of danger but she would take the warning under consideration. She was smart. Cunning. Knew when to blend in over standing out, even in a non-magical sense.

But yes, he wanted something from her, and she, being new to town, didn't have much she could offer other than riches. Assumed if he was an old vampire, and was once a prince, he'd have no use for such things.

"What is it you want?" Riddhi asked, gaze narrowing slightly. Open to the idea, but cautious.

"A friend." It slipped out before he really knew what he was saying, but it was already said and now he just looked like an idiot. Luckily, he held it all together. Even if she wasn't actually a friend, but just someone who would talk to him and tell him stuff, it would honestly be better than anything else going on with him.

A friend. Of all the things he could have asked for, Riddhi never imagined he would ask for friendship. It almost made her pity him.

Friendship among vampires, in her experience, was necessary but often wrought with tension. Of her trusting someone just to have them disappear on her. She looked at friendship now as more of a transaction than anything actually resembling the definition of the word. If friendship meant information, Riddhi would accept, however. Ready to play her part. If friendship with this vampire meant her own demise, however, she would bail.

"Then a friend you shall have."

Jacky nodded. "Good. Because it's been painfully boring without someone interesting to talk to." He gave her a sly grin, to at least let her know that their friendship wasn't going to be something that was fuzzy and warm and sweet.

"Okay, so the clutches. There are 4 of them still, I believe." Hard to tell since he wasn't wandering in and out of clutch territory much anymore. "The two main ones- which I believe are perhaps the biggest ones and the ones that have been around the longest- are in Alder Heights and Ridgefield. There was one in Reignhart, but I read that their hub was burned down, and I haven't been over there since to check if they're still around. The other was a nomadic clutch that was being put together. Not sure if they actually managed it or not."

It was a lot of talking he was doing, but Jacky only paused briefly before continuing on. "The nomadic clutch had some shit at the Starling Hills library, I guess. But there's been news about a fire there too, so-" he paused to shrug. "The woman with the nomadic clutch told me that the Alder Heights clutch leader is a dickhead. I met with him and he seemed offended that I offered to tell him news about other clutches in exchange of being able to come and go within his territory. Haven't ever met the domina of Ridgefield. The clutch in Reignhart had some stupid vampires and a little leader who also seemed to dislike rogues."

He looked at the woman in front of him, tsking a bit. "Are you actually planning on joining one? I've been without a clutch for years now, and it's been nice. They're all drama, drama, drama here it seems. Oh, and the shifters? Total whiners. They bitch and moan about vampires constantly and try to pal around with humans like they aren't fucking monsters too." Was it obvious yet why Jacky needed friends?

Agreeing to be someone's friend for information on vampiric activity was a first for Riddhi. Worth it though, for the floodgates that opened and the information that came pouring out. Information she took with a grain of salt, of course.

There was so much to keep track of, she got a little lost as the vampire spoke but managed to keep afloat. Vampires in Alder Heights, Ridgefield proper and Reignhart, with a nomadic clutch with ties to a library in Starling Hills. Fires both at the library and the hub in Reignhart. A 'dickhead' leader in the Heights, stupid vampires in Reignhart. Whining shifters that perhaps said more about the vampire in front of her than the shifters themselves. This vampire was so full of negativity that she wasn't surprised he lacked in the friendship department enough to request it in exchange for information. Not that she was judging her new friend so soon.

"You've seen and learned much in such a short time here," Riddhi commented, curious as to his adventures in Ridgefield but not foolish enough to outright ask. "I'm Riddhi by the way." Might as well get introductions out of the way.

"I like to collect information," he said with a crooked smile. "Anyway, nice to meet you Riddhi. I'm Mikolaj. Polish, but also technically Belarussian. You know how it is- lack of stability in the region over the years- after I was already gone." Since, you know, he was a prince. "So why are you here?"

Ah yes, a collector of information. Riddhi was similar, in a way. Information was another sort of power she sought too.

"And you, Mikolaj." She bowed her head slightly as he explained his nationality. Polish and Belarussian. Riddhi didn't know much about Poland itself aside from things she'd learned during the war. Had never been there. Perhaps, if this friendship thing worked out, he would teach her about his homeland.

"I heard about there being lots of supernatural activity here and thought I'd check it out." She smiled wryly. "Besides, I was sick of New York."

Jacky laughed. "New York does have that effect. I was there for a number of years too- after a group outed themselves- and then got sick of New York and came out here." Funny how the world worked. It seemed like perhaps they were destined to meet. "So how old are you and where are you originally from?" He guessed she had to be quite old if her mother had been killed by the English. The English didn't generally go around killing people these days.

"Yes, it certainly does," Riddhi agreed with a laugh of her very own. He was there recently then, which meant they were possibly there around the same time. Small world.

Mikolaj's next questions related to her age and nationality, and she considered her options carefully. Briefly. Wondered just how old he was and assumed she was younger. Younger but not inexperienced.

"One hundred and thirty, give or take, and I'm from India." She'd keep her village to herself though, thanks. "How old are you?" Wondered if he'd tell her the truth.

A good age. Decent enough to really learn how to be a vampire. Not as old as Sylviane. He wondered briefly how she was doing. The age question was thrown back his way and he smiled. "Over 400, but I met another vampire not too long ago who was like a couple thousand years old. I think she had initially been a cavewoman." He laughed despite himself. He missed Sylviane. Maybe Riddhi could be a good replacement.

A couple thousand? Impressive. Made her think of her sire. Gayatri had been around that age herself. She had walked the earth for roughly two millennia before she'd found Riddhi in a marketplace stealing from her.

Riddhi quickly pushed thoughts of her sire out from her mind and laughed a little along with her new 'friend'.

"That's quite a long time to be alive." Or undead. Whatever you wanted to call it. "Yourself too. You must have seen much," She flattered.

Jacky laughed and nodded. "I have. I've been to several countries. Seen many wars." He paused for a few moments as thoughts drifted to Anna, but he quickly pushed her from his mind to focus on the task at hand. "You know what's funny though? The 2000 year old vampire has barely seen the world. She said she spent most of her time locked away in her castle. Isn't that sad?" Life wasn't worth living if you weren't actually living it up. That's what Jacky thought anyway.

Hmm, that was one way of putting it. Riddhi supposed it was sad to never travel and see the world, especially when you had all the power of a vampire. Shame. It was more disturbing that she’d been locked away in a castle for that time. Riddhi wondered just how long she had been trapped and if it was by her own hand or someone else’s.

“Yes. That is a shame. I’m glad she’s free now.” Riddhi wasn’t completely cold-hearted to not have some kind of pity for the woman. But enough sadness for one day! She had a new friend, one who could perhaps prove useful to her.

“So, Mikolaj,” She smiled. “What is it you like to do for fun?”

His name was weird coming from her mouth. He grimaced and shook his head. "No, don't like that. Don't call me Mikolaj. Call me Jacky." He was pretty sure it was the first time he'd ever actually used his current name with someone in the area, but that was alright. She was a friend. Also- there were other things to do before more information, even though this wasn't really useful information, would be given. "Before I tell you anything else, I think it'd be good if we exchanged numbers." Because that's what friends did.

The vampire quickly changed tone, preferring another name to the one he’d originally given. It was interesting, but Riddhi wouldn’t push for a reason why. Jacky was a good name though, and she’d use it when speaking to him. “Jacky it is.”

Exchanging numbers made sense. Riddhi removed the device from her pocket and waited for him to read out his number for her to type it in. “Go ahead.” Created a contact called ‘Jackie’, hoping she spelled it correctly the first try.

Jacky nodded and pulled out his own phone, giving out his number in the process. He added a new contact to his own phone, not really caring if he spelled it right or not. "Got it. So, what's yours?" He waited to input in her number.

Riddhi nodded once in response to his question before offering her number. Wondered if she should spell out her name but didn't bother.

This was good. A friend. Even if it was purely for information purposes. Unless Jacky proved to be a more worthy acquaintance, which only time would tell. In the meantime, there was someone else she could turn to in this town. Perhaps they could start by ridding themselves of the dead man beside them.

A dead man who suddenly uttered a small sound, his eyes pleading from behind the dumpster. Oh no. No, this wouldn't do. Riddhi considered him carefully for a moment, a look of pity on her face as she knelt down beside him. They were carefully tucked away from prying eyes and surveillance from what she could gather with a quick sweeping look of their surroundings. Unfortunately for him, the man was clearly damaged beyond repair and needed to be put out of his misery.

"There, there. It's alright." Riddhi cooed softly as she took out a travel-size bottle of hypochlorite and a cloth, followed by a pair of gloves. Continued to hum and coo, eyes kind as she wiped his now closed wound where her teeth had been. His pleas fell on deaf ears as she packed everything away and wrapped two hands around his neck, ready to break it. With a quick look at her new friend, she smirked.

The next sound was a muted crack. Followed by silence. Then Riddhi exhaled, shoulders relaxing.

Jacky put in her number and was about to send her a text just to check when she was suddenly over by the human again. The human who was making noise. He watched to see what she would do, pocketing his phone to give her his full attention. He was quiet during the whole thing, his index finger kept tight to his lips to stop him from even attempting to speak. He lowered his hand when she turned to look at him, giving her an encouraging smile. He gleefully laughed as the neck was snapped and he hopped over to her excitedly.

"Nicely done! Quick. Efficient." He hovered over the man, looking at the bite she'd given him that she had apparently cleaned. "What did you use on the bite?" he asked, turning to look back at her.

Riddhi was not a woman free from vanity. She enjoyed a compliment as much as the next person, and she smiled at her new friend who proved he was perhaps a bit more worthy of her time than she initially thought.

"Just some hypochlorite. I'm not certain if vampires leave DNA evidence, so this seems a reasonable way to prevent that, if so." Last thing she needed was someone pinpointing her to a crime she committed. Prison for a vampire sounded particularly horrible.

She began to lift the man, nodding to the dumpster beside them. "Do you mind lifting the lid?"

In all his years of living, he'd never considered wiping DNA from victims. He was pretty sure he wasn't in any sort of police databases anyway with DNA, but he still liked it. It was very modern solutions for modern times. "Maybe I should start doing that," he said nonchalantly, lifting the lid of the dumpster as requested.

He gave a laugh as his mind wrapped itself around this new concept. "Perhaps vampires should start using straws." Maybe he'd invest in one of those metal ones. Sharpen the bottom to a point for maximum stabbing.

Riddhi nodded in thanks as Jacky opened the dumpster lid, then tossed the body of the deceased inside. It didn't take too much effort, considering her strength, and she moved some garbage bags over to help cover the body.

Stepping back, Riddhi let out a chuckle at Jacky's suggestion, finding it quite humorous. Vampires with straws! "Now, that would be something." Sounded more ruthless, almost. At least a bite was fairly painless. Not that Riddhi cared all that much. "I'd love to find out if it's true — vampires leaving DNA — but I'm afraid I have no scientist friends." She smirked. Till then, she'd just be careful.

"Yes, that would be interesting." Perhaps they could suggest some scientists into studying such a thing. "I studied some in science, but it was the 1700s and DNA wasn't a known thing then." And by the time it was, he didn't really care about it. It was an unfortunate reality for Jacky that he, once known for his cunning intellect, was perhaps average at best. If he cared more, maybe he could take the time to learn more about science and technology, but he really didn't.

Which was why he was also not interested in actually studying vampires and DNA, but rather passing it off to someone else.

Riddhi wondered what studying science would have been like in the 1700s. She didn’t particularly want to go back in time to find out. Much preferred the present era, thank you. Even if humans were intent on using surveillance methods as much as possible these days, making it harder to feed without repercussions.

“So, you never did answer my question.” Riddhi stated with a small smirk as she turned to look back at Jacky. “What do you do for fun around here?”

Jacky looked back to the woman with a surprised expression. "Oh, you're right- I never did." He paused to give her a grin. "Lots of fun things to do. I spend most of my time messing with people. But there's some fun places. Clubs. Karaoke. Museums and malls. Most modern world amenities."

He smiled wide enough to let her see the gaps in his teeth line if she were paying attention. "Within reason. There's an awful lot of shifter groups in the area not friendly to vampires. Can you believe I had a dog rip out my fangs because I dared to try to paint a little coffee mug in his pottery painting shop?"

Messing with people, clubs, karaoke, museums, malls. All the standard things she expected from a vampire.

One thing she did not, however. A dog had ripped out his fangs? Was such a thing even possible? Riddhi’s gums ached at the thought, and she frowned. Sounded like an overreaction on the part of the shifter.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” How did he survive without them? What lengths did he have to go to now in order to feed? “Where is this pottery place?”

Some people might not like pity, including Jacky, but other times, he liked the attention on him. Sorry you caught him on a bad day Matilda, but he was having a good day now. "Alameda. Apparently no vampires are allowed within its limits." Which was still stupid. If it had just been the pottery place, Jacky would've maybe been more understanding. Probably not, but anything was possible.

Strike another place off her list of possibilities then. The last thing Riddhi wanted was to have her fangs ripped out, thanks.

“That’s good to know, thanks.” Wondered again how he ate. Did he use a straw?

“Guess we should probably get out of this area, huh?” Riddhi smirked, changing the subject, not wanting to dwell too much on something that might make the other vampire angry.

Jacky nodded. Damn, he was being super helpful tonight. He hoped this new friend appreciated it. "Yeah, probably a good idea," he said with a grin. If anyone had been wondering where that man had gone, they might be out looking for him now.

“C’mon, you can show me one of your haunts.” Riddhi smirked as she led them out of the alley and back onto the streets of Rice Bluff, glad to have made a new friend. Or accomplice. However you wanted to look at it.