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Post by Elizabeth Coons on Dec 15, 2008 20:22:11 GMT -5
Bright mid-morning sunshine filtered through branches of the great maple trees that surrounded the basketball courts. The sun was warm as it lay in splotches against Elizabeth's slightly tanned skin. Her face was upturned, eyes closed, toward the sky to let the sun fall on her face. Though Elizabeth usually wore a little bit of powder on her face, her skin was clean of the annoying make-up. Her complexion was decent, so she decided against trying to get the powder on her face. Elizabeth inhaled deeply, breathing in the warm summer air. It was slightly humid, and smelled of freshly mowed grass. Thankfully her nose wasn't strong enough to smell the sweat pouring off of the young males' bodies, who were playing basketball near her.
Elizabeth didn't particularly like sitting within hearing distance of them, because that also meant viewing distance for them. But Elizabeth was here first, and she was not about to be run off by the stares of a few hormone induced teenagers. A too-loud shout pierced the air, and Elizabeth's eyes snapped open reflexively. She cast a menacing glare toward the grinning boy. A strong impulse to punch the grin off his face almost overwhelmed her. Elizabeth quickly closed her eyes again, not wanting the glare to be an invitation for one of the boys to come over to her. She sighed loudly, not trying to subdue it. To be honest, Elizabeth was a little bored.
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Post by Jasten Beckett on Dec 17, 2008 21:49:32 GMT -5
How many months? Jeezus, three? Four? The days were seconds for the 26 year old in the old military humvee. After all, when fighting the immortals, time flys fast. Three months had gone by since his last assignment, the contract to test his skills. He succeded in the slaying of three vampires, but was jailed for murder. Only the swift payoff to crooked cops gave the Ravenwood employee a chance at living normaly again. Not that normal meant anything in his profession.
The first thing Jasten had done was gone to a hardware store, and picked up a huge amount of fertalizer. While normally it would have been illiegal, the fake CIA badge in Jasten's wallet did the trick. He needed that to power his makeshift flamethrower. After all, the professional knows stakes do crap. No, burning was the only way to kill a vampire.
After being attacked by one at 14, Maverick had been studieing the beasts. The attack on him by a werewolf in collage sealed the deal. He left, and joined Ravenwood. He trained, killed the three vampires that had been plotting the assassination attempt on the President, and had now been sent here. Hush Hills, some town nobody cared about in the middle of nowhere North Carolina.
In truth, he doubted anything was out here worth killing. But, hey, at least he got the free house and the humvee he'd wanted. He could have used both during the killing of the Trio. But that was a story for another time.
Right now, Maverick was pulling into the parking lot of the park. He needed to see the town before beginning his operation, and here was the perfect place. The basketball courts in particular inticed him. The girl sitting near them seemed innocent enough to begin information gathering. He reached into the dashboard compartment, and brought out a rather futuristic looking rangefinder. Putting them to his eyes, he new he found the right person. Human, no doubt about it.
Maverick parked the Humvee in the first spot he found. If he had the .50 cal attached to the thing instead of at the house, he could have easily chosen a better spot. But he cared little. The door opened, and he slid out, taking his keys with him. He looked about the lot, and spotted his target still by the courts. SMilng, he began walking that way, putting his hands in his pockets and looking as casual as possible.
He came in hearing distance of the basketball players, and shook his head in disgust. Maverick made a mental note to VitalScan them. Maybe he could get the joy of shooting one full of flammable rounds. As it was, the 9mm in the holster under his shirt was feeling particularly useful right now.
He sighed. Maverick needed to keep his cool. The Manager senthim here to kill Immortals. Not humans.
Coming up to the girl, only stopping to make a threatening glare at an approching boy, Maverick spoke up
"Hey, mind if I sit down here?
As he did so, Maverick glanced at a man sitting aways off on a bench, staring at him. His very glare chilled Maverick, and kept his hand near his 9mm just in case he was what Maverick thought.
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Post by Elizabeth Coons on Dec 18, 2008 11:57:20 GMT -5
Elizabeth had pretty decent hearing for a human, so the deep rumble of the engine of a large vehicle was audible to her. With her eyes closed, Elizabeth listened intently to the sound of it, trying to gauge how far away it was. The sound got quieter, pulling away, and she tracked the sound across the parking lot. The engine cut off. A door slammed shut. Elizabeth barely opened one eye now since she couldn’t find the sound of feet crunching grass to the ground. A young man had gotten out of the car. She didn’t recognize him, which wasn’t a surprise. Elizabeth hadn’t been back in Hush Hills for very long. His clothes didn’t look anything like what people here wore, so he probably wasn’t a native to Hush Hills. Then again it was possible that people in Hush Hills were branching out a bit…or maybe not. It was more likely that he was new here.
She opened her eyes all the way to get a better look at the stranger. If he was new, why was he here at the park? He looked like he had a purpose for walking around here. His path was straight, headed right for the basketball courts. Elizabeth doubted that he had intentions of joining a game of basketball with the half-naked teenagers. No, he must have another purpose. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, their dark honey depths wary. Ugh, ppllleaasseee don’t come over here, Elizabeth thought. She didn’t enjoy talks with strangers, especially of the opposite sex. Experience had taught her to avoid when possible. Though she didn’t listen to her own advice most of the time, it still made her uncomfortable when the talking wasn’t on her terms.
Since her luck had never been that great, of course the man was headed in her direction, all smiling and such. Elizabeth held back a grimace. He looked nice enough, but intentions for coming up to strange girls often are not so nice. As he made his way over, Elizabeth watched him carefully. She was fascinated with body language and found that a lot of information can be found by watching someone approach you. He shook his head as he got closer, casting a very hostile glare at one unfortunate boy that had decided to get up and walk over at the wrong time. A small grin formed on her face. Maybe he was annoyed at the boys’ behavior too. That would put him somewhat on her side. But then again, that could also be staking territory. The world may never know. When the young man walked over and spoke to her, the wariness in her eyes had only diminished slightly, the grin now a mask barren of emotion. She continued to watch him.
”Er…no, go ahead.” Elizabeth said simply. She didn’t know this mans intentions, so she didn’t know what else to say. If he proved to not be a threat, she would introduce herself. The bench wasn’t too long, so Elizabeth scooted all the way to the end opposite of the man. She had a very large personal bubble, and didn’t like when it gets breached without permission.
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Post by Jasten Beckett on Dec 18, 2008 16:22:18 GMT -5
Nodding, Maverick sat down on the other side of the bench. The girl wa obviously suspicious of him. She had never seen him before, he was older then her, and, he was male. In her postion, he'd be suspicious too.
Thats when he got the perfect excuse for a converstion starter. The badge. Looking over at the girl, he reached into his back pocket, and pulled out his wallet.
"Can I ask you a few questions?" said Maverick. Even as he said so, he opened the wallet, revealing the very convincing CIA badge within. Fake, yes, but only employees of Ravenwood knew that. Them, and the twenty or so forgers they hired to make them...But they ddn't matter, as they were all sleeping peacefully at the bottom of the ocean. Stupid vampires.
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Post by Elizabeth Coons on Dec 18, 2008 20:38:59 GMT -5
As he sat down, Elizabeth was still watching him intently. Her gaze would be similar to a scientist glaring down through a microscope at a specimen that was likely to spontaneously combust. She tucked her arms close to her sides to maximize the space between them. This would probably seem rude, so she gave a small, but warming smile. Everything about Elizabeth’s body posture was confident. She might get suspicious, but it wasn’t often that she was truly nervous. What could he want? Surely he doesn’t want to just chat. He probably would have picked someone closer to his age. Unless he didn’t feel comfortable around people who are close to his age, thus dominance. Generally someone younger is lower in dominance, thus not as intimidating to talk to. Eh, don’t think that’s it. He seems confident enough, so why… Elizabeth blinked, because she didn’t want to shake her head with someone this close to her. One of her problems was she always read into things, jumping to conclusions.
When he brought out the badge, her eye brows went in something relatively similar to surprise. Crap, what now?? Some freaking government agent? Elizabeth though with annoyance. She stayed out of trouble…for the most part. She quickly ran through memories of anything that might lead the CIA to her. Once again she jumped to conclusions. Vara was the only one that she was close to that has committed a serious felony. Elizabeth knew that Vara wasn’t that sloppy, never leaving a hint of evidence. Maybe he is just doing a report on the town. That would explain why he would talk to me, one of the few kids in America with no record of doing drugs, underage-drinking, or other crimes. She maybe ran a stoplight… twice.
”Heh heh.” Elizabeth chuckled calmly. Anyone else and it would have a tinge of nervousness to it. ”Depends on what your asking. Though I don’t think I will have any problems with answering a few questions.” Elizabeth smiled pleasantly, her tone warm. There was a slight emphasis on the word ‘few’. She didn’t want to sit here for two hours being interrogated by some CIA agent.
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Post by Jasten Beckett on Dec 19, 2008 9:31:39 GMT -5
This girl, she was interesting. The look on her face seemed to hint suprise, but the survelliance training he undertook told him it was a mix of that and something else. Strange.
"I was hoping you'd say that.
Now, I understand this might be strange but I assure you, any and all words you say are off the record. I'm investigating certain things you likely don't know of, and it's supposed to be under the table.
So, this town....Tell me, have you seen or heard of any suspicious or....unnatural activity around?
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Post by Elizabeth Coons on Dec 21, 2008 14:55:10 GMT -5
Crap, Elizabeth thought. He knew something. That meant the government knew something. This wasn’t good for Vara, and those like her. Elizabeth shook her head. She was getting away with herself again. This man could be trying to gather information about a suspect in a murder, or something. Could it really be that? It seemed almost too perfect. This government agent showing up, just when immortals do, then him asking about ‘unnatural’ activity. Vara should know about this at least. Despite her slight panic that Vara’s great secret might be found out, Elizabeth felt slightly indignant. He, saying that she wasn’t likely to know anything about what he was talking about. It rubbed against a nerve.
Elizabeth prided herself on her knowledge. Academic, or not… And when someone doubted her in this, it annoyed her. It wasn’t rational for her to feel this way, but that didn’t change the fact. Elizabeth’s face was stiff in a mask of pleasant amusement. Well, she would humor him, for now.
”Unnatural…?” Elizabeth pretended to think a bit. ”Hmmm…Not anything I can think of. Sure, Hush Hills might be a bit unusual, but nothing strictly… unnatural.” Elizabeth finished her lie. Though she did look pointedly over at the teenagers playing basketball. They had now stopped their game, and were staring at Elizabeth and her… guest with curiosity. It looked like they might be interested in coming over to join the chat, not wanting to be outdone by and older man. Elizabeth grit her teeth together in annoyance.
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Post by Jasten Beckett on Dec 21, 2008 18:30:22 GMT -5
Her pause...It was too short. She knows something, or thinks she knows something....Well, if she does, then perhaps a lie for a lie should do.
"Are you sure? Listen, if you are witholding information from me, and we find out you have, then I can charge you with obstruction of justice.
I didn't want to worry you, but what I'm looking for is a potential threat to national security. Are you sure you know nothing?"
To Maverick, this attempt was already beginning to fail. He really didn't need to fall back on interregation tactics. Another person hurt because of this was thwe last thing he needed.
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Post by Elizabeth Coons on Dec 22, 2008 16:46:58 GMT -5
Elizabeth turned her brown gaze back to the stranger. She still didn’t know his name; he flashed the badge too quickly to get the name off of it. Becket…Backet? Something like that. He was still thinking, and she looked away from the pesky teenagers. As she did so, her jaw relaxed into a calm expression. Out of sight, out of mind. The thought flashed reflexively through her mind. Elizabeth started drumming her nails against her leg, just above her knee. The action was part sub-conscious.
The threat stung. Her recently relaxed jaw tightened up again, her eyes narrowed in warning. Elizabeth wasn’t scared of him, so the threat of being arrested was just annoying. If she could raise one eyebrow in peppery incredulity, she would. Unfortunately for her, she couldn’t raise just one eyebrow, so both were raised. Elizabeth had three options now. 1) Spill about Vara, 2)Sit and glare at him, letting her silence express her thoughts, 3) Say something back, either another lie, or to express her annoyance at being threatened. Option three please
”Sir,” she said stiffly, ”Threatening the people you are interrogating isn’t a very useful tactic.” Elizabeth said. Her voice was oddly polite and unattached, though stiff. One of her talents.
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Post by Vara Saraphine Grimmark on Dec 22, 2008 18:34:15 GMT -5
It was a bright, invigorating day for any human. A wonderful morning to to spend on a stroll in the park. That surely explained Elizabeth's sudden absence when Vara got home earlyer this morning. Although the occupants of the Coons' house were chirping their wonder of the days beautiful weather, the sunshine only worsened Vara's redundant, foul mood. Once again she found herself chasing after Elizabeth in her friend's spontanous quest to seek out the far reaches of Hush Hills and in effect, push her immortal-best-friend, Vara, to her breaking point. It wasn't appealing having to run around town in pursuit of a girl that seemed to find trouble in the midst of the most peaceful places. How much more of this could she take? Vara was unsure. But there was one thing she was absolutely and positively sure of. She could not let this keep happening and she had to talk to Elizabeth.
Thinking slowely through all of the ways she could kindly convince her oh-so-independent-human-best-friend that she would have to babysit her for the time being, she drove to the small town's only park. The alluring scenery of the town flashed past the darkly, tinted windows of the camero. Vara took little notice of it as she accelareted to a good fifteen mile over the speed limit. This put her at fifty in a thirty mph zone. The park wasn't far but to her the mere minutes it took to get there seemed like hours. Finally, she pulled into the quant little parking lot of the Hush Hills community park. Wrenching herself from her vehicle she took a second to exhamine her surroundings and sniff the air.
The park was quite large for such a small town. In the park lies: a basket ball court, a playground, a tennis court, and a few benches strewn about sitting under trees in all different directions. Vara immediately perked up as she caught Elizabeth's scent on the wind. It was easy to recognize for two reasons. The first was that she new all too well that Elizabeth was obsessed with a certain fragrance, night-blooming jasmine. Which she smothers herself in every morning after she showers. Secondly, Elizabeth had the most different smelling blood Vara had ever come across. It has a ferociously high salt consentration which gave it a rich earthy scent. But there was something a miss. . .something wrong with the tang of her odor. It mingled with that of another's.
For Vara, it took a matter of seconds to locate the girl. She was sitting on a bench near the basket ball court. Silently she strode over to her friend a bit confused by what she saw as she neared the bench that not just Elizabeth occupied. Never taking her eyes of the stranger she asked, " Elizabeth? . . . Who's this?"
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Post by Jasten Beckett on Dec 23, 2008 16:45:46 GMT -5
"Really? Good thing I'm not interrogating you. Besides, I'd much rather not clean the resulting stains off the bench."
A strange felling crept down Maverick's spine. It got more and more intense, untill.....
He jumped up from the bench, and faced this newcomer. She looked about eighteen, or so. But there was something....strange about her. Something that reminded him of....
Them.
He reached into his pocket, and retrieved his badge. "Agent Randall Beckett at your service, CIA." Maverick held his hand out to shake this newcomer's hand.
Maybe, just maybe, this was the break he needed. Earlyer then expected, but even so...
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Post by Vara Saraphine Grimmark on Dec 23, 2008 20:40:42 GMT -5
Vara stared at the man through narrowed eyes as his last sentence spilled from his mouth. The human had no idea with whom he was threatening. It was too bad really, because if he did she would have much more reason to a decent mea, tonightl. I'm not a human eater. she reminded herself lighty. It wasn't as if the guy really smelled that enticing, it was just more that he agrivated her profusely. Not a great way to leave a first impression on a vampire. She now turned her oh so deadly charm on. It was time to enlighten this human. Smiling as sweetly as she could she stepped in front oh Elizabeth to meet the out stretched hand.
There hands met and the prick of his warm skin filed itself against her resistant icy touch. The grin so neatly placed upon her face widened a smidge as her grasp on his hand tightened. She was sure to squeeze just tight enough to leave a fist full of bruised bones. It just wouldn't do to break his hand, today. No, she would be nothing but sweet to him. That was one thing she always forced herself to do, leave a good impression, inconspicuous as usual.
Relief fluttered inside her as she dropped her hand and introduced herself, "I'm Vara" she motioned towards Elizabeth now, "a friend of Elizabeth's."
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Post by Elizabeth Coons on Dec 24, 2008 8:23:20 GMT -5
Elizabeth cocked her head at him.
”Well, interrogation doesn’t always end with blood stains. Besides, people might get suspicious if the good CIA agent turned on the innocent girl you decided to question,” Elizabeth said sweetly, a innocent smile on her face. Elizabeth stared him in the eye, refusing to be put down by this yahoo. The smile on her face hardened. Then something unexpected happened. Vara popped up out of no were, just in time to save the day. Elizabeth felt a twinge of panic though; her friend had possibly walked into a very bad situation for herself. If the man put her in the category of ‘unnatural’, things might get bad. Elizabeth knew that he wouldn’t dare try something on herself, but she was at a loss for what he might do when you add a vampire into the mix.
Despite her panic that her friend might get hurt, Elizabeth’s face broke out into a beaming smile. She was always happy to see Vara, regardless. The way he jumped up frantically was also very satisfying. The beam twisted into a wry smile, enjoying his momentary discomfort.
”Thi…” That was all Elizabeth got out before he introduced himself. Well, now she knew his name. Elizabeth would also have introduced Vara, but she beat Elizabeth to it. As Vara shook his hand, Elizabeth smiled sweetly.
”Yeah, it was a good thing I ran into him too. I guess there’s some ‘unnatural’ activity going on here. Hopefully it will all blow over soon.” Elizabeth said, her voice rich with concern. She blinked once at Vara.
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Post by Jasten Beckett on Dec 24, 2008 11:58:09 GMT -5
Maverick gritted his teeth on contact with this Vara. Icy cold, as in, rivaling the Trio. Which only meant one thing.
"Well, I am so glad to meet you, Vara!" he said, smiling sarcasticly. However, there was a hint of a real smile. Considering he Immortal Proximity Sensor was vibrating silently in his pocket. Ah. Immortals. Obviously Ravenwood forgot to mention how stupid they could be. At least she wasn't a werewolf. He didn't need anyone sniffing out the amount of metal he had on him because of his guns. That would have ended badly.
Still time for that.
In his head, Maverick quickly debated his next move. Awkward, suspicious, lifending....Awkward it was.
Maverick's following question was said in a very quiet tone.
"So...Elizabeth. Has 'Vara' here told you a very interesting story? Such as, I don't know, being a vampire and all?"
Ah, lets see how they'd handle that. If the past was anything to draw upon, both would deny it. In which case he'd press the issue. Perhaps with a threat..."
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Post by Elizabeth Coons on Dec 24, 2008 16:39:37 GMT -5
A bright sounding chuckle escaped Elizabeth's lips. The laugh made smile-creases on the sides of her eyes. Her cheeks round and full beneath her eyes. Her soft brown eyes sparkled with good humor. This act might seem odd in this perilous situation, but this man did amuse her. Elizabeth had a certain appreciation for bluntness.
"Ohh.... I see what you mean by unnatural. Well that is an interesting story." Elizabeth chuckled merrily again. She knew Vara would approve, and she beat her friend to saying something first this time.
"You don't think that my best friend would keep something that important from me? She said, giving a false and slightly playful pout at him. Elizabeth cocked her head at him again. She turned slightly in Vara's direction, waiting for her to speak.[/color]
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