Mael, Seth, Rob, Kat, and Madison

Robert Lyons · Member

Mael, Seth, Rob, Kat, and Madison

Christene · Member

If you've ever tried playing a super fast, intense song on the drums, you will appreciate that sometimes drummers get a little bit tense, and when tension hits, it hurts. It hurts because you have to keep going. It hurts more if the tension starts before the show and you have to anticipate that you're going to be in pain all night. Kat, then, had great empathy with those fine musicians that sought solace from this pain (and numerous others, no doubt) in the form of pills, powders, liquids and other addictive under the counter relief. She herself had already been there, seen an aquaintance die in a messy way and decided it wasn't for her. She'd be damned if her first (and last) headline brought shame on her family back home. Let's take a step forward.

She'd followed Rob back into the club and while he kept moving, she stayed on and found her mates in the crowd. It wasn't hard, as they were apparently holding vigil by the door for her. "Yes, it was good," she answered, they were bubbling. "Oh, mmhmm, I talked to him, he's very nice." They'd seen Rob leave the club after her. "Yeah, he thought we rocked." She lied now and then.

All this said, when Kat heard not ten minutes later, via a nice tech all in black, that Mark wouldn't be able to sit on his throne, let alone navigate that full, glorious--her fingers caressed the chrome and wood--drumset of his--she couldn't possibly set hers up in time, would he notice that she touched it and hunt her down?--she merely shrugged and took it up as fate. It happens, right? Would she play in his stead? Fuck yes. Was she terrified? She wouldn't let on, but it'd be easy to see in the split second before the lights made it impossible to concentrate on anything but the groove. Yes, and she'd stand by the word "groove" until she died. It is not out. It. is. retro.

The set was fantastic. She'd not realized, not had a chance to, what a really sucessful show felt like. A mediocre and a kick ass show both in the span of a few hours. Interesting. Yep, she was in, addicted, and Benny knew. She could see it on his pretty face, and that made her a little sad. She walked with him back to the hotel after parting ways with her new band (she honestly wasn't sure that they all liked her. Had Rob even told them?) and having some words about tomorrow with Rob. In truth, she would miss them, and she told Benny exactly this as she explained that she wouldn't be able to go on with them. He understood right? Well, after thirty-five minutes of yelling and carrying on and trying to look intimidating, yes, the deflated, exhausted look on his face may have held resemblence to "understanding," but we'll never know. Kat took a deep breath, smiled, and kissed him. She'd never seen him so angry. It was sweet. "You won't miss me for long. We weren't meant to be, and you know that." He nodded and took her up to his room. It was a good ending to a horrible band.

Robert Lyons · Member

Kat, Rob, and the Band

Christene · Member

RE: Mael, Seth, Rob, Kat, and Madison

Robert Lyons · Member

Rob had just eyed her with an uneven smile, when she said there was nothing about the area that was a secret anymore. "I wouldn' be so shaw 'bout dhat," he chortled, winning her accord with that 'fine then, let's have it.' which made him laugh as he whipped that black bandana out of his leather jacket's side pocket. The vampire rock star stepped closer to stand square with her shorter frame, and folding the square cloth, he guided it over her eyes, and tied it snug, but not too tight above the nape of her neck, his chest pressed slightly against her face as he did so. She would feel his form separate from her's slightly, then the cool thread of his fingers as he laced them with her own, and in the next moment, he led her down the street to an alley, which cut between a store and a pay and loan building. A legal loan shark is what Rob prefered to call it. Both of the businesses were closed that hour of the night. The next sensation Kat would feel mid-stride, was what felt a lot like the drop of an elevator, but more pronounced, like whatever she was standing on shifted downward, and kept descending, with her standing ontop, but Rob's arm had slipped around her to steady her, while his hand still held her's. There was something about Rob being at her side which would also soothe and calm her. This was no accident, for he was projecting his vampiric presence to do just that. That drop sensation would then shift to a feeling of being lifted, but with the ground still firm beneath her feet, as Rob led her one more stride forward. Then...gravity seemed to become normal again. Rob stepped behind her and removed the blind-fold, and wah lah, they were standing in the band practice room behind the stage in club elysium, and the entire band was there. 'Riff' Massie, who sat on a bar stool that was tilted rearwards, with his back leaning against the back wall, laughed quietly as Kat-2 tried to figure out just how they got across town in a matter of moments, while Mark, just cracked a crooked smile at her, and performed a drum roll to greet her with. The rest just tuned their instruments, the sound proof studio not allowing noise from that room to reach the club and stage on the otherside of the wall. "We ahr all here teh let yeh in awr secrets, Kat," Rob informed her. "And to make you another offer," Massie chimed in. Massie was by far one of the most handsome men in the band, and his fan base was enormous because of that, and the fact that he was a class-A guitarist. There was not a stringed instrument he could not play, and play well.

Katrina might notice that there were two drum kits in the studio. One of them was a set that used to belong to Larry Mullin of U2. That kit was the one Mark sat at, the other the one Kat that had played on stage the night before, which was just as elaborate. A drummer's dream kit you could say, incuding the electronic set. None of their instruments of choice would be there by morning, nevertheless, but stored in a suite in Byron Decasey's Inn. They would be playing with their older instruments until all the danger passed. They all had an impressive collection.

Rob swept Kat's hand into his own a second time, and led her over to a couch, where he plopped down and motioned for her to do the same. "If jhou ahr feelin' at all scared, or apprehensive, anyt'ing negative like dhat, yeh don' have to, Kat, I promise yeh. We ain' gonna let anyt'ing happen to yeh. We protect each othuh like kings and queens," he assured her, the sincerity in his tones unmistakably genuine. The vampire then proceded to lay it all out for her. "'Dis may be a lot teh swallow, so just bear wit' me, aiight?" a faint smile curling his lips. He had already gotten Rhia's consent to tell their new band member the truth. "I don' know if yeh ahr aware dhat vampires exist or not, but we do. Most people know about us now, but ovuh deh years, dhat fact has been forgotten or overlooked by more and more people. Dhat ain' no accident either. Jhou probably run into vampires all deh time and don' know it. In any case, we ahr vampires, all of us in Forsaken Tribute ahr. Now...It idn' us jhou gotta worry about. It's deh plague out dhere yeh gotta worry about. We, as in deh band, don' kill people, unless dhey teh kill us, and none of us have a taste for human blood, not for deh kill." He could not say the same for his Sire, or Tiber, but he was speaking for the band, not his sire, the rest of his clan, or anyone else. Now deh offer Massie was refering to is dhis...He wants teh make yeh one of us...And dhere two ways teh do that, and both ways will make yeh immune teh any and all diseases. One way, is teh make yeh what is called a blood thrall. Dhat means, jhou are dependant on owuh blood. Jhou will still be warm, still be able teh eat human food and enjoy it, but it'll be awr blood which keeps yeh alive. It also means...jhou can learn some of owuh powuhs. Protect yawself bettuh in othuh words." Byron had taught Rob about making shared thralls. It could only be done by clan, out of the same blood line, and it insured the thrall had more sources than just one to feed from, to rely on. "Deh other way is teh sire yeh. Make yeh a full fledged vampire, meaning jhou will be reborn outta death. Dhere ain' no nice way teh put it. Yeh can't eat food anymore, though most vampires can drink liquids...as long as it ain' got fruit or vegetable pulp in it. The blood of humans, and a few others, would be yaw sole source of nourishment, what yaw life depends on, but vampire blood would be like poison to yeh, unless...We find someone else othuh than us teh sire yeh, and I know some good vampires who could do it, dhat might be willin'. Now, jhou can still walk around in the sun if rebawn outta owuh blood, but jhou would be weaker in day light hours. A lot of vampires have what we call, sun bane...The sun hurts them, can kill um, but we ain' like dhat unless owuh generations gets real weak, and it ain' weak yet. Now, how about we practice for awhile...while yeh t'ink about it, and when yeh have an answer, jhou cin just let us know," his hand slapped her leg lightly and he pushed himself off the couch and walked over to pluck his electric guitar off the stand. They would be playing older songs today to get Kat-2 acqainted with those, before they moved on to the new material they were working on.

Christene · Member

Kat could feel her own breath, laced with the scent of leather, as it quickened and glanced off Rob's jacket back onto her own skin. There was something about losing one of her senses that made her slightly nervous and excited at once. She'd done it a thousand times when she played, "don't watch the music, feel it," her mentor had also used a blindfold, "now.. play." A nice side effect of losing your sight is a sharp heightening of other senses, and Kat, who reveled in her sense of touch, loved it. She felt each contact of her hand and Rob's as separate, tiny movements, and though her skin must have been warming from the anticipation flowing through her, she found his hand unusually cool and more than soothing. She felt a tug and followed, able to keep up by listening for a footstep, or the swish of cloth as legs moved and then... yeah, that was strange, a sensation of.. down. And a persistent one. Having happened just as she was walking, weight shifted to move forward again, she almost tripped over herself, but was steadied by her chaperone. Can't lie, she really, really wanted to take off that blindfold and sate her curiosity but all at once, and in waves came a feeling reassuring her, all that matters is that you'll be safe. All right, she thought, it's all that matters. Later, she'd think on the experience and decide it was on par with brainwashing and while handy must have definite ethical problems.

The feeling of encompassing safety dissipated slowly, leaving Kat none the wiser for the moment, but definitely on even ground, seeing as they were no longer descending, and also had taken a few steps forward and.. she heard people. Impossible, she thought at the same time the blindfold fell from her eyes. She stared at the band. Nuh uh. They looked back at her with knowing smiles. Yuh huh. She snapped out of it at the drum roll and smiled back at Mark, whom she was meeting, then, for the first time. In her experience, drummers either hated each other or loved each other, and she hoped they'd get along for as much as she admired him at work. She stared again, yep, that shiny kit, it was right there. She could take a few steps and touch it, but then she wouldn't be able to stop and child, it's not your toy. She didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with Mark by driving him to rip her hand off at the wrist. Wouldn't be good for her career either, she mused. She'd have time to drool over the kits (and some new technique to learn, no doubt) later.

This isn't to say that she was immune to Massie's charm, she smiled at him too, but it was hard to be star-struck immediately after experiencing a shortcut through solid matter for the first time. She gave him more attention, though, at the mention of another offer. His tone gave her a little chill, the kind of anticipation of something you knew would come but were hoping to be able to deal with later. Business being business, though, they had to press on. Kat allowed herself to be led to a couch, where, as instructed, she took a comfy seat next to Rob, one leg tucked under her. She needn't feel scared, he said, but how could they feel protective of her already? While he spoke the words, she searched the faces of the other band members, only some of them looked back at her as the rest tuned. Were they really ready to accept her so wholly or were they just accepting the leadership of Rob or the insistence of Massie? She'd have to find out later what made him so insistent, as she'd noted his forceful tone about this very topic, too, when they'd first met, though at the time the subject matter had been cryptic to her. A lot to swallow? Yes, one might say that. She listened very attentively, now and then looking away at various faces that might be looking back at her. From her less shocked, more curious reaction, Rob might have surmised that she knew that vampires existed. In matter of fact, Kat had been to a few nightclubs with some particularly charismatic people that she suspected were... but tales of LA would come out later, no doubt. Then there was the plague. Obvious concern shaded her features in record time. Yeah, that scared her a lot. But she didn't say anything, she wanted him to finish.

Finish he did. With a slap to the knee, he'd risen and it was over. The magical journey, the "offer," the explanation. Had it even been fifteen minutes? Was that all? There wasn't any more? Could she be a thrall and decide later to be brought entirely into a vampire? Practice? Now? Her mind raced, so did her pulse, which usually meant for some good playing, but all she did for a good five minutes was stare into space, hoping that somebody other than her would shatter her stupor and allow for a deep breath. Her head moved a little and the tip of her pony tail tickled the skin on the back of her neck so that she had to scratch it a bit... the movement helped, but somebody suggested she get ready to groove and it all went away. Yes, something else Kat could focus on, entirely, with nothing of herself left for big decisions, none of herself to spare for at least an hour. She'd have until then.

She played well, a few stumbles but that's what practice is for. Her beat melted with Mark's, it was beautiful, and she was addicted that quickly. She'd never played in a drum duet before but god, the rush! It was better than simply jamming, and very little ever compared to that. When they were done, when everyone seemed fatigued but satisfied, she slid backward off the throne (stool) and placed herself on the couch again. She'd turn to pin the first unlucky one that came to sit next to her with her green gaze as she moved closer, as this was a very intimate subject, "I don't want to die. I don't want to have this," a small gesture to the room and its contents, "and then die. The plague will kill me if I stay." She'd wait only a moment for some indication of comprehension, and then "I'm left with two choices, then. Are they mutually exclusive, or must I only choose once?" She hoped she would be understood.

Robert Lyons · Member

Mark led at first...gave her signals with his eyes, with upnods of his head, or by hiking his drum sticks slightly when she was too hard on the snairs or symbols, when she gripped her sticks too tight (which caused unneccesary fatigue) when she needed to slow the beat, or was too liberate with the base pedal. Junky or not, he was very professional when it came to music. From time to time, his arm came up to twirl a stick, sometimes both, between beats. By the end of practice, he was deathly pale, and without a word, he took off, leaving the studio. Kathrine followed him. It was Massie who joined Katalina on the couch afterwards, his slender frame plopping down next to her, his legs stretched out in a lazy sprawl. Rob looked distracted, his gaze going to the door Mark went through, as he dropped in a worn, leather arm chair caddy-corner to the couch. When recording, they took the furniture out of the studio. Massie studied Kat-2 for an interval, then smiled faintly to her, his arm draping the back of the couch behind her, and as she asked that question, he leaned his head on her shoulder and peered up at her eyes with his moss-green pools. "The choice is all yours, baby. Rob was right about you. Your a peach, and fate smiled on us when she brought you to us," he smiled. "Rob cannot be any part of intergrating your blood with ours, though. His blood is deadly. We found that out the hard way." His gaze shifted to Rob. "Didn't we, Rob?" Lyons nodded. He hated the reminder, but it needed to be said. "Yeah, we did," no arguement there. His blood had killed Massie when he had tried to sire him. Tiber had resurrected him, and then he and Rhia had sired the entire band after that. Rob then trained his gaze on Kat. "There ain' no goin' back once yeh choose, Katalina. It's a big decision, and I want yeh teh do what is right for yeh. Not many share a thrall...It ain' done often, because not many know it can be done, and trust is also an issue. Vampires tend to be kind of possessive of dheir thralls, but we love and trust each othuh. Safer faw you dhis way too, having maw than just one regent teh depend on faw blood. Give deh word, and deh band'll do it. And don' mind Mark. He is suffering deh debacle of bein' deprived of his habits. Quittin' his kind of addiction ain' easy, but we have his back. Pretty soon...it'll get so bad, dhat we will have teh strap him down. Smack has a cruel way of tryin' teh hold on teh people, even vampires, heh," he explained on Mark's behalf, and wanted her to understand why she might find him tied to his bed in case she happened to witness it. Rob then climbed out of his chair. "We need teh get all dhis equipment packed up. Why don' jhou take Katalina and show her, her room in deh mean time, and tell her whatevuh jhou t'ink she needs teh know," he told Massie. Riff was happy to oblige, and with a grin, he lept off the couch and offered Kat his hand. "Come on girl," he urged, and then led the way out of the studio. Once they were gone, Rob and Cole packed up the equipment, placing it all together, and afterwards, Rob fed from Cole to boost his energy, then gathered the shadows around himself, Cole, and all the equipment to shift it with them through the shadow veil across vast distances to Morashtar, and the suite Byron had provided for he and Rhia at his Inn.

Mark meanwhile led the way out the door, and through a hallway which led to a flight of stairs, then upstairs to the second floor. He pointed out his room, Mark's room, Kathrine's room, and Cole's room along the way, then showed her where he room was, which was beside Kat-1's, and across from Cole's, at the very end of the corridor. "Here is your room, girl. It's nothing fancy, but comfy," he smiled as he opened the door for her. Every door locked from the inside for privacy, although they had taken the lock OFF of Mark's door. It was spacious enough, but not huge or anything. Each room had a bathroom of its own. There was a nice four poster, full size bed, a dresser, wardrobe, arm chair, love seat, and several tables. There was also a dressing mirror on the inside door of the wardrobe, and a mirror on the dresser. The lights in the room had a dimmer switch, and there were lamps as well. "Home sweet home if you decide once and for all to stay," he said cheerfully. "And we all really hope you do." Which reminded him, as he sat down on her love seat. "If you ever decide to take the leap and get sired, you get to choose which one of you sires you, Rob aside. It really bummed him out that he could not sire us himself. He has a lot of love for us...and I think, for you too. He can see inside of people, and he knows who he cares about right away, now and again." He picked up a clean ashtray off the table, shaped like a clam shell. It was made of black onyx. "Anything you wanna ask me, shoot for it, girl. We don't have any secrets between us...But plenty of secrets we keep from the rest of the world," he offered and explained, studying that ash tray as he spoke, before he put it back down.

Christene · Member

Mark led well, admittedly, Kat was certainly hard on the snare, but lately she'd been getting much better with the cymbals, and she was quite proud of it. The kick drum was a force most struggle with for years before mastering, and she suspected she still had a few months left. Most beginners embellish too much, though all drummers are show offs, and she'd been told specifically and numerous times to lay off the fills and concentrate on the heart of the groove. So that's what she'd been after for the last year and a half or so, and she felt that she was almost there. Kat watched with fascination at how fast the band dispersed after practice was decidedly over. She was in such a state as to notice details and study characters and rather thought that, as Massie looked up at her from her shoulder, he must have deliberately hypnotized all those innocent women screaming his name from the general admission floor. Who could say no to that? Sneaky. She smiled at her thought, and at the compliment he gave her, "Merci, " in the lingo of the French south as she gave him a little pet, "you're not so bad yourself." Her smile faded to concentration as her question began to be answered, though, and couldn't decide whether to be bothered or not at the cryptic allusion to Rob having failed at sharing his blood in the past. Massie seemed nothing but cool, while Rob was obviously troubled, perhaps not a little still by Mark's quick exit. Kat's attention was drawn slightly away from the men before her to linger curiously on the doorway, but only for a second. No going back, he said. That had her full attention. She knew it, but accepting something for forever based on a decision that takes one word is heavy. Give the word, he said. She was staring, now, and thankful for the feeling of Massie's weight next to her, otherwise she might have felt a little bit weightless. Yes, she thought that it would be best if she went the route of shared thrall too, but she couldn't voice it yet. Once her words hung in the open air, it would really be final. So she nodded in understanding as Rob spoke of Mark's ailments, eyes wide when strapping him down came up. She hoped she could help somehow, if only by means of getting screamed at. She'd had no lack of it before and knew how to handle herself well.

She took the hand offered her with pleasure, it was good to move, kept her from thinking too much. Kat held on to Massie as they exited the studio and made their way to the second floor. She had no way of telling if he tried to let go, as her mind at the time simply had no concept of it. He was solid, she was holding on to him. Yep, simple. He pointed out each room to her and she committed them to memory, but knew she'd forget as soon as she opened her mouth to speak. She did let him go as she peered around her room from the doorway. "Nothing fancy?" She stared at him, "I'm not sure you realize where I come from." She pointed to the bed, "That is a four poster bed... made of wood. A couch? (she meant the loveseat) My own bathroom?" Plenty fancy. It was obvious that she was impressed, and feeling a little bit overwhelmed. They all hoped she would stay, he said. "Yes," she replied, "I really plan to stay." She sat on the end of the bed she couldn't believe was hers and gave him the smile a kid gives her grandma when she's caught stealing cookies, "I'm kind of addicted, actually." She hoped he knew what she meant, because she didn't think she could explain herself. Anything she wanted to know?

"Yes," she replied almost instantly, "when do you come from?" And then, as if with a second breath, "and, what, exactly, will happen to us now, will we have to stay in here forever with that plague going on out there? And... oh god, is everybody going to die? I left Benny out there, he's not smart enough to get along on his own. Jesus, my parents... will this thing spread?" She slid down off the bed and paced over to the love seat where her momentary tutor sat, and lowered her voice to almost a whisper, "And when will you make me a thrall?" And even quieter, as she sat next to him, "And what will happen to me?".... breathe, Kat... "And... " she closed her eyes, took that breath, opened them and stared at him... "and how do you do that thing with your fingers, because I've never seen anyone work a guitar like that."