Arlo James

See what it's like to be a vulture's lunch

She was just like Sebastian in those moments. Unable to understand just why any more of that venom from him could be at all bad. That high it seemed to give his prey almost addictive- or so he was beginning to discover. After all- of every creature in that supernatural world it so often seemed to be vampires that were burdened with the most guilt or worry or pain. He took everything away. He made them happy- even if only for an hour or so. That simply happiness seeming to allude most vampire kind. Arlo allowing his eyes to roll slightly at her babbling and yet- beneath that cold, strange exterior she'd offered him earlier she was, well, almost pleasant really. She'd have been a good person once, he was almost sure of that. What she had become perhaps something else entirely and yet he saw little need to prod at it further. Petra seemingly content to try and barter with him, arguing for at least two people as he afforded her an almost dubious look. The moment she had that blood in her system his own venom would be diluted enough to have her senses rushing back to her. Would she stop at just two? Or would she got about murdering them and everyone else? That situation precarious as it was. Hell, how was she going to feel about him when she came too? Sebastian had remembered some of what he had said and done, would Petra as well? Would she send that snake back after him? Maybe he'd be better finding her a meal and simply leaving her to her own devices- then again, what if she got murderous? God.

"Yeah, alright, two. No killing them thought alright?"

A promise made in this condition, he suspected, meant just about nothing and yet he was determined to get it all the same. Petra commenting again on just how hungry she was. He'd been worried about that. He shouldn't have taken so much from her and yet damn she'd tasted nice. The woman assuring him then that she had, essentially solved all his problems. Why couldn't he just teleport into a bank and steal the money he wanted? Why couldn't he just take anything he wanted? Hell, he supposed he could and yet that nearly nagging....guilt seemed to settle in him again. Arlo offering that secret then, the woman seeming almost delighted to be given one as he regarded her almost warmly in that moment, that lop sided grin on his lips. Arlo freely admitting that he was a rather poor vampire, a broken one he was sure. That humanity so well intact it was almost crippling. Even Damon had said the same about him. Arlo meeting the woman's bright gaze then as she promptly declared he needed to worry less. That snort of amusement falling from him then.

"Sure, thanks Babe. That solved everything."
Those words were nothing short of teasing all the same. Arlo glance at her in something almost akin to surprise at her assurance she had been too good as a human. At least she'd had that. He hadn't even been a very good human. He'd been damn near deplorable in some ways. Petra assuring him he needed to think outside that human box, his arms resting around her still in a way that was oddly comfortable as that ever-present grin remained on his lips all the same.

"I'll try."

He was placating her, truly, she meant well with her advice, he was sure of that and yet he was almost equally sure that his humanity wasn't about to just up and disappear. Then again, maybe it would, one day. After all, her's had gone somewhere hadn't it? Who had she been before she'd been, well, whoever it was who'd commanded a snake to try and rip him apart? The woman in his arms now so far away from that one on the street it was almost astounding. What the hell had to happen to a person before they made that change? Petra musing that while he hardly knew how to be bad, she was sure she didn't know how to be good. His own head shaking slightly. She wouldn't remember any of this would she? God he hoped not. She'd probably rip his head off once she realised all those things she'd admitted to him.

"I think you know. You seem pretty good to me right now. Way less, like, snarly then you were like an hour ago. That's the drugs talking though."

He grinned down easily toward her again, that near black hair brushed out of his bright blue eyes as he did. Arlo querying then on who she had waiting at home. After all, he didn't need some roommate screaming at the sight of him or some boyfriend punching his head in. He was faster than most and yet he didn't really want to take that chance. Petra was as fickle as a cat asking for its belly to be rubbed, encouraging one second and likely to try and eat his hand the next. He'd hardly trust the woman and any company she kept from not turning him over to a coven or ripping his head off themselves. The idea of it apparent amusing enough to prompt Petra into giggles. Her having no friends apparently hilarious. God she was odd. In a quirky, amusing way. It was almost cute really. Almost. If not for the giant snake illusions an hour before.

"It's hard for people to be your friends if you don't let them, Chicka. I gotta say, just as a tip, maybe don't illusion giant monsters to chase them. People get kinda weird about that."

He shifted beneath her then, Arlo content to make every effort to help her find her feet, the woman hardly getting far before tumbling right back onto him, her stomach now pressed to his chest in a far more intimate fashion then before. This was so not where he'd thought this night was going. He could totally feel her, well, chest against him. She did have a nice chest. He really shouldn't look and yet it was entirely too late for that. He already had. Was it wrong to admire a woman when she was pressed up against him? Maybe he should help her up. The girl assuring him she was ready as he engaged those powers, this time, to bring them both to their feet. His hand resting on her waist in an effort to keep her upright and let her find her balance once more. That question of where she lived apparently a far more difficult one then he had anticipated. The woman seeming confused before declaring the east.

"Alright, east it is then, let's go."

He shifted forward then, his hand reaching to nestle in her own the way a lovers might have and yet really, this time, he was simply trying to keep her on her feet and make good on that promise he'd given her not to let anything happen to her. Why that question came to his own mind he hardly knew, hell, it wasn't like it was any of his business and yet he suppose he really did wonder what had happened to the woman he saw now in comparison to that one on the streets. Arlo hardly having anticipated those Illusions a second time. The younger vampire jerking in surprise at the first of those images as they appeared. Arlo taking several seconds to realise they were hardly real. He'd been expecting a story and somehow gotten an entire show. Petra suddenly speaking then as they walked, the woman seeming to have found her feet....mostly, Arlo content to keep a hold of her hand just in case. The vampire woman speaking then of her parents and an uncle whom had murdered them. Wow, she really was from a different time. Married off? Did people even still do that? God it was like out of one of those books. Not that he'd read them but they'd had boring covers and been called things like Pride and Prejudice. Her husband, it seemed, hardly any better than the man whom had sold her off. Was that even legal?

"Oh shit, Pet- im sorry I don't want to upse-"

The woman seemed determined to continue that story, even as Arlo made some effort to assure her she didn't need to if she didn't want too, that new 'pet name' seeming to present itself in that moment. Arlo turning as she suggested, leading them onto that busier street. The man placing her closer to the wall, keeping himself between her and those other beings. Age or not, in his fully fed state he was far stronger and entirely willing to use that to his advantage should he need to stop her lunging at someone here and now. Maybe that story was a good distraction. Those illusions continuing to dance before his eyes somehow making it all the more real. It was so....violent. Any wondering of how she had become the way she had abruptly ended. He knew how then. He knew exactly how. He'd done a lot of shit in his own time but he'd never hit a woman, not once, not even after he'd been turned. The sudden scream of a woman seeing Arlo's head jerk. Shit. Other people could see it.

"Pet, stop."

It was little more then a hushed whisper, the woman hardly seeming to be listening as he hurried them a little more. If there was a hunter around they were both going to get killed. That sudden sigh seeming to break her out of that almost sadistic mood shed seemed to find. Not that he blamed her. Not even a little. Those illusions melting away. There was almost nothing to say, not to that, not to something that....horrible. Arlo still trying to make sense of this Uncle of hers when she promptly asked for his own story. Arlo, like Petra herself, never having uttered that to another soul even despite it hardly being as tragic as her own. The man seeming to debate that request for several moments before that soft sigh left him. She wouldn't even remember right?

"This....This is a real secret though, alright? You can't go around telling people. Not when everyone finally forgot."

Maybe he could shorten it somehow, into something less painful to remember. His words almost hurried then, as if speed made them less real.

"I dropped out of high school when I was sixteen. Me and a couple of other guys- we had a band. We never thought we'd make it that far. I was the lead guitarist and I wrote most of our songs, we used to play in our basements- typical stuff. By some stupid stroke of luck we won Battle of The Bands one year, a guy from a record label saw us, signed us and we started making real money."

The name of that band was specifically left out, Petra entirely old enough to know it (if she listened to that sort of music which was maybe debatable) Arlo unwilling to take the chance all the same.

"It took a few years but we got big, really big, we started selling out concerts, then arenas, then stadiums. I was rolling in money, more then I knew what do to with but the truth of it was I was drunk or fucking high for most of it. I couldn't tell you where I was most of the time, what I'd done, who'd I'd been fucking. No idea. I got in to some harder stuff, tried to get off it, failed, started owing money to some shady guys. I ended up racking a bit of debt by the end of it. I got into a huge fight with my family and a few other band members, broke up with the girl I was seeing, everything kinda went to shit a bit. I had some sort of breakdown I guess. I just had enough of it, all of it, I don't know. I remember taking some stuff- I couldn't sleep. I honestly don't remember what I even took. Next thing I know I woke up on the floor with Patrick, my Maker, standing over me. I guess I overdosed. He saved my life in one way I suppose. If you call making me undead saving me. Papers got a hold of the story though, said it was a suicide attempt. For months they were the headlines. Famous rock star tries to kill himself. I didn't know. I swear I didn't....at least....I don't think I did. I don't know."

He'd never told another soul that story, not since it had happened. Not since the world had forgotten about it and he was just a Wikipedia entry. Arlo leaving out that part about his band mates distinct unwillingness to accept his new vampire status and the nightmares that had followed with that. Arlo almost hurried to move on from it as he pulled Petra to a stop near that side alleyway. The man determined to distract her from that story. A young man hurrying through that walkway then. Arlo calling suddenly out to him, waving him over.

"He's coming towards us, you wanted a meal right, have him but don't kill him ok? I'll help you if you need it."