#look I want a nosferatu gf and this is my way of handling it

[bestialchorus]

The Long Night - Chapter 1 (falling for your Nosferatu girlfriend)

Prologue: “Well, fuck.”

“This is such bullshit!” The large man growls, while not so subtly slamming his hand against the cheap, wooden table, the sound reverbs throughout the seedy bar.

Despite his temper, the woman sitting across from him doesn’t flinch, more focused on finishing her burger. Clearly, it been quite a rough day for the pair, and the only thing getting the woman through it, may as well be the greasy meal currently clogging her arteries. Drips of grease dribble down her chin, which she aptly wipes away with the back of her hand. She can’t help but wonder how the day’s events took such a sharp turn and so quickly at that.

“We go out of our way to get that floppy disk-“, he exclaims as his mind races, scrutinizing every decision the led them to the dingy bar. “I had to fuck up TWO Gangrel, not one, but two!” The man emphasizes his point by holding up calloused fingers just inches from his companion’s face, and an uninterested one at that. The woman continues to scarf down her food.

By now, the conversation has attracted the attention of a few wandering eyes, the unlikely duo raises a few eyebrows to say the least. The mountain of a man is bald and covered in tattoos. His jean jacket free of sleeves, instead, jagged fabric and splintered threads left over in their wake, telling onlookers it was not for the sake of fashion per say, but most likely lost in a dirty street fight. Everything about the man’s demeanors screamed brujah, while the molten intensity behind his eyes screams it louder.

His associate is gangly in shape. Standing at around 5’8, Her elongated limbs are enveloped in lean, stringy muscle, often covered up by an old leather jacket, that sits just a tad too big on her. Short, messy spikes of platinum hair crown the woman’s head. The mint tone of her flesh compliments her wild locks quite well, though she tries to ignore just how inhuman her skin looks to the average eye….or should we say, mortal eye. It would be difficult to assume that the woman was anything but, a nosferatu, especially with those razor blades, she called teeth.

The blonde finally speaks up, words slightly muffled as she speaks while chewing. Normally, she would be more conscious of her manners but right now she’s far too tired to care.

“Didn’t you have to fight those Gangrel, because you chose to ignore the very precise and very safe route, I gave you in the first place?” She asks critically, rubbing her temple as she recalls the less-than-intellect decision, her partner made that day.

“Look, there was a shortcut and I took it-“  He quickly deflects while waving a hand before his face, his companion quietly rolls her eyes while taking a few sips of her milkshake. The brujah leans in as he continues.

“What matters-“  He drawls out the word while double tapping the table with his pointer finger.

“…is we worked our asses’ off for that goddamn floppy, only for it to suddenly disappear like that.” He ends his statement with a snap of his fingers. “I don’t get how you’re not more pissed about this, Teagan!?”

“Who says I’m not?” She rebuttals, the accusation completely pulling her from her loaded thoughts.

“UM, maybe because the first thing you do after finding out our payday just walked out the door, was buy a goddamn happy meal??” He animatedly gestures down at the food, his voice carrying an incredulous tone. “Why are you even eating this crap? You’re just gonna throw it up in an hour. Do you want me to find you a rat or something? There’s gotta be a few around here.” He scans the space, very much prepared to find his friend a proper meal. Plus, he knew vermin were her favourites…at least the mean ones.

“The eating is just a comfort thing….”  Her voice trickles out as she finishes, looking away for a few seconds.

Teagan places a hand over her friend’s very large one, trying to get him to focus. “Look Bruce, right now I’m more concerned about who exactly stole the floppy, because that mean one of two things. One, either someone’s been tailing us or two-“

“We have a rat of our own.” He grits through his teeth, squeezing his meaty fist while he processes the weight of the statement.

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A young college student releases a heavy sigh of relief, as she leaves her evening class for the night, happy midterm season was finally over with. “I gotta say, Alex, I don’t know how we did it..but we did.” The redhead thinks to herself as she recalls the endless weeks of essay writing and midterm prep.

The nightly cold air greets her as she makes her way towards the subway. The world around her begins to muffle as she pops on her headphones, blasting her favourite playlist. All the young woman wanted to do was head home and escape into a fantasy show for the night, allowing herself a few hours to pretend she had nothing else to worry about…at least academically. In the back of her head, she contemplates whether she should treat herself to her favourite take-out.

The city’s street lamps, and various businesses help illuminate her path but, shadows loom around her all the same. There is no mistaking that nighttime is here and there’s no escaping it.

The young woman lightly bobs her head to a song, happy to get lost in the heavy bass after weeks of stress and a few all-nighters. Unbeknownst to her, she catches the attention of a nearby stranger, a man who feels something spark, deep within him once he sees the distracted redhead. Her petite frame screams one thing, at least to those who have the foulest of souls: an opportunity.  Like a moth to a forbidden flame, he begins following her at a distant, using the veil of night to hide from her peripheral vision.

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Teagan says her goodbyes to Bruce for the evening, ready to head home to her haven and distract herself from the day’s looming weight. While her partner was probably on his way to an underground fight club, to blow off some steam (at least she hoped so), she had a computer filled with encrypted files to hack with her name on it.  Normally, the kindred would hop down the nearest manhole cover and make her way through the city’s intricate sewer system. But tonight, she decided to walk, appreciating the extra time to think and process, and luckily for her, few people questioned face masks during the colder weather.

Halfway through her journey she notices an odd sight. There’s some guy following a girl down a nearby alley and considering his distance she doubts they’re together. Teagan hears how the man’s heartbeat beings to pick up, the closer he gets to the girl. Normally, the vampire wasn’t one to get involved in the affair of others but there’s something about the desperation behind the man’s eyes she doesn’t quite like or trust for that matter. She quietly tails behind the tailer, her steps almost non-existent to the human ear.

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If anyone in this scenario could read minds, they’d quickly learn this isn’t the first time this man has submitted to his hunger. No, unfortunately not. Time and time again, he’ll promise himself it’ll be the last time…but it never is. He removes the dissonance between his thoughts and actions by telling himself, at his core, is in fact a good man. That he is a good man who simply has a small problem and doesn’t everyone? What do they say in church? Hate the sin, love the sinner? At least, this is what he tells himself to help absolve his guilty conscious. How strange, how that very same conscious, is often nowhere to be found whenever he lays his eyes on a pretty creature. He instead, opts to listen to what sits between his legs.

The stalker finally sees an opportunity arise as the college student steps into a very dark and presumably empty, alleyway. He plays the scenario out in his mind; he’ll simply grab the girl here, and take what he needs, just a taste he thinks, a morsel at most. The deviant feels sweat start to form on his forehead as this narrative plays before his eyes, his adrenaline rising at the thought of capturing his prey….little does he know, there is more than one prey tonight.

Teagan can’t help but shake her head at how unaware the girl seems to be, then again, kindred by nature can’t help but be paranoid to a fault.

Alex finally notices a strange shadow extending from behind her. Time seems to slow down for what plays out next. The woman’s blood instantly runs cold as she realizes the shadow is very much reaching for her and it’s much too close for comfort. The redhead tries to bolt off, but the shadow is too quick. In a manner of seconds, the man shoves her against a nearby brick wall (the force makes her wince), immediately covering her mouth with his hand. The girl struggles with all her might but to no avail, the man doubles her in size and is much stronger in comparison. Alex tastes a metallic flavor as a ringed finger presses down against her mouth.

Teagan bites back a hiss, biting down hard enough against her lips to draw blood. Whatever thoughts she originally had of simply scaring the man off, are now gone. No, she’s ready to feed, and from someone who deserves to be bled right till the brink of death. She finally feels the anger Bruce displayed earlier, but times ten. If by nature, she is a monster who deserves to die – then the man before her deserves an untimely death, at the very least.

“Now, now. No need to fret, daffodil-“ The predator notices how the student’s bright, fiery hair glistens in the moonlight and quickly adjusts his nickname accordingly.

“Or perhaps Rose would be more appropriate.” She glares at him and continues to struggle but he simply shifts more of his weight against her. His pungent cologne floods her senses, and she instinctively recoils in disgust.

“Now if you’re quiet, then there’s no reason for me to kill you.” The man quickly pulls out a blade from his jacket pocket and brandishes it with a frenzied look in his eye, almost as if the moment was giving him a high. The knife’s presence gives Alex a second boost of adrenaline. She immediately kicks her assailant between his legs, and hard. The man yelps in pain and immediately slumps over. She rushes at the chance to run away, but blind fury seems to give her stalker his second wind. Whatever semblance of humanity was present in him earlier is now gone, leaving only a beast in its wake and that very same beast lunges at her, seeking to sink his claws in her once again.

But right as the man is about to tackle Alex, he’s suddenly pulled back by an invisible force. The assaulter’s eyes widen as he’s immediately slammed down against the concrete.

A loud thud fills the air as heavy flesh hits the cold ground. The college student immediately braces herself against the wall, frantically trying the scan the area of a possible third party but sees no one. She stands there frozen, her heart still beating through her ears as she tries to process everything that just happened……that is, until she notices the man’s body suddenly being lifted in the air by an unseen force. Sounds of struggle can be heard as the man is lifted by his throat, the invisible entity holding a visceral grip around his windpipe.

The pain quickly starts to set it and the man whimpers as he tries to desperately to free himself, he is not unlike an animal caught in an unforgiving trap. Unfortunately for him, this trap’s motives seem to be personal.

If the redhead was not traumatized before, she surely is now. She stands visibly confused and even a tad curious as to the bizarre situation unfolds before her.

A low, raspy voice begins speaking, its unearthly tone is unlike anything the man has ever experienced before. Whatever dream of a scenario this was for the man before, has quickly turned into a nightmare….a nightmare he may never wake from.

“It’s funny you know. They’ll call my kind, scum… but if I’m scum, then what does that make you?

And in a blink of an eye, the mysterious addition is now very much visible. The hunter has now become the hunted, it feels as if his heart could stop then and there as he gazes upon his assaulter.

The creature holding him is human in shape but looks back at him with glowing red eyes surrounded by black voids where white should be. The pathetic human frantically claws at the blonde’s hand, tears start to run down his face, both from pain and from fear.  

The redhead stands in complete awe. She should run, scream, hide- anything that would take her out of this situation, but she doesn’t. She’s not even sure if what she’s witnessing is even possible, all she knows is that the figure before her, technically saved her…..also is that a leather jacket?

The kindred speaks again, her voice sardonic as she brings her prey closer to her face.

“What’s wrong? You were looking for a pretty girl, weren’t you? What, am I not pretty enough for ya?” The man cowers as Teagan flashes the man her needle-like fangs, inching him closer to her salivating mouth.

Alex cannot see the kindred’s face as she has her back turned to her, instead, the only clearly visible image is man’s now pale face, as if the blood has completely drained from it.

“Or, let me guess, you can dish it but can’t take it.” Tegan sneers.

The man’s sniveling demeanor finally attracts the attention of Teagan’s inner beast. Her inner beast often acts like a demonic compass she’s forced to fight against, day in and day out, as it pleads for her to feed and to never stop. The only thing that drowns it out, seems to be the little semblance of humanity she still carries in her soul, despite her vampiric nature. But right now, she can’t hear that humanity, no, instead, all she hears is her beast’s voice, flooding her mind.

“there we go. Let’s snap his neck and then feast until we can’t move!”

She feels her fangs extend, her mouth dripping in anticipation as she closes in on the man’s throat, oh how rich this meal will be, how delicious it will feel against her tongue…………………………………………………………………..until a sound brings her back to reality.

A sharp intake of air comes from behind Teagan, suddenly pulling her from her hunger-induced haze. Her beast roars within her, demanding she feed them, but somehow, she ignores it. She instead, without warning, tosses the man to the side with force, instantly knocking him out. The action surprises the student, and she lets out a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding in.  

The vampire doesn’t turn around, instead, she’s well prepared to flee and disappear into the night, happy to become a distant memory to the probably now, very much traumatized woman. Somehow, Alex senses the woman’s skittish nature and decides to immediately address the mysterious blonde, at the very least she should thank her for coming to her aid.

“T-thank you…god I don’t know what to say but thank you.” She says breathlessly, still trying to process if any of this could possibly be a nightmare…or perhaps a dream. The nosferatu’s pointed ears perk up, she’s never heard such a lovely voice, dead or alive. All the blonde wants to do is turn around and see the source of the beautiful voice but still, she doesn’t budge, as if her legs refuse to move.

“I don’t know if any of this is real…but, my name is Alex if it’s worth anything.” All of this feels to dream-like to the redhead to be real, but she goes with it. The taller woman still refuses to turn around and address the redhead. But the question now is why hasn’t she moved then?? Is it fear? Loneliness? Plain curiosity? A mix of everything? She’s not sure but she wishes it would stop clouding her judgement. She knows good and well, if the woman takes even one glance at her ghoulish face, she’ll surely run for the hills, screaming. Teagan’s racing thoughts are suddenly interrupted, as she senses the woman behind her slowly taking steps in her direction.

If the nosferatu was alive, her heart would surely start racing with every step the woman took towards her. Alex can’t help but wonder if the blonde is injured or if something is wrong, she’s addressed her twice but still no reaction, she wonders if she even heard her.

Alex raises a cautious hand to the mysterious woman, hoping to get her to turn around, but Teagan gently catches it before it can reach her shoulder. Alex notices the greenish tint to the woman’s hand; she wonders if perhaps she’s suffering from an illness of sorts. But even past the colour, the blonde’s hand is almost claw-like in nature. The image should make her skin crawl, but it doesn’t, she still views the individual before her as a kind soul, at the very least, a soul willing to risk their life for her, a boon she truly wishes to repay.

“You shouldn’t be so trusting.” The kindred softly warns. Interest and confusion paint the redhead’s face.

The blonde continues, “You shouldn’t thank me…what if the only reason I stopped that piece of shit, was just so I could kill you myself?”

The statement is blunt in nature but not in tone. Despite the question, Alex can’t bring herself to fear the woman, at least not yet. There’s also the addition of her finding the woman’s gravelly voice quite attractive but she decides to put a pin in that for now. “Priorities, Alex…priorities.” She mentally chides herself and she clears her throat.

“…well, did you?” The student asks a bit too lightly for Teagan’s taste, but she gently shakes her head all the same.

Alex senses no dishonesty, and she smiles in response, “well then, my thanks stands.” Her voice remains sweet, as if she wasn’t in peril just a few minutes earlier. It almost throws Teagan off, why hasn’t this woman run for the hills screaming yet? The kindred almost murdered a man before her but here she stands, actually thanking the nosferatu. Then again, she still hasn’t seen the face of her so called, “knight in shining amor” and the night is still young.

The woman’s sickeningly, sweet attitude continues as she addresses the blonde again, “seriously, I don’t want to think of what could have happened if you weren’t here. Is there any way I could repay you..um?”

“Teagan.” She answers despites her better judgement.

Alex’s smile grows as she repeats the kindred’s name to her, “Teagan. That’s a great name. It matches the leather jacket.”

The genuine statement makes the ends of the vampire’s mouth curl up, if only a bit. The grin is lost on the redhead, but she does hear the taller woman ever so quietly release an amused “hmmph”, in response. Teagan suddenly feels more at ease, the woman’s calm attitude seems to be rubbing off on her. The kindred straightens up a bit, while shoving her hands into her jacket’s pocket to grab something.

Alex fights back a gulp as the blonde straightens up and stands at her full height, which in comparison to her, was much taller. The student can’t help but feel ashamed of her growing attraction to this mysterious “Teagan”.  She should be more rattled about the possibility of almost dying earlier, but instead, she’s too focused on the tall blonde and her guarded attitude.

The student is pulled from her thoughts as she hears that attractive voice address her once again.

“Where do you live?” Teagan asks before thinking, but she quickly clarifies the reason behind her question, suddenly realizing how creepy it must have come off. “I mean, generally- I may know a shortcut to get you home quicker and It would put my mind at ease….. knowing you get home safe, y’know?”

“You’re such a sucker” Her inner beast mocks and she can’t even argue. But she misses how Alex’s face believes anything but that, no, instead the girl’s heart involuntarily skips a beat at the sweet confession. The redhead tries to ignore the warmth she feels in her cheeks, believing the last thing the blonde wanted to deal with was some crushing schoolgirl.

“I, live on Lincoln Street, on the west side. But I could honestly take the subway, I don’t want to trouble you any further.” She answers, honestly. Though a part of her also worries about giving herself more time to embarrass herself around the blonde, while equally wishing for nothing more than to spend more time with the blonde…..

Lincoln, that was about twenty minutes away by subway but only ten via the nosferatu path, Teagan thinks.

“Like I said, I’ll be able to sleep better if I know you got home safe- It’s no trouble.” The blonde finishes her statement by putting on her face mask, the gesture isn’t lost on the redhead.

“Alright then, sounds good! Will I actually get to look you in the eye on this journey or do you prefer if I cover my eyes?” Alex lightly teases, wondering why the woman refused to meet her gaze. She notices how the blonde stiffens at the statement, wondering if she’s taken it too far, until the taller woman actually starts to slowly turn around towards her. Once again, if Teagan’s heart was still beating, it would surely be beating through her chest right now. The blonde almost winces, the closer she gets to showing the student her face. She’s prepared to hear the redhead scream, scream profanities at her, or even just die on the spot……it wouldn’t be the first time for any of those possibilities.

Nothing could have prepared Alex for the red eyes that eventually stare back at her. If this had been any other night, she’d assume they were contacts but even then, she’s never seen contacts glow like that. Teagan’s eyes would have been terrifying if her gaze wasn’t so, afraid? At first, the woman looks at her as if she’s ready for Alex to hit her, whether it be with words or with her fist but of course, neither come. But even after the moment passes, it’s followed by Teagan’s eyes widening as they finally lock onto Alex’s. The blonde’s ghoulish skin turns a shade darker before she immediately looked away from the redhead. The student doesn’t comment on it, but she can’t help but wonder if she’s somehow scared the blonde or perhaps offended her? But for Teagan, this wasn’t the case at all…quite the opposite.

The nosferatu took one look at the smaller woman and almost died then and there. The redhead was stunning to say the least; her small face was dusted with freckles, like a night sky complimented by endless stars. Alex’s brilliant, red hair, stopped at her shoulders and beautifully contrasted against her shining emerald eyes. Lastly, the moonlight seems to reflect off the girl’s glossed lips, lips that are pouty and pink and seem to call to hers like a siren. If Teagan was self-conscious before, it’s even worse now. She could never show this woman her full face, not unless she wanted to permanently traumatize her….and well, she’s been through enough tonight, she thinks.

Alex’s voice is soft as she pulls the blonde from her insecure thoughts, she fights back reaching for the woman again. “Hey, are you okay? I’m sorry if what I said, came off harsh. I really didn’t mean anything by it. You don’t have to show me your face if you’re not comfortable.”

Teagan quickly clears her throat and stands tall, “it’s fine. Follow me.”

And follow the redhead does, but she often glances down at the blonde’s long, almost claw like hand, wishing she could hold onto it as they make their way through the darkness. The kindred feels the woman’s eyes on her and puts two and two together, assuming she must be shaken up after the night’s events.

“Would you like to hold my hand? It’s okay if you do….I understand you’ve been through a lot tonight.” Teagan offers, her face burning as she tries to steady her voice.

Alex flashes her a warm smile and takes the blonde’s hand with ease. Each of the women feel sparks fly within them as they make contact. The redhead loves how safe she feels under the blonde’s touch, ready to follow her, wherever she may take her.