#pls let me know if anything needs to be changed/rewritten! ♥

[sacrialege]

❛  what do you need?  ❜

athenodora looks decidedly genuine as she stands in the doorway of esme's room. aro had given her and carlisle one for their stay, although athenodora knows precious little about the duration. she knew it was special, though, because this was the first time carlisle had brought esme—his mate. athenodora was instantly curious, eager to meet someone carlisle loved so much. he had taught her quite a lot in his time with them and had become her mentor in a lot of ways. however bitter she might still be about his leaving, she loves and respects him enough to honor his mate.

she'd shut the door behind her after entering—she hadn't waited for a welcome. "nothing important," dora answers before confidently walking over to esme and reaching out to grasp the other's hands inside her own as if they'd known each other forever. they weren't friends—they had met only for a few moments upon their arrival—but that doesn't bother athenodora. "i wanted to see how you were getting acquainted, and i thought you might like some company… we could get to know each other a bit."

releasing esme's hands, athenodora moves with a supernatural speed to sit on a lounge chair facing the window, the sun glinting beautifully against her blonde hair. she looks carefree here, and eager to get to know esme. "athenodora, if you don't remember… caius' mate—we only met for a moment," she says, smiling, "you can call me dora." she motions to the chair beside her, gesturing for esme to join her. "carlisle hasn't told me anything juicy about you! i do intend to have a talk with him about it."

@wastheheart

[sacrialege]

a small thing from the countess, ♥

there's something about vampires that elizabeth can immediately recognize. like attracts like, and it's almost as if vampires have special auras that scream out to the countess: i am like you. she doesn't have a lot of vampire friends—they are far and few between when it comes to the cortez—so when she realizes what he is, at the bar, the countess pounces. he looks like someone more sally's type, but the countess feels something inviting in him and finds herself yearning for it.

she inserts herself next to him at the bar. "hello, love." the countess' lips upturn just slightly as she holds out her hand for him to take, leaning in closer to him. the idea of personal space matters very little to her, especially when it comes to inside the hotel. "elizabeth march, the countess," she introduces herself, pride in her tone when she says her name. "i own the hotel. here, let me get you another drink." the countess doesn't wait for an answer before she calls over liz with a wave of her other hand. she offers liz a sweet smile, and liz only shakes her head. she knows the countess' games all too well. a moment later, her attention is back on her new favorite stranger. "how long is your stay, love?"

@r3dblccd, for yongsun.

[sacrialege]

a starter for a plotted thing, ♥

it was the right choice; running away. but as the seconds pass by, annalise becomes more and more uneasy. it was hard for her to keep still, to keep from shooting up from her seat at a table in a cafe and running for the nearest exit. she knew dietrich had sent men to find her. and she felt eyes on her everywhere, but it wasn’t until she actually spotted a familiar face coming towards her that she finally convinced herself she wasn’t going crazy and it was the truth.

she wouldn’t go back to that sheltered, horrible life. she deserves her freedom the way she wants it, doesn't she? so she runs. for a long while until her legs start hurting, screaming at her to stop, and her lungs burn with every breath she takes. she couldn’t go on anymore. so, with her mastermind quick-thinking, she ducks behind the first person she sees and uses his body to shield her own from view, her fingers curling into his jacket like he's a lifeline and in a way, he kind of is. it wasn’t the greatest idea, but it was all she had. “i know we don’t know each other, but do you think you could stand still?” the minute it left her mouth she regretted it—she hadn’t meant to be so condescending when she was the one asking for help. “do you see him?” annalise asks, nodding her head in the direction she’d last seen her father’s guy. “do you think you can you hide me, maybe walk with me?”

@hebled

[sacrialege]

❝ tell me, is there any fight left in you? ❞

“there’s always fight left in me.” despite how casual she seems, there’s conviction in the way she says it and it’s clear she means it. annalise vogel is a fighter—she’s proved as much. to both her parents, to herself. to luciel, she knows. they were alike that way. he’d probably knew her answer before she even said it.

she's sitting cross-legged on the bottom of her bed, gazing down at luciel. “the problem is…” she starts with a sigh, plopping backward so that her head was dangling upside down over the edge. thick blonde hair splays out towards the floor beneath. “sometimes i don’t want to fight anymore. sometimes i wish the universe would just let me be.”

@mrchare

[sacrialege]

a small thing from the countess, ♥

it was a grueling thing, a difficult project to modernize the cortez, but it needs to be done. liz had gotten the wifi installed, but the countess was doing much more than that. she had plans to renovate entire floors in the hotel—and add a studio, a stage, where live performers could lure in people—and their money. james was helping with the architecture, of course, overseeing the building and construction of things, but the countess had put roxi in charge of her special addition. there is something in roxi that the countess recognizes, something hardworking and ambitious as elizabeth had once been in her acting career, and the countess is eager to get to know her more. she'll be good for the hotel—the countess is certain of that. "you can do whatever you like with the space," the countess informs roxi, gesturing around to the numerous construction crews and workers. "tell them and they'll make it happen. and if they don't, come and tell me and i'll have a talk with them."

@lucentsin

[sacrialege]

a small thing from the countess, ♥

the countess wears a carefree kind of smile, one reserved only for a limited audience. she moves excitedly through the lobby, passes the bar where liz gives her a knowing stare, and takes a seat beside nandor. "you didn't tell me you were visiting!" with little regard for the idea of personal space—it's all her space, isn't it?—she reaches over to press her hand against his arm in greeting. "i had to hear it from sally!" she says it like it had been a disservice to her, as if her friend has done something wrong, but there's a little glint of mischief in her eyes, and this was reserved for nandor. for those she calls friend. "have you come to partake in the cortez's guests, nandor?" after all, they're all rather tasty. she'd been snacking quite recently. "you know, had i known you were coming—we could have prepared a feast for you... or a party!"

@therelentless

[sacrialege]

"so nobody else knows about this?"

redwater valley often felt like a place disconnected from the normal world the humans around them lived in. it was well-wooded and well-hidden and there was an entire title given to the person dedicated to keeping their secrets. santiago would know—he'd been the fixer, once, before he became alpha.

it isn't often humans—or other supernaturals, even, aside from the werewolves—were in the know, and santiago took it very seriously. he trusts she won't go around telling their secrets. then again, even if she did—the fixer would take care of it. whatever it took to keep themselves protected.

"very few know," santiago answers. "you included, now. ... redwater valley keeps to itself. we keep human lives, even some living among us, but we don't interfere. we don't kill." a lie, but santiago doesn't mean it quite that way. they don't kill humans—unless it proved absolutely necessary. if his wolves were at risk. "it's not as exciting as it seems, when you get into the day-to-day."

@cursedher

[sacrialege]

"plain? oh, esme," dora exclaims on a sigh, shaking her head. "now that's hardly true. —ah! but you're young yet… you have time to feel differently. to become different, if you want." it's clear athenodora's transition from human to vampire had been easy with the way she speaks of it. as horrifying and traumatic as it had been, it had also been a gift unlike any other, and athenodora takes no shame in being a vampire. she was made for it, especially here—with caius, with those lucky enough to be called her family. perhaps she could understand why carlisle would want to spend his life with edward and now esme—the loneliness stung.

dora sits back in her chair and crosses one leg over the other, leaning towards esme with her arms crossed over her knee, hands dangling casually. her numerous rings, small and dainty, catch in the light of the sun. "so, tell me, how do you like being a vampire?"

It's the first time since arriving here that Esme has had space to breathe. Carlisle had given her the rundown about the members of the Volturi (including their mates) but hearing about them and meeting them were two different things.

Esme had refused to give Aro her hand; the decision caused quite the stir, muttering rippling through the guard. Aro was rather nonchalant about it, but there was that look in his eye— one that assured her he wouldn't forget.

She stupidly thought their room would finally provide some respite, but as soon as Esme has perched upon the vanity chair to fix disheveled hair, Athenodora appears. Esme spots the woman's reflection first, hardly registering her company before her hands are enveloped in the those of the blonde's. Esme barely gets the chance to speak before Dora shifts again, now lounging across the chair, her other hand eagerly gesturing to the empty chair beside her.

Esme joins her with the most tentative of smiles, her eyes starkly contrasting against the red of Dora's. A nervous laugh spills from Esme's lips with the woman's comments, not sure what she can say beyond what Carlisle has already divulged. Esme doesn't particularly consider herself particularly interesting, and unlike the residents of Volterra, Esme hasn't lived long enough in this life to be. Athenodora easily has a few thousand years on Esme.

"Ah, yes, I remember," Esme replies, her fingers linking loosely together on her lap, "I apologise, I'm not very good with names, but it's a pleasure to meet you Dora." Or she hopes it is. Esme still isn't entirely sure what to make of them all. Still, Esme continues with a lingering smile, "you'll have to forgive Carlisle... it's not exactly easy to have anything to tell when his mate is, well, as plain as me."