Turn This Up A Notch {{OpEN}}

[serasalcaste]

Isi looked to be a bit outraged at least, maybe even furious but for the most part just confused. Was it because of Seras? A small notion in the bottom of her heart made it skip a beat and begin to hurt, but her humanity quickly subsided. Blinking a few times, her lips began to part and the most faint words came out. "Are you alright, Miss Runasimi...?" But it seemed as soon as the vampire finished her sentence her master was out of the room.

Seras remained sitting in her bed, having never been told to leave it or her room. In truth, every ounce of the human left in her wanted to run after Isi and hold her tight, but that part of her was quickly dying.

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[Isi Runasimi]

Isi didn’t return back into Seras room nor did she hear the words the vampire spoke. Instead Isi settled back into her bed and did something she had never done before. She cancelled the security on Seras room so she couldn’t see a single damn thing. If the girl was inviting an army of vampires through her window Isi wouldn’t see (at least the inside view). Isi turned the side table light on before resting up to sleep; nibbling on a chocolate turtle. Of course it would take two sleeping pills for Isi to get some sleep, what with being restless and all. How could a hunter get to sleep with a vampire in their home?

[serasalcaste]

There was a little bit of disappointment in Seras' eyes when Isi seemed to ignore her and walk out of the room. She hated to not be acknowledged by her master, but perhaps thats what the vampire desired most. In every other respect of her life she was already so alone anyhow. Staring out at the wall before her, an urge to shoot up began to grow on her, but still the petite girl fought it with every ounce of strength in her. Mentally she scolded the human in her who enjoyed such things, but then again the vampire loved to drink blood so she was still in such a war between two sides.

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[Isi Runasimi]

When Isi woke up the first thing she should have done was to check on Seras and to offer her a meal of some sorts. Isi should have purchased blood from the blood lab or at least give Seras some money (though she seemed to have an endless supply). Isi was wearing the bow tie up boots Seras had purchased for her what now seemed ages ago but was in truth only a few days new. She was breaking them in. The coffee pot began to sizzle and it kept the already made coffee warm. There was just something about instant coffee that screamed nauseating. Maybe it was because every time Isi tried to make instant she ended up with more of the black powder that would crunch between her teeth. So homemade coffee it was though it didn’t take but a minute to make. You poured coffee beans (vanilla) into the coffee grinder, then added an oversized cupcake wrapper, water and voila. Once Isi had her first cup the grog and weariness of her eyes seemed to vanish.

One if Isi’s favorite painters happened to be Degas. A very long time ago Isi used to be a ballerina and Degas did many a things with ballerinas as his subject material. Isi had even lifted, ‘The Chorus Singers’ in Paris with hopes to trade it with another player for their ballerina piece. But that had never happened and Isi had grown quite used to ‘The Chorus Singers’ and the Degas collection began. The piece Isi wanted now was ‘The Dance Class’. It was breathtakingly beautiful! Ballerinas from every age were dressed in lovely white dresses with various colored sashes standing on but a wooden floor with their tiny feet clad in precious baby pink shoes. The teacher was old standing in the middle and direction their attention. Even though he had as of current a cane you just knew he could dance before age took his mobility. It was just a breath taking piece to a Degas fan. Most people only liked him now because is quite famous in the art world. Isi liked his ballerinas. Of course it also helped that the pieces were worth millions. ‘The Chorus Singers’ were worth a cool 1.1 Million. If Isi were to hock it she could get around 700K, maybe more.

Through some sort of sheer luck the piece was being featured in the Wave Hill museum. It was a nonprofit museum and basically security was relaxed - Meaning there should be no walls closing and imprisoning the thief if a sensor went off, no vacuums sealing off the oxygen supply, no booby traps, no things like that the various museums did when they housed year round million dollar pieces. There would probably be a few security guards full time on night watch but they were all easily distracted with a TV. No one really expected anyone to try and steal from a museum. The blueprints from the museum which housed all the sectors, doors and emergency exit doors were circled with a white chalk pencil. After a job was done: good or bad the blueprints would be burned to crisp little ashes leaving virtually no trace of evidence behind except for maybe the whole ‘break in kit’ in a black tote bag. Isi spun the sugar around in her coffee cup and added some creamer. “Good,” she spoke to herself as she reviewed the list she had gotten two weeks ago of the guards detail: when and who was replaced at what time and with who. Of course there would obviously be a new guard schedule for this event and Isi needed to gain access to it. The problem was that because security was so lax at this museum, it was probably written on paper and there was absolutely no way to gain access to it. That would mean she would have to think of every single type of security detail they could imagine and be ready for all.

[serasalcaste]

The faint smell of coffee brewing in the distance caught Seras' attention. It reminded her of the many times she used to work at a cafe in london and Hiro would visit. But the memory was something very dormant now. It felt so long ago to her and her lover was but a faded dream. It all barely even brought a look of surprise and happiness to her face when she recognized the smell coming from her master's kitchen. The girl didn't even move. She laid back down in her bed, eyes glued to the ceiling up above. It wasn't that she was looking at anything in particular, but simply just looking. She was lost.

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[Isi Runasimi]

Isi moved from the papers to the silver briefcase set to the side on the floor against the table leg. She had to look at the portrait just once. With the white powder gloves Isi slipped onto her fingers she opened up the briefcase. It contained an identical copy of The Dance Class. It would be this copy she would exchange with the original. With any luck it wouldn’t be noticed right away. If it wasn’t noticed for a couple of weeks then Isi could be quite happy and satisfied. She ran her gloved fingers over the ballerina dresses just itching to get her fingers on the original! She placed the portrait back in the briefcase before Seras could see it.

It wasn’t much longer before the doorbell was rung. Isi inched upwards and shot out of her seat like a rocket. As she looked into the spyglass she was relieved when it wasn’t the Police. It had looked like one of Seras’ friends dropping off something. Her heart was beating rapidly because she knew she was doing something she should feel guilty about. As she opened the door as soon as the car peeled out of the driveway Isi opened the container, unsure if it was a bomb or what. But something was telling Isi that it wouldn’t be that but something Seras would need – Blood. “Seras, get down here.” Isi yelled as she closed the door, locked it and threw the case on the kitchen counter. There was even a cute little cup for Seras to pour her blood into it if she wished, her friends had thought of everything.

[serasalcaste]

The instant Seras heard Isi's voice tell her to come downstairs, she was standing in the entrance to the kitchen in no time. The vampire had since heard a car pull up to the mansion, but it hadn't crossed her mind that perhaps it was her friends. The same friends that usually brought her drugs.

Waiting patiently in the entranceway to the kitchen, Seras was a good little vampire and didn't take one step in unless she was told to. Glancing about, she recognized the suitcase, and a small part of her felt relieved because it was something from her previous friends. It had bothered her a bit to wonder about what effect her current predicament would mean amongst them, but it seemed to be working out for the better. Despite dealing in the businesses of the underground, Seras knew they were the most trustworthy folks one would meet in such a field.

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[Isi Runasimi]

“Drink your food,” Isi ordered. There wasn’t a thought in Isi’s mind that thought for even half a second that the girl was full. She was a vampire and vampires were ravenous hungry monsters. It disgusted Isi to have blood in her own home for the purpose of drinking but she knew when she brought the vampire in that it would have to be this way. She couldn’t feed the girl orange juice. But sacrifices had to be made. Though none in the effect that Isi would watch her hunt a human down or feed her straight from her own veins.

“Seras. Do you know what happened to my car last night?” Isi would start off slow. First she would talk about her car and then slowly bring in the female and then Hiro. How would Seras react and was that even the right Hiro? Though exactly how many people had the name of Hiro? Isi had never heard of that name until it was uttered straight from Seras’ lips. She reviewed her old cell phone messages from Hiro and read them over and over again.

[serasalcaste]

The vampire stood in the doorway not making even the slightest move, but the moment Isi began to talk to her and she mentioned drinking, her eye's shot to the bloodbags sitting on the counter. Licking her lips subconsciously, she took a few short, careful steps forward and took one in her dainty hands. "Yes, Miss Runasimi." A soft voice escaped her anxious lips. Nibbling off a tiny piece of the plastic bag, she held it in front of her with two hands and began sipping at it like a child with a juicebox. The thought that Isi would surely be disgusted weighed heavy on her, but the girl was ordered to drink so she did.

"No, Miss Runasimi. Im heaps sorry I don't." She took a break from her drink to respond promptly to her question. But the vampire didn't give enough credit for herself to think about what could possibly have happened to Isi's precious auto. She thought she had heard it pull in this past evening, though it sounded a bit different. And surely Seras hadn't been out of her room to notice the smashed windshield, the dented hood, or the missing hood ornament. Had she even bothered to witness the blood all over the front of it before Isi cleaned it off surely she would have been anxious with questions.

Slowly, Seras finished one bloodbag and tossed it away promptly in the waste basket.

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[Isi Runasimi]

Isi didn’t dare watch Seras drink from the bag. All too clear was the image of her half nude drinking from the various vampires she had killed. It was a sickening sight indeed! It was more grotesque than watching a human being mauled or attacked. Instead Isi turned to her blueprints and began to make important details with her white chalk pencil. The white was visible when drawn onto the blue of the blueprints. She circled doors, roof access from the glass panels to garbage shoots to the docking area. All in all, it was easier to access anything from the roof. But with this low tech security museum she could pick the lock to a back door wearing heat sensor eyewear and pronounce it piece of cake.

Isi took a sip of her coffee before she began. “I got in an accident. It was completely destroyed.” She fiddled with the spoon in her cup, stirring it passionately. “The person I hit nearly died. He was bleeding from his ears too I believe. So much blood. And it’s kind of funny since he could have avoided being hit if he wanted. He pushed some broad out of the way. It’s kind of funny isn’t it? Kind of funny.” Isi repeated herself mostly to herself, forgetting almost that Seras was in the room. Come to think of it, she had never seen such a ‘kind’ act coming from a monster before. She immediately didn’t believe it was a kind act but more so just wanting to pretend to be kind, like the guy had a plan or something. No one could be that kind... No one would selflessly risk their own life to save another….

[serasalcaste]

Nodding her head as Isi spoke to the vampire, Seras casually glanced over at the blueprints and wanted to sigh, but she didn't. There was zero emotion written across the girl's face. Isi's voice continued on about her car and the events of the previous evening, and for whatever reason it triggered a few older memories in her mind. Somehow, she was able to force herself to speak out of line.

"I... I knew a boy like that... once.... he was heaps nice too..." She whispered softly, biting her lip and looking away for fear of what Isi might do to her for speaking, but also there may have been a little tear in her eye.

Seras stood solemnly in the doorway to the kitchen, looking at nothing in particular aside from the adjacent wall across the way. Her eyes almost had a sad undertone beneath the vast emptiness that plagued her now.

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[Isi Runasimi]

Isi held out her hand for Seras to take the empty chair at the table. “And, what did this boy look like?” Isi batted her thick black eyelashes and placed both of her hands under her chin. She was staring directly at Seras and only blinked twice before fixing her eyes on the pet before her. She ran her pinky down across her left hand as she waited for a description of the boy Isi knew without a doubt to be Hiro. If their descriptions matched up then Isi had met the real Hiro. But would Seras want to know why Isi was asking? Would she guess that Hiro had somehow fingered his way into Isi’s life?

[serasalcaste]

The little vampire slave immediately took the empty seat at the table after Isi motioned for her to. She didn't even state how she'd prefer to stand, or speak freely at all, doing exactly what her master asked of her without even a second thought. As Isi kept her eyes planted on the girl, she stared right back out of respect and spoke softly the moment she had been asked a question. Her obedience was so severe it was as if she hadn't had her own soul.

"He was a bit taller than me, Miss Runasimi. His hair, dark, oh! and it hung low over his eyes." There was little emotion in her even when speaking of someone she dearly loved. Whatever happened between then must have ruined her greatly. "His eyes were heaps pretty, Miss. This bright yellow. Sometimes super dark red. They were pretty then too. Hiro wuz skinny, but still strong. And he was super duper nice. He kinda looked like a girlie sumtimes but he wuz heaps beautiful. Honest!" Biting her lip a little, it seemed talking about her past lover brought out a bit of humanity left in Seras, but she wouldn't dare show it to Isi. Never again. Seras would be her slave, and they didn't need anything but manners and the desire to please their masters.

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[Isi Runasimi]

Isi planted her cup firmly on the ground. From the heat the cup emitted little wet droplets which formed on the glass and in turn slid slowly down onto the table. Isi listened with great detail to Seras’ summary of the great Hiro. If anything, her description was slight a disappoint. It was quite vague. Isi’s eyes hadn’t caught the detail of height, she would need to stand Hiro and Seras back to back or at least in the same room to tell. But dark hair the man did have, but who didn’t? Isi could dye her hair too with temporary solution if she needed to blend in. And if there was one thing she hadn’t noticed it was the hairstyle but things like that could change. One day Isi could be curly, the next straight. The only time she got a good look at Hiro was drenched in blood.

“Does he talk all proper with hint of an accent?” Isi asked. She had been to England before, had not stayed long, and was not a native. If a person was trying to pull off a fake English accent she would be none the wiser. Was there nothing that could prove to Isi that he was the real deal? Isi looked at her phone messages again. She didn’t dare show them to Seras’, nor did she dare inform the girl of his number. But phone numbers changed. Isi didn’t blink as she stirred her drink once more. This wasn’t uncomfortable, but Isi knew it should be. With her friendliest look she asked Seras a second question. From the look of the couple up close and personal it had appeared that they had been together a long time, a very long time. Had Seras actually been the girl on the side? Or had Seras been together forever with the vampire until he replaced her for a newer model. “Does the name Era mean anything to you?”

If it did, let’s just hope that Seras didn’t feel the need to punch out Isi’s white teeth.

[serasalcaste]

"Why yes, Miss Runasimi. He does." Seras answered promptly, sitting with her hands folded across her lap. Her back was straight in the chair and there wasn't an ounce of displeasure in her. "He lived in London, silly. Hiro's a nice gentleman." Of course this nearly proved Isi's point, should she choose to believe it. The vampire she had come across had to be none other than Seras' former lover. They even possessed the same accent and manner of speaking.

Sitting in her chair without another word out of her mouth, the seemingly brain dead girl didn't dare inquire why Isi wanted to know of Hiro. But the moment her next question escaped her lips, a look of fire burned into Seras' eyes, only to be drowned out by a depression so severe on look would turn anyone apologetic. "Era... I thinks she went away." Seras bit her lip, unsure how Isi would take that. In truth, the vampire wasn't sure what became of the girl Hiro had mentioned on more than one occasion to her. All Seras knew and cared to remember was that her Hiro had always spoken so fondly of the lass and hadn't seen her in forever. From what Seras had gathered, Hiro still had feelings for her even during their relationship.

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