The Healer's Guardian

Midnight Endeavor

Electric Black hair, perfectly pinned in areas and puffed in others, matched an equally shocking shade of pale creme. The pale creme face held deep sea blue eyes that seemed to captivate as well as bewilder; much like the female's hair. Her eyes were lined black and heavy with a bit of a wispy tip upward at each corner of her eyes; lashes long, lush, supple and dark curled to deceiving perfection. She wore a plush light maple tan turtle neck, the label unknown as she had made it herself; it was paired with a dark almost midnight blue faded pair of jeans that were slightly ripped around her thighs, knees, and shins. She pulled the outfit together with black pointed boots that gave her four more inches to her already five foot four height.

She was accompanied by feminine laughter, Vampire feminine laughter, and even though Romey vowed to herself she'd become Vegan; the temptation was just too rough for someone whose other half is Vampire and all the thrumming sounds of warm blood pulsing in her ears . . . Well that's like waving a juicy steak to a homeless person who hadn't eaten for more than three days. The other two females that occupied the seats, one next to her and the other across from her in their corner window table, was her co-workers. Jalisa and Caroline; Jalisa the front desk slash make-up artist, and Caroline a fellow hairstylist. They had spent the last ten hours together and Romey was slowly becoming drained of their presence, it was hard already not trying to sink her fangs into their lovely necks . . . But damn.

"So Romey, where is the lucky man?" Siren spoke in her sultry almost fake Latin voice as she pursed her lips in a puckering almost sucking mock motion, while fluttering her faux eyelashes, a dash of blue glitter across her lids as well as black liquid eyeliner. Romey just raised a brow to her question and then motioned her right arm up so that her elbow rested on the table top and she leaned her right cheek into her clasped palm. She dumbly looked into the slightly looking older woman and just sighed.

Caroline seemed to understand the gesture and a smile formed. "Siren I think she's had enough of your prying." This only seemed to fuel Siren's curiosity and she was even more stubborn as she looked back from Caroline to Romey. Her shaved and penciled eyebrows barely moving but Romey could tell she was a mix of determination and anger.

Siren's mouth opened into an "O" shape but her words never came to surface, instead she was cut off by a slightly appealing young man who seemed quite interested in Caroline. He wore the regular cafe employee attire and pulled out a "waitress" book with a pen to match. "Excuse me ladies, what can I interest you in?" He seemed ready to flee at any chance and was a little anxious, well that's only Romey's observation. To the other two girls they were just probably drooling over his chiseled good looks that seemed more appetizing than any scone or for Romey's case----blood.

Romey simply glanced up at the tall lad and voiced her need for a white chocolate mocha and a strawberry cream cheese scone. Her counterparts seemed a little stunned with open mouths, so Romey went ahead and ordered them the same but non-fat for them only because anyone in the whole salon business knows that most of the women are always body conscious. The waiter gave a slight wink as if Romey hadn't seen it, to Caroline and she almost could feel the vial of puke crawling up her esophagus. Jalisa and Caroline clucked like hens after the young boy left, talking about his youthful buttocks and other things that Romey herself did not wish to recall. If only she could have normal friends who didn't gawk at everything that was slightly good-looking and had a youthful body . . . Then maybe she would be able to keep whatever sanity was left.

Axl walked into the small cafe, yawning slightly as he carried a small bag in his hand. He brushes his long onyx hair back and sighed, inhaling the pungent scent of coffee. It wasn't that he didn't like the bitter beverage, he just liked it drenched with chocolate, caramel, and other fancy sweets. He was dressed in his usual attire of punk rock shirts, black boots, and the usual gothic or 'emo' looking style. His shirt had the band name 'Foxy Shazam" with yellow, black, and red stripes. Axl also had on tight blue skinny jeans and a pair of steel toed combat boots. He dressed like one of the undead or poser 'scene' high school kids everyday except he happened to pull it off.

Axl looked good in it. He knew it.

Strutting up to the counter with his plastic bag, he eyed the male clerk who was behind the register. He was tall and chiseled, with the usual model looks that girls would drool after. Axl simply scoffed and smirked, quickly ordering a double shot chocolate and caramel dessert drink. It was disgusting and laden with calories but he really didn't give a s**t. Patting the package of cigarettes in his pocket, he fancied the idea of having a smoke break after he finished his drink.

"That'll be a moment, sir. 4.52 is your total," the cashier spoke as if he was bored and Axl quickly shelled out the money from his wallet. Nodding at him, the machine clicked open and swallowed his dollar bills. Turning around, the first thing the punk man noticed was three rather gorgeous girls sitting at a table. They hadn't received their food or drink yet, assuming that was what they were there for.

The one that happened to catch his eye had bright blue hair and deep sea eyes. She was alternative looking and he happened to like the energy she was radiating. The other girls were attractive but they didn't catch his attention as much. He gave them each a once over before returning to the girl he had started on. He stared at her for a second and stomped on any dirty thoughts he had. Axl was a bartender and he happened to be surrounded by the female species almost every second of everyday. He was hit on quite a lot and going home lonely wasn't a common occurrence. However, there were more important things on his mind at that moment. One of them happened to be getting his deadline for his new comic done. There was a competition for a magazine that was looking for new authors and artists. He was hoping to win the money and get one of his ideas published.

Catching a seat by the window, he began to walk over but cursed when his plastic bag ripped open and splattered onto the tile floors. Snake food cascaded in waves onto the floor and he sighed, beginning to pick up the pieces. He felt as if everyone's eyes were on him and felt a small tinge of pink blush his cheeks. He hoped the hot blue haired girl wasn't laughing at him.

Customers coming and going, even though her eyes roamed and hadn't lingered for long, it seemed that one particular customer that marched in with a look Romey had seen amongst teens caught her eye. It wasn't his fashion style, it was the way he carried himself and the strut of confidence he seemed to convey. 'He would make a good model with that kind of walk.' Romey thought as she looked his body over and then whatever amount of face he decided to show from her position. He was fairly featured, rough, but handsome in a "I'll-give-you-one-crazy-night." type of handsome. Her eyes drifted as soon as he decided to look over at the table where her friends and herself occupied.

He was probably assessing them as well and didn't mind the slight onslaught of attention. Romey's friends were still gawking at the employee that they hadn't noticed and she didn't bother feeding their egos by announcing that a man was eyeballing them. Instead she turned her head back to the door and watched as customers came and went. However, that hadn't lasted long until a noticeable ripping sound and plop of an object came ringing loud in her ears. Romey glanced over and noted it was the eyeballing guy and also noticed the multiple pieces scattered across the floor and him bending to pick all of them up.

Without a second thought she moved from her seat and took the few steps was needed to start helping the guy out. She hadn't known what to say at first for speaking to strangers was not her forte, even when it came to hunting she seemed to wait until someone came to her. But in this case he was probably feeling a bit embarrassed that his plastic bag just made a fool out of him, so she couldn't help but offer him a hand in picking up the pieces quickly so he wouldn't suffer any longer.

"That sucks." Romey murmured and had a large sum of food in her left hand while the other continued to pick up pieces. She looked to him and slightly smirked, she didn't want to laugh but the slight blush to his cheeks made him look pretty adorable in her eyes; even if it was devastating for him.

Axl looked up and frowned as the attractive girl from the side of the café approached him. Although he was a bit mortified, he was grateful that she was helping him with the mess he had just made. The snake food was made of pellets and was simply a dietary supplement for his little corn snake. His pet didn't happen to like the dried food very much but he couldn't simply live off of frozen mice. That was hardly a balanced diet.

Swallowing thickly, Axl quickly murmured a thank you and then frowned to himself. He was normally quite smooth but he felt out of his element in the homey coffee shop getting a drink that probably had too many syllables for its own good.

"I mean thanks. You didn't have to get up and help. It's uh, my fault I dropped my crap everywhere." He let out a nervous chuckle and quickly scooped the remaining remnants into his little bag. It was ripped of course but he would have to deal until he got home. Luckily, the walk wasn't too far and he could make it to his quaint apartment before he lost his seven dollars worth of pet food.

The clerk behind the register was eyeballing him with distaste and Axl felt himself grow irritated under the preppy boy's gaze. Once he had had enough of the cashier staring at him he stood up and struck a flamboyant pose.

"I know I'm attractive but seriously. I can give you an autograph if you want." Axl gave the man a smirk and a wink before turning back to the girl who had decided to help him. Dealing with guys wasn't much of a threat as he had down his fair share of removing drunken patrons from the bar where he worked. Glancing at the watch by the restrooms, he figured he had a couple hours left before having to head in for his shift. He had enough time to fit in some other work he needed to do as well.

"Axl's drink. Come get it." A young girl behind the counter smiled happily as she placed the sugar laden delicacy on the wooden counter. Axl snuck a glance at the aqua haired girl beside him before grabbing his plastic container of slushy liquid syrup.

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Classes had run later then Aly had thought they would, and what was worse was that she still had a long paper to write. Looking to her phone to check the time, Alyson let a sign escape. How did I manage to lose track of time, I should have just walked out about an hour ago...now it's late and I'm too tired to even think about writing. The campus wasn't too far from her house, in fact nothing was, she could easily reach almost everything on foot which is what she chose to do when she didn't feel like wasting the gas to get from point A to point B. Walking also gave her time to weigh options like whether or not she should actually go straight home. With the Cafe coming into sight it was like her question was being answered. Coffee....we have a winner. Turing to walk towards the building, the brunette was overwhelmed the aroma of caffeine based products before even getting inside. Being a college student and part time worker at the local mart meant she was best friends with coffee, it's what got her by day to day and night after night.

Wasting no time Aly put in her order for a large hazelnut iced coffee. It was out before she knew it, which brought her a great deal of joy. Taking a big drink of it before setting her laptop up on the table, Alyson was suddenly reminded why she liked this place so much. Truth be told she never spent any time here during the night, but she planned to change that after tonight. While waiting for her computer to wake up Aly allowed her gaze to wonder the cafe. It wasn't the usual lively day crowd, in fact everything was much more quite, perfect for working. I plan to do this a lot more often...

Nighttime was literally the only time Sian Cromwell could dwell among the living. If she were to put a pinky finger out in the sun it would possibly explode the minute it touched the light. But over the many years she slowly grew use to it. And from those many years she learned that the nightlife was so much cooler.

It was a typical day for the young vampire, she was bored and didn't feel doing what she was suppose to (homework mostly). So instead she decided to have a little fun. Now her idea of fun was stalking her prey, seeing whose blood she was going to enjoy next. Drinking from willing people got boring after a while. So after stalking her next food supply, young Sian had decided to go to the nearest open place to read. She loved reading. Though she mostly stuck fantasy and older books; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Howl's Moving Castle, stuff like that.

Pushing open the door to the cafe, Sian clutched her copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with her other hand. Why she picked a cafe, she had no idea. It wasn't like she could fully enjoy food again, if she ate a cheeseburger and fries it would make her sick. But sometimes it was fun to play pretend. But instead of pretending to be a monster or a princess, she pretended to be human again. After ordering just a regular coffee, black with cream, she walked over to the an empty table. There was literally one other person besides her, who was busy in their laptop. Setting her book and her beverage down, Sian tucked some of her brown curly hair behind her ear and flipped open to where she had last left off in her book. The jingling of bells that were hanging from the cafe door signified that someone had just come in. Not sure why she was so tempted to look, Alyson peered over the screen of her laptop only to be caught totally off guard by what she saw. Sure the girl that had just come in looked a few years older then she, but as far as Aly was concerned there was no way to mistake the similarities the two possessed. Reaching into her bag franticly the young college student pulled out a compact mirror made by "Cover Girl". Usually she only brought it out when she was doing her makeup, but this time she had a different motive. Looking between her relection and the girl who was reading a book across the cafe from her, Alyson quickly grew more and more intrigued the longer she spent looking at the whole situation. There was the saying that everyone had a twin, but it was weird to find hers sitting in the same cafe as her on a night that she hadn't even planned on showing up.

Only after a good amount of time had passed, did Alyson realize that she had just been openly staring at a stranger like a lunatic. Oh great...now she must think I'm nuts....Unless she sees it too. It was only a minor possibility given that Aly was borderline neurotic when it came to weird things like finding dopple-gangers. Not wanting to give a bad first impression, even to a complete stranger, Alyson gathered her things and put them in her bag only to walk across the cafe to maybe make amends for her awkward behavior. "Umm hello there, I know this is going to sound weird but...I'm sorry for staring earlier...if you even noticed I was staring..." Suddenly thinking this was a bad idea, Aly began chewing on her lower lip, but continued to press on all the same. "You see...I couldn't help but notice that we kind of look...well a lot alike." Smiling awkwardly, there was hope that the stranger would find this moment more funny then scary. 'Silly little Alice, why do you even dare trust the Mad Hatter? All he does is spew nonsense about nothing and ask random riddles' Sian thought to herself as she read her book. She had probably read that book a good few hundred times. This was actually her second copy of it, it had a little bit of wear and tear.

Hearing a female voice break her thoughts, Sian placed her bookmark inside of her book and closed it. Setting it down onto the table, she lifted her head and blinked at the person in front of her. Being a vampire she was use to weird things. But this was literally the weirdest thing she had ever seen in her entire undead life.

"And I thought I was looking into a mirror for a second." Sian said with a smile on her face. Either she was doppelganger or this girl was somehow related to the Cromwell family. She wouldn't doubt it, she did have an uncle at point in time. So maybe Sian was her great aunt (times like a thousand or something). "This is a little odd" Sian said, nodding her head, acknowledging what the girl had stated. "Well miss, I'm Sian Cromwell." 

Okay so I'm not crazy...she sees it too. Not wanting to walk away from the opportunity to maybe figure out why they looked so much a like, if there was any kind of logic behind it at all, Alyson took a seat in the chair across from the young lady that she now knew to be Sian. "Sian huh? That's actually a really pretty name, mine isn't quite so neat. It's Alyson, but I go by Aly too." It was hard for Aly to not stare at her company since she too shared the feeling of this whole situation being a little weird. "So...I'm really not sure what to talk about now. I mean I just can't get past the whole resemblance thing. This feel like that movie the parent trap, only my parents are still married." Alyson tried to lighten things up by making a stupid joke and then forcing herself to laugh at said joke. "So have you and your family lived around here long?" It seemed like the most obvious place to start. It was possible after all that the two could have some kind of relation, or at the very least similar genetics. Perhaps she could ask her parents about it when she got home. "Aw thank you very much. My mother read somewhere in a book and apparently fell in love with it." Sian explained to her. Her name was pronounced like Sharon. But she liked to say she-on, it was different like her. Upon hearing the 'Parent Trap' and when she mentioned that her family was still married, Sian rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.

The subject of family she always tried to avoid. Sian only had her father left, after she turned him. Her mother, well she soon met her end after her father was turned. So whenever people would ask, she would say that her parents divorced or that her mother died when she was little. She didn't want to say 'me and my father murdered her and drank her blood' with a smile on her face.

When Alyson had asked if Sian had lived in the area for long, she merely shook her head no. "No, me and my father just recently moved here. We have only been here a few weeks." she explained to her. The two never stayed in one place for very long. "But what about you?" she questioned, tucking some hair behind her ear. "How long have you lived here?" When Aly heard that Sian and her father had moved here recently she started to feel a little bad. He mother had to of been left out of that statement for one reason or another, none of the possibilities being of a good nature. And since they just met, now was so not the time to ask about what happened, so she just tried to move on the best she could. "Well my family grew up here, as did I. But I have big plans after college. I'm majoring in music and minoring in theater so I really hope to do something in either of those fields some day." Feeling like she might have just dumped too much information on her company Alyson tried to get the topic moving once more, maybe give her a chance to talk. "So why did you and your father choose to move here? Did he find work in this area?" That was really the only reason she could think of that would posses someone to move to this town, but then again who knew? "Majoring in music." Sian repeated Alyson's words. "Do you wish to become a singer?" she asked her. Why else would she want to major in singing, unless if she really loved music. Sian didn't take school very seriously. What would be the point in moving from one place to another and keep enrolling in different schools? It was pointless.

Sian nodded her head at Alyson's question. "Yes actually." she smiled a little. "Apparently he said this place would be good for whatever he does." she said and rolled her eyes, acting as if she had no idea what her father did for a living. Brushing some hair out of her eyes, Sian looked from Alyson to the window, keeping an eye on the moon and making sure the sun wouldn't come out just yet. She didn't feel like burning up in the sun tonight.

"So why are you out so late?" Sian questioned the young lady in front of her.

Author's Note

ignore grammar problems, what do you think of the dialogue