Bloody Masquerade [private]

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Tuskin stood up, stretching his arms over his head and he let out another yawn. Boredom was hitting him quite hard, and he wished to do something about it. Sitting in one place for a certain amount of time just bothered him. If only she wasn't so worried about someone seeing her. "Come on, Alice, live a little," he said, walking over to her and stood in front of her with his hands in his pockets. "I promise that I won't take you anywhere public. There is a lake that isn't too far from here, people hardly go there." He wanted her to get fresh air so she wasn't stuck in the house all of the time, she wasn't like some caged animal.

"Just trust me, yeah?" He gave her a grin, before heading to the door. His personality was different than Kamijo, completely different. Kamijo just wanted her to be safe at all times, wanting to keep her close to him. As to Tuskin, he wanted her to adventure and not be stuck in one place. There was only so much she could do in the mansion, adventuring within the halls were just eerie. The place didn't even have any television, vampires didn't need it.

Tuskin paused before he opened the door, and turned to face her. "By the way, you should change," he said, and then pointed to the dresser. "There should be some clothes in there that should fit you. Elena put them in there when you were asleep." Then he turned to open the door, then took a step out. "I will be out here." With that, he closed the door behind him as he exited.
 
Hardy? There was a difference between hardly and never. People might walk passed there even though it was rare that they did. At first she thought of refusing his proposal. It did seem a bit dangerous to walk out just when she had disappeared. But Tuskin wouldn't do something that would risk his career, right? Or her and her family's safety, right? She at least hoped he wouldn't.

Alice hadn't even answered him as he stepped out of the room, telling her that he would wait. How did he know that she would follow? He wasn't a mind reader as far as she knew. But of course she decided to come with him. Though first she took his advice to change her clothes. Walking around with a ripped shirt wasn't the most appealing. So she walked towards the closet to see if there was anything that would fit her. To her surprise, and to everyone else's expectations, everything seemed to fit pretty well at first glance. Of course she didn't have time to try everything on with Tuskin waiting for her, so she picked up a shirt with long sleeves. For the moment she only cared to change her ripped shirt. Since she had showered and picked new clothes during the afternoon the other day, she hadn't even worn them for 24 hours. It felt a bit wasteful to change them already.

Soon she exited the room and stepped out into the eerie hallway. It was a bit funny how the hallways could feel so much scarier during the day than the night. Probably because there at least were people, or vampires, walking around during the night, so they seemed more alive. "It's slightly hard to believe it's daytime." Alice remarked. Everyone were sleeping, and the lights inside was very weak, giving a horror movie feeling. It would not surprise her if the place was haunted.

"So... Does ghosts exist too?" She asked him, very much hoping for a no. Otherwise she might never be able to enter the mansion, or any creaking house, again.
 
The halls did seem a little horrifying, that is what he thought when Tuskin first walked through them by himself during the day. It was dark, besides the soft lights that were on to guide the way. Artwork was hung, like they were stuck in the old mansions in the Victorian era. Everything was eerie about this place, but he got used to it after all. Before he was the only one who hung around the halls during the day, but then he moved to a different home that he was fond of. It was modern to his tastes, none of this old era crap.

"They do, to an extent," he told her, "You have to do some ritual, or something, to see ghosts and actually experience that. Witches have a better explanation to that, but I don't bother with ghosts. They can be extremely terrifying if they want to be."

Tuskin led her through the hall, wanting to get away from the mansion for awhile. He brought her down the stairs, to the main entrance of the mansion. "You better shield your eyes for a moment, the sun stings your eyes since you are so used to this darkness," he told her, placing his hand on the knob and then waited for her to brace herself before he opened the door.
 
Alice weren't sure if that fact made the ghosts any less frightening. It was a bit scary to know that there might be someone in your room but you wouldn't be able to see the. On the other hand, a vampire had sneaked into her room when she was sleeping and she hadn't noticed. Usually she were so easily awoken. But considering what had happened the other day, it wasn't such a wonder that she was too tired to be disturbed.

"Not really what I hoped of hearing." She mumbled, hoping there weren't any ghosts in the mansion. And if there were, hopefully they would stay in the cellar or something like that.

She shielded her eyes as Tuskin told her and slowly opened them once the door was opened. It was as if she had went from the darkest day of the winter into the brightest day of the summer in seconds. Not a very pleasant feeling. It took her some moments to get used to the light enough to open her eyes completely, after that it took a few minutes before her eyes weren't bothered at all by the light.

The fresh air rushed into her lungs as she stepped outside, clearing her mind slightly as it always did. Though there was a difference between clearing the mind of a school tired teenager and a shocked girl whose life had been in danger a few hours earlier. It just didn't have the same effect as it used to have. Which wasn't a huge surprise considering the situation.

"I feel like I should have taken sunglasses." She commented as her vision started to stabilize. "I didn't know we had lakes around here, and I've lived in town since I was born. How far away is it?" She asked him. She wasn't much of an explorer, but she thought she had known the city at the very least. Suddenly she gets to know that they had a lake? Maybe that's why no one went there. No one even seemed to know about its existence. On the other hand, considering there was a beautiful beach an hours driveway outside the city, there was no wonder people didn't care about a lake.
 
Tuskin had to get used to the sunlight as well, blinking a few times to adjust to the outside. At least it was a beautiful day to go to the lake, or else he wouldn't have brought her there. He closed the door behind him, locking it with the key that he was given a long time ago, usually keys weren't used, but people knew that the mansion existed again. They wanted to prevent any break ins as much as they could.

"The lake is actually behind the mansion a little ways down the hill," he told her, leading her around the building. "I hope you don't mind hiking, it isn't too bad." That is what he meant by no one really knew about it, it was more of a private lake that was on the mansion grounds. The city folk never knew it even existed since it wasn't on the map, or anything, they would have to find it on their own accord. He knew about it since he was told about it by Elena, and the fact that he was found there when he was younger.

"So, how do you like knowing about the supernatural world?" Tuskin questioned as he brought her to a trail that led down the hill, some squirrels scattered when they came closer. "It isn't easy learning at first. My ex was not exactly thrilled that her boyfriend's best friend is a vampire, she couldn't handle it really." He chuckled at the memory of his girlfriend, at the time, freaked out about Kamijo when he told her about him. Dating a shapeshifter always came with a price.
 
"I love hiking." She replied. "I used to do it with dad when I was younger, but we never went too far away from town. He wanted to be home before sunset, so it was only one day trips." Alice told him. Once she had asked her dad if they could take a three days hiking trip in the mountains, but he had refused saying it was too dangerous. He didn't want her sleeping outside in a tent as it was hard to protect it against vampires. Now when he thought about it, he was much more protective towards her than mom. Did he know about how good she smelled to vampires?

"Well... I always knew that vampires existed, so it didn't feel like such a shock when other stuff came into the mix." She confessed. It had been surprising, but it would have been much worse if vampires hadn't been out for a while. "It's interesting, though I would feel much better if the supernatural didn't want me for desert." She pointed out. Couldn't vampires be like fruit bats instead?

"So what happened to her? Did she leave just because of that, or was there other factors?" She asked. Alice had a hard time understanding how people could just abandon each other because of trivial things. While Tuskin could turn into an animal, that didn't change who he was. Neither did his best friend change how he acted. "Sorry for asking, you don't have to answer. How did you and Kamijo meet?" She tried to change the subject as she realized that his girlfriend might be a touchy subject.
 
So, Alice wasn't all that surprised that everything else existed and not just the vampires. That was a good thing, Tuskin did not want her to run away and scream like a mad woman about the supernatural world. Though he did feel sorry that her scent did drive vampires mad, it was unfortunate that it had to end up that way. She was a beautiful young woman, and she didn't deserve to be targeted by such cruel blood sucking vampires, which is why he was there to protect her as much as he could. Kamijo fancied her, and Tuskin could see why he did.

At the mention of his ex, he shook his head as she tried to change the subject. "Alice, I don't mind speaking about her," he assured, giving her a small smile, "I got over my love for her when she abandoned me and asked to have her memories erased." It did pain him slightly to talk about it, but he learned to take it as a learning experience. Not everyone adapted well into his world when they were so used to a normal life that did not concern vampires, shapeshifters, or even werewolves. Humans didn't understand what it was like to be different from everyone else.

"Caroline wanted to leave me because of vampires and she was afraid of what else that went bump in the night," he told her, telling her the summed up version of the story. He was skipping out some details, but he wanted to spare Alice the sob story. "She was okay with me being a shapeshifter, but then something instilled some fear that I was going to kill her in her sleep, and that I would leave her to die in the night." That part he was still trying to figure out, because he wasn't sure why she would think that when he promised to protect her.

"She went behind my back and had her memories erased," he said, letting out a small sigh. "Then she was killed when she was on her way home one night, it was a vampire attack. Mind you, this was before when the council set down the rule." That revealed a little about his age, but he wasn't that old compared to Kamijo. He was still a young shapeshifter.
 
Alice couldn't understand that woman at all. How could anyone chose to have their memories erased? No matter how hard life was, no matter how painful certain things were, wasn't it better to face the truth and move on with your life? Instead she was giving herself a life of ignorance on purpose. Alice could have understood it if Caroline had turned around and never spoken about it again. But instead she made sure that nothing of it had ever existed in her mind to begin with. It was almost scary to what length people would go to feel comfortable with their lives.

Then he came to the part where she died. Ouch. Even though she didn't agree with Caroline's decision, it was still not enough to want her dead. Poor girl. But if it was before the council formed the laws, how old was Kamijo then? Even though she were curious she wouldn't ask. A vampire was one thing, they didn't care much of age as that didn't decide their lifespan. But for humans it was a constant reminder of how long they might have if they aren't killed by someone or something before they get old. Everyone probably didn't think like that, but Alice had known a few for which it had been a touchy subject, so she rarely brought it up among humans... Or beings with a human like life span.

"I'm sorry she died like that." Alice said. It was always hard to know what to say when people had lost someone close to them. Sure Caroline had gone behind his back with the memory thing, but it couldn't have erased all the feelings he had for her immediately. Such things took time. "But I still want to know how you and Kamijo met." She said after some moments, really feeling like lightening up the mood a little bit.
 
"There is no reason to apologize, Alice, she made her choice," Tuskin said as he brought her further down the dirt path. It seemed like he was heartless about his old love, but there wasn't much that he could do. She was dead, and there was no way to get her back. Turning her into a vampire wasn't an option either, he wouldn't be with her if she was. Vampires and shapeshifters were not mean to be in love with each other, that was taboo all together.

The path split into two, and he took the one on the right. They were getting close, he could smell the water not too far. Perks of having an inhuman sense of smell. "Kamijo saved me from dying one day," he told her, retelling the story. "Of course, I was stubborn to have a vampire help me out, but he took me under his care anyway. He actually found me where we are going now. I was attacked by a werewolf that was far stronger than I was. Luckily, Kamijo heard the ruckus and helped me out, or I wouldn't be here today."

"I know his secrets, Alice," he said, looking at her for a brief moment before bringing her through some trees. "He harbors some dark secrets, but that doesn't make him less of who he is now. Trust me, after he killed a mother in front of her son, that is what brought him into reality that killing innocent lives for food isn't how it should be."

Finally they made it down to the lake. It wasn't that big of a lake, but it was still a lake regardless. No one seemed to be in sight of it, which he was glad for. This was where he went when he needed to be alone for awhile. The vampires didn't care for it, since it has been here for many years. To them it was the same thing.

"Little fact, did you know that vampires can't enter a human household without being invited in?" Tuskin questioned randomly as he stared at the water before looking at her. "It's a little fact that no one really knows about vampires."
 
Alice listened intently on the story. One could wonder how he could be foolish enough to be out during a full moon without the right protection, but she weren't going to criticize him when she wanted the mood to get better. What he said next surprised her. Not because she had doubted that he knew about Kamijo's secret. They had known each other for quite some time. But how did he know that Kamijo had told her about it? It wasn't like she had known him for very long.

Then they arrived at the lake. It wasn't very big, but she hadn't had any expectations. It looked just like any other small lake you'd find hidden away. "Of course I know about it. My dad keeps reminding me all the time that I'm only safe inside the house." She replied, but then thought about it and changed her answer. "Okay, I actually thought he had done something to the house so that they couldn't enter, but I almost knew it."

Her dad never gave her any details. She had to find his documents to be able to figure out anything concerning his job and the supernatural. It mainly just said things about the organisation he worked with and what job he would take on next, and next to nothing about vampires and their abilities or disadvantages. So all she had known was just that vampires couldn't enter their specific house. But he hadn't had any problem with her sleeping over at friends houses, so that should have given her a clue.

"How did you know that Kamijo had told me about the mother and her child?" She then asked him as she sat down on a rock by the lake. "That doesn't seem to be something he tells everyone. And considering he just met me three days ago, why did you assume he had told me that?" She looked questioning at him. As far as she knew, no one had heard them speaking at the balcony, and she couldn't figure out how that could ever come up in a conversation between them. Did Kamijo just randomly mention that he met a cute human girl and told her about parts of his past? Possibly, but not likely. Not in her mind at least.
 
"I didn't know that," Tuskin mentioned, glancing over at her with a rose brow. He wasn't at the ball, so he had no way of knowing if he did tell her or not. Kamijo and Tuskin only spoke for a brief moment last night, so that didn't give enough time to chit chat. The two of them haven't been around each other in a long while, since they both had their own things to do. It has been a month since they have actually seen each other before the whole bad vampire incident. Tuskin was just around when there were council meetings held, just in case anything bad were to happen like it did the other night.

He sat down on a rock next to her, crossing his arms over his chest. "I know how he thinks and the things he will say, as well do," he told her, looking at the water and watched as a few ducks swam by. "All I can tell you is to be careful, Alice. Kamijo locked himself away in the mansion for a hundred years, and there is a reason as to why he did that. He can lose control, as can everyone else in the council. It may look like he has the most control, but he can snap if you allow him to get into your mind."

Letting out a sigh, he shook his head. "Look, I am not trying to talk him down, but I know what he is capable of," he said, looking over at her. "Everyone of that council can be scary when they need to be. Besides, they are the oldest vampires around. The older they are, the stronger they are. Zayn is the oldest, so he can overthrow Kamijo whenever he wishes."
 
Not letting him get into her mind? Hadn't she already done that? Whatever Tuskin said didn't matter. She was sure that if Kamijo didn't think he could control himself then he would tell her long before anything happened. He had promised not to lie to her, and she weren't going to doubt that he knew what he was doing.

"Kamijo promised not to bite me when I let him control my mind. And he did keep that promise. He also were able to resist when I was bleeding yesterday, so I'm sure he has more control than you think." Alice told him. "I know that all vampires can loose control. But I'm also sure that Kamijo will tell me if my blood becomes too.... ... desirable for him to handle. As for the others, I don't think they will spend much time around me anyway if they aren't forced to do so. I don't know if you have noticed it, but they don't seem to like me at all. Well, except for Elena of course."

Actually she weren't too sure what Elena thought of her. It seemed more as if she was fascinated with her because Kamijo got close to her. Maybe she was wrong and just imagined things. And either way, she didn't dislike Elena, she just needed a bit of time to get to know her and understand what the vampire was thinking. It wasn't like they had gotten the chance to a deep conversation like she had with Kamijo.
 
"Vampires are very strange creatures, Alice. Kamijo has the ability to snap if it gets too much for him, but if you think otherwise then I won't stop you from your own opinion," Tuskin said, shrugging his shoulders. His views of Kamijo were different because they have been friends for a long while, and Tuskin knew how he acted. The vampire wasn't used to being around humans anymore, especially the ones who had the sweet scent. Who knows how that would end up later?

Though Alice did make a point. None of the other vampires would probably go near her, except for Elena. In a way, Elena had been envious towards the humans because they could walk around and do what they pleased. She never asked to become a vampire, it was Zayn who had turned her in the first place because he couldn't watch her die. Once upon a time, they were in love with each other. Something happened that split them apart, but they were civil with one another.

"Elena never asked for this life," Tuskin mentioned out loud, but shook his head. "That is something that she will have to tell you, since I can't go around and tell all of their back stories." He knew too much for his own good since Kamijo told him about every single member of the council, as well as most of the higher up vampires around the globe. It was a lot of information to keep, but he managed to store it all. The perks of having good memory.

"She is a little mysterious at first, but once she warms up to you, she is actually an interesting person to be around," he told her, glancing at Alice for a moment. "Since she can tell the future and whatnot, I am sure she something about you that fascinated her. Which is probably why she doesn't mind you being around."
 
"Spoilers." Alice commented. "Don't start telling me something and then stop because it's not your place to tell me, it will only make me more curious about it." She told him in a more warning manner than an actual complaining one.

But wow. Elena could see the future. That was incredible. But that only made her question, how much did Elena see. Had she seen what would happen at the council meeting and not cared about it? Or had she seen things happening after that which had made her interested in Alice? She was sure Elena couldn't see everything just like that, but it made her question if the vampire might have known something bad would happen and just not said anything about it.

She looked away from Tuskin and out over the water. Even though it wasn't an extremely beautiful lake, it still had its charm. "By the way, next time I would prefer a vegetarian alternative." She then mentioned casually. It was best to bring it up at some point, or else he might just think she simply don't like bacon. "If you don't want to share food with me every meal of course." She then joked. Not because she minded. It was always nice to have someone with you while eating.
 
Well, that was a good way to change the subject. Tuskin didn't want to speak of the vampires anymore, she will have the chance to speak with them later tonight if she truly wished. The lot of them weren't bad, since they swore to not harm a human. She was actually lucky that she met Kamijo, or else she could have been dead already.

"Vegetarian," he repeated, nodding his head. That was more information that he had to store, but he didn't mind. "I can respect that. As a carnivore, it's hard for me to stray away from meat. I guess it's the wolf side of me that wants it. Though, believe it or not, I can actually cook vegetarian dishes quite well." He also knew a couple of vegetarian restaurants in the area, he didn't have to eat meat all of the time, but he did prefer if he did.

"Food, in general, is hard to give up," he said, letting out a small laugh, "I don't understand how vampires can do it. I mean, they can eat food, but they don't need to. From what I was told, doing normal things like that bring back their humanity so they don't snap." Which was a good thing. The members of the council enjoyed drinking wine on occasion, as well as do other things that humans did. It prevented their mind from straying too much. "I am quite happy that I don't have to go through that. A vampire's life is tough."
 
Alice agreed with a nod. "I have snapped a few times because of lack of food. But people tend to think it's more cute than frightening." She commented. There were a bit of a difference between a human snapping and a vampire snapping. One would kill you, and one would sit and sulk in a corner while their friends teased them. She wouldn't be able to stand a life without food though. It was a time for relaxing, thinking, maybe socializing with your family or friends if you ate together. On top of that it was amazing how many different flavors there were, and different dishes. How the same dish could taste completely different depending on whom cooked it and how they liked to do with the spices and the sauce.

"It's a bit of a family thing. Being a vegetarian I mean. Non of my parents ate meat when I grew up, and I went in a school where you had to bring your own lunch with you instead of buying it from the school." She explained. Then her eyebrows wrinkled at some memory that she soon continued to tell him about. "I did eat meat once at my friends place. At that time I didn't have any moral reason for my decision, I just did it because the people cooking my food had never given me meat. So when I tried it for the first time in my life, my stomach pretty much rejected it. I felt sick for hours." She shivered as she remembered it.

"It would be possible for my body to get used to meat if I just took small steps by eating a little bit every time and then slowly increasing the amount. But That memory is a bit too stuck in my head for me to want to try it again." Alice confessed. "And after having checked on the meat industry for the last couple of years, I've been very turned off from the idea."
 
"I don't blame you though, the way they do butcher animals for food is a horrible process," Tuskin replied, shrugging his shoulders. People had their own choice of what they wanted to eat, and he chose the way of a carnivore. It would be odd if he didn't eat meat, like it would've been odd if vampires didn't drink human blood. It was a cut off on their diet that would make them weak. They were supernatural beings that were supposed to be stronger than a normal human being, so if they were to be weak, that would have been odd. Vampires didn't feed off of animals, and werewolves didn't eat plants. It wasn't a natural process.

Looking out at the small lake, he let out a small sigh. "You know, the more I think about your situation, the more sorry I feel," he said, looking at her for a moment. She had her life pretty much ripped away from her. There was nothing that she could do by herself now. Vampires were going to hunt her because her scent was so strong. If she were to be left alone for a little while, she would be in serious risk. Though he knew that she wanted to go home, and he so wished that he didn't have to contain her. Well, he really didn't have to, as long as he was with her. She just wasn't safe during the night.

"But you are safe around me, I promise you on that," he told her, giving her a slight smile. "You are also safe with Kamijo. You pretty much have the best of both worlds, if you want to think like that."
 
Alice weren't sure what to say to that at first. He felt sorry for her? She hadn't even figured out if she felt sorry for herself yet. She felt more sorry for her parents since they wouldn't know where she was or if she was safe. She herself at least knew the situation. But it wasn't too hard to see why people would feel more sorry for her than her friends and family. It was her life that was in danger.

"It's okay. I mean, it's not okay yet but.. It will be once those vampires have been taken care of. Not because I'm hoping for an attack or anything, but at some point they will show up. After that, if things goes smoothly, I should be able to go back home and continue from where I left off." She couldn't make herself mention that they had to die for that to happen, nor that everyone's lives would be in danger. Those were things she'd rather not think about. But that was the truth. Once every vampire that knew of her smell were gone, except for the council, then she would be safe. At least she hoped she would.

"But if the worst were to happen, then I hope you'll think about saving yourself in first hand. There's no reason for any of you to get hurt because of me." Alice had been raised to take responsibility for her own actions. She had gone to the masquerade even though she knew the risks of being around vampires. She had even taken it a step further and gone to the council meeting, a place most people shouldn't be in. She had acted reckless, and she had been unluckily mixed up in a bad situation. There was no one else to blame than herself. If worse came to worse, then she didn't want someone else to sacrifice themselves for her just because they had a feeling of guilt for what had happened, or pitied her for her situation.
 
"Look, we are doing this because we have to," Tuskin told her, being completely honest with her. There was no use to leaving her in the dark, and it was certain that Kamijo wasn't going to explain as to why they were defending her. The vampires were sneaky people at times, he learned that from past experiences. "If they let you go, you are going to be in serious danger, and people will start thinking that the council isn't doing what they say they are. Also, you are being pulled into a war that you aren't supposed to be in. They have to take full responsibility of you."

This was something that could possibly startle Alice, but she really did need to know. If Kamijo wanted to keep her protected, then that was going to happen. Yes, Tuskin did feel sorry for her, but he didn't fully feel pity on her. She seemed to be a strong young woman that could handle herself, but she wouldn't be able to protect herself from vampires. They could easily control her mind and rip her apart. The members of the council wanted to prevent that from happening whether they wanted to help protect her or not.

"I am looking out for you because I want to," he told her. Among other reasons as well.
 
"A war..." Alice gulped, never having considered it to be that serious before. To her it simply seemed like a gang of young vampires trying to start a riot without succeeding, just like teenagers did among humans. The word worried her to such a degree so she missed Tuskin's last comment. In a war between humans, civilians just had to save themselves by leaving their country or possibly face the consequences by staying. There were no guaranty that they could be protected even though they were in a war they shouldn't be involved in.

While she could understand that the council had to save face, the same rule should apply. In first hand they should look towards the people they're fighting for as a whole, and not individuals. In this case it was the vampires following the law, and the humans wanting to live in peace with them. But the situation might be more difficult than she could imagine. This wasn't a country, but a specie, or a race, however people wanted to see them, whom had to keep on the humans good side, or else an even bigger war could emerge.

"If the council doesn't seem to be doing their job, humans might decide that they can't trust vampires anymore and give them monster status again." It was mostly a comment to herself. If vampires were reduced to the monsters in the shadows, then there would be no law protecting them from vampire hunters, no matter how they lived their lives.

"How come Kamijo didn't tell me?" Once again, not really a question directed towards Tuskin, but to herself. She had almost forgotten he was there by this point.
 
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