The Festival

[Adrian Belrose]

It wasn't quite full dark, but it was dark enough that the vampires could venture out. The weather was comfortably warm with a light, pleasant breeze. It was the perfect night for the Festival (yes, with a capital "F"): one of the island's most favorite annual events. Although it was sponsored by the Landon family, every year a different supernatural group would be in charge of the planning. This year it was the vampires. Adrian thought that choosing the harbor for the Festival was an excellent choice...but when the vampires plan a party of any sort, how could one expect less than excellence?

Adrian had taken his time to arrive at the festival, intending to arrive either just on time or a little late...but he still arrived early. Blast. It wasn't set to start for another fifteen minutes at least! He silently cursed his punctuality and held back a frown. He hadn't wanted to get here this early. By coming later, he wouldn't be dragged into helping set up or resolving issues among the members of his clan that are participating in the event. Sighing, he resolved himself to the figurative task. When one was a clan leader, he thought, one couldn't hope for a day off!

It was better this way anyhow. It gave him a chance to oversee the set up and to make sure that no one made a mess of anything...and he also had to see to the little French singer that he worked so hard to convince to sing for them. He needed to make sure that she had everything that she needed. It was the least he could do. He was hosting her, after all. So he set off in search of her, keeping his eye on the preparations while he strolled through the venue.

He found Alavda warming up her voice behind the platform that they were using as a stage. Good manners made him silently wait until she was finished with her current measure...even though he thought it would be kind of funny to startle her. He shouldn't do that though. That would not be good of him to do no matter how tempting it was!

"Miss Noir," he approached her now, noting with a touch of amusement that he ended up startling her anyways! Perhaps he should have made more noise when he approached, "I'm apologize for disturbing you while you are preparing to dazzle us with your angelic voice," he gave her a friendly smile, "I was wanting to check and make sure that you have everything you need before the festival begins. Are you all settled, my dear?"

[Alavda Noir]

Alavda was excited. It had been so long since she had sang at an event like this...with vampires and other creatures including humans. Sure, she had a small case of the butterflies, but it was natural to feel at least a little nervous before a performance. She had taken great care in what she would wear for tonight's festival. She wanted it to be as perfect as possible.

She left for the Festival grounds as soon as the sun was low enough for her to leave the Belrose mansion without being burned. When she arrived, she watched as everyone hustled about to set up all the booths and activities. She was excited to see how it would all turn out. No one accepted her offers of help in setting up. They already had enough help. So with nothing else to do, she searched for the stage, sure that it was already set up. As she walked through, she found herself spinning a few times because of all the interesting spectacles that were ready for use. She knew that this event was huge, but for some reason she never thought that they would have carnival rides added to the mix as well. She walked on.

Just when she thought she'd have to ask someone where it was, she found the stage. It was a simple looking thing, just a large, rectangular platform. The only backdrop for the stage was the ocean behind it. Simple, but gorgeous. She expected nothing less from the vampires. She stood on the stage, wanting to get a feel for how it might feel later that night. After that, she thought that she should do a few vocal warm ups before the place got too crowded.

She had just stopped for a breath after one of her warm ups when she heard Adrian Belrose greet her. She startled, a light gasp escaping her lips. He didn't appear to have noticed. "Mr. Belrose! How good to see you today." when he asked her if she had all she needed, she nodded, "So far yes." she smiled, "I just want to thank you again, Monsieur for inviting me to sing at your Festival. I only hope that my voice will live up to your expectations!"

[Sam Emrys]

Among the booths and rides, Samantha was busy setting up a simple table dedicated to home baked goods. She thought it would be a welcome break from all the other foods offered this evening. She was smiling contently as she unloaded basket after basket of loaves of cinnamon raisin bread, cinnamon rolls, and aromatic cookies. Sure, one might be hard pressed to find something without raisins...but hey, that just means there was no raisin to not love them. 

Sam sighed as she shook off the terrible motto that popped into her head out of nowhere. 

[Lynn Von Arx]

Lynn had been there early with the Landon's since she was one of the only vampires that could set up during the day. She wanted the stage to be prefect for not only the performers, but mostly for Alavda. She was excited to hear that wonderful voice again and though she had done a sound check that morning, she wanted to make sure she did one that evening, just to make sure that a mic did not go bad in the mean time. She did however look over the water for a bit and smiled. She had come to love the island and it's waters that touched it, she did miss the mountain ranges of home though. She sighed, picturing the mountains in the far off distance.

She must have been doing that for awhile because next thing she knew, the sky was turning orange. She blinked and laughed, hoping the Landon's would not be too mad at her. When she walked over to them though, they waved their hand to her and said that she should go have fun. She nodded and walked back to where the stage was, smiling as she saw Alavda already there, and talking to someone. She waited until they had finished talking and she then waved to Alavda. "Hey! I hope the stage looks good, I took a lot of time on it."

[Jaylene Bennet]

Jaylene approached the festival with Matthias. She walked directly next to him, her arm linked with his. To the outside eye, they looked like a cuddly couple, and they were for the most part. It took some talking to get him to go so early, but she was sure it was worth the fight. She couldn't wait to see what they did this year! She heard that the vampires were in charge of it this time around, so her expectations were pretty high...not that there had ever been a bad festival...well...maybe that time when the zombies somehow got involved...she suppressed a shiver at the memory.

She could see that things were just getting started. As she walked, she did a little spin to take it all in. "They did a fantastic job this year!" she exclaimed, squeezing his arm a little tighter. Were those rides she saw? Maybe she could talk Matthais to get on one later in the night.

The smell of cookies brought her to a booth that was ran by a very tall woman that she had never seen before. She pulled Matthais over to the booth, "Hi! I'm Jaylene." she didn't introduce her boyfriend. She knew he wouldn't like it, "I don't think we've met yet! Welcome to the island." she smiled at the stranger then looked down at the goods she was selling. They all looked so good! Her eye caught on what looked like chocolate chip cookies. Mmmm...chocolate sounded so good! She pointed to one of the cookies, "I'll have," she looked at Matthias to see if he wanted one, which his expression said he did not, "one of those please."

[Adrian Belrose]

Adrian listened to Alavda with a pleasant smile, "I'm sure that you will dazzle us all with your angelic voice, Miss Noir," he took her gloved hand and held it up as if to kiss it, but her hand never connected, "And your very welcome. I should really be the one to thank you for agreeing to come back from retirement to sing for us." He released her hand and smiled a little wider for a second and opened his mouth to say utter a goodbye when someone called out to Alavda. He turned toward the voice and spotted a familiar figure. Lynn, he thought her name was. The Day Walker, yes...he's met her before. He doesn't know her very well, but he liked her well enough. She didn't seem to be a great danger to him or his people anyhow.

[Alavda Noir]

Alavda's face flushed at the complement. She felt so important! Her voice was beautiful, but she was never famous or widely known, so all of the attention unbalanced her in many ways. But a complement was a complement, and she was pleased no matter what her background was. She appreciated his old world courtesy. She saw that with many older vampires, they never could shake it off and she loved it. It reminded her of when she was young, a time that was hers when she didn't have to try to remember what was said and what was not said anymore. She politely stepped back when he released her hand and was about to utter some sort of a goodbye when she heard Lynn call out to her. She tilted her head slightly to Adrian as a sort of farewell, and hastened to her friend, "It looks beautiful, Lynn! I can see your personal touch in the decor and it fits very well. C'est manifique!" she hugged her friend in greeting, "Mr. Belrose here was just checking to see that I have everything I need for tonight."

"I forgot that you would be able to set up during the day." Indeed, her oldest friend was a Day Walker. Alavda would be lying if she said she wasn't jealous of being able to walk under the sun without an amulet or fey blood. She herself had only seen the sun twice in her life. Once, she had the pleasure of fey blood, the other...she would have burned to death, unable to move from the blood that was drained from her had her brother not found her. She shook the thought away. This was a festival. It was a time for happiness and fun, not dark memories. So she plastered a smile on her face and said, "Will you be able to stay very long tonight?" she hoped so, "I hope that you're not too tired."

[Evelyn Connor]

Evie sighed as she walked towards the Festival, she was only going because Jaylene was there, and those two had been good friends since they were both little girls. Last thing she wanted was that wolf toy she brought along with her to cause her any trouble so she slunk her way in and quickly found Jaylene. Oh...of course she was talking to someone. She sighed and walked up to her, slightly poking her on the shoulder. "You just have to be where the party is, don't you?" Her voice sounding quiet unenthusiastic as she looked around. It was getting dark, but my goodness, there were so many people..too many people. She took a deep breath and looked at Matthias, faking the best smile she could. "Hello there, Matthias, I hope the night is treating you well.

Ugh it hurt to be nice to him, she knew what he did in his spare time and the thought of him still being so close to Jaylene made her sick to her stomach. She was hoping maybe, just maybe, he would get bored and wander off, maybe if she is lucky.

[Lynn Von Arx]

"I am so glad you love it, only the best for you my dear." Lynn smiled, hugging her friend back. "They are not going to be ready for the performance tonight, I just know that," she whispered to Alavda as she looked at the man that Alavda had been talking to. She remembered seeing him a bit as she would head home to finally sleep. He seemed well to do, but that is all she knew. When he made the comment about Ala's voice, she knew she had to gloat for her friend, what close friend doesn't? "Oh, she will dazzle you with that beautiful voice of hers...um-" Lynn tried to remember his name, but was left at a blank, "-Mr. Belrose". She laughed at her awkwardness and then cleared her throat.

She then thought about what Alavda said and shrugged. "I'll try to stay up as long as I can, I would not miss your performance for the world." Lynn genuinely smiled.

[Matthias DeLune]

Matthias did NOT want to come this early. Really, he wasn't so keen on coming at all. He had better things to do than go to a festival that celebrated the freedom of the humans of the island. He just managed to keep his lip from curling into a snarl. But Jay had pushed, prodded, and bribed him to go, so he went. So there he was, walking through the festival grounds just as things were getting started, and now he was about to pay for cookies.

He felt Jay jump a little beside him and his hackles rose a little as a protective growl rose in his throat. This protectiveness was one part affection, while the rest of him was outraged that someone would mess with something that he perceived to belong to him. He started to pull Jaylene out of the way, stopping her from making any sort of a comment back to the poking person, but stopped when he saw who it was. Some base instinct inside him told him that he was in the presence of food, but he pushed that down. He was already in hot water with his Alpha and he couldn't afford to do anything so public today. So instead of snapping, he forced himself to be friendly, "Evie," he said civilly, "The night's good so far." he stopped his lips from curling into a snarl, but he couldn't stop them from twitching, "I hope that your night goes well tonight." he wished she would go away. He never liked her. Maybe it was her personality, maybe it was that she was a cat and he was a type of dog. Either way, she irritated the hell out of him.

[Adrian Belrose]

He watched to two women talk a bit. His interest was piqued. He had no idea the two were friends...very good friends from the looks of it. When Lynn couldn't seem to remember his name, he was almost tempted to tease her. Instead, he introduced himself to her with a polite smile, "Adrian Belrose. And if I remember correctly you are Miss Lynn, yes?" he took her hand as he did with Alavda's before, holding it just below his lips, "Enchanted to officially meet you. Someday, I should have you over at my estate for dinner or tea," he released her hand, "We are lucky indeed to have this songbird join the rest of the entertainment tonight. I haven't heard her since in decades. it warms an old creature such as me to be graced so." he turned a charming smile to both women before saying, "But I must be off. I have many things to check before the night grows much older. However, I'm sure that our paths will cross again tonight." He backed up two steps then bowed to the women, "Until next time," he said then disappeared into the crowd.

[Lynn Von Arx]

She turned back to the man and smiled back at him. "Adrian, what a unique name," Lynn smiled and nodded to say she that is her name when he goes to kiss her hand, but stops just before. If she had a pulse, her heart would have fluttered at that moment. She covered her mouth with her other hand, acting like a middle school girl, being charmed for the first time and it only got worse as he invited her to his estate some time. She could only nod her head once again in agreement, afraid that if she talked, she would only say incoherent babble.

She didn't want him to leave, but of course when one wishes that, it is almost like magic that they have to go at that exact time. Lynn tried to hide her frown as she waved to him as he left and sighed. "Oh my, he almost reduced me to a puddle there..." Lynn laughed nervously and looked at Alavda. "Songbird huh? Does he know French? Because that was a clever pun." Lynn smiled.

[Alavda Noir]

Alavda watched her friend and her host converse. She almost laughed out loud. She hadn't seen Lynn act this way since they were very young girls. She moved in hand in front of her mouth to hide any trace of a smile. Was Lynn developing a crush right before her eyes? How delightful! The matchmaker that Alavda didn't know existed in her surfaced. She'd try to set them up. She wasn't sure how, but she would. There may need to be some sneaking on her part with Adrian at the very least. But she was a woman with a few centuries under her belt. She'd find a way.

When he finally left, Alavda let the giggles out, "You liiiiiike him!" she sang playfully, "You were melting because you liiiiike him!" she giggled again. She was able to contain herself just enough to answer Lynns question, "He does know French, yes. All of the romance languages and then many other languages. I believe his native tongue is Latin...yes, I believe it is..." she thought she'd talk him up a bit, "After all, he is from a very wealthy Roman clan. The definition of chivalrous in my opinion." She'd have to remember to talk up Lynn to Adrian. Oh yes, she was going to have fun with this. She remembered them standing next to each other. Oh yes, they'd make a lovely couple...

[Lynn Von Arx]

If she could, Lynn would be blushing, instead, she is nervously playing with her dress. "I do not, I just haven't been treated like that in...well, ever really.." Lynn smiled, thinking back on that brief moment now before she heard Alavda starting to talk about him. "Latin you say?" Lynn asked, fanning herself now. "What have you gotten me into Alavda..." Lynn laughed then looked at the entrance. "I really wish he wouldn't have left, I would have loved to get to know him. It is most likely for the best though, I should not get my hopes up, I am an old woman, what would a wealthy Roman clan leader want with a woman that once was a part of the UN?" Lynn laughs and then looks at the stage. "OH! I forgot to check the mics!" Lynn said rather loudly and rushed up the stage to look at the mics and decor.

[Bladen Thorne]

The sun was down with no moon in site. Pity. The wolves were so fun to play with when the full moon was near. Ah well! Bladen would just have to find a different way of entertaining himself. Looking around as he approached the festival grounds, he saw all kinds of delightful little morsels he could manipulate and feed on. He was feeling a tad parched tonight and bagged blood just didn't satisfy him as much as it did straight from the vein. His mouth watered as he imagined sinking his fangs into someone's neck. Ah! Too bad he had to control himself for a while longer yet...although holding off until the night got older would help him find the best vein to drink out of. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. As advertised, the festival was going to be loads of fun.

He was eyeing what looked like a human, a werewolf, and a shapeshifter by what looked like a bakery stand that looked like some potential for fun when he spied two familiar figures...Lynn and Alavda. Lynn he had seen the other day when he and Thomas arrived on the island...but how long had it been since he'd seen Alavda? He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he counted the decades. Heh. Far too long. It had been so long, in fact that he almost didn't recognize her with her modern clothes and hair. Alavda disappeared behind some tents without seeing him as he approached, leaving him with only Lynn to play with.She would do for now, he decided.

He climbed on the stage after her and approached from behind. He used his power and gauged her emotional state of mind. He almost sighed with disappointment. She was merely excited and nervous. The nervous he could work with but it was far more entertaining to-

Wait.

Did he sense a little fear with that nervousness? He quickly glanced to where Alavda had disappeared to. He never did get Thomas to tell him what the little bird had to say to him with such secrecy. Could this be it? The smile that had been tugging at his mouth finally won out into a delighted grin.

He waited until Lynn was fiddling with some decor before he leaned in, still behind her and crooned, "Well hello, Pretty Bird," he pushed his power to bring some of her nervous fear to the surface, not much though. Just a touch, "Me thinks that you've been avoiding ol' Bladen."