The taste was like warm nectar, it lingered on her tongue for hours after she'd last tasted it and the essence of the taste kept her alive, it kept her alert...it kept her wanting more. She lived for the next taste, her mind constantly stuck on the need for more, for sweeter...for life.
She can't recall a time when the very existence of the taste hadn't been on her mind. She can't recall a time before the hunger and she knew there would never be a time after it. It was perpetual, she was cursed to always long it and she lathered in the knowledge. She lived for the craving; the hunt and the end. It kept her senses heightened, it was exhilarating and she never wished it away. She wanted it as ever-present as she was.
Lauren tossed the girl's body to the side, wiping the trickle of blood that stained her chin with her thumb and sucking the sweetness off. She looked to the limp body laying on the sofa and she knew she'd have to coerce the mind of the cleaner to think nothing of the blood. She'd perfected the kill by now, she'd become somewhat of a master at what her kind so often struggled with. It was because unlike others, she indulged in what she was, she did not resent it. She did not wish it away. She wanted the life she lived and she could not present herself with an alternative, nor did she want to.
Her cousin was different, she hated what she'd become, she hated the lust for life and the hunt. She hated the casual way Lauren would discard her victims, she had made it somewhat her job to dispose of the bodies in a way she considered respectful. It was so expected of Lucy to almost always clean up Lauren's messes despite the green-eyed girl's protests.
Where Lucy played it safe, Lauren lived for the danger.
That was why Lucy was perched on a seat across from the sofa with the dead body, sipping on a blood bag instead of joining Lauren in her feast. Lauren could see the disgust playing on her cousin's eyes and she couldn't help but smirk, it was so expected of Lucy to be the...honourable one.
"You said you wanted a sip." The brunette reminded her green-eyed relative.
"Precisely," Lauren eyed the dead girl before tossing her feet to the ground and joining her on the sofa. "I simply took her as my sip and refrained from feasting on the rest of her group of friends. I believe I was fair."
Lucy released a scoff before eyeing the room they'd found themselves in. It wasn't uncommon for Lauren to enjoy the luxuries of life, so expensive hotels had become a norm to them, despite the fact that Lucy would rather stay under the radar.
"I find it incredible that after two centuries you can still find pleasures in the brutish way you kill."
"That is because I experience it as a new every single time." Lauren explained, tipping her head back as she admired the detailed painting on the ceiling.
By now Lucy had found that arguing with any logic Lauren had decided to be true was pointless. So she was easy to concede.
"Tell me we won't simply be basking in the remnants of your kill for the rest of the night." The older of the pair sighed.
"I wouldn't burden you with that displeasure," Lauren chuckled lightly, standing from her seat before offering her hand to her cousin. "Shall we?"
"And where will you be taking me for the night? We've already scoured most of the night scene of the city."
"I'm sure there's a underground bar we've yet to taint." Lauren sauntered over to their balcony, her eyes scanning the city around them, understanding why it was called the city that never slept. Because for all the times she'd entered, never once has it quieted.
She spun around and cast a smirk towards her cousin before leaning back and allowing her body to free-fall from the height that would surely kill any mere mortal. But that was the beauty of what Lauren was...she could not die.
She landed swiftly on her feet, surprising a few onlookers but she paid them no mind. Humans were often quick to dismiss that which they could not explain, any word about a girl jumping from fourteen stories up would easily be shot down by any self-respecting critic.
Lucy landed beside her cousin, her eyes displaying the usual boredom as she too took in the surprise from those around them.
"Subtly eludes you." She rolled her eyes before following beside Lauren. "You should consider being discrete, there are still those who seek the extermination of our kind."
"The very night I fear a hunter is the very night I pierce a stake through my own heart." The green-eyed girl mused, arching a brow at her companion.
The pair always found eyes on them no matter what they were doing. It was almost expected that they would rouse attention simply by existing. Lucy had blamed it on the theory that because they are a predatory species, they were to be as alluring to their prey as possible. So the very sight of them acted as a seduction to draw in those they fed upon.
Their beauty was a trap.
Lauren led them to an alleyway that was littered with filth but Lucy, by now, knew better than to take where Lauren took her at face value. She knew if the green-eyed girl dragged her here, it was for good reason. And that reason was soon revealed when they turned a corner to find what could only be described as a speakeasy.
There was a hole in the door that was slid open to reveal only a sliver of a man's face, his eyes roaming over them with curiosity and slight interest but his job was never to fall prey to that which he desired, and so he was quick to guise the interest in a question.
"Password?"
Lucy allowed her companion to take the lead from there, never finding it quite as satisfactory as Lauren did to toy with human minds.
The green-eyed girl offered the man behind the door a beguiling smile before she locked her eyes with his, coercion flowing from every cell in her body as she spoke.
"I believe we do not need one." She told him, her persuasion twisting the truths the man knew in his mind.
He closed the hole in the door and seconds later, the door itself opened to reveal a bar Lucy had not known existed.
The place screamed elegance, black and gold littering every surface and lights shimmering from every part of the ceiling. The music was a slow jazz that was subtle enough to simply hang in the air without disrupting the chatter of the occupants.
The bar displayed drinks that Lucy had only ever seen in foreign countries and the bartenders were dressed impeccably. The entirety of the establishment was an array of elegance and riches.
"How do you know of this place?" Lucy spoke in amazement.
"For brief moments, dear cousin," Lauren spared Lucy a glance over her shoulder. "I listen."
The pair approached the bar and Lauren ordered drinks that most of the people in the place could not pronounce, drawing even more attention to them but Lauren was always eager to lather in the love she received. When their drinks were handed to them, she simply spun around and leaned back on the bar, her eyes scanning the lit room with subtle enjoyment.
Lucy knew this tactic by now. Lauren was already after a new victim. Lucy was foolish to believe that her cousin would be satisfied with one for the night, Lauren frequently took her fill without a single hint of remorse.
She knew when the green-eyed girl had found her next prey, her eyes focused more and she'd peer at the girl over the rim of her glass and admittedly, Lucy could not fault Lauren on her taste. The girl was rather alluring even to her, but Lucy had long since sworn off drinking from the vein. She never wanted to twist herself into the person Lauren had so willingly become.
