If It Bleeds, It Leads (closed for zydrate)

[Pix]

Mark Chambers couldn't have imagined by age 33 he'd be worse off than he was just one year out of journalism school. After graduating at the top of his class, and interning at a couple of the top newspapers and magazines due more to his tenacity than even his stellar academic marks, the world was Mark's oyster. However, that world class tenacity ended up being his undoing. Mark couldn't sit idly by while great stories were frozen out because of the interests of the corporate owners of the publications. Too stubborn to know when his battles were lost, Mark's attitude got him booted out of a half dozen newspapers, magazines, and blogs by the time he was thirty.

Even down in his luck by then, Mark caught what seemed like one last break. He had been hired on a field journalist for an edgy news outlet on the cutting edge of news and culture. He had uncovered a big story involving systemic corruption amongst the world's elite and their financial institutions, but the same song and dance occurred even at that company. After he was discredited and fired once again, Mark only found one outlet that would publish him. It was an eccentric not-quite billionaire with a penchant for conspiracy theories that published the corruption story, but it garnered little attention, and those who paid attention largely lied to discredit Mark's story.

Now Mark was on assignment from the conspiracy theorist, supposedly meeting with a source who knew more than anyone could possibly believe possible. The journalist had no idea what that description meant, but his livelihood depended on doing reporting for his new boss. So there he was, standing outside of an old brick building in a part of the city that most people had moved out of a decade before, and it was eerily still in the dark night.

In a gray suit, and black shirt without a tie, standing in black boots with silver zippers on the side. Mark pressed the button to the intercom and made it buzz.

"It's Mark Chambers with the Hidden Truth," Mark shook his head at the name of his employer. It just screamed idiotic, but what choice did he have?

No voice on the other end of the intercom, just a click of the door and it opened on it's own. Mark thought it was strange to see an automated door on such an old building.

He walked inside and stood in a dimly lit living room, waiting for anybody to come and greet him.

 

[zydrate]

The door opened as per instructed and Ari stood back in the shadows and watched.

She had been watching a lot lately. All didn't know she was watching. Some were watched as prey. Some were being watched as companions.

Some just piqued her interest.

Like Mr. Chambers.

Yes, he had definitely caught Ari's eyes. It was something about him she couldn't really place a finger on.

Was it because of his ambition for his job? His passion for the written word? He was a seeker. A seeker of truth.

But the age old question was always lingering, could he handle the truth?

For hundreds of years...century after century, Ari's kind existed...almost dictation the actions of mortal men and women. Nothing was ever forced in a way...but perhaps a little nudge here and there. Most of time, it was for entertainment.

But like the actions of men, the politics game came into play within the vampire world....into Ari's world...Oh yes, Ari was indeed, a vampire.

It was something Ari never could stand. Politics. The arguing, the bickering... the sides taken and friendships divided... she was often sought for her counsel and wisdom because she was over 400 years old...despite only looking in her mid 30s to the human race.

She gave Mr. Chambers a few more minutes to sit and wait. She could smell the tension and irritation in his scent... but she also sensed the uneasiness in him... there was an urge to reach out to him mentally but she had decided against it. No, she wouldn't treat him like she had some of her other...prey... this one...this one was special.

Walking out from the shadows, Ari spoke...her voice a smooth, almost whispering tone, "Mister Chambers... welcome.." she said as she didn't fully step into view. "I'm glad you could make it... would you fancy something to drink?"

 

[Pix]

"Mister Chambers... welcome.." she said as she didn't fully step into view. "I'm glad you could make it... would you fancy something to drink?"

"That depends," Mark answered coolly, trying to hide his uneasiness, "are you going to give me the scoop I came here for right away? If that's the case then water...if you prefer to dance, so to speak, a whisky would be great."

Mark looked up as he pulled out a yellow legal pad and a pen, leaving his laptop in the briefcase he put on the floor next to the oversized leather chair he had sat in. He was captivated by the pale beauty that dominated the room. There was an eerie coldness that emanated from her aura, but Mark could definitely see some sort of red hot fire burning in her eyes. He had no idea what he had walked into that night, armed with less information than any previous assignment he had ever worked on, but at that moment he was more invested in it than any other.

 

[zydrate]

"Scoop?" Ari repeated as she studied Chambers a minute more, trying to get a reading on him...nothing in depth but she just studied his body and reaction before moving to the small bar that was hidden in the corner of the room. Quickly she fixed him a glass of ice water in a scotch glass and then proceeded to pour herself a glass of dark, unrecognized liquid. She moved toward him and offered him the water.

Ari took a seat across him and smoothed out her skin tight leather dress. Her hair was up in an ornate French twist with a few locks of dark hair framing her pale face. "Tell me, mister Chambers...." She took a quick sip from her glass, "what is this scoop you heard of?"

 

[Pix]

Mark took the glass in his hand, seemingly frozen in his hostess's hand when she passed it off to him, however, beads of vapor started dripping off of the low ball as soon as he had a hold of it. He took a sip from the glass and tasted the purest drink he possibly could have tasted and wondered about the game his host was playing on him.

"Please, call me Mark..." he said as he felt a dryness curdle in his mouth as he refused to go back for the non-drink his interview subject had given him.

He cleared his dry throat as he shuffled his mostly empty legal pad in his hands, with a pen tucked in the nook between his thumb and index finger.

"I've heard you can confirm a wild story like I submitted to every major news outlet a couple of months ago, but was rejected..." Mark told the luminous hostess in the dim light, "but my boss also published a flying saucer story last month. So...I don't know what to believe."

 

[zydrate]

"Mark..." Ari let his name linger in the air...as if she was testing his name on her tongue.

A small smile played on her lips as she took another drink from her glass. She thought about what he said and what he wanted about his 'scoop'. Yes, she had followed his work, followed his trials and tribulations... all thanks to willing ears that would tell her anything and everything for the right amount of money.

"Yes, I remember that... UFO story." She paused for a long while, obvious she had more to say. Another moment passed, "I know what you seek mister Chamb--, I mean, Mark.. a scoop about vampires.. tell me, what do you know about what you seek."

 

[Pix]

Mark shook his head as he heard this muttered from the mouth of his mystery hostess. Sure enough, he had been sent to chase down another conspiracy his crazy employer liked to entertain. Maybe it was because his boss was so afraid of mortality that he entertained such an idea, but maybe... maybe there was something to what Mark had been hearing at the moment.

"Miz--" Mark stopped himself, not knowing what would come after the polite Ms. "Ari...is this some elaborate prank? Or is this like Wicca? Or is it some sort of fetish, you drink the blood of your lovers? Or is this legitimate? Am I in the presence of an undead immortal being?"

Mark set his pad and pen down on the table in front of him and looked into Ari's eyes with his own piercing set.

"What's the story?" he asked.