by P. S. Power
She’d given the man next to her a lot of information about her, in a short time frame. That was part of bonding. In return, he made a bit of a face and looked back at the ocean. The water was, she had to admit, lovely. So clear that only bits of floating black debris blocked the white sand on the bottom from easy viewing.
Will spoke after a moment.
“You know, I’d never really thought about having kids, myself. I mean, I’m not planning on it. The world is suddenly so different that I don’t know if this is the best time to have them.”
It made sense. Really, if it wasn’t for the Human biological urge to procreate, it would have been a great time for most of them to cut back on the number of offspring they were having. As it stood, a lot of them were probably going to be dying off over the next few hundred years. At least if Division Six couldn’t work out how to get Humanity to control how they thought.
Which wasn’t totally impossible. Just really, really hard to pull off.
Changing the subject, Keeley refrained from sticking her tongue out. Teasing Will Dern at the moment would be a horrible idea, after all. He’d opened up to her and while he was going to want to distance himself from her a bit, for other reasons, them being emotionally close wasn’t a bad idea. Everyone needed to have someone in their life they could do that sort of thing with. Even the ex-Greater Demons probably did.
“Okay, we need to get with Tyler and some of the others then, to set up how we’re taking the listening devices out. We’ll do that at the mansion. Tyler’s house. I can go in early and make sure it’s clean there. I’ll get that taken care of…” She didn’t show anything outwardly, in particular, as she built a new rift in space directly before her and linked it to her living room. Inside her living space.
That was a poor plan but where she’d left from. She wasn’t being watched but if she suddenly acted like it was true, then Will would freak out a bit. At least he would once he worked out that Keeley had been pretty obviously hinting that they could have sex. For real. It was one thing for her to flirt and hint heavy handedly. Another for him to understand that if he’d grabbed her behind or even groaned a bit too much in frustration, they would have been doing it before they left for the beach to talk.
So even if it was going to mess up the flow of space in her living room, she took them back there, directly. Then tried to smooth reality over as well as she could, instead of just leaving the disruption like most of her people did when they traveled.
When that was done she patted his arm, solidly.
“Dinner tonight? With everyone. Let me get you the driving directions to Tyler’s.” That only took a few minutes, since the mansion really wasn’t that far from there or anything. About six miles from her house. About two from the Coalition of Nations building. Just a bit more than that. In the other direction.
Will took the paper she handed over, then, interestingly, hugged her before going. With the door open.
Clearly keeping the act up, in case they were being watched.
Smiling she hugged him back, since things really had been lonely for her for a while. Maybe even long enough for her to finally move on. It had been over a month, after all. True she’d been broken up with and not the one walking away, which was going to make her part the more painful one, but life had to continue, eventually. There was no real reason for procrastinating. Doing that kind of thing tended to make more trouble than it was worth. It was often better to take action, than to sit and wait for the situation to change on its own.
As Will left, she nodded. He wasn’t really available for her. That didn't mean no one in the world would be. Really, her choices were wide open, if she was willing to see them
Thinking about things for a bit, she nodded. There was one person in the area that was both single and who might be interested, after all. That she’d met before and everything. He’d even asked her out, at the time.
It was a good enough place to start, she decided.
Chapter two
Keeley had to change before going to the store. For the task at hand she decided on a new form, instead of the one she’d been wearing around for her new job. That one was actually fine, if she wanted to be seen as a normal person. The problem was that the guy she was planning on asking out was about seven years younger than she was. Her new shape looked about as old as she actually was, if in a well-kept way, so that was out. Not that he would have said no to her if she approached the man looking like she did.
Really, she was probably just being a normal woman in the way she was thinking. She wanted to get a guy’s attention, so was planning on dressing up to look cuter than she did, day to day. In something new, that he hadn’t seen her in before.
Ravi worked at the store though and the last time they’d met had been strange enough that it was very possible he wouldn’t recall her in her old face. The other trick there was that he wasn’t exactly a great looking guy. Cute, of course, but not super human about it. If she walked in looking like she used to, the man probably wouldn’t get that she was trying to date him at all. Oh, he’d go out with her, if she suggested it. There was just no way for an average guy to take a truly fine-looking woman seriously.
Even if she told him they were dating and had sex with him regularly, he’d always be looking for the trick in it. Which would be there, of course. Her dating one man or woman wouldn’t be enough to keep her interested for all that long. So, anyone she was going out with needed to be good with the idea that both of them could date and have sex with other people. Even if they were mainly exclusive.
That being the case, Keeley picked something brand spanking new, just for him. Age wise she wanted to be about twenty-three, which would make her seem viable as a potential mate for a man. Young enough to still have kids, even if she wasn’t going to be doing that herself. Old enough to be legal and seen that way by anyone who noticed them together. Instead of making herself look better than was actually possible for a human being, she decided to go with something nice, without being that incredible.
A nice eight, since she didn't feel like having to work too hard to get his attention. With a bit of makeup, she could push that into being a nine, which was good enough to be an actress.
As for body type, she went thin, with a decently large bustline. Not for any special reason, just so that her old clothing, from her original look, would fit her. Just to be interesting, she decided to make herself shorter than she was used to being. About five-feet even. Just under that, in fact. It would limit what she could wear out of her older clothing and made her look a bit thicker, without being fat or even chubby at all. That was so her clothing would fit.
Being that short, it meant that she was going to weigh about eighty-five pounds. For the first time in her life she decided to make herself a blonde. A soft honey color, that had a natural luster and some curl to it. Along with deep green eyes that popped, powerfully. There was no real reason for it, other than she wanted to try something different. Technically it would make her look slightly exotic, which could sort of push her as far as looks went. Upward, in this case. At least sideways. It would depend on the sort of things Ravi liked in a girl.
The most important characteristic, the thing he’d like most, was interest in him, of course. Everyone had that going on, if they were sane and the other person wasn’t too far out of their league, as far as looks and social standing.
The actual change, instead of taking the half day that things like that used to for her, was finished in a slightly shorter time. About fifteen seconds. That was better than the last time she’d tried making any alterations to herself, even. She melted, shrank and reformed so quickly that it was hard to track what was going on. At least it should be, from the outside.
The new shape really did leave her too short for her old clothing. It meant she ended up in a pair of white shorts that were tight enough across the behind to show she had one, even if she was little now. Petite on a level that was close to being interesting all on its own. Her old shoes still fit,
without looking like boats since she’d always had small feet anyway. Looking in the mirror, she added a very light dusting of freckles across her nose, with her skin moving to a slightly deeper tan color than she’d planned originally.
Strictly speaking she looked like a white girl that lived in a tanning salon, more than anything else.
She took a change of clothing with her, tucked into a large blue canvas bag, just in case she got called into work. It would be important for her to look right for the part of the moment, after all.
Before taking off, she pulled her phone and put a call in to Tyler. The man wasn’t alive, didn’t sleep and loved to eat. It had to be vegetarian fare, since eating too much meat might trigger him into a feeding frenzy that would end up in the consumption of hundreds, possibly thousands of people if he wasn’t stopped. In theory. She kind of figured that between Ann controlling for that and Tyler refusing to harm anyone for reasons as small as taking their life energy, it would be safe for him to have a burger occasionally. Not that she was going to push the man. If he chose to eat plants, then she was good with it. That kind of cooking wasn’t a thing she couldn’t handle with her current food prep skills.
Dialing the phone had the other end picked up after about ten seconds. Like most people she knew, Ty Gartner lived with a cell phone constantly. Even she did it, since it was needed to blend into the world she lived in at the moment.
“Tyler Gartner, how may I help you today?” The voice was smooth and a nice tenor. The kind of thing a good singer might have. Given he was one of those and even famous for it, that worked for her. That he used it so well answering the phone was a bit off. Not that most people would notice the effort he was putting in that way on a conscious level.
“Hey, Ty. Keeley here. I’m planning to hold a dinner party at your house tonight. I need you there and some others. Will Dern, Calley, Ginger and Felicia.” Basically, people that were involved in the Coalition of Nations on a daily basis.
That would be a good enough starting place.
After a moment of silence, Ty exhaled, softly. That was on purpose, of course. The man didn't move without meaning to. Being dead, he didn’t need to do silly things like breathing, other than to speak. Meaning that the exhaling was done for a reason, to influence her.
“How about Scotty, Rebekah and Steve?” The words were probing, rather than upset seeming. She didn’t really need the others in Tyler’s band for this project, of course. Steve would need to be brought in for the meeting, too. It was an extra step, which wasn’t going to make her life easier in particular.
Rather than push things into being the way she wanted, Keeley nodded, so that the sound would carry into her voice.
“That works for me. I don’t know if Steve will be comfortable with me being there. I mean, I just broke up with his sister and he used to be a slave of mine. Still, if it doesn’t bother him, that works. I’ll pick up some blood for the vampires.”
That got a chuckle.
“Don’t bother. We’re set that way. What time were you planning this for?”
“Call it seven? I want it to be near dark, so that all the Vampires won’t feel like they’re on fire from the sun. This is just a get together, really. Your place is just nicer than mine. Bigger and all that.” That part was both true and a lie, since it was a business meeting, not a party.
There was speaking on the other side, a hand held over the phone to muffle what was being said in the distance. Keeley could still make out what was being said, by both parties. It wasn’t that her hearing was pushed to that kind of level at the moment, as much as there was a vague sense of information that came across the phone. It wasn’t strictly telepathy, though it was related to that kind of thing. Her innate sense of knowledge of others was working to keep her informed. She put it all together easily enough.
Rebekah was in the background, sitting next to Scotty and Jonas, her boyfriend. He was a New Vamp, meaning far more like a Human being, though still undead and with powers. The man shifted when she spoke about him. It gave him away.
“Jonas is staying here, I don’t know if that…” The woman sounded nearly shy about it. As if Keeley might be keeping things secret from the man.
Which could come up. He worked for a politician, after all. One that she had in her pocket, as it turned out. They didn’t need Richard Swerlin for the meeting that night, however. Jonas on the other hand, currently had a project with her. Rebuilding a chair and sneaking it into the house there, since they were hiding the fact that it had been destroyed to make a weapon. From Tyler. Technically she owned the nice chair herself. A thing that Jonas didn’t really get.
Not that anyone had hidden who she was from him by name. It was just that he hadn’t worked out her new face as belonging to her, the ex-Greater Demon. When they’d met previously, a thing that had taken place many times, she’d looked like her old self. It could be confusing to some people.
On the good side, she had the chair ready.
“Good plan! Jonas is more than welcome, of course. Will he be eating? I’m planning on cooking for it, so need a head count.”
Jonas was dead, like the other Vampires there, and didn’t need to eat, but the fact was his kind could, without any pain or discomfort. They weren’t strong, fast or particularly pointy of tooth. In short, they were dead men and women that could pass for a living person almost perfectly. That was their real power. They even held on to more of their Human creativity than a lot of the other types of vampires did, as well.
Jonas was still keen enough to listen in to what was being said.
“I could eat. Thanks! I don’t get invited to most things.” The words could have sounded bitter and in truth, that was there on the edges. Just a bit though. Probably not as much as the man could have laid claim to at all.
He was young, weak and not that important in vampire society. In the Human world he was connected well enough as far as politics went. Still not powerful enough to be considered important that way. A bit like her friend Steven. Her new slave by that name.
The one that she should have been dating, instead of Ravi. Except that dating people that couldn’t say no, because she controlled their mind, had never been that thrilling to her. It wasn’t that it was rape, either. It was that people that only did what you asked them to and couldn’t help it were boring. Her lack of connection to empathy allowed forced sex to be interesting enough to her.
It wasn’t that she didn’t understand what others were feeling. She really did. Her powers ensured that. It was that, without using magic for it, she didn’t feel like their feelings or concern meant anything. Making it easier for her to take pleasure in another’s pain or discomfort than it would be for most people. A thing that led directly to being evil, of course. It was built into her though. Something to resist and fight against, if she wanted to be a good person. Or, more correctly to try to pretend to be good, while actually being whatever it was she actually was. Something that tended to be a lot darker than a regular woman would be.
Smiling, she nodded, again, so that they’d be able to hear it in her voice.
“Seven then. See you all then. Collect the others for me, if possible?”
Tyler made a soft grunting sound.
“Got it. See you then, hon.”
That wasn’t the kind of thing that people generally said to Greater Demons. Which was clearly his point. As much as anyone so far, possibly more than anyone else, Tyler had tried to take her decision not to be a demon any longer to heart. That meant, when she’d asked to be called Keeley and suggested she be treated like anyone else, he did it. One of a small handful that had actually tried that way so far.
“See you all then, sweeties.” Her voice was playful, teasing nearly.
After that, she drove into Sparks, to the Safeway. Ravi might have been young and not special in a lot of ways but the one thing he did well was work. He had a job at the major local grocery store, as well as one of the local coffee places. That still only had him
working about fifty hours a week, which left a lot of time in his life, since he’d been having trouble getting a date for a while.
Not for lack of trying on his part. At least he’d asked her out to coffee, while in a dark alley, her looking so far out of his general range that he should have been tongue tied, not willing to act with confidence at all. She should have said yes at the time, but that had been on the same day that Hally had left her. Just before she officially found out about it.
Thinking of it left her feeling sad. She didn’t change the emotion or make it go away. Not directly. Instead she took a deep breath and relaxed, letting the whole emotional mess play out inside of her.
A small tendril of anger hit her, which wasn’t a new thing. It was rage, at Hally, for betraying her. For abandoning her after all the time and effort she’d put into the relationship. Even if she understood why it had happened. Why it had to have taken place. It was a bit of a dangerous thing, allowing that kind of emotion, anger, to exist inside of her. Her kind were good at that sort of thing, or could be. If she really let go, Hally would probably have ended up dead or enslaved. Possibly without Keeley meaning to do it at all.
Rather than lock it down she rode it, admitting it was there, without letting it grow. The feeling was how she honestly felt at the moment. A good person wouldn’t act on that kind of thing. That was all. Her goal was to be no worse than a normal Human being in her modern American setting, after all. At least on the outside. Not perfect, since she couldn’t own that kind of thing. Faking it was possible for her kind. That wasn’t what she was trying to do. She needed to be herself, while not being a demon any longer.
Which she didn't really know how to be. Herself… That one was going to be hard to pull off.
After a bit, the intense feeling inside of her faded. Not totally and there was a bit of dark gray sadness left over, tainting her thoughts. Still, she was able to drive to the store, without speeding or acting irrationally. Which was a good thing, since her driver’s license didn't look like her at all, at the moment. If she were pulled over, she wasn’t going to be getting out of a ticket without shape changing.