And it was another day and time to start working again. This morning in particular, Raquel woke up a little late. It was a nice sunny day with golden rays of sunlight peeking through her curtains and birds singing to their mate outside her window. Pushing her messy hair out of the way, Raquel curled up more on her bed, tangled between the silky red sheets she got for half price off from a local store. It was a little edgy but Raquel was all about living the life of a vampire back then. She remembered feeling half excited and half infuriated at herself while purchasing it.

“Ugh I don’t want to work…” Raquel sighed, going through a mental list of what she had to do that day. It would be best if she could start off by getting up from bed but she decided that was unlikely to happen for a few more minutes. Her work would be in the evening since she was going to go back to the same shopping mall as the last time to once again deal with those petty little goons the nobles send because they have nothing else to do but make ordinary people’s lives hell.

She groaned, resisting the sweet temptation of going back to sleep and sat up. She almost spaced out looking out the window but caught herself in time and took her first step off the bed. Her hands crossed behind her back as she stretched and yawned. There was a long time to go before it was time for the sun to set, meaning Raquel probably had time to stop by a café and read one of her new favorite book. As she thought so, Raquel made her way over to the other room, ready to start her day.

301/2000

Stepping out of the bath, Raquel wrapped a light blue bathrobe around her. She strode over to the bedroom and sat down in front of a fairly good sized vanity mirror. Blow drying her hair was a pain and to brush through her tangled locks even worse. The longer her hair got, the longer it took Raquel to manage it. She could name countless hair products off her head that she used and tried over the past month to get her hair to behave but it would end up getting messy again by the end of the day after a rough mission. Sometimes she really wanted to leave it as it is and forget all about the violet locks. But she could just never…

After spending almost an hour on it, Raquel finally moved onto get dressed. She pulled on a dark blue, long sleeved turtleneck and black form fitting jeans. Ever since she started going shopping with Venus, Raquel had started to pay more and more attention to her own fashion. It started by removing a majority of the whites and blacks from her wardrobe and bringing in more pieces in different colors. Now aside from the overly bright colors, Raquel had a good collection of clothes. Needless to say, she was starting to get a little proud of herself for making it through the maze called high fashion.

So after pairing her outfit with a pair of sneakers and a long black coat, Raquel pulled her hair up in a ponytail and was ready to go out. She put no makeup on since there was no point in putting something on that would only end up getting smudged off and become a mess by the time she was done dealing with the hooligans. Those are to be reserved for a nice day out.

606/2000

The café she usually went to was a small, plain looking building that was more or less squished between a book store and a pawn shop. It was somewhat old and rustic but Raquel liked the silence and peace that came with it. Plus, they had great coffee, it’s just that not many people knew it. They mostly depended on old customers and some regulars. It worked really well for them and they had no real problems staying in business. Ever since Raquel first visited, she was totally pleased with their vibes and almost became a regular. Now she didn’t even really need to order what she wanted because they already knew her normal preferences.

It was quiet as always when she sat down next to the recently cleaned window, book in hand. Her eyes followed the march of people outside. Some walked with a purpose, some with urgency, and some with their head in the clouds. She found it interesting to watch people just as some of them found it interesting to peer through the shop windows as they walked. But today her focus went to the book, an exciting thriller about a serial killer and his victims. It was another one of those where the killer eventually turns out to be some superhuman or something. A great read to pass time.

Since work started late in the evening, Raquel decided to spend a few hours for herself. She read for a while, taking short sips of coffee in between, but soon gave into the idea that it was a boring day. Not even Magnolia looked as busy and buzzing as it usually did. There were only a few people on the street and everything was oddly quiet. After some time, the young vampire got too tired of it and got up, deciding that she would head down to the shopping street ahead of time.

921/2000

She wandered up and down the streets for some time, both bored and tired until she found something that interested her. It was a small shop selling décor items on top of other things. If the red silky sheets weren’t a hint enough, then one should know by now that the young water mage was starting to get very interested in decorating her room these days. The things she bought were so unusual and vampire-ey as well. A lot of reds and blacks and things that looked like they came straight out of a horror story. It was strange that she was starting to embrace her life now as a vampire as opposed to the kind of shock and fright she got at the beginning. Accepting herself surely made things easier now that she didn’t second guess everything. She was also starting to think that her past didn’t matter.
‘
With her eyes drawn towards a small wolf sculpture, Raquel quickly dropped the rest of her thoughts and went back to focusing on the various things the shop had for sale. A lot of them were pretty while a lot of them seemed cool and would suit a modern looking home. She was particularly interested in small potted plants that she wanted to place next to the windows. It seemed cactuses were the most popular choice although there were also some pretty looking succulents. She chose a few of them and asked the store owner to hold them for her to be picked up later in the evening. It would be strange if she were to go into work with potted plants in both her hands. Besides, she was still having trouble with her magic and couldn’t use it well enough. There was nothing but brute strength to rely on.

1221/2000

She seemed almost unconcerned walking towards the shops, her hands clasped behind her back and eyes turned towards the sky. There was nothing worrying her except the recent change in her magical powers. But that didn’t seem like a big deal either. She was ready to embrace a big change, have been ever since the day she was found by Kaiser in that lonely forest. Things have begun to take a turn for the better and as it is now, she was not even concerned about her past. Several parts of her broken memory already suggested that she had no one she would miss or anyone that would miss her. Sometimes there were dreams –or perhaps they were nightmares- of a dark room, chains, and puppets. They clawed at the back of her mind like a hysterical banshee trying to break out from a cage. To be honest, it freaked her out every time she had that dream. Maybe it was also part of the reason why she didn’t want to go back and learn of her past. It made sense that since she had changed so much, from appearance to even her magic, it was probably wise to just move on.

That being said, she was still not very fond of working for people like this. It was obviously the best choice for a mage to be a part of a guild and take missions for money, but sometimes she wondered if there were other ways or if there were other choices that she could take. Nevertheless, it was now her duty and responsibility to be a reliable member of this guild that took her in when she had nowhere to go. Maybe one day she could retire from everything, but not now.

“There you are!” Raquel looked up hearing a familiar voice and found the same old man she met the first time on this job. “Thank you for coming again. Those bastards just won’t stop trying to vandalize our shops,” He nearly cried trying to explain to the young vampire just how tired and despondent they are over the whole issue. “Why are you telling me this…” was the only reply they got. She wasn’t concerned about their shops. Did she feel bad for them? Maybe. Did she sympathize with them? Not quite. Raquel felt nothing, neither towards the shop owners nor towards the men she killed or fought off almost every day. She was just doing her job and nothing more.

1636/2000

There was this sense of de ja vu as Raquel watched a bunch of men tearing down a small shop. The wide, glass window was shattered with a few shards sticking out all over the place and few droplets of blood on the ground. She stared at the little red puddle for a long time, so long that someone had to tug on her arms to get her to snap out of it. “It was one of the shop owners. He was trying to stop them from destroying his shop,” the same old man told her as Raquel gathered every ounce of patience in her to not go for his throat for even touching her. She just couldn’t control her temper these days. While she had enough willpower to not do anything she would regret, the kind of rage that overcomes her was still very concerning. It was something she had to think about and work on.

But for the moment, she threw her thoughts away just as quickly as she shook off the man’s hands off of her. Without much of a word, she went into the shop, as soundless as the air. It was such a convenient thing to not make any sound as she walked. It saved her so much trouble when she wanted to take someone by surprise. Smiling to herself, she grabbed hold of a man’s neck who was just standing behind enjoying the show as a couple of others wrecked the shop and slammed him into the floor, quickly followed by stomping hard on his back. She was sure it was enough to at least break his ribs and left him to face the other three who were now very much aware of Raquel’s presence. Individually, these guys weren’t that strong, but they were bigger in number. So she was careful as she picked her fight, going for the ones who seemed the weakest. Since it wasn’t possible to use her magic, she had to rely on punches and kicks and throwing them off her shoulder to put them in a state where they couldn’t fight back anymore. She took the last two out by swinging a piece of the broken table towards their head. It took no more than half an hour and most of the hooligans ran away leaving only a couple of them on ground. When the shop owners rushed in afterwards, Raquel simply handed the men over to them and took her pay before leaving. She wouldn’t forget to get the cactuses from the other place and just go home.

-Exit-
2066/2000