Arlo James

See what it's like to be a vulture's lunch

Three dollars. He was three dollars short of what he needed, an all-too dramatic sigh forced from his lips as the young man lay back atop that crumbling retaining wall outside that row of small shops upon the North side. He would have to up his game tomorrow night, change his targets and yet that would take several more days of planning if he hoped to achieve anything substantial and he hardly had several days. He needed the money sooner rather than later. The idea that vampires were wealthy was something of a myth as far as he was concerned. Maybe the older ones were, maybe the ones who had lived forever were and yet he had barely pocket change. Everyone paid for everything with card now, no one carried cash any more, his efforts to thieve what he could becoming less and less rewarding with each passing score. He would be reduced to break-ins soon, those decidedly more risky. Becoming trapped in anther vampires house because he had misjudged even one factor was hardly a situation he so favoured, the man assured the outcome of that would be poor and as such he had been reduced to brooding this evening.

It was rare, in any fashion, for Arlo to allow his guard to be this lowered, the man very near lounging atop that wall with laconic ease, fingers tracing along that cold concrete as he bemoaned his lack of three dollars. He had not hunted on this side of town yet, however, the chances of running into one of his victims was limited, the black-haired boy feeling decidedly more bold tonight as the azure of his eyes wandered aimlessly along the street and across those late night shoppers who lingered still. None of them were of intrigue to him, none of them looked wealthy, none of them even looked remotely edible to his mind and yet he was as close to being full as a vampire could surely be. His lack of money had hardly resulted in a lack of blood, Arlo a distinctly successful predator, far beyond most of his own kind despite their utter dislike of him. Vultures never were popular though. Such a curse it was.

A yawn he can hardly stop finds its way to his lips, those fangs exposed for barely a moment before Arlo at last sits up, hardly bothering to pull that black hood up and over his head here and now, such things were needed only when he hunted and for once it as hardly blood the accented his thoughts with its ever glorious pull. He draws one knee upwards, reaching into his back pocket to pluck that little leather bound notebook so battered and worn from age from within, a pen pulled from the other side before the man begins to print on that final page. He pauses suddenly, head jerked upward, the vampire flicking backward several pages to peer at his own notes, a curse muttered beneath his lips as he slips easily from that wall and into the crowd of people, attempting to keep his head down, attempting to stay hidden before he hears his name on that other man's lips.

"Fucking hell."

His own pace quickens, the sounds of the crowd behind him assuring him his pursuer had done much the same, Arlo ducking down the nearest street, vaulting up and onto the roof of the nearest townhouse as he so often did- the man entirely more content in high places and indeed far more likely to lose his follower. The roof however, had run out far faster than he had anticipated, Arlo peering down into a small courtyard of sorts with several food stands and a scattering of people, the sound of another scrambling onto the roof behind him seeing the often impulsive vampire make a decidedly hurried choice, leaping into the nearest tree that stood above a collection of outdoor tables and shoppers snacking beneath them. The man crouching down within the foliage, arms wrapped around the nearest branch, several leaves falling to tumble into the food of the blonde girl beneath. Arlo's own blue gaze peering down from beneath that mop of dark hair to regard her silently for several moments.

"I am not here. You don't see me. Stop looking and pretend to be eating, please?"

God these people. They were all going to be in trouble if the other vampire found him.