Here It Comes Now, Wish Me Luck (Open)

[MARGARET ROSE]

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA

The museum was quiet and deserted with little flecks of life here and there but it was just the way Margaret liked it. It gave her the gentle sort of atmosphere that allowed her to travel around it's walls and enjoy the exquisite display of antiques. It was much nicer to observe them up close than to see them in musty books. Though she did love her collection of books. The pages always called out to her and she felt happiest alone in a room surrounded with piles of them, all open at once.

Margaret shrunk away from the large tour crowd that just entered the room but then relaxed again when there was only two other people surveying the paintings other than herself. The mood, style of the artist was so wonderful to see! The cold blue hues that revealed the anguish of an artist or the happy bright colors that showed their joys...all of it was wonderful.

She stopped, admiring a bunch of sculptures pressed up close to the wall after traveling through many of the rooms. It was here that she stopped and just enjoyed the soft whispers of others like her who enjoyed the art and relished in it's passions.

[BELIAL]

Museums were not a common location to find Belial, they were peaceful and often full of bright colors of which the demon was not particularly fond of seeing. However, this time he had made the decision to check out one basically cause of the pieces they were having on display. They were having a display of Biblical art that intrigued him. So Belial had dressed his vessel in a suit that was entirely black with a pair of biker-style riding boots. To look even more presentable, he had pulled the long hair of the body into a braid down that rested against his broad back.

Oddly, Belial's vessel three hundred pound plus body was surprisingly grace as he strolled along the floor of the gallery on his boots, his powerful arms folded behind him so that his fingers lightly touched. He was humming very softly under his breath as he switched his focus from the Biblical imagery to the room that neighbored it, taking note of the sculptures that littered the room. Belial's green eyes moved over one of them in particular that looked as if it was made from white marble. He was so fascinated, he had the temptation to touch the smooth texture of the art, but he decided against it “Lovely,” he muttered to himself.

[MARGARET ROSE]

Margaret almost jumped, startled at the sudden words and glanced over at Belial curiously. She hid her face in the next moment, her face heating up in embarrassment. Don't look at people! Just keep to yourself! Those were the types of rules she made for herself. Attracting attention always seemed to cause her unnecessary problems. It was better to stay behind in the shadows and content oneself in loneliness.

She tried to distract her hasty, frightened thoughts at the man's large size and stared at the sculptures in front of her in eerie silence. The silence was practically echoing around the room and Margaret could feel her heart start to thump erradically in her chest. Stay calm. Margaret forced herself to breath and just relax as her body attempted to just act of its own accord and run away. But if she ran away Margaret would only serve to cause a scene and attract the attention she so hated. Margaret bit the inside of her lip, keeping down the whimpers or soft cries of unhappiness.

[BELIAL]

Belial had not noticed the pretty but shy vampire at first, but her sudden movements to cover her face had quickly captured his attention. She was quite an attractive female, perhaps one of the most beautiful human shell he had seen in awhile. After all, humans were merely objects and tools to be used by him and his brothers and sisters in his eyes. However, this did not mean he did find beauty in the human race, but he was quite sure that Margaret was something different. So this put her a little higher on his list of things he felt were worthy of his time.

But she also seemed so dangerously shy, something he was not certain if he found endearing or unappealing. “Interesting art isn't it?” He asked her as if he were trying to lure her out of protective shell. The demon allowed his lips to be drawn back to reveal his vessel's white teeth which seemed as dangerous as any vampire's teeth. “No need to hide that pretty face from me. You have nothing to fear from me,” the demon told her in that deep yet hypnotically voice which seemed to resound within the small space.

[MARGARET ROSE]

Margaret almost jumped, startled from her frightened thoughts when she noticed he had actually spoke to her. Most, sensing her shyness, would just let her stay in the shadows and refused to acknowledge her existence or would rudely force her attentions. He was speaking in a gentle, soothing sort of way of speaking-as if he was trying to spark up her confidence and get her to reply. She studied him a brief moment before finding relief at her very core. This man was not a human. She wasn’t quite sure what he was but not human nor vampire. Those were the ones who frightened her most anyway. It wasn’t often she had conversations with anyone so this was both new and intriguing to her.

“A-ah…yes, quite.” She felt a surge of pride within herself as she stifled the urge to stutter. The fear was useless. She had no reason to fear unless this man showed himself to be harsh towards her. “You are…not human, are you?” Her eyes were filled with curiosity as she stepped just a little bit closer to look at his face. He was very tall, strong and powerfully built. He valued appearances and power? She tilted her head to the side, trying to figure him out.

[BELIAL]

“Smart girl...” the demon remarked with a smirk. “No, you are correct. I'm not human... well, this body I inhabit is human but I'm not.” Belial looked down into the delicately beautiful vampire's face with his deep green depths. “I am from the fiery depths, a son of the Dark One. I am Belial, the Lord of Darkness,” he said in his way of introducing himself to her, his eyes turning a pure white as he met her gaze. Most that would see his eyes like that were about to feel his power, but with Margaret it was merely a display of what he was beneath the surface. Gently he reached out to the vampire, brushing her smooth cheek with the back of his large hand. “You have nothing to fear from me, little one,” he purred as his eyes returned to the normal shade of green hue that was his vessel's own eye color.

“I know you're different as well... we are alike, you and I. They would murder us for we are, what we were made to be.” Belial felt a closer kinship with the vampire race, since they would be hunted just the same by the hunters. He also liked to call himself the lord of darkness or prince of darkness, a title he took seriously and vampires were creatures that mainly called night as their domain. So he viewed them as under his domain. “They should never destroy such beauty.... Hell should swallow them up if they ever tried,” he said as he very gently placed his hand under her chin, lifting it up.

[MARGARET ROSE]

Margaret normally would have flinched away at anyone trying to touch her- she associated touch with pain ever since her transformation and even far before that. The cruel tricks and traps of humans had followed her since infancy.

"A demon...so you are in danger of the hunters to?" She did not hate hunters for she knew they did a service for those in need. They saved people. Margaret only wished they did not hunt for her because she was afraid of them and the one wish she had was to live in peace not harming anyone but also being left alone.

"A-ah! B-beauty? ...oh, I...I don't... you're too kind." Her face lit up a bright scarlet before she forced down most of the flush, embarrassed. She had been called pretty before by a few men in the past but a couple of them had been hunters and meant only to lure her into a trap. This was a demon who wished her no ill like those hunters had.

[BELIAL]

The demon shrugged his broad shoulders “Probably. I am a high-ranking demon that some would enjoy to slay. But I do not fear them, because to fear them would allow them to have power over me. No one will have power over me.” He said proudly to the vampire, standing before her with so much manly pride it would have made Lucifer proud. Belial felt a chuckle building in his throat at her suggestion that he was kind, not something he was use to being called.

A throaty chuckle escaped him as he gazed down into Margaret's face that was flushed with embarrassment “It's not kindness that props me to say that, but honesty,” he replied with the hint of a smirk upon his lips, finding her embarrassment rather endearing. “You are beautiful and anyone who does not see that are either blind or stupid,” Belial reached out to very lightly tap the end of her nose “Tell me your name pretty one,” he commanded, though his tone was definitely softer then his usual commanding tone. There was clearly an intrigued tone to his deep voice. She was intriguing to him, it was not everyday he met a vampire.

[MARGARET ROSE]

Margaret felt at ease even more so. The humans wouldn't mess with this demon. They would leave him alone. If she stuck around with him just a bit they would leave her alone too. Although she didn't like humans being tormented by demons...she cared about survival and not being hurt the most. She felt drawn to this demon who was being gentle with her but also had so much power to him. Power was protection.

She flushed a darker red as Belial's compliments before managing to force it down so she was her natural color again, getting her wits together. "M-margaret. Call me Margaret." Not many knew her name because she strove for being just one of the crowd but she would give it. He asked very nicely and he was treating her with a kindness and gentleness that she wasn't used to. Especially after having become what she was today.

[BELIAL]

“Margaret. It's a lovely name. Sweet Margaret, my little pearl. It means pearl, did you know that?” Belial told her as he peered down into the vampire's pretty face, which had captured his attention in the first place. A smile slowly formed on Belial's lips, revealing just a hint of his pearly-white teeth to her. Softly he reached out once more, brushing his large fingers over the sooth surface of her dark tresses. He was trying his best to send out soothing vibes to Margaret as he stepped closer to close the distance between them.

“I am pleased to meet you, Margaret,” he said, his hand moving down from her hair to her arm. Slowly he slid his hand down her arm, until coming to a stop at her hand. With gentle care he lifted it up with his own hand, drawing it up to his lips. He pressed those lips in a kiss upon the top of her hand like a proper gentleman of old. Slowly he allowed her hand to slip from his grasp, giving it back to her in effect. “Would you like to walk with me?” the demon inquired in his low yet oddly pleasant sounding voice that was especially for the young vampire.

[MARGARET ROSE]

Gentleness. Soft and light. His words and mannerisms just invited her in. It was ironic, a demon was treating her with more kindness than any of her own kind or the humans she used to think were so good. Maybe she had gotten all of this all wrong. Maybe everything was different than she expected. Everything Margaret ever knew and heard of might be a lie.

Margaret nodded, the light blush on her cheeks never leaving at the tender and chivalrous gesture. "Yes, of course. I would be honored." It was nice to finally have someone to talk to who would listen to her and wouldn't judge her for what she was. It was a relief after all this time hiding to not have to hide herself from at least one person. Belial was being so good to her Margaret wondered if they would become friends. She really hoped so.

[BELIAL]

Gently he took her hand into his like they were old friends or lovers as they started to stroll about the art displays around them. Belial may have looked like a giant out of a fairy tale, but there was an odd grace and poise about him which made him seem so much like the dark version of prince charming. “I've never been much of a fan of modern art,” he confessed to Margaret as they passed a few pieces that looked closer to a modern style. The demon carefully guided her to a section that held Renaissance art which seemed to have a religious theme. It was an odd choice considering the fact her escort was a demon.

“Now, the masters are more my style... a classic never goes out of style.” Belial smirked as he turned his head to look at a lovely portrait of the Madonna with child. He gently tilted his head as his eyes stared at it like it were in deep thought. “The Holy Mother and Child,” he said in a hushed voice “I find it funny there are so many portraits of this one mother... the mother of the savior... yet I have no image or even a single memory of my own mother. I lost that part of myself a long ago in Hell.” He lifted her hand once more, pressing a kiss to it “What of your parents my sweet Margaret?” The demon inquired of his new acquaintance.

[MARGARET ROSE]

Margaret nodded, eyes showing her enthusiasm as she soaked the whole conversation in. "Yes...I rather like the older styles more. It reveals how people used to live their lives and what they valued." Her hobby was antigues- it was her passion and her main love in life. Especially now that she was a vampire it was the one thing she could still hold onto that made her feel like she had some grasp on humanity.

She used to go to church every Sunday with her parents. The display chilled her to her core. Her faith had been strong but now with what she was she couldn't enter a church. Margaret shyly shook her head, drawn in by the simple affectionate gestures that Belial was giving her, "I don't know if they're still alive. I left them long ago when I first turned." She admitted, her free hand going to play a bit with a stray curl in her hair.

"Do you feel awful that you can't remember your mother?" Sympathy shown in her eyes, as Margaret tried to show support in case Belial needed it. He was being so kind to her that she wanted to return the favor. If he needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to just talk to about it- she was here. Right here, right now, watching him and knowing he was the only person that cared about her in this world. Even if it was just for this moment alone.

[BELIAL]

Gently he nodded his head as he listened to her answer his inquiry about her parents. She had left them after she became a vampire. It was probably for the best she left them, there was no telling if they would have slain her or helped her. Belial did not have much faith in humans, he would not be shocked if her family would have turned on her. “What of your maker Margaret? Has he abandoned you? It must be difficult not belonging in human kind or vampire kind,” he remarked as he peered into her pretty face, wondering quietly why anyone would want to discard this delicious morsel of a woman.

“No, I won't say awful.... curious maybe for what I'm missing, but it hardly matters now... they're dead and gone, certainly for a long time.” Belial answered as his eyes returned to the portrait of the Holy Mother. He would never admit it, but sometimes it did trouble him that he did not remember his human life. The tortures of Hell had been so terrible, twisting his mind and darkening his heart to the point his humanity had been lost to him and the pain had become a strange pleasure to his twisted soul. Whatever he was before his death was gone, he was a demon now gifted with great power and a body more fitted to his purpose. “None of it matters now, we are what we are and what is done is done... we can not changed that...not that I would want to.” Belial liked being a demon, he had no desire to change that.

[MARGARET ROSE]

Margaret gazed at the ground, her brow furrowing slightly as the weight of his words hit her fairly hard. Her loneliness in the world was a constant struggle and it really never left completely even when she was enjoying her hobbies. The loss of her faith and the people she cared about was tough. Her family had been so close-knit. And although she hadn't had many friends the ones that she knew were close to her...well, they had been close to her before now. "Yes...I suppose he has..."

She let her eyes drift back up to offer Belial a semblance of a smile. "Do you like being a demon?" He must enjoy the power. Or at least some of it. Although she did not enjoy her thirst it was refreshing to be able to do things quickly and efficiently with her extra strength. It made certain things, especially when handling antiques, much much easier. Some of the older items like piano's were tough to move and not worth much if they got damaged while they were moved or placed somewhere.