Just a dark solitary shadow against all the snowy white - that's all that could be seen of Phil Aulder as he sat on a snowbank by the icy Lacroix, trying to tie the laces of his boots with his numb fingers. His skates were slung over his shoulder. The blades were shiny and wet after nearly three hours on the frozen river. He'd been out on the ice enjoying a pick-up game of hockey with a few high school seniors, until it got too dark to play. Phil had won - even with five of them to the one of him. He figured that was fair odds, seeing as he was five or so years older than they were, and a bit taller too.

He ran his fingers through his dark, sweat-dampened hair, actually making it look neater in the process. He was the clean, organized type, except he didn't really see the point in shaving every day, so most of the time he had what would best be described as a 'twelve o'clock three days later' stubble on his chin. "God, I'm fair starvin'..." he muttered. His scottish accent seemed to smooth out his voice (which was raspy from the cold).

Phil was, undeniably, a big guy. Not fat, as he often had to remind people, but husky. And his 6'3" frame was usually packed with well-contained energy - but at the moment, he was running low. "I'll just... catch my breath... 'S far too nice oot here to waste with hurrying," he murmured, gazing at the frozen water with its gleaming intertwined threads of skate tracks.

Jessica hardly felt the icy wind as she strolled casually down the embankment toward the Lacroix, her hair moving slightly and her boots making hardly a sound; she loved the feel of a cold night, especially if it was raining - she loved rain - and being a vampire had its advantages...such as barely feeling the cold, for instance, though her only protection against it was a t-shirt and a leather jacket.

As she reached the icy Lacroix River, frozen from the winter's chill and the night's breeze, she looked up to the sky; it was black, no moonlight shining on the still ice. On the wind, however, came the sound of muttering, and the beating of a heart, and the slow, steady rhythm of breathing - the breaths and life of a mortal. Looking to her right, her perfect night vision and the keen hawk-like gaze pierced the night and reduced the distance between her and a young man staring out at the frozen water to almost nothing. She could hear him muttering about staying, not wanting to waste the beauty of the night, and she wondered if the man wanted some company. After all, she could certainly use a meal.

A small smile flitted across her lips as she made her way to her next source of the pleasing, warm, satisfying liquid she so loved and desired...

"Too bad those kids had to go,... I'd've liked a mite more time on the ice..." Phil sighed. But wishing it wouldn't bring them back. Wishing was useless, and he knew it. Phil still made a lot of wishes, whether he meant for them to come true or not. He could never totally give up on anything.

Seeing as he didn't feel like getting up quite yet, he flopped back into the snowbank and let the cool air waft up from the snow onto the back of his neck.

Jessica stopped next to a tree and looked down at the man he didn't seem to notice her, so she'd have to make her presence known. She could easily have tackled him, of course, taken what she wanted from him and left him for dead - but that was not her style. It never had been, and she certainly didn't intend for it to be tonight.

"Cold night for a nap, isn't it?" Her voice didn't echo, but it came close to doing so in the presence of the chill air and the slight breeze that had now picked up a bit and was blowing her jacket slighly. Her legs, wrapped in the cozy, tight-fitting jeans that clearly showed anyone who cared to look the curves of her body, did not feel thet wind yet; it would take one hell of a gale to make her move, strong as she was. After all, vampires weren't known for being physically weak.

"Eh? What? Nap?" Phil sat up, looking quickly around for the source of the voice. Upon spotting Jessica, a sheepish smirk crossed his lips. He shook his head, making his hair fall into his eyes. "Nope - I'm no' napping. Just taking a breather. Ye startled the hell out o' me - I dinna hear you coming. What're you doing out at this time of night, all by your lonesome?"

Jessica smiled the kind of smile that usually made men run for the hills - seductive, dangerous smile that clearly said she wasn't afraid of anything - and said: "If that's your version of 'what's a nice girl like me doing in a place like this', I can assure you that I'm not your typical girl. In fact, I think you'll find me quite - dangerous."

Jessica shifted her weight slightly, her thighs parting slightly; she was good at this game - it took little or no effort for he to get men hard, and once she was in their bed, they were helpless little children whose only positive aspect was the rich, warm, life-giving blood she took from them, leaving their corpses nothing more than empty husks pathetically drained...

Phil laughed - actually, honestly laughed - at her remark. "Ah, I'm not looking for trouble," he grinned, getting up. "Just askin'. How old are you anyway - like, nineteen?"

Heh. This is cute. The girl thinks she's tough. Phil thought, amused. He had the vague notion that she was sexy - but truth be told, he wasn't all that into the biker chick type. He wasn't into any type in particular, really. Physical relationships were pretty much off-limits to him - they did nothing but dredge up bad memories. Memories so vivid they made him truly ill.

In fact, this girl's whole demeanour was tickling something at the back of his mind that he usually didn't think about until it was late at night and he was alone, hand clasped on the carved wooden knife he kept under his pillow.

Her smile faded slightly, taking on an aura not suitable for those who were scared of the dark. "I'm old enough to kick your ass." There was something about this man that was making her uneasy; he wasn't like her typical prey - scared, naive, thinking that he was invincible when he really wasn't. It was almost as though he knew he was invincible - what was he? Some sort of god? Few men had been able to resist her charms, but it wasn't just resistance that Jessica was now facing; it was something - undefinable, something she couldn't put a finger on.

She could have just gone to a blood bar, of course - there were certainly plenty of them around the city - but the blood there was always either hot or cold, as though it had been refridgerated or microwaved; it was never fresh. She preferred her blood fresh from a living body, warm and flowing, trickling down her throat and tickling her fancy, the erotic drainage of fluids making her wet and feeling light and happy. Yes, she preferred the real thing - not some jackass' idea of refried dinner.

"To kick my- now that's no' very nice," Phil shook his head, his grin widening. This was absurd - she was absurd. Did she think he was some sort of mugger or something? "I'm no' trying to offend you or onything. In fact, I was just aboot to leave. Okay? No harm done."

Well, actually, he hadn't been planning on getting up for another minute or so. But now was as good a time as any. He stood up, dusting the snow off the back of his jacket. This girl was amusing, but she projected a coldness he was only used to seeing in nightmares. He didn't like it at all, but still found her attitude funny. After all, what was there to fear in a girl who was, in Phil's opinion, so obviously trying to look dangerous, with that get-up?

If you're a real threat, you don't shout it out. That way, no one's ready when you make your move. Phil smirked faintly to himself. He still hadn't the slightest clue the girl was a vampire, though usually he had a pretty sharp eye for that kind of thing. The hours of hockey had tired him, and dulled his "powers of observation" somewhat.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around, then; don't have too much fun, or I might have to hurt you." With that, she turned and stepped past the tree nearest her; in an instant she was gone, fading into the darkness so completely that even an animal would have been hard-pressed to find her - not that it would be much of a challenge for her if one did.

What she didn't get was what exactly this guy's secret was; in her five-year history of being a vampire, she'd seduced several hundred men, completely draining their blood with ease. She'd even seduced her boyfriend, when she'd found him cheating on her, and drained his blood - and hers. In her mind, that was quite an accomplishment - her boyfriend had been the one to turn her, making her drink a pint of his own blood to do so. The girl hadn't been much of a challenge, of course, and had served as the next night's meal - but the fact that she had drained her 614-year-old vampire boyfriend, thus increasing the potency of her own powers greatly (one vampire drinking the blood of another tended to have that effect), was a moment of pride for her.

Having done this, a human should have been no problem at all - which, of course, meant that he obviously wasn't human; but, then, what was he? She decided she'd watch him, and closely - hopefully, he didn't have his own brand of what mortals commonly called 'super-powers'...