Hunter hauled one of his guitars, a Les Paul, an effect pedal board, and a small amp down a flight of stairs. Behind him were a bunch of extension cords trailing him from his apartment up one floor. He put everything away from the door, facing another brick wall that he had previously put large bolts of thick fabric on to absorb noise.

He was, of course, going to play in the alley way. He wasn't allowed to play in his apartment anymore, and he knew the law about noise and he always make sure to abide by it, as much as he hates it.

He set everything and started to warm up with a Van Halen two-hand arpeggio. Then he went down the fret board as he flicked the toggle switch back and forth and started at Tom Morrello style playing.

With his years of staying in the dark, he got to learn a good bit of guitar. He was also an awesome bass player, which he had started out with.

Catherine was out for the night, simply wanting to get away from it all. Her life had gone to hell and back then to hell again. Well perhaps it was more like worse then hell. She needed to be herself and be alone for a while, or simply away from Julian, away from the man that she loved and the vampire in him who was trying to kill her. Talk about split personality. She loved him and he did love her, there was simply his other side that hated her. It was an interesting situation that she was stuck in.

She hummed as she walked on the roof tops and sang words to a song that was long forgotten. Her voice wasn't the most beautiful voice, but she could sing and she often like to do so. Sing and dance, she was a fan of both.

She stopped on the edge of the building as movement caught her attention from below. He had a guitar and that had her attention more firmly than anything. She didn't say anything, but stayed quiet and watched.

If there was one thing he like most about being a vampire, it was being faster. He started to move all over the fret board, using the distortion pedal and toggling instead of strumming. He like the electronic sound it produced.

He had started strumming and plucking as he started to play in the normal sense of a guitar, but still with a few original things thrown in. He started to play faster and faster.

He started to squeeze his eyes, then he flung the guitar behind his head, still playing a smooth rhythm. He fell to his knees and put his head up as he played a squealing chord. When it rung out, he opened his eyes to see he was eye to eye with a girl on the roofs. He played lower chord, and did a slide making the note go lower. It made a note that intimated an awkward situation.

He got back up and put his guitar back in front of him and slung his arm onto it.

He shouted up at her, "Well... I wasn't quite expecting an audience tonight."

Catherine watched with uncontained interest. Was this what rockers did, when they were on stage? Try to show off their amazing skills? Some skills weren't all that great, she could do so much better.

She winced and cringed at the high pitch sound the instrument produced. She suddenly remembered why she didn't like guitars all that much. She liked to dance, but you couldn't even dance to that. It was just sounds, fast yes, but sounds. Where was the melody and the rhythm? You couldn't dance without either.

She watched him as he noticed her. When he called out to her, she vanished to reappear at the base of the building not too far from him. "I was taught to always expect the unexpected." Despite the amount of time that she had spoken English, she still held a faint French accent. It suited her though.

Hunter put his other arm up on the guitar and leaned towards her. "A damn good lesson to live by too. Well, seeing as you seemed interested in the music, I guess I really don't have to ask what brings you here."

Hunter sat down on a trash can. He then motioned to her the amp and said, "Go ahead and sit down. You seem like an interesting sort to talk to."

Hunter turned down the knobs of his guitar to still hear her as he played quietly.

It wasn't truly the music that had caught her interest. Truthfully she had simply been out on the town, for a night of freedom. Yet the music had caught her interest. Music and instruments had always fascinated her. She could sing, though her voice wasn't awesome, like some of the singers today, but good and she could carry a tune.

She settled on the amp. He found her interesting, well she supposed that was one good thing. "The music wasn't what attracted me, at first. I was simply wandering on the roof tops. It makes traveling easier." That was definitely a truth. She did try to make her life easier. "I do like music though, especially if I can dance to it. I'm a dancer, not professional or anything, but I do like to dance."

Hunter started to play some some jazzy/bluesy sounds. It started with a high chord that he let fade out, then something that sounded similar to some music by Santana. It was a slow beat, but when he moved his fingers, it was a lot faster than it sounded. He started to sway with it as he kept going. As he played, he asked, "Think you can dance to this?"

Catherine eyes closed as the music sung through her veins, almost as tempting as the blood that coursed through the veins of mortals. She really wanted to dance, yet she restrained herself.

Could she dance to this? Was she a vampire? Yes to both questions. It was like a bit of a salsa. She could do that. She kept her eyes closed and danced around the alley. She started with her hips and then shuffled her feet. "I can dance to anything, I want."

Hunter watched her dance around. He smiled at her as he played. Then, he made a smooth transition from what he was playing into blue grass. He used the pedals and other effects to make a harmonica sound out of the guitar. He liked to make the guitar not sound like a guitar sometimes.

"Let's see if you can get into that, now," He said with a smile.

Catherine danced, but it wasn't like her mind was making her dance, more like her body was following the rhythm. When the transition happened her body flowed smoothly from one to the other. She was all grace, agility and balance. She had been taught to dance and her mind had absorbed it all. After a while it was second nature now.

Her body simply responded to the dancing. It was completely natural.

Hunter let out one last run down the fret board and kneeled up to the amp and played with the toggle switch and whammy bar making a sound hardly ever heard from a guitar. It was an electronic sound that sounded like it was sampled and being played over a computer. Then he jumped back, raised his arm, and gave the strings one last heavy hit which he quickly muted.

"Well you're a damn good dancer. Where'd you learn to dance like that?" He asked as he put his arm back between the arm strap and the guitar.

Catherine face dropped as the music stopped. She loved to dance and as long as there was music she could dance no matter what. It was was the only true thing that kept her sane. Her body responded to the music, releasing all frustrations and she didn't need to worry anymore.

"Where? A little bit everywhere, it was truly my sire that introduced me to dancing. I tried to absorb as much of it as i could. Besides with the natural grace of a vampire, it comes all that more naturally." Music was the instrument of her soul.

"Sounds pretty neat. I guess we all kinda took a slightly different path with this gift we were given. Though sometimes, I still wish I was in the Peace Core." Hunter looked up and started to drift off.

He snapped out of it after a minute. "I'm sorry, that always kind of distracts me. But, I'm happy with what I am now. I do what I need to survive. So, is there anything you miss about being human?"

Catherine actually thought over his question. "No, my mortal life was probably the worst part of my life. My sire saved me and to many my life wouldn't be that bad. But when as a child every day any self-confidence you have is shattered, it isn't all that easy to trust in yourself or even build any self-confidence."

She paused, folding her hands before her and despite the pants and the winter coat, she very much looked like a noble lady. "My vampire life is more then I ever could have imagined. Much better than any mortal life."

Hunter widened his eyes. "Wow that sounds pretty terrible. My story was a little less dismal. It was just salvation from death. I never really considered myself afraid of death, but things change when you have an aircraft on top of you."

Hunter sat down on the amp and leaned back. He started to softly play a song that sounded like "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath. You don't seem like the type that has been here all of your life. Mind sharing some history?"

Catherine shrugged. "It did happen in the past, but it's over. I simply have trouble getting over that fact. I simply wish that my childhood hadn't been so dismal, I could have lived with even a little appreciation." Catherine glanced at him. "Death isn't something to fear, it is simply another step in the long journey we call life."

Catherine smiled. "I was born in France during the peak of the renaissance. It was the best era to live in. Of course if you grew up in my family, nothing is good, unless you were my sister and my brother. They had the life, all the luck. Once I was turned though, me and my sire lived in beautiful mansion and I had the life." she had loved the life that she had shared with her sire. He had always been considerate and had helped her grow.

"Sounds like you've had quite a history. Mine's your basic series of lucky breaks to be where I am. As a rebel and rocker in school, you can only imagine how much the teachers put shit on me. Then, the peace core. Oh, the peace core. Fun, but I've had a few close calls there. Then my sire just up and left when he turned me. Since then though, I've been living easy and free here, like I've always wanted."

Hunter looked up and said "It's starting to get to late to be out here and a bit chilly. How about coming inside?"