No Place Like Home

Echo walked along the brightly-lit streets of Germany, the chilly November wind blowing through her dark hair. It was around seven or eight and the sky was already dark, but the shops were lit up so well, it left few places for darkness to hide. If one looked closely, they could probably see the underlining nervousness in Echo's eyes. Germany was less than a day's worth away from Romania, a home she would never go back to. However Echo had received word that her grandfather was doing business in America and thought this might be a chance to visit the country she had loved so much as a child.

Her grandfather often brought her here when he had business to attend to; it was nearby and a good chance to get Echo out of the house. Echo paused in front of a bakery and looked the different types of bread. Though she has never had food in her life, she had watched the kids eagerly shop with there moms pointing out things. It was like this in most shops; Germany was such a homely place, Echo couldn't help but be drawn to it. Echo noticed the baker beckon her to come in, but she shook her head and smiled continuing on her way.

Echo noticed, as she walked, the temperature slowly dropping as it grew later in the evening. The streets slowly became clearer and clearer and she buttoned up her winter coat as a harsh wind suddenly brushed over her. She looked around for signs of a hotel or inn of some kind, as she had just arrived in Germany just this evening, her duffel bag hanging on her shoulder. As a inn just caught her eye, Echo ran into someone, nearly knocking herself over.

"Pardon me." Echo said immediately realizing she spoke the wrong language. She repeated the phrase in German as she looked towards the person.

[Astaroth Merula]

The chilly winds blew through the town and tossed Astaroth's white hair about as the male drew up his hood and covered his hair, already having shifted slightly in order to get rid of all his 'demonic qualities' and to change his eyes to a light brown color. He smiled as he looked around, in one of his rare good moods. This was a day when he felt happy to be alive, almost like his old self. Germany could do that to a person.

Astaroth looked down at the bag in his left hand as he walked through the streets back to the inn where he was staying. The smell of the breads and cakes in the bag were torturing the daemon's nose as he hurried, not particularly paying attention to anyone until he bumped into someone.

He quickly replied with a hasty "Entschuldigung," before realizing that the female, for it was indeed a female, had spoken in English. "I mean, I'm sorry." He quickly set down his bag of baked goods and helped the female up with an embarrassed smile on his face and a slight British accent on his lips, as it often came out when he was nervous or under extreme stress. "So terribly sorry."

Echo accepted help from the brown-eyed male as she stood up and straightened out her coat. The man also spoke English as she realized and even had a hint of an British accent. He was about a foot taller then herself and she saw a hint of dark hair peeking from under a hood. Echo smiled at the gentleman and grabbed her duffel bag off the ground.

"Really it's okay, I wasn't watching where I was going." Echo said smiling. Another gust of wind blew past and Chaos caught the scent of pastries and bread coming from the man, but that wasn't what made her eyes flash with hunger or brought a small tick in her smile.

Echo wasn't very good at telling supernaturals apart from other supernaturals, or even humans from supernaturals, mostly because she didn't care to. What you were was of no concern to her, more importantly was how you tasted. However, over the years of feeding, Echo could tell demons and angels apart from any other species; they were the best. Whereas angels carried a sweet scent, not unlike the pastries this man had, demons carried a more dark and spice-like scent. The kind of scent this man probably didn't even know he was giving off. However, Echo was polite and would remain so. She smiled again and looked over towards the inn.

"My name is Echo." The young vampire said as she held a hand out, now wanting to talk to the brown-eyes man. "You're not a native German. Are you visiting or did you move here?" Echo asked politely, making sure not to bombard the stranger with questions as she often had a tendency to do. Echo liked people, and she liked people to like her; it made places feel more like home. Though in Germany, it really couldn't feel like anything else.

[Astaroth Merula]

The male noticed something in this female's eyes, a dark hunger that vanished as quickly as it appeared. Having a track record of over a century full of meeting dangerous people, he could easily spot one as soon as he was given one small detail. That was the marker for this one, that deep hunger that was in her eyes, one that looked like it would probably never go away. Astaroth was a cruel, ruthless bastard, but that look unnerved him. It was the look of one who wanted something and would stop at nothing to get it, setting up an intricate trap for her victim. However it wasn't particularly evil... There was something else there that the Daemon couldn't quite put his finger on.

Though, he did feel some sort of compulsory need to be nice to her and take care of her. His former nice side had seen something in this woman that needed protection, so he would offer it for now. And as he saw her looking at the inn that he was headed to, he knew that he should either help her get a room or invite her into his own. "Actually, I'm just a visitor. Staying at that inn over there," The male said as he jerked his head in the direction of the inn. In doing this motion, his hood fell back down around his neck and revealed his white hair. However, Astaroth did not notice and smiled at the female. "Would you like to join me for some food?"

There was a suspicious look on the man's face for a minute, but like the tick in her smile, it was hardly noticeable. He revealed her assumption to be true, he was visiting and coincidentally was staying in the inn she had been eying. But Echo was more surprised when the hood came down revealing pure white hair. The demon didn't seem to notice and invited her over for dinner. She let out a small laugh as she stood on her tippy-toes.

"People might be a little surprised by the hair, might want to be a little more careful." Echo said as she reached over with her slender hands and pulled the dark hood over his head with another quiet laugh. She stood back and smiled. "And about food, well I'm not one for pastries, but I would love to keep you company, Mr...." Echo said trailing off, waiting for a name.

Echo definitely wanted to know more about the demon, but she didn't eat human food, more like just human. Echo reached for his hand, a friendly gesture, and headed across the street towards the inn, wanting to get out of the cold for a minute even if it was her favorite time of the years.

[Astaroth Merula]

Astaroth was confused as the female stood on her tippy-toes and blushed slightly as she put her arms around him and pulled his hood back up. He didn't even get to thank her before she continued speaking. Saying that she wasn't one for pastries, even though he had noticed her staring into the shop earlier while he was getting his food. Oh wow, he hadn't told her his name yet... Though it was a strange name, he had a feeling that he could tell this woman the truth.

"Well... I've been going by the name Astaroth for so long now, I consider it to be my name," he said as the female grasped his hand and led him across the street, towards the inn. The male blushed slightly again, not used to dealing with females who were so straightforward; it was kind of humbling. But there was something warm about it, even though her skin was cold to the touch. The daemon found himself hoping that his own body heat was warming her up.

When they reached the Inn, the male took the lead and guided the female to his room and suggested for her to take a seat at the table in the fore room as he made two cups of Earl Grey and pulled out two small, personal cakes from the bag. When the tea was ready, he carried the food to the small table that Echo sat at and took a seat opposite her, smiling at the female. "I know you said that you're not one for pastries, but you really should try it. The cakes are delicious; a secret family recipe."

The man revealed himself to be named Astaroth, though it seemed it wasn't his birth name, just a name he had been called. Echo decided not to question just yet about it and instead let him lead her to his room once they reached the inn. The name seemed to fit him though so she just smiled. She took a seat at a small table and waited patiently while Astaroth made tea.

He set down a cup of tea in front of her and Echo wrapped her hands around the mug, letting it return warmth to her fingers. She smiled politely watching him pull out the cakes. He offered her one and that was probably the first time Echo really wished she could eat human food. She offered an apologetic smile.

"I really wish I could, but I'm afraid it's impossible. I'm on a special diet." Echo said with an apologetic tone. "Have you been to Germany before? How long are you planning on staying?" She asked trying to divert the conversation.

It wasn't that she was afraid of him finding out she was a vampire, he was a demon after all, it was just she didn't know how he felt about vampires. Most beings, supernaturals included, found vampires to be manipulative and Echo couldn't really disprove that theory. In all honesty, she did want to feed on Astaroth, but if he asked she wouldn't lie. She wasn't going to just attack, being a stone vampire came with the perks of almost always willing victims. After the first bite of course.

[Astaroth Merula]

Astaroth frowned at the female's words. He really didn't like those people who thought that they couldn't cut loose and have a piece of cake every now and then just because they were on some 'diet.' Honestly, you can only be so strict on your body before it started to hate you. And who the bloody hell didn't love cake? Strange girl.

"Yes, I've been here before. And as for your second question, I haven't the slightest as to how long I'll stay." He smiled a little as he secretly wondered what the hunger that he had seen in the female's eyes earlier was for. Oh well, time to move on to a different topic, keep the mood friendly-ish. "Are you okay, Echo? You looked a little sad earlier, when you were looking into the sweet shop."

Echo saw the frown darken Astaroth's face and she laughed quietly. She could take a guess as to what he was thinking. She couldn't help the slight roll of her eyes. She reached over the small table and poked the demon's forehead gently, her dark hair falling over her shoulders at the motion.

"Wrong kind of diet, silly. I'm not trying to lose weight and I don't think I'm fat. It's more around the lines of what I grew up eating and what I know I can eat without upsetting my body." Echo said gently, trying to explain in the right terms. "Maybe later I'll explain it better." She said thinking about feeding off of him. However, he didn't seem like the type who would willingly let himself be drained.

Echo sat back down and blinked in surprise at his comment about her looking into the sweet shop. She hadn't realized there had been such a look on her face. At the time she had been thinking about families and unconsciously she must have been connecting it to the fact that her and her grandfather didn't really make up a loving type family. He was a harsh man indeed, raised her strictly, and her running off without a word definitely left a small hole in her heart. She felt bad, he had been a decent guy even under the strict rules. Overall, she was just too close to home to be fully comfortable.

"I wasn't really sad per se. I grew up in Romania, just about a day away, with my grandfather. I haven't seen him for a couple of years. I guess the trips here as a kid came back when I was by the bakery" Echo said with a sad smile, but a light tone. "But I'm fine, really." She added trying to lighten up the mood.

[Astaroth Merula]

Astaroth listened to the female explain her situation and frowned slightly out of a feeling of sympathy for the female. Completely unlike him, the daemon showed some of the compassion that he was so well known for in his past, and got out of his chair; walking over to the female and embracing her in a tight, reassuring hug.

After a few seconds, the daemon quickly let the female go and sat back down in his own seat, looking away and blushing slightly. "Sorry about that... You just seemed like you needed a hug." This was kind of awkward... Having a girl who he just met in his room, talking about her family, and then trying to comfort that girl; definitely not his norm. But he liked it. She gave off a different vibe, like she had some sort of heart-breaking past and Astaroth... No, a nickname he hadn't heard in forever... Jackie... Jackie felt the need to help this female and protect her. Unconsciously, the daemon's hair turned to a light brown as he felt himself slipping back into his compassionate side.

He took a small bite out of his cake and smiled at the female, some small crumbs on the left of his mouth as he beamed at his new found friend. 'Friend...' A word he hadn't used in forever.

Echo was taken by surprise when Astaroth hugged her. She hadn't been looking for sympathy, but she returned the hug all the same. He quickly let go of her though and sat back down, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. Echo smiled in amusement at that. She was one who was very familiar with physical affection, having craved it most of her life. However, this demon didn't even seem to come into close contact with anybody, if that blush was anything to go by. He apologized and she waved it off.

"You are not accustomed to hugging strangers, I suppose." Echo said with a small laugh. She watched as Astaroth's hair suddenly faded into a light brown and she felt the corner of her mouth quirk up at it. "Your hair has changed." She said reaching over and pulling a lock of it.

Astaroth smiled at her, more like grinned, and she couldn't help but smile back. Interesting demon. He smiled and hugged strangers he barely knew, and then felt embarrassed after wards. It made Echo want to tease him. She reached over once more to brush left over crumbs from the corner of his mouth. She resumed her seat and almost immediately, a song started to erupt from her pocket. Echo jumped, startled by the sound, but was quick to pull out her phone. She sent Astaroth an apologetic smile. as she answered.

"Hello?" Echo asked a bit confused, the number wasn't one she was familiar with.

"Echo?!" A loud high-pitched voice yelled. The background was noisy. "Where are you?! You haven't come to see me and I just told my friends about you. They wanted to meet you so bad." The female said and before another word could be spoken, Echo slammed the phone closed, a small cracking sound could barely be heard as she gripped the phone in her hand.

Her eyes were dark with anger as she replayed the phone call in her head. 'told my friends about you' That stupid....Echo closed her eyes tight pinching the bridge of her nose. Not many things made her angry, but people who couldn't shut their mouths had to be one of them. She suddenly remembered where she was and opened her eyes, smiling a small, forced smile.

"I apologize immensely, but I'm afraid I have to leave." Echo said standing. "It seems there might be a bit of trouble." Echo added as she headed towards the door. She turned back to give Astaroth a smile. "I really hope to see you again before I leave." And with that, Echo was out of the room and soon enough out of the building, heading towards a building where she would find Ana; her fangs elongated at the thought.

[Astaroth Merula]

Astaroth couldn't help but keep blushing as the female first played with his hair, then brushed a few crumbs from his mouth. Then her phone rang, and Astaroth raised an eyebrow as she gave an apologetic smile, wondering if she had someone who she was supposed to be meeting with?

Whatever was happening on the other end of the phone was loud. Astaroth could hear shouting and other various noises from where he was. Then Echo closed the phone sharply, and even crushed it slightly from the small cracking noise that emanated from her clenched fist. Her eyes were filled with a dark anger before she tightly closed them as though trying to calm herself.

When the female said that she had to leave due to some trouble and began walking towards the door, Astaroth knew what he had to do. As she flashed him a smile on her way out with a 'I hope to see you again,' the daemon smiled right back. "I hope so too. Take care," he replied as she walked through the door and made her exit. As soon as he could no longer hear her footsteps, he walked to the opposite side of the room and opened the window, crawling through the tight space and letting himself free fall. As the ground rose up to meet the daemon, the jacket that he was wearing began to ripple and spread apart along the middle. By the time he was halfway down the side of the building from his third floor room, his wings were already stretched out all the way and catching the air below in order to slow his decent.

The daemon looked ahead of him and saw the female's form walking away in the moonlight. He knew that it was wrong to simply follow her around, however she was troubled and he was not going to let her walk into some potentially dangerous situation alone. The male lifted his wings up and brought them down heavily, pushing the air beneath him with great force and lifting his body into the air once more. As he flew after the female through the night sky, he hoped that he would be able to keep her safe from whatever was about to happen. Either from others, or as he had a sneaking fear was the correct answer, from herself.

Echo was so annoyed, she barely felt the harsh wind against her face. She had been walking for only a little bit, but she could already see the dingy building on the edge of the town. It was the dirt of Germany and almost made her mouth twist in disgust. Germany shouldn't have places like this, but she didn't really want the muck of the town running around and ruining the nice atmosphere so she supposed it served a decent purpose. As Echo got closer, she could here music erupting from the building and she felt her phone vibrate. She opened it quickly and a small smirk crossed her face as she read the text.

"I'm standing out front (:"

Echo looked up and could now see the brunette girl leaning against the wall surrounded by maybe four or five people. She walked closer to the girl and soon she caught Ana's eye. Ana, not sensing her anger, ran up to Echo and crashed her body against the vampire's holding her tight. Echo pushed back the urge to choke the brunette and smiled.

"You came! You have to meet my friends!" Ana said in a slurred voice, pulling her towards the group of five. They all smiled and waved as Ana introduced everyone. Echo smiled politely wrapping an arm around the girl's waist, pulling her slightly.

"I'm so sorry, interrupting and all, but could I maybe just borrow Ana for a little bit? I haven't seen her in a couple days and there was a private matter I wished to discuss with her." Echo said, resting her chin on the human's shoulder. The others gave the duo a knowing smile and nodded waving them off.

Echo thanked them pulling Ana to the side of the building, until they reached a small alleyway. As soon as they were under the blanket of darkness and privacy, Echo frowned and pushed the girl roughly against the dirty wall of the brick building. Her fist connected with the space beside Ana's head and as the bricks cracked and crumbled, she was satisfied to see fear flash through brown eyes as the smile left her face.

"Now Ana," Echo said in chiding voice, light and almost friendly. "I thought we made a promise. I would keep you around, but it was our secret." Ana gave a helpless look.

"Echo...I love you. I really really do. And i wanted you to be a bigger part of my life! Why don't you want me?!" Ana yelled suddenly, tears welling up. Echo barely blinked at the confession having had so many before.

"You don't love me. You love the pleasure I can give you. But I'm afraid that this will be the last time." Echo said as her fangs elongated.

She kissed the human lightly on the neck before opening her mouth wider and biting down. She felt Ana jerk in surprise by the sudden action, but she soon gave in and let out a sigh as Echo drank deeply. Every feeling she was feeling, Echo could feel; along with every drop of alcohol the human had had. Ana was in complete ecstasy until the last drop of blood was drained from her. When Echo pulled away, a smudge of blood on her bottom lip, the brunette's body fell to her feet. The human was dead. Echo felt a slight buzz almost as if she was as drunk as Ana had been. A sound came from the right and she turned. Echo felt the blood drain from her face as she the figure walked closer.

[Astaroth Merula]

Astaroth wondered why Echo had come to this part of town... More importantly this building. It was a know party place for the teens and young adults... A sort of slums for the kids to come out and get messed up in all sorts of ways, drugs, alcohol, rape... Even a few murders.

The daemon swooped in closer as he watched Echo walk up to a group of people hanging out on the side of the building, and one girl in particular ran up to Echo and embraced her tightly. Yet Echo's body stayed stiff, as though trying not to push the girl away form her. Yet, she hooked her arm around the younger girl's waist as she talked to the rest of the group... Were they in 'that' kind of relationship? Just his luck for the first girl that he looked at in decades to turn out as a lesbian...

Even though he knew he should probably give the two women their privacy, Astaroth slowly stalked them as they walked behind the building... He still had a feeling that something wasn't right. He flew ahead of them and hid behind a dumpster, not sure what he was going to watch. As the two came around the corner, Echo slammed the other female into the wall and punched into the bricks beside her. That definitely wasn't the kind of strength that a human possessed.

Seeing the fear in the girls eyes, Astaroth nearly ran out to stop Echo before she started talking... From where he crouched behind the dumpster, his supernatural hearing could pick up on what the two were saying. Echo was reminding the girl that something was supposed to be kept secret, something regarding their relationship. When the younger girl yelled out her feeling to Echo, all suspicions that these two were in some sort of intimate relationship were confirmed and Astaroth felt sad for some odd reason, as though something inside of him had cracked a little.

Then something completely unexpected happened... Something that froze Astaroth where he was and paralyzed him... Echo placed her mouth upon the other female, Ana's neck and Ana's body jerked slightly... He had seen this before... Echo was a vampyre, and she was feeding from Ana. Astaroth realized now why she wouldn't have any cake...

As the daemon watched the lifeless body drop to the ground, he knew that this girl was not someone who he could feel anything for. Ana had loved her, but Echo saw the younger one as nothing more than a meal... That was probably the only reason she had even spoken to Astaroth, she probably saw him as a potential meal. The male stood up as his now white hair feel into his face and began to walk towards the female, but stopped himself as he saw her turn.

As Astaroth saw the vampyre's face go pale, he noticed the crimson stain on her lower lip and paused in his walk... He himself was killer, and he had no problem with that; but this was something different. He expected more from her... He wanted more from her. But he knew now that that was simply a foolish dream. His pain was clear on his face as he stared at Echo, not sure if he could say anything, and eventually deciding against it as his face hardened with regret and a little bit of disgust. Without even speaking a single word the daemon flew off back in the direction of the inn and, after shifting his wings back into a jacket, walked back to his room without paying attention to what happened around him... Upon reaching his room, the male fell upon his back unto his bed and stared up at the ceiling, wondering what he had even wanted from Echo.

Echo didn't know what to do; she was frozen. She opened her mouth as if to say something when this hurt look crossed Astaroth's face; the look instantly sobered her. She closed her eyes, she didn't want to see him look like that because of her. Even his hair had turned white. When she opened her eyes he was gone and to be honest, it hurt her. She punched the building next to her. Once. Twice. The rock crumbled underneath her fist. She hadn't want him to see her like this, because -even though he himself was a demon- she didn't want Astaroth to look at her like she was a monster, even if that's what she was. She punched the wall once more. How could a stranger she had met merely an hour or two ago affect her in such a way?

Echo headed back the way she had came, passing the friends, ignoring their calls. She headed back towards the inn. She just couldn't get that face out of her head. The hurt and disgust. She wanted to try and explain things. What she was trying to explain, she wasn't even sure. The air felt colder than before despite the fact that there was warm blood running through her now, even her lips were still warm. She walked slowly back to the end, not really registering the things around her.

Was she really that repulsive? Was being a vampire so bad? She had never been ashamed to be herself, embracing her race, even with the rumors and myths spreading around her. No one's words had ever affected her when it came to her person. However, that one look from Astaroth had completely devastated her. What did she really feel for this demon she had only just met?

Echo looked up to see herself standing in front of said demon's door. She stared at the door for a while, almost afraid to knock. Her mind flashed to Ana, who she hadn't even bothered hiding, instead she just left her body where it had dropped. She now felt ashamed of this. She lifted her hand and stared for a moment longer; if her heart still beat it would be racing right now. Then she let her hand hit the door and knocked quietly on the door, waiting.