Hunting

Circe was hungry. She decided that as long as she was dressed to fit in among the kine, she may as well use that to her advantage. Though she more often fed by striking unseen, without her prey ever having known she was there, it felt good to her to be able to attract a man or a woman to her by virtue of her beauty and simple charm, and to then feed from the mortal under guise of simple animal passion.

She knew that despite her beauty and despite her ability to hide her nature form other Kindred, the Beast shone through on a level that evoked unconscious reactions in the kine. On one of the rare occasions this approach had failed her, she’d later overheard her intended quarry describe her to a friend as “Hot, but there’s something off about her, something not right.” That blow to her pride had made her want to show him just how correct he was, and how “not right” she truly was, so she had waited and watched for three days for the opportunity to do just that. She’d toyed with him for days, and when she was finished with him, he’d served as a sacrifice for the Autumnal Equinox rituals.

Much more often than not, though, the approach was successful, and especially when she chose to prey on males. As one former companion had crudely put it, “They see you, parts way south take control, not their brains or their hearts.” This same sage had said “Even if they can tell there’s something up with you, they’ll usually just think you’re some weird crazy chick, and a lot of guys go for the weird crazy chicks thinkin’ they’ll be freaks in bed.” Circe had found that true as well, and had used it to her advantage. More than a few conquests had been glad to go along with her suggestion of bondage, allowing her to render them powerless to resist even before the Kiss, and thus providing her an opportunity to feed at her leisure and prolong the pleasure for both her and the prey.

She found a downtown high-rise hotel, of the sort frequented by wealthy business travelers, political lobbyists and the like. She took note of this location, recognizing that aside from feeding ground, this might serve well as a place from which to recruit a ghoul or two, and by doing so gain access to prey or even servants of greater status. For tonight, though, it was enough that the establishment have a lounge.

Before going inside, Circe unfastened the first several buttons of her blood-red blouse and changed into a shorter skirt, one that would cover her not quite to mid-thigh. The rest of her outfit – red pumps, grey jacket and skirt, dark silk hose - would serve well enough, making her appear the part of a well-to-do businesswoman on the road and seeking the same thing most of the men in the lounge would be looking for. She added one final touch: a pair of gold bands, one set with a large diamond. She placed both on her left ring finger. Forbidden fruit was all the more appealing to the sort of prey she sought this night. A touch-up to her lipstick and she was on the hunt.

Circe stood outside her van for a moment, giving one of her offspring opportunity to scuttle out to keep watch from underneath the vehicle, while she used a lint roller to remove any hairs or bits of feathers from her pets that might have found their way onto her clothing. She largely avoided modern inventions, but found the sticky contraption more useful than most.

She stopped at the door and used the power she’d learned from a long-ago Daeva lover to make certain her entrance would be noticed, then seated herself on a stool at the far end of the long bar, where the angle made it unlikely anyone would notice her distorted reflection in the mirror behind the bar. Before the bartender had an opportunity to serve her, a man approached and asked if he could buy her a drink. She accepted. She only pretended to sip at the drink while taking a close look at her prey, but he didn’t notice, as she was sure to lean forward often enough to keep him focused on her cleavage. He looked a few years younger than Circe, though in fact she was older by more than two centuries, and kept himself well-groomed. She decided he would do.

Not quite 30 minutes later found them together in his hotel room. She’d taken off her shoes and let him take off her skirt, her blouse and her red silk brassiere before she took control, undressing him while kissing and running her tongue over exposed skin, then getting him to lie back on the bed. She didn’t mount him, or even finish undressing. She considered kine unworthy of entering her for any reason save a few blood rituals that required fertile seed. Instead, she simply touched him lightly while she kissed his neck, felt out his pulse his tongue and bit deep. Having used much blood of late and not fed since three days prior, she drank deeply of him, taking time to enjoy the sensations while using her touch to give him physical release along with the ecstasy of the Kiss. Along with the amount she’d drunk from him, this left him drained and insensate enough for her to dress and leave before he regained awareness. She also took from his wallet the large amount of cash he’d flashed in the bar while paying for their drinks. Circe wasn’t as interested in maintaining wealth as were many of her kind, but it would be useful to have some cash on hand until she’d gathered followers enough to take care of the sorts of things that could be solved with money. She knew this would cause him to conclude he’d been taken, and perhaps drugged, by some whore, but that was better than him suspecting what she actually was. Thus she left him upon the bed, limp and listless, as she left, warmed from within by the blood she’d taken from him.