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Post by Gardener Wild on Apr 13, 2009 20:59:05 GMT -4
Gardener crushed out a cigarette on the head of a carousal horse. He had seated himself upon a brown horse with a pink saddle and gold trim on his bridle. Empty carousals were creepy. Gardener could almost see the Grim Reaper reaching out one boney hand to drag in a helpless victim. He chuckled at the though.
Lighting another cigarette, Gardner turned his attention to waiting on Alexis. He knew she'd show up. There wasn't really any question in his mind that she'd locate him. Gardener knew Alexis a bit too well for her own good. She knew what was good for her-and what could be very bad. Gardener could be both depending on how the mood struck him.
In his pocket, Gardener held a small robin egg blue velvet bag which contained a necklace he'd purchased from Tiffany and Company earlier that day. Of course, he'd had to coat his fingers with glue in order to touch the thing, but Alexis didn't know what it was made out of.
He hadn't seen her since Paris when she'd poured half a vile of Holy Water into the blood he'd been drinking from wine glass. That had hurt-and he hadn't forgotten it. His gift was the perfect payback.
Gardener jumped down from the horse he was seated on. Strolling across the carousal, he drove the still burning cigarette into the ear of a teal sea horse. He checked his watch.
1:59
"Don't keep me waiting, Lexis. Do that and I'm going to have to get a bracelet to match the necklace."
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Post by Alexis London on Apr 13, 2009 21:32:34 GMT -4
Alexis felt her entire body freeze as she listened to Gardener's voicemail. She hadn't seen him since she'd moved to New York. There had been absolutely no love loss there.
Still feeling like absolute hell from the last dose of dead man's blood she'd taken, Alexis forced herself to an early business meeting and then excused herself claiming a headache. It wasn't unbelievable. Everyone had spent the entire evening asking her how she felt. Alexis knew that translated into: "you look terrible. What subway hit you?" She couldn't deny it. She did look awful.
Tying her black trench coat tighter, Alexis made her way through the dark pathways of Central Park. If she knew Gardener as she suspected that she did, the freak would have gone some place innocent. Gardener liked things that looked sweet and cute, but also had a creepy feel for it. If she had a dollar for every abandoned amusement park he'd bored her with the details of........
He wasn't at the playground. Of course, that was far too simple. A playground would be boring. It stayed still.
Carousal...of course.
Alexis shook her head. The carousal was perfect for Gardener. All those brightly colored horses, painted in such pretty pastels.......
"Yeah, nothing creepy there." Alexis rolled her eyes.
The closer she came to the carousal, the stronger and more sickening the smell of cigarettes became. She could now see a glowing red light faintly shimmering in front of her. The light moved every time the holder of the cigarette it was attached to took a drag. Suddenly, it moved quickly and suddenly disappeared. No matter. Alexis could see Gardener himself clearly.
"Gardener Wild. To what do I owe the extreme displeasure?" She demanded, coming to lean on the fence which surrounded the carousal.
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Post by Gardener Wild on Apr 13, 2009 21:56:05 GMT -4
Gardener heard the footsteps before he ever considered turning around. As the voice addressed him, he gave his smirk to the sea horse in front of him.
"I thought I heard heals. Gucci or Prada, London?" He spun around and grinned.
"Ah, Alexis." Gardener turned on a voice that was dripping with honey and sweetness as he jumped down from the carousal and leaned against the fence. "You came, darling. It's been a long time. I missed you. You forgot all about your old friends when you took up your with your American trash."
That was when he noticed it. Gardener's vampire senses kicked into high gear. He could smell a strange scent on Alexis. He noted the usual perfume-Chanel No. 5, of course. But there was something else......
"You've been around humans lately." He told her, leaning over to sniff the collar of her coat. "I can smell them on you. Smells like a combination of rotting flesh and mud."
Gardener smirked, but there was something still not right about that scent. It was too strong. Far too strong to have just been associating with humans. She'd touched one-very closely. The thought of what that might mean sent a rage of jealousy pulsing through him. He hoped for her sake that she'd just been hunting and the essence had lingered.
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Post by Alexis London on Apr 15, 2009 18:26:19 GMT -4
Alexis kept her eyes firm on Gardener. You never knew when he might stab you in the back-literally. She didn't trust him, but she knew he wouldn't kill her either. Killing her would cause him to lose his challenge.
"Wish I could say I missed you, Gardener. But it's been so quiet and peaceful without you around."
She rolled her eyes as Gardener leaned close enough to smell her coat. It was then that she started to grow faintly nervous. In all of her past dealings with Gardener, she'd never been in the act of protecting a human. But now, if Gardener so much as learned one morsel of information about Jon, the hunter's life would be in serious danger.
"I work with humans-a concept you've never understood." Alexis didn't understand how some hunter somewhere hadn't managed to take Gardener out. But of course, Gardener was ruthless. That's how he'd successfully avoided everyone-by killing every human who had crossed him.
"What do you want?" She demanded, pulling a look of extreme boredom over her face. "I have other obligations, Gardener. Obligations with people who actually mean something of value to me."
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Post by Gardener Wild on Apr 15, 2009 20:08:13 GMT -4
Gardener wasn't pleased. Alexis wasn't playing the old games he was used to. He used to be able to get at least a small amount of banter out of her, but tonight she didn't seem to want to play along. She was all business-a trait he'd never really cared for in her. It was a good reason as to why their relationship had never worked out.
"What's the matter, Lex-a-loo? Are you suddenly too good for me? I doubt it-not when you've been hanging out with Americans."
He swung himself over the fence and landed with barely a sound next to her. That was when he saw something glistening between the buttons of her coat. At first, he mistook the chain for silver, but quickly reminded himself there was no way Alexis could be wearing a silver chain. At the end, a diamond pendant in the shape of a heart sparkled in the dim light.
Gardener frowned. It was a highly unlikely Alexis accessory. He'd never seen her wear a heart shaped anything in all the time he'd known her. And now she was not only wearing one, she'd worn it in front of someone she knew well? Curious.....
With one hand, Gardener reached over and yanked the chain from around her neck, watching as it snapped. It seemed to be the strongest source of human scent yet. Now he was really suspicious.
"What's this? You just finish offing a jeweler? Was this his big gift and you forgot to take it off? Really, Lex, I'm disappointed."
Gardener dropped the necklace into the pocket of her coat. He was going to get the story about that later.
"Lex, I think we got off on the wrong foot." His hand went into his pocket, carefully removing the silver chain from the bag in his pocket. "Look, I even brought you a gift."
Before giving her a second to protest, Gardener hooked the chain around her neck and waited for her reaction.
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Post by Alexis London on Apr 15, 2009 22:07:15 GMT -4
Alexis liked Gardener better on the other side of the fence. Now, he was far too close. Her right hand slipped into her pocket. She had slipped a syringe of dead man's blood in just to be on the safe side. Part of her wanted to use it just to see his reaction.
Gardener's hand suddenly shot out and yanked the necklace Jon had given her from her neck. Alexis heard herself gasp in shock. Since Jon had returned from his business, she'd worn it non stop. Now to be without it made her nearly sick.
"That's exactly what it was." Alexis snapped. "And for your information, I liked that necklace."
Irritated, Alexis pulled the chain out of her pocket and studied it. She could have it repaired, but the fact that it was broken-.
"Gardener, you have nothing I want." She raised her eyes to him in time to see Gardener's hands slip something around her neck. Alexis hissed, her fangs extending in pain as the silver chain cut into her skin and burned it black. Her hand reached up and ripped the chain away. Spinning around, she caught Gardener and shoved him against the fence, digging the chain into his throat.
"You better say your piece and get out of town, Gardener." She seethed. "Because I'm two seconds away from taking off your head."
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Post by Gardener Wild on Apr 17, 2009 12:13:55 GMT -4
Gardener laughed. He'd gotten exactly the reaction he was expecting from Alexis. Pleased, he detangled Alexis's hand from his neck. He took the necklace out of her fingers and tossed it aside.
"Now we're even for that holy water stunt you pulled in Paris." He was still smirking, even as he rubbed the now burned mark on his neck.
"Lex, relax. New York is a big city. You can I can both find a happy existance. Besides, I have no intentions of relocating. I don't do America. The amount of time it takes me to propose my offer to you and get out of town is plenty of sightseeing for me."
Gardener draped an arm around Alexis's shoulders. She still looked amazing, there was no denying that. But he knew too well the two of them could live at peace for roughly 20 minutes before the throat clawing commenced.
"I'm having a territory problem in Paris. A couple of guys have intruded on my territory. As you've always had nothing but the best of luck getting men wrapped around your little finger, you were my first choice for help in getting rid of them. So what do you say, Lex?"
He began to twirl the single streak of gray hair that framed Alexis's face. He knew that if she had a blood pressure, it would be sky high right about now.
"Come to Paris with me. We'll have some fun on the way. Think about it, we'll take out everyone on that plane. The pilots won't know a thing until we land."
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Post by Alexis London on Apr 18, 2009 22:04:58 GMT -4
Alexis was irked that Gardener had managed to get away from her with his head still attached to his body. She was still considering ripping it off. It would only take her about two seconds to act.
She took a step back as she remembered the holy water incident Gardener spoke of. It had gone exactly as planned. And watching Gardener scream in pain as the water burned his throat had been exactly what she'd needed at that time.
A frown darkened Alexis's face as Gardener's arm went around her. She had the intense desire to push it off. But she opted for glaring at him instead.
"I say no, Gardener." She took a step back, tossing her head to remove his hand from the streak of hair. "I-."
Alexis sought the words to express what had happened to her. She most assuredly was not mentioning Jon in the entire situation. Her first and foremost actions were to protect him-and that meant not allowing Gardener to know he existed.
"I'm trying to cut down on the ruthless murders. I was getting sloppy, over confident. I need a step away from the vampire lifestyle."
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Post by Gardener Wild on Apr 22, 2009 21:36:44 GMT -4
Gardener set his jaw as his face hardened. It was not the reaction he'd been expecting to gain. Alexis was always up for some blood shed. But now she wasn't doing the vampire lifestyle anymore? Something was up. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something up.
His initial instinct was to grab her and force an answer out of her. He wanted to know what was up. But with Alexis, that wouldn't work. She'd keep her secret all while fighting back. And then he'd end up torn to bits still not knowing what the vampire diva's game was.
"Alexis, I'm disappointed." He tsked his words, taking a step back from her. "Really, I came all this way and you're not interested anymore? That sucks."
He smiled. She knew him well and was probably going to assume he was up to something. This was going to take a bit more convincing.
"Come on. It'll be good times. Do you want some time to think about it? I need to hang out in town some more anyway. I'll catch up with you in a couple of days. What do you say?"
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Post by Alexis London on May 2, 2009 11:34:12 GMT -4
That reaction was eerily calm for Gardener. Alexis didn't like that one bit. If Gardener was that calm, it meant he was thinking something. And that was certainly something to scare.
"I'm not playing into your game Gardener. I'm not interested. Period. I don't owe you any other explanations than that. I want no part in whatever it is that you're playing at, so do me a favor and get the hell out of New York."
Gardener hated America, so that couldn't have been too hard a request for him. Alexis was certain that deep down, he was thrilled to get the hell out of Dodge.
But she knew Gardener well enough to know that this wasn't going to settle him either. He was not getting what he wanted. And if it was one thing Gardener hated, it was that. And he was being told no by a woman-and that was a particularly sore spot with him.
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Post by Gardener Wild on May 5, 2009 12:48:11 GMT -4
Alexis had a profoundly fascinating game she was playing at. Gardener was intrigued. He'd never seen this side of her. But granted, Alexis was stubborn. If she had it in her head she was not going to participate, she was not going to do it unless she had changed her mind at her own accord.
"So what have you been up to?" Gardener randomly switched the subject. He leaned back against the fence, observing her thoughtfully. "You look absolutely amazing. Not that you always don't, but it's been a few years since I've seen you."
Gardener needed Alexis to drop her guard so he could get inside of her head. She was making it difficult this time, but he was good with her, and Gardener was sure he could hack through.
"We've been so busy on business, we haven't had a second to catch up." He reached over, lacing his fingers through hers. "Everything's been great in Paris. We miss you. The social circle just hasn't been the same without you."
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Post by Alexis London on May 5, 2009 15:39:09 GMT -4
So now Gardener wanted conversation? That shouldn't have surprised her. Alexis expected such things from him. One minute Gardener wanted something, and the next his plans had completely changed. That was a huge reason as to why they'd continually fought.
"I run a business-hence the reason I can't run off with you." Alexis told him firmly as she gave him a hard glare. "You know that I enjoy work, Gardener."
If Alexis was more unsuspecting, she would have thought Gardener was wonderful. He wanted to carry on casual conversation, asked how a woman was doing-not to mention he was attractive. She tried to remember what had attracted her to Gardener in the first place.
"Paris is fun-for awhile. I'm enjoying New York...... And how are you?" The last statement forced itself from her lips. Alexis didn't care how Gardener was-not in the slightest.
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