If You Could Know the Time and Day.. (NOAH)

[aphrodite]

The scene was set in a dark room in apartment 313. The sound of utter silence was eerie. "Oh humm." The tribal sounding grunt was low and sing-song, followed quickly by "Hum de hum, oh waa." In a bright flash, Juneau LeFleur struck a long match that ignited the flame beneath his cast iron pot. The room was illuminated in a red-orangish glow, revealing an array of paraphernalia along the walls. Masks, staffs, a shelf of potion ingredients and other things lined the wall in Juneau's dedicated witchcraft bunker. He needed a safe place to hone his skills, and that's what inspired this room.

Dressed in no shirt, no shoes, rolled brown pants, a large mask painted with earthy colors and decorated with flowers was the witch doctor of L.A. himself, dancing around the cauldron to a rhythmic beat and humming a chant. This would be his first time practicing magic since coming to California, as well as his first time gazing. Even with his dad, Jacques, he'd never tried gazing. He only ever practiced reading bones, which was a trade that required the one seeking their fortune told to toss chicken bones into the blaze themselves. Gazing, which wasn't constrained to one person's fortune, would allow him to see... well, anything.

The pot bubbled. It contained many things: a brackish water solution, a pair of chicken talons, tadpoles, and other gross items that most normal people didn't keep in their homes. A staff in his right hand shook over the pot as Juneau's dance slowed down. He approached the pot, reaching into his left pocket with his free hand. "Mystical forefathers, shaman before me," he called out aloud from behind his second face, "reveal to me the future! Je veux voir. Je veux voir." The spell's ending came in French, just before Juneau pulled out a handful of ground cumin from his pocket and sprinkled it into his broth. It began to smoke and gargle before settling; it was done.

Slowly, Juneau lifted his mask and peered over into the solution. He was just out to practice his magic. He hadn't even specified exactly what he was looking to see, for God's sake. He expected to see an exciting national headliner, or an eventful car crash on the interstate, or anything else that was likely to make the five o'clock news tomorrow evening. The surprise was on him entirely when he witnessed the scene that he did.

It was a dark, morbid battlefield. The manor lay in ruins and obvious signs of a powerful struggle were ever present. A youthful looking man with platinum blond hair lay bloody with a look of disdain on his face. He struggled with an attacker before finally succumbing to his faith; a stake through the heart ended it all. The killer's face remained a mystery, but the victim's face was etched into Juneau's memory.

The image faded away, lost to the soup forever. LeFleur crossed his arms and reflected on what he'd just witnessed. "The death of a vampire," he said aloud, reassuring himself that that's what it had been. Now was time to pace the floor and figure out what he was supposed to do with this information. Vampires weren't a normal sight back home in Baton Rouge, but evidently they were no strangers to the golden-paved streets of Los Angeles.

[/font][/color]

[noah]

It was night again, Noah was finally out in his mansion, and he woke up once more from his daily slumber for yet another night to ponder, to think of what was to come, he was no longer an elder, what came of the vampire community was not his responsibility or his worry, after how things went with Ai, he felt everything he needed to do was done, all he wanted to do was over. All that was missing was what he feared most, which was death, he had a dream once, where someone told him his time on earth was numbered and the end is near, but he didn’t know how to take it, how to handle it all or even if he should believe, but he decided it was maybe a sign he needed to step down. He had been a vampire for over five hundred years and been an elder for two different cities, Los Angeles being his last, he needed to step away from it all and Eli, he knew he tested Eli’s limit, he needed to see if Eli was good enough and he needed to see if Eli would join him but how his planned had turn out he didn’t know, all he knew was that Eli had a little evil in him and Axel was keeping him from it.

He made his way into his study as he headed towards the shelf as he poured himself a drink and he headed towards his window, he stared at the moonlight, staring at the sky, admiring it’s beauty. You learn to appreciate the moonlight when you haven’t had the opportunity to see the sun for so long. The moonlight is the next best thing you learn to appreciate when the sun wasn’t around, he can’t even remember how the sun seemed like, what it looked like, what it felt like, but it was a feeling maybe he might want to experience again. He sighed as he had a drink, and then made his way behind his desk and had a seat. He dug through his papers as his care taker made his way at the door and poked his head in. “Mister Vandervoort, I’m going to leave now, I will see you at five in the morning again” Noah looked up at him as he smiled slightly. “Thank you Jorge, I’ll see you then” he said as Jorge closed the door leaving Noah alone in his study, enjoying his drink.

Then while reading his papers he got a slight awkward feeling, he didn’t know what it was, but he suddenly felt a familiar feeling like when he last had that dream, but he shakes it off and then decided to continue looking through his papers. He wondered about Jordan, Ai was hard on him for making mention of him and watching over him but Noah didn’t want to know about Jordan, he just wanted to know he was safe. Having a great, great, great, great, great grandson in town, he wanted to make sure no harm came to Jordan, sure Jordan didn’t know of his existence but if Ai looked over him, he could die knowing that Jordan was safe, Jordan wouldn’t come to any harm and that his family would live on, his bloodline would continue to flourish, after turning his back on his family over five hundred years ago. The thought of dying, it never crossed his mind before but now did he want it? Was it something he wanted to happen? It was a constant hardship wondering what would be best for him.

[aphrodite]

This was a strange predicament that the shaman had found himself placed in. The knowledge of someone's impending doom and the ethical question of whether or not it was his duty to inform him. The stake through the heart solidified Juneau's assumption that he had seen the murder of a vampire; but his assumption was still nothing more than that - an assumption. "How am I going to warn him?" he asked himself aloud.

Not that it would do any good. Gazing was much different from premonitions. Premonitions allowed the gifted ones to see into the present future. The future that they saw was only how things would wind up if no changes were made to the present; they were given a chance to affect outcomes. Gazers saw what was guaranteed to come to pass. A powerful gift indeed, much more involved than a common parlor trick.

"What was that thing dad used to do?" he asked the empty room. Shadows were creepily cast, always in motion because the flame that made them would not sit still. "Calling? Calling. Calling." He could try calling to the man he'd seen, but it would be difficult. He'd never done it before, he knew nothing about the man other than how he looked, and he was a little tired after drawing on magic to cast his gazing spell. The only magic he had left, it seemed, came from the little innate magic he carried in him and the fetishes that lined his walls. It would probably take him over a minute to contact the vampire, and he'd probably lose the connection in less than half that time.

But the opportunity to try calling was too great to pass up. And if he could indeed reach a vampire than he would be able to track his own powers and tell for certain that he was growing as a witchcraft practitioner.

Juneau sat down on the floor, crossing his legs beneath him. He lay his staff across his lap and pulled down his mask, covering his face once again. Long locks draped behind him, running down his back and almost touching the floor. He exhaled deeply, clearing his mind and focusing solely on the image of what whom he'd seen. Concentration was devoted entirely to reaching him. "Contact. Contact. Contact. Contact," he began chanting, over and over again. He wasn't even entirely sure this would work until the pot began to smoke again. Thick clouds of black smog spilled out of the cauldron until finally it made a loud bang noise.

He was reaching him.

[/font][/color]

[noah]

Noah was sitting behind his desk, digging through his papers, going through hundreds of his old identities, numerous names he went by in the past and since five years ago, once again, he was called Noah, Noah Vandervoort, the name he first had, the name given to him by his parents, his name he used last before completely disappearing from the world. Looking at countless pictures, countless things as they brought a slight smile to his face, he never thought he’d be alive till now, let alone formally leading a whole community of vampires, it had been a real journey, who would have thought now of all times, he’d be looking back at his past and re-thinking everything he’d went through, the people he had met and never cared for. But as he was doing this, he a voice was heard from behind him. They voice was silent and a second later it was loud and he heard “Noah….Noah” He suddenly turned around, looking behind him and all he could see was the moonlight shining on his window. He saw everything in his huge garden, from the gates to the entrance, but there was nothing, nobody but he felt something pulling him afar, pulling him away from everything.

He just looked at the window, glaring, not exactly sure what was going on. He laid down his papers as he got up and made his way towards the window and checked outside and saw nothing, there was no one outside, but he felt this presence in the room, he wasn’t sure what was going on. It was quiet in his mansion and he was home alone, as he stood looking out the window from behind him again he heard his name, this time louder. “NOAH!” He quickly turned around looking behind him and nothing, there was nothing in the room, but he felt there was another presence in the room, in the house, something calling him, something pulling him. He moved away from the window and decided to make his way towards the door from the study. He knew something was up, he knew something wasn’t right, he slowly made his way towards the door as he opened the door he looked into the hall as he saw nothing, he then closed the door behind him, he sighed and then chuckled, as he thought he was just losing his mind, he was just dealing with all that was going on. With all he was going through, must just be stressed. Then suddenly within seconds he heard one more time. “NOAH!” and he felt his shoulder being grabbed and spun around and within a blink of an eye….

All he saw was smoke around him, barely being able to see, a the sight of a fire in front of him, he coughed slightly, with all the smoke surrounding him, all he could see that he was in a room with various objects around him, objects you didn’t even see in someone’s weirdo kitchen. As the smoke slowly faded away, the fire was still bright, brightens the room, showing dark scary shadows on the wall around him, like ghosts surrounding the room. Then he finally saw someone, a kid, sitting near the fire, with his legs crossed, some pole on his lap, Noah wasn’t sure what was going on but he certainly wasn’t going to be nice about it. His fangs shot out and his eyes turned pitch black, as he questioned the young lad who was sitting across the fire. “Who are, what am I doing here?” he questioned as he stood with his chest pushed forward and his fangs out, ready to attack at any second.

[aphrodite]

The witch doctor continued his chant. "Contact. Contact. Contact." It was growing tiresome, but he knew he had to concentrate. This was, really, a personal test. Connecting telepathically to the vampire from his vision would prove the leaps and bounds he was making in his magic. In fact, with each chant, he could feel his connection to the vampire growing stronger. He'd definitely honed in on his aura. His name was... Noah.

"Noah. Noah. Noah." The calling could be made stronger by using the target's actual name. Juneau was now only seconds away from a breakthrough. He could feel it! The cauldron - or at least he thought it was the pot - smoked again and released a puff of smog in a loud banging noise. But then, his eyes flung open at the sound of a hostile voice. "Who are, what am I doing here?" the vampire standing before a seated Juneau asked. His fangs bared and eyes like midnight, Noah didn't seem to glad to have been summoned by the shaman.

Juneau got to his feet quickly. He stood his ground, but would be lying if he said he wasn't slightly afraid of what was about to happen. Not telling Noah why he was summoned might annoy him and then Juneau was a goner. Telling him why he was summoned might drive him mad... and then Juneau was a goner. LeFleur kept his mask pulled down, keeping his identity a mystery. Pointing the head of his staff at the chest of the his visitor, the witch doctor silently gulped before he began speaking. "I have summoned you, vampire, with information you may find of use." He spoke with a sure voice, trying his damned best to not seem afraid. "Calm down."

[/color][/font]

[noah]

Noah stood there, glaring at what seemed to be a kid, or an tiny elderly man? Noah couldn’t make out who this feller was but he did have on a mask, covering his face, so that Noah couldn’t make out who he was and how Noah suddenly appeared here. Noah wasn’t going to show this guy any mercy, any remorse, he was playing with something beyond human nature, beyond any witch Noah had come across, so he certainly wasn’t an amateur with what he was doing. But before Noah could make his move, and have himself one last feast, one last delightful blood bath, the guy got up and quickly backed away for someone who had all this great magical powers, he didn’t seem like one who wanted to fight, though he was pointing his staff at Noah as Noah slowly moved closer. “What Am I doing here” he said again with an angered low voice, like a hungry lion, scouting his prey.

Noah didn’t take his eyes off this guy, scouting his every move and there he was, looking back at Noah, Noah could see there was some fear in his eyes, like maybe he never had any bad intention of bringing Noah here, all he could say was that he summoned him and that he should calm down. But that was easier said than done, here you had a mysterious man, with his face covered, who seemingly summoned him with help of some kind of magic of sorts, and then expect Noah to calm down he wasn’t serious. “Calm down, you expect me to calm down” Noah said, glaring at this mysterious man, his fangs still out, ready for a kill, ready to attack this mystery man.

Noah slowly made his way around this pot that was seemingly in the center of the room with smoke and flames coming out of it, this must have been how he summoned Noah here. How he managed to get Noah out of his mansion in a blink of an eye. “Who are you?” Noah asked as he continued to approach the mysterious man who seemingly wasn’t up for a fight but more defending himself. “Show yourself, and tell me why I’m here or there will be consequences” there must have been a reason why this mysterious witchdoctor summoned him here and he wasn’t going to back down until he got some answers. He continued to glare at this mystery man as he stood across him, with nothing more but the staff he held separating Noah from jumping him. Noah just glared at him with his pitch black eyes.

[aphrodite]

Noah lowered his staff, holding it at his side. The scepter itself was almost five feet tall; well over half as tall as Juneau. "I said stand down," he reiterated, this time lowering his own defense to prove that he didn't wish to fight. Besides, battling a vampire right now would be a fight he simply couldn't win - he was drained. Those vicious fangs stayed erect and LeFleur simply wouldn't feel comfortable until they retracted. "I don't want to fight. You might find what I have to tell you interesting. I've summoned you here to give a warning."

It was hard to determine exactly what he was going up again. Vampires lived for eons, and there was no way of telling how old Noah was. Who knew how long he'd been around, what tricks he'd picked up... how strong he'd become. Telling Noah he was going to die soon was not something Juneau was about to do. Instead, he'd claim it was just a vision. With any luck, Noah would see fit to keep him alive for some personal, selfish reason that Juneau really didn't care about. Bit off a bit more than I could chew trying out new things tonight.

"I am a witch doctor," he professed, completely ignoring the part where Noah asked him to reveal himself, "who has foreseen your coming death. I summoned you here to warn you. I wanted to give you time to prepare to face the one..." he trailed off, trying to get a read of Noah's expression. It was hard to tell what the soulless being was thinking (and even harder to try seeing out of the eye holes of his mask). "...that will try to slay you."

[/font][/color]

[noah]

All Noah could think about now, was bloodshed, killing this masked mysterious witch but then he told Noah he summoned him, he summoned him to warn him, why did he care about Noah? Why did he have to warn Noah about anything? Noah wasn’t scared of anything, he was no longer anyone’s Elder, no one behind him and as far as he knew, all his enemies were as good as dead, well except Eli, he tried his best to but he wouldn’t have anything to do with Noah especially after his test, his mind games, his attempts to manipulate Eli. Noah, with his fangs still erect, questioned this mysterious man’s statement. “You couldn’t fight me even if I gave you chance” Noah said sarcastically.“Warning? I’m guessing you couldn’t give me a call” Noah said as he continued to glare at this man, who hid behind his mask and his staff.

Seemingly, he was new to his profession, he though he bit off a little more than he could handle, it seem a bit ironic, Noah was about to bite his head off. Maybe he was right, he did bight off more than he could handle, but he didn’t seem like he wanted to fight Noah, like he wanted a fight. Noah just stood there, fangs out, on the watch, ready to jump him any second he got a chance. “Why don’t I take a bite and see how much you can handle” as Noah got a bit closer to the mysterious witch.


Then he explained he was a witch doctor and saw Noah’s death coming, Noah was suddenly a bit startled by this, he could remember having a similar dream, a vision where he died, he felt free, he felt weird about it all, he felt the sun but how did this man know about this, was it going to happen? Did h want it to happen? His fangs quickly disappeared and his bright blue eyes could be seen again and he stared at the witch doctor confused. “How…How do you know about this?” Noah said questioning. He summoned Noah to warn him, so he could prepare himself but for what, for who? Then he said for the person who will try to slay him, and then it was clear, someone was after him, someone did want him dead. But he couldn’t do anything to avoid this could he. “How can I stop this…when I don’t know who is after me” he said to the mysterious witchdoctor.

[aphrodite]

The situation grew tense and heated. The vampire stepped closer, threatening to bite into the side of Juneau's neck. He was silently rejoicing that his mask was on; it hid the beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks and nose. It was incredible to see how quickly the mighty vampire could be defused through the prophecy of his own destruction. His coal eyes reverted back into a spellbinding blue, and his fangs tucked themselves away. He seemed much more interested in what LeFleur had seen than in making him his next meal.

"I was looking into the future," the witch admitted, waving a hand over his still boiling potion, "when the image of a stake being driven through a vampire's heart - your heart - appeared." Juneau took a step back from Noah, slowly walking around to the side of the cauldron opposite the blond being. The crackle of the fire interrupted the silence before he began to speak again. "I took the liberty of trying to contact you. It was only fair that you knew what was coming. I didn't mean to summon you here, but it makes no difference that you're receiving the bad news in person."

Remembering that he'd decided to at least give Noah the false hope that his fate could be altered, the witch doctor began to speak again. Tapping his staff's bottom against the ground to make sure Noah was attentive, Juneau gathered his thoughts and began. "I believe I was given my vision so that you could prepare yourself for whoever, or whatever, is coming for you. As a vampire with what I'm assuming is an extensive list of enemies this might be hard to answer, but do you have any idea who would be bold enough to try killing you?" Juneau turned his head to the side, analyzing Noah's physical traits and waiting for him to respond.

[/font]

[noah]

Noah wasn’t sure what to make of this all but the guy said he was looking into the future and saw Noah’s future, and saw a stake driven into a vampire’s heart, actually specifically his heart. This took Noah a bit off guard, he kept silent, staring at the witch doctor as he said he tried to contact Noah but ended up summoning him instead, maybe this witch wasn’t as experienced as Noah thought, but he was right, Noah had a dream once he was killed, that he experienced death but he never knew it would happen, he feared it did but looks like it was right. When he finished talking and told Noah that he wanted to tell him, Noah just sighed a bit looked down and then told the witch doctor. “I know…” the news of him dying was something that didn’t seem like a shock now that he already had a dream about it, but it certainly seemed more real now.

But the witch started tapping his staff against the ground, getting Noah’s attention as Noah looked up at him, more focused now than when he got the news of his possible death. But now he was telling Noah that he could do something to avoid it from happening. But did he wanted to, did he want to avoid something happening he might as hoped it happened. He wanted to know who hated him, who would want to kill him, this kind of made Noah chuckled a bit. “when you’ve lived over five hundred years, your list of enemies really isn’t that small” Noah said with a slight smirk. Of course he wanted to know who it was, but the list was a big one, it could have been any crazy person or a vampire holding a grudge either way, someone wanting him dead is not something new.

Noah lowered his chest a little, trying to seem less intimidating, obviously this guy didn’t mean any harm, but he was rather mysterious about who he was and himself. Noah just looked at him, hidden behind his mask, trying to find out more about him but just studying his whole body language. “So now that you know more about me, how about you answer my question, who are you? “ If Noah was going to be told he was going to die, he might as well know by whom. Noah was looking around the place for something or somewhere where he could sit down, and get away from the warm pot in the middle of the room, which was more heat than Noah needed now.

[aphrodite]

Noah and Juneau seemed to had finally reached the stage in their five-minute relationship where they could be comfortable with each other - or at least as comfortable as either of them was going to get. Noah's tense body sort of let go, no longer on guard. Juneau's muscles released their flex; he wasn't worried about having to go on the offensive in a split-second anymore. Now they were just two handsome men in a dark room with a very unconventional form of candlelight going.

"Like I said before, I hate to be the bearer of bad news. I just thought you deserved a proper warning." The bearer of bad news didn't begin to cover it. He was more like the angel of Death's own personal messenger. With a heavy sigh, Juneau began to stir the pot once again. Even though Noah seemed more peaceful than when he first arrived, LeFleur wasn't capable of being fully at ease until the threat of death by vampire was terminated.

That was when Noah asked to know more about the one who'd summoned him. It was a reasonable request, really it was, but not something Juneau was totally comfortable with disclosing. Telling the vampire who was threatening to bite you mere more ago his true identity just sounded like a bad idea. The masked face looked up from pot stirring and gazed into the now colorful eyes of the Vampire. "I told you. I'm the witch doctor," he said calmly. The potion that had allowed him to see and summon Noah would be his return spell. "I'll be checking up on you in a while, just to see if you were able to cheat death. Good luck."

Juneau stepped back from the pot. No doubt, Noah was going to be trying to stop him from what he was about to do (at least until he got the answers he wanted) so he had to be fast. Drowning out the noise of whatever the vampire might have been saying, Juneau recited: "Take him back from whence he came to a time and place that are the same!" The staff's bottom was tapped against the ground harshly and the cauldron made a banging noise. It's ingredients sizzled while a cloud of dark smoke poured out of it, consuming Noah and teleporting him back to his manor in the same instant.

The witch doctor looked on from the safety of behind his ceremonial mask. Having a set of fetishes of his own and not just using his dad's whenever he had the time proved to have a great effect on his magical abilities. He was more powerful than even he suspected. And studying and practicing would only see his skills increase. But for now, he'd exhausted his efforts. "I need a smoke," he said to himself, pulling the mask off of his face and hanging it back on the wall. He placed the staff along with the others and put out the fire before exiting the room and going to search for his rolling papers.

[/font]

[noah]

This witch refused to give Noah a Name, or even a look at his face, only his eyes that was first filled with fear but was now in a more calm state. He just wanted to warn Noah and Noah could only assume that is all he wanted, though someone who kept his identity must be doing so for a reason. But he said he was going to be checking up on him, Noah wasn’t sure he wanted a creeper checking up on him, especially someone he didn’t know too well. But then he just warned him. Either way he was quick behind his pot and then suddenly decided to summon Noah back, Noah didn’t want to go he wanted answers , he wanted to know more but as Noah charged towards him "No, wait you cant..." one tap of his staff on the ground there was the smoke and Noah was suddenly back in his Study and crashed into his chair in the way he was about to stop the mysterious witch doctor.

He then sat in his chair, and turned around and saw the window again, it didn’t even seem like he was gone for long, like it has been just a few minutes, nothing more, he saw his drink, still on his desk and grabbed it. He got up and made his way towards the window he always looks out of, as he sighed and went deep in thought, thinking what the witch doctor told him, thinking back on the dream he had, it was all falling into place, he was going to die, he was going to be dead, or near death anyways, someone was out to kill him, rid the world of him, but who could it be? Who was it. Noah just took a sip of his drink as he stared at the window thinking about his long list of enemies and rivals. “Looks like I got some thinking to do” he said to himself as the moonlight shined in his study.