Seeds of Corruption Ch. 02

"Aww is someone feeling a little pent up?"

"Fuck off." Chris just laughed but calmed down eventually asking.

"You're at the theatre today though, right?"

"Yeah just rehearsals, I'm going to end up pulling my hair out at how much we have left to learn. The new showrunner is a slave driver I swear." Alice turned, putting a plate of scrambled egg and salmon in front of Alice and sat with her own.

"I've heard she's a Wight." Alice furrowed her brow as she ate.

"What's being white got to do with anything?" She got a scoff in return.

"One chew your food before you speak, animal. Two, a wight not white. She's Undead."

"What, like a Zombie?" The look she got answered that.

"Definitely do not let her hear you say that, Wights are like undead royalty. Anyway they're like, all with it and have all their memories and personality. I've heard they can manifest their spirit outside of them as well." She didn't realise she'd stumbled into another one of Christina's biology lessons.

"And what for us plebeians does manifesting her spirit mean? Do you mean like anime?" Christina returned to her previously adopted unimpressed look.

"It means that she can use her spirit to become a physical thing in the real world."

"Like a ghost?" Chris went to explode but saw the look on Alice's face and realised.

"You're fucking with me, excellent. Well whatever, have fun offending your new manager, I'm sure she won't eat you for insulting her." Alice looked up at that.

"They eat people?" Alice just shrugged.

"All Undead do one way or the other, they need life to keep going. I don't know if she just like, drains humans with her spirit or has a special freezer in the garage. Never asked."

"That seems like the sort of thing you should probably ask Chris." Chris just shrugged again.

"If you want to go quizzing Undead on their eating habits, be my guest, I'm not that dumb."

Alice finished her food with little chatter and in the end asked Alice to take in some documents and drop them off at her desk. Packing up her Violin, Alice decided to head out early and walk. It was about an hour's journey but the energy she had gained didn't seem to be leaving her anytime soon. Trying to distract herself on her walk she thought back to her conversation with Chris. She was fine with supes, mostly but she couldn't parse the attitude Chris had sometimes, how could you be so dismissive of the fact someone's a literal cannibal. Or well maybe it isn't a cannibal if they aren't human themselves but still. There was a line somewhere, where on one side there was being respectful and treating different people with respect and on the other was becoming willing prey, Alice couldn't help but think Chris danced on that line dangerously.

Arriving at the theater Alice realised somewhere along the way she must have picked up her pace while she was spaced out having got here twenty minutes sooner than she normally would. Turning on the lights in the hall and not seeing anyone else about she quickly made for Chris' office on the second floor. Her door wasn't unlocked so she just slid the file under the crack and went to leave. Setting up in the main hall, no one else was around still so she decided to start playing herself to warm up.

It didn't take long for the hall to fill with music from her violin, she'd always found the main hall here was better than anywhere else she had ever played the acoustics where perfect to just carry the sound no matter where you sat. Changing to a faster paced tune she continued to strum away clearing her head for the first time in days and just letting go.

"No need to show off their Al." Mike, one of the brass players said. The room had started to fill with most of the band and Alice hadn't noticed, blushing. She laughed off the comment and quickly moved to take her seat as she waited as everyone got into position.

After that the day flew by as they continued on going through each of the songs on the list. It was to be a new performance of Phantom of the Opera which seemed all the more appropriate as Alice took notice of the pale figure sitting in one of the viewing boxes above the room. They had entered half way through watching the performances and Alice could only assume this was the elusive showrunner. Most instructions had been passed down via her assistant, a waif of a girl barely taller than Chris and much thinner, she seemed fine enough if a little loud trying to get her point across.

The performance was finished in no time and they even received a slight clap from the figure in the stands. Packing her violin, Alice got up ready to leave before being stopped.

"Hey a few of us are going for drinks, you fancy coming?" Mike had approached her again and he had a few of the band milling about behind him. Mike was fine. He seemed overly enthusiastic with most of the women at the theatre, he'd even taken a shot at flirting with Julia which had worked about as well as a lead balloon. He knew when to back off though at least.

"Sure, where are we going?"

"Just the old bull, cheapest we'll find round here." Nodding Alice finished packing her things and followed the group out.

Once outside she saw another cluster waiting and noticed Julia with them. Walking over she bumped against the red head.

"Afternoon, how are you feeling?" Starting to walk Julia smiled.

"Hell of a lot better than yesterday that's for sure, what about yourself, you got it all under control?" She responded with a wink. Saving herself the embarrassment Alice just responded with a small lie.

"Yeah all good here now, have you heard anything from Mark?" She just rolled her eyes in response.

"Nahh he's in the metaphorical doghouse though, Lana has had a thing for him for years and I think she was hoping for her chance on Friday."

"Oh is he not interested then?" Julia just shrugged.

"It's not that he's not interested, it's just, pack stuff, he's sort of expected too. Basically he's important and she's important in the pack so like them having a kid, is very important. He's not the biggest fan of it, I don't blame him honestly."

"What is it like arranged marriages?" Julia quickly shook her head.

"No. No marriage involved just a kid, it's a long story and honestly I barely get it so I wouldn't really expect someone outside of the pack to get it. No offence." Alice shook her head.

"None taken, trust me when I say I know about weird parents." She heard a snigger from Julia.

"Yeah Chris told me some interesting stories about your folks, are they true?" With a roll of her eyes Alice responded.

"Probably, my mum left my dad and me to join some hippie commune, very much peace and love kinda thing. Don't get me started, everytime I see her again she either smells of weed or sweat and she's pushing fifty." Alice laughed, the pair both falling into companionable conversation and arriving at the pub in a short time.

----

The pub was fun. Alice spent the day chatting with most of the members and the conversation drifted onto the topic of the show runner, some saying as Chris had that she was a Wight, some that she was a Phantom herself, ergo the choice in play. Some even said Vampire, regardless people kept asking Julia about it which was clearly annoying her having to keep explaining she wasn't Undead so she wouldn't know. Alice decided she was bored anyway so gave an excuse to leave and since it was dark out asked Julia to walk her home. They waited round the block and Alice's taxi eventually arrived, they both hugged parting and Julia walked off home.

Alice didn't take notice of the driver right away going on her phone and responding to her emails but as they stopped at a traffic light she felt eyes burning into her. Looking up she noticed it was the pink Demon yet again from Friday and he was staring at her like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

"I'm sorry, is everything okay?" Her question shocked him a bit and looking up at her his eyes turned apologetic.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I just blanked out a bit there. Sorry again." Alice just nodded at the weak excuse keeping an eye out of the window to make sure she was going the right way. She caught him looking at her a few times before he pulled up outside her apartment building. Opening the door quickly she practically jumped out of the taxi and heard him call back.

"Hey, have you been feeling okay?" Alice just quickly walked to her apartment calling over her shoulder.

"Never better!" He stayed at the side of the road a few minutes longer before finally driving off.

Getting back into the apartment she looked back out seeing nothing and went to the front desk to leave a message noticing the guard from the previous night was back on.

"Hey is it okay if I let you know about a taxi driver I've just had drop me off. He was acting strange. I doubt he'll come back or anything but just in case? He nodded, getting a notepad out from under the counter and looked at her expectantly.

"Okay yeah he's a taxi driver, he was driving a red five door car, not sure what make. He looked tall, pink skin, like pink pink, not white, he had two little white horns and.. Oh he had lilac eyes." Looking back at the guard she realised he hadn't written anything down. They sat in silence for a few seconds before he spoke in a gruff voice.

"Is this not one of your friends?" Alice just blinked.

"I'm sorry?" He rolled his eyes, dropping the notepad and leaning back in his chair.

"You came back with a Demon the other night, and now another Demon is dropping you off here. Maybe they're just friends or he thought he recognised you." Alice couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Okay erm sure maybe, could you make a note of it regardless, like I said he gave me really bad vibes so id feel more comfortable if there's a note for any guards on."

"And the first one didn't give you bad vibes? They're all literally Demons." Alice nodded, dumbfounded.

"Nevermind then clearly I was mistaken." He rolled his eyes again, returning back to the monitor glowing in front of him, pausing for a second Alice eventually made her way over to the elevator, as the doors were closing she heard him mumble something under his breath. Luckily she didn't hear it.

Returning back to her flat she made short work of complaining about the guard to Chris who was about ready to go down and rip his head off.

"Who does he even think he is, your father? Like hello what has it got to do with you? Or anybody for the matter." Alice just sat annoyed on the sofa as Chris paced. " I mean come on if he's saying that about you what on earth is he saying about me?"

"To be fair, you can't exactly tell Julia or Mark are Werewolves looking at them." Christina just glared at her.

"That's so not the point, I brought Sebastian here for two years and he's very clearly a Vampire." Alice wasn't going to point out that again it wasn't very obvious unless you were standing next to him, he gave off a chill like a freezer.

"Oh another thing I went out for drinks with the band and spoke with Julia abit, you should maybe not continue things with Mark." Chris stopped her pacing, finally sitting back down on the other side of the sofa.

"One I've already told Julia I won't see him again, and two why are you grilling me about it?" Alice just held up her hands.

"No judgement here but apparently he has a thing with Lana." She saw Chris' eyes begin to widen as rushed to finish. "Nothing serious but apparently it's something with the pack, they have to have a kid and this Lana's been pushing for it for a while. I don't know if it's considered stepping on someone's toes to go for him but regardless, it's baggage you do not need." Christina visibly relaxed.

"Oh Julia had already said that to me. Yeah it's fine he was fun but honestly it was a bit weird."

"Weird how?" Christina leaned forward conspiratorially.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and he was kicking his leg and growling like a dog having a bad dream, if I wasn't so out of it I'd have woken up the whole house laughing." Needless to say that dragged laughter from Alice and soon the pair had been reduced to a laughing fit talking about chris' prior suitors."

As it was getting late, Chris was the first to retire, double checking the door and giving her little bat to Alice just in case anything did happen with the driver. Returning to her room, Alice prepared herself for bed and as she was about to get into bed she took stock of how she felt. Thinking about it as she sat there, the pool of energy still felt like it was there, she had no better way to describe it but it felt like she had a pool of energy to draw on and she couldn't drain it. Lust wise, well it has been in the background all day and it wasn't going anytime soon. Deciding against trying to deal with it herself she went to bed and again tossed and turned before falling into a restless sleep.

Her dreams were just as nonsensical as the night before, she remembered none of it once she had awoken just a voice calling to her on the wind.

"Alliiiccee."

---

Monday and Tuesday both came and went quickly and without any issue. Rehearsals were coming along nicely and Alice was pretty certain she had all of her parts nailed at this point. Her now daily examinations had found that yes her hair was definitely getting longer, now looking about an inch longer than it had on Sunday. The weirdest part that she couldn't prove was it looked thicker, and definitely healthier. She brushed it off, again it wasn't exactly a negative. Her hair had always been slightly on the thin side, and it probably was some weird after effect of sleeping with a demon, something she wouldn't be doing again.

She had started to remember her dreams though, only fragments but they all seemed to be growing more and more, erotic. They mostly focused on Levash but she even saw the taxi driver a few times in broken memories. All the while she heard a voice echo her name. It was, well it was disturbing, and very annoying. One she didn't want to dream about the sketchy driver and two she still couldn't actually find a way to get off, she was reluctant to tell Christina knowing it would either become the newest thing she mocked her for, or it would turn into one of the supernatural biology lessons, and she would hear Incubi that would ruin her mood further. Maybe incubi lay eggs or eat the heads of their mates. The thought made her shudder. She decided with it being her day off on Wednesday she'd go meet Julia for a late brunch, hopefully she wouldn't be annoyed that Alice thought she might know.

Christina had left early for work that morning, something about a company meeting that absolutely did not concern Alice. Alice got ready, curling the ends of hair and looking at her clothes, decided on a brown floral dress that came to her knees and threw a jacket over the top. She grabbed a cute little beret she had stolen from Chris and left. As she left it was the smaller guard who smiled as she left so she waved back but he gave a bit of an odd glance down at her outfit. Leaving she saw the ground had a light dusting of snow on the ground but it looked like it was melting. Marching on, she headed for the tube to meet Julia.

----

Walking into the cafe she saw Julia already sitting down who waved her over, as she got close Julia gave her an odd look.

"Are you not freezing?" Alice followed her eyes to the dress and shucked off her jacket and placed it over her chair.

"No I'm fine, the jackets thick enough, how are you?" Julia's eyes moved to the thin wool coat hanging behind Alice.

"Alice it's -2 and you're barely wearing anything." Alice hung her bag over the back of her chair looking back to the werewolf. She noticed she was wearing a thick black jumper and jeans, the usual leather jacket hanging over the side. Alice just shrugged.

"I didn't notice, I'm fine though honestly." Julia reached across grabbing Alice's arm, the touch feeling like pins and needles on her arm as she let go.

"You're burning up, are you sure you're okay?" Alice put her hand to her forehead but it felt normal to her.

"I'm fine honestly, can we just order something, I will admit to being very hungry." Julia looked sceptical but nodded, waving down a waitress as the pair placed their order. Alice listened as Julia listed off the three meals she was going to have with a cup of tea and the waitress turned back to Alice who just ordered smashed avocado toast and a second tea. As the waitress left Alice turned back to Julia who was watching the waitress leave.

"Are you okay, how much do you need to order?" Julia snapped back to Alice before realising her question.

"Ohh, it's a Were thing, we need more food. It's why in theory it should be harder for us to get drunk, because of our metabolism."

"In theory?"

"Yeah in theory because if you go and drink in a Demon bar apparently you still get vicious hangovers." Alice just laughed, but cut herself off quickly.

"Actually that kinda links to what I wanted to talk to you about." Julia raised a brow and waited for her to continue.

"Well since we went to the bar and I well.."

"Pulled." She said with a smirk. Alice rolled her eyes

"Yeah basically, I've been feeling kind of weird." Alice was fidgeting her fingers in her hand, knowing she wasn't going to like the answer.

"Weird how."

"Weird like I've kinda not gotten over the whole lust thing." As she finished Julia just started barking out laughing, Alice's face going beet red as the waitress approached. Thanking her for her cup as Julia tried to get it back together to take hers, Julia finally asked.

"Okay so you're still horny? I fail to see the issue." Alice took a sip of her tea, finding it to be served pretty cool. Taking a big swig of the drink and placing it back she saw Julia again looking at her curiously.

"The issue is I can't do anything about it."

"Is this a proposition?" Alice's eyes went wide.

"No! No no no." Julia's smirk dropped. "No I just mean. I physically can't do anything about it no matter how much I try." She was pretty sure her cheeks were glowing at this point.

"And you've asked me because?"

"Not because you're a Were, I'm asking you as a friend.

"Why not ask Christina?" Alice just stared at her blankly.

"I'm going to assume she's never made you sit through one of her little talks on how supernaturals work but trust me, they're long, boring and entirely unasked for." Julia cringed a bit.

"She did once, she spent a full dinner break explaining to me the complexities of Elven dance and culture. You're right. Very boring."

"Exactly, so, do you know anyone who's been to Lust? is this normal? Or is it because I slept with.."

"A demon? Maybe never done it myself, seems like playing with fire honestly. No offence." Alice rolled her eyes. "I mean I can give you Mark's number if you promise not to give it to Christina, he's been to Lust, and sorry I am not up for asking him myself how it was."

"Understood, that would be great thanks." Julia nodded, getting her phone out as she read it off to Alice. Their food arrived shortly after both decided to tuck in.

It wasn't just the Weres metabolism that was a marvel; her eating speed confounded Alice as well. Before she had even finished her meal, Julia had inhaled all three of hers. As it was, Alice was just pushing scraps around her plate when Julia asked.

"Did you notice anything else weird other than the lust thing?" Alice looked up, seeing her eyes back on her coat.

"I mean, my skin is softer and I think my hairs thicker maybe? It's definitely growing faster." Alice shrugged

"You're also burning up."

"Sure." Julia just stared at her for a few seconds before responding.

"You should probably just call the Demon you slept with; he'll probably know better than anyone else." Julia responded with a shrug