Nora approached the store much more in control of herself than when she'd done so last night. This would go much more smoothly, she assured herself. All she had to do was enthrall a hapless mortal or two without accidentally making one into a vampire this time.

She'd seen through the glass that there was still an employee working the counter; they would have to do. 

The door's little ding! as she entered annoyed her - it wasn't a sound worthy to herald the arrival of a vampire. 

"Oh-" the employee glanced up from their phone, caught off guard; a lady with a blonde ponytail and loud voice. "Sorry, hi, uh- how can I help you?" 

Last night she'd been craving blood; there was a different craving that grated at her now, she realized. She'd been a pitiable sight coming in here the first time, desperate and impatient and feral; almost meek as she hid in this out-of-the-way town. 

She would not make that first impression again.

She locked eyes with her chosen victim and smirked as the woman became trapped in her gaze. Watching her thrall-to-be struggle to process the power on display before her.

"Look at me," she commanded, relishing the woman's awed expression. Perfect. "You're mine now. Is that clear?"

The cashier's mouth hung open as she stared wide-eyed at the hypnotizing sight, overpowering red eyes that seemed to bathe the whole room in their deep red aura. Nora lifted into the air slightly, looming over the helpless mortal with sadistic condescension.

Oh, how she missed this. So utterly intoxicating, to hold so much power over another. Gone was the weary pragmatism she'd shown her first victim in this town - she was a vampire, a monster of the night, to be feared and obeyed.

"Y..yes...." the girl eventually stammered out, the command taking root in a mind melted into a pliant puddle. "Yours..."

Adorable. Nora felt the urge to bite her, but now that she wasn't starving, she had the self-control to savor her new catch - no need to feed so soon after the last one.

She approached the woman behind the counter, cupping her chin and basking in her submission. "Good... good. You'll do anything I ask; tell me anything I want to know."

"Yessss..."

"You're honored to serve me. Eager to please." Nora drilled into her mind, her voice low and hungry. "A perfect little pet for me."

She released the woman from her gaze, sending her stumbling backwards slightly as she reeled from being taken control of so suddenly, lightheaded and delirious. 

"W...wh... o-okay..." she mumbled in a daze, holding her head to steady herself. Mortal minds were rather fragile, but that was their problem, not Nora's.

"Is anyone else here?" Nora should've hoped the answer would be 'no', but in her current mood she'd jump at the chance to enthrall another one.

"...I... don't think so," The cashier mumbled hazily, "but my head feels really... r-really..." She trailed off, unsure how to describe the feeling of complete submission Nora had imposed on her. She'd likely never felt anything like it.

"Good. You feel good doing as I say."  

"Y-yeah! I... I feel great..." she giggled half-awake, nodding in agreement. 

Nora had missed having thralls. She'd watched those under her sway stolen away by her rivals before she fled... but dwelling on that would sour her good mood.

"Wonderful..." she purred, admiring her handiwork, delighting in the still-dreamy confusion on her thrall's face. "What's your name, pet?"

"Uh- S-Sam!" she perked up, staring at Nora like an impressionable puppy. Nora's grin grew wider.

"...alright. I have a job for you, Sam."

Sam stared at her wide-eyed, eager for orders. Perhaps I was a little rough with her mind... Nora thought briefly before discarding the notion that that was at all a problem.

Sam couldn't stop smiling as she rummaged through the back office at the beautiful woman's request. She loved helping her new... something. Something wonderful. Nora was so pretty and so enchanting and so right about everything, she thought.

It'd been about twenty minutes since Nora did... whatever to her, and she only just now registered that that whole thing had been so unusual. She'd seen Nora's eyes and... Sam's movements slowed a little as she thought about Nora's eyes. So pretty...

"... something wrong?" Nora asked, lounging in her boss's chair. "You stopped."

"Ah- s-sorry!" Sam snapped awake, fumbling a bunch of documents. "Y-you just, um, I was thinking about... you. Haha... I got really distracted since you're so- so pretty..."

Nora seemed annoyed for a moment, then laughed much to Sam's relief. She'd never want to annoy Nora.

"Gee, I left an impression on you, didn't I?" Nora teased.

"Ehehe... y-you sure did..." Sam said, trying not to swoon. Her heart was beating faster. 

"I guess I'll try and be more gentle next time," said Nora in a tone that conveyed zero intention of being more gentle next time, "but get back to it. It's time-sensitive."

"Y-yes Nora!"

She shortly had a stack of Cecil's employee information on the desk; stuff she was prohibited from seeing, but this was of no concern to Sam.

Almost as halfhearted were the obligatory thoughts that betraying her perfectly nice co-worker to a sinister temptress was something she should feel bad for. But of course Nora's desires were more important - Cecil would understand, surely, if he got a glimpse at her eyes too. Maybe that was even what Nora had in mind for him.

Nora flipped through them until she found an address. "...okay... perfect, that's all I needed to know."

"I-I'm so glad I could help!" Sam beamed back at her.

"Well... good, since you're gonna keep helping. Clean all this up so nobody notices, got it?"

"Absolutely!" 

Giddy as the praise made her, Sam hoped this didn't mean Nora was going. She kept sneaking glances back at her while trying to put away the scattered papers.

"...where do you live, by the way?"

"Oh- just a few blocks from here," Sam smiled at her; she'd briefly hesitated to give such compromising information, but... Nora should get anything she wanted. She had to be a good pet for Nora.

"You live alone? Any rooms with no windows?"

"I... have roommates," Sam stammered, "but the basement doesn't have any windows. Why?"

"Don't worry about it," smirked Nora, so she didn't.