Rebel with a Cause - Anarchs

[Keira Kelly]

Sheets of rain whipped up the dark street, the orange glow of the street lights barely able to make a dent in the storm. Huddled beside one of the number of run down buildings, Marni sighed to herself, trying to wring some of the water from her short, dark, chin-length hair. It was a losing battle. Even sheltered as she was by the side of the building, she was still getting soaked, though at least with what she was now, she wasn't getting chilled by the rain. But it was not a night for normal people. There was nobody out tonight... That didn't bode well. She needed food tonight... She'd never let herself go back to what she had been, the situation she'd been placed in, again.. at least if she could help it and she was damned well going to do anything she could to help it.

She'd been at this now for a few weeks. Ever since she had taken back her freedom, she'd made sure to go out.. hunting? every seven or eight days at the worst. Tonight was the eighth day. If she couldn't find a.. target? mark? Victim. No, those she chose were not innocent. If she couldn't find a mark tonight.. Well, she knew what it was like to get to nine days without feeding. She didn't know what was beyond nine days but with how terrible nine was, how much of a monster she could become.. she didn't want to find out.

This was new territory though. Marni had been driven out of the previous neighbourhoods she'd hunted in a handful of a nights ago. Something was going on in this city. An unrest. More violence. And with it, increased police patrols, especially in the types of neighbourhoods Marni had been frequenting in her attempt to find the not-so-innocent to kill to feed herself. And so she'd ended up here. The outskirts of town. There were some sleazy motels a couple blocks over, catering to people passing through Atlanta, and a few vacant buildings. Well, officially vacant. Many seemed to contain vagrants and homeless. Though they probably wouldn't have been missed should any disappear, that didn't make them anything other than innocents still. And not on the menu.

With a sound of disgust at her current situation, Marni pushed off the wall and began to walk down the street, trying vainly to think of where she could go to find what she was looking for. Come out, drug dealers, she thought to herself. Come out, come out wherever you are! But of course they weren't around. Lightning flashed and immediately thunder boomed over her head, causing her to flinch for a minute. Would lightning hurt her now? A bullet hadn't. A knife or two hadn't during some of her previous hunting excursions. Well.. it HAD hurt but.. it hadn't seemed to be any real danger to her. Lightning though.. well, she didn't want to find out the hard way that she could become a crispy critter still.

Picking up the pace, she hurried along the street, out of the block with the abandoned buildings. A couple blocks over there was a bar she had passed, surrounded by some small convenient stores, corner grocers and the like that catered to some other nearby, low income apartments. Definitely not the best part of town but not as bad as she had hoped. Though she had lived here in Atlanta for a number of years now, Marni had never had cause before to know where the bad parts of town had really been. And it wasn't like she could just go and ask someone. That would just be weird. There was always Craig though.. she could go back... No, no she couldn't. She was still too much a danger to risk it.

A lighted sign ahead of her beckoned out of the rain, glowing its welcome in red neon. The Thirsty Devil. What a name for a bar. Hell, SHE was a thirsty devil right at that moment. Maybe it was a sign, she thought with a chuckle. Nah, but it was a place to get out of the god forsaken rain for a little and who knew, she might even get lucky. There were some rows of motorcycles out front. Bikers? If any patrons were of a certain biker gang.. well.. they did have a reputation for being a violent, criminalistic lot. If she could pick them out.. she might just have a meal for herself. If not.. well.. she wouldn't stay long. She would find food tonight. Even if she had to stand on a street corner pretending to be a prostitute... again. It didn't matter anything about guys that picked up prostitutes. It didn't matter that the women went out to the street corners for that reason or that the guys paid them. They were still USING those women. That was enough to put them on the menu for Marni. Anger rose within her at the thought, at having been used herself.. in a different way but used nonetheless.

She forced the anger back down as she came up to the door of the bar, pushing on it. A blast of warm, dry air hit her along with the rowdy sounds of the establishment. She stopped just inside, looking around, letting the rain drip off her onto the mat a bit. Though she dressed just a bit punk with a sleeveless, black, denim jacket over a t-shirt, jeans, a dark red streak in the front of her black hair and dark red tattoos down her left arm, she definitely stool out amongst the patronage of the bar. Squeezing out her denim jacket as best she could over the mat and then hooking some of her hair back a bit, she proceeded forwards, well aware that there were a lot of eyes on her. It wasn't like in the movies though where someone walks into a bar and all conversations ended. The volume had not changed one iota in here. But still, she could tell she was being watched. Just act natural....

Should she go up to the bar? It was pretty busy and.. well it would seem weird to go there but decline to order anything. She could pretend.. Take a beer with her over to some table in the back and just leave it there eventually... Yeah, maybe that was the best idea. She did have some money. She had had a little bit that night that it all started, but she'd taken everything off of the few people she had drained over the last few weeks since her escape. They hadn't needed it anymore anyways.

Squeezing past a burly looking biker, she pushed up to the bar, catching the attention of the bartender. "Can I get a beer?" she asked, beginning to pull out her wallet. "Whatever is your cheapest kind..." Why bother paying top dollar for something she wasn't going to drink anyways. She cast a sidelong glance at the bartender, waiting to hear the price but the appearance of the other woman caught her attention. She had to be as pale as Marni herself was. Huh.. well, some people were just pale, she guessed.

[rivaan]

Tonight the bar was going slower than usual because of the storm going outside. Vanessa woke up with a groan sometime after the sun had already gone down. She was someone who liked to sleep in as much as she could get. Something about sleep was just pleasant and especially double so when it was raining. The monotone sounds of rain hitting the windows and the roof were something that often could put someone to sleep and she was not an exception. Thus she stood in her bed for a good while more after waking up." On such a good night it's a shame having to leave bed..." She mumbled as she moved away and went to the bathroom.

By the time an hour had rolled over she was already prepared for the night. She was squeeky clean and dressed up in high bar fashion : tshirt, leather jacket, jeans and fancy belt buckle that had a pair of revolvers and a mustang engraved on it. With a smile she pulled her own revolver which was an old high caliber Colt revolver as if it was pulled off a western movie. The handle was from black mahagoni wood and there was a distinct silver sheen on the barrel. Tucking it into the back of her jeans and hiding it additionally under the leather jacket she walked outside of her office... bedroom...office? Office yeah. The bar wasn't exactly huge, but it wasn't small either. Her own bedroom/office was on the second floor along with a few other rooms for people who worked for her and were trusted.

She quickly walked downstairs since the upstairs could be only accessed from the back corridor. There was also a small kitchen if it could be called that. That one was mainly used to house veggies and different salami which were cut into appetisers to go along with the booze sometimes. Mainly when there was something going on like football games or the like. People liked their foodstuffs with the booze. Well and there was also the fridge with the blood but that one was tactically placed under the bar and was well hidden.

"Hey Jerry, I'm going to take teh bar for the moment." She stated and the young man quickly nodded, hurried a reply and left to deal with the storeroom rearrangements." Good." Vanessa added as some of the regulars here threw her a glance before returning to their usual things to do which was drink alcohol and talk really loudly.

She was well known among the local anarchs since she ran this place. Her creed was that she dealt near capitally with all offenses and people knew it. Her place was an Elysium and all were welcome as long as they kept her peace and she wouldn't have to shoot anyone. Kine were welcome too, but no hunting on the grounds. This was not a nightclub and the lighting and people density wasn't as great to hide open feedings. You wanted to hunt, you find a person and you take it to another place be it theirs or yours. Also no killings in the area, it was bad for business. Now with the Sabbat and Camarilla in open turf war for Atlanta things were getting hectic. What's more Vanessa got wind of a serial killer once every 7-8 days. This had the trade markings of a new kindred left by themselves. Especially since the prey were near always bad men of some deffinition or another.

As things were going on their usual pace, the door opened and someone new entered. A woman, a pale woman whom Vanessa didn't recognize. Well wasn't that peachy? The woman walked in to the bar and ordered a beer. She knew all Anarchs in Atlanta she had met all of them at one point or another. Especially now that a war was going on their numbers were growing lower from time to time. They also had to organize defenses against Sabbat incursions too. She didn't recognize this woman so either that woman was a cammie or a sabbat... or someone new in town could be too. Then there was the stupidly low chance possibility this was a new kindred who was without a mentor.

A kindred asking for beer here. Yeah this was not a local kindred hell even the cammies who came around to annoy her from time to time knew that they can order blood here. This was stupidly seeming more and more like a new kindred, but it couldn't be right? Vanessa was more and more amused at the possibility.

"Sure, but this one's on the house." She smiled and pulled a bottle of beer from the fridge, openign it and handing it over, leaning on the bar with inquistive happy expression." So this your first time here or you passing through town? Never seen ya around these parts before." Vanessa asked as any bartender would aka ask questions and generally be a good talking partner. Granted she was the owner here and while the locals knew it this one judging by their looks didn't. So it was a perfect opportunity to chat.

[Keira Kelly]

Marni hadn't been expecting to get the drink for free. She frowned, studying the other woman for a moment. Nope, no suggestive tip offs there. The lady wasn't hitting on her, something that had happened once or twice before. Maybe just nice to new customers? Marni didn't buy that for an instant. Wasn't a very lucrative business giving away all you offered for free, even if only to new customers. And this place looked like it was doing all right, that it had been around for a good while. Instead, she gave the female bartender a small smile and a nod. "Thanks." she answered.

She was just about to turn to head over to a remote corner when the woman started up talking again. What the hell. Maybe the woman was just being friendly after all with a near-drowned rat seeking shelter from the storm. What harm was it answering a few innocuous questions. As long as it didn't take too long. "No, I'm from the city.. that is, I've lived here a number of years." she replied, holding the cold bottle still. And it was cold. She put it back on the counter in front or her for the moment. "I.. am just from another part of town. Had a bit of an upset in my life a little while ago, though, so I had to change neighbourhoods." Close enough.

Well, this might be an opportunity in disguise. "Say, maybe you could help me though. I was originally living in around Dunwoody. I guess not growing up in Atlanta, I didn't bother leaving that district much. I really don't know this area very well." she said as a set up to her question. "Is there anywhere around here that you would recommend a young woman should avoid? Some of the people in here look.. a bit on the rough side..." she began but then put her hands up in an apologetic gesture. "Not that I mean they are anything but law-abiding patrons, no offence intended. I just want to know if there is anywhere around where there are actually rough, dangerous types that I really should avoid." she concluded, wiping at some condensation dripping down the neck of the beer bottle, trying to be nonchalant.

She really needed to feed, tonight or early tomorrow night at the very latest. And if it was tomorrow, she would have to avoid anyone she wouldn't want to inadvertently attack should she lose her control. She knew right now that she was paler than she usually was even, a bit more gaunt, more ashen. She had found that after she had fed, if she looked in a mirror, she was almost.. almost the same complexion she had been before all of this. A bit paler but at least.. a better complexion. This close to when she needed to feed though.. If the lighting in here had been better, well, the woman across the counter from her would likely be asking if she was sick with something. In a way, she guessed she was.

From myth and lore, she knew the tell-tale clues but.. she couldn't bring herself to admit that was what she was now. It was preposterous, right? But.. the fangs, the blood, the lack of a pulse or the need for air kind of made it impossible to ignore. Was vampirism a sickness? Could it be cured? Some of the old stories said yes. Most said the only cure was killing the damned thing, the monster. That wasn't and wouldn't ever be an option, as far as Marni was concerned. She had been robbed of her life through no fault of her own. She had every right to keep living, even if it was like this. Besides, she was doing the city a service by taking out the trash as she went. She just needed to find a more efficient way to do it.

She picked up the bottle again. "I really do appreciate the beer, Ms...?" she trailed off, asking the name. It was only polite to thank the woman knowing her name. "I can't really stay long tonight but this is a nice place. I think I'll stop around again another night." she said. She raised the bottle in a small toast. "Thanks again!" she added, preparing to walk away.

( Vanessa can keep Marni there by continuing to talk to her. Maybe making a comment about taking a drink of the beer? XD )

[rivaan]

"Ohh... sorry to hear that." She said with a voice filled with sympathy towards Marni at her tale she had to change neighborhood. Though that said it did fit rather well with the pale tone on the skin. The rope was being tightened more and more around the possibility of this being their runaway youth that was rampaging across the slightly darker corners of the streets." Well I hope thigns look up for you soon enough. Don't worry and cheer up! As they say the morning is better than the night. I'm sure it will all work out eventually." She added with a comforting smile which would be slightly out of place given what kind of place this was, but the other patrons were keeping to their own businesses of drinking and having merry time.

"Hmmm now that you mention it, I do guess a pretty young thing like you should know that indeed." Vanessa nodded, throwing a playful smirk at a patron who seemed to have tuned to their conversation, but when he saw her smirk at him, he quickly looked away." Better avoid the southern parts of the city like all of them. There're whispers of a new gang on the rise or something that's taken control of that territory. Also the northern parts, supposedly that's another gang, but here in the west part it's mostly calm and away from the growing tension for the most part." She said with a shrug and didn't really lie. For all she cared cammies and sabbat were equal as thugs when it came to turf wars and they were fighting quite a lot to the point even kine had taken a notice, but it was chalked to gang wars and the like. Masquerade at play in it's finest. Still the Anarchs were weakened so as far as Vanessa knew their people were just playing for keeps right now trying to maintain their current territory, but chances were good whomever wins the struggle between the cammies and sabbat was going to try to oust the anarchs too. Well not without a fight, they still remembered the Anarch rebellions.

"Ahh call me Vanessa. Most people call me such." She replied, but truth was she was more known by her family name Helgate since people paid her a degree of respect for her position. That and because they didn't want to get into a fight with her a lot of the time. Kine of the biker gangs knew well enough not to fuck with her and even other anarchs knew it. She also didn't give any face to the Cammies unless they played by the rules and not even get into talking about the Sabbat." Ahh I will love to have you around more frequently. This place needs more new presence indeed!" She stated as the other woman was walking away. Then she just couldn't help herself as she leaned on her right elbow on the counter." So tell me what do you think of the beer? Been a while since I've opened one of those." She said with a huge grin, an amuzed grin of a predator. It was a trained grin that hide the fangs of a vampire, but if you were close enough you could notice them and Marni was certainly close enough right now." I really want to have chat with you in my office, private chat." She added with firm voice that said she didn't take any bullshit." Don't try your luck, many a braver ones have."

[Keira Kelly]

Marni thanked the other woman for the well wishing, though she remained cautious. Perhaps at one time she wouldn't have been so defensive, so distrustful and she would have just accepted that some people were decent enough but the past six months had turned everything she knew upside down. She winced at the mention of morning. There had been once.. once, since her escape that she had tried to stay awake in the morning, tried to go near a curtained window. She hadn't even gotten within the room where it was located, with only very dim light filtering from beneath it before she had lost control, pure unfamiliar fear surging through her, and she fled out of the room faster than she had thought possible. Even now, the thought of morning, of the sun, carried some deep-seated terror for some reason. She returned a facade of a smile. "I guess I am more of a night person these days.." she answered.

When the woman began to answer her question about the more dangerous areas of town, Marni got the distinct impression that the woman was warning her of something other than just areas of high crime. Taking on an organized gang was not something Marni was looking to do anyways. She was only after picking off the small fry, ones that she could actually get to. This woman though was talking of a massive gang war set to embroil the whole city and.. well, Marni though she'd have heard something about that but.. she hadn't. Was the woman making it up? Well, she'd have to find out one way or another. She needed to hunt. She didn't really have a choice. Maybe she could find some scouts or something.

Marni raised the bottle she held again. "Well, thanks for the beer, Vanessa." she added, avoiding giving her own name to the woman. Her name wasn't that common and she'd certainly have been declared missing. Likely it had been on the news six months ago... Hell, for all she knew, her case was probably still open. She didn't want to get recognized. The thought of returning to her old life, as much as she direly missed it, scared the hell out of her; she was terrified of what she might do to people she loved. As she began to turn, Vanessa called to her, stopping Marni from retreating. Her jaw dropped ever so slightly as she looked down at the undrunk beer, not quite catching the amused grin on the other woman's face just yet. "Uhh.. great..." she answered, well aware that she hadn't yet even taking a sip, nor even brought it to her lips.

Her gaze came back up to the other woman, intended to disengage herself finally but what she saw froze her. The bottle of beer dropped out of her hand, clunking to the floor as the beer pooled out of it. Her jaw worked but no words came out. She swallowed hard, trying to process what she saw. She wasn't the only one. Well, Tobias had to have been one too, right? If there had been Tobias, there was bound to be others. But this was the first one that she'd seen since Tobias. The first one she could.. find out SOMETHING about what was going on. When Vanessa stated her desire to have a chat, Marni nodded, still in shock.

Realizing finally that she was no longer holding the bottle, she glanced down. "Oh.. I'm.. sorry..." she stuttered, bending down and picking it up. She couldn't do much about the small puddle that had escaped but she put the now half full bottle on the counter, moving to follow the woman. The notion struck her that she might be walking herself to her death right there. She had no clue how these.. creatures would treat one such as her. But she couldn't continue on as she was. She had to find out, one way or another.

When they were in the woman's office, Vanessa closed the door behind them. Marni kept her eyes on the other woman the whole time, resisting speaking until she was sure they couldn't be overheard. "You're like me.." she said, her tone confused and stunned. "Are there others around too? What.. what are you going to do to me?" she asked, her brows furrowing in trepidation. "Tobias didn't tell me anything..." she added, half to herself. "Can you tell me anything about all of this?" she asked desperately.

( Tobias Stewart was Marni's sire, a fairly old and established Anarch Toreador with really strong ties to the Camarilla. Apparently many anarch toreadors still maintain ties with cammy ones because they try to change the camarilla from the inside, letting the ideals be known during social gatherings of the clan and sect. Vanessa will have known Tobias very likely, though you can decide how she knew him.. whether colleagues, rivals, etc.. He hasn't been heard from in 6 months and his disappearance would be fairly big news in the anarch community. )

[rivaan]

"Don't worry, it will be cleaned."Vanessa was pleasantly amused by Marni's reaction. It was fresh to see someone overreact to seeing someone of their kind for the first time. The bottle falling caused some stir by the patrons who reacted to the sound, but when she threw them a glance that it was okey they all returned to their own occupations." Clean it fast." She said to the worker she send away earlier that had just returned from cleaning up the storeroom. He nodded and quickly went to take a mop while she led Marni away through the back door into the other part of the building.

She led the girl into her office which consisted of three rooms really. First was the very office itself, but it wasn't the typical office a person would htink of. Sure it had a desk and a computer, but it had all the biker, rock and metal decor it can have, a couch and so on. Then there was the small room that was connected to the office with an open entry way aka no door. That one was where her bed was and it was a big comfortable bed that took most of the small room's space. The entry to the bathroom was also there. Vanessa walked to the desk and sat on it instead of the chair.

"Yep well probably not completley like you, but a vampire yes. If it's that what you meant." She smiled as Marni started to speak in the expected manner of speaking fast different questions. Such things were quite easy to see when they will happen and from what she gathered this was a recent vampire without a mentor. So it was natural to be unsure.

"Yeah there are a few of us. Some you've already seen downstairs though." She smirked." Did you think that all the patrons downstairs were humans?" She asked with a huge grin." Don't worry, luckily for you I do not plan to do anything to you, my dear little thug killer. Well at least if you pick up your act and start acting as you should." She stated with flat voice." There are some rules you're going to need to learn fast if you want to continue surviving. Otherwise you're going to end up in a ditch soon." She added and pulled her revolver from the back of her waist placing it on the desk next to her in a dramatic manner." And bullets are still lethal if the one who uses the guns knows where to aim. So keep that in mind."

"Fuck, You've got to be kidding me... You're Tobias's childe?" Vanessa cursed looking at Marni with shocked expression. Now this she did NOT expect." He didn't tell you anything? Since that's the case I suppose he's dead right?" She asked with a sigh." He's been missing for 6 months so we more or less have already assumed the worst, but his loss was a grave one." Vanessa said with grim voice and looked at Marni." We were colleagues with him, didn't always see eye to eye, but he was a good man."

" Alright, first thing's first. Tell me what I should cal you." She stated and looked at Marni since the other still had not given her a name to call her by." Actually wait... Mani...Meni...Mari..." She mumbled and pulled through stack of paper on the desk by her side." Marni, wait I knew you were familiar from somewhere." She stated and showed the police missing persons report acompanied with a photo." Well that's one mystery done, now before I start to explain you the things you need to know, tell me how Tobias died. This is really important so be truthful with me. "

[Keira Kelly]

Marni couldn't help but close her eyes in a slow blink as she shook her head in disbelief at hearing the words.. no the word. The Word. F***. Seriously? Vampires. Well, it wasn't as if she didn't sleep all day, have fangs and drink blood now but... F***. Hearing it out loud just sounded... fake. Vampires were the things in movies and what kids dressed up as for halloween. And now.. she was one. Permanently. At least she assumed so, if everything other then The Lost Boys was right. She opened her eyes again, looking at the other woman.. a woman who looked around her own age. Who knew how old she actually was. Marni took a breath, not for the sake of needing oxygen now, but just to be able to speak. "Damn.. who would have ever guessed vampires were real. Hiding under the myth..." she said, half to herself.

She frowned then, the other words Vanessa had spoken hitting her. "What do you mean, not completely? There's different kinds? How are you different than me?" she asked curiously. Vanessa looked.. well human though ashen, just as Marni did. The differences didn't seem to be in appearance. How they fed maybe? Something completely else? The next thing Vanessa said though caught Marni completely off guard. She couldn't resist looking back at the closed door behind them, going over a mental image of all the patrons of the bar she had passed by downstairs. "Wait..." She turned back to look at Vanessa. "What?" Her head turned back towards the door again. "Some of them were... too?" A confused expression was turned back to face the other woman. "You gotta be kidding me... You're not though, are you..." she answered herself flatly.

Marni's jaw dropped at hearing what Vanessa called her. "How.. how did you know..." Fear was building up in her. Her way of thinking was, of course, still that of human society; she had killed and that was not acceptable, even if it had been scumbags. The implicit threat in what the other woman added on only confused and scared Marni even more, the gun not so much but she knew there was more threat than just that chunk of metal there. She had been shot before.

She turned wide eyes on Vanessa. "I didn't know what to do... what else can I do? I need to eat, don't I? I picked people that weren't innocents. If I'm forced to kill.. because I am, I chose only those who didn't deserve to live..." Her face took on a pained look. "I was forced to... I can't kill innocents again." she added. "I don't know what else I can do that I haven't been the past few weeks..." God, this wasn't going well... Here she hoped to get some answers, answers she had hoped could keep that monstrous side of her at bay, give her a better chance to control it... and she was being warned away from the only way she had so far found to do so.

She felt a single tear run down her cheek. From quite a few previous nights that she'd allowed herself some weakness, she knew that tear was blood red and would be stark against her pale skin. Hopelessness coursed through her as her eyes sunk downwards but hearing the word 'childe' made them rise again. She looked at the other with a bit of confusion. "Child? No... uh, I guess, not like... I guess he did this to me, if that's what you mean, then yeah." she answered. She was prepared to explain it all but Vanessa changed the subject, for the moment.

When the other woman asked her name, Marni opened her mouth to answer, but Vanessa cut her off as she began to thumb through a bunch of papers. Hearing the woman find her name among them shocked Marni, until she saw what the one paper was, and it broke her heart. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, realizing just how many people now thought her dead probably. If it had been weeks, or maybe even a couple of a months, her parents, sister and Craig had probably held out hope that she would be found. But six months... They had all known she wasn't the type to ever just leave. They knew something bad had happened and after six months, they all would consider her dead. She was, but that was besides the point.

Marni nodded in response to Vanessa's request. Though she didn't know how Tobias had died.. or even if he had or not, she could at least tell Vanessa what she knew. "He came up to me on the street that night. He told me he was a fan of my art, that he wanted to buy it all and get to know the artist. He took me to some apartment. I.. don't even know WHY I went with him. It was like I wasn't myself, I was feeling someone else's emotions or something. He.. well, he got close and kissed my neck. I knew I shouldn't, I would never have wanted to... I have a boyfriend.... had a boyfriend. I don't know. But, at that moment, I didn't want anything else, I didn't want him to stop and I don't know why." she continued.

She shook her head. "I guess I passed out. Seeing what I do now, I guess he was feeding on me and I passed out from the blood loss." She rubbed a hand on her face as she concentrated on those memories. She shook her head again. "No, he didn't tell me anything. ANYTHING. When I woke up, he wasn't there." She shrugged lightly. "I don't know if he's dead or just decided he made the wrong choice or what... But he was gone when I woke up."

"But.. after a few minutes, someone else came in the apartment, acting like an intruder, being careful." she said, really thinking about something now. "He wasn't a vampire." she said. Because Vanessa was the first one she had really come across, she could tell at least some difference now: when she had been direly hungry, she had been able to hear and almost sense the blood in that man, with Vanessa, there was nothing like that.. and Marni was fairly hungry.

"I couldn't control my hunger. I took him down but.. afterwards, when I couldn't protect myself.. I guess when my body was changing and the pain was... Well, I guess there were more people. I couldn't really focus on them but I know they took me away from there." she explained. "And they kept me locked up for nearly six months... I only got away three weeks ago." She frowned, wondering why she should feel grief for a man she hadn't known for more than twenty minutes and a man that had.. used her and ripped her away from her life. Ripped her life away from her too. But she did feel grief. She pushed it deep, down inside. "They were from the Church of Immaculate Immortality, that crazy cult down at the south end of the city... If anyone knows anything, some of them might... But I killed their leader so I don't even know if they are together anymore. Some of his Faithful, his inner circle might know though..."

She shook her head again. "I'm sorry I don't have all the answers for you but it's the best I can do. I can try to get information from them if you want.. They know me, know what I'm capable of... They starved me and then threw in innocent victims to me so they know what I can do..." she said in a pained tone. "Without their leader, they will fear me. He claimed he was the only one that could control me and they all believed it. They fear me without him. They'll talk to me..." she added, a resolute hardness taking its place. She paused, frowning. "If I don't feed by tomorrow though.. I don't know that I'll be able to control myself. You don't want me going after the people I was before, draining the ones who deserve it and sparing the innocent, so at least tell me what the hell I can do about this damned hunger? How the hell do I control it if I can't feed?" she asked in desperation.

( Church of Immaculate Immortality is known around, been on the news, mostly for them being eccentric though there has been some news of some of their known members disappearing here and there, most notably in the past four months, there have been several. On top of that, there's been suspected connections to vampires, specifically one vampire: an elder named Maximilian Ditko, of the Anarchs though perhaps with ties to the Sabbat. What is known though is that he is also Toreador and has been a rival of Tobias' for centuries. If he had anything to do with this though, proof has to be obtained before any 'legal' actions can be sanctioned, especially in this time of war all around, blame has to be ensured that it wasn't the Camarilla or Sabbat. Or maybe there is a connection.... )

[rivaan]

Vanessa smiled widely as she watched the fledgeling get in terms with what she really was. It was fun and amuzing, kind of adorable all things considered. She laughed softly to grab Marni's attention." Well Vampire is what the popular fiction calls us. We call ourselves Kindred. That's the official term we use in between us. Vampire is more of a ehh casual pop slang all thing sconsidered." She explained with a smile and moved over to seat on her chair behind the desk, gesturing to Marni to take a seat on the chair in front of it. The gun was still placed on the table as a reminder.

"Alright, chill." She stated firmly and gestured for Marni to take a seat again before the other woman gets too stressed and tense and overhyped from all the new information she was recieving." Calm down, okey? I will explain it all in brief terms and we can leave the detailed descriptions for later." Vanessa added and smiled." As for your question there are different bloodlines or clans as you can call them. There are differences in between the different clans... The cursed blood we carry has variants different aspects and the like. It also grands different benefits in some cases. Your sire, the one who turns a human into a kindred, is from a clan called Toreador. I'm from a clan called Brujah. These clans hail all the way back to antiquity." She added without getting too into detail for the moment. The story about Cain and Abel could be gotten into detail later.

"As I said calm down, I'm not too angry with you for killing some thugs. Thugs are the dregs of society that can be disposed of. It's not really too hard to cover their deaths as they are as likely to die from a bullet anyways." Van stated with a shrug." Still if you continue to feed on them and kill them all the time it's turning into a breach of what we call Masquerade. The masquearade is a law thats focused on keeping our existance secret thus why humans do no know our existance in most cases." With a vain smile she explained." On the topic though, you CAN feed without killing... You can pull away from a human before you cause them too severe of a bloodloss and they should be fine enough if a little anemic for a little while, but alive and well non the less." She explained and pulled a bloodpack from the small fridge in her desk." Here have a quick snack this one's from the local blood bank. When you aren't on the verge of losing control we can continue this talk."

After that she listend to Marni's story. She listened carefully to hear and understand every detail. She didn't speak, just let the girl tell what she went through at her pace all the way to the end. That said by the end of it, Vanessa's expression had turned grim." Kine had a vampire caught?" She asked raising an eyebrow. How the hell didn't they hear about this sooner. Someone was pulling strings and trying to keep the happenings in the dark." Ditko..." She growled with annoyance. Now there was a man whom she suspected in Tobias's disappearance, but there wasn't any concrete proof. The fact the cammies and the Sabbat were encroaching on their turf was making keeping tabs on a lot of different things hard as said eyes had to be diverted to observe the intentions and actions of those factions." I see, you've had a rather unfortunate embrace, Marni." Vanessa siad with warm friendly voice." Do not worry anymore, no one can touch you in here. The information you brought to me was priceless and important. A lot is on the line and what you told me can save some lives. Will need to gather clues and proof, but it's miles ahead than what I had earlier. " She added and quickly wrote down something on a piece of paper.

"As for your question about the feeding, it requires willpower. That's the very basic of control. You need to be able to pull away from your prey. Naturally it becomes easier with time as you get used to it, but it's also easier if you feed regularly and do not let yourself become as starved. Now make sure you empty that bloodpack and I will call someone to help you with your hunger."

[Keira Kelly]

A sense of... relief? flooded through Marni as she listened to the other woman speak and answer her own questions. Hearing the answers though only left with with what seemed like millions of more questions. She rubbed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand for a moment, trying to process it all. Kindred, clans, bloodlines... into antiquity? That made it sound like there had been these.. vampires... oh, wait, Kindred since.. what? since before known history? At least, known human history anyways. Wait.. in most stories vampires were immortal. From what she'd experienced, her body could take a fair amount of damage now. Vanessa had said there was a limit to how much damage it could take but.. it was certainly a heck lot more immortal than had she been.. human still. Darn, that was going to be a hard concept to get used to. That she, Marni, was something other than human now. Back to the immortality though, what really interested her was the other aspect of it: were they un-aging then too? Like in most stories?

"Toreador..." she repeated slowly, sort of confused. Bull-fighter? Like the song? "Toreador? Am I supposed to be fighting bulls or something? Tobias seemed really intent on my art I think. What has that got to do with being a 'Toreador'? And Brujah.. are you a vampiric witch or something?" She did know that Brujah was Spanish for witch as well. Her glance fell to the gun laid out again. Vanessa had seemed to want to calm Marni down but... that gun was still out there, still an obvious symbol of threat. Hearing though that Vanessa was not angry about Marni's kills was only.. mildly comforting. She frowned, a look that carried lines of the fear and regret of one that had nowhere else to turn. "I tried to hide them.. the bodies. I guess... well, I'm not very good at that. It wasn't really a skill I needed before..." she tried to explain.

Hearing, though, that she could feed without killing froze Marni in place, totally intent on hearing more. It was possible to feed without killing? Please, oh god, yes please... she thought to herself. The rest of what Vanessa said though wasn't of much help. Marni frowned again. "I tried pulling away. If I didn't leave it too long between.. feeding... I could force myself to stop but.. I mean, I did a lot of damage to them. They bled out anyways..." she explained. Please, let there be more to that... "My teeth.. huh.. my FANGS I guess actually, went down to the arteries in their neck or wrists. It caused too much damage every time.. I had two bleed out like that and I realized it was just a waste..."

Talking about it, the thought and memories of that warm, sweet.. salty blood though was getting to her. She could feel that force stirring inside of her, the one that took her over if she let herself get too hungry. Well, she was getting close to that 'too hungry' state. Even now, her control was.. slipping. Vanessa obviously saw it too because the next think Marni knew, a blood bag.. like the kind you saw in hospitals, was put into her hands. She stared at it for only a moment, her eyes hypnotized by the deep red within the thick bag. Only a moment and then she was tearing at the bag, bringing it up to her mouth where her fangs were already extended without her even willing it. She tore off one corner of the plastic and began pouring the thick liquid into her mouth, drinking it greedily. It was.. pretty terrible compared to all the times she had fed before, fed from live people.. but it was still satiating. It wasn't much but the thing inside her was calming, quieting. She sucked at the bag until there was nothing left to drain and even then tried her best to get anything else out of it.

Failing that, she resorted to licking off the last dregs from her lips and fingers and then stopped with a sigh when there was no more. She turned a look to the other woman, partially confused and embarrassed. "It didn't.. quite taste the same..." she began, briefly wondering if something had been done to the blood. It had tasted.. dead. Flat, lacking taste. The cold temperature of it wasn't that great either. But she did feel a bit better. She was still hungry but.. better. She'd have to get more.. even if it was the dead-tasting blood in blood bags like that. Maybe she could go and find a hospital nearby and somehow try to get a supply for emergencies.

During her story, when Vanessa asking about.. Kine? catching a vampire, that just confused Marni. If she meant the cult people catching her.. well, there HAD been a lot of them and they had caught her when Marni had been incapacitated by the pain of becoming what she had become. Anyone could have been caught like that.. Her brow drew together at hearing a name spoken. It wasn't one that Marni was familiar with at all. Ditko? She didn't get a chance to ask, however, as Vanessa's tone seemed to turn gentler and more sympathetic. Marni felt her tension begin to melt. She had found someone like her, someone who could help her and understand what she was going through. That had been more than Marni had hoped for for the last six months. She gave a small, sad smile and nodded at the grateful reply to her story. She could have said she was doing this for the greater good but.. truth be told, she had done all of this for herself, just to survive. Right now, that was what mattered to her.

She ran a hand through her shorter hair when Vanessa spoke about feeding again. "If I can control my hunger.. maybe feed more.. I know I can stop when I want to but.. like I said.. what about the damage the teeth, the fangs cause?" she asked, holding out the empty bag to show that she had already finished it when the other woman mentioned it too. "I just.. do I just have to be careful where I.. bite?" Damn, that sounded weird too! And what did Vanessa mean about calling in to help with her hunger? And that no one could touch her in here? Vanessa seemed fairly.. powerful maybe then? She had said there were a lot of others like them here.

"Vanessa.. I.. have some other questions." she began. "How much of the stories about vampires, about.. us, are true? I am forced to fall asleep when I think its near dawn every day. The thought of sunlight.. scares the hell out of me now for some reason. I can FEEL when the sun is down or about to come up! I can only guess that's like some.. ingrained instinct? That the stories about vampires and sunlight might be right? What about other stuff? Stakes? Holy water, crosses, and all of that?" She knew that fire freaked her the hell out now and well.. anything being set on fire would burn so.. best to just stay away from that one. "Also... what about the... well, do we stop aging? Stop getting sick and all that like in certain stories?" she asked. Vanessa looked younger than Marni but seemed so much more.. experienced, like an old soul. Well, there was certainly a new meaning for that term now! But then again, there were other stories were vampires weren't immortal too. She had to know. It was just a hunch but she wanted to know.

[rivaan]

Vanessa chuckled when Marni went on a question spree about the names of the clans. She waved a hand in an amused manner to pull Marni's attention into stopping to talk so she can explain things more." You have a lot to learn, Marni." She stated with calm collected voice." Toreador and Brujah that's the name of the clans. The names are old and some have slightly altered on the way, but mostly stood the same. Anyhow yes you are right on that train of thought. Toreadors and art are connected. I mentioned the cursed blood is slightly different between clans right? Yeah well Art is the Toreadors curse and blessing at the same time. Have you looked at art since your embrace?" Vanessa asked." If you have you probably have noticed it, the overpowering draw to just endlessly enjoy your art. That's the curse of toreadors, they are so tied and drawn to their own art of choice that they literally can lose themselves in basking in it." Vanessa stated with a wave of her hand." At the same time that very same curse is also what keeps you most bound to your humanity, the emotions of a human. Well at least that's what Toreadors say." She smiled.

"As for my clan Brujah this is a rather long and complicated story that let's just say it's a little too early for you to get into details of, other things are more pressing." The Brujah woman explained "Well that's normal. Fresh blood out of the body, still warm and gushing from the heartbeats is one thing, but once it colds down it's no longer as tasty. Think of it like normal food was, most normal food was not as good cold when than when it was freshly made. It's basically the same thing, but beggers cannot be chosers."

" Yeah, that's part of it, the fact they bleed out is because you lack basic knowledge of a kindred. Sadly Thobias wasn't there to teach you. When you finish feeding, all you need to do is lick the wounds. It is so that the licked bite wounds will close up. It is like that you keep your prey alive, but you should be careful how much blood you draw. Even if you pull away if it's too late they might die from the extreme Anemia, okey?" She explained and asked to see if Marni was following so far." Don't worry, I will give you a chance to feed proper without killing later and if you cannot stop yourself, I will pull you away at that point." Van added.

"Slower Marni, slower. You do not need to take it all in at once." Van smiled and let out a soft laughter." Fine, well not everything you might have heard about vampires is true, but most legends draw their inspirations from some kind of fact usually so just to answer all of your questions for the moment." She said with a smile." We are cursed so yeah we cannot walk under the sun. Yes the sun burns us... a lot so you better not be under it's rays unless you want to be torched. It's not instantenous poof ashes, but rather the 'OHHMYGOOD IT BURRRRRRNNNS IIIIIIIIITTTTT BUUUUUUUURNNNNNNS!!' type. Yeah that's your instincts as a kindred. Or rather the beast's instincts, that's what we call that primordial part of us." She said innocently after making a horendous scream of pain and terror as if it was nothing." The holy water, cross and the like now that's a curious thing. They sort of work, but not always." She stated with flat voice." You see only people who's faith is real can conjure such effects. So it's not the cross that's repulsing a vampire, it's the faith of the one wielding it. Generally unless you go after clergy or vampire hunters you should be good on that front, rarely you will encounter such cases anyways. Most people cannot really give themselves to faith." She stated.

"Does this answer most of your question for the moment, Marni?" She asked with playful glint in her eyes and pulled her phone." Veta, Gim, yeah come to my office. Mhm... " Vanessa quickly called two people.