Post by Thad Cotton on Aug 27, 2009 21:26:22 GMT -5
His kind so frequently operated in secrecy and darkness, afraid lest their prey should discover the reality of their existance. As far as the government was concerned, he had died two years ago, and not long after his eldest sister had passed away as well. How they would react to knowledge that so many considered deceased still stalked the streets at night, feeding on those still living, he didn't know. Melodee, the leader of their coven, seemed to think they would react poorly, possibly try to stamp out the blood-thirsty predators in their midst, and she was therefore quite strict on any who threatened their secret, either by accident or design.
Thad didn't agree with this injunction, however, because it included a decree that limited his ability to outright kill his prey. {Take what you needed and no more; if people vanish too frequently around our feeding places, they'll become suspicious.}That was what he had been told. He hated this rule, because feeding was about so much more than nourishment; it was about the fear instilled in his intended victim, in the pleading and the screams and seeing how long they could survive before the shock and the pain killed them. It was no fun having to sneak around and make sure they didn't notice you were drinking from them, because you had to let them go back out into the wilds and so you couldn't risk them telling everyone they'd been accosted by a vampire. If it were only one or two people, they could easily be dismissed by their fellows, but too many and once more there would be suspicion. And it wasn't that he didn't understand this; he did. He didn't particularly fancy fighting vampire hunters; he preferred prey that couldn't effectively fight back. But dammit, he liked playing with his food!!
So he had decided that, tonight, he was going to deliberately disobey Melodee, and lure his food somewhere private, where he could torment them to his cold dead heart's content. That had been his plan. His food had not fully cooperated, however. Oh, she had quite willingly followed him to the lighthouse, his favorite snacking spot due to how easy it was to lure romantics there, and she hadn't at first believed when he had shown her his fangs and proclaimed that he was going to kill her, apparently convinced he was play-acting for her benefit. The problem was that she had disappointingly died before he had really got started, and he prodded at her limp body for a few seconds, looking thoroughly distressed by her performance, and privately deciding that if he had known she would be such a poor sport he would have ripped out her jugular first thing rather than bothering pulling out all the stops.
He picked up her body in disgust, taking the endless winding stairs to the top of the lighthouse. He would just dump her over the edge, then -- after he'd finished eating, of course, though it wasn't very appetizing now that she was dead, but there were vampire's starving in Africa, he couldn't let this meal go to waste. Actually, now that he thought about it, the third-world vampires probably had it better than the first-world, since he figured less people would question strange deaths and disappearances. Maybe he should look into moving to Cuba or Haiti or something.
"Thad!!" A voice sounded right next to his ear, and he jumped, dropping his meal; the body tumbled down the stairs, and he twisted to glare at the intruder. He expected it to be the ghost, meddlesome spirit that she was, telling him off for bringing his food to her house, but it was Sidra.
"What are you doing here?!" He snapped, annoyed at his sister (and Childe) for interrupting his meal.
The ghost of a smile played at her pale face. "You need to wake up."
"What?!" He crossed his arms, staring at her challengingly. "I'm awake!"
"Thad. You need to wake up. It's time for school." She took a step closer to him, resting long-fingered hands on his shoulder and shaking him roughly. "Wake up, Thad, I'm not going to be late because you can't handle staying out late."
He waved his hands at her, trying to ward her off. "Not goin' to school, vampires dun gotta go to school."
Then the dark of the night fell away, as Si pulled the curtains away from the window that had appeared in the wall, "Get up. Now. I'm not dealing with this." She pushed him, and he fell down the stairs, after his dead prey....
And hit the floor. "Whaddya do that for!!" He demanded, scrambling to his feet and giving her a reproachful stare. "You in'errupted my meal!!" He added indignantly, pushing her out the door. "G'way, if I gotta go to school I better ge....get dressed...."
Thad didn't agree with this injunction, however, because it included a decree that limited his ability to outright kill his prey. {Take what you needed and no more; if people vanish too frequently around our feeding places, they'll become suspicious.}That was what he had been told. He hated this rule, because feeding was about so much more than nourishment; it was about the fear instilled in his intended victim, in the pleading and the screams and seeing how long they could survive before the shock and the pain killed them. It was no fun having to sneak around and make sure they didn't notice you were drinking from them, because you had to let them go back out into the wilds and so you couldn't risk them telling everyone they'd been accosted by a vampire. If it were only one or two people, they could easily be dismissed by their fellows, but too many and once more there would be suspicion. And it wasn't that he didn't understand this; he did. He didn't particularly fancy fighting vampire hunters; he preferred prey that couldn't effectively fight back. But dammit, he liked playing with his food!!
So he had decided that, tonight, he was going to deliberately disobey Melodee, and lure his food somewhere private, where he could torment them to his cold dead heart's content. That had been his plan. His food had not fully cooperated, however. Oh, she had quite willingly followed him to the lighthouse, his favorite snacking spot due to how easy it was to lure romantics there, and she hadn't at first believed when he had shown her his fangs and proclaimed that he was going to kill her, apparently convinced he was play-acting for her benefit. The problem was that she had disappointingly died before he had really got started, and he prodded at her limp body for a few seconds, looking thoroughly distressed by her performance, and privately deciding that if he had known she would be such a poor sport he would have ripped out her jugular first thing rather than bothering pulling out all the stops.
He picked up her body in disgust, taking the endless winding stairs to the top of the lighthouse. He would just dump her over the edge, then -- after he'd finished eating, of course, though it wasn't very appetizing now that she was dead, but there were vampire's starving in Africa, he couldn't let this meal go to waste. Actually, now that he thought about it, the third-world vampires probably had it better than the first-world, since he figured less people would question strange deaths and disappearances. Maybe he should look into moving to Cuba or Haiti or something.
"Thad!!" A voice sounded right next to his ear, and he jumped, dropping his meal; the body tumbled down the stairs, and he twisted to glare at the intruder. He expected it to be the ghost, meddlesome spirit that she was, telling him off for bringing his food to her house, but it was Sidra.
"What are you doing here?!" He snapped, annoyed at his sister (and Childe) for interrupting his meal.
The ghost of a smile played at her pale face. "You need to wake up."
"What?!" He crossed his arms, staring at her challengingly. "I'm awake!"
"Thad. You need to wake up. It's time for school." She took a step closer to him, resting long-fingered hands on his shoulder and shaking him roughly. "Wake up, Thad, I'm not going to be late because you can't handle staying out late."
He waved his hands at her, trying to ward her off. "Not goin' to school, vampires dun gotta go to school."
Then the dark of the night fell away, as Si pulled the curtains away from the window that had appeared in the wall, "Get up. Now. I'm not dealing with this." She pushed him, and he fell down the stairs, after his dead prey....
And hit the floor. "Whaddya do that for!!" He demanded, scrambling to his feet and giving her a reproachful stare. "You in'errupted my meal!!" He added indignantly, pushing her out the door. "G'way, if I gotta go to school I better ge....get dressed...."
