Path of the Vampire forum

Anjyil felt so overwhelmed by everything. She couldn't describe nor understand the pain she felt. It was like a.... burning? Close maybe, but its much more that. She also felt like her sense were going into overtime, her senses attacking her more than ever before. Not to mention it still felt like her brain was still trying to break out of her skull. Still, she was good hiding all of this. It seemed like her parents' treatment of her and the lessons she learned had been preparing her for a day like this. She has learned to keep composed no matter the pain or emotions that go through her. Pain is temporary. People judging each other is forever. She can never look weak.

She closed her eyes and silently begged it all to end. All of it. The pain, this night, and the anger at herself for her own stupidity. She opened them and quietly followed him as they past another person.

When she heard Elliot talk about feeding and blood bags, she rolled her eyes. Her mood was growing dark and more annoyed by the moment. Still, she didn't make any comments to what he said. She could tell from his tone and his word choice when he talked next that this wasn't his first choice to spend his night, to say the least. When he asked her how she felt, a small groan escaped her. She stared down at the ground and bit her lip.

"Don't ask. I...just let me ignore it."

Elliot, too, might have rolled his eyes, but he didn’t. To roll his eyes would be dismissive, and he wouldn’t allow himself to be dismissive. Not now, not ever. He was not pushover either, however, despite what most people might think. Of course he wanted Anjyil to be comfortable, he wanted her to be able to ignore everything, in the hope that it might go away. But she couldn’t. To ignore everything would only be far more detrimental, and Elliot wouldn’t allow it.

”No. You can’t ignore it. To ignore it would only make it worse,” he said. He should tell her about the feral vampires in the Quarantine Zone; he should tell her, that if she were to ignore everything, she might become one of them—lost to the baser instincts of the vampire and no longer human, in any sense of the word. That was Elliot’s fear, anyway. He was always afraid that were he to lose control, were he to allow himself to indulge in the violence that he so often enjoyed, he would lose his touch with everything he held most important to him—compassion, and kindness. He would crave only blood, and nothing else.

Not to mention the ancients in the catacombs. He was far more afraid of becoming one of them—a vampire, unable to die? A body, that ever loses its attachment to physical reality, regardless of how much the soul might want to flee forever? These were some of the thing Elliot was most afraid of, but things which he did not mention. Not quite yet. Not when he didn’t think he’d got this girl to believe him that she was a vampire, let alone that there were zombies.

”Here,” Elliot said. Across the road was an abandoned warehouse. Elliot paused as he assessed the surroundings; he didn’t want there to be more than one. And he couldn’t show Anjyil how it was done, because he was unable to feed from humans. He would have to tell her how it was done, and hope that she was able to learn—or that her instincts would take over.

Slipping through the wide open front doors, Elliot saw a group of three homeless people huddled around a fire. No good. Over to the left there was a small room. Inside, there was another man, alone. He was lying on a mattress. Elliot stepped into the room, hidden from the view of the others. He indicated that Anjyil should follow. He approached the sleeping man, waking him only by covering his mouth and hauling him upright and to his feet. They had to do this in silence.

”Shh. It’s going to be fine,” Elliot said, whispering into the human’s ear. Instantly, the man relaxed. It was an odd power of persuasion that Elliot hadn’t had to use for a while. As soon as the guy was relaxed, Elliot took a small knife from his pocket and pierced a small gash in the man’s wrist. Blood bubbled to the surface, the thick scent of it overwhelming the small space. He hoped that the smell of the blood alone would urge Anjyil forward, that she would understand what to do.

”I won’t let you kill him. It’ll be fine,” Elliot said, again in a whisper that he knew Anjyil would be able to hear.