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The sword scythed through the air and made a gut-wrenching sound as it passed through the raggedy clothing and remnants of rotting flesh and skittered across the ancient bone beneath. Two more swings and the bundle of decaying monstrosity lay upon the floor bereft of its head, which had rolled across the stone-flagged floor and disappeared into the shadows. Shay scowled and wiped the 'muck' from his blade on the partially clothed mass.

Straight away the plethora of distant voices began to re-invade his temporarily quiet head space. Who were these people? How did they get into his thoughts? He'd often tried to single a voice out and once or twice he'd had a small amount of success, the conversations however made little sense to him, out of context and distinctly one-sided, he'd come to realise they were of no use to him other than to distract him from whatever task he'd chosen that day to accomplish. He'd found that coming down here to the mausoleum helped somewhat in muffling them and actively engaging the shambling bonebags gave him momentary respite as his mind focused on the task at hand.

Today had started like many others, rise, shine and slaughter! And with that in mind he began to search the bedraggled heap for anything useful or saleable, this turned up a quite ornately handled sword that had sadly seen better days... much better days! With a resigned sigh he added it to the growing collection and moved on again.

However, something was slightly awry today! For days he'd been down here away from the intense mental clutter of the city streets and it helped but sadly not enough. Today however the volume had been at 11 for quite some time as if being amplified and he found himself fumbling around in quite the mindfog, was he going to have to find somewhere else to get some respite from the mental barrage that pervaded his every waking moment?

Occasionally today he thought he'd heard? Or maybe sensed? others down here in the 'combs and still being incredibly wary of spending time around any sentient beings, he'd paused each time and waited for the feeling to abate. Since his turning, he feared contact with people incase they figured he had been 'changed' but equally he worried that his little outburst had popped the crosshair on him from some of his peers! He hadn't meant to appear rude, the shock of becoming something else had triggered defence mechanisms in his psyche he'd found impossible to control. His main concern was staying off Ms Mortlls hitlist until his tantrum had hopefully been forgotten.

Shay had come to realise that what he had scoffed at just weeks before, was in fact reality and more than that was now HIS reality! No longer laughing at the 'stupid stories' he'd been told about this strange corner of Canada, he found himself feeling lost, lonely and more venerable than ever. Okay he'd used that cocky facade to berate the one that had 'done' this, eventually however, the realisation of his predicament sank in and this was no longer something he could laugh at or indeed shrug off.

Shay was far from home, painfully alone and being cruelly tormented every waking moment...

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Shay saw a glow emanating from around the bend and was already bracing to take flight when a voice called out a questioning 'Hello?'. He stayed his panic and headed gingerly in the direction of the light, he wasn't sure it was a good idea but curiousity had him in it's grip. The voice didn't appear threatening in anyway, in fact quite the opposite, maybe even a little fearful. He would get closer, still leaving plenty of distance between them should he feel the need to flee.

As he rounded the corner tentatively and stepped into the illuminated chamber he saw a woman holding an orb and he felt a fleeting mental connection. The lady spoke once more and this time seemed to be much calmer. 'Oh hello' as She spoke the light appeared to dim and Shay felt obliged to walk a little closer as if seeking the warmth of its aura. As he moved forward he felt that connection again, it was her, speaking straight into his brain and asking if it was okay to do this! The voices didn't normally ask to invade his thoughts and often just washed over and overwhelmed him.

She was quietly spoken and not at all intimidating, he might even say friendly sounding. Standing still now, he kept a distance before replying mentally. 'I..I...I'm not actually sure..' he paused momentarily, not even convinced the other could 'hear' him. 'Am I doing it right?' His inexperienced fledgling powers had never been tested, his initial anger at being turned had left him out of touch with others that may have been able to help and guide him and that was now showing.

Listening to her questions he waited until the figure introduced themselves before replying. 'Aviana, my name is Shay, I'm afraid to say I haven't seen Tawney but then again to be brutally honest, I've been hiding up in here and head in another direction when I think people are here, this is the only place where it gets a bit quieter, people think so loudly and so much. I wish I could turn the volume down.. even just a little!' His eyes left her face for the first time to look around and survey the chamber they were in. What was this girl doing down here amongst the ancient dead? Was She going to go running off to tell his sire where he was? He had hoped to remain hidden down here until Mortll either forgot about him... or at least forgot about his insolent tone. Shay felt sure there was an invisible target on his back after their brief exchange!

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It seemed that She could hear him just fine and encouraged by the gentle nod and the openess of her face he felt reassured, even as Aviana stepped towards him the urge to flee was already disapating, her demeanour allaying his fear. He hadn't been 'comfortable' around his peers thusfar so this was a major thing.

He listened intently and her mind voice, although mild, cut a swathe through the murmuring undercurrent of conciouses that had taken up residence in his head and what She said made sense, he'd already realised, accidentally, that when focussing on the beasts of the 'combs the voices seemed to hush almost as if willing him to win his battle. It was of course a much simpler explanation, his mind had something more pressing to attend to to and therefore wasted less energy on the ambient brainwaves around him.

Right there and then he began using his fledgling talent to access the internet and searched for his music apps! As he found spotify, he concentrated on opening it in his head and then began sifting his playlists, he gave her a small but satisfied grin, it only bloody worked! As the lady spoke of meditation he'd already found exactly what he was looking for and pressed an imaginary play button in his mind and the tinkling keyboard heralded the arrival of a track he'd needed to hear for a while now.

"Aviana? I know you say it's not much of a life... but before this happened," he motioned towards his head, "...the turning and the noise... and the confusion... I was always a believer of evolution." He nodded as if to emphasise what he'd just said."If vampires evolved this ability, then surely it must -REALLY- have a use... and maybe, just maybe, we have to learn -HOW- to get the use out of it?" This was spoken as half question and half statement as if almost convinced that what he said made sense!

As he thought a second on his little statement, his face went slightly red and he felt that he may have actually spoken out of turn, afterall, Aviana had probably forgotten more than he would ever learn. "Sorry. I guess I'm ever the eternal optimist, I think I'm looking for a ray of hope in this situation?" He gave a nervous smile before continuing.

" S**T! I really wish I could stomach a bourbon right now!"

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Shay found himself smiling as Aviana seemed to be encouraging him to follow his instincts surrounding his theory of vampires having evolved telepathy for good reason and made a mental note to follow her suggestion of making time to practice as much as possible... to try to tame and harness the power then maybe actually put it to use.

She seemed to be quite the optimist herself and he quickly realised that this had so far been the most agreeable conversation he'd had since his turning, infact her suggestion of adding a little blood to his bourbon was something he certainly would have been unlikely to come up with himself and yet now the idea was suggested, it appeared that it may well be worth a shot.

The thought of using another skill that had so far remained untested, before tonight, would seem far too daunting... and yet here he was considering just that with this.. appraisal? And here was someone apparently willing to allow him to experiment with his fledgling vampiric skill, scratch that... more like coercing him to attempt its use!

Aviana's orb carried enough illumination to see fairly clearly around the particular cell of the combs they were in and he wasn't sure if it was the conversation, the concentration of his effort to mindspeak, or just the level of alertness at being in, for him, an unusual situation but it definitely seemed as if the usual very low level hubbub of chatter that ethereally accompanied a visit here, had to all intents and purposes silenced itself, allowing him to relax somewhat and realising he was by now fairly close to the centre of the room he felt comfortable enough to crouch and eventually sit, cross-legged on the floor.

Studying her face and coming to rest on a pair of patient looking green eyes as he began to flex weak mental muscles, unsure of what happened next...awareness of abilities that seemed to be so far in advance of his own they left him totally in awe. Contrary to making him feel inadequate of his own, they gave him hope of his future abilities...and an insight into just how empathic this lady was, the ability to swat his psyche like a bug and yet here She stood conversing with and convincing him to embrace the skills his creator had 'gifted' him.
Unsure if there was a 'too far' he took baby steps as he found imaginary doors, all slightly ajar. Peeping through them without pushing them open he got tiny glimpses and as mundane as they may be to Aviana they were revelations to Shay, tiny sneak peeks on another life that was far removed from his own where he scuttled around down here in almost permanent darkness. A sudden pang of guilt hit him and he found himself feeling very voyeuristic and as quickly as his journey into her memories began they came to halt and he relinquished his view of her mind.

Sitting in silence for a few moments as he processed what had just happened, the hushed burble began once more but at a far lower tone than it had been previously, he sighed and slumped his shoulders, acutely aware that even though the actions he'd just undertaken were mental they had left him physically drained, such had been the effort involved, even for such a brief glimpse.

Her face and in particular those beautifully patient eyes were still his point of focus and he found himself actually speaking verbally, afterall this was still the most natural to him right now. "I didn't mean to... I mean, I did... the appraisal thing... and then, oh.. then it just did it!" Still trying to fathom out what had gone on in those moments. "I'm sorry if I overstepped the mark..." Giving her a nervous smile he continued. "Your name?...it's Silva?...Small world eh?"

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Shay gave her a wan smile and shook his head."Nah...If that thing with the sheriff, the donkey and the priest doesn't embarass you...nothing will!" He began to giggle and held up his hands in a mock surrender gesture. "I'm only kidding! Don't shoot me!" Following her gaze as Aviana looked away and seeing nothing before She began asking about his experience. His reply came momentarily, as if he'd had to recollect it, in truth he was still processing what had just happened. "I'm not sure easy is the correct word.. but I suppose... yes is the short answer." He pondered for a few long seconds more. " More sort of instinctual... I thought about it and then an absolute blur as a ton of information landed squarely in my mind. It seemed to take a natural path, imaginary doorways all slightly ajar and offering a peep but nothing more."

He perked up at the mention of the invite, here was an almost total stranger that seemed to be honestly interested in his development and had actually already tossed a few tips his way... he had a feeling it could be beneficial to spend some time in her company... and anyway.. Aviana was very nice on the eye... his usual company down here didn't always have eyes let alone be this friendly. "If you're sure it won't be any trouble? I'd love to!" Thinking about her comment on glitter he gave a grin. "Nothing wrong with glitter at Xmas... in fact in my eyes it should be compulsory. Would be nice to see a well dressed tree too."

Scrambling back to his feet he nodded enthusiastically. "Lead on... Zaylee shouldn't be alone either during this festive period!"