Path of the Vampire forum

At times she had wondered what the consequences of dying would mean for her, Tali hadn't spoken to anyone that had experienced the shadow realm to know exactly what to expect. It hadn't interested her, if she were to be killed she wasn't completely convinced that she would be ending up there. Despite her not thinking everything to be completely real she hadn't been ready to die as a means of escape.

But then the choice had been taken from her or her subconscious had made a decision without bothering to let her know. Phoenix's blade had pierced her heart and sent her to this realm. There was no denying what it was even without having had much previous knowledge of it before now.

It had been a surprise. She had expected to lose but she hadn't been expecting to die, perhaps the head wound had had something to do with her rushing into that fight in such a state.
Tali hadn't recognised the ruined and warped buildings that surrounded her in the place she had occupied upon arrival to this realm. There had been no sign of any other beings close by. She was disappointed, of course it would have been too simple if dying was all she had to do to free herself. Even so all the grey tones that surrounded her were oddly soothing and calming after the drama that seemed to come hand in hand with being surrounded by so many others.

Tali hadn't explored far as of yet, just far enough for her to realise she was tired. Perhaps death was being tired or maybe she was overcomplicating it. It was as if this was occurring to some other poor sod and she was merely an intruder in this place observing the reaction of one newly dead vampire. Was she even still a vampire? This question bothered her, was she still supposed to think of herself as an imaginary creature?

Her thoughts strayed to Velveteen. Her sire that had held her captive for a time after turning her, this was the only reason that Tali had joined the fight. Velveteen had locked her up to keep her safe, or so she believed. She owed it to her to defend her. But Tali had died, she had failed. Would she be angry with her for going and getting herself killed?

There had yet to be anything in Tali’s surroundings that could help her keep track of time. It didn’t feel like she had been there for long nor did it feel like she had been there for a short while. She was simply there, existing and that was all. A sense of time didn’t seem important when you’re dead.

On her most recent exploration Tali had finally encountered something different. She had stopped, allowing herself to become distracted by a nearby ruin that tugged at her memory but failed to extract anything specific. A tall thin lamppost towered above her looking fit to topple over at any second, the rippling motion that she had noticed ever present in this place had an almost hypnotic effect that Tali found difficult to tear her eyes away from. She wondered if the rest of the shadow realm was still until one such as her came trouncing through and disturbed it. As she herself had been disturbed by the figure that stood a short distance away. A hint of anger had risen in her upon her first sighting of it, the strongest emotion she had been able to feel since her arrival. Unable to bring herself to look at it head on she had allowed herself to lose herself for a moment though for all she knew she could have been standing there a long time. If her father were here she was sure he would have some sort of theory for all this, she herself had never had his same interest in the supernatural. It was him that had believed the goings on in Harper Rock were down to the influence of aliens, she hadn’t believed until she had awoken in Velveteen’s care. She still didn’t believe in vampires.

A hiss escaped her, the first noise of her own creation and in fact the only noise she had heard since her arrival. It’s flat sound disturbed her all the more. She blamed this other figure. Still she refused to look at it head on, not that it was hideous to look at.

Hissing once again Tali found that anger bristling within her.

How dare it.

This thought was filled with venom. How dare it.

Not that it had even done anything so far to her knowledge, she knew not if it was even aware of her presence.

She fed upon the creature, taking anima from it for herself without even knowing how she knew to do this or what the point even was in doing such a thing. Her anger had swiftly fled and she too had immediately forgotten the others presence and taken her leave from the thing.

((This was some time ago now but I wanted to complete this.))

Tali might have forgotten her earlier encounter if not long after she had not found some other creature, this one was different though and stirred no feelings within her. She had fed upon the spirit swiftly, draining it before she’d chosen to rest a while where she had found it. It appeared to be a park, a shadowy park lacking in colour and landmarks besides what appeared to be water in the distance. Though it could just as well be a field what with rippling not being a characteristic unique to liquid in this realm.

Her mind turned to Velveteen and the two she had bizarrely chosen to sire. Despite having spent all this time trying to get away from that place now that she was somewhere else she felt like she had let them down. She didn’t want to go back but this wasn’t what she had been expecting she would be escaping to.

These thoughts disturbed her but did not bring forth the anger she had felt an unmeasured time ago, she had no idea if it had been minutes or hours. Perhaps even days. She shouldn’t be feeling emotions towards unreal characters, it was easier to think of them as characters in a well told story that was able to stir emotions in its reader. But it wasn’t the same, it felt more real. Even this place that made her feel dizzy felt real.

Confused Tali had wandered the shadow realm aimlessly. Twice she encountered and came out the worst from a meeting with a wraith, one would think after the first time that she would know better and make sure to avoid it. In her mind they took on the forms of the ones responsible for her situation, they seemed so alien and thus that is what they were to her. Luckily she didn’t encounter anymore after the second time one robbed her of the precious anima she herself had stolen.

Her head wound had cleared but many other wounds still remained so her progress was slow, she was unable to travel far before resting but this didn’t bother her. She wasn’t in any hurry, the thought of escape was something she spent much time contemplating. But what would she be escaping to? As time passed and she grew gradually stronger she began to allow herself a small sliver of hope. That if she found a way to leave this place then maybe she would be back once again in reality. Not in this vampire delusion.