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Post by Devon Parker on Dec 15, 2008 15:03:25 GMT -5
Devon smiled back. "I won't hold your personal sentiments against you." He felt her shiver and his smile faltered a it, but he said nothing about it. "Well, they do say that in the woods, vampires are the most dangerous. Either that or it was just dumb luck and geography." The Brit shrugged. "Either way, here you stand."
Devon looked to the side at Anna as she rested her head on his shoulder. It seemed almost unnatural, after their strange and somewhat violent meeting. Less than half an hour ago this girl had pointed a gun to his head, and now they were walking arm in arm.
"Yes, and even the most seedy aspects have their charm. There's so many people you can just disappear, if you need to." That was part of why Devon liked large cities. When it came time for him to leave, vanish into thin air, it wasn't difficult. If he was being followed, he could escape, evade, evaporate. Soon enough, they reached his flat. "Ah, here we are." He pushed his key into the lock and opened the door.
Anna's head was again resting on his shoulder. Devon wondered what taking this young vampire under his wing might do. He had certainly changed from when he had killed anything remotely vampiric outright. He had become more methodical, more pathalogical, and frankly, much smarter than he was as a young boy. She was attractive and sharp, at the very least, and he wouldn't mind the temporary company, for as much as he loathed connections and avoided them whenever possible... it had been seventy-two years since he had had any real connection with a vampire that didn't end in death and destructions.
The Brit wondered vaguely if this time would be any different.
"Ladies first," he said politely, holding the door open and showing nothing of his deep musings on his face.
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Post by Anastazja Romanov on Dec 16, 2008 11:27:40 GMT -5
Anna laughed, it felt good to laugh after so long. "Aren't you kind." She teased lightly. She ran a finger against her bottom lip lightly, before she nodded. "Maybe a bit of both." She admitted. Perhaps she had been hunted, perhaps that's why she was fighting in the alley in the first place. Perhaps they sniffed her out.
Oddly enough for Anna, she felt safe with Devon. She felt as though she could take him at his word. It would be some time before he would be after her, though she wondered what that would be like. That fateful end of days meeting. Kill or be killed. Did she trust him? Not fully, but she didn't take him for a liar.
Anna nodded as she heard him. "I agree. It's so much easier to blend in when no one knows your name." She murmured, lifting her head from his shoulder, and released a breath. "Of course, I must kill you now that you know." She teased.
Anna probably should have left years ago, probably shouldn't have visited her own grave, shouldn't have seen 'Anastazja Renee Romanov' and 'Baby Romanov' scrawled in the cold stone. There was no body in that coffin, not any longer.
Anna knew she had used him in that moment. Used him as a crutch, as a way to forget her past, and look forward to the future. For now, she wouldn't be alone. For how long their arrangement would last, was anyones guess.
Anna released Devon's arm, and stepped back so he could unlock the door and then bowed her head in silent thanks as she stepped into the apartment.
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Post by Devon Parker on Dec 17, 2008 16:09:39 GMT -5
Devon could not deny the fact that he enjoyed her laughter. He almost never laughed himself, at least not genuinely or freely, and he hardly ever heard a pleasant sound. As much as he detested enjoying something, for he knew he would lose it as he always did, Devon couldn't help it. It had been a long time when he had heard the laugh of a vampire that didn't make his skin crawl. No... This perhaps made him warmer, if that was possible for a fifty-degree-body-heat creature.
"Probability says yes," he replied lightly. "To all three. Though, reality may prove different on the subject of my kindness." Without blinking he kept going. "I guess I'll have to watch my back, then," he said in jest. Devon tasted bile on his tongue as the bitterness rose in him, however. She would have to die, someday. They all would, no matter their alliegance.
She will die. But not yet...Not while she's useful.
The apartment was sparse, but comfortable, if not large. It had a kitchen, where the fridge was already running, blood stored in the upper freezer section. There was a couch in what might be called the living room that the previous occupant had left, and a small table that Devon had bought. The bedroom was down a small hallway, also furnished by previous occupants. He couldn't exactly bring that sort of stuff with him. It was somewhat obvious to move large pieces of furniture around, and not conducive at all to sneaking away silently.
"Home sweet home," he murmured, and shut the door quietly behind him, following Anna in.
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Post by Anastazja Romanov on Dec 28, 2008 13:15:43 GMT -5
Anna laughed again, softer than before. He was generous and kind with her, at least for now. Later when things proved a little more hairy for the pair, perhaps then it would be when they'd have a departure from one another.
Anna looked at him for a moment, she knew that one or both of them would die in the final battle. Vampire vs Vampire. She secretly hoped it would be her, only due to the fact that she wouldn't want to be the only one of her kind left on the Earth.
When she stepped in, her eyes adjusted for the darkness, and she could see perfectly. It was a lovely apartment; maybe not by normal standards, but the way she had been living for five years, it was like a palace. Anna's steps took her deeper into the Apartment to allow for him to step in as well. The gentle hum of the fridge made her curious. What would a vampire need with a working fridge?
Perhaps being tired, or perhaps from being over hungry, she didn't feel it when she first came in. She heard it now though. The deathly growl, eyes glowing in the dark, and finally the beast lunged forward, her right pistol shot out, and luckily she missed.
A dirty, knotted maned dog pounced forward, and licked at her left hand, sniffing and looking for a bit of food.
"Easy now.. Easy.." Anna murmured, and lingered down to her knees, wrapping her arms around the dogs body, and hugging it lightly. It was then, she heard whimpering, and the dog tore down the hall, with Anna fast on it's heels. On the floor, near the closet door, another dog lay, giving birth.. two large breed new born puppies lay resting, moving blindly.
"Devon!" She cried out, the smell of the dog's blood slowly drifting into her mind, drawing out a sort of frenzy.. She could barely move, her eyes turning darker, a dangerous look in her eyes. The stupid dog trusted her with his mate and puppies, and all she wanted to do was drain them at the moment.
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Post by Devon Parker on Dec 29, 2008 13:06:56 GMT -5
The Brit had headed straight for the fridge when he entered his apartment, sensing Anna's need. As he opened the freezer, however, to retrieve one of the medical packs, Devon sensed something else. Another creature, or perhaps several, were in his flat.
Sticking his head down the hall at Anna's cry, he could see the dogs in the darkness. Part of him tensed involuntarily at the sight; though slim, there was a chance they were connected to lycans. Very slim indeed, but it still made him worry how they had even got into the flat in the first place.
"Looks like I'm letting in all sort of strays," he muttered unhappily, looking at the dogs.
Devon walked quickly down the hall, recognizing the stiffness and the urgency in Anna' voice. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back down the hallway, holding her against the wall. He stared into her darkened eyes, glaring at her. The vampire pressed his forearm across her chest at the collar bone, keeping her from moving away under his strong grip.
"Lesson one," he barked, holding up the pack of blood in front of Anna. "Control. If you can't control yourself, you can't control your surroundings. And then you die. You are weak. Prove to me you have control," Devon whispered harshly. "Contain your thirst, and I relieve it, do you understand?"
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Post by Anastazja Romanov on Dec 31, 2008 14:15:33 GMT -5
Anna's eyes remained locked onto the dogs, the puppies that moved around against the carpet, looking to feast on their mother's milk. Her eyes changed from the deep mocha to a dark golden hue. The male dog growled lowly, and the mother dog used her paws to pull her new children closer to her, sensing danger.
The male dog, bowed forward, baring his teeth, snarling and snapping his jaws in quick succession. Anna, not to be outdone, parted her lips, allowing her own incisors to grow and bare towards the dog, a deep humming sort of growl escaping her own lips.
Anna missed the comment, and if she had heard it she might have laughed in any other circumstance, but at the moment, she was trying to one-up a dog.
Anna had called out, she had witnessed her trouble, and called for his help, though that was all she could offering in the way of the control part. She felt the grasp onto her arm, her body flying wildly against him, as if she had been attacked, though to no avail.
Footsteps were barely taken, and she was further down the hall, her chest heaving, a scared, yet dangerous look burning in her eyes. Her body shoved and tried to break free of the man's grip, though still, she knew, she wouldn't get free.
"Dev..on.... Please.." Her voice barely above a whisper, and rasped greatly. She felt the added protection of his arm against her chest, holding her against the wall.
Perhaps it was because she was starving, perhaps it was because she was near crazed, perhaps it was because he stopped her from attacking the defenseless dogs, but at the moment, her eyes softened, and she witnessed Devon as something different than just another Vampire.. He was a man, and a beautiful one at that.
She wouldn't be allowed her thoughts for very long, when the bag of blood was dangled in front of her eyes. She once heard that the stages to complete monstrosity was first Hunger, then Lust, and then Oblivion. The first had long since settled in, the second building as Devon remained so close, his skin against her own, and it had been so long, so very long since she had felt flesh upon her own, at least that which she wasn't killing in one fashion or another.
Anna stared into his eyes for a moment, then shifted her gaze back to the blood, and then back to him. Those golden hues bleeding darker, starting to revert to their natural hue, though the hunger surpassed her control, and reverted back to the dark gold.. She released a muffled cry, as though she were in pain. Her eyes closed for a moment, and her brows knitted.
Her eyes slowly opened, and had reverted completely back to the molten chocolate hue. "I'm okay.. I'm okay.." She murmured, swallowing hard.
The male dog had padded down the hall to see what was going on, and though she was pinned to the wall, her right hand lowered a bit, fingertips brushing through the dirty mane of the dog, who then, licked her fingertips, before returning to the room with his female companion and newborns.
"Lesson one," he barked, holding up the pack of blood in front of Anna. "Control. If you can't control yourself, you can't control your surroundings. And then you die. You are weak. Prove to me you have control," Devon whispered harshly. "Contain your thirst, and I relieve it, do you understand
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Post by Devon Parker on Jan 1, 2009 20:55:14 GMT -5
Devon continued to hold Anna against the wall, even as she struggled against his firm grip. He had sensed that she was starving, but he hadn't realized just how bad it was. The Brit watched Anna carefully as her body fought with her mind, instinct versus logic. The sheer savagery of her movements disturbed him; it had been many years since he'd seen a vampire starved besides himself, and it was not a pretty sight. The animal was too strong to be contained in this state.
Devon felt the heat radiating off of Anna despite the cold of their bodies. Not a good sign; she was going off the edge like this. Soon enough though, she started to relax, her fangs retracting and her eyes becoming calm once more. He glared at her with an almost feral intensity until she had fully contained herself.
As much as Devon simply wanted to relieve Anna's obvious suffering, he promised to teach her, not coddle her. She needed to gain control over herself, no matter how painful.
"No, you're not okay. This is what you must learn, Anna," Devon said more gently. He lessened the pressure on Anna's chest but did not let her go. "Look at me. Do you understand? Tell me you do and I let you go. I promised you this," the Brit said calmly, shaking the bag slightly. "I won't break it."
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Post by Anastazja Romanov on Jan 5, 2009 14:58:21 GMT -5
Anna glanced into Devon's eyes for a mere moment, and noted the seriousness in his gaze. She cringed slightly, like a scolded child, her head lowered, passing the short strands over her cheeks, as she tried to hide her face from view.
She bit her bottom lip for a moment, before she lifted her chin and looked him once more in the eyes. A faint haze of the golden hue danced around her pupil, a sign that she was still very close to that sort of frenzy again, though the natural dark chocolate color of her eyes. She was starving. She hadn't gone this long without feeding before, even if it was large rodents or small strays. For a moment the golden haze remained, and then, as she felt safe with Devon, the haze disappeared completely.
Her stomach lurched, and while she had nothing in her stomach, her body still decided to heave several times, until she coughed to relieve the suffering in her chest. She felt the quivering of her bottom lip. She was mortified, and in her human life, she was prone to tears when incredibly embarassed or angry, though, she refused to cry now.
Anna's eyes locked onto Devon's and she nodded. "I understand I need to learn. I don't understand why it is my body is reacting this way, I don't know why I can't just hunt like other vampires, or.." She knew the answer to her own question. She hadn't been taught, and if she was like other vampires, she was certain that the meeting with Devon wouldn't have gone so smoothly.
Anna smiled lightly. "I believe you, Devon." And oddly enough, she trusted him, though she wouldn't say those words.
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Post by Devon Parker on Jan 5, 2009 15:44:09 GMT -5
Devon held Anna for a few moments more before he was sure she wouldn't snap so abruptly. She seemed ashamed of her actions, even though the older vampire knew it was hardly her fault that she couldn't control herself in this state. He released her from his grip, but held onto one of her arms. Guiding her out of the hallway, the Brit took Anna into the den area and sat the young vampire down in a soft chair.
"Here," Devon said quietly, handing her the bag of medicinal blood. "Drink; satisfy yourself. You need it. This was not your fault; when starved, like other animals, vampires revert to instinct. Control becomes all but irrelevant." The vampire walked to a nearby window, staring sullenly out at the city. "I know what you're going through; I've done it to myself enough times. What you must learn is your limit, as well as controlling the animal as it attempts to surface. As dangerous as it is, you are more powerful starved, though for a much shorter time. You can use this to your advantage, if you can control it. If you cross that line for too long though, you will lose yourself, until you've drunk your fill again. And a vampire leaves great destruction in his wake," Devon rasped bitterly. He had killed some he had never meant to that way.
Devon turned back to face Anna again. "If your sire hadn't been a greedy bag of scum, he would have taken you into whatever coven he belonged to, at least allowed you to absorb experience even if he could not teach you directly. Leaving you and others like you for dead may be the greatest mistake of our species. Though-," he said, smiling dryly, "-had that happened, we would not be on the same side, would we?"
He could see that her belief extended farther into trust. This was somewhat unsettling to him, but there was nothing he could do. His help would hve consequences, good and bad. The Brit was not sure which trust was, but it was dangerous in either case. Grimly, Devon hoped Anna would see beyond his initial benevolence, to the cruel beast he really was. He could not afford trust; it would get him killed.
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Post by Anastazja Romanov on Jan 5, 2009 17:37:14 GMT -5
His hold was tight, yet comforting in that odd sort of way. Anna lifted her gaze to his once more as he released his grip, and took her arm. She took a step, and realized just how thankful for his guidance she was. Her steps were shakey, and she felt dizzy. She used her other hand to touch the chair, before settling down into it. "Thank you, Devon." She whispered lightly. Anna was a prideful sort, and if she had done something wrong or needed to rely on someone else, it took a lot for her to come to terms with it.
She placed her fingers on the bag, and pulled it to herself. She nearly hugged it, as if it were some amazing gift, and in fact, it truly was. Better than Platinum, gold or silver. That bag contained her sanity. She watched him closely, locked her gaze on him as he moved.
Anna should have begun immediately, but she didn't wish to miss a single word that he said. His knowledge would be her survival for the next several centuries, until the pair met on that final day.
He knew? He, who seemed so knowledgable, knew what it felt like to starve, to lose grasp of your sanity? She was somewhat awed. "Wait, you purposely starved yourself? You purposely let the beast climb to the surface?" She asked, incredulously. Power? Is that what was important to him? Perhaps when she got to his age, and had forgotten what it was like to be human, perhaps she would too, but at this point in her life, or unlife, she was more concerned about simply surviving. She felt like a hypocrite. She didn't want to die, or rather she didn't want to stop existing, and yet, she found other vampires to be expendable.
Anna sat with the bag on her lap for a few moments, her legs stretched out and parted, though her knees came together lightly, and her toes tapped together briefly. "Maybe it's because even though I'm five years in, I'm still like a newborn, unsure and ignorant to the ways of vampires, but I just don't understand why you would want to starve yourself, even for the increased power."
Anna locked her gaze on Devon's as he turned back around. She gave a brief shrug. "Coven? I thought Covens were for witches.." She offered a gentle smile. She was ignorant to the ways of other vampires, but she was happy for that, and thankful that she had met someone like Devon, rather than another.
Anna wished to maintain her humanity, wished to remain a person with morals, with hopes, with dreams for a better life than she had. And with the lift of the bag to her mouth, and the stretch of her incisors pressing into the bag she swallowed. An animalistic act to survive on the blood of another creature, but it was the only true way to keep herself with any hope for survival.
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Post by Devon Parker on Jan 5, 2009 21:09:01 GMT -5
The older vampire leaned against the wall and sighed, half closing his eyes. She really was so young, wasn't she? He had never spent much time with vampires outside of attempting to end their lives for nearly seventy-two years. There had been brief times when he resided with other vampires merely to get close enough to kill them, but they all knew what it was like to be a creature of the night. They were older than he, more often than not. Anna was an entirely new experience for him.
"Yes. Yes, I did," Devon admitted quietly. "A few times, when I had to. It was not always for the purpose of unleashing myself, however." Being half-starved and half-crazed had helped him annihlate his entire family, and a good chunk of his coven. It had been a dark, terrifying day. He did not mention that he actively kept from feeding whenever possible, to detach himself from his species, and to tame himself. "It is not often for power that I would willingly do such a thing. Desperation is more like it. Power is merely a side effect, and one that is heavily sought after in the world of vampires. I don't like it; I don't like being on the edge like that. Sometimes it is simply neccessary," he finished darkly.
Devon smiled lightly. She was so ignorant, and he found her innocence a breathe of fresh air. "Yes, well, witches aren't the ones that actually exist. Vampires have covens, like large family groups. Werewolves have packs, with similar structures. I don't generaly dabble with werewolves. They're far more natural than us, and the annihilation of one species is quite an undertaking in and of itself. I don't need two sides of a war both gunning for my destruction."
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Post by Anastazja Romanov on Jan 10, 2009 20:15:52 GMT -5
Anna's eyes widened as she heard him admit to what she had accused. "I don't understand why anyone would want to feel this way. I feel like I'm dying on the inside, and I feel like my mind is drifting away to some dream world. I feel myself slipping, and I fear I'll turn into a being even worse than a normal vampire. Just living to feed, and ripping, shreading and tearing people apart for the pure enjoyment of the act." She whispered softly.
"I'm afraid of myself. I'm afraid that the person I knew in life will disappear, and I'll no longer have any shread of myself left. Like I'll be just a monster, no longer human in any part. I don't like to hurt people, Devon. I don't like to need them to survive. I don't like to have to rely on anyone either. But it is what it is. I have to do what I can to survive, right? Strays and rodents.. vermin.. they aren't working anymore. I'm scared. No, strike that. I'm terrified. I can't live off animals anymore. That means I'm going to have to go after humans.. and then.. and then... I'll be no better than the lot of them." It hadn't dawned on her that she had just drank blood from a bag. It wasn't great, but it took away the urge to kill. Took away the urge to lock herself up in a mental institution and die.
Anna smoothed her fingers over the plastic of the pouch and tipped her head to look at him again as he spoke. "Oh I see. So it's not just for a group of thirteen to galavant around together. It sounds.. kinda nice, you know.. To be a part of something." she murmured lightly. "I don't understand the war between lycan and vampire, though, Devon. Maybe it's that whole, 'The enemy of my enemy is my ally' thing or whatever it is." She paused another minute before speaking up again.
"Do you ever want to be with a coven yourself, Devon? To be a part of a family again? I think you could do great, maybe building one yourself.. Helping others like me, who are lost, alone, weak.." She lightly shrugged.
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Post by Devon Parker on Jan 11, 2009 12:52:19 GMT -5
I torture myself for not being able to be anything than what I am, Devon thought bitterly, refusing to say it out loud. She might pick it up telepathically, if her abilities were matured enough, but the mental shields he had built were strong.
"Fear is useful. It will keep you from becoming what you are underneath all the inhibition and control," Devon said flatly, staring at Anna blankly. "The fear makes you different from the rest of our kind. Use it, if you want to stay alive, and you want to keep on killing." He half-closed his eyes, remembering times when the feelings she described coursed through his veins like lighting. Killing for the sport, for the blood.
"Good, you should be afraid," Devon asserted. "If you were not you would be extraordinarily foolish. What you must also do is understand that you are no longer human. You never will be again. You are the monster you fear so greatly," he said bluntly. There was no point in mincing words. "You are not the person you used to be. Your family believes you dead, everyone you knew has moved on, and you are turning into a creature of the night. Embrace it, bitterly or otherwise, or you'll never survive long in this jungle." He sighed heavily, understanding her terror, but unwilling to revisit it. "You will learn how to control yourself, Anna. I can teach you how to satisfy the urge to feed with means other than live humans," he said more gently, gesturing to the empty bag in her hands. "Be glad you even knew human life; you, at least, know what humanity is. You were alive." Like I never was.
He pushed himself off the wall and paced around the room a bit, wandering restlessly. "The war... is a very long story. To make several hundred years of history short, we vampires used to enslave the lycans. Eventually, they fought back. It hasn't stopped since..." But then there was the reason he was here, those whispers in the dark. Something had changed the war.
Devon paused in his pacing when Anna mentioned family, resisting the urge to laugh. Family... It was why he was what he was in the first place, why he killed. He hated it. He hated the groups, the hierarchies, the ridiculous posturing. It sickened him to even think of it. He was thirteen when it ended, and the Brit would never, never, go back.
"I don't help people, Anna," Devon whispered icily. "I kill them. Covens have their limited uses and I want no part of them again. It has been many years since I was a member of a coven. And if there are others like us, I'd like them not to end up the way my first, and last, coven did." Not till the end of all things.
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Post by Anastazja Romanov on Jan 11, 2009 15:00:15 GMT -5
Anna wasn't even sure of her true potential as a vampire, and thus, had never worked on her telepathic powers. Sure she had heard different things from different people walking down the street, but she could only get a feeling from Devon. There were no words, no pictures like there usually was.
"Useful." She laughed cooly. "I'm afraid of myself, Devon, and I can't run from that. I am my biggest fear. How do I use the fear, Devon? How do I get passed my own terror to have be anything but a weakness?"
"Foolish.. am I not foolish for being here with you.. someone who has said that they will, one day, kill me? Am I not foolish for needing the very person who has said that they'd end me?" Her eyes widened slightly and she paused briefly. She hadn't meant to say that she needed him, she hadn't meant to even think it.
"But how can I understand that I'm not human? I feel human. I feel somewhat how I used to. I --" Her words cut short.
"You are the monster you fear so greatly."[/u][/b]
The phrase danced over and over again in her mind, pirouetting against the fragile passage within her. He was right though. Everyone had though her dead for the passed five years, and everyone had moved on. Her mother had died, her father remarried. No one came to visit the grave marker anymore, except for her birthday, if they remembered.
Anna had, for all intensive purposes, been forgotten.
Anna slammed her hand down on the small coffee table, smashing the side table to the floor. "I didn't ask for this. I don't want to be a moster. I don't want to be a creature of the night or anything else. Because I was attacked, my child was killed and I was made into this.. this.. abomination. The walking dead. Little better than a damned zombie, for Gods sake." Her tone lowered from the scream it had grown to. "Devon.. I'm sorry.. I shouldn't take it out on you. You didn't do it and you're not at fault for the acts of others."
"I do need to learn to control myself, I do need help. I do.." She sighed. "I do need to be something better than I am right now. I need to be stronger, more powerful, or I will be eaten alive." She arched a brow at her chosen words. "So to speak.."
"So you're saying better to have lived and died, than never having known life at all?" She snorted slightly. "I don't know if I would have chosen to know life if this is what I get for eternity."
Anna watched as Devon moved around the room. There was something deeper within him. Something he wasn't saying, something he was struggling with, but how could she reach inside and help him as he helped her? He was stubborn, she noticed, almost immediately. She licked her lips lightly, and ran a hand through her hair as he began to talk.
She frowned slightly. "But those of us who aren't centuries old had nothing to do with it. How can they hold us responsible?"
Anna perked a brow as she watched him. "But you're helping me, Devon.." She murmured lightly. She stood and moved towards him. "You're not like the others, Devon. Regardless of what you think. Maybe I'm naive, maybe I've just met you, but I don't want to kill you, and that's a lot for me to say. I just think that those of us who don't want to be known as simply a monster, those of us who, like us, have been abandoned and lost. Those of us who need companionship, if only in a friendship standard.. someone to talk to, someone who understands." She murmured. "The promises you've made and the help you've already given me has made you my savior.. and there are others who are in desperate need of saving."
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Post by Devon Parker on Jan 11, 2009 19:58:07 GMT -5
"There is only so much I can teach and explain to you in one night, Anna," Devon said as patiently as possible. "I cannot teach you something that isn't explainable with words. You will figure it out for yourself. As much as you want it to be true, I do not have all the answers. I am only eighty-four; there is much even I still don't know." He smirked slightly at her comment. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer," he offered the younger vampire. He did not show any consternation at the expressed...need, as it were. She was becoming dependent far too quickly, subconsciously or otherwise, for the Brit to be comfortable.
He watched calmly as she destroyed his furniture and screamed around at him and the room. Anger, such a volatile thing, and yet so powerful when harnessed properly. The loss of a child, Devon knew, was a devastating one. To something so vile was doubly sickening, and he sympathized with Anna, but would say nothing on the subject. She had brought it up in anger, not in confidence.
"You remember life, Anna. Just hold onto it, if it was so precious to you. Hold on to the memories of your family, the love you had, what it had made. Do that and you have a reason to keep fighting for as long as you remember your life. It is a far better reason than mine," he said placatingly. "Don't apologize. Just don't do it again," he finished, smiling.
He shrugged absently. "Grudges are grudges. Haven't you ever seen Romeo and Juliet? Blood fueds last, even when many people actually fighting the battles have no idea why the hatred exists. We represent a hated enemy. And many of those hated enemies from centuries ago are still around, so I suppose that's an added incentive."
Devon raised an eyebrow back as Anna approached him. He was somewhat taken aback by her statement, but merely continued to stare at her with bemused curiosity, that was slowly turning to fury beneath the surface. She really did think he was some kind of hero, didn't she? The ruthless killer, turned into a benevolent rescuer. What irony...
"I'm helping you because helping you helps me. I do nothing without purpose. If I was just supposed to teach you skills so you could grow up and live like a good little girl, I would not be here. It is no use not wanting to be a monster, Anna, not for me. I am one. I figured that out when I was thirteen," he said in a low, angry voice. The vampire walked away from her, back to the window. "You speak of companionship and friendship, counseling, and understanding, human things! Human perspectives!" Devon snarled, whipping around to glare at her. "Things I do not know or can ever comprehend! I was born like this, don't you understand? There is no place in the middle of a war to gather a bunch of charity cases and teach them to handle guns! I am no leader, I am a killer! It is what I was born to be, and you must understand that I can do nothing but teach you to become a more superb killer than you can ever imagine." He stood, panting for a moment. "I know what it is like to be alone and abandoned," he said more calmly, the restraint evident in his voice. He held his arms out. "Look at what it has turned me into."
He turned away from Anna again, gripping the window frame. "You are the first vampire I have encountered or heard of in eighty-four years of life that kills as I do. There are not many like us, Anna. We may be the only two. Your fear is not foolish, but your optimism is."
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