They're like a cult. Each holding the same belief that in these clubs, tombs and faux covens - they're Vampires.

Stone and grit. The taste of blood and dirt collided at once and grated against numb gums and teeth. Was the world upside down? Or inside out? What was that dull thrumming and why was there a burning pain where organs should churn? The smell was the next wave of discomfort. Driving into the senses like a barbed arrow. It was like rotting flesh, congealing bile…The world was inside out, no doubt. And lifting a lead-weighted head, filled with cotton wool, the man tried to prove it to himself. Not quite inside out, but there was definitely stone above him. Upside down? Now he was confused. There was a pool of filth beside him, seeping into the mud and moss. Dirt and ground. Now he was certain he wasn’t upside down…His brain flipped over itself a few times as he stared at the disgusting slop. Was that his insides? He wasn’t sure what a pancreas looks like. But he was starting to feel hollow. Shoving himself to his feet, he resolved to find out. The stone above his head had other ideas, however.

Ah, yes. Reality came and stabbed him in the cranium, then dished up a side of concussion. Rubbing his abused head, the dishevelled young man slowly rose from beneath the stone structure. An accursed footbridge. He was almost certain he didn’t like the wretched things before…Now he just had an intense loathing. He would have kicked it, luckily he chose against it. A bare foot vs. a stone bridge was certainly a one-sided fight.

It was dusk. The last of the light was fading. The grass beneath his feet tickled his soles and he fidgeted where he stood.

Where was he?

How exactly did he get there?

And where the bloody hell were his shoes?!

His mind tried to backtrack. Maybe earlier events could provide an answer, but only white wash and static came to mind. Nothing but a blank image like a TV without reception played over in his confused head. All he could do was shove his hands in his pockets out of frustration and was met halfway with a hard surface against the fingertips of his left hand. Hastily he pulled the thing out to find a small book, leather bound and black. Inside where finely printed pages each with a date and room to fill out a schedule, other than that it was barren of information. A few of the pages had been ripped out and what was written on others; was obscured beyond recognition. Shutting it, he stared at the cover - engraved into a small metal plate was a name.

Eadin Arwick.

Squinting his eyes at the several layers of colours interrupted by the etches, a thought dawned on him. Simple, yet he felt cold just thinking it…

Was that his name?

“I don’t know…” He muttered hoarsely to himself… “I don’t know…who I am…”

It had been so long since Tatiana had gotten out. Not one for socializing, not one for exposing herself to the pain that would recall her lost Malachi. But that was something that perhaps echoed even louder when she was alone.

Strolling through the park, watching the stars, she was startled when she heard a voice. It was a whisper, a plea almost coming from someone a fair cry away. And though it was as if he were asking someone the words rather than talking to himself, no one responded. So... What was going on?

Curiosity overcoming her for the first time in a while, she began to head slowly towards where she heard the voice. Soon enough a scent followed. A vampire? A rather young one at that.... Curious...

She moved closer, letting her feet make noise. As old as she was, she didn't fear the young one, even though he could attack her. So she approached, a friendly expression on her face, her hands held out slightly in a gesture of surrender.

"Well well little one... Are you lost tonight? New to the city perhaps?" She asked softly, her voice bairly louder than the light wind on the grass, but he would be able to hear her. "My name is Tatiana... Or Sari if you prefer. Is there anything I could help you with?"

He didn't know whether to recoil or respond. How do you tell someone you have no idea what the hell was going on? Moreover...that he couldn't remember a damn thing? He let his back slouch a little more.

"I didn't ask for your name..." Pausing he turned his dull, teal eyes elsewhere. "I don't think you could help me..."

She had approached him, out of nowhere, introduced herself like it was the most blaise thing she had ever done and now he was suspicious. Who does that? He could feel the hair on the back of his neck prickle. A little voice nagged at him, though. Be nice, it said. She's only trying to help...

He tried hard to raise his eyes back to her, maybe study her alittle.

Damn...He was so confused...

She frowned at him, puzzled at his actions. He was a vampire... Yet it was almost as if he had a concussion, which a vampire couldn't really have. Maybe... Maybe he was just so new that his body was still healing from the change?

Sari didn't smell any other vampires around, no other scents really so to speak of.

"No, I know you didn't young one. But you seemed to need help, and I was simply passing through. Is everything okay? Where is your sire? You seem terribly young to be out on your own." She wasn't worried for him so much. Well, not until a human walked by. The thirst would take over then, consume him and lead him on a bloody rampage which would probably only traumatize the young man.

"I simply wish to help. If you're still young, your thirst can't be too in control yet. I wouldn't want you slaughtering some humans and going on a bloodlust through the city. That wouldn't be good for anyone." She said conversationally.

"Did you need to feed? I have packets stored at home if you'd be willing to come with me." She offered, guessing the man's sire wasn't anywhere near by.

They believe quite blindly that they need blood to survive...

His head spun and he groaned, rubbing the balls of his palms into his eyes.

"I don't understand! What are you talking about? Feeding? Sire...?" His brain was threatening to shut down on him. He felt like he was having an information overload but he hadn't learnt a damn thing.

At the offer, he swayed away from her.

What - the - hell?!

He didn't know her!. . . . . . . .Or did he? Upside down? Inside out? He was feeling like he was on fire...encaged in ice. Everything conflicted. He would have thrown up if he could. But he was so damn hungry. Nausea, hunger, fire, ice...it was just too much. He sunk to the ground then, the smell of dirt and grass felt like the only thing he recognised.

"I think I'm scared...I feel like I died and came back from the grave...And it hurts so bad..."

((OOC: The first part in Itallics is a bit from his report that he was working on...Oh...and forgive his jerkiness...he's not very good with people...Even worse when he's confused. *laughs* I enjoy torturing my characters...))

Sari bit her lip nervously. Watching his confusion made the ever familiar motherly instinct rear it's head. But she didn't think rushing to him to comfort him would really be the best thing. Something was obviously wrong, he honestly didn't know what was going on, and his reactions to the words 'blood' and 'sire' were different than she expected.

She expected him to know what a sire was, to know he needed blood.

But if his sire had left him here, if he had just been turned and completed the transformation, that would explain much.

She frowned anxiously as he fell to the ground, nearly embracing the earth. Before a human could blink she was next to him, kneeling on the dirt as well. She had a solution to his confusion more than likely. He needed blood. She'd already fed for the night so she was fine, but he wasn't.

"Listen to me... You're confused because your thirsty. I'm going to help you, but you must also learn to control yourself. Understand?" Her fingers tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "It might make you ill though, I'm not sure. But it would be best if I tried first." Her voice was calm and soothing. With one quick motion she lifted her wrist to her mouth, nicking the skin just enough to let blood seep out. He would smell it, he would know what he needed to do.

"Here... Drink." She whispered quietly.

The smell washed over him, and he shifted. He leant foreward, just enough to peer at the source before recoiling into a shaking mass.

"What the HELL?!" He curled into a tight ball..."No, no, no! Get away from me!" His mind listened to his words and he was shocked at his own reaction. It was just a little blood but he was acting like the holocost was headed his way. "Crazy lady! Why would you cut yourself like that!? Why..." His voice become more of a croak. He was drained...tired. He felt as if he was sobbing now, like an over-tired child. "I..." Fisting the dirt, he tried desperately to will the earth to swallow him up.

He was scared of what his body wanted to do...Bite...ravish....kill...

"You need to feed..." Sari said, her voice still gentle and calm. It was as if she were dealing with a frightened child, which he seemed to be.

She pulled him close, her strong arm holding him close so he couldn't run.

"It will help young one. Just trust me. Your mind will be clearer, you just need to feed. Remember? How sometimes when you were human you would get hungry and it would make you ill, make you not think straight?" It might have been several millennia ago for her, but she remembered starving very well.

Moving the cut closer to him the same gentle voice told him to drink, a gentle urging in it this time, hoping it would help.

"You know you need it. Listen to your body little one. It's new, terrifying... But it's real. You aren't who you use to be. You have to realize that or you won't survive." She knew that everything had to be overwhelming for him, but only a human who had time to prepare, had a sire who was willing to teach them everything about this new world and wanted to join it, truly lived.

"Let me help you... Everything will be okay."

"I don't remember anything..." He muttered, weakly trying to pull away. "I can't...I won't..." The confused man squirmed... "I just...." His ressolve finally gave way and he meekly touched his lips to the cut.

He had no idea what she had been talking about. Sires, changes...a new body. Was that why he couldn't remember a thing?

Eventually, he stopped. He didn't have the desire to continue feeding, he was still starving but he just needed to stop and think. Taking out the small book he had found in his pocket earlier he gave it to her. He seemed perplexed by his own actions but a little glimmer told him that if she was willing to bleed for him...maybe she was willing to help him understand...

"You need to..." She said quietly, a slight compulsion behind her voice making it sound urgent. "It will be agonizing if you don't... You have to trust me...." She thought only briefly about letting him tear apart a human to see how he would feel when he did that. But she winced at the thought of killing even one human. She'd never had blood on her hands in that sense. She drank from them of course, but she had never, in her thousands of years, killed.

He drank though, and a slight thrill of pleasure coursed through her as he did so.

Sighing as he stopped, Sari licked the blood from her wrist and then touched his hair lightly.

another puzzled frown came to her face as he said nothing, simply handed her a book. There was a name on the front page as she opened it, his name? Probably. The rest seemed like a diary, a journal or something of the sort.

"Well... This might have a few answers. Eadin... That's the name that's in the book. Do you recognize it?" Maybe if he did have some amnesia, recognition would help him. "Why don't you come home with me? You can get cleaned up if you'd like. And I have blood at home you can use." She offered gently. "And once we've got that done, we can take a look at this book and see what we can figure out together." She smiled at him, standing and offering her hand. She knew he wouldn't need help getting up, but the gesture was more so an offer of friendship rather than to help him get off the ground.

He watched her unblinklingly as she spoke...touched his hair...fretted over him. There was nothing threatening about her, infact quite the opposite. She was...motherly and tender. When she had spoken his name, his jaw slackened. He didn't care if it was his name or not...It sounded nice to be called something...Even nicer coming from a caring woman.

"Tatiana...?" He tested his voice and nerve, fumbling slightly over his confusion. "You...don't know me, do you?" Reaching out cautiously, he took her hand. "Why are you helping me...?"

"No, I'm afraid not young one. If I did, I would be able to help you more." She said with a sigh as he took her hand. It was a good thing that he was being so calm, reasonable and understanding.

"Why? Because... The change from the human world to the vampire world is a difficult one. Nearly impossible without the teaching and guiding a sire provides. "To let a fledgling like you on their own would destroy potentially dozens of human lives, not to mention your own when the Amman caught up to you." She warned him, hoping that he would understand the severity of bad actions.

"I'm helping you because everyone deserves a chance at this new life, and it will save lives. Yours and others."

His eyes were wide, his jaw slack.

So much...too much. He just wanted to rest his throbbing head and make it all go away.

"I'm so confused." He confessed. "Why am I a threat? What am I?"

Sari blinked. So he really didn't know what he was.

He could tell he was different, or so it seemed. But he didn't know just how different he'd become. She bit her lip, wondering how to tell him in the most final way without sending him in to hysterics.

She began walking towards her townhouse, holding onto his hand firmly just in case they were to pass by any humans who happened to be on the street at this devilish hour.

"Let's go to my house, and I promise I'll explain everything there Eadin. I think it would be best if we weren't... over heard." And that if he did start to breakdown she would be able to restrain him. Plus the odds of him killing a human in her home? Zero.

"You are a threat now... Simple because you exist though..." She said, figuring that she should at least distract him for the short trip. "You have feelings I'm sure. Ones that you've never really had before, ones that you just can't explain." She said softly. Her own turning had been centuries before, but that didn't matter. She'd seen it enough, and her memories were still sharp.

He shuffled along behind her like a tired child. His teal eyes stayed on his dirty, bare feet as his rubbed at the scar on his chin.

The young man wasn't entirely certain what exactly he was feeling, at least he knew she was right. There was a swirl in his gut and a strange sort of vicarious feeling about his thoughts. He certainly wasn't one with himself. But he wasn't alone and the further he followed the safer he felt.

"Are you sure...that we don't know each other?" There was hesitant pause..."I'm feeling safer...and I shouldn't feel like that with a stranger, right?" He attempted a humourless smile, it just ended up looking crooked, though.

"I mean-" His words were cut off by the echoing clacks of high heels on the pavement.

A woman walked briskly by, her attention on her watch as she cursed. It was late, she was late and completely unaware of the teal eyes now trained on her.

The fledgling watched. The hair on the back of his neck bristled much like a dog's. His fangs sharped and his eyes focused and glowed. He opened his mouth...

"Oh...a woman." He muttered...turning back to Tatiana he asked; "Why do I feel like I'm on fire?" He hadn't realized just how much his grip on her hand had tightened or how tense his muscles had become.

Tatiana bit her lip as the young man questioned her. "I've never seen you before little one. I never associated with humans much, well at least not recently." She admitted.

"But... Perhaps it's a new instinct you have. To sense who is good and who is bad." She suggested. "After all, I am a couple thousand years old, and I have yet to take a human life." She said with a gentle smile. "It would be best for you to not kill so soon. You seem a rather innocent and light person, and I don't think it would agree with you." She patted his hand lightly.

But as she smelt the human near by, watched the woman turn the corner, her grip tightened on the young man's hand. He wouldn't be able to get away from her easily. But surprisingly he didn't fight as she walked by, then out of range.

Another lip bite showed her nerves. "We... One thing about us, is that we have far stronger, and more basic urges than humans. Especially when we're young. It's hard to control them, but it is possible. You're doing surprisingly well so far though I must say." She said encouragingly. "But if you see anyone else coming, hold your breath, okay?" She asked with a smile.

He watched her thoughtfully, staring at the different layers of colour as they shifted with her expression. She had held onto him so tightly he swore his bones rubbed eachother, but the pain wasn't as bad as he thought it could be.

"My lungs are burning so I don't really wanna hold my breath..." he said hernestly. "My stomach felt strange when she went by...But I think it's because she's pretty." The Fledgling seemed to be explaining it to himself more than Tatiana, and he looked pretty sure of his logic however childlike it may have been at this point. He was statisfied with that and was clinging to the idea that he was normal.

"You know...for some reason...I keep thinking of this book, I don't even remember my own name, but I remember a book..." pausing to scoff he then smiled again. "It was an old one. Dracula, I think...it's about some guy who made a deal with the Devil for his soul and became immortal..." Eadin squeezed her hand. "Hey, don't you think that would be lonely? Living forever? I can't remember anybody...so I feel alone...But feeling like that forever..." He let himself trail off, his teal eyes darkening.

Why am I talking about something like that now...?

((Forgive my slow, slow, slow reply...When you work 50hrs a week you tend to drop off the radar sometimes...))

(( I know all about that ;-) ))


"Well, you don't need the air really. It just feels good to breath. Lets you smell the things around you." She aid with a shrug, loosening her grip slightly. "She was pretty..." Tatiana agreed hesitantly. She didn't want to upset him, not out in the open anyway. It might be unavoidable once they got to her place.

But that was only two minutes later, and they ran into no one else.

Opening the door that she never locked, she gestured for him to enter first. "I promise I'll explain everything I can... I might not be able to help much with who you were, but I can help you with who and what you are now." She said, reminding him that she was only here to help him.

"Well... We haven't sold our souls, because most of us never really... Wanted it. But is there an afterlife? Who knows. And remember. Just because you are immortal, doesn't mean you can't die." She said warningly. "And yes... It can be lonely, but there is much to do to pass the time... Many things that help the dark times." She murmured quietly, closing the door behind him. No lights were on in the house, but the would be able to see just fine.

He had peeked in first, like a curious child.

"You're, uh...not gonna chain me up in your basement, are you?" The young man had just attempted humour...At least he thought he had. With a lopsided grin, he stepped into the darkness of the house.

When she had called him immortal, he spun around, a horrified look on his features.

"Immortal?" The was a moment's pause for him gaping like a fish. "No, no. That's not right. No one can be immortal. I don't want to be. Not remembering anything forever. Being alone forever..." The thought panicked him. His voice barely made a rasp but he was sure he was intending to yell.

"You keep saying I've changed but I can't remember who I was before! Some one changed me, didn't they? Who did this to me?" His eyes glanced about. They were probably somewhere watching him, laughing at him.

"No. And if I did, you wouldn't be in any real danger anyway." She smirked almost wickedly at him.

But she heard the shock in his voice, the alarm and panic. Well at least now he'd finally understood what she'd been trying to say all along. And he was taking it just about as well as she expected.

"No, not really immortal. Just unchanging, not aging. We can still die Eadin. And you won't be alone. Not if you truly don't want to be!" She reassured him as she moved to him, grabbing his shoulders firmly and making him at least face her. "And I'm sure you'll remember everything! You've just been through a great trauma after all. You died Eadin... How, why and who are things I just don't know. I would tell you if I could. You could have been hit by a car and dying.... The one who turned you could have done it out of pity, a desire to help. I wish I knew." Anyone would be able to read the earnest sincerity on her face.

Tatiana moved her hands to his cheeks, trying to get him to focus. "We will be able to find out everything. Who you are, what happened. We can find out. Of all the fears you should have, this one is almost ridiculous." She smiled slightly.

He didn't need to, but he was breathing erratically. His teal eyes were darting every which way and the colours around him were starting to blur and meld together. He was in shock. Every little piece he had started to put back in place came shattering into a pile of mess at the bottom of his mind.

His back hit against a wall as he reeled like a dog after a beating.

"Stop!" He practically howled. "Stop it! You're. . .you're just trying to scare me, right? This is a joke! A. . ." The words died on his lips and he looked at the door. She was trying to help him, wasn't she? He shouldn't want to get away...He just wanted to run back to the bridge and curl back up in the mud. Maybe whoever did this to him would come and retrieve him...

She saw the panic set in, saw him as he slowly began to realize just what was going on. He'd really started to make connections now. First he only knew that he had changed. Now he knew just how he had changed and what he was.

Tatiana moved quickly between him and the door. She couldn't let him out now. Not in this state.

"Eadin! Why would I lie to you! It makes sense doesn't it? You know, you feel that something in you has changed, that something is very different than it should be. You drank my blood. You wanted it, needed it. And you want more blood. That was what was attracting you to the woman. Human blood is what keeps us strong, sane..." She moved closer slowly, holding her hands out in a non-threatening gesture.

"Let me help you.... If you don't trust me, believe me or whatever, you will end up dead. The Amman has no problem eradicating fledglings who don't control themselves. And I can tell you don't want to turn into a monster. I'm one of the few that I know that can help you stay who you are, and I will help you remember who you were." Reaching a hand to his face she touched him gently. She wasn't afraid that he would hurt her. She was only afraid he would hurt someone else, or himself.

"Please, let me help you. Trust me Eadin. Just trust me."