Another night falls (Charlene)

[Jason Dreggs]

"Okay how about if you got any questions I answer them for you."

It was easier then feeding her the ton of information that was out there. Of course he would tell her the basics just so she could get by.

"But I will teach you the basic rules to get by. There mostly dining etiquette rules."

[Charlene Briggs]

I snort. Me and etiquette? You gotta be kiddin' me. I come from the South Side of Chicago. Etiquette amounts to the white girl not angering the homeboys and making friends with the right gang for protection. You know, for just in case. "Because of older vampires right? And we have to hide who we are. Right?"

Seems logical to assume that. Things change quickly and people get set in their ways. Probably safe to think that Vampires act similar when you have decades, and then centuries, go on by.

I'm not going to grow old ever again. I'm frozen in time forever and have to deal with this insatiable hunger for blood. I think Jason thinks too highly of me to think I can handle this.

[Jason Dreggs]

"Yes because of older vampires. Also because of stronger vampires. Also the prince and the Camarilla."

Jason was about to go off on a tangent with the prince stuff but he stopped there. He didn't want give her information overload she would find out all of this stuff soon enough.

"Yes we have to hide who and what we are. The Camarilla calls it the masquerade."

Jason started to push himself up from the floor.

[Charlene Briggs]

"Masquerade huh?" I toss the word back and forth in my head and come to the conclusion that it makes sense. Vampires can walk around in plain sight during the night and us ... erm, well, other poor people would be none the wiser. Looks like Anne Rice got it right, sorta. "Prince? Rules the city, or state or sumthing?"

[Jason Dreggs]

"There is a prince in almost every major city on both sides of the ocean. They rule cities mostly but a few watch over additional territory."

He didn't want to call a prince a ruler because that would be the wrong term for what they really did. The true faces behind the masquerade where the elders but he didn't want to get into them.

Mostly because he didn't know too much about them just that they existed and pretty much controlled everything but even they had bosses. It was just an endless cycle of who was controlling who.

"Think of a prince more as a mayor it his job to enforce the rules in his city. In truth they seem to think they have a lot of power but they really don't have any."

[Charlene Briggs]

"So they rule by fear?" Sounds like that's what he's insinuating. It makes sense. A lot of people in power, even a regular old boss at a grocery store, can keep their position through presence and fear of getting them mad at you because he has a bunch of people thinking that he's hot crap on a stick.

[Jason Dreggs]

"Yes and sometimes depending on the prince by force if necessary."

Jason was thinking about the prince before the current one. Jason had heard stories how he had tried to subjugate the anarchs. Most of the rules he had put on them where still in place not that the anarchs really followed the rules.

"That's where I come in and the people I work for. We fight to change the system and make it fare for all vampire kind. We believe unlike another group that there needs to be rules but not as many as there are. We don't believe there needs to be a prince to attempt rule over us."

[Charlene Briggs]

I feel the anger swelling up inside me and my eyes sharpen into daggers. "Is your little unruliness against the establishment what got me killed? Did I get caught in the middle of some stupid revolution?"

[Jason Dreggs]

"Actually what got you killed is um..."

Jason really had no clue what to say about how she died. It was true she had seen something in his world that she wasn't suppose to but that wasn't what got her killed. She got in the middle of something else and that something else wasn't anything Jason knew about.

"Well I actually don't know what was going on when you got killed. You got caught in something bigger than me and the game I play. You did however see something from my world that would have gotten you killed eventually."

He was referring to the beheading of some poor dumb vampire in an ally way. Of course if no one new she saw then she might not have been killed but there was no time to deal with the what if's.

"I don't know what to say all I know for sure is you got killed for whatever game that dam cop is playing."

[Charlene Briggs]

I wanted to still be angry with him for getting me killed, but the pathetic look on his face and the sincerity in his voice made me realize that he's telling the truth.

In short, I was gonna be screwed either way. Whether or not Jason was involved wasn't really an issue anymore. Ugh. This is highly frustrating. I've got all of this pent up aggression and anger and this insatiable hunger inside of me and I don't know what the hell to do with it.

Oh, and don't go thinking I've gone soft on Jason. He coulda still let me die in peace. He's not getting off that easy. "So what now?" I reply, resigned to the fate that was dealt.

[Jason Dreggs]

Jason was confused for a moment it couldn't be that easy could it? Did she just give into all this vampires’ thing? Jason just shook his head of clear of the confusion and decided to move forward with the discussion.

"Well for starters I have to talk to some of my people. Then I have to take you to go see the prince since all anarchs are required to register in this city. However if anyone asks I did not turn you, you just came in from LA."

[Charlene Briggs]

Oh lord, this was funny and I couldn't contain the humor. "Do I sound like some arrogant snob from L.A? I grew up here all my life! They'll see right through it."

[Jason Dreggs]

"Fine you where a tourist there who got turned. The reason why I say LA is cause LA is a free city ran by the anarchs. There you do not need permission to turn."

Jason walked over to where his jacket was hanging and pulled out a cell phone. He started to shift thru the numbers on the phone looking for a name.

"Cause if they find out I turned you in this city. Let's just say they will find inventive ways to destroy us both for the crime."

[Charlene Briggs]

"So I was a random victim that got turned and left to fend on my own. But that's when my hero Jason Dreggs came to my rescue huh?" I replied with a spiteful scowl.

[Jason Dreggs]

"I do play a good Hero."

Jason had a boyish grin on his face as he tried to lighten the mood a bit. Jason found the number and started texting to it. He then closed the phone to waiting for a reply.

"I know you are pretty pissed at me right now and probably will be for the rest of eternity. I am going to ask you to stay here one or two more days as I show you the basics. I will also be working on setting you up a safer apartment if you wish one that will protect you from the sun during the day.

No need to worry about the funds I will pay for everything. I owe you that at least also if you need a new job I might be able to get you one. Is there anything else you might need?"

[Charlene Briggs]

"No ..." I stare down at the floor wistfully wishing that things were different. That I would wake up and realize that this was all one big nightmare. That I'm still that poor bartender trying to make a living so I can go to school, make something of myself, prove my parents wrong that I'm not some nobody like they were.

But here I am. Cold as ice with blood pumping through my body that makes me far superior and vulnerable then any human on this planet.