Chapter 8: Arise 2-3

"Mercurio? Shit. Did you die on me?"

I kicked the foot of the sofa, shaking it and rousing him from his half-death. He groaned and got up, his mostly-ruined face turning towards me, his one eyeball studying my expression. I sighed in relief. At least he hadn't died. He better not half, with all I had to go through to get this guy's explosives.

"I bought you some morphine. Hold still." I ordered him, taking out the bottles of morphine and spilling two pills into my hand. I slid them into his mouth and made sure he swallowed. When he took the pills in, he sighed in relief, as if they immediately numbed the pain.

"Holy Christ, I needed that." He rasped. "Thanks."

"No problem." I said. "Well, actually, massive problem. Had to make a bloodbath of those assholes. But I got the astrolite back."

"Yeah?" Mercurio asked. "You wasted those sons of bitches, huh?"

"They gave me a pretty raw deal." I said. "So I gave them one right back."

He nodded firmly. "Good. Great. Hope it was painful. Didja get my money back?"

I considered keeping the money as compensation for the complete moral degradation resulting in what I had to do, but I decided against it. Whatever happened to me, Mercurio clearly got off worse. I reached into my backpack and took out the envelope of cash, tossing it onto the stand near the couch.

"Oh, you're a lifesaver." He groaned. "I might have to buy some new kidneys with this."

"Your kidneys are probably the least of your problems." I muttered. "What's the story with the astrolite?"

Mercurio finally sat up so that he was on a sitting position in the couch. Already, I could see him getting a little better, if only because the pain was fading.

"That astrolite?" He explained. "Twice as powerful as TNT. Instant demolition. Be on the other side of the world when you engage that timer. You need to make some place disappear - a warehouse. Looks to be a Sabbat interest."

I frowned, deep in thought. So the plot thickens.

"What do you know about the warehouse?" I asked.

"Heard a lot about that operation." Mercurio said. "I'd love to get in there, get my hands on the equipment they've been unloading. But it'd be suicide to walk in there… got a small army of trigger-happy types and they're all packin'. I dunno, maybe…" His voice trailed off, clearly thinking.

"Maybe?"

"Well…" He said. "There's a guy. Never met him, but I heard a lot about him. His name is Bertram Tung. He's one o' you types - y'know, walking stiffs? If there's anyone who knows more than me about this city, it's him. Unfortunately, Tung's hiding out at the moment."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"Tung's laying low cuz of Therese. Therese Voerman, y'know her?"

I knew her, alright. Or rather, I knew the surname Voerman. She must be related to Jeanette, who owned The Asylum. They're involved in this vampire shit too? Jeanette did look pretty pale, to be honest, but I figured that was some sort of foundation. I never spoke to Jeanette personally, but I'd seen her because she really liked being seen. She was one of those people that demanded attention without saying it, capturing the eye with her presence.

"Anyway, word is Terese and Tung are feuding." Mercurio continued. "I don't know the details. Seems like Tung thinks he's about to get whacked, so he's gone underground until Terese calls it off."

"And he won't be helping me until that happens." I guessed.

Mercurio nodded. "Bingo. You're gonna have to get Therese to call off the feud."

I cursed. First taking down small-time gang bangers, now getting involved in a feud between vampires? I didn't even do this much running around when I was alive!

Politics. Now that's the stuff that'll kill ya. Jack had said, his words echoing in my mind.

"Sure fucking hope not." I muttered out loud.

"What?" Mercurio asked.

"Nothing." I said, shaking my head. "Where can I find Therese? The Asylum?"

"Yeah. I never go to that place. Freaky customers frequent that place." He said, shuddering.

"Tell me about it." I agreed. "I know a bit about Jeanette. What can you tell me about Therese?"

"She's the woman around here." Mercurio explained. "Power player. Nice looking broad for a dead chick but, uh...personality like stone."

I humphed in agreement. I knew the type. "Sounds like my ex."

That made Mercurio chuckle.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." I said. "You take care of yourself, alright?"

"Yeah...yeah, you too, Fangs." Mercurio said.

Before I went to The Asylum and got myself involved in a feud between two powerful vampires, I decided I'd go back to the beach to see the woman that had helped me earlier. To my dismay, she was nowhere to be found. Of course she wasn't. It seemed whenever I finally got a handle on things, it turned out to just be the surface. Really, I didn't know what I didn't know. I approached one of the guys on the beach to ask if he'd seen her. There was something about him that looked a little...off.

His skin was tanned and he had gray eyes. I could see his fangs every time he opened his mouth. Was he a vampire? No, it couldn't be. Every vampire I'd met thus far was either deathly pale or ash gray. This guy looked almost normal, save for the fangs.

"Listen, it's like I've told you types 'bout a thousand times now," He told me before I could say anything, his Australian accent adding clear twang to his voice, "We know we can't hunt 'round here, alright? We're minding our own business, no need to hassle the weaklings."

I raised an eyebrow. The other people with him, all human-looking with fangs, stared at me like deer in headlights. This was probably the strangest thing I'd gotten all night, and that was saying something. "Look, I'm not here to...who are you guys, exactly?"

The man frowned. "You mean you ain't here to run us off?"

"Um, no. Why would you think that?" I asked, frowning as well.

"You types keep coming 'round here and trying to drive us off, and we're getting pretty sick of it." The man scowled. "Someone citing domain or in the worst cases, hunting us for sport."

I narrowed my eyes. "What the shit? Why?"

"Don't know." The man said, sighing. "We all seem to have come down with the same...disease. Ah, hell, who am I kiddin'? We're a bad horror show, alright? And us? We're the runts. The mistakes. You types call us thin-bloods, but we're equally screwed if you ask me."

Yet another term I didn't know the meaning of. Hopefully this guy can give me answers.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty new to this Monster Mash stuff myself." I said. "What's a thin-blood?"

The man chuckled bitterly. "Damned if I know. I know you don't want to be one. You seem to be in the loop - you tell me."

I narrowed my eyes. "I...I don't know, that's why I asked - okay, you know what? Never mind about that. Are you part of the Camarilla?"

"Camarilla?" The man asked. "See, I've heard all that before, an - and I still don't know what the hell anyone's talkin' about! I'd like to know just what I've become - we- we'd all like to know jus-...just what the...the hell kinda devil's contract we've apparently signed!"

I felt bad for him. I knew exactly how he felt. It was how I felt in that theater when Justine was executed, it was partially how I was feeling now. Sure, I was stronger, faster. I could control blood, see through objects, and compel people to do things...but at what cost?

"I'm with you." I said, my tone grim. "How'd this happen to you?"

The man crossed his arms, guarded. "I just came to town for the surf tourney - seems like years ago but it's...well, it's been about six months now. Every night during the finals, I'd hit the local diner after the beach parties fizzled out in the A.M. That's where I met her."

"Your Sire." I guessed. "The one that made you like this."

He nodded. "She had a natural beauty. Not like all the plastic dolls littering the sand, you know?"

I thought back to Justine. I nodded. I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Her name was Lily." He said. "I remember introducing meself - the way she seemed grateful for the company… Well, a few nights after our meeting, we were on the beach alone and…"

"Go on." I said.

"She tried to tell me what she was, but I didn't understand." The man said, his expression haunted. "And so, she showed me. I was...fucking furious with her when I took it all in. Cursed her and left, never really knowing what I was. I...I realize now how she must've felt."

He looked out to the sea, watching as the waves crashed loudly against the shore. He continued to say, in a haunted tone, "So here I am...now a mystery to meself."

"Is Lily dead?" I asked.

He scoffed at that. "Clinically? Deader than disco. But honestly, I don't know. I suppose I'd have moved on by now if I didn't think she'd show up one of these nights. There's a lot I've got left to say to her."

I turned to glance at the other people that stood around the bonfire. Were they all "runts" as the man called them?

"Are they thin-bloods as well?" I asked.

"Aye." He confirmed. "Most of them recently arrived. Got chased off by the Sabbath or some such thing from their home cities. They're more in the dark than I am. They're a good bunch, but...well, they've been through a lot. It's affected them."

I sighed, stuffing my hands into my pockets. "You guys...you're vampires. You know that, right?"

The man shrugged. "That's what Lily tried to tell me. And yeah, I can get behind that, sure. But what I don't understand are the rules and the terms and the reason some of 'em are at our throats claiming we're harbingers of the apocalypse! That's what I want to know."

Yeah. I thought. So do I.

"I'll look into it." I said.

The man raised his eyebrows. "What the hell? Really?"

I nodded.

"Well, I hope you have better luck than I did." He said. "No one's been particularly friendly to me in this city. Only reason we're in Santa Monica is because we hadn't been chased out yet."

"I'll keep you posted if I hear anything." I said. "What's your name?"

"Call me E." He said.

"What'll it be?" Asked the cashier at the diner by my apartment building.

I asked the same question I'd been asking pretty much everyone since I left the beach. "Ever see any pale, kind of strange types in here, late at night?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that a trick question?"

I shook my head. "What about a couple in here a few months ago? Surfer guy, pretty girl?"

"Hm, let me think…" She deadpanned. "Oh yeah, about four dozen a week."

Frowning, I felt a little ridiculous. This was California, after all.

"Okay. You see any girls hanging out here..? Pale girls?" I asked.

The cashier raised her eyebrows. "Pale girls? Like the Fitzsimmons albino? Yeah, she hasn't been here in ages."

I squinted. I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic again or not. Is this what talking to me felt like?

"Have you heard the term, 'thin-blood'?" I inquired.

"Thin-blood? Sounds familiar… is that one of those tropical diseases?" She asked.

I was so close to giving up.

"Try to remember." I urged. "Where'd you hear it?"

"Hmm...I know I've heard that before."

"Maybe a kind of strange, pretty girl said something about it recently?"

Once again, the cashier's eyebrows raised. "Oh, that girl! Nice girl. First decent human being I've seen in here for years - not like all the junkies and crazies I normally see. Yeah, I remember her. Yeah...weird. She left a tip but she didn't order a thing."

Probably because she wasn't hungry. I thought.

"Yeah, and she looked so hungry too." The cashier continued. "She just sat there all night with a full glass of water in front of her, talkin' about this and that. She seemed lonely, a little scared, so I let her stay in the booth until we closed. She left some stuff here. You seem to know her, why don't you give it back if you run into her?"

"Thanks." I said. "I'll be sure to do that."

The cashier grabbed a few objects from the drawer behind the desk and handed them to me. She handed me a photo, a receipt for a bail bond, keys to a car, and a purse. I had a feeling that if I were to gain any insight on Lily's whereabouts, I would probably have to check her car. I exited the diner and walked straight to the parking garage by the beach, hoping that it was there and not in some other city or something. That would seriously hamper this personal quest of mine - which was essentially, I realized, procrastination.

Why was I wasting my time helping an apparent runt find his girl? Well, I guess I sympathized with him. I knew what it was like to be dropped into a world as strange as this one with little to no explanation of what was going on. E wanted to be reunited with Lily in the way that I wanted to be reunited with Justine. I wanted her to explain things to me, tell me and "guide" me as LaCroix had said she was supposed to.

Perhaps more than that, I still felt the guilt from what I did to the thugs in the beach house weighing down on me. It was a matter of life and death, sure, but it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gotten myself involved in the first place. Saving the redhead back at the clinic didn't quite balance out what I'd done. Maybe if I get E to his Sire, I could make things a little better for him. What was the worst that could happen?

Me looking for Lily's car was basically me walking around the garage, pressing the beeper on her key ring repeatedly until I heard a beep from her car. Once I heard it, I walked to the window and peeked in to see if anything was inside. Nothing. Well, this was just a dead end. But it was Lily's car. There had to be something inside that could help. I focused on extending my senses, hoping that it could give me insight on what I was looking for. I spotted a glowing aura shining through the metal of her trunk. I walked over to it and opened it, spotting a red book with Lily's name signed on it.

"Ah ha." I said.

I read through it to gain insight on where she might be. There were multiple entries, starting from her meeting a guy and waking up the next night, not being aware that she fell asleep. She wrote about how she hadn't eaten in four days, and she had wondered what was wrong with her. Then I saw an entry about Rolf, who must've been her Sire. He told her that she needed blood. She then wrote about how Rolf said he needed to leave, how he was being forced out of the country. Then she had to bail him out of jail.

This man is all kinds of charming, ain't he? I thought to myself.

Apparently Rolf disappeared after Lily bailed him out, which made her feel afraid and lonely. She actually thought the guy cared about her. The next entries were about how she met a guy in the Surfside that she'd talk to until five in the morning. E, I presumed. She would meet him, and she'd constantly write about how he didn't know what she was. Is this how Justine felt when she was with me?

This isn't about you. I reminded myself.

Things got serious after that. This Lily chick must fall in love quite easily, because she swore she fell for E in her diary. She talked about how he kissed her and how she couldn't keep herself from biting into his neck. She'd fed him her blood to save him, and he said that he never wanted to see her again. That gave me pause. Is that how vampirism worked? You drain a subject completely dry, then give them a bit of your blood? I supposed that made sense, now that I thought about it.

The next entry was the last. It read:

5/16/04

I haven't been able to feed since that night with E. I'm afraid of what will happen. I remember Rolf bought blood from the blood bank. Maybe if I can sneak in, I can grab a few bags and get out before anyone catches me.

That was a week ago. Where was Lily now? Well, considering what E said, and her things still being lost, I'd put money on her still being at the Blood Bank. What could've happened to her, I wondered? I'd just been there. If I hadn't ran out after saving the redhead, would I have been able to save Lily as well? No, there was no point in dwelling on what I could've done. I didn't know then, but I know now.

"Need a fix?" The creepy clerk asked me from behind his glass window. He had orangeish-auburn hair and wide, creepy green eyes. His gaze was that of a madman's or a serial killer's. He'd have given me the chills if my nervous system was what it used to be.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

The clerk chuckled, bloodshot eyes staring straight at me with their piercing gaze. "C'mon. Don't fuck with me. You think I don't see the monster that hides beneath that mask of flesh you wear? Yeah...your type always comes marching in here, willing to pay anything for their fix like damn junkies."

I narrowed my eyes. Just who the hell did he think he was calling a junkie.

"Right…" I muttered. "I'm guessing you know about-"

"Vampires? Kindred? You bet I do." He said. "You look greener than fake grass. Hell, I probably know more than you, buddy."

This man was rubbing me entirely the wrong way. His tone was hostile and condescending, which made me want to break through that window and strangle him. Who the fuck did he think he was? And that wasn't an impulse by my Beast. It seemed to have quieted since I was thinking about brutalizing this guy.

"...Okay then." I said flatly. "Well, I need to get to the back room."

"Employees only." He said, a wide smirk on his face. "Them's the rules of the queen bitch herself."

Queen bitch. I had a feeling he was talking about Therese. What did she have to do with this?

"You mean There-"

"Now serving number seventy-five…" The clerk called out. "Number seventy-five?"

I was the only one in the hallway. I stared at him until we made eye contact.

"Let me into the back room." I ordered him.

Suddenly, the man slumped and walked out of his little room. Like a drone, he walked around and guided me to the back room, unlocking the 'employees only' area for me. I walked through the door and closed it behind myself, waiting until I heard the clerk's footsteps walking away from the door. Once he was sufficiently far away, I advanced into the lounge.

"U-Um...what are you doing here?" I heard a scared voice ask.

I turned to see some kid dressed in scrubs. He had to be pre-med, probably an intern judging by how green around the ears he looked. His eyes were wide as dinner plates as he gazed at me, so I took the opportunity to make eye contact.

"Tell me where you keep your blood." I ordered him.

His eyes glazed over. "In...in the freezer down the hall."

I nodded. "Tell me everything I should know about this freezer."

"There's nothing outta the ordinary...but there's a keypad on one of the walls, leads to a secret door where we're keeping the specimen…"

Specimen? That was probably Lily. It seems like she was caught in an attempt to steal blood packs, and the doctors decided to keep her to run some tests, given the medical marvel that she was. It was a good thing that I stepped in when I did. I wouldn't want any of the doctors reporting their findings, or else that would be trouble for all of us.

"Tell me the key code." I ordered.

"Nineteen sixty-nine." The intern said.

"Thanks." I said, though it felt a little silly to be thanking someone I had under my spell. "Um...you'll forget this encounter ever happened."

The intern's glazed over look turned into a dazed look, as if he didn't know where he was. I took the opportunity to exit the room, walking down the hall to the freezer. Opening it up and walking inside, I went to the keypad and jotted in the code. The secret door opened, leading into the wall itself. I walked inside and pulled a lever I saw, which opened the way to a back room.

A girl, Lily, I presumed, was strapped to a chair with iron shackles. She was pretty, had that "girl next door" look, and wore a tie-dyed halter crop top and jeans with ratty sneakers. Her hair was short and strawberry blonde, and her eyes were blue. Her skin wasn't as pale as I'd seen with other Kindred. Was she a thin-blood too?

Even though she was bound, she still squirmed and struggled in her chair. She looked...absolutely feral. Yes, she looked human, but she behaved like some sort of caged, hungry animal. Judging by her last diary entry, she hadn't fed in at least a week. Is this what hunger looked like? Any time I get slightly thirsty, I get the urge to tear people's heads up. Would I become some sort of feral monster if I ignored it for too long? Is this what the Beast looked like?

"Lily?" I asked.

Lily turned a gaze, her head dipped downward but her eyes looking at me. Her teeth were bared, which only served to make her look more feral.

"Hunger…" She moaned. "I need it. A drop of it on my tongue, sliding down my throat, the hot flash in my brain lighting up my body… I can smell it everywhere...blood."

She was...definitely not okay.

"Lily? Can you understand me?" I asked her. "I'm here to he-"

"Let me go." Lily growled. "It's painful...like I'm going to die. It's calling. Never felt like this before."

Violently, she began to struggle again, popping a few bolts off of the chair with the sheer force.

"LET ME GO!" She proceeded to scream. "I CAN SMELL IT! I HAVE TO HAVE IT!"

"Okay- hey...hold still. I'll let you go." I said.

I searched for some mechanism on the chair to see if there was a way to free her. Once I found it, I undid her binds, letting her go. In that same instant, one of the hospital's doctors walked in. As soon as he saw the scene, his eyes went wide. He screamed, "Sweet mother of God!" and tried to run away, but it was too late. Lily launched herself out of the chair unnaturally, bouncing off of the wall and tackling the doctor like a perfect predator.

Her body moved sinuously, almost sensually as she tore into his throat. I saw her tear out his jugular with her teeth and drink from him as if he were a water bottle. The sight was strange and slightly disturbing, especially with her pleased moans as she drained the bastard dry. He made choking sounds and tried to struggle, but she seemed to like it, asserting her physical dominance over him and all but tearing him apart. It was no time at all before he fell limp, and Lily, now covered in blood, pulled back and looked at me, her expression alien, something between shame and pure, orgasmic bliss.

"The heat...mmm, it's never been so satisfying." She purred. "All of it. I drank until I heard his heart stop and I was sucking on a dry, dead artery. It was...euphoric."

She shuddered...but then she widened her eyes. The bliss in her expression was gone, replaced with shame, with terror. "But I've...I've killed him. I've never killed anyone before. What happened? What came over me?"

I pressed my lips into a thin line. "We call that the Beast."

"What happened - it's not who I am!" She insisted, seemingly trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince me. "I've never done anything like that before. I'm not a monster!"

I stared blankly at the corpse beneath her. Jack's words rang in my head again.

"It's who you are now." I said flatly. "It's who I am. It's who we all are now. Monsters."

"I tried to steal some blood." Lily continued, her expression becoming more and more panicked. "I'd heard they sold it - I was hungry and I can't hunt in town. They caught me and… I was strapped - trapped! Thought I'd never escape. But… I killed a man. I have to get out of here."

That confirms my theory. I thought.

"E told me about you." I said to her.

"E?" Lily asked. "You know E? I...how do you know E?"

"He asked me if I knew anything about thin-bloods, which is how I found you." I explained.

Her expression became saddened. I imagined with a look like that, she could get anything she wanted.

"I tried to tell E about his condition, but he was too furious at me for what I'd made him into. He...didn't listen." She said. "A thin-blood, from what I've been told, is a vampire whose blood is weaker than most."

That's it? A weak vampire? That didn't explain why the LA vampires were treating them the way they were, or why the Sabbat were saying they're harbingers of the apocalypse.

"Go on." I told her.

"Rolf, my Sire, told me some vampires consider thin-bloods to be a bad omen and want them destroyed." She explained further. "Rolf wasn't a thin-blood… but apparently I am. I don't know why. Rolf abandoned me. His group wouldn't take me in. They said I was a...liability."

Considering this entire fiasco, I was inclined to agree. I nodded and said nothing.

"He left me with so many questions." She lamented. "And I did the same thing to E. But I didn't want to leave him - he forced me out of his life. I...I should go. I have to get out of here. Maybe out of this city...soon."

"You should go see E." I suggested. "I talked to him before coming here. He says he forgives you. Says that the only reason he hadn't skipped town is because he wants to see you."

She raised her eyebrows. "E...doesn't hate me anymore?" She asked.

"No. The opposite, actually. You should talk to him." I answered.

"I'll go see him. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Bye." I said, walking to the door.

"Oh, about tonight…" Lily said, stopping me from leaving. "What I did...please don't tell E. It's not my fault. I couldn't control it. I've never done anything like this before...I'm no killer."

I thought back to the beach house. She may not have been a killer, but I certainly was.

"You couldn't help it." I said. "I won't tell a soul. Goodbye."

We both walked out of the room, and Lily went out of sight, turning into some kind of mist and dispersing. I was going to leave the way I came when the clerk interrupted me, his expression very clearly irritated.

"Why'd you have to go and let that bitch out?" He growled. "There's one less Bill in the world now. Why'd you have to let her go and eat him, huh? Now I'll never get to do in that bastard myself. Well, you know what? No more blood for you. No more!"

I narrowed my eyes and bared my teeth until I was sure I looked as feral as Lily did. It was no wonder that humans could be monsters too. At least that hadn't changed. For a moment, I allowed my Beast to speak through me, just a little. Just enough to show him that I wasn't fucking around.

"How about," I snarled. "I take yours instead? Do you think you'd be able to stop me? Is there any doubt in your goddamn mind that I could make you present your neck to me like the pathetic little lamb-for-slaughter you are?"

His eyes widened. "H-Hey, don't be-"

"Don't be what?" I growled, closing the distance between him and I. "It's either that, or you sell me whatever blood I want. At a discounted price. Choose. You've got three seconds before I choose for you."

The clerk shivered. "O-Okay! Alright!"

I shoved the voice of the Beast to the back of my mind where it belonged and eased the tension in my ribs. Then I advanced down the hall, shoving the clerk to the side and walking back out into the night. I had learned what a thin-blood was, but not why a thin-blood was. Just as I'd thought earlier, every time I got answers, I just got more questions. But at least I'd helped someone. I'd reunited E with Lily, just like I wanted to be reunited with Justine. Yes, Lily killed a man, but I was beginning to learn that no good deed was going to go unpunished.

The sun was going to go up in an hour or so, which clearly meant I should get inside before I experience whatever it is that happens with vampires in the sun. I didn't want to find out. As I walked to my apartment building, I felt a strange loneliness. E had loved Lily, and they reunited...I didn't love Justine or anything, but it would've been nice if someone were with me every step of the way here. Guiding me, giving me answers to the questions I had. But I supposed life wasn't always fair - and unlife doubly so.

I used duct tape to cover my windows, that way the sunlight wouldn't come in through the closed blinds. I looked at my digital clock. 5AM. I felt a deep weariness wash over my body as time went on, a weariness that far eclipsed anything else I felt. As soon as my head hit my mattress, I fell asleep. Tomorrow, I'd visit the Asylum and see if I can survive a feud.