The Lies
I am quite glad you decided to come along after all. Lucky, wasn't it, that I had something appropriate for you in the guest bedroom's closet. No, not from a previous victim, if that's what you're worried about; it's just that when the same situations pop up over and over across a dozen decades, you learn to prepare for them. Surely you don't think you're the first woman I've strolled with since my Embrace? You are lovely, but don't allow it to go to your head, my dear.
It is cold tonight, isn't it? I see you're staring at my breath - yes, it is steaming like yours. That's another use of blood, one that's quite useful for disguising myself in the presence of vampire-hunters and other unpleasant souls. You'd be amazed at how many of my kind have met their ends over the years because they forgot a tiny detail. The devil is in fact in the details, and he's just as happy to turn on his putative servants as he is on those who think themselves divinely inspired.
In the meantime, this wolf likes to blend in with the flock, yes.
Hmm. Hunters. They're nasty, nasty people, full of fire and drive for their self-appointed mission. Most of them never come within a half-mile of destroying one of my kind; of the rest, the vast majority do their causes more harm than good. They cull the weak and the stupid from this state of unlife, leaving better, smarter, stronger vampires. Many hunters are self-employed, a ragtag rabble toting shotguns and stakes as they stomp blindly through the gardens of the night. Other work for branches of your government, convinced we're part of some enemy's conspiratorial attempts to bring down The American Way. Imbeciles.
The most dangerous hunters are tied up with the Catholic Church and something called the Society of Leopold. Don't be fooled: It's the Inquisition in modern guise. They, and others like them, have learned just enough of the truth about the Kindred to draw all the wrong conclusion. According to your basic vampire-hunter, we are all evil pawns of Satan, sent to Earth to wreak havoc and serve our Infernal Master.
That, contrary to what one might think, is unequivocally merde. I hold as master no man, vampire or devil; I serve no will save my own. Vampires simply have... appetites and goals that diverge from what your average Inquisition adherent thinks is normal. Then again, I'm told they run to hair shirts and self-flagellation, which is hardly well-socialized behavior either.
There are a great many other half-trusts and misconceptions out there, most of which serve our purposes. Do you see the church across the way? You will notice that I am standing in media crucis - right where the shadow of the cross falls on the street - and it's not doing a blessed thing to me. Nor will any other crucifix, Star of David or other religious apparatus, unless the person holding it has some faith of her own. That sort of faith is really quite rare these days, I assure you. Nine times out of ten you can walk up to a priest (if so inclined), rip the cross out of his hands, and then kill him while he's still asking God what precisely went wrong.
Not that I've done such a thing, of course.
Most of other folderol they sell you in movies is exactly that. Garlic? Worthless. A stake? Only if it your right in the heart, end even then it only immobilized you. Running water? I do bathe, thank you very much. Sunlight? Well, that does hurt, but it takes than single sunbeam to turn you to ash. The same for open flame - it burns you, but takes than a second to do so.
Am I in fact using "you" in all of these examples? I'm terribly sorry about that. I have no idea what came over me.
As for where we're going right now, well, we're going to a nightclub. More precisely, we're going to a watering hole where the kine, have gathered, not realizing there are predators about. You're also going to meet a few other of my kind, of different families. Don't worry, you're perfectly safe from them as long as you remain in my company. I have no intention of letting anyone hurt you tonight.
