05.29.06
Trail of Blood
Vampires. Everything goes downhill from the moment you set foot on their territory. From the moment your eyes rest on a red handprint, marking their dominion with their own blood.
They might welcome you, accept you into their ranks. You can't help feeling grateful, even proud, for they are the tribe with the most powerful reputation in the city. There is no denying that. Lurkers in the shadows, waiting, watching. They have all the time in the world, for in the end, the city shall be theirs.
Should I say we, should I say ours? I was – am? – part of them too; I took part on the hunts, on the trackings , on the markings – on the killings. They – we – are human, no matter what we call ourselves. We breathe, laugh, cry, run, live, love… "Vampires" is just a name, just like Dancer. It doesn't reveal the true self of the tribe. Being a scout, I know this. I am – was? – a spy, a walker of the heights. In the clouds, you see things concealed behind the walls, locked into the minds. The Wildcats show compassion, the Wharf Rats reveal heated hearts. The Cigarettes conceal plottings, the Vampires still love.
Mina cries over a letter, Sven hesitates before a killing. Jim drops the grin when he is alone, Vincent has a love for the sea. Matthew is religious, Cain smiles without noticing. Ruth struggles against her past, Ellery reveals a generous nature. Petyr nurtures a bold determination, Trevor sings lovingly, Maria smiles when she sleeps…
We are human. We still live. We still love.
Media said,
May 29, 2006 at 9:14 pm
Human you may be, but most deny it. You lose all but a trace of humanity when you deny what you are.
-Media
Anne White said,
May 29, 2006 at 9:16 pm
Isn’t the mere denial of it a way to protect yourself, to shelter you from the harshness of winter and the cruelty of the world?
Media said,
May 31, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Perhaps. Yet this denial only leads to the pain of others. If things are as you say, your possibly-former tribe could do much better to admit things. To strip away the facade is to become vulnerable, but if everyone is such, there is no threat.
Your bloody handprint people claim to be so strong, but they are in denial about that more than anything else. Only the weak are cruel. The strong have no reason to be.
-Media
Anne White said,
June 1, 2006 at 9:56 am
Yes, they could. But the wolf needs to be the wolf more in the wolfhound’s eyes than on his own. The crow does not shed its wings, it would go against its nature.
In denial they might be, but prove that when you are under their hold, prove that on the Tower’s pits. Could you? Would you?
Media said,
June 3, 2006 at 4:14 pm
I can’t say I would be as they are if I had a choice. It is far better to be as you are and enjoy it than put on a false appearance for the benefeit of others.
Anne White said,
June 3, 2006 at 8:04 pm
For the benefit of others? And what if you are doing it for your own benefit, what if you think it is the right path? It does not matter how wrong you are, it matters what your convictions really are.
C.B. Tinker said,
June 14, 2006 at 9:29 pm
You never do -did?- miss a thing, do -did?- you, Dancer?