The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

[tristan_vamp]

 Tristan gave a frustrated groan and then threw the book as hard as he could.  It landed with a crash against the tree, spine against bark. Several pages ripped and fluttered and wrinkled as it skittered down the trunk to lie on the ground.

He couldn't stop his mind from running in circles.  He heard Rhiannon in his ear telling him he could have a soul.  He tasted the child abusing priest still on his tongue.  He closed his eyes and saw Erika as she fled into the night, safe from him and his conflicted, convuluted sense of justice. 

Immortality was such a long time.  Why did humans yearn for it, Tristan wondered?  He glanced up at the stars and wondered if vampires could wish upon such a sign.  And if they could, what would he even wish for?  That was the crux of it.  He didn't even know what he wanted anymore.  He didn't know what to believe.  Did he want a soul?  Because what did that mean about him if he had one?  Did he want immortality?  He hadn't asked for it.  He hadn't really thought about it before.  Growing up Catholic, he'd believed eternity came in heaven, of which now he would never see.  So did he wish for real death?  An end to this unlife as a demon walking in the night?

No wonder the true story of a young woman hiking the Pacific Coast Trail couldn't keep his mind engaged tonight. He gave a disgusted look at the fallen book and then rubbed at his eyes.


(Open to Daniel)

Comments

[daniel_stacy]

“Whoa.”

Hands in his pockets, Daniel stopped walking to survey the … well, it looked like a tantrum, but who hadn’t thrown a book before? He didn’t have much use for the ones without pictures. Back when he finished his first semester of college, he built a miniature pyramid out of the textbooks he couldn’t sell back – books with titles like Principles of Macroeconomics – and lit them on fire. He even roasted a bratwurst on a wire clothes hanger.

The young vampire walked to the edge of the dilapidated asphalt that Searchlight considered road and stooped under the scrubby tree. He read the cover of the book.

“I dunno, bro, the words don’t seem that big.”

At Holly’s advice, he had gone down to Searchlight and scoped out the town. He couldn’t figure out why she wanted to move there. She said it was personal. From what he could tell, it definitely was not recreational.

[tristan_vamp]

Tristan quirked his eyebrow at the stranger and then snorted. He stood up and brushed the dust off of his pants. "I should just get a cat," he mumbled.

He walked over, gave Daniel an appraising look, and then bent over to pick up the book. He tried to put it back into some kind of order, failed, and shoved it into the back pocket of his jeans. "Haven't seen you around these parts before," Tristan said, "bro..."

[daniel_stacy]

“Oh. Nah, you wouldn’t have. Small towns, not my cup of… blood, I guess you’d say.” Daniel gestured vaguely at the landscape. He reached back and squeezed his neck muscles while his mind snagged on a question. Have I ever drunk blood out of a cup? I don’t think so. You’d think I’d remember that.

“I’m Daniel,” he said. He reached out to shake the man’s hand. He hadn’t figured out the right way to introduce himself to male vampires, yet. Most of the undead he spent time around were women, and Deanna’s crowd didn’t go in for that. Ridicule, yes. Handshakes, no.

“Somebody told me I should check this place out. So far, unimpressed.”

[tristan_vamp]

Tristan gave the other vampire a firm handshake in return. "Not much to be impressed about, I suppose," Tristan added. "If you like the empty desert, the baking sun, yet crisp refreshing night, and barren town..." Tristan shrugged.

Actually, Tristan liked it here. He liked the feel of the Earth under his feet. It was a solid place. A land for dreamers and schemers. And since Tristan preferred meals that were tainted in humanity, this was the perfect location.

"Not a lot of competition here, between our kind. I do like that," the vampire noted.

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel scratched his nose and returned his hands to his pockets.

“I can see why. Guess when people go missing out here, it’s newsworthy.” He pivoted and checked out the assortment of weathered homes and trailers on the residential street. He found himself wondering how Holly would fare in her search for a place to stay. Maybe an old biddy straight from the Gunsmoke era would decide she had a room to let, complete with lace curtains, a wash bowl, and a four-poster bed.

Hmm. Four-poster bed. That has possibilities.

“Do you head into town to feed or just pick off motorists?”

[tristan_vamp]

Tristan gave a secretive smile... secretive in the way that kept deep internal truths hidden. It's funny how the most innocent questions could cut so deep.

"It depends on my mood," Tristan said. He gave a nonchalant shrug. "There are plenty of lonely roads and dark alleys within and without. It seems this is a place for others to escape. I'm not sure how missed they are, to your earlier point." Tristan ran his fingers through his hair and stared out towards the desert. "I like the thrill of the hunt, so I don't usually go for the easy picks."

[daniel_stacy]

“Yeah, see, I think I’m doing that wrong,” Daniel said, looking baffled even as he got revved about the topic at hand. Whenever it happened, he began to fidget or shuffle his feet, becoming a man-shaped ball of too much energy. “I don’t mind an easy pick, and yet sometimes when I see one, I just… Phhhh!” His hand flew towards the horizon. “Case in point, I met this painfully hot British girl who actually followed me into a dark alley,” Daniel said, his index finger jabbing at the pavement, “And did I bite her? No. I just let her off the hook. Catch and release.”

He shook his head and spread his arms wide, wearing an expression like, ‘Can you believe how much of a dumb shit I am?’

[tristan_vamp]

Tristan genuinely smiled and took a step closer to Daniel. "I totally understand what you mean. When you have to work for it, sometimes, it tastes so much sweeter..." He rocked on the balls of his feet. "The hunger is more than just about blood. I need to ease the ache of restlessness too." He cocked his head and lifted his chin up towards the stars. He debated on taking Daniel around to some of his hunting grounds. Nothing too personal. Not any of his favorites. Those were his and his alone. Tristan was not used to hunting with company either.

Instead, Tristan gently turned the subject. "How long ago were you turned?"

[daniel_stacy]

“Ten months, give or take a week” he said. “I’m told that’s pathetic.”

And told and told and told.

Daniel shrugged. “My sire’s been around since the French Revolution. As for how old that makes her, I dunno. I’m bad at every subject. She sounds American now, so I guess it’s been a while.” He scratched at his chest through the Bad Religion logo on his shirt and contemplated the other vampire. The way he talked about the thrill of hunting and restlessness, he guessed the guy was old. By now, he had probably turned killing into an art form out of sheer boredom.

“What about you?”

[tristan_vamp]

Wow, he was just a baby, Tristan thought, but he kept those thoughts to himself. It seemed a sensitive subject.

"I'm much older," he said with a sly grin. "And unfortunately I didn't know my maker as well as you seemed to know yours." Tristan hadn't had much luck with his true human father, or his sire. He'd had to grow up fast in both phases, on his own.

"Is your sire the one that told you to check out Searchlight?" Tristan glanced around, suddenly remembering that Rhiannon was around. "You might want to tell her there is a slayer wandering around these parts. Perhaps someone with such little experience as yourself may be better off staying away."

[daniel_stacy]

“No, H—the hot girl told me.”

Whoa. Close one.

One thing Daniel learned early on was how easily his fellow vampires sniffed out people of significance. If you so much as hinted that a human was worth knowing, you could count on them beating you to the punch. He didn’t want Tristan taking a chunk out of Holly’s throat. It would be like foraging in the cookie jar for a midnight snack and finding it already empty.

“Deanna knows about the slayer, though,” he said. “She’s got it in her mind to kill her.”

[tristan_vamp]

Tristan started a little at that, but quickly concealed it. He owed no loyalty to Rhiannon... and she probably could protect herself.

What was he thinking? A vampire wanting to protect a slayer?

Still, Rhiannon... she was different.

Tristan shook himself mentally and tried to put the slayer out of his mind for the moment. Instead he nodded at Daniel, as if in agreement with what he said, or at least acknowledging the comment. Still, he couldn't seem to help himself and said, "I've always found it best just to avoid them. Slayers, I mean."

[daniel_stacy]

“No arguments from me,” Daniel said and he meant it. “I don’t have anything to prove. I’m not even a blip on the radar. But she’s not like that.” He chuckled and cocked his head. “Nah. See, Dee’s always got something to prove, like…” He squinted at the sky as he searched his memory for examples. “Ahh, like she’s a snappy dresser or better at going down on girls. Yeah. We actually had that argument. If there’s a crown to be worn, she wants it on her head. She’s not gonna like hearing how there’s a badder chick in town.”

[tristan_vamp]

Tristan bit his lip, his face in shadows, and gave a casual nod. Inside he was conflicted. He didn't owe the slayer anything. Yet... "Sounds to me like someone that should be avoided. I prefer to stick to myself... not garner that kind of attention." Tristan sighed. Keeping to himself is how he'd managed to survive for over a hundred years as a vampire. But it's also why he was so lonely.

Dee... Tristan wouldn't forget that name. Or was it a nickname?

"It seems to me Vegas is more her style then. Much more happening there..."

[daniel_stacy]

“For now.” Daniel nodded. “Lots of diversions. People taking dumb risks.”
He assumed that was the appeal to her, as well as the glitz of the place. But there were lots of things he didn’t know about his sire. Deanna allowed him in as far as it served her purposes. No more, no less. He wasn’t even sure why he’d been sired; he didn’t ask for it.

“I’m just along for the ride, until I get a grip on this thing.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Then, who knows?”

He liked travel. His parents had shipped him off regularly for school breaks. Beach hopping in Mexico, backpacking in Europe. He’d like to do some more of it, as soon as he figured out how to avoid sunlight in transit. He wasn’t going to pull a Dracula and pack himself in a box full of dirt.

[tristan_vamp]

"Well, I'm around... if you stay and want to look me up." He didn't say where he'd be around, but if Daniel found him tonight, he could probably find him easily enough. "Maybe some night we can go on a hunt together." Tristan wasn't used to hunting with someone else, but who knew? Maybe it would be okay. Except that Tristan's hunting was always... more precise. Not impulsive. Not... just any old meal. But he wanted to be friendly.

Especially if it meant divulging information to a slayer. That might be helpful.

[daniel_stacy]

"That'd be great!" said Daniel. Being around another guy appealed to him and he was interested in learning the hunting habits of vampires who didn't wear silk blouses. Maybe he'd capture the throat-ripping ferocity that he always seemed to leave in his other pants. "I'll be back in town. I promised to pay someone a visit. Besides, I think I could probably shout from the far end of town and you'd hear me."

He was feeling peckish, so he took a step back towards the road. He needed a jugular to bite and the diner at the edge of town seemed a good place to start.

"See you around, man."

[tristan_vamp]

Tristan stuck out his hand for another hand shake. Then he turned and was gone in an instant.

He marveled at the week he was having. It was full of ups and downs, but the positive aspect of meeting two new people that intrigued him... could possibly even be called friends eventually, pleased him greatly.

Perhaps Searchlight was just what Tristan needed after all!