Colum felt oddly at home in the museum. The young man stood quietly in front of the display case, his hand longingly stroking the glass. Delicate finger tips, exposed through black, fingerless gloves danced across the glass. His blonde curls waved in and out of his face, dancing on his gentle exhales. His breathe paused as his ears caught the small mousey voice of the curator.
“Excuse me sir,” her voice was shaky. No doubt she had been unwilling to approach the odd looking man. “Please do not touch the displays. They -” her words caught in her throat as the young man turned his head to look at her. His swirling blue eyes seemed to see through her, right into her very soul. For a second their gazes met and held; all it took was a second.
“I only wish a moment longer,” the boy said, forcing his will upon the elderly curator. “And a moment I will be granted.” The old lady’s visage had frozen. She continued to stare unblinkingly at the boy and then said, in a distant, quiet voice,
“A moment will be granted,” the blonde smiled.
“Thank-you kind woman, now go off and tend to your relics, and should you hear a sound, pay it no heed.” The woman turned and headed away into the gallery. The boy turned back to the relics in the case, he shifted his weight uneasily back and forth in his black combat boots. He closed his eyes and focused his mental energies on the glass around the display. He had worked hard to master his telekinesis, now he would test it. He was about to break the glass when he heard a voice calling his name.

(OOC: for the record I am prolly violating soooo many RP rules right now, but i figured that since my last post went unreplied, I'd just post something else... he he)

Colum focused hard on the glass. He tried to push the voice calling to him from his mind, but he couldn't resist. Finally he broke his concentration and turned to the source of the voice. He met only darkness. The museum had gone black. 'I could have sworn I...' he stopped, the voice was calling again. This time it was more demanding. He followed it through the shadows - his undead senses guiding his movements. As the full shadow of the empty museum began to envelope him, Colum became aware of a growing dread. He stopped short. He was aware that he was in the middle of the museum, but beyond that he couldn't see enough to figure out exactly where he was.

"Hello," he called. He took a deep calming breath. He was after all an Amman, and although he had spent much time away from his coven, he was well versed in the powers he had inherited in the change. 'Calm, clear mind,' told himself over and over. 'Calm, clear mind." His eyes closed making the darkness complete. He clear his thoughts and let his mind wander the museum.

In the dark confines of the museum Colum found another mind. Not that of a mortal being, but the aged, wearied thought patterns of a much more ancient being.

"I'm not fond of hide and seek," called Colum. "But if you insist on playing..." his voice trailed off as he moved deeper into the dark building.

"This is no game of Hide and Seek. One cannot help your thoughts broadcasting forever loudly. It is interesting...that I myself have not telepathic abilities...but when you touch my mind, or any other...they can hold that thought and keep the connection. I do not take kindly to idle walkings through my mind, however I was not sure that you were able to control such abilities. I'm alright with giving you another opportunity before I damage the receptors in your brain. This link goes two ways."

A black haired female walked out of the shadows. Though she looked to be in her early 2o's, she gave the impression of someone much older. She was wearing a black sweater, tight to her body and a short black skirt. The black boots which rose just below her knees were tasteful to her appearance,

"I apologise...I seem to have forgotten my manners...My name is Tsuka Nitta...I need to show a little more respect to the first one of our kind that I've met. Perhaps...perhaps we could get to know each other...maybe show me around? I've been here but three days..."

The woman extended her hands, a gesture that she was hiding nothing. Keeping a respectful distance she kept her head slightly declined but her eyes watching him studiously.

Tsuka Nitta, an exotic woman indeed. Colum searched her thoughts, she was bluffing too. Although she had a strong mind, it wasn’t strong enough to possess any telepathy.

“You are brave Ms. Nitta,” he complimented. “Most – people – wouldn’t think of approaching me knowing what you know.” Colum paused, unless of course she knew less than he thought she did. “No matter. As you were so polite to introduce yourself, allow me to bestow you the same pleasantries. My name is Colum Lockewood,” he swept into a low bow, and then stood straight. She was giggling.

“You’re not a young vampire are you?” Colum’s voice was sheepish. He hadn’t met very many vampires, and most of the ones that talked to him were much younger than he, but this one was clearly much older, she hadn’t fallen for his false “high and mighty immortal” bit. Colum sighed.

You are a fool. He thought to himself. Of all the vampires in the city, you choose to try out your self-important introduction on some one bigger than you. “I apologize,” Colum finally said. “I have only just arrived here myself,” Colum stopped again. For some reason he found that phrase hard to say. He had only just arrived. It made him realize how alone he really was, how much he missed his sire. “I mean, not just – just – arrived, but I’m kind of new myself.” He tried to read Tsuka’s emotions, her face was perfectly unreadable. “I mean, I’m alone here too, well, I belong to a coven, yes, but there are few of us, and even then we’re not the kind to get together for barbecues and the like.” He glanced at the woman. “Sorry, I’m rambling; it’s just been so long since I’ve talked to another – to someone like me. I haven’t spoken to a vampire since I left Marcus, and that’s almost 80 years ago.” Colum took a deep breath. What would this girl do now? Would she laugh at him for being so open? Would she leave him alone in the museum? Colum hoped for the latter of the two, after all he still had one last exhibit to see, but even for all his mental powers, this girl remained a closed book.

"Interesting...so interesting." There was no hint of malice nor amusement in her voice. "Why is it that you're so open about all this? Are you so lonely? And then if lonely...Why do you act so pompous and bold towards those in need of your guidance?"

The woman paused, staring at her new aquaintance through thin lenses of glass. "And I thought I was the one who was truly lost...So much hatred, pain and joy. Don't act so surprised...its not your mind that I'm reading...only your face."

Keeping her hands inclined, she approached Colum. Sighing she released her hijacked telepathy and stared into his eyes. So unlike herself and yet so much the same...

"Tell me...do you hate the world? Or do you embrace it? Is it mortals that you hate? Is it yourself? Is it your creator? Is it all vampires? Do you even own hatred?". Tsuka paused, tense but sure of her next question.

"Who are you?" She whispered. Tsuka turned away, shuddering, for she did not even know these answers herself. Abruptly, she shook her head. She could be filled with compassion and then instantly over flowing with cruelty...She knew not what she was. She eyed Colum warily, "Tell me about this Marcus.".

“I’ve been losing my mind,” Colum replied in a serious tone. “Literally, every time I use my mental powers I feel something of my own consciousness being taken away.” He looked into the eyes of the strange girl, she was standing very close to him now - Colum felt like he was too close. He stepped back, and then turned into the shadows, heading for the last exhibit he wished to see. He hoped the stranger would follow him.

“It never used to happen when I was first turned,” he sighed as he stopped to look at a map. He traced his finger from the YOU ARE HERE arrow along a set of zigzagging halls and then stopped in a large rectangle. “But since I’ve been trying to get better at my little tricks, my mind has been protesting.” He turned back to look at Tsuka. He shrugged his shoulders, he still couldn’t tell if she could understand what he was talking about, but he hoped she did.

“Marcus is my sire, the vampire that saved me.” Colum thought about the word – saved. He nodded to himself then kept going. “I’d been bitten, but not fully turned, by a rouge Amman vampire. Marcus found me, blood lusted and crazed. I was not who I had been as a normal mortal, I wasn’t even the shadow of the man I was. He found me, turned me, and taught me. I left him soon after. I needed time to find my own path, my own place in my new immortal life. I returned to Demaitre hoping to repay Marcus by joining his – my coven’s cause, but my mind has been fraught with turmoil. I came here hoping to easy my thoughts and bring peace to my mind.” He stopped at the entrance to the last exhibit in the museum. He glanced over his shoulder, hoping desperately for Tsuka to reply.

Tsuka peered silently at Colum's pained expression. One part of her basked in his pain and wished to be cruel and yet her undead heart went out to his tormented mind. She needes to help...but to be cruel...it gave so much pleasure. She did not know what made her do it. She felt as though she would be doing good....and yet...she knew it would torment him also...

"What does this Marcus look like?" Tsuka did not even need to ask. She could see him in his eyes...This other vampire. "I think you need to speak with him. She closed her eyes and whispered "Think of this Marcus...what would you say to him? What needs to be said between you?"

Tuska could feel the power of her illusuion, She knew not what she looked like now...she had never seen this Marcus. She would look like him solely because Colum would see her that way. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. She saw that the illusion had worked...saw the pain in his eyes and yet the joy in seeing what he thought he saw. She shook her head softly. Whether or not this young vampire wanted it and whether or not it hurt him, that he needed this...especially before he met this real Marcus. She also wondered if he believed the illusion. Colum looked convinced. Patiently she waited for this young vampire's response.

Colum’s vision must have been fooling him.

“Marcus?” even as he stood before his sire, he could not believe it, only a moment ago he had been next to a dark haired vampire, a female even, but now he stood alone with the great Marcus, his coven leader. Questions flooded his mind; how did you get here, where did Tsuka go, what is happening to me? But at last he said only one word, “fake.”

For all of Colum’s mental pain, he could see through the illusion, it had only been for a brief instant, truly he was before a vampire of some strength, but in that instant he had known the illusion for what it was.

“Do not tempt me,” he whispered, his voice had lost all bravado when facing the image of his mentor. “I beg you, stop this torment.” Colum turned away, slamming his fist into a wall and letting out a deep growl. He squeezed his eyes shut, letting the darkness fill his mind’s eye. He then shot them open.

In that moment of temporary blindness, he saw more clearly into his own soul then ever before. He hated Marcus. He’d hated him from the moment the vampire leader had turned him. But he also admired him. He was awed by the abilities the man possessed, by the way that even after two thousand years of life, he could continue to hold such compassion as he had shown Colum. He had come to view Marcus as his surrogate father, even after a centruy of seperation.

“I miss him,” Colum’s voice echoed off the empty walls of the museum. “I left him when I was but a babe in my immortal life. I thought I could learn more on my own, but, I have never learned more lasting lessons than those taught to me by my sire.” Colum looked at Tsuka, now returned to her real image. He didn’t know if she understood him or not, but he wished she did; somehow meeting her had been like finding a small piece of Marcus. Maybe it was because he had been so far removed from his ancient master that any aged vampire gave him some comfort, or maybe it was simply because she spoke to him, tried to comfort him, that he felt connected to her.

Colum didn’t know; he only knew that the two of them could learn something from each other, although he did not yet know what he could teach the aged woman.

He heard footsteps then, quietly approaching the exhibit, he felt the weary mind of the curator. The old woman called to the pair standing alone in the room, her voice sounding off the vaulted ceilings.

“We close in twenty minutes, please exit the museum promptly.” Colum just looked to Tsuka, her face just as unreadable, her mind forever closed.

"You needed that...now you know a bit of what you must face. It would have been good practice if you had not broken my illusion. Still....Damnit...why do I pity you? Why do I take pleasure in your angst?" Tsuka grimaced at him, calming herself. She glarred at the floor then, as if forgetting her turmoil she began to question him again.
"Why don't you find him...see him? You who are in so much pain...why not end...and increase it...go see him...this Marcus...this treasured one..."
She saw confusion in his eyes. She decided to distract him for a moment..."What do you know of the other vampires...and there covens...here in this city...Where does this Marcus come from?" As much as she wanted to help..and hurt...she needed information if she wanted to survive. She wold hate to walk into the wrong place or inquire to deeply where she would not be welcome...and she needed the shelter and the protection she could be given from belonging to an immortal family. She also wanted the vampires of the city to know who she was as to not hurt her when the time came that they needed help...or food. She sighed and peered wistfully at her technical "patient" and put on an empathetic and undderstanding face, partially hoping to draw out more of his pain.

“Marcus makes his home in the Amman coven,” Colum explained. ‘I have not stepped foot in that place since I left nearly a century ago.” Colum headed back the way he came, following the footsteps of the curator. “As for others like us, other vampires, they can be found everywhere.” Colum noticed the curator’s glance as he spoke the words vampires and like us . It was amusing.

“As for specific covens,” Colum sighed. “I have no idea. It has been ages since I was last here, and covens move often. There is one place you may wish to visit however.” He looked back to Tsuka, still unable to tell what she was thinking. “I have heard rumors of a feast, the Beltane Feast, to be held sometime soon. If you are observant enough you may be able to find your way there. But enough talk. As much as I hate to admit it, I am hungry; would you care to join me?” He turned and looked at the curator, her eyes darting about, franticly searching for a quick escape.

I have read your mind and know that there is no one else here. He sent the message to the elderly woman telepathically, a demonstration of his power. Do not be afraid, I shall make this as quick and painless as I can. Colum lunged forward, fighting the nearly blinding pain in his head, his teeth reaching for the woman’s neck.

Grinning almost girlishly at the terror that the curator wore, Tsuka stepped toward the barely alive body and took a quick yet tearing bite at the flesh. Savouring the taste of blood well aged she looked up at an almost disapproving face. The doctor shrugged apathetically, and walked quietly out of the exibit hall.

Colum watched Tsuka walk towards the exit. He turned back to the curator. He could only just hear her heart beat. He laid her gently on the floor and stood up. He waited for Tsuka to be out of the building before he made his way to the fire alarm. He raised his right hand, first to wipe his mouth, then to pull the alarm. He looked back at the old woman, passed out from the loss of blood, then stepped into the shadows, becoming one with the darkness.

((OOC: the end. :heh: ))