Depression is one of the deepest felt emotions in the full human range of feelings. It can be so strongly felt that should one feel it once in their life, they may remember its exact characteristics for the full scope of their existence. So it was that Colum, alone in a darkened WWII exhibit came to understand his own feelings.

It had been a long descent for the young Amman, and he had finally come to hit the bottom. Dressed in a dishevelled tuxedo, the same he had worn to the masquerade nearly two months ago. He’d seen Marcus again that night, but had made a fool of himself before his former master.

That had been what set him into the homestretch of his depressive cycle, what had brought him to his final choice.

He checked his watch, it was almost seven in the morning; the sun would be up soon. His body was getting heavy by now, his senses slowing from the coma-like sleep creeping into his brain.

“And still standing,” Colum muttered to himself as he dropped another emptied blood bag. “Four pints of dead blood and I’m still lucid…well almost.” The vampire slumped back into the wall and slid into a sitting position on the floor. He checked his watch again, this time with great effort.

“Only fifty eight minutes to sunrise,” he chuckled. “And then…poof.”

Kie-Linque Callaiffe snarled at the exhibit. Nothing happened. She stared at the painting of ruins in front of her. She had awoken from these ruins. That image was one of her first memories. That was not what she was snarling at however. Kie-Linque was now trying to ignore the second painting to which she first snarled at. It was a replica of the first, an idea of how the palace would have looked before Alexander the Great decided to knock it down. Kie discovered that she felt two strange notions; the first was that the painting was somehow inaccurate though how she could possibly know that seeing as her first memory was its ruins a century or so after Alexander had his fun, the second was a strange repulsion to the sight of the undestroyed palace. Interesting, but history had so much to live for and so little that applied to life at the moment.

"Bitch painting." Kie shrugged and turned to go down the hall, a sheer cloak revealing the loose pantaloons that grew tight around her hips fluttered around her knees with each step. She passed various exhibits of all cultures and time periods with nothing piquing her interest. It was coming near dawn and Kie was wondering whether she wouldn't enjoy feeding once more tonight...though it was close to dawn. As she passed by a World War II exhibit, Kie say a fellow vampire, wavering and looking off colour, even for a vampire.

The vampire was young and evidently near death. Scattered around the man were many plastic bags with a red filmy substance both in and around the bags. The scent of blood was in the air...dead blood. The Ishak leader recoiled in distaste at the scent. Dead blood. The miserable fool was trying to commit suicide. If Kie was correct, the dawn was also near. Filthy vampire. Nothing could happen that he should feel the need to burn in a museum. What a waste. Where was the idiot's sire. Kie found herself aggravated with the lax parenting and underestimation of vampirism that was performed by miserable vampires. The wretch was likely some weak-minded mortal-hugging Enashe or Nephim. Perhaps he was even some independent. Kie could usually find a use for independents, but this one was giving up his vampiric dignity. What a fool.

Kie was about to turn away when a new notion occurred to her. She had little to do until sunrise and the museum had been such a bitter disappointment to her tastes. Perhaps this angsty wretch could prove some use after all, if only by amusing her in his last moments.

"And what, pray-tell, would you be doing in here, giving the rest of us vampires the illusion of colour? What in the hell persuaded you to taste dead blood."

Colum’s eyes rose eerily in their sockets. He wasn’t really surprised at the arrival of the second vampire, he’d sensed her mind wandering in the museum shortly after his second bag of blood, he was more surprised at the fact that she had actually stopped to consider him. He inspected her form though he could discern little of the woman’s identity with his failing vision. He attempted to read her mind, even though the ability had long been cut off from his repertoire.

Kie-Linque the named filled his thoughts, there was no mistaking the reading, it was the Ishak leader.

“I was planning on putting an end to my misery dear woman,” Colum’s speech was beginning to slur as his muscles and mind began to fail. “But now that you’re here, my misery can really get started.” Colum had never liked the Ishak in particular, and their leader made him terribly uneasy. Another glance at his watch revealed the time to be five minutes closer to sun up. He flopped his head back and let his neck muscles relax into place so he might continue to stare at the coven mistress.

Kie's lips turned to a mock pout. "Someone else with a prejudice against we noble Ishak. If the rest of you pitiful wrecks could take the time to appreciate the gift given to you and to understand your full power...well there'd be little use for the the Ishak coven to exist...we'd all be one...happy family." Throughout her short monologue, Kie's voice had taken on a sickly sweet tone.

She stared at the youngling before her. The sick, misguided young one. Ah well, the weak would always fall and only the strong survived in this world. "So, you know of me now young one, and who are you?"

The boy was young...very young...but the peculiar thing was his scent. He SMELLED like an Amman...nigh impossible. Though the boy had impeccable telepathy for his age, likely only a century or two, he was still a fledgeling. What abomination left him to his own devices so young? Watching the youth in front of her struggle with he first question, she asked the second as he began answer.

(ooc: Sorry it took so long Henri!)

Colum watched the woman as she spoke, his view of her fading slowly into darkness. He was blind now, his body fading quickly under the influence of the dead blood he had ingested.

“My name,” his voice was soft, he barely had the strength to speak. “Is Colum Felshen. I am sired of the Amman coven, though I haven’t been there for a very long time.” He trembled for a moment, coughing up a bit of blood.

“I was sired by Marcus himself, born of that pure blood I was able to gain great strength, but the powers of the Amman are not for one as young as myself.” Colum squeezed his eyes shut as a spike of pain ran through his chest. “When he could not help me to harness that power, I left him and sought out the aid of one Quan Lei Shen, an independent vampire of considerable age. He taught me to contain my abilities, closed some of my power off from my access so that I might again use them when I was strong enough.”

Colum’s cracked open and searched the darkness for his watch, but it was no use.

“Can you,” he sighed and turned to face Kie, feeling her out with his mind, though the act caused him considerable pain and effort. “Tell me what time of day it is, I want to know how much longer I have until the end.”

"You're a little foolish young one." The time? It was nigh sunrise. It wasn't as if she carried a watch with her. "Your end is not so near as you might prefer young one. You've been poorly mistreated." She closed off her mind to the young one. Sired and FORGOTTEN by Marcus Felsen. Kie was sure that there must be more to the story. She had met Marcus, leader of the Amman coven. No matter how polite the Amman could pretend to be, he despised the Ishak and no matter how much these two had fought or shared harsh words, Kie guessed that the two had once been lovers and that made the whole game that much easier. With Kie's reputation alone, Marcus would likely seethe to hear of his fledgling being fucked by the leader of the Ishak, regardless of whether that was the case. Perhaps the fledgling also had some anger he might wish to vent. Regardless, of whatever else happened, it would likely insult Marcus to know that his little one received better care in the hands of an independent and soon, the Ishak coven.

This one had been abandoned by the mighty fucking Amman, now the little one would learn of his true vampiric heritage form true vampires who had pride in themselves. That alone was reason to help the poor misinformed lad. He had so much potential and a fine body to suit. Perhaps Kie was being a bit rash, but taking this young one to bed could have benefits of all kinds. If things went as planned, Marcus would have to seethe to himself to avoid embarassment for not being able to keep an eye on his own puppy.

"You're coming with me child, its no fault of yours that the Amman abandoned you without even a proper education. Its no fault of yours that Marcus left you to fend for yourself. Perhaps you will find happiness with us."

“Even if I could walk I wouldn’t go with you,” Colum’s voice was barely a whisper now, but it was still filled with defiance. “Leave me to die succubus.” Colum’s eyes rolled back in his head, his skull thudded against the cold stone wall. The dead blood rotting in his system was going to take him into the death he so deserved.

“It won’t be long now Ishak whore,” Colum would resist that vile woman to the very end, stinging her with all the venom he’d built up in the past bitter year. “Coven leaders are all the same, power hungry harlots.”

His muscles began to tighten; rigor mortis pounced upon him after a century of being held back.

(ooc: sorry it took so long Henri!)

The boy in front of her might look to be about the same age, but there were millenia between them. Unfortunately, this didn't prevent him from being much larger than she. This one had too much use for Kie to allow him to wilt away. She pulled the boy's shoulder's close to her body. As Kie wrestled with the fledgling's torso, she grimaced to think of how undignified she must look. This helpless appearance could serve her well however, the boy needed fresh blood in his systemor he would die.

Kie had reason to believe that most people were not supposed to be in the museum after dark. Some silly mortal rule, it was likely, but there were men here to guard the artifacts, were there not? As much as Kie despised the idea of asking her help, she reasoned within her own mad head that she was really only using them. Kie tried to stand with the boy, using some of her telekinetic abilities. Perhaps the silly mortals might be so generous as to carry him just down the street. Her living quarters were not far and she could easily make up some lie. She'd never bring him to the crypt, Kie didn't want to have to keep an eye on him throughout the morning and she didn't want anyone near him until she had finished with him.

"Help!" She screeched at the top of her lungs. It all seemed corny to her mind. She was overdoing, but men loved that. They had so many shortcomings.

"What the hell?" Two security men entered the exhibit room. They looked at Kie, trying to look frightened and weak, then they looked at Colum lying in her arms, then stared at Kie again. "Miss...have you been in here all night, what the hell are you doing? What's wrong with him?" Kie decided to take advantage of the one string through her sheer clothing.

Kie put a frantic gaze to her eyes. "I'm sorry...this...man...he's a scholar here. He was to give a lecture, this morning, but forgot something in the museum. He's only here for a few days...staying with a woman. I am his..uh...scribe...he was sick all last night. He just collapsed. The home is only a block away. Please help me get him there. I can make the arrangements for his lecture that way. Please help me."

Kie kept her eyes from rolling as one mortal sccoped her fledgling in his arms. That's right, her's. His kind had abandoned him. Turning away, her eyes took on a half-mad but predatory glare. He belonged to her, she would clean up after the filthy Amman and she would feed and fix her broken fledgling.

It was terribly close to sunset. As they left the building, Kie gave off a lot of frantic murmuring to distract the guard, all the while snarling at the slowly graying sky. When they arrived at the coven leader's home, she nearly threw both Colum and the mortal through the door. As the mortal laid the vampire on the floor, Kie noticed him turn to leer at her once more, the woman in distress. Fuck the game now.

Kie stared at the man, willing herself not to drag the mortal down to the floor to fuck silly, she could amuse herself with the corpse at a later time. She smiled gently, and brought one jewelled hand to the mortals neck.

"You've been so much help...I think he'll be ok soon...I just need one more thing from you." As she brought his face closer to her own, his expression changed from lust to shock to pain as she tore at the mortal's neck with her piercing fingernails. At the same time, she stabbed the mortal in the chest with a syringe of aphrodisiac near his heart. It would go through his blood in seconds. Now it was time to treat her fledgling.

((OOC: Will make a new thread in Living Spaces to continue this line. Sorry I've been gone for so long! i've been swamped academically, socially and emotionally.))