Luna walked into the club and took a seat in the back, in a booth. she sighed. Tonight wasn't going well, it almost seemed that this place had rubbed off on her. Usually she was a nice caring person, but the coldness of the town had rubbed off on her and she was in a bad mood. She watched as a mix of vampires and humans danced with each other. Some humans none the wiser. She frown. Even though she didn't drink from humans, she still felt sympathetic for them from other vampires.

Luna closed her eyes and let some thoughts run over her mind. There were a good few vampires in the club. Luna opened her eyes at the thoughts of some men in the corner. She grimaced, their thoughts were about her, and vulgar. She looked around the club, deciding to people-watch for a while. She cut off her mindreadingand watched them dance.

She had always loved to dance. It was a part of her- entirely sensual and flowing- as fluid and catlike as her soul. Her red hair was left down, the straight strands flying as she twirled and moved, her hips swinging back and forth. Even her white bohemian dress spun and flared out with each motion. Her strappy white heels led her ivory legs to a man in the crowd. She placed her arms around him for a brief moment before turning away to dance on her own- her body catching glances with her perfect movements. Being a vampire did that- made you perfect to the human eye.

But any other vampire- could see the flaws. A slight catch of the foot here- a faltering smile there. The undead noticed everything.
And Nikolaos O'Rourke had noticed the other mind-reader ever since she answered the bar- and when that presence entered her midst, Nikki built up her shields and kept the other vampiress out. It was easy. She wasn't even half Nikki's age. Nikolaos had been scraping by for almost nine hundred years. And this young vampire was sifting through human thoughts like water- thinking she was powerful. Nikki laughed as she danced. Foolish. It was never wise to listen to thoughts. Besides- it pissed off a lot of vampires- especially the Amman, who valued human life and respected their privacy. This young one- was abusing her power.

But what did Nikki care? She didn't. Her thoughts were safe- completely hidden. She had always been adept at hiding and reading thoughts, but she never read humans like this- never swam through their minds like water. Although it would be pleasant, she did not swim. She just danced.

Luna had noticed her when she came in. The mind reader on the floor dancing in the white dress. Luna smiled to herself. This older vampire thought that Luna was abusing her power. Luna heard one fleeting thought before she completely blocked herself. She thinks she's powerful, the girl thought. Luna smiled again. Luna may be young but she was more powerful than some older mind readers because of the specific qualities of her 'gift'. She wondered if the vimpiress would come to see her. Luna didn't usually peer into the minds of others, but the men in the corner were thinking of her and she needed to find out what they were thinking.

Luna put her head on the table and watched as the people danced. swaying and bouncing to the music, all in diferent styles. Luna's navy eyes glinted in the dim light of her booth, making it look like they were reflecting light. She hummed a little tune to herself as she watched them all. Carefree. Dancing.

And she continued to watch the men in the corner. What? She wanted to know what they thought of her? Why did the petty mortal men's thoughts matter to her- unless she loved one of them.... which Nikki doubted? You didn't need to mind read to notice the men in the corner were lecherous pigs- nothing like her Bill.

Nikolaos sighed and relaxed at the thought of him- suddenly overcome with a horrible sense of safety and happiness at the thought of him.

Bill.

He didn't even know just how much she cared for him. He had helped her so much-sewed her torn heart back together. She might even be able to say her heart resembled a heart.... but only with his reconstruction had it gotten there. He had fixed her the best he could. And he had done a bang-up job. Nikki was getting over Vincent slowly but surely- and Bill's sweet, slow kisses only did more to speed her healing process.

But one day he'd die. No, Nikki would never let him die- ever. She'd protect him.... forever. It was a silly dream: to run forever with the man she cared so deeply for. But all mortals died.... and he would too. No. Nikolaos moved and twirled, casting the thoughts away. She'd deal with his mortality later. For now, she was his girlfriend. And that was all that mattered. They were together.

She smiled contently and reached her hands up to the ceiling as she fell in among the crowd. The heat pressed in upon her and she had to eventually leave the mass of mortals and vampires alike. Nikolaos looked over to the small booth in the back where the other mind-reader sat.

"This seat taken?" she inquired, giving her a friendly smile- finding that she was now in a better mood then before. Probably because she was thinking of Bill.... He always did make her happier.

Luna watched the othermind reader as she became overcome with thoughts. Luna knew better than to read another mind reader's mind. She put up her own personal mind blockades as she watched. The girl started to drift out of the crowd and toward her. Luna lifted her head and watched as she came up to her and asked, "Is this seat taken?"

Luna was a little shocked. "Uh..No," she said looking at her. Luna spoke again. "Hi, I'm Luna. What's your name?" She was a little wary of this mind reader. Luna could tell she was much older than her.

"Nikolaos," she said, flashing an unguarded smile, a white fang peaking out from behind her sensual bottom lip. "Call me Nikki," she added, her eyes aparkling. She should make nice. it was always good to keep other vampires in the area close. Just in case they decided to kill you, you could possibly pick up on a weakness. God, she was paranoid. Well, this one wasn't much of a threat- it felt as though her powers were purely mental and Nikki could kick some serious ass in the physical department.

No. She was making nice- not analyzign this other vampire in case they got in a fight. She'd have to stop that- let her guard down just a little bit.
Nikolaos took a seat and extended a hand to the other vampire.
"It's nice to meet someone else who can- you know...." she mused, smiling before looking over to the men in the corner.”You keep looking at them- do you know them?" she arched an eyebrow. Nikolaos was a curious little cat.

Luna smiled at her name. "Nikolaos, that's a nice name." She smiled at the other vampire now, careful to keep her mind guards up all around her. As Nikki extended her hand Luna retracted a little. "Uh...I'm sorry. I can't shake your hand. I am thankful for the thought though. Not literally." Luna felt the need to clear it up after she said it.

”You keep looking at them- do you know them?"

Luna shook her head. "I was the object of their.....bad thoughts. I was hoping they wouldn't try to approach me." She looked back over at the men in the corner. She didn't like the way they looked. They looked evil like it was their fate to be so.

Nikolaos shurgged and drew her hand away. "I was always glad I didn't inherit touch empathy from my sire- he had it, but all that doesn't really matter now since Chi killed him...." Nikolaos laughed harshly before smiling again and arching an eyebrow at Luna.

"I'm sure you're not the only female int he crowd that they want to rape," Nikki commented, leaning back in her chair. "I don't understand why you would care if they approached you. You- obviously are the stronger, what can a group of humans do to one such as you? Unless you have no physical abilities at all, which I doubt--"

What was this four-hundred year old vampiress afraid of? A couple ridiculous mortals? It was laughable.

Luna smiled at the vimpiress. She understood. Luna wondered why vampires of the same abilities had an understanding of each other. una looked sadly at her as she said her sire had been killed. "I'm sorry about your sire." Luna didn't even know her sire but the thoughts of others told her sires were important to the fledglings.

Luna smiled at her response of the men. "I'm not scared of them. I just don't want to fight them. My ability is that I can see their thoughts with touch, and the depth of it makes it hard to concentrate." Luna sighed. "I can fight if I have to, I just don't like to fight, especially humans. It is a completely unfair advantage." Luna looked at the dance floor again watching the others dance.

"It's quite alright, I asked Chi to kill him for me. I couldn't do it myself though I did help.... but he was so much older than I- I'd have never come out of that fight alive if I hadn't asked Chi for assistance." Nikolaos shrugged. "He was making me into something I wasn't- and I had to stop him. he wasn't good for me- never had been, so he had to go.... It's not so sad-" she explained.

"You can't close off the touch very much can you?" Nikolaos inquired, sighing and leaning on the table. "I'll get rid of them if they come over here, just one good kick in the balls and they'll leave you alone." She watched Luna look out at the dancing mesh of bodies. 'It must be horrible not to dance.... all the skin on skin contact- I couldn't do it. Dancing is just.... a part of who I am- it's a release of sorts, when other releases are forbidden."

Luna smiled at her. "I never knew my sire, so I don't know what it is like to have oone. Maybe they're good for you sometimes and maybe not." Luna shrugged. She wasn't sure if her not knowing her sire was a good thing or a bad thing.

"I can control it, but I haven't fed in a while. So if I do control it, I won't be able to concentrate on anything." She sighed. "It is actually a really irritating power. It gets me into trouble more often than not."

"I'll get rid of them if they come over here, just one good kick in the balls and they'll leave you alone."

Luna laughed at her. "Yeah. That'll about do it." She smiled thinking of all the times she had used that to get rid of certain males. Luna listened to her as she spoke of dancing. "I could only hope to be able to do that someday. There are too man thoughts, emotions, and memories going through them all for someone like me to handle. I would probably last five minutes then spend the rest of the night curled into a ball clearing my head." Luna rolled her eye at herself. She then realized that she had said memories too. She hoped that Nikki would not notice her slip of tongue.

"A sire can only be a good thing if they nurture you- teach you what's right. My sire- I'm afraid, taught me what's wrong.... I abused everything I was given- my talents and efforts.... and eventually corrupted myself. No, My sire was not a good thing, but I myself sired another vampire- she needed.... something- and I stayed with her until she could walk on her own two feet. I showed her what was wrong- so afraid she'd develop my wicked tendencies...." Nikolaos shook her head.

"When you can hear their thoughts-- and ignore them, that's when you know you're far gone...." she sighed.”That's why my sire had to die- that was what he had made me into. And I didn't want to be that way. I didn't want to hear their anguish and ignore it like some animal anymore- of course, I'm still a monster, but-" she shrugged. "Things are getting better--" Nikki smiled. She didn't mind sharing these thoughts, these stories with Luna. She was a mind-reader too. She understood, maybe more than most. And Nikolaos had been feeling guilty for so long- if another empathetic person could just understand.... maybe she could learn to live with those horrible atrocities she committed in Ireland.

Nikolaos nodded. "It is irritating when you have to focus so hard on blocking the thoughts- trust me, it gets easier with age."

"Memories?" Nikolaos asked, arching an eyebrow- noticing Luna's strange expression- as if that word were a slip of the tongue. Did she hear some of Nikki's memories before she shut her shields? Possibly, but why did that matter- Nikolaos had nothing to hide from a vampiress who was so much younger than herself. Luna shouldn't suspect Nikki of such sensitivity, because Nikolaos O'Rourke was anything but sensitive. In fact, she was just the opposite.

Luna smiled at the older vampiress. "Well at least you showed her what was right and wrong." Luna remembered her time as a very young vampire. she had to figure it out all on her own. How to feed, hunt, and she figured out painfully byherself that she couldn't drink from the humans around her. The thoughts were bad, but one night of extreme thirst and pain had taught her that. she also hated the feeling of death. It hurt her head. Luna knew her powers were related to the mind and soul.

Luna frown at the vampiress calling herself a monster. "You don't seem a monster. You're not. You don't have that.....look. I know looks can be decieving, but I know what a monster looks like." Luna was a little reluctant to tell her of all her power. She remembered a vampire who was just out for the love of killing, in New York. She almost shuddered.

"Memories?"

Luna nodded. "I see people's memories, without them having to think of it. It sometimes scares me. I can see every thought anyone has ever had." She looked down at the table. "An Elder once named me the Memory Keeper." Luna smiled sadly.

Nikolaos' eyes darkened. "You have no idea Luna- and since I know your powers are extremely sensitive I won't push the images on you but believe me when I say I am still a monster- maybe less so that before, but still as twisted and pleased with giving pain and death as I was when I was turned. The very first thing I did when I was turned was get revenge. And revenge has always been what I've been after. I was wronged. I was taken. I never had a choice and so I'm angry. And I'm restricted because I cannot let myself do what I want so desperately to do. You couldn't understand, not unless you saw.... but I know you wouldn't like the feeling- I don't."

Damn. This girl was depressing. Memory Keeper? Ah, sounded like something out of a book Nikki had read once upon a time, The Giver.

Nikolaos shook her head and sat back again, sighing. "So, could we please stop talking about depressing subjects-" Nikki flagged down a waiter, his bowtie twisted and crookedly fixed on his neck.
"Vodka on the rocks pu-lease. Luna's depressing me-" she said, giving Luna a teasing smile. She should lighten up. This conversation was too serious anyways. "What do you want Luna? I'll buy."

Luna looked down at the table t Nikki's words. She probably wouldn't like the feeling of it either. She didn't doubt it now when people said it, not after she could experience it. Luna smiled at her next words and after she had flagged down a waiter she looked back at the table.

"What do you want Luna? I'll buy."

"Oh no. I'm fine." Luna told her. She didn't want to be buzzed tonight. She looked back at the vampiress across from her after the waiter left. "Okay. so no more depressing thoughts. what is something light and airy that we could talk about?" Luna asked no one in particular.

"Boo," Nikolaos pouted, teasingly before turning back to the waiter. "Looks like I'm the only one drinking tonight-" she said, a flirtatios smile gracing her red mouth. It was always best to keep options open- just in case one needed a feed.
The waiter left them and Nikolaos turned to Luna.

"Something light and airy- Well, when did you arrive in the city? I'm sure I haven't seen you before." She grinned before running her fingers over her white dress and leaning back in her chair, crossing her legs with ladylike effort. She had never been a lady in her lifetime- so why did she try not to act like the snot-nosed peasent she was born to be? Because she was given a new chance, a new life--- even if it had been forced on her.

Luna smiled at the vampiress. "Well, I've only been here a few days. I haven't had time to do much of anything and I'm looking for a place to stay, but other than that. There's not really anything interesting about my arrival." She shrugged. She looked around a the dancers and turned back to Nikki.

"So Nikki, how long have you been here in Demaitre? You seem to know the place, so I'll guess a good while." She looked curiously at her. Demaitre was overrun with vampires and mortals who know of their existance. She was truly confused about this place, but she liked it here so far.

"You have a coven Luna?" she inquired, arching an eyebrow at her. 'They'd give you a place to stay. "Ever since- well, ever since something happened to me I moved into the Nephim's sanctuary. I couldn't stand the apartments, but I think I'll be moving in with my.... lover soon," she said, pausing to think on it. She had been spending a lot of time at Bill's. Maybe she should just move in with him, but wouldn't that just cement things more? In a relationship that could never be completely cemented? Why? Because one day he'd leave her....

"I've been in the city for a few years- three I think." She shrugged. "But I didn't really meet and mingle until last year."

Nikolaos paused. "So where will you stay tonight then? Where have you been staying?

Luna replied to Nikki. "Yes, I have a coven, but I've never been that great with my coven so I usually don't stay with them." She shrugged. "I would leave but I don't know if I can. I might make some people angry."

Luna blushed slightly at her next question. "I will figure out somewhere to stay before sunrise. I'll sleep in the street if I have to. I am so used to this it doesn't phase me antmore." Luna smiled at her. She liked Niki, ahe was a friendly vampire. Not so many vampires were like that.

She looked back up at Nikki. "So ....so you belong to a coven?" she asked curious.

"What coven do you belong to? I'm sure they would not be upset if you left- unless you're an Ishak or Tarepha-" she shrugged before looking up at Luna. "You're on the streets? Honestly Luna.... you shouldn't take that- go home with sme mortal man or woman- Don't live on the streets of Demaitre."

Nikolaos nodded. "I'm a member of the Nephim coven...." she said offhand, her voice a bit distracted by the dark-haired man in the corner. His pulse was racing. maybe he was cheating on his wife or something? But still.... still his blood called her, tempted her.

The server returned with Nikki's drink and she downed it immediately- grateful for a distraction from the beating music of the man's heart. She wanted to feed- she didn't need to- but the desire was so strong....

However, Nikolaos hid her hunger well and smiled at Luna.
"So...."

Luna looked at the dancers. "I'm part of the Enashe. I don't think I ever really liked covens." She frown at herself. "I think that I'm going to leave it." She didn't know how to do that but she would try. The waitor brought Nikki her drink and Luna stared after him as he left.

"So...."

Luna smiled. "So..... what do you want to talk about. I'm sorry but I never have spoke that much. Even after all this time I still haven't talked as much as some humans have in their whole lives." She looked back at the crowd. She envied them slightly. They could come in contact with others. She looked at them with interest. She wondered what it would be like.

"Well, the Enashe are generally quite nice- but a little too human for my taste. Uh, why would you want to elave them? Are you looking for another coven or are you planning on going independant?" Nikki asked, interested. She wa quite sure Luna was a very "Enashe" vampire, empathetic and concerned for all human's well-beings. But she wasn't old enought o join the ranks of the Amman. So where would she go? She didn't really seem the Nephim type and the Ishak and Tarepha would laugh in her face if she asked for a place to stay with them.

"You should talk more- The years are so muche asier when you socialize," Nikki commented, sighing before looking out at the crowd. She wanted to dance but that'd be rude- doing what Luna could not. Maybe in time Luna would be stronger and able to sheild herself when dancing? Maybe. But Nikki didn't know. Her own power had never been one of touch- and she liked that. Controlled traits were her sire's specialty. Every talent she had was controlled. No surprises- no flaws- no mistakes.

Luna looked back at Nikki. "Well, I was thinking of becoming independant. I don't really socialize that well with other vampires. I am a misfit among them." Luna smiled. She remembered that there were some vampires that envied her but were part of the vampire society. She knew they could never be like her and part of that.

"You should talk more- The years are so muche asier when you socialize."

Luna smiled apologetically. "I never was one for talk. Not even in my human years. I always kept to myself and never had many friends. I think that's why I want to become independant. The Enashe are usually very social to one another and I don't really like that sometimes. I will try again with my coven, but I don't like to live with them." Luna never really figured out why she didn't like to live near her coven. She was just not that social.

"So you're a shut-in? Interesting. I find that most empathetic vampires are the most involved int he lives of humans--- always trying to save them from other vampires and sometimes from each other.... Humanity is a strange thing...." her voice trailed off as she sipped her drink.

The vodka felt so good- co cold as it slid down her throat. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before looking at Luna again. 'Well, I hope everything goes well with your coven Luna.... but you really should socialize- Enashe are famous for their human minglings. I'm sure you've been to the Ace High Casino. They run that baby- and constantly come in contact with humans.... it's good for them- I think that's why Enashe seem so-- human." She paused.

Luna shrugged. "I tend to relate to them becaus of my power, but I never did like big groups of people. I guess I was shy." Luna never really understood her need to be solitary. She never liked people she didn't know and was always worried what they thought of her. Luna was self concious and shy. A very bad combination for her.

She looked up at Nikki. "Which coven are you in, Nikki? I don't think you ever said." Luna was curious to which coven she was in. Nikki didn't seem like a Terapha, she was way too nice. She seemed to young and carefree to be an Amman. Luna guessed that she was a Nephim. She thought it better to ask than to jump to conclusions.