Clarice walked down the alley licking blood off of her lips. A few alleys down she had left a man dead from feeding. She knew she didn't want to go home with him even though he kept bugging her. She always liked the drunks better, she could taste the alcohol in their blood. Clair walked around a corner and into the shadows. She wondered if anyone would come across her in the shadows of the alley.

Clair flipped her red and black hair out of her face as she sat down on a trashcan. She could smell the blood in the air. She looked up at the moon and smiled. The red mark was on the moon again. It was comforting to her, to know that that mark was watching over her.

Hale had watched the gore from above and he had been bored with it. This one did not know had to drag out the pain and the torture, it was almost painful to watch. She needed to practice how to torture someone fully. He was crouched up above and was looking down, in that position he was a god that could watch the entire city from. He gave death where he thought it was deserved, actually he simply gave death whether it was deserved or not. He was Anubis, God of Death.

He went to the edge of the building and crawled down it, coming down to be near to her. "You call that gory? Amateur." His voice had a sneering quality to it and he was close enough that she could hit him if she desired. He was prepared for it, besides most vampires especially after drinking felt violent, he knew he did.

He was a comely child, one that was easily forgotten. He had no distinctive features and he seemed to simply vanish. Only a selected few remembered him and those that he chose were apprentices to him. They learned to enjoy killing, pulling out every single organ until their prey died. Just thinking about it, got him all ready for it. No, not yet, there was always time for that later.

Clair turned her head at the sound of the voice. A child vampire was there. He seemed to be only ten years old, but she sensed more than that from him. He was old. She was slightly irritated from her feed but she decided to answer anyway. "No, if I want to be gory I can. I call that feeding." Clair stood to her full height. She hissed slightly under her breath at the aura of death about this vampire. She knew he would hear but she didn't care.

"So, bringer of death. What's your idea of gore?" she asked casually leaning against the wall. She knew this child had tortured a lot in his day, his aura said it all. Clair was slightly curious about this seemingly young elder. She looked into his eyes with her hazel ones.

Hale simply blinked at her. Even for a feed that was pathetic. If she thought that she was a bad ass she was in for a sore surprise. Hale knew everything, how to be the terror of the city without getting caught. "It was a pathetic feed. I can sense your desire to be a bad ass, yet you put no effort into it. You have to hunt for your prey, make them fear as you chase them. The blood always tastes sweeter that way." She jumped down from the wall and landed on the floor.

He didn't know if she was being sarcastic or not, so he gave her a chance. He was being nice, there was a time where he wouldn't have considered a second chance, perhaps he was getting soft. "My idea of gore is cutting someone open and taking out there organs one by one and making sure that they are still alive as I do it, preferably conscious. That's my idea of gore, because often blood gets everywhere." He looked up at her and grinned.

Clair smiled at this seemingly-child. "Well, I wasn't going for gore. If I wanted that I have been known to pull intestines out like a string. One part at a time. Like a sick magic trick." She tilted her head to the side, barely feeling his aura anymore. "You are not a child and I can tell. You have tortured and killed quite a few people in your time. Though I'm not sure you have tried all forms of torture." She was curious about this vampire more so than any other she had been curious of reason.

Clair propped herself off the wall and approached him. "I do not believe I have properly introduced myself yet." She stuck out her hand to him. "I'm Clarice Danner. You can call me Clair." She smiled slightly at him.

Hale simply looked at her, face blank of all emotions. It was a look that no child was ever able to wear and to see it on such a young face would be unnerving for anybody to see. "Then you really don't know what it means to be a bad ass. You are bad all the time, when you feed, when you hunt, when you simply are. People fear you, when you appear because the aura you give is one that provides terror." Hale at that point laughed though it was not one of amusement. "Little one, I have done so many things in my time, creating a path of burning corpses as I pass. I can assure you if there is one torture that I haven't been done, it's because I didn't know about it."

He looked at her hand, yet didn't give his own small one. They weren't even friends and he was going to let her touch him? She was delusional if she thought that that was going to happen. "People call me Hale."

Clair retracted her hand back. She was used to it by now. "I don't doubt there is a torture you haven't inflicted, little-death-bringer-Hale." She had done worse but she admited she couldn't compare to him. She voiced her thoughts aloud, "I don't doubt you have done much worse than me. That is your art, and you are the master." She shrugged. "I would give anything to know what you do."

She was always interested in torture, even in human life. Now that she was a vampire she would deal out such torture. she wanted to at least, but the cops in other cities would have caught her if she procceeded with her desires. She looked back at Hale. She leaned on one side and looked at him with her brow furrowed. "Can you teach me? Some of your tortures? I always loved torture. My parents thought I was insane."

Hale's eyes narrowed dangerously. "We have a problem. I don't know if you are being sarcastic or simply serious and when I think that you are being sarcastic, I tend to get annoyed. When I'm annoyed, I get violent. Therefore you stop calling me these pet names and i won't have to hurt you." He was certain in his ability to kill. If she continued he would make sure that it was painful and slow.

He wasn't sure if she was even worthy of what he had to teach. So far he had taught only one and it had end up working well. Carina had wanted to let go of everything and leave the control of her brother. He had simply allowed her to do whatever she pleased. "do you think yourself worthy? I think the first step you should follow is not to sound sarcastic to my ears and then we'll see."

Clair smiled honestly this time, not out of sarcasm. She had respect for her elders, even this one. She bowed her head at him and said seriously, "Yes sir. I will cease to use sarcasm around you." She looked back at him. This time she was serious. She looked up to him because of the powerful aura he had. Clair had not seen an aura as powerful as this in a long time. She doubted she would ever again see one as close.

"As for feeling worthy," Clair stated, "I am only as worthy as you see fit. I was being serious when I stated you were the master of your art." She looked at him curiously. She had no need to be sarcastic anymore, and she knew he was powerful enough to kill her. He would also very likely torture her.

Hale simply eyed her sceptically. She seemed serious, yet he watched her almost coldly. He didn't see himself getting along with her they way he had with Carina. Carina and him were like-minded, he wasn't too sure about her. After all him and Carina were from the same coven and thought themselves superior to all, which they were. He was proud to be a vampire, he was your classical, powerful somewhat rich vampire.

"It takes years and years of dedication to become truly good at what I do. Since I'm a child I have no need for administrative duties or even bureaucracy. All I do is because I want to. I know that I'll never be found out and that is all that matters." He eyes her still skeptical. "When you torture someone what do you do?"

Clair was slightly over analyzing the question. "What do I do? Or what do you do in general?" She thought about it for a moment and decided to answer both. "Well, I Would try to inflict as much pain as possible and have as much pleasure out of it as possible." Clair thought for a moment. "Actually that is the only reason that I can think of to torture other than the usual sense of the word."

Clair watched him. He wasn't sure about her. She knew it was unwise to be so sarcastic and now she was paying for it. She kept up a rant of 'stupid' toward hersel in the head. She wasn't sure of what he would do next.

Hale was still unsure about her. He wasn't sure if she was simply being nonchalant or nervous. He should have been able to tell and now he couldn't. He didn't know if he liked that she gave a general description of what she did. She had to bee precise, how could he teach someone who only thought of generalities. Anybody could inflict pain on another, the question was how to do it. "That's not what I meant. what I meant was that if someone was on the floor right now and you could torture him, how would you do it? Don't give me generalities, I want description and precision."

She could call herself stupid a thousand times, but it wouldn't stop Hale from grilling her. She needed to pay and would answer all his questions and she better be prepared, he didn't take leniency lightly.

"That's not what I meant. what I meant was that if someone was on the floor right now and you could torture him, how would you do it? Don't give me generalities, I want description and precision."

Clair thought for a moment. It took her a few minutes but she finally came up with something. "Well, I would probably taste the blood. I know I would do that either by fully drinking or licking." She thought for a moment. Trying to think of what mood she was in. "I would cut his stomach out first. Take the blade of a knife and start at the middle of his ...ribcage I think and cut down. I would reach into the muscle and rip it and get to his stomach. Pull it out but not harm it. Let him see the horror of having it out of him and still working." clair said this as if she was doing it. Her fingers were twitching and moving with her words. She knew it wasn't the best form of torture she could have, but this was the mood she was in right at this moment.

"His intestines would be next. Pull it out one section at a time, like unwinding a spool of thread. That would take a few minutes to get all of it out. Then I would cut to his chest and oull his heart out. To cut his throat at the end." She looked up at Hale. "I knw it isn't that great or even good at all, but I usually do what is in the line of my mood."

Hale rolled his eyes, what was wrong with the generation of younger vampire nowadays? Had they lost all their sense of creativity, their sense of imagination? It depressed him, well if he ever felt depressed this would be the time. He didn't waste him time on useless emotions. Depression was one of them.

He shook his head cutting off anything else she would have said. "There is only one mood. Killing, I don't care if you are happy or sad or even depressed. You simply kill and do a good job torturing someone. There is more to torture then cutting someone open. There are the words you say, the weapons you use, what you do even before cutting a person. Anything that can be done to you, can be done to a mortal, the only difference is that mortals don't heal quickly." He paused, looking her up and down. "You torture to kill and to feel pleasure from the pain. There is no letting your victim go, ever."

There was only one thought running through his head, Amateur. That was exactly what she was. No one taught him, but he read books and learned from past mistakes. He would spend hours in a room simply reading about torture and if something didn't satisfy him, he would continue to try until it gave him exactly what he needed. "You have no imagination."

Clair looked at him after his speech about moods. She watched him as he thought.

"You have no imagination."

Clair nodded. "I know. I have never been that imaginative. That would be why I need your help." She watched him curiously. He seemed like a child, and she wondered to herself if he ever used that to his advantage. She realized she was irritating him slightly. She stood up straight again. "If you do not want to teach me I will take my leave and go. I don't want to be bothersome for you anymore than I have been." She was serious, and watched him for an answer.

Hale shook his head. It's true that he wasn't expecting to take on one vampire as a student and now it seemed that he might have two. No, this one needed more imagination. "I won't take you on, because you need to practice, to learn more about the art of torture and yes it is an art." He watched her over carefully. "You need to read, anything. Mystery novels, books on torture, thrillers, anything that can teach you about how to become the best at this art. I've done it and it's the only way to truly learn. Watch movies as well. Saw gives interesting insight about death and how to give it."

He then waited patiently and then continued. "When you find yourself ready than perhaps we shall meet again. It will be interesting to see what you have learned."

Clair smiled. "Yes sir, I will broaden my imagination." She bowed her head in respect for him, and turned away. She thought about where to find a library in Demaitre and thought she would start there. She turned back to Hale, "Do you know where there is a library around here?"

She looked around her at the alley and guessed she probably wasn't anywhere near the main part of Demaitre. She looked back at him and waited patiently to see if he would answer.

Hale simply looked at her. What a weird vampire. He didn't think that he had ever met someone like her. He did think that he deserved respect for having survived this long, yet he knew that respect was most often earned. Very curious, unless she was protecting herself from harm in that case she was being very smart.

"The library?" Well it seemed that she wanted to start now. Well she was getting a head start on things. "The library is in the central part of the city near the University as well as the Theater." He pointed down a street. "Down this way, turn left on Tunner's Boulevard. Then straight ahead it will be on your left." With that he left, vanished cleanly into the night without any knowledge that he had even been around.

Clair watched as he disappeared. She turned toward the direction he pointed and began walking toward the library. she guessed that she would work on that as soon as possible. She wondered of they had any good books on torture. she smiled to herself as she went on her way. she was beginning to like Demaitre.