She sees him.
The
heat rose from the swamp amidst the towering weeping willows. It is always hot
this time of year in Bon Temps, Louisiana, but today there was something else
in the air, something burning, and Claudia could smell it.
She
was resting her lean, wet body on a tree above the lake, drying off from her
daily swim in the Bayou, when she heard it…or rather felt it. The strongest
urge came over her. She looked around and saw something gleaming in the
distance, on the riverbank. She moved to
investigate it. As she got closer the visions became clearer, her feelings and
thoughts more defined. Whatever this was, she could feel it in her entire body
and mind, as if it was her own. But she knew it wasn’t.
She Saves Him.
She
moved stealthily towards it and then she saw it. Smoke and wisps of steam were rising from its still
body. It appeared to be unconscious.
Claudia immediately knew what it was, although she had never seen one in
the flesh before. Excited she knelt beside the body and started to peel away
the silver chains that were melting away the creature’s dead skin. Hillbillies
from Bon Temps regularly kidnapped and tortured those of the supernatural realm. It gave them a sense of power that they
didn’t have in any other part of their lives. Preying on the weaknesses of the
supernatural was the only way they could get away with their innate desire for
cruelty. Their victims were often found
dead, or nearly so, by hapless humans but this was the first time one of their
‘victims’ was left in her territory.
She
looked him over carefully. She knew the creature was still alive by the dream
visions she was picking up from him in her mind. The creature was obviously
male, and attractive in a strange kind of way, she thought. She knew that he
would die out here, exposed to the sunlight, if she didn’t help him quickly so she
glanced around her for something sharp. She found a thin sliver of wood and opened
a vein in her wrist. Once the blood started to flow she held it to the
creature’s lips and he stirred slightly. The wisps of smoke abated and his
white skin healed immediately. She had to act quickly now so she dragged him back
to her cabin. He was surprisingly light, perhaps because he wasn’t actually
human, she decided. Knowing that he needed darkness to survive, she tied him up
in her basement and waited for him to awake.
Claudia. (Slipping)
Claudia
had lived alone since childhood. She was abandoned by her parents and left in their
old plantation property with its surrounding 5 acres of land. The land
consisted mainly of the Bayou but that was perfect for Claudia. She was half
Nymph, on her mother’s side, so she needed the water. This hereditary gene gave
her many gifts. She was able to manipulate emotions, read minds, control the
water element and the creatures that lived in it too. She was safe in her bayou
and only left when absolutely necessary, which, so far, meant never.
She
had been isolated from other humans for most of her life and had gotten used to
being alone, only occasionally seeing her nearest Neighbour Mrs Laderman. Mrs.
Laderman was a widow and since her husband had died had also lived alone for a
long time, so Claudia and she shared a basic understanding of one other.
Claudia’s isolation had led her to find solace
in old movies. She would pretend that she was the leading lady and she created
alternate universes where she would discover her leading man. This obsessive
longing had led her to develop many dysfunctional disorders as a result. Mild
Schizophrenia being one of Them. The lines between reality and fantasy were no
longer clear to her.
They Meet.
Claudia
returned to the basement a few hours later to check on her rescuee. She could
feel the Being’s thoughts becoming clearer and she knew that he would awaken
shortly. When he finally opened his eyes he was shocked to find himself in this
strange basement and he wondered how he got there. He wasn’t aware of her
watching him but as he looked around to see where he was he spotted a beautiful
creature emerging from the darkness. She wasn’t afraid of him and he could feel
her curiosity rising.
They
stared at each other without speaking. Each could feel the energy of the other
and he knew that this beautiful woman was not entirely human, although he could
not ascertain in what way she was not.
Claudia explained how she had found him lying
by the water, tied up with silver and how she had rescued him. She talked of
how his thoughts and dreams had fed her curiosity and that she had decided that
she would wait for him to wake up so she could get a clearer feeling of him.
‘What
are you?’ the Vampire Quentin, staring at her in confusion. “You are human, but
not human. I cannot make you out.”
She
cautiously explained her story, about her Nymph mother and Human father.
Quentin was fascinated. Perhaps that was why he had felt no desire to feed from
her. It also excited him. She was the first women/being that could control him,
hurt him if she wanted to…since his Maker. She was the first woman who he could
not control. He knew that glamouring her would be impossible. She would never
be a victim of his. She was stronger
than him, and this made him want her more. It was the first time he had ever
wanted a woman in this way.
Quentin. (Taste)
Quentin
grew up in New Orleans. He was the son of a voodoo priestess mother, and was abandoned
by his white father when he was barely two years old. As a result of her
husband abandoning her his mother became very over-protective, keeping him
isolated from regular humans, by living deep in the seedy underworld of New
Orleans. He grew up around Vampire Brothels, and the opium dens of those
Supernatural beings who could not come to terms with normal life. As a result
of this contact he found his freedom in the shape of his vampire mistress. She
was a regular visitor to the local vampire brothels and she hypnotised him. He
became her child and she took him away from his mother. But in gaining his
freedom he also lost it, for she was a harsh Maker and as a result his anger
toward women grew until all he desired was their blood, and their death. He
spent many years learning how to control women in order to get what he wanted,
choosing vulnerable, needy women who he glamoured, and used, until he had had
his fill. He thrived on devouring their needs, their flesh and their blood,
leaving them like dried husks in the dirt.
He was insatiable.
The
Hillbillies caught him off-guard, suspecting that he had been having an affair
with one of their wives. They had come prepared, with silver chains to bind
him. The husband rallied his friends, and together they dragged him into their
pick-up truck in the early morning before sunrise. They had spent the evening
drinking, riling themselves up, preparing themselves for the attack. Then they
left the bar and grill and drank around in a drunken noise until they found
him. They dragged him into the truck, tied the silver chain tightly around his
neck and began to drain him of his blood, but just enough to keep him weak.
Then, as the sun came up and Quentin was helpless they threw him out of the
truck and onto the river bank where Claudia later discovered him.
Bonded Forever.
And
this is how it started. They each saw what they wanted to see. However, their
relationship would never be a healthy one. Quentin was a vampire and could come
and go as he pleased. He was lustful and selfish but he could never leave her.
He would always want her because she was the only one who knew him and his
weaknesses. And Claudia was addicted to him. He was the only ‘man’ she had ever
met that she actually wanted and he knew it. The power struggle and obsessive,
co-dependent quality of their relationship was unbearable but living without
each other was worse. They manipulated each other and punished each other but
that was the only way they knew how to be together.
Eventually
it would destroy them both.
