Getting her settled in - Marvin's Haven

He smiled softly "Dearest one, you might want to invoke the vegetable. I have known Kindred who claim to have killed hundreds in a night. Albeit it was during time of war. But it is still frightful. My body count is quite.... low. Unnoticeable really among undead circles. "

"The power of the vegetable does not compel me... hundreds? Truly? Is that all you bloodsuckers thing about? Death and destruction? At what costs?"

"Someday we will seek out the Brujah and Gangrel who fought in any of the wars of the last century. Fearsome soldiers who struck down countless numbers of mortals who wore a uniform they considered the wrong side. From the ones I have spoken with, I believe the undead greatly influenced all the major conflicts of the 20th century, and helped bring them to a close as well."

He sighed "And no, it is not all we think about. But it is a shocking manifestation of who we are. I seek to create, that is why I do not kill. My first night I killed because... because my mind was forming, and I was coming to grips with who and what I was. I killed one other time, because it was a mercy compared to what else I might do my former servant. I have not killed sense, although I could have and wanted to many times. No, many of us seek knowledge, or some other action to pass eternity. That is why you are with me, because I seek to perfect the digital arts, and together.... together dearest one we can achieve things that science fiction has not dreamed of!"

"That makes no sense!!!"

Confused, yes.

Slightly angry, yes.

Scare, well, duh.

"What makes no sense love?"

"Any of it..."

"What vampires in the Vietnam War, any of it, or what I plan to do with the rest of eternity any of it, or all of it?"

"Wait... what???"

The rabbit hole apparently has no bottom...

"ALL OF IT!"

"And both world wars, all the wars in the mideast I'm sure, the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, the Russian Revolution, pretty much any war mortals have fought, there have been vampires on all sides also pulling strings, and sometimes just outright fighting for the side of their choice. We do pretty much control the world to a great degree love."

"For power and amusement? Is that right?"


The girl was not pleased.

He shook his head

"Power, amusement, moral crusades. I had a client who was a Nazi hunter even into these modern nights. Claims Himmler and a bunch of others are still around as vampires. Beats me, he made me uncomfortable but I took his money because I liked it. Some fight back because their homeland gets invaded. Let's face it, even as a vampire, you don't get too happy when a bunch of mortals start blowing up the shit around where you live. So you fight back and help the mortals around you fight back. Just like any other war. And then you find vampires who work for the enemy, and pretty soon a war as a supernatural side to it. So like any war and any mortal fighting a war. Vampires do it for all the same reasons. Power, blood lust, patriotism, self defense, whatever."

"And through it all, you make it sound so normal. But it's not normal. It's... barbaric..."

"All war is barbaric love. The difference is, you are coming to terms that throughout history, the undead have at times fought side by side with mortals and they didn't even know it."

"So if the vampires had such a high stake in the wars of mankind... Why didn't they just stop or start war as they saw fit?"

She was sure she knew the answer to this... Probably didn't really want to hear it. But she needed to hear it.

"Not that powerful. Sometimes man starts wars all by his lonesome. And we are behind the scenes creatures. We might pull the strings of someone who started a war, but we won't simply force world peace or anything like that, not even sure we could. Plus we fight among ourselves. A lot."

"So are there successes to be proud of in this society? Honestly, tell me."

"We fight demons. A lot. And evil werewolves. And the really bad kind of vampires. We actually keep a lot of the bad parts of the supernatural from spilling over into regular society."

Naomi went silent for a few moments, thinking about what he said.

And then... she just started laughing. Hard.

Demons, werewolves... Riiiiiight...

Marvin smirked. "What's so funny love?"

"Demons and werewolves?"

She shook her head, trying to contain herself.

"I guess, I guess I should have figured that they would come up. I mean, you have vampires and werewolves and demons and ghosts and poltergeists and mummies and chupacabra in every horrible monster film in existence. It's like someone took the horror genre a bit too far. I don't, man, I don't know. I would say to prove it, but frankly, I don't want to know. You're talking about the murder of people-- though whether they or innocent or not doesn't really seem to matter. You speak of vampires in reverence-- cool, it is what it is. But to me, it also sounds like a plague. Parasites. If you're parasites, fine. So long as we, your hosts, aren't in danger of extinction, then I guess I can't complain... too much."

Crack...

"I would imagine dearest that pretty much every supernatural creature of legend is in fact based on truth. I mean look at me... vampire and all that. As for us being parasites... do you consider yourself a parasite for eating a hamburger? It is sadly the same thing. I drink human blood to survive. You eat the flesh of animals to survive. I at least can leave my dinner alive when I'm done."

"What are you, a member of PETA, now? It's okay if you don't HARM the cattle?"

Anger rising.

"People Eating Tasty Animals?" he chuckled "No, I lost my taste for flesh when I died. And really, the point is I have to consume blood to survive. I don't kill that which I feed from, and they even gain a moment of pure indescribable pleasure when I do feed. It is a compensation of sorts I suppose. Would you like me to start killing my meals? Would that make you feel better? Or can you at least accept that after I pass and feed, the person is still alive to go home to their family?"

Was he trying to pick a fight?

"I didn't say that! Why would you even ASK that question of me? Pleasure or not, you're still doing those people harm. You take their blood-- what happens if you can't stop yourself? What happens when that time comes that you are so enamored of your food that you just suck them dry? Or is that not an issue for you? Am I happy you let them go home when you're done? Yes, of course I am. But we're not cattle. It's not the same. Humans are not raised for their flesh. And what happens if something goes wrong? It's not just about the physical harm you can inflict upon them, is it? Or is that the point?"

She shook her head and attempted to get out of bed. She needed to pace, she needed the physical activity.

He made no effort to stop her activity.

"I feed from you nightly, and do you feel as if your life is in danger? And there is no benefit in draining someone dry just because you enjoy them so much. In fact a vampire is more likely to make sure that person remains healthy, and yes cultivate them as a herd. Watch over them, even protect them. It's difficult I know Naomi, but it has been this way since I am told Cain and Abel. Cain was the first vampire, and it's been this way ever since. So, we are in fact a part of human society and evolution."