World of Darkness World of Darkness: Attrition - Misanthrope (A Halloween Story) (Finished)

[Adrian Moss]

I met her at the gun range. In retrospect, I should have realized it was a set up. She really was that damn good at reading people, or at least me. She had me pegged.

She pretty face that was just a bit too taunt from age and worry. She had brilliant brown eyes that told you right away she wasn’t someone to be messed with. Her body was sculpted from a lifetime of work outs and had that well-muscled appearance that put my own scarecrow visage to shame. Her hair was thick, wavy, dark blonde and just above her shoulders. I thought she was gorgeous. I guess I was supposed to.

Like me, she chose to wear blacks, grays, and browns – mainly black because I’m such a cliché. When she shot she wore a sleeveless black T, black workout pants, calf-boots – brown, and orange tinted shades. Her ear protection was black too. This combined to give her five foot – two frame an endearing quality. Yeah, she was short, but not too short. With her physique she could kick anyone’s ass. I was pretty sure she could kick my ass just by watching her take up her stance and shoot. Did I mention she had a great ass?

Anyway, I saw her a few weeks in a row. We never said a word. She came in usually about a half hour after I did and would still be shooting when I left. As far as I could tell she never gave me a second glance. She became something I was used to seeing, part of the scenery – a nice part - , but nothing more.

Then came the night she was there before I arrived. Since it was past three O’darkness in the morning, we were alone. The first thing I noticed was that she had changed the way she rigged her guns. Okay, that was the second thing I noticed, but I still noticed it pretty quick. I then noticed she had to targets up. I put my gear on the counter and began getting ready to relieve some tension. I happened to lean back and look in her direction when she started. It was a totally fluid motion. The gun came out and she was firing in the time it took me to blink. It was fantastic.

“How did you do that?” I blurted out stupidly. I somehow felt I had broken the spell between us. In my mind I saw her blowing me off, packing up, and leaving my life forever. If only it had happened that way.

She didn’t say anything immediately. She checked her weapons, engaged the safeties, and placed the weapons down. Only then did she turn to me and take off her ear-protectors.

“Did you say something?”

“Yes,” I struggled to keep from gulping and looking stupid, “How did you draw so fast? That’s … truly impressive.”

She gave me the hint of a shrug and seemed to be digesting what I said before responding.

“Come over here and I’ll show you if you like.”

Now firing a gun is a pretty intimate thing to me. She, her name turned out to be Anita, didn’t just show me how to position my gun on my hip, on in a shoulder holster, but showed me how it was supposed to feel. We went over gun weights and the feel on each finger how it was supposed to feel as you pulled it out. I lost track of time. Next thing I knew, my watch was beeping and it was 5:30 am and it was time for me to go.

“Thanks,” I told her. “I’ll practice this.”

She just nodded and went back to packing up her gear as if nothing had gone on between us for the better part of two hours. No ‘Good bye’. No ‘See you later’. She turned her back and me and went back to her life. At the time I felt a little hurt. That was most likely on purpose.

[Adrian Moss]

Two days later I was back again. I had just finished up a class project with some of my fellow students at the University, caught up with an acquaintance at a club and come here to unwind. I was deep into practicing my fake breathing routine when she came in. This time her shirt was white and her pants were tan – still tight though.

My attempt was clumsy. The first two bullets were to the lower right and outside. In a firefight I would most likely be screwed, though not dead; an advantage of being dead already.

I stole a look at her and she was staring right at me.

“It takes time,” she said through red lips. I could smell the body wash she had used and could make out the slight tint of make-up on her. She was wearing lipstick and that sent a shiver through my undead heart. Could she have done this for me?

“You have to train your trigger finger to take it easy as the gun is pulling up. Don’t be too anxious to get into the game. Do you want me to show you how again?”

‘And how!’ I thought. Instead, I kept my cool about me and said, “Thanks. That would be appreciated.”

Part of me enjoyed the thought of hunting her, just as the sane part of me realized she was way dangerous. As always, the Blood called out to me, and the call was strong in this one. It was almost like she knew how to bait me. Well, she did. I wasn’t her first, by a long shot.

By the end of the second night I found myself making a date for the next one. I can’t even remember why I asked her only that I did. The hours ticked by and our date approached the cautious part of me thought about calling this off, but I made excuses. If I could make her mine, what a conquest that would be? If I could learn from her all that she had to teach, what a fighter I would become? What if …

I came into the meeting a little early. I had the time to set myself up and crank off a few rounds before she walked in, right on time. When I stepped out of my stall, she was standing there staring at me. This time the T was red and the pants were black again. Her jacket – it was cooler outside tonight – was brown suede.

“Come here,” she ordered. I found myself obeying immediately. She offered her hand to me and after a second’s hesitation, I shook it. She squeezed hard enough that it hurt. I tried to squeeze back.

“Squeeze harder,” she said in a calm steady voice.

“I’m trying,” I managed. It was really starting to hurt.

She let go.

“Hand strength is almost as important as upper body strength. You really need to step up from those 9mm. Also, I see you wear and use a left hand rig, but you only fire one gun at a time. You need to find your balance and learn to use both at once.”

She outlined my shortcomings in such a matter of fact fashion that I hardly minded.

“Also, if you get stronger, you can deal with the backlash of larger caliber rifles, like an AK, or M-16. Your shotguns are only so useful and run out of shots way too fast.”

“Hold on a second. Who do you think I’ll be fighting? I just come here to shoot.”

She looked at me with this expression that made me feel bad about having to lie to her.

“Why have you learned to shoot so well?”

“My name’s Adrian,” he said, stalling for time. “I plan to become a PI.”

“Well, PI’s in LA need to know there way around weapons, Adrian: Gangs, terrorists, criminals, and the police. You never know who you are going to be dealing with. You never know what kinds of monsters you are going to find out there.”

“Monsters?” I choked.

“Yes Monsters. People who do horrible, inhuman things to other … people. Monsters.”

I wasn’t so sure about the way she said people. It almost sounded like ‘You people’ to me. Did she know? Had I done something to give me away? I had been careful feeding, careful going home, and normal in so many of my nightly dealings. Nah, it could be.

“Well, that’s pretty much what I want to stop – the worst of the monsters out there … and to help people. Helping people out who’ve got no one else is also pretty important.”

She stared at me for the longest time then smiled. I heard her whisper under her breath “you’ll do.” Damn my ears.

[Adrian Moss]

I had to get away from the range for a while and get my thoughts together, or at least get my thoughts somewhere else. I called Erica up and we went out for a ride to the beach. It’s hard to talk about my problem when I can’t talk about who I really am, but somehow Erica understands. She is fast becoming my best friend. More to the point, her sweet vitae gets my mind off the woman and her guns.

I go back a week later. She’s already there, black and black again, like the first time I saw her. She gives me a smile when I come in. It puts me on edge because I don’t know what to make of it. It isn’t like she’s hitting on me, and it isn’t like she’s asking all kinds of questions about me. She just is, and that’s offsetting.

“Have you been practicing?” she asks. Somehow I know she knows the answer.

“No. I had to take some personal time off,” then I add, “I have pretty good hearing.”

She nods and bites her lower lip.

“Oh. I wondered about that. That was an error and errors can be fatal. I’ll make a note of that for the future.”

“Who are you?”

She hesitates.

“I know who you are, and what you are. I know you could be out of here before I could get the drop on you. You have that gift. It makes you hard to track.”

I am seriously thinking about taking her up on that challenge too. Running comes easy for me. I don’t say anything.

“All I want to do is talk. Can you do that? I promise I won’t kill you.”

“Or leave me to die?” I clarify.

She smiles broadly at that. She even has perfect teeth. She’s had work done, I can tell. “Sure.”

She packs up her stuff, all the time keeping a watch on my out of the corner of her eye. She has the jacket again and a gun on underneath. Still, I didn’t see any stakes, swords, or axes. It could be worse. We go out together to the parking lot and we take separate cars. It somewhat irks me that she knows me well enough to know that I’ll follow her to some out of the way eatery so we can talk. She chooses a Denny’s – not so out of the way after all.

[Adrian Moss]

She’s eating a full breakfast while I have an empty glass of water in front of me. She seems to be taking exceptional relish in the food. I don’t get it. Of course, I don’t’ get anything but the heaves from food anymore anyway. All a place like this is for is getting a tired human slumped over their coffee and waiting for a bite. I’ve seen it done before.

“Name’s Anita, Adrian, and I’ve been stalking you for some time. You are just the right kind of … Kindred I’ve been looking for.”

“You stalk us a lot?”

“Ten years,” she says looking off into space over my shoulder. “Ten tough, long years.”

“What did you pick me for? I’m not going to rat out other kindred for you.” I hoped I wouldn’t. I had no idea how I would hold out under torture. I’m not a fan of pain.

“I wouldn’t have chosen you if you would.” That smile again. “I chose you because you are a kindred people can trust. Like me trusting you to come here tonight and not speed away. You want to help people and I want your help.”

I have to admit, I was suddenly very curious. What could a seasoned vampire hunter want with me?

“What do you need?”

We both waited while she chewed her food. When she was done, she leaned forward and beckoned me to lean in as well. I had this weird moment when I thought she was about to yell in my ear.

“I want you to embrace me,” she whispered like a conspirator. I looked into her face and she was smiling a full, toothy grin at me. The look in her eyes made all of that fade away. Her eyes were on fire and filled with an iron resolve devoid of any sign that she was kidding, teasing, or testing.

‘What’ didn’t seem like enough of something to say.

“If I say no, you’ll kill me, won’t you?”

She looked down at the table.

“Yes, but it would sadden me to have to.”

There was only one thing I could say.

“I need to think on it.”

To my surprise, she nodded.

“I’m in the hotel across the street, Room 214. I’ll see you around 9 tomorrow night?”

I nodded and edged out of the seat and got ready to leave when she grabbed my arm.

“Don’t tell anyone - no one at all. Okay?”

Again I nodded.

[Adrian Moss]

I rode around most of the night. I thought about running, but were would I run to? Who would I go to on this? I didn’t think any of my coterie would handle her, save maybe Jorge, and that would be a tight thing. No, no one I know to be around could be of any help. I had to figure out how to handle this on my own. Could I do it and should I? I began totaling up the pro’s and cons as the night wore on.

Only when the sun set did the horrible truth or what I suspected was the horrible truth, sink in. I had been accepting of what I had been told without question. I had been set up and I had only one stop to make for the feed that impression. I went by the gun range and had a few words with the range night manager. He told me what I should have put together long ago. Then it was on to my appointment, both guns checked and holstered. I was angry.

She let me in after one knock on the door. It was a small room, dingy, and second rate. It figured she had spent most of her money elsewhere. As I looked at her, she was in the red and black with a pistol hanging on one hand at her side. She was ready for disappointing news.

“Why do you want to be a vampire?”

“I want to be able to do more in my line of work than I can do as a mortal. Face it, I’m only going to get older and slower from here on out. I need this … and I only want to punish the bad ones. You understand that!”

“By punish you mean kill, right?”

“We can’t all be so … finicky. There is real trouble out there that needs real solutions.”

I shook my head. “That way leaves you crazy. The Beast wins a little more for each person you stalk and kill. A killer becomes an animal.”

She looks away and then I know something.

“Why do you really want to become a vampire? Tell me and I’ll understand. For that matter, why did you really choose me? No lies.”

There is nothing before me but a hardened killer. She walks past me and locks the door. Maybe she made a decision. Maybe it was an afterthought.

“I chose you because I asked around.” Now she is like ice. “I asked for the lowest, weakest, least regarded kindred in town. Your name came up. After I had been following you for a while I could tell what type of leech you were. You pretend to care, even though you have no real connections. You’ve got nobody.”

Yeah, that hurts about to here my life dissected like that. Then I realize she doesn’t know about Erica, or Gwen, or any of the others I’ve been at least friendly with. She doesn’t know me.

“So, what do you want me to do? If I’m going to embrace you, I want to know what you are going to do.”

She lies to me again and I hold up my hand. I don’t know why I know she’s lying, but I do. Somehow she’s giving me clues.

I sit down. “Let’s try this again. This isn’t you, because you’re not like me. I know that now. I think you’ve done this very methodically and I want to know now, before I proceed.”

“Promise me you’ll embrace me no matter what.”

I nodded my head. “Okay.”

“I can’t believe someone like you doesn’t get it,” she begins. “This world is so fucked up. Vamps are everywhere and everywhere they are humans – people like … normal folk are working with them. They want to be with them, be them, and protect their existence. They are stumbling over themselves to fuck each other over for all kinds of reasons, or no reasons what so ever. I hate it. It makes everything I do so pointless.”

She sits down next to me.

“Finally I figured out that I had to switch sides to make a difference. I would have to embrace vampires, who would embrace vampires, who would do the same. Tear humanity apart. Let them embrace their ugliness face first. Let it gut them in a sea of blood and death. Can’t you see it?”

“What about Kindred Society?” I have to admit I was pretty horrified.

“What about it? Seriously, what have your fellow leeches done for you? You have to know that most of them are perverted monsters. Don’t lie to yourself about it. Face the truth.”

“You don’t know us,” I retort forcefully. “Sure the world doesn’t work like it should, but that’s no reason to kick out the foundations. Don’t you see the death and suffering you would cause?”

She looks at me with those icy eyes.

“The world needs to suffer Adrian. It doesn’t understand anything else.”

“No. There is good in this world.”

“Name me two friends you have Adrian. Name me two good people.”

“There is my sire,” I pulled out eventually. I certainly didn’t want to name any of my real friends. “I don’t know anyone right now, but I’m sure they’re out there.”

She shook her head. She didn’t say it but she might as well have: her way was the only way the world worked and all I could do was bust my head against her brick wall if I tried. What next?

“No one really cares about you and you don’t care about anyone else – and you’re one of the nicest kindred I’ve ever met. You meet feckless people in the bars and clubs to feed off of. What do they matter? You meet other kindred who treat you like shit. You don’t owe them anything.”

She reached out and took my arm.

“Embrace me and make a difference.”

I stood up and shook off her hand. My grip went to my gun and I whipped it out. I couldn’t bear to point it at her though. She slipped away and pulled her gun around. For a moment her anger shown brightly in her eyes and at that moment I realized she almost shot me. It passed. She was too cagey a creature to make that kind of snap judgment and she was also stark raving mad.

“All you have to do is embrace me and we’ll never have to see each other again. Besides, you promised me.”

I was reaching for something – anything. “I never said when, Anita. I still have time.” To make you see reason.

She looked surprised. She thought she knew me, all about me, and now I had stumped her in her mad plan. She found a solution. She turned the gun on herself.

“Embrace me. Embrace me Adrian.”

“I can’t. You’ll …” I couldn’t finish it. I was too afraid. Two people with loaded guns facing off and I was afraid to say any more.

“I don’t need to leave you a choice,” she said with this suddenly seductive smile. She pushed the gun against her chest and pulled the trigger. The area just under her left breast blossomed with blood. Blood fountained over the bed and she fell down against the mess. I was at her side in an instant.

“I’m dying … now, Adrian … you don’t have … a choice … you promised.”

I held her there, part of my mind panicked by the gunshot, muffled as it was. Then there was all the blood and the hunger that comes with it. I couldn’t bear to bite into her. Instead I leaned forward and whispered into her ear.

“I lied.”

I sat with her as her breathing went from rasping, to labored, to finally still. Her blood stopped pumping and she was done. I put my gun up and left. There was nothing I could do except take stock of what I had lost. I had lost a bit of my confidence, especially in my self. I wasn’t the man, or the kindred, I wanted to be. My word wasn’t my bond. I wasn’t as careful as I thought I could be, and I endangered others I wanted to be close to. Worse, I had no one I could talk to about this and I hated that most of all. She was right. I was alone. In the final analysis, I had no one and the world wasn’t’ going to give me any breaks. It was a harsh, dark world, but I didn’t know any other.