Faline

She shrugs, waving her hand towards Apex. He gives the name of the town, but it isn't one I'm familiar with. His warning of it being a couple of hours out makes me want to groan.

"So do you know anything about where we're going?"

The Mistress inclining her head gives me the urge to strangle her. I motion for her to continue, but I just get stared at. Growling, I tuck myself back into the spot I'd been in and close my eyes.

My thoughts roam to a different Vampire. Is he really gone? It's funny, I wanted nothing to do with him and to get away from him, yet now...here I am, almost missing him. The days I'd spent with him while in cat form, the comfort he seemed to get from me being around, the playfulness he'd shown...

A frown forms on my face as memories arise. After I'd figured out that the way he'd treated me during my Conversion is how he was when turned, if I hadn't gotten away from him when I did, would I have become just as insane? If I had to spend years with that kind of treatment without my ability to calm him...would I have spiraled into the same madness that grips Nicolaus? Those last few days, he'd seemed less crazy. Still quick to anger and just as violent, but not the same Vampire that had first abducted me.

The scars I carry from his handling have all smoothed out or disappeared. Most of the lashes have gone, only the really bad ones show as faded. The one at my hip that had sent me into shock and almost killed me is the clearest one.

Is that how he got the one on his face? I only caught brief glances, but I believe he also had lash marks on his back. Just as the one on his face would show more as he got angry, the ones on his back would slightly flush as well. Since I'd tried to avoid looking, I can't be certain. The times that his back had been facing me and I was actually looking was in the shower, where things are altered because of the water. The more I think about my personal undead demon, the more I miss him.

My frown turns into a scowl as my eyes open. Lady had once said that everyone knew I was his because of the scars, what did she mean? Sliding my gaze over, she's still staring at me.

"You'd said before that others knew who I belonged to after seeing my scars, what did you mean by that?"

Her features harden. Think she knows who I'd been thinking of for that memory to surface. Oh well. Tough shit. At first, it looks like she won't answer, but she inhales and lets out a long breath. A leg comes up as she turns and leans against the side, getting comfortable. Is she actually going to share with me now? Would be nice to know something.

"It is said that at the heads of the feline bloodlines are three sisters. Every vampire that has a feline form is a descendant from one of them. Each one the source blood for each subspecies. Their actual names have been lost, but the line names, Pantherinae and Felinae, are the best translation given for the two younger sisters, the eldest being Machairodontinae. My home, by that logic, is filled with the descendants of the younger."

She watches me to make sure I'm following along. I am, for the most part.

"Just as you and your Sire are from Felinae blood, I'm from Pantherinae. The eldest sister’s line is very old and rare, none are seen in this part of the world. Some say they have died out just like their natural animal cousins."

Lady focuses inwards as if she's thinking about something, her voice lowering even more.

"The Sire of the one who made Nicolaus was a very... Unique individual. I'm not entirely sure just how old he was or where he came from. Going by what I've heard, he was disturbed even as a human, becoming a Vampire just made it worse."

Strange eyes focus on mine as she comes out of her own head, face tilting to the side in a curious gesture.

"You are the descendant progeny of one who makes me look like a child in my desires. If you think Nicolaus is mad, his 'grandfather' is way beyond that. Known to drive those he Converted insane before the last exchange. Many would have to be killed soon after due to their endangering our secrecy. The woman who Converted your Sire is still around, somewhere."

Putting it all together, I have a demented 'great grandfather' who was the start of all the madness that led up to me. Wrapping my arms around, I clutch at myself. The realization that I could very well become as twisted as those around me sinking in.

Since becoming a Vampire, there have been several changes to my personality, one being that I enjoy inflicting pain, but I've been able to limit that to those I was fighting. Never intentionally on an innocent. I honestly don't think I'm anything like the one who made me, but that doesn't stop the niggling doubt.

Lady had become quiet, watching me as I figure things out. I was right all along with my theory of how Nicolaus had been Converted, so more than likely any scars he has are from his 'initiation' into this dark world. That would make Madaline... My aunt? That's just all sorts of wrong.

Upon hearing his original reply when I'd asked who she was, I wondered if she might have been someone else he turned. His not wanting anything to do with her just made things even more confusing. Since I don't know when she was made and her age compared to his, it could just be 'sibling rivalry'.

"You said 'was' earlier on, is this man no longer, er, living?"

Her shoulder lifts before falling. Well, that's just great. Some sick freakin' monster is out and about and no one knows where he is. Lovely. Well, she doesn't, Madaline or Nicolaus might know, but neither is very chatty with me right now.

"How can three women be the 'source' for so many breeds?"

This woman seriously needs to blink more often. Her lack of doing so is very unnerving.

"It is said that each one had multiple forms that they could turn into, and upon the Conversion of others, they would get one of those cats. The same goes for the other animal races I would think. Since the sisters come from the area that is now Germany, most terms used are in German. The Master for any feline run territory, for example, is called the 'Lenken Kater', or Lead Cat. The Germans themselves call us 'Aufhocker'."

Should probably brush up on my German. When Lady sees my confused look, she smiles.

"It's a German demon known to be a shape-shifter that kills by ripping out throats."

Ahh. Yeah, guess that would work. My brow furrows.

"Wait, if each was given a specific one, how is it that Nicolaus is a puma and I'm an ocelot?"

The woman smiles and shrugs. Really getting tired of that motion. Pursing my lips, I glare at her. She lifts a brow but actually continues.

"Things change over time, evolve, who knows why anything works the way it does. There is one thing though, that I do think you will find interesting. The woman you're line is from, it's said that even though she could change into all of them, she preferred the ocelot."

My eyes widen. Nicolaus had once said that there weren't too many who had my cat...none around here anyway.

"Since it was the one she had chosen, only a few of her progeny were given it. Not sure if that is true or not since she would have to control who got what to begin with. Then again, there are a lot of mysterious powers out there, 'tis possible the handing out of specific forms was one of hers."

That's true. Look at my 'Sire' for example, I'd thought he was just a fire-bug, but it turns out he actually has pyrokinesis. Seems like a really weird thing to have, being a Vamp an all, but no one asked me. Not sure just how to judge just how strong his ability is, but he could control flames that were already lit.

I think back to when I first became a Vampire, the last exchange given. Looking past her out the window on her side, I think out loud.

"When given my last blood exchange, I'd seen images of cats in jungles. Places I'd never been to or seen before. Does that happen with everyone or is it some other weirdness specific to me?"

I catch the movement of her head moving.

"Everyone sees it. Remnant images that are passed down, near as I can figure."

Well, at least it isn't some other hoodoo making me different from everyone else. Sometimes being different is a good thing, other times, it really isn't. Looking down, I've been rubbing my pocket where I hold the switchblade. Nervous gesture? Me? Nah.

"Are they still around? The blood source sisters, I mean. They'd have to be very old. We're talking millions of years here. Is that possible?"

"No one has seen them, so it could go either way, and yes, it is possible. But because they are so old, they wouldn't see things the way you or I do. Coming from several time periods passed, I would imagine they would have gone into stasis. Sleep. Then again, it is just one of the many conjectures, stories, myths, or legends passed down to give to inquisitive minds."

So that is an actual Vampire thing. Huh. In just about all the Vampire movies you see, that's a thing for older undead to do to put off the ‘boredom of eternity’. I don't understand that. Yeah, sure, the people would get tiresome doing the same things over and over...but being bored? When there's so much to see of the world? To experience?

Granted many things would be out of reach, like daytime activities and such, but nighttime has its own set of wonders. Comparing it to how you'd seen things before becoming a 'Creature of the Night'. Sights, smells, sounds. Especially sounds.

Flavors are kind of out. Well, no. I would think over time periods, blood would start tasting different. Pretty sure an ancient Viking warrior would taste a bit different than a modern-day New Yorker.

So much to do and yet they go to sleep after a couple of hundred years? That just seems kind of ridiculous to me. Looking at Lady as she watches me, I think of how she is bored with her life. She also doesn't get out much, so that's part of her problem.

"I've seen you look so put-out with the way your...er, life, is going, yet you don't seek out change. Why is that?"

Finally! A blink! It's only been how long? Good God.

I can understand a little about Vampires that are from the ages where the ocean was an impossible thing to cross to not get out too often, but she's not that old. Old woman back at the house might be, but Lady isn't.

Mocking her motion, I tilt my head at her. The one blink seems to be all I'm going to get. Readjusting her suit coat from her shifted movement, I get flashed.

Brow furrowing, I reach out and pull the lapel away. The dark fabric moves easily, not like she's going to say 'no' to my touching her. I've seen the multiple piercings that she does to herself, but this one is new.