The Vampire's Apprentice

"A wise reservation," Clancy agreed. He moved around and sat lightly on the bench, taking a moment to get comfortable. How did she spend hours on this thing? It was wretched on the tailbone. Once finally situated, he pulled a small bag from his pocket and handed it over. "Here. I brought you more pebbles for your monster hunt."
 
"I don't see why you'd bother." She snickered, poking at the bag without taking it. "I'm pretty sure we determined that myth was pointless. Pointless and strange."
 
He set the bag between them. "Agreed, but even if it is fact, at least you can throw them at anything threatening you," he told her with a smile. "You never know when a sack of rocks will come in handy.
 
"You don't plan to threaten me, do you?" She faked some amount of horror, but it was broken by her unserious grin. "It makes sense. Thank you."
 
"You are welcome." Clancy leaned back on the bench and looked out at the dark park. "So. Have you tired of trying to trick me into being a vampire and chosen another target yet?"
 
"I told you I'd drop that subject. But you're still the only person who's ever bothered to come talk to me... so think what you like." Her fingers tapped against the coffee cup in silent thought.
 
"Hmm," Clancy murmured. "Well, if I was a vampire... I would tell you... you are making yourself the perfect target by following such a strict routine. If a vampire is a night hunter, they will see you long before you see them, like a cat or a dog, and they'll wait until you let down your guard. Then they would eat you." He looked around theatrically. "Good thing I don't see any vampires yet."
 
"Perfect, then. All the better if I don't have to go looking for them myself." Kitty replied, glancing across the sidewalk path in front of the bench. "Maybe they'll start up a conversation before they eat me. At least I'd die knowing something."
 
"Are you truly so obsessed with knowing things that you would die for knowledge?" Clancy asked curiously. "That seems a bit... extreme. And why vampires? I think I can understand the thirst for knowledge, but why vampires exactly? The romantic tortured soul aspect?"
 
Her face scrunched. "No, of course not. Tortured souls is not a preference. I was looking for vampires specifically because of the applicability of their basic abilities in my circumstance." She paused. "If that makes sense...."
 
"No, not really," Clancy admitted. "That does not make any sense at all." He paused to shift. "These benches are truly uncomfortable. Would you care to expound on the ways in which an eternal, self-centered, bloodsucking parasite might be applicable to your circumstances?"
 
Kitty sighed and tried again. "For almost every reason you just listed. To put it more bluntly, there would be a lot of things I could stop worrying about if I didn't have to be human anymore. Society is cruel and I don't like it."
 
"Hmm, that's a shame, but you'd still be stuck in society," Clancy pointed out. "You wouldn't be transported to a different plane of existence. You'd still be here. Alone. In the dark. Always at night. Probably in a park hunting until you got caught and killed as you'd be clueless how to survive as a vampire. Not to mention, unless you have a fortune hidden away, you'd be stuck with no money and few prospects for making money. You'd probably end up one of those homeless people on the streets until you were pegged as a mass murder, then caught, discovered as a vampire, then either killed again or experimented on. Unless, of course, other vampires killed you for hunting in their territory or just so the humans won't learn about them."
 
Kitty was silent for a long moment. "Doesn't sound much different from my life already. I'm already alone. In the dark. In a park. Waiting for death to find me and give me something interesting to do. At least as a vampire, I wouldn't have to deal as harshly with finding something to eat every day. 'Could join a coven or something, learn by observation. Save me from painful boredom. Or, like you said, I could be killed. Then I wouldn't have to worry about life either way."
 
"If that is your rather pathetic view of life, then it would be pointless for you to turn into a vampire," Clancy said as he stood slowly. "If you are simply bored, then you would be better off looking up werewolves or finding a true purpose to your life as you live it now. Changing your race will not solve any of your problems. You are merely running away from them. Running away from yourself. And if you turn into an immortal being, you will have a long, long time to sit and ponder who you really are in the depths of your soul. If you continue to have one." He dusted off the seat of his pants. "I must be off. Perhaps I shall get you a book on werewolves."
 
There they were again. Those words. She'd heard it before by quite a few people, but hadn't listened. That was why she was where she was in the first place.

"Then... riddle me this, before you go. If everyone would be better off human looking for their greater purpose in life, why are there vampires to begin with?"
 
"Because it is a glimpse of what humanity could be with no direct consequences," Clancy replied promptly. "It's a bit like Jeckyl and Hyde, or the Island of Dr. Moreau. There are consequences, big ones, they just are not apparent at first, and it gives you a glimpse of the truth of men pretending to be godless." He gave a little shrug. "Besides, I have found that the people most prone to boredom are those who are not invested in other people in any way, usually for selfish reasons." He flashed her a toothy smile. "I should know. I'm the most selfish bastard you will ever meet, and I've been bored for years." He tipped his hat and walked toward home.
 
"I'm not inclined to believe that...." Kitty mumbled under her breath, almost glaring at the coffee in her hands. "Selfishness. Who ever thought up that concept had better already be dead."

She stood, taking the two items she had been given and following after him at her own pace.

"What are the consequences, then?" The girl asked. "What could be worse than perpetual death and a few missing amenities?"
 
Clancy could not help snorting in amusement. He tipped his head and looked up toward the stars. "Ah, to be so young and innocent and completely niave! My dear Miss Kitty, there are many, many fates worse than death, living-dead or otherwise dead. I would suggest you start by reading 'The Island of Doctor Moreau,' and then perhaps 'Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde.' They are the gateway to the vast knowledge of what is worse than death."
 
"Do those fates outweigh the benefits?" Kitty asked again. "If one could look past the consequences, would they matter at all?"
She bit her tongue gently between her teeth, stopping herself from continuing to speak rashly. There was so much to say and, she sensed, so little patience to say it with.
 
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