[Snowblind] IC Inbox

[cahooted]

This is Flynn. Hi!

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[cahooted]

Cursed by God to wander the land forever. The first vampire. [Judson's words come back to him and he mutters them thoughtfully, more to himself.]

I must have missed that. I'll definitely go back and check.

[bookofnope]

[Something about Flynn's tone arrests him. The librarian isn't simply echoing the obvious conclusion. He knows... from his world?]

You've heard the story before.

[cahooted]

[There's a pause. Should he really get into this?]

... I have. A colleague told me about it.

[bookofnope]

In your world.

[He says that as a fact. A rattling, frightening fact.]

[cahooted]

Yes.

You don't sound too happy about it.

[bookofnope]

... what else do you know about vampires, Mr. Carsen? What is in your library already?

[cahooted]

[Yep, already regretting this.]

Why, am I in trouble here?

[bookofnope]

... no.

[Though it's an obvious misunderstanding. Beckett sighs.]

No. The opposite. It's - I have - just tell me. Please. Your world has vampires. They are descended from Cain. There was... Dracula? Am I remembering right?

[cahooted]

[Another pause. Should he try to backpedal? That's a very tough choice to make here and he remains vague for now, trying to gauge more of his reaction.]

You mean in the dream? Yes, you remember that right. There was Dracula.

[bookofnope]

And he was your enemy. I understand why you're worried. You needn't be, Mr. Carsen, none of my kind are going to hunt you down for your knowledge. You see, they're all gone.

[And that's out.]

[cahooted]

Gone?

[That... moves him. It reminds him of Simone and sitting in the sun and watching her fade away and he can feel his heart grow heavy at the memory.]

... They're not. Not in my world. At least I don't think they are.

[bookofnope]

That's what I'm trying to understand. How much the vampires in your world are - whether they are like my kind. I've heard of a number of versions by now, which is curious in itself. But none of them are my Kindred.

[The capital K is all but audible. He has never felt as close to his fellow vampires as he does now they're all dead.]

[cahooted]

[There's another pause on the line and then Flynn exhales audibly.]

Alright. I haven't met too many and I only recently learned of their existence before coming here but alright.

The Judas Chalice... does that mean anything to you?

[bookofnope]

I recall you mention that as well... but no. Judas plays no particular role in our mythology. He's a latecomer, by that standard.

[Which doesn't bode well... but he is listening.]

[cahooted]

... It wasn't Cain. In my story. The first vampire, cursed to wander to world forever? In the version I was told it's Judas. The Chalice is regarded as the Holy Grail for vampires in my world.

That's how the story goes but I couldn't help but notice the parallels in what you mentioned. My version could be incomplete.

[bookofnope]

It could be. [Beckett doesn't sound convinced, but he also sounds like he's struggling. How much is he willing to stake on the remote possibility? How much does he let himself be drawn in by hope?]

The Chalice is used for - what? Create new vampires? Restore the undead to life?

[cahooted]

A little bit of both. Dracula used it to restore his power to former glory. As for his plans...

[There's an uncomfortable pause in which he clears his throat.]

"I will summon my children and they will drink and we will plunge your world into darkness."

[The details weren't all that clear-cut.]

[bookofnope]

That doesn't even sound like him. [Beckett says it before he can think of the implications, such as revealing his close familiarity with Dracula. Some Dracula.]

I've heard variations on this boast more times than I can remember. But that was all the mad fringes. We weren't... well.

[cahooted]

[Flynn on the other hand picks up on that instantly and his eyes narrow in response.] So you knew him.

What do you mean, you weren't 'well'?

[bookofnope]

Dracula? In a manner of speaking, yes. [The manner is sleeping with him but no one is getting told that again.]

He wasn't any kind of plunger-into-darkness. Very few of us were. Some of us had a madness in them, yes, and some just couldn't come with power, or immortality. But most of us were - subtler, at least. No one really profits from the overt destruction or subjugation of humanity. We evaded that mistake, at least.

[cahooted]

[It's good that Flynn doesn't know that little tidbit of information because this is suddenly awkward enough.]

Mine was a professor. Smart. Charming. Actually read a lot of his works before I knew who he was. ... Definitely the plunger-into-darkness kind, though.

But other mistakes were made?

[bookofnope]

I wish the two things were mutually exclusive - charm and intelligence, and megalomania. It'd have made my life endlessly more pleasant, if not strictly easier... [He actually manages a chuckle, though it's a very dry one.]

We weren't a a peaceful or loving people, Mr. Carsen. Our entire existence was, in a way, a mistake. A blind clinging to glories and wars as dead as every one of us... but it had grace notes in it. Now and then. Enough that I hope we can be a cautionary tale, rather than something to forget.

[cahooted]

[Flynn's face stays flat at the quip but his face isn't disapproving; rather, he's unsure what to make of it.]

I've seen versions of you. I believe it. [He frowns.] Wouldn't go as far as "mistake", though. Not all the vampires I met were bad people.

[Not by a long shot and his feelings on the subject are... complicated, to say the least.]

... So does that mean you wish to tell me your tale?

[bookofnope]

Some of the vampires I met were saints. [His voice is soft, reflective, sad. Rayzeel, Aimerin, Serenna the White... Anatole.]

It's a long - no, let me rephrase that. There is more than one tale. I could be writing histories for years... if I live that long. And it'd be good to know there is anywhere that would take them.

[cahooted]

... Yeah. [He averts his eyes for a moment when Simone's image flashes in his memory.

Then he clears his throat, trying to focus on the task at hand.]

I wouldn't mind listening. Are these tales for me then or for the city? Somehow they don't sounds like something you want to be public knowledge.