It was a mere hour before sunrise and there was still no sign of them.
Seth wouldn’t say he was worried, particularly. All right, the three girls had low sun resistance, but his trespass into her head had confirmed that the squeaky stray was more than capable of finding shelter for them, of looking after them when the morbid manwhore would, inevitably, fail.
Seth had been most surprised with his discoveries in the mind of Faith’s cute companion. She was sickly sweet and whole-hearted, true, and her tone jarred him but underneath that, she was sharp, bright. She definitely had the keen hunting skill of a Wangshaft and an undercurrent of something strange, yet oddly familiar.
He had been almost impressed when Melinda had challenged him, and as immature and impulsive as her efforts were, she had, inadvertently, been within a hair’s breadth of ruining everything.
Fortunately, she was easily distracted and quick to externalise blame. Teenagers. Why society vampires ever thought that eternally preserving themselves at that age was ideal was beyond Seth’s comprehension.
Yes, Melinda had become far more interesting to Seth. Possibly even worthy of his investment. As he had paced the bridge tonight, waiting, he couldn’t help but to plan further, to indulge himself with thoughts of her giving herself over to her curse, to him, slipping away into the mire. It would be slow and oh-so-painful for her; she would resist, she would fight.
Hopefully her insults would improve. He didn’t get quite the sick kick he’d desired from being called a fopdoodle, whatever that was.
No. He was getting ahead of himself; one thing at a time. Faith was an adequate starting point. No one except Melinda would bother to intervene there; even Lilith knew that Faith was a lost cause, humanity-wise. The girl was further down the path to ferity than Seth had anticipated and much more than she could admit to herself; even without Seth’s guidance she was already desensitised, clinging to Melinda’s morals in absence of her own, feeding on fear and hating that she loved it.
Add in that she was overwhelmed with all her physical urges, self-hate and abandonment issues and it was almost too easy.
He’d be rather bored if his pursuit was purely to turn her rogue, if it wasn’t for the promise of this most intriguing power she held and her cerebral silence, which infuriated him. It had to be overcome if she was to become as subservient as he required.
Although, that’s not to say that he hadn’t heard anything from her conflicted cranium at all last night.
I would much rather not care about anything…
Permission. Of sorts. He had seized his chance, lest she change her mind as she was loathe to do. It had almost wiped him out to even attempt it, so damn resilient was she to amendments, but his effort had caused Faith to lose consciousness, which had helped. She was most mentally malleable when she was insensible; something to bear in mind for next time.
And there would be a next time.
Making memories inaccessible was relatively simple, but amending them, altering the emotional attachment to them, was quite an undertaking, involving multiple, subtle tweaks, delicacy, perseverance…
…And time.
Half an hour to sunrise. Trust Caleb to cut it this fine.
It now lingered in the back of Seth’s mind that the group may be seeking shelter elsewhere. This was the only open motel on their route to Windenburg, it seemed like the most logical destination, but when had Caleb ever been logical. The buffoon had probably tried to check them into the Glimmerbrook Grand.
As Seth wondered how far he’d have to backtrack before he could pick up the trail, he became aware of something brushing against his boot.
—
“This is the best day ever,” April whispered, as if speaking any louder would break the dream. She hadn’t stopped grinning since she’d walked into the foyer.
“You say this was a last-minute deal?” Melinda asked again, sceptically.
“Yeah, Fringey,” Faith concurred. “Nobody died, right?”
“Nobody died,” Caleb laughed.
He’d left the manager at the deserted hotel bar; thoroughly seen to and missing a great deal of blood, but most definitely not dead. Definitely progress.
He wasn’t sure how long she would be out for, but for now, April and her friends were sitting beside him, safe from the sun in a huge, fancy hot tub, having the best day ever.
He had never seen his little, blonde sweetheart so happy, so mellow. How he wished he could keep her this way, to afford to support the luxurious lifestyle that she was used to – without resorting to harlotry or murder, that is.
When they got to Windenburg, he’d set about finding a job. Unlike Lilith, he didn’t have any professional qualifications, so he was hardly going to be wealthy any time soon, but he had a few skills. He’d had a few jobs in his time, mostly bar work and only for short stints; he’d inevitably have to leave for one reason or another. Usually a reason involving breasts or fire.
Eventually, he’d built up enough sun resistance to stay outside all day without turning into dust and taken a job in a bakery. He could make a fine baumkuchen, or so he was told. Of course, everything just tasted like ash to him.
He wasn’t sure that Windenburg had a bar or bakery that was hiring, but he’d find something. He’d support her, somehow. He’d work day and night, until she was once again residing in a house that had golden taps and marble floors.
He’d look after them all. Even moody Melinda.
While Melinda had grilled Caleb about everything from the exact cost of the room to what exactly he’d meant by Lilith liking soft-hearted men, Faith had told her to ‘lighten up’, stripped off right in front of everyone and climbed into the hot tub without a care.
April was a little self-conscious, but quick to join in, but Melinda, once she had eventually been tempted in by April, had been very shy about taking her clothing off and insisted that Caleb face the other way until she was fully submerged in the tub.
She’d scooted right over to the furthest corner from him and had been looking at him with a mixture of scepticism and disgust since then.
He wasn’t really sure what he’d done now. Maybe Seth had said something or she’d been hoping for the presidential suite.
“Faith!” Melinda suddenly squealed, a good second before Faith had actually splashed her.
“Would you stop bloody pouting, already?” Faith laughed. “Come on! I’m the one who suffocated in my own shit and broke up with my not-even-a-boyfriend tonight and I’m fine. Why have you got a face on?”
“Oh, I wonder,” Melinda said sarcastically, giving Caleb another withering look. “Could it be that we’re stuck in a bleeding nightmare with no effing plan?”
“We do have a plan!” April gushed, dreamily. “Don’t we, Caleb? We’re going to a chocolate box cottage in Windenburg.”
“And then what?” Melinda spat. “What will we survive on? Will we hide in the house until we go insane and eat each other?”
“Fucking hell Mel, who pissed on your cornflakes?” Faith said. “Give the man a chance.”
Melinda huffed. The three girls looked towards Caleb, expectantly.
It was a weird feeling, having others looking to him for advice, relying on him. Other than Robert, Caleb hadn’t ever had to worry about taking care of or feeding anyone. Although Robert pretty much took care of himself, even brought Caleb dead mice, presumably to eat, so it was debatable who was really looking after whom.
He cleared his throat, tried to sound authoritative. “I’m going to get a job—“
“Ooh! You could be a lawyer!” April interrupted, gleefully. “You’d look super nice in a sharp suit! Or you could be a doctor, like Lilith! Or a secret agent!”
“Or a rent boy,” Faith suggested.
“Or a burglar. Maybe a hit man,” Melinda muttered.
April tutted, “You’re just being silly now, Mel.”
Melinda rolled her eyes. “Fine. So you get a job as a secret agent, then what? What do we eat?”
“I was getting to that,” Caleb said assuredly, even though he hadn’t been planning to. “We have a couple of options; we can either hunt in the village or we can take prisoners. Although if we do go down that route, bear in mind that we’d need a few and the basement isn’t very big. Oh, and we’d have to feed them. Humans die if you don’t feed them.”
“I vote for prisoners,” Faith said, immediately.
“Me too,” April agreed.
“Wait, what? Are you sodding kidding me?” Melinda gasped. “Yeah, let’s add kidnapping to our extensive list of crimes!”
“Great! We’re all in agreement!” April said, missing the sarcasm. “Caleb? Will you please kidnap some tasty humans to live in our basement at the cottage?”
Now that he could do.
“Of course I will.”
—
The cat had circled Seth a few times, brushed against his boots and was now looking up at him, meowing loudly.
Despite taking out three strangers on his way here, the last one of which he hadn’t even drunk from, Seth did not have any morsels to offer this cute creature. But oh, he did have a fondness for cats. Underneath all the fluff, they were devious, free-spirited, heartless little bastards; hunting for fun, toying with their frightened prey, defecating in whoever’s flowerbeds they wished before climbing on to a lap to be lavished with affection.
Aspirational.
His mind control didn’t work on animals, so Seth had to tempt the cat the mortal way. After its initial interest and pleas for attention, the cat now turned its face away, playing hard to get. It resisted Seth’s chirpy, kitty-call voice for a few seconds, before giving him a look of pure pity and sauntering over.
Seth swept the reticent creature into his arms for a snuggle, undeterred by potential attack with teeth or claws. The cat had no collar but it was clearly domesticated; it settled into the crook of his arm like it belonged and gazed up at him.
Seth enjoyed the warm, soft weight of the cat for a while as he admired its cute little nose, its dinky little paws, its big, green eyes—
Ah. Now that was unusual. A human memory, one not seen before. Perhaps he’d had a pet cat, similar to this one. But why would anyone bury his memory of his pet cat?
< Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter >
Almost Eternal 
GAH so many questions in one chapter!
April has the keen hunting skill of a Wangshaft? Damn. What did Will manage to hunt? Did he mean April’s ability to get the guys she wanted? Can’t imagine Will doing any proper hunt per se.
Why preserve Vamphood at 18? Huuurrr Ima take a guess and say because mortality rates were high back then and peeps get married at 18 back then anyway. But iunno. This question bugs me. I hope we get an answer. xD
Seth and his thrill seeking ways >.> There’s Lilith, seeking out these new vamps trying to get them out of trouble, and then there’s Seth who wants to make his own coven, or harem, or the word used for vampys. I wonder if he’s doing this to spite Lilith too. Like a two for one combo, or three since Caleb is involved.
Subservient as he required? Required for what? What’s Seth’s ultimate goal? He’s fine doing stuff on his own and suddenly he’s taken an interest in the fledgings. WHYYYY. Eh? Seth made Faith lose consciousness and managed to see her memory? Wut? Had Seth manage to penetrate Faith’s mind? D:
Gosh Caleb. Is so ignorantly happy. ‘Everyone is having the best day!’ Yeah good to stay that way. Lest he be demotivated, also by how many centuries he’d need to save up for a house with golden taps and marble floors while working at a bakery. But y’know, maybe sim logic applies here 😀
I’ve decided that Robert is a vampire cat. Technically possible right? And no consequences since they’re already eating live prey.
I’m surprised at how easily they all decided to take prisoners for food. April possibly, she’s got half of Caleb’s lack of humanity but Faith seemed to have ‘let go’ so quickly. Ooft.
Man I want to know what Lilith knows. Why’d she block Seth’s memories of a cat. Who’s the lady in the cat memory 😮
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Are you sure Seth was talking about April there…?
There’ll be more vamp lore later, so I’ll skip answering that for now.
Seth? Trying to spite Lilith? Never. 😂 He has reasons. Did you read the chapter called Bad Influence? That might shine a little light on what last went down between Seth and Faith… if you’re observant enough to read between some obscure lines. Or WhatsApp me and see what you can pry out; that’s an option too. 😉
Must be some expensive cake he’s selling. Like April, Caleb has no concept of what things really cost as he never really had to buy anything so his logic is kinda skewed.
It could be possible. Could just be a cat.
Faith HAS changed her tune, hasn’t she? Hmm, hmm, hmm… what could have happened. Hmm.
Lilith knows a lot and you will find out eventually! In the meantime, I’ve given mystery woman #2 a couple of songs, if you have time/inclination to listen, they’re on the usual page. 😁
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Oh.. it was Mel! I thought Mel at first, then decided it could be April since Mel’s name was mentioned later.
Oh dear, yes. I read Bad Influences many times. Couldn’t bring myself to comment because of Faith’s past. That was a painful chapter and I am a snowflake. 😆 I didn’t realise her zoning out allowed Seth to pry into her mind. Or was it that she was vulnerable that allowed him to pry her mind so it was his doing than her lowered defenses? o.o I might have missed out other subtleties in that chapter so let me know cuz even now I’m reading and the rest of me is trying not to lest i become a puddle.
NUUU I like the idea of a vamp cat. That must be how familiars are made. But that also means some vamp drank from a cat. Ow… That idea hurts more than vamps drinking from humans. Human logic.
oooooh. SONGS.
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Something is allowing him in to her mind. Let’s just say that whatever her unusual power is, it can be as much a strength as a weakness. I think you grasped the important bits; she thinks she ‘zoned out for a second’ but he said she lost consciousness, then she had a flurry of memories, including a distorted one, so shit has definitely gone down. 😉
Cats are food in some parts of the world. Are they in AE world? I guess we’ll wait and see.
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So, if Faith is a starting point, and Melinda is the next step to move on to, what’s the end goal here? Does Seth want to make his little vampire army? I don’t think so, he values his independence too much to want to be surrounded by others, even if they’re minions. So I guess it’s one of those “it’s the journey that matters” things, once Faith has been fully subdued and corrupted, she’ll cease to be interesting to him, so he’ll move on to the bigger challenge. Makes sense why he’d take such an interest in Melinda – and have such little interest in April, since manipulating her would be the least challenging.
Interesting that he can alter the emotional connection to memories. He says it requires subtle tweaks, but when he erased a bit of Faith’s memory back in season 1, he totally missed the intended mark of how far he intended to erase – I wonder if he really is as good at the mindbending as he thinks he is. So Lilith’s memories of the relationship with him are part fabricated, part erased. But we also know she erased some of his memories. Did she also have mindbending powers to alter memories, not just wease them, before she stopped killing people? Damn, how will we ever find out what exactly went down between Seth and Lilith if neither of their memories can really be trusted?
I have a feeling April would hate the idea of Caleb working in a bakery. Anyways, why on earth would the girls look to Caleb for a plan? I get they don’t fully have the full picture about him, but does he really strike them as competent? No, of course not. Ok, so April obviously thinks he’s marvelous, therefore she’ll rely on his plan, and Faith probably just wants to see the disaster, but Melinda… well, like I said in the last chapter, she’s been very vocal about disagreeing with the various decisions they’ve made on the way, the route they’re taking, but so far has not offered any alternatives.
Lol, taking prisoners, yes, that will make you guys inconspicuous. Oh what a trainwreck.
Is that Robert the cat, or just a cat? Seth, don’t you dare hurt the cat… phew, ok, he likes cats, good. Though it looks as though his cat Seth had as a mortal may not have been so lucky once he got turned, which would explain why he deleted the memory.
So, we’ve seen Seth’s memory of that woman that according to Lilith was a lot like Faith when he was with Faith, and now there’s the cat one, so I’m guessing if he exposes himself to situations that are similar enough to the past ones or that make him experience a similar emotion, it triggers the buried memory?
Also, a total offshoot – we know Seth enjoys corrupting fledglings and turning them to “the dark path” or whatever he calls it above all else, but as far as we know, he’s always done this with already turned vampires, like Faith or Lilith. Why not turn some of his own? Is there a particular reason for that, I wonder, or is it simply because he does not have the ability to turn others – he already is so overpowered, so there have to be things he can’t do…
Oops, this comment kind of turned into a novel, hopefully WP won’t swallow it.
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Interesting ideas. You’re correct in that a physical army may not be the goal here. He’s not the ‘Master of Bodies’ now, is he?
“I wonder if he really is as good at the mindbending as he thinks he is” 😉 And how WILL we untangle what went down? It might not help, but the different memory filters mean different things. A white-filtered memory is pretty reliable, but a black-filtered one…
You wouldn’t look to Caleb for a plan? He’s managed to survive 300 years somehow, got a hiding place in mind, got them this nice room without killing anyone… OK, so he’s a complete idiot and knows nothing about the world, but out of the four in the hot tub, he knows the most about being a vampire. His ideas about how to eat must be legit, right? 😂 Melinda knows she is utterly screwed, she’s just having a hard time accepting everything right now. But y’know, even if the train somehow manages to stay on the rails with all this grease I keep smearing on, the blood bags will run out…
Is Robert the cat even Robert the cat? Wait, are you implying that Seth ate his pet cat once upon a time? Dark.
Sorry, hard pass on memory triggers, for now. 😬
Why not turn some of his own? I guess that depends entirely on what he’s hoping to gain from ‘corrupting’ them. And there are lots of things he can’t do, which might be the entire problem…
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Oh gods, master of bodies 😀 Can’t wait for the recommended reads now haha.
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CAT ESCORT
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Wow! 👀
The contrast between a soft, white cat with gentle green eyes and the cat-eyed vampire woman is striking.
I have to think she’s the cause of Seth’s transformation and wonder if she’s disguising herself as a cat in the daytime.
Do I ever dare to scratch my cat behind his ears again? 😨
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Both of those could be correct… or not. 😇
You should definitely keep scratching your cat behind his ears. The day you stop is the day he’ll turn vampire and attack you in your sleep. 😐 I’m joking, of course, he’s probably already planning to kill you in your sleep. Oh, I love cats, the murderous little buggers. 😍
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WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!
Let me start with my favorite beautiful dummies. I will admit, I kind of love when Caleb suggests something super murder-y and April is just like: oohh yeah, good idea, sounds fun! I mean, Melinda’s face says it all. I wonder what will happen when it becomes clear that Caleb is planning for a very different future than what April and her friends are envisioning.
And now Seth. Of course he loves cats, I nearly spit out my drink when he called them aspirational. I am so curious about this memory that came up. I’ve always suspected that Seth is less in control than he gives off. I mean, he is saying that he is interested in Melinda and she’ll be so much more fun to corrupt or whatever, but methinks the man doth protest too much.
I’m going to hold on to a few of my theories and see how things play out, but let’s just say I’ve got my eye on Seth’s memories…
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But they’re not going to be murdering anyone. They’re going to have a basement full of half-drained but definitely not dead human prisoners, in their gold house, that Caleb bought with the money he made whoring and it will all be fine.
They are aspirational. Don’t we all dream about running around naked and hairy and shitting in flowerbeds? …Just me?
Interesting. Seth does relish being in control. Ohhhh, but I LOVE theories, and I bet yours are probably better than what will actually happen.
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Hehe we shall see!!!!
Of course it’s all going to work out and no one will die and Caleb’s whoring won’t come between them and it’s all good. Yep. Totally.
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That’s the spirit! 😁
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Seth reaaaally doesn’t have anything better to do, does he? Waiting around out of sight for them to show up where he thinks they would go. All stalkery and in the shadows. I wonder what that “strange, yet oddly familiar” feeling he has with Melinda is. Is it her mother Rose that he’s sensing? But he drained her, saw her memories and murdered her, so that he’d probably remember, unless he cares so little for his victims that they all become a blur to him after the fact. Which Tabitha would be an argument against. Or does Seth sense something familiar to himself? They do share those creepy milky white eyes in dark form, after all. I wonder what Melinda has that would be similar to Seth.
Gaaaaahhhh keep your slimy mind tentacles away from Melinda, you creepy, insult-masochistic fopdoodle! In fact keep them away from everyone – the clueless quartet section isn’t until later but I noticed how totally okay Faith was with human prisoners and gah you have something to do with that don’t you? >=( “As subservient as he required”? What the heck are you planning for? *angry fist shaking*
Lol, oh, you four. The idea of Caleb just getting a job to support you guys and everything being just fine and dandy. This is a disaster waiting to happen even without the human prisoner collection in the basement. Something about clueless, not-thinking-things-through-at-all April is so cute and facepalm-worthy at the same time. I’m with Melinda on the not having a plan, though it’s mostly amusing at this point. xD “Humans die if you don’t feed them.” *snort* humans die for plenty of reasons, Caleb. You should know that by now.
Aaand Melinda is being ignored again. I wonder why she keeps accepting that without a fuss, and why she keeps tagging along with these misfits at all, really. Faith already showed herself to be a stranger to her once, and she loathes Caleb. Is she staying out of friendship with Faith and Melinda? Because she feels protective of them? Because she’s attracted to April? Because she just can’t leave misery alone?
I don’t care how cute that cat it, Seth. You’re not getting brownie points for liking cats. Not being cruel to animals is a base requirement, not a bonus. That cat in the flashback looks very similar to the cat in Seth’s arms. And what does it have to do with that… vampire? The picture of her holding Seth’s head with him having his eyes closed looks eerily similar to what Seth was doing to Lilith earlier in the chapter. Has his own mind been tampered with in the same way that he tampers with others? Is this a compulsion? Is that why he’s doing it?
…. Or perhaps she was just kissing his head and I’m looking way too much into it. xD
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Seth has loads of things to do. Stalking is just a fun hobby. I’ll add that to his dating profile. What -is- familiar? What could lovely Melinda possibly have in common with Bitey Fopdoodle. Hm…
Slimy mind tentacles, lol. Masochist? Never. Something to do with Faith’s sudden acceptance of treating humans like animals? Possible.
Another reader seeing nothing but negativity, tsk. Things have got to turn around at some point, right? It’s not like the four of them are frozen in time as clueless teenagers…
Ah, Caleb; mansplaining to three girls, who were all human themselves a month ago, about how humans need to eat. Bear in mind that he himself thought heartbeats involved conscious effort not a week ago. He should know a lot of things by now.
What would you do if you were Melinda? Go back to Lilith and hope she wasn’t the face-ripping demon she appeared to be? Go home to your parents and hope you didn’t try to eat them? Or venture out on your own and float around in obscurity, probably becoming some deranged psychopath in the process? Perhaps it’s better the devil you know.
…I don’t know if you’re asking because you want answers, or just speculating. And I know it often seems like I just throw this crap together randomly, but when I put chapters together there is calculated logic in which scenes get paired with which. If that helps. Probably not. Stop poking me.
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Bitey Fopdoodle XD that’s what he’s called in my head now, lol. No going back.
Oh, it’s all complete speculation. All I need is the tin foil hat and I could join your Truth Society with my wild guesses. Don’t feel pressured to answer, I just like coming up with crazy theories. I’ll just harrass you for spoilers in private, instead. ^^
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You can join the Glimmerbrook Truth Society if you want! Just give me permission to use your likeness and Edwina will be round with a tin foil hat and a few pamphlets. (This goes for anyone else who fancies a cameo, too. Murder victim roles are also available.)
Yay! I love being privately harassed! That sounds wrong but ah well.
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Bad boy’s loneliness is manifesting itself. Is that why he tries to win control over the girls, isn’t it? To have pals to hunt with and hang out with. I bet despite all his pretended contempt he’s been actually jealous that Caleb and Lilith had each other and now the Vatores have the girls and he still has no one. Eternity is a long time to be alone.
Can’t wait to find out who the green-eyed woman was.
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Loneliness probably plays some part, yes, despite his objection.
Soon. Ish. 😬
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Sooo, Mel had almost ruined everything, whatever Seth´s planning? Interesting. I´m still totally in the dark about the “how so” unless Seth thinks she could have made Faith really “get rid of him…” but then, he does remark very correctly on Faith´s corrupted-ness later so… probably not.
…so far, what I gather from Seth´s musings is that yes, he is trying to turn vampires rogue. And that the more of a challenge that is, the better. Hmmm… I would understand doing that for either company or fun, but there seems to be more to it than that. But then, if he is trying to create more rogues for a reason, for a goal, then why not focus on that and try to go for the path of least resistance? …unless, for some reason, those who resist the most are ultimately more suited to whatever purpose he has in mind once they do break. Either way, I´d like to state my opinion that picking a spitfire like Faith for something that requires her to be “subservient” may be a bad idea. That´s definitely something that ought to have a plan B in reserve. ;D
And one more thing to that part, I see a few people wondering about if Seth´s as good with the memory stuff as he thinks he is. That got me thinking and I believe a lot of that depends on how easy it is to /unbury/ a memory. Because if it´s easy, it could have just been that he wasn´t bothered with accuracy there, if he could have simply fixed it if he thought he should.
*facepalm* It´s not about how long that receptionist will be out for. It´s how soon her shift ends, you dummy. And there´s that mention of fire again. Still as curious about that as ever.
Now, while kidnapping can draw attention, it is probably somewhat less risky than hunting. I mean, at least you don´t risk being caught quite as often. *nasty grin* On the other hand, some might say it´s even worse than killing them because if you kill them then the whole thing doesn´t last nearly as long. And they are hardly in a position to keep their… prisoners from realizing what´s happening, or making it safe to let them go, ever.
And about the girls being fine with it… well. Caleb has April covered in that department, Seth´s messed up Faith´s head and there´s only Mel left in opposition. It adds up. Seth better hope Faith never realizes this, though, or he risks having another Lilith situation on his hands. *le sigh* For all the talk about a challenge, he sure can get impatient. Totally undermining his own effort. *tuts*
Awwwh, Robert! He´d actually followed Caleb, hadn´t he? But now he´s got a new acquaintance. Well, well.
…however, is there really a reason for someone to bury his cat memory at all? Someone buried /all/ his human memories, without exception, hadn´t they? Somehow… I don´t think that was Lilith. I think it was the one who made Seth a vampire. It would make sense. He taught Lilith about the mind powers, but who taught him? And furthermore, the vampire he just remembered is Medusa from the Rogues pic. What better way for someone to turn into a completely rogue vampire, than to have all their human memories buried? All the “emotional attachments” they carried… removed from consciousness? The possibilities of what that can do to a person are… they´d explain a lot, yeah.
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It was a little something Melinda said that could have whittled out a truth, had she been allowed to continue. It will become clearer.
You are right; his reasons go beyond company or fun. Maybe he is going for the path of least resistance first. For all Faith fights, she is fragile.
Seth thinks he’s great at everything, so take his boasts about being the ‘master of minds’ with a pinch of salt.
Yeah, Caleb just… he’s a fool. Still curious about the fire? Heehee. And oh yes, the basement idea seems cruel, but the goal here is to not get caught and that method certainly helps. Not that these four have any idea what they’re really doing. Impatient or opportunistic.
Could be Robert following along, or could be another white cat. Seth has previously mentioned that his human memory is patchy, at best, so someone’s certainly had a good scramble in his head at some point. Yes… who taught Seth? What can erasing all their emotional attachments do to a person? Ruin them. Completely. And then what would rediscovering those attachments do? Hmm.
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Oh-ho. Makes sense.
Fair enough about Faith, fair enough. But I still think taking this particular opportunity may have been a mistake. She might be half rogue already… but that makes it worse. Rogues ain´t great at cooperation, we´ve been through that already. /Perseverance/ may definitely pay better, here.
Hmmm, vague. I definitely am keeping my mind open, though.
Agreed on both counts. The idea is definitely survival, and I don´t fault them for that. I pointed out the cruelty factor mostly to say I expect /their/ conscience to fault them for it. At least Melinda´s will. Maybe April´s or Caleb´s too, depending on which one gets in touch with their shared bit of conscience first. P:
Huh. I guess it could. But Robert´s gone… heh. So I jumped to conclusions. XD
Yeah. I was about to say you can´t just /become/ a psychopath, that you´re either born that way or not… but well, that /is/ a terribly human point of view, I give ya. With mind-scrambling in the picture… yeah. I can imagine it would be possible. That doesn´t really ruin you, though. That just makes you… not you, anymore. Now remembering stuff after all that, though… /that´s/ the part that can completely shatter you. *quietly* Well, I do expect we have a boatload of kintsukuroi material on our hands, don´t we.
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I guess that all depends on how confident he is that he can make Faith subservient.
If you’re not you, who are you? You don’t think that losing your identity can ruin a person? There may be some things that simply cannot be undone.
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It sure does. And on how much he´s willing to play all-or-nothing, too.
…are you still you, if you don´t remember what /makes/ you yourself? I´d say if you don´t remember who you are and why you are who you are… then you´re just an empty shell… or effectively a newborn child. Only instead of just crying you can… /do/ stuff, in this case.
And well… so long as the memories and the feelings /stay/ locked up – then you don´t realize the problem, do you? I do think losing your identity can ruin a person, but only after they realize it happened.
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Seth definitely knows something is missing. He has a few things missing. Maybe one day he’ll see what they are.
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Hmm… It does sound bad if you say it like that. I guess a “who even am I?” isn´t good either. But, y´know. I was more focused on the point where you realize who you were and find it completely incompatible with what came /after/. (As I´m guessing happened to Lilith.) Because /that´s/ gotta suck. O.O
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