Rose’s notes from “The Battle of Bowie”

Notes by Ash

After being dropped like a naked baby in the woods, left to fend for myself in a world filled with vampires, werewolves, and who knows what else, I finally made my way to Bennett. I found him and… a lot of other things at Elk Lodge.

I’ll be honest and say I don’t remember much from that night, not because it wasn’t important, but just so... intense. I have a slurry of flashes that seem to be more like snippets than the full picture.

I woke up on New Year’s Eve in a coffin. Which yeah, that’s fucked up, or even tropey. Wayyy better than the stone slab of the floor though, especially if somebody cracked this crypt open in the day. One thing’s for sure, I was fucking starving.

I dragged my corpse outside and immediately locked onto the smell of… acorns. Then within half an hour I had been snapping from tree to tree, devouring squirrels, and just leaving them in a pile. At the end of my squirrel genocide, I couldn’t fathom how I did that so fast… and so coldly. Looking at the pile of pretty dead creatures felt like staring at a cleaned plate instead of what it was… disgusting. At least it wasn’t a person, or that’s what I keep telling myself anyway.

After I cleaned up my mess I left on my journey to Elk Lodge, only I got turned around and walked up onto something that put my feeding into perspective. A gathering of monsters, monsters like me, fucking vampires. They were kicking around someone’s head like it was just a damn game.

I booked it, full of adrenaline… or whatever this edgy feeling is. I think I threw up whatever makes that. I eventually found some people at a bar, and asked around about Elk Lodge. Luckily I got some solid directions and started jogging out that way.

When I finally made it most of the group was arriving too. I met Bennett again, and he seemed a bit disappointed by what I had done with my little week of nightmares. 

Then he brought me in to meet an ancestor in our bloodline, Priest. The guy felt distant, and calculated. He probably thought I’d be dead before the end of the night. After a quick talk I got to go check out all the fancy gear… only that I didn’t know how to use any of it. 

While I stared at this pile of stuff, something more important presented itself. An odd girl called Jinx, with a rack of antlers on her head. Not to mention she was wearing a big, fluffy dress. She locked her eyes onto me, and began slowly circling me like a stray cat looking for attention or… maybe a hungry dog who sees a snack. I froze and just tried to maintain eye contact as she circled behind me. It’s been years since, but I still can’t get those eyes out of my head. It was like she was staring through me, truly examining my core. My heart might’ve skipped a beat if I still had one.

Shortly after I heard she, and her sire Prentiss, are what’s called a Malkavian. A “deranged” vampire, but she just seems different to me? Maybe nervous? Her sire though, fucking insane. She’s got “Drug you, torture you, and drop you off in the middle of the desert,” vibes. 

Everything from the moment we were told this Prentiss would be dragging me, a weeks old baby vamp and this artsy girl to a combat zone was a blur. Prentiss made us imperceptible, and we stalked through the park after the pack of monsters I had met earlier in the night. They were gathered together, not unlike my clans meetings. Jinx left my sight and shortly after the battle had started.

At first I paused, then all I could think about was that poor human’s head being bounced around weightless, almost floating in my mind. Then like fire to gasoline, I exploded, rampaging forward towards the closest monster I could reach. 

I bounced around this skate park, clasping my hands down on these “Sabbat” members and ripping them apart with my teeth. They all went down so fast, or maybe it just moves faster in my memory.

Then there was that taste. The positive warmth of their blood, or vitae trickling down my throat. It was so, so much better than those squirrels. All I wanted was more. I needed it. It was my new drug.

Then the monsters broke off, and I just couldn’t let them get away when I could have another bite. So I chased after their leader, assuming he would be the most satisfying. We trampled through a cornfield, and he made good ground, but I always catch up. 

I pounced on his back and he just begged, pleaded, and bargained. I wasn’t having any of it. I just wanted what was inside him, and I took it until there was none left. 

After that experience I felt so full, but also so empty. All that I could feel was the monster raging in my chest. I could barely speak. My body was numb. I knew in that moment that I was a monster. Maybe even just like the thing I drained, or ripped apart. Maybe I was worse.

The rest of the night my soul felt just as dead as my body. The congratulations only served to divide my soul in two even farther. I was so disconnected, so angry. Why did this have to happen? Why did I do that? I hate myself, and almost every other vampire I see.