A New Vampire's Night Out (Part 2)

JP with Lily and Cindy

"No I have not," She said, with a really confused look on her face.

" I've only been a vampire for a few days I think" She added as an afterthought watching Lilly leave. A part of her wanted to rush after her. She was not sure about this new person.

"Well, then a good place to start. Toreadors, especially, those like Lilly don't like the Nosfaratu. And the Nosfartu tend to not like Toreadors, like her. Leon is an exception to the rule, it seems." Giorgio thought about how to explain it. "It's not really the fault of either but the topic is long and complicated. For the most part, the rest of us just let have to let it go and get along with both. It's just best, usually, to not discuss the Nosferatu in front of the Toreadors."

The Giovanni was trying to be diplomatic by not saying Lilly was a snob or the Nosfaratu were known for everything they were known for.

Aurora stared at him. " Well, he and Lilly are the only two people I have met. I did not know they had issues with each other. Wouldn't life be easier if we could all get along?'' She asked. She did not understand at all why there was such disdain between both clans.

"I mean why do they have issues with each other can't they be resolved?" she asked. Showing how naive she was.

"I suppose it would be easier but welcome to being a vampire. It's rare that a vampire won't have issues with any other vampire." Giorgio explained.

"Their issues with each other go back though the centuries and are now firmly ingrained. It's not so easy to just erase all that history." Giorgio smiled at Aurora, "But at least we have the Camarilla and the Masquerade in place or things could be worse."

"I see the Camarlla is some kind of rules on how vampires should behave, and the Masquerade is keeping out existence a secret right?" She said, trying to recall what she remembered.

"Pretty much, the Camarilla is also the structure in our society and the bond we all hold with each other. It's kind of like one really big, exceptionally dysfunctional family."

That was actually an understatement but Giorgio figured Aurora would eventually learn the rest.

Lilly came back over with Quinn. "Quinn, I'd like you to meet Aurora. Progeny of the Prince. Aurora, this is Quinn, Primogen of the Brujah."

Quinn nodded, "Hi, before we get all formal. Just call me Quinn. I'm not one for all the titles and such."

She gave Giorgio a smile, "Hey, Giorgio. You actually took a night off?"

"I figured the casino could do without me for one night. Though I should check on it. If you ladies would excuse me."

The Giovanni got up and left the table, Quinn then sat down.

Lilly spoke up, "I promised to only introduce Aurora to Primogens that were easy to get along with."

Quinn smirked, "I suppose I qualify in that I really don't care much about protocol."

"Hello, Quinn," She looked at Lilly. " Are you feeling better now" She asked

"It was nice to meet you Giorgio," She said with a smile.

"That's lucky though if Lia were here, I would probably get yelled at" She giggled.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine." Lilly responded, a little surprised by the question.

Quinn laughed at Aurora's response. "Lia does seem like she can be a bit stuffy but you didn't hear that from me."

The Brujah in her couldn't help but wonder if she could take Lia in a fight. A fight, maybe. A sneak attack, not at all.

"So, Lilly said you came here to experience vamp culture. Anything you want to know in particular?"

"You could tell me about your clan. I just learned that Lilly's clan the Toredors and the Nosfaratu don't like each other. Though I'm really curious about how the different clans interact with each other," she said with a smile.

How to explain the Brujah to a new vampire, that wasn't one?

"The Brujah, for the most part, are known for their fighting skills. There are two types of Brujah - the kind of mindless fighter ones and those of us known as the warrior-poets. The fighters mostly keep to other Brujah's, they don't concern themselves with politics or any of that. They will fight anyone that gives them cause. Ones like myself, the warrior-poets, fight for a cause and usually end up the leader of the clans because we can deal better with social situations. There is no particular clan the Brujah here don't get along with. In other areas there could be fights over territory but it's not an issue where my clan is."

Quinn thought for a moment, "I personally don't get along with Angelica Giovanni very much, kind of a turf war but over business and with words though she's far more flustered by this than I am."

Quinn didn't see Angelica as much of a threat to her businesses but the same wasn't true for how Angelica saw her.

"I guess the other thing is that the Brujah are what's known as an independent clan. We're technically not part of the Camarilla. I've agreed to have my clan go under the rules of Mr. Williams while in the city because I do business here. Some Brujah are prone to - let's say- doing things their own way but it's not been too much of a problem."

" It's possible for clans to not be under the Camarilla?" She asked.

"Yes," Quinn responded. "There are independent clans, like mine. We live outside the city and have our own rules. There are also some vampires that aren't part of any clan."

" Oh, how is the Masquerade informed then?" She asks.

"The Prince controls what happens in his territory among the Camarilla. Some of the rest of us agree to the Masquerade because it's just easier or we don't want a war with more than half of the vampires in the area. Some of the rest, not under the Camarilla, don't practice the Masquerade at all." Quinn responded.

This was reminding the Brujah of her own turning except her Sire had left her to figure much of it on her own.

Aurora nodded, she was quiet for a long time. "So the clans that don't agree to the Masquerade I bet they had some influence on some of the humans vampire stories" she said more to herself than anyone else.

" Ok, so Brujah like to fight, umm the Toredors like art, and Nosfaratu like secrets. The Brujah also live outside of the Camarilla correct?'' She asked.

"Yup," Quinn answered. "Even when we were part of the Camarilla we were known as rebels so that had a lot to do with leaving it."

There probably wasn't much more to say about the Brujah for an introduction, they just weren't as intricate as some clans.

Aurora nodded. "Other then keep you clan running and following the rules what do you do" She asked taking a sip of her drink.

"I usually run some of the land casinos, I might be involved in some other things that I won't discuss at the moment but mostly I run the blood trade." Quinn responded. "Can't say I have what most people would consider hobbies."

"What is the Blood trade?" She asked wanting more details on that. It had to be how places like this were able to serve blood but still what was is how did they get the blood and how did they know what kind of person the blood came from?

"It's how vampires get human blood without having to hunt for it. The blood you're drinking, right now, came from it. I have sources that get me what I need and I know what kind of blood goes to which customer."

Quinn's business was of vital importance to keeping up the Masquerade.

"How do you know what kind of person the blood came from apparently that's really important information. Alexander said we can get really sick if we drink the wrong kind of blood," She said totally focused now.

"I have a complicated system for that, there has to be trusted sources as well. I know who it comes from, never been wrong."

Trade secrets. It was too much to explain.

Aurora nodded, " Thank makes sense," she said.

"Umm...when were you embraced," She asked.

"1947." Quinn responded, and took a drink. "There are plenty of vamps older than me. Like Lilly or Leon but we seem to have drawn some younger ones here as well."

"Are there any that are around my age? That you know of. It's a little intimidating to talk to people who have lived for 100 or more year's when it only lived for 20," She said quietly.

"Not any I know of." Quinn explained. "We are recovering from a vampire war, the last Prince was a tyrant who rarely allowed a childe to be made. You're the first new vampire, around here, in several years."

Lilly and Quinn looked at each other, it was hard being a new vampire.

" I see I guess I will just have to get use to you all then," She said with a smile.

" Is this the only place vampires come to hang out?" She added.

Lilly responded, "The Lion's Den, sometimes but you probably shouldn't hang out there without Mr. Williams as he owns the place. Gomarrah is the main place because it's the neutral ground. Some of the other places it's best to avoid."

Quinn added, "There is no reason you can't go to human dance clubs once your more used to being a vampire and can control your appetite around humans."

" I don't think I have been allowed around humans yet. Well I mean I walked here so I probably passed them on the street. When he took me ice skating he rented out the entire rink. There were other vampires there but I think he and I were the only ones that actually got on the ice," She said smiling and shaking her head with a grin as she remembered how Alex had fallen on his but and dragged her down with him.

"Probably not,"Lilly said, "It's not advisable being so young."

Quinn explained, "Imagine what your favorite foods were as a human then imagine a buffet of just those foods. You can smell them, see them, practically taste them before eating them. Then multiply that feeling times one hundred and that might give you a small idea of what it's like being around a lot of humans, like a nightclub. Then imagine you've not eaten in days, weeks. That's what the hunger feels like but you feel it down to your very core. You learn how to control it but until then it's not advisable to be around many humans."

"Does it really get that bad no wonder Alexander was worried the other day" Aurora said half the statement was a realization of something that happened previously.

" I don't like the idea of drinking blood directly from a human." She said quietly.

Quinn spoke honestly, "You don't like the idea only because you've not experienced it. Still, it doesn't matter, it's a core part of being a vampire that you'll feel that way around humans."

"I see I will definitely be more careful when I return home then," Aurora said.

Quinn said, "Just let one of us know when you want to leave. We can't let you go home by yourself. Well, I suppose I could but Lilly here can't."

That was a lot of trouble if the Prince found out.

"Umm I would not want to course either of you trouble" Aurora said.

" I made it here fine on my own. I'm sure I'll be fine returning home," she said. As she inwardly panicked. Neither Alex or Lia knew she had left. That there was enough trouble but to be brought back by Quinn she would be in major trouble.

Lilly looked at Quinn, "Aurora snuck out."

Quinn chuckled, "Oh, then nevermind. Just be careful when you go home."

" Why you chuckling? How is this funny" She asked? She did not see this as being funny at all.

"It's funny that you snuck out of the fortress that the Prince calls home. Takes guts. It's something I might have done when I was new." Quinn responded. "Also, did you not think that there might be consequences to that decision?"

"It was not hard I literally walked out the front door," she said bursting into giggles.

"It's not like anyone of his staff would try to stop me anyway," she added.

" Oh I know Lia. I'm good with them. Maybe I should just send Alex and let him know where I am," she added.

Quinn and Lilly smiled.

Lilly commented, "Well, then walked out not snuck and as for calling him, obviously that's your decision."

"He doesn't know I left and neither does Lia. I did not tell anyone where I was going. But I am an adult and he can't leave me locked in that hotel with nothing to do. I used to be a figure skater, and now I only get time on the ice when he ok's it. It's just, ahhh." She growled in frustration at her lack of freedom.

Quinn said, "Well, some Sire's are like that. Usually the ones that want you to get your bearings before venturing out but I could see why that would be frustrating."

"I know he wants what's best and he's worried about my safety. He's also afraid I'll break the Masquerade and his Sire will hunt me down. It's just a little insane and then there's Lia who would totally blow a fuse if she saw me in this outfit," Aurora burst into giggles. "You know what getting into trouble might be worth watching Lia lose her mind for five seconds." She added.

Quinn laughed, "Well, those are all valid things."

Lílly said, "My Sire was the similar he barely let me out of his sight when I first got turned. Of course, without the extra security and such but still. We were also lovers but that has little to do with it. I think most Sires are like that, at first."

Lilly then looked at Quinn, there seemed to be something unspoken between them. As if Lilly was silently apologizing for an uncharacteristic flub.

Aurora watched them wondering what the look from Lilly was about. She did not know if it would be ok to ask about it so she kept quiet for now.

Quinn spotted someone, "Oh, my business appointment just walked in. I need to go but it was nice talking to you."

With that the Brujah got up, leaving the Lilly and Aurora alone.

"Good by Quinn it was nice to meet you. " Aurora said.