A/N: This is another Vampire: The Masquerade fiction. This uses a character I created, named Faith Brooks. She's part of a larger trilogy of stories that I'm in the process of writing. For those who which to know more about her, Alexis, or James, feel free to send me an email and I'll be happy to explain the story to you. And incidentally, all of the aforementioned characters are all Tremere. Enjoy!

Michael's Blood

Michael Ross. I know very little of the man who was my Sire. Other than the name of him brings a bad taste to my mouth. Everything that I've become, everything that's now wrong with me, all that I do now, is his fault.

Michael's fault.

While the more logical part of my mind says that it was my fault for even being in that damned alley at that time of night, my anger and frustration tells the logical part of my brain to go to hell. It was Michael who was in the alley, he waited for me. He seduced me into that little corner, subdued me, then put his dirty little fangs to my neck and bit down.

The memory of my Embrace makes me hate him even more. I wasn't asked! I wasn't told of what would become of me! He used me! Just so I could be his little go to doll for his schemes to hurt more people. And for what! Revenge! He was so obsessively determined to kill Alexis, he didn't care who got hurt in the process.

And now because of his greed and his lust for revenge, I'm now a creature of the night. He never thought about my needs! I had family! I had friends! I had a future! Now what do I have?

NOTHING!

Now I have to crawl in between the shadows of humanity to stalk people for my evening meal. Now I have to harm others just to maintain this thin façade of life I have! The only good thing to come out of the whole mess was when I got to see that bastard's head roll off his shoulders at that pathetic excuse of a courtroom.

But I didn't feel any better after I saw it. Now I have a void in me that can't be filled. I don't know what he was like in life. He never did his job as my sire. All I learned I had to learn from others. And even in death he taunts me.

His blood sired me, and now his blood taunts me.

Everywhere I go, no matter what I do, I hear him in my blood. He calls to me, telling me to do things. When I practice my powers, he laughs at me. Telling me I can't use my abilities. Saying that I couldn't harm a fly with them.

Sometimes it gets so bad that I scream as loud as I can, just so the sound of my scream can drown out the sound of his laughter. But when I finally tire, when I can no longer scream anymore, I hear his laughter again. He laughs harder, mocking my attempt to throw him from my mind.

And then there is the Beast. I hear Michael's laugh louder when the Beast comes in my mind. I can hear it raking its claws against some dark corner of my mind, patiently waiting for me to do something wrong so it can wrap its cold hands around my body and posses it. It's so much to take in at times, and I usual feel jealous of the damned Malkavians. At least their insanity keeps them from being aware of their instinctual desires.

I remember the time I first frenzied. I was walking back to the chantry after an errand for James when 3 thugs accosted me. I tried to reason with them, but they thought me to be an easy steal. They were wrong. Dead wrong.

But the fight didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I remember one coming down on the back of my head while another punched me in the gut. I tried to return a blow on another, only to be pushed against a wall. When one of the thugs put their grimy, filthy hand on my crotch, I snapped.

It was like having some animal inside me suddenly take over. I don't remember much, only blurs. I felt nothing but rage, and my vision was clouded by red. When I came too, the thugs were dead. All of them were mutilated, claw marks covering their bodies. And my head hung above one's neck. I then realized that blood was dripping from my mouth. So overcome by the shock of the event, I ran. I didn't know what to do.

When I returned to the chantry, I told James. He was shocked about what happened, and scolded me for allowing such a trivial thing to overcome me, saying he'd have to call the Prince so that the mess could get cleaned up. To break my humanity in such a way, he said, wasn't worthwhile and that I could end up like Michael.

I didn't know what to do, other than hate him for his lack of understanding. And the whole time, I heard the Beast laughing. And behind the Beast, I could see Michael's face, laughing with delight at my frenzy.

On that night, I marched down the street to the top of Ventrue tower, where I resigned to await the dawn and end my miserable existence. James must have sensed where I was headed, for he was there shortly after I arrived. Christof stood there also, as if they were both waiting for a loved one to return home.

I remember James giving me a concerned look, as if he cared for me. And then I hear Michael again, brushing some hand against my mind as if to calm me.

"He doesn't have your best interests in mind. He wants to use you. They all want to use you. Give in to your Beast. Give in to me! Embrace the freedom you will be granted by succumbing to your true nature."

But what speaks louder is James' voice.

"Don't give in, Faith! Fight it! You may be a vampire, a creature of the night and a blood drinker, but you don't have to be a monster! Think of your former life, think of the family you've lost! Think of what they would say if they saw you as a monster!"

It was then that his true nature broke through to me. Then I realized where my family was. But I still fought, as if to test both sides.

"You don't know what it's like for me! You don't know what it's like to have a monster inside you, calling out your name and demanding you do things. You don't know what it's like to finally frenzy and listen to it laugh and squeal in delight! You don't know what it's like to have that monster of a sire in your blood, pushing you toward your Beast! Don't pretend to know what I'm going through!"

James' voice still stands firm. "But I do know! And so does every other Kindred! Look what happens when you give in! You've seen it for yourself! Do you want to become like Michael? He forfeit everything so he could become what he was! Fight him! Don't be like him!"

"But your blood is that of Alexis! She doesn't demand you do things that are evil! Her blood does not call out to you while you walk the night, mocking you and demanding you to give in to your Beast! She was there for you after your Embrace. She taught you to fight it! She taught you how to maintain your humanity!"

"And it is because of her blood calling to me that I stand here! She cares for your well-being as much as I do! She does not want to see you give in, to become a monster. Neither does Strauss! Nor Raymond! They want to see you conquer your Beast!"

"And as do I." Christof finally speaks. His powerful voice speaks in an almost fatherly way. "We all must do battle with the Beast. Even as we stand here now, we must drive away it monstrous desires so that we can preserve the last of our sanity and humanity. For if we don't, what is the point of continuing to exist?" The elder Brujah rests his hand on my shoulder, "Never forget what you were, and never forget what you can become. Even Kindred must find a place in this world. And that is something that is worth fighting for."

I finally relax, coming to terms with what is said. And as if knowing defeat, I hear Michael's voice again, filled with rage as he screams at me.

"You weakling! You were not worthy of my blood! You are a waste! A fool! A COWARD!"

And finally, with newfound strength and determination, I silence his blood for good in my mind.

"I AM NOT YOURS TO COMMAND."

As I say this, I hear his voice grow silent until it speaks no more. The Beast then returns to it dark corner of my mind, knowing defeat. I still feel it there, waiting for it's next opportunity. But as I allow James to walk me back to the chantry, I know that in the coming decades, even centuries, I have found a way to battle my Beast.

And a way to make even Michael's blood fall silent.