Moonlight Charm
Chapter Two.
**
Sasha Luna was never known for being a peaceful soul. Not when she was child and not now that she was a vampire. A star filled sky watched over her Uncles estate as she hung out on the balcony. Cash was in the house for a Conclave meeting. Down below were a couple of his friends. She watched them and felt the familiar burn of longing in her chest. Her heart ached to be with him, but her blood snarled was totally against it. She was Brujah, he was Grangrel, they didn't mix unless it was for war. Which was never the time to say the things she longed to say.
In the past few nights her clan had come very close to war, not just with Cash, but everyone. Cameron had always stepped in at the last minute and everything would cool off. But tonight was still early, so anything could happen. Somewhere in the house the leaders of the City of San Francisco were trying to decide how to handle the recent rash of deaths. Everyone was claming innocence to the matter. So they were having a meeting.
It was annoying as hell to be stuck here. There was an eerie calm to the entire place as if they were all waiting for the other shoe to drop. Pushing away from the banister she stormed back into her room. Eyes sweeping over the hand carved bed, silk curtains, hand tooled wall paper and other luxuries. On the surface life was good, but underneath...that was another thing. Although she had been a Brujah less then a year it was the most boring life she had ever imagined. There was nothing to do except wait for the others to act and then follow them and pretend she was having a great time. Uncle Julian had tried to make her feel welcome, to explain what had happened to her. But he was Prince of the City, he didn't have a lot of time to talk to her. Besides she refused to hear it from him. There was only one she wanted answers from. Cash. But he wasn't even here most of the time. Ever since she had fooled around with Zane, he had been giving her the cold shoulder. And now with Cameron showing up in town, there were new and old problems to be sorted out. It was Cash's job to deal with it. He didn't have time for her anymore. It seemed that no one did.
Flopping onto her bed she stared at the canopied ceiling and wondered. She had spent hours wondering. What if she had never come here? What if she had never gone to the funeral? What if...what if...what if... That was all she could fill her time with now. Wondering. Occasionally she would find the strength to actually think about it. Like tonight. Only it was just the same old thoughts, tonight there were new things on her mind. New faces that had once filled her wondering hours. Two people actually. They had been the closest thing to friends she'd ever had. Tallis and Jamie Metternich had been among the only people to ever understand her. It had been Tallis that had really sat down and attempted to understand. Sasha wondered if Tallis had been as lonely as she had. If in finding each other they had found some kind of refuge.
Both of them came from a small town in the Rhine area of Germany. They had come here with sad stories and strong dreams. Tallis had wanted to be a singer or painter, she was good too. Really good. Sasha laughed as she thought of Lilly and how the woman loved 'cultivating new talent'. She would have liked Tallis. Then there was Jamieson. He didn't dream, he took something and squeezed every thing out of it. Tallis was no exception. He had been a very odd and cold guy. Treating his cousin with a strict hand that was more like a domineering father then kin by marriage. He had refused to let her go anywhere without him or talk to people. One night after drinking too much Sasha had very loudly made her opinion of him clear. Tallis had been the one to explain things to her. To tell her what the truth behind their coming here was. Revealing to her the reality of what Tallis went through everyday.
Now that Sasha found her a vampire, she also found that the German school girl had been right. Sometimes it was better to suffer a lot now then to be free and suffer later. Sasha sure as hell was suffering now. Tallis had been right about a lot of things, once Sasha really thought about it. There had been a lot of foreboding wisdom in the words she had spoken all those years ago. It actually chilled her to think about how accurate Tallis had been in saying what would happen. Sasha had always thought she would end up a totally free spirit without a care in the world. Instead she found herself a damn vampire and a prisoner in her uncles home and city.
Closing her eyes she found that she could almost make out Tallis' features. She had had ashen hair that was short and neat. Her eyes had been an startling silver, like moonlight. Letting herself drift away on dreams of the past, Sasha curled up and wondered what if she had listened to the strange German school girl.
Chapter Two.
**
Sasha Luna was never known for being a peaceful soul. Not when she was child and not now that she was a vampire. A star filled sky watched over her Uncles estate as she hung out on the balcony. Cash was in the house for a Conclave meeting. Down below were a couple of his friends. She watched them and felt the familiar burn of longing in her chest. Her heart ached to be with him, but her blood snarled was totally against it. She was Brujah, he was Grangrel, they didn't mix unless it was for war. Which was never the time to say the things she longed to say.
In the past few nights her clan had come very close to war, not just with Cash, but everyone. Cameron had always stepped in at the last minute and everything would cool off. But tonight was still early, so anything could happen. Somewhere in the house the leaders of the City of San Francisco were trying to decide how to handle the recent rash of deaths. Everyone was claming innocence to the matter. So they were having a meeting.
It was annoying as hell to be stuck here. There was an eerie calm to the entire place as if they were all waiting for the other shoe to drop. Pushing away from the banister she stormed back into her room. Eyes sweeping over the hand carved bed, silk curtains, hand tooled wall paper and other luxuries. On the surface life was good, but underneath...that was another thing. Although she had been a Brujah less then a year it was the most boring life she had ever imagined. There was nothing to do except wait for the others to act and then follow them and pretend she was having a great time. Uncle Julian had tried to make her feel welcome, to explain what had happened to her. But he was Prince of the City, he didn't have a lot of time to talk to her. Besides she refused to hear it from him. There was only one she wanted answers from. Cash. But he wasn't even here most of the time. Ever since she had fooled around with Zane, he had been giving her the cold shoulder. And now with Cameron showing up in town, there were new and old problems to be sorted out. It was Cash's job to deal with it. He didn't have time for her anymore. It seemed that no one did.
Flopping onto her bed she stared at the canopied ceiling and wondered. She had spent hours wondering. What if she had never come here? What if she had never gone to the funeral? What if...what if...what if... That was all she could fill her time with now. Wondering. Occasionally she would find the strength to actually think about it. Like tonight. Only it was just the same old thoughts, tonight there were new things on her mind. New faces that had once filled her wondering hours. Two people actually. They had been the closest thing to friends she'd ever had. Tallis and Jamie Metternich had been among the only people to ever understand her. It had been Tallis that had really sat down and attempted to understand. Sasha wondered if Tallis had been as lonely as she had. If in finding each other they had found some kind of refuge.
Both of them came from a small town in the Rhine area of Germany. They had come here with sad stories and strong dreams. Tallis had wanted to be a singer or painter, she was good too. Really good. Sasha laughed as she thought of Lilly and how the woman loved 'cultivating new talent'. She would have liked Tallis. Then there was Jamieson. He didn't dream, he took something and squeezed every thing out of it. Tallis was no exception. He had been a very odd and cold guy. Treating his cousin with a strict hand that was more like a domineering father then kin by marriage. He had refused to let her go anywhere without him or talk to people. One night after drinking too much Sasha had very loudly made her opinion of him clear. Tallis had been the one to explain things to her. To tell her what the truth behind their coming here was. Revealing to her the reality of what Tallis went through everyday.
Now that Sasha found her a vampire, she also found that the German school girl had been right. Sometimes it was better to suffer a lot now then to be free and suffer later. Sasha sure as hell was suffering now. Tallis had been right about a lot of things, once Sasha really thought about it. There had been a lot of foreboding wisdom in the words she had spoken all those years ago. It actually chilled her to think about how accurate Tallis had been in saying what would happen. Sasha had always thought she would end up a totally free spirit without a care in the world. Instead she found herself a damn vampire and a prisoner in her uncles home and city.
Closing her eyes she found that she could almost make out Tallis' features. She had had ashen hair that was short and neat. Her eyes had been an startling silver, like moonlight. Letting herself drift away on dreams of the past, Sasha curled up and wondered what if she had listened to the strange German school girl.