Quinn sat dumbfounded as the young man walked into the light given off by the heater. He looked so much like Quinn....but something was different. Then it hit him, this man was a young vampire. He had never gotten tattoos, and his youth spoke of being turned at an early point in life.
"Yes...I agree. There are several differences, but we must all pay for the choices we make. While you took one path, I took another. For one, you were not determined enough or strong enough to take the cluviel dor from the little fairy bitch and make her use it to give yourself a chance at immortality. Salome would have turned you for the asking, but only a human could deal with the change and keep their sanity. You have made other choices as well, not all of which I would agree with, but here we are. I am strong, eternally young, and then we look at the rotting fleshy thing you have become. Too dangerous to even be around those you profess to care about. So pathetic..."
Quinn sat listening to the young vampire's ranting before responding...
"Yes it is true, I did not force her hand and become what you seem to be, but I have experienced things and enjoyed things that you never will. I have known life as you never can. The feeling of running through the bayou without a single care as to when sunrise comes. The foods I have tried around the world, each one an experience on it's own. I can see where your path might have given it's own advantages, but my path was chosen by fate, not by me."
The young vampire's mouth curled into a sneer as he spoke...
"Oh the ego. What ever happened to the idea of charting your own path? What happened to the idea that you controlled your own destiny? I remember us being so much more idealistic. And to top it off, you cannot even control yourself with a little addiction even though you had a steady supply available in your little redhead. All you had to do was drink of her and none of this would have been necessary. You are so weak. Age is winning, old man. You are little more than a corpse who has not laid down yet..."
"Ah yes...the idealism of youth. You never had a chance to grow beyond that. The Fates give us a long berth on how we run our lives, good and bad. I have learned that time and again, but I have learned more. Fate has been there at every turning point in my life. She always watches, but my choices are always my own. She has even taken the task of aiding me on some few occasions. I trust her advice but still mark my own path and guide my own fate. You say I am simply an old corpse, yet I still stand. You say age is winning, but that is the biggest joke yet. Age teaches us to slow down, to think more before acting. Something within us guides us to mature as we age, though you know nothing of that. Still the brash youth and you always will be. I pity you the life you have lost. even if you live centuries, I do not envy you, for I have my life to look back upon and smile. You have nothing but an empty future."
The young vampire's eyes flashed in anger, yet he backed away before speaking. He was barely a shadow as he spoke again...
"Even knowing the path you might have had, the immortality. You might even have been able to save Salome from herself. None of it seems to matter to you. I do not understand..."
Quinn smiled into the shadows...
"No...and you never will...."
"Yes...I agree. There are several differences, but we must all pay for the choices we make. While you took one path, I took another. For one, you were not determined enough or strong enough to take the cluviel dor from the little fairy bitch and make her use it to give yourself a chance at immortality. Salome would have turned you for the asking, but only a human could deal with the change and keep their sanity. You have made other choices as well, not all of which I would agree with, but here we are. I am strong, eternally young, and then we look at the rotting fleshy thing you have become. Too dangerous to even be around those you profess to care about. So pathetic..."
Quinn sat listening to the young vampire's ranting before responding...
"Yes it is true, I did not force her hand and become what you seem to be, but I have experienced things and enjoyed things that you never will. I have known life as you never can. The feeling of running through the bayou without a single care as to when sunrise comes. The foods I have tried around the world, each one an experience on it's own. I can see where your path might have given it's own advantages, but my path was chosen by fate, not by me."
The young vampire's mouth curled into a sneer as he spoke...
"Oh the ego. What ever happened to the idea of charting your own path? What happened to the idea that you controlled your own destiny? I remember us being so much more idealistic. And to top it off, you cannot even control yourself with a little addiction even though you had a steady supply available in your little redhead. All you had to do was drink of her and none of this would have been necessary. You are so weak. Age is winning, old man. You are little more than a corpse who has not laid down yet..."
"Ah yes...the idealism of youth. You never had a chance to grow beyond that. The Fates give us a long berth on how we run our lives, good and bad. I have learned that time and again, but I have learned more. Fate has been there at every turning point in my life. She always watches, but my choices are always my own. She has even taken the task of aiding me on some few occasions. I trust her advice but still mark my own path and guide my own fate. You say I am simply an old corpse, yet I still stand. You say age is winning, but that is the biggest joke yet. Age teaches us to slow down, to think more before acting. Something within us guides us to mature as we age, though you know nothing of that. Still the brash youth and you always will be. I pity you the life you have lost. even if you live centuries, I do not envy you, for I have my life to look back upon and smile. You have nothing but an empty future."
The young vampire's eyes flashed in anger, yet he backed away before speaking. He was barely a shadow as he spoke again...
"Even knowing the path you might have had, the immortality. You might even have been able to save Salome from herself. None of it seems to matter to you. I do not understand..."
Quinn smiled into the shadows...
"No...and you never will...."
