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Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
-Sir Walter Scott

_________Jason leaned casually against the corner of the street he’d chosen and settled in to people-watching. Naturally, he had no real need to lean against anything for support, but physically relaxing made Gaians more comfortable. He brushed back his already immaculate black hair, watching out of the corner of his eye the reaction it drew from a cluster several girls. He remembered vaguely how, once upon a time, that simple act would have thrilled him. Now, he pretended not to notice the girls. They weren’t what he was looking for.
_________Being careful to stay in the shade provided by the corner, he crossed his legs and messed with the sleeve of his jacket, like he had an itch or something. He never bothered to look at what he was doing, but continued to scan the street idly. It took a certain kind of nonchalance to make a black suit look casual, and Jason was a master of it.
_________Using his eyes to browse over the nearby people, he noticed a petite blond girl standing by herself, leaning against the opposite wall a ways down. Never actually looking directly at her, he watched her out of his peripheral vision for a while. She seemed to be people-watching as well, probably waiting for someone, and from time to time she stared pointedly at him. After watching this cycle a few times, he met her gaze with a look of curiosity. As he had suspected, she immediately blushed and looked quickly away. Giving a mental shrug, he started to uncross his legs and push off from the wall. Just then, however, the girl was joined by two others, who exchanged greetings and small talk before starting to head off. He leaned himself back against the wall and resumed people-watching. She wasn’t what he was looking for after all.
_________This time he looked for familiar people, people who had been on this street since he had arrived. He noticed a small group of girls who were still window shopping, a couple of guys having a conversation, a guy who appeared to be lost or to have lost something, a young couple, and a shy looking girl. As soon as he noticed the latter, he knew he was finished searching. Just to make sure, he watched her without looking at her. She was reading a book, but every now and then she looked up at him. He smiled at her the next time she looked up. She started to blush, but hid it well. Feigning a look of disinterest, she shook out her curly reddish hair and put her book in front of her face. Grinning, Jason pushed off of his corner and joined a crowd near her. He timed his approach perfectly, so that when she looked up from her book again and was puzzled when she didn’t find him, he was almost next to her.
_________“Hello,” he said smoothly from directly beside her. The girl nearly jumped from surprise and dropped her book as she whirled around. He caught it in midair and handed it back to her with a crooked smile.
_________“Oh,” she breathed, taking the book, “Thanks.” She seemed to regain her composure then. She smiled back at him. “Hello. Can I help you somehow?” she asked, her blush beginning to creep back into her cheeks.
_________“Not exactly,” Jason responded silkily, “I was just curious, so I came over here to investigate.”
_________“Investigate what, exactly?” she asked. Her blush was in full force now, but she still managed to give off an air of caution.
_________“Well, I saw a pretty girl standing all by herself in the middle of a street in Durem, reading a book. I thought that was investigation-worthy, wouldn’t you agree?” His eyes danced with amusement, and his crooked smile grew into a crooked grin.
_________“Oh, um, I suppose so,” she whispered dazedly. He was clearly having an effect on her. “That is, if you’re interested in that sort of thing,” she added in a normal voice. Then again, perhaps he wasn’t.
_________“That sort of thing, hmm?” he inquired, amusedly. “If by that you mean the motives behind people’s actions, then yes, I suppose you’re right. At the moment, I’m curious as to your motives. What brings you to this part of Durem?”
_________She looked down and busied herself with her book, smoothing wrinkles and dusting invisible dirt. “If you must know, I just bought this book at H.R. Wesley and I got caught up with reading it.” She might have been trying to come across as exasperated, but it didn’t quite work with her tone and the shade of red her cheeks were turning.
_________“Ah, a good book, then?” he asked, looking over her shoulder at it. She closed it. “What’s it about?” He moved with her as she turned so that their eyes met. He noted that hers were a pleasant shade of green.
_________“Um...” she said, seemingly entranced by his eyes.
_________“It obviously must be very good if you couldn’t even wait until you got home to read it,” he continued, taking advantage of her lapse.
_________“Yeah... um...” she replied smartly. “Actually, speaking of which, shouldn’t you be at your home, hiding from the sun?” she questioned.
_________“I still have a few minutes before I need to rush indoors,” he answered, “How about you? Do you plan on staying here much longer?”
_________“Ah, well, I uh...” she started, evidently not having anticipated the question.
_________“If you don’t have any plans at all, then perhaps you could accompany me to my house, and we could continue this conversation indoors?” he went on, smiling pleasantly.
_________“I thought you didn’t need to go inside for a while,” she mumbled, still captivated by his gaze.
_________“Strictly speaking, no, I don’t need to head indoors, but I am starting to get a bit uncomfortable,” he replied. “Shall we be off, then?”
_________“Wait, hang on a minute,” she said, seeming to snap out of whatever trance she had been in. “Why are you doing all this? Coming over and talking to me and asking me to your home, I mean. I don’t even know your name!”
_________“Good point. My name is Jason,” he said, “What’s yours?”
_________“My name is Erika,” she answered.
_________“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Erika,” he said before she could continue. He extended his hand, and she shook it automatically. She shivered, although it probably had little to do with how cold his hand was.
_________“In answer to your question, I am doing ‘all this’ because I am indulging my curiosity, and, unless I am seriously mistaken, I am indulging yours as well. You are rather curious about vampires, are you not?” he asked.
_________“Well... Yes, I suppose I am,” she granted.
_________“Then please, humor me and return with me to my house so that we may continue this fascinating discussion before I am fried to a crisp.” He offered her his arm, which she took, and the pair of them proceeded to his home.

_________Vampirism is fun stuff. We never have to eat, or sleep, or go to the bathroom, or even breathe (though you can’t talk if you don’t have air in your lungs). Pretty much all you need to do to take care of yourself is make sure you get enough blood on a regular basis, and don’t stay in the sun for very long.
_________The abilities are great—superhuman speed, strength, sight, smell, and hearing, to begin with, and then there’s increased mental capabilities, including an incredible memory. That last part is both a blessing and a curse—you might not have thought about it, but there are a lot of things in human life that you happily forget. In our “life,” we can’t forget anything, no matter how hard we try. For the most part, though, it’s pretty great.
_________The main problem vampires face is time. Let me explain. When you first become a vampire, assuming you became one by choice, your first reaction is probably something along the lines of “Sweeeeeet! Freakin’ FINALLY! This is great!” followed by checking out your new abilities and altered physical appearance. The gray eyes can be disconcerting if you’re used to a different color, but you tend to get used to it. Worst come to worst, you can use contacts. Of course, what people tend to notice most is how incredibly hot they are. Vampires are naturally attractive to lure in their prey, and they never get old or overweight. Immortal, you know.
_________The moment (or moments, really) of awe tends to take a few minutes at most, after which you get struck by the thirst. Hard. There are several methods of quenching it available to the modern vampire.
_________1: You could buy donated blood from a hospital or the like. It’s human, so it’s good for the thirst. You don’t know who it came from until you taste it, though, so that can lead to some unpleasant surprises. Also, they freeze it. You can either drink it cold or nuke it in the microwave, neither of which is particularly pleasant.
_________2: You could hunt animals and drink their blood instead. It’s alive, it’s warm, it’s fresh, and it’s moral, but naturally it has a downside. It’s not human, and it doesn’t taste human. Some vampires learn to like it, others tolerate it, most are repulsed by it. It’s just not the same, and it doesn’t satisfy the thirst as much.
_________3: You can find a human “donor.” It is possible to drink a human’s blood without killing them or turning them into a vampire. It’s risky, though, because it requires a lot self control on the part of the vampire. Drink too much, they become a vampire. Drink even more, they die. Nevertheless, some humans are willing to take the risk. I do not pretend to understand their motives.
_________4: Screw the rules, and hunt however the heck you want. It’s risky, it’s immoral, but it’s oh-so-satisfying. There aren’t that many vampires out there that do this anymore, and those that do are breaking several different laws from several different governments. They are being hunted down, but they’re smart and have superhuman abilities, so it’s not exactly easy.
_________When you first become a vampire, most people don’t have a lot of self control. If you aren’t under careful supervision from an older vampire, you’re probably going to go after whatever is closest to you when the thirst hits. If you’re in, say, a forest, this isn’t so bad. If, however, you’re in the middle of a crowded city, this is a really dangerous thing.
_________Anyway, eventually you learn to control the thirst. Then what? I mentioned that the main problem vampires face is time. You probably don’t realize how much of it vampires have. Every night, humans spend around eight hours sleeping. That’s eight hours of free time vampires get right there. Now add in the time you won’t need to spend in the bathroom, most of the time you would’ve spent grooming, and consider that vampires only have to feed about once a week. That’s a lot of free time. So maybe you have a job, or you go to school. Okay, that takes up some time. You can take up some activities, maybe study some things, or amuse yourself by winning at sports and learning with ease. Sooner or later, though, you’ll probably get bored.
_________There are only a few types of people who tend to last very long in the vampire world; couples, people with an overarching goal or purpose, and the incredibly curious. Everyone else tends to get bored. It may take a while, maybe a couple hundred years, but eventually you’ve run out of things to do. There are exceptions, of course, but most start looking at death with more and more curiosity. When they do, they are faced with the challenge of finding a way to die.