Her

This is fan created fiction about a character in a Vampire: The Masquerade live action role playing game run by Mind's Eye Society. If you are a fellow player, please remember that anything you read here is considered out of character knowledge. If you are a lawyer, please don't sue me; I'm not making any money off of this and it's just for fun.

Her
by Simon W. 

Content Note: the song lyrics are Gravity by Vienna Teng

"Hey love,
Is that the name you're meant to have...
for me to call.
Look love,
they've given up believing,
they've turned aside our stories of the gentle fall"

Marianne sat in the one non-bathroom room in her haven that was devoid of books. In fact it was completely empty save for an apparatus from which she could hang a heavy bag. She didn't hit nearly as hard as most of her clan mates but she still occasionally need to hit something.

No, occasionally she needed to break something. And heavy bags were vastly less valuable and far more replaceable than people. She'd started buying them in bulk.

"But don't you believe them.
Don't you drink their poison too.
These are the scars that words have carved
on me."

She thought that she was content with her life the way it had been. As a human she had had a healthy, loving relationship that had only ended due to tragedy. Or possibly heroism. But really, you can't have one without the other, she thought sarcastically. Still, her husband had died a hero and been buried by the Navy with honors.

"Hey love,
that's the name we've long held back
from the core of truth"

She'd met James when he was posing as a college professor. Deep into grief that had probably swerved hard left into major depression, she hadn't really even questioned the fact that she'd suddenly found herself enrolled in a Materials Science class that met at midnight. Looking back that should have been a clue since she'd been working on a Master's degree in English. But met him she had and eventually he asked her if she wanted to leave the shambles that trying to live without her husband had become and, quite frankly, she had jumped at the chance. Some combination of blood, shared experiences, and similarity in temperament meant that they became best friends.

"So don't turn away now...
I am turning in revolution.
These are the scars that silence carved
on me.

This is the same place.
No, not the same place
This is the same place, love.
No, not the…"

Everett and she had met literally in fire and blood. He'd killed her, then embraced her, then run off with her fleeing his angry sire and living in some weird fantasy where he'd saved her from the evil Tremere. But she wasn't a damsel in distress and he for sure wasn't a hero. Still they had enough in common so that when they weren't fighting they were actually shockingly compatible companions. Granted, everything is easier when blood is involved. Marianne snorted; it was kind of the hallmark of her romantic life once she stopped being human. And honestly she had thought that's where she would stay forever.

"Hey love,
I am a constant satellite
of your blazing sun.
My love,
I obey your law of gravity.
This is the fate you've carved on me...
Your law of gravity...
This is the fate you've carved on me...
On me."

But then... she had met Her. No blood, no violence, no real trauma at all. A shared love of music, art, and beauty had drawn them together. And it was just so easy to relax with Her. Marianne had briefly wondered if it was possible to be in love for real as a vampire. One of the things Marianne liked about Her was how much she needed Marianne. Being needed, always Marianne's Achilles heel..

Of course, that was over now. And it had ended, almost prosaically, in betrayal. No, not for another woman (or man). Not a growing apart due to a lack of interest. Not any of the normal things that drive people apart. No, Marianne had to hand it to Her; when She betrayed someone it was with the kind of over the top drama one could only expect from a true artist.

Marianne sat in her empty room staring at the heavy bag. She couldn't even bring herself to hit it right now. She just felt so empty; full of more grief than anger. She sighed. Nothing to do but try and keep on keeping on, she supposed, even if the yawning emptiness in her heart dragged on her like a black hole in space, swallowing all of the light that touched it.