The Vampire's Apprentice

Clancy smiled slightly. "Good girl." He straightenedhis shirt. "I have never had a Familiar, so this will be a learning experience for us both. That said, I like to think I shall be a lenient master. Still, from time to time, if you give me cause, I may have to punish you." He made a face of distaste. "Please do not ever give me cause."
 
"I will try not to." Kitty agreed with this. "If I begin to get on your nerves, please tell me."
She'd have to be careful, she supposed, as she didn't know his preferences as well as she might have liked. But that was OK for now. Three questions happened to be quite a lot of information should she choose to use them in that manner.
"Is there anything in particular I should remember to avoid?"
 
CLancy thought about it. "Slovenliness," he finally said. "Questions concerning family. Beyond that, I shall let you know as we get to it." He moved to go downstairs. "Now, then, you have three questions per night. Do you wish to speak of them now?"
 
Kitty felt lightly at the mark on her collarbone before following. "I suppose."
In reality, she'd hardly thought about questions all day, what with servitude weighing heavy on her mind and the ghastly image of their neighbor so vivid within her memory. Still, more often than not she would find herself pulling curiosities from thin air and making use of then just the same; it shouldn't be much trouble to think of something.
 
"Well, if you would rather wait, that is fine," Clancy said dismissively. He walked into the living room and took a seat on the pristine couch. "Oh, as for schedules, I would prefer if you were awake and waiting, perhaps up here, when I rise. Beyond that... we shall be flexible. I doubt there will be much I need from you at night."
 
Pulling a random question off the top of her head, she asked, "How long have you been alive? Or... undead...?" Kitty scratched at her head, unsure of which term to be using.
 
"I have existed for approximately two hundred and thirty-five years," Clancy told her with a faint smile. "Or it may be about two hundred and forty. I lost track of a few years during a rather trying time, but it cannot have been more than five years. Alive is perfectly acceptable. Undead may be applicable, but I cannot shake the image of zombies, personally."
 
"Me neither...." Kitty reflected on the number. She wished she had her notepad to write it down. "Since I'm under the assumption you don't eat, I'd like to ask if you drink anything and your preferences thereof, blood aside...."
 
"I can eat and drink nothing, I am afraid," Clancy sighed. "However, if I take a bit of, say, tea or coffee and add just a touch to a cup of blood, I can drink it with no effects, and the taste is quite marvelous."
 
How interesting.... "Last question: since vampires do exist, what sorts of other creatures are also out there, and should I avoid any in particular?"
 
"You should avoid all of them, most likely," Clancy smiled. "While there is not a huge number of different creatures, there are a few. The occasional zombie, werewolves, elves... things like that, and they are all dangerous to humans. Well, not elves. They are just self-righteous pains in the-" He caught himself. "They are unpleasant to deal with, but they rarely leave their home territories anymore."
 
Many more questions began to surface. She'd have to go looking for a new notepad until she could relocate her small stash of items tucked away behind the library's dropbox.
"I suppose that's three questions," Kitty leaned back in the chair. Her mind buzzed with new thoughts. "Is there anything else before I go to sleep?"
 
Clancy considered then declined with a slight flick of his fingers. "No, that should be all. I shall have a card for you by the morning. Look for it on the kitchen table. If you are feeling well, then your chores for tomorrow are to find food and clothing for yourself as well as any other necessities. I shall add on a little more than usual as a starting bonus to ensure you can properly get yourself set up."
 
Kitty yawned as she made her way back to the bedroom. What an eventful day. Night? Evening? Did it matter? Probably didn't matter. Though, being referred to as a familiar only reinforced the thought of her catlike identity. Strange and currently she disliked it, but there wasn't much she could do to stop it at this point. She hoped she'd learn to accept the term as technically it's what she was, now. A familiar.

The word still felt strange to say.
 
Three days, nine questions (in no particular order whatsoever.)
Aaaannnddd go:
  1. How do you tell if someone's a vampire or not, being one yourself?​
  2. If you only had 24 hours left to live, what would you spend them doing?​
  3. Do vampires sleep during the day as a hard rule or is it preference?​
  4. Do vampires generally target those who are sleeping or does it matter?​
  5. Are you left-handed or right-handed?​
  6. Are there legitimate vampire hunters in the world, and have you ever met one?​
  7. When was the last time you moved from one place to another?​
  8. Do you have dreams or nightmares?​
  9. How often do you meet up with other vampires?​
Kitty was purposefully avoiding questions related to vampiric lore as well as strengths and weaknesses, figuring that would be where the majority of currently unanswerable questions lie. In the future, when he had come to trust her more as a familiar, she would begin to tentatively poke at the subject, but for the moment it would likely seem as though she were trying to kill him, should she try to bring it up.
 
1. After a while, you simply learn how to tell, and it is as casual as someone knowing how to brush their teeth. Usually, it is the scent that tips you off.

2. What kind of a silly question is that? What on earth would I be doing that would guarantee I would die in twenty four hours? I suppose, assuming that was the case, I would be doing whatever it took to delay my death.

3. The young ones must sleep at night, but the older you are, the more control you have over that. If you do choose to stay awake, you will begin to pay for, just as a human suffering sleep deprivation would.

4. It does not matter. Sleeping prey makes for an easier target as far as struggling goes, but they also tend to be more protected.

5. Right handed. Clearly, you are not observant to need to ask that.

6. There are a few. I have never met one personally, but I have met those who have survived them. Most are sad, pathetic creatures who could not find a vampire if it was attached to their arm, and if they do happen across one, that is the last one they find.

7. I happened to move here about three years ago.

8. No, it is impossible.

9. Very rarely. We are not social creatures by nature for the most part, though the younger ones still cling to their more human needs of companionship. There are a few covens, and there is a vampiric law, but for the most part, we nod politely and steer clear of each other's territories.
 
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