VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE

TAPED

"Beckett?"

"Quite right miss." He stepped closer. "I presume that was your handiwork." He said, gesturing to the warehouse, which was still on fire.

Liz looked down, slightly embarrassed. "Well... not really. I had help but..." she cast her gaze towards the burning warehouse "they're all gone." Beckett noted the sombre look on her face, noting that she was most likely new to being one of the dead.

"It's quite unnerving isn't it?" He began. Elizabeth stared at him, then replied. "Yeah, it is, a bit. I mean, I know I didn't know them very well, if at all. But even so..."

"You still feel sorry for them, do you not?" she was now staring directly at him, slightly alarmed. "Well yeah, in a way." She responded. She noticed his eyes appeared to be glowing under his dark sunglasses.

He turned around, probably making to leave. "That is a good thing. It shows you still have some humanity in you. Enjoy it while it lasts." Liz was now looking at him, puzzled. "Do you want me to drop you? I have a car." He continued, giving her no time to ask him what he had meant by his previous statement.

"Oh, well, uh... sure." She replied. She didn't know why she was accepting such a request from a total stranger, but it beat having to go with a taxi and risk seeing that driver, for better or worse. "You never gave me your name." Beckett said.

"Oh, sorry." Liz replied, slightly flustered. "It's Elizabeth, Elizabeth Harcourt."

"Elizabeth Harcourt." He mused. "Good name. Might you be Scottish for any reason?" She now looked at him, blinking in confusion, then got what he had meant in saying that. "No, no, no!" She exclaimed, a bit flustered. "It's because of the hair, is it?"

Beckett chuckled. "In a way, yes." With that he straightened himself, looking directly at Liz's eyes. "Now, before we go I would like to ask you about your feelings on the sarcophagus. You have heard of it right?"

Liz cast her mind back, remembering something about a special museum exhibit that featured a sarcophagus. "Yeah, I've heard about it. What about it?"

Beckett seemed a bit disappointed. "Hmm. I had guessed you would feel it. I take it from around here then." She looked down, chuckling in mild embarrassment. "Yeah, you're right. I'm actually a student of the UCLA. Anthropology major."

"I see." Beckett was now walking slowly towards his car, with Liz just beside him. "Have you heard the rumours, that there might be a sleeping ancient within the tomb?" Liz looked at him, puzzled. "I don't get it. A sleeping ancient? Like an ancient vampire's in that thing?"

Beckett nodded. "Indeed. Are you aware of the history of our kind?" Liz shook her head. "Well no, duh. Are you gonna tell me?"

At that point they had finally reached the car. It was a small '83 two-seater Jaguar. Liz was a bit dumbfounded by it; the car must have cost a fortune. As Beckett drove off the parking lot, he began his tale with a question. "Have you heard of Cain?"

"Cain?" Liz stuttered, "Wait, you mean the biblical Cain? The one who was cursed by God for murdering his brother?"

"Yes. That Caine." He continued. "By the way, where are you going?"

Liz blushed visibly as it dawned on her that she literally just hopped into a car with a guy she barely knew without so much as a thought to even tell him where she wanted to go. After giving him her address, she grimaced. It was exactly this sort of situation that got her turned into a vampire in the first place.

"Anyway, as I was saying." Beckett continued. "According to our mythology Caine was cursed with more than just being a vagabond. He was cursed to forever hide from God's face, and as the blood of Abel cried out to Him, so would the blood of man cry out to him and be his only comfort." He voice took on a melodramatic tone at that point. "Of course, God most certainly didn't want Caine killing himself or anyone killing him to end his curse, so he branded him, saying that whoever hurt him would be hurt sevenfold. He also made him immortal to add insult to injury."