Karmina

Childhood
Karmina sat upon the rock outcropping in her father's lap. She knew nothing of her mother. But she shared her father's red hair and but not his green eyes. Looking up, the six year old smiled. "Tell me again of the dragon and the world" It was a story told over and over again by the young man, who had seen far many more years than he appeared over a century. His voice was soft as the waves crashed around him. "Well the world is huge, vast in its space, but it is..." the man continued to tell the story the girl loved to hear. She looked out to the sea and listened as the sun was high in sky. The girl had been born in america but currently was staying with her father in greece. They would be going back to the states soon, and she would miss their home here. Every year they came back and visited. This was their ancestral home, and she enjoyed the time spent here in the waters of the sea.

As the story went on so did the daylight until the sun was creeping towards setting and the father was carrying the sleepy girl back to the grand villa on the sea. His chest rumbled as he spoke to her, "Child do you remember what I told you?" "Yes father." "We are but stars caught in the dragon's tail"

That was not the last time he would ask her such questions. As she grew older, she had private tutors and anything she could wish to have, but still she didn't know her mother. They lived in New York while in the states and for three months during the summer, they lived in the villa. Always she was kept to the rule of being inside her room during the evening. after sunset, she was not to be out of her bed. The only thing she didn't have was freedom. Then one night, the young girl managed to escape from her room, and sneak down the stairs to the living room. The door was open just enough that she could peek inside through the crack and she sat watching a man, his dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. She listened close and heard them speaking, her father and the dark haired man. "She wants to see her mother, sir." "Well that is not possible and you know it. Unfortunately her mother died in childbirth, and now we have to find another breeder." Karmina wondered what they meant by that. "How old is she now?" "Barely ten, not nearly old enough to become a ghoul" "It takes so long for you to age." "Does she have to go though?" "Yes, in eight years, she will be eligible to be chosen. I can try to keep her, but with so little of the line left in this area it may be difficult. There are other ghoul families to be sure, but none like the Thanos." "Yes, our family is rare" her father chuckled and the young girl moved to get a better look into the room. She noticed her father kneeling on the floor at the man's knee. What was going on here? As the conversation went on, the man put his wrist up to his mouth and bite it. Then offered the bleeding flesh to her father, who drank it. She couldn't help but gasp. With that they both turned towards the door and she knew she was caught. Getting up she turned around fled towards the stairs, but the man was there before her. How had he done that, his hands were on her shoulders and all she could see was fangs coming towards her. The next morning she woke up with a splitting headache and the idea that it was all a nightmare.

Teenage
She had made it, she had passed the test to become one of New York's finest. She was going to be a police officer. She nearly danced with joy as she flew through the near empty house. Finally finding her father, she handed him the paper. But he just looked at her with a sad expression. "Karmina, there is something I must tell you, and someone you must meet." Then they waited for nightfall. She watched in disbelief and horror as the man from her nightmares flowed into the room. They told her of her fate, her family's purpose of being food and companionship and how, since she was just over 18, she was eligible for a vampire master. Too much at once, she begged and pleaded. She wanted to live a normal life. Not to be part of this world but to be normal, a cop. follow her dreams. The man, sighed almost like a human, even though he had proven throughout the night that he was more than that. He came to her and stroked her hair as her father held her. "I have watched you grow from 18 years, from the shadows and watched as you have grown. Your father is my ghoul, and I cannot have another of your line. They will not allow it. Only special kindred can gain access to this line. I am sorry, little one. But you must do your duty and assume the role you born into." They left her alone and she finally made her way to her room. There was no way out of this, and though she didn't know it, she was being compelled to stay in the house through the next few days.

A man arrived at the house, a dark and dangerous looking man, one that Karmina was forced to meet. She looked down at the floor and stood there shaking. They had told her about him, that he was an elder Kindred and her mother's old master before she died in child birth. He would get first choice on her. So like a piece of cattle, she was examined. He walked around her and reached out to stroke her hair. then he reached down and pulled her chin up to look at him, her eyes slid away from his and stared over his shoulder as she shook in fear. "She has her mother's eyes. And could well be more beautiful than her one day." Then she was left alone with her father as the other two moved out of the room. She was scared, she could feel the power of the man. "Father, please. What if he hurts me?" "Child, if you do as you are told, no harm will come to you. Plus after the bonding is done, you will want to serve him." She cried and begged yet again for this not to happen. But her father just shook his head and left the room.

The next morning, before dawn, her father brought her a ticket to chicago and she looked at him. "What is this" "We agreed to let you go live your life for a little while. He wants you to come to him of his own free will." "You look sad, what will I do in chicago." "Be a cop, all of the paperwork is there for transfer into the academy." "So I am allowed to go, but why there?" "He is there and will watch over you." "What about you?" "You will not remember?" "What do you mean, father?" "I love you, Karmina. But you will not remember anything until after the blood bond is formed." And with that the man stepped out of the shadows and her eyes were drawn into his. And she forgot, she forgot everything.

Adulthood (Chicago)
She awoke in the dorm of the academy and couldn't remember anything. It took a few days at the doctor's office and the bank to figure out that she had bank account that deposited funds on a monthly basis from an donor that she was restricted from viewing and that her birth certificate had her name and nothing much else. But she had a social security card, a driver's license and a passport with visas to Greece over the years. For the next year after she graduated she tried to ferret out the stuff to her past, but it was like she was dropped into the middle of nowhere.

Within the years she was assigned to a partner that she lost to a gas station robbery. She held the bleeding veteran as he died in her arms because her vague knowledge of medicine wasn't enough to save his life. Her life took a turn then, since the man had been like a father to her for those few years. She went into medicine and as she was applying for student loans and such, came across the fact that her schooling had been paid for by an donor yet again. Strange that she had this donor giving her money. But she put it to good use and went through in record time, thanks to summer schools and nearly burning herself out with the weight of extra classes. But she applied herself. She aged and matured, her beauty becoming much more noticeable. Eventually she graduated med school with her degree and was officially a surgeon.

Adulthood (Vegas)
Now she had been saving a lot of that money that had been given to her monthly and finally bought a plot of land in vegas. She had her own hospital built. And with help from more donors, she was able to run it by herself with a staff of highly trained nurses and such. But at that point in time, the money stopped coming in monthly. Almost to the day of her graduation, it stopped. But then again, she had donors for her hospital and an income coming from that. Private hospital to rich and famous, rich behind the Luxor.

Little did she know fate was spinning wheels and she caught the eye of a different Kindred. The owner of a night club that she had waltzed into have a particularly hard day. Something happened in the back room and she was forced to stabilize a woman, and in the rush and heat of it all, she forgot. But the owner of the night club took her back to her Hospital on a motorcycle and ended up in her apartment above the hospital. He then drank her blood and again it was all a haze. But then a few night later he returned and she was told everything that he was, he gave her his blood. They looked similar and he seemed to like her hair color since it matched her own. They were almost like twins. Passion sprung up from their encounters, but he was soon gone and she was left to figure out most things on her own. The blood bond, not finished or completed. Then one night, she received a phone call from man with a german accent. Giving her a location in the desert. She raced there and sure enough, her master was chained awaiting his final death with the sun. Moving quickly, she fed him and together they worked through the chains that held him. He was badly hurt but together they made plans to get out of vegas. Apparently the government there didn't want him alive. She sold everything, bought a new plot of land, sold his property while they were on the run, and built a new clinic in Atlanta, his choice of living places. He healed himself and finished the blood bond her. Her memories her own, she told him all about her father and his master and how she was meant for another Kindred.

Current (Atlanta)
She has been working here for a few months as a doctor and on call surgeon for the hospital. Her funds come not only from her own salary but from a string of night clubs that her Regnant owns and she handles during the daytime hours.