High school was harder. Mary Ann still preferred reading to anything else, but explaining that to her friends, who mostly only had boys on the brain, was hard. She tried to play the social butterfly game, but found that more often than not, it simply wasn't fun. Interesting, yes, but not really fun. Nonetheless, she played the game, and continued to devour any books she could find. By this point, her attention had turned to the unusual, the weird, the supernatural. Her mother let it slip that Mary Ann's paternal grandmother (who had just moved in with the family) was half-Gypsy, and soon Mary Ann was spending nearly all of her free time with her grandmother. She learned bits and pieces first-hand, and read about the rest.
By the time Mary Ann began college, her brain was already packed full of more random knowledge and trivia than most people learn in a whole lifetime. Early on, she learned that there was little that anyone at college could teach her, but she persisted with her studies, believing that you really couldn't get anywhere in the world without a degree. She needed to spend very little time on her schoolwork, and soon found a job at a tiny little hole-in-the-wall bookstore. It was open nearly until sunrise, which suited her just fine (since she didn't sleep much anyway), and she soon was working her way through the interesting old books (the ones she hadn't already read, at least) sold at the bookstore.
Within a few months, she had read most of the books. Then one night, for some reason she still has not been able to determine, Mary Ann struck up a conversation with one of the patrons. This gentleman, who had been a regular of the store for some time, was both surprised and intrigued. They conversed well past the normal closing time, comparing books they had read and their views on said books. Suddenly, as the patron realized dawn was quickly approaching, stopped Mary Ann mid-sentence.
"Is there somewhere I might stay for the day?"
"What?"
"Damn, no time for this. Show me the storeroom."
Without another word, Mary Ann complied. Although she did not remember why, she, too, slept in the tiny closet that served as the bookstore's storage room and office. Needless to say, she was rather surprised when she woke up the next evening as the sun was setting, having slept the whole day through, and the gentleman patron was sitting behind the desk regarding her.
"Very good, then, would you care to join me this evening?"
"Will you explain something to me?"
"Perhaps..."
"Okay, then let's go!"
The next few weeks were a bit of a blur. Mary Ann learned a great many things from the gentleman, who called himself Alexander, all of which seemed to defy all possibility. She was told of the Kindred, their history, their ways, and their curse. And at the end of it all, Alexander Embraced her, without even asking if she wanted it. He didn't have to, really. The enthusiasm that showed on her face when he told her these stories was all the encouragement he needed to create a childe.
Of course, this was all in California, where the rules of the Camarilla are not nearly as rigid as elsewhere. Thus it really didn't matter that Alexander had asked no Prince's permission to create a childe. But it also really didn't matter when a pack of Anarchs attacked Alexander and destroyed him. They left Miranda (as she now called herself) alone, seemingly not even realizing she was there. At any rate, Alexander had taught Miranda what she needed to know to survive, and the first thing to do was to get out of California. She began moving East, stopping at various cities on her way, but eventually winding up in Washington, Illinois, on the Fourth of July. Perhaps the whispers of the two massive rivers, flowing softly over years and years of things thrown into the river to be forgotten caught her attention; perhaps the deafeningly loud, blindingly bright fireworks in the sky that night told her to stop here. Stranger things have happened, after all.
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