A memory.

Darkness, Charlotte mused, was something of a Mekhet's stock in trade. The blindfold around her eyes was wrapped so tightly that not a single sliver of light penetrated the black cloth, and she took a measure of comfort from the familiar darkness. For the experiment she was about to perform to have any real validity, she would have to be as mentally and emotionally stable as possible when it commenced. She could feel the weighty presense of the Sire's gaze on her back, and let that reassure her as well. Every precaution had been taken; Charlotte had no reason to believe she would be anything other than perfectly safe.

"Last chance. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

There was no real concern in her Sire's voice. It was a confirmation of intent, not an attempt at talking her out of it. She answered him in the way he had come to expect of her - with another question.

"On the night you turned me, you asked what it was that I was so desperate to know. Do you remember what I told you?"

"Of course. 'Everything'. You said you wanted to know everything."

This time, his voice was tinged with amusement. The edge of Charlotte's mouth quirked up in a small, thin smile.

"Then there is your answer. I want to know what the limits of this body are. Rotschreck is spoken of with such dread, and I want to understand it. To know it. Those will be the first steps towards conquering it."

Charlotte felt her Sire's hands on her shoulders, and she knew he approved.

"Then go, Childe. Find your answers."

She let him guide her forward, into the room they had prepared. When the door closed behind him and clicked shut, Charlotte took a moment to steady herself and pulled off the blindfold.

Charlotte stood in an old warehouse, long since fallen into disuse and disrepair. The place was littered with the signs of previous, temporary inhabitation - bottles left by teenagers, scabby belongings abandoned by transients forced to leave in a hurry. The sole object of her attention, however, lay in the center of the room. A number of metal barricades had been weighed down by concrete blocks and arranged in a circle around a small, but ferocious, bonfire. Charlotte felt a hot current of fear surge through her body, and desperately tried to suppress it.

No, no! You are more than your instincts! Remain calm. The fire will not hurt you at this distance.

Slowly, she took an uncertain step forward. And then a second, and a third. With each moment, Charlotte felt her Beast rising and thrashing with ever more urgency, seeking to drive her away from the terrible fire that dominated her senses. Through it, some small part of Charlotte's mind not overcome with the Beast or devoted to supressing it took careful note of everything she was seeing and feeling, creating neat mental lists to write down and explore later. She managed a fourth step, then a fifth. A meter and a half or so away from the cage around the fire, the Beast broke free.

Charlotte heard herself howl. It was an awful sound, a drawn out, rising wail that was filled with utmost terror. She threw herself backwards, landing heavily and scrabbling away on the dusty floor, desperate to put as much distance between herself and the hateful flames as possible. There was no coherent thought left - the analytical part of Charlotte's mind had been the first thing to be submerged by the rising frenzy. Still uttering the occasional cry of fear or anger, she began to batter herself against the door, slamming her thin body against it with all her meagre strength.

Something cracked. Wood splintered and Charlotte fell fowards through the ruin of the door frame, into the vicelike grip of another person. She snarled and snapped, thrashing and writhing, desperate to pull her way free and tear apart the obstacle that had so foolishly placed itself in her path. But it was to no avail. As her Frenzy began to burn itself out, she grew increasingly quiet and limp until she was left dangling like a rag doll in her Sire's arms. Gently, he led her over to a chair and placed her in it. Then, he sat opposite and waited patiently for his Childe to regain her senses.

It took time, but eventually, sane thought returned to Charlotte. She groaned and pulled herself upright, looking around and trying to remember what had happened.

Her sire looked on curiously. "Well?" He asked. "How was it?"

Charlotte grinned weakly. She had hoped to come away from her experiment with a fairly detailed mental account of a fear Frenzy, but frustratingly had only confused fragments of memory - fear and anger, blinding light and a desperate urge to get away from it. But even that had a purpose. It was an apt demonstration that any real thought or deliberate action would be denied to her should she slip into Frenzy again. Better a lesson learned now, than in a potentially disatrous situation. She steepled her fingers and looked back at her Sire.

"Fascinating."