Lover Of Background Characters

Help.

There it was again. He angled his wings and rode the wind towards the cry, bursting through the bushes and tumbling to a stop. He looked up at the vampire bat that had called for help, taking in its tattered wings, thinned bone structure, and overexposed fangs with its lips peeled back. Owen did not recoil. He used to looks like this. He knew how distressing it was to receive fear in response to something he could not control. It was clear that this bat had been through a lot, and had only gotten worse over the years instead of recovering.

The bat's eyes glimmered with hope at his sudden presence---a miracle it had hardly dared to imagine.

Owen chirped. Food?

Food! The bat's chirp in response was long, desperate, thankful.

Owen reached out with his wings and it welcomed his embrace, letting Owen cradle it gently as it tilted its head back and drank from Owen with long, languid laps of its tongue.

Owen's mind wandered as he fed the bat. Who was it? Why was it here, near Oakhurst? How did it get here? How had no one else came across it? How had it survived all these years, presumable alone?

The bat gurgled, and Owen pulled back from the feeding. The bat heaved wearily, its wings rising and falling slowly, as though drinking so much at once had taken up all its energy. Owen waited patiently. Despite the immediate fatigue, he knew that in a few days, the effects of this feeding would be visible. Its might even begin to regain its muscle mass. Of course, Owen would have to return to feed it again.

The bat trilled gratefully. Owen nodded in response.

Home? Owen asked.

The bat looked in the direction of Oakhurst, but then shook its head sadly. Owen narrowed his eyes at the bat. Not unkindly, just that it wasn't the answer he had expected. Another Scott situation, perhaps? Another vampire who had been around for centuries, maybe having escaped the hunting of vampires that had placed Scott in his deep sleep of 600 years?

The bat chirped. Home? it asked Owen back.

Owen glanced at Oakhurst as well. The bat trilled excitedly at their shared home, and Owen couldn't help but smile. It was clearly a positive vampire despite the pain it had been through. It couldn't have survived all these years if it had not held on to the hope of something keeping it alive. Owen would ask the vampire what this something was when it was strong enough to turn back into its human form. If it wanted to share, of course.

The bat chirped again. Coven?

Owen nodded. Yes, there were other vampires at Oakhurst.

The bat chittered excitedly to know that other vampires were nearby. Home, it said again, this time with some insistence. It was urging Owen to return home, return to his coven. It didn't want Owen to be stranded out here alone like it.

Owen considered bringing the bat home with him. He knew it didn't have the energy to fly, but he could possibly carry it all the way back. Coven, he offered, pointing at the bat with a wing. The bat shook its head firmly.

Home. The bat gestured around it. It smiled at Owen, letting him know that it was grateful for the offer, but it wanted to remain where it was.

Owen nodded. He made a mental note of the bat's voice. Now that he thought about it, its voice roused a feeling of familiarity, one that reminded him of a sound from his human life in Oakhurst. He took a moment and grasped at that memory, but it slipped from him. Hmm. He'd think about it again the next time he visits the bat.