new blood

“Do you need a couple moments?” Ames asked from behind the counter. Ames was one of the few faces Ethan used frequently around Sunnybrooke. Like with the others Ames had her own story and life, and was the skin he had managed to pick up a few hours at the sandwich shop with.

The smell of the girl behind the counter had caught Railene off guard. It wasn’t one she had smelled before and wasn’t sure how it made her feel. On top of that she had been in Human Autopilot so when she had felt hungry she’d wandered into a place full of food she couldn’t eat. The smells reminded her of that as she spoke, “Sorry, I just...got lost. Do you know which way the blood bank is from here? I’m still not familiar with the town.”

“sounds perfect.” he nodded a little “lead the way, cause I don’t know how to get to your place and more importantly to all that alcohol.”

Rai turned to her left and started down the way, she hadn’t had anyone over to her brother’s place turned hers. It honestly wasn’t her favorite place but she had been trying to make it more home like. Which meant it was a wreck of automotive designs on almost every surface. “I’m going to warn you now the only clean rooms are the living room and bathroom.”

“I got it” he said to the offered hand “great. let’s go drink.” he said starting to walk, before stopping, “where are we going exactly?”

She bobbed her head in acknowledgement and dropped her hand, “We can go to my place I guess?” She laughed in an attempt to ease whatever tension she was feeling, “I actually still have the shit from the bar mitzvah. Haven’t drank it since working at a bar comes with perks.” She shrugged. 

“Leave things alone. Leave death alone” he started to push himself to stand again, taking a moment to steady himself. “I need a drink…or twenty” he muttered to himself 

Death. What? Railene shook her head to clear her thoughs and held a hand out if he needed it. “That’s a statement I can get behind.” Rai took the subject change, it was something she could understand. “So let’s do that.”

Kieran’s gaze remained on the ground as he continued the attempt to gather himself. These trips normally didn’t take anything out of him, but they also had never taken this much time in real world time to complete. He lifted his head after a moment to look over at the owner of the familiar voice. Railene. “I told her. I told her to leave it alone, but she couldn’t. She just couldn’t fucking leave it and move on”

Railene watched from a careful distance until he spoke. She was spooked. This whole supernatural life was only getting worse and worse. Vaguely, in the back of her mind, she wondered if she’d ever be numb to this weird shit.

As he spoke she moved slowly toward him. Who the hell was ‘she?’ “Leave what?” Was the question her mouth chose to speak.

For most others there hadn’t been anything that felt weird the night the storm happened. For most others the lightning hadn’t meant anything more than usual. Most others weren’t Kieran Caldwell. Something had happened. He could feel it inside of him, the hellhound could feel it. There were very few times the hellhound took over when it wasn’t time for a body to be taken to the door of the afterlife, and that night had been one of them.

He’d tried everything he could to close it. Maybe he could find the already escaped souls and put them back later, but he had to close it, prevent any other from escaping first. Only nothing he did proved worthwhile. The hellhound brought him back, and though no time had passed in the realm between, a few days had passed in the realm of the living. 

“I’m going to kill her” he muttered as he moved to take a step forward before dropping to the ground from exhaustion. 

Railene walked slowly through the darkness, she was trying to distract herself from the hunger. It wasn’t working but she couldn’t just stop and go home. Something had her on edge. The town didn’t feel right anymore, like there was a constant ringing only she could hear. She had written it off as being a new born, but she wasn’t totally sure. 

Kieran’s words caught her attention and she darted to where it seemed to come from. “Kieran?” She asked warily, head tilted. “What the hell?”

“It depends. Sometimes it’s mild and sometimes it was bitterly cold thanks to the wind and frost coming in from Russia. Usually falls to about minus two or three degrees celsius” he replied, thinking about his homeland “It’s pretty great, with the snow follows ice and there was always this massive ice rink and markets they had in the winter every year where I lived, that was a lot of fun” Nathan nodded “I’ll keep that in mind if I ever get the chance to go. Wait, Dingle? Is that a place?” he asked curiously, never hearing of it before “That’s a fair point. Those two are up there with Harum Scarum” he grinned

“That sounds perfect.” Rai grinned, it had clicked in her mind that she wouldn’t have to worry about getting cold anymore. And that was the first real benefit she could think of about this new life of her’s. Her laugh was almost a cackle as she responded, “Aye. Southwest coast. They have dolphin tours too. Dingle’s Dolphins. My second favorite place, just after Dingle’s Dick.” .Railene winked the whole town could have not been better at setting up the weirdest string of places. She faked a shudder as she replied, “It’s such a shame those are what caught on.”

“It does.” She says without hesitation, her hand moving to rest onto the girl’s shoulder comfortingly. It was an instinct of Stella’s to nurture others, and that hadn’t changed after she turned. “You’ll get past this part soon, and then… you’ll feel amazing. Trust me.” She gives her a reassuring smile.

Rai’s eyes followed Stella’s hand and she stared at it as it rest on her shoulder. How long had it been since someone casually touched her? She missed it. “Then don’t let me slaughter this town.”

“Alright.” She nods. “Let me know which week you manage to get off from work. In the meantime, I’ll track down Stark.”

“Just tell me this really does get easier.” Rai looked over at Stella, a little desperation on her face.

Stella laughed at the thought of Railene chomping off one of Stark’s fingers. She would pay to see that. “Honestly, I’d serve his whole arm to you if I could.” She says through a grin, but then it falters at the rest of her statement. She missed her people more than anything, but of course she wouldn’t have done any of it differently. It was better that she was trapped in here and they were free. “Yes, they certainly are.”

With a sigh Rai met Stella’s eyes, “Let’s do it then. I’steve been called masochist before. Let’s see how true that is.’

“Sure, what would you like to know about it?” he asked “I’ve never been to Ireland. It was always somewhere I wanted to visit” he confessed to her. Nathan let out a laugh at her expression “Why? Do they think Harum Scarum is the best when we all know it’s the worst” he joked. The waitress arrived with his meal and placed it down on the table as he gave her a thank you. “Harum Scarum was terrible, just terrible” 

“What’s winter like?” Her curiosity got the best of her before she could think og something better. “Snow is my favorite.” The explanation was weak but she smiled the same, “If you ever need a tour guide. Let me know. Not that I can go or anything. Just. I’ve got a brother who loves going.” She left out the part where they took a yearly trip as siblings. “Or if you ever find yourself in Dingle go to Dick Mack’s for a drink. Tell them you were sent by a Gallagher your first drink will be on the house.” It was a bitter sweet feeling. She smiled thinking of how funny that would be but her chest ached. “Oh please.” Rai rolled her eyes dramatically. “The only movie these people would watch is Love Me Tender. Maybe Blue Hawaii.”

He sensed that the conversation was making her uncomfortable and Nathan made an attempt to steer it away from that road “I get it.” he nodded and avoided prying “This place isn’t Bulgaria for me. I still feel like I haven’t settled in here” Bulgaria was where he hailed from and was moved out to the town by request of the FBI to be one of the guards. Bulgaria was home and at times he felt as trapped here as the residents of the town. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know if you had any or not. Have you not spoken to anyone yet?” he asked wondering why someone like Railene who seemed so social wouldn’t have friends around town “No you’re not making me uncomfortable and you’re welcome to stay as long as you please…and for the record King Creole is the best Elvis movie” he said giving a soft smile.

“You’ll have to tell me about Bulgaria. I’ll tell you about Ireland.” Her accent slipped in with the name of her home. Railene was ready to whip out her next sassy remark about why she didn’t have friends but his comment stopped her. Her mouth hung open for a moment as she stared at him. “Because people around here don’t say things like that.”

Stella watched her coworkers reaction to the name with a raised brow. Clearly, somehow, he had left a negative impression on the girl. She wondered silently if it was because of the murdering spree broadcast in the news or perhaps just an unpleasant interaction with the snarky vampire. “Oh, lucky you. You know my brother?” She can’t help from laughing as she asked the question. “And no. All the vampires I know and trust are somewhere else, safe. Not here.”

This world couldn’t be smaller if Rai had planned it that way. “I wouldn’t say I know him by any means.” She hesitated, “I met him like one time. But if I’m gonna be in a rage for a week he’s gonna lose some fingers.” Amoung other things, she tacked on silently. Rage was a hard emotion for her, it didn’t happen often so she never knew how to control it. “They’re the real lucky ones.”

“Great. It’s almost always successful. I’ve only had a couple out of all the newborns in my coven that it didn’t work for. Your odds are pretty good. It hurts like Hell and you’ll hate me when it’s happening, but afterwards it should make your thirst manageable.” She explains the process with a nod. “I’ll track down my brother, Stark, and make sure he’s fit to help.”

None of this was going to be pleasant. Railene couldn’t imagine anything worse until Stella mentioned her brother by name. The sound of her teeth snapping together was loud in her own ears. “You don’t know anyone else?”