Her own words sounded too loud in her head, as if they were being spoken into some vast concert hall with astounding acoustics, only that venue happened to be the inside of her skull. Each word reverberated like the chime of a great, deep bell, leaving a faint echo after it had been spoken. Objectively, it could have been really impressive, subjectively it hurt like a hangover. Cal winced and quietly shushed herself, trying to understand what Macaria was saying to her. She squinted up at the woman, not because she couldn’t see properly, but because she could see too well. It was like closing her eyes, turning to face the sun and then opening them again.
“Wait, wait, what?” Cal shifted and propped herself up on her elbows. “What do you mean ‘like me’? You mean I’m a psycho now, too?” She leant to one side, rubbing at the temple she could reach with her outstretched fingers. “That makes no sense. At all.”
As the faint echo of her own words continued to ring in her head, she slowly became aware that others were creeping in amongst them, definitely not hers, and not entirely audible. They were more like an impression of words, the thoughts behind the speech, the emotion and the intent. It was utterly surreal and Cal did not like it one bit. She shook her head lightly, as if trying to get rid of a persistently buzzing fly, and struggled to sit up a little more.
“Er, hi, Macaria.” She tentatively reached out and took the gloved hand, giving it a fairly firm shake, considering. “I’m Cal… Caliste.” She made a face, clearly not particularly fond of her full name. “What’s a progeny, exactly?”
She stared into the necromancer’s face, finally seeing it properly for the first time. She was pretty, that was certain, and there was a worry in her eyes that challenged the calm, clinical persona she had been interacting with just moments before. Not only that, but she thought she could hear Macaria's worry in her own mind. Again, not fully formed words exactly, but the feeling behind them, should they ever be spoken aloud. It was beyond disconcerting.
Cal licked her dry lips and let her keen gaze sweep over the shop she had almost robbed. “Am I…” her voice dropped to a low whisper as she returned her gaze to Macaria, almost embarrassed to say the words out loud. “Am I a superhero?”
The Sheol Job
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Macaria
- Registered User
- Posts: 161
- Joined: 13 Nov 2013, 00:40
- CrowNet Handle: Kuei-Jin
Re: The Sheol Job
It turns out, she suddenly realised, that she was not very good at this whole… she supposed the word was ‘sire’. She was not particularly great at being a sire. Caliste, understandably, had a lot of questions, just as she herself had done when she had first woken to the infinite night, and try as she might Ria had difficulty finding answers to them. Well, the current ones were not so bad, but she imagined that in the future there would be some considerably trickier ones to navigate her way through. She was not looking forward to it.
“No, you are not a psychopath,” she started at the beginning, “And neither am I. We are both vampires.”
She thought it best to give Caliste a little while to let that sink in. It most likely would not be an easy thing to digest - until this night, she was fairly sure, Caliste had most likely thought that vampires only existed in lurid fantasy. Or sparkled on the movie screen somewhere. And why not? It was not as though the vampire community of Harper Rock went out of their way to make their presence known to the wider world, if anything the polar opposite was true. The heads of Macaria’s wider bloodline had themselves made a career from hunting down and putting an end to those vampires who drew attention to their kind.
She returned her gaze to her new childe.
“A progeny, Caliste,” she said, “Is what you are. It is what happens when a vampire turns a human into a vampire. Which, it would seem, I have inadvertently done to you. Which, I suppose, does give you super powers to a point. No doubt you have already noticed that you have certain heightened senses, and I would suppose that that counts.”
This had most certainly not been how she had seen tonight going. She had wanted a nice, quiet evening. Close up at the store, finish the bookkeeping, head back to her farm and relax in front of an old black and white movie or perhaps read some of her book. Nowhere in that schedule was ‘murder and then turn a human’. This was exactly why she tried to keep her life ordered. Order did not allow for things like this to happen. Order did not confuse the living hell out of her and provide her with new trials to battle her way through.
“I suppose,” she almost sighed, “That I had better let you in on a few secrets and tell you the things you really need to know to survive in your new existence. But first, what would you like to know?”
“No, you are not a psychopath,” she started at the beginning, “And neither am I. We are both vampires.”
She thought it best to give Caliste a little while to let that sink in. It most likely would not be an easy thing to digest - until this night, she was fairly sure, Caliste had most likely thought that vampires only existed in lurid fantasy. Or sparkled on the movie screen somewhere. And why not? It was not as though the vampire community of Harper Rock went out of their way to make their presence known to the wider world, if anything the polar opposite was true. The heads of Macaria’s wider bloodline had themselves made a career from hunting down and putting an end to those vampires who drew attention to their kind.
She returned her gaze to her new childe.
“A progeny, Caliste,” she said, “Is what you are. It is what happens when a vampire turns a human into a vampire. Which, it would seem, I have inadvertently done to you. Which, I suppose, does give you super powers to a point. No doubt you have already noticed that you have certain heightened senses, and I would suppose that that counts.”
This had most certainly not been how she had seen tonight going. She had wanted a nice, quiet evening. Close up at the store, finish the bookkeeping, head back to her farm and relax in front of an old black and white movie or perhaps read some of her book. Nowhere in that schedule was ‘murder and then turn a human’. This was exactly why she tried to keep her life ordered. Order did not allow for things like this to happen. Order did not confuse the living hell out of her and provide her with new trials to battle her way through.
“I suppose,” she almost sighed, “That I had better let you in on a few secrets and tell you the things you really need to know to survive in your new existence. But first, what would you like to know?”
CrowNet Handle: Kuei-Jin
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Caliste (DELETED 6204)
- Posts: 19
- Joined: 06 Mar 2015, 15:11
Re: The Sheol Job
Vampires… Of course… The urge to laugh out loud was great, she could feel the faint hysteria bubbling up inside, but there was something about the look of absolute sincerity in Macaria’s almost sympathetic gaze that caused the sound to die before passing her lips.
“Oh. I see.” There wasn’t really much else to say.
Cal had never really been one for reading or even watching movies (the first Harry Potter book had taken her eleven weeks to complete), finding it difficult to stay still for what she considered to be long periods of time. She was a fidgeter, always feeling the need to be up and doing something, whether that was scouting a job location, practising her safe cracking skills or trying out the latest zipwire for a much needed rush. Cal was an adrenalin junky, but she preferred to keep her hobbies confined to bungee jumping and skydiving, not having a complete life transformation. If she had been more interested in books and movies she might have had more of an idea of what to expect with this whole vampire thing, though she was fairly certain fiction was just that, and none of those horror stories could have given her much help with what to expect or what the hell to do now.
“So, I’m your progeny…” She tested the word out and it felt strange, alien on her tongue. In a bizarre sort of way if fit perfectly with the swirl of alien sensations that were happening inside her at this very moment. “Does that make you, like, my mom?” Her nose wrinkled a little at the thought, not seeing the slightest motherly aspect etched anywhere into the woman who stood before her.
“I’m not sure I like having superpowers.”
If this was what it was like to have them, she absolutely did not want to be a superhero. The world was too bright, too loud, too sharp, and that was just in the relative gloom of the shop; she dreaded to think what would happen if she stepped outside. Not only did everything look and sound completely different, but somewhere in the depths of her gut was the gnawing feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same. In an instant her entire life had ceased to exist as she knew it, and she was certain she would never be able to return to any of it.
“My life’s over now, isn’t it?” She asked quietly. “I mean, I’m sort of dead…?” There was a faint ring of hope to her words, but deep down she knew it was futile. At the moment she felt as if she had been wrapped in cotton wool, that the world was continuing somewhere outside and she had just been shifted to a slightly alternate reality. It was entirely possible that the surreal bubble was going to pop at any moment, leaving her in a state of abject shock.
“Oh. I see.” There wasn’t really much else to say.
Cal had never really been one for reading or even watching movies (the first Harry Potter book had taken her eleven weeks to complete), finding it difficult to stay still for what she considered to be long periods of time. She was a fidgeter, always feeling the need to be up and doing something, whether that was scouting a job location, practising her safe cracking skills or trying out the latest zipwire for a much needed rush. Cal was an adrenalin junky, but she preferred to keep her hobbies confined to bungee jumping and skydiving, not having a complete life transformation. If she had been more interested in books and movies she might have had more of an idea of what to expect with this whole vampire thing, though she was fairly certain fiction was just that, and none of those horror stories could have given her much help with what to expect or what the hell to do now.
“So, I’m your progeny…” She tested the word out and it felt strange, alien on her tongue. In a bizarre sort of way if fit perfectly with the swirl of alien sensations that were happening inside her at this very moment. “Does that make you, like, my mom?” Her nose wrinkled a little at the thought, not seeing the slightest motherly aspect etched anywhere into the woman who stood before her.
“I’m not sure I like having superpowers.”
If this was what it was like to have them, she absolutely did not want to be a superhero. The world was too bright, too loud, too sharp, and that was just in the relative gloom of the shop; she dreaded to think what would happen if she stepped outside. Not only did everything look and sound completely different, but somewhere in the depths of her gut was the gnawing feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same. In an instant her entire life had ceased to exist as she knew it, and she was certain she would never be able to return to any of it.
“My life’s over now, isn’t it?” She asked quietly. “I mean, I’m sort of dead…?” There was a faint ring of hope to her words, but deep down she knew it was futile. At the moment she felt as if she had been wrapped in cotton wool, that the world was continuing somewhere outside and she had just been shifted to a slightly alternate reality. It was entirely possible that the surreal bubble was going to pop at any moment, leaving her in a state of abject shock.
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Macaria
- Registered User
- Posts: 161
- Joined: 13 Nov 2013, 00:40
- CrowNet Handle: Kuei-Jin
Re: The Sheol Job
So it seemed that the tricky questions were going to keep on coming, then. Fantastic. Nothing in her life, either before or after her death and rebirth, had prepared her for this sort of responsibility or to know how to answer anything remotely like what she was being asked. Which was not to say that she had had the same questions - she had. She had simply never received answers of her own to them, thus leaving her in a rather tricky position and having less than no idea what to say.
“In a way, I suppose,” she began, “But in the vaguest of ways imaginable. I am, it is true, responsible for your rebirth into this new life as your mother brought you into the one which ended tonight. But no, by any accurate or real definition of word, I am not your mother. I do, though, reserve the right to ground you at my discretion.”
She was not all that great at jokes.
She did, however, nod in what she hoped was a sympathetic manner as Caliste expressed her displeasure with her new ‘super powers’. She remembered, vividly, how overwhelming everything had been for her when she was freshly turned, struggling to make sense of all the things she was now feeling, all the things that she could smell and taste on the air, the sounds that before had gone entirely unnoticed by her.
“It is, yes,” she continued, “But that was your old life. Your new one has just begun. Which, admittedly, you needed to die in order to experience. I’m not going to say that it’s only a small hurdle, because it isn’t, but it is something that in time you will be able to move past. Trust me on this one.”
She stood, offering Caliste her hand to help her to her feet.
“For now, though, I suppose that we had better find you a place to stay while you get used to all of this. I have a spare room in my farmhouse if you are interested?”
“In a way, I suppose,” she began, “But in the vaguest of ways imaginable. I am, it is true, responsible for your rebirth into this new life as your mother brought you into the one which ended tonight. But no, by any accurate or real definition of word, I am not your mother. I do, though, reserve the right to ground you at my discretion.”
She was not all that great at jokes.
She did, however, nod in what she hoped was a sympathetic manner as Caliste expressed her displeasure with her new ‘super powers’. She remembered, vividly, how overwhelming everything had been for her when she was freshly turned, struggling to make sense of all the things she was now feeling, all the things that she could smell and taste on the air, the sounds that before had gone entirely unnoticed by her.
“It is, yes,” she continued, “But that was your old life. Your new one has just begun. Which, admittedly, you needed to die in order to experience. I’m not going to say that it’s only a small hurdle, because it isn’t, but it is something that in time you will be able to move past. Trust me on this one.”
She stood, offering Caliste her hand to help her to her feet.
“For now, though, I suppose that we had better find you a place to stay while you get used to all of this. I have a spare room in my farmhouse if you are interested?”
CrowNet Handle: Kuei-Jin
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Caliste (DELETED 6204)
- Posts: 19
- Joined: 06 Mar 2015, 15:11
Re: The Sheol Job
Cal raised a sceptical eyebrow at the grounding remark, not knowing nearly enough about Macaria to even make an educated guess as to whether it was a joke or not. On the one hand it was pretty funny, on the other Macaria didn’t seem the sort to do jokes. Ever. She rather hoped she was wrong in this assumption, given the amount of time they were likely to be spending together for the foreseeable future.
“Well, as long as I don’t have to call you mom or anything, I guess that’s ok…”
Absolutely nothing was ok about this situation, her subconscious was screaming, but Cal was willing to jump aboard any passing life raft of vague normality and cling on to it for dear life. She was more than happy to class not calling the stranger who had just accidentally turned her into a vampire ‘mom’ as normal. In fact, she was surprised to discover that she was feeling more than a little grateful to Macaria for dialling back the previously displayed crazy enough to try and talk her down. It went some way to, well, not comforting her exactly, but helping her feel that she wasn’t completely alone in a world that had just sprung up to devour her without so much as a by your leave.
Cal regarded her sire’s outstretched hand for a moment before reaching out to take it. The room tilted unpleasantly as she got to her feet and she swayed a little unsteadily, as if she were experiencing a head rush.
“Whoa, overload,” she muttered as she waited for everything to settle back down. “I guess if I can’t go back to my old life the offer of a room sounds good. Thank you.”
The words were spoken somewhat hollowly, as if devoid of meaning. She supposed it was her subconscious’ way of protecting her, not letting her dwell too long on what this all meant. Because if she thought about the implications for just a minute, everything she had just lost and the absurdity she had gained, it was highly likely she was going to go insane.
Cal let out a deep, heartfelt sigh and ran her fingers through her dirty blonde hair. "I need a drink. Can we get a drink?"
“Well, as long as I don’t have to call you mom or anything, I guess that’s ok…”
Absolutely nothing was ok about this situation, her subconscious was screaming, but Cal was willing to jump aboard any passing life raft of vague normality and cling on to it for dear life. She was more than happy to class not calling the stranger who had just accidentally turned her into a vampire ‘mom’ as normal. In fact, she was surprised to discover that she was feeling more than a little grateful to Macaria for dialling back the previously displayed crazy enough to try and talk her down. It went some way to, well, not comforting her exactly, but helping her feel that she wasn’t completely alone in a world that had just sprung up to devour her without so much as a by your leave.
Cal regarded her sire’s outstretched hand for a moment before reaching out to take it. The room tilted unpleasantly as she got to her feet and she swayed a little unsteadily, as if she were experiencing a head rush.
“Whoa, overload,” she muttered as she waited for everything to settle back down. “I guess if I can’t go back to my old life the offer of a room sounds good. Thank you.”
The words were spoken somewhat hollowly, as if devoid of meaning. She supposed it was her subconscious’ way of protecting her, not letting her dwell too long on what this all meant. Because if she thought about the implications for just a minute, everything she had just lost and the absurdity she had gained, it was highly likely she was going to go insane.
Cal let out a deep, heartfelt sigh and ran her fingers through her dirty blonde hair. "I need a drink. Can we get a drink?"