The turning of Aisha [Lancaster]

[Lancaster]

Fear spiked in Lancaster’s chest as Aisha brushed her hair to the side and removed her IV, as if he were going to do this right there and then, in the hospital room. He shook his head and leaned forward, taking the girl’s hands within his own. He wasn’t sure how long she would survive without the IV. He didn’t know how hasty he would have to be.

”Alright, yes. I can give you these things. But I’m not going to do it here. You’ll still die, Aisha. You have to understand that. When I do this you’ll suffer the worst kind of pain imaginable. You think you’ve suffered, but this will be worse. Your organs will die, one by one and your heart will eventually stop beating. Completely. You might pass out. But you will wake up. You’ll wake up…” he said. He laughed. The way people like to laugh when they’re afraid or under pressure. He hadn’t even entirely agreed but she was already making preparations. Throwing herself upon the blade of a sword with complete faith that she would be reborn, unscathed.

”We can’t risk a nurse walking in and a doctor thinking they can cure you while you’re… suffering. And when you suddenly recover with no hint of the illness in your system, they’ll want to turn you into a lab rat,” he said. He stood, and released Aisha’s hands. He pushed his fingers through his hair as he swept his gaze around the room. Under the bed there was a suitcase, which Lancaster pulled out. He opened it up and put it at the end of the bed, ready to receive the meagre belongings within the hospital room. He then went to the small cupboard, and from inside he retrieved a set of Aisha’s ordinary day clothes. He brought them over to the bed and laid them out over her lap.

”If you’re strong enough, get dressed. Pack what you want. I can be persuasive… I’ll go out and convince them to let me check you out,” he said. As if this were a hotel and she’d decided to terminate her holiday earlier than expected.

[Aisha (DELETED 7303)]

Aisha narrowed dark eyes, watching the flickering emotions on Lancaster's face. He was right; what was she thinking? There were so many factors going against them if she was turned here. Even now, a nurse could walk in at any moment. If that happened, she might never see Lancaster again, and her chance would be gone forever. She would spend the rest of her life in this hospital room.

"Ok...I understand," she said, her voice wavering slighting from sure excitement," just one second." With a few deep breaths, Aisha stood herself up, wincing slightly as her feet woke up. The pain in her stomach was fine, for now, but she doubted the concoction of pain pills she was on would last. She would have to act fast. As quickly as she could, Aisha stuff what little she owned into a duffle bag, and slipped her dress and sweater on over her frock. With skill, she undid the ties on the frock under the dress, and let it fall down to the ground, with out her ever having to show her skin. A slight dizziness wracked her brain, and Aisha had to grip the edge of the bed to steady herself. 'Slow down...' she said to herself, clenching the fabric on the bed, 'don't pass out.'

Aisha frantically thought of what else she needed to do, and looked around the hospital room. Kestrel. Should she leave a note? Aisha bit her lip, thinking for a moment. 'I probably shouldn't,' she decided, picking up the duffle bag with a bit of strain, 'i'll explain it all later.' Aisha turned to Lancaster, looking disheveled, but otherwise still standing. "Im ready...," she wheezed, her voice a big hoarse. The girl smiled, walking with careful steps over to the door. "You can lead the way....," she said, gripping the handle of the door to steady herself, the adrenaline from earlier leaving her. Aisha couldn't remember the last time she stood on her own two feet, but she had a feeling it wouldn't last long.

[Lancaster]

Lancaster didn’t stray too far as Aisha was getting herself ready. Just in case she fell, or passed out. He’d seen her try to move around before when she shouldn’t have. Had seen the way it made her dizzy, the way her body just didn’t want to cooperate. From the hallway he retrieved a stray wheelchair, which he rolled in just as Aisha was approaching, apparently ready to go. Lancaster reached out to take the duffel bag from her, lifting her belongings as if they were mere feathers. The strap looped over his shoulder, he waited for Aisha to sit down before he rolled her toward the exit.

At the front desk, he told a story. A story of a young girl stuck in a hospital room with its cold walls and the smell of disinfectant. A girl who didn’t get many visitors, and whose time on this Earth was limited. Wasn’t she due her own rights? Wasn’t a dying girl allowed to spend her last hours somewhere she wanted to be, rather than somewhere she was forced to be? Out in the fresh air. Didn’t they know it was a beautiful night outside? Raining? Exactly! There’s nothing more beautiful than the rain, the way it forces the trapped sunshine from the pavements and from the earth, to fill the air with such a glorious, indescribable scent? The scent of the sun! Would they really deprive a girl of her last wish to enjoy that sensation?

There were no lies hidden amongst Lancaster’s speech. It was all true enough. She would die, regardless; and he did believe she deserved everything that he described. Soon enough, the magic worked, as if his words were laced with silver, pretty shining things that the nurses could not resist. They nodded. Lancaster convinced them to pretend they hadn’t seen a thing. Would they have noticed, if he had taken her out the back door, somewhere? Pretend that he had done that…

Within ten minutes he had Aisha out on the pavement. In the carpark, he had his van. It was nothing special. It was the van he used for Curlew. Every now and again pianos required moving, and in the end he decided his own van was better than always hiring. It wasn’t a foreboding van; on the side were the words Curlew Musical Supplies, written over the top of a music stave, complete with a treble clef.

”See? Easy,” he said, unable to keep from grinning. This was kind of exciting, breaking someone out of hospital.

[Aisha (DELETED 7303)]

Aisha listened in complete awe as Lancaster skillfully weaved his words from the nurses. It was like a song, that rose and fell like notes on a page. It was a clever mixture of truth and lie, since after all, Aisha was going to die, that make was certain. Any way to you looked at it her fate was unavoidable, but at least this way there was a choice. This way she could finally take hold of her own destiny...

In a few minutes, the small night time desk staff had been completely entranced, and Aisha was wheeled quickly out through the sliding doors and into the night. The rain and died down to a soft drizzle, and the warmth of the hospital made the air seem frigid. Aisha let out a long breath from her mouth, and watched warm steam rise up and disappear into the darkness. She wondered for a moment if this would be the last time she could do that, before her body became as cold as deaths. Her heart pounded frantically as she thought of what she was doing, but no enough to want to go back. Aisha had no plan to go back.

With Aisha in a wheelchair and Lancaster pushing, they made it into the parking garage in record time. Lancaster's van was the only vehicle on this level of the garage, and all the better for their speedy escape. "That was amazing!" Aisha chirped, staring up at Lancaster with wide eyes, all but ignoring the seeping pain in her stomach, "I've never seen a more silver tongue in my life." Aisha's whole body felt giddy with excitement, and it only grew as she was lifted into the Van her stuffed backed away from their departure.

Aisha coughed harshly into the palm of her hand, and let out a low moan of pain from deep inside. "ugh...," she grumbled, wiping the red of blood from her lips. There wasn't a lot of time, her body could go into cardiac arrest at any moment. With fragile hands, Aisha gripped the seat of the car, waiting patiently to take off. She could hold it together, she was strong enough, or at least, she better be.

[Lancaster]

There had been no lies in Lancaster’s speech. The man was physically unable to lie, and if he tried too hard, he was overcome with dizzying sickness. It was something he had tested with Pi. She had asked him to tell her that he didn’t love her and he couldn’t. The words physically could not gurgle from his throat. It was as if there were bile there, ready to replace them if he pushed too hard. A couple of years of being completely unable to lie, however, had taught Lancaster a few tricks. A few ways to weave words so they weren’t ever untrue. Which, he assumed, made them all the more effective. People always preferred the truth over lies.

It didn’t take much to get Aisha into the van; Lancaster helped her up into the passenger seat, which was a little higher than the ordinary car seat. But she was light as a feather, and he made sure to give her a hand up. The wheelchair was left in the parking lot. Lancaster would have taken it back, except that he could smell the blood when Aisha coughed. It pushed him to go a little faster; as if she could die at any minute. What if she died while he was wheeling the chair back? What then? At least if he had his eyes on her at all time, he could leap into action. Regardless of place.

Lancaster didn’t know how to decipher the girl’s excitement. In his opinion, this was not something to be excited about. But each to their own, right? Sia had been similar, though when the turning took place, he knew she had questioned her decision. The process could be… well, harrowing.

”It’s on the other side of the river,” he said, talking about Lancaster’s. ”But it’s still kind of… well it’s not going to take long. Ten minutes, maybe. Sit tight…” he said. Soon enough they were out on the street; the traffic wasn’t bad. It was manageable. The stereo played music from a guy called Hamilton Leithauser, the song 5am. Lancaster liked him because he was part Blues, part pop – but he had soul. Lancaster only liked music with some kind of soul. It didn’t matter what genre it was, so long as he knew what they were feeling.

”How are you feeling? Doing okay? Do you have … any more questions?” he asked, filling the silence while they wound through the streets, headed toward the bridge.

[Aisha (DELETED 7303)]

Aisha rested her head against the cold glass of the window, a welcome comfort against her hot flesh. She was growing weaker by the second, but ten minutes or an hour, it didn't matter. She would survive this. She wasn't going to die here, like this. A cold, pathetic mass of flesh and bones with tears in her eyes. Dark hair fell around her like a blanket, and her pale lips hung open slightly, like a fish out of water, gasping for air.

Lamp post twinkled down on her like stars, and Aisha focus hard on them, trying desperately to stay awake. Nothing seemed real except for the pain, and her dark eyes flicked around her like a wild animal waiting to receive the death stroke. She was thankful for the music, which had a hint of hope on every note, wrapped her a warm embrace.

Aisha was pulled out of her trance by Lancaster's words, and she managed to give him a groggy yet cheerful, "Im fine...really." Those words were far from true, but Aisha could already see the lines of concern etching themselves into her friend brow, and didn't want to perturb him any further. As they finally passed over the bridge, Aisha let out a shaky sigh. So close, she thought, weakly clenching her fist, if I could just...

Suddenly, Aisha gasped, a sharp pain radiating through her body. She gasped for air, but received none, like she was drowning out of water. All she could feel pain, from the bottom of her feet to deep inside her memories. "Lancaster...," she croaked, tears welling up her her dark eyes. Aisha reached for the man next to her, gripping his coat under her knuckles turned as white as snow.

[Lancaster]

Had they ever really discussed what was wrong with her? The particulars of the disease that was eating up her body? Lancaster couldn’t recall, in that moment, with too much else on his mind – and the fact that she really didn’t look well. The way she leaned against the glass, the way her breath was barely there, barely able to fill her small lungs.

It wasn’t true, in the end. That she was perfectly fine. It was a lie of epic proportions, and as she reached out to grasp his coat, Lancaster was forced to swerve off the road. There was a high pitched and prolonged beep of a horn; another car that he had nearly collided with. High beams lit up the cabin of the van momentarily before they descended back into darkness, and Lancaster pulled over onto the side of the road, safe and unscathed.

”Okay, Aisha,” he said, unclicking his own seatbelt so he had a better hold on the situation.

”Looks like we’re doing this right here,” he said. It wouldn’t matter. It would be unprecedented, but he doubted any of the cars passing would have a long enough view inside to know what was going on. And even if someone were watching, who cared? Really? They were just a couple of really strange people doing something equally strange in the front of a car.

He lifted his wrist to his lips and ripped a deep gash into the vein. There would be no more talking about this. No more asking if she was sure. No more talking about the consequences. He had taken her away from the hospital and the calm and the care. And now he had to save her.

”You gotta drink this,” he said, almost crawling up onto his seat, as if he wanted to rip his own arm off to give it to her. He passed it over as best he could, his fingers curled and the blood bubbled neatly to the surface, sliding over his wrist and dripping onto the upholstery, onto Aisha’s clothing.

Othella had done this. This would work. It had to.

[Aisha (DELETED 7303)]

Aisha's body swayed with the van as it pulls harshly onto the side of the road. Her heart beat fast in her chest, a distraught look in her eyes despite the placid expression on her face. Reality flickered like a light bulb, all sound distant and disoriented. Aisha sat in her seat, frail and unmoving, her mouth occasionally opening as she gasped for air. She was almost certain she had died, until Lancaster's voice broke through her panic like a pick through a sheet of ice.

"Im sorry...," she kept repeating it over and over, a feeble whisper, fading in and out like a tide. She smelled the blood first, a subtle sweetness, tantalizing and crimson. With one hand gripping Lancaster's shoulder, Aisha hoisted herself up to reach his arm. For a moment, she wavered, wondering if death was the only true release. Nothing was certain once her lips reached his blood, then again, nothing was as certain as death.

Aisha thought again of her brother, strong and brave, and how much she wished to see him again. With no doubt left in her mind, Aisha drank from Lancaster's wrist, timid at first, then with a wild hunger. It was like all her senses hand been illuminated, life filling every vein and wracking the deepest parts of her brain. Aisha pulled way, lips red and glistening, her eyes listless and glossy.

The pain was like a bullet to the heart, human cells and vampire blood zipping sporadically though her. Aisha managed to stifle a cry, but her eyes were wide, body quivering like an earth quake. 'I will not die...,' she yelled these words in her mind, curling up into a ball in the seat of Lancaster's van, hand still gripping his jacket like an anchor. The years of pain was like the prick of a pin compared to this, but it was bearable, and Aisha hadn't come this far to just die.

Somewhere in the back of her mind there was an echo, a solemn voice calling out to her, and Aisha called back, not sure if she was dead or alive. 'God....?' she was startled by the sound of her own voice in her mind, clear as a spring. Slowly, Aisha opened her eyes, one her natural black, the other a cool and milky lavender, "Am I dead...," she croaked, looking around in darkness.

[Lancaster]

There were plenty of hours left in the night, and though it wasn’t the most comfortable setting, Lancaster knew that they could stay here, if they had to. He couldn’t drive properly with the girl clinging to his jacket like she was, and he didn’t want her further jostled by the movement of the van over speedbumps or potholes. If it came too close to sunrise then he would have to move, but they had plenty of time. For now, he could wait.

It was a relief when she took the blood without objection. She had been prepared, which was a good thing. It wasn’t something that she would balk at. Still, Lancaster grimaced when she pulled away, that innocent face of hers marred by the blood; it covered her lips, smeared her chin. Lancaster pulled a hankie from his pocket – he didn’t know why he still carried one. Habit, maybe? He reached over and mopped the blood from Aisha’s face – whether she noticed or not was a mystery. She was curled up like she was being repeatedly kicked in the gut. Which was fair. That was how this felt – or so he recalled, that’s how he had felt before he had passed out.

Finally, she was cognizant enough to ask her first question, and Lancaster laughed. It wasn’t really a situation wherein one should laugh, but he did. The sound was low, and hopefully somewhat comforting. ”No, Aisha. You aren’t dead. Far from it,” he said. He’d never liked it, the way people referred to vampires as ‘dead’. Lancaster didn’t often feel dead. And he knew, now, what death felt like. This was not it. Even a barrage of physical pain was far better than real death. Far preferable.

When she looked up at him, Lancaster frowned. Something had happened to her eyes – it was strange. It hadn’t happened before. But there was a long road ahead, and the last thing Aisha had to worry about was the colour of her eyes.

”I’ll take you home. Okay? Are you alright if I drive? I’ll take you home, and I’ll … call Roxette. She’s my thrall. With her, I can show you what it’s like to take blood from a human. Or I can get you some blood bags – but you’ll be thirsty. That’s what that is. Don’t let it scare you…” he said, reassuringly. He let her keep his arm, if she wanted it, even as he reached for the keys in the ignition.

[Aisha (DELETED 7303)]

Aisha allowed Lancaster to wipe up the blood, reaching a slightly shaky hand up to touch her teeth. Not much had changed, but as she grazed her finger along them, Aisha caught the feeling of something sharp. Quickly, she pulled her hand away, looking up at Lancaster with frantic eyes. Slowly, Aisha loosened her grip on his jacket, flexing her fingers to bring back some blood. Weariness scratched at the back of her mind, but she ignored it, fighting the urge to close her eyes.

Lancaster's laugh washed over her like a cool breeze, and Aisha managed a gentle smile in return. Her body had changed, but who she was hadn't, and that was at least something to be thankful for. "Home...?" Aisha blinked, furrowing her brow in thought. There was no going back to the hospital, and Kestrel...she couldn't go there, not in this state. Aisha suddenly felt a bit overwhelmed, the nagging fatigue growing stronger. Another feeling invaded her senses, something like...hunger. A bit panicked, using every once her strength to stay awake. "Is there anywhere else I could go...your place? O-or that's too much trouble..." Aisha trailed off, blinking her widening eyes.

'Feeding...' How could she have forgotten? Vampires, a thing she now was certain she was, feed on human blood. The idea wasn't completely appalling but did take her back a bit. Aisha relented to her growing fatigue, and closed her eyes. "Sorry but...," she settled calmly into the seat, "I just need to...sleep."