Nothing Compares [Vera]

[Lancaster]

There was a collective gasp as the woman’s body slumped, all signs of struggle dispersing. For all intents and purposes, she looked dead; Lancaster could at least claim that he had not been the one to kill her. His lips pressed tight together as he glanced up at those surrounding them, suddenly feeling claustrophobic.

”Show’s over,” he said, gaze resting on Jessica as he silently asked for her help. Taking the queue, she straightened her shoulders and declared drinks on the house for anyone who still remained. Some still lingered, and Lancaster could feel their unease. The way they looked at Vera, like she was dead – like they expected her to come to life with fangs and a vengeance. Lancaster shook his head and sighed, slipping an arm beneath Vera’s shoulders, and the other beneath her knees. He scooped her up off the ground, blood still dripping from her clothing.

”She needs privacy,” he grunted. He might have told them that if they wanted proof of life, they could come back the next night. What he didn’t consider, what he cursed himself for, was that when he gave himself away as a vampire he was giving Vera away, too. If his blood worked, when she turned, it wasn’t something that could be undone. She would be a vampire, forever. Eyes would be on her. Lancaster didn’t know, yet, whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

With Vera in his arms, Lancaster slipped through the crowd and headed for the stairs. He carried her up the two flights to the loft where he laid her out on the couch. How often had he laid a new childe out on this very couch? It was becoming habit.

[Vera (DELETED 8679)]

During the hours that this process took, she could've easily been pronounced dead right then and there as she appeared to be nothing more than an empty husk that is a corpse, awaiting her burial. But as time past, that afternoon turning to night as it gave way to day and then proceeded into the final stretch which slowly proved that some form of life remained within the women. It was gradual, first only being an occasional twitch of her eyes under their lids or the slight but noticeable movement of one of her limbs. But once it grew later and the sun had finally set, she began to regain consciousness. Vera managed to open her eyes to small slits, her vision blurry. It took her a moment to try and figure out where she was and why, the events from an unknown amount of time rather hazy in the back of her mind. Though after a minute or two of sifting through the scraps of what she could recall, two things stood out painfully clear.

She had been shot.

And that the owner of the bar had offered to turn her into a vampire.

Vera almost immediately tried to sit up, though the deep ache in her protesting joints and muscles forced her to lie back and process this information. Now fully conscious it was apparent that the blood she consumed had done something, seeing as initially a few things were noticed. First, the lack of pain she felt was a great relief though that was replaced with a numbing and sore sensation present mostly everywhere around her body. Next, the woman caught herself not breathing, which she quickly fixed though felt no sort of urge to do so. After this, it finally was noticed that her head began to swim as all the surrounding stimuli tore at her senses, the effect itself rather nauseating. Finally she managed to fumble around with her blood soaked shirt, trying to lift it ever carefully to see if she could get a glimpse at the wound. The flesh in the bullet’s entry was tender though it appeared to be all but healed. Letting the cloth fall back onto her torso and her head back onto the couch she had been placed upon, Vera closed her eyes and tried to tell herself that insanity was a very clear possibility.

She been having a mental war for herself for about 5 minutes before footsteps could be heard walking up a set of nearby stairs. Somewhat expecting who it might be, she simply remained where she was and awaited their arrival.

[Lancaster]

The footsteps belonged to Roxette. The bleach-blonde human heavily trod through the door, slamming through it with a complete disregard for whoever might be inside. Lancaster, with all his long limbs, was nestled into one of the nearby armchairs, his legs sprawled in front of him and his arms hanging over the edges. Roxette’s arrival startled him awake with a quick clearing of his throat.

The girl had been texted that morning, just before Lancaster had passed out. She’d been informed of the situation, and she always knew what was expected of her. Sometimes Lancaster left her out of it. At other times, she was non-expendable. She hadn’t died yet, anyway, so she knew she could at least trust Lancaster. She acted like she didn’t enjoy it, but underneath it all she liked it, this strange way of giving blood.

“F’****’s sake, Lanky. You say the whole bar saw you but you leave your door unlocked? What if the mob came to burn the place down?” she said, bell-like laughter following the harsh accusation. Lancaster hadn’t really thought about it, though he should have. Was the mob-like mentality really still in play, these days? Again, he cleared his throat and shook his head, noticing belatedly that Vera was awake.

”Shut up, Roxxy. Vera, you okay?” he asked, closing the space between himself and his new childe, dropping down to crouch by her level.

”Roxette is here to help. Even if she likes to talk rough,” he said, rolling his eyes at the rocker blonde, a swift glare silently telling her to keep her mouth zipped and do as she was told. As his human thrall, she had no choice but to obey. Turning back to Vera he made sure to keep his distance; to remain outside of her personal space. She probably had a lot to take in, and he didn’t want to overwhelm her any more than was necessary.

[Vera (DELETED 8679)]

As the door was thrown open with a rather loud slam, she winced slightly at the noise though remain silent as the man who's name she was struggling to recall was speaking to a woman she had yet to meet. Their voices, despite speaking at a normal tone, almost felt as if they were thundering in her ears making Vera's bought of nausea that much worse. But the effect lessened as they kept on speaking and as the vampire had focused on her, asked how she was, and introduced the other person as Roxette. The woman scanned his face before being forced to briefly shut her eyes. "As if I had just lost an argument with a Mack truck on the interstate." She opened them once more and made eyes contact. "I'm sorry...but I'm having trouble remembering your name...hell, make that the last..." She trailed off, a light frown touching her lips. "How...much time has past?" Vera's eyes flicked from the two as she waited for an answer.

[Lancaster]

”About twenty-four hours, give or take,” Lancaster said, glancing down at his watch. The night wasn’t too far through, but in another couple of hours it would be twenty-four since Vera was shot. Lancaster, at first, wondered why he too had dozed so long, but he had to remember that he wasn’t accustomed to ‘thirst’. The relic that he wore on his upper arm kept him from having to feed, ever, unless he lost blood. Last night, he had lost blood. He would have to find someone to help replace it, which could be a struggle. But it was a struggle that would have to wait for later.

”My name is Elliot Lancaster. Most people call me Lancaster. The bloodline you are now a part of is d’Artois,” he said. He could have explained that the head of the bloodline was currently out of the country, but the information at this point and time was superfluous to Vera’s needs. He cleared his throat.

”I know how you’re feeling. And I know it’s going to sound horrific, but the only way to ease it is by drinking blood,” he said. When he’d been turned he’d woken up feeling like an axe had been lodged into his skull, his whole body aching. He hadn’t believed Pi. He’d held out until the very last, until he drank the blood of a human and instantly felt refreshed and revitalized. Powerful. It was a dangerous feeling. He waved down Roxette, who approached without another word.

”Popular culture might make you think we’re monsters, but we’re not. You can take blood without killing. It’s why Roxette is here…” he said. Roxette took up position beside Lancaster, crossing her legs as she relaxed on the floor in front of the couch, palm up, ready to offer her wrist to Vera.

[Vera (DELETED 8679)]

When he began speaking, Vera remained quite and listened. It hadn't felt that 24 hours had past though it didn't seem like such a far fetched idea. Next he introduced himself, this time the name sticking for longer than a few seconds. But as he continued onto the blood line, this is where it began to get a bit difficult. Despite having many more questions, the woman clenched her jaw and forced herself to remain silent, only nodding in response. And then he mentioned having to consume blood to rid herself of what she was currently feeling. This caused an odd look to pass over her face, a mix of various emotions hardly able be to be told from one another. Lancaster gestured for the other woman to join them, she sitting on the floor with her arm out, unfazed by the whole ordeal.

This was the type of situation Vera would've never thought to have found herself in.

She was hesitant, looking between the two with a slightly nervous gaze. The new vampire didn't want to feed, though the ache in her bones and the horrid head ache that was causing bile and stomach acid to rise in the back of her throat was suggesting otherwise. Shifting her position on the couch carefully, she looked at Roxette's wrist, the thought of blood causing an extreme pain to explode in her gums. She closed her eyes and waited for the feeling to pass, her discomfort intensifying for a brief moment. Once her fangs had finished extending, nearly spearing her tongue in the process, she reopened them. And without a second though, Vera leaned forward and bit down.

After this point, there weren't many words to describe what she felt.

As she drank, the stiffness in her aching joints began to fade, her mind cleared and she basically began to feel a hell of a lot better. As if she had just woken up from a full nights rest.

As if by some instinctual timer, Vera released and leaned back clearly in a daze.

[Lancaster]

Lancaster watched, eagle-eyed. Roxette could be a ****, sometimes. She could be a downright *****, but she had reason to be. She was enthralled to another person, basically their slave if they chose it. Lancaster didn’t – most of the time he suggested things to Roxette rather than asked her, unless he forgot or was at his wits’ end. And besides, there had grown between the two an easy camaraderie. With Lancaster, Roxette’s life was better off. She no longer had to live on the streets, risking her life most nights just to get by. Now, she was comfortable, and Lancaster paid her well for her troubles. She was almost like a glorified personal assistant.

Whatever the case, she was important to Lancaster. She was a friend, someone he cared for, and he would never forgive himself if he put her in a situation that cost her her life. He was ready to step in and use his superior strength to pull the fledgling from the human if she tried to take too much. They were all different when turned, they all had varied reactions. This one surprised him, the way she released Roxette and let go without Lancaster having to intervene. It helped him to relax, just a little.

“Am I done?” Roxette asked, her voice slurred. She, too, was clearly in a daze. Lancaster nodded.

”You’re done. Go sleep it off in one of the bunks downstairs,” he said. He didn’t particularly want Roxette hanging around to offer her brand of commentary on the explanations and answers that Lancaster would have to give next. Surely Vera had questions. Roxeette got up, wobbly feet carrying her back to the door and the stairs down; half way down there was a clattering and then a smattering of delirious laughter. Eventually, she made it down, and silence pervaded the space between sire and child, disturbed only by the muffled bass of the music from the pub two floors below.

”Are you okay? I know you probably have questions. I don’t want to overwhelm you, so we’ll take it one step at a time…”

[Vera (DELETED 8679)]

It took a few moments for Vera to pull herself out of the stupor she was in. Though even as she did, she was still marveling over what she felt. Blinking a few times, the woman finally found her voice though rather...unfiltered. "Holy...****..." She shook her head as if that would assist in clearing it before focusing on Lancaster. "Does it always feel this...." She searched for the word though was unable to do so. Leaving the sentence unfinished, the fledgling quickly continued, her tone sobering up slightly and gaining a rather serious edge. "But...please, tell me I'm not going insane. This...whatever this is, is actually happening? I-I was shot an..." Vera trailed off, clearly struggling to process it all at once due to finally having a moment to do so.

[Lancaster]

Lancaster nodded, choosing to finish Vera’s sentence for her.

”You were shot. The bullet went straight through, and by the time the ambulance got here you would have been dead,” he said. He’d have to talk to Jessica later, and see what happened with the medics – they would have arrived only to be told the shot woman was taken away, turned by a vampire. The police would have come, too. Statements would have been made. Why had he not got a knock on the door? He would go and talk to them himself. And he needed to know whether the security guards had caught the culprit. Maybe they had, and that’s why Lancaster hadn’t been needed. The story was confirmed and filed away, the authorities unsure what to do when vampires were involved.

Later. For now, he had to focus on Vera.

”It’s going to be overwhelming for a while. Your senses are heightened. But you’ll get used to it,” he said. She was still in the same bloody clothes as the night before, and she probably wanted to get cleaned up. But Lancaster had a couple of things he wanted to determine, first.

”I need to figure out what Path you are,” he said, standing so that he could wander over to the small cornered-off bathroom and back again. He brought with him a small sharp knife and a mirror. First, he held up the mirror.

”Can you see yourself in the mirror?” he asked. If she was an allurist, she would be able to. If not, she wouldn’t. And he’d be able to rule out at least one path.

[Vera (DELETED 8679)]

The woman pursed her lips as Lancaster finished her sentence, though not being able to situate her mouth correctly considering her fangs were still extended. If only she had taken a cab or maybe ignored the song that the man before her had sung then she would still be technically living life as normal. Speaking of that...what about her rather small family, her job? Explaining to someone that you are currently without a pulse isn't something you can just slip casually into a conversation.

I mean, you could.

But it'd be rather awkward.

Or taken as a joke.

Maybe both...

Blinking a few times she then switched her focus to Landcaster's words, listening rather intently. As he spoke of her heightened senses, she didn't respond though mentally commented that that was quite the understatement. Despite having taken her fill of blood, which had done quite a bit in dulling the discomfort she felt, the woman's ears rang with all sorts of noises, nose all sorts of scents, all from unknown origins. Vera couldn't imagine one day being able to bare it all.

But that thought only caused more questions to arise. One in particular being if, as stated is multiple forms of media, vampires are immortal. It was a puzzling concept, seeing as the human inhuman mind can just barely if only sort of under stand the concept of a certain thing being "infinite" seeing as most things in their lives are surely "finite." But one thing at a time, as the vampire had said.

Everything so far (seeing as not much had been covered) was making sense, although Lancaster's next statement confused her a bit. Path? What was that suppose to mean? But it looked as if her question was about to be answered as Elliot grabbed a mirror and knife before asking if she could see her reflection. Peering into the piece of reflective glass, it was an odd sensation not being able to see herself. "No...I can't."