Winter is Coming [Katelynn]

[Robin Little]

There was an annual festival held at Thornside Park, just by the lake. Amongst the trees and the boardwalks there was a stage – the stage was used all year around, but every October to celebrate the Fall, one last Hurrah before Winter set in, there was a music festival. Aside from the main stage there were other, temporary stages set up, dotted around the park. Fences were erected, and the grass was turned to absolute slosh as the punters gathered by the masses. It was mainly alternative music, but there was a designated stage for the tamer folk music, and a tent set up for the silent dancers (they all wore headphones that blasted the same dance music).

For extra money, Robin still sometimes wrote reviews. Just because he’d been turned into a vampire didn’t mean that his whole life had changed – he still had all the same contacts, the same vague friends and acquaintances who worked for blogs and magazines. He’d scored some free tickets so that he could write an article about the festival. It was something different to do, something that wasn’t the Necropolis.

The bodies swarmed around him as Robin scrutinized the schedule, wondering which stage and which band he should go and see first. It was a stupid idea, really. The festival had been going all day, and he’s missed most of it. He’d be able to see three or four bands in the time that was left, if he stayed for the whole set. Maybe he’d try to get to a few more, and in between chat to a few of those that looked sunburnt and thirsty, those who’d been there all day. From them he could get the anecdotes and highlights he needed to fill in the bulk of the story.

Circling the bands he thought would serve him well, Robin surged into the main body of the festival, following the foot traffic toward the main stage. His senses were assaulted by the smell of beer and hot chips. He pulled the scent in and savoured it.

It made him feel human again.

WEARING

[Katelynn]

Leaning against the counter, Katelynn held her crystal wine glass up to the light watching how the light shimmered through the dark red merlot. Sighing, she finished the glass and set it down carefully on the counter.

If she was going to go to the festival, she had better head out. She had missed the first half of it already. Social events with crowds of people were usually what she avoided. However, her downfall was the love of music - especially listening to and watching live bands. She would dare the crowds for that opportunity.

Deciding her black jeans would suit well enough, she threw on her soft, midnight blue leather jacket over her thin black, long sleeved t-shirt, walked out of the RV and made sure to lock it.
Standing back and looking at the Airstream RV she nodded. It suited her.

Walking to her red Ducati, she kicked up the kickstand, threw her leg over the motorcycle and turned it on. Smiling at the sound, she headed to Thornside Park. The wind tossed her long dark hair around as as she sped up and she laughed out loud with pure pleasure.

Arriving at Thornside she found the perfect parking spot, locked the bike and threw her jacket in the saddlebag.
Walking in through the entrance she made her way towards the main stage. She hated how men stared at her as she walked through the mass of humanity and when one patted her on the *** as she walked by - she stopped and glared at him. In the past she had been told she was beautiful, honestly, she found it to be more of a hindrance than a benefit in her life.

The band at the main stage was very good and she joined in with the crowd dancing to the music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0nwmQsOr3k

[Robin Little]

The crowd surged and danced to the music which started to blast from the stage. It wasn’t a band Robin had ever heard of, but then he was out of the loop. He was getting old. According to the teenagers, anyway, and the majority of those who had gathered at this stage looked like they were teenagers. The band on stage, he noted in the small, ratty notebook he’d pulled from his back pocket, was reminiscent of One Direction or… what was that other one? Ten Seconds of Summer?

The last festival Robin had gone to, he remembered seeing the likes of Green Day, or Sigur Ros. He’d seen the Editors, and had even caught The Dandy Warhols. They weren’t as good as they once were, but it was still worth the money. Placebo had been one of the best experiences of his life – and he wondered whether he should have stopped to check the line-up before he’d accepted this gig. Which magazine was it for again? Did they need him to be positive, or could he be scathing? All he could do was take his notes.

People gave him odd looks as they tried to shove past to get a good view, to throw themselves into the midst of the dancing bodies. He promptly ignored said looks – he was tall enough at his 6’3’’ to see over everyone’s heads. From his pocket he withdrew his phone that, even with its severely cracked screen, still took decent pictures. He tried to get some artistic angles, things they could use in the article if they so wished. If they weren’t good enough, he was certain they could certain images from elsewhere. But no one had ever really complained about his images before.

From somewhere in the distance there was a cracking sound – it kind of sounded like gunshots, but Robin naively dismissed the idea that someone had come into the festival to shoot people. He assumed that there were fireworks going off, somewhere. He looked over his shoulder with a frown, scouring the sky, looking for the tell-tale explosions.

[Katelynn]

Katelynn manuevered her way towards the edge of the dancing crowd. She decided at 23 that she must be getting old. Her face was damp and strands of her dark hair stuck to her face - but her eyes glowed with the happiness of the moment.

Stretching rather cat like, she noticed a man walking by turn, look at her and smile then continue on his way. Curiously watching him, she wondered why he was carrying a backpack. She knew they didn't allow them in the festival. Shrugging and wiping her hair from her cheek, she figured he probably had camped around here and they were allowing him to go through or he had alcohol or drugs in it and had managed to sneak it in. Kaitlynn chuckled, it sure wouldn't be the first time that had happened at a festival.

Thoughts of her grandmother arose and she wondered what she would think of her being here in a place like this. Music, alcohol and probably drugs prevalent - well, most likely drugs prevalent. Loving and strait-laced as her grandmother had been, she hardly felt she would approve her being here. Not that it mattered any longer. The woman who had raised her and loved her had passed away some months ago.

Kaitlynn still wondered about the inheritance she had received after her grandmothers death. They had lived modestly, however, she had received a huge inheritance - huge. Large enough that she would never have to work again. Not that she wouldn't. She disliked sitting around and felt...useful when she had work to do.

Looking around she noticed a rather tall man close by taking pictures. Well, tall depends on a persons perspective - she was only 5' 6" so she considered most men tall. Most likely, he was a reporter taking pictures for the local paper to put in their event section. Other than pictures of the band, all he was going to get were pictures of a mass of writhing bodies.

She saw him look up and around and at that same time she heard loud popping sounds. They startled her and she quickly looked around. Someone screamed. People looked around in confusion - then began to just run not caring who they might run into or knock over.

A person close by in front of her fell, blood pumping from their body - eyes open wide.

Frightened, Kaitlynn turned and tried to run - but there were so many attempting to leave. Her panicked eyes turned to questioning eyes as she felt a sharp pain and saw blood.

"Curious", she thought. Then she was pushed to the ground as others rushed past her.

[Robin Little]

The screams alerted Robin to something a little more sinister than fireworks. First there were screams, then there was a stampede. Was this really something that happened in Harper Rock? Wasn’t this all supposed to stay across the border? But they were in a city populated by vampires. Vampires who liked to invade buildings and raid the creatures or the hunters or the gangsters within. Vampires who liked to start wars with each other, make weapons and trade weapons, set traps in public places. Why not a public shooting at a music festival? Was this even related to vampires, or had someone just lost the plot?

Robin shoved his phone and tattered book back into his bag and loitered for a second or three. He wondered whether he should play the hero. He was a vampire after all, right?

Right in front of him, a girl hit the deck. She’d turned to run, like the rest of them, but a stray bullet had taken her out. That, there, decided for Robin. He ran on instinct, he didn’t think, he just did. Crouching down he grabbed the girl’s arm and hauled her up, the other arm around her waist to hold her up. Whether or not she could walk he didn’t know, but with preternatural strength he had very little trouble carrying her anyway – even if her feet did drag a bit.

There wasn’t just one shooter, but many. They were trying to cover the main exits, trying to corral the revellers into one place. Mass slaughter. It infuriated Robin, but what could he do as one person? Regardless, it seemed the shooters weren’t the only ones packing. In this city, plenty of people carried weapons. And besides, it was a park. There weren’t definable exits.

In a bid to get out and around, a stray bullet caught Robin’s hip. He cursed and stumbled, his knee skidding to the ground though he didn’t loosen his hold on the girl. With a growl, he hauled himself back to his feet, ignoring the sharp pain at his hip and the blood now staining his clothing. He veered away from the sound of gunfire and tried to go with the crowd. He ran until the crowd started to thin, until he was sure he’d left the chaos behind.

[Katelynn]

As her face lay against the ground, she felt the cold, damp, matted down grass against her face. Just her luck, doing a face plant where someone had spilled their beer.

Feeling dazed, she raised herself up a bit with her arms. Puzzled, she wondered why everything seemed so slow. Attempting to stand, Katelynn had trouble breathing and her chest ached. She really needed to get back to her motorcycle. Half smiling at the thought of the bike, Katelynn tried to stand up but it took so much effort. If she could just get away from all these people, her hand had already been stepped on - she would need to get ice on it. The shots and screams were annoying to her like buzzing bees.

Suddenly her arm was gripped tightly and she was pulled up with another arm going around her waist. The man was strong and moved quickly. She tried to keep up with him - but she couldn't seem to get her body functioning like she wanted it to. Half the time he had to half drag her along.

Hearing him curse, they both stumbled - but he kept his hold on her and they were soon both up again and moving. She vaguely noticed that this was the supposed reporter helping her.

The shots began to sound further and further away, as did the screaming.
She was beginning to fear she wouldn't make it back to her bike.

Then, everything around her began to go dark.

[Robin Little]

Getting out of the park had been tricky only because of the stampede. His own car was parked quite far away down a side street, but maybe it had something to do with the adrenaline – it didn’t seem quite that far. The girl had passed out and her feet continued to drag, but Robin held her up, kept her with him. Heat and life radiated from her body, a heartbeat still thrumming through her skin. Still alive.

It was on the way to the hospital that Robin stopped, screeching to a halt at the side of the road.

He had thought he was doing the right thing. He had saved one of the fallen. He was going to get her to the hospital first, before the rush. She could be saved. And yet she was losing too much blood – had lost too much blood. It permeated the car, the old beaten up rust-bucket that had never given up on the writer.

Her heart beat had stopped. In the middle of nowhere Robin pulled her from the car and tried to breathe life back into her. He did as he had once been taught, the first-aid a little worse for wear in his memory, but it had to partly do the trick. Right? Could he bring her back to life enough to make it to the hospital in time? It didn’t cross his mind until the very last second that there were other ways he could save her. But she was dead. Wasn’t she?

”C’mon,” he breathed, pain radiating from his hip. The bullet was stuck in the bone. But he ignored it, waiting. With his fingers intertwined he pumped at her chest, trying to encourage a heartbeat. He counted, before pinching her nose and breathing life into her lungs. He repeated the process. This **** worked all the time in the movies. It had to work now.

[Katelynn]

Katelynn came around slightly, her breathing labored. Her body felt numb and she was somewhat aware of lying in something warm - and wet. Blood...her own blood. Somehow that didn't concern her. Tired, so tired.

Half aware that she was moving in a vehicle, her mind wandered...

Was she going to die? Probably so. Her life had been for nothing...nothing.
She had never fit into this lifetime of hers. No real friends to speak of. Others only interested in her looks...her money. A hindrance is all her looks had been in life - and what good was the money now?

Kate had filled her life with traveling. Never having to get to know someone beyond hello and a smile...then a goodbye, a wave and off she'd go. Somehow she just hadn't been good at relationships. All the false concern-the false smiles. No one would miss her when she died, hell, she didn't even have a pet.

She was tired, so tired. Tired of it all...giving up she drifted away on a sigh.

- - - - - - - - - -

Gasping, she hungrily attempted to inhale a sharp breath as she felt pressure pressing down firmly on her chest. Pain, pain enveloped her and she wished to go back to sleep to escape it.

[Robin Little]

The relief upon hearing the girl gasp back to life was short lived. She was alive, again, but it wouldn’t be long before she drifted again. How Robin knew that, he could not fathom. Maybe it was instinct – human or otherwise – but he couldn’t question it. He could only crouch there on the footpath, knowing that he wouldn’t make it to the hospital but that if he didn’t do anything, she would surely die. Either way, she would die. Could he leave her there? Could he call the paramedics and wait and just hope for a good outcome?

He knew that he had it within him to save her. The very blood that ran through his veins was a balm, soothing and healing before it broke down every living part of the human body to change it, turn it into something else, something greater, grander, more powerful. All that potential and Robin had hardly done anything with it. He was more than human, now. He had power. And yet he was still so ordinary.

Given his antics with Maddison, it was clear that he was not really cut out to be a ‘sire’. He didn’t really have much to give, and his form of education was bumbling and often forgetful. He tried his best. Was his best good enough? It had to be better than letting some poor hapless soul die, surely?

With that one thought, he cursed under his breath and brought his wrist to his mouth, tearing a hole over the vein. There was still no one around. No witnesses, no one else to help. He tried to keep the girl’s mouth open as he pushed his bleeding wrist against her lips.

”So sorry for what this might do, but it’s gotta be better than the alternative,” he mumbled. ”You have to drink. You’ll live if you drink,” he said, the latter part uttered louder, more demanding.

[Katelynn]

…drink…live… DRINK! Words came through the fog, swirling, echoing through her mind over and over.

Katelynn felt some sort of liquid drip into her mouth - her lips barely parted. Instinctively she swallowed, the drops feeling thick as they moved down her throat. The taste odd. Blood? Was it blood?. Startled, her brown eyes fluttered open, a wrist was held against her mouth. Parting her lips more she drank slowly as she looked into the eyes of the man by her side. Had she seen him before....at the festival? Her first day in town and she had been shot during the craziness there. So many shots fired, so many screams.

Confused and frightened, her eyes looked questioningly at him. Live, she was supposed to live? How? She felt closer to death than to life. More importantly, why? Whispering to him she asked, "Live, how? I don't understand."

Pain shot through her suddenly like a lightning bolt. Startled, her eyes opened wide as her body convulsed.