Winter is Coming [Katelynn]

[Robin Little]

”Yeah, okay. Here we go,” he mumbled more to himself than to anyone else. Vague questions had been asked – they were not questions that Robin could answer. Well, he could answer them but they wouldn’t really do any good. The process had begun, and he assumed that the girl would be best to just experience the how and why rather than hear Robin bumble his way through a response that might not make any sense. As soon as her body started to convulse, Robin assumed she’d had enough. There was enough blood in her system to work its magic – now they just had to wait for it to run its course.

He slid his arm behind the girl’s shoulders, pressing his wrist against his own shirt to stem the excess bleeding. A couple of firm presses of the gash against the material of his clothing, and it was healed, the blood wiped away. His hip still ached where the bullet was lodged in his skin, but he ignored it. Instead, he tried to lift the girl up, to manoeuvre her back into the car.

”You’re gonna be okay,” he said. ”It’s going to hurt for a while, but you’re going to be okay. I’m gonna take you home…” he said. No more hospital. Maybe not back to Maddison, either. Not yet. Not in this delicate situation. Tomorrow night. Not tonight. He could take this girl back to the other apartment. The apartment he had bought for himself, for Maddison, before he’d moved in with Maddison.

”… I’ll explain it all when you’re feeling better,” he said. He didn’t know whether the girl understood, he didn’t know whether she was even listening. But he kept talking anyway, trying to comfort her as much as he was able before he closed the door and dashed around to the driver’s side. He paused just before he got in, eyes rolling skyward as he uttered a single curse word under his breath.

At least it wasn’t his fault, this time.

[Katelynn]

Waves of pain screamed thru Katelynns’ body as she writhed in agony on the backseat of the car.

She was conscious and highly aware of it – her mind taking it all in until she thought it might break and fall fully out of reality. Reality … the word echoed in her mind until she thought she would scream.

Convulsions finally subsiding some, Katelynn curled into a fetal position, aware that again she was lying in her own blood. Shivering in the wetness, she was cold so very cold, yet was able to notice the scent of the blood as sweet, metallic.

In the background she could hear someone saying she would be okay. Okay? If she wasn’t still in such pain she would have had to laugh. Indeed, a low laugh did manage to escape her before another wave of pain coursed thru her body.

As the car slowed, possibly arriving at their destination, Katelynn knew she would now see what kind of reality she was falling into or would it be insanity?

[Robin Little]

Robin had to focus on where he was going. He couldn’t focus on the girl in the backseat – she would either survive or she wouldn’t. If she did, then he would leap the hurdles once he came to them. The first one was to get her someplace private, someplace quiet and comfortable. Someplace they could talk. If she didn’t survive – well, he’d have tried his best. He could take her to the hospital. Could tell them that she was shot at the festival, that he had brought her in as fast as he could. Whether or not they believed him – again, a hurdle he’d have to jump if and when he got there.

The apartment wasn’t too far away. His knee bounced ferociously as he waited for the gates to open, before the car slid down into the underbelly, into the parking garage. Once there, he got out and went to the back of the car, where he opened the door and did his best to try to manoeuvre the girl out without causing her too much discomfort. He continued to tell her she would be okay, that everything was going to be fine – and he hoped he wouldn’t turn out to be a liar.

As soon as they were inside, Robin would lay the girl out upon a mattress in a sparse the apartment. It was the apartment Robin had bought before he had moved in with Maddison; there seemed no point to make her move here when she had a perfectly good condo of her own. In one of the rooms there were some boxes and some battered old suitcases – it was everything that Robin owned, give or take a few key wardrobe items. It wasn’t much. Mostly books.

He hadn’t got around to completely furnishing the place yet. The bed was there – the basics, the things people always got first when they moved into a place. The bed, a fridge. It wasn’t inviting, but it would do. For now. He bit the inside of his cheek as he crouched down next to the girl.

”It’s gonna pass. Not long now…” he said. Again, he hoped he wasn’t turning himself into a liar.

[Katelynn]

Katelynn could tell the car was pulling into a parking garage by the lighting and descent. The car seemed unusually loud but perhaps it was just...the shape the car was in. She did the best she could to begin to get into somewhat of a sitting position and ignore the more minor waves of pain. Thankfully, they had been subsiding to where she hoped they would be manageable.

She kept hearing a mantra from the man about how everything was going to be fine and that she would be o.k. as he parked the car in a parking space. Rolling her eyes, she thought sure everything seems just dandy. Gingerly taking some fairly deep breaths, she prepared to get out of the car as he opened the door to help her out. Half crouching as a small wave of pain hit her, she concentrated on trying to walk as best she could with his support – noticing that he seemed to be limping. “Thank you, Mister,” she whispered hoarsely. Then continued to concentrate on moving with him with some sort of synchronization.

Soon with some struggle they reached a door that she could only assume was his apartment. Leaning against the wall she waited as he opened the door, once in he helped her over to the mattress in the room. Sighing, she collapsed on it curling up slightly. The place didn't look lived in at all. There were boxes, suitcases... and lots of books. She guessed he couldn't be all bad.

A slight wave of pain hit her and as she closed her eyes trying to concentrate on working her way through it, she heard him say, "It's gonna pass. Not long now..." Opening her eyes she looked at him and asked, "Who are you, what happened and what is going on?"

[Robin Little]

”My name is Robin Little,” he said. That was an easy question to answer – even if he didn’t think a name could really indicate who a person really was. Time in their company, getting to know their twitches, their likes and dislikes – that was how you found out who a person was. But this was not time for the philosophical pondering of a person’s true self. There were two other questions to answer, and they were less easy to answer then the first one. Robin sat back, rubbing at his face and wincing subtly as the bullet shifted in his hip. He was a little concerned that the wound was going to heal and he was going to have to cut it open again to wrench out the piece of metal. But he pushed the concern aside. He’d deal with that later.

”You were shot. I was taking you to the hospital but you decided to go and… well, you died,” he said with an apologetic shrug. There was no simpler way of putting it. Although he was a writer and had a way with words, on occasion, speaking them was entirely different to writing them. When writing, one had time to ponder the words, to backspace and change them. There were no such liberties with speech.

”I resuscitated you but you weren’t going to make it. So I ah… you’ve heard about vampires, right? That they’re real, that this city is kind of overrun with them?” he asked. Overrun might have been an exaggeration, but it wasn’t untrue.

He didn’t explain the rest of it. He assumed it would be obvious – he mentioned vampires. The assumption to be leapt to was that he was one, and that he’d used the healing power of his blood to bring the girl back to life. It struck him, then, how big that was. It was a commitment, in a way. And he didn’t even know her name. Should he have tried to find that out before he turned her? There hadn’t been much time for pleasantries. He didn’t ask the question until he got an answer – no point in overwhelming her too soon. The process hadn’t even run its course yet.

[Katelynn]

“Vampires? You’re … a vampire?” Katelynn began to laugh quietly between the grating waves of pain. How rich, she thought. "You mean immortality, drinking peoples blood, super human strengths/power, sleeping in caskets or crypts, ...or whatever? You’re kidding, right? Isn't that just in books and movies? Of course, I never believed vampires were real. I've been traveling and I haven't been interested in media news for ages."

A slight chuckle and suddenly her body went rigid. The screaming began and she was gasping for breath as pain seemed to explode inside of her- her inner organs feeling like they were being ripped apart, burned up, destroyed.

Her mind went to another place – away from the pain. If he was right, if he was right…what would become of her? What would she become? What kind of life could she live?

She had not been overly taken with her life. Money,music, travel, a lack of purpose…she knew there had to be more, that there was supposed to be more. She was not insecure however, traveling and music had become a passion, a necessity, hoping to find something to believe in- some purpose, but not *someone* to believe in…never that. People had been found to be highly disappointing with their insecurities, their needs, their desires, their wish to control or own. If she couldn’t find purpose or meaning in this life, how would she in eternal life? At least that’s what the books and movies portrayed – immortality. An eternity…of what? Of never being in the sunshine? Of living her life in darkness?

As she considered the questions, beautiful music drifted through her mind. Violin music - her music - the only balm for her soul.

[Robin Little]

Robin didn’t think it would be hard to swallow. Their existence had been outed in the media. The whole world knew about vampires, that they lived – some parts of the world were probably dubious and thought it was some elaborate hoax, but the closer they got to Harper Rock – to the hub of the supernatural events – the more they would start to believe. If one lived inside the limits of Harper Rock, it was almost impossible to ignore – even if one had not been paying attention to the media. How long had she been back?

Things were being implemented city wide – certain groups of humans completely for vampires, defending their existence and their rights, while certain groups were completely against, organising rallies to demand all vampires be forced to come forward and identify themselves so they could be catalogued. Some wanted them to be jailed, kept in cages. The city was in a state of flux and, thankfully, vampires looked like they just might come out on top.

He would have asked what rock she’d been living under, except that would be kind of cold in the current situation. He doubted that his question would have been heard, regardless. The screaming began and Robin hoped that the walls were thick or that his new neighbours weren’t the inquisitive sort. Or that they wouldn’t complain.

”Vampires are real. It was this or death,” he said. He wasn’t sure she was listening. He wasn’t sure that she was even awake. But talking helped him. Maybe it would help her too.

”It’s not all bad. I mean, if you end up as an Allurist it’s almost like nothing has changed. Except for the sunlight thing,” he said, then cleared his throat. Maddison was an Allurist. Helping Maddison had been easy – he had experienced it all before, and so could guide her through it. If this one – he didn’t even know her name yet! – started on a different path… well, Robin would have to figure it out.

He fussed around the bed, pacing a little. Knowing he should prepare things, but prepare what? No, he had to just be there when she became lucid. He just had to be able to answer questions. And so he crouched nearby, leaning against a wall. He slid down the wall, legs sprawling in front of him, hands in his lap.

[Katelynn]

Katelynn's brown eyes opened slowly, just about half way. Her head was pounding like someone was playing a drum in her head. Barely wanting to move her head to the side, she noticed Robin sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. Whispering she said, “Robin, I guess I have to believe you. I feel like death warmed over.”She had to slightly chuckle in spite of herself. Her gums ached, her body was sore and her clothes and hair were full of drying blood. Her hand shook as she raised it to try and run her fingers through her hair. At the moment all she really wanted though, was something to take away the raging headache.

“Aspirin? Water?", she asked hesitantly. She was unsure of Robin, unsure what was supposed to happen to her. After her headache was gone and she had some water to soothe her parched throat - what she would want most was a nice warm shower. She needed desperately to feel clean – and warm.

At some point they would need to discuss things. Her life? Her existence? What would she be able to do on a day to day basis? What would she be able to do long term? Would she be able to be safe, work, have any friends or travel? Travel brought her RV, motorcycle and her violin to the front of her mind. "****", she said her voice a bit stronger. Would everything be where she had left it or would everything have been stolen by now? Her eyes began to tear up at the thought of the possible loss of the violin.

Katelynn had left the country for an extended period of time after her grandmothers death. France to visit relatives on her mother's side of the family and Italy to visit relatives on her father's side. She had enjoyed both countries, both had been beautiful and interesting in their own way - though for some reason things seemed strained in France. In Italy her family had wanted her to stay and they treated her like a princess. The violin was special to her as it had been given to her by her grandfather, Nico, just prior to leaving Italy. It had been in the family for generations and was a beautiful instrument.

[Robin Little]

Robin couldn’t exactly doze while he waited. The pain in his hip reminded him that he had been hit. With a bullet. At a music festival. What the hell was the world coming to? This kind of **** belonged across the border, not here in Canada. Canada was supposed to be a refuge. The writer shifted uncomfortably, at least able to shove his jeans down enough without having to unbuckle the belt to get to the wound. He hissed as he pushed and prodded, blood covering his fingers as it oozed out along with the bullet, finally. The shining piece of shrapnel was held aloft in Robin’s fingers, his eyes narrowed at the offending item. It was then that Katelynn shifted, that she spoke, his name croaked across the space between them.

The bullet slipped from Robin’s fingers and clattered to the floor. It sounded like a tac. Slightly heavier than a tac. Robin cleared his throat and shook his head.

”Water… no. I’m sorry, if you drink it you’ll just throw it up and you’ll feel worse,” he said. He knew this from memory. Even if she was an Allurist like Maddison and himself, the digestion thing was an acquired ability. And there was only a one in six chance that’d be the case, anyway. He assumed that Katelynn’s expletive had to do with her current state of illness. Robin leaned forward, doing his best to cross his legs the wound stretching at his hip. It would heal, he reminded himself.

”Uhm. Yes. So in order to make that headache go away you’ve kinda got to… indulge in your new diet,” he said, and cleared his throat. ”It’s not going to be awful. Where I work, we can find someone willing. A uhm, a willing donor. Or… or we can go get a blood bag. That might be easier, to begin with. And you’ll have questions. And… I don’t have any women’s clothes but there is a shower,” he said, gesturing to a door across the room, through which the bathroom lay. He assumed the water would be working. ****, was the water even working?! They would soon find out. Well, depending on what Katelynn decided.

[Katelynn]

Seeing something slip from Robin’s bloody fingers and fall to the floor, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then groaned quietly when she heard no water which meant no aspirin. She decided it was a good time to go get a shower. “Ah, right…blood. I guess the first order of business will have to be the shower then. At least feeling clean will be an improvement “, she said looking at him cautiously.

“Is there any possibility we can check to see if my RV and motorcycle are still close to the park the festival was at?", she asked. “ Everything I currently own is in the RV and I’m most concerned about a violin of mine….and well, clothes would be good. However, now I really need to get in that shower,” she said.

She stretched and gingerly got up from the bed, rubbing her temples with shaky fingers while her tongue ran over her swollen gums. Shaking her head slightly, Katelynn backed away keeping her eyes on Robin until she backed into the bathroom door. Fumbling with the door knob she opened the door, slid through the opening and once inside locked the door leaning her back against it. She closed her eyes to try and center herself, hands bunching up her shirt nervously. Feeling the hole in her shirt she opened her eyes and looked down at it curiously - touching it where the bullet had gone through and then lifting her shirt up to touch the corresponding damage to her body. Touching her skin lightly where she had been shot made her shiver … but she was healing.

Undressing she set her clothes on the floor, opened the shower door to turn the water on to, basically, hot. Once in the shower she washed her long hair with what she found available and let the warmth flow over her like liquid sunshine. Sighing, she thought she had better finish up before he came knocking on the door. After drying up she looked at her clothes – she hardly wanted to put that shirt on again. She decided to rinse it out and scrub it a bit-it shouldn’t take long to dry she thought after squeezing the water out and rolling it up in a towel to soak up some of the excess water. It was just a thin, long sleeved t-shirt and with that she pulled it over her head and finished dressing.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, walked back to Robin and sat on the bed across from him.
“What now, Robin? If my RV is around yet, I guess I can go back to living in that and go back to traveling. Well, ummm, once I know how to deal with the blood situation and anything else that you need to tell me about. What else DO I need to know, Robin? I have to say I wouldn’t mind putting this place far behind me. This was just a stop on my list of places to go to. Sort of concert hopping I guess you could say,”she said.