Author's Note: So this idea was bouncing around in my head and my muse wouldn't rest until it was out. I own everyone but the Widow Johnson, David, and Max.
Out of all the places that the Johnson Family had settled in the past couple hundred years, Bridget found Hugh, Arizona to be the strangest choice. For all intents and purposes it was in the middle of the American desert and, with the exception of the nearby mountains which offered caves, there wasn't much natural protection. But Bridget knew better than to question her adopted mother on the choices she made for the family. She trusted that Arabella Johnson knew better than she did on these matters. After all, Bridget was only two-hundred and one years old; Arabella was well over one-thousand.
Still, as Bridget dismounted the wagon she had taken into town, Bridget couldn't help but wonder why Arabella had decided Arizona was the place to be. She pondered the possibilities – the twins? Mr. Johnson who was on his way out? – as she entered the General Store. Mr. Nolan, the owner of the store, smiled widely as she entered.
"Hullo Bridget!" He greeted loudly. Bridget returned his smile with one of her own, albeit slightly more reserved than his toothy grin.
"Good Afternoon Mr. Nolan. How are you today?"
"Can't complain, can't complain." The older man replied. "Are you here for the bolts of silk?" Bridget nodded.
"I am indeed."
"Alright then. I'll just go get it and load it into the cart for you, alright? I took the liberty of rewrapping the bolts after I checked to make sure they were the right ones. Don't want fabric like that to get dirty." Bridget sent him a grateful smile.
"That's very kind of you, Mr. Nolan."
"You just stay in here out of the sun and I'll come get ya when I'm all finished." Bridget nodded and started to browse the store. As she flipped through the latest shipment of books to arrive at the General Store, she heard pairs of cowboy boots enter the store. She glanced up and saw David Ambrose and his uncle, Grady Ambrose, had entered. Her nostrils flared at the sight of Grady. Grady Ambrose was a bully and his reputation as the bad element of town was well established. He was on his way to becoming a cattle baron, mostly by bulling and/or cheating all the other local cattle ranchers out of business. He had a loyal posse of cowboys who were almost as mean as he was. Bridget and her family may only have been in the area for a couple months, but even they were aware of Grady's nasty reputation. Grady's nephew, David, had a reputation of his own, but it wasn't even close to the level of his uncle's. Like his uncle, David had his own posse, but they spent most of their days getting into bar fights and pushing people around. They were obnoxious, but largely harmless. David was also very good looking and had a smirk that made Bridget weak in the knees. It was that fact alone that had kept Bridget from going anywhere near the 20-year-old.
David looked over at her and she quickly turned her attention elsewhere. As he moved closer, Bridget moved in the opposite direction, doing her best to appear distracted by whatever was at the opposite end of the store. She didn't realize she had cornered herself at the confectionary display until she smelled David – cloves, dirt, and sweat – right behind her.
"Damnit Bridget!" She growled at herself. How had she left him trap her like that?! She was a trained hunter with senses that far surpassed anything the human could possibly have. And yet, trapped she was. Determined to ignore his presence, Bridget started to examine the wrapped confections on the counter. She could smell a vanilla French kiss* somewhere on the display and that particular confection was her greatest food weakness. Having been raised largely in a Puritan society, she was more simple and reserved in her taste than most. She found chocolate overwhelming and suckers made her jaw hurt, but vanilla French kisses were perfection. Just sweet enough to curb her craving. Her nose finally found the vanilla French kiss, wrapped in good foil on the third tier, but as she reached out to take it, a gloved hand came around her and grabbed it. Bridget turned just in time to see David raise the now unwrapped candy to his mouth. A flash of irritation went through Bridget and she narrowed her eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want this?" David asked, his obnoxiously attractive smirk in place and an eyebrow quirked in a mocking manner.
"As a matter of fact," Bridget replied coolly as she straightened herself up to her full height of 5'7". "I did." David's eyes raked over her body and Bridget felt herself flush.
"Get ahold of yourself!" Bridget scolded herself again. There was something about David that clouded her senses and her brain, making it impossible for her to focus. His whole being just distracted her.
"David!" Grady snapped from across the store. "Stop flirtin' with the nitwit and get outside! We got work to do!" Bridget's mouth dropped open at being referred to as a 'nitwit' and David took the opportunity to pop the candy into her mouth.
"Yum." He purred – yes, purred – as he sucked off the sugar still left on his fingertips. Then he winked at her and tipped his hat. "Have a nice day, Ms. Johnson." She was left standing there, her mouth full of candy, flustered, insulted, embarrassed, and frustrated with herself.
"Are you alright, Bridget?" Mr. Nolan asked. He had witnessed the whole thing from the door and he was concerned about the young, curly haired blonde.
"I'm fine." Bridget replied, feeling her sense of self return. "Let me just pay for the candy and I'll be on my way." Mr. Nolan waved his hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about it. Silk is all loaded in the wagon. Anything else I can get for you?"
"No, thank you." Giving Mr. Nolan one last smile, Bridget left the General Store and headed out into the fading summer sunlight. Her family would be rising soon and she would finally get to rest. She hadn't wanted to leave them alone at all, but Mr. Nolan always closed up shop right at dark. Suddenly concerned at the length of her absence, Bridget climbed into the wagon and got the horses moving, pushing all thoughts of David Ambrose out of her head.
"You best stay away from that girl, David." Grady ordered as they rode back towards the ranch house.
"She's harmless." David replied, aggravated with his overbearing uncle. He was twenty for Pete's sake! He wasn't a child. "She's beautiful too." Grady snorted derisively.
"She's pretty, but she ain't beautiful. Now, those twin sisters of hers, those girls are beautiful." Grady spit his chewing tobacco onto the ground before continuing. "Shame they're lungers." David frowned. He wasn't a doctor, but he thought it was strange that Chloe and Anna Johnson always looked like they were the epitome of health. They were pale, sure, but with appeared otherwise completely well. David also found it strange that, with the exception of Bridget, none of the other Johnson family members were ever seen during the day. Mr. Johnson gambled and drank the night away at the local saloon while Mrs. Johnson sat on the front porch. The twins spent the evenings out strolling the town and teasing the men of the town at the smaller saloon down the street from the one in which their father sat. They were flirtatious, but no one could accuse them of doing anything other than breaking the hearts of a fair few men. David didn't like Chloe and Anna; they made him uneasy and he didn't know why. Bridget, on the other hand, seemed like a creature apart from the rest of her blonde haired family. She was reserved, but always smiling and polite. She rarely ventured into the town, but he had seen her tending the Johnson Family garden, humming old hymns as she created a surprisingly beautiful cactus and desert flower oasis. She intrigued him even though today was the first time he had actually interacted with her. Whatever her family was, Bridget wasn't like them.
"Kuruk says that the elders of his tribe are warning their people not to venture out at night." David commented to his uncle. "They say that something is hunting them." It was true that, roughly two months ago (a date that coincided with the arrival of the Johnson Family), members of the local Apache tribe had started disappearing. David mentioned this fact to his uncle who smacked him upside the head.
"I'll knock you senseless, boy, if you ever say something so stupid like that again, so help me God. And didn't I tell you to stop messin' with that redskin?!" David's nostrils flared, but he bit his tongue. He'd been living with his uncle for almost twelve years, ever since his father had died in a cattle run accident. His mother, Martha, had married her dead husband's brother only six months after her husband was buried. A year later, Martha had followed William Ambrose into the ground after she tripped on the stairs and hit her head. Or so Grady had said. David harbored suspicions. His mother had been miserable in her marriage to Grady. She had entered the marriage free-spirited and opinionated, but within a couple months, thanks to Grady's cruel and selfish nature, she was silent and obedient. Even at eight years old, David had realized that something wasn't right in the relationship between his mother and Grady. "You stay away from that Bridget girl, boy."
"Yes, sir." Even as he said the words, David had no intention of following through with the promise.
"Are you alright, Bridget?" Chloe asked as she watched her sister expertly cut the first piece of robin egg blue silk to match the pattern before her.
"I'm fine." Bridget replied, not looking up from her task. "Why do you ask?"
"You've been awfully quiet since we woke up." Anna replied from her perch atop the couch where she sat braiding Chloe's hair for their evening out. Now Bridget looked up, blinking in surprise.
"Have I?"
"Yes." The twins replied in unison.
"Oh," Bridget returned to her fabric cutting. "I hadn't noticed. Don't have much to say, I suppose."
"Is it because you are preoccupied with thoughts of David Ambrose?" Bridget's cheeks flamed red, sending the twins into high-pitched hysterics.
"I hate it when you do that!" She snapped.
"We can't help it." Anna began sweetly.
"It's in our nature." Chloe ended in a sing-song. Not for the first time in her life, Bridget complained under her breath about the menace that was the vampiric ability to read unguarded minds.
"So, he ruffled your fur, hm?" Anna teased.
"You must have made an impression on him." Chloe added. "He ignores all the other respectable girls in town completely."
"I made a wonderful impression I'm sure." Bridget muttered with an eye roll. "His uncle called me a 'nitwit.'"
"Grady Ambrose is a nitwit." Chloe snapped. "And he's coming awfully close to making us lose our temper." Bridget looked up at the twins in alarm.
"You remember what mama said! No townspeople!" The twins waved their hands in perfectly synchronized dismissal. In life they had been good at performing in unison; in death, they had made it an art form, often appearing to move as one.
"We know, but accidents happen." Bridget frowned. The twins had only been vampires for a couple of decades and were still more wild than Bridget would have liked. Born in Atlanta in 1845 to a mother that died during childbirth, the girls had been amongst the Union causalities of Sherman's March. Beautiful and without male protection (their father had been killed at Shiloh), Anna and Chloe had caught the eyes of a group of Union soldiers who were unfortunately not from the better elements of the Union army. Both girls had been brutalized and left for dead. Arabella had found them clinging to each other and close to death. Anna and Chloe had taken to vampire life with surprising gusto. Their first victims were the very men who left them for dead and neither girl had looked back from those first kills. With their pretty looks and southern belle charms, the twins were a deadly duo, but they were very particular about who they killed: rapists and abusers were the only men who had anything to fear from the Georgia girls. Well, most of the time anyway.
"You should approach David at the town dance next week." Chloe suggested.
"I already told that I'm not going."
"Oh, you're going." Anna informed her.
"And we made you a dress." Chloe rushed upstairs and returned moments later with a rose pink bundle laid out in her arms. Placing her work aside, Bridget stood and took the dress from her sister. It was sleeveless and deeply revealing, having only a wide band of lace that would barely conceal her cleavage. Form fitting as was the style of the day, it had a simple hem of a single row of bows atop a double row of ruffles. A large corresponding bow rested on the strap of the left shoulder to pull the whole dress together.
"Oh, it's beautiful!" Bridget breathed. "But I could never-"
"You can and you will." Anna interrupted.
"We insist." Chloe added. "We would be personally insulted if you did not." Bridget looked at her two sisters, tears brimming in her eyes.
"You two are the best sisters that a girl could ask for." Chloe and Anna smiled and the three shared the moment for a minute longer before Arabella walked into the room.
"That is a beautiful dress." She commented. "We might need to open a dress shop next time."
"Oh mama!" Anna cried. "We aren't moving already, are we?!" Arabella laughed and shook her head.
"No, not yet. But after a decade, we will need to move. We can only stay in one place for so long." They had almost stayed in Savannah too long. Rumors regarding the ageless appearance of the family had begun to circulate.
"Good." Anna sighed in relief. "I like it here."
"Where's Mr. Johnson?" Chloe asked. None of the girls could get used to calling him 'papa' and given Arabella's penchant for killing off her husbands after a few years, that was probably a wise decision.
"Already on his way to the saloon." Arabella replied with more than a trace of annoyance. "If he wasn't so good at winning money, I would get rid of him already." The three sisters shared a look, but otherwise didn't comment. Bridget always wondered why Arabella took a husband at all. She never seemed to find what she was looking for and they always ended up being a disappointment. Since she had joined the Johnson Family, Bridget had had four fathers. A yawn suddenly escaped from Bridget's mouth and she blinked in surprise. She hadn't realized that she was so tired.
"Well, I think I am going to get some sleep." Guarding the family during the day meant that the family rarely spent time together. They slept while she guarded and they played while she slept. "I'll finish your dress tomorrow, Chloe." Chloe nodded, sending her older sister a wide smile.
"I'll through in a good insult at Grady for you." Bridget rolled her eyes.
"Don't get into any trouble on my account." Now Chloe rolled her eyes.
"Sleep well, Birdy." Arabella said as Bridget passed, gentle placing a kiss to the top of the younger woman's head. Bridget nuzzled her mother slightly before heading upstairs to her room. Upon arrival in the room, she hung her new dress in her closet and began the long task of getting out of her clothes. She longed for the days of her Puritan dress. The wool may have been itchy, but at least there weren't any corsets.
"Blasted whalebone." She muttered as she struggled to undo the cream-colored corset. As she struggled, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and a giggle escaped her lips. She looked a sight with the corset, the bustle, the stockings, and the bloomers. She hoped that at some point female fashion would involve pants and lose clothing.
After several more minutes of struggling and uncomfortable twisting and turning, Bridget was finally able to slip into her chemise and crawl into bed. She sighed in comfort as she snuggled under the sheet. Her body temperature ran hot so even in the cool desert night air that she rarely slept with a blanket. Her mind began to wander to David and she growled in frustration. She never thought about boys; a romance just wasn't in her future so she didn't see the point in frivolous daydreams. But even she had to admit that there were times when she was lonely. She also had to admit that since she had first seen David, a couple of days after their arrival in Hugh, that he had been on her mind frequently.
"Think of something else!" She exclaimed harshly under her breath. Chloe and Anna's laughs wafted up through the open window and Bridget smiled. They were leaving the night, ready to prowl for their meal before causing more harmless havoc at the Lucky Strike saloon. Bridget's choice to stay with Arabella and the Johnson girls was unnatural, even for an unnatural creature such as herself. Bridget was a werewolf and had been her whole life. She was the daughter of Elisabeth Goode, a puritan woman from Plymouth Colony, and a half-Abenaki/half-French warrior named Henry Jacome; a marriage that had been frowned upon by the elders of the colony and had led to the family being largely outcast from their society. Bridget remembered only flashes from her childhood, but they were mostly happy. She remembered the love between her parents and the love they had felt for her. She remembered her father training her to handle the transition from human to werewolf during the full moon; she remembered his gray fur and proud green eyes, eyes she had inherited even though her fur was honey colored instead of gray. But Bridget also remembered the day the English had come to kill them. How the villagers had found out about her father's secret was still a mystery, but found out they had and they had decided that it was one insult too many to their Puritanical society. It had been an early winter morning and a fresh snow had fallen the night before. Her parents had been asleep in their cottage, a cottage that sat on the far outskirts of the settlement. Bridget was 16 at the time and had she been asleep with her parents otherwise she too would have been killed. Instead she had been returning from using the toilet and had seen the villagers approach the house, had heard the screams of her mother being slaughtered, and seen the villagers retreat from her father who had managed to turn into his werewolf form and make a half-hearted chase before collapsing on the stone stoop. Terrified, Bridget had run into the woods. Arabella had found her three weeks later, acting more wolf-like than human. Recognizing what she was as well as lonely and in the mood to experiment, Arabella had bitten the child. The result had been a once-in-a-millennia event – Bridget had become an eternal werewolf. The vampire blood had bonded with her werewolf DNA and given her eternal life and increased senses, but had spared her the threat of sunlight, need to feed on human blood, and the other minor vampire traits such as the transformation into a strange, human-like monster. Bridget had been with Arabella ever since, acting as her daytime protector and becoming the daughter Arabella would never have. Arabella teasingly referred to Bridget as her 'Hell bitch,' a term which Bridget found endearing. She had been a bit wild in her early years with Arabella and had personally killed the men who had killed her family. She had also taken out the entire village, but she didn't like to dwell on that part of her history. Bridget didn't regret the slaughter, but she would not repeat such an act unless her family was threatened. Chloe and Anna liked to say that Bridget had "mellowed out in her old age," but the truth was that Bridget was still more human than her vampire family. As their daytime emissary for the human world as well as their protector from that world, Bridget had to interact with humans constantly. It was harder for her to see them as prey. Besides, she didn't need human blood to survive. She could live quite happily on human food, even if she preferred her meat a bit rawer than would be considered polite. Another sigh escaped Bridget's lips as her eyes closed for the night.
Her dreams were plagued by a blue-eyed devil.
David and his gang of friends always avoided the larger Rye's saloon that his uncle and his cronies favored, choosing instead to spend their time at the smaller Lucky Strike. It was at this smaller saloon where they would drink, gamble, and fornicate with the ladies of the night. They always had a good time, even on nights where newcomers or inebriated locals decided to pick (and lose) fights. David was never one to back down from a fight and he enjoyed always coming out on top. But on this night he wasn't looking for a fight or a drink to gamble or to screw. He was on the hunt for information.
"Hello ladies." He swung himself onto the backwards facing chair at the table that currently sat Chloe and Anna Johnson as well as their usual gaggle of admirers. The strawberry blonde twins smirked at him, seemingly unsurprised at his appearance at their table.
"Good evening Mr. Ambrose." The twins greeted in sync. "Have you come to join our game of Faro?" Their unison sent chills up David's spine; he didn't trust these beautiful girls at all.
"Actually, no."
"Pity." Anna sniffed as she began to shuffle the cards.
"Than what brings you to our table?" Chloe asked. "You've never sought out our company before."
"I want to ask you about your sister." The twins shared a giggle with each other.
"Have you now?" Anna asked. David nodded.
"Why ask about her when you have these two beautiful specimens of female flesh before you?" Roddy Hemmer, a relative newcomer to Hugh, asked. The mood at the table soured instantly as both girls turned full glares on the young cattle hand.
"You would do well to mind your tongue, boy." Chloe snapped.
"Anyone who speaks ill of Bridget, speaks ill of us." Anna added. "You are no longer welcome here." Roddy opened his mouth to argue, but David pulled his pistol, pointing it at his head.
"You heard the ladies. Get." Put out, but now thoroughly disinclined to press his luck with present company, Roddy scurried out of the saloon. The mood at the table instantly lightened as Chloe and Anna broke into wide smiles.
"Now where we were?" Anna asked.
"David was asking about Bridget." Chloe reminded her sister unnecessarily.
"Ah, yes. Well, Mr. Ambrose, what do you wish to know?"
"Please stop calling me Mr. Ambrose. I am not my uncle." Anna bobbed her head once.
"We agree with your assessment on that front." Chloe agreed.
"So, David, what is your question?"
"Is she spoken for?" Anna let out a giggle.
"Would that stop you if she was?" David grinned.
"No, it wouldn't."
"Than what does it matter?"
"I guess it doesn't."
"She isn't spoken for, however." Chloe informed him. "None of us are." She batted her long eyelashes at the man on her left who nearly fainted from the attention.
"We aren't likely to ever be spoken for either." Anna added. "Mama Johnson doesn't want us to marry."
"Surely she wants you to be well cared for." Another one of their admirers cried out.
"She takes care of us better than any man could." Chloe replied.
"I doubt that." The only blonde male, besides David, at the table smirked. "There are some things only a husband can provide a wife, or a man a woman." The men guffawed. David's attention on was Anna and Chloe who shared a dark look between them.
"We don't speak of such things in front of ladies." David snapped at the man, who muttered a half-hearted apology.
"Oh we know that you don't mean any harm Freddy." Chloe said, sending him a smile. "Could you get us some more drink please?" The blonde was happy to oblige. Chloe turned her attention back on David as Anna dealt out the cards. "Bridget is not one to be toyed with. And we will not allow her to be harmed by a young man looking for some sport."
"I mean your sister no harm." David promised. "I just want to get to know her better. How come she never comes out to the saloon with you?"
"Bridget doesn't gamble." Anna replied. "Nor is she a big drinker. She would rather spend her time gardening or reading or something else useful. Besides, she spends so much of her day taking care of us that she needs her rest once the sun sets." David got the sense that the twins were hiding something even as they shared more details about their elder sister. Yet he also felt as though they were providing him with clues to figure out the secret for himself.
"Well, ladies, I appreciate your time and information." David said with a smile as he stood, two Faro games later. "Perhaps I'll join your game next time." The twins nodded at him with matching pleasant smiles before focusing on their gaggle of men. Placing his hat back on his head, he nodded at his cohorts and they left the saloon.
"Get what you needed, David?" Victor, surprisingly the only Spaniard in the entire town of Hugh, asked around his cigar.
"I did indeed, Vic, did indeed." Victor nodded. "I want you to do me a favor."
"Anything for you, my friend."
"I want you to keep an eye on those twins. I want to know where they go once they leave the saloon."
"You don't think they go home?" Victor asked with a frown. David shook his head.
"No, I don't." Victor nodded thoughtfully.
"Alright, I'll get it done." Victor clicked his horse into motion, but David called for his attention once more.
"Be careful." David warned. Victor tipped his hat with his finger before allowing the night to swallow him up once more. Even as David watched him go, he knew instinctively that he would never see his friend alive again.
"You brought him home?!" Bridget hissed incredulously at Chloe and Anna. It was just before dawn and Bridget had awoken to make sure her younger siblings were back home. They may have been able to take care of themselves, but she was still their older sister and she worried. She had entered their room only to find the twins lounging on their great red velvet couch with a barely alive, half-naked Victor sprawled between them. He was covered in bite marks and was clearly drunk on the combination of blood loss, glamour, and alcohol.
"He followed us and saw us kill Roddy." Anna explained, sounding anything but apologetic.
"We couldn't just let him go." Chloe added.
"Mother is not going to be happy." Bridget warned. "You're lucky she's already in bed."
"No one saw us with him." Chloe promised. "And we plan on disposing of him properly." Bridget continued to glower at the twins.
"He's David's friend." She stated, somewhat saddened at the thought that David would lose something of his. At this fact, the twins looked something regretful.
"Well what else can we do with him?" Anna asked. Bridget frowned.
"We can't keep him." Chloe pointed out. "Mama said we can't make our own vampires yet." Bridget sighed and rubbed at her temple.
"Just stop playing with him and make it quick. Then go to bed. The sun will be up soon."
"Yes Bridget!" The twins promised in chorus. Bridget turned her back and waited until even her hearing couldn't pick up on Victor's heartbeat. She turned around and saw that he was indeed dead. The twins were already climbing into their shared master bed. Though the windows were already heavily covered with curtains, Bridget still drew the drapes around their bed before hoisting Victor's corpse over her shoulders and leaving the room. Muttering under her breath about how difficult it was to get blood out of clothes, Bridget descended the stairs and exited the house through the back. She would have to uproot her lantana bushes in order to hide Victor's body, but at least it would provide new fertilizer. Placing the body to the side momentarily, Bridget dug up the four lantana bushes by the roots and gingerly placed them out of harm's way. Then she morphed into her werewolf form and promptly dug a large and deep hole. She remained in werewolf form until the body was covered. When she regained her human form, she was naked, a side effect of the transformation. It always ripped her clothes. Bridget replanted the lantana bushes, gathered her ruined dress, and returned to the house. She showered and dressed. Since she wasn't going into town, Bridget opted for pants and a large shirt. Today she would be able to work on her garden, a task that she enjoyed immensely.
"Bit hot out for gardening, ain't it?" Bridget's back went rigid as David's voice washed over to her.
"Is it?" She asked nonchalantly. She didn't want to turn around and face the blue-eyed devil, but she knew instinctively that he had sought her out and wasn't likely to leave any time to soon. Taking a deep breath, she stood and turned around. David was standing at the entrance to the back gate, a medium-sized potted plant. She blinked in surprise as she came to a stop before him. "What is that?"
"A present." David replied. "It's an ocotillo."
"I've never heard of it." Bridget frowned, reaching out to touch the new plant, but David pulled it backwards and out of her grasp. Her frown deepened as David grinned.
"You can only have it if you go for a ride with me." Annoyed at his presumption, Bridget placed her hands on her hips and gave him a glare that would've sent most men running. David, of course, wasn't most men.
"It isn't a present if I have to do something for it." She grunted.
"Just come for a ride with me." He pressed. "I'll even let you wear my hat." His tone was teasing and despite herself Bridget smiled. David grinned triumphantly, knowing that he had won her over.
"Fine. Let me just make sure the house is all locked up." David frowned.
"You live in the middle of nowhere. Who're you worried about breaking in?!"
"Maybe I'm more concerned about keeping things in the house." Bridget countered without thinking. She grimaced but continued on her task. For whatever reason, David made her both uncomfortable and too comfortable at the same time. She was going to have to be careful.
Once she was sure that the house was secure, she left through the backdoor, locked it, pocketed the key, and joined David at his horse. The chestnut stallion snorted uncomfortably as she approached. Bridget knew that he sensed the predator within her, but she also knew how to make anxious animals relax. She held out her hand for him to sniff and she forced all her good intentions into her eyes as she stared at the animal. After several tense moments, the stallion relented and nudged her nose in a gesture of piece. Bridget smiled and stroked his neck. David placing his hat on her head broke the moment. She was about to protest when David picked her up and placed her on the horse. She glared down at him as he looked at her in surprise.
"What?!" She snapped.
"You're heavier than you look." Bridget's jaw dropped, insulted. "Not that you're fat." David continued on, not at all worried about her reaction. "You're just solid." He swung up in front of her and glanced back. "I plan on running Rooster here so you might want to put your arms around my waist." Bridget acted annoyed as she did as she was told, but secretly, she was pleased at the contact. As soon as David was sure that she was secure, he took off. Rooster was a fast horse and David clearly knew how to make the most of the horse's natural talent. Bridget lost herself in the moment, laughing loudly as they cantered through the desert landscape. David was just as happy as she was and was thrilled that she was enjoying herself. After several hard minutes of riding, David slowed Rooster to a walk and descended into a canyon. He pulled the horse to a stop at a ridge that overlooked the canyon and the narrow river that snaked through it. David climbed down and held his hands out for Bridget. She smiled and allowed him to help her down.
"Thank you." She murmured, nervous at their closeness. David grinned.
"Don't mention it." For a moment, Bridget felt that he was going to kiss her, but he suddenly pulled away in order to go to his saddle bags. Disappointed, Bridget moved towards the edge to over the canyon.
"This is beautiful." She commented. "I've never been here before."
"Good." Hearing rustling, Bridget turned around and saw that David had laid out a blanket and picnic underneath the desert pine tree that offered some sort of shade. To say that Bridget was surprised would be putting it mildly.
"You don't strike me as the picnic type." She informed him. David laughed.
"There's a lot about me that you don't know sweetheart."
"I suppose that's true for us both." Bridget conceded. David waved his arm imperiously towards the picnic.
"Take a seat." Bridget did as she was bid and David joined her a moment later. "Hope you like bread, cheese, and bacon because that's what I got." Bridget grinned.
"I can't think of a better combination." David chuckled and set about preparing the meal. They ate and engaged in small talk. Bridget side-stepped most of the questions about her family; David was full of nasty things to say about his uncle. Overall, however, the talk was light and simple. Two young potential lovers just enjoying each other's company. Once lunch was done, Bridget turned her attention out towards the canyon. Perfectly content, she closed her eyes, a soft, happy sigh escaping her lips. David watched her with a small smile.
"You're beautiful." The compliment was sincere and Bridget blushed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she thanked him softly. "I really want to kiss you." It was forward and they both knew it, but Bridget was used to the forbidden.
"I really want you to kiss me." She admitted softly. David grinned and leaned forward.
"What in the hell do you think you're doin' boy?!" Grady's voice broke through the air like a whip and the two would be lovers pulled away from each other abruptly. Scowling, David got to his feet and glared up at his uncle. Grady wasn't alone; his entire posse was flanking him. "Well, boy?"
"Having lunch." David muttered.
"Take her home and then get back to the ranch." Grady ordered before turning his horse and leading his posse away. David scowled after him. Bridget got to her feet, dusting herself off.
"Why does he hate me?" David looked back at her.
"Because I like you." He replied with a shrug. "He hates anything I like." Bridget wanted to say something, but she couldn't think of the right thing to say so she just started to clean up the picnic. David took the stuff from her, repacked it in the saddles bags, and without a word helped her back up onto Rooster. When he was mounted, Bridget wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his cheek. David glanced over his shoulder at her in surprise.
"Make him go fast." She grinned. David chuckled and, once they were free of the canyon, urged Rooster into a canter.
Despite his uncle's warnings, David continued to court Bridget. After three months, Grady decided that it had to come to an end.
"What's the plan?" Vernon, Grady's right hand man, asked around the chewing tobacco that was always in his mouth.
"David didn't have a problem concentrating before that bitch came to town so she's the problem." Grady replied, his mind mulling over the various possibilities. "Can't kill her outright, I suppose. No, we need to make David realize his mistake and correct it himself."
"So how do we do that?"
"Show him what she really is." Grady said after a few more minutes of thought. "Show him that she's a whore."
"But she's not." Harry exclaimed without thinking. "Her sister's might be, but Bridget Johnson is as pure as snow." Grady turned a glare onto Harry, who shrunk slightly under his graze.
"Don't matter if she is or not." He snapped, irritated. "Just gotta make the boy think she is."
"So what?" Vernon asked, spitting out some of the tobacco. "We gonna spread rumors about town? Pay some folks to say they've known her repeatedly?" But Grady shook his head.
"That would take too much time. I don't want the stupid kid to propose." Grady scratched at his chin before turning to Vernon. "Take David out for the day. Keep him away from the ranch until dinner time." Grady now turned to Harry. "Harry, you go tell Bridget that David's been hurt, say he fell off his horse or something, and take her to the ranch." Both Harry and Vernon nodded.
"You got it boss." Vernon spit out the rest of his tobacco and headed towards the barn to get David. Grady sent Harry a withering look.
"And Harry?"
"Yeah boss?"
"Don't mess this up or I'll scalp you myself." Harry gulped, muttered a 'you got it' under his breath, and scampered off. Grady turned his attention to the other five men standing around. "Let's get ready for our company."
Bridget giggled to herself as she swept the front porch free of the sand that always seemed to be present. David had taken her out to look at the stars last night and she had allowed him to pull her into his arms as they kissed on the blanket. She hadn't been a virgin for well over one hundred years, but this was the first time she had felt love for the man holding her in his arms. They had parted after midnight and Bridget had reluctantly gone to bed alone. David had promised to come get her this afternoon for another picnic dinner and Bridget was having a hard time containing her glee. The sound of an approaching horse made Bridget look up. The breeze carried the rider's scent and it wasn't David. Bridget frowned as she that it was Harry Horton, one of the men who generally rode with Grady. He looked and smelled scared.
"Miss Johnson!" He hailed as he pulled his horse to a stop.
"Is everything alright, Mr. Horton?" He shook his head.
"No, ma'am. David took a tumble off his horse. He hit his head pretty bad." Panic swept through Bridget. "He's been asking for you…when he's conscious that is." Bridget tossed the broom to the side and untied her apron. "I can take you to him." She didn't even hesitate to get on the horse behind him. The horse bucked a bit, uncomfortable with the creature that was now a passenger, but Harry got it under control and took off.
Bridget's mind raced the entire ride. She begged God and the Devil both to save the man she loved. She wasn't sure if she had a soul, but she knew that, if the chance arose, she would gladly sell it to make sure David lived.
Her worry for David changed as they neared the Ambrose Ranch. Harry seemed less anxious and Bridget's keen eyes could see that most of Grady's crew was stationed outside the main house. Something felt off about the situation and Bridget began to be concerned for herself. Unfortunately, she lacked the ability to read minds, but her canine senses generally provided her with enough information to accurately assess the situation. And since she couldn't smell David, she had the feeling that she had willingly just ridden into a trap.
"Harry, what happened to David?" She asked as he slowed the horse to a trot. They were almost at the yard.
"Horse kicked him." Harry replied. Yes, she had walked into a trap. Anger ripped through Bridget and she transformed without thinking about it. The horse whinnied and reared up as Bridget somersaulted backwards. Harry hollered in surprise at the horse's actions, but his hollers turned to screams of terror as the large wolf dragged him, claws dug in his back, down from the horse. Bridget tore into his neck, silencing the man forever. Snarling, she turned towards the yard full of Grady's henchmen. They had seen the transformation and most of them had decided to make a run for it, but a couple raised their guns and began to shoot. Bridget took them out first; tearing into their flesh brutally before going after the ones who had scattered. Within minutes, the wolf had massacred the men in the yard. Only one remained. Human Bridget knew him as Broderick; wolf Bridget saw only a final threat. Unlike the others, Broderick didn't appear to be scared. And he had his gun trained right at her.
"Come on, bitch, what are you waiting for?!" Bridget snarled and leapt into the air. Grady's gunshot from the side caught her by surprise and she yelped in pain as the bullet hit her left front shoulder. Broderick then butted her in the head with the end of his rifle. Bridget was conscious but dazed; she was unable to manage anything other than a weak struggle as Broderick grabbed her roughly by the scruff and picked her up. The large man had strength enough to throw her into the front door. Her body slammed through the wood. Whimpering, Bridget involuntarily reverted to her human form. Broderick and Grady came to stand over her; both men were grinning.
"Go get David and Vernon." Grady ordered Broderick, who nodded and left the house. Grady knelt down over the injured Bridget. "You and me are gonna have some fun now."
David had felt something was off when Vernon told him that one of the horses had gotten loose in the canyon, but it wasn't until Vernon had forcefully held him from leaving the obviously empty canyon that David knew something was very wrong. He had tried to leave the canyon again, but when Vernon continued to stall him and not give him any answers, David had punched the older man in his face. In the fight that ensued, David came out on top, with only minor scrapes and bruises. Vernon, however, lay dead on the bottom of the canyon floor. That hadn't been intentional. Vernon had pinned him and when David kneed and flipped the older man off of him, he had unintentionally sent Vernon over the edge.
Concerned for Bridget's safety, David had mounted Rooster and headed towards the Johnson farmstead.
Night had descended and all four Johnson's awoke with plaintive howls. They could feel Bridget's pain, but were unable to figure out where she is.
"I bet you anything that Grady Ambrose has something to do with it!" Anna snapped angrily as she paced the floor of the front parlor. "
"We should go to his ranch and kill him." Chloe agreed. Arabella shook her head.
"We can't just kill something without proof that he's the one who has Bridget." The twins shared an annoyed look. Widow Johnson didn't miss it. "I know how you feel, but we must be careful not to expose ourselves. Taking out an entire town will be difficult and it will be hard to hide the resulting carnage."
"So then what are we going to do?!" Chloe demanded.
"Go to the canyon, see if she's with David. See if perhaps the Indians finally caught onto us and decided to take matters into their own hands." Arabella ordered. "Herbert and I will go find one of Grady's men and bring him back here." Chloe and Anna didn't need to be told twice. They flew from the house. The twins initially headed towards town, but caught scent of Broderick heading towards the canyon. They shared a look and wordlessly changed directions to catch him. He was alone and whistling softly to distract himself from fear. The twins could smell Bridget's blood on him and it was nearly enough to drive them into a frenzy of anger. But they recognized that they needed information so they circled him instead.
"Don't you know it's dangerous to be out at night." Anna teased menacingly she landed in front of him and his horse. The horse reared up. Anna racked her claws through its neck and it fell over, pinning Broderick's leg. Chloe, coming up from behind, knelt down next to the struggling man.
"She's right you know, there are deadly creatures out and about, hidden by the black of the desert."
"Witches!" Broderick hissed. The twins laughed, but it was hollow and cruel.
"Witches indeed!" Anna tee-heed.
"No, sweetheart, we're not witches. We're something far more dangerous than those cauldron-stirring fire worshippers." Chloe sneered, her face only inches from his. "We're vampires and you have been a very, very bad boy." Broderick screamed as they grabbed him free of his horse and took flight.
David had known that something was off with the Johnson family, but seeing the twins take flight with Broderick had still caught him off-guard. Still, he kicked Rooster into a gallop as he followed them back to the Johnson farmstead. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew that he had to follow them. The twins were distracted by their torture of Broderick as they kicked and prodded him into their house, but David waited until they had disappeared upstairs before following in their footsteps. The Johnson household was deathly silent and David felt the hair on his body stand up on end. He had never been in the house before and he realized how unnatural the whole building felt. He paused at the top of the stairs, unsure of which direction to take.
"Where is she?!" Anna's angry growl echoed back from the end of the hall, giving him a direction. Careful to walk as silently as possible, David followed the noise. They hadn't closed the door completely and he peered through the ½ inch gap. Broderick was almost naked, his clothes ripped to shreds, and bleeding from multiple wounds.
"Go to hell!" David had to admit that Broderick had guts to be able to spit at the two creatures hovering around him. In retaliation, Chloe grabbed his right arm and snapped it like it was a twig. Broderick shouted in pain.
"We can keep you alive for a long time and still cause you more pain than you can even begin to imagine." Anna warned. "Tell us where she is and we'll end you quickly."
"No." Broderick snapped through gritted teeth. He was almost ghostly white. Anna and Chloe shared a look and then Chloe snapped his left arm. David cringed at the sickening sound but it was Broderick's scream that sent chills down his spine. "No." He repeated, though his voice was definitely less defiant than it had been before. Growling, Anna stretched out her palm and then grabbed Broderick's crotch forcefully. David grimaced as Broderick began to beg.
"I will rip them off." Anna threatened. "I swear to every God that has ever existed. "Where is our sister?!"
"Grady has her!" Broderick sobbed. "At the ranch!" Without missing a beat, Anna dug her nails into the skin beneath her palm and pulled the flesh forward. David turned his head as both sisters then bit into the man's neck. But after a moment, David's bravery returned. It was too late to turn back. With a burst of bravery that any man would've been proud of, he pushed open the door.
"I knew it." David breathed as he stepped into the room. Both Chloe and Anna looked up from Broderick's body, blood dripping from their mouths. Furious, Chloe flew across the room, pinning David up against the wall.
"Do you have a death wish?!" She hissed. "Why did you follow us?!"
"Because I wanted to know the truth."
"You can't handle the truth." Chloe snapped dismissively, although she allowed him to step out of her grasp. "And now you're going to force us to do something we don't want to do." Despite the warning, David didn't feel threatened and he said as much.
"You aren't going to kill me." The twins shared a look.
"Oh?" Anna laughed, her eyes wild. "And why wouldn't we? Your uncle has our sister! How do we know that you aren't a part of it?!"
"You know how I feel about Bridget and that I would never hurt her. And more importantly, you know how she feels about me." David smirked as the twins scowled. They knew he was right.
"Well, be that as it may," Chloe sniffed. "We can't allow you to walk out of this room as you are." Now David's arrogance faltered, though he never lost his smirk. The twins, of course, could read his thoughts and they giggled at his sudden unease.
"Aren't as tough as you think, are you?" Anna teased.
"I'm not scared." Considering the gory scene that he had just witnessed, David knew that he should be scared.
"You should be." Arabella declared, suddenly appearing behind David. Despite himself, David yelped and jumped away from her. His cheeks flared red in embarrassment as all three women laughed at him. "David, David, David. Do you have any idea what you have done?"
"I'm beginning to have an inkling." He muttered. "What now?"
"Now," Arabella sighed as she sat down next to Broderick's dead body. "Now, you have to make a choice."
"A choice between what?"
"A choice between life and death, David." The older vampire replied. "A choice between getting Bridget or losing her forever."
"Care to speak a bit more plainly?" David snapped irritably. Arabella silenced the giggles of Chloe and Anna with a glare before focusing her attention back on David.
"How far are you willing to go, David?"
Contrary to popular opinion, no two vampire transformations are alike. One person may experience extreme pain as their body dies; another may feel as though molasses is running through their veins. The manner of the transition from dead to alive depends largely on the way in which the person becomes a vampire. If he or she is a willing participant in the transformation, the experience is generally painless, maybe only slightly uncomfortable. If he or she is turned against their personal will, well, their experience is likely to be painful. For David, the experience was borderline orgasmic. He could feel his body getting stronger as his living blood was replaced with vampire blood; his entire body felt like it was on fire without any pain. His muscles were being pulled and tightened; his pulse was growing weaker as his heart died. And as the last mortal breath left his body, his face vamped out.
Arabella Johnson had seen many transitions from mortal to immortal, but David was the first she had seen where the individual immediately vamped out. Pleased with the overall transformation, Arabella knelt down next to her latest creation and smoothed his hair out of his fanged face.
"Welcome to your new life, David." She said with a smile and a gleam in her eye. "Now go and get my daughter back."
David didn't have to be told twice. He was out the door before Arabella had even stood up again. He moved as though he was born to be a vampire and his life as a human had been the unnatural portion of his existence. Arabella followed behind him of course, to make sure that Grady was taken care of and Bridget was saved, but she stayed far enough behind to not interfere unless necessary.
David stopped abruptly when he reached the front yard of the Ambrose Ranch. Mutilated bodies lay strewn across the sand, their faces still showing the horror they witnessed in their final moments. David could smell the blood and human debris, but was not repulsed by it. In fact, it only made him hunger for human blood even more.
His face back to normal, David moved slowly through the carnage, admiring the work his sweetheart had performed on his uncle's hired guns. David's respect turned to concern when he saw the large tufts of honey-colored hair around the door. Some of them had clearly been pulled out by the roots; he could see blood on the ends. Blood meant that Bridget was hurt. Now anxious, he kicked the door down.
The scene that greeted him caused fresh anger to course through his veins. Bridget was tied with chains to the main wooden post in the front room. She had clearly been tortured for a significant length of time as she was already covered in bruises and half-healed wounds. Her head hung down upon her chest and David couldn't tell if she was conscious or not.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" David demanded of his uncle. Sensing nothing strange about his nephew, Grady motioned David to come towards him.
"She almost killed me, but I caught the bitch." He stated proudly before reaching out and roughly grabbing Bridget's chin and lifting her face up. "She isn't normal, David, she ain't right. She's a monster, a she-devil."
"David…" Her voice was soft and desperate. Indeed, had David been human he would not have even heard it. Blind rage filled David.
"She tore up my men something fierce, though." Grady continued on, oblivious to the danger that he was in. Now Grady looked up, an unhinged smile on his face. "Want to do the honors?" In a flash, David had Grady pinned up against the wall of the house by the neck.
"Oh, I want to do the honors, alright." He snarled, his face once again in its vampire form. For the first time in his life, Grady Ambrose looked at another man with fear.
"Da…dav..David!" He sputtered out as David crushed his windpipes. "What…?!" Any further words died on Grady's lips as David tore into his uncle's neck. When his uncle was close to death, David let him go, allowing the man to bleed to death on his own. David wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve as he grabbed the key from his uncle and made his way over to Bridget. He undid the chains.
"Bridget?" He asked softly. Slowly, the blonde raised her head to meet his eyes. She smiled at him and reached out to touch his cheek.
"I'm okay, just a little beat up." She assured him. She slowly got to her feet, waving off David's attempts to help. David raised a skeptical eyebrow as he took in her cuts, bruises, and other consequences of a hard won battle. "I'm fine." She insisted. "Are you okay?" She motioned with her chin towards Grady's body. David returned to the aftermath of his first kill. As he looked at his uncle's lifeless body, David felt a sense of absolute freedom wash over him. He laughed loudly and hard. She looked at him, her bloodstained lips curled up in concern.
"I'm free." David replied to the unasked question. "I can do whatever I want."
"Not quite." Arabella interjected as she appeared behind Bridget. "Here you are." Bridget accepted her father's black coat and slipped it on, pulling it around her. Her daughter now safe and clothed, Arabella focused her attention fully on David. "There are rules to being a vampire." She informed him. "You cannot just kill as you please and do as you please. Not unless you want to be hunted by vampire slayers from here to Timbuktu. And the general populace cannot know about our existence." David frowned.
"I understand the need to be discreet, but –"
"There's no room for hesitation, David." Arabella interrupted sternly. "You will only kill when necessary and never do it in a provocative manner. You will always be discreet. You will always clean up after yourself and you will never leave no evidence behind. Do I make myself clear?" David and Arabella had drifted closer together during her short speech and Bridget felt the room darkening. David did not like what he was hearing and he wasn't about to back down.
"We are more powerful than them. Why should we hide in the shadows?"
"Because we must be smart. I am much older than – " Suddenly, David had vamped out.
"I just ended the life of one person who lorded over me and I refuse to be kowtowed by another one!" Arabella had also vamped out and she was much more intimidating. Due to her age, Arabella didn't look like a human turned into a vampire – she looked like a monster out of an ancient Greek epic. Though he didn't show it, David was slightly afraid of the creature before him.
"You are a child in every sense of the word!" She snapped.
"I will not be told what to do!"
"Then you are free to leave!" A choked sob escaped Bridget's throat and both vampires turned to face her. "Please don't do this." The blonde asked. "Please." Suddenly both vampires were human again. David was at her side in an instant. He took her face in his hands.
"Come with me. We can go anywhere; we can do anything." Bridget had tears in her green eyes as David's icy blues implored her to make the choice that he desperately wanted her to make. "Just you and me."
"I can't." She whispered. "I'm sorry." She mouthed the apology, unable to get the actual words out. David nodded and placed his lips to hers. Bridget curled her hands into his shirt, pulling him as close as she could. David abruptly broke the kiss and took a step back. He looked at Arabella.
"Am I free to go?"
"You are." David nodded a couple times and then turned to go. As he reached the door, Bridget called him back. She removed her black coat and walked forward with it held out before her.
"I want you to have this." She said, her voice still thick with emotion. She didn't wait for him to accept it, she simply placed it over his shoulders.
"It belonged to your father."
"Put it on." She ordered. David did as he was told. She smiled as she looked him over. "Perfect fit." They locked eyes once again. "Don't forget me?" David shook his head, a small, sad smile playing on his lips.
"I could never."
"Okay." Bridget exhaled and then forced herself to take a step backwards, as though she worried that she wasn't actually strong enough to walk out the door. "Good bye, David." She said with a shaky voice before turning and exiting the house.
"Bridget!" She glanced back. David smirked. "I love you." Bridget smiled, pressed her fingers to her lips and then blew the kiss at him. Seconds later, the girl was gone and the honey-colored wolf stood in her place. It took off running at breakneck speed. Soon she was only a heartbroken howl reverberating on the Arizona landscape.
*I learned a whole bunch about 19th Century candy while researching this scene. Apparently, a 'kiss,' in regards to candy, was a term used by Americans to describe any soft, bite sized candy. In America, a French kiss was meringue. So Bridget was enamored with a bite sized vanilla meringue.
Author's Note: So there it is, my take on how David became a vampire with a whole lot of original character and storyline thrown in. I said at the beginning that this was a one-shot so obviously it's not as detailed as it could be. But I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading!