Disclaimer: I do not own Being Human
A/S: I know I dedicate so many stories to MyLittleStorys but that's just how much a love the gal! Hehe. Hope you enjoy! By the way, if anyone is getting confused in terms of when this occurs its between when Effie is turned and when she meets Carl (in terms of the flashbacks which I hope is obvious enough which parts are the flashbacks).
Meeting Herrick
For MyLittleStorys
London, 1960
Sometimes you just had the enjoy the little things in life. Just as long as you didn't complicate things too much there was going to be no problems. But then again there were vampires like John Mitchell and Effie Blackwood. The two vampires who Herrick the misfortune to have to work with on this assignment. He was surprised that she was being brought into this but then again she was always good at tracking down the enemies of their kind. It was funny from the things which he had heard about her since their first and only meeting up to this point and from his own personal impression of her a lot of things had obviously changed about her...but at the same time she came across as one of those people with a violent streak in them. If you pressed the wrong button then you could get an unfortunate surprise. He had heard other things as well. She was married to a rather old and high-ranking vampire, there were even some rumours that not only was the very few pure-bloods left but also that there may have been a child involved as well. Goodness, imagine her with a vampire child. He didn't know whether she would either be the strictest, abusive or over-protective mother or all three. She seemed rather unstable when he first met her, but then again that was what happened when someone hadn't accepted what they were.
But there was not point for complaints. As a low-ranking vampire, he had to do as he was told and there would be no questioning of how things were run because he was just following orders. Besides, Herrick didn't mind doing things for the Vampire King of London. Even when there was a small voice in his head telling him that he was slightly pushing it at the moment. He actually rather liked him. Lionel had style, he had a way of knowing you wanted and he was willing to give it you before the moment you almost gave up on ever having it or if it was something you were already indulging in and was something 'frowned' upon even in the vampire community, he had the good manners to turn the other way and let you carry on. He just might be slightly lacking in judgement at the moment in involving her. There were just some things which needn't be discussed. Some things were there to be indulged. They were vampires for goodness sake. The same couldn't be said for the woman they were meeting that evening. Funnily enough she had met her before in this very same bar, he just hoped that things wouldn't go as badly as they did before. He got the impression that she was just a little...stuck up. She had been a vampire for longer than him so therefore she felt like she knew more about vampirism than he did when really, deep down, he probably was able to grasp the very concept of it much better than she ever would.
"So who is it we're meeting again?" Mitchell asked.
Herrick took a long sip from his beer before he answered him and gritted his teeth. "A vampire called Effie Blackwood."
Mitchell blinked and thought about it for a moment. "Oh yeah I know her. Or more I've heard of her. Have you met her?"
Herrick took in a deep breath. Oh yeah, he's met her alright...
~ (***) ~
London, 1923
Effie preferred to be left at peace when she was drinking. She thought of bars as being like churches. A man or woman should be allowed to be left to their own thoughts and not have anyone bother them, whether it was them simply coming up to her and striking a conversation with them or walking into the room. She preferred to be left alone since most of the time, if anyone knew her well and knew what she was they would be able to eventually see a pattern in her everyday lifestyle. Go out, find someone to kill, have a drink, then take a few days or weeks pretending to be human until she needed to kill again. Drinking became almost a relaxant to her. She didn't know what everyone else tried but she knew this method worked for her just fine. It wasn't particularly good for her and some would think that she was in denial about the fact that she said she accepted what she was but it didn't mean that she had to like it. There was a difference, even an uneducated mind could see that. Maybe it was because she hardly knew any of her kind. She didn't have anyone to discuss this with other than Ivan. Maybe she needed someone with another point of view. The only other vampire that she knew was Ivan and he was gone literally in a flash. Although she at least had the assurance that one day she would see him again.
There was the sound of the door and most of the time she wouldn't look up but she had a crawling suspicion travel up her spine that she wasn't to look away. It was just a feeling of some sort. She didn't know what it was, maybe it was her vampire powers, intuition, sensitive senses, she didn't know. But she knew she had to look up to know what she was about to in for. Effie knew two things before he walked through the door. One: That he was a vampire. And two: She was never going to like him. Come to think of it she didn't like the other guy he was with either as soon as she saw him. It was the expression on his face, no both of their faces. He looked like someone who was here to eat out. It was a coarse expression but that was appropriate with concerns to how she was talking about. The other had a look on his face as if he owned the place and had a right to think so as well. She knew he hadn't been a vampire for long. Neither of them had been and she knew that meant that it was going to be a while or never once the power stopped going to their heads. She at least understood the advantages and disadvantages of their nature, with there being more disadvantages than what was on the other side of the coin. She was never an angry person, she never truly wanted to kill someone, she knew it was just down to her nature. She could just tell that she wanted to rip his teeth out and wear them as a necklace as soon as she looked at him.
She just took one look at the man who seemed like the leader of the other. He seemed more intelligent than the other. The grey haired one looked like someone who wasn't all that bright. The other who seemed like he was in his mid-forties had an air of intelligence about him. She couldn't describe it. There was something wise, experienced about him, although he hadn't been a vampire for long, for that she could be sure. Otherwise he wouldn't have such a large ego which he was being made known throughout the entire room. It was just the way that he looked around and walked across the threshold before he sat down. He sat down as if he was waiting for a waiter to come and get his order even though they were in a pub. It was almost like he was exerting his presence to the very maximum. She hated vampires like this. She knew they were superiors in terms of the food chain but that didn't make them any better than humans. It was the same argument for how humans were sometimes no better than animals due to their 'intelligence'.
She sighed and turned back to him. It drove her insane just looking at him. There was something inside her telling her that she should walk away, get as far away from him as possible. She also wanted to throttle him. She wanted to stop him from doing anything she was sure he was going to do. Although she knew she wasn't allowed to that. By doing something like that, it was an easy way to get noticed and her kind were simply meant to be shadows unless you were about to be their dinner. Funnily enough, that was the only time when you were allowed to kill, you could only kill someone who had a life to lose. Now that was something else entirely. Those few moments from deciding that you were going be their prey to their inevitable death was the only time when a vampire could be themselves. Monsters.
~ (***) ~
London, 1960
"Yeah you could say that." Herrick replied in a care-free manner.
He turned back to Mitchell who was giving him a look which told him that he didn't believe for a second that the encounter was that boring.
"And?" He asked finally.
Herrick shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it's just one of those encounters you have with your fellow vampire."
Mitchell looked at him blankly and only said one word. "Bullshit."
~ (***) ~
London, 1923
"Hello, Dear." She heard him slur. She couldn't even resist rolling her eyes and was able to ignore him perfectly well until he got evidently annoyed. "Now there's no need to be rude. I'm only being polite."
She heard that one before. She had heard that one, one too many times and she was even more sure that he had told that to many other girls one too many times before ripping at their throats.
She raised her eyebrows in cynicism. "I'm sure you are."
She would have really hoped that he wouldn't have given anyone else this much grief but she would only be kidding herself. She could tell from the grin on his face that he had done this countless times before. He had preyed on young girls, perversely and with no mercy that it would make an Old One's back hairs stand on end...or not. Maybe they would be filled with disgust. It would not be regarded as admirable though. He would be seen as what he was. Scum of the earth. She knew that he had killed millions of other girls merely for the blood that they could supply them with. She knew that there had been millions of others. She knew that there were so many people before her who had been in the face of this monster and had no idea what it was that they were actually dealing with. If she let them walk out of here still walking and somewhat breathing (even though that could be argued upon them actually being able to breathe). At first, they probably thought him as a tedious man in a bar trying to chat them up, but then they would realise that he was something else entirely the moment that he would take them down a dark alley, they would quickly begin to recount the things their mothers and fathers told them about the men they shouldn't follow or take home with them. Then they would realise it was too late.
She had all the time in the world when he came for her but at the same time she knew that she was too late as well. There was nothing she could do to prevent what was going to happen to her and her family. If she had run away she would just be postponing it but it would inevitably happen to her because she was foolish enough to actually want it. She saw it as her only way out of her mundane life she was living when she didn't realise who good she had it. She could remember all those years ago when it happened to her but the difference between her and them was that she knew he was coming for her. Maybe that was why he turned her rather than killed her along with the rest of her family, because she had the intuition, because she was brave enough to face the facts and that was what it took to be someone like them. You needed to be brave enough to do the things that they had to do in order to survive. She would never know what it was like to truly die. Maybe. Maybe one day she may be able to pass onto another world and welcome death like an old friend. Maybe. That was the sad thing for her, that in their last moments of life they would not only feel the same level of hopelessness which everyone feels regardless of the nature of their death they also realise there was something for them to fear. A comforting death is the most dearest thing a mortal can have, they just don't know it.
"Now there's no need for sarcasm either." He chided. "I was just going to strike up a conversation, buy you a drink and even perhaps uh..."
She had to roll her eyebrows now and there was no denying that he not only noticed this but he was beginning to not get annoyed at her but that he was annoyed that his methods weren't working.
"Well in that case there will be a definite no and seriously-" She drew herself closer to the other vampire and drew her face so close to his that he would be able to see her bared fangs. "If you continue to breathe on my neck, I might consider wearing both your fangs as earrings. Are we clear?"
~ (***) ~
London, 1960
Mitchell was loving this. He knew this and so did Herrick. This was why he stopped for a moment, in fact this was why he was so hesitant in telling him all what happened that evening because he knew he would never hear the end of it. When Herrick was trying to be serious Mitchell always treated it like a joke since he always thought him some wild, uncontrollable beast. When he was trying to be affectionate or more caring since that sounded like it was suggesting something else he thought he was trying to manipulate him. So when he was hearing about how he had failed at exerting his power, he found it nothing but a display of how little he actually had.
"So what happened?" Mitchell asked eyeing him a little with a small smirk on his face.
Herrick rolled his eyes before taking in a deep breath. Even though he couldn't breathe or there was no point in his breathing when he didn't have a heartbeat. He knew it would take every ounce of will power to bring himself to admit to this but he knew that if he wasn't going to be able to get it out of him he was surely going to get it out of Effie and she knew she was going to be more than happy to tell him about the series of events of that night. She was like Mitchell, she liked seeing vampires like him being beaten down to their lowest.
"Well you can wipe that smirk off your face first before I tell you anything." He retorted.
Mitchell chuckled. "Sorry. I just get the feeling it didn't go well. And what I mean is that things didn't go well for you and I know how much that pisses you off."
He could say that again. She certainly outdid him that night. He was even a little frightened of her at the time. Scratch that. He was still a little frightened of her. She was doing more than exerting her own power that night. She was downright oppressing on them and showing them that if they ever crossed her path, whether they planned to do her any harm or not she wasn't going to show any mercy. She was merely warning them to stay away from her otherwise she might be the first vampire to exercise cannibalism.
"Despite being as old as I am she was a vampire for a lot longer than me." He began.
"And of course, before he actually goes into the details of the humiliation he actually tries to justify why his usual method failed miserably." He laughed.
He was really loving his now, his shoulders were jumping up and down and he almost looked like he was about to choke on his beer. For a second Herrick was almost hoping that he was.
"Well I was being charming as I usually was and she just didn't appreciate these attentions so...She threatened Seth and I."
Mitchell frowned. "Seth was there?"
"Yeah it was the night when you went off with that exotic dancer."
Mitchell's eyes sparkled with recollection and nodded. "Oh yeah...That was a great night actually. She was really flexible."
Herrick raised his eyebrows. "Really? Shame you killed her instead of recruited her..."
"Anyway let's get back to your story." Mitchell replied hurriedly grabbing him and shaking his hand. "Come on, tell us what happened."
Herrick sighed. "So yes, she visibly displayed her...intense dislike at our attentions..."
~ (***) ~
London, 1923
"She's like us." He whispered.
She had to admit she enjoyed seeing his eyes widen with fear. It gave her a sense of control over the situation. She felt like she was able to exert just a little bit of power over them.
The other one leaned in with a little interest sparking in his eyes. "Well there's a surprise. You're a pretty little one aren't you?"
"That's a pick up line with a little dust on it." She slurred in an unimpressed tone.
He chuckled. "You know, I am trying my best here."
"His very best." His friend pressed.
She gave him a look as if to say that the echoing effect he was trying to make by repeating what his partner was saying. In fact he looked like an idiot.
"Now, now Seth there's no need for taunting. I'm sure she's got the message. And I can see that she's a reasonably sensible young woman."
"I'm sure. So listen, since you would be so understanding about the vampire condition you can understand how bad it can be when one is a little...wound up from something which I'm sure you can imagine I've been up to."
"I don't know, Sweetheart." Seth hissed. "It seems like you're hiding something. And I think a sweet little thing such as yourself shouldn't be-"
In one swift movement she grabbed him by the throat, or more by his Adam's Apple causing him to have this cocking sound.
"Now, now. There's no need for all this." The other said.
"Then walk out the door, as soon as I let him go and don't come back to bother me." She added quickly.
She stared into his eyes for enough time to know that it would could go any way from this point. It was strange, she was good at reading people, almost like she was reading their minds, she was almost able to manipulate them into doing what she wanted them to do, call it woman's intuition if you will or a gift or even glamouring, but there was something about him which was almost clouding her judgement over him, blocking it off. He could either be intimidated by her or he could try his luck and try to overpower her. This could go either way now. She glanced around the bar and had seen it been abandoned. There weren't many people around in the first place so they must have cleared off before this began or perhaps had left because of what was going on. She turned back to him and smirked. She knew that he was scared now, not because she might hurt his friend, he didn't care about him, not in the slightest. He was scared, now, that she could actually do something to him. She knew she had been a vampire for longer than him so she knew the ropes better than he did. She was used to the movement and speed of her body. When you were, as she liked to call it, a baby vampire, you were still getting used to your body. The capabilities it could bring, its limitlessness and also its limits. There were things about it that you had to learn as you went along and then there were things which you found as soon as you woke up to this new life.
It still took a while to get used to. Even when she came to she never thought she would ever be able to feel like this. Invincibility it as a strange and frightening prospect. She had been a vampire for over half a century and even then that wasn't nearly enough time to get used to ones body. There were still things that she knew she didn't know about herself yet. There were still things to discover about what she could and couldn't do. There were still things to discover, learn, be taught. In fact, you were still walking around like a toddler at this point. She wasn't proud enough to avoid that fact. However, she had been around for long enough to learn how to 'blag' it. Now, that was the real art of being a vampire. She had mastered the intimidating stare, the menacing voice and the few tricks she was demonstrating now to make it seem that she could snap their spines like a thin, weak, little twig. Maybe give her another couple of centuries to be able to do that to vampires of his age but not now. She turned back to the other one which now looked like the pain had eased off into agonising numbness. She particularly liked seeing him being in pain, he was the one who enjoyed tormenting humans simply because he didn't know any better. Then again that would mean that the other one wasn't any better. He was doing it to be calculating, out of hedonistic pleasure. He knew better. She could tell.
She liked that Seth was in pain and she liked that his 'friend' was watching this so that they could either see or feel what it was like to be one of their victims. It was what one felt when you were drained of enough blood to know there was no way to get out of it. All you did was lie there and know that there was no way of being able to take back what had happened and there was no way that you could change what was going to come back next, whether it was death or a long-life sentence to an addiction that had no way of being able to get rid of. Seriously, whenever people fantasised, verbally and publicly about wishing for immortality it always felt like a slap in the face. Humans had it good...except when you knew where about to die in that moment when you had one of them leering over their faces. When you had given into your fate and was willing to call it a day. For good. She smirked wondering if that thought had occurred to him yet. Good. He deserved to know the pain he had put countless others through it. They deserved to know what it was like and maybe, just maybe they would think twice next time. She knew she had done the same, more times that him, perhaps, but she never, ever enjoyed it. But they did. She knew, they were predators otherwise none of them would be in the situation they were now in.
~ (***) ~
London, 1960
Mitchell threw his head back and roared with laughter. "I just wish I was there."
"Yeah I bet you do." He growled. "In fact I think you two are going to get along just fine. It's just as well that you're doing most of the leg work with her."
Mitchell was still trying to calm himself down before taking another sip of his beer. "And what about you?"
"I'm doing the stuff which requires...a more official looking face. If you walked it they would just think you were taking the piss."
Mitchell rolled his eyes. "Thanks. I so know you mean that in the up-most affectionate way I could possibly imagine you being capable of exerting."
Herrick stared at him blankly. "Yeah that sentence made no grammatical sense whatsoever. You must be really drunk. You were always such a light-weight."
"And I never thought you were such a wimp." Mitchell retorted. "How tall was she? I bet she was really petite not just in height but in size as well."
"Well actually she was one of those Scottish lasses who was about five-foot-ten and you knew you were never supposed to mess with."
"You still tried you little charm on her though, didn't you?" He teased.
Herrick shrugged his shoulders. "I was young."
"Not when I met you."
"Oh Mitchell will you shut up. We're starting to sound like an old married couple."
"Oh believe me some days it feels like that Herrick." He murmured.
Before Herrick could say anything there was a slam of the door and a low chuckling as rich as red wine. It was the chuckle of a woman.
"Well, well I never thought it would be you..." She greeted.
~ (***) ~
London, 1923
She let him go and watched him gasp for breath even when he didn't need to. "Okay, you should be going now." She reminded them after they had stood there for at least a minute.
The other one not called Seth glanced up at her. "Yeah, alright. Give him a minute."
"He's dead he doesn't need a breather considering we don't breathe." She retorted impatiently.
He straightened himself up and made himself a little more taller than he already was against her five-foot-ten-frame.
"Can I ask what your bloody problem is?" He sneered. "With us or with what we are? Because it seemed that it seems more about a clashing of philosophies to life which seems to be the problem here. I mean, I think we were being polite enough and if you really weren't interested, a simple no-thank-you would have sufficed."
She smiled back at him. "I know but really I don't think that would have cut it and I think we both know that no matter how I would have phrases and regardless of what I was none of you were going to take no for an answer and I think we both know that now that's not going to be so easy for you now, is it?"
He smirked and slowly backed away, gluing his eyes to hers as he did so. "Well I suppose this is goodbye, but then again in this world I suppose it never is...Perhaps it would be nice to make your acquaintance properly."
"Sweetheart, I prefer older men." She replied.
"Just out of interest how old are you?" He asked cheekily.
"A woman never gives away her secrets, dear. And that includes her age." She added with a serious look on her face.
Herrick backed away chuckling. "I suppose so. By the way, the names Herrick. Call me in if you ever feel like...letting your hair down."