Silent Night- Neferet
The carollers sang and skipped merrily down the corridors of the Mayo, unaware of the somber, even dour mood that floated about the penthouse suite, like a gas, permeating everything. I looked absently at my calendar, seeing that it was December twenty second. They were singing Christmas songs. The joyful tone to the song they were singing, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, to be precise, did nothing for my mood as it concluded abruptly.
Then they began a childhood favourite, Silent Night. The slow, languorously moving melody wrapped around me, like suffocating tendrils of a force of unnameable power, leading me to feel claustrophobic. The song had always made me think of being trapped in a maze, or between a rock and a hard place. It could possibly be because father had always hummed it around the cursed holiday, at a tempo and on a peculiar minor chord that had made it sound threatening, menacing even. Not that he couldn't make everything menacing sounding.
I opened my door to see a group of children, none older than eleven, surely, standing there, holding a bucket, with some charity name written on it, and singing. I looked closer. The money went to mistreated children. It said something to the effect of 'every child deserves a chance'.
After they completed the cursed song, one brave little boy spoke up "we're collecting donations for mistreated children. Would you like to donate some money, and give everyone a Merry Christmas?" he asked
And I laughed "All the money in the world can't make some Christmases merry." I said coolly "Some people, some things are just too far gone, are they not?" She thought of the way Emily Wheiler had celebrated Christmas, by locking herself in her room and praying for one of those miracles that the holiday was known for. A miracle that, as far as I was concerned, had yet to come, to me or my past counterpart.
"With a little love, we think that anyone c-can have a m-merry Christmas." A little blond girl, vaguely resembling Erin, responded, and I laughed again, at their naïveté.
"Love?" I demanded "You are all the same, vampyres, humans, mortals. It all comes down to love to you guys. Well, what about when one of your supposed loved ones is the one ruining your life? Because I'm sure then, they'll be damned grateful for love, when someone they think they loved makes them want to die." I somehow went from laughing, to screaming about something a hundred years ago, in my other life.
"T-those are the k-kids that w-w-we're trying to h-help" Another little girl, this one with two pigtails, stammered out, no doubt afraid of the vampyre screaming at them, I heard two of them whisper 'lunatic' to each other.
"Very well." I found my wallet and loosed a twenty dollar bill "Here." And may their Christmases be merrier than mine I added sarcastically in my head
The kids' eyes widened "Twenty dollars?" one of them gasped
"Use it wisely." I snapped "And ensure you do not stray up here by night. Some of you may not live to regret it." And the kids scattered, running in fear, except one kid, who stared at me, her dark eyes staring deep into mine. Her bronze complexion looked sallow and there was a bruise beneath her eyes. She looked like one of the eldest, maybe ten.
"I thought I asked you to leave." I insisted, my voice cold
She shook her head "I can't leave." She stated in a sad voice, not elaborating any further
"Mona!" Came a voice from the stairs "Mona, get down here!" shrieked a shrill female voice
"Please." The little girl, Mona, begged. And the desperation in her eyes was like looking in the Mirror again.
I didn't act so much as react, when I pulled her back into my penthouse and closed the door. She looked around apprehensively, at the broken balcony Aurox and I had fallen from, the stains from my blood, Sylvia's blood, all the bloodshed that had come to pass in here.
"Don't hurt me." She whispered, deciding that I had to be someone to fear, curling up into a ball, and heading for the corner.
"You will not be here for long." I explained "only until the immediate danger passes. I am not the kind of person you would like to spend very much more time with." I explained simply "Now, how long exactly do you need to stay here?" I demanded
Mona stopped and thought "Eight years, unless I become a fledgling." She replied
"You cannot stay here for eight years. I'm sending you home." I insisted, trying to harden my heart to this modern-day Emily Wheiler "Where exactly is home?"
"the orphanage. My parents were bad people, so they took me away to a worse place." She explained "But you can't understand"
I was fairly sure she had nothing on me. I used the powers Nyx had given me so long ago, and slid into her memories. I saw a woman who was never home and a man who would explode into fits of anger where no one, nothing was safe, much less a nine year old. I saw a severe woman running the orphanage, oblivious to the older kids who saw people like Mona, the younger kids, as little more than servants.
"Between a rock and a hard place." I whispered, feeling the exact sentiment whenever I heard Silent night. "You can stay." I said softly, feeling the White Bull's, my lord's heavy disapproval in my taking the girl in. "but only until I find a better place for you."
She hugged my leg and whispered "thank you." as I reconciled myself with the memories I had just seen, forcing myself not to see this girl as a younger, modern day version of myself.
What is with me and making Neferet do nice things?! This was not intended like that at all! But hey, happy accidents. Stay tuned for tomorrow's. KShade out.