Dinuguan (by Bunny)
What You Need:
2 cups of pork, diced
2 cups of pig's blood
1 cup of pig innards
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
3 tablespoons of vinegar
1 green chilli pepper, chopped finely
How to Prepare:
1)To a hot pan, add oil. Once the oil is heated, add the onions. Fry till transulcent.
2)Next, add the pork and innards. Let them cook for a minute by stirred them in.
3)Pour in the blood and vinegar.
4)Allow the mixture to simmer until it turns thick and black.
5)Sprinkle over the chilli in the sili.
6)Serve with rice or rice cakes.
~~~0~~~
"-yet another tragic end of drunk driving?"
"I don't think so, Rudy. Her family claims that she never touched a drop of alcohol all her life. Besides, if she had been intoxicated, the accident would have taken place much closer to Corona."
He scraped the blade along his chin, watching himself in the bathroom mirror as the radio continued to fizzle from the bedroom.
"Police investigations are ongoing and they've yet to release anything new on the case yet."
He rinsed off the foam, before proceeding to scrape the blade down along his cheek once again. As he did, he glanced towards the small touchpad balanced against the sink.
"Could it be related to that 'vampire' attack that happened just last week? The one on the high school girl?"
The pad happened to be linked up to the four hidden cameras he had placed around the Guardians mansion. He had considered trying to sneak a couple into the giant building itself, but eventually concluded that the risk mightn't be worth it. After all, the Guardians still thought he was dead. He was not one to spoil such an advantage.
"Who can say for sure? A lot of strange things seem to be happening in Burgess these days. The next you know – we'll be invaded zombies!"
From his surveillance on their activities, it seemed that they had chosen to dine outside tonight, on the open terrace of the second floor. He watched through the bottom right box on the touchpad as the short, golden-hair vampire laid out the utensils on the table. At the other end of it, two other vampires – one female and the other male – began a heated argument over something, candle-sticks perhaps. He didn't hook any microphones up due to the feedback excessive feedback, so he couldn't tell for sure.
"Alright, Rudy. That's enough Walking Dead for you. Whatever the cause, drive safe people. To the Dursleys, if you're listening now, know that we here at 'The Evening Song' are with you in this."
"Now, to other news-"
"Ack!" In his distraction, he had accidentally cut himself across his cheek. He could hear muffled laughter coming from behind him and he scowled. Swinging his head back, he shot a dirty look at his prisoner. Her mischievous eyes mocked him, though her gagged mouth could not.
"-at the Burgess High School Gym. It's a purely student initiative, yet its drawing volunteers from all over the town."
Covering the bleeding cut with his free hand, Hans turned back to the mirror, glancing down at the videos on his touchpad. There was a cab driving up to the Guardian house, and from it emerged a lithe young woman with blonde hair. It seemed that the Arendelle girl had arrived.
He washed the blood-stained cut under the water, then shifted his hand from the cut. As he had expected, the cut had vanished, just untainted skin. Satisfied, he returned to shaving the rest of his face.
"We've never had something like this here in Burgess, have we, Rudy?"
"Not for as long as I remember. To be honest, I didn't think there were many kids these days interested in any form of community service, but its great to know that we've got teens here so passionate about worthy causes."
Once this chore was completed, he dried his chin with a small hand towel, watching the surveillance feed as he did.
Elsa was climbing up the porch now. She was carrying a box with her – food, perhaps? Not that vampires could eat human food. If he were a more compassionate soul, Hans would have second thoughts about throwing an innocent human girl into a den of vampires. But, well, being himself, he didn't really care.
"Are you going down to donate, Rudy? I sure am."
"Yep! If you folks out there hadn't caught it before, the Blood Donation Drive is this coming Wednesday at the high school gym. Walk-in registration is available, though registering in advances allows you to jump the queue."
"Yep, you could be saving a life here, people, so come on down!"
In that short period of time that he had 'dated' Anna, he had questioned her extensively on the nature of her sister's relationship with Jack F. Guardian. The girl was however a desert of information, just giggling romantic statements and gushing about how cute a couple the two were. Hans had to force himself not to roll his eyes at her uselessness. Perhaps he should consider going back and finishing her off. Given time, she might actually begin to put two and two together about who attacked her that night.
Throwing the towel carelessly at the sink, he then headed back to the bedroom portion of the motel room. The redhead could feel his prisoner's eyes following him, but there was no harm that could be done with eyes alone, so he didn't care.
"And the weather for tomorrow will be- oh. Oh. This is just in. Apparently, there's been a missing-person report just filed in for another high school teen."
"Another one? Oh, no! Rudy, that sounds horrible! Is it related to the 'vampire' incident?"
He threw on his shirt, then the gambeson for protection, buckling his belt over it. He tested the comfort of his movements before tying on all the attachments, pouches and straps. He counted the bolts in the quiver before tying it to his waist and fitted the sword back in its scabbard before tying it to his belt. Finally, he picked his black cloak and threw over his shoulders. It was his favorite cloak and he was very thankful that it had survived the skirmish with the vampire three nights earlier.
"Honestly, her parents say that she likes horse riding in the woods a lot, so usually her 'vanishing' is no unique occurrence. However, apparently her horse came back without her."
"Oh, my. She might lying injured somewhere!"
"Now, let's not jump to conclusion. The forest rangers say that they can find no trace of her anywhere in the parts of reserve near her home, but there's plenty of places more to search."
He collapsed his crossbow into a more slender version of itself, much like the way one would collapse a fan, and slipped in the holster under his waist. His touchpad and the rest of his essential belongings he slipped all his haversack, which he swung over his arm.
"If anyone has any information concerning the whereabouts of Merida Dunbroch, please call the police right away."
"With the whole 'vampire' drama that happened last week, it's no doubt that her parents are very-"
He switched off the radio before approaching his prisoner.
She was seated on the floor, surrounded by a ring of salt that he had drawn around her. A gag had been strapped over her mouth, and iron cuffed her wrists to the water pipe. There was no way she could throw curse his way, and there was no way that she could run. That gave him an odd sense of smugness.
Considering how long he'd been in his line of work, Hans had expected that himself to have gotten over petty needs such as that vengeance. However, getting lynched out of the blue had cost him a kill and set back his plans by several days. With his hard work on Anna Arendelle rendered nearly useless, it was lucky that his quick wit had found a way to twist events to his favour.
But of course, he couldn't help but bear a grudge against the witch that attempted to kill him, and indeed if he were a normal human, she would have succeeded.
She was feisty one, he'd give her that, but after three hours of thrashing about and some … well-earned discipline, she had quietened down. Unfortunately, that meant that she wouldn't say anything at all, and that made things very inconvenient for him.
"I'll be going now," he announced casually to her.
The bruises flecked around her eyes didn't keep her from glaring hatefully through her crimson curls .
Hans was undaunted, continuing conversationally, "You know, this would be a lot easier if you'd just tell me what I want to know. I'm a very reasonable fellow, you'll find."
She closed her eyes and turned her head away from him.
"Come, come, now." He shook his head at her, squatting down to her height. "Your family's worried. Don't you want to go home? I'll let you."
Her lids shot back open, only for her sapphire eyes – a bit too blue for a witch – to narrow themselves at him. She didn't trust him, which was probably a good choice. But still, one that she was going to pay for.
He made a show of sighing as he reached to the shelf near by for the wine bottle sitting. Removing it cork with his teeth, he proceeded to dump its contents on her.
The girl let out a muffled shriek – or at least, she tried to as the red alcohol splattered her clothes and ran down her head. She sent him a bewildered expression.
"It's really simple, if you think about it," his tone was still pleasant and unassuming, almost like one talking about the weather. "You tell me who your magic healer is, or you will die the way millions of your ancestors have." He produced a lighter, flicking it alight. "Pick fast. My hand's getting tired."
~~~0~~~
She's really done up nice tonight.
No, no, don't say that. That made her sound like a mannequin. Or a doll. Or a piece of pastry.
"May I come in?"
It took him a while to notice that she was asking him a question. "Erm, right. Sure, sure, c'mon in."
Jack tried not to gawk at her smooth bare shoulders, nor the slender neck that led up to her pale, but still radiant, countenance. Her white-gold hair was twisted back into regal coronet, with only a few stray ringlets falling next to her ears. The dress she picked this round was surprisingly formal, with tapered ends hugging her knees just right and heeled shoes that allowed her to tower just slightly over him. In all the time they had hung out, she had never put in this much effort.
"When Anna said that you lived in a palace, I didn't think she meant it literally," was her musing out loud as she breathed in the wide rooms, the fancy lights and the ornamented pillars.
Jack let out an uneasy chuckle. "I wouldn't call it a palace, exactly, but I guess it's pretty … big."
"Uh-huh. Oh. I know you technically invited me for dinner, but I just wanted to contribute something." Elsa held up a plastic bag holding a large paper box.
"Oh, nice," he said as he took it from her. "I didn't know you could cook."
"Oh, I didn't. Anna said this place does the food rather wel, thoughl." He noticed that gloves that she had chosen today were long and white, stretching up past her forearms. They were very elegant, though looking a bit tighter than usual.
He glanced down at the dish, catching a whiff of it. Part of him felt that it smelled delicious, but the visceral majority of it balked for some reason. Keeping a straight face, the boy asked, "So, what is it?"
"Aglio e olio."
He stiffened up, unable to keep his eyes from darting to her in alarm. Was that a challenge in her gaze?
"Oh, cheer up," was her response, rolling her eyes. "I know you're allergic, but you're folks aren't be right? I mean, you guys aren't even related by blood, so they shouldn't be."
He opened his mouth, then closed it. Being unable to think of what to say, he just waved her forward into the corridor .
The walk together was very awkward – well, Jack felt it was awkward. Elsa seemed perfectly content with feasting her eyes upon the marble walls and the display cabinets, occasionally pitting a question about the ornaments, before quiet reigned once again.
Fortunately, he was finally spared the pain of silence when North appeared around near the stairs, bearing a large grin. "Ah, Elsa!" he greeted the girl jovially. "Welcome to our humble abode!"
"Thank you," the girl beamed back to the large man sincerely, her face lighting up at the sight of him. Seeing that she would be comfortable in Russian-born's presence, Jack suggested that North take her to the dining terrace first while he helped Sandy prepare the food. North was only to happy to do it and hustled the girl gently to the second floor, pointing out the more interesting nick-nacks they had around as he did. Jack was glad that there was someone that he could count on to make her feel comfortable, even if that person did intend for him to have his heart broken.
His shoulder drooped and he groaned. This was going to be hard night alright.
He retreated to the kitchen, where Sandy was already working on plating everything. He was very professional about it, scooping the dishes out into individual plates and setting them all on trays. His head perked up upon hearing Jack's entrance, expression quizzical as he noted Jack's face.
Holding up the Italian takeway, Jack told him, "She brought Aglio e Olio."
Grunting, Sandy took the carrier from Jack's hand and took a sniff at the dish, before shrinking away in disgust. Setting the bag down on the kitchen counter, Sandy signed to him, "Don't suppose we could 'accidentally' topple it all into the trash?"
As much as Jack wanted to, he shook his head. "Is there something we can do to it? Something to make it less-" he wrinkled his nose. The smell was surprisingly strong "-potent?"
"Nothing short of washing all the noodles under water and detergent," was Sandy's wry answer. "Lots of detergent."
"Well, that's just great." Jack sank into the chair near the dining table, dropping his face into his hands. "If we don't serve it, she'll think we're rude. But if we do serve it, we can't avoid eating it without it looking weird." Part of him wondered why she had chosen to buy this dish in the first place, anyway. If she really believed that he was allergic to garlic, why would she go out of her way to buy a dish that was drenched in it? Was it some kind of punishment to him in her eyes? Or was there some other reason?
"We should start losing 'accidentally' it to the trash," Sandy signed, digging into the plastic big and pulling out the paper container. Removing the lid, both himself and Jack winced as the air the kitchen was filled with the pungent aroma of sautéed garlic. Pinching his nose, Sandy made a move to tip the contents of the box into the trash.
"No!" Jack cried out. He knew that the excuse of losing it in the trash would never work on Elsa. They had to come up with a better reason for it. He frowned at the takeaway. "Maybe we can serve it, but get rid of it during the meal when she's not looking."
Sandy deadpanned him.
"I'm serious."
The golden-haired man shook his head as he reluctantly replaced the lid of the container.
~~~0~~~
Aglio e Olio (by…who?)
What you need:
1 pound of Spaghetti
3 tablespoons of Olive Oil
8 large Garlic cloves,
1 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
How to Prepare:
You DON'T.
In fact, I'm figuring whoever added this here was planning to poison us. You don't write a recipe for a dish that is literally named 'Garlic and Oil' in Italian inside a book for vampires.
I would have ripped this page out of the book, if wasn't for the fact that the recipe for Blood Brownies is on the other side and I love brownies. So…just don't make this, okay?
~~~0~~~
She wasn't an idiot. She had been watching Jack's expression when she told him about the aglio e olio. He had tried to hide it, but her humble offering had had him stumped. To be honest, his reaction could have been merely hurt that she had chosen to bring a dish that she knew he couldn't eat without reacting adversely to. In any other social setting, it would be considered rude. But here, she could convince herself that it was necessary test. After all, if any of Jack's family took a morsel of the dish, then she would know for sure that her suspicion were a temporary madness and there was nothing to worry about.
But if none of them took it, well, that would ring some alarm bells.
"Out here, my dear." North waved her through a glass door. The open terrace was uncovered, setting an elaborate stage for the long central table. Her jaw fell open as she noted how the neatly the plates were aligned with the glasses and napkins. The brass candlesticks standing around the decoration vase gave the whole thing a very classy feel. She was suddenly very glad to have chosen to wear a proper dress instead of the blouse and pleat skirt she had planned on before.
"Elsa, I believe you've met Sandy,-" the small golden-haired man waved cheerfully, with a beam that instantly warmed her heart "-and Bunny-" Jack's tough older brother, who merely grunted at this acknowledgement and leaned nonchalantly back in his chair "-but I believe this is the first time you've met Tooth."
"In person, I'd imagine," a cold voice interjected, and Elsa recognised the small, thin woman with green and yellow hair. Her extraordinary violet eyes scanned the girl critically and Elsa couldn't help but feel that if anyone here who opposed her interaction with Jack, it would be Tooth. Hostility reeking, a slender, olive-skinned hand stretched out to her. "How do you do?"
"Fine," was Elsa's stiff reply as she took the hand of the woman. Almost immediately, Tooth – Jack's elder sister? Or whatever these things called each other – hissed in pain and drew her hand back. It hadn't been intentional, but now she remembered the silver ring that she wore over her glove. The implications of the woman's reaction sent chills down her spine and for an instant, Elsa fought the urge to flee back down the stairs.
The woman with green hair merely rubbed on her palm, as if her behaviour was perfectly normal. Smiling with sickening politeness, she gestured towards the seats. "Won't you sit?"
They all sat around the rectangular table, with an unoccupied seat next to Elsa. Polite conversation about work and school was exchanged - well, it was exchanged with whoever was forthcoming. North was more than happy to share about his work at the local college, even with a few snide remarks about the grading system that made Elsa giggle. Bunny was more close-lipped, and not as cordial as he had been that time when he had given her a lift home. Sandy was not one for talking either, but Elsa found that he was still as warm as a silent person could be. Tooth didn't divulge so much in her own life either, but seemed very interested in needling Elsa about hers. "Oh, so you're a president of a school society? Charming, but there's only four people in it, so how does that work? " And "Do you have a plan for higher education? Out of state? My, that would be expensive. Are you sure you can afford it?" And "You lost your parents when you were fourteen? Oh, so did I, but I didn't have any siblings after that. You're rather fortunate."
'It's not a competition,' was what Elsa answered in her mind. Out loud, she said in a careless manner, "I guess I am."
Finally, Jack arrived, pushing a cart that Elsa could only imagine carried the dishes. The white-haired boy was spotting a wide grin as he announced in a fake French accent, "Ma chere, Mademoiselle. It's with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight. And now-" he waved exaggerated at the table before "-we invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair, as the din-"
"Shut up and serve it already," came Bunny's deadpan interruption.
Jack pouted, folding his arms in manner that was much like that of a four year old. "I wasn't done yet."
"Mate, you ain't a flippin' candelabra. Just put the food down before I throw you off over the palisade."
Tooth's face contorted into a shocked mien. "Bunny!"
"What? At least I'm not going to-" he broke off when his sharp eyes landed back onto Elsa "-oh, right."
The girl was puzzled about this little banter, but decided not to comment as the first dish of the night was set before her.
~~~0~~~
Sandy was an indisputable genius. All the dishes on the table may look the same, but they weren't. From the salads down to the desert, everything single dish that sat before their human guest was designed to be blood-free, while the ones before each of the Guardians were blood-packed. The bits of solid blood or the liquid version were all hidden under the crusts of pie, in the salad, in the soup – even in the bread! But for all Sandy's genius, he could not solve the most alarming addition on the main course plate.
Tooth poked the small pile of noodle that sat next to her salad. "Is this …garlic spaghetti?"
"Yes," Jack piped in hurriedly before anyone else could voice their complaints. He could feel Elsa's eyes upon him as he spoke. "Elsa brought it."
"I know Jack can't eat garlic," the blonde girl gushed in a manner that wasn't very like her. "But I couldn't resist contributing a little something to the meal, especially since you've all been so gracious in hosting me."
He caught the sardonic undertones to her calm reasoning, and he swung around to face her. Throughout most of the dinner, he hadn't even dared to lift his head from the plate. His mind was much too occupied with sorting through the flurry of thoughts and emotions that attacked him. He had allowed North and Tooth to lead the conversation, being too consumed with worry.
Worry about what was going to happen after dinner.
But it appears now that he would have to worry about now.
"Well, go on," Elsa egged them on with an innocent face – one that he was no longer deceived by. "Try it. It's genuinely good."
He narrowed his eyes down at her. She must have felt his stare, for she then turned her head to face him, as if challenging him to object. And for the first time, he allowed him to consider that perhaps she was not in the dark as much as he would have preferred her to be. Drat.
"Mmmhmmm!" Their little staring contest was interrupted by North, who had within seconds emptied his plate. He made a show of rubbing his tummy and chuckling heartily. "Well, I must say, that is excellent spaghetti. Yes?"
Jack gawked incredulously at him. His blonde companion too appeared similarly stumped at the unexpected site.
"Well, I'd say it's more on plain side, if I might say so myself," said Tooth. She was dabbing her mouth with the napkin and just like North, most of the spaghetti on her plate was cleared off. She made a critical expression as she chewed – or was that pretense? "Then again, I don't not a big fan of take-out."
Bunny merely let out a loud belch that made everyone on the table jump. He waved his hand in front of him and muttered, "Sorry." Likewise, the aglio e olio on his plate too had been cleared.
Sandy just gave a double thumb-ups. His plate too was cleared.
Elsa was clearly dumbfounded.
"Well,-" Tooth clapped her hands together "-that was just wonderful. It's a pity you're allergic, Jack, or you'd have enjoyed it too."
Still a little surprised and mystified by how easily his fellow vampires had made the garlic-drenched noodles vanish, Jack accidentally knocked his fork over. "Oops," he mumbled as he bent himself over to retrieved the fallen utensil. As he did, he was permitted the sight of the piles of aglio e olio sitting at the foot of the table, where they had been mercilessly discarded.
A bubble of chuckles ran up his chest, but he covered it with a cough as he emerged from under the table. He then noticed that Elsa bore a grave expression as she shoved mouthful after mouthful of her own portion of aglio e olio in her mouth, like one who had thought they had the answers only to be proven wrong. Whatever little scheme she had thought up, it hadn't worked. He couldn't help smirking.
That was, until she started coughing fitfully.
~~~0~~~
Blood and Mushroom Soup (by Sandy)
What you need:
4 Cups of any Mushrooms, Sliced and washed
4 Cups of Pork Blood
2 Cups of Chicken Stock
0.5 Cup of White Wine
1 Onion, sliced thinly
1 Cup of Full cream
1 Tablespoon of Melted Butter
1 Sprig of Parsley
How to Prepare:
1)Add butter into a hot pot, then onions.
2)Add Mushroom and stir. Leave to cook until most of the liquid produced by the mushroom has evaporated.
3)Pour in white wine. Stir mixture until wine reduced by half.
4)Pour in stock and blood. Cover pot and allow simmer for 20-30 minutes.
5)Switch off flame and allow soup to cool for 15 minutes.
6)Transfer to blender and blend till fine pieces. For more chunks, blend at a lower power.
7)Pour blended mixture pack into soup. Heat it up again and add parsley.
8)Serve with cream and toasted bread.
~~~0~~~
"You okay in there?"
"Yeah, just-" a wave of nausea struck her again and she was forced to clutch the edge of the toilet seat.
She wasn't actually throwing up anything, but her body did try very hard nonetheless. She pinched the bridge of her nose while trying to take deep breaths, attempting to contain the discomfort. She was not one prone to food poisoning, but perhaps the Italian place that she had gotten the aglio e olio from was not exactly on-par with their hygiene practices. Still, it didn't explain why she couldn't be properly sick.
After sitting a while in the Guardians' marble-lined washroom, complete with sparkly lights and gold-coloured taps, the burning sensation in her stomach subsided somewhat. Massaging her tummy lightly in search of any residual pain, she eventually concluded that it had indeed passed and she was now obliged to leave the bathroom and face her worried hosts.
She groaned while dragging a palm down her face. Her worried hosts, which included a certain white-haired, not-boyfriend-but-not-platonic, suspected-vampire-but-insufficient-evidence, really-nice-but-really-secretive, boy.
"Well, Elsa," she murmured to herself as she pushed herself to her feet. "Conceal, don't feel. Don't let it show."
She instinctively searched for a mirror to examine her appearance, only to fine that the grandiose bathroom strangely was missing that. Had a bidet, a spa-sized bath tub and marble tiles, but no mirror. That was… disconcerting.
Undoing the lock, she pulled open the bathroom door to be met with the sight of a very pale Jack. While she was sure that he was concern, she found it oddly pleasing that the concern extended to such.
Oh wait. That was his normal skin tone. Had his complexion always been this deathly shade?
"How you feeling?" he asked, sounding more nervous then he looked. He was also holding a steaming cup, but he had forgotten to explain them until she raised a quizzical brow. "Oh, um, we don't have any medication, so here's some ginger honey tea." He lifted it expectantly at her. "I read about it on the internet, and some websites claim that it helps tummy upset." He pursed his lips together. "Well, other claimed that it caused tummy upset, so I'm not very sure."
"Oh, well, thanks." She took the tea, more for its warmth then its healing. For some reason, she felt rather cold now that the pain had passed and sipping it provided some comfort.
"You wanna sit down or something? You look really white." Pots and kettle. Or more accurately, milk and snow.
"That'd be nice."
He led down the lush corridor, completely oblivious to the rich décor that surrounded his every step. As much as Elsa would have loved to soak in all the sights, part of her was feeling strange after the whole 'food poisoning' thing and the last thing she wanted was to faint in the middle of a giant, mysterious mansion.
The dinner itself had not gone as she had planned. The aglio e olio test had backfired after all, but she was still not ready to dismiss the notion that the Guardians were indeed a race of mystical immortals that feasted on the blood of humans. So perhaps they did consume the garlicky noodles without any issues, but it didn't negate the possibility of them being more than they seemed - and trust me, they already seemed to be the weirdest miss-mash of a family she had ever seen.
"Um." Snapping out of her thoughts, she noticed that Jack was waving her into one of the smaller rooms. He appeared a little uneasy. "You can sit in here. I guess."
She stepped into the room and was taken aback by how plain it was. The walls were painted a cheap white, now yellowed with age, and the floor was boarded with a greying wood. There were no classy sculpture or ancient relics lying around, just posters tacked haphazardly to the cupboards, post-its littered around the walls, books strewn over the table and shoes under the bed.
And she realised that everything in here screamed teenager.
"So, um, Elsa, this is my room," Jack stated in a painfully awkward manner. "And room, this is my – um – nevermind." She could hear him berating himself behind her as he kicked one of the strewn shoes away.
As she circled the place, mug balanced in her hand, it struck Elsa that bringing her here was a deliberate move on his part, and this was also the first time that he was allowing her to see something that was really personal to himself – not of his family, just him.
"You like Celine Dion," she remarked when she noted square poster pinned near the photo frame.
"She's a good singer," was his defense. "Generally easy on sensitive ears."
Elsa now turned her attention to the photos. Almost all of them were of himself and the Guardians, some in full force and others with just one or two of them. They were mostly in the great outdoors at different seasons. As odd a motley crew they seemed, they really did look like family. He might have never admitted loud, but the Guardians were a huge part of Jack's life.
And that meant that if they were really vampires, exempting him from guilt would prove difficult.
"Who are you closest to?"
Jack paused his self-hate tirade to raise his head. "What?"
"Out of the Guardians." The girl gestured towards the framed pictures. "Who are you closest to?"
"Well,-" he scratched his head "-it would depend what. I mean, Tooth and I are nothing alike, but she dotes on me. Generally." There was hesitation in his voice, but she didn't have the chance to inquire on it before he went on. "North's the easiest to talk to, but Bunny's always good for banter. Sandy doesn't say much, but he has this effect about him … aura, I guess? Whatever, being around him is always calming."
"But who do you tell everything to?" Elsa wasn't really sure why she asked it. It was hardly vital information, but something in her just wanted to know. "Like, well, who would you call your best friend amongst them?"
Jack eyed her with astonishment, as if she had just asked him if he had ever considered that the world might be neither flat nor round but pyramidal. "Well, I – well, I mean, the Guardians are family and stuff, but we're not – I mean – I-" unconsciously, he began wringing his finger against each other "-I tell North a lot of stuff, but I don't share everything. I mean, none of us really share everything." Jack let out a short laugh as she sat himself on the edge of his bed. "I don't know what Bunny does half the time, and the others have their own friends that I don't know much about. I mean, we're lookout for each other, but-" he shrugged "-we're not that big on full disclosure, I guess."
"Like Anna and I, then?" she noted, a subtle sting hidden under the innocuous statement. She didn't forget the last time he brought that up on their impromptu date.
The white-haired lad shot her a wry look. "Hey, that's because we're grownups. Grownups live independent lives."
"Except you." This comment made him confused, if his expression was anything to go by. So Elsa explained as she sat herself next to him, "I mean, you're still in high school, so you're not quite a grown-up yet."
He considered this with far more seriousness than she expected. "I guess not," he said at last, shoulders slumping. "I'm not very good at living independently. I mean, even when I had to live apart from my sist-" Jack stopped short, realising that he had said far more than he had intended to.
Elsa considered pressing the issue, but decided not to ask, no matter how much she wanted to know the circumstances that led to his estrangement with his sister, and prior to her passing too.
"When I had to live apart from my sister," he continued after clearing his throat, "we still relied a good deal on each other – at least, I relied on her. Her letters were everything to me. She was everything to me." The girl watched him swallow as he hunched forward, and sympathy swelled in her as she heard the sorrow in his voice, "When I lost her, I think part of my world just, well, broke. The Guardians are good to me, but they can't-" he pressed his lips together brief "-they can't fill all the gaps."
All her life, Elsa had never been the one who comforted. She wasn't the time that could whip up inspiration speeches or soothing statements in seconds, even her heart . Her words were always direct, and sometimes harsh. So she said nothing when she pried open his clenched, thin fist and slipped her gloved hand into his – the one without the silver ring.
He didn't say anything back, just tighten his grip of hers. She could feel him trembling.
They just sat like that for a while, in a sombre, yet oddly peaceful silence. The ticking clock on the wall was the only sound that was made, until Jack spoke, barely a whisper and looking pointedly at floor, "So, what do you want me to tell you first?"
She was taken aback by his chosen method of starting a topic, but then again, she had only accept the offer of dinner on the condition of getting answers.
AElsa quickly rummaged through her mind the various questions that she had compiled over time. Why did you run away that night when Anna was hurt? What's the reason that you didn't answer any of my calls? Don't laugh at this, but are you a vampire? If so, what is the extent to which you're involved with what happened to Anna? But she found that all these questions, while pertinent, were not questions that she really wanted to ask as much as - "Jack, do you like me?"
The hurt etched on his countenance was just enough to make her feel guilty. "Of course."
Steeling herself, Elsa lay out the only appropriate follow-up. "Why?"
He hesitated, and her heart sank. He was going to avoid the question again, wasn't he?
But then he shifted himself towards her such that their knees bumped against each other. He removed the mug of ginger tea from her hand and set it on the bedside table, before he took her gloved hands into his own. Immediately, she was reminded that Valentine's night that had started and ended so wrong, but yet still had something sweet in the middle. Something that she didn't quite understand, but that she wanted – craved even.
He stared down at their joined hands as his thumbs massaged her knuckles, saying cautiously, "Have you ever, well, like, seen something that other people had and want it for yourself so badly that it hurts?"
She had ever wished that she had Anna's sunny optimism and her propensity. That she didn't have such awful nightmares and fears. That she had her parents back. "I guess so."
"Yeah, well." He chewed on his lip so hard she was surprised it hadn't started bleeding. "I do. For a lot of things- like having siblings, or beach days, or even enjoying the taste of garlic. But, well, I don't know, if I could pick just one, I'd like to-" his fumbling tone shifted abruptly into something more subdued "-fall in love."
She blinked.
"I'm not in love with you!" Jack hastily clarified, only to realise how terrible that sounded. "I mean, not that I would mind being in love with you. Well, not that I'm nonchalant to whole idea of love that it's just a matter of 'mind' and 'not mind'. Because I take it very seriously – I take relationships, and its associated notions, very seriously-"
She deadpanned him.
"What I mean is." He let go of her hands to scratch his neck nervously. "I'd like fall in love, I guess. I mean, they say it's wonderful, and all that."
"So-" Elsa wrinkled her forehead, trying to process all that had been said "-you like me because you want to fall in love with me?"
Jack pulled a face. "Well, I suppose, it's something like that."
"Well, why me then? Why not the dozens of other girls out there?" It was quite well-known that Jack F. Guardian was one of the most attractive boys in school, and she was sure he was quite aware of it.
"Well, you're pretty."
Her expression spelled out in no uncertain terms 'Really?'
"And smart. Like way smarter than me." He rubbed his jaw as he thought further. "And passionate."
"Passionate?" she repeated, disbelieving.
"I've never seen someone so determined in running a school society that has only as four people in it," he told her with such a straight face that she couldn't even tell if he wasn't joking. "Also, you're pretty brave."
That was a statement that caught the blonde girl by surprise and she said deprecatingly, "That I'm definitely not."
"Even when everyone doubted your story about what happened to your parents, you still trusted yourself and stuck to your version. If that isn't courage, I don't know what is."
But she didn't trust herself. In fact, these days, she wondered if she was really going off the deep end, with all these weird nightmares and waking up in cold sweat. Elsa wondered whether he would still find her appealing he knew what she was going through.
"Look, Elsa." He looked her properly in the eye now. Everything in his posture screamed uncertainty, yet at the same time sincerity. "If I named every reason I found appealing about you, we'd probably take all night, and honestly, half of them aren't logical. But if I had to summarise it - to pick just one-" he let out a deep breath "Well, if to truly live is to truly love, then maybe I am already falling in love, because with you," for some reason, his voice fell several decibels and she leaned closer so that she could hear him say "-I feel alive. Does that make any sense?"
She didn't know how exactly to respond to his odd answer, and she could tell from his appearance that he didn't either. Because honestly, he didn't really make sense at all. Yet, that was a part of her that sort of understood.
It was profoundly unfair, she supposed, that a member of male species could possess such alluring eyes, holding the possible every shade of a summer's sky within them. But it was also profoundly unfair that that such eyes hold such a weighty sorrow, thick with remorse and bitterness and fear, tied together by an emotion that she knew to well herself.
Loneliness.
At some point of his young life, he had been forced to face a profound loss – one that stripped away everything he had known and had once been. He had been forced to adapt to circumstances to survive, but in needing to survive, he could not thrive. It was as he had been frozen in that moment, that horrible moment, for a long time, and though externally he showed few signs, the vacuum from loss was eating him from the inside. She knew this, because she had been, or maybe still was, plagued by it too.
Somewhere down in her, Elsa felt a visceral need to chase away this viscous plague that had afflicted her, and afflicted him too. So with an urgency that she didn't quite understand, she surged forward, pressing her lips against his.
The microsecond they made contact, she knew that it was different from that first ones four days ago. Those were chaste, cheeky, with the innocent of a first time exploration. But now, the exchange was desperate, and not just from her side.
If there was an shyness on his part, it melted quickly away as Jack pushed hungrily back against her. The melding of mouths was aided by hands that grabbed against the other's form, seeking to steady themselves from the overwhelming sensations rising between them, unaware that this only served to disorient them further.
She was unaware of exactly how it happened, but in the midst of the frantic lip-lock, their position had turned horizontal across the mattress. When she finally pulled herself away for air, she realised that her coronet had come undone and was now trapped in a painful snag between her head and the pillow. The boy hovering over her noticed her discomfort and gently reached behind her to pull the fizzled braid free, laying it down carefully on sheet as if it was glass.
His attention then returned to her. A shaking hand reached towards her face, and she felt its cold tips brush against her forehead as they moved the stray strands out of her eyes, allowing him an unhindered view of them. Elsa found her heart pounding rapidly as she stared up into those brilliant azure orbs, so full of admiration and longing. In the back of her head, she knew that she shouldn't be doing this – whatever it was - not with a boy that she scarcely knew and certainly not on his bed with his relatives around the corner.
But at the same time, she wanted to drown in the flurry of feelings shared between them. She didn't want to worry about her nightmares, or about Anna and her at-large assailant, or about Hans and the horrible ideas that he had introduced to her. She wanted it to be just them. Just them, together.
"Elsa?" The beautiful boy above her seemed concerned by her silence, or maybe he was just concerned altogether. His hand had reached for one of her gloved ones and brought it to his face, planting a kiss on the back of it in manner that was oddly gentlemanly considering their position. She could see that he was conflicted, and the selfish part inside her wanted that conflict to be squashed lest he do something undesirable because of it.
So she freed her hand from his hold and used to cup face, bringing hi, down towards her.
Yearning filled his gaze, but there was still doubt in his voice. "Elsa, I think-"
"Jack," she interrupted him softly, but firmly. "I like you too."
His jaw fell in surprise. "What?"
"You frustrate me," the blonde girl admitted. "And you're sometimes pretty irritating, but I do like-"
She didn't get to finish, because Jack shoved his mouth forcefully against hers, stealing any words from her tongue. His hands dove into her hair, not caring how his fingers were undoing whatever was left of her braid and his body pressed down against hers. In the haze of sensation, she found herself not caring as she wrapped her arms around his torso, trying to bring him as close to her as possible.
"Elsa," he breathed against her lips when he pulled briefly away, only to peck a kiss there again. "Elsa." And again, as if he couldn't bear to be parted from her for longer than a breath. "Might I-? Please…"
She didn't know exactly what he was pleading of her, but she was no longer in frame of mind to refuse. "Yes."
The blonde girl felt him reach up to press a kiss against the tip of her ear ever so lightly, then below it, then further along her jaw. She closed her eyes, relaxing into the unfamiliar, yet pleasing tingling along her skin. Her arms came to cradling the back his head, stroking his white locks in encouragement. She almost fainted at the sensation of him nibbling her along her neck.
And then abruptly, she felt his lip leave her and his form torn out of her arms. Elsa's eyes shot open when she heard Jack's pained cry and she bolted upright, still panting heavily from the vestiges of their sensual experiment.
Standing next to the bed, holding Jack by the scruff of his collar, was his very infuriated elder sister.
When the reality of the situation hit Elsa full force, she flushed brightly crimson. "This isn't-"
"Your fault?" Tooth cut in bitingly. "It probably isn't." She narrowed her eyes down on Jack, who tried to shrink away from her, but her grip on him was too firm. Turning briefly back to Elsa, she said, "Excuse us."
And then she dragged the boy forcefully out of the room, paying no mind to his protests.
Left alone, the girl sitting on the bed curled herself slowly up in a ball. As the thrill of the moment began to fade, reason was back and it did not faint a pretty picture.
She ran a finger over her swollen lip as horror filled in her. Did she just – but – she didn't do flings! This kind of foolishness was more along Anna's alley. And yet, she had lost control. Willingly. She had allowed emotions to lead, and because of that, they might have – they could have – if they hadn't been -
Her hand shot up to her neck and her eyes widened. All that Hans told her just a day ago came to mind. Could Jack had been trying to – no, he had just been caught up in the moment, like she was. It was just hormones – stupid teenage hormones.
She needed to get out of here. Yes, she did.
But first, she was going to find some answers.
~~~0~~~
"You-" expletive, expletive, expletive "-how could you-" expletive, expletive, expletive "don't you realise that-" expletive, expletive, expletive "-why-"
In all his time with her, Jack had never heard Tooth swear this much. In fact, he wasn't even sure if Tooth could swear.
Well, apparently she could. Case closed there.
He shook his head, trying to clear the fog that was in his mind. The details were still a bit of a blur to him, honestly. After Elsa had told him that she liked him back, the cord of restraint in him had snapped. In all their time together, he had been wondering what the attraction was one-sided. Well, it had certainly started that way, but he had begun to fear that it would remain so. But clearly those fears were unfounded, for he must have somehow won over her somewhere along the way. So, maybe he did get a bit carried away with kissing her (on his bed. Wow. If his mother was watching this from above, that would be awkward), but she liked him back and that was-
Smack! A flare of pain seared itself across his face. "Ow!"
"Listen when I talk to you!" Tooth screeched at him, her shrill voice becoming impossibly more shrill. "Do you know what you almost did?"
His face scrunched itself up as he tried to collect his thoughts. "Um-"
She clutched him by the shoulders, fingers digging so deep into his joints that he had no choice but to look up at her and her blazing violet eyes. "Do you?"
He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, then opened it again. "It was just kissing."
"Really?" Her voice was full of fury. "Really, Jack, really?"
"Nothing else was going to happen," he insisted.
She narrowed her gazed down at him, opening up a pitch of discomfort in his stomach. In a very low voice, Tooth told him, "I want you to think back very carefully, and tell me honestly that nothing was going to happen."
The stubborn defense was on the tip of his tongue, but then he paused the recollection of the hazy events, and as he did, his own boldness surprised him. He generally tried to be a gentleman, respectable distance on all that, and maybe the intimacy of their proximity had been a bit much considering how short their relationship – if it existed at all – was. But she had been so lovely wrapped in his arms, her skin so smooth and her form so shapely, her scent sinfully alluring and her lips so addictive. How could he help craving the warmth of her flesh and the taste of her blood on –
Jack sobered up instantly. Oh.
He lifted his head sharply, aghast at himself. "But-but- I didn't mean, I didn't want, I mean-" he tore himself away from the smaller woman, rubbing his forehead "-I didn't want to feed on her. I mean, I'm full. I'm definitely full. We just had dinner." He rocked himself back and forth on his heels, frowning. "Besides, feeding's usually a lot more violent, isn't it? So it can't be that I was going to feed on her. It'd be impossible." He gazed hopefully at her for reassurance.
Tooth sighed, some of her anger fading away. "Oh, Jack." She tenderly caressed the side of his face, which was still smarting a little from her blow. Her own face was full of sadness, which he didn't quite understand. "I suppose it was naïve to assume that simply because you didn't know the mechanics of it meant that you were incapable of it."
He was utterly bewildered. "What?"
"The baptism of blood."
Just the title of it was sufficient to send a chill down his spine. "But, I-I wouldn't-"
"In the thick of emotions, Jack, you wouldn't care. It's programmed too deeply into our biology." He turned his head from her, but she insisted on follow him and looking at him in the eyes. "Perhaps we should have warned you."
The boy was puzzled. As long as he could remember, Tooth had been warning him. She was always going on about the dangers of being attracted to mortals – not even being relationships, just attracted. There was little that she hadn't warned him of. Right?
"Usually, in the baptism of blood, the victim is incapable of resist the vampire, because the vampire has already placed the victim under trance. I'm not sure of the mechanics of it, but it's real. Trust me – I would know." Her expression darkened. "Under a strong enough trance, the victim would be utterly cooperative with the vampire, doing whatever the vampire wants them to do. They might even die smiling, and after they die – ha! After they die…" she barked out an ominous laugh, before cocking her head at him, all back to seriousness. "Do you understand, Jack?"
His face was blank as he digested this new information. He had always known that vampires had some way of luring their prey, but he attributed it to how attractive vampires were in general. He didn't realise that there was some innate ability already buried in his physiology that could apparently summoned without his notice. And then it struck him that while he was most certainly attracted Elsa, her reception of him had never been so warm until they made physical contact. And that could mean that-
"Wait." He shook his head, trying to straighten out his thoughts. "So are you saying that I might be just seducing her against her own will?"
Tooth nodded gravely.
"But that would mean-" it was as if she slapped him again, and this time he sunk into the nearest chair he could find "-that she just reflecting what I want her to do?" The horror was so gripping that his arms began to tremble. "That she doesn't actually like me herself?"
She hesitated, but he already knew the answer.
Jack buried his face in his hands and groaned. As much as he hated it, it made sense. It made sense why Elsa was suddenly so nice to him after he kissed her, or how easily she lost control herself around him when he got emotional, because all this while, it had never really been her. It was just him, making her do what he wanted to do. He was no better than those vampires back in the old Necropolis who bought of human slaves for their pleasures. He roughly ran a hand through his hair as an epiphany dawned in him. This 'trance' that Tooth talked about was probably how those vampires controlled their slaves.
"Ask yourself honestly, Jack – if she did become a vampire, how much would you grieve?"
A little at first, because he knew the burdens of being a vampire, the extreme highs that came from feeding and the gnawing guilt that came after. He knew the frustration of losing control, the fears of falling into primeval behavior and thought and the enslavement by appetite. He knew the pain of never growing old, watching everything and everyone around him age and change and pass away without being able to follow. He wouldn't wish that on anyone, and certainly not a girl as wonderful as Elsa.
Yet a selfish part deep down in him knew that if she did become a vampire, there would be no need for secrets between them. No need for filtered conversations and tensed silences. There would be no reason why they couldn't be together anymore.
And wanting that frightened him.
"You can't see her again. For her sake, and for yours."
He didn't say anything, but somewhere deep in him, he supposed that Tooth was right. How he hated that she was right.
Before he could answer her, another voice interrupted, "Your girlfriend is one hell of maniac, ain't she?"
Both himself and Tooth swung their heads towards Bunny, who was leaning against the doorframe. Just as Jack was about to correct him that no, Elsa wasn't his girlfriend – and will now never, ever be – when he noticed how the older fellow was literally clutching onto the frame for support with one hand, while the other was pressed against a crimson patch along his abdomen, hands stained with his own blood. His gaze was unfocused as he slurred out sarcastically, "You sure know pick 'em."
And that's when his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground.
~~~0~~~
Manti – Turkish Dumplings (by North)
What you need:
Dough ingredients:
2 cups of All-purpose flour (plus a little extra for rolling)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup of water
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of sea salt
For the filling:
2 cups of ground beef
1 cup of blood tofu, minced
1 onion, very finely chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste
For the yoghurt blood sauce:
1 cups of uncoagulated fresh pork blood
1 cup of Greek yoghurt
1 sprig of Parsley, fined chopped
Salt to taste
How to Prepare:
1)Preheat your oven.
2)To make the dough, sift flour and salt into bowl. Pour in beaten egg and mix well with hands, pour water in gradually.
3)Pour in olive oil and knead further for 6-8 minutes, until the texture of dough is smooth and easy to stretch.
4)Cover in cling wrap and allow to rest for half-an-hour in fridge
5)While waiting, prepare filling. In a mixing bowl, add the ground beef, blood tofu and onion. Mix well, and season.
6)In another bowl, prepare yoghurt sauce. Add Pork blood to Greek Yoghurt and whisk well. Add Parsley.
7)Remove dough from fridge and roll dough out into a thin sheet.
8)Cut sheet into squares of around 1 inch long.
9)Spoon a little filling into eat square, and fold up edges of the dough sheet. Repeat till all the filling or dough is used up.
10)Line up manti dumplings on a tray covered with a baking sheet, and put in oven 10minutes, over until the manti turn golden brown on outside. Removed from oven.
11)In a pot, boil water and add manti dumplings. Cook for 10 minutes.
12)Drain manti from water and drizzle olive oil to prevent sticky.
13)Serve with yoghurt blood sauce.
~~~0~~~
Why, of all times, did have to rain now?
She was soaked down the skin, barefoot and dashing down the dark, desolate roads all her own. She constantly shot glances behind her, searching the shadows for any sign of pursuers. Her breaths came rapid and hard, in time to the rapid thudding behind her rib cage. Her muscle burned her and her soles hurt, but she couldn't stop.
To her chest, she pressed the thick leather book. The one that she had found in the mansion kitchen.
She hadn't been sure what she had expected when she stepped into the kitchen at the time. It was slightly larger and better stocked than the average kitchen, but other than that, it was perfectly ordinary looking.
Except, there had been a certain smell in the air. A smell that had been both appealing and revolting.
She had discovered its source had been the fridge, which at first appeared to be quite ordinary, until she had realised how much red it contained. Red liquids. Red tofu-like substances. But really, the jackpot had been the freezer. It had been packed to the brim with frozen blood. Sealed, labelled and marked.
She had kicked that door shut as quick as she could, cringing as the scent of iron filled her nostrils. Her hurried slam had been much harder than she had desired, sending tremours through the rest of the kitchen, causing one of the cupboard doors to swing open slightly. In that small gap, she had spotted the leather cover and her curiosity had been piqued.
She had hurried over to cupboard and pulled the door open, before removing the dusty book from its place amongst the spice shakers. There was no title on the front, she had flipped it open. Scrawled by hand on the first page was 'The Immortal Haemovore's Guide to Nutritious Human-styled Cuisine'.
Haemovore. What that even a real word?
She had browsed through the book and found that they were filled with recipes. Some were in English, but others certainly weren't. Some of them didn't even look they were written by pen. The pages were yellowed and brittle, with a good deal of them patched back with glue. The bindings felt worn, which indicated that the book was used often. As she had got further down in the book, she realised the writing style became simpler, resembling the modern script. All the recipes here on out were in English, complete with footnotes and measurements, but still hand-written. Each recipe was signed off by the person who wrote it, and as she flipped the papers, she realised one thing in common ingredient every single recipe had.
Blood.
"What are you doing here?"
She had jumped in her alarm, slamming the book shut.
Standing at the door with a cup of ice tea had been Jack's older brother, Bunny, and he had not looked pleased.
"I was, um-" she had tried to hide the book behind her, but it had already been too late.
His expression had been grim as he set his glass of tea down on the table. "Give me that book."
Technically, there had been no reason why she shouldn't. It wasn't hers, and it did belong to the Guardians.
Except … that it was proof. It was physical, tangible proof that she hadn't been crazy when she had seen grinning, fanged faces kill her parents. That she hadn't been crazy to hear Hans' unbelievable story and believe it.
He had noticed how her fingers curled protectively around the corners of the book, so the tall tattooed man advanced her way, jaw set as he repeated himself, "Give me the book."
And it had occurred to her that if anyone amongst the Guardians had been in the best position to attack Anna on Valentine's night, it would be E. A. Bunnymund. He had given her a lift home before, so he had known where they lived. And maybe that's why Jack ran away that night. Maybe because he knew precisely who was responsible for the attack on Anna, but he didn't want to be put in a situation where he had to choose between telling her the truth and protecting someone he considered family.
When the large, muscular fellow grabbed her by her arm – maybe to force the book from her hand, or worse – she rapidly reached for the one of the knives that she had concealed behind her dress and plunged it at him.
He had let out a gasp when he had let her go, staring at her incredulously, then down at the dagger protruding out his stomach. Elsa had wasted no time then, shoving him back and fleeing the kitchen. She had known that she need to stab the second knife – the wooden knife – into his heart if she wanted to finish the job, but she hadn't wanted to take the risk. She had hugged the book to her chest and headed straight for the exit of the mansion.
Which led to her predicament now. She had stripped off her heels earlier on while running, but now that it was clear that no one was following her and her feet was starting to blister, Elsa regretted tossing those sandals away. They mightn't have been the most comfortable footwear, but they would have been kinder to her soles than wet gravel.
It continued to shower heavily overhead, and she was starting to wonder if she should have tried to call for a cab instead of running off in the dark. Well, she had stabbed a vampire in the stomach, so clearly fleeing for her life gave her little room for rational thought.
Oh Lord. She grabbed her head with both her hands. She had actually stabbed a person. If Bunny had been human – if he was human, and this whole craziness 'vampire' thing was just an elaborate hoax, he would be dead.
Then again, maybe even if he was a vampire, the knife might still kill him anyway, if it really was as special as Hiro claimed. And she would be a killer. A murderer. Just because she had jumped to crazy conclusions.
And Jack would hate her. Like it or not, Bunny was still his family.
Her steps slowed to halt. Of all the things she did regret tonight, confessing her feelings was not one of them. What she told him was true – he did frustrate and annoy her, but she had grown to like him. She supposed it was only natural to start falling for someone who pursued her with such devotion.
It was then that she realised that the rain had stopped splatting down on her head. It didn't make any sense, because she could see that it was still pouring cats and dogs all around her. Glancing up, she saw a large black umbrella sheltered her from the storm. Turning around, she found herself gazing up at the tall, thin figure that was holding it.
"A lovely young woman like you shouldn't be out at this time of the night, and even less in this weather." He was certainly several years older than – probably at least ten, or fifteen – but he could be considered quite striking nonetheless, almost handsome. His choice of clothing was black like his umbrella, but the monotone worked well against the paleness of his skin and darkness of his own hair. "Perhaps I might escort you next destination?"
A polite refusal was on her tongue, but she gazed down at her soaked form and the dripping book in her arms. Sighing, she accepted the offer with a nod.
"Excellent." His accent was foreign – British, perhaps? "But before we get to that, would you mind holding this for a moment?" His head inclined towards the umbrella.
She took hold of the umbrella for the moment as he tore off his trench coat. It was one of those thick, velvety one that people usually didn't wear this time of the year. Then again, it suited this weather perfect. To her surprise, the stranger draped the coat over her wet shoulders, fastening the second button to secure it from falling off.
"Much better." A small, lopsided smile briefly appeared as he took the umbrella back from her. "Now, forgive me for my poor direction sense, but which way should we be going?"
~~~0~~~
This chapter is possibly the most important one I've written so far. The Immortal Haemovore's Cookbook is an actual book in the story, and its contents have consequences.
Also, I've never written such a long kissing scene in my life. As a person who still cringes when she watches kissing on TV (including in Disney movies...weird, yeah), that was an … interesting task.
Time to go back to writing violent fight scenes.
Thank you all your lovely people who shared with me food ideas, especially snowfire12345 who gave me entire recipe for Dinuguan. I did change up some of ingredients though based on other recipes I saw online, and what I figured the Guardians would have access to. Also, I've been cooking a lot this week plus watching a lot of Masterchef, so what can I say? I'm inspired.
Oh, on Hans' capture of Merida – the part of surrounding her with salt and binding her in iron are the weakness of witches in this story. According to old European superstition, by right, a witch should also just be repelled by Mountain-ash wood and Garlic as vampire, but in this story, we're just going to let vampires and witches have separate weaknesses.
'Baptism of Blood' – the term is from the original Dracula book. My version on it will be just slightly different.
Guest Review Mailbox:
Tq (Sep12): There, there. We all hate Hans. (Well, for me, it's sort of love-hate-smack-forehead). It's okay.
Alene Mask (Sep15): Yep, Jack's choice to join the Guardians was…never really his own choice actually. Which kind of spells out some problems. Also, Elsa and Jack's relationship had improved marginally only to smashed to smithereens. As for Star Wars, … I actually like of it. I don't like an individual movie – because, I'm ashamed to admit, I almost fell asleep watching 'A New Hope' once. But I just love the franchise on whole. What I love best are the characters (especially DARTH VADER), the worlds, Force and associated lore, the space battles and fight scenes. Not really so much the storyline, though having some is a plus. I have a soft spot for the prequels, though I admit they … kind weirdly wooden at places, but it has its moments, especially since my second favorite character is Obi-wan Kenobi, and you don't get to see him much in the original three. (Also, that's why I quite like The Clone Wars series.) My favorite movie is probably Revenge of the Sith, actually. I like sad stuff. As for Kylo Ren, he's a whiny punk, but he's got a lot of plot potential for the future show, so here's to hoping. As for Rey … well, John William wrote her an awesome theme that I'm addicted, so I'm rooting for her.
I would love reviews, but to be honest, I won't die without them. Please, I'm still breathing, I have food and water - hallelujah! But I would love to hear your thoughts nonetheless.
Ciao!