"I think your sister doesn't like me."
"Tooth?" Jack glanced up from the pestle and mortar. He had been tasked with crushing a handful of weird looking beans as finely as dust as possible. With his strength, it should be easy, except that if he applied too much pressure, he might end up breaking the pestle and ruin everything. "What makes you think that?"
Rapunzel hesitated as she washed the crimson stones under the water. "Well, every time I walk in the room, she frowns."
"It's not you," the boy assured her as he continue his grinding work. The beans were starting to look more like a paste now, so he hoped that was alright. "It's just the stress of everything going. Bunny, Elsa, moving out, all that."
Indeed, the preparations to move out had already begun. North had made arrangements to sell off as much furniture as possible, while Sandy had taken to cancelling their cable subscription, their magazine subscriptions, and even their subscription subscriptions. Tooth was in charge of the more arduous task of packing things. She was supposed to do this together with Jack, but matters at school made it difficult for him to help as much as he should.
He hadn't told the Guardians about how his two schoolmates had roped him into the Blood Donation Drive. With Bunny still on the mend and the departure looming ahead, he figured that they didn't need yet another mess than he had created. But with less than twelve hours to the start of the much anticipated programme, it had struck him that he was going to be in close proximity to many bleeding people. The scent of the iron in the air would tempt him, even at a full appetite, which was why he needed to curb his sense of smell. Fortunately, his new found friend had some ideas.
After tomorrow, Jack told himself. After tomorrow, he would think of the future. For now, he would focus on the Blood Drive.
"I'll talk to her," he said at last. "Now, what do we do next?"
As it so happened, Rapunzel had volunteered to stay at the Guardians' Mansion for the duration of Bunny's recuperation. It made no sense to travel back to her own town, and she could easily pass her normal work off to her normal colleagues. Her husband however had refused, though they had plenty of room to house him too if he wanted. Rapunzel had been the one to explain that he had never liked interacting with other vampires, even those that staunchly drank animal blood.
"In fact," she told Jack, a little uneasily, "I think he'd really rather I stay away from of you all."
"Then why does he let you stay?"
"Well, he thinks I need more friends." She shrugged as she dropped the stones into his mortar and showed him how to grind it into the paste. "Also, he's not the boss of me."
That wasn't to say that Eugene didn't come to Guardian mansion at all. He had visited just three hours ago to have dinner with his wife, only to depart abruptly with the cryptic excuse of 'work'. He had received a very urgent case, Rapunzel had explained to Jack with a worried expression, and he hadn't rested much since.
"What kind of case?" Jack had inquired, wondering if the sullen man was a doctor like his wife, or another kind of professional, like a lawyer or something.
He didn't get any information, however, for the doctor said that details were confidential. Well, so much for getting to know people.
Now that they were done with producing the paste, it was now time to heat over the stove – a roast to break down the toxins, as Rapunzel explained. After waiting for the pan to heat up over flame Jack transferred the smashed mixture in and spread it out with a spatula. The doctor started a timer to make sure that they cook it for the right amount of time.
"It's going to be a while," she told him, poking the paste in the pan. "You can go and do your work first if you like. I can watch it."
Usually, he wouldn't, but Anna had sent him two flyer designs and needed his help to choose, because she, to quote, 'adored both equally'. The hospital people that would be running the stations at the Drive had also sent him a multitude of emails about making sure that the forms were printed, that consent was obtained and a whole lot of other things. It was a good thing he didn't really need sleep, because he doubted he was going to get any tonight.
When he passed by Bunny's room, however, he did pause to take a look in. There was no real reason to do so other than to see if the crappy old geezer was alive – or as alive as an undead person could be. This time that he poked his head in though, he was surprised to note that Tooth was there, sitting cross-legged next to the slumbering patient. She seemed more pale than usual as she gazed down at the tattooed vampire, and she was combing back his grey hair with careful gentleness that could almost be called affection.
And then she noticed Jack's presence and pulled back her hand.
"Hi," he greeted her lamely.
Tooth looped one of her coloured strands behind her ear - a mere pretence of normalcy. "Hi."
"You alright?"
"As far as it goes," she answered, listless. She eyed the bag of blood hanging from the side of the bed, drip, drip, dripping through the IV line that went under Bunny's shirt.
He debated inquiring about what had he had just witnessed, but decided to for the less awkward, though no less dangerous, topic. "Um, actually, there was something I wanted to ask you about."
She nodded, waiting for him to speak.
"Well,-" he stepped in, seating himself down at the armchair not far from hers "-Rapunzel's getting the vibe that you don't like her, and I think it's upsetting her."
"Oh," was her only response as she folded her arms over her chest.
"So…mind trying to be nicer?"
Tooth raised a brow, her manner suddenly becoming cold. "Well, I don't exactly trust her."
Jack blinked. "What?"
"I said I don't exactly-"
"No, no, I heard that." The boy dragged his chair nearer, jaw falling open, brows furrowing. "But, why not? She saved Bunny's life. Heck – she saved mine!"
Tooth was unmoved. "I concede that we owe her for that, yes, but-" she pursed her lips together "-there's something off about her."
"Like what?"
"Don't you think it's weird that she devotes so much time and effort in preserving the lives of individuals that shouldn't be walking on the earth in the first place?"
The boy stared at her in disbelief. "Are you serious?"
"Yes! Jack-" Tooth's voice dropped to a whisper, as if afraid of being overheard "-has she even asked for payment?"
His forehead creased as he pondered. "Well, I reckon she just forgot about it. I'm sure we can have it settled if we asked." Then again, knowing the doctor, he doubted she would take payment even if they pressed her to do so.
She was getting increasingly agitated. "Also, I found her poking around mansion earlier-"
"We have a huge and interesting house compared to her."
"-and pouring through books in the library."
"We have a huge and interesting library, and if she want to read those dusty things, let her! No one else does!"
"I don't know what it is, but there's something - something off about her."
"Well, she does have extremely long hair and she's older than you. But Tooth-" he grabbed the other vampire firmly by the shoulder. "-is this really about Dr. Fitzherbert, or this about Bunny?"
Her face turned impassive. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He rubbed his neck as he glanced towards the patient reclined on the bed. Bunny had made no response thus far, so it was safe to say that he was sound asleep still. Turning his attention back to Tooth, the white-haired boy said, "I mightn't know anything about love, but I'm pretty sure that you care for him."
Tooth was unmoved. "I care for all you."
"Yes, but the way that you care for him is vastly different from the way you care me," Jack pointed out. "I mean, you guys practically argue like an old married couple."
"It's Bunny. He argues with everyone like that."
It was clear that Tooth was going to stubborn about this, so he decided to get straight to the point. "Look, if both you guys got together, it wouldn't be a bad thing. I mean-" he shrugged "-we're still going to be the Guardians no matter what. And even if he's gruff, stuffy, bossy, bad-tempered douche most of the time-" Bunny didn't so much as flinch when he said these, which convinced him more than anything that the vampire really was dead to the world "-he's got a good heart. He won't hurt you." He paused briefly. "Well, if he does anyway, the rest of us will take turns to barbecue him with UV light."
That brought out a small smile on Tooth's face, until it faded into a tense mien of conflict. Her head spun itself towards the dozing patient, and her hand was raised mid-air, itching to reach towards him. Then she lowered the hand, biting her lip. "It's not like it would last." She let out a bitter snort. "Vampires outlive everything, even love."
"It's mightn't last if you try. It's won't if you don't." The words that left his lips felt oddly wise - a sensation that he didn't get often. "Some heartbreaks are worth the risk, Tooth."
Her hand shook and she was staring unsteadily in space. He knew that his words, as much as they needed to be said, had triggered unwanted flashbacks. So he took her shaking hand in his and squeezed it, making sure that she knew that she wasn't alone. He shoved aside thoughts of the emails waiting on his laptop in favour of letting her choke back her sobs of anger and hate, and passed the tissue box when necessary.
When she finally passed out in exhaustion, Jack lifted up Tooth's small form from the chair and carried her back to her room. After laying her down and drawing the covers over her, he noted the half-filled boxes scattered across the carpet. The boy made a mental note to put some effort in helping her after tomorrow. Maybe even make breakfast one day – if anyone trusted his cooking. He had given her quite a number of heart attacks this month, so he'd best make up for it.
As he closed the bedroom door behind him, he was surprised to find Sandy standing there. The small man made no attempt to explain himself, merely putting his hands on his hips and looking expectantly at him.
Jack creased his brow. "You're not serious."
The side of Sandy's lip twitched upward in a mischievous expression that could be read only as "Weellll…"
Pushing back his white locks and mumbling how silly this was, Jack whipped out a ten dollar note from his pocket, placing it in Sandy's triumphant grasp. Still feeling peeved, the boy wagged his finger in the air. "We all knew that they had a thing. It was just a matter of when!"
Sandy shrugged. "A bet's a bet. You're still off by three decades."
"Remind me not to bet anythings against you," Jack grumbled, stuffing his hands into his hoodie pocket. "You always win."
The golden-haired man just put on his most innocent expression.
~~~0~~~~
Goat Blood Poriyal (by Tooth)
What you need:
1 cup of Coagulated Goat blood
1.5 tablespoons of Ginger garlic paste
0.25 cup of Soaked Chickpeas
2 Finely-chopped Yellow Onions
1 Finely-chopped Green chilies
0.5 tablespoons of Fennel Seed powder
0.5 tablespoons of Turmeric powder
1 tablespoon of Red chili powder
0.5 teaspoon of salt
20 Curry leaves
2 Tablespoons of Canola Oil
How to Prepare:
1)Add 1/4 cup of water coagulated blood. Cook it separately for 5 minutes. Drain water and let to rest.
2)Using a potato masher, mash the blood into smaller pieces.
3)Over a hot pan, heat the oil. Add chopped onion. Stir until translucent and slightly browned.
4)Add ginger garlic paste, Heat a pan with2 tsp of oil and fry the onion until it sweats thoroughly.
5)Add the ginger garlic paste and fry again for 4 minutes, followed by green chilies, curry leaves.
6)Leave 2 minutes to cook through.
7)Now add in the soaked chickpeas to the seasoning mixture.
8)Leave over heat for a while.
9) Add in the fennel seed powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt to the mixture and fry well for 2 minutes.
10)Dump in the crumbled blood pieces. Mix thoroughly.
11)Allow the mixture to simmer until most of the water dries up.
12)Serve over rice or eat on its own.
~~~0~~~
"And you should see the posters – they're awesome. I made them – well, Kristoff and I made them. I'm actually really excited. Aren't you? I mean, okay, you can't go tomorrow, but hey, this thing is still pretty awesome! Oh, and Jack's doing a fantastic job as acting president. Well, he in no way replaces you, of course, but he's pretty good with all the responsibility actually. So you need not worry. Just focus on getting better."
Her sister didn't seem the slightest worried, just distracted. "Oh."
Anna frowned as she stabbed her chopsticks into her paper box, clamping them a tad too forcefully on her chow mien. Kai was running late at work today, which left the two of them to their own devices. She had bought Chinese takeaway for them, knowing that Elsa would be too sick to cook and herself – well, face it, she was much better at consuming food than making it.
Her sister was visibly paler than she had been in the morning. There was still no fever, and Elsa insisted there was none of the normal signs of flu. No stomaches, no bowel distress, no body aches. In fact, she had insisted that she was just tired.
But that wasn't just the weird thing about her now. No, she would have expected Elsa to have been clawing at her laptop, fixing up the last minute details, pushing herself to her limit. That was her sister – determined, assertive and purposeful. But here, Elsa was just poking at her dinner. It was like the Blood Drive didn't mean anything to her.
"Elsa, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Anna. I wish you'd stop asking that," was the snappish response. Then her sister was back to staring in space again.
The younger girl recalled what Kristoff had told her the day before. That night after Valentine's Day, when she herself was still warded at the hospital, Elsa suddenly had some kind of breakdown in the female toilet. She refused treatment, and claimed it was just stress. After Elsa came home yesterday nights, soaked to the skin and clearly unwell, Anna had been determined to lift some of the load of her sister's shoulders. That's why she begged Jack to take charge of the Drive, though he didn't want to.
But if it was just stress, then why wasn't Elsa getting any better? Why was she still so tired after a day of rest at home? There was something wrong here. Something very wrong.
"Sooooo," Anna still continued with a cheery façade. "How was dinner last night with Jack and the Guardians? You haven't told me about it."
"It was okay." That was incredibly uninformative.
"Were they nice?"
Elsa shrugged. Her eyes were fixed on the window, which just looked out to the driveway. Was she waiting for Kai to get back? Or was she expecting someone else?
"Jack told me the dinner was weird. What did he mean by that?"
"Maybe you should ask him yourself." There should have been more bite in that statement – that would have been more like Elsa. But it was just said in a monotone, lifeless and uninterested.
Anna decided to be a bit more direct. "So, is it official?"
Elsa tossed her platinum blonde tresses over her shoulder, hunching forward over her box of takeout like she was studying it. "What's official?"
"You two. I mean, you've already met his parents." She paused, pondering. "Well, his family."
Her sister raised her head and stared at her. "We're not a couple."
"Well, why not? You both clearly like each other," Anna argued. "What else is there to it?" Probably some silly stubbornness on Elsa's part. She had boyfriend material right in front of her and she wasn't doing anything about it? And here, she didn't have such an opportunity, as much as she had dreamed and wished for true love.
Thinking of true love these days kind of depressed her. Since Valentine's Day, Hans hadn't contacted her at all, and she was starting to wonder if she had dreamed him up. She scrunched her face up. There was something nagging her, at the back of her head, like something that she wasn't piecing together.
Well, enough on her miserable love life, because her sister was finally ready to talk. And all Elsa said was, "Jack and I aren't together. I doubt we're ever going to be. That's all there is to it, Anna."
"That's all?" The younger girl was aghast. "But, why? What's the matter?"
"There're things that won't work between us."
"Like what?"
"I don't want to talk about it, Anna."
"Is it post-grad plans? Differing colleges? Favourites bands? Eating habits?" Anna couldn't help but feel indignant. Why was it she, so eager to find her true love, left empty-handed while her sister, who had a boy literally begging her to be with him, was throwing it all away? It wasn't fair. "What is it, Elsa? What's keeping you having the perfect boyfriend?"
"I said I don't want to talk about it!"
This was emphasised by the slam of Elsa's fist against the table, making everything on the table, as well as Anna, jump. It was only by luck that the takeaway boxes didn't tip themselves over and collapse.
It didn't take long for the blonde girl to cool down. Anger contorted into regret, and Elsa sighed, pressing her fingers to her temple. "I'm sorry," she finally said, shaking her head. "I don't think I'm feeling too good. I'm going to bed." She placed the takeaway box in front of her sister. "You can have the rest of mine."
"Oh. Okay," was all Anna got to say before Elsa departed from the dining room. The girl cast a glance towards the proffered box and was surprised to find that it was virtually untouched.
That night, the younger girl went to bed rather late, for there were name lists to draw up for the drive tomorrow, as well as putting up final touches for the props of the photo booth. As not to disturb her slumbering sister, she did her work downstairs. During that time, Kai had returned, but had gone almost immediately to bed due to his own exhaustion. It was well past midnight when Anna finally gave up on fussing over things for the Drive, and decided it was time to turn in.
After washing her face, brushing her teeth and brushing out her braids, she changed into her nightgown and headed into the bedroom. Elsa was already curled up on her own bed, body facing away from her. Not wanting to startle her sister awake, she crept through the dark and settled on her own bed. Clearing out the mail on her phone, she plugged to a charger before sliding herself under the covers and knocking out.
When Anna woke up, the sun wasn't up yet. In fact, the sky was very, very black, with not a star in sight. Peeking at her phone, she was annoyed to have discovered that it was only 2.23am and yes, she had several more hours of sleep left.
As she lay her phone down and cursed whatever part of her body thought it'd be hilarious for her to wake at such an odd time, the girl happened to peer across the bedroom. Though it was dark, her pupils were well-adjusted enough to note that there was no one in Elsa's bed.
Rubbing her eyes, the girl sat herself up proper, taking a second a glance. Sure enough, she wasn't just seeing thing and Elsa really was missing from her bed. Sitting upright, the girl hopped herself off the bed, glancing down at their open bedroom door. By chance, she passed their window, which looked over the path that led to the road, she saw a moving figure. Rubbing her eyes, she gawked at it.
It was her sister, still in her night gown and her white-gold hair hanging loose behind her head. She seemed to walking towards the forest across the street.
Grabbing her phone, Anna threw a coat over her night dress to protect herself from the chill and slipped on her slippers. She rushed down the stairs, contemplating calling waking her guardian but deciding that it would take too long for Kai to get ready and her sister mightn't appreciate her bringing him into … whatever she was going through. Racing towards the door, she found that her sister hadn't bothered to lock it and dashed out onto the road.
It had just rained, as evident by the wet ground below. A sharp gust blew by, smashing her hair into her face. Anna quickly looped back her messy locks behind her shoulders before plunging into the forest. Immediately, she regretted her choice of footwear, for the fallen brambles and twigs thought it funny to stab themselves against her unprotected feet and the damp on the rotten leaves got stuck to her heel.
Turning on the light on her phone, she treaded carefully through the muddy undergrowth. "Elsa? Are you there?"
There was nothing in her line of sight but trees and shadows. The girl gritted her teeth and moved deeper into the forest. She had been here dozens of times, but never after rainfall and certainly not at nightfall. There were all kind of animals roaming about in the night, and while most of them were reputed to generally harmless, Anna was hardly in the mood to meet any of them.
With how thickly-covered the grown was with leafy litter, there were no footprints that she could follow. So much of her search consisted of yelling out a sister's name and just going on. She didn't know if she was moving in the right direction, but it was better than not moving at all.
"ELSA! Where are you?"
Nothing answered her, except the hooting of an owl somewhere and the humming of crickets. The girl wrapped her coat tighter around her, trying to think optimistic even with all the shadows pressing on her. Truthfully, her detestation of this forest was growing every second and the random sounds echoing around her were really starting to freak her out. She tapped on the screen of her phone, pulling up the phone app and clicked on Kai's name. She needed back up.
Pressing the device against her ear, she waited in the dark, dank forest, forcing herself to hum a cheery tune against the ominous quiet. A few seconds later, she realised that the call wasn't going through, because she couldn't get a signal in the forest.
That didn't seem very good.
She heard a creak behind, so she spun around, lifting her phone up as she did. She ran the light up a tree trunk, then over an overgrown fern, then to the mossy crag that stuck up out of nowhere. There was no sign of anyone or anything.
Suddenly, a large black creature flew into her face, batting its horrid wings against her nose. Shrieking, the girl swatted against it with all her might, her back of her hand colliding against one of its talons – or was it a claw? It was only when it flew away that she realised that it was giant moth. It appeared that using light in forest was not the wisest decision.
Dimming the glow with the palm of her hand, the girl continued her muddy trek through the woods, cursing herself for thinking that this would be a short search. The edges of her nightgown were already stained, her legs with splattered with dirt and the coat, which was far too thin, was doing nothing to help her shivering body.
Out of the blue, she saw a figure in white in the distance. The blonde hair draped over her face seemed familiar.
"Elsa?" There was no response from the figure. Still, Anna tore her way through the greenery and branches, shoving away leaves and overhangs, not caring that her slippers were barely holding together. "Elsa!"
Her sister still didn't move, just standing still in the darkness, gaze fixed forward. She slowly took a step forward, but before she could do anymore, Anna had her hands gripped around her wrist, holding her back. "Elsa! It's me, Anna!"
It was then that she realised that she was holding her sister's wrist – her bare wrist, without gloves. The next thing she noticed was that her sister was still not responding. Her eyes were blank and her face pale – way too pale.
"Elsa." Anna tapped her sister on the shoulder, then grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her hard. "Elsa!"
The blonde girl blinked, her eyes opening wide now. "Anna? What are-" she glanced frantically about her, expression shocked "-wait, where are we?"
"We're in the forest. You walked in here, don't you remember?"
Her sister continued to gaped at their surroundings.
"You don't remember." It dawned upon her. "O.M.G. You were sleeping-walking!" Her phone happened to point down to their feet then. "You're not even wearing shoes."
"I don't understand." Elsa rubbed her eyes, shaking her head. "How did I even-" she stopped briefly, pulling her arm away from Anna"-wait, my gloves. Where are my gloves?"
The girl shrugged. "You weren't wearing them."
"But I always wear them, even when I sleep. How can I-" she clamped her mouth shut then, wrapping a hand around her wrist. "Never mind, let's go back."
"Alright." Anna looped her arm under her sister's, pointing her phone light down on the ground. "You've got no shoes though, so be careful what you're stepping on. Also, I've got no data here, so I'm not completely sure where we'll going."
"Just find a road." Her sister, strangely enough, sounded more like her normal self, even-tempered and practical. "We can work it out from there."
As the two of them began their trek out of the wilderness, however, Anna got a strange feeling that they were being watched.
~~~0~~~
Turkish Eggs (by Sandy)
What you Need:
1 cup of Pork blood, with added anti-coagulant
1 tablespoon of sea salt
2 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
2 fridge cold eggs
2 tsp lemon juice
Parsley or Dill, chopped finely
Pita bread
How to Make it:
1)Fill a small pot deep with water and bring to the boil.
2)Place the blood into a heatproof bowl large enough to sit over the pot and sprinkle in salt.
3)Place the bowl over the pan and stir blood until it reaches body temperature. 4)Melt the butter gently in a separate small saucepan until it is just beginning to turn hazelnut-brown.
5)Remove from heat, add oil and pepper. Set aside. 6)Line a large plate with kitchen paper. 7)Crack the first egg into a small fine mesh strainer. Let the drain out the water egg white drip into the sink. Swirl gently in mesh.
8)Add lemon onto the egg, aiming mainly for the white.
9)When the saucepan in step on just starts to simmer, lower the egg into the water. Turn heat down to avoid movement in water. Leave for 3-4 minutes.
11)Removed egg from pot using a slotted spoon.
10)Repeat this step for as many eggs as desired.
12)Pour blood mixture onto the lined plate, and add eggs onto of it. Add peppering butter sauce and serve with warm pita bread.
~~~0~~~
Rapunzel had, earlier on, presented to him three options to conquer a vampire's enhanced sense of smell.
First, she could cut open his skull and slice off the nerve in his face that connected the smell receptors in his nose with his brain. That, she assured him, would ensure that he'll never get a whiff of blood again, and by extension, not go into a feeding craze. That could be rather problematic, however, since it might damage his sense of taste permanently, which might be lead him never be sated by his meals, blood or no blood.
The second was that he could simple wear a medical face mask. That option was appealing, since it wouldn't be that alarming to see a person wearing such a mask in a donation drive, what with all the healthcare workers milling around. The problem was that the common type was not always airtight, and even if he wore the airtight one, he would need to constantly adjust it to make sure it was strapped on right. In other words, it was too suspicious, and still too risky.
The third one was what they eventually settled on. It involved making an old witch's recipe for a sense-numbing drug. It involved creating a paste from a short, but complicated, set of ingredients. Fortunately, the doctor had most in her possession, and they had managed to make the paste under two hours. At the end, however, the paste was not consumed, but was to be set aflame. It fumes were then supposed to be inhaled for an hour straight. The effects would then no longer than twelve hours. They had opted for this, being the safest and most secure option.
Well, sort of safe, at least.
"You alright in there?"
His chest heaved forward as the contents of his stomach were emptied into the toilet bowl. When the bout passed, he let out a long groan while running a hand back through his hair. It was pretty disturbing how everything that he regurgitated was brown in colour and smelled very strongly of iron. It was even more disturbing that he was throwing up at all, because he hadn't done such a thing since he had been turned. That paste mixture, whatever it was, was as potent a potion could get.
Jack covered his nose while slamming the flush button. Just this morning alone, he had thrown up four times – twice back home, and twice after reaching school. The first two times, it had been at the smell of breakfast. The scent of iron at the table, which was supposed to be a sweet wondrous thing, was the trigger for the first bout, then the second. The ones at school just came from looking at the image of the blood bag in Anna's pamphlets.
On the bright side, the paste was working, because for now, nothing was less appealing to him than blood.
Eventually, he did emerge from the toilet cubicle to find Kristoff pacing about there, not looking very pleased. "In case you didn't realise, we're got a donation drive to run."
"Alright, alright," Jack muttered, heading towards the sink. "Just let me wash rinse my mouth, won't you? Unless you prefer me to scare off the volunteers."
The blood donation drive was a full day event, and since it was a school day, all lessons and activities were continued as normal. However, the school was a good deal more crowded than it used to be, for outsiders had been permitted on campus, provided that they were heading towards the gym and looked able and healthy enough to potentially lose a tenth of their current blood supply. Because of how much attention the event had garnered in the town, the principal had given the three remaining members of SASS leave from class, urging them to focus on running the programme as smoothly as possible. Other students who had offered to help out were also granted similar privilege. So there turned out to be a lot of hands on deck, lightening the load considerably.
But coordinating everything still fell under the society president's belt, and since Elsa was unavailable, it was now left to Jack to ensure everything went well. Need more chairs? His problem. Need more ice containers for the blood? His problem. Ensuring that the IDs matched the names and faces of the persons who signed up? Well, that was technically Anna's job, but he had no doubt that he might be roped into that thing next.
While he was in the midst of helping Kristoff set up a donation station, he heard his name called by a squeaky voice, "Um, sorry to bother, but do you know where I can find a person called 'Elsa Arendelle'?'"
He set down the table that he had just hauled over, spun around to find the person only to see that there was no one there, until he dipped his head down.
A young boy was staring up at him, no older than eleven and definitely too young to be donating blood. His hair was mousy sort of brown, and his round face was speckled with freckles. There was a gap in his front teeth, and his eyes were sort of blend of hazelnut and oak. He was not a very remarkable-looking boy for his age, but there was something about him that made Jack freeze – something old, something familiar…
The white-haired vampire shook himself out of his freeze, telling little lad, "Elsa's sick today, I'm afraid. I'm taking her place for now." Sticking his hand out, he introduced himself, "Jack F. Guardian."
The boy returned it with a firm handshake. "Jamie Bennett."
Then it clicked. The brown hair. The thin, gangly arms. Bennett. Could it – no, no. What were the chances? Bennett was a common name, and there was no reason for his sister's descendants to cross the Atlantic. Yet, at certain angle, he could almost imagine a younger version of his sister in the place of the young boy.
Swallowing, Jack peeled his hand away from that of the other boy, locking away all the excitement that was bursting in him. "So, um,-" he stuck his hands in his hoodie, trying to play it as cool as possible. He hoped the kid wasn't a mind-reader, because his mind was currently playing all the swear words that he knew on a loop "-how can I help you?"
"Right." The boy glanced down at the sheet that he had in his hand – a letter, it seemed. "Erm, the hospital kind of invited me to come give a speech or something, and told me to find her."
Jack whipped his phone – the new one that Sandy got for him, since he had lost the other one last Saturday – and rolled down to the programme schedule. Apparently, there was a 'guest speaker' due at 2.30pm, after the school band finished up their performance at the waiting area. It was a way of keeping volunteers entertained, while attracting others into the gym and, hopefully, to donate. Since it was already two, might as well get him prepped.
Waving at the boy to follow him to the stage at the waiting area, the nagging curiosity prompted Jack to inquire, "Did you come here yourself?"
The boy nodded. "Mum had to work. The bus ride wasn't too long though."
"Your dad?"
Jamie seemed to become a little more solemn. "He's ... passed on when I was younger."
"Oh." And there it was, another descendant that he outli- no, no. It mightn't be true. He didn't know for sure. He needed more information. "I'm sorry about that."
"It's alright." Jamie didn't appear upset. Perhaps he didn't know the man too well himself, and his solemnity was just for formality. "He had thalassemia major too, actually."
The older boy blinked. "Thalassemia what?"
"Thalassemia major." Seeing Jack's puzzled expression, Jamie explained, "It's a blood condition where the red blood cells aren't formed properly, so the body ends up destroying a lot of them. It causes anaemia and stuff. I've to go for transfusion every three weeks, or I'll get really sick. Check it out." He drew up the sleeve of his dirty green jumper, proudly displaying the plaster on his pit of elbow. "Just went yesterday. Mum calls them my battle scars."
"Wow." Jack led him to the side of the performance stage, where the school band was still performing. There were a couple of chairs on the side that were unoccupied, so both of them sat themselves down there. "And you said that you have to go every three weeks?"
"Yep." The boy nodded, his eyes widening at the sight of the school band. They weren't honestly much good, in Jack's opinion, but Jamie wasn't the one who owned a pair of extremely sensitive ears. "It's takes about four hours each time, I guess, but it's not so bad. I get to watch TV or read instead of going school. In fact, -" he lowered his voice conspiratorially "-I didn't even tell my teacher why I was missing class today. They think it's just cause I've gone for transfusion."
"Uh-huh." The odd grown-up part of him that Jack often locked away wondered if he should reprimand him. "Is there any chance of cure?"
"Only if I have matching a bone marrow donor. Sophie and my mum don't match, so it'll have to be from someone else." Jamie swung his legs back and forth on his seat, staring at the ground. There was a smile on his lips, but it was sorrowful, almost resigned. "The people running the program haven't found one yet, so we're still waiting."
"Oh." Desiring to change the subject, Jack scrambled for something else instead. "Well, it's pretty brave of you to want to want to give a speech about blood donation. I think we'll really move some hearts if they hear it coming from you."
"Well, I don't feel that brave, to be honest." The boy drew out a small card from his pocket, all covered with squiggles that Jack couldn't decipher. "Just asking your opinion though – do you think I should share a joke in the speech?"
The older boy pressed his lips together, before answering very slowly, "That would depend on the joke."
Jamie then flipped his card over and read on the other side, a grin dancing on his lips. "Why did the artist bring a sketchpad to the blood donation?"
The white-haired boy pondered for a moment, but couldn't think of anything. "Why?"
"He wanted to help the nurses draw his blood."
Jack went really quiet.
"Is it too corny?" Jamie winced. "I went through a few different jokes on the internet, but none of them felt as good as this, but my mum said that people mightn't get it." The boy removed a pencil from his pant pocket. "Maybe I should scrap-"
"No." The older boy's mien was unreadable as he stopped him from editing the card. "It's perfect."
The joke was actually ridiculous and incredibly lame. It was also the kind of dumb nonsense that he himself would have probably attempted.
The little lad was still a little nervous about his impending presentation though, so Jack let him run through the contents of his sharing to him. When the boy went on the stage, somehow the vampire's enhanced hearing missed the buzzing on his phone that called him to get back to work. Instead, he sat by the stage, entranced by the simple speech made by the young boy. Its contents, he cared not for in the slightest, for Jamie could be talking about boiling potatoes for all he knew. But as Jack watched, he felt a curiously warm sensation in his chest, as the hidden aches of his heart were being soothed. Though logic doubted that coincidence could be so perfect, his mind could not help projecting Emma's spirit and manner on the little brunette lad. Regardless of proof, or rather the lack thereof, the desire to believe in a connection with this boy overwhelmed his doubts.
When Jamie completed his task, Jack felt a curious surge of happiness within him, and he realised it was pride. Not the arrogant type, or the confident type, but the kind that was rooted in an emotion that vampires weren't supposed to feel.
So without really knowing it, he shot up to his feet and began to clap, cheer and whoop in a fashion that would have been embarrassing coming from a parent, and just really weird from a random teenager. But Jack was neither of those, and due to his nonfunctional sense of self-preservation, continued his cheer marathon so enthusiastically that everyone in the gym was forced to respond similarly. The applause that came was so uproariously blaring that all ongoing classes took a five-minute break. The tutors couldn't even hear themselves think.
The young lad on the stage blushed, a little stunned by how well his speech was received. As Jamie stepped down from the platform, he turned immediately to the white-haired lad. "Was that alright?"
"Alright? It was brilliant!" It took every bit of self-control to keep himself from embracing the kid. "Now, I'm not too sure about the whole Thalassemia thing, but can you eat ice cream?"
~~~0~~~
"Your results will be back on-" the doctor swerved her mouse while squinting at her computer screen "-Friday. I'll give a call if there's anything wrong."
"Okay." She rubbed the plaster on her forearm. "Is that all?"
"Mmm, yep." A plastic smile appeared on the doctor's face. "Have a nice day, and pay at the counter."
Her visit to the town clinic proven quite uninformative. Without fever, cold or anything kind of pain, the doctor had told her that it was difficult to narrow down the diagnosis. Other than her skin pallor and tiredness, she didn't seem to be ill. "Perhaps just an iron deficiency, though at your age and the fact that you seem relative healthy, I think it might just be mild one," the doctor had told her after taking her blood. "I could prescribe supplements, but I believe that it's far better for if you could find adjust your diet to your new needs. At least, till we're detected the underlying cause."
As she departed the clinic, with the receipt of bill tucked in her pocket, the nurse at the reception handed her a pamphlet on iron-rich foods. She flipped open as she headed down to the bus stop. Beef, liver – yuck!, lentils, sardines, raw spinach, oh! There was dark chocolate even. Interesting.
Since she wasn't going to school today anyway, she figured she might as well head to the supermarket and buy some of these foods. Maybe she could try making something, with all the free time on her hands.
The supermarket, as it happened, wasn't opened that day, so she opted for the Asian store next door. It was slightly more expensive, with everything being imported, but not that much. Maybe she would just give up and just end up eating ramen. In fact, when she passed the ramen isle, she grabbed two large bags of instant ramen packs dropped straight into her basket. It wasn't very heavy. She threw in a pack of Chinese spinach, fresh spring onion and a pack of ginger. She grabbed a small sesame oil and rice vinegar set that was offer, and after some thought, a packet of some shabu-shabu pork. It was a tad pricy, but hey, she was sick according to Anna. A little pampering wouldn't hurt.
Just before she headed to the counter, she paused at the frozen food section, finding herself staring intently at a plastic container holding a dark red substance. She picked it off the shelf, examining it for a label, but apparently it didn't have one. So Elsa went up to the counter, and asked the cashier, "Sorry, but what is this?"
The moody teen manning the counter didn't even look up from his phone. "Pig blood."
"How much is it?"
The price was ridiculously cheap – cheaper than the spinach even. That was the only reason why she bought it. That, and she was curious.
It was only after she emerged from the store that she realised her dilemma – she had to carry these groceries all the way back home, which included a bus ride and a long walk. For someone who was supposed to be as practical as she, she really didn't think this through.
"Good morrow to you, my dear."
She was surprised to have encountered him again so soon, but then again, it was a small town.
"Oh, hello." It only occurred to her then that she didn't know his name, nor had he ever asked her for hers.
"I see that you've made some purchases," the tall, pale man in the black coat observed, glancing down at the carrier bags she was dragging along with her. The afternoon sun was pretty bright, so he had opted to shade himself with a huge black umbrella. His cane was tucked under his arm, as it always was. "You intend carry these home yourself?"
"Well, yes." Elsa felt a little annoyed at his dismissive perceptions of her ability, but then again, her arms were getting tired. Part of her was starting to regret her little shopping escapade. "I've done it before."
"Undoubtedly." The smile that he granted her was indulgent, and it was clear that he didn't really believe her. He peered over his shoulder and frowned, though for reasons that she didn't really understand. Before she could inquire on it, the odd gentleman in black said, "Perhaps I could offer you a ride home?"
She blinked. "You have a car?" For some reason, she couldn't actually imagine him driving one – it didn't go with outfit.
The corner of his mouth twitched up. "Not exactly."
He helped with her bags, scooping them up in a single hand without so much as asking her permission. She frowned, but nonetheless allowed him to lead her away from the line of stores, away from the parking lots and away from the roads. When they reached the edge of the woods, Elsa was starting to get a little puzzled about this 'ride' that he was talking about, and wondered if he was just making it up.
That was, until she saw the horse.
"This is Sergei," the strange pale man introduced her to sleek black creature. It was a beauty of a beast, with dark ebony hair and gleaming skin.
She had never been to inclined to animals before, yet she couldn't help but run her gloved finger through its silky mane. "He's yours?"
"Yes."
"And you rode him all the way here from-?" The strange man had never told her where he was from either, though most people would have assumed the UK by accent alone. Having a horse, however, seemed to throw that possibility out of the window.
"Actually, I didn't. As it happens, Sergei just finds me whenever I need him." Under the shade of the trees, the pale man had lowered his umbrella, and now was in the process of tying that, as well as her grocery bags and cane, to the back of the saddle. "Have you ridden before?"
The girl shook her head.
"What mankind has loss with their automobiles," she heard him murmur scornfully under his breath, before telling her, "Well, it's no difficult task, and you need not fear." He stepped on the stirrup, alighting the horse in one smooth movement. "I will not let you be harmed."
He held a hand out to her – a thin, pale hand. Upon the back of the beast, which was whinnying and snorting, it struck that he looked quite distinguished, regal even. While his strange behaviour and odd clothes seemed ridiculous in town, he seemed quite at home here.
Ordinarily, she would have never accepted this offer, but the mode of transport intrigued more than she would admit. So she placed her gloved hand in his.
He helped her up, letting her sit in front of him. It was only then that she realised how high a fall would be, and it was a good thing that his arms, almost locked tightly by her sides to grasp the reins, kept her from tipping over.
"You might want to hold on," was his cryptic advice as he twisted the reins in his grasp. Sergei seemed to neigh in agreement.
That was all the warning she got before he dug his stirrup into the flanks of the beast.
She had never ridden a horse all her life, but she felt that it was safe to say that the creature was fast, if not faster, than any vehicle she had ever sat on. Her gracious benefactor didn't let the creature follow the road, but diverted it to plunge straight into the woods, across its leaf-littered surface and through its thick brambles. She immediately grabbed onto the sides of the saddle for dear life, biting her tongue just to keep from screaming. Her stomach jolted in time with the gallops, and worsened only as the terrain got steeper.
Yet, there was something thrilling about the danger. While it felt that her life was balancing on a precipice, there was also a rush of adrenaline. The blur in her eyes suddenly cleared, and she realised that she could see everything around her with shocking clarity. Even though she knew they were going at nearly impossible speeds, she could see the way the branches waved overhead, could hear how the leaves rustled underfoot. She could see the shadows flittering about under the shady greens, and the spots of light deflected whenever they passed. She found herself picking out all the woodland creatures hiding about – the squirrels sneaking across a branch, the woodpecker that had landed in one of the trees, a wasp zipping back its nest. At a distance, she could here the gurgling of running creek. Just minutes ago, she had felt fatigued and uninterested. But now, the whole world had come to life.
Elsa barely noticed when they had emerged from the forest, for she was still too overwhelmed by all the sensory information she had been fled. It had taken his voice to jolt her back to reality. "I believe this is your residence?"
The girl rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand to find that, yes, they had indeed arrive at Fjord Avenue. He lead his horse nearer to the porch before dismounting. Straightening up his robes, he then proceeded to help her off Sergei – in fact, he had almost completely lifted her off the saddle and placed her down on the ground as if she weighed nothing more than a child.
"Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?" His head tilted enquiringly at her as he helped unhook her grocery bags from the saddle.
"No. No, it wasn't. In fact-" she pursed her lips, wondering if she should reveal so. In the end, she didn't see any harm in it "-I quite liked it."
There was an odd gleam in his eye, something bordering between surprise and pleasure. "I'm glad to hear that." Straightening his coat once more – he quite liked doing that, she noticed - he dipped his head briefly at her while reaching for the saddle.
In her, she felt a curious compulsion to speak out. She didn't know where it was coming from, but it was strong, almost like a voice whispering in her ear. "Wait!"
He paused, at she had requested. His head tilted inquiringly to the side.
Elsa was surprised that he did stop, and now that he did, she could barely get the words out. "Would you like to – I mean, my sister won't be home till late, and my guardian is kind – well, he's, I mean- and I'll take something to make it – I'll try, and it won't be fancy or any-" she cleared her throat "-would you like to stay for dinner?"
The whole scenario felt strangely 'Anna', and very, very unlike herself.
Yet the pale stranger, whose name still escaped her, appeared quite delighted with the proposed meal, almost as if he had been hoping for it the whole time. "That sounds quite lovely."
~~~0~~~
Blood Burger (by Bunny)
What you need:
1 Sliced Tomato
1 Head of Lettuce, Shredded
5 Slices of Sharp Cheddar Cheese
5 Slices of Smokey Monterey Jack Cheese
2 Sliced Onions
1 Cup of Cow or Pig Blood
5 Burger Buns
3 Tablespoons of Mayonnaise
5 Tables spoon of Tomato sauce
2 Tablespoon of Butter
3 Tablespoon of Canola Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
How to Prepare:
1)In a saucepan, sautéed the onions until transparent in oil. Pour in the blood and allow to broil until blood solidifies. Stir in oil until pieces are slightly firm, but still moist. Add salt and pepper.
2)Remove from heat. Pour the blood into circle molds and pack them in as firmly as possible. Put these in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3)Slice Tomato into thick, length-wise slices.
4)Shred the lettuce with a knife. Mix with Mayonnaise evenly.
5)Remove molds from fridge and press out the blood patties. Press them between towels to remove water.
6)Heat oil in a frying pan and add a tablespoon of butter. Swirl in pan
7)Lower the patties onto the oil. Sear for 3 minutes, then turn over.
8)Add one slice of each cheese on top of the patties. Allow sizzle for another minute. Pepper generously.
9)Slice buns into half. Butter each side.
10)On a separate pan, set the bun face-down on the pan surface until the bun undersides are crunchy and brown.
11)Assemble burger in the following fashion - bun, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, blood patty with cheese, tomato sauce, bun.
12)Serve with fries or salad.
~~~0~~~
"And then I was flying in the air – straight over the cars and everything. And it was like-" the boy made some sound effects that vaguely resembled space movie noises "-and all my friends were like-" he widened his eyes and hung his jaw loose "-and then I was like- like screaming, really, really loud, but I was scared, but it was awesome. And then I landed on the snow in front of the Teddy Burgess like that-" he slammed his arms on the table for emphasis, almost knocking over his now empty cup of ice cream "-and actually everything was okay. Until I got hit by a couch."
Jack drew back sharply, jaw tightening. "What?"
"Oh, but I wasn't hurt. Not very badly, anyway." Jamie was quick to assuage his fear. "I just lost a tooth. See this?" He pointed at his tooth-gap. "It was straight in the face – boom! My mum scolded me loads afterwards, and since then I haven't been allowed near a toboggan."
"That sucks," the older boy said sympathetically. Tobogganing through a Burgess winter was pretty fun, especially in the woods were all the steep inclines were. Of course, kids weren't allowed to do that so often anymore, since the terrain proved too brutal for them. Doing it on the streets, however, wasn't exactly the safer option, but it seemed that the little brunette lad took after him in terms of risky thrills.
The knowledge of that was very much bitter-sweet.
"Your phone is buzzing." Jamie thumbed the cellphone, which had sat virtually untouched on the table since the beginning of their conversation.
Sighing, Jack picked up the messages and switched on the screen. As he scrolled down the notifications, he was alarmed to note all miss calls – and the messages.
(Kristoff) 2.56pm: We need more chairs at waiting area.
(Kristoff) 3.14pm: Nvm, finish setup. Thks for the help.
(Anna) 3.20pm: Hey, I need to check – can a pregnant woman sign up for blood donation?
(Anna) 3.23pm: Okay, googled it. Apparently, no.
(Anna) 3.24pm: Phew
(Anna) 3.39pm: Actually where r u?
(Kristoff) 3.46pm: Hey, where are you? The organisers need to speak to you.
(Kristoff): 3.47pm: Hello?
(Kristoff): 3.47pm: ^
(Kristoff): 3.48pm: Seriously?
He only got that far when the phone buzzed again, this time with Kristoff's name flashing in front. Jack answered it, "Hello?"
"WHERE ARE YOU?"
He jerked back, his sharp ears rattled from the blaring feedback. Gingerly sticking the phone back over his ear, he said, "In the canteen." He glanced that out his and Jamie's empty ice-cream cups. "Chilling."
"GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE! WE ARE DROWNING HERE!"
"Okay, okay." Jack removed himself from the bench, feeling a little guilty for all the trouble he had caused his friends. Just as he was about to depart, he suddenly remembered his young friend.
Jamie, however, was clearly a very independent young fellow. "Oh, you should go, I'll clear our stuff."
That wasn't really what Jack was worried about, but he didn't know how to verbalise it, not with the brunette lad gazing so innocently at him, and with Kristoff spilling swears into his ear. So he whipped out a pen in his pocket, grabbed the wooden spoon in his ice cream cup and scribbled on his phone number. "Here." He handed the stick the boy. "If you ever need help in anything – and I mean anything – just contact me."
"Oh." The boy gazed down at the peculiar gift. "Thanks?"
Jack didn't have time to bid him farewell properly, because Kristoff's voice suddenly became weirdly high-pitched, "Jack, are you there?"
It took him a few seconds really who was speaking now. "Anna?"
"Yeah, um, we've got a bit of a problem."
"What?" He spun away from the boy and broke into sprint, speeding down the canteen and pushing past people. He launched himself forward, hurtling through passed the classroom, passed the locker corridors.
"My laptop crashed, and all the data's that we have was in it-"
"WHAT?" Okay, so it was really irresponsible for him to go off an chat with the young lad on his own...
"-but it's okay," the girl hurried on to say. "I got it backed up in a cloud online, so we can survive this if we have another com. Did you bring yours?"
He swerved around, racing back to the corner of lockers where his own was located. "Yeah, but why not use Kristoff's first?"
"He gave it to the nurses to key in their data. I need another one for registration."
"Alright, I'll bring it over once I got it." With that he hung up, just in time as he found his locker. Turning the knobs of the lock, he unhooked the metal latch from its spot and opened up the door.
If his sense had been numbed by the potent potion he had inhaled earlier that morning, his sharp, vampirific sense of smell might have been warned him. He wouldn't have been able to do anything to change it, but he would have at least known better than to open his locker with so many students around the locker corridor.
But it was too late now. For when he yanked the metal door open, something large, heavy and wet fell on to him. In his shock, he stepped back, allow the object plonk! to the ground.
No, not object. Body.
The entire school cohort froze as the limp lump smacked onto the granite floor, and when reality hit their minds, screams and shouts echoed everywhere.
Jack gazed down on the crimson smear on his hands, then down at the decapitated corpse lying in a puddle of fresh, thick blood before him. He glanced back to the locker, and found Merida's stony blue eyes staring at him.
~~~0~~~
You know, I never expected myself to write the horror genre.
In fact, this was going to be a happy, chirpy story about sarcastic vampires. Then…I went to watch clips from Hitchcock films at night. If anyone has ever told you that old movies aren't scary, they're idiots. Psycho is a classic for a reason. That said, it has given me some inspiration for the rest of the plot.
WHY DO I WRITE THESE STORIES AT THESE TIMES OF THE NIGHT? MY IMAGINATION IS ALREADY TOO WILD.
Guest (Nov3): Yep, I did update wrongly at first, but I changed it back soon after. Very sharp of you to catch that so quickly.
TQ: Go ahead and bang your head on the wall. In the chapter, things have only gotten worse, and yes, they will get worse.
Alene Mask (Nov4): I believe the term you're looking for is 'dramatic irony', a common device in Shakespearean plays that made his stories so frustrating, and yet alluring. Hope your Nanowrimo works out. The last time I tried to do it, I gave up after the second day. You might not encounter romance, but romance might encounter you nonetheless.
I'm so pumped for the next few chapters. So much plot unfolding! Muhahaha!