Disclaimer: characters belong to Disney....
Stormy says: This is not exactly the story I wanted to write. I should really pull it all apart and redo it differently... and find another way to reintroduce Rebecca, the way I did it sounded a lot better in my head than it does on paper... but perfect or not, this is the story that's getting written.
So Weird-Second Chances
Ep 4: vampire (reprise)
Fi was back home at last, and happy to be there. But trying to mouse left-handed on her laptop was a pain. She clicked open her email. There was one from Rebecca, probably a technical question like the last few had been...
Dear Fiona, I got the strangest email; it's from a group of vampires who say they want to meet me. They seem to know about my family. Is this a spam or what?
Well that was different.
Fi typed, "I never heard of a vampire spam. Forward it to me?"
A few minutes later a forwarded message came in. Fi noticed Rebecca's name in the reply bar was 'Rebecca J Habib' and wondered what the J was for. She opened the message and read under her breath.
"Dear Miss Habib, you don't know us but we have watched your family for years and believe we have something to offer you. You are a near-immortal, one of less than twenty alive in the world. We are part of a much larger community of true immortals, people you could come to know without the fear of losing them in the blink of an eye. We are vampires but you have nothing to be afraid of. Please be our guest Sunday night at the address below. Bring friends if you fear for your safety. We look forward to seeing you."
Underneath was an address. "Whoa." Fi said aloud. She pulled up a reply window and typed clumsily, "vampires are real at least I think so. I'm sure you'll be in danger if you go. I don't know how they know about your family."
Sent.
Rebecca opened instagab.
Rebecat01: will you go with me?
Rockerbaby: YOU SHOULDN'T GO
Rockerbaby: Besides, I'm still in a cast
Rockerbaby: not up to running away
Rebecat01: I really want to see what they have to say.
Anniegirl has joined the gab.
Anniegirl: You talking about the vampire mail?
Rockerbaby: Yeah
Rebecat01: I'm going.
Anniegirl: I can go along
Rockerbaby: If these are the same vampires I met, they can stun you just by looking at you, and garlic and crosses don't work.
Rockerbaby: It's dangerous, Annie
Anniegirl: don't worry, I'm scared to death
Rebecat01: Neither of you have to come.
Anniegirl: no way are you going to meet vampires alone!
Rebecat01: I'm going.
Rebecat01 has left the gab
Anniegirl: I believe it's dangerous
Anniegirl: That's why I have to go
Rockerbaby: Do you get that I'm just worried about you guys?
Anniegirl: of course
Rockerbaby: Thanks for getting it
Rockerbaby: Mom says come in if you want to talk about a trip to the mall.
Anniegirl: I'm always interested in that! Talk to you in person!
Anniegirl has left the gab
Rockerbaby has left the gab
Rebecca scowled and slapped her hand lightly over the computer in anger. Children. If they'd had her life they would understand that it didn't matter if it was dangerous. It would be worth it. Why had she bothered telling them at all?
Sunday was a week away, Fi thought. She'd have her ankle brace off by then. Able to run away from vampires. But really, Fi didn't want to see any more vampires, even to find out if they were the same ones as in Jack's crazy OSSN thing. It had been easier to get excited about the paranormal before she'd seen some things, like vampires, and the troll, and faceless black things that came boiling out of a hole in the air.
But maybe there was a way to bring her father back, if she just learned all she could. Nautilus shells and magic spells, if she just kept trying.
Sunday night Rebecca came over after dinner to ask if Annie could come to an evening grand opening at the museum. Fi asked if she could go along.
"You sure?" Annie asked.
"Yeah."
"Come or stay." Rebecca said impatiently.
"They came.
The vampire gathering was in something like a bar, a high class bar like Annie had only seen in gangster movies. Rebecca got them in by flashing a printout of her email at the guy at the door. Inside it was all polished wood, ratty red velvet, and mirrors. The mirror all along both walls reflected an image of three girls walking alone through the room.
They were far from alone. Pale people filled the booths and tables. They swirled glasses and watched in silence as the girls came in. Some were children, some adult, some old, but all were strangely beautiful.
And their eyes. Eyes like the panther's, Annie thought dizzily, yellow hunter's eyes. She was terrified.
Icy hands grabbed her shoulder and a voice murmured in her ear, "So you are 'Annie' are you?" The other vampires spoke also. Their voices whispered like wind over leaves, or rain in a jungle night she'd forgotten. Come in from the rain, Anika.
"Come in from the rain."
Annie jerked out of the grip, "Get out of my head!"
How much time had she lost? Rebecca was talking to a tall vampire, and Fi stood behind her. Annie ran across the room so fast she almost collided with them.
"They can read our minds."
"I know." Fi looked as rattled as Annie felt.
"Can we get out of here?"
Rebecca was indifferent to the rustling voices. She was listening to the vampire who seemed to be the leader, and who was telling her candidly about a vampire's powers. Fi had shifted from being scared to mentally taking notes.
Annie was grabbed again, gently, but again the grip was like iron. She squirmed but couldn't get away.
"I just wanted to talk to you." It was the same one as before. He looked like a teenager and a little less... vampiric than most of the others. His skin was pale brown instead of dead white.
"About what?"
"Sunlight. I haven't seen sunlight in so many years. What is it like?"
Annie wished she could see the sun now. "I-it's brighter than a lamp, like a huge fire that makes the sky blue. The light is golden, like water that glows. Golden and warm."
"Like you."
"Huh?"
Claw like hands combed through her hair. "Golden. And warm."
"Um."
"You're shaking. I just want to remember life."
If this had been a human he would have gotten a slap across the face by now. Annie was shaking; this vampire was creeping her out but there was something compelling about him. Some need in his yellow eyes that drew Annie's sympathy even as it frightened her.
"Tell me your name." She said.
"James. Just James. Nothing so interesting as yours."
"My name is Annie, not that interesting."
"That's not your whole name. Ask your family. We all know, everyone knows."
"How did you know we'd come? You knew I'd come."
"The king told us you were coming. The three of you."
"King of what?" Annie tried to ignore the way he was curling around her, but tension crept into her voice. "Of the vampires? Of the-spirit world? Let me go!"
Then he bit her. It was so unexpected she almost didn't fight. Then she realized, and wrenched her head away and started screaming.
The vampires hardly reacted, like having a hollering human among them was perfectly normal.
"Annie!" Fi elbowed her way through the circle of vampires, "You all right?"
Annie had to stop and breathe anyway. "Yeah-I think-but that one thinks I'm lunch!"
The one called James hissed, "I wasn't going to hurt you. I just wanted a taste of sunlight."
Annie snapped, "Well if you said so before and asked permission I might have said ok! But we'll never know now!"
They were packed in like sardines, two living people and a crowd of undead. Hadn't the room been bigger before?
"It is so time to get out of here!"
"Oh yeah. Rebecca! We're leaving! Rebecca!"
They heard Rebecca call, "Coming!" She was having trouble getting through the crowd, then she stopped to talk to somebody.
Someone said, "You're staying." And suddenly everyone was trying to grab them. Fi screamed, Annie screamed, Fi kicked... it didn't do any good.
Annie was buried in icy hands, couldn't even move. The vampires were completely silent. Somewhere Fi was shouting, "Annie! Annie!"
A low voice rumbled, "Faith."
Faith? Annie grabbed for the first thought she had. What do I have faith in? The panther. My friends! I am not going to die here!
She was free. The vampires had been shoved back a good yard, and they couldn't come any closer. Fi was just standing up. Vampires recoiled away from her too. "What'd we do?" She gasped.
"Faith! Think of something you have faith in!"
"Uh." Fi held up her left hand, and the ring she wore sparkled, driving the vampires back just like a cross in a movie. Then her face changed. "Rebecca? Rebecca!"
Rebecca was locked in the leader's arms and her blood ran down his face. Her eyes were open and she was looking right at Fi, she must have heard them shouting about faith but she wasn't using the power.
Fi and Annie joined hands and fought their way to where they could grab Rebecca and drag her out. Then they ran.
A few streets over they had to stop to catch their breath.
Fi was gasping out, "Hey-everyone ok?"
"Yes." Rebecca said. There was blood all down the front of her shirt and on her hands.
"Are we going to be vampires?" Annie held her hand over the wound on her neck. It didn't even hurt.
"No. We won't. I'll email you both. I'm going home."
"What was that all about in there? Why didn't you come right away?" Fi demanded.
"I was talking to him, ok? I didn't know they were about to attack you and I had another question. Ok?" Rebecca whirled, her hair flying. It had come down from its bun when she was bitten. She ran into the dark and was gone.
"W-was she attacked, do you think, or did she ask to be changed?" Annie asked nobody. "You all right?"
"Yeah. Are you sure you are?"
"I'm not going to sleep for a month."
"Me either." Fi grinned. "At least we can be scared stiff together."
"Yeah."
There was a noise behind them. Both girls jumped. James was standing there.
"What do you want?" Fi asked.
James smiled. "Just after you left the king spoke to us. No vampire who was in that building will come after you."
"What about the ones who weren't?"
"We haven't told them about you. Other than that," James cackled, "Life is dangerous."
"James why did that happen? Why did they attack us?"
"Your other friend is a lifegiver. Her blood could nourish us all for centuries of daylight. And the king told us to keep you, Sunlight."
Annie blinked. "What about Fi?"
"A meal."
The two girls looked at each other. Fi said, "Ok. Whatever. We're going now."
"Hey-thanks for telling us." Annie said.
"Good luck, Sunlight."
Fi and Annie went home. They used the bathroom on the bus to get cleaned up then snuck inside. Annie put her sleeping bag on the floor of Fi's room. Fi raided the kitchen for garlic and put pieces by every window and door she could get to. It couldn't hurt. Then they went to bed.
Annie's last thought was that she just might be tired enough to sleep after all.
Fi's last thought was how her ring had driven back the vampires. Faith. Why hadn't Rebecca been able to do it?
Stormy says: This is not exactly the story I wanted to write. I should really pull it all apart and redo it differently... and find another way to reintroduce Rebecca, the way I did it sounded a lot better in my head than it does on paper... but perfect or not, this is the story that's getting written.
So Weird-Second Chances
Ep 4: vampire (reprise)
Fi was back home at last, and happy to be there. But trying to mouse left-handed on her laptop was a pain. She clicked open her email. There was one from Rebecca, probably a technical question like the last few had been...
Dear Fiona, I got the strangest email; it's from a group of vampires who say they want to meet me. They seem to know about my family. Is this a spam or what?
Well that was different.
Fi typed, "I never heard of a vampire spam. Forward it to me?"
A few minutes later a forwarded message came in. Fi noticed Rebecca's name in the reply bar was 'Rebecca J Habib' and wondered what the J was for. She opened the message and read under her breath.
"Dear Miss Habib, you don't know us but we have watched your family for years and believe we have something to offer you. You are a near-immortal, one of less than twenty alive in the world. We are part of a much larger community of true immortals, people you could come to know without the fear of losing them in the blink of an eye. We are vampires but you have nothing to be afraid of. Please be our guest Sunday night at the address below. Bring friends if you fear for your safety. We look forward to seeing you."
Underneath was an address. "Whoa." Fi said aloud. She pulled up a reply window and typed clumsily, "vampires are real at least I think so. I'm sure you'll be in danger if you go. I don't know how they know about your family."
Sent.
Rebecca opened instagab.
Rebecat01: will you go with me?
Rockerbaby: YOU SHOULDN'T GO
Rockerbaby: Besides, I'm still in a cast
Rockerbaby: not up to running away
Rebecat01: I really want to see what they have to say.
Anniegirl has joined the gab.
Anniegirl: You talking about the vampire mail?
Rockerbaby: Yeah
Rebecat01: I'm going.
Anniegirl: I can go along
Rockerbaby: If these are the same vampires I met, they can stun you just by looking at you, and garlic and crosses don't work.
Rockerbaby: It's dangerous, Annie
Anniegirl: don't worry, I'm scared to death
Rebecat01: Neither of you have to come.
Anniegirl: no way are you going to meet vampires alone!
Rebecat01: I'm going.
Rebecat01 has left the gab
Anniegirl: I believe it's dangerous
Anniegirl: That's why I have to go
Rockerbaby: Do you get that I'm just worried about you guys?
Anniegirl: of course
Rockerbaby: Thanks for getting it
Rockerbaby: Mom says come in if you want to talk about a trip to the mall.
Anniegirl: I'm always interested in that! Talk to you in person!
Anniegirl has left the gab
Rockerbaby has left the gab
Rebecca scowled and slapped her hand lightly over the computer in anger. Children. If they'd had her life they would understand that it didn't matter if it was dangerous. It would be worth it. Why had she bothered telling them at all?
Sunday was a week away, Fi thought. She'd have her ankle brace off by then. Able to run away from vampires. But really, Fi didn't want to see any more vampires, even to find out if they were the same ones as in Jack's crazy OSSN thing. It had been easier to get excited about the paranormal before she'd seen some things, like vampires, and the troll, and faceless black things that came boiling out of a hole in the air.
But maybe there was a way to bring her father back, if she just learned all she could. Nautilus shells and magic spells, if she just kept trying.
Sunday night Rebecca came over after dinner to ask if Annie could come to an evening grand opening at the museum. Fi asked if she could go along.
"You sure?" Annie asked.
"Yeah."
"Come or stay." Rebecca said impatiently.
"They came.
The vampire gathering was in something like a bar, a high class bar like Annie had only seen in gangster movies. Rebecca got them in by flashing a printout of her email at the guy at the door. Inside it was all polished wood, ratty red velvet, and mirrors. The mirror all along both walls reflected an image of three girls walking alone through the room.
They were far from alone. Pale people filled the booths and tables. They swirled glasses and watched in silence as the girls came in. Some were children, some adult, some old, but all were strangely beautiful.
And their eyes. Eyes like the panther's, Annie thought dizzily, yellow hunter's eyes. She was terrified.
Icy hands grabbed her shoulder and a voice murmured in her ear, "So you are 'Annie' are you?" The other vampires spoke also. Their voices whispered like wind over leaves, or rain in a jungle night she'd forgotten. Come in from the rain, Anika.
"Come in from the rain."
Annie jerked out of the grip, "Get out of my head!"
How much time had she lost? Rebecca was talking to a tall vampire, and Fi stood behind her. Annie ran across the room so fast she almost collided with them.
"They can read our minds."
"I know." Fi looked as rattled as Annie felt.
"Can we get out of here?"
Rebecca was indifferent to the rustling voices. She was listening to the vampire who seemed to be the leader, and who was telling her candidly about a vampire's powers. Fi had shifted from being scared to mentally taking notes.
Annie was grabbed again, gently, but again the grip was like iron. She squirmed but couldn't get away.
"I just wanted to talk to you." It was the same one as before. He looked like a teenager and a little less... vampiric than most of the others. His skin was pale brown instead of dead white.
"About what?"
"Sunlight. I haven't seen sunlight in so many years. What is it like?"
Annie wished she could see the sun now. "I-it's brighter than a lamp, like a huge fire that makes the sky blue. The light is golden, like water that glows. Golden and warm."
"Like you."
"Huh?"
Claw like hands combed through her hair. "Golden. And warm."
"Um."
"You're shaking. I just want to remember life."
If this had been a human he would have gotten a slap across the face by now. Annie was shaking; this vampire was creeping her out but there was something compelling about him. Some need in his yellow eyes that drew Annie's sympathy even as it frightened her.
"Tell me your name." She said.
"James. Just James. Nothing so interesting as yours."
"My name is Annie, not that interesting."
"That's not your whole name. Ask your family. We all know, everyone knows."
"How did you know we'd come? You knew I'd come."
"The king told us you were coming. The three of you."
"King of what?" Annie tried to ignore the way he was curling around her, but tension crept into her voice. "Of the vampires? Of the-spirit world? Let me go!"
Then he bit her. It was so unexpected she almost didn't fight. Then she realized, and wrenched her head away and started screaming.
The vampires hardly reacted, like having a hollering human among them was perfectly normal.
"Annie!" Fi elbowed her way through the circle of vampires, "You all right?"
Annie had to stop and breathe anyway. "Yeah-I think-but that one thinks I'm lunch!"
The one called James hissed, "I wasn't going to hurt you. I just wanted a taste of sunlight."
Annie snapped, "Well if you said so before and asked permission I might have said ok! But we'll never know now!"
They were packed in like sardines, two living people and a crowd of undead. Hadn't the room been bigger before?
"It is so time to get out of here!"
"Oh yeah. Rebecca! We're leaving! Rebecca!"
They heard Rebecca call, "Coming!" She was having trouble getting through the crowd, then she stopped to talk to somebody.
Someone said, "You're staying." And suddenly everyone was trying to grab them. Fi screamed, Annie screamed, Fi kicked... it didn't do any good.
Annie was buried in icy hands, couldn't even move. The vampires were completely silent. Somewhere Fi was shouting, "Annie! Annie!"
A low voice rumbled, "Faith."
Faith? Annie grabbed for the first thought she had. What do I have faith in? The panther. My friends! I am not going to die here!
She was free. The vampires had been shoved back a good yard, and they couldn't come any closer. Fi was just standing up. Vampires recoiled away from her too. "What'd we do?" She gasped.
"Faith! Think of something you have faith in!"
"Uh." Fi held up her left hand, and the ring she wore sparkled, driving the vampires back just like a cross in a movie. Then her face changed. "Rebecca? Rebecca!"
Rebecca was locked in the leader's arms and her blood ran down his face. Her eyes were open and she was looking right at Fi, she must have heard them shouting about faith but she wasn't using the power.
Fi and Annie joined hands and fought their way to where they could grab Rebecca and drag her out. Then they ran.
A few streets over they had to stop to catch their breath.
Fi was gasping out, "Hey-everyone ok?"
"Yes." Rebecca said. There was blood all down the front of her shirt and on her hands.
"Are we going to be vampires?" Annie held her hand over the wound on her neck. It didn't even hurt.
"No. We won't. I'll email you both. I'm going home."
"What was that all about in there? Why didn't you come right away?" Fi demanded.
"I was talking to him, ok? I didn't know they were about to attack you and I had another question. Ok?" Rebecca whirled, her hair flying. It had come down from its bun when she was bitten. She ran into the dark and was gone.
"W-was she attacked, do you think, or did she ask to be changed?" Annie asked nobody. "You all right?"
"Yeah. Are you sure you are?"
"I'm not going to sleep for a month."
"Me either." Fi grinned. "At least we can be scared stiff together."
"Yeah."
There was a noise behind them. Both girls jumped. James was standing there.
"What do you want?" Fi asked.
James smiled. "Just after you left the king spoke to us. No vampire who was in that building will come after you."
"What about the ones who weren't?"
"We haven't told them about you. Other than that," James cackled, "Life is dangerous."
"James why did that happen? Why did they attack us?"
"Your other friend is a lifegiver. Her blood could nourish us all for centuries of daylight. And the king told us to keep you, Sunlight."
Annie blinked. "What about Fi?"
"A meal."
The two girls looked at each other. Fi said, "Ok. Whatever. We're going now."
"Hey-thanks for telling us." Annie said.
"Good luck, Sunlight."
Fi and Annie went home. They used the bathroom on the bus to get cleaned up then snuck inside. Annie put her sleeping bag on the floor of Fi's room. Fi raided the kitchen for garlic and put pieces by every window and door she could get to. It couldn't hurt. Then they went to bed.
Annie's last thought was that she just might be tired enough to sleep after all.
Fi's last thought was how her ring had driven back the vampires. Faith. Why hadn't Rebecca been able to do it?