(14A) "The Morning Brought With It. . ."

Odessa was having a bad night. Actually, she was having a bad two months. Ever since Joham showed up during her stay in the United States and tried to take her back, she has been paranoid and scared of everything that made noise. She was several miles away from him and an entire ocean separated the two of them, yet she couldn't help but feel like he was still around the corner. On top of that, the selection of humans to drink from was small, leaving her to pick from older humans. It wasn't terrible to drink from older humans, but they usually had less blood in them, and their blood tasted a bit stale, like it had been sitting for too long. She was frustrated as she was hungrier than she'd ever been before; she had waited to feed on humans for some time so as to avoid suspicion and the chance of Joham catching on to her whereabouts. So, she decided to feed on an older gentleman and be done with it. She waited until he was isolated to sink her teeth into his jugular and rink him dry.

Half way through, Odessa caught the scent of a full-fledged vampire. She stiffened and began drinking with a fervor in hopes of finishing and vacating the area before the vampire caught up to her. Unfortunately, the vampire thought now was the right time to jump down from a roof and introduce herself in the middle of Odessa's feeding session. Odessa finished off the old man right as the blonde took a step towards her. She growled in warning and stepped back, dragging the body with her. The bonde held her hands up in front of her and smiled mischievously.

"I mean no harm," the blonde said with a bit of an accent.

"And I'm supposed to just believe you?" Odessa asked incredulously. She scoffed and dropped the body to the ground. She stepped over it and let her arms hang loosely by her sides in case they were needed quickly.

"I will give you my name, then, as a way to show you I am sincere," the vampire said. The replacement of letters and slight elongation of words indicated the blonde hailed originally from a slavic country. "I am Vera. I have been traveling for some time and haven't come across any of our kind in weeks. I stumbled upon you by pure luck. You are?"

"Not interested," Odessa retorted quickly.

"Surely you would not mind a conversation."

"I do mind," Odessa said as she started to walk off.

"Please," the blonde quickly said. "I have not had a good conversation in quite some time. Humans tend to lack thought when in the presence of beings such as ourselves."

"And I am supposed to care?" Odessa asked with a raised eyebrow.

"A bit of sympathy would be nice," the blonde said with a small laugh. "Humans are such feeble creatures. They often look for acceptance and people who will agree with them on anything they say. It is quite humorous learning the things they would do to please others."

"And it is quite humorous to hear another vampire's take on human life," Odessa said with a scoff. The blonde - Vera - grabbed her and tried to turn her around and make her stay, but Odessa wanted none of it. She grabbed her essence and told her to stay before she turned and ran away from the blonde. Thankfully, she did not follow. She ran in circles before she finally headed home, hoping that she had lost the blonde. A few hours later, as the sun peaked its head upon the horizon, a knock startled Odessa out of a daydream. She stiffened and took a whiff of her surroundings. She growled in annoyance and yanked the door open, narrowing her eyes at the smirking blonde on her doorstep.

"I really just want to talk," Vera said.

"How did you find me?" Odessa asked incredulously.

"Any vampire can follow a scent if they try hard enough," Vera said.

Odessa deadpanned and tried shutting the door in her face, but Vera was quick enough to stop the door from closing. She let out a laugh and apologized for her actions.

"A bit testy, are we?" Vera asked rhetorically. "I followed your scent here. It's part of my gift . I can keep track of a person for up to a week if I ingrain their scent into my mind."

Odessa took the information in and sized up the blonde in front of her. She was average looking with a blonde bob sitting atop her head. Her lips were painted a deep red color and were upturned to mirror a smirk. She was wearing pants that were ripped and probably belonged to a man once upon a time judging by the style and size of them . They were held up tightly by a black belt and were partly hidden due to the long, baggy, white shirt she had on. It was ripped, too, and was riddled with dark stains that Odessa identified as dried up blood stains. Her feet were bare.

"I'm not leaving," Vera said.

Odessa sighed and let the blonde inside her home. She hoped the blonde would stay for a few hours and then leave her to her peace. The blonde introduced herself once more for good measure and patiently waited for Odessa to introduce herself. Odessa did so reluctantly and gestured for Vera to sit on the small, lone sofa set up in the living room. Vera plopped down and observed her surroundings with glee.

"Nice place you got here," Vera said. "How did you afford it?"

"I obtained some funds from someone a long time ago," Odessa answered. She was just glad she had the right idea in taking some of the money John procured from the plantation and some of her family's heirlooms before she ran away.

"Nice."

Odessa watched Vera stand up and walk around the room, touching things that Odessa had taken in hopes of preserving some of the good memories she had from her younger years. She had half a mind to rip Vera's hands away from her things and kick her out the door, but she knew she couldn't deal with any enemies now that she had finally gotten the peace she wanted.

"So, does anyone else live with you? It seems like an awfully big place for just one vampire," Vera questioned off-handedly.

"I live by myself," Odessa said tensely. "I needed the space to store my things."

"Of course, of course. Say, do you need a roommate?"

"No."

"It will be better if there is someone living with you. More protection."

"I do not need protection," Odessa said haughtily.

"Don't you?" Vera asked as she placed a candle back on the shelf it belonged on. "I can hear your strange heartbeat, and I can hear the blood rushing through your body - however little that amount may be in comparison to humans. You aren't a vampire, yet you aren't human either. So, what are you, Odessa?"

"None of your business," Odessa replied tersely. "Is my blood drinking not proof enough that I am a vampire?"

"I am not saying you aren't a vampire," Vera said. "I am saying you aren't entirely vampire."

"What does it matter?" Odessa asked, throwing her hands into the air.

"It doesn't," Vera said. "I am just curious."

"And what will you do with this curiosity you hold?"

"I won't tell anyone. I have no one to tell, in truth. Your secret is safe with me," Vera said, ending her sentence with a reassuring smile. Odessa debated with herself. She should remain quiet and not let anyone know of her true existence. She should leave Vera guessing as to how she became the way she did, how she was born rather than made, and how she could still taste the delicious melting of chocolate in her mouth. She should grab hold of Vera and make her tear herself apart and burn the pieces. But she couldn't. She wanted a friend, someone she could talk to about any- and every thing. She was tired of being alone. She wanted companionship, and she knew that if she didn't seek companionship with Vera, she would never find any. If Joham was with her, he would tell her that friends were for the weak. If her grandmother was with her, she would tell her that friends are something she should seek with trepidition. Knowing Joham was rarely ever right, she decided to go with her grandmother.

"I do not want to confide in you now; however, I will tell you that you are correct in your assumption that I am not entirely vampire. If you want to stay here, then be my guest. I will clear out the second room for you and you can decorate however you like," Odessa told her.

Vera stared at her in surprise and let out a breath in disbelief. "Seriously? You are going to let me stay?" At Odessa's head nod, she continued, "You just met me. Why allow me to live with you?"

"I have been alone for some time now," Odessa admitted. "I would not necessarily mind being around someone for a change."

Vera let out a celebratory whoop and threw her arms around Odessa. Odessa froze and curled in on herself under Vera's arms. She patted Vera's back and removed the blonde from her person.

"Not a big fan of touch?" Vera asked. "That is no problem! I cannot wait to move my stuff in-"

"Stuff?"

"-and to redecorate the house!"

"Redecorate? What is wrong with it now?" Odessa asked defensively.

"It is a bit bland for my taste," Vera admitted. "There is hardly any color in the room! All around us are neutral colors. I think we should paint the walls orange or green! We could add a rug, too, if you're still into the cozy atmosphere."

"I will think about your ideas later," Odessa said. "For now, you can grab your stuff."

"Are you that bored of my company?" Vera asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

"I need time to adjust to your presence."

"All right. I will be back shortly."

With Vera gone, Odessa had the opportunity to think about what had happened. She should have ordered Vera away, or at the very most killed her. Having someone to live with would bring many challenges Odessa was not used to. She would have to share her space, for one. And Vera was so outgoing that Odessa knew it would feel like living with three people rather than one. Alone time would be menial and scarce as vampiric hearing certainly hindered it. And Vera seemed like a nosy person who wanted to know everything that was happening. Odessa was a closed-off person and did not like indulging others with her feelings. She was afraid Vera would push her to reveal things she did not want to.

Odessa sat on her sofa, crossed her legs, and propped her elbow on the arm rest to cup her chin with her hand. She thought over the colors and hues that Vera possessed. Orange and purple were most prominent - orange representing enthusiasm, openness to emotions, superficiality, and impatience and purple representing imagination, mystery, and immaturity. There was also a bit of red in there that Odessa was wary of. Energy, passion, and strength were symbolic of the color red, but danger, anger, and revenge were as well. The thing about her gift was that it never really told her what the colors meant or what they symbolized; she had to figure that out for herself. She had had to study color theory and memorize the warnings essences informed her of. She had to make an educated guess. There wasn't a guarantee that she was reading the essence right; there was no way to tell if the essence color held positive connotations or negative connotations.

Was Vera as energetic and open as she presented herself, or was she a superficial ball full of resentment and anger? It was a gamble Odessa had to weigh in peace.