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edenfallingI said this was going to be chapter 3. Actually, it turns out that it works better to just add the new material to chapter 2 and start chapter 3 at the meeting with Tyler's clan. So behold, the new chapter 2 -- now three times as long as before!
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More or Less the Same: Chapter Two
---------------------------------------------
The gang, or family, lived in a series of tunnels and basements under the storage lockers out on the edge of town. It was a nice set-up -- running water tapped from the nearby pipes, and electricity and phone service run down from the main offices. Fang had a deal with the company; they kept other humans off our backs and didn't ask questions, and we promised to not eat them and kept other supernatural trouble away. Which, y'know, kept their insurance premiums down. Good times all around.
Todd walked me in that first night when the place was mostly empty, everyone out hunting. The only ones left were Jaycee, a tall black woman who waved us through as we came down the tunnels, and Oliver Flaherty, an older white guy who was keeping an eye on the snacks. Oliver didn't hunt much in the time I knew him, 'cause it's kind of hard for a vamp who looks like a senior citizen to fit in at the best hunting grounds, and Fang didn't think feeding at nursing homes or hospitals was cool. But he was damn smart, and good enough in a fight.
Todd helped me set up a bed down one of the dead-end sleeping tunnels, and then we hung out with Oliver until the rest of the gang got back. At first I was a little freaked to see humans chained up in a basement, covered with bite marks, but Oliver showed me the ropes.
"Vampires are predators," he said, "and as such we must coexist with our prey. However, humans, unlike other animals, have the potential to destroy us if they suspect our existence, so we're forced to maintain a low profile. If too many people vanish in a short time, those remaining become suspicious and frightened, which leaves us in danger of discovery or of starvation if they refuse to venture out at night.
"Therefore, it's sensible to seek alternate sources of food -- such as animal blood or Red Cross supplies -- and to keep a few humans as emergency rations, particularly since we don't need to worry about paying for their food." He smiled at that.
I liked Oliver. He was a little pedantic, yeah, but I grew up around college professors so I'm used to that. He told me once he taught anthropology before he was turned, which, y'know, did not surprise me at all.
He and Todd showed me a few ways to intimidate the snacks without causing too much damage, where the toilet was, and where we kept the human food -- most of the refrigerator was filled with beer and some bagged blood, but the bottom shelf was for food and the freezer was stuffed with microwave dinners.
We settled down to play cards, and they were in the middle of teaching me five card draw when the rest of the gang trickled back into the lair.
First were a man and woman, looking about twenty-five to thirty. He was kind of beefy, wearing ripped jeans, a wife-beater, and a leather jacket -- he also had an eyebrow piercing and a tongue piercing, which, y'know, is trying just a little too hard to be cool. The woman was more straightforward -- short dark hair, pink shirt, black jeans, boots, and totally giving off don't-mess-with-me vibes. I liked her right off.
Behind them were a teenage Asian guy who was pretty cute and giving me a once-over, a grungy college guy who was hanging back talking with Jaycee, and a thirty-something woman in a business suit who looked bored, like she was above all this socializing stuff.
"Welcome back, Master," Todd said, stepping forward and addressing the almost-cool man. So that was Fang. Yeah, he looked like a guy who'd call himself Fang. "Welcome, Mistress Juliana." The dark-haired woman nodded perfunctorily and smiled at me.
"So here's our new fledgling," she said. "Introduce us, Todd."
Todd waved his hand at me. "Mistress Juliana, this is Anna. She killed with no difficulty, and her demon and bloodlust are well anchored."
He turned to me and pointed out the other gang members. "Fang is the Master of our clan, and Juliana is our Mistress, as well as your sire -- that means she's the one who turned you," he added when I looked confused. "These are your new family: Murchison," -- the bored woman, who nodded once -- "Scuzz," -- the grungy guy, who gave a tiny wave -- "and Danny Woo," -- the cute guy, who grinned at me.
"And that's enough formality for tonight," Juliana said, clapping her hands. "Kick back, people. Hunting's done."
"If you need a snack, feel free," Fang added. "I've set up a meeting with Tyler's clan tomorrow night, and we need you all at full strength. You'll come too," he added, looking directly at me for the first time. "You're no use yet, but you need to learn the ropes and an extra body is good for intimidation. Remember that."
So we broke up, and I went back to the poker game with Todd and Oliver. Jaycee joined us, having passed off the watch to Scuzz, and she dragged a reluctant Murchison over to the table.
Murchison, of course, cleaned us all out.
We knocked off around sunrise and wandered off to our respective beds. That was when I found out that Jaycee, Todd, and Murchison had a thing together, which, y'know, threw me for a loop. Not 'cause of moral issues, but just 'cause it was hard to picture Murchison loosening up enough to sleep, let alone have sex. But to each her own.
Scuzz and Danny each offered to share with me, but, y'know, I'm kind of picky, and anyway, I didn't want to dive into anything before I got a better idea of how the family hung together. So I slept alone.
The next evening, I learned a wonderful thing about vampire physiology: no aches or twinges from sleeping on a too-soft bed. Though I decided to toss out the sagging bed frame and just make do with a mattress on the floor from now on -- it wasn't as if any seeping chill was going to bother me anymore, y'know.
Juliana rounded up the gang not long after sunset and handed out hunting assignments: Murchison, Todd, and Jaycee over in the business district; Fang and the boys out by the gas stations and fast food places at the edge of town; Oliver with permission to kill one of the snacks while he kept guard; and herself with me, near the Bronze.
"It's one of the best hunting grounds," she told me as I fished through the collection of stolen clothes for club-wear that I could still run and fight in, "but it's got a price. There's a ton of drunk kids, lots of them from college or passing through on their way to LA, which means easy prey and nobody's gonna miss them. But the Slayer goes there a lot, so you got to look sharp and run fast. We're strong and fast, and we got teeth and claws if we want, but she's stronger and she's got stakes and swords. Your demon's gonna want to fight her, but don't you listen to it. Your life's worth more than your pride. You hear me, girl?"
I heard.
We set out for the Bronze, walking through the twilit streets like a girl and her older sister, or maybe a girl and her older friend who's willing to buy the kid some booze. Juliana was, no lies, damn hot -- dark eyes, big gold earrings, red lips, red shirt, tight black jeans, and balls enough to take on the world. She had that "I am woman, and you'd damn well better kiss my feet and pray that I notice you" thing going.
I've never been much good at that look -- just not my style, y'know, though I have the breasts for it -- so I was aiming for the cute and vulnerable girl next door. I think I hit it pretty well, and my nerves about hunting for real probably didn't hurt the image.
I was kind of nervous about running into people I'd known while I was alive, but Juliana told me not to worry. "Humans are amazing about not seeing things they don't want to see," she said. "They'll think you're a new girl, looks a lot like their dead friend, and say, 'Man, I miss Anna. I'm seeing her everywhere now.'" She grinned. "Trust me, I've seen this."
I redid my hair halfway there, though, pulling it up into a ponytail instead of down into a braid. I figured that would help confuse the issue.
We hit the Bronze, and man, it was weird looking around as a vampire instead of a human. In one sense, everything was different -- what I could see, what I could hear, what I was looking for -- but in another, it was like nothing changed at all. 'Cause, y'know, I was still me, and I was still uncomfortable in crowds and had no idea how to get people's attention in a good way.
They say getting vamped kills your inhibitions. That's kind of true, but not really. I mean, yeah, you don't mind killing people, and you're all set to jump into fights and lie, cheat, steal, etc. -- but being shy, or having weird phobias... well, those stick with you unless you put some effort into changing them. So here I was, teeth just aching for blood, and no idea how to pull anyone into a dark corner to get some.
Juliana laughed when I complained. "That's why I'm with you, girl, to teach you all the tricks. You never did this before, never went hunting for boys?"
"No!"
She grinned. "Well, watch and learn. Hang close, but not too close."
Juliana walked over to a guy who was slouched against the wall, watching the dance floor. He looked kind of morose, like things just weren't going his way. "Hey," Juliana said, and he perked right up, which, y'know, was not surprising, considering that Juliana was damn sexy and he was a guy.
"Hey," he said back. "What's up?"
Juliana shrugged. "Not much. Me and my sister, we're passing through town, thought we'd go out for the evening. But this club," -- she waved a careless hand at the bar and dance floor -- "kinda sucks."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," the guy said.
"Hey, I know!" Juliana said, moving a little closer to him. "You wanna get out of here, and we wanna have some fun. Why don't you show us around?"
"Really?" the guy asked. Then he sagged again. "I don't know many places around here -- I'm just starting my freshman year at UC Sunnydale."
"Whatever. Anyplace you take us has got to be better than this," Juliana said. "Whatcha say? I'm Lena, by the way, and that's my sister Maria."
"Sure," the guy said. "I'm Chris. Nice to meet you, Lena." He nodded, and Juliana moved closer again and slapped him on the shoulder.
"Say hi, Maria," she told me, and I said hi. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Juliana led the way out of the club and down a side street. "There isn't anything down that way," Chris said, as we turned the corner.
"Yeah, but I parked down here," Juliana told him. "Just around the next corner."
Chris shrugged and followed us. Of course, there was no car, and when we got around the next corner, down a dark alley, Juliana whirled and grabbed him, shifting to game face and clamping her hand over his mouth.
"Okay, Anna, that's how it's done," she said, as I moved over to her. "Act friendly, make him feel like he's interesting, and lure him out with some excuse. After a while, you might get good enough to take sips while you're dancing, or take a guy out back, have sex, and drink after that. You don't have to kill every time you drink -- it sucks not to finish, but it's a good idea to leave them alive sometimes -- keeps suspicion low, and you can keep coming back for more."
"Yeah, I get it," I said. "So we're going to share him?" Chris's eyes rolled frantically, and I could hear the stifled shrieks caught in his throat.
"Yeah, girl, we're gonna share. You take the right shoulder, I got the left."
Sharing a kill is kind of awkward, y'know -- first off, you either have to strip the person naked so you can get at other good arteries, or you have to watch sharp so you don't bang heads both going for the neck -- but it's pretty cool, feeling the rhythm of the other vamp's drinking mesh and tug with the rhythm of the heartbeat and your own suction. Also, you have someone around to point out if you've got blood all down your chin afterward, which, y'know, is damn useful if you can't check yourself in a mirror.
That was more or less the end of Chris and my not-quite-official first hunt.
After we dumped the body and tidied up, Juliana started walking toward the old high school, the one that got blown up in the spring before I moved to Sunnydale. That was a real pain, y'know, 'cause we'd already bought our new house and switched banks and everything, and suddenly, poof! No nice new high school, just a bunch of classes taught out of temporary trailers in a parking lot near one of the local cemeteries. Mom was seriously pissed off.
Anyway, we headed for the high school, which was apparently where we were going to meet with Tyler's clan. I asked Juliana why.
"The Hellmouth's under there, girl, and it's neutral ground -- nobody's strong enough to claim it anymore." She shuddered. "Nobody's crazy enough either. That place is bad shit. It calls you like a lover, makes you go crazy, do all kinds of shit you don't wanna do. If that mouth ever opens for real, the world's gonna end, all gone to hell. And vamps aren't too high on the demon social scale, plus, if demons kill all the people, what the hell are we gonna eat? No, you stay away from that place, you hear?"
"No problem," I said, which, y'know, was one of the easiest promises I ever made. I mean, who wants crazy magic messing with their minds? Not me, that's for sure. I like making my own choices, thanks ever so.
"So why are we meeting so close to it?"
Juliana shrugged. "Neutral ground, like I said. And Tyler's a crazy sonuvabitch, wants to be like the Master and thinks it's cool to go poking at caged lions. Someday he'll get bit bad and I'll laugh my ass off. But 'til then, he's stronger than us, so we play nice."
"Right." This vampire politics was sounding more and more like high school cliques to me, all "who's the coolest" and stupid face-saving rules. But as Todd had said, I was low man -- low woman, really -- on the totem pole, so all I could do was suck it up and play along.
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End of Chapter Two
Back to Chapter 1
Continue to Chapter 3
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
More or Less the Same: Chapter Two
---------------------------------------------
The gang, or family, lived in a series of tunnels and basements under the storage lockers out on the edge of town. It was a nice set-up -- running water tapped from the nearby pipes, and electricity and phone service run down from the main offices. Fang had a deal with the company; they kept other humans off our backs and didn't ask questions, and we promised to not eat them and kept other supernatural trouble away. Which, y'know, kept their insurance premiums down. Good times all around.
Todd walked me in that first night when the place was mostly empty, everyone out hunting. The only ones left were Jaycee, a tall black woman who waved us through as we came down the tunnels, and Oliver Flaherty, an older white guy who was keeping an eye on the snacks. Oliver didn't hunt much in the time I knew him, 'cause it's kind of hard for a vamp who looks like a senior citizen to fit in at the best hunting grounds, and Fang didn't think feeding at nursing homes or hospitals was cool. But he was damn smart, and good enough in a fight.
Todd helped me set up a bed down one of the dead-end sleeping tunnels, and then we hung out with Oliver until the rest of the gang got back. At first I was a little freaked to see humans chained up in a basement, covered with bite marks, but Oliver showed me the ropes.
"Vampires are predators," he said, "and as such we must coexist with our prey. However, humans, unlike other animals, have the potential to destroy us if they suspect our existence, so we're forced to maintain a low profile. If too many people vanish in a short time, those remaining become suspicious and frightened, which leaves us in danger of discovery or of starvation if they refuse to venture out at night.
"Therefore, it's sensible to seek alternate sources of food -- such as animal blood or Red Cross supplies -- and to keep a few humans as emergency rations, particularly since we don't need to worry about paying for their food." He smiled at that.
I liked Oliver. He was a little pedantic, yeah, but I grew up around college professors so I'm used to that. He told me once he taught anthropology before he was turned, which, y'know, did not surprise me at all.
He and Todd showed me a few ways to intimidate the snacks without causing too much damage, where the toilet was, and where we kept the human food -- most of the refrigerator was filled with beer and some bagged blood, but the bottom shelf was for food and the freezer was stuffed with microwave dinners.
We settled down to play cards, and they were in the middle of teaching me five card draw when the rest of the gang trickled back into the lair.
First were a man and woman, looking about twenty-five to thirty. He was kind of beefy, wearing ripped jeans, a wife-beater, and a leather jacket -- he also had an eyebrow piercing and a tongue piercing, which, y'know, is trying just a little too hard to be cool. The woman was more straightforward -- short dark hair, pink shirt, black jeans, boots, and totally giving off don't-mess-with-me vibes. I liked her right off.
Behind them were a teenage Asian guy who was pretty cute and giving me a once-over, a grungy college guy who was hanging back talking with Jaycee, and a thirty-something woman in a business suit who looked bored, like she was above all this socializing stuff.
"Welcome back, Master," Todd said, stepping forward and addressing the almost-cool man. So that was Fang. Yeah, he looked like a guy who'd call himself Fang. "Welcome, Mistress Juliana." The dark-haired woman nodded perfunctorily and smiled at me.
"So here's our new fledgling," she said. "Introduce us, Todd."
Todd waved his hand at me. "Mistress Juliana, this is Anna. She killed with no difficulty, and her demon and bloodlust are well anchored."
He turned to me and pointed out the other gang members. "Fang is the Master of our clan, and Juliana is our Mistress, as well as your sire -- that means she's the one who turned you," he added when I looked confused. "These are your new family: Murchison," -- the bored woman, who nodded once -- "Scuzz," -- the grungy guy, who gave a tiny wave -- "and Danny Woo," -- the cute guy, who grinned at me.
"And that's enough formality for tonight," Juliana said, clapping her hands. "Kick back, people. Hunting's done."
"If you need a snack, feel free," Fang added. "I've set up a meeting with Tyler's clan tomorrow night, and we need you all at full strength. You'll come too," he added, looking directly at me for the first time. "You're no use yet, but you need to learn the ropes and an extra body is good for intimidation. Remember that."
So we broke up, and I went back to the poker game with Todd and Oliver. Jaycee joined us, having passed off the watch to Scuzz, and she dragged a reluctant Murchison over to the table.
Murchison, of course, cleaned us all out.
We knocked off around sunrise and wandered off to our respective beds. That was when I found out that Jaycee, Todd, and Murchison had a thing together, which, y'know, threw me for a loop. Not 'cause of moral issues, but just 'cause it was hard to picture Murchison loosening up enough to sleep, let alone have sex. But to each her own.
Scuzz and Danny each offered to share with me, but, y'know, I'm kind of picky, and anyway, I didn't want to dive into anything before I got a better idea of how the family hung together. So I slept alone.
The next evening, I learned a wonderful thing about vampire physiology: no aches or twinges from sleeping on a too-soft bed. Though I decided to toss out the sagging bed frame and just make do with a mattress on the floor from now on -- it wasn't as if any seeping chill was going to bother me anymore, y'know.
Juliana rounded up the gang not long after sunset and handed out hunting assignments: Murchison, Todd, and Jaycee over in the business district; Fang and the boys out by the gas stations and fast food places at the edge of town; Oliver with permission to kill one of the snacks while he kept guard; and herself with me, near the Bronze.
"It's one of the best hunting grounds," she told me as I fished through the collection of stolen clothes for club-wear that I could still run and fight in, "but it's got a price. There's a ton of drunk kids, lots of them from college or passing through on their way to LA, which means easy prey and nobody's gonna miss them. But the Slayer goes there a lot, so you got to look sharp and run fast. We're strong and fast, and we got teeth and claws if we want, but she's stronger and she's got stakes and swords. Your demon's gonna want to fight her, but don't you listen to it. Your life's worth more than your pride. You hear me, girl?"
I heard.
We set out for the Bronze, walking through the twilit streets like a girl and her older sister, or maybe a girl and her older friend who's willing to buy the kid some booze. Juliana was, no lies, damn hot -- dark eyes, big gold earrings, red lips, red shirt, tight black jeans, and balls enough to take on the world. She had that "I am woman, and you'd damn well better kiss my feet and pray that I notice you" thing going.
I've never been much good at that look -- just not my style, y'know, though I have the breasts for it -- so I was aiming for the cute and vulnerable girl next door. I think I hit it pretty well, and my nerves about hunting for real probably didn't hurt the image.
I was kind of nervous about running into people I'd known while I was alive, but Juliana told me not to worry. "Humans are amazing about not seeing things they don't want to see," she said. "They'll think you're a new girl, looks a lot like their dead friend, and say, 'Man, I miss Anna. I'm seeing her everywhere now.'" She grinned. "Trust me, I've seen this."
I redid my hair halfway there, though, pulling it up into a ponytail instead of down into a braid. I figured that would help confuse the issue.
We hit the Bronze, and man, it was weird looking around as a vampire instead of a human. In one sense, everything was different -- what I could see, what I could hear, what I was looking for -- but in another, it was like nothing changed at all. 'Cause, y'know, I was still me, and I was still uncomfortable in crowds and had no idea how to get people's attention in a good way.
They say getting vamped kills your inhibitions. That's kind of true, but not really. I mean, yeah, you don't mind killing people, and you're all set to jump into fights and lie, cheat, steal, etc. -- but being shy, or having weird phobias... well, those stick with you unless you put some effort into changing them. So here I was, teeth just aching for blood, and no idea how to pull anyone into a dark corner to get some.
Juliana laughed when I complained. "That's why I'm with you, girl, to teach you all the tricks. You never did this before, never went hunting for boys?"
"No!"
She grinned. "Well, watch and learn. Hang close, but not too close."
Juliana walked over to a guy who was slouched against the wall, watching the dance floor. He looked kind of morose, like things just weren't going his way. "Hey," Juliana said, and he perked right up, which, y'know, was not surprising, considering that Juliana was damn sexy and he was a guy.
"Hey," he said back. "What's up?"
Juliana shrugged. "Not much. Me and my sister, we're passing through town, thought we'd go out for the evening. But this club," -- she waved a careless hand at the bar and dance floor -- "kinda sucks."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," the guy said.
"Hey, I know!" Juliana said, moving a little closer to him. "You wanna get out of here, and we wanna have some fun. Why don't you show us around?"
"Really?" the guy asked. Then he sagged again. "I don't know many places around here -- I'm just starting my freshman year at UC Sunnydale."
"Whatever. Anyplace you take us has got to be better than this," Juliana said. "Whatcha say? I'm Lena, by the way, and that's my sister Maria."
"Sure," the guy said. "I'm Chris. Nice to meet you, Lena." He nodded, and Juliana moved closer again and slapped him on the shoulder.
"Say hi, Maria," she told me, and I said hi. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Juliana led the way out of the club and down a side street. "There isn't anything down that way," Chris said, as we turned the corner.
"Yeah, but I parked down here," Juliana told him. "Just around the next corner."
Chris shrugged and followed us. Of course, there was no car, and when we got around the next corner, down a dark alley, Juliana whirled and grabbed him, shifting to game face and clamping her hand over his mouth.
"Okay, Anna, that's how it's done," she said, as I moved over to her. "Act friendly, make him feel like he's interesting, and lure him out with some excuse. After a while, you might get good enough to take sips while you're dancing, or take a guy out back, have sex, and drink after that. You don't have to kill every time you drink -- it sucks not to finish, but it's a good idea to leave them alive sometimes -- keeps suspicion low, and you can keep coming back for more."
"Yeah, I get it," I said. "So we're going to share him?" Chris's eyes rolled frantically, and I could hear the stifled shrieks caught in his throat.
"Yeah, girl, we're gonna share. You take the right shoulder, I got the left."
Sharing a kill is kind of awkward, y'know -- first off, you either have to strip the person naked so you can get at other good arteries, or you have to watch sharp so you don't bang heads both going for the neck -- but it's pretty cool, feeling the rhythm of the other vamp's drinking mesh and tug with the rhythm of the heartbeat and your own suction. Also, you have someone around to point out if you've got blood all down your chin afterward, which, y'know, is damn useful if you can't check yourself in a mirror.
That was more or less the end of Chris and my not-quite-official first hunt.
After we dumped the body and tidied up, Juliana started walking toward the old high school, the one that got blown up in the spring before I moved to Sunnydale. That was a real pain, y'know, 'cause we'd already bought our new house and switched banks and everything, and suddenly, poof! No nice new high school, just a bunch of classes taught out of temporary trailers in a parking lot near one of the local cemeteries. Mom was seriously pissed off.
Anyway, we headed for the high school, which was apparently where we were going to meet with Tyler's clan. I asked Juliana why.
"The Hellmouth's under there, girl, and it's neutral ground -- nobody's strong enough to claim it anymore." She shuddered. "Nobody's crazy enough either. That place is bad shit. It calls you like a lover, makes you go crazy, do all kinds of shit you don't wanna do. If that mouth ever opens for real, the world's gonna end, all gone to hell. And vamps aren't too high on the demon social scale, plus, if demons kill all the people, what the hell are we gonna eat? No, you stay away from that place, you hear?"
"No problem," I said, which, y'know, was one of the easiest promises I ever made. I mean, who wants crazy magic messing with their minds? Not me, that's for sure. I like making my own choices, thanks ever so.
"So why are we meeting so close to it?"
Juliana shrugged. "Neutral ground, like I said. And Tyler's a crazy sonuvabitch, wants to be like the Master and thinks it's cool to go poking at caged lions. Someday he'll get bit bad and I'll laugh my ass off. But 'til then, he's stronger than us, so we play nice."
"Right." This vampire politics was sounding more and more like high school cliques to me, all "who's the coolest" and stupid face-saving rules. But as Todd had said, I was low man -- low woman, really -- on the totem pole, so all I could do was suck it up and play along.
---------------------------------------------
End of Chapter Two
Back to Chapter 1
Continue to Chapter 3
---------------------------------------------
