Okay, I'm going to start right off and tell you that this story is...
quirky. Yes, 'quirky,' that's my adjective and I'm sticking with it! (g)
This story has been festering in the back of my mind for awhile now, I
set off to write a pro-woman story that was both entertaining and light
hearted, I hope I accomplished that. The new character, Becka is a
direct result of all the teens on the DP list's influence over me, so if
you don't like her... blame the teeny-boppin' Thugs! Special thanks to
my two glorious betas Ren and Shana, who really do make me a better
writer.
I don't own Forever Knight, I have high hopes TPTB will give it to me as
a token of their esteem, but until then, no copyright infringement is
intended. Permission to archive granted to Mel and to any Dark Perk,
anyone else please ask first. Enjoy!
Bigger Than Life and Twice as Mean! (1/7)
By: Cousin Mary (Jenkins) 5-99
Tracy looked down at the teenage girl sleeping on her bed. Becka
O'Brian, at least that was the name on her student ID. Dressed in a pair
of jean overalls and a bright yellow tee shirt, with short, curly red
hair and a sprinkling of freckles across her nose, she looked very young,
Tracy'd put her at -maybe- 14, 15 tops. She looked sweet, innocent. Not
at all the kind of kid you'd expect to get into any real trouble. But
this one had. Tracy shuddered slightly as she remembered the glowing
eyes and extended fangs. She unconsciously rubbed her arm, where those
fangs had sunk, if only for a moment.
"Oh the fun I have," Tracy sighed wryly, throwing some clothes off the
chair next to the bed and sitting down to watch the girl sleep. Tracy
didn't have a clue what she was going to do when her house guest woke up
again.
"Though, this time," She cast a wry look down at the stack of bottles on
the floor, "I'm at least better prepared." Her thoughts drifted back to
earlier that night...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tracy was driving home from work, just singing along, off-key, with her
stereo, when something caught her attention. Common sense told her to
keep driving, it was 3 in the morning in a particularly bad section of
town, after all, and she wasn't quite sure what she'd seen. A movement,
someone or something rushing down the alley away from the street. Not
really enough to warrant stopping, but something about it had just hit
her as odd.
"Ah hell," She whispered, knowing it would drive her crazy all night if
she didn't figure out what she'd seen. Everyone always said curiosity
was her best, and worst, personality trait, and Tracy herself would be
the first to agree. So with one last mumbled curse, Tracy pulled a
U-turn, parked near the curb and, grabbing her flashlight, climbed out to
investigate.
At first she didn't see anything, then the beam landed on Becka. She
looked dead, or at least unconscious. Thinking the girl was the victim
of a mugging, Tracy quickly shone her light around and, seeing no one
else in the alley, quickly rushed to her side. She noticed the fang marks
immediately.
"Damn," She winced at the two jagged tears in the side of the teen's
throat. Her headlights driving by must have scared whoever had done this
away. She reached down and pressed her fingers to the untouched side of
the girl's throat, no pulse.
Tracy sat back on her haunches, what should she do now? Normally she
would just call the station and the coroner to report this, but then
again, this was obviously a vampire attack. Should she, well, try and
cover it up? Wistfully she wished Vachon were in town, unfortunately her
friendly neighborhood bloodsucker was off touring with a band along the
west coast for the next three weeks. (Though he had sent her a lovely
postcard, a picture of a sun filled beach "wish you were here." The guy
was just plain weird sometimes. That's probably why she liked him so
much.)
Tracy stared at the girl's body for a minute, trying to figure out what
to do, when suddenly... she moved.
"What the-?!" Tracy jumped up and stumbled back a few feet. Her
flashlight clattered to the ground, sounding thunderous in the still
night. She'd definitely seen the girl's hand twitch. Of course, that
could have been just aftereffects of a violent death, as a homicide
detective she knew body's sometimes -did- move. But then again, this
wasn't just any body. This was a vampire's victim.
The body moved again, this time she lolled her head to one side and
emitted a small moan.
"It could still be perfectly normal," Tracy mumbled, backing out of the
alley, keeping her eyes on the body. Almost without thinking about it,
she popped her trunk and pulled out the two bottles she kept hidden under
her spare tire, right next to the flares and first aid kit. She kept the
bottles for an emergency, and though she'd always thought Vachon would be
the one to get them, as she walked back to the girl's side and watched
her slowly open yellow tinted eyes, somehow, she didn't think Vachon
would mind sharing.
"Wha- what happened?" The girl whispered in a small, terrified voice.
Tracy's heart melted, "You were attacked, but you're going to be okay,
I'm here." She put a comforting hand on the girl's small shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'm a police officer."
Suddenly, the girl jerked and pressed herself hard against the alley
wall and, turning her head, grazed Tracy's arm with her new fangs.
Though startled, Tracy had half been expecting that, and quickly snatched
her hand back before the girl could grab it. If anything, the teen was
more frightened of what she'd done than Tracy was.
"What's happening? Why'd I-?" She began crying, drawing her knees up
to her chest and rocking slightly. "It hurts, make it stop, hurts so
bad, please make it stop."
Tracy's eyes widened, half of her wanted to hug the girl and promise
everything would be okay, but stopping her instincts from taking over,
Tracy hastily uncorked a bottle and held it near the girl's nose. "Here,
drink this, it'll make you feel better."
The teen gave her a confused look, then 'first hunger' seemed to kick in
full gear, because she snatched the bottle and quickly drained it.
"More."
Tracy handed her the second bottle, fearing that it wouldn't be enough.
But her worries were for naught, halfway through the second bottle, the
girl sighed happily and looked up at Tracy with sleepy eyes. Her eyes
were still yellow, but on closer inspection, Tracy realized that that was
her natural color. Not the vampire's green-gold, but more of a light
golden brown, kind of like old coins, Tracy thought. Slightly unnerved,
Tracy smiled hesitantly back, "Feel better?"
The girl nodded sleepily, "Better." Then, the new fledgling vampire
yawned, asked Tracy to take her home and promptly fell fast asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tracy shook her head, turning her thoughts back to the present. Well,
she hadn't taken Becka home, at least not to her own. She could hardly
return a fledgling vamp to an unsuspecting suburban home! At a loss to
what else to do, Tracy had made one quick stop at the Church, cleaning
out Vachon's stockpile, and then brought her home with her. Carrying her
to and from the car, and then up the two flights of stairs to her
apartment hadn't been easy, but luckily Becka was a bit on the small side
and she had been able to manage it.
Tracy shook her head again, this time in disbelief. Standing she
checked the window again, making sure that absolutely no sunlight would
get in once the rapidly approaching dawn broke. She looked back at
Becka, who was still soundly sleeping in the middle of her bed. It was
going to be a long day.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Feedback appreciated at anteros@juno.com
*Disclaimers in part one.
Bigger Than Life and Twice as Mean! (2/7)
By: Cousin Mary (Jenkins)
Tracy spent the day on the couch watching The Price is Right reruns on
the Gameshow Network. Well, it's not like she would have been able to
sleep knowing the vampire in her bed could wake up any minute and decide
on a little snack, i.e. her!
Perhaps not surprisingly, Becka had slept through the entire day, waking
only once the sun had set. Still, by the time that rolled around, Tracy
was practically the walking dead herself, only the sweet alchemy of
Buckstar's espresso mocha latte was keeping her among the vertically
upright. She called into work and told them that she was sick. Judging
from the desk sergeant's abundant sympathy, she must have sounded it.
When Becka padded barefoot into the living room, in a pair of shorts
she'd stolen from her dresser Tracy noted wryly, she didn't seem
particularly upset or even surprised. "You really a cop?" The teen
asked cheerfully. Then, without warning, her freckled face contorted in
a look of pain, "Ow, ow, ow." She clutched at her jaw.
It took a second, but then Tracy realized what was happening, "Aw, my
little girl is teething," She giggled a little hysterically and darted
into the kitchen to fetch another bottle from the fridge.
When 'the beast' was once again taken care of, Becka flopped down on the
couch and looked up at a nervous Tracy with tear filled eyes. "What's
going on?"
Tracy ran her hand through her hair and sat down next to the girl. Not
too close though. "It's a long story." She sighed, again wishing she
knew how to get a hold of Vachon.
Becka looked at her, her face filled with absolute trust. "What
happened? The last thing I remember is some guy dragging me into an
alley near Blockbuster's, then..." She looked a bit confused, "Then you
were there, helping me."
Tracy felt such a surge of protectiveness towards this girl, it scared
her. She'd worked as a youth camp counselor every summer through high
school and college and her every instinct was to help Becka in whatever
way she could. Of course, Tracy thought, this wasn't an abusive parent
or pushy boyfriend, this was something she'd never dealt with before.
How did she even begin to support and encourage a troubled teen of the
undead sort? "Well," Tracy began uneasily, taking the girl's hand in
hers, mindful of the half empty bottle cradled in her lap, "Let's start
at the beginning huh? My name is Tracy Vetter, I'm a cop, but more
importantly, I'm your friend."
Becka offered her a trembling smile back, "I'm Becka O'Brian, and I'm
dead aren't I?"
Tracy started, and tried not to let any fear or panic show up on her
face, "Why do you say that?" She asked cautiously.
"Well," Becka drew a slow breath, "That guy in the alley bit me, I felt
myself die! Then I woke up and drank," She looked down at the bottle in
her lap.
"Bloodwine," Tracy finished for her, nodding slightly. "And you aren't
-exactly- dead. You're," A quirky smile touched her lips and she
twitched her nose, trying to put the girl at ease, "Living impaired."
Becka stared at her for a second, then giggled. "Living impaired?"
"Yep," Tracy smiled reassuredly. "And there's nothing wrong with that,
some of my best friends are living impaired!"
"But you aren't," Becka's lower lip trembled, she looked like she was
going to burst into tears, "Are you?"
Tracy shook her head slowly, "No."
Becka sat there a moment, as if trying to absorb that, then asked, "But
you're going to help me, right?"
Even though some part of Tracy knew that's what she'd practically been
promising the girl since the moment she woke up, Tracy still felt a
momentary twinge of panic at her question. How the hell was she supposed
to help her? What? Should she put her in a basket and leave her on the
Raven's front step? Tracy looked at Becka again, she still looked so
innocent sitting there, despite the bottle of AB negative in her lap.
No, she couldn't just send her off to fend for herself in that den of the
undead, the Raven. After all, from what she'd heard from Vachon, most
vampires were killers, monsters, people he repeatedly warned her to stay
as far away from as possible. How could she turn Becka over to them?
They might kill her, or worse, Tracy thought, make her into one of them.
"Yes!" Tracy blurted out suddenly, with a vehemence that surprised them
both, "Yes," She repeated a bit more subdued, "I'm going to help you."
Becka smiled shakily at her, "Then I know I'll be okay."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
As it turns out, Becka was a runaway. Tracy had been a little surprised
by that fact, Becka certainly didn't have that 'hard as nails' look that
most of the street kids she met projected. When Becka told her she'd
only been on the street a few days, Tracy knew that had to be true.
Becka had spent her first 14 years in a loving family in the suburbs,
white picket fence and everything. Then last year, both her parents and
her older brother had been killed by a drunk driver. Shortly after that,
Becka had started making the circuit among relatives that at best didn't
want another mouth to feed and at worst, actively resented her. She'd
finally settled in with her kind, elderly Uncle Murray, but last month
he'd passed away, and since she hadn't wanted to go back to the 'family
circuit' she'd stayed in her uncle's apartment by herself until the
landlord had threatened to call social services on her.
The first night she spent at the bus station, pretending to wait for
someone. Then, the second night, another kid had told her about the
shelter on Donaldson, she spent the next night there. She'd just been
going back for another night when the vampire had caught her.
As Tracy listened she felt a great deal of sympathy for Becka. Part of
her realized that since she didn't really have any family that was going
to report her missing, her job had just gotten a lot easier. However,
the fact that Becka had spent the last year of her life bouncing around
from one uncaring household to another made Tracy's blood boil. Why
wouldn't anyone be thrilled to have a kid like Becka live with them?
Tracy decided then and there that she was going to be there for her. She
didn't know quite how she was going to accomplish it, but she was going
to do her damnedest.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
"So how do you know so much about vampires anyway?" Becka interrupted
Tracy's lectures on the 'Facts of Vampirism.'
Tracy paused, "Um, well, I sorta know a couple." At Becka's curious
look she added, "A guy named Vachon."
Becka smiled, a knowing teenage smile, "Oh, your boyfriend?"
Much to Tracy's embarrassment, she felt herself go beet red. Becka's
eyes widened and she quickly took a gulp from the bottle now resting on
the coffee table. Tracy made a mental note to try and not blush in the
near future.
"So?" Becka grinned hugely, her eyes dancing with possibilities.
Tracy tried not to grin back, but failed. Becka was very young and
sweet, it was hard not to settle back and just act like a kid with her.
It was a bit too comfortable, Tracy knew she was having trouble
remembering that this girl was now a vampire, would -always- be a
vampire. They had some very serious topics to cover before the night was
out. Of course she didn't want to scare or depress the teen, but at the
same time Tracy knew instinctively that it was important for both of
their sakes that Becka understand what she was.
Tracy looked up at the teen again, who was still eagerly waiting for her
to tell her about Vachon. She sighed and told her, "He's a friend."
"Just a friend?" Her freckled face fell.
"A friend with a really great butt," Tracy smirked, and Becka started to
giggle.
Tracy just smiled, so maybe she wasn't the world's strictest teacher,
but she'd get Becka to understand, they had plenty of time after all.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Feedback appreciated at anteros@juno.com
*Disclaimers in part one.
Bigger Than Life and Twice as Mean! (3/7)
By: Cousin Mary (Jenkins)
The next night Tracy was at work trying to force herself to plow through
the mountain of paperwork Nick had left her before taking his vacation.
Rumor had it her partner was burned out and spending his much needed time
off back east with some family no one had known he had, there was even
some talk of Europe. Tracy had tried to get some info on her partner from
Nat Lambert, but the coroner either didn't know, or at least wasn't
talking.
Tracy sighed as she filled in the last form of her third report of the
night. She'd left Becka at the apartment, after making the teen swear
she wouldn't leave. She hadn't seemed to mind, more than happy to be
left alone with Tracy's cable TV, CD collection, PC and other assorted
goodies. Tracy, on the other hand, was getting anxious. She was growing
pretty fond of the kid already, and wanted to make sure her second night
as a vamp went as smoothly as the first.
As she sat at her desk, Tracy's mind once again drifted to vampires.
The sad fact was that most of her knowledge about vampires either came
from Vachon, Bela Lugosi or Emily Weiss, not really the most reliable
sources all things considered. Even Vachon, her resident fanged expert
on the subject, hadn't given her that many cold, hard facts on the
matter. Of course, it'd probably never occurred to him that she'd one
day be trying to teach the facts of unlife to a fledgling, Tracy thought
with a smirk.
"Tracy?"
Tracy looked up at the sound of her name, it was Nat. "Huh? Hi Nat."
She smiled.
"Hi yourself," The coroner shot her a questioning grin, "Where were you
just now? I had to say your name three times before I was so much a blip
on the radar."
"Sorry, just day dreaming I guess," Tracy blushed.
"Must be some dream," Nat smiled knowingly. "What's his name?"
"Alas, nothing as interesting as that," Tracy sighed dramatically, "Pity
me Nat, the only men in my life are Reese, Dad and my absent partner."
"Well, I'm two up on you," Nat smiled, "I have Ben & Jerry too."
"Oh please, not the 'all the good men are married or gay' speech again,"
The Desk Sergeant, yelled across the room at them, "And Vetter, you have
a call on line two."
"Do you mind, Doug?" Nat yelled back, dropping a file on Tracy's desk
and turning a mock-glare on the sergeant, "This is a private male-bashing
thank-you very much!"
Tracy laughed as the pair got into it and picked up the call, "Vetter."
"Tracy?"
"Becka?" All her amusement at her coworkers' antics evaporated and ice
cold dread took its place. Her mind was instantly filled with visions of
Enforcers beating down the door, drained pizza boys, and dozens of other
possible disasters, "What's wrong?"
"Nothin'," The teen sighed, "I'm just bored."
"Oh." Tracy blinked. She knew Becka was a smart kid, she was an honor
student at her school. Tracy's got the impression that the kid was
practically Doogie Howser when it came to computers too. Why wasn't she
busy hackin' the Pentagon or something? "Um, why don't you look up
some," Tracy glance around to make sure no one was listening, but other
than Nat and Doug, who were still bickering, no one was around, "Vampire
stuff on the net?" She said the 'V' word in a whisper, but Becka heard
her.
"There's an idea," The teen said, a touch of annoyance in her voice, "If
you didn't have your system password encrypted."
Despite herself, Tracy smiled, she was no slouch in the computer
department either. Secretly she was pleased Becka hadn't been able to
crack her system, even though it was obvious she'd tried. "My password
is 'explanation point, Sparky-27'," she whispered into the receiver,
"Have fun."
"Great!" Becka was already booting up the PC again, "You'll be home
soon?"
"Couple more hours," Tracy glanced at her watch.
"'Kay! See ya soon!"
Tracy looked at the receiver in her hand for a second and smiled, her
phone line would probably be busy the rest of the night.
"Who called?" Nat walked up, after throwing one last dirty look Doug's
way.
"Huh?" Tracy's mind went blank a moment, "Um, one of my sorority
sister's kid, my god daughter Becka, she's staying with me for awhile."
"Oh? How old is she?" Nat asked, genuinely curious.
"15," Tracy said, not sure how much she should tell her. Obviously not
the vampire part, but it looked like Becka was going to be a big part of
her life for at least the next couple weeks, if not longer. Suddenly
Tracy realized she was going to need a background story for her. She
made a mental note to stop by a snitch she knew about some fake
paperwork. School records, new name, everything.
"Tracy? You in there?" Nat waved her hand in front of the blonde's
face.
"Oops, sorry," Tracy smiled wryly, "I guess Nick's rubbed off on me."
"As long as you don't do that while driving," Nat joked, "As I was
saying, before you took that unscheduled trip to la-la land, you want to
go out for coffee on your break?"
"Yeah," Tracy smiled, "I think we both know I need it."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Later that night, Tracy slipped her key into her door and opened it,
"Becka? I'm home." Tracy smiled to herself, it sort of gave her a warm
feeling to know someone was waiting for her. Growing up, her father had
usually been at the office, and her mom had usually been passed out in
bed when she got home, the fact that Becka actually missed her company
enough to call her at work meant a lot to her. "Becka?" Tracy called
out again when the teen failed to answer. She was here right?
Tracy pulled off her leather duster and draped it over the kitchen
table, moving into the living room. Then she saw her, she was still in
front of the computer, headphone's on her curly head and happily bopping
around as she surfed through the U of Toronto's Online Library. Tracy
chuckled, she hadn't even noticed she'd come in. "Becka!" She yelled,
still no response, even standing ten feet away Tracy could still make out
Korn's latest hit blaring from headphones.
"Becka!!!" Tracy sang out, waving her arms above her head and jumping
up and down, "Yoohoo! Hey! Red!"
Finally the teen looked up and smiled, "Oh hi Tracy! Is it two
already?" She took of the headphones and the room was suddenly thumping
loudly with 'Freak on a Leash.'
Tracy walked over and flipped of the stereo, "Loud enough?"
Becka looked a bit sheepish, "It's a good song..."
"I know," Tracy grinned, "That's why I bought the CD."
"Oh right," Becka smiled, obviously she wasn't used to a 'grown-up'
liking the same sort of music as her. Uncle Murray had been a dear, but
anything newer than Billy Holly had tended to give him a headache.
"Find anything interesting?" Tracy crouched down next to her chair and
peered at the screen.
"Lots!" Becka grinned, being a vampire was an adventure for her still.
It didn't seem to frighten her at all, in her own words, 'it was way
cool.' "I've been trying some of it out too!"
"Trying it out?" Tracy frowned slightly.
"Yeah!" Becka gushed, missing the blonde's apprehension completely.
"Like, I -can- see my reflection in a mirror, but the garlic salt in the
cupboard really does make me cringe!"
"I could have told you that," Tracy smiled, "Vachon once crossed the
street to avoid walking by a hot dog stand that had garlic in the
sauerkraut."
The teen giggled before going on, "I can't really fly, but I did sorta
hover."
"You did?" Tracy's eyes widened, hoping that since the curtains were
now open, none of her neighbors had happened to look over.
"Well, only for like three seconds," She admitted, "But it's a start!"
"It sure is," Tracy nodded, "Anything else?"
"Well, the stuff about bats and wolves is completely bogus, just like
you said," She looked a bit disappointed at that, "But the stuff about
Masters, Fledglings and all that is kinda neat."
"Keep in mind we don't really know which, if any of that stuff is true,"
Tracy warned, even as she leaned in to read a paragraph that had caught
her eye.
"Oh, one more thing," For the first time that night Becka actually
sounded a bit troubled.
"What?" Tracy turned her head to find Becka's face mere inches from
hers.
"We're out of blood," Becka said quietly, her eyes gleaming in the glow
of the monitor, or maybe it wasn't the PC...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Feedback appreciated at anteros@juno.com
*Disclaimers in part one.
Bigger Than Life and Twice as Mean! (4/7)
By: Cousin Mary (Jenkins)
Tracy froze. She had no idea if she was in danger or not. She watched
as Becka slowly drew a breath, moving almost imperceptibly closer to her
neck as she did. Tracy's heart leapt into her throat, was this the end
then? As a cop she'd been threatened, nearly had her heart cut out, shot
at countless times and even almost had her head sawed off by a psychotic
collector. Was she really going to meet her end to a fledgling with the
munchies who probably didn't even know what she was doing? Suddenly
Tracy shook herself, no, she'd never been the passive victim before and
she wasn't going to start now!
"Hey," Tracy grinned a bit to brightly and tweaked Becka on the end of
the nose, "We'll just have to go out and buy some more then huh?"
Becka started, her eyes filled with horror as she realized what she'd
been about to do. But Tracy just stood and breezed away, as if it was no
big deal. A bit lost, Becka stood and asked, "Wh-where do we get more?
Like a blood bank or something?"
Tracy laughed, "What, you think we walk up and just say 'Hi, we'd like
to make a withdrawl?'"
"I dunno," Becka ran a hand nervously through her curls, still a little
preoccupied with what had almost happened, "Where then?"
"The Raven," Tracy said simply, scooping her coat and car keys off the
table, "Come on, we'll go right now."
"Um, okay," Becka slipped on her shoes and followed her friend out.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Raven was like it always was, loud, smoky and dark. She knew from
CERK that the creepy owner was out of town for awhile, the guest DJ said
Paris, so she didn't have him to worry about. With the black clad goth
kids and the smell of alcohol and sweat in the air just like always, it
was almost comforting to Tracy's jangled nerves. The car ride over had
been very tense and silent, she knew Becka was trying to come to terms
with one of her new urges, and Tracy had decided it would probably best
if she let her think things through on her own. She'd come to the right
conclusion in the end, she hoped.
"Well," Tracy forced a calm smile for Becka's sake as they entered the
club, "Here we are."
Becka looked around wide-eyed, "I've never been in a nightclub before,
wow."
"Yeah well, you weren't missing much," Tracy cracked as a guy dressed in
a leather thong with pierced everything walked by. "Anyway, see that bar
over there?"
Becka nodded.
"Go over to the guy with the long black hair and ask how much a case of
the house special is," Tracy told her, then handed her a fifty, "Then buy
as many as this will get you."
"Wait!" Becka's eyes went wide with panic, "By myself?!"
Tracy grimaced, "Yeah, you're going to have to."
Becka's eyes closed for a sec, "Oh yeah, 'cause the," Her voice dropped
to a whisper, "Enforcers, right?"
Tracy almost smiled at how much Becka sounded like her, Vachon always
made fun of how she whispered certain words, and now she had Becka doing
the same thing. "That's right, go on, it'll be okay." She said
soothingly, patting the teen on the arm and gently turning her towards
the bar. "I'll go wait in the car, it's probably better if they don't
see me here with you once you make your order."
Becka nodded bravely and though her hands were trembling, started
towards the bar.
Tracy watched her for a second before heading back outside. She hoped
to god everything would be okay.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Becka squared her shoulders and marched straight to the bar, and one of
the bartenders gave her a quick look and asked to see her ID. She almost
panicked then, before the dark hared man Tracy had pointed to earlier
motioned his mortal co-worker to let him handle this one. Becka tried to
relax, but her brain seemed to have decided to take a little nap instead
of working. For the life of her she couldn't think of what to say! "Um,
er, I need," Becka mumbled, her eyes on the shiny wood of the bar rather
than vampire waiting impatiently for her to spit out what she wanted.
The vamp sighed, "A drink?" He placed a wine glass on the bar in front
of her, though Becka's nose told her instantly that it wasn't just wine.
"Um, a case actually," Becka finally looked up at him, setting her jaw
the same way Tracy did when she meant business, "I don't want to stay in
here very long."
He raised an eyebrow, "You don't?"
Becka's eyes widened, oh god, she thought, I've insulted him! "Um," Her
mind raced to come up with something plausible, "Well, it's not that I
don't -want- to," She told him, "I just can't."
"Why not?" He asked her point blank.
Becka became aware of several other vampires watching and listening in
on their conversation, oh crap. Her mind quickly churned through several
possible answers to his question before she blurted out, "Because my
master won't let me!"
There was a beat of silence, the bartender looked surprised, almost as
surprised as Becka was. Where'd she come up with that? She had an idea
of what a master was to a vampire, but only a vague one. These in the
Raven were actually the first vampires she'd seen since she'd come
across. She'd woken up with the strange feeling or knowledge that her
master had been on his way out of town when he'd bit her, and she knew he
hadn't meant to and probably didn't even know that she was still among
the living, undead, whatever. So technically, making-up a fake master
shouldn't be too big a deal.
"So your master," The bartender asked, "He is very fierce?"
"She," Becka corrected, for some reason Tracy's face popped into her
head. Sure she wasn't her master, but she was close, and she -did- care
about her. "She's great, very focused, in control. And..." Becka
searched for a word to describe Tracy's confidence and inner strength,
something that would convey the patience and common sense her friend had
shown her, "She has a serenity, sorta thing going for her."
The vampire actually looked impressed. Becka had no idea she'd just
described qualities usually present in only the most ancient of their
kind. "And your master, she is here, in Toronto?"
"Uh, yep," Becka nodded, getting a little worried that this man and the
others listening in would want to meet her. To dissuade them she added,
"She's got a cruel streak too." She watched the bartender nod, as if
that was to be expected, "Big as life and twice as mean!" Becka chirped.
The dark vampire looked a little worried, then went to the back to fetch
her a case, on the house. Becka grinned, that hadn't been too bad at
all! As she left the bar she didn't notice that the room was practically
humming with conversations. Rumors were flying, apparently there was a
new Master vamp in town, probably older than even Lacroix they said.
Most were curious, a few were afraid, but a select few were...
suspicious.
From behind a shadowy pillar Urs emerged then, a thoughtful look on her
cherubic face. She'd watched the young fledgling with some interest, the
teen's fumbling insecurities striking a chord with her. But unlike the
others, who were now busily discussing who this new master vampire could
be, Urs had seen Becka's companion when she'd first entered the Raven.
Tracy Vetter, her master's mortal girlfriend. What she was doing with a
fledgling vampire was beyond her, but she was going to find out.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Feedback appreciated at anteros@juno.com
*Disclaimers in part one.
Bigger Than Life and Twice as Mean! (5/7)
By: Cousin Mary (Jenkins)
Later that night, Tracy and Becka were sitting on the roof of their
apartment building watching wispy, half-formed clouds dart across the
sky. Becka was sipping her dinner out of a Big Gulp cup, one with a lid,
so neither she nor Tracy really had to think about what she was drinking.
Tracy had her own Big Gulp, though hers was filled with Cherry Coke.
"Tracy?" Becka looked over at her friend, her protector and teacher,
stretched out on a bedspread on her back looking up at the stars up
above.
"Yeah?" Tracy rolled to her side and looked at her. They'd been up
here for hours, talking about everything and nothing. From what being a
vampire -really- meant, to which guy on Dawson's Creek was the cutest.
It was nice, a little surreal, but nice, she thought.
"I think I'm beginning to love you," Becka confessed, then her eyes went
wide, "Not in that Ellen/Anne Heche sorta way though!"
"I'm too old for you anyway," Tracy chuckled, then closed her eyes,
smiled and laid back down, "I always wanted a sister too."
"Sister," Becka repeated the word as if testing it out. It apparently
met with her approval because she sighed happily and stretched out next
to Tracy, "Can you see the Big Dipper?"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The next night Tracy was at work, again wondering what her young ward
was up to. 'I wonder if Batman ever had this problem?' Tracy thought
with a smile as she forced herself to put the receiver down and not to
call and check on the kid again. Something had overcome her before she'd
left for work and... she'd left Becka her credit card. Well, they'd
been checking old book dealers via the web and telephone before work, and
by now they were both starting to get a feel for what was authentic and
what was purely fiction, so she wasn't too worried that Becka would get
conned into buying something by Bram Stoker, and the card only had a $500
dollar limit so she couldn't do -too- much damage. At least, that was
what she kept telling herself, truthfully she was scared stiff that she
was going to come home to a life sized N'Sync cardboard cut out and a
Pokemon throw rug.
"So what do you think?" Nat came twirling into the precinct and plopped
herself down at her absent partner's desk, "Is it me?"
Tracy looked up at her friend and blinked, "Huh?"
A low wolf whistle sounded from across the room, "Hey Lambert, lookin'
good!" It was Doug the desk sergeant of course, "Hot date tonight?" He
asked.
Suddenly Tracy realized that Nat was not dressed in her usual scrubs or
sweats, no, Nat Lambert looked like she was out on the prowl! "Wow!"
Tracy grinned, "You do look great Nat, what's the occasion?"
"Oh, no reason," Nat looked down at the desk and toyed with a paper clip
for a moment, "It was just a 'I-saw-this-dress-and-had-to-have-it' kinda
thing."
"So..."
Tracy glanced up at Doug, the usually brash officer sounded down right
shy!
"So," Doug looked up at Nat, "You don't have anything planned for after
your shift?"
Tracy almost choked on her coffee when Nat looked up and, with a
half-smile, said, "Not a thing."
Tracy looked from one to the other, at that moment she finally realized
why Nat wasn't more put out by Nick's disappearing act. Whoa, she really
-had- to pay more attention to the talk around the water cooler! She'd
had no idea!
"Uh, maybe we could, uh."
Doug was actually stammering! Loud, obnoxious Doug Baxter couldn't get
the words out to ask Nat out on a date! Tracy sat back in awe, this was
-so- much better than 'As the World Turns.'
Suddenly the precinct door slammed open and Becka came running in.
"Tracy?!"
The teen quickly strode though one of the open doorway and spotted her,
probably more due to her new heightened senses than anything as mundane
as luck. Tracy climbed to her feet. "Becka? You all right? How'd you
get here?"
"8th Street bus," The teen shrugged. "I needed to talk to you," She
looked quickly at Nat and Doug.
"This is your god daughter?" Nat asked Tracy. Doug frowned slightly and
stalked back over to his desk in the front of the station, to sulk do
doubt.
"Yeah," Tracy nodded, not knowing what else to do, "Nat, this is Becka,
my godchild. Becka this is my friend and coworker Natalie Lambert."
The two smiled at each other, but since the teen looked incredibly
anxious to talk to Tracy alone, Nat excused herself and went to bother
Doug some more. But before she left, she shot Tracy a questioning look.
The blonde just shook her head and shrugged that she had no idea.
Tracy led Becka into one of the observation rooms and locked the door.
She took a deep breath, then turned and faced the teen, "You came out
here all by yourself? Do you know how dangerous that is? I mean, you're
just a kid! What were you thinking?!"
Becka seemed taken aback, "I, I don't know, it wasn't a big deal, I did
it all the time before."
"That's no excuse!" Tracy told her. She thought about all those
good-for-nothings that had 'looked after' Becka for the past year,
letting a young girl roam around Toronto in the middle of the night?!
"You're Uncle Murray let you take a bus by yourself at midnight?" Tracy
towered over the teen, and for once she let Becka know it, daring her to
lie to her.
Quickly Becka shook her head, "No, but the others never cared."
Suddenly the girl's eyes filled with tears and she threw herself into
Tracy's arms. "Oh, I'm sorry I made you mad, I'll never do it again! I
promise!"
Tracy sighed and patted her on the back, "There, there, it's okay." She
laughed and clucked her under the chin, "Hey, actually this something we
have in common, you know how many times I've gotten in trouble for
running off by myself and doing something dangerous?"
Becka shook her head, "Lots," Tracy continued, "Even as a grown up.
Heck, even as a cop!" She smiled, "It's okay, really. I was just
worried about you is all."
Becka gave her a watery smile, wiped away a few tears and stepped back.
"Oh god, look what I did to your shirt!"
Tracy glanced down, the shoulder of her beige blouse was completely
soaked with red tinged tears, "It's okay, I have a blazer out there, I'll
just put it back on, no one will notice." She assured her with a smile.
"So, what'd you come down here for anyway?"
Becka's smile disappeared, "We have a problem."
"What?" Tracy asked.
"They're looking for you." Becka's lower lip began to tremble, she
looked like she was going to start crying again at any minute.
"Who?" Tracy frowned, whatever it was it seemed to have Becka more than
a little on edge.
"The vampires." She whispered, then she threw herself back into Tracy's
arms and started bawling again.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Feedback appreciated at anteros@juno.com
*Disclaimers in part one.
Bigger Than Life and Twice as Mean! (6/7)
By: Cousin Mary (Jenkins)
"What?"
Tracy's voice was calm, controlled. When Becka pulled back and looked
at her, the blonde looked a bit curious, but not nearly as panicked as
Becka herself felt. If it hadn't been for the thundering beat of Tracy's
heart and the faint smell of fear in the air, Becka might even had fallen
for it. As it was, she took comfort in the strength her friend was
projecting, even if it wasn't completely truthful. Tracy was a brave
person, strong enough to deal with what she was going to tell her. And
Becka knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that no matter how bad things got,
Tracy wouldn't abandon her or send her away.
"I was in that bookstore on 12th-"
"The occult one?" Tracy cut in, they'd visited the shop earlier that
week, great place, tons of vampire books.
"Yeah," Becka nodded, "Anyway, I was just reading in the magazine
section, Backstreet Boys are on the cover of YM and..." She trailed off
with a quick shake of her head and a nervous laugh, "But that's not
important I guess. At any rate, I was reading and these two big, huge
vamps came in, all menacing and practically oozing creepiness. They came
up to me right away and started asking me about my master and-"
"Wait," Tracy cut her off, frowning, "Your master? I thought he was
long gone. You said-"
"Yeah, I know," Becka looked a bit sheepish, "Uh, they don't want him...
they want you."
"What?!" Tracy yelped, "What do you mean, 'they want me'?"
Eyes locked on the floor, Becka quickly explained what had happened at
the Raven and then later at the bookstore. When she'd finally finished
she looked up at Tracy through her bangs, "I'm sorry Tracy, I didn't mean
any harm."
Tracy stood there in shock for a moment. She couldn't believe this was
happening, and she couldn't even begin to think of a way out of it. She
opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it. She turned,
walked to the table in the middle of the interrogation room and sat down.
She closed her eyes and took one long breath after another.
"Tracy?" Becka asked, taking a hesitant step towards her, "Are-are you
okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Tracy answered, looking at the teen with a shaky
smile. "So... they want to meet me do they? Well, I'm sure we'll be
able to come up with something..."
"Uh, I maybe already did," Becka set her small backpack on the table
next to Tracy and pulled out an old book, "This is a copy of the Abarat,
apparently a really important vamp-type book." The teen explained.
Tracy accepted the book and started flipping through the pages, reading
a few passages, "It's a little odd." She commented, "The sentences don't
quite work..."
"It a bad translation," Becka grimaced, "The original is in Sandscript
apparently, but this weird Creole soundin' one was what the shop had."
"Hmm," Tracy started reading a passage about a cure for vampirism, but
since it involved sunlight, wood and holy objects she decided the 'cure'
was probably actually a list of ways to destroy a vampire. Not very
useful to them. "Interesting, but how is this going to help us with our
current dilemma?"
"Well," The teen flipped through the pages and pointed to a bad wood
block print, "See that?"
Tracy peered at the picture, from the stylized moon in the sky, Tracy
decided it was probably night. On one side of the image there was a
group of black clad goons with fangs, obviously vampires. On the other
was a rather happy looking character drawn with his heel behind his head,
his eyebrows arched and a funny, almost mocking look on his crudely drawn
face, and though he lacked the fangs of the vampires, there was something
odd about him. "Looks like a weird yoga position... is that a monkey?"
"Um, maybe," Becka squinted at the images, "But what I meant was the cup
there."
"Oh yeah," Tracy nodded, spotting the blue cup the monkey-type thing was
clutching, "Looks like leaves of some kind drawn on the side."
"Exactly!" Becka smiled in triumph.
"Care to share with the class Becka?" The corner of Tracy's mouth
quirked up.
"Oh, right," Becka smiled sheepishly, "Well, the book is full of folk
tales mostly. I skimmed a lot, but one tells of these people who
followed big time harmony of nature stuff. They practiced major
self-restraint, breath, muscle, even heart beat control was taught almost
like a sport, anyway, these guys," Becka pointed at the picture of the
vampires, "Showed up and these folks were able convince them that the
whole village was already vampires so the baddies left them alone."
Tracy blinked, "You want me to fool these vampires into thinking -I'm- a
vampire? Are you nuts? Even if it were possible, I haven't had that
kind of training! I can't slow my heart beat or 'make skin cold to
touch.'" She read from the text in her hand.
"But you don't need to know how!" Becka explained, "The whole town
couldn't do that stuff, especially the old and real young, that's what
they used the tea for!"
"Tea?"
"Yeah, this special tea made from secret herbs," Becka beamed, "They'll
make you seem like an ancient vampire to them, and it only lasts one
night!"
Tracy was fascinated by what Becka was telling her, but then shook her
head, "Yeah, but 'secret herbs'? Come on Beck, where are we going to get
that kind of stuff, or even find out which herbs to use?
"Chinatown!" Becka pulled a baggie from her pocket, "I stopped by
Ling-Su's on the way over, best herbalist in town!"
Tracy took the bag and opened it, examining and sniffing the contents.
The herbs were varied, some deep purple leaves, others were brown and
lumpy, a few red twigs; over all they looked like potpourri and smelled
like the cedar balls she kept in her sock drawer. She gave Becka a
skeptical look, "Ling-Su? Where'd you meet him? And what makes you
think he's so reliable?"
"Uncle Murray swore by his ginseng tea," Becka told her with authority,
"Plus when I showed him the list," She pointed towards barely legible
words Tracy had failed to notice set along the base of the picture, "He
knew right away what to do."
Tracy blinked, "I guess hiding from vampires is a cross-cultural goal."
Becka nodded, "He said the herbs are used in an ancient brew to scare
away demons, but that people rarely used it anymore and..." She trailed
off and looked at the floor.
"What?" Tracy asked suspiciously.
"They, um, never drink it, they...uh," If Becka could have blushed, she
would have, "Use it in an enema."
Tracy gasped, then began to giggle, "They what?"
"But you have to brew it and drink it," Becka looked up at her, shifting
uncomfortably from one foot to another, "I think it'll work."
Tracy eyed the baggie skeptically, "I'll probably get warts or
something." She grumbled, but gathered the book, bag and Becka and headed
towards the door. "Come on, I'll book off and we can go read up on this
some more."
Becka grinned, wiping the last remnants of her tears away. Everything
was going to work out, Tracy would see to that.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Later that night, Tracy was pulling into the bookstore's parking lot,
feeling decidedly woozy. She and Becka had brewed the tea, Tracy had
drank it, and they had headed immediately over to the bookstore. Whether
it was just in her head or what, Tracy was definitely beginning to feel
some effects. As soon as the car was in park, Tracy rested her head on
the steering wheel and shut her eyes against the slow pounding headache
that was starting just behind her eyes.
"Tracy? You okay?" Becka asked worriedly, putting her small hand on
her friend's shoulder.
"Just peachy," Tracy said, though since her forehead was still pressed
against the molded plastic of her steering wheel, her words lacked some
credibility.
"It's workin' ya know," The teen told her, "I can feel it."
"Really?" Tracy raised her head and looked into Becka's tense face,
"All I feel is nauseous." Tracy added with a sigh, popping her door and
climbing out.
Becka quickly followed her across the lot and to the small shop's front
door. She guessed she shouldn't have been that surprised to see another
vampire at Renfield Books, after all, it -was- one of the only all night
book stores in Toronto. She frowned slightly, realizing that this was
all her fault, "You sure you want to go through with this Tracy? I mean,
you don't have to... what are they going to do to me anyway, right?" She
shot Tracy a shaky smile.
Tracy paused with her hand on the door, in her time as a cop she'd seen
a lot of horrible things. She knew first hand the appalling things one
person could do to another and she didn't even want to -think- about what
a race of killers could come up with. She tried to smile at Becka,
hoping the teen would see the fear in her eyes, fear for herself and for
her friend, "Nah, I'll do it. Piece of cake, it'll be fun."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Feedback appreciated at anteros@juno.com
*Disclaimers in part one.
Bigger Than Life and Twice as Mean! (7/7)
By: Cousin Mary (Jenkins)
Taking a deep breath, Tracy yanked open the door and strode inside,
Becka following meekly (and hopefully fledgling-like) behind her. After
a quick visual survey of the premises they discovered that other than the
clerk, who's sunburned nose and cheeks proclaimed him 'mortal,' there was
no one else around.
"Great," Tracy grumbled, "I get all drugged up on enema tea for
nothing."
"What do we do now?" Becka asked worriedly.
"We wait," Tracy shrugged, and gave the teen a carefree smile, "Maybe
they'll come back."
"'Kay," Becka smiled back and trotted off towards the magazine rack at
the other end of the store.
Tracy glanced at her watch, "Give it an hour." She mumbled. After all,
they might as well wait to see if the vamps showed, it wasn't like she
was in any condition to drive right now anyway. Her stomach was doing
cartwheels and everything seemed to be a bit darker than it probably
really was inside the quiet shop. Tracy wandered back to the crime drama
section to see if the new John Grisham novel was in yet.
As it turned out, they didn't have a long wait. With a suddenness that
made Tracy wonder if the clerk had them on speed dial, two scary looking
vampires marched into the store, and straight to the cubbyhole Tracy was
curled up reading in. And Tracy -knew- they were vampires. Sure she'd
always had a sixth sense about that kind of thing before, Lord knows
she'd scared Vachon more than once by picking vamps out of a crowd, but
this time it was different, this wasn't the faint 'feeling' she usually
got in the pit of her stomach when she suspected someone of being living
impaired, no, this was straight and pure recognition, she could just look
at them and -knew- it, almost like she could tell an apple from an
aardvark just by looking.
Tracy drew a sharp breath when she saw them barreling down on her, out
of the corner of her eye she could see Becka dropping her Teen Life
magazine and taking a quick step behind the rack. These guys scared her.
Hell, they scared Tracy too. But she was going to handle this, she had
too. Squaring her shoulders, Tracy glared at the approaching vampires...
who, surprisingly, stopped dead in their tracks. Keeping her own
surprise hidden, Tracy watched through narrowed eyes as the two male
vampires looked nervously at one another and seemed to hesitate.
Instantly Tracy realized that they couldn't tell she was mortal, and
judging from how cowed they seemed in her presence, not only did she
'feel' like a vampire to them, she must have felt like an old and
powerful one!
On that assumption, Tracy decided to turn this to her advantage.
Throwing her legs over the arm of her chair, she set down her book and
with an air of bored annoyance asked, "Can I help you?"
Both vampires seemed taken aback, one audibly swallowed. "Uh... welcome
to Toronto, uh, ma'am."
Tracy yawned hugely, "I'm hardly new to this town, just because I
haven't made myself a party to its petty hierarchy does not mean I have
not been present." She gave them a lofty look, sinking deeply into the
overstuffed armchair as she stretched her long legs in almost a cat
stretch. "I've heard from my Becka that you were looking for me," Her
eyes narrowed dangerously, "Why on Earth would you do that?"
By now the vampires were completely submissive, if they'd had tails,
they would have been between their legs. "Uh..., we meant no harm
milady, we, uh-"
Tracy settled herself comfortably, as if the two vampires were of
absolutely no matter what-so-ever to her. Since a small child her
parents had taken her to meet one great dame of the Toronto elite after
another, she knew all too well the attitude of a prima donna. As her
parents had climbed the societal ladder themselves, going from police
officer and wife, to lawyer and social butterfly and finally to prominent
politician and jaded socialite, Tracy had learned a thing or two about
the better-than-thou attitude of the rich and powerful, and she put that
knowledge to good use now. Crossing her legs she lounged, her posture
showing she held her audience in utter disrespect, while her eyes held
the promise of retribution if they dared bother her further. "Well, now
you have met me." She said loftily. Tracy stiffened imperceptibly as
she sensed yet another vampire enter the building, the last thing she
needed, she felt her stomach roll. She had to hurry this up, she turned
her eyes again on the males before her, "Is there something else you
wanted?" Her tone telling them that there had better not be.
"No!" One vamp yelped, while the other edged backwards. "We, uh, will
just be going now. Sorry to bother you ma'am."
"Very well then." Tracy waved her hand at them, signaling that they
could leave, "Oh, and boys?"
The vamps were practically trembling with fear now, they looked at
Tracy's impassive face expectantly, wanting nothing more than to get the
hell out of there.
"There -is- a reason I'm not well known in this town," Tracy's eyes told
them that they were clearly not worthy of an explanation, "And I would
like to keep it that way." Her eyes narrowed in a thinly veiled threat.
"Of-of course, mistress, uh ma'am," The vampires nodded and practically
tripped over each other in their hurry to leave her presence.
As soon as the two vamps had scurried out of the store, Becka ran
squealing to Tracy's side. "You did it! You fooled them!"
Tracy gave her a shaky smile, "I sure did." Then she remembered feeling
another vampire enter the store and went pale. Her head snapped up and
she looked around, there in the corner stood Urs, looking on with a
mixture of confusion and alarm. "Oh god." Tracy's stomach decided to
stop rolling and just contract into a tight point. She leapt out the
chair and rushed down the hall marked 'rest rooms.'
Several minutes later, those 'secret herbs' well on their way towards
joining the sea, Tracy emerged from the ladies' room only to find Urs and
Becka sitting in an uncomfortable silence, apparently waiting for her.
Tracy gave Urs a questioning look, she hardly knew the blonde vampiress,
but was sure the former dance hall girl had to know she was mortal. What
was she going to do? "Uh, hi Urs." She gave the blonde a friendly, but
anxious smile.
"Tracy?" Urs looked from her master's girlfriend to the nervous
fledgling openly gapping at her, then back at Tracy, "What the -hell- is
going on here?"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Hours later, Urs and Tracy sat on the couch in Tracy's apartment, each
with a coffee mug in hand (though the contents of those cups were a tad
different.)
"That's, gee, that's something," Urs shook her head in disbelief when
Tracy finished up her story. Becka had fallen asleep over an hour ago,
worn out from all the excitement as well as the rising sun. Tracy and
Urs had carried her to bed and tucked her in before going back to their
conversation in the living room.
"Yeah," Tracy nodded, "I didn't know what else to do but take her in
myself. I couldn't get a hold of Vachon and it's not like my little black
book of the undead is particularly full." Tracy smiled wryly.
"You should have called me," Urs said, surprising herself as well as
Tracy.
"Uh, maybe I should have," Tracy agreed, ignoring the fact that she
didn't know Urs's last name, much less her phone number. "I suppose I
could have left her at the Raven too, but..." She looked back at the
closed bedroom door.
"But then you would have had to give her up," Urs patted Tracy's hand
and looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "Not to mention they would
probably just screw her up," Urs added wistfully, "She seems like a sweet
kid, you're doing a good job with her."
"Thanks," Tracy smiled her appreciation at her words, "But I don't know
if I can do enough for her ya know? I mean, it's not like I can help her
learn to fly, or whammy someone or..." She trailed off lamely, looking
anywhere but at Urs as she added, "Or fight her hunger."
Urs sat up a little straighter, a thoughtful look on her face. Killing
had always been an extremely sore point with her. Vachon had always
brushed her concerns aside, saying 'we kill to live,' but Urs herself had
never been so sure. One of the reasons she admired Nick so much was his
refusal to kill, and she herself had avoided taking a life since the
advent of bottled blood-wine. "Uh... maybe I can help?" She looked at
Tracy with pleading, unsure eyes, "Teach Becka, and you know, help you?"
Tracy's eyes snapped back to Urs, and for the first time actually -saw-
her. She saw that killing was wrong in Urs's eyes too, and she also saw
the vampiress's need to be there for someone. 'Responsibility might be a
good thing for Urs,' Tracy thought suddenly. Silently she went through
everything she knew about the vampiress from both Vachon and Screed,
which all together wasn't that much, but she'd also spent the last five
hours with her, and knew somehow that Urs wasn't just offering her
assistance in taking care of Becka, but also her friendship. Tracy
smiled then, "You know Urs? I think this is the beginning of a beautiful
friendship." She held her hand out for Urs, who immediately took and
shook it.
"Yeah," Urs smiled timidly back, "I think so too."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Well that's it, hope everyone liked it!
Feedback is truly appreciated at anteros@juno.com
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