Nightlings (lxngdon x EmyBear)

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lxngdon

space is a void and it's all in my head
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. Speed of Light
  2. Multiple posts per day
  3. 1-3 posts per day
  4. One post per day
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
  3. Prestige
  4. Douche
  5. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
  3. Primarily Prefer Male
  4. Primarily Prefer Female
Genres
Romance, Fantasy, Modern Fantasy, High School, Historical Fiction
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"SHUT THE FUCK UP, VICTORIA!"

Crunch.

The bus had once been a school bus, but since then, the Ainsleys had renovated it so it held beds, a bathroom and a small kitchen. Today, it was an ambulance. With a rather large dent in the wall.

Christian was standing, his fists clenched, absolutely livid. Victoria and James sat before him, on one of the few remaining bus seats, staring up at him with identical expressions of irritation. Jonathan was driving, Anastasia seated behind him on the other remaining bus seat.

Sara lay on the bottom bunk behind Christian, asleep. Things had gotten a little out of hand when they had been kissing a mere three hours previously. He had bitten her.

She had begun to transform.

"You shut up, Christian," hissed Victoria. "You've gotten us into this bullshit. I have every right to be mad at you."

Christian wanted to leap across the bus and rip his adoptive sister's throat out, but he knew that would be very unwise. Victoria was a ruthless killer who had spent over half of her life ripping vampires stronger than him into shreds. And, if, somehow, he managed to survive an attack from Victoria, he knew that James would slaughter him to avenge her. So he bit his tongue.

"What were you thinking?" Victoria continued, because she knew she would get away with it. "Were you thinking about her, or her family, or us? Or were you just thinking with your little head?"

James ran his hand up Victoria's arm in a soothing gesture. "Tori, I don't think he meant to bite her."

"Well, he did," snapped Victoria, shoving James off of her. "And now we're leaving our fabulous life in Los Angeles to go live in the middle of fucking nowhere because of it. Not to mention the fact that we left the body of some bludgeoned hooker in a dumpster with the fingerprints burned off and her face fucked to pretend it's her."

Christian growled. He had not wanted to hurt the woman, but she was already dead, and he needed to protect Sara. And his family.
 
Sara stirred after a time, a faint groan escaping her lips as she rolled to her back. What seemed like far off voices woke her.

Still, with eyes closed, she felt her body swaying a little, bouncing. The bed beneath her caught her off guard. She hadn't been here, she remembered kissing a boy. A handsome one. Not being in bed.

Panicked. She sat up quickly, smacking her head on the upper bunk in the process. "Dammit," she whined, gingerly touching the spot.

She looked at her fingers. No blood. But there'd be a bruise and a bump later she was sure of that. Kicking her feet off the bed, she got to her feet. And the first ones she saw were Victoria and James.

Her heart started pounding loudly, too loud she thought. Then daring a glance she saw two more towards the front of the bus, another male and female.

A quick look at her side and she saw him. Christian. The boy she had been with earlier. Her skin went cold as she inched back up again the bunk beds.

"Where the hell am I and who the duck are you?" She askee, her voice trembling as she tried to sound strong. "What do you want with me?"

It was all she could manage to get out before a bump in the road made her lose balance and she was on the floor, scrambling again to get to her feet.

She had been kidnapped. She was sure of that. But why? Her family wasn't important and she had nothing to offer. Thoughts started flooding her mind, and her heart raced, so loud in her ears she had to cover them, as if it would help any.
 
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Christian heard Sara's voice and his anger dissipated at once. He turned, making only slow, gentle movements so he didn't scare her any more than he already had. He held up his hands to show that he wasn't armed. "Sara," he said, slowly and carefully. "I'm going to come and sit on the end of the bed, so we can talk, okay? I'm not going to touch you."

He slowly sat on the end of the bed. "You're doing it wrong," Victoria taunted him. She would know. She had spent eighty years of her life training new vampires to fight in the war. God knows how many she had created herself. He knew she had created James.

"What do you suggest I do, then, Victoria?" he said irritably.


Victoria suddenly appeared right before the bunk bed; she had used her super speed to walk there. Probably just to scare Sara. Christian wanted to kill her. "Just tell her," she drawled in the voice of an annoyed parent explaining something to a toddler. Victoria sat cross-legged on the floor in front of them, her elbows balanced on her knees and her chin on her folded hands. Waiting.

Christian turned to Sara, and suddenly, everything spilled out of him. He and his entire family were vampires, he had been living for one-hundred-and-eighty-three years, that he had got caught up in their kissing and had bitten her, that she was now going through the first stage of being a vampire, that she would start to experience bloodlust when she saw blood and that she had heightened senses now. That James and he had to pose a dead body they had found to look like hers so her parents wouldn't follow them -- and so they could have closure. That they were going to Vermont so they could help her. And that he was so, so, incredibly sorry.

If Christian could shed tears, his face would have been covered in them. "I understand that you're probably furious at me right now," he said in a choked voice. "But ... there was no other way. You'll keep getting stronger until you want to be bitten again, then you'll be a full vampire. And for the first few months, you'll kill any human you see."

"Sara?" The new voice was that of Anastasia, easily the most calm of them right now. She was always calm. Sometimes it was quite creepy. She had come to sit beside Victoria on the floor. "My name is Ana. I'm very sorry that this happened to you. But all of us -- " she threw an authoritative look at Victoria -- "are here to help you."
 
Sara looked to Christian, a dull ache forming in her chest. She was with him last of what she could remember. Them kissing, the way he had made her feel...

She watched as he moved towards her, but kept the others within her peripheral vision. She nodded weakly, lowering her hands from her ears and pulling her legs up to her chest.

-You're doing it wrong- she heard from the other young looking woman, and her heart plummeted. "Wait, what? Doing what wrong?" Sara questioned, feeling as if her chest were about to explode every muscle in her screaming to run, even if they were in a moving vehicle.

But it was the sudden appearance of this Victoria woman that sent her scrambling away from them both, back pressed against the side of the bus. "What the hell..." she breathed, looking to Victoria with wide frightened eyes glancing to Christian then to the others, then slowly back to Christian.

As he spoke, she listened. Each word he spoke seemed more and more laughable. This had to be a sick joke, right? Surely Vampires weren't real, maybe her friends were playing some crazy elaborate prank.

When he finished though, the pained voice he spoke in twisted at her, making her want to puke. She gripped the sheets on the bed beneath her, already feeling cold and damp with sweat. She opened her mouth to sleak, then closed it, then opened again. But nothing came.

Then Anastasia's voice broke through. And she looked to the woman, tears finally springing to her eyes and rolling down her face. Shaking her head, she covered her mouth with one hand, tears turning into sobs.

"You should've just killed me then!" She yelled, her temper flaring up out of nowhere. "How could you do this?! My family, my brothers. Who's going to be there for them now? How is there going to be closure for me! They might move on in a few months, but what of me? Did that ever cross your mind?" Sara hissed, then doubled over, grabbing at her chest.

She lay back down, curled up in the bed, whimpering as the sobs faded. "Why..... why did you do this?"
 
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Christian didn't know what to say. He wanted Victoria to help him -- this was her area of expertise -- or at least James, but they were both watching Sara with blank expressions. Ana moved to sit beside Sara and stroked her hair in a soothing motion.

"Killing you would be the worst option, Sara," she explained. "You have the opportunity to live forever. I know that, right now, this is very hard for you to understand, and you're very upset, but soon enough you'll understand that this is best. For you, and for your family."

"We left a few thousand dollars in your house," James offered. Christian shot him a grateful look that he was helping; James nodded at his brother and returned to speaking to Sara. "Trust us when we say you're in good hands. Victoria and I spent years and years training new vampires. You'll be fine."

"And ... " Christian took a deep breath. This was hard to say. "You don't have to stay with us. You can leave forever when you're fully transformed. It's your choice."

"But we won't be responsible for the deaths of tens, possibly hundreds of people," said Ana. "That's why we have to train you."

"We've got twenty more minutes until we get there," Jonathan announced from the driver's seat.

"Sara," sighed Christian. "Please, let us help you."
 
She stared up at Ana, her bottom lip quivering as she tried to calm herself. She still didn't want to believe them. It was all too bizarre. Insane. Surely they'd pull over somewhere and laugh and joke about this, right?

But Ana strocking her hair was calming, it reminded her of her own mother when she was sick and couldn't sleep. A few more shaky breaths later, she pulled herself up into a sitting position, wiping the tears from her face.

"Thank you," she said, forcing a small smile to her face and looking to James. Money wasn't what her family needed, they'd want her there. But even the smallest gesture was good, because this was all a joke. She'd play along.

"Fine," she muttered sternly, glancing to Christian, then quickly away to the front of the bus where the other man was, remembering he was here, too. "Where are we?"
 
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Christian let out a deep sigh of relief when she accepted it. Victoria smirked. He ignored her.

He didn't know what would have happened if she had have argued any further. It was best that she just accepted what had happened. That way, Christian and his family could help her.

"We're going to a house we own in Vermont," Jonathan explained from the front of the bus. "We'll live there until you are strong enough to make the complete transformation. Then, it all depends on what you want to do, Sara. We'll have to enroll you all in high school again."

"Excuse me?" said Victoria, shocked. "I am not going back to fucking high school."

"Yes you are, Victoria. Sara has to finish school and you're the best trainer out of any of us, so you have to go with her to make sure she doesn't slip up." By 'slip up', Jonathan meant 'losing control', but no one said it aloud.

"I haven't been to high school since the seventies, when James and I got away from Alistair and tried to live like normal teenagers." Alistair had been the vampire warlord who had changed and trained Victoria into the killer she was now. "What makes you think I'm going to back to that hellhole to make sure Christian's girlfriend doesn't kill anyone?"

Christian glared at her. Victoria ignored him.

"You will do it because you're nice, you love your brother and you don't want anyone to get hurt," Anastasia explained in a smooth voice. "In fact, Sara will have to take your surname, if that's okay with her. That way, you two can pretend to be foster sisters and people won't ask questions. You look a bit alike. Sara, is that alright?"


Victoria had shifted her glare to Anastasia. She looked like she would rather walk across hot coals than agree to this plan.
 
Vermont. She had studied the place before her family moved here to the States, as was required by her father. He insisted that they all knew the different cultures around the world, how people lived, the history. To some, boring. But she enjoyed it, loved it. It was time with her family, and she loved reading to her brothers.

It felt like iron bars had clamped down around her chest, slowly squeezing at the mention of school. It was her last year, and she had been doing so well. It only fueled the anger she felt towards Christian even more now, and she couldn't help but shoot a look at him.

Then to Victoria. "I'm not his girlfriend," she said with almost disgust. How could she ever be? He took everything away from her...

But it was Ana'a collected calm voice that brought her back to reality. She couldn't start a fight. Even if they weren't vampires, which she still refused to believe, she didn't stand a chance. She wasn't a fighter, she hated it really.

"How long is it going to take before I need to be changed?" She prodded, somewhat curious, but mostly to get her mind off the growing hole where her heart would be. "Does it hurt?"
 
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It was Victoria who decided to answer. Christian watched her carefully, ready to throw her out of the bus if she said anything rude or that could upset Sara. He felt bad enough that this was happening to the innocent girl; the last thing he needed was for her to be any more distressed than she already was.

"There's no definite time it takes to transform," said the beautiful blonde vampire. "You just need to be bitten bad enough to kill you. Theoretically, I could lunge across the bus and rip your throat out with my teeth, and you'd heal and wake up a vampire." She grinned.

"Victoria -- "

"Shut the fuck up, Christian, I am speaking," said Victoria, holding a hand up to her brother before she continued. "But I won't do that, Sara, because I haven't killed anyone since the sixties and I do not plan to break that clean streak now. But, don't worry, the actual transformation doesn't hurt. Well the bite does, but -- "

Victoria paused and opened her mouth. Her gleaming, razor-sharp fangs were now visible, catching the dim light of the bus and sparkling in them. Christian stood and made his way to Victoria, ready to punch her in the face, but the blonde vampire vanished and re-appeared on James' lap. She smiled sarcastically at Christian as James wrapped his arms around her abdomen.

"Well, with these fangs, it's bound to hurt," she finished.

"But you don't need to go through the transformation now, dear," Ana assured Sara. "Soon, maybe in a few months, you'll start wanting it, though. You'll get stronger -- super speed, strength, heightened senses, faster thinking. And you'll simply want to be turned. It's just how it works."
 
She bit her bottom lip as Victoria spoke. Her hands went to her neck for a moment, then back to her sides, picking at a loose thread on her shirt. The more they talked, the more this seemed real now.

There was no hint of joking, a trace of laughter. They were all too serious, and while their words were far fetched, they started to pick at her brain.

She looked up as Christian went to Victoria, sensing the tension and hostility. She looked at James now, holding the blonde. It made her feel sicker, for some reason. Turning to Ana, the only motherly figure here and clung to her, sniffling.

"This is real... all of it." She started to tremble again, she could feel her emotions bubbling over. She had agreed to let them help, so there really was no backing out now. She looked up to Ana now, fighting back tears. She had to be strong.

Especially if she was going to live. She could tell she wasn't really wanted, especially from someone. She remembered her father's words, that those who conquer, conquer themselves. She'd have to get over her fears somehow. Even if it meant losing everything she loved. If it was for the best.
 
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Ana held onto Sara, stroking her hair again. "Shh, it's okay. Victoria's sorry for scaring you."

Christian shot Victoria a dirty look as the blonde was about to respond.

"We're here," Jonathan announced.

He stopped the bus in front of a huge, two-hundred-year-old mansion the Ainsleys owned in the middle of the woods. The house was three storeys tall and in remarkable shape for such an old building; they had renovated it a few years ago. The kitchen and bathrooms were glossy and modern while the bedrooms and other rooms still held their vintage charm.

Anastasia led Sara off the bus carefully as the other vampires used their super speed to bring in all of the suitcases and boxes from the storage compartment to the house. "Sara," said Ana softly. "I promise you, you will be okay. Victoria will come around. Everyone here is hell-bent on helping you."

"Where should I put her stuff, Ana?" James asked. He was holding two heavy suitcases, full of the clothes Ana and Christian had stolen from a department store for Sara.

"In the bedroom next to mine and Jonathan's," Ana answered. "We have a lot of clothes and things for you, Sara. You have a nice big room with your own bathroom, we've made sure that the house is modern and has everything you could possibly need. We want to make sure you're comfortable. If you need anything, let me know, okay?"

Jonathan came up beside Ana and put an arm around his wife's waist. "It's nice to meet you, Sara. My name is Jonathan."
 
She felt a little better knowing Ana seemed to like her. The others she still wasn't sure if. Except Victoria. It radiated off her.

But she shrugged it off for now as they stopped in front of the house. Stepping g off the bus she looked around. It was beautiful and serene. She couldn't help but feel maybe a smidgen better. But there was still the ache eating away at her.

She watched as they all moved around, feeling a little awkward as they carried in things for her. As the older man walked over, one she didn't know yet, she gave him a small smile. "It's nice meeting you, too. But why would you bother risking every thing for me?"
 
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Christian sat on the railing of the front porch as Sara asked why they were all risking so much for her. Christian's heart ached. He hated himself for what he had done.

"Well ... Christian's our son," Ana explained. "We're family. We'd risk anything for each other. And we'd do the same for you, because you're our responsibility now."

"No," said Christian, shaking his head. "She's my responsibility. I'm the one who bit her. I'm the one Victoria's going to decapitate when she has to go school again."

"And we're not going to leave you to take care of a new nightling without any help, Christian," Jonathan assured him. "That's too much responsibility to put on one person."

Christian wanted to cry. He wanted his mother to hold him while he sobbed and vented about how much he hated himself for what he had done to this poor, innocent girl. But he physically couldn't cry, and he needed to stay strong. How could he expect Sara to get through this while her creator, the one who had done this to her, was a wreck?

He jumped for the railing and joined the small group, careful to give Sara her space. "Thanks, Jon," he said softly. He turned to Sara. "I understand that you probably want to kill me right now for what I've done. But ... well, if anything happens to you, it'll be my fault, so I'll just get Victoria to kill me then. Can we possibly start over? Or, at least, put this behind us for now, so I can help you?"
 
Looking to Christian as he spoke about Victoria, she looked for the blonde girl. Sara herself wasn't at all too pleased at the idea either, but what choice did she have at this point.

She'd only had one friend, and now, she had no one. Sure they all seemed nice enough and welcoming, but it would never be the same.

"I'm sorry, this just is all so weird. So unreal. I don't know what to make of any of this," she said hoarsely, fighting back another onslaught of tears and sobs. "But, thank you, I guess. For all of this. You didn't need to do it."

While this mixture of emotions flooded her, she did feel grateful. No matter how odd, how weird all of this was. Watching as Christian neared then, she clenched her hands into fists.

Yes she wanted to hurt him. But it just wasn't her. She didn't want to see people in pain, nor be the case of it. As he spoke, she tilted her head to the side some, brushing the hair from her face.

"I wouldn't ask you to get yourself killed over me," she said, a bitter tone lacing her words. "And I don't know what you expect from me, but I think I can try my best to start over at the very least."

It was all she could do. She couldn't promise anything, but after all they had done. She needed to try. She didn't know their story, so she had no room to be too hateful.
 
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Christian smiled weakly. "Thank you, Sara," he said, is old Russian accent slipping slightly through his American one, as it did when he felt very emotional. He was glad she was going to give him a chance, but he wouldn't push her. "I'm going to go unpack," he told his adoptive parents, before speeding away to his new bedroom. A floor above Sara's, across from Victoria and James'.

"Sara, I'll help you sort out your bedroom," Ana offered as Jonathan left to park the bus. She lead Sara through the grand old house. It was dark; it was almost one in the morning. They reached Sara's new room.

"We got you some clothes, but we can get you more if you don't like these ones." Anastasia opened the suitcases to show Sara what they got. "Now, Sara, I know this can be very overwhelming, so we're going to try and help you as much as possible. Do you have any questions that can't wait till morning?"

~

Christian was fully unpacked in five minutes. He was laying on the bed that had no purpose for him, when Victoria and James walked into the room.

"Come to antagonise me further?" he asked them bitterly.

"No, Victoria has something to say," said James. He nudged his wife in the ribs and looked to her pointedly.

"Okay, I'm sorry for being such a bitch," said Victoria. "I don't like it, and I won't like it for a while, but I'll help. You'd fuck up without me, anyway."

"What a glorious apology."

"Take it. It's the most you're going to get out of me right now. I'm really mad at you."

"Same."
 
She sighed, watching as he turned to leave. How quickly he did so caught her by surprise. Was that how it was going to be for her, too?

Shaking her head, Sara followed Ana inside to her room. She was quite surprised how comfortable and homey the place felt. September guessed being vampires there'd be coffins and what not. But no.

Once in her new room, she felt that gnawing pain rear it's head again, and she had to sit on the bed as her legs nearly gave way underneath her.

"Oh, no. This is... this is nice," Sara said with a smile. "You didn't have to go through this trouble for me. So thank you." She wanted to hug the lady for being so kind under such circumstances, but she didn't know how that would go.

Upon Ana's last words, she reached out and took hold of her hand. "Well, I guess. How does this work? Do I still eat normal food until I'm changed, what are the rules. What's expected of me?" She listed off before clamping her mouth shut. "I just don't want to cause any more trouble and make things worse."
 
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"You eat normal food until you're changed, yes. Luckily, Christian's a magnificent cook. I haven't cooked in years." She laughed softly and squeezed Sara's hand, before slipping it out of her reach and beginning to unpack her clothes. "As you grow stronger you'll start wanting blood, but you don't have to drink any until you're ready. As for rules -- well, the only rule is to not share the secret. That's why we had to bring you out here."

Christian could hear Ana talking to Sara downstairs. He wanted to be down there, helping Ana, soothing Sara, getting Victoria off his back, but he stayed put. He figured the best thing was to give the girl her space until she was ready to speak to him again. It was a waiting game, and Christian had nothing but time.

James and Victoria left the room. He heard them walk to their own bedroom and start talking in hushed voices. Victoria was angry. Of course.

"You're not expected to do anything, Sara," Ana continued. "You're very new to all of this, so it would be brutally unfair of us to expect anything of you. We'll start training you how to control your senses and speed and such when you get stronger. Until then, I think it's best to get everyone in a new routine. We were serious when we said you'll probably have to take Victoria's last name to keep up appearances -- Sara Kismet. Is that okay?"
 
Sara sat in the bed, listening intently as Ana spoke. She watched her from the corner of her eye unpacking her clothes, and it took everything in her to stop the woman. But she knew if she tried to get up, she'd just end up on the floor anyways.

Finally, Ana mentioned once more having to have her name changed. And it tore her apart. Bile rose in her throat, and it took everything not to hurl. Grabbing at her torso, she could only nod for a moment.

"If I have to," she blubbered, before grabbing a pillow, hiding her face in it to quiet her cries and screams.

Physically she felt like she was being torn apart. She knew it was just for appearances, but having to strip herself of her last name that meant the world to her felt like a betrayal. Emotionally, she just wasn't sure. Angry. Disgusted. Scared. Alone.

"Please, leave me be," she managed to say in a shaky voice, peering up at Ana over the pillow. "But I'll do what I need to. To keep you safe."
 
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Ana looked at Sara in dismay. Christian, listening upstairs, wanted to run down and hold Sara until she stopped crying, but he knew that was not wise. He sat on his bed with his head between his hands, using every ounce of his will to not run downstairs.

"Okay, Sara," said Ana, stroking Sara's hair for a moment before turning to leave. "I'm just next door if you need anything, okay?"

She left, and in a moment, the entire family was sitting at the kitchen table. Christian used his arm as a pillow; James had his arm hooked around Victoria's shoulder; Ana and Jonathan sat at each end of the table, facing their kids.

"So what now?" asked James.

"We're enrolling the four of you into school tomorrow, and you can start on Monday," said Ana. "Once Sara starts getting stronger, we'll start training her and taking her hunting and stuff. Until then ... well ... we just have to make sure she's comfortable."

"When can we start hand-to-hand combat training?" Victoria asked enthusiastically.

"Victoria, I swear to God -- "

"Stop fighting," commanded Ana. "If we're going to help this girl, then we need to stick together. Fighting isn't going to get any of us anywhere."
 
Sara listened as Ana left. While she was glad for it, it made her feel even more alone. Clutching the pillow to her chest she slid from her bed and sat on the floor, legs sprawled out in front of her, head resting on the edge of the bed.

The tears ran silent down her face, and she stared into the darkness. What now? She could hear them all talking. Should she join? No, maybe.

A final whimper escaped her lips, and she tossed the tear soaked pillow back on the bed before pulling herself to her feet. -All of this over a damned boy- she thought, slamming a fist into the bed. "You're so stupid, Sara!" She cursed herself.

She wanted to scream, throw things, break down and curse all of them. But that wouldn't be right. No.. she was better. She knew better.

Their voices kept lingering in her head, and she wanted to do something, anything to keep from losing control. So, she turned and walked out of her room. Unsteady on her feet, she found her way to the kitchen where they all sat.

"Hey," Sara mustered, keeping her distance while looking to each of them stopping and pausing last on Christian, where she could only feel her chest tighten at the sight of him
 
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