I started to feel my skin prickle. It was almost time. That sickly feeling was only building, it felt like I was about to vomit. I was sore and had chills now. And what's worse, I was covered in vines unable to move or see anything. "Hmmph! Errmm hurmm mem!", "What's that?" I hear an older voice say. "Hemp Hee Hoe!", I grunted through the vines. "No, I'm not letting you go anytime soon. If you're truly 'one of the good ones', then you'll cooperate with our studies." she said dismissively as if she was focused on something else. I heard them drag out tables, they were likely setting up a little area around the tree to study me. It wasn't a fun feeling, being covered in vines. If they were going to treat me like a test subject at least do it humanely. I already spent an entire day in a box. I'm really beginning to miss my forge.
"Grandmother, surely we could allow him to see at least." Kendra said, though it was a kind gesture it sounded neutral. Like a person who wanted to let a spider outside rather than squash it. "The sun is rising anyways, they'd just boil in their sockets.", "Ew, very descriptive grandmother.", "Pays to be descriptive in our vocation,". They talked all the while I was hung up on the tree. Any minute now the sun would rise enough to burn me. I hoped the vines would be enough. It wouldn't be so bad if just my arm burns. I could heal from that without losing control probably. The idea of being trapped inside that feral state is terrifying. And then- I start to feel it. A burning sensation was quickly building my my forearm. "Awe!" I heard Kendra say. What? My burning flesh was cute? Psychopaths are stranger than I thought. "Where did you come from little fellow?" I heard her grandmother say. "Errm! umpher Humpher!" I shout through my vine mouth-gag. My arm burst into flames. I could still feel the sun through the vines too, it was like I was in a stove-hot iron maiden. It wasn't quite burning me but still very, very uncomfortable. And if I could tell as much apart from my emulated arm then it must be even worse than that.
"Oh shit!" Kendra shouted. I felt wind on the flames of my arm. "No girl, don't try to fan it out! It won't work and besides I need to see!" her grandmother shouts. I heard chirping too. Was that... Was that Phil? I didn't have time to think about it, my arm was sizzling to bone. In a final act of rebellion towards the pain and two women I willed a single finger from my clenched fist to stand erect. I've run out of empathy for these two, whatever reasons they kept me here I don't care. I'd kill them the second I'm let down. Burn me? Just for an experiment? Humanity would be better for their demise. I struggled and pulled on my vines- it was a superior effort to before as the vines groaned from the strain. But I remained trapped. Then suddenly- it stopped. I felt my arm extinguished as if a blanket was thrown over it. I couldn't see but whatever caused it, it was a welcome relief. "What the-" I hear Kendra said. "A spell... From who!? Search girl!" I hear the older women say. "I can't see anything! Wait, the darkness ends over here!" I felt a nibbling at the base of my feet. One of the vines were being chewed. "Stop that!" the older women shouts. I feel the nibbling creature pushed away. My arm was still in excruciating pain but at least it wasn't still burning.
"EEEK!" Kendra shouts, her grandmother grunts in frustration. "It took the guinea pig!" I heard her yell out. "Out here Nan!", "Let the damned thing have it, so long as if it leave us alone with our studies... Girl- no!", and I hear them shuffle away from the tree. "The thing is clearly a distraction, stop!" the old women shouted after her. My arm was aching badly, most of the flesh was likely gone. The rest of me felt mostly okay though. A hairline burn here and there from where the vines didn't quite cover. I struggled against the vines and the area Phil chewed snapped off causing an entire coil of vine to fall slack. It was only a few large vines growing up from the ground each looped multiple times around the tree. Cutting one at the base did a lot of good. But I was still immobile and held firm by the rest. Though I could now see through a small crack in the vines. It was all black. I couldn't see a thing still, oh the irony. The spell must've been something to block out the light- something as a vampire I noted. Despite everything that's happening, that was an important bit of information. It was so dark that even my nocturnal eyes couldn't see, but it blocked the sun which was worth it. If Ribs cast this I'll definitely as him to teach me. What seemed like a half hour passed. It was likely only five or ten minutes when I heard a familiar voice beside me.
"Found yourself in a bit of trouble have ya'?" I heard Ribs say. I felt him paw at the vines that held me to the tree, he likely couldn't see any better than I could. "But don't worry! Ol' Ribs here'll set ya right! I won't even ask for anything in return!" He said enthusiastically. I fully expected he would ask for something in return. I feel more vines snap as their bases are cut. "Just cut the bottom! Phils a smart fella'. Also- casting darkness like that gave me the perfect opportunity." he said. "Though I didn't expect snatching him would work. 'Operation kill Phil' completely depended on his womenizing skills. It makes things simpler. His charm spell is his best.", I feel myself fall to the ground. I immediately clutch my burned arm. Yep. I can feel bones. "Let's get out of 'ere!" Ribs said, disappearing from my side. A moment passed, then he reappeared. "Oh, that's right." He can teleport? That explains how he gets around so fast. But what was I going to do? Now that I wasn't wrapped up in the vines the sun would burn me instantly. I assume his spell only reached for so far, like my sound spells. I stick my hand out into the darkness and sure enough felt my finger tips burn. "Wait here, I found where you left my coffin." he disappeared again. Alone, the blackness was suffocating, after one final trek in the coffin I'm done with tight spaces where I can't see. They kept me safe, but I also needed a better way to be safe since it often meant being trapped and at the whim of those around me. It was a stressful position but still leagues better than burning alive I suppose.
After a moment longer I heard Kendra and her grandmother jog back up to the tree. "The spells effect should wear off soon, now that the caster is far away." she said. "Look at him... He's scared. The poor thing." Kendra said. "Stop fawning over that thing, the skeleton clearly wanted it for a reason. You should let it go or he'll come back and darkness is the least he'll cast.", "He could try. He'll try, Won't he?" she asked in baby talk. Psychopaths are perfectly fine with finding things cute it seems. I guess I jumped the gun a bit assuming psychopaths felt nothing. Maybe they were just egotistical with their feelings. Then what were those sick vampires? Just evil? Is it so simple? Why did I care about being a good person so much anyways, always thinking about what's good for the community and putting myself second. How's that any different than what Kendra was doing? Studying me for the good of all. Putting me second. Maybe that's messed up in it's own way. It just makes it easier to go through hard times when you can think about how it makes other people happy. I couldn't believe I was thinking about this in a time like this, but besides the aching of my arm, the impending doom of the spell ending any moment, it's all I found myself thinking about. Was I a good person to begin with?
I hear another gasp- "It's back!" Kendra said. "Hurry- cast your fire girl! I've exhausted my mana!", "I'll try but I didn't setup for it today I didn't think I'd-", "DO IT!!". I feel a coffin slap onto the ground next to me. All the treasure had been dumped out of it. "Hurry, get in." Ribs said, with a serious tone that's unlike him. I hop in, being buried alive is better than being burned alive I determined. *WOOSH* I hear something fly through the air. "Fuckin' 'ell the girl is flinging fire balls! Small ones... But still!" I feel the coffin quickly rustle into the standing postion then lifted. "Let's get in the wind- Listen to me! If you shoot at me, I. Will. Come. Back. Understand!?" he shouted as I felt the coffin jostle left and right to his run. I felt a blast hit the side of the coffin warming the corner at my feet. I heard another series of *wooshes* too. "I'll find you Jarrath, I swear I'll cure you!" I hear Kendra shout. "That girls a fuckin' psychopath" Ribs said. He had no idea. The driven look- it was terrifying. When she realized I was a threat to other people, that she no longer had to pretend to be a kind, that I was just a monster who deserved no sympathy, it was terrifying. Who knows what that girl is capable of. My stomach was turning, I've been feeling sickly ever since I woke up from that dream...
"Did we get away?" I asked. "Working on it, I figure the pretty one is past her running days and her little sister is no threat on her own. Besides those fireballs it seems, which aren't strong enough to really hurt either of us anyways." he said as we bounced through the forest. "This time make sure to look around for trolls, I'm starting to get pissed about things." and I meant it. It was one thing after another since before even I turned. I was tired of being kept restrained and beaten up repeatedly. "Don't worry- no ones luck can be that bad." Ribs said. *BLEH* Then I throw up into the coffin. "What the hell was tha- did you jus- Oh HELL no." I heard Ribs say. The clumpy red mess was sliding down the inside of the coffin lid. Faintly lit by the purplish glowing runes. "I didn't think vampires got sick..." I said groaning. "They don't, I have to get you to the others and figure this out. Damn it Jarrath, it's always something else with you!", "Fuck you! How about next time you see a guy pissing you just let him piss and not bring him into your bullshit!" I shout. I had it up to here with his antics. He didn't say anything else after that, only ran. He needed to realize that this entire situation was his fault, I wouldn't need to be rescued by him if I was not a vampire, traveling with my father. After awhile, I sighed loudly. "Where's Phil?" I asked. "Phil? That traitor is probably having the time of his life with those two, once he gets bored of them he'll come crawling back. He always does..." Ribs said."These people I'm bringing you to... I'll have to warn ya', they might not treat you like a buddy right away but they're good people alright? Just bear with it and things will work out eventually." he keeps saying that but I went from a cell, to a coffin, to being tied to a tree, it's all just one bullshit scenario after another and I was starting to feel like sitting in a cave for awhile would be the best move considering my luck. My stomach gurgles and churns.
---
He got away. That skeleton must've been a friend of his, Jarrath is so full of surprises. Was he a necromancer? Perhaps she could find him and woo him into being captured again. Kendra knew she emulated popular people so well. Effort was the main thing, making people feel important. Using her natural gifts, her looks, along with looks of surprise and interest in her expressions. It often got her what she wanted. She had the towns people wrapped around her finger and it seemed to work in Jarraths case especially. She was caught off guard at first, captured by a troll and saved by what she could only describe as a top tier warrior with magically increased strength. But she is a talented actor- she played the damsel in distress. Turns out, he was actually a vampire, an ancient race of predators who only feasted on humans. Their arch nemesis really... Kendras profession was defending humanity against their natural limitations. Vampirism seemed to overcome many of those limitations... It was fascinating to say the least. It could help her become the greatest healer to of ever lived.
To be the first- first to learn how to save people from disease and distance them from the consequences of living in a natural world. Death itself! Vampirism seemed like an evolution more than a disease. There was a lot of potential to be found in studying it. Perhaps they could remove the consequences while keeping all the benefits. If only Jarrath wanted to be studied. Maybe she could be infatuated with him. Perhaps that would keep him around long enough to learn what she needed to, she would look for him at the next town. She knew what people wanted, it was usually simple. Yes, she had a harder time feeling what was normal to most people. But she could understand it, and even fake it if it was beneficial. She could even feel it to a degree. It was all just so muted and far away for her even when she tried. There were wisps of it left, but whatever it was- was in short supply for Kendra.
She pet the guinea pig in her arms. At least she still found joy in simple pleasures like cute animals. It's why her grandmother kept the goats offspring. Not all people with her mental faculties were the same, she wished people understood. But it wasn't common knowledge. She still felt the urge to grab something and hold it close when it was cute. Some psychopaths felt things more than others, different things. She didn't like being labeled with the term psychopathy. It felt too little, too vague, it made people think she was a monster by default. That all she cared about was herself, that she was better than everyone. It was partly true, she was better than most people in most ways. While her condition did make it more likely she could be dangerous- she felt that she at least didn't deserve the harsh judgement. Jarrath was worried about changing into someone like her, he told her during their time since the cave. If only he knew that plenty of people who feel super duper sorry for others end up turning away and doing nothing anyways. No one understands that there's different ways to want the same things. For example, Jarrath liked that she could say what he wanted to hear, and she wanted to learn from Jarraths condition- it was a fair trade really. Kendra's grandmother was currently clutching a mana stone, a crudely cut emerald she stored her mana in before in case she needed it later.
When Kendra offered him blood it was one of the few genuine acts of kindness she's made. She actually felt sorry for him, as much as she could. She understood that fear, and what a waste of energy it was to have. Just be yourself, you don't owe the universe anything for your existence. Who cares if you feel personal connections deeply? It's overrated in Kendra's opinion. She's seen plenty of people be enamored by each other turn into the most spiteful enemies of each other within a year. Kendra's affections were colder, indisputably. But if she had decided to be your friend, it was a more firm in status, at least than those who are slaves to their fickle emotions and passing obsessions. Kendra chose her companions through different means. Means she thought were more effective. More genuine than chemicals and instincts manipulating her actions. Things like love and empathy were automatically more human- why? Because the majority of people say so? What if those things result in a net cost to humanity and not to their benefit? Happens often enough.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"Get over it, girl. The boy won't be coming back, I must say... Your fascination with him seems to go beyond the scientific. It's unlike you." her grandmother, Julia said. "You know I don't feel anything like that. But... He's afraid of being a monster. I can relate to that somewhat you know.", Julia only nodded in response. After Jarrath escaped with the skeleton they argued for awhile about what they could've done differently. That the guinea pig was obviously a distraction. But everything happened so fast and the situation was so unusual a person can hardly be at fault for making mistakes during such a time. So they each allowed each other a bit of good graces. Even the guinea pig, it was an unthinking creature so naturally it was blameless for being used as a ploy to distract them. Something about it was cuter beyond it's means, she couldn't put her finger on it... Kendra was worried the skeleton would eat it and reacted quickly to stop it. "What do we do now?" Kendra asked. Though she partly knew the answer. "We catch another."
---
We traveled all day, the vomit had become dried and crusted. My hands shook a little and I had a ringing headache. Things were progressing, it sucked that we had to move away from the healers. Maybe they could've helped me in between their experiments. Finally Ribs set down the coffin and opened it- the sun had set once again. Living sunset to sunrise is taking some getting used to. "You look like hammered shit.", Ribs said. I look up to the black skulled skeleton. "I need a healer.", he gives me his bony hand and lifts me from the coffin. The trees around had changed from redwoods to smaller trees like oaks and birches. There was a small creek- I could use that to clean my face off. I walk over. "Whoa whoa, can't do that Jeff.", "Call me Jarrath." I said as I knelt down at the creek. "Jarrath, do NOT. Splash that water on your face.". I look down at the refreshing water. Come to think of it, I remember Chlorus saying something about vampires not liking running water. I dip a finger into it and sure enough it was like touching silver- it was scalding. Not nearly as bad as the sunlight but it was uncomfortable to say the least. "H-how am I supposed to wash myself? I've been on the run a week- maybe more at this point, I smell like a corpse, what am I supp-", "Calm down, there's ways to make water more... Appeasing to vampires. Though there's not much they can do about rivers and such." he said dragging the coffin over to the river. He was rinsing off the vomit with leaves, it seemed like a difficult and tedious process. Water didn't seem to effect him none.
"If the water isn't pure it's fine. You just need something that spreads out. Like tea." he said moving towards different bushes. "Gods, what would you do without me? See this here? It's chamomile. It's good to add a herb like this to bath water." he plucks a long thin weed from the ground, it was lined with white flowers with bright yellow centers. "Chamomile grows everywhere, should be easy to find whenever you need it." he says. "Do I crush it up and just... Drop it in?" I ask. "No, you just put the flowers in and let them sit for awhile. Once the water changes color you know you've added enough." he said. We both looked at the small creek, it wouldn't work in this case I suppose. And I had none of my cups or supplies since he snatched me up in the catacombs. "So good to know, but I guess I'm stuck a dirty mess for awhile.", "Well, we could fill the coffin. If we let it dry well after it should be fine.". It sounded like a plan, but we didn't have time to make a coffin full of tea.
"No, we should keep moving. Being clean is nice, but I feel like I should see a healer as soon as possible... And uh... There's something I wanted to ask you about." I said, a little trepidatious about the next topic. "Yeah?" Ribs said packing some of the Chamomile into the coffin. A small mound of white flowers forming at the bottom. "Maybe I'm sick because I pissed off your... Lady, or whatever.", Ribs stopped for a brief moment- "Maybe." he said, then continued placing the flowers. "But I don't see how, you two haven't met yet." he said. Except that we likely had. It was more than just a fever dream, I didn't even know if vampires could dream as we don't even sleep. "When I was at the healers hut I was hurt- badly. And my neck got broke I think and I couldn't see for a long time.", Ribs only nodded along as I retold my vision. The horrible bits of battlefields, though I skipped the bit about my old village. "Then I saw this huge statue of a lady, and this women was there. She said her name was Penelope." at that his eyes flared. "Yes, that's my mistress! So that was your first communion' huh?" he said standing up from the coffin. He actually managed to collect quite a few flowers just from the area around us.
"Communion? Like a church?" I asked. "No, no, well kind of. For me it's different, when she calls to me I can hardly remember what is said. Seems like it was different for you. Maybe it's different for vampires and familiars." he said. So the visions were real, I really spoke to a person- the person who was somewhat responsible for my current state. "She can be easy to piss off, she's always had a short fuse as far as I could remember- and she can hold a mean grudge. Maybe since you refused her she's taking her power back... She can be very stingy with it and won't waste time with someone who isn't committed to her plans." I just let him talk for awhile after that, I didn't really have the energy anymore to talk myself. He went on to describing her fickle personality, how flippant and dangerous she could be to negotiate with. But once you spent enough time with her she would tolerate more. "So, I'm becoming human?" I asked. My voice was starting to become raspy. "I doubt it, I've never heard of a vampire becoming human again. But you might be reverting to a fledgling.."- So she didn't cure me, she turned me into this, and when I didn't do what she wanted she made me a weaker version of what she turned me into. Penelope is a bitch.
Ribs likely saw the look on my face and spoke again quickly- "She is a tinder box waiting to be set off, but what did you talk about? Did you mention family at all?", "Well, I don't know if she saw my visions before I met her, but she knew I lost family so she probably did... She talked about her family, how they were evil and how that kept her from making a country, or something." a realization passed over Ribs skull-face. He looked down for a moment. "Ah. Yeah, I can see how that would turn sour. Don't talk about family around her. Though, you likely had little choice since part of her whole pitch to you involved family, so I can't blame you too much for that.", "So I'm just weaker now? I'm not dying?", Ribs laughed at that. "No, you're not 'dying', but you'll be much easier to kill as a fledgling. Now that I know the gist of things, I can see it. Your eyes- they could pass for human. And your claws- they're smaller. You could conceal them in gloves. Eventually the symptoms will pass. And it'll speed up if we get some blood in ya'." he said. Well, that clears things up. If anything it's a good thing that I could pass for human, now I have no worries when we reach the town. I can take the pouch of coins I kept from the PK's corpse and the Trolls trove and buy some supplies.
"Can you find me a corpse or anything?" I asked, wanting to feel better as soon as possible. "What am I, your personal caretaker? I serve my mistress, and apparently you don't. Why should I help you now?" He answered my question with questions, he seemed a bit irritated. "Uhh... Sorry?" It's hard to admit, but his bit about the tea, explaining that I'm not dying, saving me from the crazy healers... He's useful. Though none of this would've happened if he let me flee with my group rather than starting this whole mess by kidnapping me. I'm worried I might be developing a bit of stockholme syndrome, but the benefits of his company are clear. "How about this, if you help me reach the next town and get setup, I'll think about this whole Penelope thing? Okay? It's just hard to sign onto something I don't know much about, and she offered some pretty lofty rewards that seem... Unrealistic." I said. Ribs only looked back at me with a very neutral expression. As far as his skull could capture the expression, his floating flaming orbs burning idly. "Riiiiight." he said. "In any case, I chose you Jarrath, so it falls back on me if you don't turn out well. So I'll invest a bit in ya', but you're a proper arse I'll tell you that. You learn fast, a lot has happened to you in such a short amount of time and you're still stalwart. So I'll give you a shot, as an apology for bringing you into this without your sign off. But after we get to the town, we're square on that? Right? I don't want to hear about that again." he said, after a rather long monologue.
"Sure." I said, in all fairness I'm still a bit sore about that, a lot of these things that's happened to me only happened because I was turned into a vampire and fell behind my group. I'll say whatever it takes to fix my current condition. If Ribs can get me to the next town maybe I could be an undertaker or something. An undertaker at night, a forgemaster during the day. Maybe I'll meet some of my friends there, not that I expect many survived that crazy night. Life could get somewhat back to normal. -I couldn't afford to think about all that yet. "Let's get going then." Ribs said, pulling the coffin onto his back. We started to march through the forest, it was easier than the redwoods. Flatter. Fewer massive roots sticking out of the ground to step over and the foliage was more spread out. I didn't know exactly how far the next town was, but Chlorus said it was a hundred miles give or take. The cemetery was a couple miles outside of town, and the witches hut was another couple miles from that, and Ribs likely traveled several miles at least during the previous day. So... We had, what? 90 miles left? 80? Greeeeat. Oh, there was one more thing I wanted to know. "This group that you're trying to take me to- Why would I want to meet someone YOU know?" I said.
---
A crescent moon sat in the sky, the mill turned very slowly in the gentle breeze. These large mills were used to grind wheat. The wind would turn the wheel, which would lift and press a stone against the grains repeatedly. Turning it to flour. A simple and elegant process. We found this small farm on our way to the next town, dozens of miles from Grema. Easy to spot across the plains by the towering mill. It was surrounded by fields of wheat and barley. I sat outside the barn twirling a stalk of wheat between my fingers, plucking at the grains that clung to it. The others were asleep, besides me and Chlorus. We typically only ever got a few hours of sleep each night since it all happened... The owner was a nice man. Though he's skeptical of these 'creatures'- thinks we're exaggerating what was actually a raiding force. 'Glowing red eyes, teeth like razors' I could understand that. He says the town over is called; 'Ceres', a town much like our own. They would gladly send a force to punish some raiders, after all if towns didn't stick together the country would fall apart. It was a trading town, a town of craftsman, like Grema. But while Grema was built around an educational institution focused on apothecary studies. This one seemed to be centered around a school for martial arts. A warriors school. Perhaps they'll fair better against the vampire menace than ours did...Gods, the terror, the death. It was all too familiar, it opened up old scars into fresh wounds.
Mary, I'm so sorry- I failed once again to protect our family. I may of failed in my final promise to you... Jarrath was a grown man, but that didn't mean I couldn't of looked out for him. How could he of disappeared? No- not yet, I refused to believe the gods could be so cruel. Jarrath was alive, I had to believe that. I saw no body yet and until I did I would fight.
The peace of this place betrays the severity of our situation. I toss the bit of wheat into the field. An army of monsters disguised as people was on it's way, as Chlorus assures us- to take the next town. We need to get there with plenty of time to spare, so hopefully- we can retake Grema. Save Jarrath and the others that still live. I still have no idea how we got separated in the catacombs, perhaps he left us behind to travel on his own. That was my optimistic view, but he's always been a moral arbiter, jumping to the defense of others. It wasn't like him. Perhaps he turned a few too many corners and got lost deep within. It was impossible to know for certain. He was quick, he was always like his mother that way. He didn't inherit my bulky slow body. There's no way one of those fiends would catch him easily, he had a way about him. I wouldn't call it 'fighting' but it was a good way of 'avoiding being hurt'. A clumsy grace where he always managed to stumble out of harms way. Once we were carrying an anvil off a cart- when suddenly it tumbled over and it was practically on top of him. But he still managed to worm out of the way. Even shifting his foot to the side at the last possible moment narrowly avoiding his toes being crushed.
No... He was alive. He was too stubborn to die. More resilient than I've ever been. Jarrath still had the energy to pop up every morning and get to work at the forge. Despite everything. He likely doesn't know it himself, but it keeps me going. If I was the sole survivor that night I may of allowed myself to fade into nothing. But my responsibility to Jarrath kept me sane. Sure, I may teach him the niche' technique regarding his forging... But his will, his fire to keep living... I'm glad to at least have Jarrath. I will not crumble and falter now, not when Jarrath can be alive, and could stay alive if I act. I felt more alive then ever, a fire was lit under me and I had to act. Just sitting here waiting for the others to rest was tormenting. The past few days have been so clear and vivid. Time moved so painfully slow. Even if the world sat between me and my son, I would not falter. If anything, I pity the vampires. They don't know that our family has already gone through. The world should've left us at peace, salvaging what was left of our lives. We had so little- and they wanted to take that too? Hell had no fury like we have now. I would never say it out loud, like many things, but I hoped my son understood all this. He likely did, it all went without saying. That I loved him, that I regretted how little I loved his brothers and sisters before they were gone. He had to know, didn't he? There are things that are difficult for men to say. But next time he saw him, I would make sure to tell him. Gods, if he's alive I swear I'll tell him.