Indi had been in the middle of trying to figure out why her code was still working even though she’d commented out the lines that were supposed to make it work, when she was jolted from her thoughts by a ring of the phone. She gave a start then rolled her eyes at her own jumpiness.
“Hello?” she answered, not bothering to check who it was, mind still half on her code.
Her older brother Sly spoke into the other end of the line. “Hey Indi, I need you do do me a favour.”
“Well hello to you too, nice to hear from you,” Indi replied in a light but sarcastic tone.
“Okay I know I haven’t stopped by in awhile but I’ve been busy.”
“Well I’ve been busy too you know.” Her mind wandered back to her most recent adventure. The one they were all still kind of in the middle of, given they’d come back with a child who may or may not be a zombie. The kid was living with two of Indi’s friends, Amanda and Sirius, for the time being. Indi and a few other people had been doing some part time work for a local aristocrat, a finder, or middleman as one might say. He’d find people with problems and then he paid her group a cut of the profits to fix them. Most of the time it had been small stuff, missing books, rogue zombies – the properly dead kind, one time a haunted town.
The last job though, that had been a little bigger. They been hired by what they’d thought was an illegal scientific agency that had had one of its experiments get loose in the labyrinth that was their underground facility. As it turns out while the monsters were real they weren’t experiments and they hadn’t been the most dangerous thing in that facility. The whole thing had been an elaborate plot to sacrifice the hires to bring lost family members back form the dead with an advanced necromancy ritual. Now the guy who had orchestrated it was nowhere to be found and they had his necromancied daughter who may or may not turn into a flesh eating zombie at any point.
Indi wondered what Sly would think of it. He was almost seven years older and he’d always been protective of his younger sister. Lately he seemed to be away a lot though, and he hadn’t even come to visit her new place yet.
“I know, I’m sorry,” Sly replied, and he did genuinely sound it.
“When are you going to come by and see my new place, it’s by the sea, it’s a got a great view, and lots of sun?”
She heard Sly give a soft chuckle at that. “Of course it does.”
Indi and Sly were both half vampire, half witch. The vampire came from their mother’s side. Typically vampires didn’t like the sun, mostly on account of the fact that it would cause 3rd degree burns if they didn’t take appropriate protective measures, namely a very powerful, and expensive sunscreen that had to be applied daily. But Indi had always loved the sun. Her brother had never quite understood but he loved his sister so he just accepted it as something that was important to her.
“Listen Indi, I will come visit but right now I’m in a bit of a bind. I need to you pick up some blood from the bank for me. It’s preordered, you just have to give my name and sign. I know you don’t like to...”
“Wait, what? You want me to go to the blood bank?”
Indi had been on animal blood since she was a young teenager and one of the kids at school had called her a monster for drinking the blood of people. Indi’s mother, being a full vampire, drank witch blood from the blood banks, as did Indi’s brother. Indi didn’t judge him for it, but nor did she like to be reminded of it. For the most part Sly had always been discreet with when and where he consumed his supply. To ask Indi to go to the bank for him was no small favor.
“I’m sorry Indi, I know you hate those places, but I’ve got no one else who can pick it up, I’m completely out of my supply and I won’t be back until after they close. You think just this once you could do this for me. I’ll owe you big time, and I’ll come see your new place soon I promise.”
Indi hesitated. She hated to not help her brother out but she also really didn’t like the blood banks. She’d never really been comfortable with the vampire half of herself.
“Can’t Sara get it for you?” Indi asked, referring to Sly’s wife.
Sly didn’t answer immediately which made Indi worry. “What?” she asked.
“That’s the other thing I’ve been meaning to tell you.” Sly said with a groan. “Sara can’t get it because she’s out of town but also...” Sly paused then continued with a sigh, “We’re getting a divorce.”
“What!” the news came as a shock to Indi who had always thought Sara and Sly made such a lovely couple.
“I... it’s a long story, I’ll tell you later, I’ll come visit I promise, but I uh, I need to focus on the road right now, don’t want to miss my turn off. Can you pick up the stuff.”
“Are you talking on the phone and driving?” Indi asked.
“I’ve got you on speaker,” Sly replied. “It was just supposed to be a short call anyway.”
Indi rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll pick up your stuff.”
“Great, thank you so much, that really helps me out. I promise I’ll visit as soon as I’m back. Err, just leave the stuff in the large fridge, you know where it is?”
“Yup.”
“Okay, and I am really sorry, I’ll make it up to you. Love you sis. Bye.”
“Bye.” Indi replied as Sly hung up.
She sat still and pondered for a moment, mostly just delaying the inevitable. Then she glanced at her watch and decided she should probably get going now if she was going to miss the rise in afternoon traffic on the way back.
The blood bank was a plain white building all the way across town but it only took Indi about 15 minutes to drive there. When she got there she immediately noticed something out of the ordinary was going on. The front entrance was surrounded by people. Some holding signs. Many were yelling or shouting things. It was enough to make Indi consider turning the car around right then and there. But Sly had said he didn’t have any blood in the house at the moment. Going cold turkey on one’s regular blood supply even for a day usually resulted in some nasty side effects, much akin to a drug addict going through withdrawal. The shakes and sweats and nausea could set in within a day. Sly would survive but it wouldn’t be pleasant. Going without so suddenly would also increase his desire to feed off other sources. Sly would never give into that temptation but still Indi knew he would hate to feel like that. She’d told him she would get his blood and so she would do what she had said.
She pulled up and stepped hesitantly out of the car. A few of the crowd eyed her suspiciously. As Indi approached the building their stares turned to fierce looks of anger. A ripple of movement went through the crowd as they all turned to look at her. Indi felt like she was standing beneath a giant wave about to swallow her whole. She hesitated. Just as she considered bolting back towards the car once more, the door of the building opened and a thin pale woman stepped out holding a large soft chilly bin.
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Vampires were characteristically thin and pale with violet or red eyes and long incisors, and this woman was such that even if she hadn’t been walking out of a blood bank she would have been easily recognisable as a vampire. Indi was only half vampire and had a penchant for baked goods along with an array of other unhealthy snacks so she was a few pounds on the heavier side of characteristically vampire sized, and while she did have the pale skin and violet eyes the latter was hidden behind a pair of dark rimmed glasses and her teeth were short enough that you wouldn’t notice unless you were specificaly looking for something different. It was probably why the crowd hadn’t immediately recognised her as what she was.
As the thin woman walked away from the building, surrounded by crowd on either side they yelled insults and slurs. One even threw something at her. Three policemen were doing their best to keep the crowd behind a string of flimsy tape, all that separated them from their quarry. But the woman’s appearance had been enough to draw the attention away from Indi and seeing her chance, without a thought for her return she dashed forward beneath the screaming crowd and slipped through the front entrance.
The inside was quite the contrast to the outside. The door must have been well sealed, for once inside, the sound of the crowd outside disappeared completely. The inside of the building was white and sterile, much the appearance of a doctor’s office, only nicer. To her right lay a waiting area with dark black velvety looking carpet, the only part of the room that wasn’t vinyl tiling. There were no windows anywhere. In front of her a long hallway stretched back into the depths of the building. Just off to the right and in front of the waiting area was a reception desk manned by a young woman with dark hair messily piled on top of her head with an assortment of bobby pins. The woman looked up and Indi noticed a nose ring and violet eyes. She was younger looking than Indi had first thought.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
Indi stepped up to the counter. “I’m here to pick up some blood for my brother.”
The woman frowned and looked down at her computer screen. “What’s the name?”
“Sylvester Owens.” Indi placed both her hands on the counter, which was about chest height, and leaned forwards curious. It was her first time here. She’d been in to the blood bank a few times as a child with her mother but not in a very long time and never in this one.
“And your name?” the receptionist asked.
“Indigo Adams.”
The woman nodded and tapped away at the keys. “Do you have some ID on you and your chilly bag?”
Indi handed over her Potions and Poisons license. “I err... don’t have a bag.”
The woman studied her license then handed it back. “That’s fine, we’ll put in a few ice packs, just make sure you chill straight away when you get home. Take a seat, I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”
Indi took a seat in the waiting room on one of the armless grey couches. Across from her sat a thin blond man, older than herself. He glanced up as she sat down and then returned to reading one of the waiting room magazines. Indi flicked through a nearby pile until she found one with pretty pictures of remote locations. This one seemed to be a feature on waterfalls around the globe. She flicked a few pages in and marvelled at an image of a tiny kayak hurtling down a giant white mass of foam almost ten times it’s size. She imagined paddling off that intentionally and it took her breath away. She wondered if her friend, Amanda, who liked to kayak occasionally, had ever gone down a waterfall that high. She considered ripping the page out and taking it to show her, she was sure they wouldn’t mind, but then nobody else would get to look at it. She flicked through to another page deciding that she could just describe it later.
It wasn’t long before they called out “order for Owens”. It had taken less time than she had expected after they’d told her to wait, faster even than the guy across from her who glanced up at her once more as she got up.
They handed her a cardboard box, taped shut with red bio-hazard tape. Once she’d signed the release form Indi thanked them, then turned toward the door, pausing as she remembered the crowd outside. She took a deep breath and opened the door to the noise.
Things had gotten worse since she’d gone inside. The crowd had gotten bigger and a few more cops had turned up as well. To her right one cop was physically trying to pin down one riley member of the crowd.
The shouting got louder as Indi moved away from the building. Her heart was hammering in her chest. They’d stay back surely.
Something hard hit her in the head. She winced and noticed a can that someone had thrown landing on the ground nearby. The next one Indi saw before it hit her.
She shielded, using her magic to create an invisible force field. That quietened the crowd. They weren’t expecting magic, not from a vampire. That skill came from Indi’s father’s side. But it only stopped them for a second. They saw the box she was carrying and to them it didn’t matter if she was or she wasn’t, she was still enabling someone to consume blood from conscious beings.
“Cannibal!” someone shouted at her.
“Leech!” yelled another.
More projectiles were thrown.
She heard a cop ask someone if they wanted to be arrested and another member of the crowd dared them to try.
As she started to break free of the cordoned off area she noticed movement behind her out of the corner of her eye. Someone coming toward her. She glanced back in time to see one of the cops tackle a man to the ground and then several people from the crowd pile on top of him.
Indi quickened her pace.
As she was fumbling for her keys someone else drove into the car park, saw the mass of people, turned around and attempted to pull out again. As they did a few of the mob threw themselves in front of the car blocking it’s way out. “Coward!” one of them yelled.
Whoever was driving, slammed their foot on the gas, driving through two people who weren’t fast enough to get out of the way. The crowd did not react well to this. Someone threw a different car, literally, probably a telekinetic. It crashed onto the road, narrowly missing the fleeing vehicle.
Indi hesitated at that. Her breath caught in her throat, afraid of what they might do if she tried to drive away. She stood paused, half out of the car, half in, box of blood on the passenger seat. The crowd was ignoring her for now, their forcus on the thrown car. But they wouldn’t be distracted for long. Some were already starting to move toward her.
Once again she had a stroke of luck as a police car came screaming up the road and crowd turned their fury on them.
Indi got in her car knowing it was now or never but all the while just waiting for the feeling of her car being thrown through the air.
As she pulled out of the lot someone or something hit her back window shattering it. Indi didn’t look back.
By the time she got to Sly’s house her hands still hadn’t stopped shaking. Knowing she had to get the blood into the cold she forced herself out of the car.
She used the key he’d given her years ago to enter, made her way downstairs to the underground floor, and unpacked the packets of blood into his large fridge.
Once she was done and back outside she took a look at her rear window. The entire thing was likely to need replacing. She thought about driving around to Cat’s garage now but worried that if she did she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from bursting into tears when Cat asked her what had happened. She decided she could leave it for later.
Once Indi got back in her car she still wasn’t feeling any better. The shakes had subsided but she still felt sick and jumpy. By the time she got home, maybe she’d feel better? Maybe calling a friend to meet her at home would help? If she was careful how she parked then Cat might not notice the broken window and she needn’t face a barrage of questions. And cookies, cookies could make anything better. She picked up her cell and dialed.
“What’s up?” Cat answered in her typical rough voice but one which was perky and lighter than usual.
“Hey, I was wondering if you’d want to come over and help make cookies?” Indi said, trying to keep her voice light
“I’m working Indi,” Cat replied, straight to the point which was classic Cat, and sounding slightly distracted.
“Yeah no worries,” Indi replied, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice. But if Cat noticed it she didn’t say anything.
Cat hung up without a goodbye. That wasn’t unusual for Cat though and she was probably just busy.
Indi tried Amanda next.
“I’m sorry Indi, I’ve got a few horses still to run, maybe later?” Amanda did sound apologetic.
“Yeah sure,” Indi replied making half an attempt not to sound disappointed this time.
But Amanda was more perceptive than Cat. “Everything alright?” she asked after a brief pause.
Indi gathered herself mentally and put as much positivity as she could muster into her reply. “Yeah I’m fine, just bored.”
Amanda was quiet for just long enough that Indi was afraid she hadn’t fooled her but then Amanda continued. “Well anyway, I was thinking we should call a meeting later tonight, I’ve got a few things I want to discuss with everyone and I’d prefer not to do it at Coal’s. Would your place be alright, say 7pm?”
“Yeah sure,” This time Indi knew she manged to sound happy.
“Great, I’ll see you later.” Amanda waited for Indi’s reply before she hung up.
Indi stared sadly at her phone. She was about to dial another number when the sky rumbled and a sudden thundering downpour had her wondering if she was under attack again. She glanced back at her broken back window with a wince and figured her next call would be better made from home, once she’d gotten the car under some form of cover. She turned the engine on and pulled out of her brother’s driveway.