Young Writers Society

Emily unwrapped one of the candy bars as she walked, trying to calm her nerves with the sweet taste of chocolate. Instead, she was only reminded of her hunger. She frowned and took another bite. The sooner she was back in Nerdifae with the entire inn's supply of blood to satisfy that awful feeling stirring up her insides the better.

She scanned her surroundings. It was just a normal mall. A normal mall with some kind of magic rift, or portal or something that had dragged her into this mess with these other two unwitting adventurers.

She glanced back at the others. Maybe she was being a little harsh. She hadn't exactly been all that forceful in her warnings to Lunis earlier, and all Nubes had done was what she wanted to do, had done, really. He made some threats, she made some threats, and Lunis was just a curious moron. It wasn't so many centuries ago that she would have been the same way. Heck, the reason she'd been turned was because she was being a curious moron. Whether that fact was a reason to have sympathy or get even more angry was something she would have to consider later.

For now, Nubes, at least, deserved an apology, and she was thousands of years old, she might as well act like it for once.

She fell into step beside Nubes, "Sorry," she said gently, "It was hypocritical of me to yell at you for making threats, you didn't deserve that."

Nubes pinched the bridge of his nose. "No," he said. "That might be our usual banter, but I admit I am rather angry at him. Perhaps more than I ought to be. It's just, frustrating to see the panther who had managed to evade me twice - back when I had been working in my old job, of course - stuck inside of a machine because he wanted some food. It makes me doubt my competence."

She nodded empathetically, "It's one of those things most people just can't wrap their minds around. People are complicated and, no matter how smart they are, really, really dumb. Myself included. At the end of the day, it's just impulses and instincts behind everything, and, depending on what their best at, people are going to react and perform differently when each instinct takes over."

She took another bite of her candy bar, trying not to think about the instinct that threatened to take over right now. She knew very well by now how she would react to that instinct, and how well she would perform. These two wouldn't stand a chance if she snapped. Thousands of years of practice ensured that.

She shivered and drowned her hunger with the taste of sweets.

"And he's nothing but impulses," Nubes said, shaking his head.

He paused, noticing how Emily shivered. "This whole blood business isn't bothering you, is it?" he said. Nubes knew the answer was bound to be a yes, but it was (hopefully) polite to ask.

"I'm hungry," she said simply, "I...might be fine." She finished off the candy bar and took one of the others out, beginning to unwrap it as she continued, "In case I'm not, though, just make sure I don't bite you. I can't go in sunlight either, so if worst comes to worst and the sun is out...just, use that information how you will. It'll burn me really bad, so if you could not let me die if that scenario comes to pass that would be greatly appreciated."

"I would rather it not have to come to that," Nubes said slowly. "I have acutely no idea when the sun rises, I have no clue just how strong you are, and I would like a plan that does not involve a great chance of death for you or me."

She shrugged, "I don't know. I might not snap at all if we get out of here quick enough; I just really need to feed soon. It's better that you're warned and you know how to subdue me than that you're not. A wooden stake to the heart will work as well. It's lethal, but comparing your life to mine is like comparing a newborn to an old woman. If one or the other is to survive, any sane person is going to choose the newborn."

She chewed her chocolate slowly, thinking of any alternative she could come up with, "Maybe there's a blood bank nearby I could break into or something. I just... if I snap, which will be sooner than later, I want you prepared."

"Could we even find a blood bank here?" Nubes said, having no idea what a blood bank could possibly look like. "I admire your nonchalance about your death, but, again, I would like to make sure that you don't die."

"I would like that as well," she said, trying not to listen to his pulse, "And I don't think we'll find a blood bank here. Just throwing out ideas. There are ways to non-lethally subdue a blood wild vamp, but I'll die anyway if I don't get blood. Slowly, but still. I've had friends go out like that, it's not pretty."

She snapped off a bit of chocolate with her fang and sucked on it, still thinking. She had roughly the strength of your average thirteen year old usually. Super strength wasn't her perk. Either of the others could restrain her easily, but keeping her from biting one of them would be nearly impossible. Once a vamp had their fangs in someone, there was nearly no hope of detaching them until they'd drained the victim or turned them. Emily was likely to do the former.

"Anyway, lets change the subject," she said. Thinking about blood wasn't helping. "Do you have circuses where you're from?"

"Ah, yes," Nubes said, a little happy to be talking about something that wasn't blood. "On occasion I would see one of the troupes traveling through my base of operations. They always put on an entertaining show - singing, dancing, plays, exhibits, so on. A good way to pass an afternoon."

She smirked, "I used to run one. No one knew it was me, of course, my body is thirteen after all. But yeah, I was an acrobat for most of it, then the old owner..." she shook her head, "Nevermind him, I took over and we became super popular. Then I had to swap identities again, so it hanged ownership and shut down, but it was fun while it lasted."

Nubes nodded. "I have a friend who was one of the exhibits," he said. "Not the most dignified job he ever had, but it paid, and he's fond of it. Being around competent and talented people must have been nice, both for him and you."

His pulse was getting louder.

"Competent might be either an understatement or a gross overstatement depending on who you're referring to," she said, the fondness of one reliving a joyous memory in her voice.

"I'm sure he would call it an overstatement when it came to his job," Nubes said with a smile. "He had to pretend to be big, strong, and non-sentient - not exactly a huge challenge for someone who can look the part."

"All I had to do was defy gravity," she laughed, "And sometimes I worked without a net. Made it more exciting for the audience, no need for them to know that a fall, no matter how high, isn't going to hurt me. Won't even bruise. I'm a freaking corpse." She took another bite of her chocolate, "I mean, people will do anything to see something 'unusual'. It's kinda sad, really, considering how much people actually miss on the day-to-day. I mean, I once snapped in broad daylight, middle of this really busy bus stop somewhere on the east coast United States and no one so much as batted an eye in the minutes between my first outburst to my friend at the time dragging me into a phone booth. I mean, I was all black veins and red eyes and no one noticed a thing, but if I was like that at the circus people would have gawked all day and taken pictures and the like."