Avery Adlam (averyisgone) wrote in low_tide, @ 2009-12-08 14:06:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | avery adlam, corbett renfroe |
Light of Day
Avery had been on the campus of Florida Keys Community College. He had forgotten why. Maybe it had been to feed. But the vampire had suddenly been struck with something. It hadn't been physical, at least, he didn't think so. The dark was suddenly upon him on all sides. Confused, he had begun walking ... and walked directly into a concrete pillar.
He had had to sit down, close his eyes. It was like being heavily intoxicated. Time slipped by without his realizing, and when his eyelids began to burn red, Avery realized with a sharp bolt of fear that it was now day. The vampire was directly in a bright ray of sunlight, and ... he wasn't burning. There wasn't even pain. Slowly, he opened his eyes and stood.
"No way."
Corbett was used to doing his research and lesson-planning in the comfort of a quiet office or a dimly-lit library, but December was so nice in Key West that he found himself sitting outside. A laptop sat to his left, a stack of history texts to his right as the Watcher jotted notes into a yellow legal pad. Such warm temperatures this late in the year took some getting used to, but Corbett certainly wasn't going to complain.
In all actuality, only the first book on the stack was a history book; the three below it were Corbett's personal resources. Though he had few leads when it came to what made the supernatural tick at Key West, the Watcher had a few personal ideas, and he figured he could use his time researching that while most of the students were in class -- and not wandering the campus.
Then again, as nice as it was today, there was almost always someone walking around.
Avery took a tentative step, further into the sunlight. He looked up at the blue sky. Was he dreaming? Hallucinating? Part of him refused to believe this was reality. How could it be? He had spent over forty years in the dark.
The sound of a pen scribbling on paper caught his attention. Not far away, the vampire spotted someone. Their back was to him, and there was something familiar about the man. He just looked different in the daylight, was all. Avery approached him slowly, making his usually silent footsteps heard. He wanted the person to turn around first.
Setting down his pen, Corbett's fingers tapped on the keyboard to his laptop. Though he was still relatively new to such things as PowerPoint, he knew his students largely preferred their lectures presented in such a format. Thankfully, one of the other professors in the department had been quite generous with her time in helping the Watcher learn how to use the program.
Hopefully, the Watchers' Academy now included courses on computer literacy.
Though he didn't hear footsteps, Corbett sensed a presence behind him. Glad he hadn't yet delved into his non-academic studying, the Watcher turned to glance over his left shoulder, squinting through his sunglasses at the midday sun. The light obscured the figure behind him briefly, but Corbett soon recognized the young man.
"Oh, 'ello," he said.
"Hi." Avery looked back at Corbett with a puzzled frown. This seemed very real. "You're working outside," he noted, his eyes wandering over the laptop and the small stack of books. He took another few steps toward the professor. This was strange, but the vampire decided he would accept it -- for now -- and move on. He didn't want the other man thinking he was on drugs or something. After all, the last time they had met, Avery had been sitting on a bench late at night, staring out into nothing. Now he was looking and sounding dazed.
He cleared his throat, sounding more sure now. "Nice day today."
"Quite," Corbett agreed. "Much nicer than a stuffy academic office, I daresay."
Not that the Watcher minded small, quiet offices where the walls were practically coated with bookshelves. That image was pretty much the story of Corbett's life, but considering how he'd never really experienced spring-like temperatures in December before, he decided to step out of the halls of academia for a moment and let the sunlight shine down on his work.
"Something tells me my lecture's going to fall on deaf ears today," Corbett half-joked. "Everyone will be too busy staring at the bloody sun and the smattering of co-eds."
Avery took a seat next to Corbett, careful not to disrupt his work. "The perils of teaching in Florida, I suppose. I'm sure some will pay attention. There are actually some students who take things seriously."
A new fear suddenly occurred to Avery then. What if whatever was keeping him from going up in flames suddenly wore off? What if he spontaneously combusted, right in front of the history professor? He tried to shake this line of thinking out of his head.
The Watcher chuckled softly. "I suppose you're right," he conceded. "I'm just used to wearing five layers and wading knee-deep in snow come December. This ... takes some getting used to."
Noticing that the battery on his laptop was about to go, Corbett shut down the machine and flipped it closed. He'd finish the lecture slides once he was back in his office and had the computer plugged in again. He left the legal pad and books out, though, wanting to get a little more work in before grabbing lunch. Thankfully, the three non-history volumes h ad no labeling on the spines, which meant the young man wouldn't be able to just glance at them and see what was inside.
Because that would've been a strange conversation. Why yes, vampires DO exist. And so do werewolves and ghosts and other demons ... hell, for all we know, Frankenstein might exist.
Avery glanced at the books again, noticing the ones that were unlabeled. "Are these the texts you use to teach your class?" the vampire asked curiously, reaching out and picking one up. Before Corbett could stop him, he opened the book up near the middle, his eyes scanning over the page. As he did so, they widened considerably, and he didn't know whether to laugh or toss the book aside as if it were a living creature.
Slowly, he shut the book and looked back up at the professor. "I, um, I suppose they aren't. That's quite an interesting place to keep your private ... things. Usually people use their computers for that. Or so I've heard." Avery glanced at the closed laptop furtively.
Corbett frowned, wondering what Avery was talking about. It was bad enough the young man had grabbed one of the books before the Watcher could react and opened it, but to talk such nonsense afterwards? Corbett gave Avery a stern glare, grabbing the book in question and setting it on top of the legal pad and pulling open the text.
What he saw nearly left the Watcher speechless.
"Oh," he managed, staring blankly at a moving picture, similar to those newspapers he saw in the Harry Potter movies. Only the moving pictures weren't of vampires or slime demons or anything else he remembered seeing in this particular volume -- this time, the Watcher was staring at quite graphic displays of human sexuality ... including a few acts he'd never before seen.
The Watcher finally managed to close the book, his brow furrowed. Corbett could feel the heat in his cheeks, and he wasn't quite sure what to say. This was easily the weirdest thing he'd ever seen -- and this for a man who once studied the mating rituals ofQuellar demons.
"That's ... unusual ..."
Avery stared straight ahead. "I would say so." He dared a sidelong glance at Corbett. The man looked just as surprised as the vampire at what was contained within the book. "Maybe you should check the others. Maybe a student is playing some sort of prank on you?" That wouldn't really describe the moving pictures, though. "Or maybe ... it's a spell."
That could explain it. But it was odd, experiencing two completely bizarre events in one day. Maybe this was a dream. But how could his subconscious mind come up with things so ... explicit? He hadn't even known people could bend like that.
As suggested, Corbett grabbed the other two volumes, opening them to check for the same thing. Sure enough, they were also explicit; a book on werewolves suddenly became a never-ending Hustler photo shoot, while the other one was some combination of moving pictures and erotic fiction -- and the video embedded within the third volume was definitely not normal.
Suffice it to say, Corbett never thought a Fyarl demon's horns could be used that way.
Pushing all three books away from him, Corbett shook his head and removed his sunglasses. Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, the Watcher tried desperately to rid his mind of the images he'd just seen. One thing was for sure: he wasn't hungry anymore.
"Fucked-up spell," he muttered under his breath.
"At least you caught it now, before someone else did. Well, besides me, I mean. But don't worry; I won't tell anyone," Avery assured him. "I know weird, unexplainable things happen sometimes. Believe me. But that ... wow." The vampire shook his head, feeling sorry for Corbett.
"Maybe you should take the afternoon off? Tell the students you came down with a stomach bug. I'm sure they won't question it."
For a moment, the Watcher actually considered the suggestion. He could still feel the warmth in his cheeks, and he knew they were beet-red. Not that Corbett was a puritan or prudish by any stretch, but he would never knowingly bring such materials on campus -- especially since he'd owned these books for years and knew for a fact their contents were so drastically different.
Certainly not X-rated.
"I'll ... figure out something," he offered, placing his legal pad and pen in his shoulder bag before doing the same with all four volumes. He checked the history book before putting it in the bag; the textbook was still normal, at least.
"Your spell theory gave me a few ideas," he said idly, hoisting the bag over his shoulder and standing. He could feel his hands shaking, and the warmth in his face was not receding. Corbett wondered if he'd break into a nervous sweat next. "Erm ... right."
"Try not to get too ... disheartened by it," Avery told him. And then he tried to go at it from a different angle: humor. "And you know, some people would pay a lot of money for that. Maybe you can sell off the books." The vampire bit his lip, completely forgetting his previous conundrum. It wasn't schadenfreude, exactly, but he had to admit, it was slightly funny. Even if the pictures and things in the books were something he wouldn't have considered in about a thousand years.
Corbett laughed to himself, knowing he could never sell these volumes. They were too rare and priceless to really put on the market, and there was no telling how big the market for such content was. Sure, pornography was a multi-billion-dollar business, but what if the books went back to normal after sale? The new owners would be in for quite a surprise.
"Perhaps," he chuckled nervously, glancing over his shoulder. "I have to, umm ... you know, go now."
The Watcher swallowed the lump in his throat. "Right."
Avery gave him a small wave. "Okay. I guess I'll ... see you. Sometime." The vampire stood and straightened his button-down shirt idly, glancing again at the blazing, morning sun. "I should also get going. I hope you ... sort things out." He gave a slight nod.