Who: Eli and Pam. What: Vampire bonding! When: Thursday, August 1st. Where: Irvine Park, Eli's house. Rating: PG-13 for discussing vampire things and NPC character death. Trigger Warnings: Discussion of NPC character death. Status: Complete!
It was approaching 3am in Irvine Park. Pam had been walking aimlessly after eating the squirrel. She still felt awkward and angry, though - the fangs kept pricking her lip, and she still felt hungry, and she missed Maia. But she’d had nightmares - good old fashioned ordinary nightmares - about killing Maia, about ripping her in half and devouring her blood like a fucking animal. It made her feel sick.
Eli was sitting on her usual bench, reading by the light of a streetlamp. When she looked up, she saw the woman wandering around. She looked upset and confused. Eli stood up, closing her book and carrying it under one arm while she walked toward the stranger.
Pam didn’t notice the girl until she was close - well, close for vampire standards - and she flinched. “What do you want?”
“You seem lost.” Eli’s strange accent was audible, but she was quiet and calm. “May I help?”
“Not sure you could.” Still, this girl smelled weird. Maybe she wasn’t human. Pam looked over at her, and was immediately struck by her cat-like eyes. “Are you ... what are you?”
The young girl had been able to tell right away that the tall blonde was a vampire. It was in her bearing, the slight glimpse of fang, the way her blood pumped slowly. “You know what I am, Miss.” Eli was nothing if not polite.
“I know you aren’t human.” Pam had seen a lot of shit lately. “I never knew there were so many who weren’t human. Are you really a kid, or are you something else?”
“I’m seventeen years old.” Eli smiled, looking down at her feet. “I did not become a vampire until the dreams. It started slowly, though. Sunlight first, then I could not eat human food.” That was enough to make her think of her mother’s neck snapping in her hands, her mother’s blood on her tongue.
It didn’t take an idiot to tell she was grieving something. Humanity, maybe? “I just woke up one day with god damned fangs.” Pam looked down. “Might as well be right outta Stoker. Squirrels taste like shit, by the way.”
“I cannot live off of animals,” Eli murmured quietly. “My dreams told me that. Do yours tell you anything about your ... strain of vampirism?”
“Not really.” Pam shook her head. “All I remember is getting a guy - a guy I know here, by the way - to turn me into one. I remember being in the ground. But that’s about it.”
“I would not bite humans until you know what your bite will do to them,” Eli murmured. “I know if I bite a human, they become a vampire. Even the tiniest of nips from me will damn them. So I must kill all of the humans I feed upon.” Even if she sucked them dry, they’d come back as mindless vampires, driven only by mad, blind hunger. It was why she’d twisted her mother’s head around.
Blue eyes filled with tears, and she blinked away blood. “I am sorry. You are the one who is hurting, not I. Would you like me to fetch you something?”
Pam looked at the girl, a little confused. “So there are different kinds?” She’d only ever read about the Dracula kind, the ones whose victims dropped dead. “I don’t know anything, kid. I just woke up with fangs, then felt sick when I tried to have breakfast. I remember thinking that I could take a bite out of Maia. And then I just ... ran.” Shit. She had to clarify. “Maia’s my ...” What? “Something.”
Eli nodded. “There’s different sorts in books and such as well.” She moved to take the woman’s hand, a gesture of comfort. “When I started to change, I didn’t know what was happening. I kept throwing up regular food. For three days I tried, and then my mother came to ask me what was wrong.” Swallowing back the memory, Eli looked up at Pam. “I will bring you something to eat. Will you stay here until I return? I won’t be but a moment.”
“I guess, yeah.” Pam looked down. “Um. Thanks. But I don’t want to like ... killing someone will get me in a lot of trouble.”
“We will not. Stay here.” And in a blur of movement too fast for humans to see, Eli was off and running. She went to the nearest blood bank, picking the lock with a bobby pin and using a dirty rag from the alley behind the clinic to twist open the door handle. She took three bags, still holding the rag to disguise her prints. After making sure there were no security cameras, she closed and relocked the door, running back to Pam.
True to her word, the girl was back in about five minutes, carrying something. “What’s that?” Pam squinted. “Are ... what, from a blood bank? Oh, and I’m Pam. By the way.”
“I am Eli. And yes, they are. They are cold, which is disgusting. Would you like to visit my family? We could microwave these for you.” She smiled at Pam, quietly shifting her weight.
This was happening kind of fast. “They’re supposed to be warm? And I don’t know, won’t your family wonder why you’re bringing some woman home?” Pam wasn’t ungrateful, just supremely awkward. She wasn’t good with most people on most days.
“They should be the same temperature as human blood. Think of steak - would you eat it raw?” Eli handed Pam the bags. “My papa will not mind. He knows I can take care of myself. I trust you will not eat my family.” Or there’d be consequences.
“No ... no, I really wouldn’t.” Pam still felt sick, imagining eating a living person. “Like. Ever.” She didn’t want to put herself into a situation with strangers, but right now she didn’t feel like she had a choice. “Lead on, I guess. I mean ... thanks. Just out of my depth.”
Eli nodded, taking the older woman’s hand. “It is scary at first. If I did not have my papa, I wouldn’t be so ... calm.” She’d also probably have starved to death.
“What’d your daddy do? Is he a vampire?” She still didn’t feel comfortable referring to herself as one. She didn’t want to look in the mirror - she was scared she wouldn’t see anything there - and she didn’t want to think about vampire kids. Even younger than this girl.
“Oh, no. Papa is a mutant. He has claws, and he heals very quickly.” Eli shook her head. “In my dreams, I was twelve and turned in the twelve hundreds, right when Sweden had just adopted Christianity. There was a lord who secretly still held Norse beliefs and my genitals were sacrificed for a good harvest. Then I was turned.” Yeah, in the dreams she was a boy named Elias before she was a girl named Eli.
Pam stopped and stared. “The fuck, seriously?” That was a whole lot to process all at once, in truth. She shook her head. “This place isn’t right, I swear. I was just minding my own business. I’m sure you were too. And now we have to do this?” She couldn’t help being angry, both for herself and for this Eli. She seemed like a good kid. She definitely didn’t deserve this shit.
Shrugging, Eli looked at Pam. “I cannot be angry at things I cannot change. And I would not turn back, even if I could. Recently when those creatures were here, my boyfriend was hurt. If I weren’t so fast, if I weren’t me, he would’ve died.” She saw what she was as a gift, a way to keep her loved ones safe.
Well, that did make sense. Pam sighed. “I’m more worried it’ll be me killing Maia, instead of saving her.” She was hungry. And crabby. And didn’t trust herself. Still, she walked along with Eli, figuring it couldn’t get too much worse.
“Unless you are starving around her, I do not see why you would. And perhaps you will get lucky and be one of the strains of vampire that can eat from humans and stop without causing the human any ill effects. They were sexual metaphors in books.” Eli hailed a cab, so at least they’d look normal; something told Eli that she wouldn’t want to be picked up.
“Maybe it’ll sound stupid, but is there ever a time when you’re not hungry?” Pam looked down at the blood bags. She could barely stop herself from just ripping one open. Squirrels did not fucking do the trick. She got in the cab, not sure whether she would answer or they’d just ride in silence.
“I only need to eat once a week or so.” Eli smiled, shifting her weight. “Fortunately for me, Papa helps with that.” She didn’t want to say too much with the cabbie near, but she’d explain when they arrived.
“Once a week?” Pam closed her eyes. “I’m starving.” She’d been starving for days.
“How long has it been since you first felt hungry?” Eli would’ve asked how long it had been since she’d turned, but the cabbie.
Pam understood. “Almost a week. I mean, I’ve been finding little morsels that hit the spot, but it isn’t enough.” She kind of wanted to mess with the guy, but she didn’t want to walk to wherever this was. “It’s been bugging me a lot. Hard to focus.”
“You’ll feel much better after you have a full meal in your belly. Would you please let us out here?” Eli smiled at the cabbie, and paid along with a generous tip.
Once they were out in the cool night air, Eli looked at Pam. “Have you noticed any abilities? Are you faster? Stronger? Can you see in the dark or climb walls?” Eli had honed each of those skills.
Pam shook her head, sort of feeling foolish. “I didn’t really ... want to, I guess? I can see pretty well in the dark, but this isn’t real dark, you know? There’s ambient light everywhere.” And in a stupid way, she’d thought that trying that kind of stuff would mean she accepted what she was now. And she didn’t want to, dammit.
“Should we try running? I can carry you the remainder of the way, if you like.” Eli looked up at Pam. “You were beautiful before you turned, I think.” Vampirism sometimes smoothed out fine lines and wrinkles, made someone more beautiful where before they’d merely been pretty, but Pam looked like she’d always have been stunning.
Pam understood. “Well, thanks. If you were five years older I’d probably hit on you. And I guess we can try ... just like. Run?” She didn’t quite understand that bit of it.
“Mmhm. Just run.” Eli chuckled, amused that the woman found her pretty. Eli ran ahead a few paces, waving at Pam from far down the road.
Pam blinked and the girl disappeared. Could she do that, really? It seemed crazy.
But then she tried to run, and she was half a mile down the road. “Holy fuck - ”
Eli burst out laughing, grinning hard. “Come on! I’ll show you where I live.” She took Pam’s hand, and together they ran. For them, it felt like a leisurely jog, but to the world, they were a blur out of the corner of their eye.
It did feel kind of nice, honestly. Her hair was blowing back and she was getting all the fun of running, but without the sweat or feeling like she wanted to die or any of that. “I hope it isn’t too far. Cars still can’t see us, I’m guessing.” “Not really. They may see blurs, but that is about all.” Eli lead Pam up a small hill to the house where she was staying with her father and Velma. “I have the basement. But we shall go to the kitchen. I do not think Papa and his girlfriend are home.” Eli wanted to call Velma mother, but she thought it would cause friction.
“Hopefully they’re asleep.” Pam would just have felt awkward around humans. Of which she no longer was one. Oh, fuck. It was enough to make her shiver, to react. It was all she could do to not stop in her tracks.
“I think Papa is out, and I do not know where Velma is. Come, let us heat this up for you.” One would be a meal, but if Pam hadn’t eaten in a week, Eli figured she may want a few.
Pam obeyed, following the girl into the house. It was a nice enough place, well appointed and clean. “So it’s common for you to microwave blood bags?”
“Not really, no. But I have in the past, when I was first establishing a routine.” Eli opened the microwave, put the blood inside, and set the timer for a minute and a half. “My Papa, he helps me now.”
“You said he’s a mutant?” It sounded nuts. It sounded like something out of a horror story. Pam shook her head, looking at the microwave.
Eli nodded. “He heals faster than any normal person, and he has metal on his skeleton.” The microwave beeped, and Eli unscrewed the valve that kept the blood in the bag, testing the temperature. “Here. Just imagine it is wine.”
Pam hesitantly took the bag, feeling supremely awkward still. This wasn’t going to be something she’d get used to. But when the first of it hit her throat, everything changed.
It was like the best wine. She took a deep breath, sighing through her nose as she drank more. Part of her brain was still alarmed, still telling her what all this was, but most of it was feeling more like she’d been crawling through the desert and now she’d found water.
Watching carefully, Eli nodded. Pam was taking to it well, not rejecting it like Eli had when she’d tried to drink from her mother. Pam had no shame, likely because sipping from a bag was more sanitary than ripping out a throat.
Eventually Pam let it go, breathing only because she thought she had to. It felt normal. “I don’t feel like I’m gonna go nuts,” she murmured. “I think I can breathe.” Well. Metaphorically.
Eli nodded. “You’re handling this very well, you know. I hated feeding at first. I felt like a monster.”
“It’s why I didn’t wanna do it.” Pam shrugged, feeling awkward and ashamed. “I didn’t want to talk to anyone; I just figured, I don’t know, I’d be the crazy old hermit lady. I’d eat animals. Whatever.” She didn’t want to murder anyone.
“Until you figure out if you can feed upon people without hurting them, you can use bags like this. I can help you find them.” Eli hopped up onto the kitchen counter, smiling at Pam. “I think you may be lucky enough to do that - your fangs are more romantic and not terribly practical.” Eli’s fangs were scary and she knew it. When hers were out, all of her teeth turned into cruel barbs, a bit like a shark. Pam had Halloween vampire fangs; she looked like a Bram Stoker vampire.
Pam was wary, but cautiously okay with it. “How do I tell if I can feed without killing, unless I try it and risk killing somebody?”
“I expect your dreams will tell you so,” Eli smiled.
“The dreams?” Pam echoed, nodding eventually. “I guess that would be the only way.” She looked over at the girl. “What do you mean by my fangs being “romantic”?” As opposed to what? And if they weren’t practical, was she going to have problems?
“Yours are pretty. I am certain they are useful, but still.” Eli closed her eyes and let her fangs descend. She didn’t look nearly as pretty as Pam. Her eyes glowed like cats’ eyes in direct light and her teeth looked like sharks’, pointed and jagged. She looked like a nightmareish version of a beautiful teenage girl.
“Goddamn.” Pam laughed in spite of herself. “Sorry ... you’re really cute when you look like a human. I see what you mean now. But I mean, you said that your ... stuff has uses. I bet looking scary can come in handy.” Shit. She hoped the girl wasn’t offended.
Fangs back in, Eli chuckled. “Yes. My boyfriend was attacked by those blue alien creatures, and one hurt him very much. So I killed it and picked up Athelstan and ran him to the nearest hospital. I see myself as his champion now. In addition to being his girlfriend.”
That did actually make her feel a little better. “Maia can take care of herself ... but at the same time, I just don’t want to hurt her.” Pam sighed. “Maybe I can protect her - but she doesn’t need protecting.”
“You will not hurt her as long as you care for yourself. Make sure your belly is as full as you want it to be when you see her.” Eli looked up at Pam. “You will not lose your will just because you are a vampire. You strike me as a woman who does not do anything that she does not wish to. And I am a fairly good judge of character.”
Pam chuckled. “I do what I want, if I can help it. I ran away from home when I was about your age.” She’d been through a lot, and yet it was one mouthy British girl that had her doubting herself. “I’ve left Maia hanging since I found out about this. I should probably call her, but not until I figure some shit out.”
Eli nodded. “Now that you are not hungry, you can control yourself more. But even humans act strangely when they are starving. Do not starve yourself, Pam.” Eli moved to squeeze her hand.
She leaned against the counter, still thinking, biting her lip moodily. “So, I gotta figure out if I can drink people without killing them. And how to get to blood banks. Right? Is that all?”
“Yes. If you need help stealing the blood from the banks, I can assist.” Eli motioned for Pam to continue drinking.
“I might. Your father won’t find out and kill me for corrupting you or whatever?” Pam obediently turned back to the other bag she’d heated up.
Eli laughed. “Oh, no, if anything he would warn you against me corrupting you. Why would you corrupt me?” Eli raised an eyebrow. “My father is protective of me, but he is aware I am a young lady. He has already given my boyfriend a speech, but it was brief.”
“You corrupting me?” Pam chuckled. “Sweetheart, I don’t think that’s really possible. But I hope you corrupt the shit out of your boyfriend.”
“It is my plan. Eventually, though. We are both ... inexperienced. I wish to do it only when he is ready.” Eli was practical.
“Are you now.” Pam chuckled. “Well, if I can ever help there, you let me know. I’m a dominatrix; I could teach either or both of you a thing or two!”
“I do not think he would enjoy the inequality that being a dominatrix implies. He’s very ... egalitarian.” Eli sighed, a happy teenage girl swoony sigh of the newly in love.
Pam laughed. “Well, I just meant I’d like to think I’m pretty good at sex.” She winked. “But I take it back, you two would probably make me throw up.” She was mostly teasing, and she shook her head. “I really need to talk to Maia.” She missed Maia. It hurt, thinking about it.
“You obviously care about her very much.” Eli smiled, reaching out to take Pam’s hand and offer it a squeeze. “If she cares about you half as much as you do for her, she will understand.” Eli believed in love being a force that could overcome any obstacle. She’d found a new family, she’d found a boyfriend even though she was a vampire - love was powerful stuff.
“I don’t know. I hope so.” She didn’t even know if she wanted a relationship. She just wanted Maia.
“I would bet on it.” Eli smiled at her new friend. “I am seldom wrong, just ask my father.”
“Are you really a kid?” Pam had to ask. Even with the dreams, Eli looked so much wiser than her years. Maybe she was an adult in a small body or something.
“In my dreams, I was seven hundred and ninety. Perhaps some of it rubbed off.” Eli smiled, looking down at her feet. “But I’m barely seventeen. Just turned in May.”
“I just had to ask. Most kids your age - and sorry, you’re still sort of a kid - wouldn’t be handling this so calmly.” Pam finished the last bag, tossing it away and sighing. “You’re more composed about this shit than I am. Were you always?”
“I did not have a choice. I turned and stopped being able to eat food. I lasted a week before I grew so hungry I killed my biological mother.” Eli closed her eyes. “The sort of vampire I am, I cannot feed from someone and let them live. Everyone I bite with my fangs, they will become a vampire. So I have no choice but to be calm and feed when I’m hungry. If I see it as a gift instead of a curse, I won’t become a monster again.”
Well, now Pam felt like an ass. “Sorry.” She hadn’t even known there was a type of vampire that way. “That’s probably the best way to see it.” Still, fuck.
“It is not your fault, you did not know.” Eli smiled at Pam. “I am sure you can somehow parlay your fangs into a way to increase your business.”
“Maybe. Just do more fetish stuff. A lot of people” - humans - “go for that kind of thing.” Pam looked down. “I should get going, though. I’ve bugged you long enough.” And she still didn’t want to let this girl’s father get a whiff of her.
“I’m sure they do. My father and his girlfriend are apparently into sounding like cats in heat.” Eli wrinkled her nose, but her tone was fond. “It has been nice speaking with you, Miss Pam. May I speak with you again sometime? It was nice to run with someone.” Her voice betrayed her loneliness.
“Poor kid. I’d invite you over when they get loud, but I can’t promise Maia won’t do the same thing. If she takes me back.” Pam did manage a faint smile, though. “Yeah, we can meet up again, though. Catch me on the network or something.”
Eli nodded. “Thank you. Safe travels home, Miss Pam.”
She reached out a hand, feeling like she should at least say goodbye somehow. “Thanks. For everything.”
“You do not need to thank me. We are brethren, of a kind.” Eli shook her hand, smiling. “Also, you may have to be invited into rooms now. Learn to work it into conversation.”
Ah, shit. Pam nodded. That was straight out of Dracula. “I’ll remember. I bet it’ll hurt if I don’t.” She shook her head. “You be careful.” Maybe she’d try to practice running on the way home.
“Oh yes. It is quite painful. You be careful as well, miss Pam.” Eli smiled, handing Pam the last blood bag. “Go, enjoy your night.”
“I’ll do my best.” Her basement had no windows. She could sleep there, and then try to work out a way to talk to Maia.