The day was sunny, but Eli was in her windowless bathroom, sleeping in the bathtub. She wore a long grey undershirt, her hair mussed, and she could hear her stomach growling. She’d tried to wake up and eat cereal, but she’d promptly vomited her guts out. Since the bathroom was cool and dark, Eli had just stayed, curling up with her knees to her chest and falling asleep.
Blessedly, she had no more of the very vivid dreams, just generic blood-soaked nightmares of her ripping out throats, of her tearing out flesh with her fangs, of her drinking until her belly was full. Chewing on her lower lip and licking the blood from her own lips, she sighed contentedly.
And she was sleeping. The sleep was blissful because she could at least be unaware of the dreams, be unaware that she was a monster.
“Eli?” An American accent sounded in the hall, and the door opened quietly. Curling away from the light, Eli whimpered. Something smelled delicious, and her stomach growled in response.
God, she was so hungry. She hadn’t been able to keep any food down in days.
When Eli woke up, she gasped, lifting a bloody hand to her mouth. Her mother. Oh, god, her mother. Her mother’s throat was ripped open, head twisted round backward. What could have done this?
But Eli didn’t have to think long. She knew who. Reaching for her mother’s phone, she climbed back into the bathttub, ignoring the bloody tears slipping down her cheeks, and dialed Logan’s number from memory.
Logan had just opened the shop, and was staring at the bike he had to work on today. Not as bad as the one he’d worked on the other day, but still pretty bad. He was going to start charging a premium for assholes who didn’t take care of their bikes.
He felt his butt buzz and pulled out his phone, answering with a grunt.
The tremor in her voice wasn’t easy to disguise, but she managed. “Papa?”
“Hey darlin’. How are you feelin’?” He knew she wasn’t feeling well, and couldn’t keep down food, but she’d been stubborn about it, and he hadn’t been sure what he could do to help.
“Please come here, please, please,” she wailed. She wasn’t even trying for his benefit to hide her tears, her bawling.
Logan made for the door, closing and locking it before he got onto his bike. "I'll be right there, Eli. Hold on." He gunned the bike and tore out onto the street, breaking several traffic laws in the process. It didn't take long to get to Eli's house, and even before he got off his bike he could smell the blood.
"Shit."
He moved his bike to the side of the house, then let himself in through the back door. "Eli?" He followed the scent, until he was in the bathroom.
"Eli..."
She was weeping on the floor, holding her dead mother’s body. But the tears streaming down her face weren’t saline. They were bloody, making her blue eyes seem all the more blue for the contrast.
“I did not do it on purpose,” she whimpered, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. “I did not mean to.” She curled up so she was smaller, fearing Logan for a moment. Would he see her as a murderer? Would he kill her as she’d killed her mother? Perhaps that would be best.
He stared at her, then ran his hands through his hair. The scene was hauntingly familiar to him, and his heart ached in sympathy. How many times had he cut someone down, or woken in a pool of blood? He grabbed a towel, trying to figure out how the hell he was going to get to her without tracking trace evidence all over the place. Let alone how he was going to keep Eli safe.
"I know darlin', believe me, I know. It ain't your fault, it just ain'."
She shook her head. “I woke up and - “ She hadn’t even thought of the legal ramifications until that moment. “I should shower,” she muttered, backing up until she was in the shower, slipping into the tub.
Logan nodded, working his jaw and swallowing. He didn't want to involve anyone else in this if he could help it. "Wait, don't. Just wash your mouth. I found you holdin' your mom. That'd be enough to protect you." He'd come to check on her because she hadn't shown up for work. Flimsy story, but he knew she wouldn't finger him, and as long as he didn't get his dna all over the body....
“You think so?” She supposed that even dental evidence wouldn’t take her fangs into account. Getting up, she ran the tap and washed her face, resuming her position holding her mother’s corpse and trying not to cry. “Perhaps you should simply open the windows, Logan. Far more simple.”
Logan nodded, and did so, careful the whole time. He used the towel, then threw it over her shoulders as he pulled out his cell phone. "This is...you're not gonna get much time to really deal with it, until the cops are done. If I could..just take you away an' hold you.."
“You can just let me go.” She smiled sadly up at him. “I don’t think I should be allowed to live, Papa. It’s my fault.” But she didn’t cry anymore, didn’t move. She fisted her mother’s shirt in her hands, sighing to herself. She’d cry when the police left.
"I ain't seein' you put down, an' I sure as hell ain't goin' to do it. I know how you feel. Losin' control, hurtin' someone you love, killin' them." Logan was dialing now. "Death ain't somethin' you're gonna get over quick. But it will get better. I promise."
“I just hadn’t eaten in a week, and - “ She sighed, moving to lay down. “Don’t let anyone open the blinds?” The sun was setting, and it would be dark soon, but she didn’t want to take any chances.
"'Course."
Now came the hard part. Waiting for the police, answering questions. The call Eli had made to his cell phone probably would be the number one thing to keep him out of the slammer.
And the police did come. Eli answered their questions, said that Logan would never hurt her mother, said that she wanted to go with him. They said she had to go into foster care for the time being, and she looked at Logan desperately. “Papa,” she murmured, wishing that they’d just torched the house. Breaking away from the police, she ran to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
Logan put his arms around Eli. He could take care of her, and after a) some convincing and b) making an arrangement for a social worker visit, Logan was allowed to take her home. He left the bike, calling a cab so Eli could pack some clothing and any other necessities. By then it was dark enough that they probably didn't need to worry.
The first thing she did was shower. She ignored the bloody mess of the floor in the bathroom, weeping as she showered, toweled, and dressed. With her long hair trailing damp tracks down her back, she pulled on a t-shirt and jeans - a rarity for her - and packed a bag. The most important thing she put in the bag were the blackout drapes from her room. She didn’t think she’d be coming back to this house.
Logan was waiting in the living room. He wrapped his arms around Eli. She smelled a lot nicer, even with the metallic undercurrent of blood. He squeezed her tightly, kissing the top of her head, and then picked her up like she was just a little girl. He carried her out to the cab.
She said nothing. Normally, she’d have been indignant about his carrying her, but she didn’t care. Sighing, she curled up closer to him when they were in the cab. She wondered what his house looked like. She wondered if he’d make her sleep in her room that night.
He wasn’t sure where he’d have her sleep that night. Vel was going to be in for a surprise, he hadn’t had a chance to warn her. The cab ride when on in silence, with Logan rubbing her back in slow, wide circles. There wasn’t much he could say to make it better, so he said nothing and let his presence comfort her. It had taken time, and the effort of people that cared about him, to help him get through hurting Laura. And Laura hadn’t died.
When they pulled up, she simply took her bag, walked toward the first bathroom she could find and shut the door behind her. She curled up into the bathtub, sighing, glad for the complete darkness.
Logan stared at the door for several minutes, before he headed into the dojo room. He looked around it, then walked over to the window. He stared at it for another few minutes, then he headed outside. Ten minutes and a lot of hammering later, he had the dojo room completely blocked off from the sun. Next was a futon against one corner. They could do more work on it later.
Then he knocked on the bathroom door.
She sat up, blinking. “Yes?”
“Come on out, I wanna show you somethin’. It ain’t much but...”
As she opened the door, the light from the hall reflected off of Eli’s blue eyes, very much like a cat’s would have. Looking up at him, she reached out to hug him. “I’m just glad you’re still here.”
She really was a beautiful girl. Logan thought so. He hugged her. “Not goin’ anywhere. Goin’ to be in hot water with my girl, but I think it’ll be worth it, an’ she probably won’t mind.”
“Who, Velma?” Eli cocked her head. “Why?”
“Velma, yeah.” Logan ruffled her hair. “I’m jokin’, hon. Think we need a bit of humor right now, more than anythin’ else. Figure out how to keep you from hurtin’ anyone else.”
“I was just hungry, and I was dreaming of eating.” She still had her arms around him, and she shook her head. “Papa? Do you think Athelstan will be afraid of me?” Her voice trembled, and she realized in one terrible moment how much she’d grown to have a crush on her friend.
Logan thought about that for a moment, as he led her into what will be her new room. “No. I don’t think so.”
He wanted to know why her mom’s head had been turned around.
Eli moved into the room, smiling when she saw he’d light proofed things. “I do not ... I wonder if I can eat animal blood.” She sighed, sitting down on the futon.
“We can try. Worse case, you can eat me. Jubilee sucks on Laura, an’ we’ve both come back from worse.” It was hard to imagine worse than Eli’s mother, but he knew he could heal from that. He didn’t know if Eli would believe him, though. He hoped she would, he hated seeing her so without...hope.
Eli gave him a wry look. “I have to kill who I feed from, or they get infected, Logan. It is why I turned Mother’s head around. So she would not come back, like this.” She closed her eyes, laying back on the futon and willing herself not to cry.
Logan nodded, then tilted Eli’s head up. “I got infected once, darlin’, in my dreams. The only reason I turned was because we’d put somethin’ in me to weaken my healin’ factor. It was part of a plan to take ‘em out an’ save Jubilee. Without that block, I woulda healed the infection almost instantly. I’m immune to any disease known to man.”
Her eyes remained closed, and she wiped a bloody tear from her cheek. “I won’t infect you! I can’t!” She barely had any friends as it was, much less the man she loved like she’d never loved her father.
Logan’s mind raced. He had an idea, if he could convince her he’d be okay. He’d have to set up the extra bathroom with some serious drainage.“Can you drink plasma? Blood from a bag?”
“I don’t know.” She bit her lower lip. “I don’t know, I only ever did this today, and I don’t - “ Eli clenched her tiny hands into fists, balling them angrily. She made herself breathe more easily. “Give me your hand. If you say you cannot get sick, we shall see.”
Logan stroked Eli's check, then held out his hand. "You can trust me, darlin'."
She was careful with him, gently puncturing his fingertip with a fang. “If you are going to turn, it should be soon.” But oh, god, she was praying he wouldn’t. If he did, she really would sleep on the patio and wait for sunrise.
"That quick?" This was a little different than he was used to, but he wasn't all that worried. "Don't worry if my teeth grow pointy for a few seconds." He grunted, and flexed his finger. He could tell his body was fighting something off already.
“If you process things quickly, yes. Most humans, it takes about six to ten hours.” She looked up at him, worried, biting her lower lip and twirling her hair between her fingers.
“Yeah, darlin’...you can stop lookin’ at me like that.” He tried to give her a reassurin’ smile. “I can feel it. It ain’t gonna win. You can drop me in a vat of fast actin’ ebola an’ that won’t do much but hurt like a bitch until it’s over.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “They make fast acting ebola?”
“They make all kinda shit you probably don’t wanna know about.” He grinned back. He was going to need to make sure that Eli’s ...condition didn’t become known to the wrong sort of people.
“You feel all right?” She tiptoed up to stroke his hair, her face worried and lined.
“Yeah, I’m feelin’ all right. Feels like I caught a flu an’ it’s workin’ through it.” Logan took a seat, pulling Eli into his lap to cuddle reassure her.
Burrowing into his chest, she closed her eyes. “You’ve had the flu? You did not punch it in the face?”
“Flu kicked my ass,” Logan replied, with a soft chuckle. He rubbed at her back. “Ignored the fuck out of it, but it still kicked my ass.”
Eli wrapped her arms around him more tightly. “If Velma is upset with you having me here, I’ll find somewhere else to go. You love each other, I do not want to get in the middle of that.”
“We don’t...” Logan scowled. “It won’t be a problem, Eli. Don’t you worry about that.” Damn, damn damn she just kind of knew where to stab him.
She nodded, closing her eyes. “Thank you, Papa.”
“I love you, Eli..Won’t let anythin’ happen to you. Won’t let you feel this pain again, not if I can help it.” He squeezed her tight.