Bloodlines Chapter 5

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When Keith Roseberry meets Genevieve
his life and his world are changed forever and home will never be the same.

 
 

Bloodlines
Chapter 5

By
Amethyst

Thanks again to EoF for creating such a great universe for us to play in and to EoF, Maggie, and Donjo as always for looking over my work and giving their input.

Chapter 5

While my aunt, cousin and parents finished their dinner and talked to Genevieve I left the dining room to clean up and collect myself emotionally. As I looked myself over in one of the bathrooms I was relieved to find that while my face and hands were bloody, my clothes came out of my emotional outburst relatively unscathed. My black lace gloves were fairly bloodied, but I had several spare pairs and would merely wear another pair and see if the bloodied pair could be salvaged after a good washing. I cleaned myself up and, placing the gloves in the sink, I carefully hand washed them before the blood could set in and completely ruin them.

Once I was cleaned and once again looking presentable I carefully wrung out the gloves and headed back to my current bedroom, leaving them to fully dry atop the dresser as I found a new pair and put them on. Then I brushed out my wild looking purple hair and pulled it back out of my eyes, placing a pair of small hair clips adorned with chrome skulls to hold it out of the way and have it fall around my face, framing it nicely. I found I liked the look I had going right now and though I liked my sapphire eyes I sort of wished that they were a more unique color something that would stand out more and fit better with the whole Goth look.

As I was thinking this and wishing that my eyes were a cool color, like maybe red or something, it happened. My eyes changed, the color flowing through the color spectrum from sapphire blue, through darker blues, violets, and then to a sinister looking red. It happened so fast I nearly jumped away from the mirror. “Cool! That was exactly the shade of red I was thinking of!” I am ashamed to admit that I may have squealed in glee once I realized what happened. I wondered if I could do it again, and I immediately thought of the intense green of Sarah’s eyes. Once again my irises shifted through the color spectrum this time going from red to the same bright green of Sarah’s eyes.

I don’t know how long I stayed in front of the mirror like a kid playing with a new toy, shifting my eyes from one color to another, but before I knew it there was a knock at the door. Genevieve’s voice came through the door sounding concerned, “Kayla are you alright?”

“Ummm yeah, come in.” I answered, still slightly distracted and now feeling bad for worrying her. She must have thought I was still upset, and I felt kind of silly for losing myself in something as silly as changing my eye color when I had been so upset earlier. As the door opened and Genevieve stepped in I looked at her with now amber eyes, “Sorry for worrying you. Why didn’t you tell me we could do something like this, it could have been handy for disguising ourselves.”

“Something like what?” she asked, seeming confused for a moment. Then she looked into my eyes curiously. “Are you wearing contacts?”

I shook my head, “No, of course not, when did I have time to get contacts? I’ve just been playing with changing my eye color.” I thought of a nice violet color as a demonstration and Genevieve raised an eyebrow, and moved back just a tiny bit as if startled and trying not to show it. “How long have you been able to do that?”

“I just found out I could do it while I was looking in the mirror after I came up here. So why didn’t you tell me Vampires could pull this little trick?”

“We can’t, at least not any I’ve run across.” She chuckled, “I think you discovered your ability Kayla. Every Vampire has one and they’re all unique. You know how mine is making people tell the truth, yours must be conscious control over your eye color.”

“What?” I looked at her dumbfounded for a moment. “You mean you get to have people never lie around you, Carly could blend into walls, and all I get is to change my eye color at will?” Suddenly it didn’t seem near as cool anymore. “That’s no fair! This has to be the lamest Vampire power ever.” I pouted, crossing my arms, “Oh well, at least I don’t fucking sparkle.”

Genevieve chuckled at that, and then seemed to remember why she came upstairs. “Oh, we need to get going for the Unseen Council meeting.” She smiled at me, trying to hold back a giggle as she added, “So please choose an eye color that goes with your outfit so we can go.”

)==()==(

The Unseen Council meetings were held in a conference room in the Whitlock Mansion. That house was massive and in fact the only house in Sena Island that was bigger than Roseberry Manor. Apparently John Whitlock, one of the town founders, had originally built the home as a place for Unseen to gather and discuss important issues. These meetings were just informal at first, but soon it was decided that organization of the island’s Unseen would be for the best and the Unseen Council was formed.

We had arrived early with Aunt Helen and were escorted to the conference room. The room was large with walls made from redwood and a dark blue carpet and was dominated by a large conference table surrounded by high backed black leather office chairs. There was also a group of padded benches for guests of the Council. We were seated at one of the benches while Aunt Helen made her way to her seat as the representative for the Coven and the island’s Witch population.

I had been told that each group of Unseen on the island was represented by one of their number. There was Aunt Helen who represented the Witches, James Whitlock who was the head of the council and represented the Were-foxes, Tanner McGreggor who spoke for the Were-moose population, Sandra Brand who sat for the Were-lynxes, Lessa Freemont who represented the Nereids, and William O’Brian who sat for the Selkies. There was also Thomas Whitefeather, the current Nui-chal-tulth Shaman who represented not only the interests of the Whitefeather tribe but of the Norms in general.

Soon the other Council members began to arrive and the meeting was underway. They discussed and made decisions on various issues that the island’s Unseen had been facing and occasionally we would get a curious look. I was pretty curious myself after hearing about problems with Brownies in the woods (The only kind I knew of were the edible ones) and a sea serpent that had recently been plaguing the island’s Nereids and the Selkie population. Finally James Whitlock asked if there was any new business to be discussed and Aunt Helen took the floor.

“You all have likely noticed our two guests in the gallery,” she began. “Genevieve and Kayla Dunn are Vampires who have requested sanctuary here.”

James Whitlock, a slender man with brown hair, slowly making its way to silver, frowned at that. “You know that we welcome other Unseen here Helen, but Vampires? I have no desire for our town to become a feeding ground for Vampires, it’s a danger to the whole community.”

Aunt Helen smirked at him, “James one of these Vampires grew up here, also the Coven has already checked their story and we do not think they will be a danger. These two are not like most Vampires, they try their best to blend in with the Norms. They don’t kill when they feed, they make their victims forget everything and only do kill in self-defense. Not only do they show a lot of restraint but they also protected my daughter in a Hunter attack. “

Tanner McGreggor, who was even bigger than Jason, with short cropped brown hair and a well-trimmed beard, spoke up at this point. “I can vouch for their restraint. My son and his friends spent the day with the younger one and Jason had nothing but good things to say about her. In fact there was a situation with one of the Norms which my son was tempted to use violence until she intervened and diffused the situation. She also managed to do this while bringing no attention to herself or the others.”

Aunt Helen smiled at the huge man before turning back to the head of the Council. “The Coven would like to petition the Council to allow them to stay here and have a seat on the Council under certain conditions.”

James seemed to be mulling over the information and the request, “What are these conditions Helen?”

Aunt Helen cleared her throat, “First, they must try to blend in with the Norms and not bring attention to themselves or other Unseen. Secondly, they must not feed on any Unseen unless it is voluntary. Third, they must not turn anyone unless the Council approves it, this will help limit their numbers while allowing for extreme circumstances. Fourth, no killing while feeding and no killing period unless in self-defense or in defense of the town itself from outside threats such as Hunters. Lastly we would request that Genevieve be given what help she needs to open up a practice here in Sena Island.”

James nodded, “All are good conditions, but what of the last one? What type of practice exactly?”

Aunt Helen looked to Genevieve, who nodded, before continuing. “Genevieve has a degree in Psychology, and a gift for getting the truth out of people, and since we have no psychologists on the island the Coven feels that she could be very useful here. In light of recent events here on the island, a psychologist that people can talk about Unseen matters with would be a great benefit. The Selkies and Nereids alone could use one with the recent incidents with that Sea Serpent.” The Nereid and Selkie representatives, a slender raven-haired beauty and a muscular blond with a reddish blond beard respectively, both nodded solemnly at this.

“Do these Vampires agree to follow these conditions and can we take them at their word is the real question.” Thomas Whitefeather asked, looking at us suspiciously.

Genevieve nodded at this before speaking, “We agree to these conditions and to enforce these conditions with any future Vampires on the island. Any Vampires who do not abide by these rules will be seen as a threat to the Island and will be neutralized by whatever means the Council deems fit. The two of us would just like blend in and not draw too much attention to ourselves. “

I nodded in agreement, “I also promise that we will not break these conditions.”

After that it was put to a vote. Thomas Whitefeather and James Whitlock were both uncertain and abstained from voting while the rest voted in favor of us being allowed to stay under the set conditions. With that completed and no other business to be discussed the meeting was adjourned and we were able to leave. Aunt Helen stayed to talk with some of the other council members while Genevieve and I left in search of something to eat.

)==()==(

While Genevieve was off feeding and doing who knows what else with her chosen meal, I wandered around town looking for a meal of my own. There wasn’t much of anyone around and the first candidate I did see I was pretty sure was an Unseen of some sort, he was just too good-looking to be a Norm. I had almost given up on finding a meal when I saw him leaving a convenience store, how very convenient. He was big enough to make a good meal and best of all I knew for sure he was a Norm.

I walked up to him, smiling and adding a little extra wiggle to my hips, “Hello there Eric.”

“Hey there,” he said giving that stupid grin of his. “I don’t think we’ve met, I’m sure I’d remember talking to someone as gorgeous as you.” He paused, for a moment as if trying to place me, “Wait I think I saw you leaving Gino’s earlier today.”

I smiled at him, “Yeah I was there with some new friends, I’m new in town and they were giving me a tour of the town. They pointed you out to me. I saw you leaving the store so I thought I’d say hi since you’re here and you look so handsome and strong. A weak girl like me shouldn’t be out on my own at night.” I mentally gagged, while I gave what I thought was a poor performance.

“Well you have good taste. I’ve never been into Goth girls before but you’re really hot.” Apparently a good acting job wasn’t necessary since he couldn’t see past his own ego.

“I’m new here, is there anywhere quiet we could go to get to know one another a bit better?” I asked, giving him the opening he was looking for. He led me down to the beach and a secluded spot beneath the dock. I took a good look around and made sure we weren’t being watched by anyone. There was no one in sight. I smiled to myself, “Oh this is just perfect.”

The idiot grinned at me, “I thought you’d like it.” Then he grabbed me and kissed me hard, trying to get his tongue inside my mouth. I mentally gagged again as I let him kiss me. Finally I pulled away, as he started trying to feel me up.

“Nuh-uh, not on the first date,” I said locking eyes with him and getting him under the power of my Mesmer. “Just stay still like a good boy.” Then I sank my fangs into his neck and started to drink. I drank as much as I needed to satisfy my hunger while being very careful not to drain him dry. Once finished I slowly licked the wound to close it and get any remaining blood. Then, licking my lips in satisfaction I grinned at the idiot and said, “You will go straight home. You will not remember seeing me tonight or anything that has happened here. You went home as soon as you left the store. Now go.” Eric went along his merry way to follow my instructions and I breathed in the sea air, smiling as I made my way home.

)==()==(

I awoke the next morning feeling very well rested, and after taking a relaxing shower, I dressed in a similar style as the day before, but rather than wearing a corset I wore a black t-shirt with a skull emblazoned on the front. After I was suitably dressed I made sure to change my eye color to a very flattering dark blue that bordered on violet. Once changed, I made my way downstairs to see who was up and about. Genevieve sat at the breakfast table with Gwen, Aunt Helen and to my surprise Rick. I sat down to join them and I could feel Rick’s eyes on me as I made myself comfortable, trying to act normal. Genevieve, Gwen and a very tired-looking Aunt Helen were discussing house-hunting now that we had been allowed to stay on the island.

“You’re more than welcome to stay here as long as you need to,” Aunt Helen said. “We have plenty of space.”

Genevieve smiled, “Thank you Helen, but we’ll need to have a place of our own so we can blend in with the Norms, and I want a place where I’ll be able to see my clients rather than having a separate office. Besides this is a lovely house but a little too much sunlight gets in for my comfort.”

Gwen nodded, “That’s true I’m glad we had thick curtains in the rooms we gave you and Kayla. Rick and I will go house hunting with you today if you’d like, I know of a few places that are up for sale, I can maybe help you find some heavy dark curtains to keep out the sun as well. I’ll make some calls and see if we can space out looking at places today so you don’t have to spend too much time in the sunlight in one go. Hopefully we can find something and get you both settled in before Kayla starts school next week. We’ll need to work on getting all the proper legal documentation for her as well.”

“Whoa, wait, what is this about Kayla starting school next week?” I asked frowning.

Genevieve sighed and put her hand on mine across the table. “Well school is back in session next week and since we’re supposed to be blending in and not standing out, you’ll need to start going to school. It’s all part of not drawing attention to ourselves. People expect a girl who looks your age to be going to high school.”

I cursed, “Dammit, I hated high school enough the first time.”

“Look at it this way K, you’ve gone through it before so you know quite a bit and shouldn’t have to study too hard.” Gwen offered.

“Also Vampires have very good memories, so you should remember what’s taught well enough that you can get good grades without very much effort,” Genevieve added.

“Hooray for me.” I muttered, and then I grinned as a thought came to me. “Wait! I can’t go to school, that’ll require a lot of outside time, and even the time spent in school won’t be very comfortable. All the classrooms at the school have a lot of windows which let in sunlight. What am I going to do? Tell the teachers I’m allergic to the Sun?” I grinned at them all smugly.

Aunt Helen reached across the table handing me a small box, “No Kayla, you’re going to wear this. The Coven and the Council members I spoke with took your situation into account and decided you would need to be able to spend significant time in direct sunlight. I spent a good deal of time and magic last night to create something that will protect you from sunlight. With this you can spend as much time outside as any other teenager with no ill effects.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or pissed off at this turn of events as I opened the box to reveal a gold chain with a pendant in the shape of a crescent moon. I just stared at it a moment, “This is supposed to protect me from the Sun?”

Aunt Helen nodded, “As long as you wear it you’ll be safe from sunlight, I also made sure that only you can take it off while you’re wearing it to prevent any accidental removal. If you take it off, you’ll be vulnerable to the Sun until you put it back on, so you should get into the habit of wearing it all the time.”

“Thanks Aunt Helen, I guess this will make things easier.” I might not like the idea of going back to school, but she obviously put out a big effort to make this and was tired this morning as a result. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful so I picked the pendant up and slipped the chain over my head. I felt a slight tingling as it settled around my neck. I looked over to Gwen and Genevieve, “So what am I going to be doing while you all go look at houses?”

Rick looked me over, “Natalie, Sarah and Jason wanted to show you a few things in the woods, and it might be a good time to test that new trinket of yours. Nat said for you to call her when you’re ready,” he handed me a piece of paper with a phone number on it.

I nodded, “Okay Risk that sounds good. It’s weird though to be home and hanging out with your little sister and her friends rather than you and Gwennie. They all seem nice, though I’m trying to get used to Natalie. Last I saw her she was twelve years old and male.”

Rick gave a weak chuckle at that. ”Like you’re one to talk K, you weren’t exactly a girl yourself last time you were here. If it weren’t for certain things you said and having had something similar happen to Natalie, I wouldn’t have believed Gwen when she told me who you were.” He shook his head sadly, “Damn, I can’t my head around that you’re actually Keith. It looks like I’ll have to go with my third choice for my best man.”

Gwen had told Rick about my change in gender status the night before while we were all at the Unseen council meeting. I wasn’t sure whether I should feel relieved or awkward that Rick knew who I was. “Hey, third choice? Does that mean I was second choice Risk?”

He grinned at me, and I was pretty sure it was forced. “Well actually it was a toss-up for my first choice; it was going to be you or Nathan.”

I stared at him a moment before I started giggling. “You better make sure your third choice likes wearing dresses.”

He tried frowning at me while the women laughed but he couldn’t hold it as he cracked a smile. “That is not funny K. I really wanted you two involved in the wedding.”

“Sure it is, it’s hilarious.” I said. “Besides, I am going to be involved, Gwen asked me to be the Maid of Honor and Genevieve will be a bridesmaid, there’s no reason Natalie can’t be a bridesmaid as well if she and Gwen were both okay with it.”

Gwen put her arms around Rick and kissed him, “I think that’s a great idea K, If Natalie is willing I’d love to have her as a bridesmaid too.”

“I’ll ask her about it while we’re out today then,” I said. “I’m going to go call her now.” Then I grinned at Rick, “Just in case though, you might want to get your other choices fitted for bridesmaids’ dresses as well.” And then I left the room, leaving Rick’s good-natured cursing and the laughter of the women behind.

)==()==(

We mostly just made small talk on the ride out to the woods, though I did tell them about and even demonstrated my new-found ability. We had just arrived at the edge of the woods when I finally got the nerve to ask Natalie, “Natalie would you be interested in being a part of Rick and Gwen’s wedding?” I blurted it out a bit nervous that she might react the way I had at first.

“Well Rick said before that he was thinking about having me be his best man but that there was another choice. I don’t really know how else I could be involved now,” was her response.

I giggled at that, “Yeah I was the other choice. But Gwen asked me if I’d be her Maid of Honor instead given my current situation. We were kind of wondering if you’d want to be one of her bridesmaids. It would mean a lot to Risk having us both involved somehow, and it would mean a lot to Gwen too.”

Sarah grinned and put her hand on Natalie’s shoulder, “You should do it Nat, it could be fun and then Kayla won’t have to suffer all alone.”

Natalie looked uncomfortable with the idea but with Sarah’s encouragement she soon caved in, “I guess so, it’s not really my kind of thing, but if it’ll make Rick happy I suppose I can handle one day in an ugly dress.” Sarah and I both gave her a big hug which made her blush a bit.

I decided to be merciful and take the attention away from Natalie and grinned instead at Jason, “Risk’s 0 for 2 with his best man choices. You should volunteer for the job Jason; I bet you’d make a cute girl.”

“Oh very funny Kayla, I’m very happy as a guy thanks.” He rolled his eyes and then gave me a long look before frowning at me, “And would you stop changing your eye color like that, it’s a bit creepy when you do it while I’m watching.”

I gave him a gentle punch to the shoulder, “Well if you’d stop looking at me like that you wouldn’t have to watch it. You poor boy, you just can’t take your eyes off me. Now speaking of changing wasn’t there something you were going to show me?”

)==()==(

The four of us walked through the woods, Jason in the form of a large brown moose with a large set of antlers I was tempted to hang my jacket on. I hadn’t actually believed the whole Were thing until I saw it with my own eyes. It was certainly much cooler than my eye color trick. I consoled myself with the fact I had some other pretty cool abilities as part of being a Vampire, such as increased strength and speed and of course the ability to Mesmer. I was beginning to see that every type of Unseen had its own strengths and weaknesses.

The girls were telling me about various things we found as we walked while Jason kept alert for danger. Our first stop was a small cabin by a stream. The cabin was well stocked with provisions and Sarah said that the Unseen Council kept it stocked for those lost or wounded in the woods and as a base of operations for search parties. There was plenty of dry goods and medical supplies as well as some survival gear for emergencies.

We sat in the Cabin to take a break seeing as we had been walking for a few hours to get there, us girls talking while Jason changed back to his human form and into his clothes outside. The cabin was rustic with some wooden chairs, a bed, and a couch, and seemed very cozy. I had gotten past my nerves about being out in the sunlight for so long seeing as I hadn’t burst into flames or even really felt uncomfortable for our whole walk. I thought to myself that this whole Unseen thing might not be so bad after all. As Jason came into the cabin he passed around some cans of soda from his backpack which I had carried here and left outside for him. He smiled sadly as he looked around, “It’s been awhile since we’ve been out this far Nat, I’ve missed it.”

Natalie nodded and let out a sigh before turning to me to explain, “We used to come out here all the time. We’d check the supplies for the Council and do some training out here, sometimes we’d stay a few days at a time.”

“I guess your family must have put a stop to it when you got girlified huh?” I responded.

She nodded, “Yeah, when I was a guy and training to be a Warden, it was encouraged for me to come out here with Jason to train. Afterwards…” she trailed off.

“What were they worried about you being out here all alone with a boy? I guess I could see that since you two kind of gave off a vibe like you were a couple when we first met. I think you’re more close friends though.”

Natalie made a disgusted look as Sarah giggled. “Ewwwww gross! No, my parents decided since I’m no longer training to be a Warden and I’m heir to the family’s magic I should be kept safe while I learn magic until I have a Warden of my own.”

Jason put one of his massive hands on her shoulder, “Yeah we’re just buds, nothing more. I think your parents may let up so long as we go in groups, you and Sarah may not have Wardens yet but I’ll do my best to keep you safe.”

“I nodded, “You can count me in too. I haven’t known you all long but you’re good people. I won’t let anything happen to you while I’m around. We’ll keep you safe.” I bit my lip, keeping myself from crying, “I… I wasn’t able to do anything to save Carly. But I promise I won’t let anything like that happen to a friend again if I can do anything about it.” I took a sip of my soda as I tried to compose myself.

I suddenly found myself on the receiving end of a hug from Sarah and Natalie as Sarah spoke, “We’ll all look out for each other, that’s what good friends do.” She grinned at us all, “Now let’s not get all mopey, we still have to show Kayla the Valley and it’s a hard walk.”

I looked at her confused. “I thought you all told me not to enter the Valley.”

Natalie nodded, taking a sip of her soda, “You don’t want to enter without permission from the Sacred or you might never come back. We’re not going into the Valley though; we’re just going to show you where it is so you know when you’ve gone too far.”

)==()==(

The walk to the Valley was more of a climb. After we had left the cabin the terrain started to go steadily uphill. After a few kilometers it was almost a sixty degree slope and heavily forested and we had to start being careful with our footing. “How could someone not realize they’re heading to the Valley with a climb like this?” I finally asked.

Jason grinned as he made his way up beside me, “I know right. You’d think people would realize that if you want to get back to town you need to go downhill.”

Sarah nodded as I helped her up over a large rock, “Usually it’s local Norms or people not from the island who get lost. The local Norms think the disappearances are just to scare people and do it to prove how tough they are, and the people not from the island get lost and think civilization is just over the next rise.”

“It’s one of the many reasons we don’t encourage tourism.” Natalie added.

“I always wondered why we don’t promote the island to tourists; it could bring a lot of revenue into town.” I looked around, taking in the scenery, “A lot of people would love the island for vacations.”

Natalie frowned, “The Valley is one of the major reasons but there are others as well. One is that tourists bring litter and we would rather the island stay as untouched by man as possible outside of town. Another reason is that sleepy little towns with not a lot of visitors seem boring and the last thing people expect would be anything unusual so we Unseen can hide in plain sight. The less attention we bring to the island the less we have to hide.”

I nodded, “That’s true, I grew up here and I thought the town was the most boring place on earth. I was a bit shocked by all this Unseen stuff happening right under my nose all those years.”

Jason got a serious look on his face, “There’s one more obvious reason. Tourism for a place like Sena Island brings game hunters. Can you imagine what would happen if one of those hunters shot the wrong fox, lynx or moose? Or what would happen if they saw one of the Unseen in the woods or while fishing? That could cause all sorts of trouble.”

I thought about all this for a moment before answering, “I guess knowing what I know now I have to admit that it’s better to be a sleepy little town. The less people who come here, the less people we need to worry about finding out about us.”

)==()==(

We stood overlooking the Valley. It was some of the most beautiful forest I had ever seen, and just looking at it gave me a sense of peace. I wondered how much more beautiful it would look with leaves on all the trees, though there was plenty of pine, redwood and spruce to add splashes of green. The downward slope was gentler than the one we had just climbed and I’m sure would be tempting to someone tired and lost. Hell I was tempted myself but I took the warning about the Valley seriously.

Natalie gestured broadly toward the Valley, “The Valley is pretty big, it covers near one third of the Island and the Crossroads is right above it. We think it’s possible that could be part of the reason that most people who go in don’t come out.”

Sarah nodded, “It could be anything though, it could just be the size of the Valley, it could be something to do with the way being too close to the Crossroads screws with electronics, or it could have something to do with the Sacred.”

Jason looked up at the sky, “We should get going, it looks and smells like it’s going to rain, we might even get snow. Besides it gets dark early right now and we’re supposed to be back in town before then. Dad needs the truck back by then.”

Natalie frowned, “Yeah we should get going home then. One of us really needs to get our own vehicle.” With that we began the descent and left the Valley behind us.

)==()==(

It started pouring soon after we started on our way down. It was a freezing rain and I was glad we had all bundled up for today’s outing. The cold didn’t bother me so much as the thought of being in soaking wet clothes. We made our way cautiously down the slope, not talking much and paying careful attention to where we placed our feet as the rain came down progressively harder. We were about three quarters of the way down when Sarah slipped on a rock. Her ankle made a horrid popping sound and she yelped in pain as she lost her balance and fell down the slope.

Suddenly being careful was the last of my worries and I made my way down the hill as fast as I could by sliding down after her. Natalie and Jason followed suit and were right on my heels. We got to the bottom of the slope to find Sarah lying next to a tree, unconscious. A quick check showed she had a pulse, but her ankle was not at a good angle and she was bleeding freely from a head wound. Her hood was covered in blood and it taunted my hunger. I pushed thoughts of food aside as I took a look at the wound. She was losing blood fast,” Someone needs to get help and medical supplies. ”

Jason took off like a shot, headed toward the cabin most likely and the supplies stored there. Natalie pulled out her cell phone and dialed the emergency number while I tried very hard not to panic as I tore off a section off my shirt and tried to staunch the bleeding. She’d lost so much blood already and who knows what kind of damage the impact may have done. My mind raced through my options. I couldn’t turn her even if I did have any idea how, I was forbidden from doing that, moving her could make her worse, and staunching the wound didn’t seem to be doing much except making me hungry.

I pushed aside my growing hunger again and could vaguely hear Natalie cursing her lack of a signal. She sounded as panicked as I felt. As she knelt down beside me I kept trying to think of something I could do, anything, and I kept coming up with nothing. I had this burning need to do something. I’d promised to keep her safe and it looked like I was going to fail just as I had with Carly. I felt like I was going to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come instead I was overcome with a strange warmth in my chest. The warmth slowly spread to my whole body and my hands, which were still holding the scrap of my shirt tightly against Sarah’s head, felt like they were on fire.

I opened my eyes to see that my hands weren’t really on fire, but they were glowing a bright white. Then I noticed that Sarah was glowing too, though not as brightly as my hands. I couldn’t take my eyes away and somewhere in the back of my mind I heard Natalie curse again. All I could focus on at that moment though was the light and the warmth which seemed to be flowing from my chest down my arms and from my hands into Sarah. I didn’t even notice how very tired I suddenly felt, not until the light went out and everything went black.

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Comments

Talents

Well it seems she has another talent, the ability to heal. I do think she could have stopped the flow of blood by licking the injury the same as it she bit someone to feed. As to her eye color change it is a good bet that she should be able to change at least her hair color also, if not her skin color too.

The Real Question

Drakira's picture

The real question is are they multiple vampiric talents or are they witch magic? Remember, Kayla was a Dud as a male.

Drakira

Bloodlines Chapter 5

What happened to Sarah?

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

I suspect she just found out

I suspect she just found out she can do magic.


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

No.

She can't do magic. Sorry all.

The healing is her real vampire special ability. She's still a dud in all the other things. life is hard, I know, but you deal with it and move on. Besides, Kayla only wished she had been the daughter her mother wanted. She didn't actively work to become that.

Now that she's a vampire, the witch powers are blocked.

Maggie

Are you sure of that?

I can think of at least one other vampire that has witch powers - Wisteria.

Wisteria

Enemyoffun's picture

She drains the life force out of people through feeding. When she feeds on witches she takes some of their magic---if she drains them dry, she takes all of it. So she's technically a witch but not really...if that makes sense lol.

But that leaves the question...

Of just where Carmilla got her's from? Or would that be her vampiric ability?

Also, Amethyst, great chapter here. I like how you handled the personal interactions and how people dealt wit hthe changes in others that took place durring everyone's time away from each other. Very well done. I'm looking forward to chapter six, and hopefully soon, please. :P

Peace be with you and Blessed be

Disadvantages

Yes, Carmilla was another choice and I think there have been several hybrids between the different Unseen so far. I don't seen that it is too far out of the realm of possibility to think of a vampire/witch hybrid. Also, I don't see it as too overpowered when you take into account that Kayla has a big disadvantage - she has been regressed to a teen. As it seems vampires don't age past their created point she will always be seen and treated as one by those that don't know her. There is another painful disadvantage in that the friends she makes will age, even if witches seem to show it less, this will mean that they will drift away from her over time as she can't go everywhere they can. I don't see her going them on a night of clubbing at a bar that cards, "Yeah, right kid! Nobody going to believe you are 21, regardless of how good your fake ID is."

Carmilla

Got her abilities with magic because she LEARNED how to do it and practiced. It isn't something innate in her either. She worked hard to learn those things. Mostly to try and keep up with Wisteria.

Mmm.. I don't totally buy

Mmm.. I don't totally buy that, really.

Here's my thoughts on the matter.

Vampirism (in this universe) seems to be one of two types (with a few 'sports'). Both types are 'heterophages', meaning that they feed best on the _opposite_ gender. (I'm assuming it's mostly a matter of taste, because it's very unlikely that the blood bags are really tested that closely as to 'gender')

Type 1 converts male 'victim' to male vampire, or female victim to female vampire.
Type 2 converts male 'victim' to female vampire, or vice versa.

As part of those conversions, _talents are conserved_. Otherwise, converting someone to get their singing ability _wouldn't work_. You'd end up with someone who was technically good, but didn't have the true talent to be wonderful.

We've already seen that magic is generally XX or female linked.(it hasn't been stated straight out that magic _never_ is in the presence of the Y chromosome, but it has been strongly suggested that it's not expected - Would AIS sufferers be more likely to exhibit magic? Anyway)

Thus, as Magic is as much a talent as it is a genetic trait, Kayla _should still have the innate ability to manefest magic_. It doesn't mean it would be -easy-. There also had to be some reason other than 'leave us alone' for the 'do not convert witches' rule. Same with weres, etc. I figured it was because of unpredictable results due to the hybridization of radically differing sources of magic.

That all said, it doesn't mean it would be _easy_. It's already been noted that Witches are using life force to power their witchcraft. (That's not to say they don't also have ways of recharging it, such as the various pools or wells they seem to covet) The problem for a vampire is that they don't have 'normal' sources of life force of their own anymore. They're mostly parasites. So, someone like Kayla would be taking an enormous risk _using_ magic, because of not knowing if she'd have enough 'oomph' to do anything in particular, and speeding up the need.. the need to feed.. (Or just 'dusting' herself)


I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.

Blood/Mana pick-me-up

Good reasoning, I can see it now. Kayla is practicing spells and reaches over to grab a bag of blood as she is feeling a little drained. And what keeps the bagged blood from sometimes coming from a magical or were that donates. Several of them have been to a hospital I believe or received some medical care, so their blood can't be that different from a norm without deeper testing (magical testing?).

Several points here.

Humans converted to vampires stay the same sex they were as human. Most of the time.

The exception is in Ravencrest where Wisteria either absorbed of found a spell to change someone's sex while the body was in the mallable state of becoming vampire. And yes, Carmilla and a few other of the girls know about this and how to do it.

Second. Vampires can't be witches because they have no real life force to draw on in spite of the blood they drink. The magic Wisteria uses is because she absorbed it, and Carmilla learned hers, as I already said. But in neither case is it witch magic.

The risk you mentioned, Bibliophage is real however in the sense that magic is draining. Since vampires have no real life force to drain, they lose vitality and power by using it, and even with a ready supply of blood, it takes some time to replenish what was lost. Witches can fight and carry on while using their magic. Vampires can't.

Maggie

Sounds logical...

Since we've been told that witches gain power for their magic from their life force (so unlike other mythologies, they cannot draw in essence from external sources), then as vampires don't have a life force (well, not the 'standard' kind anyway), and life force is integral to a living body (so not shared with the loss of bodily fluids [or limbs!]), then it stands to reason that vampires would have problems powering spells.

However, it may be possible for a 'turned' witch to still be attuned to magic, i.e. able to sense / detect it as well as more passive / recipient aspects of magic abilities.

In Kayla's case, that's pretty much irrelevant due to her vampiric gift of healing - although it probably drains her energy reserves, so while fixing up a minor cut or scrape would have little effect on her appetite, more significant healing could reach the stage whereby if she didn't remain focussed, a conflict of interest may arise (particularly if healing a male). More extensive healing still (the threshold for which will probably increase with time / practice) and she'll pass out from the effort.

I'd imagine that even with plenty of training, if she was engaged on a battlefield she could dart from casualty to casualty, using vampiric speed (and hopefully situational awareness!) to avoid getting hit; but would also need to be 'armed' with several vacuum flasks of blood to keep her energy reserves up.


As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

Male Witches

Enemyoffun's picture

Male magic users do exist but they're very rare. At one time in history there were Wizards but they're long gone. The last known Wizard was Jacob Ravencrest.

Wow

Amethyst's picture

Lots of discussion on this one. It's nice to see :) Chapter 6 will be a lot less informational and more getting to the meat of the story.

Thank you for the compliment Loki. I've wanted the interactions between characters to be believable to make the characters more real and get my readers into the story more. I'm glad to see I'm doing that. Thank you all for your comments and discussion as feedback in any form is very important to me.

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

You're welcome Amethyst.

I'm glad to see so much intereaction as well, but I find it very amusing that it's mostly the other authors answering questions and debating amongst ourselves. XD

Peace be with you and Blessed be

lol

Amethyst's picture

lol true, but I'm not going to give anything away until I post chapter 6. ;)

Also folks will be able to get to know Natalie better soon as I should have Trial and Heiress chapter 1 ready to go soon too.

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3