by Dylan Keefer
“If you are getting visions like that, it must be magic keeping them locked away. And it’s failing. Probably because it has been working too long. You might have a chance to remember everything, but I wouldn’t force it because that amount of pain might kill you.”
“She’s half-vampire," Charlotte said, knitting her eyebrows.
"Full vampires can die from the pain. I've seen it. It takes a lot though, so one vision won't kill you unless it lasts several hours or days." Clayton got up. "Come on, we need a computer, and I need you to tell me exactly what happened when you turned her." He turned to Charlotte. "And you need to sit and try and focus on staying as sane as you are now."
“Alright.” Charlotte gave a thumbs-up. Prue and Clayton walked out of the room and right into the living room. All four guys were in there. Before anyone could say anything, Clayton put his hand up. “I will need everyone to tell me what happened when Charlotte was turned, and I will need a laptop. I might be able to get to the bottom of this.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Clayton opened the laptop that Milo gave him and logged onto a site that Prue had never seen before. Before he opened the site however he downloaded a few things he said were for security against someone finding their location.
As everything was being installed, he listened to everyone's story. Prue went last, and she sat next to Clayton with the others surrounding them. She shared everything she saw to the tiniest detail. When talking about the warmth, she smiled at herself and then quickly stopped when she noticed Philip glaring at her. Clayton was quick to say that she is right, that is how a turning is supposed to feel.
"You shared power with her, it is natural to like it and feel protective over her," Clayton said.
“I don’t get it. You say everything went according to plan, apart from the vision and that it wouldn’t cause something like this.” Rick sighed.
“What happened after Prue bit her?” Clayton asked.
“She almost drained her," Philip said.
“After that.”
"She passed out. Then her heart began beating again, and she healed." John said.
“And after that?” Clayton pressed.
“We took her to a room and waited. She woke up and attacked us.” Milo added.
“Still normal, freshly turned vampires will do anything for food. I’ve seen one jump into a burning building on their own to get to the only non-vampire. And who did she bite?”
“She tried to bite me, but Prue stopped her and tackled her.” Philip seemed uncomfortable at the thought of Prue saving him.
“Then I took a bottle of blood and gave it to her," John said. They hadn’t explained that far yet. Everyone’s story stopped after Charlotte healed.
“What type?” Clayton asked.
“I picked up the first bottle I found. I don’t know what it was.” John shrugged.
Prue thought back to it. She wanted to remember the smell. It flooded her nostrils, and she identified it right away. "Cow," Prue said. She never forgot blood. Clayton slapped himself on the forehead so suddenly that Prue jumped. "What?"
“That is the problem.” Clayton turned the screen towards John and had him read out loud.
“While vampires can survive on animal blood, they require fresh human blood as soon as they are turned. The words fresh and human are capitalized. That seals the turning process. Everything else after that is how you can tell if a human has been turned versus if just his body had been disposed of.” John said. “I messed up.”
“You didn’t.” Prue interrupted Philip, who was now glaring at both of them. “What were we supposed to do, let her kill Philip?”
“Well, when a human-vampire gets stale human blood as a first feed their body isn’t as strong. If they ingest animal blood as a first feed, however, they suffer memory loss and go feral. Your friend is an abomination.”
“What did you call her?” Philip shot up from his seat and took a step toward Clayton, who didn’t move. Prue did move a few steps back, but Clayton touched her by the elbow. That alone made her stop.
“It’s not a term I like either, but I didn’t name them. Someone way older than me did. Abomination refers to any supernatural creature that is abnormal in a way. Even vampires use the term. They are very anti anyone who hasn’t been turned properly. So, even Prue fits that definition, since she’s the only half-human half-vampire we’ve ever known of.” Clayton said that so calmly. Phillip backed off. And then turned toward Prue.
“So, it wasn’t your vision that made her like this?”
“Of course not, as I already explained, a memory wipe wouldn’t affect a turning. The most that would happen would be Charlotte being a bit weaker than a regular vampire and a lot more immune to the sun since Prue is only a half-vampire. But considering Prue is over 400 years old that probably offsets the human part. The older the vampire, the stronger the turning.”
“So why did she have a vision during it?” Rick asked.
"From what I can figure out, visions come to Prue when she is feeling intense emotions or focuses on a thing she wants to know about hard enough. But it doesn't always let her see the end of a scene. Her vampire side knew to finish the turning, so it jumped at the chance, without her brain holding her back. You don't want to know what happens to humans that were turned half-way."
“So it’s better than being turned into an abomination?” Philip glared at Prue.
Clayton’s expression darkened. Prue didn’t know what to say. “Yes, a half-rotting zombie is worse than occasional memory losses. Can we do this calmly and not accuse anyone?”
“Did you know that we needed to do that?” Philip asked Prue, this time a bit more calmly.
“How would I? I barely knew how to turn her properly.” Prue fought back. “I was going on my instincts, and one sentence that a vampire trying to kill me told me. And my vision, but it came later, and I didn’t see the boy feeding.”
“So, do we feed her human blood now?” John asked.
“Don’t know.” Clayton shrugged. “If she killed that man, then she already got human blood. But it doesn’t seem to have helped. If she didn’t, she has a lot of animal blood in her system. We can try feeding her human blood when she is hungry again. But Prue will need to stay in the room with her. That way if Charlotte freaks out, she can stop her from leaving the room.”
“Prue sleeps," Milo said.
“That’s why I’ll keep watch too.” Clayton patted his stun gun.
"You're not scared that she will feed off you?" Philip asked, and Prue realized she didn't know if he was talking about her or Charlotte.
"Vampires don't like my blood. I'll be fine. You four, however, are snacks. If she attacked you two times, you should stay away as far as possible."
"We will be on the second floor of the house then." Rick decided, and no one argued. "At the very least if she runs upstairs she won't get out of the house that easily."
Clayton typed something on the computer and Prue saw all the things he had set up vanishing. After that, he gave the laptop back to Milo.
“I removed everything.”
“Why? What if you need to use it again?”
“It is only for people that know how to use it. I don’t want anyone else poking around. I will get my laptop from the hotel anyway.” Clayton got up. “You watch her until I get back.”
“Okay," Prue said.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The time Clayton was away for was very awkward. Philip and Milo were uncomfortable, John apologized to Charlotte so much she had to kick him out of the room, and Rick seemed to have his hands full with convincing everyone to get to the second floor already. And after that happened, Prue had to sit and hear Charlotte tease her.
“Come on I know ya find him hot, you turn into a beet every time he looks at ya with those eyes ya probably compare with something corny.” Charlotte snickered.
Prue was half wondering why Charlotte didn’t ask her why Prue seemed to like Clayton when Milo
was here, and they were together, and half relieved because she didn’t know what to answer.
And the teasing stopped when Clayton came back. By that time Prue had helped Charlotte get dressed in something clean and washed her hair a bit and had changed her clothes. Clayton hadn’t changed. They both didn’t seem to want to sit on the chair, so they sat next to each other leaning on the wall. According to Clayton, that way one of them would not be caught off guard. Charlotte took out a pair of knitting needles and yarn.
“What? I need to keep busy, and if I’m as strong as ya think, these are useless as weapons, they shatter.” Charlotte defended herself as Prue stared at her.
"It's not that; I'm just surprised you can knit," Prue smirked.
“Even I need a hobby. Plus, at this rate, I’ll need a lot of clothes.” Charlotte stopped. "Ya think I need sleep, Clayton?”
"Well, vampires don't sleep, but they can sleep. It doesn't do much, and they can't do it every night, but if they want to act human or are bored, they sleep. It is probably safe to sleep if you want to."
“Will keep it in mind if I get bored.” Charlotte started to knit.
Clayton turned to Prue. “Do you want the first watch, or do I get it?”
“I’m not tired, how about you?” Prue asked.
"I'm not, but I have been driving for a while. I should sleep. Is it okay if I lean like this?" Clayton slid down and leaned on the wall. His shoulder slumped over Prue's.
“Yeah," Prue said that and Clayton fell asleep right away. Charlotte was busy knitting, and Prue assumed it would be rude to talk out loud at least while Clayton was next to her. This was the perfect time for Prue to be alone with her thoughts.
She looked at Clayton. She couldn’t for the life of her understand why she didn’t feel weird trusting him so easily. She thought it was possible she was just gullible, and that all it took was an arrow to earn her trust. But he did seem to be an okay person. She looked him over. He was probably over 35, or he had had a bit of a tough life. He was fit, but so was John and John wasn’t nearly as strong as Clayton, so she suspected he had something else going for him. Maybe the training he had received from the vampire hunter he spoke about? She then remembered that he said that the man who attacked her behind the morgue was someone he taught. That man was not young. She would have to ask Clayton about that when he woke up.
Prue heard Charlotte snickering. When Prue turned around, she saw Charlotte staring at her.
“I’m just thinking.”
“I bet ya are. About things.”
Prue took a deep breath and leaned back. She didn’t know what she hated more, that Charlotte assumed Prue liked every guy that wasn’t Rick or Philip, or that when one thought about it, Charlotte had been right all three times. Prue couldn’t go down that path though. Milo might be scared of her monster side now, but for a while, they had something special, and Prue didn’t want to jump from guy to guy without settling things with one first.
But she liked that Clayton didn’t flinch, that he could keep up with her, and knew things about her kind that she didn’t. She liked that he didn’t hesitate to stand up for her with Philip or help her kill that vampire, but he didn’t take all the credit. She was touched he took care of her when she had a vision. She felt like she could learn from him, and maybe, that if she was with him, she wouldn’t feel like a freak. Milo struggled to understand her, but while he was supportive and didn’t mind helping, even if he got over the uneasiness he felt after seeing Prue feed off of Charlotte, Prue would remember that face. It would be engraved in her mind, and even now she saw it every time she looked at Milo.
She thought back to Serg. From the memories that she had of him now, he felt like a father figure, not a lover. Was he her father? He wasn’t Asian, but that didn’t mean anything. Maybe her mother was. She liked the comforting thing she felt in the last vision. He carried her like she was precious to him, and she clung to him as if the very physical touch brought comfort to her.
But she needed to stop thinking about this. Prue didn’t want to have a vision right now, the last thing she needed was to wake up on the floor in pain. And what if Charlotte went crazy then?
Clayton stirred in his sleep, and his head slid sideways and fell on Prue's shoulder. And instantly all thoughts in Prue's head were mush. This feeling was nothing like what she felt with Milo. Milo was soft and comforting; he was shy glances and cuddling. This was more like what Prue felt with John, but more intense. Maybe because the fear that she'd eat him wasn't there this time.
“Ya know, ya don’t owe anyone anything," Charlotte whispered.
“What do you mean?” Prue lifted up her head. She didn’t want to have this conversation so close to Clayton, so she moved, leaning his head on a pillow. Charlotte seemed fine, so Prue sat on her bed.
“I don’t know what exactly happened in New York, but I know a few things, and from that, I can draw certain conclusions. One, ya and Milo hooked up.” It sounded as if Charlotte was talking about a case she worked on.
“Hooked up?” Prue was confused.
“Had sex.” Charlotte elaborated.
“Oh.” Prue blushed. She knew Charlotte knew, it wasn’t like they could hide it from her, but stating it bluntly out loud was always weird.
"And ya didn't talk about what that meant. I assume he was the one that started the topic, and then ya just lived together, and neither one of ya thought to even ask where it was going. Right?"
Prue sat there. Her face was stuck in a frown. “Now when I think about it, we didn’t talk. And yes, he asked me first. How did you know?”
“Despite what people may think, Milo is not shy. And he might be careful about the texts he translates, but he isn’t that way about his future with women. He doesn’t think about it. And ya had enough on your mind already, what with the visions and the vampires. So don’t think I’m blaming ya for looking for release.”
“I know you aren’t.” Prue thought for a moment. “The more I focus on it, the more I realize that I just didn’t want to think about the fact I was eventually going to lose you guys. I mean even if we weren’t being hunted, humans live less than vampires.”
“That is what I have been thinking about a lot too. I mean I can potentially live forever now.” Charlotte stared at her yarn. Prue felt guilty.
“I’m sorry.”
"For saving my life? Ya don't need to apologize to me. This way I am getting more time with the people I love. And if we figure out a way to fix me, I will find a way to spend as much time with my family as possible. Though I assume Philip would never even think about becoming a vampire." Charlotte shrugged. "Then I'll live with him until he dies and cherish the memories. And if we or just he has kids, I'll be the weird mother or aunt that lives forever and takes care of kids down the line." Charlotte looked at Prue. "Now we've gotten off track. What I wanted to say was don't waste your time trying to figure out my cousin. Ya need someone that can keep up with you, because ya might be a bad-ass half-vampire, but ya still doubt yourself and need someone to hold your hand, tell ya everything is okay, and be able to protect themselves, because like it or not you're in the middle of this and are not going to get out of it soon. Milo is not that person. He likes ya, but he can't face the reality of what ya are or what I am. He might think he can, but the only adventure he wants is in the books."
“I was just thinking about that honestly. I think he is scared of me now.” Prue thought she should have said ‘I know’ the second she finished the sentence.
“He probably is. But that is not your fault.” Charlotte smiled.
“I still want to make it right with him. I don’t know if we’re ever going to be together again, but I hope that at least he won’t look at me like that again.” Prue didn’t know how much she wanted to hear this till now.
“He’ll get over it. Wow, am I bored. Want to play cards?” Charlotte reached for the drawer next to the bed.
“Sure.” Prue settled in better, and the two began playing
. Charlotte had to explain the rules to her, but Prue seemed to learn fast if something involved numbers. Maybe that is why she liked history. Charlotte could see in the dark really well now, almost better than Prue.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Clayton was never the type of man that eavesdropped. And he could never pretend to be asleep even if he tried. Plus, he wanted Prue to trust him, so he decided to play it honest. When he woke up with his head on a pillow and Prue nowhere to be seen, he assumed he finally slept through a fight, like his mentor always assumed he would eventually. And then he turned to the side and saw Prue and Charlotte playing cards on the bed.
Clayton wasn't blind, though he never thought that a beautiful woman was worth changing your mind over. In fact, he felt that all women were beautiful and because he felt like that, he didn't really think of beauty as anything too special. It was like breathing. But Prue wasn't just beautiful. He observed the way she moved. While she looked to be in her twenties, if she told her real age to someone, that person would have the choice to say ‘of course.' Her expressions, her movements, all exuded her age in a graceful way. She was tired, but not exhausted. She was strong and had good instincts, but she was smart enough to know those things don't put her above others. She cared about the people around her, and she hoped they cared about her as well.
She stood and moved with a straight posture. She even ran like that. She liked to use her full power but felt like she had to slow down for others. He smiled when he thought back to her expression when he said he could keep up with her running. It was surprise mixed with relief.
It was obvious she had made connections here, and they were sullied right now. He felt an enormous urge to help her, and he could feel his mentor's voice chiding him in his head. Of course, now he couldn't train Charlotte as a hunter, and no one else here was even close to having the same instincts, except maybe John, but Clayton didn't know him. But he still wanted to help.
