Myshuno! 5: Astraea becoming a vampire
Prompt: Astraea becoming a vampire
Universe: The Boolpropian Round Robin Legacy: Generation Nine
Word Count: 1464
Notes: ...This somehow ended up being less about Astraea and more about Roxanna, but whatever, it fits the prompt?
We shared a bed, that night.
It was something we hadn't really done before. As children, we'd always had two separate beds (or cribs), though admittedly always in the same room. But after so many long years apart, I think we both needed the comfort that just being close provided.
Sleep didn't come easily, at least for me. I could feel the changes in my body, the knowledge that night was coming on and that meant I should be awake, not asleep - even though I'd been awake for a good 40 or so hours and desperately needed rest.
It didn't help that I was starving. I hadn't eaten since the day before, and I'd never tasted blood.
And blood was what I needed.
As I lay in bed, watching Astraea sleep, I found that I could not stop looking at her neck and the blood that pulsed just beneath the skin. This was what I wanted. This was what I needed.
This was my twin sister and I'd just gotten her back.
When I found I was reaching for her anyway, I forced myself out of the bed and into a corner of the room, where I sat and watched her sleep for the remainder of the night, sitting on my hands and forcing myself to stay where I was.
"Roxanna?" she mumbled, reaching out toward the side of the bed where I'd been lying. When her hands met nothing but blankets, she sat up. "Roxanna?" I must've made a noise, because she turned on the bedside lamp (it wasn't quite dawn) and looked at me. "What's wrong?"
As she climbed out of the bed and began to walk toward me, I shook my head. "No, don't. Don't come near me."
She stopped. "Why not?"
"I don't think I can stop myself if you come near me and I really, really do not want to kill you." We stayed like that, staring at each other from across the room, until I put my head on my knees. "This isn't going to work, Astraea. We can't do this. I'm just - I'm going to go crazy and kill you and then I won't be able to forgive myself." I had to force my voice to stay calm because my mind definitely wasn't.
"Okay, first of all, you're not going to kill me. I'm pretty good at defending myself. Second, I am absolutely staying here. We have gone far too long without each other and I am not abandoning you to go crazy from starvation. Third, did you think I didn't know what you meant last night? You're a vampire, you're going to live forever. I intend to be right there by your side, which means I need to become a vampire too, so, congratulations, you get to turn someone!"
"Yay."
She rolled her eyes. "And besides, that'll solve the wanting-to-eat-me problem. Vampires don't eat blood from other vampires, right?"
"Right."
"But I think you need to eat first or you might accidentally kill me instead, which, no."
"Yeah, uh, let's skip that."
"So, getting you blood. Well, there's always the option of kidnapping some random person and bringing them here so you can feed, but I think we should skip that one."
I shook my head. "I'd rather go insane."
"We should also skip that, but I'm not going to disagree with you. Which means we need other options. Blood from, like, a bag or a cup or something would be fine, right?"
"Right."
"What about animal blood?"
My brow furrowed as I thought. "It sounds...not incredibly appetizing, but like it might work? Like eating sardines or one of those really disgusting cheeses did when I was alive - it would fill me up, because it's food, but not like eating chocolate or cake or even something like a piece of chicken."
She nodded. "So going to the butcher and buying blood is an option, then, assuming they sell it. The other option is human blood, but not from an actual human, which would probably mean robbing a hospital or a blood bank. Luckily, I am a very good thief."
I could swear I was starting to hear her pulse and I closed my eyes, clenching my hands into fists beneath my legs. "Whatever you're going to do, do it soon or at least leave. I don't know how much longer I can stop myself."
"Alright. I'll be back soon."
I think I smiled weakly. "Soon."
I don't know how long I sat there, waiting for Astraea to return, but it felt like forever, though in retrospect it couldn't have been more than two or maybe three hours. By the time she came back, the sun was fully up and I had barricaded myself in the bathroom, one of the few rooms in the house with no windows at all - the sunlight, even filtered through walls, just made me feel worse.
If I was going to be here for a hundred years, I was going to need to find (or make) some better spaces without sun, at least enough so I could sleep during the day. Maybe I could do something with that unfinished basement that I'd never done much with other than close it up so the kids couldn't get into anything.
"Roxanna? Are you in there?"
"Yeah." It was getting worse. I could smell her now. "Don't come in."
"I need to get this to you."
"Leave it outside the door and go somewhere I can't get to you."
There was a pause. "Alright," she finally said. "I'll be on the balcony." That was fine. That was outside, where I couldn't go.
I waited until I heard the doors, then I came out of the bathroom. There was a container of blood and a cup on the floor.
I downed it immediately, not even pausing to pour the blood into the cup. The instant I tasted it I knew that Astraea had gone for animal blood, because it tasted gross. But it was blood, and it was filling, and by the time I finished the container I felt in control of my own mind again.
The door to the bedroom opened and I looked up. She hadn't waited.
Of course she hadn't waited. When had Astraea ever been good at actually following instructions?
"You sure you still want to become a vampire?" I asked, gesturing at the blood on my hands and my face, the empty container, the neglected cup. "Look what's waiting for you. A life without sunlight, with cravings for blood to the point that you worry you'll hurt those you care about. Having to live forever."
"You know we look at things differently. I don't really think of it has having to live forever so much as getting to live forever. Blood, well, I can deal with that, and sunlight isn't all it's cracked up to be. Besides, you're missing something. I do this and I get you. If I don't..."
"I guess."
"So, turn me. Make me a vampire. And then, my darling twin sister, we are going to turn this town upside down."
I smiled wryly. "Let me get the blood off first." I went back into the bathroom and washed the container and my hands and face. I could already tell that I was going to miss showing up in mirrors - there was no real way to tell if I'd gotten all the blood off my face or not. "Sure you want to do this? Not being able to see myself in a mirror is more disconcerting than I expected."
"Hey, I'll check your face for stuff, you can check mine. We can do each other's hair, it'll be just like a slumber party." She put her hand on my shoulder and let her smile fade, putting on a much more serious look than I was used to seeing on her. "I'm not changing my mind, Roxanna. No matter what you say."
"Okay," I said. "Then just...come here."
And I bit her, making her a vampire. I can't say I was enthusiastic, but I never had been able to say no to my twin, and she really had thought about it and really did want it. And, when it came down to it, I really wanted it too. I wanted the companionship. I wanted to hold onto my sister and never let her go.
And when it was over, she sat up, her skin as blue as mine, and she smiled. "So I put the rest of the blood in the fridge," she said, as unfazed by becoming a vampire as she was by anything else. "Want to come see if human from a blood bank is any better than animal from a butcher?"
Universe: The Boolpropian Round Robin Legacy: Generation Nine
Word Count: 1464
Notes: ...This somehow ended up being less about Astraea and more about Roxanna, but whatever, it fits the prompt?
We shared a bed, that night.
It was something we hadn't really done before. As children, we'd always had two separate beds (or cribs), though admittedly always in the same room. But after so many long years apart, I think we both needed the comfort that just being close provided.
Sleep didn't come easily, at least for me. I could feel the changes in my body, the knowledge that night was coming on and that meant I should be awake, not asleep - even though I'd been awake for a good 40 or so hours and desperately needed rest.
It didn't help that I was starving. I hadn't eaten since the day before, and I'd never tasted blood.
And blood was what I needed.
As I lay in bed, watching Astraea sleep, I found that I could not stop looking at her neck and the blood that pulsed just beneath the skin. This was what I wanted. This was what I needed.
This was my twin sister and I'd just gotten her back.
When I found I was reaching for her anyway, I forced myself out of the bed and into a corner of the room, where I sat and watched her sleep for the remainder of the night, sitting on my hands and forcing myself to stay where I was.
"Roxanna?" she mumbled, reaching out toward the side of the bed where I'd been lying. When her hands met nothing but blankets, she sat up. "Roxanna?" I must've made a noise, because she turned on the bedside lamp (it wasn't quite dawn) and looked at me. "What's wrong?"
As she climbed out of the bed and began to walk toward me, I shook my head. "No, don't. Don't come near me."
She stopped. "Why not?"
"I don't think I can stop myself if you come near me and I really, really do not want to kill you." We stayed like that, staring at each other from across the room, until I put my head on my knees. "This isn't going to work, Astraea. We can't do this. I'm just - I'm going to go crazy and kill you and then I won't be able to forgive myself." I had to force my voice to stay calm because my mind definitely wasn't.
"Okay, first of all, you're not going to kill me. I'm pretty good at defending myself. Second, I am absolutely staying here. We have gone far too long without each other and I am not abandoning you to go crazy from starvation. Third, did you think I didn't know what you meant last night? You're a vampire, you're going to live forever. I intend to be right there by your side, which means I need to become a vampire too, so, congratulations, you get to turn someone!"
"Yay."
She rolled her eyes. "And besides, that'll solve the wanting-to-eat-me problem. Vampires don't eat blood from other vampires, right?"
"Right."
"But I think you need to eat first or you might accidentally kill me instead, which, no."
"Yeah, uh, let's skip that."
"So, getting you blood. Well, there's always the option of kidnapping some random person and bringing them here so you can feed, but I think we should skip that one."
I shook my head. "I'd rather go insane."
"We should also skip that, but I'm not going to disagree with you. Which means we need other options. Blood from, like, a bag or a cup or something would be fine, right?"
"Right."
"What about animal blood?"
My brow furrowed as I thought. "It sounds...not incredibly appetizing, but like it might work? Like eating sardines or one of those really disgusting cheeses did when I was alive - it would fill me up, because it's food, but not like eating chocolate or cake or even something like a piece of chicken."
She nodded. "So going to the butcher and buying blood is an option, then, assuming they sell it. The other option is human blood, but not from an actual human, which would probably mean robbing a hospital or a blood bank. Luckily, I am a very good thief."
I could swear I was starting to hear her pulse and I closed my eyes, clenching my hands into fists beneath my legs. "Whatever you're going to do, do it soon or at least leave. I don't know how much longer I can stop myself."
"Alright. I'll be back soon."
I think I smiled weakly. "Soon."
I don't know how long I sat there, waiting for Astraea to return, but it felt like forever, though in retrospect it couldn't have been more than two or maybe three hours. By the time she came back, the sun was fully up and I had barricaded myself in the bathroom, one of the few rooms in the house with no windows at all - the sunlight, even filtered through walls, just made me feel worse.
If I was going to be here for a hundred years, I was going to need to find (or make) some better spaces without sun, at least enough so I could sleep during the day. Maybe I could do something with that unfinished basement that I'd never done much with other than close it up so the kids couldn't get into anything.
"Roxanna? Are you in there?"
"Yeah." It was getting worse. I could smell her now. "Don't come in."
"I need to get this to you."
"Leave it outside the door and go somewhere I can't get to you."
There was a pause. "Alright," she finally said. "I'll be on the balcony." That was fine. That was outside, where I couldn't go.
I waited until I heard the doors, then I came out of the bathroom. There was a container of blood and a cup on the floor.
I downed it immediately, not even pausing to pour the blood into the cup. The instant I tasted it I knew that Astraea had gone for animal blood, because it tasted gross. But it was blood, and it was filling, and by the time I finished the container I felt in control of my own mind again.
The door to the bedroom opened and I looked up. She hadn't waited.
Of course she hadn't waited. When had Astraea ever been good at actually following instructions?
"You sure you still want to become a vampire?" I asked, gesturing at the blood on my hands and my face, the empty container, the neglected cup. "Look what's waiting for you. A life without sunlight, with cravings for blood to the point that you worry you'll hurt those you care about. Having to live forever."
"You know we look at things differently. I don't really think of it has having to live forever so much as getting to live forever. Blood, well, I can deal with that, and sunlight isn't all it's cracked up to be. Besides, you're missing something. I do this and I get you. If I don't..."
"I guess."
"So, turn me. Make me a vampire. And then, my darling twin sister, we are going to turn this town upside down."
I smiled wryly. "Let me get the blood off first." I went back into the bathroom and washed the container and my hands and face. I could already tell that I was going to miss showing up in mirrors - there was no real way to tell if I'd gotten all the blood off my face or not. "Sure you want to do this? Not being able to see myself in a mirror is more disconcerting than I expected."
"Hey, I'll check your face for stuff, you can check mine. We can do each other's hair, it'll be just like a slumber party." She put her hand on my shoulder and let her smile fade, putting on a much more serious look than I was used to seeing on her. "I'm not changing my mind, Roxanna. No matter what you say."
"Okay," I said. "Then just...come here."
And I bit her, making her a vampire. I can't say I was enthusiastic, but I never had been able to say no to my twin, and she really had thought about it and really did want it. And, when it came down to it, I really wanted it too. I wanted the companionship. I wanted to hold onto my sister and never let her go.
And when it was over, she sat up, her skin as blue as mine, and she smiled. "So I put the rest of the blood in the fridge," she said, as unfazed by becoming a vampire as she was by anything else. "Want to come see if human from a blood bank is any better than animal from a butcher?"