Lullaby Part One
Title: Lullaby
Characters: Rachel, Jaeris
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Descriptions of violence, racial slurs
Summary: Jaeris tells Rachel a bedtime story
Notes: Rachel created by achika_chan. Used by permission. This story takes place after “ Orientation.” There are one or two racial slurs used in a historical context. I do not condone the language, but there was no other way to write it accurately.
Rachel felt much safer as soon as she and Jaeris were alone in their room. Most vampires still set her on edge, but when it was just him, she felt fine-better than fine, even.
She sat down at the vanity as Jaeris closed the door and she started unpinning her long brown hair, which she usually kept in two braids wound around her head-old fashioned, but practical for now. She strongly suspected that Linkara would tell her to cut it once they started working.
“Why didn’t you tell Snob your story when asked?” she asked as she started unraveling the first braid.
Jaeris looked at her in the mirror as he took off his coat. “Why would I?” he asked. “It’s none of his business.”
“Maybe not,” Rachel admitted. “But you heard him. You’ll have to tell someday.”
“If the vampire lord asks, I will,” he said. “Until then, my business is my own.”
Rachel picked up her hairbrush. “And mine,” she reminded him, starting to brush out her hair.
“Who said it was your business?” Jaeris asked, letting down his own hair.
Rachel glared at him. “You did. When you asked me to run off with you.”
Jaeris stared at her for a moment and then sighed. “S’pose you’re right,” he muttered, stepping up behind her at taking the hairbrush to brush out the back of her hair. “But it’s a story I ain’t too proud of.”
“It’s all right,” Rachel said, closing her eyes as Jaeris brushed her hair. “Whatever happened was over a hundred years ago. And maybe if you tell me, it will be easier to tell the vampire lord when he asks.”
Jaeris nodded. “All right.” He hesitated. “I don’t really know where to start.”
“Usually, you start at the beginning,” she said with a small smile.”
“Right,” Jaeris sighed. “The beginning.”
*
“It’s a states’ right issue!”
“Lincoln wants to change our way of life!”
“Damn abolitionists! We treat these niggers better than they do!”
“Succession is the only way!”
“We lost Kansas!”
“We won’t give up the land!”
As long as Jaeris could remember, the men who came to the house were always going on about the trouble in Washington. This happened fairly often, though Jaeris wasn’t allowed to participate until he was sixteen, and even when he was allowed to sit in, he rarely had anything to contribute. He didn’t know about politics or succession or anything beyond what his father’s friends said. His family wasn’t rich-they had a small farm in Virginia that only ever had one slave named Sierra.
Sierra had been a fixture of Jaeris’s life from the beginning and Jaeris could hardly imagine life without him. And even when there were rumblings about abolition and succession, Jaeris ignored them. He had never thought too hard about whether slaver was right or wrong. it was just the way things were. He had never known any other way of life and had never tried to imagine anything else. He never believed anything was going to change.
Or he didn’t, until the day Sierra ran away. There was a search mounted, which Jaeris joined, but they never found the slave and after a few weeks, his father said it wasn’t worth it, that they would find a replacement at the next auction.
Jaeris never wondered about whether his perception was right. He never believed anything was going to change.
*
“But how could you not think about it?” Rachel asked.
Jaeris shrugged. “Do you think about life without computers?”
“But that’s different!” Rachel protested. “He was a human being!”
“I know. But I was a kid. I didn’t know any better. And I’ve had a hundred and fifty years to think about it now.”
“And?”
Jaeris ran his hand through her hair again. “I realized not long after…I was wrong about slavery. But you gotta understand…I didn’t go to war to fight for slavery. Can’t speak for anyone else, but I didn’t go because of that.”
*
“Shots fired at Fort Sumter!”
“We’ve formed our own nation! The Confederate States of America!”
“They’re raising an army in Richmond! Every able-bodied man is to report!”
“Can’t go. My leg.”
Jaeris stood up from his chair in the corner. “I’ll go,” he said quietly.
The others looked at him. “But you’re just a boy,” his father said. “Barely eighteen!”
“I’m an able-bodied man. I’ll fight.”
“Good man!” one of his father’s friends said. “Show them Yankees what for!”
His father looked troubled. “Boys die in war,” he said quietly.
“Oh, come on, Bill,” the friend said. “It’ll be over in a day. He’ll be fine and be home with honors by Christmas!” He smiled at Jaeris. “I’ll take you to Richmond tomorrow! Get you signed up and trained.”
Jaeris smiled back. “Thanks.”
*
“I wanted to make my father proud,” Jaeris said as he set the hairbrush down. “They were all so optimistic. They told me it would be easy. That we could beat those Yankees with broomsticks.”
“So what went wrong?” Rachel asked with a hint of sarcasm.
Jaeris sighed. “The Yankees didn’t fight with broomsticks.”
Characters: Rachel, Jaeris
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Descriptions of violence, racial slurs
Summary: Jaeris tells Rachel a bedtime story
Notes: Rachel created by achika_chan. Used by permission. This story takes place after “ Orientation.” There are one or two racial slurs used in a historical context. I do not condone the language, but there was no other way to write it accurately.
Rachel felt much safer as soon as she and Jaeris were alone in their room. Most vampires still set her on edge, but when it was just him, she felt fine-better than fine, even.
She sat down at the vanity as Jaeris closed the door and she started unpinning her long brown hair, which she usually kept in two braids wound around her head-old fashioned, but practical for now. She strongly suspected that Linkara would tell her to cut it once they started working.
“Why didn’t you tell Snob your story when asked?” she asked as she started unraveling the first braid.
Jaeris looked at her in the mirror as he took off his coat. “Why would I?” he asked. “It’s none of his business.”
“Maybe not,” Rachel admitted. “But you heard him. You’ll have to tell someday.”
“If the vampire lord asks, I will,” he said. “Until then, my business is my own.”
Rachel picked up her hairbrush. “And mine,” she reminded him, starting to brush out her hair.
“Who said it was your business?” Jaeris asked, letting down his own hair.
Rachel glared at him. “You did. When you asked me to run off with you.”
Jaeris stared at her for a moment and then sighed. “S’pose you’re right,” he muttered, stepping up behind her at taking the hairbrush to brush out the back of her hair. “But it’s a story I ain’t too proud of.”
“It’s all right,” Rachel said, closing her eyes as Jaeris brushed her hair. “Whatever happened was over a hundred years ago. And maybe if you tell me, it will be easier to tell the vampire lord when he asks.”
Jaeris nodded. “All right.” He hesitated. “I don’t really know where to start.”
“Usually, you start at the beginning,” she said with a small smile.”
“Right,” Jaeris sighed. “The beginning.”
*
“It’s a states’ right issue!”
“Lincoln wants to change our way of life!”
“Damn abolitionists! We treat these niggers better than they do!”
“Succession is the only way!”
“We lost Kansas!”
“We won’t give up the land!”
As long as Jaeris could remember, the men who came to the house were always going on about the trouble in Washington. This happened fairly often, though Jaeris wasn’t allowed to participate until he was sixteen, and even when he was allowed to sit in, he rarely had anything to contribute. He didn’t know about politics or succession or anything beyond what his father’s friends said. His family wasn’t rich-they had a small farm in Virginia that only ever had one slave named Sierra.
Sierra had been a fixture of Jaeris’s life from the beginning and Jaeris could hardly imagine life without him. And even when there were rumblings about abolition and succession, Jaeris ignored them. He had never thought too hard about whether slaver was right or wrong. it was just the way things were. He had never known any other way of life and had never tried to imagine anything else. He never believed anything was going to change.
Or he didn’t, until the day Sierra ran away. There was a search mounted, which Jaeris joined, but they never found the slave and after a few weeks, his father said it wasn’t worth it, that they would find a replacement at the next auction.
Jaeris never wondered about whether his perception was right. He never believed anything was going to change.
*
“But how could you not think about it?” Rachel asked.
Jaeris shrugged. “Do you think about life without computers?”
“But that’s different!” Rachel protested. “He was a human being!”
“I know. But I was a kid. I didn’t know any better. And I’ve had a hundred and fifty years to think about it now.”
“And?”
Jaeris ran his hand through her hair again. “I realized not long after…I was wrong about slavery. But you gotta understand…I didn’t go to war to fight for slavery. Can’t speak for anyone else, but I didn’t go because of that.”
*
“Shots fired at Fort Sumter!”
“We’ve formed our own nation! The Confederate States of America!”
“They’re raising an army in Richmond! Every able-bodied man is to report!”
“Can’t go. My leg.”
Jaeris stood up from his chair in the corner. “I’ll go,” he said quietly.
The others looked at him. “But you’re just a boy,” his father said. “Barely eighteen!”
“I’m an able-bodied man. I’ll fight.”
“Good man!” one of his father’s friends said. “Show them Yankees what for!”
His father looked troubled. “Boys die in war,” he said quietly.
“Oh, come on, Bill,” the friend said. “It’ll be over in a day. He’ll be fine and be home with honors by Christmas!” He smiled at Jaeris. “I’ll take you to Richmond tomorrow! Get you signed up and trained.”
Jaeris smiled back. “Thanks.”
*
“I wanted to make my father proud,” Jaeris said as he set the hairbrush down. “They were all so optimistic. They told me it would be easy. That we could beat those Yankees with broomsticks.”
“So what went wrong?” Rachel asked with a hint of sarcasm.
Jaeris sighed. “The Yankees didn’t fight with broomsticks.”