Julia

It was dark. I opened my eyes carefully. A terrific headache threatened, just waiting for an opportunity to hit me sprawling onto the floor. I was thirsty.

I was in a very soft bed.

And I wasn't alone.

Someone was snoring just by my ear.

Worse. They had an arm flung over me.

As I carefully lifted the arm, I found it to be hairy enough to make the bet it belonged to a man. I slipped off the bed and into a small passage beyond the bedroom door.

There I dared finally breathe freely. The man in the room continued dreaming peacefully. I drew in a breath, and concentrated onto my surroundings. I tried to search for the name of the man in my memory, but as of then it still failed me. Unfortunate. But until I found out more about him, I would just need to be careful. It would be a safe bet to assume he was the boyfriend Hellebore had mentioned. But I wouldn't count on it.

I found the kitchen easily enough. The faucet was interesting, but usable. There were glasses in a cupboard over the sink. The light switch was also of curious design, but logical enough to use.

The cold water felt good in my throat and seemed to push the looming headache even further back.

I walked to an extremely tiny room opposite the kitchen. There were black boxes on a black table. Many black cables. There were really two tables in the room, but the second didn't have anything interesting on it., It was the first one that fascinated me. One of the boxes even had a little light that changed colors.

I lifted a small object off the table and turned it in my hands. It too was attached to the black network of spaghetti that covered the tabletop. So many unexplainable things this era had.

I peeked carefully outside a dark window. The apartment wasn't high up. But it wasn't on the ground level either and there was a white apartment building just opposite the window.

I became suddenly aware of my nakedness.

I retreated from the window, slightly red faced.

Why did this Lavender sleep naked! I wondered if the man in her bed had something to do with this. And became even redder.

The apartment was truly small and thus the closet wasn't hard to locate. I thanked the great goddess that Lavender seemed at least mildly organized. It took me maybe half an hour to sort out what to wear and which clothes were intended for my body type, but later I felt better.

The bathroom was my last stop. I took a good look at my features. I was pretty. And a woman, a fact mildly alarming that I decided to leave for later worrying.

I picked up a citrine by the sink. There was a mild enchantment trapped inside the stone that I could feel humming against my skin. Maybe from the witch who had brought Lavender's bag. I remembered some of that fever dream. Not much. It was hazy. But the witch had of course left an impression. And the vampire.

I wondered if I was in trouble.

I weighed the citrine in my hand. No. No, I wasn't in trouble. If the witch was trying to purify the body of a demon, she couldn't know who I was. What I was capable of. This was definitely my body. Nothing to purify here.

Except for a few skincare problems. I smiled at my own eyes, my blue eyes the centuries hadn't touched. It didn't matter where I surfaced, woman, man, lowborn, witch or a king. Well. I had never been a king. But I had been a duchess, once.

I had been a duchess last time.

I frowned at my reflection. I was a woman. Why, for the name of all the saints, was I in a female body? Every other generation was supposed to be male. I was officially disappointed. And angry.

Mo or Hellebore would hopefully have all the facts. Once I had time for them.

For now however I wanted to go for a walk.

I didn't know where Lavender kept her keys. But maybe I could chant the door open if I was still me on my way back. At least I hoped I could. If I wasn't myself though, Lavender would have a confusing start for her day. Unfortunate for her, I didn't feel like staying trapped in her tiny quarters with a foreign man. I was sure he was fine. Unfortunately though, we weren't acquainted quite yet.

So I left the apartment and embraced the night.

Timothy

Plume sat down into one of the two armchairs. I had efficiently taken up all the space on the coach with a backpack and a forgotten shirt. My end of the glass table was also taken up with a laptop and a mouse. My phone was connected by a cable, charging. It too lay on the table. I used the living room table as my study station at home.

I lifted my head behind the laptop.

As I saw that the vampire had his guitar, I stopped the pop playlist I had been listening to and took off my headset. Plume didn't seem to notice. He tried a few cords with his fingertips. Then changed to nails, striking out different kind of a sound.

Slowly, I shifted my gaze back to my presentation.

"I can feel you listening." Plume sung the words to notes he played.

He stopped playing. I warily peeked over the laptop. He smiled and shook his head.

"I don't get it," he said. "Your mother hasn't come back. Wasn't she supposed to bring a potential buyer? It's almost half past ten. A bit late for an exhibition."

I frowned.

Plume saw it and felt my confusion.

"What?" He asked. "Do you know something?"

I searched for words. If I was wrong, what I was about to say would make me look extremely foolish. Then I said carefully: "There is kind of a chance... I mean. I think it might be... mmm..."

Plume lifted one eyebrow to express I was being idiotic just then dragging my feet.

"That it might be what?"

Just then we heard a key turned.

"It doesn't matter." I felt my heart rate soar. Plume gave me a look, obviously aware of my heightened alertness.

"Come in," my mother was telling someone.

I rose. I felt suddenly fragile. I walked to the hall.

My mother was standing there as well. She was looking and feeling a bit puzzled. As we arrived, she turned to me, feeling obviously a bit relieved to see me.

"This is my son. I told you he still lives here."

She came to my full view, framed by the doorway. Such a small being. Her dark hair fell in a curtain around a round, small face that was pale as the moon. Her eyes were dark behind her lenses. She was wearing a light blue collared shirt and dark trousers. The smart outfit highlighted her small, young features.

Mo had been sixteen. And sixteen she remained. While a human who was turned into a vampire at an older age would again find their youthful healthy features, nothing would ever make Mo grow to look quite adult.

But why would you need to look adult, if you were ancient and owned half of a country? I was sure no one who read her passport would ever dare question the age marked there, no matter what the digits claimed.

I looked into the night behind the door, and in her eyes the night looked back at me.

Drop. I could almost hear the command in the shade of those dark eyes.

Instinctively I dropped. Not onto my knees. I didn't even bend them. I didn't nod.

But my mind and being bowed to respect her presence. I let go of my ego, of my fear of what would happen next as my thoughts changed track and my being dropped into a sort of meditative state she had drilled into me many years ago. Time seized to have any meaning. I was still aware of my apprehension of the situation, but that terror had stayed someplace else. I did no more identify with it.

I felt as if I had just willingly fallen off somewhere high. The human mind protested against letting go of a distinct identity, of identifying with pains and feelings and memories. Quite as the human body protested against all actions of self destruction. But once you flung yourself to the void, it felt rather nice. Like I was floating somewhere.

The submerged state left also my aura clear. It became more pleasant for a vampire to experience. Calm wasn't quite the word. But there was clearness and cleanliness to the state.

Immediately after I had dropped I became also aware of the two presences beside me that had not. I could now clearly experience my mother's rising apprehension. She knew something was happening she hadn't been prepared for.

But Plume hadn't dropped either. He was surprised. Astonished. Even slightly panicking. His aura had become volatile with emotional activity. I could perceive his agitation even through the vampiric silence marking his aura. His emotions were strong and on the surface.

I stored that bit of information to be dealt with later. For right then I had yet one more task to perform.

"Please, Mo, come on into my home," I said.

Mo smiled politely. She rarely smiled truly warmly. She brought inside a beautiful presence. Her aura was clear and translucent like the night air behind her. She breezed freshly inside with it. And in my altered state, I felt I stood alone with her in the hall. Some part of me would have liked to talk with her. To explain everything to her. But right then, submerged as I was, there was nothing to be explained.

"I am pleased to meet you, Timothy," the Queen said. Her head came to my chin.

I weighed my words. I was sure I wasn't exactly pleased by the situation. But I thought it best to be formal for my mother's sake:

"I am pleased to meet you as well." I didn't name her this time. It would be somewhat troublesome to explain later to my mother how I knew this woman. And I could still hope she hadn't paid enough attention to have heard me previously name her as I invited her in.

"Well. Shall I show you around then?" My mother had a cheerful tone in her voice. She felt insecure and was trying to get the situation back under control.

"Please," Mo answered with a smile that had warmth in it, intended just to dissuade my mother's fears.

"We will wait down here," I offered.

Sage gave me a small smile that was all forced cheerfulness.

"So," she said to Mo, "Shall we see the upstares first then!"

They took the stairs. Plume stayed nailed to his place in the hall.

I took him by a shoulder.

"Plume?" I said. "I think it would be wise of us to sit down and let them complete the round. Maybe boil some water for tea." 

I nudged him.

A myriad of emotions contorted his features.

"Did you know the buyer was going to be the Queen?"

"Yes. At least I suspected it might be her." 

I felt clearheaded and calm. I stayed still someplace far from all strong emotions. Mo was still in the house. I could keep my mind clear to respect the Queen.

We went to the kitchen.

As Plume still felt out of place, I gave him four cups and plates. "Why don't you set the table?"

And the vampire went to set the table. I watched him from the corner of my eye while I at the same time let water into a kettle. And left it to heat up. I was adding some white tea leaves when I finally voiced a suspicion:

"You cannot drop?"

Plume had just been fussing over folding napkins. He froze in mid movement. A tension in his being told me I had struck a cord.

And he knew I knew.

Plume sighed. "Sometimes I can," he talked to the napkin, "But not often. Almost never when it would truly matter. It is a hard skill to learn."

After a while, he added somewhat grudgingly: "I can only admire your talent. You have now even maintained it for many minutes. And I hear it's harder for mortals."

I stirred the leaves with a long spoon. The water in the kettle simmered softly, forming a pearl net of small white airbubbles.

"No one told me it was difficult," I said to the silence.

Plume smiled. It wasn't a wide smile but just then it was easy for me to recognize that the amusement in it was truly honest.

It didn't take long for my mother to complete the round with Mo.

"And here is the livingroom. It isn't huge as you can see, and Timothy has left his things around. And the kitchen isn't big either, or new. The shape of it makes it a bit inconvenient. You would need to install two doors to keep cooking fumes from permeating the whole downstairs. I am not even sure how that can be done, with the door to the yard being where it is..."

Mo waited patiently for my mother to run out of words. Which she eventually did. She and Mo were standing right by the kitchen table where I was seated with Plume. Plume seemed uncertain of whether he should stand. I didn't. I knew I was already doing all that which was in my power to respect the Queen. And just then pleasing my mother didn't seem that important. Mo's presence pressed against my awareness. And her clear aura was a reminder to keep my own in check. It also reinforced my altered state, there seemed to be a sort of an echo between us. I felt I was humming the same tune, and that synchronicity was sacred. Whether I stood or sat made little difference.

"I would like to buy," Mo pronounced when she was sure to hold all my mother's attention.

"You wish to buy?" My mother repeated.

"Yes. I wish to buy."

"But, as I said, it will be occupied by my son..." She intended to continue, but the Queen cut calmly in:

"He will be then my problem. I have already indicated the price I am offering. Please consider my offer carefully. The house interests me greatly. I will not lie to you. I would be very disappointed if you decided you didn't feel like selling at this point."

"I... I will have to think about it. As I said, my son still hasn't moved..."

Mo gave me a quick glance. I saw I was used as a shield and an excuse. I set my cup on the table. The Queen wished me to remove the obstacle.

"As I understand, you are offering a good deal to my parents, for this house?" I asked formally the Queen.

She nodded: "I am indeed being as generous as I can, to ease their doubts. To my understanding this house has some emotional value to them as well."

"Does it?" I pretended surprised. "I thought they simply hadn't been able to find a buyer. It's not small nor truly big and far from the center."

I could feel Sage's heart skip a beat. I refused the temptation to rise from my altered state and feel smug. I would savor that feeling somewhere later.

"And I feel she didn't need to worry so much for me being here now," I continued. "I feel my path might indeed take me elsewhere any minute."

"And you don't need to go," Mo said, holding my gaze in her own calm eyes. "You can stay here in this house for all eternity by me."

I inclined my head to let her know I had understood the implication and turned to my mother instead:

"I would advice to sell to this lovely lady," I said out loud. "We don't know when an opportunity like this comes again. Actually, it would be a good idea to make the papers quickly, before she changes her mind."

I then decided to push her a bit more: "I have really been thinking about moving on, anyway. Plume and I, we have been thinking of finding a shared apartment somewhere closer to the center. This one is rather far from the university. Morning lectures are a pain."

I could see her resolve crumbling to my feet. I had dug the ground under her excuses.

"Right," she said. "But I want you to know, you are not in a hurry to move."

"And I won't be," I interjected. "As she has indicated, I won't be pressured to leave. You have no reason to worry, at all."

She was overcome. "Oh, well. If you are sure?"

"I am." And I put conviction into my voice. "You should sell." This too I said with absolute conviction, looking my mother in the eye seriously. She knew it was the only rational way to proceed. And I confirmed it to her. She knew it.

Sage smiled uncertainly. "Yes. Well. Of course."

"Beautiful," Mo answered immediately. A radiant smile spread over her features.

"I will have all the papers ready by the day after tomorrow, as we discussed earlier. I am so happy that we have arrived at this conclusion."

Mo extended a hand. My mother shook it.

The world shattered.

I was jerked out the altered state as Mo suddenly surfaced from hers. Her pain washed my mind blank like a silent sudden scream, the like of which I had never experienced.

A chair moved. It stopped. Something hit hard the table offsetting it by various centimeters. A short shriek echoed in two voices.

Those sounds stopped too. I stared at a teacup that had been Plume's. The content was spilled all over a napkin and the table.

"What the Hell!?" The voice was my mother's.

I myself was trying to find logic in the scene. Mo didn't seem to have moved from where she stood. Plume lay unconscious on the floor by her feet. My mother stood shocked, also more or less where she had been.

"What happened?" She asked again.

Mo felt shaken, even as she didn't look any different. But her clear aura was just an aura now, still recognizable, but also alien. Opaque in ways I wasn't used to associating with her.

"I think he fainted," Mo said to my mother. She then quickly turned to me: "Does your friend have epilepsy, Timothy?"

It took a moment for my brain to work out what she said, and even longer to catch what I would need to say. "I... Yes. I think he has."

I pushed myself up. And went to Plume.

Now what though?

"This hasn't happened before," I muttered. I crouched by the unconscious vampire. I couldn't really slap him. I didn't even want to think what would happen if I tried. I looked helpless up to the vampire queen.

Mo smiled down at me. She put a hand to my shoulder.

"He should be fine. Don't worry. If he stays unconscious for over a minute, we can call an ambulance."

She turned to my mother. "You can go home though. The day must have been a long one for you. Don't you live in another city?"

"I have a hotel in the city." She looked still frightened. Sage stole a glance at me. I crouched between her and Plume. Her frightened eyes told me she had seen a glimpse of something that hadn't been a simple epilectic seizure.

"Don't worry," Mo repeated now to my mother. "We are good. I deal with these cases daily. I see that the boys are ok. Go to sleep."

My mother looked from one to the other and back to the unconscious vampire.

I smiled up at my mother: "She is right. We will live. You should go rest. I can send you a message later, or call in the morning."

I patted Plume very gently on a cheek. "He breathes. He wakes up."

Mo saw my mother out the house. She came back in a flash, abandoning all human pretens.

I was alone in the house with two vampires. Unable to drop. But Mo didn't seem to have her calm either. I could just make out the fact that she wasn't submerged either.

She sat with me onto the kitchen floor.

"Mo," I started. But the vampire queen put a finger on my lips.

"Think, dear little Timothy, think carefully."

I closed my mouth. And thought. Mo picked the lenses off her eyes while I pondered in silence. She was at the same time arranging her aura. Clearness was coming back to her.

I had felt the urge to say I was sorry. I had wanted to start apologizing.

But I wasn't sorry. Not really.

"I am afraid," I said instead.

Mo lifted a hand and stroked my cheek. I felt calmness spreading like a cloud.

I knew I was being drugged. I tried to drop, I tried clearing my head. But not too hard. I more probed if she would let me. And she didn't.

All fears and thoughts of clear action were gently pushed away, smoothed out by her cool fingers.

"Don't worry, Timothy. It's good. All is well. Now listen to me. Concentrate on what I want to tell you."

It was easy. She had a fascinating voice that came clearly to my ears.

"You have three choices. And you have to choose quickly. I will take your choice on Samhain night. You can still be a vampire. That is the choice number one. I will take you back under my house and we talk about this never again."

She paused. Her eyes were dark wine.

"The option two is that I kill your family." I frowned. But the calm in my head was overwhelming and left room for nothing but listening. "Then you can do as you wish. They are holding you pinned down, and I won't see you bow to your human family ever again. You are my son. I hope you forgive me this."

She reached to Plume's persona. I watched her fishing a metallic little box out his pocket. "He doesn't need these for a while," the Queen explained. "You are my son. I trust you. I don't think you would do anything harsh, the information concerning your friend should have never been withheld."

She slid the box to her own pocket.

"What is the third option?" I asked.

"The third option," Mo said, "is a tricky one."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to give it to you," she answered. "Because I am very fond of you, and it means even I need to let you go your own path. It means I won't see you in a very long time." She smiled then. "But it means I can still remember you, and you will live an independent life and one that suits you, in a place your head can finally be cleared of mortal thoughts."

"You would kill me?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I will give you away in the most beautiful sacrifice you can imagine. You will go where even I cannot reach you."

I breathed out. We looked at each other. There was a tear at the corner of her red eye. I let her kiss my hand. "I won't let you continue your life as it was Timothy, you should have seen this coming."

I nodded. Somewhere inside my head, somewhere far away, I felt relieved. I had thought I could just figure it all out. But I couldn't. It was impossible, and there was a deadline. My human year had been a loan.

Mo kissed me softly on the forehead.

"You two, you suit each other," she said as a goodbye. "I am happy Blizzard arranged you together."

Then she was simply gone.

The calm in me went with her, like smoke dispersing. I stared ahead, not seeing my workstation or the sofa I was facing from the kitchen.

"Holy god," I said out loud.

I replayed the conversation I had just had.

"Holy god," I repeated.

"What time is it?" Plume had opened his eyes. One of his contacts was missing.

I looked down at mismatched eyes.

"Eleven? Twelve? I am not sure."

Plume reached down a pocket. He frowned.

"Mo took them", I said.

Plume froze. He looked at me in utter astonishment. Then he pushed himself to sit.

"Are you okay? Uncle?"

I shook my head.

"What did she say?" He asked.

I laughed. "That we suit each other."

"What does she mean by that?"

"I don't know." And just then I realized I might never find out. I had less than a month, three weeks, to figure out if I would even live to see November. Time felt suddenly limited."I am not sure."

A thought found its way to my crowded memory.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

Plume shook his head. "I just knew she was somehow hurting the queen. I tried to intervene. It was foolish. First, because touching your mother hurts. And secondly, because the Queen didn't fancy protecting. She struck me down herself. I don't think I passed properly out, but my head feels funny. She really took the medicine?"

I nodded.

"Mmm."

Plume looked thoughtful. "You will have to go to the university alone tomorrow then. I might be able to cook in the evening though."

"It's fine," I told him. "You can just be here too."

Plume frowned. "What's wrong, uncle?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Nothing, really."

I rose and walked to my laptop. It was still in rest mode. I shut down the machine. I let my hand lay flat on the metallic cover. I wondered if I would open it in the morning. Or ever.

Plume retook the armchair he had occupied before. He picked up the guitar on the floor.

"Just so you know, you are acting bizarrely."

"I am off to shower," I announced.

Plume picked cords at my back as I went.