Rumors of vampires and goats

If you so much as mention cosmic destinies I shall hurl.

 

“We only see what we want to see and believe what we want to believe, and it works. We lie to ourselves so much that after awhile the lies start to seem like the truth. We deny so much that we can’t recognize the truth right in front of our faces.” –Meredith Grey, Grey’s Anatomy

“So, are we going to play twenty questions?”

 

Shaun cast a glance at the closest thing she had to a vampire friend.

 

“Please, Shaun, I know you. The only time you start touching stuff is when your mind is wandering, you are either planning something mischievous, or something is bugging you.”

 

Shaun continued running her hand along the wall trying to tone out Deneve’s urgings. “How long has the negotiations been going on?”

 

“Eons,” Deneve flopped back onto her bed.

 

“Seriously, now.”

 

“Shaun, I don’t have connection to that part of the vampire court. So, I’m as clueless as you. Well, maybe not exactly since I have been here and you have been… where have you been exactly?”

 

“Away.”

 

Deneve snorted, “A blind man would’ve known that.” Curious, Deneve watched Shaun pace around the room. “Is it this negotiation thing that has you so worked up?”

 

“Part of.”

 

“You are wondering how serious we are for the compact to go through?”

 

“Exactly. I know how some of them think. They’re thinking why they should have an agreement with their food.”

 

“Like having sheep talk back to the farmers?”

 

Shaun snorted, “You read my mind.”

 

“Well, great minds do think alike.”

 

Shaun paused on the way back from the other wall, and braced her back against the wall facing Deneve’s sprawled form. “The humans want us dead.”

 

Deneve quirked an eyebrow at her. “They’ve always wanted us dead, how does that change a thing?”

 

“The ones on the negotiation council are refusing to see that.”

 

“Because they have their own set of body guards,” Deneve supplied.

 

“That may be part of it, but we tend to think that we’re invincible just because we have immortality. That is, till we manage to get blown up or lose our head.”

 

Deneve scrunched up her face, “Wonderful thought. Thanks Shaun.”

 

“Anytime.” Shaun pushed off the wall when she suddenly remembered the man. “Do you know a human black hair, blue eyes, yummylicious?”

 

Deneve frowned, “From the negotiations? The only human that I could imagine you’d give that term to is not a human.”

 

Shaun interest piqued, “If he isn’t human…?”

 

Deneve rolled onto her stomach, “I’ve heard talk that he’s like us, you know… a half breed.”

 

“So?”

 

“So,” Deneve licked her lips knowing she had Shaun hooked, “they say he’s a dweller and Dire born. But,” leaned closer as Shaun approached, “he’s also made.”

 

“A made vampire? With the humans? It’s being tolerated?”

 

“No one knows for certain,” Deneve shrugged.

 

“And where are you getting this information, Denny?”

 

“The maids, of course.”

 

“Of course,” Shaun threw up her hands and twirled in a circle, “if it’s from the maids then, it’s bound to be correct.” She collapsed on the bed next to Deneve. She looked at her friend with a twinkle in her eye, “So… do you know his name?”

 

“What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t?”

 

“Come on, spill.”

 

“Jiraiya Greyson, but the humans apparently call him Grey.”

 

“At least it isn’t Bob,” Shaun laughed.

 

Deneve cringed at the memory, “Don’t remind me. That was the French wine talking.”

 

“But Bob is such a glamorous name,” she teased. She easily remembered the night that she and Deneve had managed to ditch their caretakers and immersed themselves in the French culture. Deneve was the only one who ended up with a companion for the night whereas Shaun had caused some mayhem before returning.

 

Deneve rolled off the bed and primped in front of her vanity mirror. She extricated a few pins to let down her straight honey blond hair, shaking her head it settled past her shoulders. Unlike other vampires Deneve carried a slight tan, but like a lot of the other female’s she wore a burgundy corset with bell sleeves though she preferred to wear matching slacks with it and stiletto boots. Coal black eyes watched Shaun’s reflection, “Why are you wondering about that man? Are you…?”

 

“I’m just curious about him… he was about the only one associated with the humans who wasn’t yelling his head off.”

 

“You think that you might actually get somewhere with him rather than the others.”

 

“Perhaps, perhaps not. I don’t know what his views are.”

 

“You intend to find out?”

 

“You bet your knickers I do.”

 

 

 

Instead of walking aimlessly down hallways, Shaun chose a different approach. She walked through the walls. Careful to avoid the living areas so she didn’t see anything that might cause a sudden case of blindness.

 

She ended up at the edge of a forest of ash trees before her and behind her back was a house. Shaun examined it wondering where she was located in Providence if it was located in Providence at all. It was at least three stories tall, a white building with blue trim and, apparently surrounded by woods. It had nothing out of the ordinary, nothing to suggest that blood sucking vampires lived there.

 

Smiling to herself, Shaun took off running into the forest.

 

In no short time she ended up on the outskirts of town, avoiding the streets Shaun instead headed for the roofs. They were the only way to travel in the cities; saved time with the bustling crowds and crosswalks.

 

Shaun jumped off a five story building into an alleyway once she recognized she was on Water Street. Nonchalantly, she approached a greasy looking vendor. “Vinnie,” she nodded his head in greeting.

 

“Let me guess,” he grinned showing a row of blackened teeth, “you are usual?”

 

“As always you are a mind reader.”

 

He grunted as he handed her a juice box, “Am I still good?”

 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he waved her away.

 

Shaun turned and walked into a wall of leather jacket and muscle, “oofmph.” She quickly scrambled out of the person’s way just as he reached out to steady her.

 

She looked up to meet piercing light blue eyes. Shaun blinked at him, “you are…”

 

“Mr. Yummy pants? Yes I do believe that is me.” His deep and gravelly voice almost had the power to make her head spin and toes curl. 

 

Shaun didn’t even flush, just stuck her neon straw in her juice box and drank from it. Not even really tasting it as she swallowed the beverage.

 

He looked down at juice box, brow furrowed. “Tell me something, why is a vampire such as you drinking a juicey juice?”

 

Grinning up at him she asked, “What makes you think it’s a juicey juice?”

 

“It’s blood.” He said matter of factly, not a trace of disgust in his voice; although he did stare at the box like it was going to lunge out and bite him.

 

“Come on, don’t say it like I stole it from somebody and stuck it in here.”

 

He shrugged but he wouldn’t look at her, “Fine, next time you eat a steak think about the cow and how he felt when he discovered he was going to be your dinner.”

 

“That’s a comp-”

 

“Completely different situation? How do you know that this blood isn’t from a sheep?” 

 

“How do I know it’s not from my Aunt Zelda’s cat?”

 

“You have an Aunt Zelda?”

 

“No… it was-”

 

“I know what it was,” Shaun waved her hand at him. “As long as we’re on the issue of the vampires…”

 

“You are wondering about the rumors.” He stuck his hands into brown leather jacket pockets.

 

“Rumors?” She feigned innocence.

 

“You haven’t heard the rumors flying around about me?”

 

“You mean the one about the goat and the lingerie?”

 

At his horrified expression, Shaun found herself resisting the urge giggling.

 

“I didn’t listen. I never listen, why don’t I ever listen?” He whispered to himself.

 

“Listen? To what? The voices in your head?” Shaun asked while thoughtfully chewing on the end of her straw. There it was again that sense of familiarity that she just couldn’t shake. Why did it keep gnawing at her mind?

 

Shaun barely contained her laughter at the look in his eyes. It was one she was quite used to seeing. It was a mixture of ‘why? Oh god, why me?’, ‘I can’t believe that you just said that’, and ‘huh’.  “Let me guess,” she asked with mirth dancing in her eyes, “you were warned that I’m sarcastic, rude, and absolutely unvampire like?”

 

Shaun spun on her heel walked down the bustling street, deftly avoiding the people.

 

“You forgot unconventional, crude, and sometimes annoying.”

 

Glancing over the shoulder, she noticed that he wasn’t as experienced with avoiding the humans as she was. He let out the occasional soft grunt as a pedestrian struck him with their elbows, shoulders, or with a briefcase. She felt a tug of sympathy for him, but the frustration at not being able to remember her far outweighed the former.

 

“I only become an annoyance to those over six hundred. They’re always so uptight; I just want to shake things up a bit.”

 

“Hmm, here I was thinking that the warning about you saying outrageous things to get a rise out of people was unfounded.”

 

“Not so much as a rise, as much as a…” Shaun trailed off searching for the right word.

 

“Taunting?” He threw out.

 

Watching him slyly when there was a break in pedestrians between them; Shaun knew that dealing with him would keep her hands full. She wasn’t sure what she liked more that little fact or the sound of his voice the seemed to reverberate from his chest outwards and the certain way he rolled his words.

 

Shaun paused at the crosswalk and glared balefully at the blinking hand. She glanced around the busy intersection, debating jumping over the cars.

 

He leaned forward and whispered, “Why wait for the traffic when you can just,” he signaled an upward half loop.

 

Frowning at him, Shaun was convinced that he was a mind reader. “Yeah,” Shaun nodded agreeable. Unfortunately, she had to see the reality of the situation. “If I wanted to meet the business end of a stake,” she pointed out matter of factly.

 

He moved with the crowd when the light changed. She had to hand it to him; he knew how to adapt to city life.

 

Noticing him no longer on the other side of a pedestrian on her right hand side, still moving with the crowd she looked about for him without any luck.

 

He mystically appeared by her side, just as she was starting to imagine a scenario where he was stampeded by the crowd. She sipped at her juice box chastising her wild imagination.

 

Frowning, he stared at her drink, “Doesn’t blood usually send your kind into a blood lust frenzy?”

 

“Oh, you mean all ‘grr’?” She took out the straw, curled her free fingers into claws, and made a ‘rawr’ face. “Nah,” she stuck the straw back, “that one of the long list of false myths.”

 

“Generated by humans?”

 

“Try generated by vampires. They created all these myths to throw the humans off.”

 

“Makes sense,” he nodded his head. “But blood is essential to vampires or is that just another myth generated by vampires?”

 

“Oh, that isn’t a myth. We do need it just as much as we need to breathe.” Shaun turned and walked down an empty street.

 

It was dark, unlighted, and without the lingering smell of garbage. Even though the first quarter moon was blocked by clouds, Shaun’s eyes easily adjusted to the darkness making out every detail of her surroundings.

 

“Is that sarcasm?” Jiraiya asked, walking behind her. Shaun turned walking backwards, grinning around her straw.

 

“No, it’s the truth.”

 

“Truth?” He tilted his head down and raised his eyebrows at her.

 

“What? You don’t believe me?” She asked in mock disbelief. “Tell me, whenever you see a big mac from McDonald’s do you become filled with stark, raving food lust?”

 

“I can honestly say no.”

 

“Then, why should it be any different for me?”

 

“Because...” he stopped in his tracks, threw back his head and laughed. “You are good, I have to hand it to you. Were you intently leading me to say ‘because you are a vampire’?”

 

“No,” she eyed him for a while liking his honestly in the matter. “All that I’ve said to you is the truth, Jiraiya.”

 

He stiffened, “How do you know my name?”

 

“The grapevine told me,” She stopped and hopped up on to a step and watched him from the doorway.

 

He slowly approached her. “A few things first, why the truth? So far, the vampires have been spinning tales and lies till we don’t know what’s up or down. And,” he drawled out, “you never did answer my question.”

 

Shaun leaned her back against the side of the building, “First, the truth doesn’t set us free. It has the possibility of hurting us. So, vampires lie in order to protect themselves. They set up their barriers and they’re safe; however, that isn’t working anymore. Those barriers are hurting more than helping us right now. So, I’ll tell you the truth about every part of being a vampire, if it means getting the compact signed, so be it. Secondly, what question is that?”

 

“The one about the rumors.”

 

“Ah, that question,” she nodded her head knowingly; “you know what the funny thing about rumors is?”

 

“No, but I have the feeling that you are going to tell me.”

 

Shaun chuckled, “Rumors are exactly like myths.”

 

He cocked his head to the side, eerily like a bird seeing something interesting.

 

“There’s a tad bit of truth in with all the falsities.”

 

“So, you are not going to ask if I’m a made vampire is true or not?”

 

“No, rumors especially with vampires have a tendency to be quite false. So, I’ll reserve my judgment on you.”

 

“I prefer Grey.”

 

Shaun tilted her head at him.

 

“For my name, I prefer Grey rather than Jiraiya.”

 

“Grey, it is.” She nodded. “Now, here’s a question for you. Why did you follow me?”

 

“From the vendor or why did I run into you?”

 

“Well, both would be interesting but if you mention cosmic destinies I shall hurl.”

 

“I was looking for you to talk to you about the negotiations.”

 

“So, do you think you are kind is ready for this?” Shaun asked with genuine curiosity.

 

“Do you think you are kind is ready for this?” He asked with the same tilt of his head.

 

“Touché.” Shaun grinned at him.

Author's Note

Isolde is in the pic.

Reviews

[Jocelyn Elizabeth]

Who the hell is Deneve? I am soo confused. The just kid of popped into the story. First, I thought she was talking to Malachi... and then I was like... HUH? New character? Anyway... I would give her some sort of introduction not just dialogue at the beginning of a chapter. Mention her previously. Maybe, "the only thing good about being home was the thought of fseeing Deneve again...." You know? I did that too before. And my friends were brutal... and guess what story it was in. Haha.

Instead of sheep talking back to the farmers, maybe chickens. I think of sheep as herding animals because it's an expensive and rare meet. Everyone who isn't a vegaterian eats chicken. Maybe cow even... Mmm... beef. I work at a restaurant/coffee house and the chef makes the most amazing black angus burger... anyway, tangent.... back to the story...

"She ended up at the edge of a forest of ash trees before her and behind her back was a house. " This line messed up my thoguht process. I was rather confused by it...

Staring out at the sea of barren ash trees, she'd reached the limits of the property. Behind her, the house stood shadowed in the dark wood, candle light gleamed from a couple dozen windows.

Providence as in Providence, RI?? Or Providence as in a heavenly realm. I'm from East Greenwich, Rhode Island. This makes me giggle that your story is maybe taking place in RI... Water Street, nonetheless.

"Let me guess," he grinned showing a row of blackened teeth, "you are usual?" I think by this you meant, "your usual?"

"She wasn't sure what she liked more that little fact or the sound of his voice the seemed to reverberate from his chest outwards and the certain way he rolled his words."

Shaun was uncertain which aspect of Mr. Yummypants made her head spin more, whether it was the idea of keeping herself occupied with a handsome human, or the way his.... I don't know. I didn't really get this sentence.

"Jiraiya asked, walking behind her. Shaun turned walking backwards, grinning around her straw." Walked, walked, walked.

Jiraiya questioned, trailing along behind her. Shaun spun around to grin at him, walking backwards and focusing on each step so she didn't trip over a curb or pot hole.

"Were you intently leading me to say 'because you are a vampire?" Intentionally instead of intently.

I like the ending to this. It is quite witty and cute. I want to see them happily ever after. Teehee.