Meet My Friends

A TV was blaring loudly in a room in the back where a group of about six or seven people were gathered. Rory ran quickly through their names, but I didn't catch them all because before I had time to digest them he was already pushing me ahead of himself.

"Guys-this is her." He gushed. "The one from the news that survived the serial killer. She's one of my kind! That's how she survived! Well I say one of my kind-she's full blooded actually."

"Woah, wait! You bought one of them here?!" A man with red hair and tattoos jumped up quickly, backing away and reaching behind the couch he was sitting on.

"Calm down! She's different! She likes me." Rory gripped me around the waist and nuzzled his face into my neck. I blushed.

"You've lost your mind this time Rory." A goth girl seated in an armchair said calmly.

"Have not!" Rory pouted. "I'll prove it." He sunk his teeth into my neck and I muffled a moan, sinking into him lightly as he began to draw from the wound. He eagerly pulled me to him and I dug my fingers into his hair, turning my head away to give him more room. He pulled at the wound more eagerly, hands caressing my neck and waist. "Your turn." He suddenly murmured against my ear and offered his smooth skin to me. I greedily slid my teeth over his neck until I found the strongest pulse under my tongue. I let my teeth sink in and Rory gasped. I dug my teeth in a little deeper until I felt the blood flow into my mouth. I drew it into my mouth and Rory moaned, pulling me against him even tighter, encouraging me on. I heard someone in the room clear their throat and remembered we were guests in his friend's bar. I pulled away from Rory and covered my bloody lips, licking them clean as discreetly as I could.

"What exactly is that supposed to prove? Yeah it looks like she fed off you, but so what if she likes your taste-that doesn't make her any less dangerous." The redhead snapped.

"Fine then, ask any of the party goers about the Rivers Parties. They'll tell you. These vamps are different. I'm living with them now." Rory crossed his arms as the room exploded.

I sighed and escaped the room behind the bar. The arguing had been going on for twenty minutes.

"Still at it are they?" Rose asked cleaning a glass. I nodded.

"Pull up a stool." She offered. The bar was crowded now, but there were still several empty bar stools.

"Can I ask you something? How come you aren't bothered by me?" I asked her.

"Rory trusts ya." Rose replied simply. "Kid may seem like a dimwit, but he's got impeccable taste in people." She shrugged. "Besides, he's half of one of your kind, and probably a puppy dog reincarnated as a person." Another shrug.

"Do you know what happened to Rory's parents?" I asked Rose, running a finger through a wet spot on the bar.

"Mom's dead, nothing to do with Rory or his dad, before you ask. Cancer. Dad's a vamp. Loved the mom, but kinda lost it when she refused to let him save her. Stuck around til the end, but day she died, he disappeared. Didn't even show for her funeral. Rory thinks he mighta offed himself." Rose commented, pouring a drink for another customer. I flinched.

"Was he their only child?" I questioned.

"Yeah. She had him kinda late." Rose chuckled. "From the way he tells it, you couldn't tell who was more shocked, him or her. 'Cuz neither thought they'd ever have kids."

"Carys!" Rory burst from the door behind the bar. "Can I borrow you for a moment?"

"Yeah sure. Talk to you later Rose." I waved a hand and followed Rory. The room was deathly silent when I entered.

"We want a blood sample. Rory says your virus is different." Goth girl said. I think her name was Sarah.

"Ok?" I replied, confused.

"Rory says you have a daughter. Do you have any proof of that?" Demanded the red-haired man.

"Pictures? The actual child? What do you want?" I crossed my arms.

"All of that can be faked." The redhead scoffed.

"Yeah, but this can't!" Rory called and grabbed my breasts suddenly. I felt my shirt beginning to get wet.

"Rory!" I slapped his him, hard, and covered my chest uncomfortably. The people in the room gaped.

"There's no way-"

"A vampire breastfeeding-?"

"An actual vampire baby?"

"What kind of trouble are we in for?"

"Is it a new breed?"

The voices cut over one another as everyone clamored to be heard.

"Guys, calm down. I'm serious. Carys and her family are not a threat." Rory plopped down on the arm of a chair and pulled me into the chair beside him. Sarah brought over a syringe and gloves. After snapping the disposable gloves on, she opened the single use syringe and needle packs and put them together with practiced motions. "I'm used to doing this on dogs, so I'm sorry if this hurts." She told me grimly. I looked at Rory with a raised eyebrow.

"Relax-she's actually better at it, cuz animals have smaller veins and don't hold still." Rory waved a hand. Sarah's nimble fingers felt the crook of my arm briefly and there was a quick prick of the needle and slight pressure. I winced.

"I'm done." She said softly. I looked down in amazement.

"What?" I gasped.

"See? Told you." Rory laughed.

"Listen-I don't trust her. She's still a vamp!" The red-haired man shouted over everyone else.

"We get it. You hate vampires." I tiredly interjected. "What about Rory? He's half vampire?"

"That's different! He was born that way! He didn't choose it!" The man objected and there were several nods of agreement.

"I didn't either." I said softly. All eyes turned to me. "I'm sure you've been subjected to some version of a news story involving me, but you've not heard the truth. The truth is that I was kidnapped by a serial killer, who drugged me, took me several states away from my home, set me up like a doll in an abandoned hospital with an IV line draining my blood out while she watched.." I clenched my fist as the Nurse's voice and the feeling of blood-soaked clothing returned. "And as I became incapacitated and no longer fun to watch anymore because of extreme blood loss, she left me alone there to die." I glared at the red haired man.

"But I got lucky." Tears sprang to my eyes. "Because just as my heart was beating its last, the very thing that was killing me attracted the attention of a softhearted man, a vampire-my mate now, who used everything he had to keep me alive... Even if it is a different version of life than before. He didn't even know who I was, but chose to save me and apologized for turning me, over and over, even though he couldn't just pass by and let me die like that." The room was so quiet you could hear conversations from the bar distinctly.

"So no, I didn't get to choose it either. But I'm grateful for the chance to continue on. And I fell in love with that man who saved my life, even knowing I may one day hate him for saving me, and YES we had a child together while we were both vampires, and YES our virus is different from others, and if you ask me it's because the whole relationship between Alexandre and I was founded on love, kindness and compassion. And before you ask: Alexandre didn't choose his turning either, and there are lots of us out there who get infected without making that choice. So maybe stop jumping to conclusions and be a little more open-minded, yeah?" I tried to avoid snarling, but my voice definitely reached a lower register by the end. The redhead glared at me as other gazes in the room became more sympathetic.

"Rob-maybe she's right.." Spoke a blond girl with glasses.

"No! You wanna fall for this horseshit, do what you want!" Rob paced across the room and slammed out of the door.

"Who did he care about that was killed by vampires?" I asked softly. Everybody turned to look at me again, some with fear in their eyes.