There's always one in every family

"Soo..." The silence was broken between the newlings. The whip thin man's voice held hints of a former southern drawl. His hands nervously rubbed over his jean clad thighs as if wiping away sweat. Gabriela turned focused oddly on his rapidly bobbing Adam's apple as he swallowed repeatedly.

"That was intense" Everyone looked at him and he seemed to wilt under the attention until Gabriela added a tiny partial smile to her expression. Silence remained between the group as they stood still, uncertain what to do next.

Probably only seconds that passed until her ankles once more gave up the fight of balancing with those torture devices strapped to her feet and she lurched to the side, this time tumbling to the floor. Her dress, with it's crinoline petticoat beneath poofed up briefly towards her head before dropping down to pool around her as one leg sat jutted out with the other stuck beneath her. 

The absurdity of it struck her all at once and she started to giggle. The giggles turned to laughter that tinged on the manic. Laughter that she tried her best to staunch but it just kept coming until each gale of laughter turned into sharp sobs.

The rest of the new vampires looked between themselves confused. All of them had taken harder falls just learning how to defend themselves, or relearn how to walk after being turned. Her reaction seemed disproportionate to the fall and the hysteria made all of them uncomfortable, having been warned that newlings who could not maintain their sanity were often eliminated by Eli.

No one seemed willing to associate themselves with Gabriela until the same rangy man stepped forward. His hand continued to wipe against his pant leg before he knelt down. 

"Hey now, it wasn't that bad. I think I would have fallen heels over tea kettle coming down the stairs in those contraptions." He spoke gently, his tone the same one used for easily spooked animals and small children.

Very slowly he unfastened the strap on the shoe that was sticking out from underneath the mess of dress and now sobbing woman.

"Let's get these off your feet, then we can all make nice" Slowly Gabriela's hysteria ebbed and she just felt drained and deflated. Her hands swiped over her face, glad that the colors used in her make up had been neutral so she didn't look like a complete raccoon. 

"There now, my name's Shawn by the by." He waited until she shifted enough to start unfastening the other offending shoe.

Her bare feet pressed against the cold floor as a stark reminder of her first night awake in this new reality. Frantically she searched for her memories of a man with that name, or recalling someone who vaguely resembled him.

Again she came up blank, and her heart sank as hope fled just a little further that this was just a temporary dream induced by a shocked mind trapped in a coma. 

"Gabby." Her voice was softer than she would have liked. Her fingers curled around Shawn's offered hand and allowed him to help her stand.

"Sorry. I had just hoped that this was just an awful dream and you were all figments of my imagination. No offense meant." Her free hand swiped at her dress, patting the now creased satin as she attempted to brush off any potential dust or lost dignity from the fabric.

"None taken." Shawn shrugged at her admission.

"I expect all of this would be hard to except from a straight and narrow type. No offense meant" He gave a crooked grin as he attempted to give her space and time to finish deciding if she was going to have another freak out or if composure would win after all. He turned to look at the others pointedly as if expecting social introductions all around.

"Curtis." One of the brawny men intoned. His voice seemed almost too soft pitched for the width and depth of his body. The way he held himself, slightly aloof, and kept his body language closed made him seem unsure and almost younger than she had taken at first glance.

Without Vincent there she took the moment to look at him and put a name to a face. Light brown skin, with regular features that were still boyishly soft, his eyes were a sort of greenish brown that most regulated as hazel. The patchy hints of facial hair indicated that Curtis was still young or had a mixed ancestry that prevented hair growth.

"Randy" The other one intoned. His voice did match his body. Deep and heavy, to go with his stronger features. A heavy brow, pale brown eyes that were set a little too close together with a scar that ran down from the corner of his left one.

The tight t-shirts that both men wore showed off muscles that weren't gained by just time spent in a gym. Loose cargo pants with the hint of the band of their boxershorts peaking over the waistband of the jeans added further street thug aesthetic to the pair of them. 

"Amelia." The woman offered with a sharp nod. Her short hair cut highlighted her features and looked far more feminine than Gabriela would have thought it would be. The woman's eyes were a brighter hazel flecked through with gold and her lashes were unfairly thick.

"My sire is Delilah." She didn't move from her spot near the sliding glass door. She was dressed causally in a nice white peasant style blouse and a pair of khakis. 

The last man just remained silent and unmoving. He stared forward at the gathering before snorting derisively and walking back up the stairs. The group of them watched his retreating back as the sensation of disquiet once more took over the room.

Instead of introductions turning into a natural flow of conversation they once more fell into silence. The soft shhh, shhh, of Shawn's hands rubbing over his jeans the only break in the soft hum of the incandescent lights overhead. 

The stood like that, partially milling and silent, with Gabriela holding her shoes in one hand. All their eyes focused on the closed doors, waiting for the next step. Too new to understand the power dynamics and plays; and Gabriela wondered if she would ever want to understand when all she wanted to do was wake up. 

The soft creak of the doors opening caused all of their motely group to startle. Their sires slowly filed out into the main hallway before stepping back to allow Eli and his companion to once more exit the room.

As his colorless eyes fell on her, Gabriela ducked her head down, doing her best to stare at her bare toes and ignore the sensation of insects crawling over her back. 'Just go, just go' her internal monologue had turned into both a chant and a prayer. 

"I will return later this evening to meet all of the new arrivals personally. Until then carry on." She didn't look up at his parting words. Her gaze remained on the floor until she heard the door click shut.

Immediately she sought out Bridget, searching the woman's expression for anything. A context clue or hint of what was to come. Instead, she saw nothing. No trace of emotion or hint of what occurred behind those closed doors. 

"Upstairs Gabs, now" The command came just as Gabriela had opened her mouth to say something. Bridget stormed past and headed up the stairs while Gabriela trailed behind like a lost duckling.

Some ingrained sense of survival or basic agreeability took over as she followed her friend into their shared room.

As soon as Gabriela passed the doorway Bridget slammed the door shut and turned on the radio. N'Sync blasting over the general ambiance of the room was absurd and yet neither woman cracked a smile.

"So this is bad... Very bad." Bridget began. Her hip cocked on the desk as she absently curled a lock of hair around her finger over and over again.

" Eli wants all of you, but especially you, ready for the summit. It isn't just vampires of our heritage. There is a lot more and it is very dangerous. I had hoped to keep you home through it, but..." She motioned with one hand helplessly. "Looks like you are going to get a crash course in immortal politics and parties." 

"Alright, bring it. This dream can't get any stranger." Gabriela's tone was sullen even as she tried to covertly pinch her underarm. The pain registered but she didn't jerk away.

The fluidity of the past several days was also confusing. Normally her dreams skipped around in a nonsensical order but this one seemed to latch on to this whole idea of an underworld. This wasn't real, it couldn't be, otherwise they would have heard about it. 

"Gabs, its not.." Bridget started before sighing. "Forget about it. Let's start studying. You know about our family, so we will look next at Zariah and her coven." Another lesson but at least she wasn't stuck in those shoes again. A small consolation for the task ahead. 

"Also, remember we will be expected to show when Eli arrives. Knowing him, he will be bringing in dinner to see how well you all can control yourselves around a human." Bridget added as she idly looked through her bookshelf for a plain printed textbook that contained all their lore. 

"You will be expected to feed."