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Jan 14

TIMING: 30 December PARTIES: Jade @highoctanegem, Vic @natusvincere and Jenny @whimmortal LOCATION: Jenny’s house SUMMARY: Jade & Vic deliver some blood to Jenny! CONTENT WARNING: None

Jenny was not sure how to be any more. The confines of her home were restricting but a poor cage for a creature like her. Ever since she’d come home from Henri, she’d seen little of the world outside the walls, aside from driving to Baz’ place to drop off Edward and his things. Her car had smelled wrong as she’d driven, reminding her of the way she’d cleaned all the blood off a few nights before.

There had still been a fleck or two on the dashboard.

And now Jenny sat at home. She showered and bathed and showered again. She tried to slather her skin in expensive lotions and to comfort herself with scrub gloves and head massages. She tried to feel clean but failed to, so resorted to sitting on the couch and staring at the television, blasting animated films as they impacted her hunger least. There was the promise of blood coming to her soon, with Jade and her associate coming by, but the anticipation until they would be at their door was making her restless and frantic.

Eventually the doorbell did ring, the night already started, and Jenny turned off the television and moved down the stairs with haste. She had tried to look presentable, having put some make up on her face and exchanging dirty pyjama bottoms with somewhat more stylish yoga pants. She was still hiding most of herself in a big Yale hoodie, though. She opened the door and inhaled sharply, a human habit not yet dead. She stared out for a moment before remembering her manners, “Hi.”

—

There was dread filling Vic up, and then emptying out at the same moment. Truthfully, she didn’t know how she was meant to feel. Even after her conversations with Jade, there was still an air of unease between both of them. Usually in their endeavors, there was a strong chance that either of them would be overconfident, assuring the other in that snippy way they liked to speak amongst themselves. But now, with both of them on edge, Vic’s unabashed confidence was nowhere to be seen. She had taken all the precautions she needed for safety. Rosie was safe at the nanny’s house (the nanny who, thank god, never asked questions about why the HOA seemed to occupy so much of Vic’s time). They had arrived in a rented vehicle, one that couldn’t be traced back to her. Sure, they had floated the two of them riding there on Jade’s bike, but ultimately, Vic was concerned about the safety of that as well (and maybe she was also a bit concerned about looking ridiculous riding on it).This girl, Jenny, would not know Vic’s real name, nor would she know exactly where she lived. That way, if things went sour, Vic would be able to back out without risk of retaliation.

As she and Jade walked toward the door together, Vic knew all these things to be true, but they did nothing to quell her nerves. On the other hand, what they were doing was good, right? To offer a helping hand to someone who wanted to do good- to possibly prevent her from the decades of carnage that might have awaited her if they didn’t? It actually might have been more immoral to leave well enough alone, right? That was why, with one last resounding breath, she finally had the courage to reach forward to ring the doorbell. She looked over at Jade as they waited for her to answer the door, but offered no quips or silly remarks. Just a look shared between friends, and a hope that they were doing good. As the door opened, she adjusted the bag over her shoulder, taking the girl in with pursed lips. She looked… harmless. “Hello”, she said after a moment, looking to Jade again to gauge her reaction. “You must be Jenny. My name is Colleen.”

—

Vic always had a plan Z. (And a plan alpha and beta and… whatever other alphabet she needed to have as many solutions as possible). That was just how it had been since the moment Jade ambushed her at the park. (But who needed to remember that? Pft. Definitely water under the bridge). And it was a nice balance, actually, as far as team ups went. Cause having a plan A at all was uncharted territory that she was only recently stepping into. (As it turned out, you could sustain a career like this on vibes alone) (So you know… growth!).

So you know, she totally went along with renting the vehicle and agreeing that Vic would use a fake name, and whatever else was needed to keep her (and her baby) safe. Jade figured Vic was covering all the bases possible (but again, Jade had long term planning blindness). She trusted it. And that was it, they were off to see Jenny, not much of the usual quippy chatter passing between them. All that fun replaced by a tense silence. (Understandable, Vic was probably going through her plans list) (She was busy thinking about food, and the snack she was going to reward herself for being totally brave about this) (Cinnamon rolls were claiming the top spot at the moment).

Vic’s knocking on the door redirected her focus, giving a few precious seconds for Jade to prepare for what was on the other side of the door.

It made some difference, at least. Jade clenched her jaw, schooling her usually lively expressions into something blank the moment she laid eyes on Jenny. The girl looked… about as crappy as she had that day in the coffee shop, but a little more worn down. She also smelled. Nope, stank of shampoo and body lotions (like maybe she had been trying to cover up the stench of blood) (or worse, rotten bodies). It made her sensitive nose protest. Jade blinked, her always juicy eyes ready to show that they didn’t agree with all this fragrance wafting in the air. (Honestly? She didn’t mind it, on account of how much of a distraction it was for her Spidey sense not to be the loudest thing screaming inside her body).

Jenny and Vic exchanged greetings. (And did that mean they could be done, then?) (Could she grab Vic’s container and plop it onto the ground and peace out?) (No? Wait, Vic wanted to do the whole vampire 101. Wanted to drop her business card, or whatever). She cleared her throat, glancing between the two women, shuffling closer to Vic. (Not only cause of the safety and familiarity) (But cause her bracelet was doing its job of fooling Jade’s undead sense, so at least one of them felt… not dead). And hold up… what was that name Vic gave? “Right. Jenny, this is Colleen!” She fully turned toward Vic, blinking in confusion. A quarter of a “what were you thinking?” expression took over her face. “Not to be confused with that one romance writer terrorizing the New York’s Best Seller,” And fine, it was a smidge better than Gertrude (which she assigned as a petty joke last time), at least.

But enough about fake names and perfumes and all the other fluff. Jade adjusted the slayer mask once again. “So, this is all of us, here,” she swallowed, taking the step back Jenny had taken as a come in. (She figured she wanted this to be over ASAP, too). And so Jade went in first, cause walking into the lion’s den wasn’t even second nature. It was her essence. “The door stays open,” She instructed Vic, who followed close behind. And yup, this was the part of the scene where the audience leaned forward in their chair, warning alarms firing off.

Don’t be fooled by the ghosts of her past failures. (That could probably fill three cemeteries, fine!). Here, Jade understood the risk. Not in that superficial way she used to, back when she, Onyx, and Ruby would gather post physical training to debrief and analyze dangerous situations. (Back when all she wanted was to put on some cartoons and get a snack) (And be left alone to cry) (So she just shouted the answer that would make Onyx grin and Ruby roll her eyes to make it all go faster. Not actually considering her options). She internalized the risk now, like tendrils spreading along her muscles. She let the weight of it conduct her in a measured manner.

That door was just as much of a potential way out for her and Vic as it could be a way to unleash Jenny on the world. Yes. Jade calculated the risk, believed (if nothing else) in her stubbornness to stop the second outcome from ever becoming real. She was also, in a more hubristic way (Amber would chime in), confident that no one could swing a knife faster and with more pinpoint precision than she could. It would pierce Jenny’s throat, if she willed it. It would, at the very least, delay an escape attempt. (She did feel… a little strange) (Like someone had given her the script for a different Jade, seasons away) (She wasn’t gonna argue with the vision, though) (Cause she rarely got to show off her aim anymore, what was up with that?)

Jade did a quick scan of Jenny’s depression core interior design (not really trying to judge a girly too much) (cause of the dying and all) (who cared about wrappers and a little mess?), and spotted the windows that would also come in handy, should they need a way out. Honestly? She and Vic had once escaped through a vent, if things went south, a door or a window sounded way cozier to make a quick exit anyway. In a little white flag waving moment, she slid the bag off her shoulder, something heavy setting on the ground. She’d brought her crossbow (that let’s be serious, she had no intention of using, but it was a cool intimidation tactic). She was left with only two (three) knives in her person. And the stake she’d tucked in the lining of her coat.

“Hello,” she breathed out, glancing at Jenny. Her mouth would just not agree to a smile. (Dark timeline). She reached for Vic’s transport box, and she positioned herself as in between the two vampires as possible. Vic wanted to know about Jenny, sure. Good for her, socializing and stuff. (It was her right to choose how much she wished to help the poor girl) But Jade had insisted on frontlining this whole thing. She crouched down and started unzipping like she meant business. (She was a total pro at unzipping things, obviously). And she was gonna cut to the chase, there was no point in torturing and making Jenny hungrier and antsier.

“We were thinking weekly drop-offs, you know… in case you struggle to portion at first and all that, so you won’t be…” tempted to tongue someone, she almost said. She glanced up at Vic, who likely had questions about control and other vampire-related experiences that Jade had never really… questioned too much. (Or rather, cared to question). “It’s not like, set in stone though… It’s a bit like, playing it by ear, figuring out the best subscription plan.” Her eyes drifted to Jenny, a smile still resisting her, but her eyes softened.

—

She looked between Jade and Colleen for a moment, somewhere glad that Jade was making the comment that had been snaking into her mind. The fact that she was still making such connections – relating every day names to pop culture – meant there was still something inside her that was her. A small comfort. “Nice to meet you, Colleen. Not-Hoover,” Jenny said. She did not smile, but the thought of a smile was there. “Come in.”

She did not mind leaving the door wide open. It was a good suggestion, considering the the Henri’s arm of it all. She was not feeling as frantic as she had felt that day, but there was still something inside that was hungry. Something that kept looking at the box that Colleen was carrying, that moved to Jade’s hands. She knew that the thing she longed for was right there, just an exchange away. She’d tried to prepare her bathroom for it, figuring that the best place. She watched Jade kneel down, unzipping the bag and imagining this to be a movie scene for a moment, where they were shady criminals making a deal. Except Jenny had no suitcase of cash in exchange, and her home was a poor scene for something like that to happen.

“Alright,” she said. “That … I agree with that. That seems smart. I …don’t want to binge, like I said, and end up with nothing.” It wasn’t like this was a roll of cookies that she could easily replace through a doordash order, after all. This was blood, with an unknown source. Something that should tide her over for a while, to keep situations like Henri’s or the woman in the alley from happening. Her throat was straining. She didn’t think Jade would kill her any more, which was a poor comfort but one all the same.

Jenny wrapped her arms around herself and looked at Colleen, intrigued by the stranger with a supply of blood. Was she a vampire too, or just a weirdo? “And you … what do you want in return? I can pay you, of course.” Considering the nature of the world, she figured there were plenty of people offering black market blood. Even if vampires didn’t exist, she was sure she’d be able to buy it somewhere. But this might be better.

—

Vic ignored Jade’s pointed look, and all of the accusations that came with it, because Colleen was one of her most completely palatable pseudonyms. Certainly better than Missy Spitz. Colleen was forgettable, too. And she lived in Ohio, or something. She followed behind Jade into the house, ignoring her instructions about the door (because obviously), and didn’t let her eyes leave Jenny as they entered. She watched her, wondering just how monstrous an upior could be up close. She was sure she had betrayed dozens of them, but had she ever met one before? “It’s Coover, actually. Colleen Coover.” Shit. Was that too obvious of a fake name? All the best real names were alliterative, right? She didn’t want to look at Jade to see her response.

She let Jade take the box from her and set it down, still watching Jenny carefully. “The goal, despite how unrealistic it may be, is to stop you from binging.”, she said, her eyes flicking down to the box. “But you’re going to be tempted to, at first.” Everything she knew about upiors was all hearsay and rumors. Did Jenny think she was talking out of her ass, or did the cool air of superiority float around her like it was meant to? “It seems like you’re in an okay state of mind right now”, okay must have been rich, but she didn’t have another word for it. “So I want you to understand the gravity of what could happen if you do binge. If you run out, and you become desperate enough, you put the people of this town, people I’m sure that you love and care for”, she paused to look at Jade, but the moment was barely brief enough for anyone to notice, she was sure, “...you put them at risk for dying extremely painful deaths.”

Her voice was not cruel, nor was it condescending, but laced with a matter-of-factness that few could accomplish. It was the truth, and it was out there, so Vic only let the veiled threat linger before she decided to move on. “Jade will accompany me with the drop-offs, at first, since I don’t live in town and don’t know my way around very well.” She paused, in case Jade wanted to add anything to these stipulations and explanations before she continued. “And do not ask where I live”, she said curtly. There was something that felt awful about being so cold to this girl, someone who she already saw so much of herself in. She could relate to the desperate need to fight against the new monster inside her, the one that was telling her to kill, feed, destroy. But there was no cruel sire here, no one to mock Jenny as she reluctantly gave into the whims of her new self. Apathy had to be better than cruelty, for now, and then warmth would come once Vic was sure Jenny could be trusted.

“Don’t worry about payment. Not yet”. Not ever, actually, would Vic be accepting payment for any supply that she offered to Jenny. But people always seemed content with the promise that payment would be accepted, even if that promise was never fulfilled. “When you’re more stable, when you’re able to integrate back into the world, then we can talk about payment.” Colleen Coover only lived in a one bedroom apartment, after all. These deals were crucial to her. Vic, on the other hand, could have supplied the whole town with blood and wouldn’t have batted an eyelash.

—

It was a true testament to her professionalism (yeah, that’s right), that Jade kept her head down, focused on the transport bag when Vic finished fully introducing herself as Colleen Coover. She didn’t snicker once! The part of her that always wanted to make everything about herself (so like, most of her, really), wondered if Vic was sprinkling on some bits of comedy cause she knew how much this was affecting her. She was clearly the one who was suffering more here, obviously) (But then, that would imply Vic knew who Colleen Hoover was, which didn’t sound very likely) (Regardless, she really appreciated it).

The good thing about bringing Vic for this meeting (other than the obvious good she was providing), was that she came in with the kind of tough love everybody needed from time to time. As she began talking to Jenny, she made no attempts to sugarcoat what was going to happen, or her expectations. Jade figured it was way better if Jenny heard it from one of their kind instead of one of the members of the other team, who had been tasked with their extermination. (Jenny didn’t need to know that said vampire was at one point a double agent and betrayed hundreds, if not thousands, of her own) (Tiny details) (Everybody needed a few character flaws, or something) (Let’s ignore the fact that she thought that was the coolest thing about Vic, yup).

Jade moved their conversation to the background of her mind (at the right time too, cause why was Vic dropping Colleen lore?), and instead opened the box. It was probably like, the equivalent of opening a cartoon treasure chest, but instead of a ray of gold light shooting up the sky and blinding all of them, it was just transparent bags of red elixir. “You can pop this on your fridge or… your freezer, maybe.” They might make decent popsicles, Jade mused, without knowing too much about blood preservation. (It didn’t matter, Vic had attached a post-it with all the info Jenny might need) (Plus… Google). “It wouldn’t hurt to get one of these, actually,” she tapped the transport box. It might make the restocking process easier, faster, less personal. (Which was a good thing in her opinion. This once, and this once only). Not every drop off had to be something that dragged on for minutes. (She was sure Vic would insist on visiting and catching up with Jenny, though. She had that whole maternal instinct about her already fine tuned) (But maybe that desire for face-to-face interactions would come back to Jade eventually as well) (Maybe).

Jade debated whether she should be the one handing the bags of blood to Jenny, with the possibility she might be drooling for them already, or let her pick them up herself and risk her going to town on them like they were Capri Sun. But by Vic’s assessment, Jenny seemed to be in an alright state of mind. And Jade trusted the assessment of the woman who got turned into a vampire in the Stone Age and therefore had eons more experience with this. She stood up, her boot pushing the box forward, sliding it toward Jenny. Her thumbs hooked in her belt (reasons unknown).

“Any…uh, other questions?” She wondered. And while she was mostly addressing Jenny, she still wasn’t sure Vic was ready to simply be done with this, so she had to confirm.

—

Any other time, she might have said something about the name and how ridiculous it was. But Colleen was not holding back in everything else she was saying, and so Jenny found no sass or wit within her. There was no part of her that could argue it either, as she was salivating at only the thought of what was in that box. She was tempted to eat it all in one setting, the thought of t becoming heavy in her mind as Colleen even mentioned it. But the longer she went on, the more her hunger seemed to grow bitter in her mouth. It was coming onto New Year’s soon. She did not want to enter the new year with another corpse to feel responsible for. She wanted to be able to spend it with Baz.

“I will try,” she said, not bothering to pretend she had any grand allusions about her control. She would usually fake such things, the way she had faked her way through confidence, expertise and even talent before. But Jenny understood that there were lives on the line. “Because … I don’t want that.” Not again. Her eyes closed for a second, a little longer than a blink, and she saw Henri and his arm. She opened them again and looked at Colleen. “I’ll really try to pace myself. But in the case I don’t … is there any room to receive more?”

The way she demanded privacy and separation was a little startling. She had not encountered such a thing before, but that was before she’d become something of a monster. “I won’t ask,” she said, “That seems best.” She could imagine it, her showing up at Colleen’s door and banging on it endlessly to ask for more. She would like to think herself better than that. But then there was Henri’s arm.

There was a part of her that wanted to argue, that she could pay right now, but she kept her jaws wired. She clenched them even harder when Jade opened the box. The blood was enough to make Jenny feel like something was thrumming under her skin, even if she could not smell it due to the plastic. She moved her jaws to bite her tongue, trying not to bite it too hard so that she’d taste her dead blood. “Okay.” She ground her jaws shut again. “Will order one.”

Jade slid the box forward and her eyes tracked it cautiously. She felt like a hawk watching prey move, except she was one that was pathetically biting her tongue and noticing an increased amount of saliva in her mouth. Jenny moved to close the thing with a slam. She felt her skin itch. She wanted to rip it open and dig into one of the bags with her hands, rip it open and do what she’d just said she didn’t want to: drain it all. With a strained voice, she muttered: “No more questions.”

—

Jade, for her part, was being impressively professional. She had seen it before, but Vic couldn’t help but be impressed every time her counterpart was able to pull it together when she needed to. She nodded along as Jade added more information as she saw fit. Truthfully, she used the opportunity to make note of Jenny’s home. The more information she could garner about this girl, the better. But there was not much her mind could focus on. Not on the girl in front of her, one who was, on the outside, momentarily okay, but on the inside, reeling. Part of Vic wanted to abandon protocol (the protocol, of course, that she had created in her head on the drive over)- to run forward and hug the girl, and tell her it would be okay. Truthfully, there was no way of knowing if it would be okay, so instead, she stood solidly in her place.

“No”, she answered Jenny’s question quickly. “No, there’s no room to receive more. There are 7 here now. One for today, and once a day until we return. It’s your decision on how you want to scatter each bag throughout the day. I live very far away, and you must learn to pace yourself. You cannot give in to the urge just because you think more is easily accessible. If you do, you’ll always be as you are now”. That reasoning was the truth behind why she would never be restocking Jenny early. It was important for the safety of not only herself, but the rest of the town, that she build up a tolerance for the hunger. She needed to learn to deal with it. Vic knew she was not the expert. She just hoped this method would work.

There was a beat, and then she spoke again. “I’ve heard rumors… about using your senses if things get bad once you’re reintegrated into society. If you’re desperate…” Truthfully, Vic didn’t know much about the rumors, but admitting ignorance was never her strong point. “If you’re back out in public and someone gets a papercut or something, I mean, if you’re about to lose control, there’s some sort of failsafe that maybe sometimes works for some certain upiors. If there’s a certain scent that evokes a strong reaction from you, it might shake you out of whatever fervor you’re about to act upon.” She paused a bit before continuing, “But that may just be a rumor.”

For Jenny’s sake, and for Jade’s sake, she hoped it wasn’t. Perhaps this rumor was something that could take hold, something that could save her in the face of completely freaking out. When they came back next week, Vic would suggest testing this rumor out with different strong smells. She might even suggest some sort of pseudo-therapy session where the three of them could explore deeply to find whatever strong smell might evoke such a reaction out of Jenny together. Or maybe such an invasive conversation could be saved for week three. Either way, she turned to Jade, signaling silently that she was ready to go. Whatever else was going to happen over this first week, it was in Jenny’s hands now. Despite herself, she turned to the girl one last time. “I don’t believe in luck. But I believe you have the gumption to get through this. You just have to trust yourself.” Vic had learned, over time, that people were appreciative of misplaced optimism. Sometimes, this misplaced optimism even turned into a sort of self-fullfilling prophecy.

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whimmortal