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Post by Lancet && Jones on May 12, 2008 6:15:47 GMT -5
It was a dangerous task, but someone had to undertake it. And since there were very few of the inhabitants of the Abbey around, it fell to the young blonde woman, her hair tied in a neat bun and covered with a square of lace. She dressed in pale, eggshell blue with brown leather shoes, and a white linen apron that was vaguely bloodstained, not by her own consumption of blood, but by a need to help. Her green eyes were scanning the courtyard's grassy edges, and from her arm hung a wicker trug, lined with a wide-woven swab that had been unfolded for the task.
In clustered groups around the courtyard, standing pale beneath the blue moon were the first fruits of spring, and a chance for life to finally expose itself after the harsh reality of winter. Though a brisk cold still lingered, there was something in the air that spoke of its passing. A wind from the south, the warmer lands. And it was a sense of hope. Ceridwen could feel it. It was the warm breath they would feel in the Brecon hills when the snow would start to lift, and the green beneath would finally be exposed.
However, for now it seemed to be the very beginning. And in the cold night air winter still lay it's dark arms around the world, and the clear night air meant not warmth, but bitter frost. It was already collecting on the leaves and petals of the snowdrops, their white faces bowed to the moon. It was these that Ceridwen had been instructed to collect, and to collect them right now. That was half an hour ago, where she had taken foot and walked across the lethal city of London to find her way to the Abbey, a treacherous path she found herself persuing far too often, on the command of her overseeing boss, doctor Lancet. Of course she would do it, without hesitation she would do anything for him, but she didn't like it. But then again she didn't have a choice. She was part of this now, and even when the doctor made rediculous demands of her she had to carry them out.
Snowdrops... what would snowdrops have to do with a cure? Not the bulbs, he had specifically said not the bulbs. Just the flowers. Of course there could have been far more peculiar requests, but by moonlight she found it a slightly intriguing task. Why he could not wait was anyone's guess.
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Post by Phoenix on May 12, 2008 12:38:50 GMT -5
" So this is where he works ," An almost completely hidden figure muttered, hood pulled over his face as he glanced around the courtyard, his eyes scanning between the almost snow like covered trees, the petals being that close to the paleness of the snow. He slowly pulled the hood off, revealing a pair of almost glacier eyes. Almost midnight black hair draped over his skull, barely seeming to move as he started to move toward the trees, heading slowly as not to seem a threat.
Connell slowly ran his tongue along his fangs, almost painful memories coming back. Not of the actually being turned into one of the vampires, of even the fact that he couldn't leave his hiding spot til night. It was more the fact that his own father had been one of the slayers following him and the rest of his group. He sighed, shaking of the memories, glancing up just in time to catch sight of Ceridwen, instantly pressing himself against the bark of the tree, hoping his movement hadn't caught the attention of the female.
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Post by Lancet && Jones on May 12, 2008 13:25:28 GMT -5
She lifted her head, standing up from the ground with a single flower in her hand, leaving her trug basket by the thin patch of snowdrops she had sought by a rough and decrepit stone bench. She had definitely heard something, and it sent her pulse soaring. They could move so fast, and so secretively, what was there to say whoever it was wasn't behind her, right now, fangs bared and ready to bite, to taste, to infect her...
She turned her head quickly, gasping as she stepped back, her shin clashing with the bench as she stumbled, keeping her balance by some sheer miracle. "Oh Dew cyfnerth fi..." She breathed, her heart racing, starting to settle down as she calmed herself. Everything was fine. There was no need to stress. Those who resided at the Abbey were just... patients. That was all. Just like anyone else, and they wouldn't hurt her. She could be certain of it.
But still there was the lingering feeling of being watched. And she didn't like it. The air at the back of her neck had started to fell very cold and exposed, as if wanting her to fear them. "Duw damnio chi, James Lancet..." She growled, breath rising from her lips as she knelt once more to pick the snowdrops, shying away from the moon into the bench. Such forsaken little flowers they were.
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Post by Phoenix on May 12, 2008 13:43:50 GMT -5
A slow breath escaped form Connell's mouth, having glanced around just to spot her move off toward a bench. He slowly walked out from the tree, making sure not be seen by Ceridwen. His hood pulled up again. He even scared one of the people who worked with his kind. He glanced at her basket through the corner of his eye, noticing she had only taken the petal from the flowers. He himself slowly bent down, gently plucking one of the flowers from the ground, almost amazed how white and pure they were. He swiftly moved from tree to tree, barely being seen, his cape helping his form seem to drift into the shadows.
When he was close to the bench he stopped, the flower still in his hand. He once again moved swiftly, placing the flower on the bench, almost trying to apologies for scaring her, not really sure if he was scaring her more by doing so or not. His kept the cloak close as he moved off from where he had left the flower, moving back into the shadows of the trees, just watching the nurse at work. Well, at least he could think she was a nurse in her outfit.
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Post by Lancet && Jones on May 12, 2008 13:50:45 GMT -5
A shadow moved over the moon. Just for a second, and she looked up, her eyes falling on the snowdrop that was left. So perfect and pure, the colour of life against the darkness of the stone. The stark contrast that seemed to breathe with curiosity. Then again Ceridwen had learnt not to trust curiosity. Doctor Lancet had taught her that much. That and never trust a French woman, for what reason she didn't want to know. She picked the tiny stem from the seat, holding it to her eyes. it was no trick or displacement to have her walk into the arms of her predators. This was just genuine. She could tell.
With careful touch she placed it among the others, a sizeable gathering not collecting together at the bottom of the trug basket. Shuddering together against the bitter air. Ceridwen's eyes moved around the courtyard once again, and her eyes lingered on the trees for a moment. There was something there. Someone possibly. With a fleeting smile she stepped forwards, leaving the flowers behind her on the bench as she approached the baron leafless growths, the single evergreen standing among two others, fronds of yew reaching to taunt the naked companions that stood either side. "Who's there?" She called, her inquisitive eyes following around the yew branches, pleading for whoever it was, most likely vampire, to be benign. [/center]
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Post by Phoenix on May 12, 2008 14:05:50 GMT -5
Connells eyes followed her as she moved, only to see her walking toward him. He took a slow step forward, toward the sunlight, his hood covering his face still. He glanced up, glacier eyes searching her face, almost looking for a reaction as he slowly pulled the hood down, his pale skin showing more in the moonlight, keeping his mouth closed, not wanting to show his fangs. He wasn't ashamed of being what he was, it was more the fear of scaring her.
" A fiend, a tyrant, an infected no less ," Connell muttered, the slight hint of his Irish past showing, his eyes trailing to the floor. He had been called so many things by the few humans he had met face to face. Normally it was face to their purse. His hands went into the pockets of his trousers, cloak hiding most movement under the cloak. He once again looked up, waiting to see a reaction in the females face. Normally he would have been attacked or fled from.
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Post by Lancet && Jones on May 12, 2008 14:16:32 GMT -5
She lost her breath for a moment, but there was no move to attack her. No un-judged move to drink her blood or drain her life. And the voice was so gentle and untouched it was as if the boy had never been infected in the first place. Ceridwen's lips curled into a soft smile as she took another step forwards. "That's okay. I'm Nurse Jones, I'm here to help you." She said, her Welsh voice more pronounced as her sentences grew longer. Of course it was unavoidable that she was from the valleys, and some here found it a good opportunity to laugh and jeer at her.
Nevertheless, the presence of another Gallic tongue soothed her a little, letting her know she wasn't alone in being born in another part of the British Isles. Her smile widened slightly, bowing her head to try and see beneath the hood. "Are you alright? Do you need any help?" She asked, a soft breeze running over her skirt, which fluttered across the grass.
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Post by Phoenix on May 12, 2008 14:33:34 GMT -5
" I'm Connell ," He muttered, removing the hood from his face. A smile flickered on his face when he picked up on the Welsh accent lingering in her voice. The breeze also caught the cloak he was wearing, pushing off enough to reveal the trousers and a slight glance of the pale white shirt. He sighed slightly, almost dark memories coming back to him when she had muttered help. His father had said he was helping by beating manners into him. He shook those memories off, returning to looking at Ceridwen, noticing the almost intrigue in her eyes.
" I'm alright, I just came to see what the abbey was like ," He muttered, not wanting to say about the lack of blood recently. So few people left there houses at night, not only did he have not a penny to his name, he was weaker than normal, his speed moderately slower than when he had recently fed. Of course, he was still faster than a normal human, but not by much. His eyes searched the courtyard, amazed no others were out, but then again, it was better. Less chance of having to run. Crowds had never suited him.
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Post by Lancet && Jones on May 12, 2008 14:58:28 GMT -5
She noticed something in his eyes, something she had seen shadowed in her master more than once now, and immediately her hand shot to her forearm, a typical reaction. A reddish circle sat just below the crook of her elbow, as if an intravenous line had been inserted there not long ago. "You're hungry. I can tell." She said, reaching into the pockets of her skirt and producing a hip flask, with dark, black marks running down the side, as if the contents had been spilled. she wound the brass lid back on itself, passing it across to Connell before stepping back.
ooc//
Ack. blockage.
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Post by Phoenix on May 12, 2008 15:14:25 GMT -5
Connell glanced up at the nurse, taking the flask before shaking his head. " I-I can't. If I start I cant stop til....," The vampire started, that being one of the reasons he hadn't fed for so long. Before he had the other vampires to stop him. He couldn't control that almost primal urge to keep drinking til he was full. He glanced back up at her, his eyes meeting hers, almost telling her of is past in a single glance. He slowly passed the flask back, eyes returning to the floor.
" I just don't want to hurt someone. Not again ," He muttered, pulling the cloak closer to him. His eyes once again were drawn to the flowers, the reason Ceridwen had been out in the courtyard at the time.
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Post by Lancet && Jones on May 12, 2008 15:23:41 GMT -5
She laughed, a soft innocent laugh that caused her eyes to fall, and her head to sweep side to side in a slow shake that seemed to take an eternity. "Never stopped me before, right, and it won't stop me now. I'm clear of it sir, and I always will be. I know how to subdue a vamperic rage. My Master becomes so violent... so starved... It becomes such fear to dwell in the same house. But I never stop. Because those of us who are like you always need someone to look after them." She said softly, and pressed the hip flask into his hands gingerly. "If it would make you worse I would not have offered. But my blood is pure and innocent, and will never cause you pain or anger, or blood lust." She said, nodding. "Take it."
She stepped back, looking back at him curiously. She'd never known any of his kind to be so cautious. They usually took the virgin blood and drained it, leaving her alone and tainted by their dishonour.
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Post by Phoenix on May 12, 2008 15:38:30 GMT -5
Connell was still nervous about it. Losing control so close to someone, especially a mortal, would be terrible. He slowly un-screwed the lid and Brung it to his lips, drinking the cool, crimson liquid slowly. He made sure to only drink enough to stop him being as weak as he had been. He would have been a sitting duck for the Slayers if he had waited much longer. He re-did the lid, passing it slowly back to Ceridwen.
" Thank you, I cant help but be scared of what would have happened if I had left it much longer ," He muttered truthfully. If he had left it too long he would have either been forced to kill a female, the only mortals she refused to drink from. The other problem would have been if he had been found by a slayer. Color had already started returning to his quite pale face, his cloak still draped over his shoulders. He glanced at her, noticing the slight curiosity etched in her face.
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Post by Lancet && Jones on May 14, 2008 12:51:43 GMT -5
She watched him for a moment, taking her hip flask with cold fingers, watching the colour flush back into his cheeks. Her smile twitched, just for a second, but the preceptive would notice. "You're newly bitten aren't you?" She said, a quiet pity settled in her words. They all began like this, and over time they would change, their perceptions distort into something venomous. And it was for Connell that she wished for Lancet to find a cure at that moment, so he would never need be taken to the Mews.
"Come, I'll tell you something..." She said, beckoning to the bench where the basket of snowdrops rested still, until she lifted it onto her lap as she sat down. A strand of blonde hair had unwound from her bun and snaked down her cheek, peeping beneath the cloth atop her head.
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Post by Phoenix on May 14, 2008 12:59:44 GMT -5
" No, I've been like this for a while now. I had friends that kept me like this, not becoming like the ones people are killed by ," He murmured, catching the slight smile on her face, his own remaining almost dark, memories of his past flooding back to him like the sea. He slowly followed after her, sitting down a bit away from the nurse. He slowly undid the cloak, not thinking he needed it. He only used it if he was traveling. The only thing keeping it from falling off of his shoulders was a skull shaped clasp. He laid the cloak by his side, watching Ceridwen.
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Post by Lancet && Jones on May 14, 2008 13:38:04 GMT -5
She grinned, tucking her hair back behind her ear. "My mother used to tell me a story when I was growing up in Glynogwyr..." She said, picking up one of the snowdrops and examining it for a moment, her eyes resting on one of the petals, slightly brown at the tip.
"She would tell all us children when we were ready to settle down for the night. She told us of a terrible man named Effanywrth that would walk only at night and drink the blood of young children. Effanywrth was a vampire. He would scare the cats and dogs of the village, even the bats and the rats..." She said, and she blushed slightly as she recalled how the rhyme always made her smile.
"Everyone fled from Effanywrith. One day there was a travelling market that came to rest in Effanywrth's village, and they knew nothing of the man. And so at night their children would run and play in the hills. And so Effanywrth woke to find them."
She paused. "This isn't going to be your English story, you know the ones where the tale is to keep children in their beds? This is a celtic tale. You know the kind." She said, a starry and intriguing look about her face as he her smile widened. "Everything is told as it should." She said, nodding as she placed the wounded flower back among the others.
"The youngest daughter did not fear Effanywrth, and took him broth and bread. Effanywrth greeted this kindness, and let the travellers by. It was said that the kindness shown by the merchant's daughter lifted Effanywrth's heart, and the villagers began to see that he was not a monster, but a person. And it was kindness that helped Effanywrth become human again." She said, and she looked away.
"It's just a tale. It's supposed to tell you how kindness and god nature can save your life. But these days I look at the words mother used to say as hope... That one day kindness and good heart will help your people. I'm sure of it."
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