Fiction: Senses
Aug. 7th, 2012 12:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
clare_dragonflyTitle: Senses
Word count: 2,167
Rating: PG
Prompt:![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
rainbowfic Tyrian Purple 16, dawn's rosy fingers; Heart Gold 6, Love is a beautiful dream. - William Sharp
Notes: More in the saga of Hugh and the vampires! This directly follows The Cave.
It was a beautiful morning. Hugh kept looking around as Judith led him out of the cave and through the woods, astonished at all the beautiful sights—and sounds, and smells, and things to feel (mostly Judith’s skin)—around him. His senses had never been so sharp or clear.
Maybe it wouldn’t be that hard to get used to being undead after all.
He breathed in through his nose. There were a hundred smells mingling here, smells he hadn’t noticed the night before—smells of earth and sand, smells of bark and leaf, smells of insect and animal and bird. The dawn was filled with colors, nearly a rainbow of them. The sun was too bright, though, to glance at even for a moment; he had to blink many times to clear the dazzle and the tears out of his eyes.
He could hear dozens of creatures of all sizes moving around him. Some he could guess at an identification for—earthworms, beetles, small birds, a squirrel—and some he wasn’t sure of at all. When he focused on the squirrel, he found he could pinpoint it by hearing alone, and then find it with his sharp eyes. He suspected that if his reflexes were as improved as his senses, he would even be able to catch it with his bare hands.
But now was not the time to test that, not with Judith’s hand in his and her purposeful strides bringing them further into the island. It was bigger than he had thought when he had arrived last night—but then he hadn’t been able to hear or smell the sea, which he could now, albeit faintly. And he was sure he could sense people ahead of them…
He was about to comment on that to Judith when she pushed aside a tree branch and there they were. There was a house in the middle of a clearing. True, it was an ancient, run-down house with not much of a roof left, but clearly someone human had lived here once. There were benches out front, and two women were sitting on the benches, with one man standing between them, arms folded, looking at one of the women.
Hugh was surprised to find that neither of them were anywhere near as beautiful as Judith. If they had been the ones to catch him the night before, his reaction might have been very different. He would have thought that vampirism made anyone beautiful—but then, he mused, he didn’t feel any different now that he was a vampire, except for his heightened senses.
One woman, leaning on the side of the house with her eyes closed and her face tipped to the sun, was dark-skinned, with a broad nose and thick, curly hair. She wore a loose, long faded dress that may have once been striped, and had a deflated look, like a woman who had been heavy and had lost weight suddenly. Hugh guessed from her clothing that she was very old, perhaps a few hundred years. The other woman was also black, but lighter-skinned, with a scattering of freckles across her face and tightly braided, long hair. She was smiling, showing her fangs. She was dressed like a hippie, in a white blouse and a long, floral-patterned skirt.
The man was fair, his hair very blond, his eyes so icy blue they stood out even against his white skin. He wore a suit not all that different from Hugh’s own, though the tie was a knotted cravat. Hugh had no idea what era the clothing might be from, knowing that men’s fashions hadn’t changed much in the last hundred and fifty years. They fit the man perfectly, though, and the dark charcoal flattered him well. Hugh had the irrational urge to ask him where he’d gotten the clothes, and who his tailor was. He wouldn’t mind looking that good himself.
He took all this in during the brief seconds between Judith leading him into the clearing and the three vampires lifting their heads to look at him. They pierced him quickly, their eyes the most alive and shining parts of them, and he had the feeling they were stripping his mind to the bone with that look.
The hippie woman laughed suddenly. “You saved one for us, Judith? How—” She stopped mid-sentence, her nostrils flaring. “This isn’t a meal,” she said, accusing. “You made him a vampire.”
The man took a slow, menacing step toward them. “Explain yourself, Judith.” He had a faint accent that Hugh thought might be Scandinavian.
Judith sighed and looked away. “What is there to explain? I wanted to keep him. I made him a vampire.”
“You could have at least shared the meal with the rest of us,” complained the hippie.
“You wouldn’t have let me turn him if I had,” Judith said, still not looking at the other vampires. “He probably wouldn’t have, either. If I’d brought him to you before I drained him, he wouldn’t have been relaxed enough to let me.”
Hugh coughed, feeling that he ought to be part of the conversation. “That’s probably true. Ah.” He let go of Judith’s hand and took a couple of steps forward, feeling foolish, but—well, if he was going to be foolish enough to get seduced and turned into a vampire, he may as well continue with the foolishness. And if this man was going to kill him, he might as well get it over with. “Hugh Burke.” He held out his hand.
The older black woman grinned. “At least he’s a pretty one. But we always knew you had good taste, Judith.” She had a thick Southern drawl—much more pronounced than the accents of any of the locals Hugh had talked to during the information-gathering phase of the operation.
The man continued to stare Hugh down. Hugh stared back, not lowering his hand. If this was a test, he was going to pass. And if it was a test, he did pass: the man thrust out his hand as well, quick as a snake, and shook Hugh’s hand with a firm, nearly crushing grip. “Callum Marley.”
“Pleasure to meet you.” He didn’t flinch from the grip, even though he was pretty sure some supernatural vampire strength was being used there. When both men mutually released the handshake, Hugh turned to the hippie woman and gave her a bow. “And you are?”
She laughed. “Joanne. Welcome to Heneghan Island.”
He turned to the other woman, bowed, and asked her name as well. She gave it as Grace. When he turned back to Judith, she was smiling. Hopefully that meant he was doing well so far.
Marley had other thoughts, though, evidently. “Judith, what were you thinking? Do you realize that this makes thirteen of us? They might send back yet another group of investigators and we might get lucky with some tourists, but we can’t survive this way. We’ll depopulate the island of animals at this rate.”
“Oh, come off it, Callum,” Judith snapped. Hugh looked at her again, surprised by her sudden assertiveness. She had her hands on her hips and her eyes were flashing. She looked even more beautiful. “You know we don’t need to eat that often,” she continued. “Don’t be fooled, Hugh. We can survive a long time without any blood. Years, even. It’s not fun, but we’re not going to starve to death just because there are unlucky thirteen of us.”
Callum gave an exaggerated sigh. “You’re so young, Judith. You don’t know—”
“Of course I do!” she cried. “Or do you not remember that after Grace turned me there was nothing but squirrels and birds on the island for three damn years? And I was so grossed out by the squirrels I wouldn’t touch anything for my whole first year. I was fine. Besides.” She gave an unladylike snort. “We’re not going to eat Hugh no matter how hungry we get, because the only blood he has left is what I gave him to turn him. As you know.”
“We could eat you,” Callum said quietly, and now there was real threat in his voice. “You’re full.”
Hugh quickly took Judith’s hand. “I don’t think so.” He wasn’t always a man of few words, but when he was serious he got quiet. And now he was serious. He didn’t know any of these other vampires. He’d avoid hurting the women if he could, but whatever he needed to do, he would do to protect Judith.
Joanne laughed, a high, shrieking sound. “And what do you intend to do to stop us, little fledgling?”
“I still have a gun.” His hand went to the holster. It was still there.
Joanne shook her head. “That won’t hurt us.”
“I don’t want to have to kill anyone,” Callum said. “But if it comes to it—”
“You, ridiculous, pompous—” Judith interrupted him.
“Stop it, both of you,” snapped Grace. “No one is killing Judith. She’s mine, remember. And Hugh is hers, so I’m putting him under my protection as well.” She was rising slowly as she spoke, seeming to lift without any effort of her muscles from her seated position, and grow taller and taller as she did. “And don’t give us that nonsense about not wanting to kill anyone. You were happy enough to kill those other three FBI agents, and just because Judith didn’t want to kill anyone doesn’t make her less than you.” Hugh’s gut twisted at the confirmation of what he’d already known, that the rest of his team was dead, but he didn’t have time to react. Grace was still speaking, and she seemed to have them all under her thrall somehow. “If you’re going to start something about us being more human or better than them, you give that up right now. If anything, we’re less human, and worse. And we were all like them once. Don’t forget that. Don’t you ever forget that.”
Grace’s feet hit the ground with a soft thump, and Hugh realized that she’d actually been hovering a few inches above the ground during her speech. The breath seemed to rush back into him when she stopped speaking, and he moved his eyes for the first time in minutes. Callum was even paler than he had been before, if possible, red lips standing out against his skin, the whites of his eyes showing all around. He didn’t seem to be coming up with any response.
And then someone came out of the house and broke the tension. It was a white man, tall and gangly, with a mass of black curls. “What’s going on?”
Grace smiled warmly, a bright contrast to the chill expression she’d had when she was telling off Callum. “Stuart. Meet our newest member. This is Hugh.” She gestured to him with a flourish.
“Oh, cool.” Stuart gave a not-too-bright but certainly friendly grin and stuck his hand out toward Hugh. Hugh reached out numbly and shook his hand. “Welcome. You’re Judith’s?”
“I… yeah.” That seemed to be the right answer, based on what Grace had said before, and also the pleasing way Judith squeezed his hand.
“Nice choice,” Stuart said, turning to Judith. “Can I borrow him sometime?”
Judith smacked him lightly on the shoulder with her free hand. “I’m not going to treat him like a toy, Stuart. Or a pet. He can make his own decisions.”
“Uh, and I think the answer to that is going to be a no,” Hugh said, moving slightly closer to Judith. She and Stuart both laughed.
“Why don’t you come inside, Hugh?” Grace said, curling her fingers to beckon toward him. “You can meet the others—not everyone is here, but a few of us are inside. And we can give you a few more of those answers that I know you’re looking for.”
“I haven’t told him everything yet,” said Judith, nodding. “That’s a good idea.”
There was a quiet crunch of leaves to the left, drawing Hugh’s attention. He turned his head to see Joanne and Callum disappearing into the trees. He hadn’t even seen them move. Obviously, heightened senses weren’t the only benefit to being a vampire.
“I would definitely like some more answers,” Hugh said softly.
Stuart and Grace turned and went into the house. Hugh and Judith followed more slowly, still holding each other’s hands. Before they went inside, he said softly to her, “You really needed me to take care of you with these guys, huh?”
She looked up at him with a brilliant smile. “I didn’t say you were the only one to take care of me.”
“I think you’re going to be doing more taking care of me than I am of you.”
“I’m okay with that. Are you?”
Instead of answering out loud, he bent down, gathered her in his arms, and kissed her. They didn’t stop until voices inside the house called them in.
Did you enjoy this story? You can read more stories in this world or see all my fiction posted at Dreamwidth!
Word count: 2,167
Rating: PG
Prompt:
rainbowfic Tyrian Purple 16, dawn's rosy fingers; Heart Gold 6, Love is a beautiful dream. - William SharpNotes: More in the saga of Hugh and the vampires! This directly follows The Cave.
It was a beautiful morning. Hugh kept looking around as Judith led him out of the cave and through the woods, astonished at all the beautiful sights—and sounds, and smells, and things to feel (mostly Judith’s skin)—around him. His senses had never been so sharp or clear.
Maybe it wouldn’t be that hard to get used to being undead after all.
He breathed in through his nose. There were a hundred smells mingling here, smells he hadn’t noticed the night before—smells of earth and sand, smells of bark and leaf, smells of insect and animal and bird. The dawn was filled with colors, nearly a rainbow of them. The sun was too bright, though, to glance at even for a moment; he had to blink many times to clear the dazzle and the tears out of his eyes.
He could hear dozens of creatures of all sizes moving around him. Some he could guess at an identification for—earthworms, beetles, small birds, a squirrel—and some he wasn’t sure of at all. When he focused on the squirrel, he found he could pinpoint it by hearing alone, and then find it with his sharp eyes. He suspected that if his reflexes were as improved as his senses, he would even be able to catch it with his bare hands.
But now was not the time to test that, not with Judith’s hand in his and her purposeful strides bringing them further into the island. It was bigger than he had thought when he had arrived last night—but then he hadn’t been able to hear or smell the sea, which he could now, albeit faintly. And he was sure he could sense people ahead of them…
He was about to comment on that to Judith when she pushed aside a tree branch and there they were. There was a house in the middle of a clearing. True, it was an ancient, run-down house with not much of a roof left, but clearly someone human had lived here once. There were benches out front, and two women were sitting on the benches, with one man standing between them, arms folded, looking at one of the women.
Hugh was surprised to find that neither of them were anywhere near as beautiful as Judith. If they had been the ones to catch him the night before, his reaction might have been very different. He would have thought that vampirism made anyone beautiful—but then, he mused, he didn’t feel any different now that he was a vampire, except for his heightened senses.
One woman, leaning on the side of the house with her eyes closed and her face tipped to the sun, was dark-skinned, with a broad nose and thick, curly hair. She wore a loose, long faded dress that may have once been striped, and had a deflated look, like a woman who had been heavy and had lost weight suddenly. Hugh guessed from her clothing that she was very old, perhaps a few hundred years. The other woman was also black, but lighter-skinned, with a scattering of freckles across her face and tightly braided, long hair. She was smiling, showing her fangs. She was dressed like a hippie, in a white blouse and a long, floral-patterned skirt.
The man was fair, his hair very blond, his eyes so icy blue they stood out even against his white skin. He wore a suit not all that different from Hugh’s own, though the tie was a knotted cravat. Hugh had no idea what era the clothing might be from, knowing that men’s fashions hadn’t changed much in the last hundred and fifty years. They fit the man perfectly, though, and the dark charcoal flattered him well. Hugh had the irrational urge to ask him where he’d gotten the clothes, and who his tailor was. He wouldn’t mind looking that good himself.
He took all this in during the brief seconds between Judith leading him into the clearing and the three vampires lifting their heads to look at him. They pierced him quickly, their eyes the most alive and shining parts of them, and he had the feeling they were stripping his mind to the bone with that look.
The hippie woman laughed suddenly. “You saved one for us, Judith? How—” She stopped mid-sentence, her nostrils flaring. “This isn’t a meal,” she said, accusing. “You made him a vampire.”
The man took a slow, menacing step toward them. “Explain yourself, Judith.” He had a faint accent that Hugh thought might be Scandinavian.
Judith sighed and looked away. “What is there to explain? I wanted to keep him. I made him a vampire.”
“You could have at least shared the meal with the rest of us,” complained the hippie.
“You wouldn’t have let me turn him if I had,” Judith said, still not looking at the other vampires. “He probably wouldn’t have, either. If I’d brought him to you before I drained him, he wouldn’t have been relaxed enough to let me.”
Hugh coughed, feeling that he ought to be part of the conversation. “That’s probably true. Ah.” He let go of Judith’s hand and took a couple of steps forward, feeling foolish, but—well, if he was going to be foolish enough to get seduced and turned into a vampire, he may as well continue with the foolishness. And if this man was going to kill him, he might as well get it over with. “Hugh Burke.” He held out his hand.
The older black woman grinned. “At least he’s a pretty one. But we always knew you had good taste, Judith.” She had a thick Southern drawl—much more pronounced than the accents of any of the locals Hugh had talked to during the information-gathering phase of the operation.
The man continued to stare Hugh down. Hugh stared back, not lowering his hand. If this was a test, he was going to pass. And if it was a test, he did pass: the man thrust out his hand as well, quick as a snake, and shook Hugh’s hand with a firm, nearly crushing grip. “Callum Marley.”
“Pleasure to meet you.” He didn’t flinch from the grip, even though he was pretty sure some supernatural vampire strength was being used there. When both men mutually released the handshake, Hugh turned to the hippie woman and gave her a bow. “And you are?”
She laughed. “Joanne. Welcome to Heneghan Island.”
He turned to the other woman, bowed, and asked her name as well. She gave it as Grace. When he turned back to Judith, she was smiling. Hopefully that meant he was doing well so far.
Marley had other thoughts, though, evidently. “Judith, what were you thinking? Do you realize that this makes thirteen of us? They might send back yet another group of investigators and we might get lucky with some tourists, but we can’t survive this way. We’ll depopulate the island of animals at this rate.”
“Oh, come off it, Callum,” Judith snapped. Hugh looked at her again, surprised by her sudden assertiveness. She had her hands on her hips and her eyes were flashing. She looked even more beautiful. “You know we don’t need to eat that often,” she continued. “Don’t be fooled, Hugh. We can survive a long time without any blood. Years, even. It’s not fun, but we’re not going to starve to death just because there are unlucky thirteen of us.”
Callum gave an exaggerated sigh. “You’re so young, Judith. You don’t know—”
“Of course I do!” she cried. “Or do you not remember that after Grace turned me there was nothing but squirrels and birds on the island for three damn years? And I was so grossed out by the squirrels I wouldn’t touch anything for my whole first year. I was fine. Besides.” She gave an unladylike snort. “We’re not going to eat Hugh no matter how hungry we get, because the only blood he has left is what I gave him to turn him. As you know.”
“We could eat you,” Callum said quietly, and now there was real threat in his voice. “You’re full.”
Hugh quickly took Judith’s hand. “I don’t think so.” He wasn’t always a man of few words, but when he was serious he got quiet. And now he was serious. He didn’t know any of these other vampires. He’d avoid hurting the women if he could, but whatever he needed to do, he would do to protect Judith.
Joanne laughed, a high, shrieking sound. “And what do you intend to do to stop us, little fledgling?”
“I still have a gun.” His hand went to the holster. It was still there.
Joanne shook her head. “That won’t hurt us.”
“I don’t want to have to kill anyone,” Callum said. “But if it comes to it—”
“You, ridiculous, pompous—” Judith interrupted him.
“Stop it, both of you,” snapped Grace. “No one is killing Judith. She’s mine, remember. And Hugh is hers, so I’m putting him under my protection as well.” She was rising slowly as she spoke, seeming to lift without any effort of her muscles from her seated position, and grow taller and taller as she did. “And don’t give us that nonsense about not wanting to kill anyone. You were happy enough to kill those other three FBI agents, and just because Judith didn’t want to kill anyone doesn’t make her less than you.” Hugh’s gut twisted at the confirmation of what he’d already known, that the rest of his team was dead, but he didn’t have time to react. Grace was still speaking, and she seemed to have them all under her thrall somehow. “If you’re going to start something about us being more human or better than them, you give that up right now. If anything, we’re less human, and worse. And we were all like them once. Don’t forget that. Don’t you ever forget that.”
Grace’s feet hit the ground with a soft thump, and Hugh realized that she’d actually been hovering a few inches above the ground during her speech. The breath seemed to rush back into him when she stopped speaking, and he moved his eyes for the first time in minutes. Callum was even paler than he had been before, if possible, red lips standing out against his skin, the whites of his eyes showing all around. He didn’t seem to be coming up with any response.
And then someone came out of the house and broke the tension. It was a white man, tall and gangly, with a mass of black curls. “What’s going on?”
Grace smiled warmly, a bright contrast to the chill expression she’d had when she was telling off Callum. “Stuart. Meet our newest member. This is Hugh.” She gestured to him with a flourish.
“Oh, cool.” Stuart gave a not-too-bright but certainly friendly grin and stuck his hand out toward Hugh. Hugh reached out numbly and shook his hand. “Welcome. You’re Judith’s?”
“I… yeah.” That seemed to be the right answer, based on what Grace had said before, and also the pleasing way Judith squeezed his hand.
“Nice choice,” Stuart said, turning to Judith. “Can I borrow him sometime?”
Judith smacked him lightly on the shoulder with her free hand. “I’m not going to treat him like a toy, Stuart. Or a pet. He can make his own decisions.”
“Uh, and I think the answer to that is going to be a no,” Hugh said, moving slightly closer to Judith. She and Stuart both laughed.
“Why don’t you come inside, Hugh?” Grace said, curling her fingers to beckon toward him. “You can meet the others—not everyone is here, but a few of us are inside. And we can give you a few more of those answers that I know you’re looking for.”
“I haven’t told him everything yet,” said Judith, nodding. “That’s a good idea.”
There was a quiet crunch of leaves to the left, drawing Hugh’s attention. He turned his head to see Joanne and Callum disappearing into the trees. He hadn’t even seen them move. Obviously, heightened senses weren’t the only benefit to being a vampire.
“I would definitely like some more answers,” Hugh said softly.
Stuart and Grace turned and went into the house. Hugh and Judith followed more slowly, still holding each other’s hands. Before they went inside, he said softly to her, “You really needed me to take care of you with these guys, huh?”
She looked up at him with a brilliant smile. “I didn’t say you were the only one to take care of me.”
“I think you’re going to be doing more taking care of me than I am of you.”
“I’m okay with that. Are you?”
Instead of answering out loud, he bent down, gathered her in his arms, and kissed her. They didn’t stop until voices inside the house called them in.
Did you enjoy this story? You can read more stories in this world or see all my fiction posted at Dreamwidth!