Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A burning sensation spreads slowly across my thigh, travelling across my skin from the outside in. I open my eyes sluggishly, still dazed from the night before, inspecting my leg for the source of this pain as its intensity goes from ‘itchy’ to ‘painful’.
Piercing through what should be a completely dark room is a singular blade of light, marching slowly across the floor to make an attempt on my life. I roll away from the pin-prick of sunshine only to end up knocking my knees into a wall. I sigh, resigning myself to the reality that I will need to stand up if I want to avoid being cleft in twain.
There is a moment where I consider if I can be bothered to muster the energy to move any further; contemplating the possibility of permitting this sunbeam to simply complete its destined path and destroy me. I lie there a moment longer, allowing the light to reach my skin once more, to feel the way it irritates and chars me, to gauge if it is worth the continuous pain of its journey. Once it has gotten a few inches across my thigh I groan and crawl up and away from the ray to inspect the source of it.
Scattered across the bedroom floor are cans, bottles, and empty takeout boxes; a mess, but not the origin point of this intruder. The ceiling is still as bare as when I last stared at it, but on the walls, between the posters and stains, a piece of cardboard has come unstuck from its position covering the window.
I take the four laborious steps over the mess to where the offending section has removed itself, and push it back into place. In proper darkness I can finally make out the extent of the mess. Amongst the debris there are brand new stains, most of which trail to the corner of the room, where three people drained of most of their colour lie on my mattress, barely breathing. Memories flash in my mind, inviting a friend to get high with me and my housemates, them smoking, all of us drinking.

One of them groans, I walk over and shake them all probably a bit too hard.

“Alright, fuck off outta my room, I wanna sleep in my bed,” I mumble.

Slowly all three of them roll off of the mattress, though my house mate Madison requires some extra encouragement so I grab her by the arm and drag her on to the floor. It takes about ten minutes, but eventually my bedroom door is shut, and I collapse, allowing the squeaking springs below to rock me to sleep.

---

Many hours later I am awoken by a loud knocking, and look up to see my other housemate, Charlee, walking through my door. They have on a variety of relaxation and cleanliness products, attempting to spa treatment away the hangover and blood loss they’ve been dealing with all day.

“Hey Annie, someone at the door is asking to come in,” they announce.

I groan, not moving from under the thin blanket I’ve wrapped myself in.

“She says she’s your sister,” they continue, “Unless you tell me I should I’m not inviting her in.”

I freeze in place.

What on earth would she be doing here?

“Um… just, just let me talk to her,” I say, rolling onto the floor with a soft thud.

I very slowly stretch out, levitating on to my feet as I extend my arms above my head. I reach over to an oversized t-shirt sitting on my desk and slip it on, attempting to cover up somewhat. I didn’t truly believe my housemate, but sure enough, behind the door stands Edith Fairfax; lawyer, doctor, researcher, and “beloved” sister of mine for the past couple hundred years. Her suit is sharp, her hair immaculate, the epitome of someone well put together enough to put a lot of energy into looking pristine, on top of already being a workaholic. I stare in stunned silence.

“Anne, darling, put your fangs away, you don’t know who’s watching,” she chastises.

“And hello to you too Edie, what a surprise for you to stop by, it’s only been half a century.”

She rolls her eyes, and knocks on the door frame.

“May I come in? I need to talk to you.”

I scoff at her lack of response, and turn to look back at the share house. I can hear the others chatting, obviously my other friend hasn’t left yet.

“Just… letting you know the others in this house aren’t my thralls or food or anything, they’re my housemates and I don’t want them like, getting caught up in anything dangerous.”

She nods absently, and raises her eyebrows to push me to answer her question.

“Alright, fine, come in,” I say.

Once the words pass my lips she is immediately walking past me and inspecting the house. She scrunches her nose when she glances into my room, catching a glimpse of the layer of trash over the floor and flimsy cardboard over the window. She stares, flabbergasted, at the pile of laundry covering half the couch that Madison is currently using as a cushion to rest on while falling asleep to a movie, and the array of dishes and trash that cover every surface.

“You… you seriously live like this?” she mumbles, almost to herself.

“Please tell me you didn’t come around just to judge my living situation.”

She doesn’t respond, instead continuing her self propelled tour of the share house. Eventually she wanders into the kitchen where Madison and Brett are eating toasted sandwiches and chatting about work. In a flash she has her face right up against Brett’s neck, inhaling deeply through her nose and inspecting his arm where he has a bandaged up the wounds from last night.

“Hey, what are you-” He begins to protest.

I grab my sister by the hand and push her up against the wall. It isn’t especially threatening, in spite of being taller than her, she is significantly stronger than me due to how much more frequently she feeds. She likely just doesn’t care enough to fight back.

“Please forgive my sister, she’s obviously not used to interacting with normal people. She won’t be staying long,” I say, my words less reassuring as she effortlessly slips out of my grip and leans into my ear.

“I thought you said they weren’t food, you’ve obviously fed off them recently,” she whispers loudly enough that the others can hear. The others wordlessly excuse themselves.

“It’s… It’s not like that. Sometimes I forget to go to the blood bank or butchers and they help tide me over for a bit but… last night we all decided to get blasted cause Charlee got their hands on some weed.”

“You drained your… friends-” she emphasised that word with no small amount of disgust “-so you could all get high?”

“I didn’t drain them, it was just enough to get on the same level as them, and also they say that it makes the high better.”

She rolls her eyes, sitting down on one of the rickety chairs at the small table in the corner of the kitchen.

“What on earth do you mean blood bank? Are you seriously telling me you aren’t eating fresh? Not only that, you’ve lowered yourself to going to a butcher for… what? Pigs blood?” She visibly gags.

“I try not to kill people where I can,” I respond flatly.

She looks at me quizzically, the idea of not killing people for food obviously foreign to her.

“Edith, what the fuck are you doing here? Surely you have some reason.”

“Well,” she starts. “Father asked me to check on you.”

“What? Dad?”

“Mhm, he wants to make sure all of his offspring are well, and wanted to offer your place in the family back.”

“Right, well you can tell dad I’m just fine, and I don’t want any part of his death cult,” I spit. “Now, if that’s all, please get out of my house.”

For the first time in decades I see an expression of… uncertainty? Embarrassment? It’s difficult to pin down.

“Well… I also wanted to check in on you myself… I’ve been worried about you,” she says plainly, returning to her usual look of cold efficiency.

A large part of me screams that this is some ploy she’s using to try and rope me back into her business, but another smaller part at the back of my mind whispers a hope that she may actually be here at least to some extent because she cares. I sigh loudly, looking askance to try and come off aloof as I respond.

“Well, now you have, I’ll see you in anoth-”

“May I stay a while?”

“… What?”

“I was given a handful of months to spend with you. I can spend the time in one of the hotels in the city but I was told to see how you were doing so… I feel it would be best for all parties if I stayed here.”

My mouth drops, my cheeks are hot, and I start to see red as bloody tears form in the corners of my eyes. Before I know it I reach across the table and slap her hard across the face. She seems unperturbed by the impact, keeping eye contact and awaiting my answer.

“You come here after all these years and… what? Want to get to know me? Ask to stay? You should know more than well enough I can’t trust you near me, near my friends.”

Her face is stone, and she nods almost imperceptibly before standing. She looks me up and down, notices my burn mark, which causes her to hesitate before speaking again.

“I just-”

“Leave.”

She turns away, walking through the house and to the door with the grace of a big cat. As we leave the kitchen, my housemates and Brett all step aside, having obviously listened in to the whole conversation. We get to the doorway and my sister turns back to me.

“If you change your mind, my card is on the table.”

“Goodbye, Edith, you are not invited back.”

Looking out into the night, she steps forward and vanishes into a cloud of mist, the door closing seemingly of its own volition behind her. I turn back to see the gaggle of humans peeking around the corner again, various expressions of worry on their faces.

“Sorry about that,” I whisper, red tears now flowing down my face.

Chapter Text

“So… you’re not gonna call her back?”

Brett, for how fun he was to get high with, was terrible at reading a room.

“No dumb ass, Annie’s whole family are like, mass murderers and billionaires or whatever,” Charlee sighs exasperatedly.

“Besides, she was a huge bitch,” Madison adds with a huff.

All of us make our way to the lounge, moving laundry and cushions to be able to all snuggle on the couch. Someone had made me some tea and wrapped me in a blanket in the time it took me to wipe the tears from my face. The warmth of the drink and my housemates arms wrapped around me brings a lot of comfort to my cold skin.

“I guess,” Brett continued, “it’s just like, she seemed to be real worried about you, and you’ve talked about how much you used to do together all the time.”

My housemates and I all grimace. As much as I had trusted him with some of my past, and the truth of me being a vampire, the only people that knew about the worst I’ve done and seen were Charlee and Madison.

“She… she’s a very skilled manipulator, man,” I explain, a rough edge to my voice, “and besides, I don’t want… I don’t want anything to happen to any of you. I can’t be sure you’re safe knowing she’s around.”

I take a sip of my tea, as I feel something fuzzy brush past my leg. I look down and Stick, Madison’s little black and brown cat is staring back up at me. I lean down, scratching behind his ears, thinking back to how long it took him to become comfortable in my presence. I start crying again, and Madison tries to catch all my tears with tissues. Once my crying dies down, Brett pipes up again.

“So… Is it chill for me to stay another night then?”

I sniffle, wiping away a tear and throwing the bloody tissue into the ever growing pile.

“Yeah, of course man… safer to stay inside,” I mutter.

---

After cleaning up, my housemates retired to their rooms to sleep and get ready for work tomorrow, and I offered Brett my mattress for the night. With the house quiet, I set myself up in front of the TV, wrapped in a blanket, Stick curled at my feet. I flip the card Edith left between my fingers.

On the front it has her name, a mobile number, and “B.F.C inc.” printed in a plain font. On the back it has the name of a hotel and a room number in her elegant cursive, obviously written with expensive ink and pen. I turn to the small creature at my feet.

“What am I gonna do? She knows where I live, it means everyone here is in danger… This could mean I have to run again.”
Stick responds with an extended yawn as he snuggles further into the crook between my legs and the couch. I scratch behind his ears.

“Yeah, I should try and rest for now, you’re right…”

I toss the card on the coffee table and put on a show, intending to marathon until the sun comes up.

I’m about halfway through the second episode when I hear a deep growl from stick, that eventually crescendos into a hiss. I look to the window expecting to see the neighbours cat has escaped again, but instead I am met with the briefest flash of glowing red eyes. I rush over, throwing it open and looking out. Looking upward I see a figure crawling, lizard-like, up onto my roof. I groan, willing myself to fly out the window. Standing on the peak of my roof is a man, well dressed with long, curly white hair that trails down his shoulders. He bows as he addresses me.

“Lady Anne, I do offer my hum-”

“What are you doing creeping through my window?”

He freezes, obviously expecting more formal conversation.

“Well, I observed Lady Edith’s exit earlier this evening and took it as a sign that she was not staying to watch over you and ensure you are safe. Upon reporting back to your father he entrusted me with that responsibility,” He sighs, dropping the air of politeness, “I didn’t realise you had a cat.”

I tense every muscle in my body, doing everything I can to avoid screaming and tearing him limb from limb. I was already exhausted, and besides, it would be a whole mess to clean up.

“Well, you can go back to that piece of shit, and tell him I’m doing just fine, and don’t want anyone stalking me just for his own satisfaction,” I say through my teeth.

“Well I’m… I’m afraid he insisted…”

He takes a step back, gearing up for me to charge him. For the briefest moment, I imagine the satisfaction of beating him to death with his own arms. Then, to both of our surprise, I sigh, and look out into the city, my muscles losing all tension as I realise the exact position I’m in. This goon would be one of many, and I know if I kill him, my father would just send another in his place. I turn back to the pale stalker.

“Alright,” I say, “go back to that fuckwit and tell him he’s won…”

“I’m… sorry ma’am, I don’t think I understand.”

In an instant I’m upon him, grabbing his collar in both hands pulling him close enough I could tear out his throat with my teeth if I wanted. He tries to push me off, but he’s obviously a much more recent vampire, so his strength is no match for my own.

“I said, you go to my piece of shit father, and tell him I will organise with my sister some form of arrangement, and that if he ever sends another one of his foot soldiers to spy on me again, I will stake every last one of you to my roof so you can get a good view of the sunrise.”

He nods, nearly frozen in fear, though for good measure, and my own satisfaction, I plunge my hands into his chest, wrapping my fingers around his collarbones, and squeeze until I hear two satisfying cracks. He screams in agony and drops to the ground as I release him.

“You bitch,” he sobs.

“Oh stop whining. Run off and tell him to stop fucking with me, and you’d best hope I don’t see you again.”

I turn away, drifting slowly down to the window, and watch as he slinks off the other side into the shadows. I take a few deep breaths to collect myself. When I reach the window sill, Stick is looking up to the roof and hissing loudly. I pick him up, scratch behind his ears how he likes, and coo to him softly.

“Well buddy… There’s only one option where my friends might survive now… and that’s gonna start with a terrible phone call,” I mumble to the cat, picking up the business card, and pull my phone out of my pocket.

With the other vampire gone, my feline companion settles in much more comfortably, though makes his way to the cat tower that looms over the lounge. I look up at him, a part of me praying like he’s some guardian deity of the house, before steeling my resolve, and putting the number into my phone.

There isn’t even a complete ring before I hear a voice on the other end.

“Hello, Edith Fairfax speaking?”

“Hey Edie… so I’ve… I’ve reconsidered your proposal…”

“Anne? That was fast, what made you change your mind?”

“Dad sent some of his goons to spy on me instead so…” I take a deep breath. “Devil you know is better than the devil you don’t, right?”

She’s silent on the other end for a moment, uncharacteristic hesitation, before she responds.

“Yes, I suppose I understand. Well then I-”

“Hold it. Before any of this starts we need to lay down some fucking ground rules, got it?”

“I don’t...” she lets out a long sigh, “all right, what r-”

“Meet me outside my house tomorrow evening after sundown, I need to sort this all out with my housemates first. I’d also like to spend one more day without someone breathing down my neck.”

“Okay sister… sundown tomorrow, I’ll be there.”

Without another word, she hangs up.

I toss my phone to the other side of the couch, and continue my show, knowing it won’t be worth thinking on further until I can update my housemates on the situation

Chapter Text

Once my housemates woke that morning, I told them about my encounter with the other vampire, explained the situation, and asked them to think on any ground rules they wanted to establish before my sister arrived. Once they left I sent Brett on his way home so I could sleep on my mattress again.

Now, I lay there, slowly stirring awake to the feeling of Stick kneading my stomach. I groan and roll over, causing him to run away. Upon checking my phone I see a variety of messages, mostly from Madison, obviously thinking of little things throughout the day, and two large messages from Charlee, and them going into a lot of detail about their feelings on the situation. Both messages end in the two of them saying “Ultimately, I trust you, and know you’d fight to ensure we’re safe.” which feels like a knife to the chest.

I start sobbing, tears roll down my cheeks as I curl into a ball and let myself wail.

You know you’re putting them in danger, they trust you so very deeply and you’re just going to let them be killed.

My thoughts repeat like this for a while, cycling for hours before I hear the door unlock, and Sticks’ feet patter gently across the floor to greet Madison and Charlee, arriving home together as usual. I wipe the bloody tears from my face with a couple of loose tissues, going to greet them.

I round the corner and Madison immediately pulls me into a hug.

“Oh Annie, are you okay? You look like you’ve been crying.”

“Y-yeah Mads, just… thinking about a lot right now,” I say, forcing a smile.

“So,” Charlee steps forward, placing a hand on my shoulder. “We’re gonna be here for you, and if you change your mind, or need any help or anything, just give the word, alright? We still have those stakes under the lip of the kitchen table as a backup, like you said.”

I nod, sniffling a little.

“Thanks you two… This isn’t going to be a long term thing, and I’m gonna ensure nothing happens to either of you, I promise,” I say between tears.

There’s a loud knock, which startles us all. The others look to me, and Charlee wipes the blood from my face, before they head over to the kitchen, and I step closer to the door. I gently slap my face with both hands, taking a deep breath before opening the door.

As expected, my sister stands outside on the landing, in a different suit with a pencil skirt, a briefcase in one hand and suitcase in another, but no less stunning or intimidating. I’m lost for words as she looks over the rim of a sleek pair of sunglasses.

“Anne, may I come in?” she says expectantly.

“We’ll be having this meeting in the kitchen, with my other housemates. If you’re gonna be staying here you need to know we resolve things communally, got it?”

She rolls her eyes.

“Fine, I’ll follow your lead,” she moans.

“Good, then you may enter.”

Unlike last time, she steps in casually, and follows me to the kitchen, where I sit her down across from my housemates.

“Hi, I’m Charlee, my pronouns are they/them,” they say, waving.

“And I’m Madison, she/her.”

Edith raises an eyebrow and looks to me, before returning to the others.

“I’m Edith, uh, she and her, though I’m sure you already knew this.”

I sigh, locking in for how irritating this would be. I sit between my housemates, holding their hands beneath the table.

“Alright Edie, starting with the absolute basics. While you’re here, you’re not to harm my friends in any way, shape, or form, extending beyond my housemates to anyone else you may encounter during your stay here.”

She crosses her arms, opening her mouth to speak before pursing her lips and nodding.

“Second,” I continue, “While you’re here, you live like me, no live feeding is to happen here, or anywhere near this house.”

“Now, hold on, that’s a litt-”

“You can always go back to your hotel and I’ll kill father’s henchmen one by one as they arrive, if that’s what you’d prefer.”

She grimaces, closing her eyes for a moment.

“Fine,” she says through gritted teeth.

I turn to Madison to continue, and she pulls up the list on her phone.

“Also,” she says, trying to hide how tense she is, “each person’s bedroom is a private space, if you want entry, you knock and wait for them to allow you in, if they aren’t home, or you otherwise can’t ask permission, the bedroom is off limits.”

Edith scoffs, and looks to me, before realising the seriousness of the request.

“I don’t see why I’d ever want to enter the rooms of a couple blood bags but fine,” she says.

“And on that note, you will not refer to Charlee or Madison as anything but their names, their pronouns, or as ‘housemates’, no blood bags, food, or anything of the sort.”

“Alright, is that all?” she hisses.

“Just a few more things. Since you’re living here, you need to help with chores, emptying the bins in the bathroom and kitchen will be all you need to do, but everyone in the house has to help maintain it if they can,” Charlee says, squeezing my hand for reassurance.

“Also,” I say, urged on by my housemates confidence, “if there’s disagreements, we sort it out with a house meeting like this, or by talking and reaching a mutual understanding, we’re all equals here, no lording over the house. If you are going to have guests over of any form, you must give notice in advance, to the best of your ability. And finally, don’t disturb or harm the cat, Stick doesn’t take to vampires well.”

Edith sneers, and lets out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. She looks to my housemates, and I can see the flash in her eyes as she ponders how easy it would be to simply kill them, though once she resumes eye contact with me she shakes her head as if to clear the thought away, and nods.

“Fine… these rules seem… amenable. And as a token of my appreciation-” she grits her teeth, but reaches down to grab the briefcase, opening it and turning it to face us, “-I have brought gifts of some relatively fresh donated blood, some seasonal fruits, and aged cheeses.”

I’m momentarily taken aback at the gesture, but as she slides the case forward, Charlee clears their throat.

“Um… thank you Edith, this is very kind…” they respond, Madison and I humming in agreement.

---

With a little fuss, the other two go to retire to their rooms, performing their nighttime routines once more while I store my sisters gifts in the kitchen. She watches me as I sort out the fridge, looming in the corner without saying a word. Once I’m done I turn to face her, a bag of blood in my hand.

“Would you like one?” I offer.

“… no, I fed recently,” she responds.

I sigh, closing the fridge and sipping from the bag, gesturing for her to follow me.

I lead her to my room, indicating the mattress.

“We’ll sleep here, this is my room, since it’s yours too you’re free to come and go as you please.”

She gags, and her mouth stays agape as she scans the trash across the floor, the stains on the mattress, and the cardboard covering the window. She closes her eyes, then nods solemnly, and steps into the room with her suitcase.

“I’m… it’s best to stay quiet while the others sleep, I usually play a video game, binge a show, or get errands done during the night so as not to disturb the others,” I explain.

She doesn’t give any response, and simply unzips her suitcase, taking stock of what she has brought.

“If you’d like to join me on the couch to watch a show or some movies, you are welcome to,” I add, out of a sense of politeness more than anything.

She stops, then turns to me.

“This… I am alright with this. I will need to have some thralls deliver additional clothing and necessities tomorrow, but for now I’ll join you for a… show.”

“The thralls aren’t allowed in unless you let the others know they’re coming, and they’re not allowed to damaged anyone or anything. They’re guests too,” I say, sternness overtaking my voice.

She nods, before beginning to unbutton her jacket and blouse.

I start to see the lacy edge of her bra before I instinctively turn away, pulling the door partly closed.

“What are you doing, Anne dear?”

“I- there’s… I’m giving you privacy,” I stammer, face going a deep purple.

“Whatever for? We’ve changed in front of each other since we were children, and I thought I would get into something more comfortable for television viewing.”

I sigh, realising again the great divide that has formed between our lives since I ran away. I let go of the door handle and move to the couch, beginning to search a streaming service for what we should watch.

Within a few moments, Edith comes out of my room wearing flannel pyjamas and with her make up removed, which didn’t make her any less beautiful and put together. She sits next to me, sitting with practised and pristine posture. I chuckle at the sight of her in such comfortable clothes sitting so formally.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Just… we’re watching this show to relax, you don’t need to be so rigid, in this instance you're allowed to get comfortable.”

She looks down at her hands, gripping her knees before nodding. She leans back, resting an arm on the chair, but leaving another hanging in the air towards me. I raise an eyebrow at her.

“That… hardly seems comfortable,” I say.

“I am… offering for you to lay down. I am most comfortable sitting like this, and the pressure of you laying in my lap while… while I stroke your hair would be doubly so.”

She doesn’t look to me, and her face goes purple as she stammers out the last half of the sentence. I hadn’t seen her this flustered before.

Surely she’s faking it, this must be some ploy, a way for me to lower my guard? Get me in a vulnerable position?

I sit there, pondering for a moment, before I adjust, slowly bringing myself down into her lap. She tenses up at my touch, but slowly relaxes as she lowers her hand to my head and begins stroking my hair.

“I understand your wariness, Anne.” She clears her throat softly. “But I… I genuinely do find it most comfortable to sit like this. Someone… your head in my lap, I mean.”

I don’t respond, though her words do calm me some. I scroll for a moment before putting on a movie that I’ve been meaning to watch, and we settle in for the night, watching a handful of movies until the sun comes up. As she said, she strokes my hair softly, reminding me of decades ago, when we would sit like this watching the fire, or listening to a friend tell a story.

As my mind drifts to the past, it begins to latch on to more memories, of blood, violence, and my sister, but I do what I can to push them down.

If I want any chance of this going smoothly, I need to simply put those thoughts aside while she’s here. A full on fight is likely to tear the house to shreds. I simply need to survive a handful of months.

Chapter Text

Edith and I retired to my bedroom before the others woke up, mostly because I wanted her interacting with my housemates as little as possible. My sisters disdain for my bedroom is palpable as she steps carefully between blood bags, beer cans, tissues, and other assorted pieces of trash. I sigh before I drop on to the mattress and prepare to rest.

I’m just about to drift off to sleep when she lies down and wraps her arms completely around me, pressing her chest into my back and leaning her face into my neck. As if on instinct I dash up against the wall, climbing until I reach the ceiling. I look down on her, wide eyed and breath racing.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I hiss.

Edith stares up at me, hand to her chest, before looking down at the mattress.

“There’s only one pillow so I was simply trying to get comfortable. I can use my bag as a pillow instead if you’d… prefer?” she says, her voice wavers near the end of her explanation, likely because she’s used to getting served at all hours, so asking for a pillow seems foreign and beneath her.

I scoff, then crawl across the ceiling to the door, checking the sunlight hasn’t reach the lounge before I dash over to the couch, returning with another cushion. I toss it at her and she catches it with one hand.

“There, now don’t… scare me like that again,” I say, returning to my sleeping position.

She wordlessly rolls over, far enough that our backs don’t even touch. I’m finally on the verge of passing out when Edith clears her throat.

“Anne, darling?”

“… What?” I respond with a sigh.

“Well your… When you were on the ceiling earlier I caught a very exposed view of your underwear and, well… where has your… what’s happened to your privates?”

“Oh my god.”

“I do not mean to offend, I-”

“I got bottom surgery, not long after I left, now lay off it.”

“Oh, right… I didn’t realise we could get surgery like that…” she clears her throat again. “congratulations.”

I sigh, curling tightly into a ball. Thankfully my attempts to sleep are not interrupted further, and I finally manage to drift off.

---

I’m in a field full of flowers, running from my friends, laughing as they try to catch up and tag me. We’re young. We’re playing during the summer afternoon now that we’ve completed all our chores. Tag was always one of our favourite games to play, and we usually tried to get the older kids to join us. This time, my sister is playing with us, and she’s running just behind me, trying to catch me.

As I turn away to see where I’m running, the sun vanishes, plunging the field into darkness, and a chill filling the air. The flowers before me all wilt as I look upon, and I hear screaming. Long, drawn out screams, all abruptly cut off.

I look back over my shoulder and now, where once there was a field, I’m looking through the front door of a large house, and my sister looks back at me. There’s blood dripping down her chin, a heart in her hand, and a floor littered with bodies. I turn away, now running down the cold street as it begins to rain, but no matter how much I run, when I check over my shoulder she’s still standing there in the doorway, now holding out her blood soaked arms.

“It’s okay Anne,” she says, speaking in our fathers voice. “Do you hear me? Anne, Darling? Anne?”

---

“Anne? Anne dear, wake up!”

I suddenly snap awake, Edith’s hand on my shoulder, her eyes fixed on mine. I push her off me and lean up against the wall, trying to slow my ragged breathing. She rights herself, eyes furrowed, and stands up.

“It seemed like you were having a nightmare, I thought it best to wake you,” She says with a huff.

I continue to glare at her, a part of me worried I’m still dreaming, and if I were to look away I’d be faced with the same scene as before. She makes her way to her bag.

“Besides, the sun has just set, so now is probably as good a time as any to wake,” She mutters, mostly to herself.

I let out the tension in my body in a deep breath, blinking hard a few times to bring myself back to reality. I take the pillow I was sleeping on and hold on to it tight, before looking back up to my sister.

She’s put on the same lacy bra as she was wearing the night before, and is pulling a pair of jeans over her hips. I bury my face in the pillow, giving her a moment to finish dressing, before looking back up at her. Seeing her in such a casual outfit as jeans and a t-shirt, as opposed to the sleek and fitted suits she normally wears, causes a serious discomfort to stir within me.

She’s trying to make me drop my guard so soon? Dressing casually, waking me in the morning, hell, maybe that’s what she was doing last night too, asking me to put my head in her lap, bringing those gifts, I really have to be more wary of her.

“Aren’t you going to get changed? I thought you had stuff you needed to do?” She says, tying her hair up into a ponytail.

Finally, I stand, setting the pillow aside before I rummage through everything on the ground until I find some tracksuit pants and slip them on. Edith raises an eyebrow, but holds herself back from saying anything as I leave my room and head to the kitchen.

I open the fridge to see my sisters gifts on the shelves, some of the fruit having already been eaten. I grab a blood bag and start drinking, then turn to see my sister standing in the doorway. I freeze for a moment, before slowly holding the bag out towards her.

“Want some breakfast?” I ask.

Her eyes widen, and she looks between me and the bag as I wipe some blood from my lips. She looks away, turning up her nose.

“No, I’m fine,” she huffs.

I shrug, closing the fridge and finishing my bag.

“I’ve gotta go pick up some more today anyway, I’ll also get a roll out mattress and another pillow for you.”

“Oh no, I can have my thralls bring bedding, they should be here imminently, you just focus on what you need to get.”

“alright then,” I say, tossing the now empty blood bag into the bin.

“Oh, and before you go, where may I find bin bags? Since I will need to be in charge of taking them out.”

I open one of the kitchen drawers and hold them up to show her.

“black ones are big and for the kitchen, green ones are for the bathroom.”

She nods, then steps aside so I can get past her and to the front door, and I grab some shopping bags on the way.

“The others are probably going to be home soon, try not to bother them,” I say, slipping on my shoes.

“Of course, I know the rules, Anne darling.”

I glare at her as I stand, though I hold myself back from saying anything. Instead simply stepping out the door, and into the night to get my chores done.

---

I’m walking away from the hospital, shopping bags now full of food for everyone in the house, when I get a phone call from Charlee. I put down my bags so I can answer it.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Hiya Annie. Look, it’s not like, an emergency or anything but… but you might want to come home soon? It’s your sister, she’s… well she’s doing a lot,” they explain.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, letting out a deep sigh.

“She hasn’t hurt anyone has she?”

“No, no, nothing like that just… well, I think it’d be better if you saw for yourself.”

“Right, fine, I’m on my way, just dropping by Brett’s first. Chat later,” I say, hanging up.

I pick up my bags and continue on, beginning the trek home.

Chapter Text

I approach the share house and am immediately welcomed by two strangers walking away carrying trash bags. They look forward, the familiar dead-eyed expression of a vampiric thrall. I cross the threshold into the house, Madison and Charlee rushing to meet me at the door.

“Alright, so-” Charlee starts.

“There’s a whole lot to explain,” Madison finishes.

Before they get to any form of explaining I storm past the two of them, searching through each room. The only immediately noticeable change was that the rooms were a lot tidier, until I reach my bedroom. Edith stands in the centre on a brand new pink and purple rug, reviewing the layout of the space before noticing me in the doorway.

“Oh, Anne! I just finished up, tell me, what do you think of these sheets and this rug? I’m worried the-”

Her words drown into nothing as I take stock of what’s happened.

The floor is not only empty of trash, but also cleaned spotless of any and all stains.

Where my mattress was there is now a wrought steel queen sized bed frame, and elegant light coloured sheets with rosy accents. Not only that, but there is a large stuffed animal sitting between the pillows, though I can’t tell what animal it is actually meant to be.

As well as the new carpet, there is a coffee table with a handful of the comics I had sitting in the corner previously, as well as a brand new hardwood desk in one corner, and a large wardrobe in another.

Lastly, the cardboard that had blocked out the sunlight from here previously was gone, and in its place a thick blackout curtain has been put up.

“-And so I was thinking,” she continues rambling, “maybe it’s an issue with the whole room, so I was contemplating repainting the walls to a softer shade. Maybe a-”

“What were you thinking?” I mumble.

“Well, I was just explain-”

“No, I mean what the FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?”

I turn to her, pushing her against the wall and pinning her in place by the neck. She lets out a small yelp at the severity of the action.

“I thought…” she chokes out, “… I would help…”

“Help? HELP!? You come to me, have the audacity to ask to stay, and then when dad gives me no other choice but to say yes, you try and take control of me? You ask me my thoughts on colours after attempting to remould my entire living space?”

While breathing isn’t a requirement for a vampire, we still require air in order to speak, and I am essentially crushing Edith’s windpipe in place, so she can only really gasp. She weakly starts pulling at my hand, ever so slowly prying each finger off so she can get a breath in.

I let go of her, and she drops to the floor, looking up at me while her voice box recovers. I reach over to the bed, picking up the stuffed animal.

“Like, what the fuck is this?” I shout, pushing it into her face, my bloody tears falling to the floor in soft spatters.

“It… It’s a gift,” Edith wheezes, reaching over to wipe up my tears from the floor.

I let out a scream, tearing the soft toy in two and throwing each half aside.

“Don’t you dare think you can ever bring me a gift, and don’t ever try to exert any control over my life, again. Got it?” I hiss, grabbing her face in both my hands.

“I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t… that’s not what I was trying to do…”

“Yeah, I will definitely believe that, because you’ve always been so honest about your intentions.”

She looks askance, gritting her teeth. I expect more manipulation, more lies, but she bites her tongue. Unable to handle looking at her anymore I turn away to further examine what she’s done, starting at the blackout curtain, and figuring out how to operate it. I hear her stand up behind me, and I whip around, expecting her to attack me and further escalate this fight.

Instead, she walks slowly across the room to pick up each half of the stuffed animal from where it was thrown, careful to get the stuffing that had come out as well. She bundles it all in her hands before making eye contact with me, her eyes welling up with tears.

“Um… I can go, if you prefer,” she whispers.

I sigh.

“I was hoping it’d at least be more than a day before any of this fucking bullshit,” I mumble, squeezing my eyes shut.

I leave the room, heading out to the kitchen, where Madison and Charlee are pretending they didn’t hear all of that, and set down the groceries on the bench.

“Sorry about that…” I say, sitting down, “Thanks for calling me about this.”

“Of course Annie, are you alright?” Charlee asks.

I pull them both into a hug, and take a deep breath.

“It’s just,” I sniffle, “there’s always something twisted in this shit and I’m just so scared she’ll hurt you an-”

“Hey, hey, Annie, it’s alright, we’re okay, we promise,” Madison interrupts, hugging me back.

They both squeeze me tight, completely quiet except for my gentle sobbing.

“… Though, could I get an entire room makeover? Like damn, I want that bed,” Charlee jokes.

I chuckle softly before gripping their shoulder.

“Oh you dick, it is way too soon for that,” I say, unable to hold back a smile.

“Well you can have the bed, I want that desk,” Madison adds.

I let out a horrible snort in response, and the three of us quickly break down laughing. Charlee has to kneel on the floor to stop from toppling over, and Madison gives me another quick hug before she starts to unpack the groceries I brought in.

“Thanks, you two… I um-” I clear my throat “-I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Of course,” Charlee says, wiping away a tear.

I take a deep breath, and head back to the bedroom.

Edith is sitting at the desk, gently humming to herself as she slowly hand sews the stuffed animal back together. It’s hard to notice with how put together she is, but she flinches as I enter the doorway.

“It’s a rabbit,” she whispers after a moment of quiet.

I nod, getting lost in the fluid movement of her hands, how graceful she is in her movements. She puts down the pile of stuffing and fabric to look up at me expectantly. I step in and sit on the bed.

“This wasn’t okay,” I say.

She nods.

“This doesn’t mean I’ve let my guard down, but I’d still rather just have to deal with you instead of all the goons that dad’s hired.” I sigh, taking my head in my hands. “So I’d rather you stay. Besides, you couldn’t make it anywhere safe before the sun rose from here.”

She stares at me, wide eyed, and nods. She lets the smallest of smiles curl up the corners of her mouth as she wipes her tears away with a tissue. I pull the blackout blind closed and she goes back to fixing the rabbit, as I suddenly take notice about a pretty big detail of the room.

“Why only one bed? If you decided to change everything while you’re here, why not give yourself a bed?” I ask.

Edith freezes up, and keeps her head stuck in her project as she responds.

“Well, You only had one bed in here originally anyway, and besides, two beds wouldn’t really fit in here side by side-,” She rambles barely coherently.

As she’s explaining, I step over and swivel her chair around so she can face me. She stops speaking mid sentence, meeting my glare with big doe eyes.

“You’re lying, you only ramble like that when you don’t have a good lie prepared,” I say through gritted teeth.

She swallows nervously.

“Okay it’s… remember how we used to share a bed? Back before… everything?”

“Mhm.”

“Well… you always said that was when you slept the most comfortably… and I wanted to be reminded of it, too…” She mumbles.

I scrunch my nose up, then let out a deep breath.

I close the door to my room and start changing for bed, convinced that maybe I’ll feel more certain about what to do when I wake. Edith is still deep into fixing the stuffed rabbit as I drift off into restless sleep.

Chapter Text

I roll over, slowly becoming aware of my surroundings as I wake. I briefly freak out at my unfamiliar surroundings, before remembering the events of last night. I turn to the side and see Edith isn’t occupying the bed with me. I tilt my head to get a better look at the rest of the room, and see that my sister is currently passed out, head against the desk.

I very slowly roll out of bed, taking a moment to clumsily pull myself from the new sheets. I step across the room to see her resting her head on her arms, breathing softly, making subtle faces. I chuckle, remembering all the times I woke her up as kids because I wanted to know what she was dreaming about.

Stupid, idiot, even when she’s not awake she’s trying to get in your armour.

I shake away the thoughts, and look across the desk. Sitting up, in the crook of Edith’s elbow, completely mended, is the stuffed rabbit. Almost on queue she squeezes the animal closer as she mumbles something incoherent.

I gently pull it from her grip, examining the hand stitching across its midsection. I’m torn between ripping the thing in half again, and hugging it to my chest. I settle for simply dropping it back on the desk, waking Edith with the soft impact.

“Mm? Did I fall asleep while I was working?” She mumbles softly.

“Yep.”

I turn and rush out of the room, suddenly worried that if I stayed to watch her yawn and stretch awake that I might be overcome by… at this point I was struggling to figure out what I was feeling.

So much for having a clearer head after sleeping…

I step into the kitchen, grabbing both of us breakfast before falling on to the couch. It takes about another 15 minutes for Edith to wander out of the room. She’s fixed her hair and changed into new clothes, once again returned to the pinnacle of style and cleanliness, before freezing in place as she see’s me. I hold out the other blood bag to her.

“Here, breakfast,” I say with probably more force than I was intending.

She flashes a quick smile before hesitantly grabbing the bag from me and sitting down. She stares at the bag, rolling it over in her hands, examining each of the tubes sticking out the top. She finds each seam of the plastic and runs her fingers on it as if to evaluate the craftsmanship. I kick her softly.

“Ow! Hey, what?”

“Are you gonna fucking drink it, or are you gonna stare at it all day?”

She pouts, then looks back at the bag, specifically at the tubes. Then she looks over to my now empty bag, a small drop of blood still clinging to the thickest tube, before swallowing nervously and returning to her own. I notice where her gaze falls and raise my eyebrow.

“Have you… never had bagged blood before?” I ask.

“I- I mean we- There… there’s no need for the bagged stuff if you always eat fresh,” She stammers.

She freezes in place as she continues to simply stare at her food. I reach over and take the bag from her.

“Like this, alright?” I say, piercing the thickest tube with my fang and taking a small sip.

I hand it back to her, a droplet of blood running down the straw onto my finger. Edith takes the bag, but her eyes are transfixed on that finger as I slowly lick it clean. She opens her mouth, no doubt hungry after not feeding yesterday, then returns her gaze to the tube, blushing a light purple. She ever so slowly brings the straw closer to her mouth, before shutting her eyes, and quickly biting down on it.

She takes a deep breath through her nose before takes a large, audible swig from the blood bag, squeezing it gently in her slender fingers. Her eyes open is surprise, then she takes a few more gulps of the liquid. She pulls the straw away.

“Oh my gosh it barely tastes different! And it’s so refreshing cold!” She says before leaning back into her breakfast.

“I… what, you’re kidding… it’s just blood, like any other kind of blood.”

“I know that, I was just worried it had gone… bad, after being outside a body too long…”

I can’t help but chuckle as her tone becomes more whiny as she talks.

“What’s funny?” She says, blushing and taking a few more huffy sips from her pouch.

“Just– chuckle –you’re this super sleek, professional assassin lawyer whatever, but you’re scared to drink from a blood bag?”

I double over laughing as I describe it, unable to control my volume, watching her blush spread well across her ears and nose. She takes another minute or so to finish draining the bag. After she sets down her breakfast, I hear the door unlock and slam open, Madison and Charlee’s shouting reaching us well before my housemates round the corner, each with a wooden tool snapped in half to form makeshift stake.

They run into the lounge and their screaming slowly dies off as they examine the situation. We’re all silent, staring at each other wide eyed, before Charlee grumbles.

“We thought we heard screaming!” They shout.

I look back to Edith, pressed up into the corner of the couch, wide eyed, then back to my housemates, chuckling and pointing at my sister.

“She was scared to drink bagged blood.” I attempt to explain more but I return to fits of laughter before I can get any further.

“So… everything’s okay? You were just laughing?” Madison says, dropping her stake to her side.

I nod, watching Edith go completely purple and turn away, attempting to remain stoic.

My housemates let out a sigh of relief before they start talking about their days to me. I hear all about the annoying coworkers and the stress because it’s the end of the financial year while they make dinner and get out of their work clothes. My laughter subsides, and I briefly let out a smile, taking in the atmosphere of the room. When a thought stabs into my mind unbidden.

She’s getting you again, you’re laughing and smiling, and she’s gonna betray you.

I go stone faced. I wait to find a moment to wish my housemates goodnight, and slink off to my room. Edith quickly takes the used bags and puts them in a bin before following after me. I swing the door closed as she sits on the bed, adjusting the rabbit that now sat in the middle of the pillows. As she returns her gaze in my direction, I’m leaning over her, hand on her shoulder, eyes an inch away from mine.

“Why are you making this so hard on me?” I whisper.

“Making what so hard on you?”

“Hating you. You know I can’t trust you, but you’re fighting me to remember that. You’re finding ways to endear yourself to me and my housemates, trying to give me gifts, ask to be close, when you know that trusting you isn’t something I can afford to do again. So why?”

I let out a sniffle and put my other hand on her other shoulder.

“Why are you trying to earn my trust again?” I cry out.

She looks away, managing to hold back her grimace only barely.

“Um… I don’t think I can give you a satisfactory answer… I guess because… I want to? I’m sorry, that came out wrong-”

She’s cut off as I fully collapse into her shoulder. I whimper softly as my warm, red tears run down my chin and land on the fabric of her jacket with a soft plip. It takes me a few moments to force more words to come out of my mouth.

“Why taunt me with the idea of getting my sister back?” I whisper, sobbing every few syllables.

She freezes as I say that last bit, taking a few moments before slowly wrapping her arms around me, pulling me into a hug. Instinctively I return the gesture, gripping the edge of her jacket to pull her closer. We stay stuck in this position for a while, me sobbing into her shoulder while she gently strokes my back. Eventually I go silent, then I wipe away the tears, before stepping away. I wipe my eyes with a tissue and turn away from Edith.

“It’s… I really do want to take care of you…” She says softly, holding out the rabbit.

I look over my shoulder and stare into its beady eyes, then to my sisters face as she gives me the faintest hint of a smile. I collapse onto the floor, knees to my chest.

“How could I possibly believe that?” I whimper.

“I… I don’t know…” She whispers, putting a hand on my shoulder and leaning in to me.

Instinctively I lean back, and can’t stop myself from resting my head on her knee. She softly places her hand on my head, and I take a few moments to gather my thoughts. After about twenty minutes, I look up at her and mumble.

“I’m sorry about your jacket.”

“Oh… it’s fine, blood washes out of these clothes really no problem.”

She looks away, seemingly scared to make eye contact with me. I let out a sigh, then stand up, grabbing the stuffed rabbit. I walk out to the couch, and collapse on it, before inspecting the animal further. Edith follows after me, gripping the edges of the couch as I turn on the TV and find something to watch. Eventually I stop examining the stuffed rabbit and hold it to my chest, and try to focus on my movies for the rest of the night.