Chapter 3
Consciousness flooded Carla, like someone had turned on all the lights in her mind at once. She gasped and sat up, overwhelmed by coming back into existence so suddenly and completely.
"Hey! It's okay. You're back," said Gwen. She was sitting in bed next to her.
"Gwen?"
"Yeah, it's me."
Carla looked at Gwen, the beautiful creature sitting in bed next to her, and it all came flooding back. Her capture, Sophia's edict, the night they had spent together, what Gwen had done to her, how it had felt.
"Oh my god," said Carla. She leaned forward and grabbed Gwen in a rough embrace.
"It really happened," said Carla.
"Yeah."
"What am I going to do?"
"I'm here. I'll help you figure it out," said Gwen
Carla held the hug until she felt like she could face the world. Then she pulled back up and Gwen was looking at her. Her face was serious.
"How do you feel?" She asked
Carla peeled back her upper lips and she felt it then, heavy in her jaw; she touched the tip of her fang.
"Holy shit," she said
"Yeah it can be weird." Said Gwen
Carla took stock of herself. She was definitely paler now, even her nipples and moles were washed out. She squeezed her arm and it still hurt if she squeezed too hard. Everything else felt pretty much the same too. She could tell there were differences but they were below the level of perception. It was the things that were missing that were the most obvious. She no longer felt the temperature. Usually a room was a little hot or a little cold and you just didn't notice, but it didn't feel like the room was at that magical neutral point. Her sense of temperature itself was missing. It was the same with being tired. Usually she felt a little bit tired, and on some rare occasions she felt fresh faced and awake, but now she was neither tired nor energized. She simply was.
"Huh," she said.
"It's not really that different," said Gwen.
"Yeah, I thought there'd be more to it," said Carla.
"Uh huh, exactly."
Carla breathed in, then paused.
"I'm still breathing."
"We do it out of habit. Whatever part of our brains makes us breathe is still there, but if you hold your breath you'll never have to let it out."
Carla held her breath and found Gwen was right, she never felt any tightness in her chest.
"Old vampires and ones that have lost touch with their humanity stop breathing. It's something to keep an eye out for," said Gwen.
Carla let out her breath and breathed in again. Pretty soon she was breathing normally.
"Let me get dressed and I'll go grab you something to drink," said Gwen.
Carla looked down at herself. She hadn't even realized she was still naked since she hadn't been cold. And being naked in front of Gwen, after last night, felt completely natural to her.
"Ummm, do you have any clothes for me?"
"I mean, I don't see why that's necessary," said Gwen. Her voice was carefully neutral but she had a little smirk.
"Ha."
Still smirking, Gwen went to her dresser and pulled out a set of clothes for Carla. They were very similar to the black and red dress she wore, just with a more normal cut that had sleeves and regular skirts. Red crescent moons were embroidered on the hem and up the sleeves
"Do we have to wear black and red?"
"No, you can wear whatever you want. This is just what I have on hand. We can go see the house tailor later."
"Yes, please."
They both dressed quickly. And by the time Carla was done, Gwen had left and returned with a wine bottle and a nice metal goblet.
"Here we go," said Gwen.
"What is it?"
"It's blood," said Gwen. She sounded very matter of fact. "It's good quality. Here, let me pour."
Gwen poured the blood into the goblet and handed it to her. Carla stared down at it, the blood looked dark and rich. The goblet was warm and when Carla ran her finger along the outside of it she could feel runes of power etched into the metal. She didn't recognize their meaning based on the shapes but she guessed they had to do with preservation. Carla brought the cup to her mouth and sniffed. It smelled delicious, but she still hesitated. She was hungry, and her body knew this would take away the hunger, but if she drank it she would be admitting to herself what she was now. It would be her first conscious acceptance of her new state.
Gwen saw her hesitation, "I know this is a little scary, but it's going to taste really good."
"Did the person this blood came from get hurt?"
"No! Did you see any of the collectors?"
Carla remembered the chirurgeon in the square. The artifact that drew the people's blood. She nodded.
"They know how to take just enough for us without hurting someone. As long as you don't do it too often the donor is fine. I promise no one was hurt to get you this blood."
Carla braced herself and took a sip.
The blood tasted as delicious as it smelled. It filled her mouth with a warm comfort like the first taste of tea on a cold winter night. She swallowed and the warmth didn't fade; she could track it as it traveled down her throat to her stomach. When it settled she felt her hunger sputter and disappear for a moment, giving her relief from an unpleasantness she had barely been aware of. The sip turned into a deep drink, and the warmth and fullness of the blood spread through her. When the goblet was empty she looked down at it a minute, than up at Gwen who was watching her expectantly
"Could I have that bottle?" asked Carla.
"Of course!" said Gwen, and handed it over to her.
Carla took it, tilted her head back, and started to chug. The blood poured down her throat in a warm comforting flood, filling the empty spaces in her. The hunger disappeared, replaced by the satisfaction of a good meal. Her arousal vanished too. It didn't feel like it was really sated, it was more as if she had sex on the brain and something else had come up and she had shuffled her needs away for later. Her lust wasn't satisfied, only appeased. Still, even that was its own form of satisfaction. She found herself relaxing, releasing tension she didn't know she had, as the blood filled her.
When the bottle was empty she dropped her arms but kept her head tilted back and her eyes closed. She took one more deep breath and went on her tiptoes, arching her back, enjoying the warmth that infused her body. She felt more real somehow, almost alive. She let the breath out slowly and looked at Gwen. Gwen was staring back at her, looking a little awed. It took Carla a minute to realize it was more than awe, it was lust.
Gwen cleared her throat. "Good?" she asked; her voice sounded thick.
"Very good," said Carla, "Do I have to drink from people?
Gwen shook her head, "Only if you want to, but you probably will. The bottled stuff is satisfying, but people are... well it's like sex. Maybe better. And we've come up with ways to make that safer too. But you'll want to work your way up to that. Your first time feeding from a person can be very intense. I figured we should take things slow."
"Yes, slow. Slow sounds absolutely great. Thanks for looking out for me."
"Of course. I'll always look out for you."
And Gwen sounded so sincere and so sweet that Carla had to kiss her. They explored each other's mouths for a minute. Carla thought about running her tongue over Gwen's lips, touching her breast, but she didn't know if she wanted to. It was just very comforting to hold this tiny, beautiful creature in her arms, and she didn't want any more than that at the moment.
They broke the kiss and then Carla stared down at Gwen for another minute, smiling, then reluctantly they let go.
"So, what now?"
Gwen looked a little dazed from the kiss, but then she shook herself, "Right, right. I should probably present you to the court."
Carla didn't respond.
"I know that's not your idea of a good time..."
"Being paraded in front of that room of lunatics so you can show me off to the... the woman who forced you to turn me? No, that does not sound like a good time."
Gwen sighed, "Maybe we can do that later. I can tell grandma that you're still adjusting."
"I think I'll need several years to adjust before I can see her."
"Carla!"
"What?" said Carla. She knew she sounded sullen and angry but she didn't care.
Gwen rubbed her eyes briefly, "Okay... okay... Oh, I know! I can introduce you to Aunt Anika. She's really my great aunt... and your great great aunt... but she says the great makes her feel old. She's our house's master necromancer. If you're going to be doing magic for the house, you'll be working with her. She's really sweet. I think you'll like her."
"Alright, that does sound good," said Carla. After everything that happened. The familiarity of a spellwright's shop, in any form, sounded comforting.
"Oh, and maybe we can fence later. I should teach you to fight."
"I don't know if I'd be any good at that."
"Don't worry, I'm a good teacher. And we've got some tricks that'll make it easy."
"Ooookay? Um, Gwen, if we're going to go to the spellwright's lab maybe you should take this off of me?"
Carla raised her wrist, showing the sorcerous tattoo that was blocking her magic
"Oh, right. You should be able to take that off yourself now. The same way you should be able to heal."
"How do I do that?"
"Just focus on it and sort of... will it to go away."
"Alright..."
Carla looked at the tattoo on her wrist and squinted. But it remained stubbornly on her wrist. She thought about how much she hated it and wanted it gone. She felt the skin begin to tingle like she was running ice across it, and it began to fade.
"Oh. Oh, I got it."
The tattoo faded away and her magic came back in a rush.
Carla screamed.
Her magic was still there, but instead of the usual warm glow of recognition it snarled at her. It was snapping around and howling in the cage of her chest. It was a ball of pure rage and hunger. It was like waking up after a quiet night and finding your childhood pet had gone rabid.
