Staying Turned

“Oh, shut up, you are not.” Abettance crossed her arms, and looked Worldling up and down. 

Worldling looked down and away, clutching his arms. This… this was the worst. He never wanted anyone to know that he was a vampire– it was why he left his loved ones for so long in the first place. And there they stood around him: Abettance and Crux, his littermates; and Pyrosis, his oldest and closest friend.

“For twelve years?” she asked. “You’ve been a vampire for twelve years, and you didn’t tell us?”

She was hurt. Not only did Worldling not trust that he could tell her this, but he also hid away from her and Crux for a decade. She didn’t know what to do, or how to reach out. She wanted to– she really wanted to connect with him, to ease his pain; because he would say just the right thing to her if she were in his shoes. But she was also so angry– is that how little he thought of her?

“You fucking asshole!” She turned and stormed off.

“Wait, Abby-” Worldling called after her. This was what he was afraid of– he was a vampire, a monster. She was horrified, disgusted by him, and she should be.

“Give her a moment,” Pyrosis urged. He wasn’t sure what to do– strong displays of emotion weren’t his strong suit. It was why Worldling was one of his closest friends– he was always extremely good at keeping the topic lighthearted. He’d never once seen Worldling cry… not until now.

Worldling covered his face with his hand, not wanting to be seen.

“What do you intend to do?” Pyrosis asked. “Why come forward now?”

“I… I don’t know what to do,” Worldling answered. He sniffled. “I- I don’t want to hurt anybody… I don’t want to leave again… I don’t know.”

“There is now a cure for vampirism, so it seems,” Pyrosis pointed out. “Cherubun blood.”

“I…” Worldling trailed off.

“Stay like this,” Crux said. “I prefer you as a vampire.”

Worldling couldn’t help but laugh. “What?”

“Rude,” Pyrosis chimed in, though that was an extremely interesting thing to say.

“I’ve no need to worry for your safety,” he explained. “As a normal succubun, your traipsing across the Hells and getting involved with all manner of folk kept me awake most nights. If and when you choose to travel again, I will know that you are safe.”

Worldling melted under the words, and let out a sob.

“Plus, your personality is different. I liked you before, but I appreciate that you have learned to look before you leap. That, too, eases my mind.” He reached out and took Worldling’s hands. “I am so happy for your transformation. I am so happy for you, in all your forms. I like this form of yours the most.”

Worldling pulled him in closely. Crux was not a fan of hugs, but let it happen, anyways. He offered a few quick pats, and an awkward, there, there. Eventually, Worldling pulled away.

“Now, if only we could fathom Abettance’s problem…” he said, tapping his chin.

Abettance was in the back room doing dishes. Her mind ran wild with all the things she wanted to scream at Worldling. She all but threw around the different cups and bowls and plates as she worked, keeping her lips pressed into a line.

She didn’t acknowledge Worldling when he knocked on the door, nor when he came to stand beside her.

“I’m really sorry,” he said.

She said nothing.

“I… when it first happened, I was really scared,” he continued. “It was all such a bad experience… I still don’t really know… I dunno. I just- I didn’t know what I was. I didn’t want to hurt you– I didn’t want… you to be mad at me, for something I didn’t want.”

“So you disappeared for a decade instead?” Abettance snapped. 

“I wanted to fix it! I just- I can’t tell you how… how much it all sucked. It really sucked.” 

“Well, what about me?” she asked. “Crux went into hiding after you left. He literally stopped going outside. Turns out, all my friends were your friends, and when you disappeared, they stopped giving a shit about me.”

“They were bad friends! I promise they didn’t give a shit about me, either. There’s a reason the only person from before that I talk to now is Py– he’s the only one that bothered to pick up the phone when I called.”

Worldling wrapped an arm around her side, and pulled her close. 

“I’m sorry I left you alone.” His voice was quiet. “For what it’s worth, I was alone, too.”

Abettance sighed, and leaned against him. "And you're... different, now. I wondered what it was, but I..."

"I'm not that different."

"You live in the city. I just... I can't imagine you happy in a city."

"Could you imagine I'm happy with you and Crux? Because that's all it really takes."

Abettance took a long, deep breath.

“Don’t do that shit again.”

“I won’t.”

“I’m not kidding– don’t.”

“I promise, I won’t. I’m home for a while. And I'm not thinking about making any other big changes, either."

She looked up at him. “Good.”

Worldling bit his lip, hesitating for a moment. What would she think? What would she do? Abettance was one of the people whose opinions mattered most to him. “I think I might just… stay a vampire.”

She frowned, and opened her mouth. But before she could question why, she just exhaled. “Okay.”

It had taken some amount of effort, but eventually, Pyrosis was able to figure out where to find Calla’s sanctum. He, honestly, didn’t care whether or not Worldling was a vampire. Yes, he’d spent some of his earlier days hunting them, but that was all in the past– besides, he never really wanted to kill them. He just wanted to know about them. At any rate, after shaking down an unfortunate overnight hospital employee, Pyrosis provided Worldling with the location to the sanctum, whereupon Worldling could integrate himself more into vampire society. He moaned and complained about being part of any “society”, but being part of a larger community was soothing.

“Ah, four new fledglings,” Calla said, welcoming them with open arms. “Victims of the latest incident?”

“Presumptuous of you,” Pyrosis mused. He pushed Worldling out in front of the others. “Only one of us is a vampire.”

“Hello,” Worldling greeted nervously. A lot of feelings were returning to him, now that he was once again in front of a vampire lord.

“Then… why are the rest of you here?” she asked, frowning. She didn’t really want mortal visitors to be a regular thing. Although… she thought, eyeing Abettance up and down, that one can stay… Before anyone could answer, she waved a hand. “It doesn’t matter. A new vampire-?”

"Yeah, basically," Worldling nodded, not really wanting to go into much detail. He wasn't even ready to talk to the three he brought with him about the experience, let alone a stranger.

She nodded. “You may approach.”

Worldling hesitantly moved forward. Calla looked regal to him, and it set his nerves on fire. He steeled himself. Memories of Lagosi circling him like a predator ran through his mind-- but he kept strong. He would be fine. Everything would be fine. As far as he knew, Calla wasn't anything like Lagosi, anyways. She never tried to take over Burrowgatory with an army of undead, for starters. There were probably other differences, too.

“Kneel, fledgeling. What is your name?”

Worldling did as he was told, and stared at the ground. Not looking her in the eyes helped. “It’s Worldling.”

“Worldling, do you pledge to obey the law of the vampire lords: to drink only that which is given; to turn only with permission of the lords; and to bring no harm unto any mortal, fatal or otherwise?”

“Um… yes.”

“Rise.”

Worldling did as he was told, heart pounding. 

Calla offered out her wrist. “Drink.”

He took her arm delicately into either hand, and eyed her skin. There were some marks from other recent turnees, he figured. After another moment’s hesitation, he leaned in and bit down.

It was the first time Abettance, Pyrosis, and Crux had ever seen a vampire drink. Pyrosis and Abettance watched, but Crux turned and buried his face into Abettance’s shoulder. He did not care one bit for the look of that.

Worldling pulled away, and wiped a bit of blood away from his lips.

“Congratulations. You are now a member of my court.”

Abettance clapped with enthusiasm, and Pyrosis clapped modestly. Crux was very busy trying not to be sick. Abettance rushed to embrace him, and he held her back.

The quartet exited the sanctum. As they left, Calla overheard Abettance and Pyrosis both offer meals to Worldling. She laughed under her breath to herself– who would have thought? Perhaps now really was the perfect time for vampires to become known to Burrowgatory after all.