Chapter 7:

Getting to Know Each Other a Bit

I find myself floating within a black abyss, despite that I feel the earth shifting all around me.

Where am I? What happened?

In the distance, a light begins to grow. I find myself moving forward into the light, and a picture becomes clear.

“It's a girl Demure, a girl!” A red-haired woman in a maids uniform shouts.

In my vision is her, and the white ceiling. She lifts me and I find myself resting in the arms of another woman, her skin, pale as moonlight and hair a snow white. She looks deeply into my eyes, her red eyes find themselves burning into my mind, and smiles. “Demure, what should we call our child?”

Child?

Over by a window adjacent to the bed which I reside with the mother is a familiar face.

It's Rachel's father, Demure. He walks over to me, gently taking me out of the mothers arms, he smiles. “We'll call her Rachel, Rachel Estivan Demure.”

Everything becomes a blur, and Rachel's now in a garden, a warm breeze flows across her face, and her nose filled with the scents of many flowers. She leans down and picks one, adding it to a crown woven of many others. “There, done.” The young Rachel says, “Mommy, mommy!” She runs through the patches of flowers towards the white haired woman who was now in a white sundress and wearing a large hat.

“What's the matter Rachel?” She asks, “Did you get stung by the bees again?”

Rachel giggles, “Silly mommy, I kept away from those.” She presents her mother with the crown of flowers, “I made you something mommy!”

With a warm smile, she accepts the flowery crown, taking off the hat and putting on the crown. “Thank you, Rachel.” She lifts Rachel and gives her a hug. “It's a great present.”

“Now what are my two angels doing without me?” A familiar voice sounds.

Rachel looks up, It's Demure, not looking any different from when I had laid my eyes on him in the future. “Daddy!” Her mother sets her down, and Rachel runs to him.

The man laughs, “Give your old man a hug.”

She giggles, embracing her father.

“She really takes after you, doesn't she, Leslie?”

The mother giggles, “But she's definitely a daddy's girl.”

“Silly, I'm both of your girl.”

It only hit's me now that I'm viewing memories from Rachel's past. But why? Why do I need to see this?

The image shifts, Rachel's now standing beside her mother, now old and frail, laying down on the very same bed Rachel had been born into this world, her mother's holding Rachel's hand.

She coughs, “Rachel, promise me... Promise me you will be a good girl.”

“What's this about, mother?” Rachel asks, “You know I will, and I know you'll recover from this.”

“That's not what I'm worried about my daughter.”

“Then what are you worried about?”

Quickly the image changes, I find Rachel is walking down the long corridors of the mansion, only to hear the arguing voices of her sickly mother and father. Followed by the sounds of a loud thud. She peeks into the room, her mouth agape as her mother lay across the floor, blood piling around her. Demure stands before the body of his lover, a blade in his hand stained by the very same color that seeps into the floorboards. His face void of expression, “Why...” She says, “What did you do to mother! Why isn't she moving?!” Demure doesn't reply, he only walks out of the room as Rachel cries her eyes out.

I finally find myself able to move again as the surroundings of the memory vanish into smoke, and I'm once again in the void, before me is Demure. I clench my fist. “I take it you've seen what I've done now?” Demure says.

“Why... Why did you kill her? Weren't you happy together?”

“Unfortunately I cannot respond to you as this form of mine is only a message, and by the time you'll be hearing this, I'll be long gone.”

“What what? Why?”

“As you know, I am one of the last vampires from the old world. The Chosen... they'll be here soon and end it's memories. After all, the deal that I made with them is over.”

“Deal? Is that why you've lived for so long?” I wonder aloud.

He pauses, “I've sent you on your way north with Rachel, via one of my private wagons. I'd advise stopping at the capital and getting necessary equipment for your survival. I've left whatever supplies I had remaining at the mansion with you. Please... take care of my daughter. I don't expect her to forgive me for what I've done, but I don't regret it.” He smiles solemnly. “It was the only way I could prepare her for this inevitability.”

Quickly everything faded to black.

***

I awoke to the sound of a thunderous boom, the ground shaking violently, and the sensation of my face bashing against the wooden floor of a wagon. I groggily try get up and look outside, and notice Rachel sitting in the back, legs dangling off of the wagon, her eyes wide as she's looking into the distance. We were now in a great field, and looking at the direction Rachel's staring, I saw a great crater where the forest once stood.

I'm shocked speechless, the place Rachel had lived her life in had been suddenly wiped from the map. Squinting I can make out some winged being floating over the crater, whoever they were had long pink hair, but that's all I can seem to make out. Quickly I notice them turn their head and wave in our direction. Fear flashed through me as I quickly realized that the winged being was the thing that had wiped the forest; they're ridiculously powerful and very much aware of our presence. I felt my heart beat fast, I couldn't calm myself.

Quickly a familiar warmth takes over my body. I try to sigh in annoyance but my body lets out a giggle instead.

Rachel looks over to me with a look of concern on her face.

“I-I uh, I'm sorry that wasn't appropriate.” I stutter, “This sometimes happens when I change.”

She sighs, looking back at the crater.

Looking back at the crater again, the winged being is no longer there, it seems they weren't interested in us as I had initially feared. I remember Demure said something about the 'chosen' being there soon. What's a chosen though? I've never heard of them before, and I think the world would know about some incredibly powerful beings that can demolish a whole forest.

Several minutes pass as we stare out of the back of the wagon.

“I... I can't believe he's just gone now.” She says, breaking the silence “Just like that... I thought he was incredibly strong.” She looks back to me, her red eyes devoid of emotion. I flinch a little, seeing myself reflected in those eyes. “but... Is... Is it wrong for me to feel nothing right now? I hated him with all my heart, I wanted him to pay for what he's done. Not die so suddenly, that doesn't make up for anything that he's done.”

I want to say something comforting to her, I really do. I could relate to her to a degree, but my home and family aren't completely gone like hers and I haven't dealt with the loss of another before, nor have I ever held such a grudge against anyone. I don't feel like I can say anything, it's not my place. Instead I find myself wrapping my arms around her as she did for me back when she found out about my condition. Gods, if I was the male me at the moment I wouldn't have done this, I would have backed off and left her to her own thoughts.

She doesn't resist, instead she leans in to my embrace and we sit there for a while.

“So... This is a new chapter of my life.” She says eventually, “I'd like to know more about the person I'm bonded to.”

“You mean you didn't get a weird dream Rae Rae?” I ask, confused.

“Weird dream?” Rachel responded back with confusion of her own.

“Yeah, it was like I was sifting through your memories.”

“Oh. No I didn't...” She grimaces, “We can talk about what you saw in a bit after we get an idea of what we have on hand. That and I really just don't want to think about myself for a bit... So why do you hate this form? You were incredibly against using it when ” She shifts out of my embrace, “You don't have to answer if you don't want to, it's just hard to think of topics to talk about after... that.”

I'd rather not talk about, but for some reason talking to Rachel makes me want to open up and at least trust her. “I... honestly don't know. Every time I change, I just... I become afraid of what I see.” I nervously fidget with the amulet mum gave me, it's pink gem in the center giving off a comforting warmth. “Not to mention I feel horrible after I change back.” I shudder, the feeling had started growing worse and worse since the incident that got me kicked out of my home territory. “I just wish these weird feelings would stop.”

Rachel raises an eyebrow, “What if you didn't change back, would the feelings go away?”

I feel my cheeks grow warm, “E-eh?! Where did you get that thought from! I want to stop myself from changing into a girl! My head always feels funny when I'm like this! And it only happens when I change 'from' this form, it's like my body's punishing me for using my power!” I swear if my face got any redder I'd burst somehow. This questioning is messing with me and I don't understand why.

“Uh huh... I was just throwing out a what-if. Take a breath Tracy.” She looks away, a look of regret strewn on her face. “Any other quirks that your ability comes with?”

“Well I get really strong and I... I get really into fighting.”

“I noticed, so you're a brawler?”

“Yeah I guess. I used to also work with swords when I was small, but I quickly fell off of it. My heart condition didn't help that either.” I let out a sigh. Swordplay was honestly something I had a lot of fun with before the curse, but of course I just didn't want anything to do with my other self. Hand to hand combat skills were just something the other me had instinctively, and honestly seeing as how its saved me several times now, I'm incredibly grateful; yet this strength still doesn't feel like my own, it's like I'm playing with power that didn't belong to me.

“And because of how your condition works, you can't fight at all without transforming I assume?”

I frown, “Yeah just like I said when we were back in the forest, consider me dead weight in a normal fight... I don't like to change if I can't help it.”

“You're clearly not dead weight if you got me freed from that forest.” She sighs, “You even stood your own against my fathers servant rather well before your heart condition kicked in.”

“I was just lucky for that moment,” I grumble, “I changed anyways to even stand a chance against Mr. Man-Servant.”

Rachel snickers, “Mr. Man Servant? That's what you called him?”

The carriage bumps up a bit, startling me, “Yeah, I thought it was a cute name... I tend to do that for most people I meet. But that's enough about me right now, who's driving the carriage Rae Rae?”

“Ah, right, this is fathers personal carriage, it's self drawn via magic.”

I tilt my head, “Why do I hear horsies then?” I quickly cover my mouth, embarrassed by the slip of my tongue.

“Cute.” She giggles, causing me to try and bury myself further. “It's illusion magic, very important for blending in on the road, there's a fake driver too.”

***

Not long into our ride the wagon pulls off the road so we could set up a rest point. I'm weary that the winged figure will show up again, but when I asked Rachel about it, she looked at me as if I'm crazy. She says that there was no one floating there, and that her vision is many times greater than a humans.

Taking our moment of rest, I look around the carriage. Finding several sacks under the seats, fortunately I find my bag of stuff amongst them. Opening my bag I find nothing misplaced, thank the gods, I can still cook. Hopefully not stupid fruits and berries this time, I've had nothing but simmered fruits and berries since I left Lefaso, and it's driving me nuts. I want meat, nice cooked well-seasoned meat.

“Tracy, you're drooling.” Rachel points out.

I quickly wipe my mouth and shuffle towards the other containers, flustered.

“What was that about?” She asks.

“J-just thinking about food that isn't from a plant.” I stutter.

I pull the strings on the sacks, checking their contents.

The first bag had some simple medical supplies, a small bottle of processed maloi, some weak healing potions and plenty of bandages. “Why would a vampire have this? They can just regenerate...” I mumble before moving over to the next one.

The second bag was a bunch extra clothing for Rachel. I didn't bother digging any further into the bag after a peek, I shouldn't look at what's not mine, right? Third was a small pouch, in it is about one hundred gold coins. I'm shocked, mostly because I've never seen that much money in my life. Though I imagine this is chump change for the royals and high ranking adventurers, them and their stupid platinum coins. Then again, this is what Demure had? I mean, yeah he was isolated in hiding, so maybe that's just what remained of what he lived off of.

The forth sack had loose weapons, they didn't seem to be in great condition, but it was better than nothing. Honestly I wasn't surprised, annoyed, but not surprised. Demure could probably just kill from a single look, he didn't need to maintain such things. It was annoying, but I fought with my fists and feet when I changed anyways. Rachel on the other hand, she absolutely needed a weapon. I would have thought that he would have had some cool sword heirloom or something for her.

The last sack had a handful of old war rations, their magic seals still intact. Guess it's better than starving, we don't have any proper ingredients for cooking right now anyways.

I have Rachel look over our supplies as well and she scowls, “That prick of a father really sent us out with complete junk.” She ties the weapon bag up and throws it in the back. “We'll take it to a smith to melt them all down and make actually useful equipment from them.”

“What about the other supplies?”

“Well healing potions can't expire, but the maloi, it's very likely to have gone bad, the last time we had a human in the Estate was...” She winces, “Way too long.” Oh right, her mother was human. I can't believe I forgot that already, gods I'm stupid.

“I'm sorry.”

“No, no, it's fine.” She waves her arms dismissively. “So uh, how much did you see in your weird dream.”

“Um, I think it was bits and pieces of your childhood. Demure was very different back then.”

“Yeah... he was...”

“I also saw your mother, she was incredibly nice.” I pause. “And well... I saw what happened to her.”

She takes a deep breath, gripping her pants leg. “Yeah, it's why I can't forgive him.”

“I also got a message from him.” I add, “He seems to have known this was going to happen, and was preparing you for it.”

She scoffs, “Yeah, sure, of course the asshole couldn't tell me himself. I'm not forgiving him for what he's done. I never will.” We sit there awkwardly in silence. “It is weird though, why'd you get the memory sharing from the bond and not me?”

“It might be because I really don't have that much to share.” I laugh nervously, “I was more or less just a normal village... boy... my entire life.”

“Well clearly not normal from what your condition's to go by.”

“Shush, I tried my best to not have it kick in.” I pout.

“Haven't been doing a good job doing that lately though.” She smiles.

I glare at her and let out a sigh. “Uh, let's see, what else can I tell you about myself.” I think for a bit, “I have two childhood friends, Bryson and Mimi- I mean Mia. Bryson's a big burly guy who runs the family restaurant with his father, he makes some great sandwiches.”

“And your other friend, Mia?”

“She's well,” I blush, “she's a big driving force in my life, she's caring and very protective of me. I'd never had someone worry about me so much... Come to think of it, she became more attached to than she used to after the incident.”

“Incident? You never mentioned that.”

“Yeah, something happened three years ago, can't remember a single thing about it though. All I got is this stupid curse to show from it. And everyone knows what happened, they just absolutely refuse to tell me, it's frustrating.”

“That's definitely annoying... And concerning.” Rachel agrees. “And your parents?”

“Only have a mum, I was told dad left me at an early age.”

“Oh... Is your mother nice?”

“Of course she's nice, she just tends to hole herself up in her room working all day.” I frown, honestly I wished she was out more, but Mia had filled that void in enough. “I can't go back to that place anyways, got kicked out of the territory due to some political shenanigans.”

“So you're like me in that regard, no home now?”

“Yeah, no home.” I sigh, “I'm stuck on the road, what you see now is what my life is at the moment.”

“Well at least you're not alone, we're stuck with each other thanks to the pact.”

“Right, I hadn't had the chance to bring it up. What's up with the blood pact anyways?” I ask.

“We'll talk about that later.” She looks away, her cheeks flushed for some reason.

Rachel jumps out of the wagon and looks around the field followed by a frown. “Doesn't look like there's much wildlife about here, you'd think it would be more lively. Though I guess after the explosion it shouldn't be a surprise.”

“What, were you expecting a dragon or something?” I giggle.

My stomach growls at my own comment as if it's telling me to shut my mouth. “Alright, it might be good to get something in our stomachs for the day.”
I reach to the back and pull out one of the rations and unseal it. It doesn't smell bad, nothing really notable though. Taking a bite I'm immediately struck with how bland it tastes, this is what soldiers of the old world ate? I understand that it's supposed to give the body energy for big battles, but I don't think I'm gonna want to have any war rations after this, I'm absolutely buying bread and jerky, those at least have more flavor than this junk.

After finishing half, I hand the rest to Rachel. Her cheeks turn red for some reason as she's about to take a bite.

“So how long till we get to the capital?” I ask.

She shrugs, swallowing the food. “I don't know, never stepped out of the forest before, what I do know is from some tales mother told me. I'd assume a while.”

Gods why did I not think to grab a map before I left Lefaso, this would make navigating so much nicer. All we can do is ride along the road till we find someone to ask or just stumble across the place.

“Tracy?”

“Yeah Rae Rae?”

“I uh,” Rachel shifts uncomfortably, the redness in her face slowly continuing to increase. “I'm kind of really thirsty all of a sudden.”

“Thirsty?” I reach for a water skin in my bag and hand it to her.

“Tracy...” She frowns, setting down the water. “Did you forget?”

“Forget what?” I tilt my head.

“I'm a vampire.” Oh that's right, blood for her is a thing that we need to think about. Or well, what I have to think about. I did essentially make myself her personal blood supplier.

“Wait, what prompted this? You never needed it when we were in the forest before though, what's different?”

“Well, that's...” She looks at the ground, face flushed. “I can usually deal with the thirst, but when vampires are with their... partner.” She fixes her gaze into my eyes, causing me to freeze. “We, uh, get really really full of desire for their blood.”

“P-partner?!” I exclaim, “Wait that blood pact, was that really a blood pact?!”

“We'll talk about that later.” She says again, inching close to me, her crimson eyes seemingly glowing. I can't help but suddenly feel incredibly self aware of my pulse skyrocketing, if my condition hadn't still been in effect, it definitely would kicked in then. Oh gods she's going to feed on me. I close my eyes bracing myself. “I'm sorry if this is gonna make you uncomfortable, but I just can't help myself right now.” She whispers into my ear, sending a chill down my spine.

I could feel her breath on my neck as she hung there for a moment, I squirm a little as she starts sinking her fangs into me. I don't think anything could prepare me for this sensation.

The sensation was pleasant, incredibly pleasant, I never knew my body could feel like this. I find my arms wrapping around Rachel as my mind grows fuzzy. Soft moans escaping my lips, as my embrace tightens.

After what feels like an eternity of bliss, Rachel pulls away, her face beat red. “I- uh, I didn't think you'd be that into it.” She gestures at the disheveled puddle that I became.

“Wh- wha.” I try to speak but my mind feels like mush, what just happened? What the heck was that feeling? I try to get up, but I feel incredibly weak in the knees.

“I'll uh- get the camp all set up.” She stammers, all I can do is mindlessly nod in agreement.