The next morning was a lot of the same. I extracted myself from my burrow beneath the bed, marveling at the comfort it bought me, before showering, cleaned myself up as much as I could and slipped into something comfortable. All before heading down to have breakfast with Merii. She of course rolled her eyes at my feeding habits again. Not that I could help it, blood was simply too good to take slow. But other than that it was surprisingly quiet. Merii was clearly up to something. My odd devotion to my sire aside, I knew her enough to know that quiet was a byword for plotting. Partially because that's exactly what I would do. My suspicions were confirmed when the elevator opened, and she spoke up.
“Can you please get that Ellie? It's likely for you.”

Tentatively I got up and went to see. The elevator was open, inside sat a cardboard box. The kind you would see in some law office filing room on TV. There were no markings though, no label or address. Half expecting a boxing glove to pop out, I picked it up delicately and carried it, at arm's length, to the lounge, putting it down on the coffee table and giving Merii a questioning look.

“Open it maybe?”
She suggested innocently. Going so far as to bat her eyes at me.

I thought for a moment, drumming a finger on the table as I looked at the box. It looked innocent enough, and my staring proved I hadn't gained X-ray vision as part of my vampiric powers.
“If this is some reflex test that explodes in my face I'll be pissed.”

“It's not! I’m hurt that you think so little of me Elli. My dear fledgling.”
Merii mocked indignation and put a hand over her heart.

“In my defence, you have tricked me into doing things before, like breaking my nose last night. And I can see you doing exactly this kind of thing.”
I crossed my arms and waited for a response. I trusted her, but I was no fool.

Merii seemed to be genuinely grumpy as she sat forward and took the lid off the box herself.
“See? No bomb, no poisonous snake. Just paperwork, that you’re going to have to do by yourself now…… and a phone”.  She snatched a smart phone from the box and pocketed it.
“But you can get that when the works’ done.”

I wanted to call her a bitch so bad, but I bit my tongue, half out of respect and half because I knew we would be training later. I could try and get a little revenge then, assuming she didn't just beat me to a pulp first.
That thought in my mind I dropped myself down onto the couch and took out one of the documents, quickly casting my  eye over it.
“Who is… Cian Telies?”

“Why would that be you, dear?” Merii pointed at me with a smile, pausing a moment before getting an overly concerned, dramatic  look. With a small gasp she placed her hand to her mouth like some stage actor. “Don't tell me you’ve forgotten your own name?”
Of course she then dropped back to that stupid smile again.
“If you don't like it, we can always change it. I bet the documents for legal change of name are in that box somewhere. Would Elliza Cereus suit you better perhaps? ~”

Rolling my eyes at her dramatics I sighed and read through the folder a little. It had all the relevant information. Name, date of birth, address. Happily, it had her as twenty years old. What surprised me was that it had bank statements, pay slips, tax information, high school scores, even a membership to a gym I had never heard of. However, notably missing was any photo ID .A slightly disturbing thought ran through my mind and I was compelled to check with Merii.
“This wouldn't happen to be the life of some poor girl that's gone missing? Killed by a creature of the night for example?”

Merii waved a hand dismissively and took the folder from me, reading through it briefly.
“No, I would say that poor Cian here died as a child, but someone never registered her death. Then some terribly clever criminal made sure to enroll her in places and keep accounts so that she would appear to have lived a full life.”

“Smithy?”
I deadpanned.

“Correct. Good to see you’re paying attention.” She tapped the papers with the back of her hand “I had him sort something out. This is your current identity, in the box are change of name papers and an adult adoption form that will make you my official daughter. It should help smooth out any questions or problems.”

I wasn't sure how to feel about that. A little part of me was proud that Merii would officially have me as her family, that she cared enough to want me. But a larger part of me saw it for what it was, a surrender. I would be handing over the last thing I possessed from my life as a human, the first gift I was ever given, my name. It would be a permanent admission that my life was over. Ellie Tangey would officially, unequivocally cease to be. I had my doubts about whether I was even her, a disconnect between the new and the old, over whether she was dead and I was just the parts that were left, but this would seal that fate.

Of course, I knew I had too. Merii’s ideas aside, I couldn’t keep my old name. That would be stupid. I would have nothing, no accounts, no identification, no legal status even. If anything it would be a danger to both myself and those around me if I kept using the name of a dead woman. So, I was at least being realistic about the choice. But it still hurt, like a deep wound in my soul. The kind that felt like a weight had been placed on my shoulders and was pushing me down.

Merii eyed me from across the table.
“Not that I should have to sell you on the idea” She said softly, “But it does come with a lot of perks. Mainly money, but money makes the world go round, so……”

She was right. So far, I was pretty sure her money was the best protection we had. But I was still reluctant. I knew full well I would have to take the deal, put my big girl pants on and bear with it. But it all just felt like I was giving in too easily. Like I should fight, even if it was only token resistance. 

 “I’ll let you feed on some fresh blood this week~”

Merii spoke like she was trying to convince a child to go to the doctors by promising a lollipop. I should have been better than that, but damn if it didn’t work. With a sigh i resigned myself to my fate and started going through the paperwork. I hated paperwork, filling out and double-checking things making sure you checked every box and then having to go back and check again. But this seemed rather simple compared to the things I had needed to file in the past. Almost concerningly so. All in all it was actually pretty simple, whoever Smithy was he had done a good job. Everything was in order and even labeled in places with little stickers and “sign here” labels.

That said, it still took me nearly five hours to get through it.  And by the end I was confident I could recall most of a life that wasn’t even mine, like some character in a book. I didn't even know I could concentrate like that. Normally I would have been dead in my seat within an hour and bouncing off the walls by the second one, but somehow I managed to sit and not completely lose my mind as I did a solid five hours of work.
Well ok, it was only about three hours of work, the rest was procrastination and random thoughts. Like how I was going to put a handful of forks in Merii’s microwave later for making me do this, or the half hour spent testing how flexible I was by flopping over the couches at random angles. Turns out very flexible.

Merii had gone out for several hours and the lack of supervision definitely didn't help my work ethic. Something she picked up on, as she sat across from me the rest of the time and texted or watched me writing and reading. The occasional displeased flash of her eyes or glimpse of fang being more than enough encouragement to keep me on task.

Eventually, finally, I finished.“Done….”
I groaned and fell sideways onto the couch. Thanking the saints my eyes were able to heal. I would bet money on my having a migraine otherwise, and likely some pulled eye muscles, if they were even a thing. I did have a headache but that was from just trying to focus for so long and was entirely mundane in nature. 

“Oh, well done. Your brain somehow didn't explode.”
Merii took the papers from me and started reading through them. Personally, I just couldn't find the effort to respond. I simply closed my eyes and rested, wishing I would drift off into a nap and that Merii wouldn't disturb me as I attempted to will my melted brain not to run out my ears.
After a few minutes of my attempting to not die on the couch, Merii seemed satisfied and put the papers down. Adding her signature to a few places before putting everything neatly back in the box.

I couldn't be bothered moving, or really thinking, not yet anyway.
“I can’t believe that's all it takes to change your name and family……”

Merii shrugged and picked the box up, taking it over and placing it by the elevator.
“Of all the city states outside the republic. This is one of the easiest to get things done in….. If you have the right connections anyway.”

With a groan I slowly sat up and rubbed my eyes and swaying lightly.
“So, what now? I’m officially dead, officially your daughter, and officially exhausted…. Does the healing thing not work on headaches?”

“Well it's also technically your birthday….. Happy birthday!”
She dismissively threw the phone at me. Thank the Saints for my reflexes, I caught it.
It was nothing fancy, just a simple smartphone. But I was more than happy as I powered it up. It meant I could actually check what was happening outside of the news, that i had some modicum of freedom to explore. Even if it was from the confines of the apartment.

Merii sat back across from me, leaning back into the soft leather and shaking her head.
“Never thought I would have this conversation, but rules. That thing right there,” She pointed at the phone in my hands. “That is the most dangerous bit of technology in the world. So, take this seriously or I will take it off you.”

I felt like a young teen again, getting the lectures about the bad people on the internet. But she held all the cards here. I wouldn't exactly say no….. Oddly I don't think I actually could if she really wanted something. A troubling thought, to add to the growing list.

“Ok so.” she took a moment to make sure i was paying attention, “No contact with your old life. That's over. Your accounts are done, contacts lost. I’m looking into a way to make it work with this “Jessica” you mentioned, so hold off on anything stupid.”
“Secondly, that stays turned off when we hunt. It's basically a tracking device and we don't need that. Chances of it being used that way are low. But we don't take those chances if we can help it.”
“Thirdly, keep away from social media. Seriously, a few things here and there, or using it to scroll or stalk is cool. But the more you put on there about yourself the more likely you make a mistake, and some overzealous hunter comes knocking. Got it?”

“Um yeah.” I nodded.

Merii seemed satisfied with that and soon left me to set up my phone. Remarkably,  I actually showed some restraint, setting up accounts and addresses rather than immediately searching for the details of my murder. It hadn’t been lost on me that Merii was not keen to discuss my death. Even to Brewer, her, as far as I knew, only friend. So that was high on my list of things to search for later.

Was it smart? No. Was I going to do it anyway? Yes. Just not yet. I’d wait till this evening when I was alone. It was fairly obvious we didn’t need to sleep, so I could spend the whole night searching if need be. It was good for just resting my brain more than anything, but I was confident I could put off any sleep if needed.
With all of that said, I did immediately check on Jess. Probably not a great idea given the memorial to me on her page, but I tried to ignore it. I would look at sad things later, this was just making sure she was ok. 

 To my relief she was. Or seemed to be at least. The university seemed to have let her into some kind of preferential housing thing. Seemed they were really keen on having her, understandably so given her natural talents. But other than that I couldn't tell much. I wasn’t willing to go back far and it looked like she’d been mostly quiet as of late. That wasn’t like her, but she was ok, that was enough for now.

Satisfied for the moment I started downloading apps and trying to remember the details I had read earlier. I needed to double check a few things but soon I had almost everything up and running. All in all a productive afternoon I would say. Knowing Jess was ok had put me in a really good mood.

Jessica Sky sat at her new desk, fingers hovering over her keyboard as she struggled to think of the next words for her report. Her mind was wandering again. To the funeral of her best friend.
It had been a simple thing. Like Elli would have wanted, but the thought of so few people attending for someone so kind was still saddening.

A tear ran down her cheek as she leaned back in her seat, work abandoned. She still couldn't put it together. One moment she was there, the next she was gone. Despite what her university psychologist had said, she couldn't help but dwell on it. Ellie didn't even like clubbing, she was only there to make sure Jess was ok. Like always she had put herself out for her friend, and Jess couldn't help but feel the guilt at that. 

Then there was the decision to declare her dead. Jess was no fool, and while she hadn't seen the details, she knew that they must have found something that made it obvious her friend couldn't survive.
She brushed her auburn hair behind her pointed ears. A genetic leftover from her Fey origins and her mothers poor choice of lover. While she couldn't hide the hair, she did her best to keep her ears covered in public. Ellie had always called them cute and, ever the diplomat, told anyone who didnt agree with her assessment to “fuck right off”. 

Gods, she missed her. Jess had been lucky the Haver-Carter University had wanted her so badly. After Ellie’s disappearance they had offered her preferential housing, even though she wouldn't start for two months. If not for them she would never have been able to cover rent alone.
With her full scholarship already established and apparent skill for the art of biomancy, they had welcomed her readily. They even gave her an apartment all of her own. Kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms, one of which was quickly becoming her office and makeshift examination room, filled with assorted medical equipment, and reading materials.

She knew full well she had buried herself in work to avoid thinking about everything. But it was easier that way. Eventually she would recover, work it out in her mind and come to terms. But for now, it was study that called her.
Ellie would probably approve. She had always encouraged Jess’s magical pursuits. Jess still wasn't convinced that all Ellies little injuries she’d healed over the years weren't partially deliberate. It would be just like her to do something stupid, and half thought out, and use it as an excuse to help a friend.

Tears now ran freely down Jess’s cheeks. The only consolation was that if any of the things the church said were true, she was confident Ellie was in a better place. It was the least she deserved.