Difficult Beginnings

Carol met Dayle in the elevator down and huffed in return. The two ladies rode down to Ginnie's level in awkward silence and the second the doors started to open, Carol leaned out to jog down the hallway. Upon reaching it, she reached out and touched the door's computer panel and it opened for her.

Carol stepped in and saw Alec and Shay. She stomped her foot and pointed at the new vampire.

'UH??!!!'

Dayle found herself partaking of involuntary calisthenics as Carol jogged to Ginnie's suite. The door opened and when they stepped inside, Dayle heard Carol's exclamation and stamp, and saw her pointing at Shalimar.

Reaching out slowly, Dayle gently coaxed her arm down, whispering into Carol's ear, "The poor dear looks scared out of her wits. Please let her adjust a moment to meeting a few new people."

As Dayle looked over the woman, she realized she'd met Shay a few weeks prior at the party for Fallon and Cyrus. Except something was different about her... The woman's confidence and poise seemed... gone. When Dayle looked into her eyes, she saw fear, confusion, mistrust... But when her eyes lit upon Alec or Ginnie, a flicker of hope and something else... A plea? "Something's not right. She's not the same Shay I met recently."



(( touching and perceptions w/ permission ))

'Now what' seemed to be an apt question, but it didn't appear clear if anyone knew the answer.

Listening and watching as Ginnie explained things to Alec, after introducing him, the story she told seemed both familiar and strange, but Shay did grasp that the person Ginnie had turned was her. It was the 'turning' that Shay didn't quite grasp. More questions popped into her head, but she kept them to herself for now. She could see Ginnie appeared distressed, and Shay didn't want to add anything to the mix that would make things worse. Besides that, this Alec man also appeared to be suffering various emotions, or that's what Shay got from what she thought she saw in his eyes.

Her mind tried to take in everything that was going on, but it was overwhelming. Ellis, Tacharan, Simon...familiar, rules...Carol, Mathias, a brother. It made her head ache to try and keep up with the flow of conversation.

"My name? I've been told it is Shay..." Shay's expression to Alec was again one of confusion. Hadn't Ginnie told him what her name was? And who in the hell were Alana, and Regonald? A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she held her hand to her eyes, in an attempt to stave off the tears that again threatened. Seconds later she lowered it having been successful at regaining her composure.

Taking the bottle of water from the man, Alec, Shay managed a thankful smile as she twisted off the cap and drank. The water was cool, but somewhat disappointing as she still longed for more blood.

Blood. Vampires drank blood. Vampires had sharp, pointy teeth. Ergo, she was a vampire? She dropped the opened bottle of water onto the floor at the same time the doorbell rang and two more people entered. Could anymore strange faces appear before her? And why was the one stomping her foot and pointing at Shay as if she was some two headed wonder. Shay had seen her reflection in the mirror, and knew she appeared as normal as the rest of the room's inhabitants.

"I have a reflection! I can't be a vampire!" She blurted out the revelation the second it came to her. She then smiled as well, as if she had just proven what Ginnie had alluded to was wrong, and she would soon wake up and her memory would return and all would be right with the world.

"And I'm standing right here miss." She said somewhat hurt that the other new woman would talk about her as if she were mindless.

Moving to the nearest chair, Shay sat down, and bent forward resting her forehead on her knees. Her arms wrapped around the back of her neck, and she breathed. Things had to start making sense soon, or she was afraid she might lose it altogether, and run screaming.

Turning, Alec glanced at Carol and Dayle. He didn't even try to smile - it would have been too much. Acknowledging them both with a slight cock of his head that he hoped looked sociable, he focused his unblinking eyes, eyes without memory, on the pair of them. At Dayle's comment, he nodded once. In cold, even tones, he stated

"She is like me. Lost in transition. Amnesiac. And she is being overstimulated moments after her change."

Turning to Ginnie, his worry shown through for the briefest of seconds. He couldn't take care of her until the others were gone, as much as she needed the support. Simon wouldn't end her for this. Matthias...he would listen to reason. That left getting Shay situated so he could move to the next phase.

"Shay, can you come with me into the other room for a few minutes so that Ginnie can talk to her visitors? And please try to relax. It will aid your first digestion. I will try to explain...well, a bit at a time."

Hoping that he was making the right decision, he lugged the bags into the bedroom. Alec didn't wait for a response from Shay. He'd seen mothers play this trick many, many times and it usually worked - she should be along directly. Provide an enticing reward for a seemingly small act. Hell, it was how most interpersonal dynamics worked.

Carol looked Shay up and down and opened her mouth to say something...something. Something would've been good, but again she uttered a rather gutteral noise.

'UH?!!!!!!!'

Amnesia? Been told her name is Shay?

She slumped her shoulders and tipped her head back in a rather put out reaction to the situation. Carol had heard of that happening before, but having the three of them here, in this little pickle...

'UH?!?!?!!!!!'

Amnesia. It made sense, but it seemed too pat. And having amnesia didn't make a person a vampire. But drinking blood, and having fangs could. Lifting her head she looked at Alec. He had said he had amnesia too, but he seemed to know Ginnie well enough.

His invitation to leave the room was welcome, and Shay stood without consideration. However, before she left the room she looked at Ginnie and wondered if she really wanted to leave her side. Ginnie was the one who had rescued her, after all, even if Shay didn't necessarily believe everything the woman had said.

But Alec mentioned Ginnie had to talk to her friends, and Shay really did want to know more about what had happened, so she followed after Alec within seconds.

Once inside the bedroom again Shay wrapped her arms about her and sat on the edge of the bed. Her eyes followed Alec like a hawk, as a myriad of images clouded her head.

"You're like me? You can't remember either? Do you know why? And you're a vampire too, like Ginnie?" Shay still wasn't completely convinced she was as well, though the longer she considered the evidence, the more she had to admit it was a distinct possibility.

"If I'm a vampire...that means I can't be near garlic...or go outside in the daylight...and am destined to walk the earth for eternity feeding off the lives of people? Where are the coffins?"

Another shudder wracked through Shay at the idea of sleeping in a box, on a pile of dirt.

"Please tell me this is all a joke?"

Placing the bags onto the floor in the corner, Alec turned slowly and nudged the door shut. Retreating to the far side of the room to give her as much space as possible, he took a sip of water, nodding.

"I am like you. I was changed and lost my past. I rediscovered my skills on my own and became my own person, unhindered by my past mistakes and triumphs. I, like you, was born into a world without the sun. You seem...to be more conversationally functional than I was. Ginnie didn't hesitate when she saw what could have been, and you seem more stable for it. That's a good start."

Sitting on the floor, Alec stretched his legs out, leaving a clear line of sight between them.

"You are now a vampire. But it isn't like the movies or the stories. We're not really dead, just...significantly changed. We do get our nourishment from blood, but we do not have to kill or even feed from people. The advent of blood banking took care of that for us. I rather enjoy garlic. Churches and holy symbols and places don't bother me, but some people are freaked out by them. I think that one is mostly psychological. Coffins are totally unnecessary, as is dirt from our grave. Silver doesn't do anything bad to us. Sunlight and fire will destroy all but the eldest of our kind. I know of one who has survived immolation, one who has survived sunlight.

The good news that we're stronger and faster than humans. We also heal at a crazy rate. The older we get, the stronger we get, whereas humans just have death to look forward to - very bleak situation for them, really. And we each are altered in more unique ways, too. Those differences will surface in time - you might not be aware of them right away."

Taking a sip, he watched her. Who knows how she'd take it.

Ginnie did three things as she watched the door to her bedroom close. She thanked God for Alec, slammed back the remainder of her whiskey, and poured another. Sighing softly she grabbed a towel from a nearby drawer and returned to the living room. Uprighting the bottle of water, she placed the towel on top of the spill, and stood on it, facing Carol and Dayle.

"This sucks, I know. Ok here's the thing, I didn't have much choice. I was out hunting at the Nature Preserve and came across her. Some other vamp had bitten her. I don't know who did it. I didn't take the time to go look for the bastard. She was so near death that just giving her blood would not have saved her. It was either loose a piece of Tacharan property or turn her. So I took the only logical course of action, Carol. The thing is, she had a picnic set out, like she was expecting Mathias, but I saw no evidence that he'd been there, so I have a slight suspicion it was him. If not then it was either a rogue or an Anantya, which is doubtful, they aren't usually so careless with their prey."

She'd calmed some by the end of her little speech, all she had to do was make it through this night. She hoped to God this wasn't an offense that warranted her truth death.

She listened to the man, Alec, and tried to keep an open mind. It was difficult though, since everything she was being told was outlandish. Though she didn't remember who she was, or what she had been doing before waking up here in this apartment, she knew that vampires were myths...like gryphons, and werewolves, and fairies. It didn't matter how she knew this, or who had told her, or how she had come by this information. It was one of the things she just knew to be true. Movies...she was pretty sure she had seen movies about vampires, or read books, sometime in her life. But seeing them in the flesh?

She heard the things Alec said, but only gave them partial credence. If he said he had also suffered from amnesia, she could believe that. What would he have to gain by telling her otherwise. And for some reason she felt slightly reassured to hear she could continue to eat Italian food, and didn't need to fear claustrophobia at bedtime. She couldn't recall if religion was an integral part of her life, so going to a church didn't concern her at the moment.

The rapid healing she had just witnessed with Ginnie, and having seen it with her own eyes, couldn't dispute that something out of the ordinary had happened there. The concept of never dying was way too far fetched to grasp now. If it turned out that she was indeed a vampire, that would be something she could ponder later on. She'd have plenty of time to do so, that was a given.

Falling backwards on the bed, Shay crossed an arm over her eyes, and listened. The voices in the other room were muffled, and she was able to hear snatches, if she tried really hard. But she wasn't interested, so she gave up trying.

"If I have amnesia...how is it I can remember things at all? I know I'm a woman, and you're a man...this thing I'm lying on is a bed...is it just people I don't recall?"

Lifting her arm away from her eyes, Shay studied her hand. It looked as foreign to her as everything else did. Was there nothing she might recognize, even herself? Sitting up she bounded off the bed and went to look in a mirror. Studying her face as she had her hand, she hoped for some tiny glimmer of familiarity. Peering into her eyes, lifting her hair to see her ears, turning to look at her backside...nothing. She was unable to pin any actual memory to anything she saw. Anything she 'remembered' was abstract, as in thought. Sighing and feeling overcome with sadness, she returned to the bed and sat down again, staring at the floor in front of her feet.

"You say you 'rediscovered your skills'...how? And how long have you been like this anyway?" Again she held a hand in front of her face, but flopped back onto the bed when it was evident it still looked like the hand of anyone. "You don't know how you became like you are either? Is there some person out there who's just going around making people into vampires?"

Frustrated, and sad, she wondered if there was any point to her questions at all. They wouldn't change anything, and by now she didn't see how they could really help her either. If what Ginnie and Alec said was true, she was what she was, and she just needed to learn how to live as she was. It wouldn't do any good to mope about her fate.

'Ok, listen.' Carol walked over to Ginnie, grabbing her own long blond hair and twisting the length in a nervous fidget. 'Simon's not going to have anything done to you, that I know. So don't worry about your life or anything. That's not his bag, that was all Ellis. Still, you turned a member's familiar, regardless of whether he wanted to kill her or not. She's his.'

Carol shrugged, basically that's what it came down to, Ellis couldve killed Carol at anytime and no one would've blinked an eye. You become someone's pet, unfortunately the possibility of your usefulness might run out.

'We'll deal with Mathias when the time comes - wherever the hell he's at now. What we need to do is help her through this newbie process. She obviously has no clear idea of what she is physically or the rest of us.'

Carol rested her hands gently on Ginnie's shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze. 'Go see Simon later, he'll want to know the details of what happened but again - if Mathias did this to her and wanted to leave her for dead, there isn't much we can do about it. If it was someone else...some other vampire...we'll find them.'

(ooc - tentative permission to touch Ginnie's shoulders)

Dayle had been fiddling with her PDA while Alec took Shay from the room, and Carol seemed like she was comforting Ginnie, keeping the poor woman's full attention. The security report came back inconclusive; Mathias had not been seen in the Domicile for some time. She delved deeper into the conjoined file of the two 'involved' and discovered there was no official familiar creation form filed for either.

Then again, she mused, she didn't recall anything in Carol's training that had said there -should- be... But it would make situations like this easier...

Wouldn't it?

She ordered a room to be prepared for Shay right next to Ginnie and Alec's when something Carol was saying caught her attention. 'if Mathias did this to her and wanted to leave her for dead, there isn't much we can do about it.' The thought brought a chill to her; her family had been so very close with their familiars, she couldn't imagine wanting to get rid of them like an errant puppies.

A flag rose on her PDA - Shay had had a brand new puppy. She wondered briefly if regaining the puppy would be good for her, but then knowing how hungry a newly turned vampire is...

She clicked her PDA back into its holster and paid attention to Carol and Ginnie.

"Amnesia...differs from subject to subject, from what I can tell. For me, all of my...hm...'book learning' was intact. My motor skills were intact. Hm. The best way of putting it is that the transition stripped me of my sense of self. I wasn't aware of myself as anything more than a moving object in space. I wasn't aware of any self beyond the present that I occupied. It took some time for me to regain speech and understand social interaction - I suspect I wasn't much for it before, and my change stripped it entirely. I was a bit more...feral, I suppose."

Smiling, Alec gestured toward her with his water bottle.

"You fared a lot better than I did. Maybe you got a better vintage, or because you were fresher or had more blood you retained more of your sense of self. Of course, it also means you've got less of yourself to recreate...and that can be a worthwhile project.

As for self-exploration and rediscovery, well, that is like any type of introspection. Other times it is more like epiphany. Discovering your hidden talents seems to be more of a shock...but less so than for people who remember their human selves. I discovered my blending...oh...hm. It is like a camouflage or almost like a mental block that renders you practically invisible to people and animals...anyway, discovered that I had the ability by getting hit by an old woman driving. I'd realized I'd been dodging traffic for a few days. Figuring out how to control it was a different story, but you'll have a couple of opportunities to experience such strangeness firsthand. The longer that you live, the more latent abilities can surface."

Shrugging, Alec cocked his head and looked at her. Frowning a bit, he said

"Well, by the state of you I'd certainly say so."

Enough of what Alec said sounded plausible. Obviously she wasn't as bad as an infant, in that she was able to function...showering, dressing...using the toilet facilities. A huge shudder ran through her body when she imagined being so far out of it that she might have to wear...well that just didn't bear any further thought.

"You seem very well spoken to me...may I ask how long ago it was that you were, um, since you changed?" The rest of his description seemed to fit her totally. She had no idea who she was, and that included all the things that would go along with being who you were. She couldn't remember any family, where she had lived, what her favorite color was, or if she liked spaghetti. Although for some reason food sounded pretty good.

"Not that I ever believed in vampires anyway, but had I, I wouldn't have thought there could be so many different kinds." She thought a little bit more about the subject, then laughed. "Though you're nothing like zombies, which is what I sort of saw vampires like...I mean you, and Ginnie...well I don't know either of you but from what I've seen you don't seem like clones, but rather very unique people." She stopped talking for a few seconds, when she heard how stupid she sounded, and found it frustrating. Why was it she couldn't seem to express herself? The things she thought to say sounded much better in her head.

Whipping her head towards him when another thought struck her, she studied him for a moment.

"The other two women...out there..." she pointed towards the door. "Are they vampires too?"

What if there was an army of vampires and they were intent on changing the world? But no, that wouldn't work, unless they could all exist on animal blood. Because even if neither Ginnie or Alec fed on human bodies, the blood in the blood banks had to come from somewhere. But what if the vampires were out to change the majority of the populace, and then farm humans?

"Oh god." The idea left her feeling a little nauseous. And then it came to her again...she was supposed to be one of them. "OH GOD!" She almost shouted, in disbelief.

Chuckling at the accusation of being well-spoken, Alec shook his head.

"Not so well-spoken as precise, I'm afraid. I have a fairly literal grasp of language use, but am improving. As for age...I effectively have about five years of memory, now. I am guessing that I am missing a bit of time after my change as well."

Grinning at Shay's zombie comment, Alec quipped

"Though most of us don't work day jobs, we can still be a bit slow on our feet and lurchy if we need our caffeine. And like any other animal group, we can be boring or interesting. After meeting some of the less clever of our kind, you might realign that opinion. But yes. Most of us tend to be exceptional in some way, as you wouldn't want to waste the blood on the Eddie Haskells of the world.

As for Dayle and Carol...yes and no. Dayle is, Carol isn't. I'm still not clear on...but never mind. She isn't. She falls into a separate group, called Familiars. They are humans that know the secrets and serve our cause. Despite her bout of eloquence when arriving tonight, she is generally an excellent administrator and takes care of quite a lot of things for our family. Our family is called Tacharan, incidentally."

Cocking his head at her odd outburst, he had no idea how to proceed. Unblinkingly, he merely watched her have her attack of nerves. He didn't know what had set it off, so he didn't want to add to the issue. Let it ride. Hopefully it'd clear itself out faster that way. He sipped his water.

As quickly as the silly notion had come upon her, it fled. Probably due more to Alec's mention of family.

"Our family...I'm assuming again you're referring to the vampires. But what of me...do you know me? Have I someone waiting for me somewhere...real family?" She felt a little ungrateful with her use of the word family, but aside from the story she had been told by Ginnie, and now Alec, she really had no emotional connection to these...Tacharans, did she? But what of parents...brothers...sisters? Even a husband...and children? The feeling of being sick started to creep up on her again, but this time she managed to get a handle on it right away, and staved it off.

Ah, the million fucking dollar question.

"Before I answer that, I need you to consider very, very carefully."

Sighing, Alec paced for a second. How the hell do you tell someone not to make the same mistakes that you had? That only pain could come from a shattered past?

"And what would you tell them about your job? Why you couldn't go to family reunions? Why you couldn't remember them? How would you know the documentation was authentic?"

Sighing again, Alec ran his hand through his hair. Even he could tell that sounded fairly calloused.

"These are the things that you don't necessarily know until you make the mistakes. I made the mistakes. I was used by people. I was manipulated for my lack of memory, dishonest people playing off of honest ones and everyone pulling me in different directions. What does it mean to be able to pick a lock? Are you a professional locksmith, a detective, a thief? How would you know? In your case, you'll know you can fire a gun, but does it matter why? You have the skill - how it came to be yours is irrelevant. What you use it for now is what matters."

Shaking his head, he took a swig of water. He felt like he was going about this poorly, but there wasn't exactly a textbook for any of these conversations.

"You had ties to Tacharan before your transition, or you would have been left to die. You were formerly a familiar. Ginnie made a hard decision - let you die, or turn you without permission. She knew you, and the man you were tied to, and made the decision to break our laws to save your existence. The other two are here to figure out, in part, what to do next. It isn't an easy situation. The individual that you had ties to has been out of contact. If he hadn't been, I suspect the opportunity to harm you would not have occurred."

Shrugging, Alec looked at her sadly.

"You have no grounds to believe me. Now, you don't know me from Adam. You did before, but I understand, probably better than most. You'll want to do your own digging, I know, but I want you to know the dangers first. People may seek to use your weakness against you if you rely on a past you no longer remember. It is safer to sever yourself from it...but I can't make you. Again, because I know the pull. If you need to make the same mistakes I did, I certainly understand."

Leaning against the wall, Alec felt somewhat sick. Sliding down to the ground, he stretched his legs out again.

"What I do know is that Tacharan is going to try to find the one who did this. Chances are, I'll probably be involved in looking."

Realizing he'd avoided the question, Alec answered.

"So. You left your family before for your companion. Tacharan became your family when you became a familiar. I do not know for certain the particulars of your family tree other than you are unmarried and without child. Your file may have more information if you wish me to pull it for you. You were living with a member of the Tacharan Clan, and that was enough for us. People come to us for a variety of reasons and are adopted through different means."

Ginnie's head dropped between her shoulders. Relief swelled up inside her, and pushed it's way out through her tear ducts. She'd cried more tears tonight than she had in a log time. Her insides hurt, crying was never easy on the body.

"Thanks, Carol."

She sniffled mightily, put her head up and swiped at her face, determining not to cry any more over this. She'd made her decision, and the consequences were not as dire as she had dreaded. However, Shay was her first child, and the responsibility that held was immense, and her plate was already so very full. She took a gentle step from Carol, showing she was alright now.

"Well, then we need to get down to brass tacks." She moved over to her printer and pulled Shay's file print out from it. She scanned it quickly.

"The mercs that picked up Shay's car took the puppy to a shelter. Alec's already had the car cleaned and plates changed. Well I assume he did the plates, he's very thorough."

She finished briefing herself and held the papers out to Carol. "She's a known author. We'll have to cover her disappearance with a faked death or something similar, and she's got a family. I'm afraid we'll have to let her decide how to handle them, she may just go for the cover up including her family. We can provide a body or ashes, no problem."

She ran a hand through her hair and sighed heavily. She'd put herself into a right mess. 'Damn it.'

Dayle wanted to offer a hug to Ginnie, but she didn't think her relationship was quite to that level with the woman just yet... And by the time she got over her own reticence to do so, she'd calmed measurably and retrieved Shay's dossier printout.

"There's a chance the dog may offer her comfort, but animals know when something is wrong with 'their person' and he may not react too well. There's the possibility of running her cell records to see if any repeat calls are friends, and perhaps offer the dog to them... I know she interacted quite a bit with that Fallon woman from the Arslantai party, as well as uhm... Sorry I don't recall her name. The librarian. Alternately... I could see if my sister wouldn't mind a housepet." Dayle smirked. "Other than myself, of course."

"I think the part that makes this the hardest is that she's amnesiac. If she weren't, she might almost be able to go on with her daily life. But that's neither here nor there, and we'll be here for you - and for her - you know that."

She started to ramble on as she read part of the file, "I really don't think she was Mathias' familiar though. But again, no longer important. Either way, he's lost the woman he loved. With his absence, I think we should concentrate on getting her acclimated."

Again her focus was intent on Alec's words. Emotionally it seemed that the earlier feelings of fear and confusion were disappearing, but in their wake was nothing to replace them with. Having a void in her mental state was obvious to her, mainly because until then she had been a little overwhelmed by her feelings. But now she just felt calm, peaceful, and detatched.

The things Alec said made sense, and he seemed sincere in his delivery. If she believed what he had said about suffering the same fate, then she had no reason not to believe his descriptions beyond were lies. And in those words she picked up on the fact that he had said she knew how to use a gun. But she didn't let that statement distract her, and instead just filed it away for later review.

"Familiar?" [i]She repeated the word softly, as if by saying it she would understand it better, but she didn't. She didn't question it either, but picked up the rest of what he was saying. There was a man, but apparently he was either very aloof, or had possibly gone away. She didn't feel bad about that fact, and instead decided the man wouldn't be the most important part of her past if he had already removed himself from it on his own.

"I can't say I'm unhappy with what Ginnie did, considering the alternative. Then too, I'm still not really sure how I will be effected by all this vampire stuff, I guess, until I wear it a while." Understanding there was a connection between Alec and Ginnie, she felt she needed to assure him that she held nothing against the woman.

"And while I may not know you, you'll have to admit I know you and Ginnie better than anyone else at this moment in time." She cracked a small smile, feeling the need to keep communication between them on a friendly level. She had the distinct impression she was going to need allies in her immediate future, and thought it would work better to build on those she already had.

"But I do have an almost...burning need, to do some checking about. And yes, I would like to see whatever records there are on me. I don't plan on pinning any hopes of recognizing anything, but I also won't rule out anything until I try it at least once.

And yet..." She thought for a few moments. Maybe a better tact might be to do as he had done, and just accept the way things were and go from there. Who knew...maybe if she didn't make an effort to remember, she might luck out and have her memories returned on their own. She supposed the best way to look at things was that what would be, would be, and since she couldn't change that anyway, she might as well just accept it.

"No...you've experienced this, so for now I'll rely on your insights, and guidance."

She smiled a genuine smile then, and went back into the bathroom to splash her face with some cold water. Picking up the towel she had dropped earlier, she patted her face dry and laid the still damp cloth on the sink. Again she looked at her reflection in the glass. She guessed it would be helpful that she would be able to see putting on makeup, even if it offered her no clues to who she was.

"Should we go back in there now...or do you think they need more time? I'd really like to be in on any discussions that pertain to me."

How easy it was to be cool, collected, and rational when one accepted that things couldn't be changed, and therefore just needed to be accepted.

As she waited for Alec's answer, she studied him a little. Nice looking man, she thought, though she had no idea what she had to base that decision on. As far as she was concerned, he was the only man she had ever seen.

She sure went through the transition smoothly. He'd been a ravening mess in his earliest memories - a nearly unspeaking thing seeking to steal blood from anything it could get its teeth on. Oddly, that was what triggered his departure from the path - becoming aware of his own actions. Thinking back to the early nights, he remembered the near constant pull for more blood. Always more blood. Now, he could limit himself to once a night...but then...he'd almost always have to take a second or third sip to avoid killing.

"You're taking this very well. Normally, I wouldn't want you up and about - I'd say have some more blood and then sleep the night, let the transition complete without any strain...but things seem to have transitioned fairly well."

Aside from the memory loss, of course. But we'll just call it the coffee table. No amnesia here, no siree bob. Standing, he smiled.

"How's this? I'll go get you another nip and we can see how you feel."