HOME | DD

Description
Turns out her memory was just fine. Nick had discovered upon closing the hidden entry above him that the room housed dozens upon dozens of jarred foods. Preserved vegetables that had been jarred by the family that had once lived here no doubt. Judy was holding one such jar, offering it to him and he gladly took it from her. So she'd come here deliberately for shelter and for food for him as well. Now hopefully the preserved foods were still good enough to eat. He took the lid off the mason jar and sniffed it gingerly and once satisfied it was still good from the appetizing scent that welcomed him, he tilted the jar and let the green beans just fall into his mouth. It may have been that he was so hungry, but he could swear he'd never eaten green beans quite as good as those before. His blood loss from when he fed the vampire in the room with him-he refused to think of the succubus again-may have had something to do with it too.

Whatever the case, he gobbled down the contents of the jar and took the other she handed to him after and emptied that one as well. He had to wonder how she had known about this spot though. She had been a vampire now for fifteen years or so and probably on the run from Rogan for just as long. Had she just happened across this place as she evaded the monster? It was possible. He could imagine a place like this looked like a blessing from the almighty especially if she had been frantically running to escape the creature. He let his mind imagine a young vampire running from what was chasing her and her desperation growing as the sun began to rise over the horizon. He imagined the terrible creature turning back or vanishing into a black void to escape the sun and Judy frantically looking for shelter. Maybe she ran through the home wreckage and heard a hallow thump below her then found the door. It was likely and the only thing he could think of.

"You are both right and wrong," she spoke up, distracting him from his thoughts and eating. He lowered the third jar he'd started on hearing this and regarded her with a curious expression. "It was not that Rogan or the sun was gaining on me. But you are not wrong that I was trying to get away from him.."

He had a feeling that the story was about to pick back up and moved to settle beside her on an old, dirty bed of blankets in the room. He didn't lay down nor did she. They both sat up with the wall against their backs in the small room. Both were able to see one another perfectly in the darkness of the room so he saw when she pulled her legs up and hugged them close. Her chin rested on her arms as her eyes stared past him though by the unfocused look her gaze took he figured she wasn't really there with him in mind. Memory had taken her once again and this was confirmed as she began to speak once again, her tone distracted.

"I had managed to escape, Rogan. I suppose he did not expect me to have enough strength to run. He had given me very little food, just enough to recover so he could feed again no doubt. When he left me so I could eat and so he could sleep through the day was when I made my move.."

-----------------------------

The small kit sat shivering on the floor of the abandoned building she'd woken up in. She didn't know where she was or why she was still alive. Or at least she didn't until that thing had brought in food for her. It became clear when he ordered her to eat and told her he would be seeing her the next evening that she was being kept alive for her blood. It made her shudder half in fear and half in disgust as her nose twitched. She was being used as unwilling prey. Prey like her ancestors had been so long ago. But unlike them, she wasn't going to just be eaten outright. She wouldn't be getting a quick death when a predator broke her fragile neck with a quick snap of powerful jaws and sharp teeth. She was going to be repeatedly fed on until the beast tired of her or took too much for her to stay alive from.

The very thought made her stomach rebel while simultaneously made her want to cry. Her poor family, they would have woken up hours ago to find her missing. Right now they were probably scouring the woods to find her. They had probably gone to the authorities to plead with them to help to find her. She imagined poor Gideon either being pointed at judgmentally or being pleaded with to help find her. Maybe even both, some of her siblings had made it no secret they still didn't like the fox kit and didn't trust him around her. She hoped if her siblings pointed judgmental fingers at him that her parents would defend him. They seemed to like him well enough after she convinced them that he meant none of them any harm.

If Gideon was helping then there was no doubt that he would find where she'd been and probably find out what happened to her. Oh Great Creator! Then that meant he could probably find where she was! And she didn't want any of her family nor her friend where this monster was! They couldn't save her from him, they weren't slayers, they weren't priests! But she had a chance to escape and find someone that was. They could also do an exorcism and if any of the creature's influence remained on her it would be extinguished. Then when the vampire was slain and she was free of him completely, she could return home. She was sure the priests would take her back to her family if she didn't know where she was and couldn't make it on her own.

With her mind made up, she blinked away the sting in her eyes and quickly grabbed the bread he'd tossed at her before. To her surprise it was warm, meaning it was fresh. She didn't even want to know where he'd gotten it from and what he'd done for it. But she internally prayed for the baker and their family-if they had one-as she scarfed it down. After the bread was gone she set about standing up on shaking legs though a metallic rattle and a cold pressure on her ankle told her that she was shackled. Again she didn't want to know where he'd gotten them and looked around her for anything sharp that she could use as her ears dropped to press against her back. She wasn't going to give up. But who knew how much time she'd already wasted lost in thought? If she was going to find a priest and get to safety, every second counted.

Her searching eyes eventually found a sliver of silver nearby. Most likely fake silver, why would a vampire keep real silver laying around? It was nickel most likely, but if it was sharp enough it could assist her. She moved closer to it as quietly as she could with the shackle around her ankle, wincing every time it scraped against the floor. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't long enough to be able to get to the object, but she could see now that it was a file. A claw file most likely and just as likely from a mammal that may have once lived there. She prayed for them internally as well as she stretched her arm as far as it would go to reach it. When that didn't work, she lay down on the floor and scooted across it to reach again. This time her paw just barely missed it so she tilted her body just slightly and tried again.

This time she touched it though only barely, but it was enough to make the file teeter on the edge of the box it sat on. One more swipe of her paw and it had fallen, Judy just barely catching it before it fell to the floor. She didn't want to metal to hit the floor and alert the creature she now held a means of escape in her shaking paws. With the file in paw she turned over quietly and was thankful to see slivers of sunlight coming in through the broken and dirty glass of the windows high above. The creature wouldn't dare come in here now with the sunlight coming in. But she still wanted to be careful. If he didn't know she had escaped until night fall then that left her a wide window of time to get away and find safety.

She jammed the file into the lock hole at her ankle, turning it several different ways as her ears stood erect, pointed at the shackle. She spent several minutes doing this until finally the metal released her foot and she grinned. Thank the Creator for no good brothers who had taught her this little trick. She caught the clasp before it could hit the floor and lowered it down carefully after she walked to where she'd been sitting when the vampire came in. She dusted off her clothes next to rid herself of the crumbs left behind by the bread, last thing she needed was to accidentally leave a crumb trail he could follow right to her. After carefully turning around, starting to feel slightly dizzy from what she knew was caused by blood loss, she made her way around the room to send her scent everywhere and distract him a bit more when he woke up.

Minutes later she was running over hills she didn't recognize being a rabbit that had never left the burrows. Being a country girl though she knew that the sun always rose North or South of Due East. Today it rose from the South from what she could tell so she ran in that direction, trying to get past the dizziness that made her vision swim off and on. She only paused a few minutes at a time to catch her breath when her lungs felt like they were on fire and one of those times found a natural spring. She happily quenched her thirst, thanking the Creator for it and wet her whole body with the water in hopes of masking her scent. She rubbed mud on herself for the same reason though the mud would also keep her cool for a bit as well as she ran. Then she was off again with her heart and thoughts racing.

As she ran she realized that the shape she had seen through the breaking twilight had been a rabbit like herself. The creature who had thrown the bread to her had the pointed and long ears of a rabbit and his height couldn't have been more than three feet. But the creature that had hunted and attacked her had been much bigger. That meant the monster could definitely change it's shape so what would she tell the priests once she reached them? They would have to know a description in order to hunt him down. But their mission was to kill every vampire right? So they would eventually find him if not right away and she would be safe with them. Maybe they could even track it if they used the influence the monster may have on her. She hoped so, the sooner that creature was rid of the sooner it meant he couldn't hunt and attack anyone else. Her thoughts continued along those same lines as she ran, stopping from time to time to catch her breath until she recognized the outskirts of the burrows.

They hadn't left the burrows then?

Had he been expecting her to escape so he could catch her again?

He had let her think she was safe the night before too to toy around with her. Was he doing it again?

And how had she not recognized the fields she was running though in the first place?

It had to have been a place in the burrows she hadn't been to or even the fear that made it unrecognizable. But back there, somewhere was her own burrow, her home, her family. Her family that had to be looking for her and terrified when they couldn't find her as every second became another minute and every minute turned into another hour. But she couldn't go to them, she may not find them before sun down, she'd been running for hours and only just now reached the outskirts. But even if she did find her home, the vampire may expect that of her and go after her again and this time take out some of her family, maybe even Gideon. She couldn't put them in danger, if she didn't know where she was going, the vampire wouldn't either.

"Sorry everyone," she said softly, voice wobbly. "I can not go back.. You will all be in danger if I do."

--------------------------------

"Not running to go find my family was one of the hardest choices I ever made. I knew they must have been so terrified for me and I wanted to tell them everything. I wanted to tell them I was being held by a vampire and I wanted to be reassured I would be safe at home. But even if they believed that and sent word out to the nearest priest order, it would be days before they got there."

"And you did not have days."

Judy nodded her head in the positive and hugged her legs closer and tighter to herself. Nick frowned as he looked down at his half finished jar of food. She was right, the brotherhood got many requests daily when it came to vampires. It took at least two days for a new request to reach them and even that depended heavily on where mammals were sending the request from. From there the requests were sorted through which would take hours and then a team assigned, the journey could take up to a day at times as well. Mister Manchas' request had taken up to five days before he was finally assigned to the task. He'd heard it being talked about before he even left the church.

"Renato Manchas?"

The question brought him free of his thoughts and he turned his eyes back to her to find her looking back at him. He nodded in the positive wondering if she was going to confess to biting him. But her eyes narrowed on him and she shook her head.

"I was not the one who bit him. But another vampire certainly had, the smell was all over him. Most likely he was bitten more times than he recalled and once the vampire was done with him they were going to dispose of him. It probably knew that he had requested a priest and tried to do away with him before you could arrive."

"When he almost walked off the edge.."

She nodded in confirmation.

"I sensed it and saw the look in his eyes. I knew I could stop him so I did. I did not expect him to become besotted with me."

The look on her face as she said the last told him that she was sorry that Renato had feelings for her. Again it was confirmed when she gave him a meaningful look before turning her gaze away again. He could imagine why if she was as kindhearted as she seemed. It was no secret the big cat hated vampires as much as the next mammal. So turning him into one was out of the question, the transformation may just drive him mad. Without immortality that meant that he would grow old and die while Judy remained the same and had to helplessly watch him fade away.

"So do not fall in love with me, priest. We have an alliance, that is all it can be."

Nick didn't want to tell her he had no problem with that and wouldn't. It would completely tear apart the facade he had already been using so he made his expression become disheartened and gave a slow nod. He realized after that he hadn't heard how she had found this place yet and so asked, knowing that it would look like he was trying to change the subject. Sure enough she gave him a long look of what appeared to be sympathy and he thought he caught a hint of something else, but couldn't identify it. It was wiped away quickly though as she sighed and went back to her story.

"After running for hours more I eventually happened upon the Meadowlands. It was almost dark and I did not want to keep going. I was tired, hungry, thirsty, and feeling sick from forcing my body to run while it was recovering. I knew other vampires would be out as well so I went on until dusk until I found this little house. The mammals that lived there, the Marin's, were kind folks. They listened to my story and assured me they would look after me and send word for a priest. Amelia was so beautiful in and out. Her coat was this tan-gold color and she had the warmest amber eyes I had ever seen. Her husband, Cole was just as sweet. He was midnight black with pretty blue eyes, his eyes reminded me of Gideon's.."

"You speak in past tense.."

She nodded again and let her eyes wander around the room they sat in. Nick followed her gaze until it clicked what she meant.

"Rogan found me just four nights after my escape. The priest was set to arrive the next morning, I knew he had because of the feeling he gave off. The monster took the form of a priest, said he wanted to come early and was let in. Cole and Amelia never saw it coming, three lives were lost that night. Cole, Amelia, and their colt that was due to be born that winter.. When he knocked them out and forced me to watch their house burn down with them inside, I promised I would escape and eventually find a way to kill him myself. But I would never seek shelter from an innocent family again or ask for help from a mammal who could not defend themselves against a vampire. Not an evening goes by that I do not look back on that and wish I had not gone to them, that I had just kept going. They died because of my ignorance."

-----------------------------------

TBC...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the plot and the OC's that have made an appearance and those that may appear later down the line.

Description
Turns out her memory was just fine. Nick had discovered upon closing the hidden entry above him that the room housed dozens upon dozens of jarred foods. Preserved vegetables that had been jarred by the family that had once lived here no doubt. Judy was holding one such jar, offering it to him and he gladly took it from her. So she'd come here deliberately for shelter and for food for him as well. Now hopefully the preserved foods were still good enough to eat. He took the lid off the mason jar and sniffed it gingerly and once satisfied it was still good from the appetizing scent that welcomed him, he tilted the jar and let the green beans just fall into his mouth. It may have been that he was so hungry, but he could swear he'd never eaten green beans quite as good as those before. His blood loss from when he fed the vampire in the room with him-he refused to think of the succubus again-may have had something to do with it too.

Whatever the case, he gobbled down the contents of the jar and took the other she handed to him after and emptied that one as well. He had to wonder how she had known about this spot though. She had been a vampire now for fifteen years or so and probably on the run from Rogan for just as long. Had she just happened across this place as she evaded the monster? It was possible. He could imagine a place like this looked like a blessing from the almighty especially if she had been frantically running to escape the creature. He let his mind imagine a young vampire running from what was chasing her and her desperation growing as the sun began to rise over the horizon. He imagined the terrible creature turning back or vanishing into a black void to escape the sun and Judy frantically looking for shelter. Maybe she ran through the home wreckage and heard a hallow thump below her then found the door. It was likely and the only thing he could think of.

"You are both right and wrong," she spoke up, distracting him from his thoughts and eating. He lowered the third jar he'd started on hearing this and regarded her with a curious expression. "It was not that Rogan or the sun was gaining on me. But you are not wrong that I was trying to get away from him.."

He had a feeling that the story was about to pick back up and moved to settle beside her on an old, dirty bed of blankets in the room. He didn't lay down nor did she. They both sat up with the wall against their backs in the small room. Both were able to see one another perfectly in the darkness of the room so he saw when she pulled her legs up and hugged them close. Her chin rested on her arms as her eyes stared past him though by the unfocused look her gaze took he figured she wasn't really there with him in mind. Memory had taken her once again and this was confirmed as she began to speak once again, her tone distracted.

"I had managed to escape, Rogan. I suppose he did not expect me to have enough strength to run. He had given me very little food, just enough to recover so he could feed again no doubt. When he left me so I could eat and so he could sleep through the day was when I made my move.."

-----------------------------

The small kit sat shivering on the floor of the abandoned building she'd woken up in. She didn't know where she was or why she was still alive. Or at least she didn't until that thing had brought in food for her. It became clear when he ordered her to eat and told her he would be seeing her the next evening that she was being kept alive for her blood. It made her shudder half in fear and half in disgust as her nose twitched. She was being used as unwilling prey. Prey like her ancestors had been so long ago. But unlike them, she wasn't going to just be eaten outright. She wouldn't be getting a quick death when a predator broke her fragile neck with a quick snap of powerful jaws and sharp teeth. She was going to be repeatedly fed on until the beast tired of her or took too much for her to stay alive from.

The very thought made her stomach rebel while simultaneously made her want to cry. Her poor family, they would have woken up hours ago to find her missing. Right now they were probably scouring the woods to find her. They had probably gone to the authorities to plead with them to help to find her. She imagined poor Gideon either being pointed at judgmentally or being pleaded with to help find her. Maybe even both, some of her siblings had made it no secret they still didn't like the fox kit and didn't trust him around her. She hoped if her siblings pointed judgmental fingers at him that her parents would defend him. They seemed to like him well enough after she convinced them that he meant none of them any harm.

If Gideon was helping then there was no doubt that he would find where she'd been and probably find out what happened to her. Oh Great Creator! Then that meant he could probably find where she was! And she didn't want any of her family nor her friend where this monster was! They couldn't save her from him, they weren't slayers, they weren't priests! But she had a chance to escape and find someone that was. They could also do an exorcism and if any of the creature's influence remained on her it would be extinguished. Then when the vampire was slain and she was free of him completely, she could return home. She was sure the priests would take her back to her family if she didn't know where she was and couldn't make it on her own.

With her mind made up, she blinked away the sting in her eyes and quickly grabbed the bread he'd tossed at her before. To her surprise it was warm, meaning it was fresh. She didn't even want to know where he'd gotten it from and what he'd done for it. But she internally prayed for the baker and their family-if they had one-as she scarfed it down. After the bread was gone she set about standing up on shaking legs though a metallic rattle and a cold pressure on her ankle told her that she was shackled. Again she didn't want to know where he'd gotten them and looked around her for anything sharp that she could use as her ears dropped to press against her back. She wasn't going to give up. But who knew how much time she'd already wasted lost in thought? If she was going to find a priest and get to safety, every second counted.

Her searching eyes eventually found a sliver of silver nearby. Most likely fake silver, why would a vampire keep real silver laying around? It was nickel most likely, but if it was sharp enough it could assist her. She moved closer to it as quietly as she could with the shackle around her ankle, wincing every time it scraped against the floor. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't long enough to be able to get to the object, but she could see now that it was a file. A claw file most likely and just as likely from a mammal that may have once lived there. She prayed for them internally as well as she stretched her arm as far as it would go to reach it. When that didn't work, she lay down on the floor and scooted across it to reach again. This time her paw just barely missed it so she tilted her body just slightly and tried again.

This time she touched it though only barely, but it was enough to make the file teeter on the edge of the box it sat on. One more swipe of her paw and it had fallen, Judy just barely catching it before it fell to the floor. She didn't want to metal to hit the floor and alert the creature she now held a means of escape in her shaking paws. With the file in paw she turned over quietly and was thankful to see slivers of sunlight coming in through the broken and dirty glass of the windows high above. The creature wouldn't dare come in here now with the sunlight coming in. But she still wanted to be careful. If he didn't know she had escaped until night fall then that left her a wide window of time to get away and find safety.

She jammed the file into the lock hole at her ankle, turning it several different ways as her ears stood erect, pointed at the shackle. She spent several minutes doing this until finally the metal released her foot and she grinned. Thank the Creator for no good brothers who had taught her this little trick. She caught the clasp before it could hit the floor and lowered it down carefully after she walked to where she'd been sitting when the vampire came in. She dusted off her clothes next to rid herself of the crumbs left behind by the bread, last thing she needed was to accidentally leave a crumb trail he could follow right to her. After carefully turning around, starting to feel slightly dizzy from what she knew was caused by blood loss, she made her way around the room to send her scent everywhere and distract him a bit more when he woke up.

Minutes later she was running over hills she didn't recognize being a rabbit that had never left the burrows. Being a country girl though she knew that the sun always rose North or South of Due East. Today it rose from the South from what she could tell so she ran in that direction, trying to get past the dizziness that made her vision swim off and on. She only paused a few minutes at a time to catch her breath when her lungs felt like they were on fire and one of those times found a natural spring. She happily quenched her thirst, thanking the Creator for it and wet her whole body with the water in hopes of masking her scent. She rubbed mud on herself for the same reason though the mud would also keep her cool for a bit as well as she ran. Then she was off again with her heart and thoughts racing.

As she ran she realized that the shape she had seen through the breaking twilight had been a rabbit like herself. The creature who had thrown the bread to her had the pointed and long ears of a rabbit and his height couldn't have been more than three feet. But the creature that had hunted and attacked her had been much bigger. That meant the monster could definitely change it's shape so what would she tell the priests once she reached them? They would have to know a description in order to hunt him down. But their mission was to kill every vampire right? So they would eventually find him if not right away and she would be safe with them. Maybe they could even track it if they used the influence the monster may have on her. She hoped so, the sooner that creature was rid of the sooner it meant he couldn't hunt and attack anyone else. Her thoughts continued along those same lines as she ran, stopping from time to time to catch her breath until she recognized the outskirts of the burrows.

They hadn't left the burrows then?

Had he been expecting her to escape so he could catch her again?

He had let her think she was safe the night before too to toy around with her. Was he doing it again?

And how had she not recognized the fields she was running though in the first place?

It had to have been a place in the burrows she hadn't been to or even the fear that made it unrecognizable. But back there, somewhere was her own burrow, her home, her family. Her family that had to be looking for her and terrified when they couldn't find her as every second became another minute and every minute turned into another hour. But she couldn't go to them, she may not find them before sun down, she'd been running for hours and only just now reached the outskirts. But even if she did find her home, the vampire may expect that of her and go after her again and this time take out some of her family, maybe even Gideon. She couldn't put them in danger, if she didn't know where she was going, the vampire wouldn't either.

"Sorry everyone," she said softly, voice wobbly. "I can not go back.. You will all be in danger if I do."

--------------------------------

"Not running to go find my family was one of the hardest choices I ever made. I knew they must have been so terrified for me and I wanted to tell them everything. I wanted to tell them I was being held by a vampire and I wanted to be reassured I would be safe at home. But even if they believed that and sent word out to the nearest priest order, it would be days before they got there."

"And you did not have days."

Judy nodded her head in the positive and hugged her legs closer and tighter to herself. Nick frowned as he looked down at his half finished jar of food. She was right, the brotherhood got many requests daily when it came to vampires. It took at least two days for a new request to reach them and even that depended heavily on where mammals were sending the request from. From there the requests were sorted through which would take hours and then a team assigned, the journey could take up to a day at times as well. Mister Manchas' request had taken up to five days before he was finally assigned to the task. He'd heard it being talked about before he even left the church.

"Renato Manchas?"

The question brought him free of his thoughts and he turned his eyes back to her to find her looking back at him. He nodded in the positive wondering if she was going to confess to biting him. But her eyes narrowed on him and she shook her head.

"I was not the one who bit him. But another vampire certainly had, the smell was all over him. Most likely he was bitten more times than he recalled and once the vampire was done with him they were going to dispose of him. It probably knew that he had requested a priest and tried to do away with him before you could arrive."

"When he almost walked off the edge.."

She nodded in confirmation.

"I sensed it and saw the look in his eyes. I knew I could stop him so I did. I did not expect him to become besotted with me."

The look on her face as she said the last told him that she was sorry that Renato had feelings for her. Again it was confirmed when she gave him a meaningful look before turning her gaze away again. He could imagine why if she was as kindhearted as she seemed. It was no secret the big cat hated vampires as much as the next mammal. So turning him into one was out of the question, the transformation may just drive him mad. Without immortality that meant that he would grow old and die while Judy remained the same and had to helplessly watch him fade away.

"So do not fall in love with me, priest. We have an alliance, that is all it can be."

Nick didn't want to tell her he had no problem with that and wouldn't. It would completely tear apart the facade he had already been using so he made his expression become disheartened and gave a slow nod. He realized after that he hadn't heard how she had found this place yet and so asked, knowing that it would look like he was trying to change the subject. Sure enough she gave him a long look of what appeared to be sympathy and he thought he caught a hint of something else, but couldn't identify it. It was wiped away quickly though as she sighed and went back to her story.

"After running for hours more I eventually happened upon the Meadowlands. It was almost dark and I did not want to keep going. I was tired, hungry, thirsty, and feeling sick from forcing my body to run while it was recovering. I knew other vampires would be out as well so I went on until dusk until I found this little house. The mammals that lived there, the Marin's, were kind folks. They listened to my story and assured me they would look after me and send word for a priest. Amelia was so beautiful in and out. Her coat was this tan-gold color and she had the warmest amber eyes I had ever seen. Her husband, Cole was just as sweet. He was midnight black with pretty blue eyes, his eyes reminded me of Gideon's.."

"You speak in past tense.."

She nodded again and let her eyes wander around the room they sat in. Nick followed her gaze until it clicked what she meant.

"Rogan found me just four nights after my escape. The priest was set to arrive the next morning, I knew he had because of the feeling he gave off. The monster took the form of a priest, said he wanted to come early and was let in. Cole and Amelia never saw it coming, three lives were lost that night. Cole, Amelia, and their colt that was due to be born that winter.. When he knocked them out and forced me to watch their house burn down with them inside, I promised I would escape and eventually find a way to kill him myself. But I would never seek shelter from an innocent family again or ask for help from a mammal who could not defend themselves against a vampire. Not an evening goes by that I do not look back on that and wish I had not gone to them, that I had just kept going. They died because of my ignorance."

-----------------------------------

TBC...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but the plot and the OC's that have made an appearance and those that may appear later down the line.