Sylvie

Unable to avoid the conversation, Amber tossed her backpack to the floor and sat down beside Casey. “Well, he just up and kissed me.  Alan I mean.”  Amber shrugged and opened her hands, “What could I do?  He’s a vampire and I was just a little human girl with a blood fetish.  He’s faster than me.”

“I assume there was a reason why?” Casey quickly added and raised her eyebrow. “Sylvie hasn’t given me any real orders concerning another vampire’s ward.”  She sighed and decided to start braiding Sylvie’s blue hair. “How do I know you aren’t here to spy on us?  Making sure she and I are keeping our word to do the tasks Alan asked for.”

Unready for an interrogation, Amber noticed the red ring forming in Casey’s eyes.

-Shit.  She is preparing for a fight. What to do?-

Amber quickly scanned the room and made note of the wooden coffee table. 

-Can I make a stake before she reaches me? Doubtful, I just have to show her I am no spy.-

Amber pushed the thought aside and focused on trying to diplomatically get herself out of the situation. “Honestly?  I came to pack some things, tell the mistress what happened and leave for Alan’s condo in a few hours.”

“You skipped over why he did it.”  Casey shook her head, “I’m used to not getting a direct answer, recall that Vivienne was my mistress and she made it a habit to not explain anything.

“Well, that’s easy babycakes.”  Amber laughed and settled back into the plush pillows. “He was talking about all the strange things that have happened, trying to point out diamond eyes and I didn’t see them.”  Amber began humming an old sixties song, ‘Then he kissed me

’ and sang one line of the song. “...All of the stars were shining bright, and he kissed me..”  Amber laughed after the line, “The Crystals.  I heard that song heaps growing up with my mom.”  Amber saw the look of impatience coming from the twin suns of Casey’s eyes. “Fine…”  She cleared her throat, “Diamond eyes, I didn’t see them.  He kissed me so fast I barely knew what was happening.”  Amber rubbed her temples, “I felt the lock over my psyche then the physical abilities started.”

“I remember it well.  Just after Vivienne kissed me, that rush was nothing I had ever dreamed of.  Exciting is the best I can call it.”  Casey relaxed and focused more on Sylvie’s hair. “So did you see the diamond eyes after that?”

“Yus.”  Amber nodded. “I also sensed there was more to the situation as a whole.  I have been recalling the video in my head for a bit now and I do believe that the eyes also had an amorphic mist that was surrounding them.  Here, look at this.”  Amber quickly called up what she’d watched and handed her phone to Casey.

While watching the videos play, Casey meticulously kept braiding Sylvie’s hair.  When the first set of diamond eyes appeared, Casey tilted her head and let out a little hum. “That’s interesting.  You’re right.  There’s something other than the eyes, I can see it outlined in yellow.”  After the other news images played, Casey nodded. “Yep, outlined in yellow.  Some of them had six arms, some had four with wicked-looking claws and the one with the grandmother was actually gripping her throat and speaking for her.”  Casey shivered as the thought passed through her. “Fuck!”  Casey exclaimed. “Now we really need to get the other stuff taken care of, then deal with those blob-things.”  She lightly chuckled, “Now I wish we’d listened to him at the outset.”

Amber shrugged and put her phone back in her pocket. “He’ll be happy you said that.  A few minutes passed and Amber kept watching Casey for any sign of aggression in the vampire’s eyes. Breaking the uncomfortable silence, Amber spoke up. “You made me a tad nervous when I first sat down.  I wasn’t sure if you were going to attack me.”

“I debated it.”  Casey calmly stated and tied the last of Sylvie’s cornrows. “Sylvie is more important to me than a little fight.  Besides, what happens to Sylvie while I am in combat with you?” Casey pointed to the coffee table. “I mean while you could get a stake from that, you’d be hard-pressed to hit me with it.”  She wiggled her index finger. “Sylvie is an open target, she can’t defend herself.”  She winked at the former blood bunny, “You’ve also never lied to us before, so I took the chance.”

“Certainly glad that you did, Casey.”  Amber offered with a light sigh of relief. “I don’t think I had it in me to fight you.”  With a sexy grin on her face Amber perked one thin eyebrow, her eyes pools of liquid green-brown denoting heavy interest. “I see you..and think of a song that we’d have so much fun getting into.”

Casey laughed and caught the mischievous look in Ambers's glowing hazel eyes. “Don’t tell me, let me guess..”

“My Head and Heart, Ava Max.”  The two said at the exact same time, causing an echo in the room.

Amber laughed and ran her hands through her platinum locks. “That was way fuck’n freaky.”  Amber winked and tried in vain to braid her own hair. “Casey..um, perhaps you could…well..”  She shyly pointed to Sylvie’s cornrows. “I-I have always thought cornrows would look good on me.”

“Freaky?  Indeed it was.”  Casey curled her finger at Amber and adjusted herself to hold Sylvie and braid Amber’s hair. “More strange given that when I turned into a vampire, I danced to that song and excised my demons.”

Flush from the moment that Casey placed her thin hands in her hair, Amber reached for the remote control for the music and changed it to play Ava Max.  With the luscious sounds of pop playing, Amber swayed to the music and mimicked the lyrics between talking to the newborn vampire. “You know…I never approached you in the manor because you seemed to be completely into guys.”  Amber tapped on her small chest. “I have been a girl lover since I was fourteen.  Felt right.”

“I experimented.  I didn’t know who or what I wanted until Sylvie saved me at the graveyard.”  Casey felt Sylvie move in her lap, and looked down at her partner. “Yes, Sylvie-beanie-my-baby, I am talking about you…”

---

A cool breeze flowed around Sylvie as she took in her surroundings.  Devoid of any artificial light from mankind, the small grassy plain allowed Sylvie to see stars that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.  She traced Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, then smiled as she traced the heavenly guardian, Orion. 

-Why am I here? I have seen the stars for centuries.-

Sylvie’s question floated on the wind much like a person asking for a desperate wish.  Slowly, the words turned to a crimson mist and outlined a chain of five stars that turned red and were in the shape of a distorted ‘W’.

-Cassiopeia.-

Sylvie closed her eyes and recalled the quick details of the beautiful woman.

-Queen of Aethiopia and wife of King Cepheus. Both arrogant and vain, these characteristics led to her downfall. But why am I seeing this at all?-

Confused, Sylvie looked around for some indication that there was an eclipse to show the truth of the premonition that she was having.  Rather than the comfort of Casey’s sunbeam casting a shadow over her, Sylvie felt an old sensation. 

Cold.  Prickly.  Stinging Ice.

-It can’t be.  It’s been close to one hundred years. Is that truly you, Kigatilik?-