Rising from the Ashes
Chapter 9

Vampire?

Elenora hadn’t been able to stop laughing at the joke since he told her. Vampires simply don’t exist. Not in real life anyways. Elenora used to sneak a peek at some of the books laying around the old house. One described a sparkly sort of vampire. Another TV series -one a bunch of the teens in her old pack was rather fond of- had vampires with the ability to flip a switch on their emotions. Elenora wishes it was so easy to not feel, to not care.

In real life? Never heard a thing. “No seriously.” Elenora frowns “What’s up with the nails? How are you so fast? What are you?”

“A vampire.” Alpha Bardrick tells her once again, in a calmer voice than Elenora could manage. She watches his fingertips turn black once again, and like poison veins it spreads to his claw like nails “The nails hold a type of poison that can kill a weaker werewolf, a stronger one might survive under the right circumstance.” That is awesome. Elenora almost wishes she had poison nails. “Speed factors into what I am.”

Even with poison nails and speed Elenora had witnessed herself, She still can’t find it in her to believe it. If vampires existed, wouldn’t everybody know? Probably. Definitely. Elenora decides to do it. She’ll tell him right now that he’d fit right in at the closest mental institution. The words seem to get stuck in her throat the moment he pulls a blood bag from his minifridge and starts drinking it like he’s been starved and dehydrated for months. The strangest part is you can see the delight written all over Alpha Bardrick’s face. More often than not Elenora has had a hard time telling just what the young Alpha is feeling but it’s madly clear while he drinks the blood. He loves it. More than he loves any other food or drink he might have during the day. He immediately stops, putting it away. It seemed something of a forced stop, almost out of embarrassment rather than him being done and so Elenora manages to force some words out for his sake “Don’t stop on my account.” He seems so surprised, so shocked he slowly pulls it out as if unsure.

Elenora however, can’t stop staring. This is crazy. Insane. What’s more insane is that she’s actually starting to believe it! “Thank you.” He manages after he finishes. Elenora can only stare at the drop that had landed on his chin before silently pointing to her own chin as a way of telling him because all words seemed to have left her. He hurriedly wipes at his face, muttering his apology. Elenora gets a glance of fangs as he does. Holy shit. Vampires exist. They exist and one is sitting right in front of her. Vampires. Elenora is half tempted to ask him if he has a switch in his head or even if he sparkles. Instead, she tries asking something more reasonable. “So what can you do that’s different from your werewolf gene?”

“I’m faster, a lot faster. I can fly.” He tells me before shaking his head “But not thousands of feet high like you might think. It’s more similar to running so fast I lift off the ground.” Elenora nods and bites her tongue so she doesn’t demand he take her flying. It would be amazing. A taste of freedom she imagines and if there’s one thing Elenora craves, it’s freedom. If there’s one thing she knows, freedom doesn’t exist. “My nails.” Alpha Bardrick mutters “My eyes flash when my vampiric side is pushing forward.” As if to prove his point, his eyes flash a dark red. “I’m stronger than most werewolves, more durable.” He doesn’t dive any further into the what I am and what I can do explanation. That’s okay. He doesn’t need to because Elenora doesn’t think she wants to know much else. Not really. It’s not every day you find out about an entirely different species you didn’t know existed outside of books and it’s definitely not every day you find out that one of them is your mate.

“I think I’m going to go.” Elenora tells him and stands, stopping half way to the door she doesn’t dare look at him. “Thank you for your honesty.” Elenora tells him before continuing. She stops once again as she realizes something. The problem is she can’t just leave. Elenora is a rogue in a pack that hates rogues and it’s not like she walked right through the border. None of the pack knows she is here. Alpha Bardrick hadn’t brought her here by ordinary means. She can’t just leave. Not without getting dragged to the cells by her hair at least. “The pack doesn’t know I’m here do they?” Elenora asks to be sure. His frown is deep before his eyes widen in realization. Elenora sighs, a small reluctant sigh before asking something she knows she’ll regret if only because she doesn’t exactly want to be near him. “Care to escort me out Alpha Bardrick?” He nods. It’s one firm nod before he stands.

The walk to the border hasn’t been terrible. The first couple of minutes were spent in a mutual silence that Elenora broke herself if only out of curiosity for his nails, curiosity to know what being a vampire means. She wanted to watch the fingertips turn black, and see the things that looked something like black veins running up his fingertips. It’s almost hypnotizing. So hypnotizing that Elenora grabs his hand. She takes one look at his fingernails and does something incredibly stupid. She touches them, the tip, what Alpha Bardrick would call a weapon.

It happens so fast, Elenora hardly gets a glimpse of the poison moving through his fingernail and into her system. The affect of the poison. Slight dizziness that only lasts moments. Enough for the Alpha to grab her “Are you insane!” He growls, his eyes red “Or just stupid? I told you what would happen! I told you they were poison to werewolves.” Alpha Bardrick shouts and he sounds pissed as he does. Elenora nods. She does remember and that’s why she thought it was a bit stupid herself. The affects of the poison don’t last, not really. “Are you okay?” He asks

“I was just dizzy for a moment. It’s definitely not as poisonous as you made it sound.” Alpha Bardrick shakes his head, eyes narrowed.

“I’ve seen powerful people killed moments after I scratched them. That’s it! A scratch is all it takes. They’re poisonous. It just doesn’t affect you as it does most. Still, you didn’t know that and you could have been killed!” He growls once again. Elenora rolls her eyes. Just why is he acting as if he cares? He doesn’t. Not really. The only thing that connects them is a mate bond and though she has alluded herself in the past to think otherwise, there is no happy ending. Not for her. Not with Alpha Bardrick. A mate bond doesn’t mean that much. Not to her.

A tiny voice in Elenora’s head seems to remind her that once, not so long ago, she had dreamed of finding a mate and settling down.

“I’m alive Alpha Bardrick. Alive, and perfectly alright so lets continue.” With that, Elenora grabs his arm and pulls him through his pack, only stopping when he pulls her to a street and turns her to face a stretch of buildings.

“I’d feel a lot better if somebody checked to make sure you were alright. Sometimes it takes a good moment for the poison to really affect you.” With that he starts tugging her towards the stretch of buildings in his pack rather than where she wants to go which is out of his pack to think and tell Mia everything about just how terrible her day has been. Elenora already knows where she’s going to start. It will sound a bit like this.

Alpha Bardrick is the most infuriating bastard there is.

“This doesn’t look like a place to check if I’m going to die.” It’s the first thing Elenora can think to say. It’s a small little shop actually. It’s filled with old things. Old books. Old scripts. Old instruments. There’s a collection of bottles filled with unknown substances. It looks like an antique place that sells drugs on the side. An older man stumbles from the backroom, gripping what looks to be herbs and some type of clear liquid. I would guess he heard the bell and wanted to see what customers he has in the otherwise dead place.

He only pauses when he catches my scent and to my utmost surprise, instead of demanding I go to hell he grins and then he laughs “Nakoa? With a rogue? I must be dead or in heaven! So you finally got your head out of your ass long enough to realize you’re wrong?” Based on the way the older man said this, I’d guess he and Alpha Bardrick have disagreed on quite a few things and all of those things have to do with his treatment towards rogues.

“I like him.” I can’t help but mention

“I’m sure you do.” Alpha Bardrick grumbles but it goes ignored as I step forward, holding out my hand with a kind smile Mia insist is appropriate when introducing yourself to people. Not that this smile comes hard.

“I’m Elenora and to be fair on Alpha Bardrick, not only does he hate rogues with a burning passion, I’m not particularly fond of Alpha’s either.” The older man waves his hand in the air as if to say he still couldn’t care less.

“Yes, but would you see them all dead my dear?” The man asks me. I tilt my head. Thinking of Alpha Scott before shaking my head. Not all of them but definitely a good amount of Alpha’s across the world.

“A good bit of them definitely” And to truly grasp his reaction as to how far some of Elenora’s hatred goes, she adds one last thing “Starting with the King.” Alpha Bardrick sounds a little bit like he’s choking on whatever drink he had found in the shop behind her and the elder mans tan complexion pales a good bit in response to her words.

Elenora had suspected a good bit of things to come from that but a firm lecture was certainly not one of them. To be fair, the man had first sat her down and then he started to go on about what she had to say. Starting with, the King has made mistakes but none of them are cause enough for death! Elenora would argue that having laws that leave rogues vastly unprotected against any sort of justice makes Elenora’s hatred for the King more than reasonable. In fact, the packs wouldn’t hate rogues nearly as much if the King would stop encouraging that hatred instead of searching for solutions. Elenora found it no coincidence that every time the King would speak about rogues, the packs would become that much more insistent to hunt Mia and herself along with several other rogues. “He’s your King!” The older man shouts when he realizes Elenora’s opinion will stay the same no matter how much he speaks of the Kings success.

“He’s not my King!” Elenora finally snaps to the elder man “He turned away from rogues long ago when he took away our ability to speak for ourselves, our ability to fight for our lives without ending up in a cell! His father was my King.” Elenora slams her fist on the table “But him? He can die and I wouldn’t shed a tear.” With that, she stands and sighs. It his not this man Elenora hates. Not at all. In fact he is far kinder than most she has met but when speaking of the King’s good deeds to her...well Elenora refuses to hear them. Those good deeds are to the people of packs. Rogues are exempt from all of them. Elenora has been treated just the same as the King treats any enemy of his because that is how he sees her. Rogues are his enemy. They are not his people. He had made that clear on multiple different occasions

“I’m sorry. I’m sure you guys didn’t come here to speak politics.” The elder man stands and he seems he flushes “I haven’t even introduced myself! Fergus is my name.” Fergus. I suspect that though Fergus and I disagree on many things political, we’ll get along just fine if we ever meet again. “You must be the woman Alpha Bardrick was speaking of.” Fergus smiles, a small nervous smile “If you still want the job after our discussion, it’s yours. It’d be most interesting to have you around here.” The man grins, his eyes brightening up as if not noticing Elenora’s growing anger.

Elenora looks at the place, thoroughly before turning to face Alpha Bardrick who had been wildly shaking his head, eyes wide “Job?” she manages through gritted teeth. Fergus either doesn’t notice her anger or thinks its him and so he grabs her hand and pulls her through the shop to show her around. “Alpha Bardrick didn’t tell me this was an interview.” Elenora tells the man honestly “He only pulled me in here because his nails punctured me when I was messing with them but clearly I am fine-”

“Nonsense!” Fergus tells Elenora before groaning “And I keep telling the boy to be careful. This is the third time this year and the last boy almost died!” Now would be a good time to mention that it wasn’t really Alpha Bardrick’s fault but her own. Only, Elenora doesn’t get enough time. Fergus pulls her deeper and deeper into the surprisingly big shop. He rushes down many steps, pulling Elenora along. He only stops when he turns into a lighter room. It’s filled to the brim with all sorts of herbs and products she doesn’t know the name of. Except of course, one of them.

“Is that wolfbane?”

“Yes my dear. Otherwise known as Aconite. Though it’s use is quite popular among werewolves, it can be used for far more.” He explains. As far as Elenora knows, it’s used for torture so why the hell is Fergus the kind older man holding it in his basement acting as if it can help people? “Drink this.” He shoves a clear bottle with something purple inside of it “Better safe than sorry. It’ll fight the poison in your system, if there’s any left that is. You seem fine to me.” Fergus grins “A bit uptight but that seems to be a natural thing for you.” Elenora decides it best to ignore that last comment of his and with great reluctance she opens the cap and swallows the bottled contents before growling at the older man.

“What in it? It’s horrible!” She manages, accepting the bottle of water he hands her with greedy hands before gulping it all down. Nope, the taste is still there, stronger than ever.

“Do you really want to know?” The man questions. Elenora is quick to shake her head. She probably doesn’t so she turns to look around instead “This is the place you’d be working in. Cadence would be teaching you how to make everything in here. Alpha Bardrick said you had past experience in the medical field.” Elenora frowns. That’s not really all that true and if she had a guess, it was Alpha Scott who told him that.

“My only history is mending my own wounds and the wounds of the prisoners my old Alpha kept in his cells.” Prisoners such as children and anybody who dared to defend their families against Vermont’s cruelty.

“It’s a start.” Fergus tells me “You’ll learn quickly, I know it! It’ll be a lot of long days and even when you’re not at work you’d have to study the ingredients in the remedies you’d be making.” It’s sounds a little bit like an old dream Elenora had. The dream she might have worked to achieve after escaping Vermont. A dream that disappeared the moment her bones started breaking and rearranging themselves. It disappeared the day she shifted. Her dream was to help people but there was a slim chance of helping much of anybody as a rogue.

“I can’t do it. I’m sorry.” Elenora sighs, finding the closest stool. She looks around and appreciates the sight of the place more and more the longer she does “I’d be working in the Bloodmoon pack! Can you imagine? A rogue working on remedies in a rogue hating pack?”

“I can!” And to Elenora’s utmost surprise Fergus barks out a laughter. Maybe he’s insane. He could be “Imagine it, Elenora! The people in this pack claim rogues are good for nothing evil sons of bitches but I want to see them swallow your remedies. I want to see you fix their broken bones, tend to their wounds. I want to watch them swallow their pride and admit that it is none other than a rogue saving their life.” He smiles an excited smile. He is insane. This hatred between rogues and packs won’t end. It’s only ever gotten worse as the years go on. Yet, Elenora finds herself wanting the same thing. She wants to watch this pack choke on their words, their hatred and so she tells the man the same thing she had told Alpha Bardrick when he first brought up this job.

“I’ll think about it.” And she tells the man one last thing “It’d have to be after I visit my old pack. It was nice meeting you Fergus.” Elenora holds out her hand to shake. Fergus is quick to shake Elenora’s hand. It’s a firm shake before he pulls her out of the room and shows her to the other side of his dealings here in the shop. He shows her where he keeps different antiques. From furniture to tools and weaponry, Fergus seems to have it all. Mostly, the shop focuses on different remedies.

By time we make it back to Alpha Bardrick, he had went and bought some food. He hands her what looks to be a burger. Elenora can’t remember the last time she had a burger. A long time for sure. Long enough to forget what it taste like. “Do you not like burgers?” Alpha Bardrick asks when he sees the way Elenora stares at it

“I love burgers. Why didn’t you get me one?” Fergus asks. Elenora can help the bit of laughter that leaves her.

“Maybe he has favorites Fergus. Just how many times have you lectured him over the years because he just picked a rogue over you.” Elenora teases. Fergus narrows his eyes.

“If I had a guess, I’d say there’s a special bond nobody mentioned involved.” The smile Elenora had kept throughout a good half of her visit with Fergus drops quickly and she clears her throat awkwardly “I’m no fool. My boy has been set in stone with his views for years. It’d take something exceptional for him to sway, someone exceptional.” Fergus tells her “I’m happy for the two of you nonetheless!” Elenora is quick to shake her head and she’s certain Alpha Bardrick is joining her in the shaking.

“We both agreed that any bond between the two of us would not work under the circumstances.” Elenora tells him but Fergus’s attention is fully on Alpha Bardrick who stands directly out of her sight. Fergus merely rolls his eyes and snatches her burger right from her hands. “Give it back! That’s the first burger I’ve had in years.” Elenora growls but Fergus is already shoving it in his mouth. Still, Elenora remains determined. She’s not passed jumping an old man for food. Alpha Bardrick is quick to grab her around the waist and pull her back “That’s mine!” And she watches Fergus swallow the last bit before burping.

“It was yours and it was rather tasty. I suppose if you really want it back you can wait around for it to come out again.” Elenora narrows her eyes. The filthy old bat stole her burger! Right from her fingers. Maybe he hadn’t been around long enough to know that you don’t steal food from a rogue, at least not the good stuff that said rogue hasn’t had for years. It’s just wrong!

“See you later Fergus. I’ve got to get her home and it’s a long walk to Alpha Scott’s.”

“You’re walking? Just take my car you fool!” Fergus digs out his keys from beneath a mess of papers. In a way, a very strange way, Fergus reminds her of Elder Thomas. Well, a happier more cheerful version of Elder Thomas. If the two were to meet, Elenora could see Fergus greatly annoying Elder Thomas and she can imagine Fergus not caring one bit that he’s annoying somebody.

Elenora decides the two should meet, in fact, she’ll even introduce them. It’ll be a good time. For her. Maybe for Fergus. Definitely not for Elder Thomas.

By time Alpha Bardrick pulls Elenora out of the small shop and to the passenger seat of Fergus’s old car, she had calmed a considerable amount. “I apologize.” Elenora mutters, adjusting her jacket “I’ve not a clue as to what had gotten into me.” Alpha Bardrick chuckles, pulling another burger from his jacket and handing it to Elenora.

“I’ve known Fergus for years.” Is his only explanation. After a moment of thinking on it, Elenora decides it’s a fairly decent one.

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