Banished

Aurelius had become a member of the prestigious Order of Lamia, for female vampires, from birth. So very few vampire were born, most gaining that honour later in life. But Aurelius was one of the few, the first vampire birth in many hundreds of years. Her sire and dame were Cassius and Constantine, two of the oldest and most well respected vampires in Albion (Britain). She was held to impossibly high expectations as soon as she opened her eyes for the very first time and her dame recognised in her the mark of Lamia, green eyes that darkened and lightened, tracking her moods and hungers. Her eyes varied from light, almost luminous chartreuse, to a green so dark it was reminiscent of forest shadows. Her eyes darkened now as she recalled the events of the night that had changed the course of her life forever.

It had started out the same as many thousands of nights before it, she had gone out in search of a human carrier to feed on. It was fairly easy to find a blood carrier, slumped on the pavement, alone, but as Aurelius approached she noticed a tiny baby nestled in the arms of the human. Aurelius was overcome with compassion. She was fairly young in vampiric terms and had never taken a child before. She moved on, away from the uncomfortable emotion in search of a different carrier. Unbeknownst to her, the interaction had been observed and before the night was out she was up in front of the Order, for her trial. Compassion was the very opposite of the Orders values and it mattered not what she said, she was sentenced to complete banishment from the vampiric world, stripped of power, her fangs removed and fated to live her life as a human woman. She didn't expect and hadn't received any help from her sire and had had no contact with her dame since she had been weaned from her blood. (Constantine's job was done and as was custom, it had fallen to Aurelius' sire, Cassius, to teach her the ways of the vampire.) Cassius' eyes held hers as she was sentenced, his face blank of any emotion.

Aurelius felt scared, more scared than she could ever remember being. She looked around at her new home which did absolutely nothing to ease her mind. It was so different to the stark beauty she was used to, so dingy and small compared to the vast, cold spaces of her former home. Aurelius was in shock at the contrasts. This place she had been dumped in, by Cassius, armed with nothing but this one room and a scroll, that he had placed on the table.  She had been left with no way to contact anyone she knew. She was sat in the same place as when Cassius had left, an hour ago. The stained curtain was closed against the sunlight, the bare bulb hanging unlit from the ceiling and a smelly mattress pushed against the wall in a corner of the room. She was sat on a hard, wooden chair, leaning her elbows on the table. She stared hard through an open door to a white porcelain bowl which was in what she could only describe as a cupboard. Was this where she was to get sustenance? She was reluctant to go any closer, as the smell from the bowl made her queasy. Aurelius laid her head down on the table, overwhelmed with everything she was going to have to do and learn. Her eyes leaked, "I'm probably falling apart," she thought to herself but she no longer cared if she had broken this new body. She didn't know how to survive anyway.

She stood up at last and as she moved past a tiny cracked mirror on the wall she startled at the flicker of her own reflection. She cautiously moved closer and cringed at the pink and red blotchy face, her perfect, pale skin was gone, her eyes and nose were oozing something wet. She shook her head, confusion growing at every new discovery. Who would have thought that the blood carriers would lead such a complicated life?

Aurelius moved across to the window, she took hold of the curtain firmly, ready to pull it aside, she hesitated not entirely sure that she could now withstand the sunlight. The curtain went loose in her hand. She looked up to see what had happened and was smacked in the face by a curtain pole. Everything went black.

Aurelius woke with her head hurting and the room spinning. The curtain and pole tangled around her and weak sunlight playing down on her through the grimy window. She pulled herself up on the window ledge and attempted to extricate herself from the curtain, she tripped and went down again, hitting the floor hard. She rolled over and led there staring at the stained ceiling the bare bulb swinging. How does one get hand and footprints on the ceiling, she wondered? She half crawled, half dragged herself over to the mattress in the corner of the room, the curtain pole still trailing behind her. Even in her groggy state she was reluctant to touch the nasty looking mattress where it seemed bugs were having some kind of party, scuttling to-and-fro. She reached over for the scratchy, grey blanket that was folded by the side of the bed, tucked it under her head and with the curtain still tangled around her feet, she slept.

It had now been 24 hours since Aurelius had arrived here. She had woken confused and with a pain in her neck to go with the one in her head. She had braved the porcelain bowl and drank her first ever liquid as a human, She was not impressed. Then it occurred to her that she hadn't read the scroll that Cassius had left. Aurelius sat at the table and unrolled the scroll;

Handy hints on survival in the human world

1 Eating - humans can eat most plants or animals

but they need to be 'cooked'. Cooking means putting the food near a heat source and then waiting.

2 Purchasing food - Humans require food often and without it will lose energy. The money from your work (see 4) can be given to others, who will then give you food

3 Sleeping - You will get tired and will need to 'sleep', this means lying prone and not moving, for somewhere between 20 minutes to 12, or more, hours. Humans will sleep for approximately half of their lives.

4. Evacuation - As a human the things that go in the top end of you will come out of the bottom. Evacuation is best done in a toilet, usually a white porcelain bowl, or any other place you cannot be seen, and is achieved by sitting and letting the unwanted food fall into the bowl from your bottom end. (oh how she wished she had read the scroll first thing)

5. Showering - as a human you will need to clean yourself, this is called showering, it consists of sprinkling water onto yourself then wiping the water off. Do it often.

6. Find a job - Humans spend the majority of their time either working or sleeping. This is how they get coins called 'money' or 'pounds' which you will need for giving to people. (See 1) 

Remember: 

You are no longer sensitive to light and can go out day or night in safety.

You also do not need to avoid crosses, garlic, guns, silver bullets, wooden stakes, heart surgeons, werewolves or vicars as these can no longer harm you.

Aurelius decided the only way to get this thing right was to observe others and to do that, she would have to leave this room.

She stood, adjusted her black cloak, making sure her collar stood upright and proud around her neck, and opened the door. She was met by an overwhelming acrid smell that put her in mind of the porcelain bowl, making her feel queasy all over again. She stood up straight, "I am the product of Cassius and Constantine", she repeated to herself. She strode down the dingy, brown corridor, leaving her door swinging behind her. She repeated her mantra as she walked. A man came out of one of the doors in the corridor and looked at her strangely. He retreated quickly back into his room and closed the door with a sharp click.

Aurelius left the building and stopped short on the pavement. She had seen cars, taxis, bikes and buses before on her nighttime hunting trips, but never the sheer volume she could see now making the overwhelming mix of noises all around her. She observed a male in front of her holding his hand in the air, shouting,

"TAXI!" A big black car pulled over and the the man leant down and said to the driver,

"Piccadilly please." The driver nodded, the man got in the taxi and they drove off.

Aurelius nodded in satisfaction, she had learned something useful. She raised her own hand and shouted,

"TAXI" and was surprised and elated when one pulled over. As she got in she said,

"I would be most gratified if you could take me to a place of sustenance my good fellow." The driver looked at her strangely, 

"I beg your pardon Madam?" he said, puzzled.

"I wish to travel to somewhere where I can replenish my energies." she replied.

"Cafe alright?" he grunted nervously.

"Sounds most satisfactory my dear man". The driver started off and they soon came to a stop outside a place where people were eating. Aurelius exited the vehicle, shut the door with a slam and a, 'thank you kind fellow,' and began to walk away.

"OY! A voice bellowed out behind her, "where's me four quid!"

Aurelius looked around frantically, the drivers face was turning frighteningly red. She started to run, the taxi driver lumbering after her, yelling. Aurelius may have lost her vampiric powers but she was still light on her feet and knew how to disappear into the shadows. She faded into a dark alley as the driver stomped past. Slipping off her shoes in case she had to run again, she bent down with her hands on her knees, breadth coming fast and heart beating wildly. Having never been out of breath before she thought she might be dying again but as she waited quietly for the all clear, the feeling gradually receded. What were quid? She wondered.

Aurelius peeped out of the ally. She was dearly missing her ability to be able to sense human forms but was glad to see the commotion had passed. With shoes in hand, she turned right and was happy to see another sign indicating a cafe. Smells were emanating from it that made her mouth water in a way reminiscent of the blood craving but on a much milder scale. She entered the cafe and noted the exchange of gold and silver coins for some of the food things. Ah, Aurelius remembered, she had to get coins to get some food. She observed a person carrying food to the tables and another woman yelled at her

"Diane, get and clear those tables, what do you think I pay you for!"

"Aha!" Thought Aurelius, "A job, perfect timing!"

She approached one of the tables the shouting woman had seemed so irate about, she placed her shoes down beside her and with one sweep of her arm, the table was clear, she looked satisfied and moved on to the next, clearing that one just as quickly and efficiently. It was only then that she noticed the chatter in the room had stopped. The only noise was coming from a salt shaker making its break for freedom, rolling towards the door.

She looked up and saw the shouty woman coming towards her at a speed that defied her shape, Her red face reminded Aurelius of the man earlier in the taxi car.

"OY, what do you thing you are doing!" She screamed pointing a shaking finger to the newly cleared tables.

Aurelius, now somewhat more used to this way of talking, addressed her,

"Hello my good friend, I would be most grateful if I could now have my coins." 

She waited while the woman stood speechless before her.

"You want ... me to give YOU money for ... " the woman tailed off spluttering in disbelief.

"Would you like me to clear more tables? Aurelius asked, confused

"OH MY GOD, NO!" the woman screamed coming towards Aurelius. The pen in her hand raised to strike into her heart combined with the holy words spoken, struck fear into Aurelius. She exited the cafe with all the speed and grace of her former self. She started to run, still shoeless, towards her room, it was the only place she knew to be able to run towards. She ran so fast she was leaving her breath behind and had to stop every few minutes to let it catch up.

She came to her door, exhausted and panting . She screwed up her face at the acrid smell that she now knew was toilet. She shuddered at the memory of her first drink. The smell seemed stronger now though and mixed with other similarly unpleasant odours. Pushing the door aside, Aurelius stepped forward. She felt wet seeping up through her socks. She was stood in a puddle of evacuation fluid. She glanced across to the bed, surprised to see it occupied. The only part of the human she could see was a great shaggy mane of grey tangled hair sprouting out from beneath the lumpy grey blanket. Another three human shaped lumps lay across different parts of the floor. Looking like bags of dirty clothes piled up and smelling a thousand times worse. Aurelius gingerly stuck out the toe of her soggy foot, about to poke one of them awake and request they leave forthwith when a great hulking man crashed from the toilet cupboard screaming and gesturing at her.

"Get out, get out," he bawled. "Leave us alone, get out, GET OUT!" Aurelius had had just about enough of this, did every human charge around screaming until their faces went red? Without her supernatural powers she could not fight five men, no matter how smelly.

So again, she ran.

Aurelius sat on the side of the road, shivering. There was nothing left for her now. Abandoned by her community, and rejected from the human world. No job, no money and no place to stay. She sat there in despair watching the light fade from the day. She thought maybe she ought to move but there was nowhere better to go than the cold, damp pavement. Soon the moon came up, it was a full moon but Aurelius got no comfort from it like she used to do in her vampire days. There was no longer safety in the arms of the dark night. Head down, she didn't notice the silent figure approaching her from behind. She felt the lightest touch on her neck and startled in fear, but was prevented from turning by a vice like grip on her arms. She felt sharp pain in her neck and then all went black...

...she woke and felt herself rising, being pulled up by the hand, energy coursing through her like a warm wave, from her head to her toes. Followed by a chilling sweep of ice through her veins. She felt her eyes grow sharper, able to make out clearly the shapes in the darkness. She could smell blood, her senses telling her which direction it was coming from and how far away it was. She winced at a sharp pain in her mouth, her touch confirming the canines that had been removed were back, long, strong and razor sharp. Every sense was honed, she felt confident, magnificent, unstoppable. And more alive than when she actually had been. 

She looked down at her now bloodless white hand clutching the vampire's and then up at his face.

"Welcome home", Cassius whispered.