//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Blood // by Terrasora //------------------------------// Vinyl sat outside, the trees of the Everfree Forest towering above her. It was daytime; almost noon if her internal clock could still be trusted, but the leaves were dense here and filtered out most of the sunlight. As far as she was concerned, only two times existed this deep into the Everfree: evening and night. A sharp clap rang out, drawing Vinyl’s attention away from the leaves and back to Lyra. “As I was saying,” Lyra said with a glare. “There are approximately twelve pints of blood within the average body. Losing five to six pints puts a human in critical condition, though that number is severely reduced if shock is taken into account. Which is why you should never drink more than a pint from any human you don’t fully intend to kill.” Vinyl raised her hand. “Yes, Vinyl?” “How am I supposed to know how much blood I’ve drunk?” “Best-case scenario, you won’t have to drink from a person at all.” Lyra grimaced. “But you know how I feel about best-case scenarios. Practice starts tomorrow.” Vinyl nodded. “Anyway,” continued Lyra, “this is the part that matters. Vampires have the same twelve pints of blood as humans, but that’s where the similarity ends. We’re far more dependent on blood than humans are and there are a few rules that you absolutely have to follow. Do you understand me, Vinyl?” “‘Course! Me and rules are totally best friends.” Lyra scowled. “I am being entirely serious, Vinyl Scratch. These are ironclad rules, not guidelines to be bent and broken. If I find out that you intend to break one of these rules, I will be merciful and tear your head from your neck. It will save you hours of torment.” “Glad to know you care.” Lyra sighed, shaking her head slightly. Then she continued, pacing slowly as she spoke. “Vampires have a deep connection with blood. It is, in every possible sense of the phrase, our life source. Forget food and drink as you knew it, that holds no purpose for us. You can eat a king’s banquet for every meal of every day and still die of starvation within five days. “At the absolute minimum, the average vampire requires one pint of blood every two days. You would be malnourished, hardly capable of walking, and about as weak as a human child, but you would be alive.” Lyra paused, turning towards Vinyl. “While you are under my care, I expect you to drink blood as you once drank water.” “I never really drink water,” said Vinyl. “I don’t like the way it tastes.” Lyra sighed again, rubbing at the space between her eyes. “Vinyl Scratch, I would rather not cut your tongue from your mouth, but the thought becomes more attractive by the moment. Are you going to withhold your comments or should I take the easy way out?” Vinyl mimed zipping up her mouth and throwing away the key. “Thank you.” Lyra took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Now, if the first rule can be summed up as ‘You Must Drink Blood,’ then the second is ‘You Must Not Lose Blood.’ Losing half a pint will leave you nauseous, one pint and you won’t be able to stand. Your vision will fade soon after that and, should you continue to bleed, you will lose consciousness and die. Three pints is our absolute limit." “I thought vampires were immortal,” Vinyl blurted out. Lyra shook her head. “We age only as much as we want to, we can heal most any wound if we have enough blood, and there are very few fights we cannot win; we are as close to immortal as a creature of flesh and blood can be, but vampires die all the time. Care to guess the number one cause of death?” Vinyl thought for a moment. “Murder?” Something of a smile tugged at Lyra’s lips. “Well, yes, but that falls under something of an umbrella term. 'Carelessness' is the leading cause of death among vampires. Don’t be careless, Vinyl.” *** Careless, thought Vinyl, her eyes fluttering open. Don’t be careless. She worked her jaw a few times, trying to work some moisture back into her mouth. Her eyes roamed around the small, dark room, resting briefly on the woman sleeping on the floor. A throb of pain ran through Vinyl’s bandaged arms. “Fuck me,” Vinyl muttered. “Where the hell is Lyra?” She paused for a moment, gathering her strength. Then Vinyl pushed herself out of her seat. The room swam, dissolving into multi-colored mist and swirling around Vinyl. The vampire shut her eyes, allowing the storm to wash over her, counting the seconds as the mist spun back into solid shapes. “Six seconds,” Vinyl noted. “Lost about three-fourths of a pint.” She leaned over slightly, eyes quickly inspecting Police Girl. “You’ve got a pretty healthy appetite, don’t ya?” Police Girl didn’t respond. She was a mess, her hair tangled, her skin drained of color from the pain of turning. Specks of Vinyl's blood spotted the area around Police Girl's mouth, standing stark against her pale skin. Vinyl sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Well, hey, that’s fine. Everyone’s gotta drink something. I just wish you weren’t drinking me.” She chuckled nervously. “But no worries. Lyra’ll be back any minute now with gallons of blood. Then I’ll be able to sit down without worrying about dying from blood loss. Which is nice.” Police Girl didn’t respond. “But this is fine to!” Vinyl threw her arms into the air, slowly pacing around Police Girl’s body. “I am totally, completely fine with walking around and talking to somebody who won’t talk back just to make sure that I stay conscious. Yup, this is the best fucking thing to happen to me in my whole goddamn life! Couldn’t be any freaking happier being alone with Police Girl while Lyra’s out in Canterlot with a whole shitload of renegade vampires prowling around!” She ran both hands through her hair, only just resisting the urge to tear handfuls of blue hair out of her scalp. “Everything’s fucking peachy!” Vinyl stopped her ramblings, breathing heavily. Then she laughed, a choppy chuckle that seemed to rattle out of her. “Lyra really wasn’t kidding about the blood loss. Forget about all of that, Police Girl.” Police Girl started screaming, a piercing cry that Vinyl found only too familiar. With hardly a pause, Vinyl reached into her pocket, drawing out a razor blade and tracing a sizeable cut across her arm. She drew closer to Police Girl, placing a hand on the prone woman’s forehead while Vinyl’s other arm rested in the air above Police Girl’s mouth. A few drops of blood fell into place. A few more missed their mark entirely. Police Girl’s spasms began to lessen in intensity, her face still contorted in pain. The outside door slammed open. Vinyl spun towards the sound, eyes wide, razor blade raised defensively. “It’s fine, Vinyl,” said Lyra, striding into the room. She’d lost her shirt at some point in the night, leaving her with only a white undershirt. A red case was slung over her shoulder, marked with white lettering reading Blood Products in Transit. “Lyra!” Vinyl exclaimed in relief. “Where the hell were you?” “There were complications,” Lyra responded, slipping the case over her arm and handing it to Vinyl. “What kind of complications?” Lyra scowled slightly, more out of reflex than any actual anger. “Get some of that blood into Police Girl first.” Vinyl nodded, unzipping the red case and producing a bag of blood. She bit into it, tearing off a corner with her fangs before pressing it into Police Girl’s mouth. Lyra, meanwhile, crossed deeper into her home, reemerging as she buttoned up a new white dress shirt. The movement brought Vinyl’s attention to Lyra’s neck. “You were hurt,” Vinyl noted, pointing towards a jagged, red line beginning at the base of Vinyl’s neck and running out of sight. Lyra shrugged, buttoning up her shirt and covering the blemish. “Complications, as I said.” “It looks like someone almost tore your arm off!” “It wouldn’t be the first time.” Vinyl couldn’t quite decide how to respond to that. However, Police Girl saved her the trouble, draining the bag of blood completely. Lyra let out a sigh. “Go rest, Vinyl. Take a few pints for yourself; I’ll take over caring for our friend.” “I’m fine.” “Just shut up and listen to me.” Vinyl pouted, swooping down on the red case and taking a bag of blood. She stormed over to a chair, sitting heavily before biting into the bag. It took only a moment for her to drain the pint and a few moments more before she had drifted off to sleep. Lyra pulled a blood bag from the red case before taking a seat next to Police Girl. The vampire took a swig of blood, just enough to kick her healing factor into gear. The angry red welt on her neck vanished, leaving completely unblemished skin. Then Lyra turned her attention to Police Girl, gently turning her head and exposing the prone woman’s bite marks. The wounds had scarred over, leaving jagged, star-shaped discolorations in their place. Lyra frowned sadly at the sight, silently cursing the fangs that had dug into Police Girl’s neck. Then she moved on, taking hold of Octavia’s left hand and holding it up. The band was still there, a slight shift in skin tone on her third finger. Lyra kept a careful eye on the band, tipping blood into Police Girl’s mouth and allowing her healing factor to take hold. In a few short moments, every blemish on Police Girl’s body faded away, leaving only the scars on her neck.