Reddie Oneshots (Part 2)

fem reddie vampire richie

called et vitam aeternamon ao3 by Anonymous

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There was a person outside the church.

It wasn't fair that Sister Edith only had time to tidy the chapel after most of the nuns had gone to sleep. Most of the time she didn't mind. It was one of the few times she was unchaperoned, not with the other novices or under strict supervision from the Mother Superior.

But now it meant she was alone.

She had lit a few candles by which to see while she worked and the shadow outside the window had made her jolt in surprise. Looking closely, she could see a figure through the bottom of the stained glass, even in the darkness of the night.

The warnings from her mother blared through her head, but the stranger was outside on a bitterly cold night.

The door creaked as she opened it.

The stranger was a woman, skinny and very tall. Her hair was dark and loose, wild curls circling her face. Her skin was impossibly pale, almost glowing in the light of Edith's lantern and her own lit cigarette.

Unbidden, she wrinkled her nose. What an unpleasant vice.

Then the woman grinned, a close-lipped thing, and the nun couldn't help her blush. She was beautiful, but in a way that made her defenses automatically go up. Edith had been taught not to trust beautiful things, and something about this woman seemed especially dangerous. Her eyes were bright and alert, like a predator stalking its prey.

"Evening, sister." The woman said. "Late night?"

"The chapel is closed." Edith said, her own voice quiet, but steady. "If you need assistance, I can wake the Abbess. We should still have some food."

"No need to wake Mother Superior. I'm afraid your food wouldn't do me any good." The woman drew in another drag and breathed it out, thankfully away from Edith. "What's your name, sister?"

"Edith." She said hesitantly. She still wanted to get one of the older nuns; she was barely far enough along in her novitiate to wear the habit. She likely wasn't qualified to help this woman get what she needed from the Church and the last few years had drilled into her even harder than her mother had that she was to be submissive to authority.

"Mmm." The woman smiled again. There was something strange about her teeth; her canines looked sharper than normal and even with her mouth closed, the sharp points rested on her red lower lip. "Richie. There, you needn't look so spooked. We're no longer strangers. Stop looking as if you're going to bolt."

"None of us are strangers in Christ." Edith said, instead of what she wanted to do, which was indeed to duck back into the safety of the chapel and firmly close the door behind her.

"And he guards us against evil." Richie quoted back.

Edith nodded on reflex. She was protected-- to worry otherwise was blasphemous. "How can I help you, Richie?"

"I need somewhere to stay for the night." Richie said, her gaze not leaving Edith's.

She was a woman, there may have been room for her in the nunnery. The words you can sleep here were just on the tip of Edith's tongue. Unbidden, an image rose in her mind of this woman in Edith's bed, leaning against her pillow with the same self-satisfied smile and Edith mentally shook her head.

"The inn is about ten minutes down the hill," she said instead, "the same way you came. The innkeeper is a good man, you can tell him the nuns sent you."

Richie's eyes flicked up above her head, into the dimly lit chapel. Something about the set of her mouth still seemed amused, and Edith realized she was staring at her lips, at her oddly sharp teeth. She quickly looked down.