In Memoriam

The Fair-haired Otherling

Ami opened the front door to the manor as she saw her brothers approaching, seeing that Evil was carrying a small female slung over his shoulder. "What's going on?" Ami asked. Evil lowered Meringue to the floor and sat her down, removing Raven's coat from her head. Ami sniffed the air, "Why do I smell roses?" she asked. Rickey, in a panic, quickly moved to cover Ami's nose and mouth. "Don't breathe it in! Don't look at her!" he yelled. Ami began slapping him and pushing him away. "Would you stop it!" she yelled, finally getting Rickey away from her. Ami looked down as the meek looking girl on the floor and kneeled down to untied her. Raven's eyes widened with fear. "What are you doing...?" Raven asked. "I'm unbinding this poor creature. You're all brutes." Ami said angrily. She stood and helped Meringue to her feet as well. "I apologize on behalf of my idiot brothers." she said. Evil quirked at the girls, "She's a cemetery fairy, she drains our kind." he said. "Not my kind." Ami said with a smile. "You're exactly what we are." Rickey said, stepping closer. "I'm not a man." she said as she lead Meringue past the brothers into the living area. The brothers stood in silence as they watched the girls leave the main hall. Ami lead Meringue toward a beautiful velvet sofa and helped her sit down. She sat by her and brushed Meringue's hair out of her face. "How long have you been out hunting on your own?" Ami asked. Meringue shrugged, "A few years since my mother left my sisters and I in that cemetery. I've seen your brothers go there, preying on the people who are already sad and alone, taking advantage of them." she said. Ami furrowed her brows and nodded. "But, that's what our kind do, we have to feed off the living bodies of humans. We can't live off half dead beings like you can." Ami said gently, so as not to upset her. Meringue lowered her face, a sad expression beginning to form. Ami placed her hands gently on Meringue's cheeks and lifted her head. "Don't worry, if you stay here with us, I'll make sure you're fed. That way you're safe and Raven won't keep being hunted." Ami said. Meringue lightly shook her head, "If you mean the one with long dark hair, he hates me." she said. The women turned as they heard footsteps approaching behind them. Ami lowered her hands and placed them on her lap as Raven walked up to them. He saw the sadness still shadowed over Meringue's face and lowered to one knee in front of her. "My sister is right, you'll be safer here." he said, looking into her eyes. She looked into his silver eyes, this time not shimmer crossed over them, and she looked down. "And, I'll be safer, too." he added with a kind smile. Ami smiled in relief, "You see, it's a win-win for everyone." she said. "Not for me!" Rickey yelled from the other room. "Ignore him, please." Raven said. "We all do." Ami added. Raven stood and offered his hand out to Meringue. She looked up at him with a worried look on her face. "No tricks this time, I promise." he said. She reached out and took his hand as she stood up. He began to lead her out of the room. "The right side gardens! They lean more toward the sunlight and look beautiful at night!" Ami yelled to them as they left the room. She clasped her hands together joyfully. "We have a fairy in the house, I can't believe it." she squeaked to herself. "Yaaayyy now we're all going to die, I can't believe it." Rickey said mockingly, as he walked by the living area. Ami's face fell and she glared at Rickey as he continued walking by her and toward the stairs to his room.

Raven and Meringue walked through the garden, the moon higher and brighter now, shining down on them as they walked together. Raven held out his arm, offering it to her as they walked. She linked her arm with his and looked up at him. "So, your name is Raven? Isn't that a little strange for a vampire?" she said teasingly. "So, your name is Meringue? Isn't that a bit silly for a fairy?" he asked, teasing her back. She smiled and looked down, then looked forward to see all of the magnificent flowers in shades of blood red and deep purple. "You can call me Meri." she said. "Meri it is, then." he said. They continued walking slowly together through the garden. "I've never heard of your kind before." he said, after moments of silence between them. "Your kind usually don't survive my kind." she said, glancing up at him. She watched his sharp features continue to remain gracefully emotionless, though she could see a touch of sadness in his pale cat-like eyes. He glanced down at her as they continued to walk. "Were you really going to kill me?" he asked. "Were you going to kill me?" she asked in return. Raven shook his head, somewhat confused. "I don't know. I wanted to be close to you, that's all I remember. And, there was a scent that seemed to be coming from your skin and hair." he said. Meri looked down again, listening to him speak. "From the taste. Like blood from a rose, sickly sweet but addictive." he said. Her eyes widened slightly at the realization that he had bitten her at some point. She stopped walking suddenly, causing him to stop and turn to look at her. She looked up at him, fear in her eyes. "You drank my blood?" she whispered. He nodded, letting her arm drop to her side. "Just as you drank from me." he said, moving closer to her face, as he continued speaking softly, "No one has ever done that before.". She looked up at him as he stood a mere inch away from her, looking down at her. Her eyes dilated heavily, shining like pure absinthe in the moonlit garden. He felt the heavy inebriation wash over him again and moved closer to her face. "This must be what you do when you're hungry." he said somewhat drowsily. She reached up to wrap her arms around him, brushing her cheek along his, as she moved her mouth closer to his neck. Meri's face seemed to distort, as her mouth opened, revealing shark-like sets of razor sharp teeth. His senses were too dull to bother trying to look, as he gave in quickly to her charm over him. Suddenly, a light flashed in their direction and Meri backed away from Raven. He shook his head, clearing away the dreamy feeling and looked to where the light was shining from. "Don't you think you've had enough of him tonight...Meri?" Rickey asked, pointing a flashlight in their direction. Raven felt shame rise in him. He turned to Meri, bowing slightly. "Forgive me, it's late. It will be dawn soon and I must go." he said, then began walking toward Rickey. Rickey turned the flashlight off and Meri could see the anger burning in his visible eye, his natural honey gold colored eye lit up like a furnace, glowing in the dark. The glow began to dim as he sneered and turned away from her to walk toward the house. Meri turned to look around the garden once more before going back inside, she walked by a bed of blue calla lilies and touched them gingerly. "I wonder who planted these..." she said to herself.

"Don't be jealous." Meri called to Rickey as they walked through the lobby of the house. Rickey had been walking quickly away from her and toward his room, stopping when he heard her. He kept his back turned to her and Meri could see how tense his body had become. She looked down to see his hands in fists and slightly shaking. He turned his head slightly to look back at her. "If anything happens to him, I'll kill you." he said in a low voice. "You can't kill me, Richard." Rickey turned and walked quickly toward her. "First of all, you little fucking gnat, it's Ricardo. And, you will call me Rickey, not any other name. Understood?" he asked her angrily. Meri let out a slight giggle and covered her mouth. Rickey's angry expression fell to one of confusion. "Ricardo, huh? That's cute." she said. Rickey stepped back a bit in disgust. "Don't fucking giggle and say that word at me." he said, pulling his arm up toward himself, as if to shield himself from her. He looked over her in a panic, disturbed by this sudden happiness she was expressing in his presence. Meri stopped giggling and slowly lowered her hand, a wide disturbing shark grin spread across her face unnaturally. Rickey stepped back a bit more, composing himself while staring at her distorted features. Meri looked at him, her green eyes sparkling brightly. The sudden scent of lilies filled the air and Rickey looked around. "Is that better?" Meri asked. "What the hell is going on?" Rickey asked. He looked around to see that no one else was in the house and all the door were closed. The air began to feel heavy to him. "I just had to catch you off guard." Meri said. Rickey began to feel dizzy and fell back onto the stairs. Meri continued to speak, as the room began to spin for him and he laid back on the stairs, watching her. "You were right. I have had enough of your brother. But, you? You keep getting in my way. I've enjoyed learning a bit about you. I might not have been able to learn it through your blood, but those lovely lilies outside...I didn't expect that garden to be yours." she said, moving closer to him. He tried to stand but she placed her foot on his chest, keeping him pinned against the stairs. She was much stronger than he expected. "You may not know my kind, but I know yours. You're so easy..." she said. "I'm not so easy." he said, as he stabbed her ankle with a knife from his pocket, causing her to lift her foot off of his chest and fall back onto the floor. He stood up and towered over her as she laid on the floor. She looked up at him, seeing the rage in his face. "Time for you to go, fairy fuck. Leave or die." he said. A sudden loud clapping drew their attention. They looked over and saw Ami standing with Raven near the lounge. "That's quite enough." Ami said. "Yeah...it is." Rickey said, as he looked down at Meri and glanced back to Ami, before turning to walk upstairs to his room.