Vampire Residence

XXXVII

Orléans, 1804.

Avery had essentially accepted his fate when Daci turned him.

He was initially terrified of what was happening to his body and mind, but as the days after his transformation wore on he started to accept it. And now, as he lay down to rest for the day, he found that he almost welcomed it. The change was starting to feel natural and almost soothing, like a warm embrace. He still had his fears, but they were slowly being replaced by a strange sense of contentment.

That was, of course, until Daciana had started tapping on the outside of his coffin.

Avery's eyes shot open in the near-total darkness of his coffin, the sound of tapping on the coffin's lid jolting him out of his thoughts. He could hear Daci speaking to him from outside, but her words were too muffled through the thick wood to make out.

"Daci?" Avery called out through the heavy lid of the coffin. The tapping stopped for a moment as Daci spoke up again, her voice clearer this time.

"How are you feeling?"

Avery was surprised that, despite it all, he felt pretty good. The changes to his body and his mind were still a little freaky, but in a way, he found it exciting, and he found that he was almost looking forward to what was to come next. "Honestly, not so bad," he said truthfully.

"And your neck?"

Avery reached up with one hand and gingerly touched the skin around the two little bumps where Daci had bitten him, and then to the faint line along his throat where she had nearly strangled him- the very same thing she would attempt to do to him again nearly two and a half centuries later.

The area was still sore and a little bruised, but overall it felt like it was healing well. "Still a little tender," he admitted. "But it doesn't hurt that much anymore. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." Daci was silent for a moment, but Avery could still hear her breathing from the other side of the lid. Finally, she spoke up again. "Are you ready to come out yet?"

Avery hesitated a moment before answering. Part of him was curious to see how much he had changed, to see what the world outside looked like after three nights in the coffin.

"Do you think I'm ready?" he asked timidly.

"Yes, you are ready." Daci's voice was confident, with no hint of doubt. "You have been in there long enough. And my Eleanor- she worries."

Fear and trepidation were gnawing at Avery's gut, but he knew that Daci was right. "Alright... alright, I'll come out," he said finally. "Just... just give me a moment, okay?"

"Your moment is over!" Daciana threw open the lid of his coffin, rattling the entire box in the process.

The suddenness of the lid being thrown open startled Avery, and he let out a startled yelp as the lid rattled against the coffin walls. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he could see Daci's face looming over him, her hair falling into his face. She was smiling, though there was a hint of concern in her expression as well.

"Well, that was a bit of a rude awakening," Avery said with nervous laughter, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. He squirmed in the coffin a little, trying to get into a sitting position, and then reached up his hand. "Help me out, please?"

"You are a revolutionary. You need help to stand?"

Avery rolled his eyes a little. "Well, I think I spent three days in a cramped wooden box, so excuse me if I'm a little cramped," he said as he reached for Daci once more.

She tugged on his arm, the singular motion quickly proving to have been strong enough to drag him entirely out of the coffin and onto the floor.

Avery grunted as he felt his body being pulled out of the coffin and onto the floor. The speed of Daci's pull startled him, nearly knocking the wind out of him as he came crashing out. He was only saved from smacking head-first into the floorboards by Daci's hand shooting out and seizing the tattered remnants of the back of his shirt.