Blood Ties (NaNoWriMo 2015)

Twelve

Ife blinked like an owl as I grabbed the bowl of grapefruit and dug into it without her having to coax me. "Of course, I'd be happy to."

"Great," I smiled at her, the sour juice dripping down my chin. I hadn't realized how hungry I was. I'd barely eaten anything in the last two weeks despite the food they brought me. "Thanks, just give me a few more minutes to get ready?"

Ife's smiled twitched a little. She still seemed stunned, her hair was different again today, rather than the natural curls, or the braids, she'd straightened it. I did not want to know how long that took. "Of course. I don't mind at all."

"Thank you," I polished off the last of the grapefruit and took a few steps towards the bathroom when a thought struck me. "Where can I file for things I need? Like makeup and feminine products? I don't have either in the bathroom right now. I'd assume some paperwork is involved?"

"Just a little," Ife admitted, twirling a strand of her hair, which I noted now when it was straight fell just above her shoulders. "But you're a special case, some of things we like to request are things you actually need."

I pulled a brush through my hair, wincing as I hit snarls. "What do you mean?" I set the brush down and squeezed some Crest onto my toothbrush.

"Well I mean food, human food. You need to have that, we just want it."

I spat into the sink and rinsed my mouth. "Really?" I returned to the main area of my suite (I could no longer call it a room, it was too large for that.)

"Yes," Ife said, fiddling with the large gold disc that made up the decoration on her necklace. "Like I told you, it's just junk for us, empty calories and no real nutrition. Because we don't truly need it to live, it's rare a request goes through if it's an ordinary day. You however, are a different case."

"So does that mean my paperwork gets to top of the stack or what?"

"Something like that," she answered. "Come, what would you like to visit first? We have quite an amazing library if your the sort who likes books..." Ife smiled excitedly at me, jabbering on as she walked me down the hall back to the main entrance of the manor. Her energy was infectious, I smiled a little myself though I still felt bone-tired. I'd been trying to adjust the way vampires clocks ran, but thus far it hadn't been the easiest. I hoped after I made serious attempts to go and be alive that it would help with the transition.

"We have a gallery as well, Cayiun has an bit of an addiction to art that her oldest son shares and well with how long they've been around they've garnered an impressive collection. It's always open to residents so long as they don't try to touch anything, Some valuable stuff in there."

"Caiyun," I repeated, the name familiar. "She's Johnathan's sister right?"

"Wife," Ife corrected. "Though he does look old enough to be her father, or perhaps an uncle." Ife laughed. "They're quite a lovely couple though, very much in love, both very good people. Rough around the edges, but good."

I really didn't have that much of an interest in art, Sunview had been too small to really offer anything serious about it. Never had enough cash to drive out to the cities and visit a museum either. But perhaps this wouldn't be so bad. Better than the library anyways, I was already aware of how my relationship with books stood. Watching the movie was way faster. "The gallery sounds like a nice place to start," I said and Ife brightened.

"Wonderful," she reached out towards me, grabbing my hand and it was like I'd shoved my fingers into a bucket of snow. "Oh sorry!" Ife said releasing me as she saw my reaction. "I'm not used to having humans around, I forget how cold we must be to you."