captivated in the rain

{~*chapter 9*~}

"Love myself I do. Not everything, but I love the good as well as the bad. I love my crazy lifestyle, and I love my hard discipline. I love my freedom of speech and the way my eyes get dark when I'm tired. I love that I have learned to trust people with my heart, even if it will get broken. I am proud of everything that I am and will become."- Johnny Weir

Love is the strongest but at the same time one of the weakest things in our life. It is easy to destroy love but so much simpler to use it against people. Love is something that once broken, becomes hard to replenish.

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{~*chapter 9*~}

After Elenor showed them around their new place of work with a constant frown and gruff tone. They were given their new uniforms. Erika had noticed how tight it hugged Max's body while her's was slightly looser.

It consisted of a pale blue button up shirt with a blue blazer. On the bottom half, they wore a pair of grey skinny jeans

Not the most inventive uniform but it did feel slightly casual which eased Erika's worry. She had no need for anything as Eleanor and Olivia were dead set on keeping them.

She didn't mind them as much as she thought. They had to be in the early fifties or late forties. She hadn't come across many female couples around their age so it was a great relief that they weren't homophobic. She could be gay without any homophobic language.

"Erika! Look, look they have BL!" Max had shown her enthusiasm for Manga and Anime just recently and it had very much surprised and pleased her inner otaku.

"Eh... look they have zombie books?" She murmured.

"Of course we do darling!" Olivia placed both hands on her shoulders.

Erika let out a shriek as she cowered slightly at the touch. Olivia was quick to remove her hands as she took a few steps back to give the girl some space. She moved very slowly as if she had met a wild animal such as a deer. Eleanor quickly made her way over after hearing such a noise as it had also caught the attention of a few strangers who peaked over in curiosity. Max turned around from where she was to glance at the shaken up girl with amazement.

"Sorry, not very touchy." Was all she said before she disappeared from sight.

"It's fine, sorry that I startled you." She apologised bowing her head humbly.

Eleanor had been keeping a sharp eye on the girl as soon as she entered the shop. Max hadn't caught her attention except for a few times when she questioned or knocked something over. She was extremely clumsy, maybe it was nerves?

They sorted out books and if they saw someone heading to the cash register one of the women would jump quickly across the room to meet the customer. The time passed much quicker than either expected as by the time they finished sorting books the sky had started to darken and the clock showed that it was half-past six already.

"Man, time sure does fly by when you're having fun!" Max exclaimed as she let out a loud yawn.

Eleanor scoffed while her wife simply chuckled and shook her head watching the youth. She reminded her of her golden days when they weren't stuck in the building sorting through mounds of dusty literature.

"This job will become boring quickly girly, don't try sucking up either." Eleanor was quick to scold the blondie.

"Oh don't put down the poor soul sweetheart she just trying to show us she's happy with the work. Anyway, how was the practise day? Normally you would start work around 11 or 12 then finish up at 7 depending on what day it is." Olly babbled on as they began to close up shop. Customers had wandered out or went quickly to buy their items.

" It was great! Though I knocked a book or two over I think I'm getting a hang of this, Wat about you Erika?" She searched for the smaller girl.

"Quite peaceful, just the type of thing I was hoping for. It has been great. When do we start?" She responded nervously fidgeting.

" Friday, You'll get paid on Monday if that's ok?" Olly informed them.

"You both can go, we'll finish closing up. Be safe girls." Eleanor shot her cheery wife a look.

"Alright! We will see you on Friday! Come on Erika!" She bounded over to the introvert.

Erika waved goodbye as they left the stuffy bookshop to the nippy outside. It was around 2 degrees Celsius which was still pretty cold. They could feel the wind brush past them making it seem much colder. Their breath formed in small clouds everytime they took a breath.

They strolled towards the bus then hopping across the road to wait inside the barely standing bus shelter. They didn't speak a word until the creaky aged bus rumbled and coughed towards them. They both grimaced but they didn't have much of a choice. The next bus would not be for another half an hour.

They paid their tickets barely glancing at the bus driver who looked like he could drop dead. They sat up the back as it would be a while until they got home.

For a few minutes, they sat in silence listening to the bus's engine stutter and grind.

"You want to know about bottle vampires or the rules your friend broke?" Max was quiet.

"Bottle vampires?" Erika turned towards the window.

"Hmm how about the entire vampire ranks? that'll probably make more sense." Max yawned.

"Sure." She rested her head on the glass window.

"Vampires are ruled by the elders or black blooded vampires. They decide punishments for rules that are broken and often that ends in beheading or something like that. Black blooded vampires possess a third eye which can see lies and unfold the truth so they can accurately decide on what to do. Trials are very rare these days though." Max began.

"The ones below them are council members or white blood, these are the faces of the Elders since they like to keep their identities hidden until the trial. They are known for their looks. They share the same look, red eyes, black hair. Skin colour varies."

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This is short. I'm sorry but I couldn't write. Thank you for reading!