“You WHAT?” Rogue’s voice pitched as she paced back and forth in the kitchen.
“You wanted to know what happened! I was too tired last night, but I’m telling you now.” Harlow huffed. “What were you thinking, Harley? Four vampires in one night? You never mentioned that you made yourself some pretty nasty enemies for no bloody reason and after the stupid decision that got Robin and Shane killed. You can’t be a hypocrite like that.” Niridia chided her. “I know. It was dumb and impulsive; I didn’t think and acted out of anger and frustration. I should have been honest with you, but I didn’t think it was a problem. Clearly, I was wrong.” Harlow felt awful and it was evident in her voice. “We know how you are, lovey. But that shit…that was stupid. We could be a target now even if those two vampires got torched. And then there’s your new undead friend—you’re really popular lately.” Rogue seemed to be angrier than Niridia…or maybe it was disappointment. “I shouldn’t be in charge of anything right now. My head isn’t on right more than usual. Everything is just starting to get to me and that’s no excuse to be reckless, but the damage has been done. I just need to stay put for a while and not go out because it’s my scent they are tracking and I don’t want to be responsible for anyone else’s death.” Harlow admitted that she wasn’t having an easy time existing at the moment. “You do too much, Harlow. Too much for others, but what do you do for you? When you feel like you need some self-care, you go out and get into trouble instead. Maybe you do need to stay in for a while and take care of yourself, worry about the people here and let others worry about supply runs and hunts.” Rogue spoke honestly before she held out her hand. “You want my key, don’t you?” Harlow whined. “Yeah. Because if I don’t take it, what’s going to keep you from skipping off into forever midnight and bringing back vampires for dinner? It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s that I know you don’t trust yourself.” Rogue empathized with her. “At least I’m not this impulsive when it comes to other people being involved so I think that’s a positive.” Harlow joked as she fished her key from her pocket and handed it over to Rogue. “Right. Now you’re housebound, but that’s ok. You can help Niridia because she’s definitely going to need it now and I’ll take your place doing the outside stuff. You can work on integrating the new members with the old. You’ve been through a lot in the last week, my love. Take it easy, ok? We’ll make sure everything is handled.” Rogue took Harlow by the face and kissed her forehead. “Remember what happened last time you told me to take it easy, Rogue? That’s how all of this started.” Harlow laughed through tears that had welled in the corner of her eyes. Rogue gave a sad laugh in response as she caressed Harlow’s cheek and replied, “You’re right so maybe don’t take it too easy, ok? I know you like busy work so you can do inventory and maybe—listen to some music?” Harlow’s face lit up, “Music? What do you mean? Are you going to play the organ for me while I work?” “No, smartass, we found a phonograph. We were clearing out space to prepare for more bodies and found it in a locked closet in the basement. There are a few jazz albums, some classical productions and a couple others that I can’t remember. But we checked and it works rather well." Niridia added. “Music. Music is a great way to pacify the urge to get in trouble. Show me how to use it? I’ve never played with one of those things before.” Harlow felt much better knowing that she had something to stimulate her while she worked and kept herself together. “Of course, lovey. We can go now, get you all set up and then you can just relax. No hard work for you. I don’t know how to say this without sounding like I am patronizing you.” Rogue pursed her lips and exhaled through them. “I’m on punishment without being on punishment. I know you’re not treating me like a baby, you’re just keeping me out of trouble. You’re holding me accountable for my actions…isn’t that what Sister Agnes used to say?” Harlow let Rogue know there were no hard feelings and she understood. “Ugh, don’t bring up Sister Agnes, but yes. We’re helping you hold yourself accountable because we think you’re too tired to do it on your own. Maybe try and take a nap later because I know you aren’t sleeping like you should.” Niridia made a suggestion that actually sounded quite good. “I’ll sort and stack for a few hours, listen to some jazz, do lunch, and then a nap after. I really wish we could get the hot water working again because I would love an actual bath.” Harlow complained mildly as the three finished up cleaning the kitchen after breakfast and walked out into the sanctuary. “Maybe someone in this new group understands the complexity of heating and plumbing or just handiness in general. Besides you and Shane, we don’t really have anyone that knows that stuff and you don’t know anything about this specifically.” Rogue was just making a suggestion, but may have hit a nerve. “And now no Shane. I’m sure someone is good with a wrench and a hammer in this group. Or I hope at least…I’m really tired of sharing bathwater and by the time it gets to me it’s always so cold. I know that there are much bigger issues in life right now, but sometimes it’s the little things.” Harlow lamented. “And now it’s just cold all around because we don’t have the ability to heat all that water and keep everyone warm and cozy in here. It’s going to be cold for the next few months regardless.” Niridia added, waving at someone as they passed a group sitting in the front pews. Harlow caught this slight action and calculated that the wave was intended for Peter because he was the only one in the group who had a huge smile plastered on his face with darting eyes in their direction. “Niridia, already?” Harlow hissed, bringing herself close to Niridia to hide the fact that she was still watching Peter like a hawk. Niridia giggled, “Oh, Harlow, stop. We just started talking while you were rescuing the others and he’s really sweet. We have a lot in common too: we both want to move to Italy, we love German chocolate, and neither of us have had sex in over two years.” “Good grief, Niridia.” Harlow tried to hold a straight face, but her effort had Rogue laughing and soon it had engulfed all three. “Just because we’re in the apocalypse doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun.” Niridia chirped playfully. “Funny,” Harlow scoffed, “Remy said something to that effect the other night.” “Oh, did he now? No—did you two fuck?” Rogue’s face lit up with delight. “Ha, no. No, we didn’t. Not going to lie and say that it didn’t come up, because somehow it did, but nothing happened.” Rogue waved her hands in defense. “That explains it then. That’s the look of sexual tension.” Rogue clicked her tongue. Harlow raised a brow in question. “The way he’s been looking at you since we left the kitchen. The minute he saw you there was this—his body just tensed up and I bet his eyes dilated. It’s like you had him under a spell.” Rogue wiggled her eyebrows at Harlow. They had almost made it to their exit of the sanctuary when Harlow glanced back at the group where Peter sat and saw Remy, his eyes trained on her, head cocked to the side in thought. She subtly waved at him with a finger and he realized that she could see him and smiled, waving back with a flick of his hand. “Yeah, he’s smitten. But I don’t blame him. I’ve known you most of my life and I’m still smitten with you.” Rogue made kissing sounds before she planted one on Harlow’s cheek and they all started laughing again. Things felt good, like they were going in the right direction, but Harlow had this sense that something bad was looming just around the corner. (*) Harlow spent the next several days organizing all their supplies and stocks, prepping rooms, and tending to Adrianna. Niridia could have handled her, but Harlow felt responsible for some reason, and made sure to keep her neck clean and bandaged for the first day before she let it breathe. Adrianna was still unconscious and Harlow wondered if she would ever wake up. She had lost a lot of blood and the gash was pretty big, but it wasn’t fatal. It looked like it was healing and there was no sign of infection, but the woman just wouldn’t wake up and they needed her to so she could get some water and food in her. “Maybe this will help you. Music can send you on a journey, or it could ground you and bring you back to reality.” Harlow wheeled in the phonograph and positioned it next to Adrianna’s bed in the dining hall turned infirmary. She put on a record of classical music, one featuring the likes of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin, and let it play softly near Adrianna’s head. “One of us will come back and check on you in a few hours. Just try and listen the music and let it bring you back, ok?” Harlow brushed the damp hair away from Adrianna’s face and checked her temperature. She may have had a fever at one point, but it had broken now. Harlow left her to peacefully enjoy the music and headed to the kitchen to wash up and start prep for dinner when the party came back from a rushed supply run that Rogue planned last minute. They were still short on blankets and bedding as well as fresh winter clothing, and needed to go shopping. The first to enter the sanctuary was Remy and it didn’t look good. He had fresh marks on his face and his clothing was dirty and speckled with blood. Harlow gasped silently before rushing over to him to tend to his wounds. “What happened? Do you need medical aid?” Harlow asked him, taking his arm to steer him to a pew. “Ran into another group of humans and it was not pretty. Two of them got killed and a few others were most certainly injured, but several got away. We knew the blood shed was going to draw attention, so we got out of there. We did get a few blankets and stuffed our parkas with all the folded sheets we could find, though. Probably better to not go out for a bit and I think Rogue agrees with me.” Remy groaned as Harlow sat him down. “Let me take a look at your face.” Harlow started to fawn over Remy, but he grabbed her hands. “Mostly superficial, mon ami. The parties on the receiving end were not so fortunate, however. I am fine, I can assure you.” Remy lowered her hands, but still held on to them. “Just worried about you, that’s all. Everyone else ok?” Harlow diverted her concern to the others. “Banged up like me, Silver has a bad cut on his leg, but Rogue is taking him to the infirmary. Everyone is all in one piece. How’s Adrianna?” Remy answered and asked, now rubbing his thumb on the underside of Harlow’s hand as they conversed. “Everything looks great, but she just won’t wake up. I dragged the phonograph in there and put on some music, hoping I can bring her back to reality. My assumption is that the unconsciousness is not due to a medical issue, but a mental one. I think she’s traumatized, in shock, and this is how she is protecting herself.” Harlow gave her opinion, slowly removing her hands from Remy’s. “That’s a good diagnosis. The whole thing was incredibly violent and she was just trying to help the other two, but those foutu New Borns are almost impossible to deal with. It got its teeth in her and just started to tear; no etiquette, as awful as that sounds. Oscar was able to lead it away with a bloody hand and I got Adrianna out of there. I guess it got distracted by the bodies of the other two and Oscar was able to get back in the bank. I guess two humans were enough food because they took the bodies and dragged them off to God knows where.” Remy gave her the summary of what happened right before she found them. It got her thinking. “You know, it’s strange. These New Borns don’t feed like normal vampires; there’s a difference in the marks they leave behind. Older ones leave clean punctures and just drain the body to a point. But these infants aren’t clean; no etiquette like you said. I don’t know enough about vampires to tell you if all newly transformed are like that, but I feel like they’re not. There’s something specific about these. Our men were turned by an older vampire, but Shane killed Robin and he was so torn up we didn’t see that he too had a puncture on his neck and showed signs of tissue change and blood in the eyes. Both had been deliberately turned and Shane was so ravenous that he basically killed what would have been another New Born because they are just programmed to be violently psychopathic. What the hell is going on?” Harlow just word vomited her theory on the topic that had been weighing heavily on her mind for days. “I wish I could tell you. Why are they like this? Why make so many? Do vampires regularly feed of their own kind? Because there aren’t going to be any humans left at this rate. None of it makes sense to me, cher.” Remy related to her. “Harlow! Remy! She’s awake!” Rogue’s voice interrupted their conversation and caught their attention. “Adrianna?” Remy queried as he got up from the pew and Harlow helped him hobble to the infirmary. Indeed, Adrianna was awake, lying on the side that didn’t have the wound. Her eyes were open and she was just listening to the music, humming along with heavy lids. “I came in and she was just rolled on her side, eyes open and quietly humming along to Chopin.” Rogue pointed out, not sure what to do exactly. “Let me talk to her. Remy come with me.” Harlow took Remy’s hand and led him over to the cot. “Hey, Adrianna. How are you feeling?” Remy squatted down next to her. Her eyes never looked at him and stayed trained on nothing. She didn’t say anything, but she did make a throaty hum that sounded like a response. “Are you in any pain, Adrianna?” Harlow mimicked Remy, gently taking her hand to try and elicit a response. The woman’s eyes immediately shifted to Harlow as she curled her fingers around hers and squeezed. “Even though I just looked, let me lay you back and check your neck.” Harlow stood and gently shifted Adrianna to lie on her back. It looked good. No redness, no puffiness or oozing. Some crusted blood and bruising of the skin, but it was healing and healing well. “You look good. I can give you something for pain and you need to try and drink some water. We’ve got hog bones in the icebox so I’ll make you some broth since you haven’t eaten in days.” Harlow spoke with her gently, trying to make her feel at ease. Adrianna closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths before she croaked, “Name?” “Oh, Harlow. That’s Rogue with the short hair and Niridia who I didn’t know was even in here.” Harlow pointed the two out, “And you’re now at St. Andrews.” “Everyone make it safe?” Adrianna struggled to talk. “Besides Ottis and Cameron, yes. Harlow showed up right when we needed her and got you stitched up better than I ever could.” Remy vouched for Harlow’s work. Adrianna grunted, “Eight out of ten is better than nothing.” She readjusted herself on the cot to stare out the window on the opposite wall. Clearly, she wasn’t ready for heavy conversation. “Get some rest. I’ll bring you some water and get to work on the broth.” Harlow patted Adrianna’s arm and left her to sit with Remy while she retrieved a glass of water. Poor thing had been uprooted without her knowledge and was probably struggling to readjust. She needed to get her strength back so she could meet the others and get acquainted. “Water and some morphine to help with the pain.” Harlow handed Adrianna the water and held up the syringe to show her that medication was administered through a needle. “I’m not afraid of needles, if you didn’t notice.” Adrianna’s voice sounded better after her first sip of water. Indeed, the woman was covered in tattoos, one of which was now cut down the middle due to the gash in her neck. Harlow quickly administered the medicine after cleaning a spot on the woman’s arm. When she was done, she excused herself entirely, leaving the phonograph behind with company that needed it more than she did.
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Harlow was up and moving before the rest, getting Carl and the others ready to grab their things and head out just as the hour peaked. Taking the route of the sewers mostly, Harlow got the three to St. Andrew’s in record time. She made sure they were warm and settled while trying to explain to Rogue and Niridia about where she had been and what needed to happen now. There was no hesitation from her friends, Rogue recruiting Silver to go with them in the cart to pick up the others while Niridia stayed behind to tend to the ones already safe. The Golden Hour passed by the time they rolled up to the east end and they were going to have to stay a bit while they figured out how to safely transport Adrianna back to the church. “She’s on a blanket now. We should just carefully lift her onto this and use it as a gurney; carry her to the cart that way.” Remy held up a piece of the bank counter that sat propped against the wall. “That’s probably the best way to do it. It should fit in the back comfortable enough with space for other people.” Rogue was in favor of his idea. “Her wound looks clean and the sutures are holding well. No signs of turning so she’s out of the woods on that. Let’s just get us all loaded up and ready to go when twilight hits.” Harlow was ready to leave immediately. She probably should have taken Remy with her on the first trip and left him behind because now they had to cram eight people and two goats into the cart, or at least five and let the other three walk on patrol. She just wanted to get everyone back in one piece. The lot had packed up what was salvageable and loaded it into the cart after they had safely transported Adrianna inside. Vanessa and William climbed in with her as well as Silver and Oscar, while Rogue, Remy, and Harlow took the helm. “We’re going to be slower this way in a sense since we can’t hide as easily, but we should be fine. Just keep your eyes peeled for anything that may want to murder us.” Harlow pointed out as she climbed on to the cart with Remy’s help. “We’ve got it handled. Eyes peeled, battle ready.” Rogue grunted, grinding her fist into her palm. “She always like this?” Remy whispered to Harlow as they settled in. Harlow chuckled quietly as she took the reins to the one horse they had, “Only when outside the walls of the church or if she gets really sozzled. It’s the adrenalin.” Harlow snapped the reins and the cart started to pick up speed, rolling down the desolate streets of the east end toward the safety of the church. (*) They were midway into their journey when they came to some trouble on their path. Where once was a clear road, now stood an obstacle that the cart couldn’t get around. Crumbling stone from nearby buildings, burnt out automobiles, and even a bus had been pushed and piled in the middle of the road, cutting off their safest route. There were other roads to take that would lead back to St. Andrews, but it would take much more time to travel them. “We need to make a decision. What do we do?” Rogue spoke quietly as she lit up a cigarette and then passed one to Remy. “What can we do? We can’t get around this with the cart, we can’t walk on foot, and we can’t remove all that by ourselves or even at all. We have to go another route.” Harlow was exasperated by the whole thing. “I was afraid you were going to say that. It’s going to add another hour of travel time and we are already past the gold standard.” Rogue complained. She had started to lose that rush. “I’m not concerned so much about the travel time as I am the fact that this was a deliberate act. Something spotted us; most likely me considering how long it would take to set that up. Also, look at the street. The biggest conjunction before we get to the road the church is on. They knew that we would have to take a longer route which means they know where we live. We could be ambushed.” Harlow expressed her concern. Remy thought for a moment before replying, “Maybe not. Maybe they know roughly where you are based on scent or even just seeing you, but I know you’re like a ghost; the fact that you got all the way out to me and weren’t seen is a feat.” “All part of the trade. But I’m not as good as you thought. We’re leaving the safety of the church too frequently for supplies and I think we’ve been spotted a few times. Let’s get back in the cart and just go. We’re wasting time.” Harlow was well beyond agitated at this point and most of that ire was aimed at herself. She now had to figure out how to safely transport eight people on a road she didn’t know as well all the way to the place they called home, a place that may have now been compromised. They turned the cart around and took the only other route they could. They stopped one more time to check on Adrianna, but Vanessa was doing a perfect job of keeping her stable and warm. Silver switched spots with Rogue for a bit, but Harlow stayed at the helm, stayed focused. The last turn before they came to the road that eventually ran behind the church was finally in sight and Harlow had just sighed with relief when she realized she had taken a breath too soon. On top of the building across the street, she could see them. There were what looked like three, lying in wait for them to cross the road. Harlow carefully slowed the cart to a halt at the crossroads and leaned in to Remy sitting next to her. She tried to make it look like she was giving him a kiss, covering her face with her hair as she whispered as softly as she could. “Three on top of the building perpendicular to us. I’m going to get out and go around to warn the others. Keep an eye on them, don’t speak.” Harlow immediately got out of the cart, miming that she had to relieve herself as she ran round the cart and cracked the door just enough to whisper in to Rogue what she had seen before she returned to the helm. She took the reins with one hand and reached down with the other to brush Remy’s leg before she tapped his gun. He understood, his hands sliding to position, ready to fire when he had to. Harlow didn’t really have a plan. There wasn’t time and she couldn’t talk due to the inhuman hearing of the three vampires on top of the building and there were possibly more. All she knew is that when she took that turn and crossed that building, they were going to attack her party and at least three were unable to fight. She just hoped everyone could follow her cues. The reins snapped on the horse again and they turned right, just passing the first building before three shadowy figures landed in the road in front of them, scaring the horse and causing it to rear back. It was so quick. Remy just stood with the rifle in his hands, cocked the bolt, and fired. The bullet whizzed through the air and caught the vampire on the left directly in the heart. They watched as a white hot fire spread from the entry point and engulfed the vampire till it was nothing but ash. This surprise attack caused confusion amongst the other two and they panicked before racing in opposite directions to the alleys. “They’re not done. Eyes on the darkest parts of the landscape, weapons ready.” Harlow instructed, getting down from the cart. Rogue and Oscar exited the cart in formation while Silver and Remy each took a side and Harlow stood to defend the horse. “I know you’re still out there! You wanted a fight, come fight me!” Harlow’s anger took over and she snarled into the frozen air. “Don’t antagonize them, Harlow!” Rogue’s voice hollered from behind the cart. “Not antagonizing, just impatient.” Harlow muttered to herself, whipping her chain from her pocket. “I recognize that voice.” Someone called from an alley down. Harlow recognized theirs too. “Yeah, yeah. It’s the cunt from the bus depot. What are the odds?” Another voice responded to the first. “Shit.” Harlow cursed, looping the chain in one hand to free up the other for her dagger. “Friends of yours, Harley?” Rogue called around the side of the cart; amused, yet disappointed. “Not now.” Harlow hissed at her friend, “And you two wankers need to sod off!” She screamed into the street. “Not a chance, princess. There’s no one here to save you this time and you brought a full—” The voice paused to sniff the air, “Eight course meal. It’s serendipity and I knew I recognized that smell. You got one of us, but we’re going to get you.” “Everyone in the back of the cart! Go now! Now!” Harlow barked, jerking her thumb towards the cart behind her. “You’re nuts if you think I’m leaving you out here to fight two of them!” Rogue ran around the cart to grab Harlow by the arm. “No. I’ve already kicked their arses once, I can do it again. This time I’m going to kill them.” Harlow snarled, pushing Rogue towards the back of the cart. “Harlow—” “Get in the cart!” Harlow didn’t let Rogue argue with her. She pushed everyone in a panicked rush, forcing them all to cram awkwardly into the back of the cart. Rogue was still yelling at her, but she ignored her angry pleas and shoved a wooden stake through the handles of the cart door. “All ready boys; let’s fucking fight.” Harlow walked to the middle of the road, arms outstretched. In a smoky blur, two figures were now standing mere meters in front of her. They looked just as they did when she saw them nights before, except…they showed signs of illness. “What’s wrong with you two? You look positively dreadful.” Harlow remarked. One snorted, “We haven’t eaten in days, you bitch. We’re fucking starving and went through great lengths to catch you and your friends like a spider in a web.” “Simon, was it? Well, Simon…you’re going to continue to starve because you’re not eating a one of us. Also, starving won’t matter when you’re dead.” Harlow grinned m enacingly, whipping the chain out over her head. She went to strike, rushing forward to loop the two vampires around the neck with her silver chain when she met a cold body, stopping her dead in her tracks. “I told you to stay home, little one. Yet here you are and I have to intervene.” The body spoke down at her. “You. I couldn’t stay home. I have people to take care of.” Harlow was defensive. “And saving those people could have killed you.” Grimm inhaled through his nose, “Alright Simon, Vlad. We’re not eating this lot. You got Cutler killed with your nonsense. Leave this woman and her friends be.” Grimm raised his voice, stepping away from Harlow. “Fuck off, you ancient piece of shit. Don’t gotta babysit us, grandpa; we’re good. Dinner is served, Vlad.” Simon cackled, nudging Vlad with his elbow. “Seriously. These younger ones are complete idiots sometimes.” Grimm shook his head at Harlow, so close that she could see how reddened the whites of his eyes were. “You’re starving too, aren’t you? When was the last time you ate?” Harlow found herself concerned for the blood drinker in front of her. “Shut. Up. I’m trying to save your life. I told you stay at home and not gallivant around, but here you are! And now I have to save your arse!” Grimm hissed through his teeth. “Sure. Save my arse,” Harlow scoffed at Grimm before she addressed the other two, “Come on, Simon! Vlad! You really want to dance again? I have somewhere to be so let’s get this over with.” Grimm didn’t move a muscle, but the other two appeared to flank him from behind, strolling closer to stand shoulder to shoulder. “You helping us, mate? You let her go before…here’s your opportunity to correct that.” Simon jeered, checking Grimm with his shoulder. Grimm’s eyes connected with Harlow’s, begging her to turn around and leave, to let him handle the two idiots, but she didn’t trust him. “He can join the slaughter if he so desires, but I’m here to clear you from the road so we can get home.” Harlow retorted, but she didn’t attack; she was stalling. “Time for you to go home, friend. This isn’t going to be pretty.” Harlow spoke almost inaudibly, but Grimm caught it. He backed out of the way and dissolved into the darkness without a word. “Shall we go first?” Simon turned to Vlad, ready to strike. But their conversation was going to be cut short. The whole time that Harlow had been talking with Grimm in the middle of the road, she had been drawing a sigil in the snow with her boot. She had memorized some, including this one, and knew it would come in handy eventually. The last thing she had to do was activate it. Harlow slipped her hand in her pocket and pierced her finger on her book marker before she squeezed the blood out on to the snow. She took a few jogging steps back before the street lit up like someone had flipped a switch and turned the sun on right in the middle of the road. Vlad and Simon screamed and hissed from inside the bubble of light and Harlow swore she saw two smoky shadows shoot from the light and back into the night. The light would only last so long and Harlow needed to get everyone out of there, so she hopped on the front of the cart and snapped the reins harshly, willing the horse to move forward, but it wouldn’t budge. It reared back and neighed in frustration, not wanting to go towards the blinding light. “Come on, come on! We don’t have much time.” Harlow begged the horse, trying to get it to move again, but it was planted firmly in the snow. Two shadows danced from the alley and were atop a nearby building now, out of the way of the light; they hadn’t run away entirely like she hoped. Eventually, the light would die out and they would be left in the open again for the two vampires to attack. She needed to get this horse to move. Harlow went to try again and it was as if she blinked, and he was there. A streak of black smoke sped up through the light and right up to the horse; eyes bulging and blood red, mouth agape with rows of sharp teeth bared for killing. The horse saw this terrifying display, reared back one last time, and then took off into the sphere of light blindly, luckily coming out the other side unscathed as Harlow steered the cart down the street. At that rate of speed it didn’t take them long to arrive at the church and she hoped that no one had gotten injured in the back. Harlow parked the cart behind the priest’s quarters before she hopped out and opened the back of the cart. “Everyone ok? I’m sorry about the bumpy ride.” “Oscar and Silver were able to hold Adrianna steady and she seems ok, but what the fuck just happened?” Rogue’s eyes were wide and she was breathing heavily. “Talk later. Silver, take the horse to the shed and then come back here. I’m going to need you, Oscar, and Remy to help get Adrianna into the sanctuary. Rogue, you take the others inside and have Niridia figure out a place for Adrianna in the infirmary. I'm going to cover the cart and try to hide it as best I can.” Harlow didn’t have time to explain everything. Rogue didn’t question it and rounded everyone up who could walk on their own and started guiding them to the back door of the church. Silver unhitched the horse and took it to the shed while Oscar and Remy waited with Harlow. “Are you ok, mon cher? You’re shaking.” Remy asked, placing his hand on hers. She hadn’t even noticed; she was still on auto-pilot from the escape. “I’ll be fine once I know everyone is inside and safe.” Harlow replied, patting Remy’s hand with her free one as Silver jogged back from the shed. “Just be very careful with her and mind her head.” Harlow guided them as they slid Adrianna out of the back of the cart and hoisted her up, Oscar and Silver easily able to carry the makeshift gurney comfortably. Silver led them to the door and Harlow quickly covered the cart as best she could with a canvas cloth and went out to check the road where they had come in for any sight of vampires. No sign of anything and the now falling snow was covering up the cart and horse tracks beautifully. Harlow felt that all was well and she could return to the church, locking the back door with her key. They had dodged a bullet…for now. Harlow slept well past the time she should and woke up to find an empty attic and no Remy. She soon found him in the sanctuary with Rogue and Niridia, prepping plates for breakfast and smiling happily along with the others. He apparently fit right in, Rogue telling her that she was definitely pleased with how helpful and kind he was and mentioned something about snatching him before someone else did…if she was interested in the hairier sex that way.
Harlow took him out back to the chickens and showed him how to check for fertilized eggs before feeding the coop and cleaning it out. She then took him on her rounds of passing out clean blankets and towels to each room that had been cobbled together so people at least had a modicum of privacy. Remy sat with her as she saw congregants with ailments that she prescribed medicine to from the nearby pharmacies, bandaged simple wounds, and counseled those whose injuries were more related to the mind. After that, the two went to take stock of their supplies and before they knew it, the second Golden Hour of the day had come. “I can’t thank you enough for having me, Harlow. Being here felt like being with family on the holidays, if I even knew what such a thing was like. The church is safe, fortified, warm, and welcoming. I’m going to report back to the others, and leave a note at the general store within forty-eight hours letting you know what the consensus is.” Remy went to shake Harlow’s hand as the two stood at the door to the outside. “I’m so glad you felt at home while you were here. This is us every day; it’s not performative. Let Vanessa and William know that I am so thankful for the biscuits and that they were delicious. She’ll have to show me how to make them if they decide they want to move in.” Harlow chuckled as she shook Remy’s hand. Remy let his hand linger in hers, a tired smile on his face as he looked at Harlow. He secretly hoped that his group would be just as smitten as he was with St. Andrew’s…and Harlow herself. “I’m sure she will. Until we meet again, mon ami. It was a pleasure spending time with you.” Remy took Harlow’s hand and kissed the top of it gently before he slipped out into the snow. Harlow shut the door and put her back to it, exhaling with a pleased smile as she thought about the last twenty-four hours she had spent with Remy. It had its awkward moments, but overall it was more than enjoyable and made her feel hopeful for the first time in a long while. It was a strange feeling she prayed wouldn’t go away. (*) The next evening brought the funeral for Shane and Robin and their subsequent internment. Harlow allowed others to say something in favor of their fallen friends, a group eulogy that had a few quite teary eyed. Once they were buried, Rogue and Harlow crafted some headstones out of broken stone and stained glass from the front of the church. Hunting further out had brought them a few more deer and a fat hog, leaving them with some decent meat for the time being. Harlow would have gone out, if only to check the general store, but she was so busy with the funeral, she never made it out. So, she waited till the next morning and snuck out right at the start of the Golden Hour to check for his correspondence, but she found nothing. There was only one more chance to check in the forty-eight hour window, but when Harlow got to the general store, she found no note or any sign that Remy had been there at all since they last met. Harlow’s initial reaction was to assume that they’re decision was a no, but then the wheels began turning and she had a sinking feeling that maybe something had happened. “No time to go back and set up a search party; I’ll have to go at it alone,” Harlow was deliberating with herself, “But I don’t know exactly where they are. He did mention a bank and how many banks are in the east end? I can find it. If I head in that direction, I may just run into them. Ok, too many variables. Pick one and move forward.” Harlow grabbed a few more snacks from the shelves, made sure that her weapons were all in place, her chain in one hand and dagger in the other as she left the general store, hood up on her cloak, and went East. (*) Harlow scuttled around in the dark, careful to keep herself out of sight and low to the ground when she could, just in case. She kept her eyes peeled for any people or anything amiss in general, but the streets were empty save for a few rats running in and out of the alleys. The closer she came to the east end, the more that feeling of dread built in her belly. It was that ripple in the energy around her that she felt when something just wasn’t right. Was it a vampire? Or something else? She had just gotten to the crossroads where the buildings started to change and things were far less nice than where she lived at St. Andrews. Harlow knew the area well, but was unsure of any banks, wondering if it was erected after she was last there. There was no current map, no map at all, that could point her in the right direction. She could still feel waves of wild energy in the air, but couldn’t directly pinpoint where it was emanating from. “Ok, which way do I go?” Harlow crossed her arms over themselves, “I need some direction.” She could just eenie meenie miney pick one, but it would take far too long to search the entirety of the east end by herself and the Golden Hour was passing. A lightbulb went off in her head, “When in doubt, use the manual.” Harlow pulled her little leather book from her pocket and skimmed through the pages in the faint waning light of the hour. “Ah, the map sigil. I knew this might come in handy at some point.” Harlow found what she was looking for and began drawing the sigil in the snow with her foot. When it was completed, as best as it could be, she pierced her finger with the copper marker in her book and let it drip over the snow. “Show me the way now.” Harlow whispered over the sigil before it began to glow red and the soft down lifted up from the ground in a tiny cyclone before it settled again, an arrow in its wake pointing down Tiller Street. “Tiller Street it is then.” Harlow followed the arrow. She went down that specific road for some time before the little cyclone caught up with her and pointed her to the right down Stanton Road. The arrow led her like this for some time, deeper into an area of the city that had been devastated by fire. It didn’t look like it was the safest place to be, but the arrow continued to guide her further. A huge building now loomed in front of her, mostly untouched by the flames that had clearly ripped through the area. Even in the dark, she could see that it said Booker’s Bank and Savings on the front. And on the ground in front of her was a crimson stain in the freshly fallen snow. A trail of blood was smeared across the white powder as it led up to the front of the bank building and in various other directions that disappeared into the night. Her gut had been right. Harlow was just about to rush into the building when she heard shouting and the front door opened up, a man around her age running out with a bucket. He started to pour whatever was in it over the snow where the blood had stained it and was working his way closer to Harlow when he finally saw her. He dropped the bucket and drew a revolver from his hip with a shout, “Don’t move, cunt.” Harlow froze, not wanting to get shot, and held her hands up, still holding her weapons. “These bullets are tipped in silver and etched with a cross. You won’t make it past the threshold.” The man threatened her. Harlow could now smell what was in the bucket, a pungent acidic scent that permeated the immediate area. “Ammonia to break up the blood and offend the nose. Keep them at bay.” She uttered when she should have been defending herself. “Right. I bet you can’t stand it.” The man retorted. “It’s unpleasant, but I’m not vampire. I came here looking for Remy.” The mention of his name from her mouth made the man start to lower his weapon. “Remy? He didn’t mention having company coming.” The man eyed her warily, raising his gun again. “It’s a spontaneous visit. What’s going on though? Whose blood is this?” Harlow was more concerned with injuries that may have been incurred. “ A few folks. But if you say you know Remy…” The man backed up to the door, his gun still aimed at her heart, “Then you’ll have to prove it.” He cracked open the door and called out to someone within earshot that there was a woman there to see R emy. The door slipped closed and he came forward again, keeping a better eye on Harlow. “I promise you I’m a friend. Is there any way that I can help?” Harlow tried to make this man see that she wasn’t a threat. “You can help by staying out here. I’m not letting you in there and getting everyone killed.” The man snarled, shaking the gun at her. Harlow was just going to rebut when the door to the bank opened again and Remy came barreling down the walkway, hollering for the man to lower his weapon. “Put your weapon away, Oscar. This is Harlow.” Remy stood between the two before he grabbed Harlow roughly by the collar and pulled her into a shaky hug. He had blood all over his hands and smeared on his face, a deep cut over the bridge of his nose. But there was no way that he made all that blood in the snow. “She didn’t mention her name, mate!” Oscar defended himself out of embarrassment. “Maybe it was because she was scared considering you were shaking your gun at her.” Remy scolded him before turning to Harlow, “And what are you even doing here?” “I—I kept going back to the general store, waiting for your note, but you ran out of time. I got worried, had a bad feeling, and came looking for you. What happened? Why are you covered in blood?” “We got ambushed right before our supply run. Crazed New Borns came out of nowhere, killed two men and injured a third. They got away with the bodies and we were able to get Adrianna inside before there was too much blood spilled. Sent Oscar out here to pour ammonia over it to break it up and mask the scent.” Remy explained, rubbing blood from his face with the back of his forearm. “Is Adrianna alright?” Harlow was thinking ahead. “Got her in the throat. We tried to stitch her up, but none of us are really good at first-aid. I did the best I could, but she’s still bleeding and may not survive the night.” Remy started to walk towards the bank, Harlow right behind him as he led her inside and to a fairly clean room where candles were lit and a woman lay amidst them, others at her side. “Can I take a look?” Harlow knelt down next to an elderly woman who was sitting next to who she assumed to be Adrianna. “At this point I’d let the devil take care of her if it helped.” The woman croaked, moving out of the way to let Harlow take a look. Sure enough, her neck had been bitten, the flesh torn and jagged, blood running down the skin and staining her blouse and the blanket she lay on. She had been stitched up, but the stitches weren’t even and the sutures not tight where they should be. “These aren’t bad, but they’re not tight enough. I need scissors or a sharp knife if you have it. Any fishing twine? Needle, saltwater, clean rags or blankets, and a couple sets of extra hands.” Harlow instructed to the group that had gathered. They just stood there in stunned silence before Remy snapped them out of their stupor and they got to work. In a short time, Harlow had the supplies she needed as well as Remy and Oscar’s hands. She cleaned away the dried blood as best she could before having the two men pinch the neck wound closed as she clipped the old sutures, and threaded the needle for the new one. Frequent blood cleaning and readjustment of hands was necessary, but in less than the time it took Remy to do the initial work, Harlow had stitched up the woman’s neck and stopped the blood from flowing. Another good cleaning freed Adrianna’s skin of most of the blood and she was covered in a fresh blanket to rest. “Thank all for you. Poor thing definitely wasn’t going to make it to see tomorrow with such a bad bite as that. You did a fine job.” The elderly woman thanked Harlow, giving her a hug and a slight pat on the back. “Thank you. I’ve had lots of practice over the years. Just need to keep an eye on that and make sure infection doesn’t set in. We have some penicillin back at St. Andrews if we need it.” Harlow assured her that she would do whatever she could for Adrianna. “I thought you might be Harlow. Don’t know who else you could be just showing up like you did. I’m Vanessa.” The old woman held her hand out for Harlow to shake. “I had a feeling,” A smile spread across Harlow’s lips, “I’ve never had shortbreads like the ones you made and I almost didn’t share them because of how good they were.” “Well, if we can ever make it out of this hell hole, I’ll show ya’ how to make ‘em.” Vanessa grunted, casting a sideways look at Remy. “I hear you, Vanessa. Things have gotten bad and today was definitely the worst. I never made it to the general store to leave your note because we had a roof collapse while I was away with you and all this snow poured in, burying all our supplies. I’ve been cleaning it up and forgot that we were low on food and were set to do a run anyway and I was going to leave it for you then, but—” Remy held his hands out to convey the insanity. He looked like he hadn’t slept and was definitely agitated. “You don’t have to worry about this anymore. If we have to, we leave at dawn with a small group, pick up a carriage from the church and come back for Adrianna and the others. They’re safe inside the cart and that makes the journey safer even after it’s not.” Harlow already had a plan to get them out of there. “What do we do for the night, then? We got no food, most of us haven’t eaten in a few days and before that, it was all going rotten. It’s fucking cold and I got to take a piss, but I don’t want my knob to freeze and fall off.” Oscar complained, taking a seat on an old barrel. “I’ve got some food,” Harlow pulled out a couple candy bars and bags of crisps from her bag, “As far as the cold goes, let’s try and get a fire going; we all stay huddled around it until morning. I can’t help you with the piss, though, mate. Maybe just poke it out a bit and squat so it ain’t dangling in the wind? But don’t dip it in the snow because that would defeat the purpose.” Everyone laughed at her helpful advice, even Oscar who waddled off to take care of his business. “You’re good at keeping morale high.” Remy whispered in her ear as he got up and walked off to gather anything wood that would burn. Harlow rose and followed, “I’m just good at thinking on my feet. When you’ve had to scavenge and grift your whole life, you get good at that sort of stuff. Plus, I don’t like people to worry.” “Well, if they didn’t want to already follow you, they will now. I think they are tiring of my grouchy disposition.” Remy grunted, his arms piled high with wooden debris. Harlow mimicked him with the wood and remarked, “When was the last time you slept? Ate? Maybe that’s why you’re so grouchy.” Remy sighed as he dropped the wood in a safe space to light a fire, “Not really since I left you—er, St. Andrews. Haven’t eaten much since then either. Too much work, not enough hands; too many mouths, not enough food.” Even if they didn’t want to come with her back to St. Andrews, after this, she would have made them. Their living conditions had become too dangerous, food too scarce and now destroyed. If she hadn’t run into Remy at the general store, they all might have died out here. “I’ll start the fire, you eat this.” Harlow handed Remy a Cadbury Flake before taking her lighter out of her pocket. “Harlow, you don’t have to baby me.” Remy huffed, reluctantly taking the candy bar. “No, I shouldn’t have to baby you, there’s a difference. I know you want the others to survive, but how well do you think that will go if you aren’t around.” Harlow scolded him before she turned around to face the bonfire she was erecting. Discreetly, she traced a mark on her hand, mumbling some words inaudibly before she rubbed her hands together, licked her palm and whispered “Ignis nox”, her fingertip igniting like a match. With a quick breath from her lips, the fire danced forward and caught the dry parts of the wood, instantly crackling to life. “You’re damn good at this survival stuff.” Remy spoke around the chocolate in his mouth. “Don’t make me repeat myself. This sort of stuff was and is daily life for me.” Harlow squatted down on the ground. A tinkling of hollow bells signaled a horned creature that slipped from the darker parts of the building and came stumbling over to Harlow, followed by another much smaller one. Two goats were now bleating at her for food before she had even had a chance to be introduced. “The big one is Poppy and the smaller one is Antoinette. Poppy was pregnant when we found her and had two kids, but one didn’t make it. Antoinette is my little love.” Remy chuckled as Antoinette came and butted her tiny head against his leg. “They are seriously the sweetest thing I’ve seen in a long while. The chickens aren’t as loving as this, at least not during this time of year. We have six hens and a rooster. We usually keep them separated, but we wanted the possibility of more hens this year, meaning more eggs.” Harlow chatted with Remy as she took out a bag of crisps, opened them, and fed a few to the goats. “Eggs and milk are very good staples. I’m sorry that I don’t currently have any other supplies to offer besides the milk.” Remy apologized, huddling in close to Harlow and the goats. Others were starting to gather now, bringing blankets and coats to the fire. Vanessa was putting extra layers on Adrianna before she took hands with an elderly gentleman and they too took a seat by the fire. “Supplies are no matter. We had a good hunt yesterday and have plenty to share for the time being. You may be down two but you’ve still got some strong people. I assume Adrianna is a fighter alongside you and Oscar?” Harlow was trying to figure out the dynamic. “Yes. It was me, Oscar, Adrianna, and Ottis. Ottis was carried off tonight along with Cameron who was one of our elderly. That just leaves me, Oscar, Vanessa, William, Adrianna if she lives, Miss Sarah over there, her father Peter, and our youngest, Carl. Our numbers are dwindling again.” Remy counted everyone off and then cast his eyes to the fire in discouragement. “We’re going to figure out a way to stop that from happening here on out. I say that you let me take Sarah, Carl, and Peter to the church in the morning, you and Oscar can stay behind with the others. I can turn around with the cart and be back here to get the rest well before the Golden Hour. If I have to, I’ll bring someone back with me so I’m not alone.” Harlow was already calculating what they were doing from here on out. “You can’t be the only fighter in the group; that’s not safe. Makes more sense for me or Oscar to go and you stay here.” Remy started to argue. “But they know me. We can give Carl a gun and I’ll have his back. Sarah is young too and her father seems like he’s fit. If we go at the right time, it won’t matter.” Harlow had already made a decision. “Fine. Might as well let them know now that you’re getting them up at the crack of dawn to leave. I’ll stay behind, but I won’t like it. I may send you with a gun too.” Remy clearly didn’t like what she had to say. “Remy, I made it all the way down here alone without a problem. I know there will be more of us this time, but I’ll probably just sneak them through the Labyrinth.” Harlow knew she had it handled. “The what? What maze?” Remy scoffed, huddling closer to Harlow. She sighed, “The sewers, mate. Vampires hate it because of the smell. We use it a lot when we can. There’s almost a straight shot from here to the church. Only a few turns and we are there. I’ll be fine.” Harlow assured him with a nudge to the shoulder. He settled in that she would indeed be fine before the two decided to announce to the others what they had planned. The rest of the night was spent on snacks and snoring in front of the fire, but Harlow stayed awake, periodically checking on Adrianna. She had no idea that Remy too still hadn’t slept a wink and was keeping an eye on her the whole time. He was so thankful that she showed up when she did but wasn’t sure how to express his gratitude. He would find a way somehow, however. Harlow was late to the return and had everyone in a panic wondering where she had gotten off to. After some mild scolding from Rogue and Niridia, she washed up for dinner and it wasn’t until she got back down to the sanctuary and saw everyone lined up in pews instead of at tables, that she remembered she had called a meeting. “Shit, shit, shit.” She cursed at herself as she climbed atop the pulpit to address everyone. She didn’t have time to plan a speech, so she was just going to have to wing it. “I can see all your nervous faces, but let me assure you that nothing is wrong, at least not anything for you to worry like this about,” Harlow began, “But there are some things we need to discuss. I understand that there was a vote taken earlier on whether or not to bury Robin and Shane here in the graveyard, but I was not here to cast my vote and I have some things to say.” These comments didn’t put the people at ease and they began to shift uncomfortably in their pews as they listened. “We have all risked a lot here lately and sadly we lost two good men for a stupid reason the other night. A lot of you voted that they not be buried on hallowed ground due to being turned, but you don’t know the entire story. We didn’t want to cause more tension, but we didn’t find both men deceased. Shane was still alive, or undead, and I had to stake him.” Harlow just came out and said it. A lot of folks were taken aback at first, curiously looking at one another for how to react. After some consideration and quieting, Harlow went on. “Please, just listen to me. I had to end a man’s life, a man who didn’t choose to become vampire in the first place! I had to kill him because if he ever stabilized, he’d know where we were and there is a chance that we are more indefensible here than once thought. Am I not allowed to stay here then? I made a choice in what I did, unlike them.” Harlow was trying to make a point. The congregation debated with one another, Harlow waiting patiently till they finished and one spoke for the whole. “You did what you did to protect us. You’re the reason we all have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. We would never make you leave.” “Precisely. To protect you. Don’t you think they would have done the same for us as humans? Hadn’t they already? Robin was our best shot with a rifle and Shane killed more vampires than any of us. They deserve peace, in consecrated ground, something I couldn’t give them in their last moments. Treat them with the same respect as you give me.” Harlow made one final plea, hoping to be understood. More debating amongst the congregation as heads nodded and eyes flitted to Harlow more times than she could count. Finally, Rogue piped up. “I say we take another vote, especially since Harlow wasn’t able to cast hers earlier. I’ll pass around the basket. Blue pebbles for letting them be buried here at the church, red pebbles for the alternative.” Rogue started at the front row with the basket and passed it around as congregation members discreetly placed their chosen colored pebble into the basket before handing it to the next in line. Harlow was the last to cast her vote, and unsurprisingly she chose the blue pebble. “While Rogue and Niridia tally these up, I have something else of import to discuss. During my run this evening, I met a man who comes from a group of no more than ten down on the east end. They’re struggling to find supplies and keep themselves fortified and I suggested to him that they come and stay with us. He, in turn, asked if he alone could come and give the place a look, meet some of us, and then discuss having his people come for a visit. With the supplies we found today, we can afford having a few more mouths to feed, especially with the hunting party going out at dawn. You all can meet him and then t he others at a later date and we can take a vote prior to see if they are a fit with us here. And with that, I bid you all good evening.” Harlow finished with her spontaneous speech and excused herself from the pulpit as Rogue took her place. “Votes have been cast and tallied. It was twenty to thirteen in favor of letting Shane and Robin be buried here in the graveyard. Funeral arrangements will be made in the morning and we will need volunteers to dig graves. Please, come see me or Niridia if you’d like to help.” Harlow suddenly felt exhausted as she watched everyone get up from the pews, conversing with one another as if it was just any old day. They had done a good job keeping everyone protected from what the outside world had turned into, but they had no idea how difficult it was really getting. She shouldn’t have been inviting in more mouths to feed and bodies to bathe, but she couldn’t in good conscious leave them out there in the east end to die. It would go against every reason she had decided to do what she was doing in the first place. “You did it, Harley. You swayed just enough in their favor. But some are not happy about the new decision, which is to be expected. We just need to keep our guard up.” Rogue came up behind Harlow and whispered in her ear. Harlow just nodded silently, letting herself slip away to her room before anyone decided to talk to her about the change in their deceased congregant’s fate. (*) Harlow woke up early enough to leave with the hunting party and split from the pack for the general store. She left a little note on the front counter for Remy and grabbed a few more supplies before she rejoined the party, helped bag a deer, and made it back to the church before breakfast. She then spent the rest of the day cleaning up the sanctuary, changed the menu for the evening meal, gathered blankets and amenities for Remy’s stay, and bathed in reheated bathwater, giving her long curly hair a good scrub. They had company coming and she wanted to be both hospitable and charming. They had nothing to prove to these people, but she wanted them to feel welcomed. The Second Golden hour came and went, the night darkening considerably in just a short span due to the time of year. It was now dangerous to be out there alone. Food would be brought out soon, but Harlow had to sit in her perch and wait. She had instructed Remy to come to the basement door and toss a pebble up to the tower window. She’d keep an ear out and then let him in once she heard the makeshift ‘knock’. But it was now an hour past when she would have expected him, and there had been no sign. She hoped that nothing had happened to him and that at the very least, he just decided he didn’t want to have anything to do with her and their church. Harlow had just placed a bookmark in the book she was reading and rose from her seated position by the window when she thought she heard a tap, but wasn’t too sure. It was a windy night and could have been anything. But then she heard it again, a little louder, a little heavier. She raced over to the window and opened it up, sticking her head out to peer down at the ground. “You gonna let me in? It’s incredibly cold out here and I’m practically a sitting duck.” Remy hissed up at her. He stood there just outside the door, looking up at Harlow with his hand on his hat so it didn’t blow away in the wind. Harlow held up a finger and stepped away from the window, shutting it quietly. She then bustled down several flights of stairs and breezed past Rogue and Niridia to the basement, down the long hall, and to the door at the end. A deep breath and one last fix of herself before Harlow opened the door to find Remy standing there, a paper bag in his hand and a scarf over his nose. “I’m so sorry. Quick, get in before you catch a cold.” Harlow didn’t think before she took Remy by the hand and pulled him through the door, locking it behind her when she was finished. “No, worries, mon cher. I was more concerned about being eaten alive than freezing to death.” Remy remarked with a chuckle as he unwound the scarf from his face and took off his coat. “It’s generally not too bad around here this time of night, but things are changing; you never know.” Harlow replied, offering to take his coat and scarf as he followed her down the hall. “Ah, these are from Vanessa and her husband William. When I told her about what I was planning on doing, she insisted I take these to you as a gift.” Remy conversed, holding up the brown paper bag. “How incredibly sweet of them. Let me just hang your coat and scarf up and then I can give you a small tour? You just missed dinner, but I haven’t eaten myself and I’m sure there are leftovers.” Harlow chatted absentmindedly, going through her practiced conversational responses and social protocol in her head as she did. “I would love dinner and a tour. I haven’t eaten anything since last night.” Remy returned, hanging his hat over his scarf and coat. Now that Harlow could see him better in the light of the chapel, she noticed that he had rich, dark chestnut hair that desperately needed a trim, the ends curling around his ears and hanging just at his eyes. He was heavily stubbled, especially around his mouth and chin, his lips pink and chapped from the cold hiding under the rough facial hair. His eyes had Harlow at a loss for words as he smiled at her, waiting for her to lead him. They were like stained glass, different hues of green, grey, and blue gleaming back at her. “Oh, uh—good. I mean, not good that you haven’t eaten since last night, but good that I can feed you.” Harlow tried to correct herself externally as she chastised herself within. She led Remy to the kitchen where they found Rogue and Niridia cleaning up after dinner. “Harlow, love, there’s two plates for you on the stove. I made sure to make them up before everyone else got theirs.” Rogue pointed out the food on the stovetop. “Thank you, my dear. Remy, these are practically my sisters, Rogue and Niridia. They are the reason we even got this place together like we did.” Harlow introduced the three to one another. “I’d shake your hand, but I’m all covered in suds. Real nice to meet you, Remy. Maybe we can all dip into that communion wine later and get to know one another.” Rogue greeted him before she went back to scrubbing crumbs and sauce from plates. “I second that notion on both counts. Pleasure to meet you and let’s take communion together later and get knackered.” Niridia giggled as she dried off the plate that Rogue had handed her. “Sounds like a good night to me.” Remy responded with a slight smile before Harlow led him to the dinner plates and took him to what had been the chapel priest’s office to eat. Dinner consisted of stew, soda bread, and a piece of simple lemon cake. The meal was mostly quiet as the two focused on getting their sustenance instead of chatting, but the silence wasn’t necessarily awkward. Finally, Harlow took it upon herself to speak. “So, first impressions?” Remy finished his last bite of cake before he sat back in his chair and looked back at Harlow with an unreadable expression, although it appeared to be disgruntled. “Honestly? I didn’t expect it to be this nice and well put together. No offense or anything, but you just don’t see this sort of thing anymore. How many do you all have here?” Remy replied curiously. “Thirty three adults including myself, and six children, all under the age of twelve, but over two.” Harlow returned, taking Remy’s plate and stacking it on top of her own. “So, if you were to take me and the others in, that would bring the grand total to fifty people. Can you handle that many bodies here? Feed that many mouths? I don’t want to complicate things for you.” Remy sounded hesitant as he rose from his chair and followed Harlow back to the kitchen. “How many of your people are able bodied?” She asked, placing the dishes in the dirty sink water before she grabbed a rag. “Six, maybe seven. The rest are too elderly to be of much physical assistance.” Remy informed her. “Over half; that’s good. And we have a few that are no longer able to do physical work or have never been able, but we take care of them regardless. They have other skills to offer in return. We can make this work…if you decide to stay. Let’s give you a tour and introduce you to a few more people before we get ahead of ourselves.” Harlow responded like a good leader, but secretly she really wanted them to stay. When she finished doing the dishes, she gave Remy the full tour of the cathedral, even the basement, and was able to catch a few people who were still milling about and let them meet the man that may be moving in. When they were finished there, Rogue found them heading down a back hall and called them up the stairs into the choir loft where Niridia was waiting. “Everyone is going to bed soon so I figured I’d sneak us up some communion wine, an oil lamp, and a pack of cigarettes to take the edge off.” Rogue was hunkered down behind the barrier that surrounded the choir loft, passing out tea cups to all in attendance. “Why does this bring back memories?” Remy chuckled as he held out his tea cup for the red wine. “We can’t smoke in here, Rogue.” Harlow hissed, laying out flat on her stomach so no one could potentially see the top of her head from below. “Eh, and why the hell not? We’re in the loft, the ceiling has broken stained glass for ventilation, and there are no rules anymore.” Rogue rolled her eyes as she popped to her knees, checked over the railing, and sat back down. “Not a soul in sight,” Rogue checked her watch, “And it’s ten o’clock, all are in bed.” She poured herself some wine and downed it in one go. Niridia sighed, lighting up a cigarette, “This is nice.” “So, Remy. You French?” Rogue asked, pinching the cigarette from Niridia when she passed it. “Oui. I’m from Poitiers. Moved to London about fifteen years ago and haven’t been home since.” Remy responded, taking the cigarette as it was passed around. “Why’d you move here?” Harlow asked curiously. “Work. I needed to make money and I was told London was the place to be. I had nothing but a sack on my back and a few francs in my pocket before I took a boat over. Left everything behind for a fresh start. Makes me wonder what home is like now considering.” Remy exhaled through his nose before he took a gulp of wine. “I’m from here, Niridia too. Dunno where Harlow is from, though. Not-a-clue.” Rogue was clearly already feeling the communion wine. “Really? You don’t know where you are from?” Remy seemed surprised and suddenly Harlow was put on the spot. She was going to have to explain before she was ready to. “No. Like Rogue said, not a clue. I ended up in an orphanage when I was three, I believe. It was here in London and that’s how I met Rogue when I was six and Nirida right before I turned seventeen. We’ve stuck together ever since. I never knew my parents.” Harlow gave the short of it. “In that sense, you are lucky. Sadly, I knew my parents and I wish I hadn’t. But it doesn’t matter where we’ve come from, only where we’re going and how we’re going about getting there.” Remy held his glass up as a sort of toast and the others followed. “My parents were terrible people. Put me in a home when I was fourteen because father caught me kissing boys. Worried I was a fairy, but never thought that his son was actually his daughter. Goes against God either way, I guess.” Niridia revealed information that surprised Harlow. It was something she rarely talked about within mixed company. “Who gives a fuck what God thinks? We are who we are regardless of what that violently jealous dick in the sky says. Religion complicates who we are as humans and makes a mess of it. It’s disappointing.” Remy ranted briefly before downing a whole glass of wine. “I’ll drink to that.” Niridia laughed, nudging Remy with her elbow. “I was one too many mouths to feed. The last of ten children in a Catholic household. Gave me to the church at two and found no home, eventually ending up in an orphanage when I was seven. That’s when I met the love of my life, Harlow. Unlike Niridia here, I am a fairy, but I know that our love is never meant to be.” Rogue whined, rolling over so that her head was in Harlow’s lap. “But I still love you, Rogue. Just not the way you want me to.” Harlow reminded her. “I’ll take your love whatever way I can get it, Harley. Just don’t ever leave me because if it wasn’t for you, we’d never have this fine holy wine. You always find the best stuff.” Rogue chuckled, wrapping her long arms around Harlow’s knees. All four laughed in return, finishing off the last of two bottles of wine that Rogue had brought. It was getting late. “Alright, time for bed. At least for me, anyway. Remy, you can stay with these fine ladies if you’d like, but I was going to show you where you can sleep tonight.” Harlow stood abruptly, Rogue rolling off her knees into Niridia. “Well, ladies, as much as I’d like to stay and party, I think I am going to retire for the evening. But thank you so much for the wine and cigarettes, as well as the laughs.” Remy politely excused himself as he followed Harlow from the choir loft. (*) “In all my preparations for you coming here tonight, sleeping arrangements was something I did not nail down. But, I have a larger space than most, in a sense, so you can either take the attic or the bell tower.” Harlow rambled as she and Remy climbed the stairs to the church attic. “You’ll find that I’m easy to please, Harlow. As long as I am dry and warm, I don’t care where I sleep.” Remy replied, stooping into the attic behind her. “The ceiling is low in here, but it’s probably warmer down here than up there,” Harlow pointed up at the hatch above her head. “I’ll take the bell tower, mon cher. Too cold for you up there.” Remy insisted. “But you’re my guest. At least take extra blankets. The walls will save you from the wind, but it’s still quite cold.” Harlow went to hand him a pile of wool blankets when she hesitated, his hands already on the cloth. “You know, what if you just slept in here with me? I don’t want you to freeze to death up there. You may have to hunch over to walk around, but it’s much warmer.” She reconsidered. “Will that make you uncomfortable? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” Remy had taken the blankets anyway, ready to go where he was told. “No, not at all.” Harlow spoke without thinking again, but she’d rather things be slightly awkward instead of Remy turning into an ice block. “Alright, then. I’m going to go have a smoke up in the tower. You can come with if you want.” Remy gave her an invitation. She hesitated, unsure if she wanted to be alone in the tower with a man she hardly knew, but he was going to be sleeping in the attic with her, so she decided to accept his invite. “Sure. I wanted to check the stars anyway.” Harlow gave in, putting her coat back on as she hung from the rung on the ladder. “It’s really beautiful up here. You can see all the stars in the sky and all the shit on the ground.” Remy leaned against the stone turret, looking out on the city as he puffed on a cigarette. “It’s my solace. The only truly quiet place around here.” Harlow added, a cigarette dangling from her fingers. Remy exhaled a cloud of smoke before stooping down next to Harlow, “I can see that. I don’t get much time alone so this is quite enjoyable.” “What do you think? Would you move yourself and everyone else here if we asked?” Harlow felt like his statement was her cue to talk again about the possibility of taking them in. Remy looked down at her from his crouched position before settling up against the wall, his gaze never leaving her. “I think I would say yes, but I won’t know about the others until I bring them here. Although, I suspect they are ready to leave the east end for greener pastures.” Remy answered her. He was still staring at Harlow, his gaze narrowed on her body and then up to her face. She tried to pretend like she didn’t notice, but he was fairly obvious. “Well, I still have to discuss things with Rogue, Niridia, and the others, but I think we would be happy to have you all.” Harlow continued to be stiff and formal. “You know you don’t have to be like this with me. I’m not somebody that needs to be impressed or convinced. Your gesture is very kind and I hope that we can make it work, for the sake of everyone else at the least. But is it what you want? Are you prepared to take on more people?” Remy leaned into Harlow slightly, lighting another cigarette. “I do want it or I wouldn’t have offered. It’s why we started what we did here in the first place; to help others. We know what it’s like to not have anything or anyone. We will make it work.” Harlow was speaking the truth, but she had gone on auto-pilot. The pressure of Remy’s body on hers had her distracted. “Good, because I’d love to get to know you better.” Remy’s words poured from his lips seductively…at least that’s how Harlow took it. “I’m sure you would,” Harlow narrowed her eyes at Remy, “I mean, I think I know what you’re insinuating.” Harlow quickly regretted her assumption. “That’s not what I meant, mon ami. I mean, not unless you are interested.” Remy practically whispered, his elbow resting on her thigh. “No, I thought—I just thought that’s what you were hinting at.” Harlow was embarrassed. “Ooo, belle. If I wanted to fuck you, I’d come out and say it. Not that I don’t want to fuck you, because—,” Remy whistled, “You are a sight for sore, lonely eyes. But I need a friend right now more than anything.” Harlow laughed nervously, “I feel like such an idiot for assuming. I don’t know how to act around people anymore and I can’t read social cues or body language apparently. I’m so sorry.” “Douce, douce, Harlow. Like I said, if I was trying to seduce you, none of that would matter. I’m not subtle.” Remy chuckled, running a thumb across Harlow’s cheek. She wanted to jump out of her skin, but at the same time she wanted to—jump on Remy. “Ok now. But that was sort of subtle and it still seemed like you were coming on to me. Don’t mess with me, Remy.” Harlow leaned away from the man, thumb to her teeth as she spun through all the scenarios that could transpire from there on out. “What I’m saying is that I am not trying to sleep with you…but I am very unsure about your body language and if you’re uh, interested or not.” Remy now looked thoroughly confused. Harlow wanted so badly to be invisible in that moment, but she had to stay present so she replied, “It—it’s complicated? I’m not saying I am interested…but I’m not saying I’m not either.” Harlow sighed loudly, “If it were any other circumstances that maybe I would—” She couldn’t make it come out of her mouth where it made sense, but Remy was reading things a certain way. He leaned in and nuzzled her ear with his nose, his hand finding hers on the stone floor, their fingers now laced together. “Meaning that because we are in the apocalypse, you can’t enjoy yourself? I’m not trying to convince you, but this is turning into us running in circles. What I’m saying is that if you are open to something, I won’t say no.” Remy’s voice was husky as his lips grazed the side of Harlow’s face. She felt so conflicted. It had been quite some time since she had done anything of the sort and the opportunity came out of nowhere, but that wasn’t what this was supposed to be about. “No. No, I’m sorry. We barely know one another and that’s not what I am feeling at the moment. But I understand what it’s like to feel lonely.” Harlow tried to soften the rejection with a mutual emotion. “Even with people, it’s lonely.” Remy stopped flirting and settled against the wall, staring up at the stars. “I know. I could be in a room full of people and still feel like there’s no one else around. I know there are people I can lean on, but sometimes it’s as if they aren’t even here. It’s such a strange feeling, an almost permanent ache that feels like it’ll last forever.” Harlow added, settling back in next to Remy. Remy knew what she was talking about all too well, but he knew that a lot of times he did it to himself. Brief fractionated pieces of feeling whole amidst anonymous sex and alcohol. “It makes you feel almost hollow. And eventually it becomes so overwhelming, you forget how to relate intimately. Everything I do feels robotic, now.” Remy went on, lighting his third cigarette. Harlow took one too and leaned into him so he could light it for her. “And our sole focus becomes not dying and not letting others die around you. It’s the only emotion sometimes.” Harlow chimed in. “Well, it seems like we have something in common. Good first step to not being lonely, I’d say.” Remy responded, relaxing into Harlow. Her initial reaction was to tense up, but she let herself relax as he did and settled into him. “Friends? I think we’d make a good pair.” Harlow held her hand up for Remy to shake. “Mon cher, in France we kiss on it.” Remy chuckled. He took the side of her face with his weathered palm and leaned in, kissing just at the corners of her mouth. He smelled like wine, sweet tobacco, and wintered musk. It was a decidedly comforting scent. Remy lingered at her mouth for a moment, wanting badly to kiss her, but he didn’t want to spoil the moment of connection they were having. Little did he know, that him being this close to Harlow was making her have the same thoughts. They could both feel the tension in the icy air. “You said in France you kiss on it?” Harlow whispered into the quiet. “Oui.” Remy smiled, his breath warm on her skin. Just because they were in the apocalypse, didn’t mean they couldn’t enjoy themselves a little. “Then maybe we should really kiss on it.” Harlow placed her forehead to Remy’s, her lips poised over his with soft breath. “Oh, mon cher. You don’t want me to do that. Talk about complicated.” Remy denied her, but his lips moved over hers in such a way when he spoke that it had Harlow shuddering, and not from the cold. Two could play at this game. “You’re probably right,” Harlow slowly pulled away, letting her hand linger in his, “Especially, if you’re moving in. Can’t have things getting awkward on us. We need to focus on survival and not carnal desires.” Harlow pushed up from the ground, stretching with a heady sigh before she walked over to the ladder and descended it so he couldn’t tease her some more. Remy gave it a minute, taking the last drag from his smoke, before he followed her down into the attic. He found her sitting atop a pallet of blankets on the floor by a small window, the brown paper bag he had brought her in her lap. She had pulled out the little cookie tin and opened it to find brown paper wrapped shortbread biscuits. “Did she—did she make these? Where did she get the butter? The oven?” Harlow was amazed at how beautiful these shortbreads looked. “We have a couple goats surprisingly and Will helped Vanessa build an improvised oven so we could bake bread when we had the supplies. They were farmers before this and here on holiday when the sky went red. They got stuck and couldn’t make it out; ended up having to stay permanently because there was no way they could travel that far on foot. They’re getting up in age.” Remy explained, watching Harlow break a piece off of the shortbread to test it. “This is amazing. I don’t think I have ever had shortbread this good. Such a sweet, wholesome gesture.” Harlow was practically teary eyed as she folded the biscuits back up in their tin and put them away. “Vanessa and Will are good people. I think everyone in our group is good people. Haven’t had any real issues between anyone; no arguments besides when things get to be just too much to handle for some. I really think you’ll like them.” Remy assured her. “If what you say is true, I think I will too.” Harlow stood from her pallet and gathered some blankets, “But now we sleep. Are you leaving at the first Golden Hour?” “Is that what you call the miniscule breaks from darkness we get at dawn and twilight?” Remy asked, taking a seat in the pile of blankets Harlow had set out for him. “Yes. We try to do as much as we can in those hours. Things are just slightly safer then.” Harlow stepped behind a room divider and emerged barefoot in a man’s oversized button up shirt. “We noticed that too. I may stay till the evening hour, if that’s alright with you. Get the full twenty-four hour experience before I report back.” Remy winked at her as he took his boots off and settled back into the blankets. “Stay as long as you’d like. We have breakfast after what would normally be sunrise and then maybe you can help me feed the chickens and tell me about your goats.” Harlow yawned, flopping back on her sleeping pad. She hadn’t realized how utterly exhausted she was. “I’d like that. Goats are phenomenal livestock to have, by the way.” Remy yawned in response, nestling in to the soft, clean blankets that Harlow had given him. “Goats and chickens tomorrow, then.” Harlow murmured sleepily as she put out the kerosene lamp next to where she slept. Remy grunted, “Oui. Goats and chickens.” And the two were asleep before they had a chance to say another word. "What did you get into last night?” Rogue asked, sitting across from Harlow at the lunch table. Niridia had just taken a seat herself and joined the conversation.
“Some star gazing and eventually sleep.” Harlow bit the inside of her cheek after she replied. “Uh huh. Is that why I heard you climbing the back stairs at almost four in the morning?” Rogue shot up a questioning brow. Harlow made a face that expressed she knew she’d been caught, so she didn’t try to deny it, “I went for a walk.” Well, almost didn’t try to deny it. “Is that why your dirty laundry smells of fresh blood? And your face! Did you even take a look in the mirror before you came down to eat?” Rogue practically stood from the bench she was perched on but Niridia calmed her down. Harlow’s hand shot to her face where she could feel the skin starting to bruise. She hadn’t made it out of her scuffle without a few dings and scratches. “I went for a walk and got into a couple fights, but I’m fine. Clearly, I was the victor.” Harlow boasted, but now wasn’t the time to brag. “Ya’ gonna get yourself killed, Harley. There’s a reason we don’t go out alone like that and without telling anyone! Are we going to have to revoke your key privileges? Because I know you won’t leave unless you can lock a door behind you.” Niridia chastised her. “Really? You’re not taking my key, ok? Technically I went looking for trouble because I needed to blow off steam. I knew what I was doing and I had protection. I just kept thinking about all these feral New Borns and when I saw this vampire couple just strolling down the street, I followed them and a series of events caused me to get a little banged up, but I’m fine.” Harlow let herself be a little more honest. Rogue heaved a heavy sigh, “I mean, you’ve always been a bit impulsive so I don’t know what I expected. At least let someone know next time? Leave a note or something so we know where to find your body later.” Harlow gave an amused grin and rolled her eyes, “Yes, ma’am. I’ll make sure to draw up a will too, just in case.” “Good,” Niridia chimed in, “Because I already have a lot of shit to do around here and I don’t need to be worrying about where you are. We’ve come too far to lose you to some stupid impulse. Do better.” “Yes, yes, ok! I’ll do better; I promise. I got carried away and forgot that I’m an adult with responsibilities in a post human-run world. I know the rules and all that, I just made a mistake. Can we move on? What happened with the party last night?” Harlow changed the subject. “Nothing. We sent out a scout, but something had gotten to our supplies before we had a chance to retrieve them. Looks like vampire because things weren’t taken, they were destroyed and scattered all over.” Rogue seemed more than mildly displeased as she stood with her plate and the others followed her to the kitchen. “Fuck. We really needed that stuff and there was so much of it. We’re going to have to widen our scope. How about Shane and Robin? Did they make a decision about burial?” Harlow needed them to fill her in on things she may have missed while she overslept. Niridia made a weird face as she glanced at Rogue, “Well, the morning meeting decided that we just burn the bodies or bury them elsewhere. No risk of anything.” “What? Not bury them here within the church’s graveyard? They’re dead…like, dead dead. There’s no coming back for them—besides, it would make more sense to bury them on consecrated ground to really risk nothing.” Harlow didn’t like this decision. Rogue cleared her throat before she took over the conversation, “Yeah, but that’s one of the biggest issues. A lot of these people are devoutly religious, Harlow; you know that. Vampires are an abomination and do not deserve to be buried in hallowed soil.” Harlow made an exasperated sound as she started to scrub dishes in the sink, “I don’t care what they are. Enjoy your faith, but not at the expense of others. We know what happened, or at least we think we do. Shane had no choice; he didn’t ask for this. Sure, it happened because he was being stupid, but he didn’t automatically become a bad person when he transformed.” “But they kind of do, love. They become someone else, something else, and especially now with how crazy everything has become with these crazy New Borns stalking around.” Niridia had a solid point. “Wait, Shane gets cremated then because he was a vampire, but Robin was a victim. Why can’t he be buried here?” Harlow tried to fight the result, if even for just one of them. “Because,” Rogue started, “It looks like Robin too had been turned, but I don’t think Shane gave him a chance. We had Lark examine the body and it was practically devoid of blood. Looks like Robin did fight back, but he wasn’t strong enough.” Harlow hadn’t known any of this. “So, we tell the congregation these details, but not that I was the one to kill Shane because you didn’t want to rile everyone up with how devastating the outcome could be in this weather? How many people voted to not let them be buried here?” Harlow was angry as she clanged plates together, accidentally breaking one in her agitation. “Among thirty two of us, not including children, it was seventeen to fifteen against letting them be buried here. They were the first of us to be actually turned and this just hasn’t come up before.” Niridia gave her the news. “See? A close vote, meaning we are a house divided and this could potentially cause a lot of problems for us. I need to tell them. I just need to tell them that it was me who killed Shane, explain my reasoning why, and ask them to reconsider their burial, especially due to the circumstances. They may have been idiots in some regards, but they were our friends and I don’t know if souls exist, but they deserve to be blessed and consecrated more than anyone.” Harlow defended them, letting Rogue take over dish duty because she wasn’t doing much but smudging the plates. “You’re pretty much in charge, Harlow, and can do whatever you want. Call an evening meeting after Golden Hour and do what you need to do. We’ll back you the whole way.” Niridia was on board. “What she said. You’re right; we do have a house divided and we need it to sway in the favor of the people as a whole and not with some religious reason. Call a meeting; we’ll vouch for you.” Rogue agreed. “Alright. I’ll call a meeting and we will get this settled. Meanwhile, I’m going to make myself useful and go take inventory before the Golden Hour run.” Harlow dried her hands of dishwater as she spoke. “Who you partnered with tonight?” Niridia asked, concern already clear on her face. “I don’t know, but I’m fine. Stop worrying about me and worry about your duties before I run off out of spite.” Harlow joked and the other two just sighed as she sidled off to the basement to check their reserves. (*) They had more food than they thought. Harlow found eight extra bags of roughly milled flour, five boxes filled with jars of dried beans, a stock pile of seeds for the spring, and sealed jars of hog’s lard. But they still needed more staples, and a water run, if they were going to make it through the icy cold winter into the spring…if there was a spring at all. When she got ready for the run at twilight, she discovered that they were an odd number and instead of creating a party of three, she insisted she go on alone and would find them if she discovered anything of use. Everyone went their separate ways and Harlow headed out a few streets down from her last run and continued to look through the cellars and pantries of some of the richer houses on the block. She was able to find a fully stocked cellar in one that also had a pantry full of canned goods, bags of rice, and more flour. If it came down to it, they had enough flour to uncomfortably live on hardtack. As she was coming out of the house and heading down the street to take the back way to the church, a shadowed figure in a nearby alley caught her attention, causing her to palm the stake at her waist. It scurried off when it seemed to notice that she had seen it, but she kept on her guard, wondering if it was following her. Harlow kept a steady pace for a few more blocks before she noticed something moving to her right on top of an awning to a butcher shop. Something was indeed following her and she had to be prepared for a strike. Now she was seeing it every so often on either side of her, wondering if that meant there were more of them, so she casually picked up the pace, pulling her stake free from her belt. An attack was eminent and now she was having second thoughts about going at it alone. She was coming close to her turn, though, and she wondered if she could sneak into it and hide on the fire escape till things passed by. But a figure appeared in the middle of the darkening road in front of her before she had a chance to make a decision. “You.” Harlow rumbled. “Hallo to you too.” Grimm replied, watching Harlow take an immediate defensive stance, showing that she had a weapon and would defend herself. “What do you want?” Harlow held the stake up as she demanded an answer. “I told you that it wasn’t safe for you out here. You’re lucky it was just me that saw you enter that house. You did a pretty good job of staying low, but you have a very distinct scent that lingers on you and I just happened to notice it passing by.” Grimm took a few steps forward and Harlow’s body tensed up. “What scent? Maybe I need to bathe more or something.” Harlow muttered, lifting her arm to take a sniff. Grimm chuckled in amusement, “No, no. You don’t stink. Of all the humans I’ve met here lately, you’re by far the best smelling. You, yourself, have a unique scent, though; all humans do. Vampires can sense them and use it almost like a name, an identifier for certain people. We don’t just kill everything, but there are certain individuals we are fond of feeding on and that’s how we find them. Most are a mixture of musk and what they eat, with a specific spice of individual pheromone. You’re very warm, floral, rich and deep like the best resins from the Middle East. But there is this note…this undertone in your scent that—that frightens me. I can’t describe it really, but I can say that it’s dark like the ripest plum and alluring like bare skin beaded with sweat brought on by passion, the smell of arousal, and bliss of a peaceful death. Yet…you know that if you follow it, it will be your end. That scent, that perfumed aroma of sweet release is violently deadly and should not be approached.” Grimm was virtually poetic with his words as he took a few more steps towards Harlow. “That was a lovely piece, but I need to be going now. I have places to be and mouths to feed.” Harlow was less than polite. “And vampires to frustrate.” Grimm was closing the gap between them and was mere feet from Harlow and she hadn’t even noticed. “Are you stalking me, blood drinker? Because it won’t end well for you.” Harlow threatened him. “Just following you to my death.” Grimm smiled, running his finger down the length of the stake that Harlow had gripped tightly in her hand. “I don’t need you becoming a problem for me.” Harlow was bold as she brushed past the vampire and walked beyond her turn; she was going to have to take a different way. “Sadly, you’re already a problem for a lot of us.” Grimm didn’t choose his words carefully and had Harlow on him, the stake pressed to his sternum. “I will stake you where you stand, vampire. I’m not afraid of you or any of your friends. I don’t care how long they’ve been alive or how powerful they are; I’m not fucking afraid.” Harlow was mere inches from Grimm as she jabbed him softly with her stake. “I know you’re not and it makes me want to follow you even more. Just heed what I said, love, and take your ass back home. It’s not safe for you out here, even more so for you over the others. Get home and stay inside; send someone else out to find supplies.” Grim wrapped up this interaction and was gone in a plume of black smoke. And Harlow was alone again on the street. By this point she had missed her turn by many streets and was in an area that they didn’t usually frequent. It was a place that was generally infested by vampires and agitated New Borns, but for some reason it was empty and dead ahead was a general store that she remembered carried some of her favorite sweets and other useful nonsense. She wondered if it had been stripped bare yet. Instead of turning around to go back to St. Andrews, Harlow rushed towards the general store to potentially stock up on some niceties. It was empty, as far as breathing things go, but it looked like no one had been in the place since the sun disappeared. There was a whole stock of cigarettes behind the counter, rows of candies and packaged baked goods, soda pop on the shelves, dried meats; it was virtually untouched and just waiting for her. Harlow rifled behind the counter and found a stack of paper bags before she began stuffing it with all the snacks she could. She even found the pharmacy section and stocked up on medicines and first aid supplies. Harlow got down on the floor between aisles while she stuffed paper bags full and hadn’t heard that someone else had entered the store, just as quietly as she had done herself. It wasn’t till she popped up over a shelf, a bottle of cough medicine in hand, that she saw she had a shopping companion. It was a man, armed with a gun and a knapsack. He saw her and immediately aimed his gun in her direction, narrowing his eyes at her in the dark. “D—don’t shoot. I’m armed, but not against humans.” Harlow stuffed the medicine in her blouse and raised her hands up to show she wasn’t holding anything. “Carefully come round those shelves so I can see you.” The man finally demanded in a fairly heavy French accent. Harlow did as she was told, keeping her hands up as she rounded the shelf and came to stand in front of the register. “I’m just looking for supplies; no need to shoot me.” Harlow wasn’t sure the mental state of this man, but decided to keep it calm and cool. “I don’t want any trouble. Just doing the same.” He finally replied in a husky tone. “Good. Can I put my hands down then?” Harlow asked curiously. “Oh, yes. Your hands. Why don’t we—eh, why don’t we leave our weapons here on the counter as a sign of peace and get our shopping done without incident.” He made a suggestion that Harlow thought was agreeable. Harlow nodded silently and began to pull stakes from her belt and harness, her dagger, and even her silver chain; anything that she could potentially hurt someone with. The man did the same with his rifle, two side arms, and one whittled down chair leg. The two then went about with their shopping, Harlow going back to the pharmacy to get more medicine, but not hog everything. Then she got to thinking and there went her mouth, “You know, bullets don’t do much to them besides piss ‘em off.” “Oui,” The man agreed out of sight, “But not when those bullets are tipped in silver etched with a cross. I try to use them sparingly and thankfully we haven’t had to use much ammunition here lately.” Harlow hadn’t been expecting that as his answer. They hadn’t run into many outsiders on runs in a long time and those they came across weren’t usually fully informed about what had transpired within the world. This man seemed to be at least somewhat educated on their enemy’s vulnerabilities. “Smart. You make your own ammunition, I assume?” Harlow carried on. “Only when we can find the silver to melt down. Like your chain; where’d you get a silver chain that long?” He asked as Harlow came to check out the shelves nearest to where he was gathering supplies. “It’s multiple chains that I soldered together and then coated in silver. I raided a jewelry store not far from here and found most of the silver there.” Harlow explained, grabbing a few more chocolate bars off a nearby shelf. “Nothing like that in the east end; I may have to come up here and raid that store.” The man finally glanced over at Harlow as he stuffed his bag. She couldn’t see in the dark, but he appeared to be worn and dirty, exhausted from traveling. Harlow felt sorry for him and without thinking started to talk, “You live alone over there?” “Not alone. There are about ten of us; no children, but a few elderly. We’ve been hiding out in a bank the last couple months because it seems safer than where we were, but a lot of supplies in that area were picked clean early on. I made a solitary run to see what I could discover further out; we don’t really leave the safety of the bank much at this point due to the plague of psychopaths that are now running around the city.” He further divulged about himself. “We call them New Borns; freshly transformed. But this new batch we’ve encountered lately is much different and somehow more dangerous than the others. Two of my men were transformed a few nights ago and it wasn’t pretty. Things are rough right now, I understand.” She rambled, finding an urge to get to know this stranger. “In the beginning there were about twenty of us, but we dwindled down to as low as six at one point with how easy it is to get picked off if you aren’t prepared. Most of my people are too old, injured, or inept to fight so it was hard to keep people alive. That’s why we settled as best we could and no one leaves the safety of home. I make runs for food and supplies at least twice a week, sometimes with the help of one other who could at least shoot a gun if need be. Now winter is here and we aren’t close to ready for it. I worry we might lose some to the cold.” The man apparently felt comfortable talking to Harlow as he was blunt about his fears for the colder months. And Harlow in good conscious couldn’t let anyone die over the winter when they had an even safer space for them. “Why don’t you come stay with us? We have the room and the supplies. Just getting a few things here before I find the others out here with me so we can take provisions back from another location. There are only ten of you so I assume my friends wouldn’t mind adding a few more to our numbers. We try and take in people when we can.” Harlow extended the invitation. The man hesitated, still stuffing his bag with snacks as he eyed her. He appeared wary, but she didn’t blame him. “Would you mind if I came to check it out first before we make that decision? I appreciate the hospitality, but I am hesitant for reasons I am sure you understand.” He asked. “Of course you can. How about tomorrow night? That will give me a chance to talk with everyone on my end and you to discuss things on yours. The general store is about midway between the east end and the church we live in, so I’ll come leave a note here on the counter tomorrow morning’s Golden Hour letting you know the answer and giving you instructions to the church.” Harlow was sort of excited about the prospect of new people coming to stay with them, even if it was a heftier task than what they had planned for the winter. “Sounds like a good plan. I will leave the east end around the start of the evening light and check the correspondence. That’ll give me enough time to get back home if the answer is no.” The man finished packing his bag and hoisted it over his shoulder. “Then it’s set. We should be going now, however, because the Golden Hour has been over for at least forty-five minutes making it more dangerous for you and likely that I will be in trouble for not regrouping with the others. It was nice to meet you, eh—” Harlow had never gotten his name. “They call me Remy. And you are?” He finally gave his name and waited for Harlow’s in return. “Harlow. Hopefully, we will see each other tomorrow, Remy.” Harlow bid him goodnight before reaching into her bag and tossing him a handful of medicine just in case she didn’t see him again. Before he could really say anything, Harlow was off and rushing to regroup with the others. Photo by Ashish Kumar on Unsplash “Here’s the roster for the rescue and retrieval party. Everyone was told to be on high alert and go for supplies first, bodies after.” Rogue set down a piece of paper in front of Harlow. Harlow scanned the parchment and responded, “Good. I hate that we had to do what we did, but I don’t know what better decision could have been made. I’ve been honest and let the others in rank know of what transpired, but I plan on telling the rest of the congregation tonight. There is a possibility they will want to seek retribution for my actions and I may be voted to leave here.” Harlow had been thinking about what she’d done since they got back the night before, not sleeping a wink. “Maybe not. But why tell them? Why worry them with that? They came here for shelter, food, and safety. We can’t assure them that if they know that some of us slipped up and didn’t obey orders, thus resulting in transformation and later death. Justified death because of the circumstances. You were protecting me and technically he attacked first; it was self-defense completely. If we tell them, tell them when spring comes and things are easier, not now. We need you too much.” Rogue tried to talk some sense into her. Harlow considered it. She was on the fence about her actions, but was starting to lean more towards Rogue’s side. “I won’t tell them tonight then. But some may ask why Robin and Shane aren’t around. Do we lie about that? I feel like omitting information isn’t as dangerous as a downright lie. But it complicates things.” Harlow was mostly talking to herself, working through the situation. “No. We tell them the truth. They were attacked because they went further than instructed and it resulted in their death. Omit the details; not as dangerous.” Rogue had just the right solution. “Yeah, alright. I don’t feel great about this, but we need everyone to survive this winter.” Harlow settled in and finally agreed to the idea. “Good. I’m going to let the others know our plan of action on this issue and you just take it easy for the night. It’s supposed to be a clear one; maybe you can see some of those stars you love so much.” Rogue leaned over Harlow where she sat and planted a kiss on her forehead. Harlow chuckled wryly, “When have you ever known me to take it easy? But I just may climb up to the tippy top and look through the telescope anyway.” “Good. I don’t want to see you till the morning. Good night, Harley.” Rogue winked at Harlow and slipped out of her room. Harlow had the whole attic area to herself as it didn’t have the tallest of ceilings and was mostly full of dusty old icons, broken furniture, and a supply of communion wine that she had hidden away for a special occasion. Above her, however, was the bell tower and the perfect place to survey the land below and the sky above. She resigned to doing what Rogue playfully demanded she do, and climbed the ladder that led to the open air of the bell tower. It was dark most of the time now and the stars were the only solace to the loss of the sun. Even the moon could barely be seen behind the hazy red glow that now filled the sky for twenty-two hours a day. Most assumed that the apocalypse had befallen all and the red skies were a sign of the devil on earth, but if you used your brain, you knew it wasn’t that. At least not the devil and nothing to do with the Bible. It was magikal, however. At least that’s what Harlow, Rogue, and a few others believed. Before the sky turned red, they had known of them. It was an accident that they even encountered one and remembered, but that one happy accident led to a group of ruffians banding together to stop their genocide. They just didn’t know who they were stopping, exactly. They were called Vampyr, or Vampire alternatively, and were something that had been talked about in private for centuries, tons of lore compiled, but there really was no proof that they were actually a thing. Some claimed to have infiltrated nests and fought lords and barons in the ranks of the blood drinkers, but it was mostly considered boasting and inflated fabrication. But Harlow knew they were real. She knew because a chance encounter in a secret opium den showed her the truth. She was working there as part of another money making scheme that ran through the den. Harlow’s job, as well as Rogue and Niridia’s, was to entertain the men that frequented the den to chase the dragon and chase some tail. It wasn’t a job that they chose, but one that was necessary at the time. However, that job happened to put her in the right, or wrong, place at the time. Harlow was lounging with a gentleman friend, not having partaken in the dragon, and was letting herself be used as a pillow while quietly observing the room. In a corner there was a man behind a sheer curtain tacked to the wall, knelt over a woman, one who Harlow knew quite well. But this woman did not seem like she was inviting of whatever advances he was giving and Harlow felt the urge to intervene, but knew there was nothing she could do. Especially, now that the woman was flailing and kicking her legs, surely not having a good time. Harlow couldn’t get the attention of anyone sober and basically watched this hulking man in a black cloak kill her friend. So, she screamed. It just slipped from her lips and she screamed, leaping up onto the sofa she had been lounging on. The man in the dark cloak was on her before she could blink, strong fingers gripping her throat. “I should kill you for screaming, but luckily we’re in a den of inequity and no one but you noticed. Are you not on the chase?” The man asked, blood staining his chin and teeth. Harlow said nothing. She didn’t know what to say to a man that had just violently tore out the throat of one of her friends. “Speak up, young one. Your pupils aren’t dilated and you smell of logical thought. You’re not fucked up like the rest.” The man spoke with a gravely tone, a metallic scent on his tongue. “No. I’m of sound of mine.” Harlow finally choked out. “What a shame it would be to kill you—you’re but only one and a child at that. It’s your lucky night, lass. I’m going to let you live, but you won’t remember a thing about what just happened. You saw nothing but a room full of worthless drug addicts and sad sacks of human flesh.” The man’s voice changed, deep and sultry as it bade her to forget. But it wasn’t working. Harlow wasn’t convinced and was still staring wide eyed at a bloody mouthed murderer. She couldn’t let him know that, however. So, she put on a show. Harlow let her face relax and pretended like her mind had been wiped of the event. She sat back down on the sofa, staring straight forward, not at anything in particular, and let the gentleman she was with worm his head back to her bosom. “’Atta girl. Enjoy the rest of your evening.” The man grinned at her before wiping the blood from his face and took his leave. Harlow remembered the whole event as if it had happened yesterday and not well over a decade ago. It was in that moment that she knew that the supernatural was real, that vampires actually existed and she could have been killed by one. But for some reason he let her go with the assumption that his influence was enough, but the glamour, as some call it, didn’t work on her. Harlow pulled herself from the frequent memory and went to the telescope, focusing it on a certain location in the sky. She observed the stars for a bit before her attention was diverted to noise outside the church. It wasn’t human, however; it was vampire. A man and woman strolled along in the dark, the woman with an umbrella over head as to keep away the sun or rain, though neither were a problem. They talked loudly with one another, sounding as if they were drunk, the woman clinging to the man’s arm as she giggled seductively. Harlow had an impulse that she shouldn’t entertain, but everyone was asleep now and she needed to take it easy, this would be easy and fulfill the urge to get out from behind fortified walls. She scaled down the ladder to her room, donned her coat and hat, and snuck down to the basement hall, making sure she had her key to lock the door behind her. She came out on the street just as the couple had passed, still talking loudly. Harlow made sure to look around for any others before she ducked behind a crumbling store display and followed stealthily behind them. “What a lovely evening it is, George. Dark and dry, that soft red glow, the smell of fresh blood on the air. Just perfect.” The woman gushed, clutching on to her companion’s arms with raking nails. “Indeed it is, my love. Such a fine night for a stroll and a show. This newly born batch that has been running around is sniffing out all the fresh human blood for us…if we can get to it before they do.” George responded, patting the woman’s hand. They paused at what used to be a bus stop and just mused at the cloudiness of the reddened night. Harlow needed a better vantage spot to listen and quietly climbed the awning of the bus depot where she could view and listen from atop. “There’s just so many. And they run around all wild and unrefined—how are they supposed to be an improvement? Seems like a waste of good blood in my opinion.” The woman responded with a frown. “I quite agree with you, Addie, but our opinions make no matter in this. We haven’t been around long enough.” George returned. This couple knew something about the enraged New Borns skulking about. Maybe she could get them to talk… (*) “Aye, what trouble are we getting in tonight, lads?” A man called Simon hooted, kicking a crumbling brick wall that crunched and toppled over when his foot met it. “Well, let’s see. We can go get some drinks at the tavern or we can troll for a bite. Maybe a little opium and some absinthe? A few whores? I need a release.” Another man who they referred to as Vlad, even though he was far from the real thing, spoke. “I’m just here to make sure you tossers don’t end up in a dungeon somewhere again.” Another replied flatly. “Oi, Grimm…you’re the tosser. And a whiny twat at that. Sorry you got put on nanny duties, but someone has to take responsibility for us since we can’t be held accountable for our actions whilst on the drugs and liquor.” Simon shot back with a snarky laugh. “Respect your elders, knob head. I don’t like this anymore than you do.” Grimm spat, narrowing his eyes at Simon who made a face and then shrugged in response. Before they could begin talking again about where the evening would lead them, a woman’s scream rang out, followed by the panicked grunts of a man. “Maybe trouble has found us!” Vlad grinned, and took off in the direction of the screams, Grimm hot on their heels. The trouble was Harlow, however. She had leapt off the awning of the bus stop and tackled George, going for the neck with her silver chain. She quickly had him subdued due to the surprise, and kept Addie at bay with the threat of cutting her partner’s head off if she even tried to make a move. She tried to get information out of them about the New Borns, but they both insisted that they knew no more than what she had already heard. But Harlow didn’t believe them. She was just going in with a new tactic when a shout to her left caused her to turn her head, and ‘ole George slipped out from under her grasp, grabbed Addie by the hand, and raced off in the opposite direction up the street. “What the fuck do ye’ think you’re doing?” A thickly accented voice asked her as a group of no less than five men rounded the alley and appeared underneath an unlit street lamp. Two under the plan of surprise was one thing…but five? And she was the one caught off guard this time. “Interrogating vampires. What are you doing?” Harlow felt the adrenalin rush and let her mouth run away with her. “Having dinner it looks like.” Another vampire stepped forward, baring his fangs. Harlow scoffed, “Are—are you trying to intimidate me? Because I’m not afraid of you. There is not a single world where I would be afraid of your kind.” The vampire threatening to have her for dinner cocked his head to the side and squinted at her. “Not afraid, even just a little?” The other talker stepped forward and hissed at her like a disgruntled cat. “Nah. Actually, I’d love if you’d test me right now.” Harlow’s lips spread into a menacing grin. She needed a little fight to take the edge off. “Alright, Simon. Shall we?” The first vampire to threaten her for dinner turned to the other with fangs bared. “Oh, dear Vlad. It would make my night.” Simon laughed and lifted in the air towards Harlow. He couldn’t even connect with her because she had taken out her silver chained and whipped him around the waist, spinning him through the air in a haze of smoke and sizzling flesh when she yanked the chain back. “Vlad, was it? Your turn?” Harlow asked flatly as she looped her chain in one hand and produced what appeared to be a dagger with the other. Vlad charged forward, snarling like a wild beast, taloned fingers poised and ready to slash. He was much quicker than his companion and was able to get a swipe in before Harlow dodged his other hit and cracked him on the back of the head with her balled fist. Simon was now up and moving again, rejoining the fight with a few punches before Harlow had his hands wrapped up in the silver chain and was trailing him along behind her like a disobedient puppy as she continued to spar with Vlad. She had knocked the unrestrained vampire to the ground with a hammering blow and was just about to stake him with her dagger when she paused, flung Simon over her shoulder so he lay next to Vlad, and turned to the rest that weren’t attacking her. “I don’t feel like killing anyone tonight. I don’t think I was even going to kill those other two, if we’re being honest. I’m too tired and that makes me sympathetic, I suppose. Take your friends out of here alive and we’ll call it even?” Harlow spoke through heavy breaths. It was Grimm that considered it. He stood there between the other two standing and viewed her in such a way that it made her self-conscious, almost uncomfortable. “Alright, yeah. I was just going to let you ash the other two, but since you offered them up so politely, I’ll be the good chaperone and take these two knob-heads back. Thank you, for your mercy.” Grimm agreed, but Harlow found him a little too amicable and decided to stay on her guard. “Not mercy, just too tired to finish the job.” Harlow shrugged, unwinding the silver chain before she slipped it back in her pocket. The two vampires on the ground got up with hesitation before scurrying back over to Grimm. “Either way, it’s much appreciated. One doesn’t witness humans fighting vampires and winning, let alone showing mercy, exhaustion induced or not. I do suggest you run back home, however, because when certain folks find out about what happened here tonight, and they will, it won’t be safe for you out here.” Grimm was honest with his response. “They haven’t killed me yet.” Harlow chuckled as she backed away from the vampires and scampered off into a dark alley. “You just gonna let her run off like that after what she did?” Simon was still panting after his fight. Grimm nodded, “Mhm, She won fair and square. You do realize that she could have killed you both, but she didn’t. You two got real fucking lucky. Better to nurse your wounds and live to fight another day.” Grimm turned and beckoned the others with a flick of his finger, all obeyed, and they went back to looking for a good time that didn’t involve them getting their asses handed to them by a human. Photo by Niranjan _ Photographs on Unsplash It seemed like forever, but it hadn’t been long. Maybe a few years, but realistically it started long before that.
They had wormed their way into society for centuries without a single soul taking any notice; preying on humans for hundreds of years before they made it happen. No one really knows how they did it, made the sun disappear, but it was a ritual hundreds of years in the making. Society toppled as a result, making humans easy targets for those averse to the sun. It didn’t take long before humans scattered and hid, attempting to ensure their survival. But people fight like they tend to do, supplies became harder to come by as stocks were picked clean and that made it harder to continue to live. Some made it work, however. There were those that found a way to bond together and trust one another, forming small groups, families…even cults as a way to keep their people alive—or control the power over them. It varied on who you encountered. But Saint Andrews church in the pit of London, was a place where people seemed to get along and foster growth between one another, protecting each other from what slithered in the dark. “Everyone is fed. Time to take a break and wind down.” Rogue sighed as she dropped down into a pew situated in the sanctuary of St. Andrew’s church. “We’re running out of meat, you know. I’m sure you know. There are going to be a lot of unhappy carnivores out there in a few days.” Harlow sat back in her pew, kicking her booted feet up on the back of the one in front of them. “Someone is going to have to go hunting. Either that or we’re body picking and tell them that it’s pork.” Rogue scoffed, picking her nails with a sewing needle. Harlow chuckled, “From what I know, pig and long-pig taste vastly different. They’d know.” “We’ll see. I’ll make an announcement tomorrow about a hunting party. It’s going to take days, though.” Rogue commented, rising from her seat to take one next to Harlow. She sighed, relaxing as Rogue laid her head in her lap, “We do what we have to, Rogue, my dear. We wouldn’t have made it this far if we didn’t. Things are just slim because of the snow, but we will figure it out.” “Always the voice of reason, you are. I know we’ll make it. But for tonight, sleep. We ate late and the cold makes me want to tuck in. Niridia should be finished with dish duty, so I’m going to go check on her.” Rogue sat up in Harlow’s lap and slid off the pew. “I’ll go make sure the doors are all secure so we can sleep in peace.” Harlow was right up after her, giving Rogue a knowing glance before the two parted ways. St. Andrew’s was not some simple church. It was in fact a 15th century behemoth that had stood the test of time and weathered the ages quite well until the sun disappeared. It had been a place where men and women had been taken and tried during the witchcraft accusations in the centuries prior and had baptized many a royal baby in its hay-day, but now it stood a shadow of its former self. The front entryway had crumbled during the first waves what Harlow had termed “celestial rains”, where large chunks of rock fell from sky, destroying many buildings and starting quite a few fires all over the city. This left the only other accessible entrance in the old basement down a long dark hall that was scarcely lit. A clock on the wall struck eleven and startled Harlow with its staccato bonging. “It’s eleven o’clock and all’s well.” Harlow spoke to herself with a hushed tone as she walked to the end of the hall and checked the door that led out into the snowy evening. It wasn’t locked. She tried to remember who had been the last one through the door so she could give that person a gentle reminder, when a rustling behind her caused her head to turn to the side, listening intently. Harlow turned the bolt on the door before calmly taking her key to lock the bottom lock when she heard the sound again, but it sounded like it had come from above. If the door was unlocked, there was a possibility something had snuck inside, but it wouldn’t be one of them since they were situated on holy ground. “I can hear you. Better come out and show yourself instead of starting a fight.” Harlow spoke calmly as she whirled around to find an empty hallway. There was no place for a person to hide without her seeing. But there was that tingly sensation in the air that told Harlow something was amiss and needed to be investigated. There were shadowed places in the halls, alcoves where long ago burned candles in candelabras once sat. Someone could have potentially been hiding. There was now a haze in the air, the sconces on the walls illuminating a smoke like fog that hung close to the ceiling. A smell like frying meat wafted down with a cold breeze and Harlow could now hear the hiss of movement across the ceiling and down into a darkened alcove. She could feel herself begin to shake with adrenalin, the thought that something had gotten in and everyone was too far away to yell for assistance had heightened her awareness. Whatever it was, she was going to have to stop it on her own. “Fucking show yourself! I know you’re there; I can smell you burning.” Harlow hissed into the shadows, gripping the silver chain around her waist. A low growl rippled through the air from whatever was crawling along in the shadows and before Harlow could make another command, it was on top of her. Harlow whipped the silver chain from her waist and caught the thing around the neck, spinning its body over her back before it came crashing to the ground. Harlow could see them better at this point and noted that it was a man, an undead man, who was grey in complexion with eyes full of blood and a mouth to match. “You picked the wrong place to hunt, mate.” Harlow clicked her tongue before she dove at the man with the silver chain again. But he dodged and scampered up the wall, hanging upside down from the ceiling like some oversized spider. He reached down with vibrating hands to snatch Harlow by the shoulders, but she was just that much quicker and slipped out of the way before the man came crashing down to the ground. He crouched in front of her, ready to strike like some cornered animal. Despite the scuffle, they must not have been making very much noise because no one came to intervene, but the man was working his way down the hallway and deeper into the church, his skin hissing and bubbling as he went. Even if Harlow didn’t kill him, the faith of the church just might. “I’ll give you one chance to spare your life. Let me open the door and set you free.” Harlow tried to reason with him, hoping to end this peacefully. As much as his kind was a threat to them, this type was somehow both innocent and wild. The freshly turned. The New Borns. It wasn’t his fault. The man cocked his head to the side as if he was listening and considering what she said, but he didn’t respond. So, Harlow took a step back towards the door and the man took a step forward towards her. Her movements had him convinced that he was stalking her as he waddled forward every time she took a step back. He was hunting her. Harlow had made it to the door and fiddled with the bolt behind her…but she still needed the key to open it. “There’s nothing for you here. Go catch a rabbit like the rest of us.” Harlow whispered at the animalistic man as she stalled for time, cautiously feeling for the key in her pocket. The man yet again cocked his head to the side like he was listening, but he had taken a stance that told Harlow he was ready to spring at her without a moment’s notice. She had finally slipped her hand into her pocket, snatched the key, and had it in the lock as the man’s eyes fixed on her, his pupils dilating in anticipation of the kill. She had the door unlocked fully and was able to open it in such a way that the moment the man sprung for her, she was hidden between the door and the wall, sending the man flying out into the snow. Harlow swiftly slammed the door once he was out and scrambled to lock it tight again as she heard the man slamming his body against the door, wailing and snarling in anger and agony. Harlow was worried that since the man actually had the capability to enter the church, that if he were to get the door down, there wouldn’t be much stopping him from ravaging all those that slept inside. She’d have to figure out some way to reinforce it. “When in doubt, refer to the manual.” Harlow talked to herself as she pulled a small leather bound book from the pocket opposite the key. She flipped through the pages before she found the one she was looking for. “Ingredients are…holy water. That’s it? Well, it’s better than nothing.” Harlow noted aloud as her hand dove back into her pocket and pulled out a vial of holy water. She dipped her fingers in the water, her eyes never leaving the manual in her hand as she expertly painted the sigil from the page onto the door, all the while the man banging against the wood. “And then we say a bit in Latin that I really need to commit to memory and place hand in circle,” Harlow followed the steps out loud before placing her hand in the middle of the sigil. It glowed blue under her palm before dimming out and the banging from the man on the other side of the door finally stopped. Harlow sighed, “Well, that wasn’t how I wanted to spend the rest of my evening. Crisis averted, however.” She dusted her hands off and put the holy water and small book back in her pocket. She’d have to tell Rogue about this, but it could wait until morning. Harlow had everything handled. (*) The morning brought routine and Harlow was up before everyone else, prepping things for breakfast. They were getting low on some foods having lost a few chickens to a stray fox a few weeks prior, and eggs were a staple. There was still plenty of flour to make gut filling breads and many jars of beans and pickled goods, but people would quickly tire of that; they were going to have to get creative with their future meals. “We need more chickens.” Rogue whispered to Harlow as the two prepped plates for breakfast. “I’m well aware. We need to wrangle up some people willing to go on a run for supplies anyway. But with this weather, it’s doubtful we will find any live chickens just wandering around out there. We are just going to have to wait for the new batch to hatch in spring and work with what we’ve got for now.” Harlow replied tersely. Rogue pursed her lips in thought, “I’ll talk to people after breakfast and get a party together. But we’re not going to make it during the Golden Hour, most likely. We don’t have a lot of time.” “Then we take the smartest and stealthiest of us to do the run. No mistakes, keep hidden, one with the shadows sort of run. It’s too dangerous otherwise, but we definitely need a bigger supply store.” Harlow returned, stacking plates on a shelved trolley to wheel them out into the sanctuary for their first meal of the day. “We’ll get it handled. One thing at a time, right?” Rogue bumped Harlow with her trolley as she wheeled past her. One thing at a time. That’s what she always told Rogue. Even though there were so many things to get done, it happened more smoothly if they started with one thing at a time. But things were about to pile up. (*) “Alright, Niridia is going to stay behind and tend the fort. Harlow and me are together, Shane and Robin pair off, and then Grunt and Silver as the last group. We break off into pairs and check the houses in and around Langford St. which is just two over. We haven’t picked those yet, but it’s a rich--was a rich area so there may be something good. Look for cellars and any storage area where things could be hidden. Don’t travel further than Dawson and stay low. If you find a large haul, regroup back here in two hours and we will figure out transport later.” Rogue instructed the crew that she had gathered, Harlow included. “Understood?” Harlow asked, making sure that all were on the same page. They were met with head nodding and murmured agreement before the three groups left the safety of the church and split up to scavenge in their own way. “I don’t know how much we’re going to find. We’re going to have to start looking for other groups to trade and barter with.” Rogue made conversation quietly as the two ducked between buildings and hid in the shadows. “Either that or we head out of the city and look elsewhere. It’s a hefty endeavor, but may be necessary. See if we can find cattle for milk and possibly meat, the garden will be heartier next year; we just need a few things to get us started again.” Harlow wasn’t sure how she felt about finding others to help supplement them. The few that they had run into were less than friendly. “Or we need to find others and band together, at least during the winter time. I know you’re wary, but at least consider it.” Rogue returned as they stepped onto the porch of an abandoned house and Harlow checked the lock. She found the door unlocked and opened it, pausing to reply, “I’ll consider it.” The two spent an hour checking several houses before they made it to a few small shops on Langford. They were able to gather some necessities and stacked up blankets and other comforts to come back and get the next day during the Golden Hour. The Golden Hour was a sliver of time at dawn and dusk where the rays from the sun could still get through the darkness and kept all those that feared the sun inside and away from any humans. But they were well past that time at this point. The two brought back what they could and found Grunt and Silver already at the door with their own haul, but Robin and Shane were nowhere to be found. When asked if they had been seen, the answer was no. “We’re going to have to go find them. You two stay behind and get in position in case something undead finds us. Rogue and I will find the other two and bring them back.” Harlow took charge, giving strict instructions to the others. They obeyed and she and Rogue took off onto the darkness to find Shane and Robin. They tried to remember the route the two had taken and soon found fresh footsteps in the otherwise virgin snow. These led them several streets down, further than Rogue had given them permission to go. The footprints ran around in circles after a bit and eventually dead ended in the back of a house, right in the middle of a snow laden garden. Two figures lay in the snow, the white powder the only contrast to give them away. “Fuck. Are they—?” Rogue started with a whisper. “Dead?” Harlow finished, “Looks that way. But then one of the figures coughed and tried to sit up, but his arms wobbled and he fell back to the ground. Harlow rushed forward with Rogue on her heels to help them, finding that it was Shane who was badly injured but still alive. One check of Robin’s neck with the torch told them that it had indeed been the undead; of course, who else would it be? “Try not to move, Shane. Can you tell me what happened?” Harlow asked the man, helping him lay back comfortably in the snow. He sputtered, covered in blood, and choked out, “They killed Robin. Robin’s dead, man.” Rogue patted his blood stained chest as she asked, “We know, mate. Was it one of them?” Shane coughed, arching his back painfully as he groaned out, “More than one.” But nothing more came from Shane’s mouth; no words anyway. Just grunts and growls as he stretched and groaned, panting like a wounded animal. Harlow took Rogue by the arm and pulled her back, unsure of what was going to happen, but she had a bad feeling that she knew. “He’s turning. We didn’t check to see if he’d been bitten too; we just assumed.” Harlow gasped, disappointed in herself. Rogue was quaking as her hand gripped Harlow’s tightly and she replied, “We need to go. There’s nothing we can do for him.” “We can’t leave him, Rogue. We have to try and talk some sense into him somehow. He may be feral now, but maybe we can find a way to feed him and when he’s fully transformed, we can work around it.” Harlow lied to herself. “You know he won’t be the same, Harlow. You know that he’ll try and kill us, kill everyone in the church. We need to run.” Rogue pleaded with her friend as Shane stalked closer. It appeared like he was trying to remember how his limbs worked. “And if we run and let him loose, he will find and kill others. He’ll remember where he lived and he could come after us. We either try and save him—or we kill him now.” Harlow knew what really needed to be done. “Then we should put him to rest. This new lot…there’s no appeasing them, at least not that we’ve seen. It’s like something has chan—” Rogue was cut short as Harlow pushed her out of the way. Shane had finally picked up enough speed to come flailing at them, jaw wide and fangs bared. He was still growling like some wild animal when he swung back around and went straight for Harlow. His hand found her shoulder and he attempted to jerk her head to the side with the other, but she broke his hold with a knee to the gut. Instead of trying again, he turned and went for Rogue who was still on the ground, panting heavily. Her heart rate had to be higher than Harlow’s, attracting Shane as he sprung up into the air and landed right on top of her. Rogue screamed, forgetting how to fight in that moment as she tried to block her jugular. “Hey!” Harlow whistled at Shane, trying to get his attention. He stopped clawing at Rogue and turned to see Harlow holding her arm up, the sleeve rolled back to show a thick red line of blood that ran down the exposed skin. The smell of fresh blood immediately caught Shane’s attention and he left Rogue behind, leaping for Harlow to take her down. But he hadn’t expected her to use this bloody arm as a distraction, sending a rain of holy water spraying all over Shane’s face with her other hand. He screeched in pain, reeling back as he tripped over Rogue. “Out of the way, Rogue!” Harlow hollered, charging at Shane before he had a chance to see her coming. Rogued rolled left and Harlow kicked Shane back, but he somehow managed to snatch her foot and sent her spinning through the air before she landed, cracking her head on a rotting post protruding from the garden. She saw stars, her vision blurred but her hearing keen as Shane snarled in her direction. Rogue was still on the ground, appearing as if she had just tussled with the man again, but now that he saw that Harlow wasn’t quite out of the fight, he came back for her. Harlow quickly scrambled to her feet, the world spinning as she leaned into the post for stability. Shane was now cackling maniacally as he sped right into her, but the laughing was cut short. “Sorry, Shane.” Harlow whispered as the man impaled himself on the stake she had pulled from her harness. The crazed smile on Shane’s face fell grim when he realized that he had met his second death and this would be the last. His sallow skin filled up with color and the fangs set in his mouth retreated under reddening lips. This second death had taken him back to the way he looked before they had gotten hold of him. Shane whispered a silent thank you as the last moments of his life brought him back from the dead for a brief moment before he closed his eyes forever. “Harlow. Harlow!” Rogue’s call was frantic as she stumbled over to her friend. Harlow had lowered Shane to the snow, trying to hide how emotional the whole ordeal had made her. She tried to be the stoic one, the silently suffering, the voice of reason and logic even though she was drowning in years of trauma and pain. But this put a crack in the dam. “I’m alright, love. Shane is at peace now.” Harlow responded, laying him down next to Robin. “Fuck…fuck. What do we do? We can’t carry them back!” Rogue was panicked, trying not to look at the very bloody, very dead men expired in the snow. “No, we can’t. We leave them and send a party out to retrieve them the next Golden Hour. We need to get back safe to do that, so we should probably go. We may have been seen, so follow the Labyrinth.” Harlow gave their code word for the sewers to avoid any further detection. Rogue nodded silently, glancing back at the men before the two slipped back into the shadows to head to the church. How smart she was to run the Labyrinth, or maybe it was paranoia. Either way, it was the best strategy she could have executed considering how right she really was about being watched. |
E.M. MoonStories from the World Wide Weird Archives
December 2021
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