And the Suns Never Rise: A Story of Alpha Centauri

Some Things Turn Out for the Best

Christiana was still screaming ten minutes later. "Oh, gods this hurts! Help me Haruhi-nee." Between being cut off from her womb mate and the pain of turning she was in agony. It was so bad that she could not think straight. All she could do was endure the pain, which was stronger than any discomfort she had ever felt before.

"Please help me!" she yelled. "Please help with the pain!"

Then she heard the sound of Duflot's voice. "Open your eyes and look into mine," he commanded.

Following his advice, Christiana stared deeply into his green eyes. Suddenly, the pain wasn't so bad. 'It feels so distant,' she thought.

Then, as she was enjoying the relative peace, she heard Duflot's voice again. "Harris, give this child some of your blood. As things now stand, she will become a Thinblood."

Seconds later, Christiana felt something pressed against her mouth.

"Drink," a familiar voice directed.

Christiana did as she was told, all the while keeping her eyes locked on Duflot's.

Eventually, the wrist was taken away after Christiana had drunk her fill.

"That's enough to turn her as a Fledgling," Cooper commented.

Duflot said, "That, in turn, will not tarnish the honor of Stellae Sanguine. After all, our clan has never created a Thinblood per the clan's rules."

Just then, Christiana let out a whimper as the pain-reduction power of Duflot's gaze began to fade.

"Don't worry, Christiana, you will be fine." She heard Miss Harris' voice as if it were a far, far away. It was almost like someone was whispering right at the edge of her hearing. It was definitely a strange sensation, the first time that she had ever experienced anything like this.

Suddenly, the pain came back, although she still had her gaze fixed upon Duflot's. However, it was as if the pain was far away. Then it was as if she was floating above herself, looking down on the vampires who held her body down as it went through convulsion after convulsion. 'This is really strange,' she thought as she continued with her dissociation.

'The one good thing about dissociation,' Christiana realized, 'is that you don't feel pain as strongly.' While the pain was extreme, it didn't overwhelm her mind as it had before. Instead, it was like a stubbed toe as opposed to excruciating pain. This level of pain was something that she could handle.

'I wonder if Haruhi-nee experienced the same thing while she was dying,' Christiana thought. 'I will have to talk to her about it when all of this has calmed down.'

It was then that she realized that her hearing and eyesight were becoming dim. 'I guess this is the end of the road for me.' she thought wryly. 'I really hope that I become a vampire. There are a lot of things I want to do before I die.'

From that point on, all of her senses faded, and she was in a very dark place. However, it wasn't unpleasant. Instead, it was more like she was a baby again, being held in her Mother's arms and being wrapped in a blanket on a cold winter's day.

Then even those feelings were swept away for a brief time until she finally felt nothing at all.

---

The next thing that she knew she was on top of Haruhi-nee's bed in the intensive care, her eyes stinging from the bright lights above. 'I made it!' she thought as she slowly looked around the room. Then she realized with great joy that Haruhi-nee was next to her, holding her hand with her only remaining appendage. 'I can feel her again!' she realized as she looked at her womb-mate.

"Wake up sleepyhead," Haruhi-nee said, attempting to break the tension in the room.

"Haruhi-nee I can sense you again."

"The same here. I thought that if we were both vampires that the 'link' (as Duflot calls it), would reestablish itself." Haruhi-nee said with a grin. "It turns out that I was correct."

"I'm just glad that I no longer have that feeling of emptiness," Christiana replied. "That was just as painful as dying was."

"So you are happy that I turned you into a vampire?"

"Yes, I am glad that it happened."

"Thank goodness for that!" Miss Harris exclaimed. "If you hadn't wanted to be turned into what you now are, then Haruhi would have faced expulsion from the clan, or even worse. After all, it would tarnish the reputation of clan Stellae Sanguine for centuries to come."

"Dang, I didn't realize how important that rule was to the clan," Haruhi admitted. "If I had known, then I would have hesitated a bit before I acted."

"It all worked out okay in the end," Christiana admitted.

---

Christiana spent the next week learning to control her new strength and speed. In the meantime, Haruhi-nee was still in sickbay while her reattached limbs slowly healed.

The good thing about this was that Haruhi-nee was conscious and able to converse with her new family and friends. As a result, Christiana regularly visited with her womb-mate and talked with her for hours on end. It also meant that the two became even closer, as they finally had time to interact instead of studying for all the training they had been doing.

It surprised Christiana to learn that she felt no different from before. Other than having to regularly consume donated blood and being faster and stronger than before there wasn't much of a difference. She could also see and hear a little better than before, and so could Haruhi-nee.

However, according to Miss Harris, it was hard to tell much of a difference in the confines of Hope, since it was compartmentalized. However, once they got down to the surface, it would be easier to perceive those changes. "It makes sense," Haruhi-nee had said. "There aren't any areas here on the Administrative wing large enough to test for the improved vision and hearing."

A few days later, once the reattached limbs had had more time to heal, Christiana and Haruhi-nee began exploring the ship. To history buffs like them, Hope was like a living museum. While they had read about the starships, they had never dreamed that they would spend time aboard one of the two. Thus, they were thrilled to be able to look around the venerable ship.

However, their fun ended in the recreational room. There, on a large 'vid was a view of a-cent-a and a-cent-b in the sky above Cooper's World.

"For us, the suns will never rise again. Will they?" Haruhi-nee murmured.

"Miss Harrison told me we should be able to walk around outside during Alterday, but Mainday is impossible even for an Ancient like Duflot."

"And the suns never rise," Haruhi-nee said. "That reminds me of a line from Annabell Lee by Poe. However, he said 'And the stars never rise,'"

"Yes, that is how that poem goes. Your memory has always been better than mine."

"I just have a better head for trivia than you do," Haruhi-nee replied.

"Doesn't that mean the same thing?"

"Nope."

"If you say so."