TW: scars
Lupita sat in silence while drops of water dripped from her hair to the floor. She had sensed the anger of the vampire when she had walked out, and she understood. She was also angry. She was sad and all her previous memories came back to her as she felt the - surprisingly comfortable - material digg into her neck. Lupita looked down at her hands and saw the identical scars on her palms, the only difference being that one of them still hadn't fully healed. It seemed like her past would always come back.
A knock shook her away from her thoughts and she looked over at the door. The door opened and in stepped Bela with a pile of clothes in her arms.
"Hello," she said and came in. She had a sad smile on her face as she came over to Lupita. "I brought you some clothes," she said and placed them on the ground beside her. "Do you prefer loose-fitting clothes or tight-fit?"
"Loose," Lupita said and quickly hid her hands from the woman. Bela gave her a sad look and put out her hand. Lupita understood and gave her her newly scarred hand. The woman carefully looked at it and began to massage around her nearly healed wound.
"A real shame that this happened a few hours before the new moon," Bela said and let go of her hand. She then reached over to the clothes on the floor and took out a big shirt, a sports bra, a pair of boxers and a pair of loose pants. "Do you have anyone I can call? Is there anyone you want me to call?"
"Yes," Lupita said as she started to put on the clothes. Bela kept eye contact with her which made her look down or to the other parts of the bathroom. "John."
"Do you know his number?" Bela asked and stood up before turning around.
"Yes," Lupita said and quickly put on her bottom clothes. As she did, she realized how much her eyesight had worsened over the past few hours. If she moved her eyes too fast the world became blurry, and she had to strain her eyes to focus on different things in the room. Her wolf was slowly leaving her, making her weak. It wasn't a comforting feeling.
"Good," Bela said and turned around when Lupita said she could. "Are you hungry?"
Lupita nodded and walked with Bela out of the bathroom and down the stairs where Ambrosia was sitting in front of the TV. Bela told Lupita to just follow her when she realized the girl was stalling, though there was a hint of... something, in her voice. Lupita didn't know what but the woman was smiling. So she followed the older vampire into the kitchen and sat down on a high chair when Bela pointed to it.
"Do you like raw or cooked meat?" the woman asked as she opened the fridge.
"Raw," Lupita said, "but a little warm." Bela nodded and took some meat out of the fridge before closing it.
Lupita looked around the room as she heard the woman prepare the meat. The kitchen was very small. Only a tiny square with the bare minimum. A counter, sink, microwave, oven, fridge, and freezer. There were also a lot of cabinets and drawers. The table Lupita was sitting at was square with six chairs on the sides. Two on two sides and one on the other sides. She sat on the side with only one chair. The living room was on her left, that was where Ambrosia was watching TV. The rest was almost the same as upstairs. Only with a big, dark wooden table on another side with maybe 12 chairs. Probably for meetings. The whole house was white or black or had another neutral color. Upstairs had more colors, which Lupita thought looked nicer.
"Here you go," Bela said and placed a bowl of meat slices in front of her. Lupita looked up at her and smiled before looking back at the bowl. She wasn't given any utensils but didn't ask for any and began to eat with her hands. The meat was the perfect temperature and tasted amazing. "Ambrosia, come here," Bela said and handed Lupita a towel. The other vampire came over and stood as far away from Lupita as she could. "Here," the woman handed her a cup and Ambrosia said a quick thanks before walking away from them and sitting back down on the couch.
Lupita continued eating but jumped when she felt something rub against her legs. She sat up straight and immediately a small black creature jumped on her lap. When Lupita took a closer look, she realized it was a cat. A very cute cat. It was pitch black with piercing green eyes.
"Hello," Lupita said and quickly cleaned her hands on the towel before presenting her hand to the cat. The cat sniffed her fingers before rubbing its head against her hand and purring loudly. "You're cute," she said and laughed when the cat stood up on its back legs and began pressing its head against her face. Its front paws rested on her chest and began kneading while it rubbed against her neck and face.
"Seems like Fluffy likes you," Bela said and Lupita tilted her head at the cat. It wasn't that fluffy. It was a short hair. Maybe it had a little more fluff in some places though. Like around its neck. "She doesn't always like people," Bela continued and smirked. "Didn't think a wolf would like a cat."
"I like all animals," Lupita said as she gently pushed the cat away from her face when it started licking her. "Though not all animals like me."
"Well, I can understand why she likes you. Though someone might not," Bela said and it only took Lupita a few seconds to turn crimson as she understood. This was Ambrosia's familiar. And it was currently rolling around in her lap and purring like a maniac. She stared wide-eyed at the older woman who was trying her best not to burst out laughing it seemed. "You can rest easy knowing what she truly feels," she said with a smile before coming over. Her smile faltered as she caught a glimpse of Lupita's other palm. "What is that?"
Lupita immediately closed her fists and looked away from the woman. "Nothing," she said quietly and focused on the little black void in her lap who was still rubbing her body against hers.
"Show me," Bela said in a stern voice which caused Lupita to flinch.
"I-I'd rather no-," she was cut off by Bela grabbing both her wrists. Lupita opened them and looked away from the woman, trying not to cry as the grip on her wrists tightened. "Pl-please... please let go," Lupita said as the world started to turn to mush and her wrists ached. Bela let go immediately and Lupita let out a shaky breath as she massaged her wrists. But they were snatched again, softer this time. She looked up and saw Bela carefully examine the faint scar that ran around her wrists. She then went to look at Lupita's face and noticed the scar on her nose and cheeks. Before Lupita could say anything, the woman had carefully lifted the collar around her neck to reveal another scar.
"This has happened to you before," the woman whispered. She sounded scared. "How? When? It's illegal in these parts and I imagined the entire world but..." she trailed off at looked to where Ambrosia was sitting. She had turned to face them and her eyebrows were furrowed. "I'll be right back," Bela said and gave her phone to Lupita. "Call the person you want to call." Then she stood up and told Ambrosia to follow her.
Lupita didn't want to pry so she quickly pressed the numbers she had memorized on the strange device and put the phone to her ear. As it rang she realized it had gotten dark out. John was likely worried out of his mind. Lupita would often disappear, yes, but she told him when.
The ringing stopped and was replaced by John's frantic voice, though he was calmer than last time. "Where are you? Do you want me to come get you? Are you safe?" his words came out like a waterfall and Lupita smiled knowing she had someone who cared this much for her.
"I'm in the vampire district. I am not sure which house. Yes, please come and get me, and I hope I am safe. As safe as a werewolf in a city full of vampires can be," she said in a small voice.
"Are you comfortable telling me what happened?" John asked over the phone and Lupita heard a door close.
"When we are alone. I don't trust this thing," she said and heard John laugh on the other end.
"I'll come get you muffin, just need an address," he said and Lupita heard the sound of a motor.
"An address..." she said to herself and looked around the room, hoping that something would indicate which house she was in. She knew that from the outside these houses were all the same. No help there.
"Bloodwood 3C. On Widdows street." Lupita looked up and saw Bela and Ambrosia come down the stairs. "He doesn't have to knock when he gets here," Bela said as she came over to the kitchen again and Ambrosia surprisingly followed and sat down on the chair farthest from Lupita.
Lupita repeated what she was told and soon after John hung up. The atmosphere became tense in the small kitchen as soon as Lupita returned the phone to Bela. Ambrosia wasn't talking and just stared at the table as Bela moved around in the kitchen. The cat in her lap had settled down and was sound asleep. Lupita could hear the low purrs and she decided to start petting it. It immediately pushed into her palm and purred even louder.
"She doesn't often get that comfortable with people," Ambrosia said in a monotone voice from the other side. "You must be special."
Lupita felt her cheeks grow warm and she stared at the almost empty bowl in front of her. Did Ambrosia know about familiars? Did she know what this all meant?
"Y-yeah," Lupita said and started eating again to distract herself. Once the food was gone, she simply stared at the blood left in the bowl. "I like animals."
"Strange how a cat likes a wolf," Ambrosia said and motioned for the cat to come to her. The cat jumped off Lupita's lap and trotted over to the vampire.
"Yeah," Lupita said and cleaned her hands on the towel. "Most animals like me as long as I'm not hungry. They can almost sense when I'm dangerous and when I'm not."
"That's cool," Ambrosia said in a monotone voice. The atmosphere changed and Lupita stopped talking sensing that Ambrosia wouldn't want to hear anything from her. The feeling hurt more than she would have liked. It didn't feel good when your heart cracked knowing your special person didn't want you.
"Do you know when John will come and get you?" Bela asked while she took the bowl and towel from the table.
"No," Lupita said lowly. She felt her vision get murky as she moved her head to look at the woman. She blinked a few times to try and focus her vision and helt onto the chair as nausea bubbled in her stomach.
"Hopefully he gets here soon," Bela said. Just as she put away the bowl the door opened. Lupita could tell it wasn't John. This person had a different smell. Not an unpleasant one, but a different one nonetheless.
"Hello!" It was a booming voice. Low and rumbly, but kind at the same time. "How are my girls?" A man came into the kitchen and Lupita immediately got chills. He looked like the people that would hurt her. But he didn't smell like them. It made her confused. The man was tall and almost chalk white. He had a messy black beard and messy black hair. Of course, everything he wore was black, except his tie which was a deep red. His eyes were grey, just like Bela's, indicating that they didn't belong to a clan.
The man ruffled Ambrosia's hair and walked over to Bela. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. "We are doing... good," Bela said and glanced at Lupita who was doing her best not to look at the man. "Some more than others." Bela gave him a quick kiss before whispering something in his ear. Lupita didn't hear as she tried to focus on how some of the spots on the marble table looked like a wolf.
Suddenly, she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and she stiffened. She tried to focus on the spot wolf but her mind faltered and she recalled a similar hand being placed on her shoulder, only in a much grimmer moment. Before she got lost in the memory, a voice brought her out of it. "What's your name?"
"L-Lupita," she said in a shaky voice as she kept focusing on the spot wolf, imagining it jumping in a field of dandelions and howling at the moon.
"It's a nice name," the man said and patted her shoulder before removing his hand. Lupita sighed in relief and kept looking at the spot wolf. This time it was running across the table and playing with the other spot wolves there. "We need to talk later, all of us," the man said. Lupita looked up at Ambrosia to see her snuggle into the cat and looked away. Lupita felt awful that she was the reason for this conflict and wanted to just run out of the house and disappear.
There was a knock at the door and they all looked towards it. Bela was in front of it at lightning speed and opened it to reveal John.
"I told you you didn't have to knock," Bela said and motioned for him to come inside before appearing in front of the man who came in before John. He seemed stiff as he watched John standing with a wide-eyed expression at the door.
"I know," he saw and took off his shoes while walking towards Lupita. "It just felt wrong to not do it." He came to her and immediately pulled her into a hug. "You scared me," he whispered as he buried his face in her hair.
"Sorry," she said and tightened her hold on the man.
He pulled away and looked at the others in the room. Lupita could feel his fear radiate off him and she hugged him tighter to try and help him. She felt his hand run through her hair and she smiled and felt her chest rumble. It was faint and weak, the last of her wolf she would hear for a while.
"I am going to take her home," he said and helped her stand from the chair. Once she was off she towered over him and sadly had to let him go. John still held onto her arm and began leading her out.
"Are you sure that is a good idea?" Bela asked as she was once more by the door.
"No offense to any of you, but I would like to keep her with me for these next few days," he said as he carefully looked at her face.
"Understandable," Bela said in a soft voice but quickly went over to John to whisper something in his ear. Lupita couldn't hear them. She felt her energy slowly seep from her body as she felt the safe aura of John radiate around her.
Lupita couldn't feel anything anymore. Her eyes were becoming weaker by the second. The world was blurry and she didn't remember getting in a car. She didn't remember getting out and laying on the comfortable sofa with the warm and welcoming smell surrounding her as a warm blanket was placed on her shivering body. The world was dark before she closed her eyes.
A/N: hello! Hope this is good. Finally some lore! I hope to write more soon, but I can't promise anything. And thank you to the people who comment, it really helps my motivation that people actually like this❤️.
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