Willow Pillow
Three Thousand Club
Chapter One
He was pretty confident in his work, he should be. Briggs clocked in enough hours that it was simple muscle memory at this point. Of course, in his line of work, payment was staying alive. One wrong step, no matter how good you were or your family lineage, could be a step in the grave. Quite frankly, he rather enjoyed living. Louis inhaled deeply from his cigarette, leaning back in his chair. The sound of wood creaking against the floorboards had the same kind of twitch reaction you would expect from nails across the chalkboard.
Old wood. Old chair. His job didn't quite pay to get those sorts of things replaced.
"So you're a vampire?" He took in another inhale, watching his guest sit across from him.
"Mr. Briggs," she said, she couldn't have been older than seventeen when turned. It was all in the ring of her voice. With the living, that was a sound of innocence, the undead? Just an immortal reminder of what was ripped from them. "We went over this, I'd like to-"
"And you're wearing a cross around your neck?"
"Yes. I don't see how-"
"Huh," He was still puzzling that one himself. Seventeen year old girl gets snatched in the middle of the night, her life changes forever. Silver moonlight hair. Now THAT, he knew. Her face was young, but she was old. Very old. This thing in front of him came from the beginning, when monsters all started. His dad liked to call them the Ancients. They might as well have been pure blooded, either sired from the first monsters that oozed out of the pits of hell or one themselves. Vampires, when they make more of their own, pass on themselves into another soul. It dilutes over time. Sure you still had the immortality, the enhanced strength, hypnotic abilities and what have you, but any vampire he ever faced could lift a car...maybe. The old ones could topple castles. "You go to church?"
If she was human, he would have seen her cheeks flushed. He startled enough girls to know the expression and the movements of being flustered. "I need your help. Can we focus on that please?"
The hunter shrugged. "I let you in, didn't I? I'm just trying to make conversation. Build trust. Can I do that?"
When he watched her sigh he wondered if that was just muscle memory of being human. Air didn't fill in their lungs, so they couldn't really just exhale it. Did they do it to appear human? Or was it just engrained in their DNA as well? "Sometimes. I get that it's weird."
He didn't need to say anything further. She nailed it. It was fucking weird.
"It has nothing to do with why I'm here."
"Let's go to church, tomorrow. Proper Sunday Mass, get breakfast and eat outside. Should be a bright, beautiful day tomorrow." Briggs caught up from his chair and walked over, patting his guest on the shoulder before she could interject. "You want my help? You're coming with me to church tomorrow. I need a little time to wrap my head around a Catholic fucking vampire."
There was that heavy sigh again. "Ok...but we don't have a lot of time..."
Not his problem. He dropped the cigarette to the ground, stomping it with his boot. "I hear praying helps. You should try it. I guess Jesus saves the undead souls too. Better be bright eyed and bushy tailed, sweetheart. All my friends and colleagues will be right with me." Louis's father taught him hunting, just like his father before him and his father. He was teaching his kids to hunt as well. Dad would have put a stake right through her when she knocked on the door. Maybe it was the contempt of seeing her return his kid to him or he was showing kindness since it appeared she saved his life. He wasn't ready to get into what hell Jr. got into just yet.
Right now, he was curious. But more importantly, he needed to figure out why she returned his kid alive instead of killing him or eating him. Something bigger was going on here, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. For now, he had a lot to think about until morning. "Sleep tight, Elizabeth."
If she said anything back, he didn't hear it shutting the door hard behind him.
1
He was pretty confident in his work, he should be. Briggs clocked in enough hours that it was simple muscle memory at this point. Of course, in his line of work, payment was staying alive. One wrong step, no matter how good you were or your family lineage, could be a step in the grave. Quite frankly, he rather enjoyed living. Louis inhaled deeply from his cigarette, leaning back in his chair. The sound of wood creaking against the floorboards had the same kind of twitch reaction you would expect from nails across the chalkboard.
Old wood. Old chair. His job didn't quite pay to get those sorts of things replaced.
"So you're a vampire?" He took in another inhale, watching his guest sit across from him.
"Mr. Briggs," she said, she couldn't have been older than seventeen when turned. It was all in the ring of her voice. With the living, that was a sound of innocence, the undead? Just an immortal reminder of what was ripped from them. "We went over this, I'd like to-"
"And you're wearing a cross around your neck?"
"Yes. I don't see how-"
"Huh," He was still puzzling that one himself. Seventeen year old girl gets snatched in the middle of the night, her life changes forever. Silver moonlight hair. Now THAT, he knew. Her face was young, but she was old. Very old. This thing in front of him came from the beginning, when monsters all started. His dad liked to call them the Ancients. They might as well have been pure blooded, either sired from the first monsters that oozed out of the pits of hell or one themselves. Vampires, when they make more of their own, pass on themselves into another soul. It dilutes over time. Sure you still had the immortality, the enhanced strength, hypnotic abilities and what have you, but any vampire he ever faced could lift a car...maybe. The old ones could topple castles. "You go to church?"
If she was human, he would have seen her cheeks flushed. He startled enough girls to know the expression and the movements of being flustered. "I need your help. Can we focus on that please?"
The hunter shrugged. "I let you in, didn't I? I'm just trying to make conversation. Build trust. Can I do that?"
When he watched her sigh he wondered if that was just muscle memory of being human. Air didn't fill in their lungs, so they couldn't really just exhale it. Did they do it to appear human? Or was it just engrained in their DNA as well? "Sometimes. I get that it's weird."
He didn't need to say anything further. She nailed it. It was fucking weird.
"It has nothing to do with why I'm here."
"Let's go to church, tomorrow. Proper Sunday Mass, get breakfast and eat outside. Should be a bright, beautiful day tomorrow." Briggs caught up from his chair and walked over, patting his guest on the shoulder before she could interject. "You want my help? You're coming with me to church tomorrow. I need a little time to wrap my head around a Catholic fucking vampire."
There was that heavy sigh again. "Ok...but we don't have a lot of time..."
Not his problem. He dropped the cigarette to the ground, stomping it with his boot. "I hear praying helps. You should try it. I guess Jesus saves the undead souls too. Better be bright eyed and bushy tailed, sweetheart. All my friends and colleagues will be right with me." Louis's father taught him hunting, just like his father before him and his father. He was teaching his kids to hunt as well. Dad would have put a stake right through her when she knocked on the door. Maybe it was the contempt of seeing her return his kid to him or he was showing kindness since it appeared she saved his life. He wasn't ready to get into what hell Jr. got into just yet.
Right now, he was curious. But more importantly, he needed to figure out why she returned his kid alive instead of killing him or eating him. Something bigger was going on here, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. For now, he had a lot to think about until morning. "Sleep tight, Elizabeth."
If she said anything back, he didn't hear it shutting the door hard behind him.
