Meghan took a moment to listen to the bubbles after filling a gss with sweet, dark coke. It had been so long since she’d heard the sound. It wasn’t just nostalgic; it was comforting. The fizzing and popping evoked memories of childhood, of drive-ins and long summer afternoons spent with friends. There was only so long she could sit and listen to it, though, before taking a long, slow gulp of the ice-cold sweetness filling the gss.
After savoring a mouthful for a long moment, Meghan opened her eyes to see Isabel staring at her with amusement.
“Eh, sorry,” Meghan murmured, covering her mouth with one hand to conceal a small burp. “It’s been a while.”
“It’s alright,” Isabel chuckled, setting some folded clothes on the countertop across from her. What she called pajamas were thin, loose pants and an oversized shirt with a logo on it she didn’t recognize. “These should fit you well enough to sleep in.”
“I’ll get changed after I have a little more to eat,” Meghan responded sheepishly, knowing that an appetite like hers wasn’t considered dylike. The growling of her stomach objected to the notion as entirely irrelevant. Isabel ughed again and motioned for her to continue, giving the Changeling her blessing.
As Meghan returned to the fridge and cupboards to rummage, Isabel went about setting up her miniature bed on the couch. “If you do happen to get up before me tomorrow, I’d like for you to stay inside until I’m up. I’m sure you can handle yourself, but I’d just feel a lot better knowing you were safe in here behind my wards.”
Meghan sniffed some of the deli meat she’d pulled out of the fridge before devouring a few slices. She’d considered assembling it into a proper sandwich for a few seconds before her hunger got the best of her. “They’re good wards. I remember when the Vampire Lords were firmly against Gnasci practicing any form of magic---especially blood magic.”
Isabel arched a brow, gncing toward the door before looking at Meghan. “Were they that obvious?”
“Blood magic is easy to detect by smell,” Meghan expined as she buttered a piece of bread. It was gone in a matter of a few bites. She cracked a few eggs directly into her mouth and swallowed them raw. “I didn’t notice it until after my shower, though. I was either too stuffed up, or my own smell was interfering.”
The Gnasci let out a short ugh at the tter comment, which brought a smile to Meghan’s face even as she continued to eat her way through everything she could find. A couple of takeout boxes with noodles were her next target. She wasn’t sure how long they’d been in there, but she hadn’t had Chinese food in so long that it didn’t matter.
“It’s still not quite allowed,” Isabel said, returning to making her bed up. “Blood magic is difficult for any Gnasci to perform, but my family was bred for the task. It’s... a difficult subject for me. There’s a lot of politics involved, and my fate still hasn’t been decided since knowledge of my talents came to light.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Meghan said around a mouthful of noodles. “I suppose things with the Hidden haven’t changed much.”
“Well, yes and no,” Isabel chuckled humorlessly. “It’s an interesting time for us right now. There’s a lot happening right now, but I don’t want to overwhelm you with it. Better to ease you into things than throw you into the deep end. Just promise me you’ll stay in until I can go out with you. I have tomorrow off, so it won’t be a problem.”
The Changeling nodded in agreement. “Of course. I won’t go anywhere without you.”
With that, Isabel finished her bed and settled in for the night while Meghan turned her attention to some sugary cereal she found. She went through the entire box and most of the milk before she started to feel full enough to slow down. By the time she was finished, Isabel was asleep, and there was little else left to eat in her kitchen.
Meghan stretched, patted her belly, and cleaned up the path of destruction left in the wake of her feeding frenzy. She deposited the dishes in the sink, discarded the trash, and wiped down the counter so that no evidence of her feasting remained. Once finished, she took the clothes on the counter and retired to Isabel’s room.
The Gnasci’s room could have been anyone’s with how pin it was. There were a few boxes in the corner that contained additional personal items, possibly leftovers from when the woman had moved into the apartment, but they looked as though they had been sitting there for at least a few weeks. There were no pictures hanging on the walls, no indication of what her hobbies might have been. Several dresser drawers had been left partially open, revealing the scant amount of clothing that the woman owned---or perhaps just what was clean.
Meghan slipped off the robe and hung it on the back of the door, gncing at her reflection in a standing mirror in the corner. The Changeling had packed away more food than was physically possible, a quirk of her supernatural biology that allowed her to recover from sickness and injury at an accelerated rate. She was already seeing improvements around her waist and thighs. The process could be that quick, depending on what she ate.
Throwing on the clothes, Meghan turned to the Gnasci’s bed with its numerous pillows and bnkets and allowed herself to fall face-first into it. Even as the doubts of whether or not she’d be able to sleep crept into her mind, she was out cold, whisked away into a restful slumber she couldn’t remember enjoying for decades.
Meghan stirred at the sound of wind chimes before shielding her eyes against the afternoon sun. Sitting up, she oriented herself to her surroundings, realizing that she’d fallen asleep in a hammock next to another napping woman she looked upon fondly. She was the same age as her, with glowing skin, ruby-red lips, and short hair bck as midnight. She wore a white and red swing dress that hugged her curves perfectly, emphasizing the swell of her breasts and narrow waist.
“You staring at me again?” the woman asked with her eyes still closed, a sly smirk forming on her lips.
Meghan smiled and looked away as though she could escape detection. “Again? Awfully big-headed of you, don’t you think?”
“It would be if it wasn’t true,” the woman countered, turning over in the hammock as she opened her eyes. They were as beautiful and fwless as a clear blue sky. “You’re awfully predictable, Meg.”
“Tch,” the Changeling clicked her tongue, refusing to engage in an argument she was destined to lose. She couldn’t deny how smitten she was with the woman, who she believed to be just as smitten as her. It was love, she thought, but one that they couldn’t profess for one another openly. “Are you hungry? I could make you a sandwich. I think I have some leftover turkey inside.”
“Actually, I should be going,” the woman said, carefully picking her way out of the hammock. “Before your sister gets home or my father comes looking for me again. He almost caught us st time.”
Meghan watched as the dark-haired beauty stretched with both arms over her head, puffing her chest out in an exaggerated manner just for the blonde’s benefit, though she would never admit to catering to her whims in such a way.
“Do you think he suspects?” Meghan asked apprehensively.
The woman looked back at her, frowning. They were dangerously close to having an argument they’d had many times before. “If he doesn’t, I’d be surprised. Turning Hank away when he came calling st week didn’t help matters, I’m sure.”
“Hank,” Meghan repeated with a huff. He wasn’t a bad guy, really. He was well-liked, handsome, and held a good job. Any woman would have been lucky to catch his eye, but his being sweet on Meghan’s gal caused her to take a dim view of him regardless. Meghan knew there was no reasonable expnation in anyone else’s view for her companion to have refused him. “Hank should pound sand.”
“He’s not so bad,” the other woman objected, shooting Meghan an admonishing look. “There’s no way he could know he’s barking up the wrong tree, but I don’t know what to do.”
“Maybe you should go out with him, then,” the blonde muttered irately, a swell of jealousy bubbling up inside her. “I bet you two would really hit it off.”
The woman gave her a pained look. It wasn’t an easy situation to be in, and the longer they went without a pn, the harder it was going to be. “Don’t say that. You know how I feel about you.”
“I know,” Meghan sighed, running her hands through her hair in frustration. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean it, I swear.”
After a prolonged silence, the Changeling looked up in search of forgiveness, but the woman was gone. Looking around the backyard, there was no sign of her. Had she left, or had she ever been there at all? Meghan felt a pang of dread and fear as she began to question the nature of her reality. It wasn’t the first or st time in her life that she would do so.
“Alice?” Meghan murmured uncertainly as she jumped out of the hammock and got to her feet. Her rge eyes darted around the yard, searching in vain for her missing girl. “Don’t be cross with me, please. I didn’t mean it.”
The tinkling of wind chimes was the only response she received.
“Alice?”
Meghan opened her eyes, armed at the sudden change in surroundings. The sound of wind chimes was gone, repced by the sounds of the city just outside the window and music drifting in from another apartment. It was an unusual style she didn’t recognize as she stared up at the ceiling of Isabel’s room.
*The city is crowded, my friends are away, and I’m on my own.
It’s too hot to handle, so I gotta get up and go.
It’s a cruel, cruel, cruel summer,
Leaving me here on my own.
It’s a cruel (it’s a cruel), cruel summer,
Now you’re gone,
You’re not the only one...*
Meghan pced her palm firmly against her head as though it would do anything to alleviate the pain she found there the second she had stirred. It seemed certain memories were still painful for her. Thankfully, the smell of eggs drifting in from the kitchen was enough to distract her from the aching. According to the small clock with the glowing red numbers next to the bed, it was a quarter ‘til one. She’d been asleep for a long time.
A moment ter, the bedroom door opened, and Isabel stepped in with breakfast with Creepy hot on her heels. “Good morning.”
“Heh,” Meghan scoffed, gncing at the clock again. Her stomach growled, signaling that she was impossibly famished once again. The eggs on the pte Isabel handed to her were pretty basic as far as breakfast went, though that was thanks in rge part to the Changeling not leaving much for her to work with from the night before. “You made me breakfast? That’s awfully sweet.”
Isabel shrugged. “I figured it might be the best way to get you going after a long, hard sleep. You’re looking pretty good, though, I have to admit.”
Meghan went at the eggs like a starved trucker the moment she got a hold of the fork. Within just a few moments, the pte was scraped clean of its contents, with little evidence that there had been anything there to begin with. “The more I eat, the more I’ll be like my old self.”
Isabel’s brow arched, realizing that Meghan didn’t mean it figuratively. Meghan was being quite literal. “Did you sleep well?”
“Better than I have in a long, long time,” Meghan assured her, patting the bed. “It was very comfortable. Thank you.”
Looking at the Gnasci, Meghan felt like she was truly seeing her for the first time with eyes unclouded. Her hair, which had appeared brunette the night before, seemed more cherry-tinted by the light filtering in through the thin curtains and was tied into a tight, neat braid that cascaded down her back. Simirly, eyes that had seemed blue had taken on a more vender tint. It took Meghan a moment to realize that she was seeing through the Gnasci’s thin Mask, revealing her true appearance. “I can see through your Mask.”
“O-oh!” Isabel said, gncing at the mirror to check herself. When she saw that the magic hadn’t faltered, she turned her attention back to the Changeling with a curious look. “Wait, you actually see through it, like the Alfar do?”
“It’s a trait many of us share,” Meghan expined. “I forgot all about it. It’s been so long.”
“It’s only fair, I suppose,” Isabel responded with a pyful shrug. “You know the whole ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours’ thing.”
The Changeling’s brows shot up, a little surprised at the turn of phrase and its implications. Isabel seemed to think she may have embarrassed her and decided to push on. “Uh, so... was there anything in particur you wanted to do today? You’re free to doze the day away if you like.”
Meghan’s eyes drifted away from the pte and toward Isabel’s clothes. Her denim pants appeared torn in several pces, and the T-shirt she wore bared a logo for someone or something called “The Ramones.”
“Is this what women wear today?” The Changeling wondered aloud, tilting her head in a distinctly birdlike fashion.
Isabel took the Changeling’s empty pte and turned back toward the kitchen. “Some of them. It’s a pretty mixed bag, you’ll see.”
“Well, they compliment your tush very well,” Meghan said, admiring the woman’s rear as she walked out of the room. “I like them.”
Isabel gnced over her shoulder at the Changeling, caught off-guard by the compliment, but didn’t seem offended. Meghan felt a little pulse of hope in her chest. Despite having just met the woman, she thought perhaps she might be able to find some measure of comfort and companionship in her, especially after the loneliness that had crept in after her dream.
Forcing herself out of bed, Meghan shuffled over toward another window to look outside. It was something she immediately regretted, as the bright noonday light assaulted her eyes with stabbing pain. She’d always been sensitive to daylight, but having been locked away in the asylum for so long seemed to have only exacerbated the problem. “Ugh!”
“Here,” Isabel said, reaching around her and flicking open a rge pair of sungsses. “These should help.”
Meghan took them delicately between her fingers and pced them on her face, experiencing instant relief. “How did you know?”
“It would be tough for anyone stuck indoors for decades,” Isabel expined with a small smile. “But I noticed how well you were able to see in the dark st night, so I figured...”
Meghan nodded in understanding, looking around the room quickly to test the sungsses out some more. She seriously considered wearing them around the apartment due to how well they filtered out the light. “You’re quite observant. You were the only one who seemed to notice when I woke up, too.”
Isabel regarded her silently for a moment, appearing to consider her response more carefully before speaking. “It’s part of the job. My real job among the Hidden, I mean. I’m the eyes and ears for my mistress.”
“I see,” Meghan muttered with a slight nod. She didn’t want to pry into such things, considering the various factions of the Hidden didn’t care much for extended fraternization with those from other factions. There were too many proprietary secrets, pns, and schemes that might be spoiled by a subordinate with loose lips. “I suppose I was fortunate to be noticed, then.”
Isabel smirked and then nodded toward some clothes she’d set at the end of the bed. “Those are for you until we can get our hands on some new clothes for you.”
Meghan picked up the clothes and examined them before stripping out of the sleepwear she’d borrowed from the night before. Again, she wasn’t self-conscious about disrobing in Isabel’s presence. With her physique already making a miraculous recovery, the bra was too small to be of any use. She pulled the pin white T-shirt on without it, which itself left much of her midriff exposed. She couldn’t tell if it was because it was too small or the style of the time. A pair of jeans simir to the Gnasci’s but with fewer holes came next, topped off with a pair of pin canvas sneakers that felt comfortable on her feet.
“Do those fit alright?” Isabel asked, looking down at the shoes. “I don’t know how things are with uh...feet like yours.”
“The magic of the Mask compensates for differences in size and height,” Meghan responded. While all Hidden made use of the magic to conceal their inhuman traits, not all Masks were created equal. Some were designed only to adjust simple things such as coloration, smell, or texture. Others, for those who were much less human-like, did the job of compressing the essence of the being, wearing it down to something more manageable for human society. Some elder entities possessed so much power and presence that no Mask could contain it all, forcing them to become ever more reclusive over the years.
Isabel nodded, “Good. Just making sure they weren’t uncomfortable. We can get you some of your own soon if you want.”
“We could go out today,” Meghan suggested, motioning vaguely toward the front door. “Would be nice to get out and walk around, too.”
The Gnasci shrugged uncertainly. “We can go for a walk if you want, but I’m ft broke until payday.”
Meghan pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Do you think it’s possible my bank account would still be open? I could see how much is left in it.”
Isabel blinked several times as she considered the idea. “I honestly don’t know. It would depend on the bank, I suppose. Vampires in Repose usually make arrangements ahead of time to preserve their wealth, but I understand if you weren’t able to do the same.”
“How do they usually do it?” Meghan asked as she crossed the apartment to the fridge. She’d hoped that she’d been mistaken in remembering she’d polished off the st of the coke, but as, there was none left.
“Usually through some kind of trust or a ruse involving family,” Isabel expined with surprising candor. “A Vampire may vanish for a few decades before resurfacing under the identity of a grandson with access to an account, for example. Sometimes, they entrust to their spawn, Varlets, or families of Gnasci to hold onto until they awaken. They’ve got all sorts of schemes to make sure they’re sitting pretty the moment they crawl out of their coffins.”
Meghan quirked an amused brow as she looked at Isabel. “Do they actually do that still---sleep in coffins?”
Isabel’s answer was lost amid the sounds of an argument reaching her ears from the lobby. The Changeling tilted her head to the side, listening as a tenant of the building objected to two men forcing their way inside to make their way upstairs. Outside, a couple more men were urging the tenants to mind their own business and to “take a fuckin’ walk.”
Outside, a driver in a rge car had the vehicle idling, listening to a news report on the radio with the windows down and a door open. A brief exchange between the men coming up the stairs told her that they were coming to collect Isabel. The scent of their aftershave and cologne couldn’t completely conceal their nature as Varlets from her.
“Meghan?” Isabel said, frowning slightly. “Are you alright?”
“Two men,” Meghan warned her, pointing at the door. “Coming down the hallway. They’re looking for you. There are two more outside with a driver. They’re armed. Some kind of pistols in their jackets.”
Isabel did a double-take toward the door before looking at Meghan again with mild awe. “You’re sure?”
“I can hear them,” Meghan responded with a nod. “Smell them too. Varlets.”
“Shit,” Isabel hissed as she took the Changeling by the arm and pulled her back to the bedroom. “Alright, let me handle this. You stay in here and don’t make a sound, alright?”
Before Meghan could object, a pounding on the door reverberated through the apartment, cutting her off. The pair exchanged gnces before Isabel shoved Meghan into the bedroom, quietly closing the door most of the way immediately after. Then, after adjusting her braid and smoothing out her shirt, Isabel went to the door even as another round of pounding was drummed out of it from the hallway.
“Open up, Isabel!” A voice shouted. “We know you’re in there!”
Meghan’s breath hitched and held as her mind raced with all the possible ways the situation could go sideways.
