Title: Let Sleeping Vamps Lie
Author(s): Jaina
Fandom: The Hollows aka Rachel Morgan aka that series by Kim Harrison
Time frame: Post-Outlaw Demon Wails
Characters: Rachel Morgan, Ivy Tamwood, Jenks, Skimmer, etc.
Genre: Romance, action, drama
Summary: Rachel is forced to confront things that she'd prefer left undisturbed.
Notes:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
infinitelight and racethewind10 were both cool enough to look over this for me and tell me what they thought of it. Any errors that remain are entirely my own and likely a result of my not listening to their good advice.
Disclaimer: All characters, and the universe that they go with belong to Kim Harrison. I'm just playing in the sandbox. No infringement is intended.
Prompt: #6 Dread
Author(s): Jaina
Fandom: The Hollows aka Rachel Morgan aka that series by Kim Harrison
Time frame: Post-Outlaw Demon Wails
Characters: Rachel Morgan, Ivy Tamwood, Jenks, Skimmer, etc.
Genre: Romance, action, drama
Summary: Rachel is forced to confront things that she'd prefer left undisturbed.
Notes:
infinitelight and racethewind10 were both cool enough to look over this for me and tell me what they thought of it. Any errors that remain are entirely my own and likely a result of my not listening to their good advice. Disclaimer: All characters, and the universe that they go with belong to Kim Harrison. I'm just playing in the sandbox. No infringement is intended.
Prompt: #6 Dread
Part One
It had taken me longer than it should have for me to come here. After Kisten had died getting through each day had been so hard. Only focusing on Ivy and trying to find Kisten's killer had gotten me through each day. And then Halloween had come around. That Halloween changed my life forever. It's not every day that a girl discovers that she can create the first little baby demons in thousands of years. If I'd ever thought in some distant way of having kids, and a husband one day, that knowledge had completely erased that possibility. It wasn't something that I even wanted to consider, and it had taken me more than a few days to come to terms with it.
Some days I still woke up panting and sweating from nightmares that I did my best to forget. And then there was Al. In some ways, Al was still one of my biggest nightmares. Getting to know him better hadn't made him any less scary. It just meant that I was slightly less likely to die immediately if I pissed him off enough. Some days that was a reassuring thought, other days it scared me even more. There were worst things than death. I knew that now.
Maybe that was why I had chosen now to come here and do this. Maybe it was because I'd gotten just the smallest dose of what Ivy had been through. Either way, it was time.
I flashed my runner's license at the guard. His eyes flicked over to it for a second, but he couldn't have looked less interested as he buzzed me through. The first guard had warned me that what I was doing was dangerous and he'd made me fill out a rainforest's worth of paperwork stating that I was aware of the dangers and that they would not held be responsible for anything that happened to me inside their walls. It was a real comfort.
I clenched my hand at my side to stop it from shaking and stuck it in my pocket. Stupid, stupid, stupid witch. What had I been thinking? I should just forget about this and go home. Never mention it to Ivy. That would be the best plan. And yet, I couldn't. After all, when had I ever followed the best plan? I just had to at least do this one thing. I owed it to her, because if I'd had half a chance I would have done the same thing. And then I would be the one in this cell.
"Skimmer." I would never admit it to Ivy or anyone else, but I had been glad when Skimmer locked in here. I was runner enough to admit that she scared me and a part of me that I didn't like to think about was glad that she was being kept far, far away from Ivy.
Skimmer had always bothered me, both in the way that she'd acted around Ivy, and her closeness to Piscary. Still, when I spoke, it was with respect. She had done what none of us had been able to when she killed Piscary. Whatever else I might feel towards Skimmer, I'd always be grateful to her for freeing Ivy from Piscary's influence. Even I wasn't petty enough to deny Skimmer that.
"Rachel, what are you doing here?" I'd always hated the way that her voice could seem so sweet, and yet be so full of utter derision. Apparently today was no exception.
I crossed my arms over my chest, and forced myself not to take a step back from her. There was something in her voice, the tilt of her head, maybe, that was giving me the creeps.
"I came to say thank you," I forced the words out. Actually the last thing I was feeling at this moment was thankful, but it needed to be said. It was the whole reason I'd come here, after all.
"Thank you?" Skimmer sounded amused now, and that ticked me off. "What are you thanking me for? For getting myself locked up in here so that you can have Ivy to yourself?"
"Ivy and I aren't like that and you know it." The words snapped out of my mouth before I could stop myself, even as I realized how childish they sounded. Well, Turn it, Skimmer always had been skilled at making me feel like an idiot. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down and remember the reason that I'd come here. "I wanted to thank you for setting Ivy free from Piscary," I said. "No one else could have done it. You did."
Skimmer scoffed and stepped forward until her fingers were splayed out, pressing against the bars. Her skin was white where it touched them, from the pressure behind her gesture. Only once before had I seen the physical side of her living vamp strengths and that was when she was hacking Piscary's neck open with a paper cutter. This was no less scary.
"Someone should set her free from you, Morgan. What you do to her is worse than anything he ever did to her." Her voice was filled with venom and undisguised loathing. It seemed that with Skimmer behind bars, we would no longer be playing nice for Ivy's benefit.
"What are you talking about? I don't do anything to Ivy." Even to me, my denial sounded feeble.
"Oh?" From a professional standpoint, I had to admire the amount of mocking sarcasm that Skimmer packed into that single syllable. Someday I would so have to use that same tone on Al. Someday when Skimmer didn't look ready to kill me.
"Yeah." I said, trying to back up my oh-so-witty retort with as much bravado as I could muster.
Skimmer didn't seem to even notice. "So you didn't spend all of that time telling Ivy that you didn't want to share blood with her, and then seduce her? You didn't tell Ivy that you wanted to find a blood balance with her, but only if she'd neuter herself to suit you? You continue to dangle the relationship that Ivy wants with you more than anything else in the world in front of her and then deny it?" Rage simmered in Skimmer's eyes. "She'll destroy herself trying to become the person you want her to be."
My hands began to tremble as adrenaline kicked out into my bloodstream.
"Like you were helping her? You were just using Ivy for her blood! You play the exact same games as Piscary."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Skimmer retorted, her voice low and cold. "I treat Ivy like what she is. You treat her as if she was a person, who just happens to have a blood habit. She's not. She's a living vampire - something that you can never imagine or understand. If you truly care about her, do what's best for Ivy: leave her alone."
It was the hint of pleading and frustration that hit me in the gut like a sucker punch from a werewolf. I took a step forward as I felt my skin flush with anger. Before my angry reply could leave my lips, Skimmer's pupils dilated into pools of the deepest black.
The pull she exerted on the vampire saliva in my scar nearly brought me to my knees. Only my experiences with Ivy gave me the strength to lock my knees and remain standing.
"Skimmer. Don't do this." I hated the breathlessness in my voice. Stupid, stupid, stupid, witch, taunting the living vampire who had been cut off from all potential blood donors for months and who hated my guts. What had I been thinking? I hadn't, of course, and I wasn't going to start now. The things she was doing to me...thinking was impossible.
"Come to me, Rachel," Skimmer's voice caressed my skin like silk. Involuntarily I took a step closer to her. Her hand reached out, stroking over the covered scar on my neck. I shivered under her touch, turning into it, as the warm, tingling feeling of vampire pheromones washing over me grew. I ached with the desire for her teeth to sink into my skin - the desire that Ivy had wakened in me.
Thoughts of Skimmer was suddenly replaced with the image of Ivy standing over me. "No." The word was weak, but my denial had been spoken. It wasn't Skimmer that I wanted. The thought seemed to free some portion of my mind. As Skimmer's fingers closed over my shoulder to pull me closer, a flash of being pinned up against a cold concrete wall hit me and I yanked back. The heel of my boot caught on a crack in the concrete and I fell, landing awkwardly and painfully on my ass and elbow. My elbow went numb and fear choked me as I scrambled away from the bars and the dangerous vamp just behind them.
"No!" I screamed the word this time, nausea rising in me as desire still warred with horror. I summoned up every ounce of ley line energy that I could, from the reserves spindled in my chi, and lashed out at Skimmer. The look of shock on Skimmer's face was the last thing I saw as she was flung back against the far wall of her cell and my vision faded to encompassing darkness.
It had taken me longer than it should have for me to come here. After Kisten had died getting through each day had been so hard. Only focusing on Ivy and trying to find Kisten's killer had gotten me through each day. And then Halloween had come around. That Halloween changed my life forever. It's not every day that a girl discovers that she can create the first little baby demons in thousands of years. If I'd ever thought in some distant way of having kids, and a husband one day, that knowledge had completely erased that possibility. It wasn't something that I even wanted to consider, and it had taken me more than a few days to come to terms with it.
Some days I still woke up panting and sweating from nightmares that I did my best to forget. And then there was Al. In some ways, Al was still one of my biggest nightmares. Getting to know him better hadn't made him any less scary. It just meant that I was slightly less likely to die immediately if I pissed him off enough. Some days that was a reassuring thought, other days it scared me even more. There were worst things than death. I knew that now.
Maybe that was why I had chosen now to come here and do this. Maybe it was because I'd gotten just the smallest dose of what Ivy had been through. Either way, it was time.
I flashed my runner's license at the guard. His eyes flicked over to it for a second, but he couldn't have looked less interested as he buzzed me through. The first guard had warned me that what I was doing was dangerous and he'd made me fill out a rainforest's worth of paperwork stating that I was aware of the dangers and that they would not held be responsible for anything that happened to me inside their walls. It was a real comfort.
I clenched my hand at my side to stop it from shaking and stuck it in my pocket. Stupid, stupid, stupid witch. What had I been thinking? I should just forget about this and go home. Never mention it to Ivy. That would be the best plan. And yet, I couldn't. After all, when had I ever followed the best plan? I just had to at least do this one thing. I owed it to her, because if I'd had half a chance I would have done the same thing. And then I would be the one in this cell.
"Skimmer." I would never admit it to Ivy or anyone else, but I had been glad when Skimmer locked in here. I was runner enough to admit that she scared me and a part of me that I didn't like to think about was glad that she was being kept far, far away from Ivy.
Skimmer had always bothered me, both in the way that she'd acted around Ivy, and her closeness to Piscary. Still, when I spoke, it was with respect. She had done what none of us had been able to when she killed Piscary. Whatever else I might feel towards Skimmer, I'd always be grateful to her for freeing Ivy from Piscary's influence. Even I wasn't petty enough to deny Skimmer that.
"Rachel, what are you doing here?" I'd always hated the way that her voice could seem so sweet, and yet be so full of utter derision. Apparently today was no exception.
I crossed my arms over my chest, and forced myself not to take a step back from her. There was something in her voice, the tilt of her head, maybe, that was giving me the creeps.
"I came to say thank you," I forced the words out. Actually the last thing I was feeling at this moment was thankful, but it needed to be said. It was the whole reason I'd come here, after all.
"Thank you?" Skimmer sounded amused now, and that ticked me off. "What are you thanking me for? For getting myself locked up in here so that you can have Ivy to yourself?"
"Ivy and I aren't like that and you know it." The words snapped out of my mouth before I could stop myself, even as I realized how childish they sounded. Well, Turn it, Skimmer always had been skilled at making me feel like an idiot. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down and remember the reason that I'd come here. "I wanted to thank you for setting Ivy free from Piscary," I said. "No one else could have done it. You did."
Skimmer scoffed and stepped forward until her fingers were splayed out, pressing against the bars. Her skin was white where it touched them, from the pressure behind her gesture. Only once before had I seen the physical side of her living vamp strengths and that was when she was hacking Piscary's neck open with a paper cutter. This was no less scary.
"Someone should set her free from you, Morgan. What you do to her is worse than anything he ever did to her." Her voice was filled with venom and undisguised loathing. It seemed that with Skimmer behind bars, we would no longer be playing nice for Ivy's benefit.
"What are you talking about? I don't do anything to Ivy." Even to me, my denial sounded feeble.
"Oh?" From a professional standpoint, I had to admire the amount of mocking sarcasm that Skimmer packed into that single syllable. Someday I would so have to use that same tone on Al. Someday when Skimmer didn't look ready to kill me.
"Yeah." I said, trying to back up my oh-so-witty retort with as much bravado as I could muster.
Skimmer didn't seem to even notice. "So you didn't spend all of that time telling Ivy that you didn't want to share blood with her, and then seduce her? You didn't tell Ivy that you wanted to find a blood balance with her, but only if she'd neuter herself to suit you? You continue to dangle the relationship that Ivy wants with you more than anything else in the world in front of her and then deny it?" Rage simmered in Skimmer's eyes. "She'll destroy herself trying to become the person you want her to be."
My hands began to tremble as adrenaline kicked out into my bloodstream.
"Like you were helping her? You were just using Ivy for her blood! You play the exact same games as Piscary."
"You don't know what you're talking about," Skimmer retorted, her voice low and cold. "I treat Ivy like what she is. You treat her as if she was a person, who just happens to have a blood habit. She's not. She's a living vampire - something that you can never imagine or understand. If you truly care about her, do what's best for Ivy: leave her alone."
It was the hint of pleading and frustration that hit me in the gut like a sucker punch from a werewolf. I took a step forward as I felt my skin flush with anger. Before my angry reply could leave my lips, Skimmer's pupils dilated into pools of the deepest black.
The pull she exerted on the vampire saliva in my scar nearly brought me to my knees. Only my experiences with Ivy gave me the strength to lock my knees and remain standing.
"Skimmer. Don't do this." I hated the breathlessness in my voice. Stupid, stupid, stupid, witch, taunting the living vampire who had been cut off from all potential blood donors for months and who hated my guts. What had I been thinking? I hadn't, of course, and I wasn't going to start now. The things she was doing to me...thinking was impossible.
"Come to me, Rachel," Skimmer's voice caressed my skin like silk. Involuntarily I took a step closer to her. Her hand reached out, stroking over the covered scar on my neck. I shivered under her touch, turning into it, as the warm, tingling feeling of vampire pheromones washing over me grew. I ached with the desire for her teeth to sink into my skin - the desire that Ivy had wakened in me.
Thoughts of Skimmer was suddenly replaced with the image of Ivy standing over me. "No." The word was weak, but my denial had been spoken. It wasn't Skimmer that I wanted. The thought seemed to free some portion of my mind. As Skimmer's fingers closed over my shoulder to pull me closer, a flash of being pinned up against a cold concrete wall hit me and I yanked back. The heel of my boot caught on a crack in the concrete and I fell, landing awkwardly and painfully on my ass and elbow. My elbow went numb and fear choked me as I scrambled away from the bars and the dangerous vamp just behind them.
"No!" I screamed the word this time, nausea rising in me as desire still warred with horror. I summoned up every ounce of ley line energy that I could, from the reserves spindled in my chi, and lashed out at Skimmer. The look of shock on Skimmer's face was the last thing I saw as she was flung back against the far wall of her cell and my vision faded to encompassing darkness.
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Good news - it's looking like I might actually finish this damn NCIS fic sometime this millennium!
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Skimmer is good for that, especially because she seems to have such a talent for getting under Rachel's skin. :D
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Anyhoo, having vented that, I can't wait to read more!
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