I feel happy, I feel sad, I don't know who I am...

[Dahlia Jane Rose]

Dahlia wondered around the gate entrance, singing to herself under her breath, making the tune and the words up as she went. She knelt to pick up a few wild flowers that grew from the cracks in between the paving on the court yard. Nothing but measly weeds, but that was the only greenery she allowed herself to linger upon. For fear of being hunted as she fed.

She sat on the floor now, a fearsome pang of pain in the back of her throat making her wince. She needed to feed, and she needed it as soon as possible. She moved to sit down now, her legs crossed, singing slightly louder as she played with the edge of her white cotton dress.

She truly did feel out of sorts today, her brain was a little more "eratic" than usual, she just didn't know what was wrong with her at all, it was as if a little grey cloud hung over her head, constanly raining over her and only her.

[Jason Matthew Birchal]

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Jason blinked and sighed, ignoring the sting in his throat that told him he had waited too long between feeding. He stood from the chair and breathed in deeply. Fresh air, that was what he needed. It would clear his mind and help take his thoughts off the blood shortage happening and make it so he could think straight without the thick, red liquid that kept him alive from entering his mind. He walked through the hallways, past a few other vampires and werewolves and broke out into the courtyard. Fresh air entered his lungs and he immediately felt better. His senses cleared and he could think straight once more.

Another scent caught his attention and he turned to see Dahlia sitting on the ground, her back against the wall. He had never really spoken to her, having decided from day one that he would keep to himself. It kept him out of trouble and kept other vampires from starting fights with him. He stepped towards her slowly, not wanting to scare the vampire and cleared his throat loudly.

”Dahlia?” he said.

He watched as she looked up and gave her a warm, friendly smile. He had seen her around, laughing and joking with her friends but had never really spoken to her. He had walked past her, seen her about but talking to her had never been on the top of his ‘to do’ list. He was only talking to her now because he hoped that talking to another vampire would keep his mind of the painful ache that was developing in the back of his throat. He had imagined walking into the town and slaughtering the first person that came into sight to sedate his thirst but the slayers would be on him in minutes and would kill him before he could even wash the blood from his mouth.

Slayers; they were annoying and kept the other vampires in line. They were the cause of the blood shortage, they were the reason that Jason was having trouble keeping focused on the more simple things and trying to keep himself in order. He swallowed and watched her, still smiling.

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[Dahlia Jane Rose]

Dahlia had smelt him before she had heard him, and he smelt nice, just like any other vampire, it was part of what made them so deadly, part of what enticed the humans.

"Ahh, Jason, nice to see you dear!" The delirium of the hunger was clearly setting in as she began to laugh suddenly, she patted to a space next to her. "Please... sit with me." She beamed up at him and then glanced behind him at the almost empty courtyard, no one else of interest to join their new party.

She hadn't spoken very much to Jason before, perhaps conversation with him would be rather difficult, especially because of how her brain was or rather how it wasn't working like usual. She began to sing to herself again, a song her Mother used to sing whenever she was scared. Now she sang it in turn, to comfort herself, to distract her from the pain, to stop her from snapping at any moment, and in truth, she was scared, she needed to eat, and she was afraid she die this way, rather than on her own terms, her skin turning leathery and mummifying herself, smelling of rot and decay. The thought made her shiver.

You know what we need? Wine! I miss wine... Back home, we made the finest wine in the world! Straight from our garden. You know what would be even better than wine? She trailed off, thinking about blood again, realising how unfair it would be to bring it up to Jason, she wondered if he was feeling it too.

She handed him some wild flowers, in a bunch, a nice gesture she thought, then she looked at the sorry state of the flowers and then took them back and stomped on them. Tch They are vile, I wish we grew some real flowers here, I wish we actually had a garden, maybe then I could have given you something pretty. She realised how crazy she seemed and muttered an apology.

[Jason Matthew Birchal]

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”Ah, Jason, nice to see you dear!” she said, her voice high and different from what Jason had heard before. He raised an eyebrow but didn’t speak as she continued. ”Please... sit with me.” She gave him a smile and then glanced around as Jason joined her on the floor, sitting with his back against the wall and his long legs stretched out in front of him on the floor, his ankles crossed. He was still slightly confused at her attitude but he had seen it before. It was the effects of the hunger that probably burned in her throat. It made vampires... change.

”Nice to see you agai, Dahlia,”

[/color] he said, his voice slightly cracked from the strain of the hunger. The hunger threatened to tear at his voice and change it into something that was neither human nor vampire. Jason had already come across the voice once back when he was young and without mentor. It had been a hard time and he had been travelling. There were no humans about as he was so deep into a dense forest that even the moon at night was blocked from his view. He had found himself sleeping at night for once since the sun could not breach the thick canopy of leaves above him, making it easier to travel by day. He had tried ingesting the blood of any animal that came past but it only made him worse and caused the darker side of his personality to break out and roar at the heavens above in anger.
Jason watched as she began to sing and smiled lightly to himself. Even in the darkest of times music can bring anyone from the dark abssy that may have captured their being. The music she sung calmed him to the point where the hunger was nothing but a poking in the back of his mind. He found himself relaxing against the wall and letting the tension drop from his shoulders.

” You know what we need? Wine!” Dahlia burst out randomly, snapping Jason from the calm place he had slipped into. ”I miss wine... Back home, we made the finest wine in the world! Straight from our garden. You know what would be even better than wine?”

She trailed off, leaving Jason to happily fill in the blank space she had provided him with. Just the thought of the rich, red liquid set his throat aflame once more, his shoulders tensed as he tried to reign in the beast that threatened to come out, rip open pretty little Dahlia’s throat and drink the blood that coursed through her veins. Jason held back a fierce growl and tried to relax again, balling his fists up on his lap.

”Yeah, I miss it too,” he said, his voice strained. The beast was dangerously close to breaking out.

Dahlia handed him a bunch of flowers that she had been holding and Jason greatly accepted them until she stole them back and crushed them with the sole of her shoe. Jason frowned, curiosity pushing the beast back into his cage.

”Why did you do that?” he asked.

”Tch! They are vile, I wish we grew some real flowers here, I wish we actually had a garden. Maybe then I could have given you something pretty,” she growled before putting an apology.

”They were fine, Dahlia, trust me,” he said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. He could feel the heat of her under his palm, making the beast roar. ”Best flowers I’ve seen all year... well, whenever I see flowers it’s always when I’m chasing someone for... He gulped and continued without saying the word. ”Or being chased by Slayers since they’ve seen me in the woods or close to the town.[/color] [/blockquote][/size]

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