1850
Julianna watched over the boy through the second night of his immortality. He still hadn't gained consciousness and Suneyva had gone to find the blood he needed to complete the healing of his many injuries. He had been in bad shape when he first arrived the night before and didn't look too much better now.
He breathed slowly, not having yet learned that it was no longer necessary, and Julianna held his small, cold hands. She hoped that Suneyva returned successfully and soon because the Childe needed help so very badly.
*
Jesse knew cold and that seemed to be all the world could offer to him. He wanted to shiver, to huddle in blankets near a fireplace, but he was powerless. In some part of him there was a sense that he was not alone in the darkness; that there was something drawing him closer though he seemed not to move. It was an endless nightmare feeling that he couldn't seem to escape from.
Slowly things seemed to shift within him and something warm and sweet flowed into his awareness. He didn't fight the new sensations and he found himself a little closer to awareness with each passing moment. He started to feel things outside of his body; a little warmth and three very real presences. The warmth that flowed into his body never seemed to stop and he clutched desperately at it when he saw that he grew stonger only because of its potence, but then...
He choked and pushed away from what he had been clutching and opened his eyes. He was laying on a narrow bunk in a smokey, log building; two women and a girl child were between himself and the fireplace. Jesse jerked back away from them and looked at himself, shaking his head, "N-no, I'm dead. It isn't f-fair." He glanced at his hands, covered with the girl's blood, and the room seemed to fall sideways.
*
Suneyva frowned and glanced to Julianna. "Let's wash the blood off, maybe he'll react better if he isn't covered with the stuff." She went to the fireplace and wrung out a rag from the boiling water as Julianna helped the girl to the next bunk. They gave the boy a sketchy wash and when he opened his eyes again they helped him to sit up.
"Childe, you are not dead. You have become undead. You are Kindred now and this here is Suneyva, your Sire." Julianna tried to touch his arm and he flinched.
Jesse shook his head, "No. I died. I was attacked in the woods. I am dead and...this is hell." He flattened against the wall as the tall blond woman leaned closer to him.
"No Childe, you are not dead because I saved you. Now you can give us your name and we can give you something more to eat. It will strengthen you." She smiled in what she hoped was a maternal way.
The boy's brow creased slightly, "I was drinking blood, wasn't I? Why would you give me that? The preacher said that only the devil's spawn drank blook." He shuddered. "My father said that I was evil. He was right, wasn't he?"
Suneyva frowned and reached out to the boy again, this time not letting him escape from her grasp. "No. He was not. Now will you tell us your name?"
He looked up, his blue eyes meeting hers only for a moment. "Jesse Rose."
He didn't know what to think or do. There was no way that they could be telling him the truth; vampires did not exist. They couldn't exist and this had to be some cruel cosmic joke. He ought to be dead; didn't he deserve that at least, instead of this continued pain of existance.
The blond, Suneyva, reached out to him again and he jerked back, hitting his head against the wall. "No, please leave me alone." He whimpered softly. "Please...just leave me alone," Jesse covered his face in his hands and began to tremble, "I don't want to live."
*
It was perplexing. Most people would be glad to be alive, most would enthusiastically thank her for saving their lives and making them nearly immortal. Suneyva shook her head. "You must live. You are my Childe now and I am not going to let you die. Your life belongs to me." She stood and went to Julianna for a quick hug. It was much needed. "We may have to tie him down during the day. It would be the safest way," she whispered.
Julianna nodded. "I agree. I just don't understand him at all. What has happened to him that would make him wish to die? He isn't even a man yet." She gently broke away from her Sire and went to the bunk once again. "Jesse, will you talk to me? Please? I am Julianna, I guess I'm actually kind of like your sister now." He glanced through his fingers at her. "How old are you Jesse? You seem awfully young to have been in the woods that late."
He put his hands down and shot a look at Suneyva before answering. "Seventeen, but I've been out in the woods late lots of times. I had to."
Julianna tried to continue as slowly as possible, "Why did you have to? What reason would keep you out so late?" She reached out and grabbed his hand.
Jesse tensed and tried to pull away, but she wouldn't let him. "My father would have yelled at me for not catching anything for the family and embarrassing him in front of Ethan's wife. He thinks that I'm evil." The Childe whispered the last and Julianna swept him up in a tight embrace before he could move away.
"You aren't evil. It isn't possible for you to be evil Jesse. You are just a boy. Why would he say that you were evil?"
He was a small trembling presence against her shoulder, but he finally stopped fighting her. "Because I wanted to be with Jonathan."
She had to stop for a moment to think. "With? Oh, with...that isn't evil Jesse. Suneyva and I are both women and we are lovers. Love is never evil, the form doesn't matter as long as you do love. Your father was wrong and we will be so different from that. Live with us Jesse. We will teach you and keep you safe; and if you meet someone that you would like to be with then we will help you and be there to support you if you need to talk." She squeezed him for another moment before letting him go.
He looked away, staring at his hands again. "Why? I don't understand, why me? Why didn't you let me die?"
"Because you are young and did not deserve to die so horribly. Besides, those antitribu Malks were invading my territory and I didn't want to let them get away with it." Suneyva softened her tone. "Jesse, you belong with us now. We'll take care of you."
To part two of Lo How A Rose Ere Blooming
story links
Zoo Entrance