Snooping Around [Wysteria]

[Sam Kelley]

Sam had been awake for a total of fifteen minutes and it was already a bad morning. It had been nearly a month since the Gryffindor had settled into the daily training cycle with D’rorah Philosophy before morning classes began, but today something had gone wrong. He had stayed up into the early A.M. hours with his restless housemates and managed to oversleep their normal start time. No longer did the Ravenclaw girl come to fetch him in his dorm, trusting that responsibility to him as well as the penalty for tardiness. Surely she would be that much more brutal on him during sword training to teach him a lesson about punctuality. D’rorah had never made such a threat, but at this point Sam had gotten to know her quite well and knew that such a thing would most assurably happen.

The boy had sprung from his slumber and immediately dressed in the prior day’s clothing, using a quick scourgify charm as a makeshift shower as he slipped hurriedly and as unnoticeably as possible down the steps and out of the common room. Once in the halls it was a mad dash across the flagstone floors toward the sixth floor and more specifically, the room of requirement. Upon arrival, Sam barged into the large meeting room and glanced around quickly in hopes that his training partner had seen fit to wait for him. Though it disappointed him to find the room unoccupied, it did not surprise the lad. He and D’rorah had come to an understanding as training partners, both seeming able to respect the level of competition that the other brought to the table and how they pushed each other to be better, but they were still a long way off from meeting for daily tea and sharing their days. As well as they could work together in training and combat situations, they were not friends.

Sam let out a loud, frustrated sigh and brought his breath under control as he made his way around the large stone table and the five sets of matched chairs that surrounded it. By now, the boy had been given the crash course in the lore and theory of the Order of Light. He knew well enough that each set of chairs were meant for the Elemental Master and Shadow Warrior of each element and that they corresponding doors lead to their areas for training and whatever else they needed. Of course, he didn’t know exactly what was behind each of the doors except for that of Bryan and D’rorah’s element and that was exactly where his feet carried him now.

Sam reached out to the door of air and tried futilely to open it. Each time he had come here, it had been D’rorah that had opened the door and he now understood why. The boy scowled defiantly at the door and the unseen magical lock that secured it against his efforts. A hand reached toward the Gryffindor’s pocket and grasped the kelpie mane cored wand. ”Alohomora,” he said in a hushed tone and with a small flourish of the wand. Another tug at the door revealed the uselessness of the charm and prompted another frustrated sigh from the lad. ”Damn, that old harpy...” the statement was barely audible, returning the wand to its place.

A moment of silent follow as Sam considered his options and as soon a thought occurred to him. Surely one elements domain is as good as any other to train in. He moved to the nearest door and tried it and began his way through the other doors. Nothing opened as he tried each door in turn; fire, earth, metal. Finally he stepped toward the water door and placed his hand upon it’s surface, however just before he began to apply pressure against the door that would surely give way to it’s unknowing Elemental Master, a noise startled the lad, causing him to spin away from the door. It seemed to be coming from the direction of that sixth door in the room that D’rorah had not mentioned during the tour she had given him of the area. For a moment Sam’s eyes focused squarely on the door before him, the feeling of anther presence occupying the room with him quickly assaulting his senses. He was not alone, that was clear enough to the lad as he took a deep breath and pushed his annoyance away. Slowly he turned around to look upon who or what now joined him within the Order’s sanctuary.

[Wysteria Edwin]

(ooc: this is a bit angsty, but some of it I included so you could get a general idea of her frame of mind right now. Also...sorry if the puppy metaphor bothers you. It just popped in my head and Wyst insisted on including it lol)

The Room of Requirement was one of the very few areas in the castle which managed to shut out all natural light. Wysteria still did not know whether she preferred this or not. Although it was nice not having the fear of being burnt to a crisp if she didn't make it to a safe place before dawn, the absence of trees and grass and moonlight was hard to bear at times. But there was no other way since the manner of here escape from the vampire clan made her assumed death a vital part to her survival.

She could go out occasionally with the help of Keaira's modified polyjuice potion, but being in another person's body was quite uncomfortable for Wyst. Perhaps she hadn't fully noticed the difficulty when spreading Alessandro's ashes because her mind was strictly focused on her apparently dead Elemental Master. The second time she took the potion the experience was more difficult. Perhaps it was the girl she took the hair from, but Wyst's body just felt wrong.

She wondered if her now changed genetic structure battled against the potion, since vampire genes remain dominant for several generations, like veela. It was true that Keaira had to use a concentrated version which lasted half an hour instead of a full hour. While a more prickly part of her personality thought Keaira might have purposefully made the potion uncomfortable, Wyst knew she worked hard to assure that she could be there to say goodbye to Darko. Whatever Keaira had done to make her angry she could not deny this fact, and so she held some respect for her. Trusting Keaira was another matter, since breaking the heart of Wyst's Elemental Master was a crime she had not forgiven her of just yet.

And as for Zane...well...his actions caused the final shutdown of her emotions tied to her mortal life. She could vaguely recall having love, but only as something she knew once existed, not a feeling she experienced now. Her dislike for him came from the fact of his betrayl in torturing Dylan and to her, making her colder and more closed off than ever. And the nature of the vampire is such that once a vamp begins to isolate themselves from mortals, the process is difficult to undo.

But training helped. That was a part of her life which vastly improved after being turned. Dee was a wonderful partner for combat training, not only for the sheer fact that she was the closest friend Wyst had, but because they could challenge each other. Wysteria was a great deal stronger than D'rorah , but Dee's skills with her weaponry was masterful. Sometimes the RoR gave Wyst a fake vampire to spar with when she was bored, but she still occasionally enjoyed the company of people no matter how antisocial she became. And having Alessandro back was beyond wonderful. They both easily found their footing as though they had never been apart, which was a quality Wyst needed in her Elemental Master: love and compassion without judgement. And because of the nature of the shadow warrior and elemental master relationship, Wysteria knew he would always be there for her. Additionally, since the two had never been more than a brother and sister type of partnership, Wyst never worried he might "pull a Zane".



That morning Wyst felt particularly isolated. Alessandro had not visited her in a few days because he had some rather difficult exams lately. Not to mention that the Lightfighter news was rather...dull. A few incidents were possibly tied to the shadow beings, but nothing was definite. Wysteria wanted to be in action, fighting somebody, doing something other than sitting in the RoR translating more old books from eastern Europe with little hope of finding a helpful tidbit.

When she began the chapter about the lower dungeons in some far away castle, Wyst heard the distinct noise of a person moving entering the training room. She turned to her viewing glass beside her bed to catch a glimpse. The face was one she recognized: she had seen him coming into the room to train with Dee. From what D'rorah had shared with her, Wyst knew the boy called Sam was one to trust. Wyst wanted to make that decision for herself, however, and so was watching his every move carefully. He had come in alone...why? She saw him trying to get into the training rooms of Fire and Earth, chuckling a bit.

"Silly boy."

But his boldness in trying to get into the other rooms intrigued her. She drummed her fingernails on her work desk a few times, wondering if she should come out and meet the lad. She usually didn't bother people when they were in the room training, but he seemed to just be poking around their meeting place in a lost puppy sort of way. She smirked as she got to her feet and opened the door to her room, stepping a few feet forward in the direction of Sam. Her reservations on trusting the boy inclined her to do all the actions very quickly, far beyond the speed of a normal person, in order to give her the upper hand. By the time Sam turned around she was about five feet away from him with the door to her room already closed.

"Hi there. Find anything of interest?" she said calmly. Wyst did not want to scare Sam into running away from the room with his tail between his legs, and she knew her approach was not exactly appropriate, so her face showed no malice and only the keenest eye could detect suspicion and wariness.

"You're Sam, correct?" she asked, leaning on the round table with one hand and cocking her head to the side, critiquing his expressions to try and get a reading on the young man's loyalty.

[Sam Kelley]

(No need to apologize, I’m as laid back as people come and nothing is wrong with your post. :-) )

It was with curious, watery blue eyes that Sam looked upon his new acquaintance. His expression was also one of interest, but not the accompanying wariness that one might expect with the startle he had just been given. D’rorah had been reassuring that those encountered in this room were allies and thought was what turned in his mind as he examined the form of the pale girl before him. However, as he took in the sight and presence of the other figure there was something about her that drew a small uncomfortable stir in his stomach. Despite the feeling, Sam stood firm with that trademark Gryffindor boldness and again recalled that previous thought of D’rorah’s assuring words.

Though no amused expression was detectable on the vampire’s face, the boy couldn’t help but bear the traces of a sheepish grin at her query. He had been caught and he knew it. Of course, his actions hadn’t been nefarious in intent, but they might appear a bit dodgy to the casual viewer. Sam shook his head in response. ”Unfortunately not.” The Gryffindor pushed his hands down into the pockets of the dark blue running shorts that he wore and leaned back against the cool wall. ”You run just a few minutes late for the first time and she goes and starts without you.” The boy didn’t pay much mind to his general reference, assuming that the girl would know well enough what he meant if she had been keeping watch over the room.

Again Sam offered a physical gesture first in response to the girl, this time it was a nod. The boy could easily be described as a physical creature in a number of ways. He enjoyed and took pride in his participation in sports of both the wizarding and muggle worlds and as seen here, he sprinkled physicality into his speech. He was a habitual hand talker and his expression matched his sentiment on topics for the most part, the boy not making a habit of applying misdirection or obscurity into his normal way of things. For the most part, one pretty much got what they saw when it came to Sam Kelley. He lead with his heart, trusted his gut, and was unapologetic about it.

”Sam Kelley,” he replied in an affirmative and open tone. ”I must admit though, I appear to be at a disadvantage.” His words carried on a slightly inquisitive tone and he tilted his head curiously as he continued to meet the vampire’s gaze. ”Since I didn’t see you when I walked in...” his voice trailed off for a small moment while his eyes moved to the unmarked sixth door of the chamber before finding Wysteria once again. ”I’m assuming that you are...the...sixth element?” An amused grin came to his lips, deciding that a bit of humor may lighten the mood of the meeting that had started under possible suspicious seeming circumstances.

[Wysteria Edwin]

Wysteria was amused that Sam's single sentence about D'rorah was one of the most accurate ways to describe her: independent, punctual, professional and unapologetic. Most normal people find her a bit prickly at first, but Wyst recognized and appreciated her honesty. Perhaps this idea stayed in her mind because Sam's demeanor appeared as the antithesis of D'rorah in many ways: his hand-talking and laid-back attitude were obvious within a few seconds of being in his presence. Wyst sniffed the air briefly so as not to make herself look wolf or predator-like...and she could not detect the particular foul stenches associated the human lying or deception. So far as she could tell he was a bit uncomfortable but not hiding malicious intent.
”I’m assuming that you are...the...sixth element?”


A smirk spread across Wyst's mouth at the comment. She twirled a stray strand of wavy black hair around her finger before tucking it behind her ear. Her hair was one obvious change from the mortal to undead Wyst: she no longer had jasmine flowers in her hair. The idea of wasting polyjuice to visit the garden for it was silly and she could no longer perform the proper sticking charm anyway. While studying she would often finger the soft white petals absentmindedly like a worry stone. For some reason that little gesture of reaching up into her hair was still in her muscle memory.

"Not...exactly." She considered what was safe to reveal. The more people who knew she was alive the more danger she or her cousin might be in. Although from what she could gather her cousin might have already left the country. Plus Sam did have a brother within the Lightfighters so he was more certain to stay loyal.

"I'm the shadow warrior of fire. My door's over there," she pointed to the training room, "and my little flat is that sixth door you referred to. This will sound very blunt but I really don't care: my name is Wysteria Edwin and I'm assumed dead. If you repeat that information to anyone who does not already know there will be consequences." She said this threat without trying to inspire fear since her undead qualities gave her an unnerving appearance, even for those who did not know she was a vampire.

"But Dee trusts you so I doubt that will be an issue," Wyst said, as if that settled the matter. "I am curious as to what made you join our cause? Certainly not the fringe benefits," she said dryly in an attempt at humor. This was more of an inside joke since Sam had no idea about her sordid past.

[Sam Kelley]

The girl’s smirk drew an amused grin from the extrovert of a Gryffindor. Charisma had always been something that the lad had in spades, but the sight of receptive expressions always commanded a reflecting gesture of his own despite this knowledge of that it had held true most of his young life. The unexplainable and uncomfortable churn of his stomach that the vampiric nature of the girl continued, yet he hid it well. The Gryffindor had not deduced the truth of her species, but there was certainly something unsettling about the aura that she exuded. However, she was an ally, as confirmed in the words that followed her smirk and that only served to fortify his constitution in tolerating the feeling of his gut.

The revelation of another shadow warrior and ally to be trusted filled Sam’s mind as he looked away, allowing his blue eyes to pass over the ten seats of the table. Knowing another of those who occupied only served to stir curiosity about the others. Who were they and what was it about them that drew them to this thing? Surely not all has as clear cut and easy connection to the order as he did. Without even knowing their names, these individuals interested the lad. As a Gryffindor that fell perfectly beneath Godric’s tree, Sam could easily respect bravery and the desire to do the right thing and protect those who could not protect themselves.

He tilted his head a bit and refocused his attention on Wysteria as she revealed the widely accepted perceptions of herself and the potential, yet cryptic, consequences that could result should he give reason for others to disbelieve it. Where such a thing may have roused those alpha tendencies within the lad a few weeks prior, he retained grip on his relaxed state of mind; it wasn’t the first time that he had received veiled threats from a shadow warrior after all. ”Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Wysteria. It’s comforting to see that shadow warrior demeanor, it looks like that’s one part of training I won’t be missing after all,” he said with a small chuckle. Despite what some may infer from the reaction, the threat and gravity of her words were noted and understood, but simply acknowledging them just wouldn’t be within character for the young man. In this situation of introduction, an offered handshake was normally the gesture of choice, however, the mention of her supposed death with the feeling that Sam already got from her very presence prevented said offering.

Had it not been for Britain’s socialized health care plan, a clever quip about the Lightfighter medical insurance would have surely found it’s way into Sam’s response to the vampire’s query, but instead he refrained from color commentary. ”I’m guessing that you know my brother Bryan. I couldn’t very well let him get himself into something dangerous without me coming along to watch his back. The Gryffindor offer a small shrug to the girl. ”The Kelleys come as a package deal, I guess. That’s the way it’s always been and always will be.” With the answer given, Sam leaned back against the wall of the room and allowed himself to slide down its surface until he sat against it with knees bent toward the undead girl. ”How about you? Surely there’s something interesting in how a nice girl named after a flower got drawn into all of this." Though a bit of playful flattery found its way into the inquiry, no where to be seen was the usual flirty grin that would accompany it, that stirring in his stomach preventing such an action.

[Wysteria Edwin]

(OOC: Wyst was more referring to the fact that Lightfighters get no days off or vacations, not so much medical insurance, but I should have been more clear . If nothing else it allows wyst to feel even more awkward lol. And I assumed a few things about Sam in this post, so just let me know if the slight g-mod is too much).

This was going splendidly. Her only attempt at humor had failed and his facial expressions gave her only the slightest hint of what might be going on underneath the surface: he was uncomfortable in her presence. Wyst heard his heart beating ever faster once she walked in. And while it had slowed down a bit, her instincts indicated the young man in front of her was not completely at peace with her in the room. She had encountered this feeling before with Cait when she first revealed herself to the Lightfighters. While she was accustomed to being shunned by animals, causing a human to feel nervous by her presence alone was never a happy encounter for her. True, she did garner slightly different reactions depending on whom she met: for some her beauty stood out (however otherworldly), others would catch the slight iridescent glow of her eyes in the dark ad wonder, other simply...felt uneasy.

This last reaction made her feel most like a vampire and not a human, which was a truth she needed to accept but it was not always easy. When Sam mentioned his brother Bryan she cocked her head to the side a bit. Fierce loyalty and wanting to protect...she could respect that about him. While Dee gave her a general outline of why he was training with her, to hear the statement from the man himself made her certain the story was true since she could detect most deception with ease.

His attempt at flattery drew a raised eyebrow from Wyst. Nice girl? Who was he kidding? His own pulse gave away that he was uneasy about her. Now that he knew her name she might as well tell him exactly what she was, no real harm could come from that. He could run screaming out of the room afraid you're going to bit him. True, but she would just have to assure him that she wasn't interested in biting him. Well....that wasn't true. If she was to be honest she considered biting every single person she met. But she kept those thoughts hidden away in her mind. She also managed to verge on gluttony with all the donated and synthetically made blood she drank to keep herself from having any urges. Even with all her precautions she knew an expose vein could still set her off, being a new vampire and all. But she decided to first address his question.

"I was the second shadow warrior discovered after D'rorah and I was joined with my Elemental Master Alessandro shortly after. I came here because I knew something was going wrong, with the dementors outside and other strange occurrences."

She swung her legs from side to side for a moment, trying to phrase her next words properly. The idea of gently informing someone she was a vampire did not exist, she knew that, but he also did not want to say it so brazenly that he ran away screaming.

"I make you uncomfortable," she said, no question in her voice. "That's probably because I'm a vampire. I was turned back in October...or it may have been November I'm not sure about the dates." Her demeanor was calm, since the statement was so matter-of-fact it no longer intrigued her. In truth she had said something like it all her life, being born part-vampire. "My kind will either make people want to run away, question me endlessly, or in some cases want to flirt with me...I think that comes from an evolutionary need to have willing donors but I'm not sure."

"You seem more likely to fear me and run away so..." she swept her hair from her left shoulder and pulled down her robes just enough to show a particularly nasty scar along her collar bone. "I've been severely injured by my own kind, even those I considered family. I reject most of the 'traditional' ways and subsist on donated blood and synthetically recreated blood Keaira and Dee make for me. I don't relish what I am, so there's no need to worry."

She returned her robes and hair to normal and gazed at Sam, trying to read his reaction. When she was first turned she never dreamed of being so open with strangers about her condition, but a fellow Lightfigher needed to know. Dee's speech a few months ago about loyalty and trust stuck with the vampire as well, but above all else it was the general sense of "who cares" she had developed since coming out into the open. Becoming a full vampire gave a person the idea that the rest of eternity was theirs, so why not take risks?

[Sam Kelley]

Sam nodded to Wysteria, his mind making note of her words and the sentiment they conveyed. She had mentioned the name of the Elemental Master of Fire as being Alessandro, a piece of information which the boy had previously not been aware of. While he wasn’t planning to question her over the fact, he quietly pondered if it were the same Alessandro that he had classes with, certainly the odds were in favor of such since the name wasn’t a common one. Regardless, he filed that tidbit of knowledge away and focused on the words that followed. He could understand and respect the girl’s motives, the need to take an active role in righting the wrong and contribute to the general welfare. Sam too felt this way and allowing his mind to touch on it now only served to solidify the truth which he had admitted to himself days prior, that had he known of the Order and the shadow wars and Bryan not been involved, he would’ve still wished to join.

The boy nodded. ”I understand. Loyalty to Bryan was what let me discover all of this, but it isn’t the only thing that keeps me here. What I mean is that that loyalty would be strong enough to keep me here on it’s own, but it doesn’t have to be. After tracking down D’rorah and learning the truth of everything, I want to be here. I don’t like that my brother cold get hurt in all of this, but this is where we should be.” Sam inhaled a deep breath and let the soles of is running shoes slide across the flagstone floor, his long legs crossing before him. ”Father Murphy at church would always say that the evil we have to fear the most is the indifference of good men. That isn’t us.” It was not an emboldened or preachy tone that carried the lad’s words up to the vampire, but a tone both calm and matter of fact. With solid claim to the mantra of the Gryffindor house, Sam truly believed in the cause and what it was the place of those empowered to do so to make sacrifices to protect those who could not.

At mention of his uncomfortable state, Sam made no effort to refute the statement of fact, Most probably would’ve done so in the interest of social courtesy or consideration of the other party, yet it wasn’t in his nature to be misleading. He had saw fit not to mention it since he didn’t endeavor to make others uncomfortable, but being called out on it put that concern to rest. He nodded a bit at her words, seeing that a further explanation was coming. He continued to listen as she spoke, unable to mask his reactions to the revelation. Sam’s eyes widened at the mention of Wysteria’s vampirism, his mind never having made the connection in the minutes that his stomach had churned in her presence. His uneasiness became a bit more apparent, but he did what he could to push it away, again remembering D’rorah’s assurances. For a moment he thought back to those times that he departed the room of elemental air, beaten and bloodied from a harsh training session. As well intentioned as his new acquaintance may have been, he couldn’t help but wonder if she could fully control herself at all times.

”A vampire, huh? Well, that’s different.” he said with a small gulp as he pushed as much discomfort as he could further away, ”I did not see that coming. I can handle it if you can though.” Sam continued looking up at the girl from the floor, his eyes giving her a once over as if he were analyzing her all over again, but being a good bit more attentive. ”As for how I’ll treat you, I’m going to go with choice D, like any other ally. I’m too stubborn to run away most of the time, not annoying enough to grill you with question, and if you want me to flirt, well...that’s going to require some more charm on your part.” A small chuckle broke through the lad’s grin and he ran a hand through his hair. Sam was a jovial creature by nature and most people tended to learn that about him in short order, so it was no real surprise that he opted for a bit of amusement now.

His brow raised with interest as Wysteria moved to reveal the scar and the boy winced a bit in reaction. ”That’s a good one,” he said with a slight shake of his head. ”Check this out.” The Gryffindor reached to the hem of his close fitting gray t-shirt and lifted it a few inches up his abdomen. Across his well tanned skin resided a four inch scar that had once obviously been a deep laceration. ”A nasty grazing of one of the crossbeams under the bleachers of the quidditch pitch. It happened in a game last year when I was going for the snitch against Ravenclaw. I kept going for it after swiping the beam, but it was just too much. With the cut and the pain, I just didn’t have the reach to beat out the other seeker.” The trace of a frown briefly touched across his lips at remembering the defeat, Sam Kelley did not like to lose.

”Sorry to hear about your family though,” he said immediately on the heels of relaying the story of his scar, his mind nimbly segwaying between topics and tangents as it always did. ”That sucks, I couldn’t imagine having to deal with that. Hopefully the order does well enough of a job at being family for you now?” An eyebrow raised curiously as he continued to look up at her face that now seemed easier on his eyes. The girl hadn’t grow more attractive in the recent minutes, of course, but now knowing the truth of her nature now seemed to ease both the boy and his stomach. Understanding the reason for the awkward stirring within him hadn’t caused the feeling to fully go away, but at least Sam now understood it, which certainly made a difference and warmed him up to her a bit more. Maybe over time the feeling would vanish entirely, he pondered. Sam liked to think that he was open-minded and enough of a team player to eventually come to terms with this vampiric ally and see her as just one of the group, but that would probably take a bit of acclimation and time to fully come to fruition.

He nodded at Wysteria’s mention of her non-traditional dietary habit, taking some relief from the statement. ”Don’t worry about me. Even if I do worry, I’m too stubborn to run away.” Sam smirked slightly at his statement, betraying how accurate it was as a general truth of himself. His pride and stubbornness had always been strong factors in his life, they had kept him mentally checked into games that were hopeless to come back in, they had kept him from getting too frustrated with the way that he struggled academically, and most recently they had kept him right with D’rorah in their grueling daily regimen of work outs and combat training.

”I’m sure we’ll get on well enough. After all, I’d rather have a vampire with me rather than against me. Especially one of such a pleasant demeanor.” An amused grin came across the boy’s face, a bit of his usually playful personality piercing it’s way through what remained of that churning of his stomach.

[Wysteria Edwin]

”As for how I’ll treat you, I’m going to go with choice D, like any other ally. I’m too stubborn to run away most of the time, not annoying enough to grill you with question, and if you want me to flirt, well...that’s going to require some more charm on your part.”

Wysteria squinted her eyes a bit at the last part. That was a...joke? While funny it also seemed a slight to her as a conversationalist, which was not surprising if she was to be honest with herself. Although she was a bit surprised that Sam also had a rather nasty scar himself from a quidditch match. She nodded approvingly, glad to not be the only maimed body in the room.

"I played quidditch before I was taken. I was a beater but I don't believe I ever got a good scar like that from the pitch. You should be proud of that though," she said, indicating the place where he had shown her on his abdomen, "it takes guts to be that hardcore during a game. If it had been last year I might recall a gruesome quidditch story of my own, maybe even one against your team but...my memory from my mortal life is rather shoddy," she said, shrugging.

His comment about the order being like her family was hard to respond to...she hadn't considered them to be like her family before her mother died. That home with a mother and father and llittle knowledge of how bad grandpa really was died long ago. While she did like living with her dad, he was a muggle and hard to relate to with some affairs. The life with her dad came at that same time as many other, darker developments in her childhood and last summer that could not be disconnected from her time at home. So her idea of "family" connected with innocence and her mother, so the order could never truly be family to her. A different kind of family, yes, but not a replacement.

"Perhaps not family, but I am closer to no others in this school than I am to those in the Lightfighters. This was true before I left," she said simply, hoping the matter would be closed.

Wyst was glad to hear his heart rate slow just a bit when she made note of how she normally fed. This gave her some hope that he might be a good ally since he was not leaping for the exit. But the comment about her pleasant demeanor....surely that was a joke right?

"I think that may be the first time someone's called me 'pleasant'," she said, her brow furrowing, "most of the time it's either blunt, rude, impolite or just plain mean." Then understanding dawned on her face, her eyes widening as she went back over what she saw in his face at the time of the comment. "Unless you were joking? Sarcasm is difficult to read. I can pick up on lying and deception quite easily as can most new vampires, but other facial expressions...take awhile. I'll note what your face looks like when you're sarcastic." she said, half-realizing how odd that sentence must have sounded

[Sam Kelley]

Sam could in no way claim anything near the heightened senses of the vampire girl, but he knew people well enough and it was entertaining to see how she considered his words. For a moment he pondered the way she processed what he said and wondered if she had been such a literal character as a mortal. This wasn’t to mean that he considered Wysteria as not having a sense of humor, senses of humor could vary easily enough, but it was an interesting line of thinking, wondering exactly what changes such a transformation invoked. Resisting the thought of clarifying his prior attempt at jest he listened and nodded as she spoke, his attention peaking at mention of her being a quidditch player.

”Thanks,” he replied to the compliment about his level of play taking guts, ”but I really don’t know any other way to play, to tell you the truth.” Years of competition had instilled a sense of humility in the athlete, so there was no danger in her words triggering the ego trip they may have in others. ”I just play to win as part of the team and try to make those around me better while they do the same for me. Actually, I’ve found that’s usually the best way to approach most things.” That single statement, while probably sounding overly idealistic to some ears, summed up the Gryffindor lad in a nutshell. Sam wasn’t a complicated kid, one generally got exactly what they saw. ”You know, if you wanted to go flying sometime and wanted a partner, I’m game. I could bring my broom and we could use one of the rooms here. They say once you learn you never forget how.” He offered a small smile at the statement.

It didn’t surprise Sam to heard Wysteria deflect the family label for the Lightfighters as a group, in fact, he had kind of expected it. The both had spent years of his young life as a part of different teams and those teams have varied in different aspects of themselves, but this group, for at least the few weeks that he had been part of it, didn’t feel like much of a team at all. Sure, there was D’rorah who seemed like a lynchpin of the whole thing, bit the vampire that Sam now talked to was the third member that had had met. Certainly he didn’t expect a grand meeting where everyone wore a ‘my name is’ sticker to welcome him to the order, but he had expected a bit more apparent solidarity, given what it was they fought against. It was one thing for a sports team, no lack that consistency to play together but this was something completely different, people didn’t lose lives in football and quidditch for the most part. Perhaps it was something that they would come to understand over time. Regardless of his thoughts of perceptions thus far on the Order of Light, the boy knew well enough when a topic was over.

He smirked as she reference his playful tease from earlier and the way it caused her undead mind to grind. Again he found himself with a morsel of curiosity of her mortal self. ”Well, you haven’t been rude or impolite. Perhaps a bit blunt, but I don’t see that as unpleasant. I mean, this meeting definitely seems more pleasant than other alternatives of someone meeting a vampire, right?” Again he grinned, unable to avoid jest even on issues of earnest. ”But yeah, that was me being funny, or at least trying. Maybe I need to work on my technique a bit, yeah?” he offered up in reply, not hesitating again he use humor with her as he did others.

”So do you just hang around here all of the time or do you disguise yourself and get out and mingle too? Do you still take classes? How does that work when it comes to test time?” The three questions fired off in quick succession, a small second of contemplation between each. He paid no mind to the queries, but it was a perfect example of how easily his mind could jump around at times, something that D’rorah was still painstakingly coming to terms with daily in their training.

[Wysteria Edwin]

Wysteria could not help but smile at the idea of getting out on a broomstick again. She never dared to go on the pitch during the day simply because even with the Polyjuice potion she would draw attention to herself. People would wonder who she was, why she was on the pitch, etc. Flying around Hogwarts was not exactly a low-key activity. She toyed with the idea of flying at night but she didn't want to risk anyone looking out their window and catching a glimpse of her riding in the moonlight. Even if they could not see her the sight would arouse suspicion and with the curfew in place she had little chance of getting away with a midnight flight.

But she hadn't thought about using the RoR...why hadn't the thought occurred to her? It seemed so obvious she was a bit embarrassed she hadn't thought of it herself. She really enjoyed physical activities when she was mortal, and it had been rather difficult in the RoR since she couldn't challenge herself all the time when training. Going on a broomstick again might be a challenge, to see if she could still hit a bludger with as much accuracy...although she would have to put some dummy players in for that since she didn't want to risk hitting Sam too hard. She wasn't quite sure how much stronger her hits would be and didn't want to test it out on a human.

"I'd like that," she said nodding.

She raised her eyebrow when Sam affirmed that she was quite blunt but he did not necessarily believe that to be a negative trait. It appeared to her that Sam appreciated honesty in any form, which was an admirable quality to Wyst. She knew the most dreadful vampires could know every fine point of decorum to give the look of morality to the Ministry so she did not place much stock in charm, good looks or etiquette. Especially not anymore, Wyst thought randomly with a dull ache she could not place.

Wysteria had just opened her mouth to answer his comment about working on his own sense of humor when he began a long string of rather loaded questions. She gave a single, dry chuckle and tiled her head to the side as smile worked its way slowly across her mouth.

"It's like your mind never slows down," she said her eyes moving from him to the wall as she stared unfocused and tried to think how best to answer. "Well to be honest I don't go to classes. Like I said, people can't know I'm alive right now and my wand doesn't work for me anymore anyway. Although I am trying to fix that, but I'll probably just have to get a new wand. The one I have now has a line of silver in it to defend against vampires and since I am a full one now myself it probably thinks I'm the enemy so it won't work." She shrugged, tossing a hair strand back behind her head.

"On top of that most people would completely flip if they knew their child was going to school with a vampire. Plus vampires aren't even supposed to own wands in the first place so there you go," she said. "I have a certain polyjuice potion, but it's very uncomfortable to spend 24 hours a day in someone else's body. It's just easier for me to stay up here. It's safer anyway." Wysteria had not said anything about her capture or the fact that her cousin saved her life and was therefor at risk if she was found as well. She thought it best not to reveal all of it at once: her story was difficult to hear.

"When I need to go out of the castle for whatever reason I use the polyjuice potion that was made specially for my genes. It doesn't always work as long as I'd like, but that's just the way vampires react to anything which alters their appearance. I'm pretty much going to be the way I am for..well...eternity or until...well, you know." She cleared her throat uncomfortably, not liking the idea of silver going through her heart anymore than the next person.

"But I would like to know your opinion on something: do you think the students of the school have any clue as to what's going on? I know you came into this because of your brother but are there any others you think have worked out any details?" She asked. Since she could not walk the corridors or attend classes Wyst had little idea of the general moral of the school and each person she asked had a slightly different opinion. She thought Sam might have some insight.

[Sam Kelley]

Sam offered a smile to the vampire, noting the favorable way the suggestion of flying struck her. The activity had always been one close to his heart since his parents first allowed him on a broom, eventually mingling with his affection for football and creating a fondness for quidditch. In fact, as a seeker, it was the art of flight that was the boy’s primary focus unlike the other positions. The other positions all relied on other skills that one did while on a broom, be it hitting a bludger, guarding a goal, or working a quaffle through a net of defenders, but all the seeker really had to do was to fly well in pursuit of the snitch. Sure, it too required quick reactions, good spacial awareness, and sharp eyes, but it was without a doubt the most flying intensive position above the pitch.

”I could always use some extra bludger dodging practice or we could hit a few back and forth. I’ve never really played as a beater, but I’ve faked it well enough before in practice when we were short.” Sam wasn’t at all a reader, so he wasn’t exactly up on his vampire lore, be it fact or fictional, thus the concern of Wysteria’s strength never occurred to him. However, chances are that he would’ve offered the invitation even if he had been aware of the damaging potential of her bludgers. Even after the injuries that the boy had sustained over the years in the sport, he never felt even a tinge of trepidation when it came to playing.

The Gryffindor laughed at her remark on her ever speeding mind and offered an amused nod to response. ”Would you be surprised if I told you that I’ve heard that before? D’rorah said she thanked her stars that she got the other Kelley brother, since my constantly spinning mind would drive her insane to be forced to listen to.” He smirked at the remembrance of her sentiment, for as active as his usual nimble mind was, he was always sure to pour just a it extra on for the Ravenclaw girl. It was a love/hate relationship that the pair had forged through his forceful volunteer and training process and Sam loved giving her a difficult time.

A small frown came to Sam’s lips as Wysteria explained her wand situation. Wow, that sucks,” was the response he managed. ”That’s definitely a problem that needs addressed. Maybe we can see about getting you in to Olivander’s through the flues one of these evenings?” He glanced down at the wand that peeked out from his pocket. ”I don’t know what you need now, but maybe they have it. You never know though. When it was time for me to get my wand, we went through every wand in that damn store without anything responding nicely to me. Eventually we found my wand at this old family owned shop here in Scotland. It turned out I needed a kelpie mane core and Olivander just doesn’t use those at all.” His liquid blue eyes lingered on the object a moment longer before he again looked to the vampire. ”I say it would be worth a shot.”

”Really? That’s true?” he asked instantly after her mention of vampires not being allowed to own wands. it was obviously something that Sam had never been aware of and had never stopped to ponder before. ”I know that they let werewolves have wands, so I assumed it would be similar for a vampire. mean, I know you’re not the same thing, but you seem similar enough.” The boy took a moment to consider the topic and how lost he would feel if one day all of the sudden he was denied a wand. His foray into wandless magic thus far had produced results enough for him to reliably cast a few spells, but not nearly enough that he could manage without a wand.

He raised an eyebrow at the mention of a modified polyjuice potion. Sam was far from a skilled potion maker, but he had paid enough attention to know that polyjuice was one of the more difficult recipes and that altering it further would surely take a great deal of skill. Truth be told, the boy hated potions and herbology. Neither one had ever managed to hold his attention in the least and each year he managed to just barely skate by in both. ”That’s pretty crazy,” he remarked as he shook his head, ”that’s one thing that I’m completely useless to you on. I can’t brew the simplest of draughts without boiling them over and ruining them. But...if you ever need a bit of help sneaking out at night, we’re set. We Gryffindors have a knack for that sort of thing. I’ve got most of the routes and times down that the prefects and professors patrol at night.” Academia never had and never would be the younger Kelley brother’s forte, but he certainly made efforts to make up for that shortcoming in other departments.

With Wysteria’s final question voice, Sam took a few moments to consider the query. It was something that he had pondered over the recent weeks, albeit front a slightly different angle. After having recently learned the full scope of the order and the shadow wars, the boy wondered if he ever would have learned the truth and how he and the majority of the school had remained clueless for so long. Sure, he realized that his brother had gotten mixed up into something months ago, but never once did he even begin to correctly speculate what it truly was. The revelations that D’rorah had offered on the Lightfighters and their cause was startling and caught the Gryffindor completely off guard.

”As crazy as it may sound, most of the school is completely clueless and by most, I mean pretty much everyone. There is talk about the dementors in the forest and what’s been happening in the grounds at night, but most of that gets attributed to those rumors that we’ve always heard about dark creatures in the forest. It blow my mind to look back on it all now and see how I just accepted things and never questioned them like everyone else. Hogwarts as a whole really has no idea about the war and what we do here, at least as far as I can tell.” Sam watched the vampire closely for her reaction. He certainly didn’t expect her to be happy with the news that the populace of the school made such a willing flock of sheep.

”It’s not like we can just drop this on them an expect it to just be accepted, you know?” He shrugged lightly, realizing that had it not been for him aggressively pulling himself into the conflict through his brother, that he would’ve never believed such an announcement. Before the order, Sam was just another carefree teenage boy enjoying his youth and now the unwitting Elemental Master bore a burden greater than he realized. "Students aren't supposed to fight wars, right?he asked with another shrug. That was certainly the way he thought once in the not so distant past.

[Wysteria Edwin]

Wysteria remained silent when Sam likened her to a werewolf, or at least not much different than one. While her face remained expressionless, her mind was whirring and trying to determine if this was meant as a joke. The last time he made a sarcastic remark, his smile had turned up on one side and his eyebrows raised slightly and neither of these occurred. She wondered how he could ever think she was similar to a werewolf, which was in most ways human except for one night out of the month. Wyst was...dead. No heart beat. Her desires and instincts were not human. Surely Wyst did not appear as normal as a werewolf. But Wyst was sure Sam made this comparison out of ignorance, not flattery.

The young man's proposition of aiding her in a nightly escapade cracked a tiny smile on one side of Wysteria's mouth, although it may have looked more like a grimace. She did not want to address that idea until after Sam informed her of the general morale and awareness of the students.

”As crazy as it may sound, most of the school is completely clueless and by most, I mean pretty much everyone. There is talk about the dementors in the forest and what’s been happening in the grounds at night, but most of that gets attributed to those rumors that we’ve always heard about dark creatures in the forest. It blow my mind to look back on it all now and see how I just accepted things and never questioned them like everyone else. Hogwarts as a whole really has no idea about the war and what we do here, at least as far as I can tell.”

This was what Wyst feared. She knew if Caira kept the activity of the dark beings down to a dull rumor no one would question her ability to keep students safe. The headmistress would also be more likely to invite confidences this way and gain information from the unwitting students. Wyst was deep in thought regarding this and what Caira could be up to, when Sam commented that it would be hard to convey that information and how students shouldn't fight wars regardless. She raised an eyebrow at this, wondering if Sam felt that HE shouldn't have to bear this responsibility and perhaps doubted his own abilities to fight.

"I think we do what is necessary," Wyst said, after being silent for a few moments. "I prefer not to let myself succumb to whatever fate has in store; I'd rather take control of whatever hand I have in my own destiny. In that respect I believe the students should know, unfortunately we cannot do so right now without revealing ourselves. And then there's the problem with Caira..." she said, her eyes rolling a bit, quite annoyed that their own headmistress could not be of use or trusted.

Wyst drummed her fingers on the table, thinking over all that Sam told her. "I'm not blaming the students necessarily. While I wish some of them would be a little more curious, I myself trusted the headmistress until she revealed her true self." She did not look at Sam while saying this, missing his expression if he was surprised at this information of Caira being untrustworthy.

Her green eyes returned to Sam, and took notice of the wand peeking out of his pocket. She was reminded of the comment he made earlier about werewolves. Her brow furrowed, unsure if she should comment at all, but decided she should at least clarify for the young man's own knowledge.

"You know, you mentioned earlier that you were surprised vampires were not allowed wands. I think you should know that, while werewolves are humans except for one night a month, I am not human. I don't breathe, I don't have a pulse and I don't grow or change like you all do." She wondered briefly if the matter-of-fact manner in which she spoke about her species made Sam uncomfortable...she did not know how much he knew about her kind.

"As the ministry so eloquently puts it," Wysteria changed her tone subtly to appear mocking, "non-humans are allowed to possess wands." Wyst chuckled dryly. "Technically we're 'non-wizard part-human' in most ministry decrees, so according to them we're not magical so there's no need for us to have wands. Vampires have their own magic, though it takes many decades to hone it, even centuries," she said. "And even then there's no guarantee, besides the fact that most don't have the patience to learn it. I think the only thing almost all vampires can do is the trance, but even that takes skill."

Wyst realized she was suddenly very aware of Sam's heart beat, and the blood pumping through his body. When was the last time she ate? Shouldn't have been that long ago...but it was harder keeping down the "urges" with unfamiliar persons since it was easier to see them as blood bags rather than people. But why now were her instincts getting the better of her? Wyst was frustrated that her moral capacity was being challenged so quickly. She could feel her eyes beginning to change, and shut them tightly. Her fangs popped up under her upper lip and she pressed her lips together firmly to keep any piece of her canines from peeking out. Clenching her jaw and gripping onto the edge of the table, Wyst felt a roar within her that did not want to be ignored any longer.

"One moment..." she said, to indicate she needed some time without conversation. She tried to placate her baser desires by telling the hungry animal inside that she could have the RoR set up a nice little hunt once Sam left...perhaps a human this time? She usually stayed away from simulating the attacking of a person, but sometimes it was necessary so she didn't go crawling up the walls, which meant she did this little exercise about twice a month. Wyst was very, very careful to make sure her fake human did not die and usually tranced them before biting. She only killed her prey once, and the room dissolved the scene in an instant to let her know she had gone too far.

Yes...that would do nicely. I might even be satisfied with a few deer. Now calm yourself before Sam think there's something seriously wrong.

Wyst steadied her mind and concentrated on something soothing; this time it was the wind moving through an old oak tree by her home. The leaves rustling and the branches swaying gently, creaking a bit with the strong gusts. She opened her eyes when she felt the urges subside, which was about thirty seconds from the time she first closed them. Her eyes were now green once more, and her fangs retracted.

"I apologize. I needed a moment to clear my head and..." Wyst searched for the right words...sorry I almost bit you? She got rather annoyed with her instincts at times, since to her they appeared to pop up with little warning and without a pattern so she had no idea when they might overtake her. Wyst felt an odd twinge...embarrassment? She wasn't sure.

"I'm glad you don't frighten easily," she said in a dark attempt a humor. Wyst was horribly awkward in most social situations, and so at this point she was wanting desperately for Sam to say something to just break the tension since she knew she was no good at bringing peace to any situation.

[Sam Kelley]

Sam nodded to the vampire. ”I agree, I never cared much for fate and destiny myself. I just don’t like the idea of not being in control of my own course. As far as the school, most of these people aren’t ready to hear the truth of what is really going on...I mean, up until I realized that Bryan was into something, I was too busy being a student to really notice. Learning magic, quidditch, and fun with my house mates were enough of a distraction to make me look past the dementors in the forest.” He fell silent for a moment while his gaze drifted away from Wysteria and over to the imposing table that occupied the center of the room. ”I mean, we should want to protect the innocent people here, but if the truth were known so many of them would be gone. We should protect them, but at the same time we need them because we blend into the herd.”

After another moment of contemplation, Sam blinked and refocused his attention on the vampire. He was not caught off guard by her thoughts on the headmistress, that lesson had been one of the first that he had been given upon acceptance into the group. ”And to be honest, I never knew anything about Caira until D’rorah told me to steer clear of her. You have to remember that most of them never have any contact with her. I know that I haven’t besides a small smile or nod at random times in the halls. Had it not been for D’rorah’s warnings, I’d still be under the assumption that everything was alright with her.” Perhaps Sam speaking frankly about his perceptions as a recently recruited Lightfighter might be disappointing to the girl, but he gave it no consideration. He might not have been the most astute figure in the castle that constantly challenged those truth presented to him as reality, but he was honest. Before that day that he had challenged D’rorah in the library, he had been just another of the pack, another blinded by Caira’s deceptions.

Again he nodded to her as the topic turned back to her vampiric state. ”Fair enough,” he replied at those contrasts she drew between herself and a werewolf. ”I suppose that I just kind of lump the two together because of the general human appearance and intelligence. I don’t really get that reasoning though. By that line of thinking, dryads shouldn’t be able to have wands either, but they do. Why would vampires be the exceptions when other races that are technically not human but appear human and have an intelligent mind allowed wands?” He shrugged, admitting his ignorance on the official laws regarding the topic. It seemed logic enough that a creature able to conduct themselves as a human should be given the same allowances in regard to magic. Sure, if they proved themselves untrustworthy with such a gift it should be taken away, but then a lot of human weren’t trustworthy with it either. The way that the boy viewed this matter reflected onto his world view in a general sense. He was not one to allow others or generalities make decisions for him, preferring to allow everyone to make their own impression. Seldom did he allow rumor or general consensus taint his view of another, just like he fought that churn in his stomach now with Wysteria. She may have been a vampire and some vampires in the past may have done terrible things, but she hadn’t shown any indication of earning his disdain.

The Gryffindor honored Wysteria’s request for an intermission to their conversation and watched her carefully for the duration of the interval. It was as if something had suddenly filled her mind and drawn her attention. He was not alarmed by the event, recalling how D’rorah had described her mental link with his own brother. Perhaps her Elemental Master was speaking to her, he wondered. Sam continued to watch her with an arched brow, curious, but not demandingly so of the reason for the pause.

He smirked a bit at her words about frightening, his mind now realizing that the reason for her silence might not have been as innocuous as he had thought. That proverbial Gryffindor courage ran strong in Sam, it always had since he was a young boy. He had always been the champion of the family, stepping up to defend the Kelley brood even when others may not have wanted to be defended. He easily had the most dodgy disciplinary record of all of his siblings and cousins for the simple reason that he didn’t shy away from things and wasn’t above being involved in a scuffle if one was required. Sam was a fun and social lad, but those that knew him also learned he wasn’t one to take things lying down.

”Don’t worry about me, I’m too stubborn to be frightened even when I am most of the time,” he replied with an entertained grin, remembering D’rorah’s venting at him during their training. The boy gave it no thought at the moment, but his new vampiric acquaintance had completely driven away that frustration he felt toward the Ravenclaw girl that had left him behind this morning. ”So what should I be frightened of?” He eyes blinked and then refocused on the vampire, his curiosity being peeked by her words and his mind wanting to know the meaning behind her words even though part of him wondered if it were best left unsaid. Regardless of the scant reservation, he tilted his head and looked to his companion, dying to know what had occurred before his eyes a moment earlier.

[Wysteria Edwin]

Wysteria thought carefully before responding to Sam's query about what he needed to be afraid of. She was almost certain her eyes had changed color before she closed the lids, but perhaps Sam did not see the glowing blue. What was the proper thing to say? Sorry, but I almost chewed on your collarbone like a chicken leg? Well, perhaps that analogy was a bit of a stretch; Wyst had only been interested in biting to drink blood, not eating his flesh. That hunger only came after a great deal of starvation or moral corruption. But Wyst did not know how much detail she could reveal and still manage not to scare him off. Sam appeared in many ways to be a brave young man, in just that his body language and expressions appeared more at ease than normal for a person first meeting a vampire. Wyst decided full disclosure would be best.

"Well, vampires have very good senses, but they're specialized in some ways. Our ears, for example, can pick up a heart beat as much half a mile away if there are no other noises. We can hear footsteps and other movements in the same way. But if there's a whispered conversation in the next room, our hearing is only slightly better than humans. We can here vibrations, but not subtleties like speech."

Wyst paused, realizing this must have sounded more like a tangent than an explanation. "The reason I'm saying this is that, for some reason, I became aware that I could hear your heartbeat just now...the blood pumping through it and...well for lack of a more eloquent explanantion: I wanted to bite you." She said.

"But I knew what was happening, so I was able to control myself and that's why I paused. I needed to recollect my thoughts and concentrate on something...else," she said, looking away from Sam at this point. She was certain her choice of words could not have been worse. "I thought you might have seen my eyes change colors, and that why I said I was glad you did not frighten easily. I'm a new vampire, so it's hard to control my own reflexes sometimes." Wyst played with a piece of her hair as she said this, unsure what Sam's reaction would be to the news. "I have to admit I'm mad at myself. I work very hard to not get distracted by such a disgusting appetite."

She was no longer looking at Sam, but down at the ground. Wyst tried to maintain a cool composure but had unwittingly stumbled into an area of self-loathing within her. During her mortal years at Hogwarts she thought the undead vampires a horrid species, worthy only of disdain. She knew in the back of her mind that some did try to mainstream, but her exposure to them had been minimal. Now she had become one of the undead, the same beings which tortured and killed her best friend with delight. Her desire to maintain her humanity caused the relapses into her mortal memories of despising the vampires, creating the stir of anger at her situation.

[Sam Kelley]

Seeing the quiet contemplation that followed his inquiry made it more than apparent that the answer was about to brooch a serious subject, or at least one that Wysteria wasn’t completely comfortable with. The boy had indeed missed the shift in her eyes. It was apparent that something occurred in that small gap in their conversation, but the truth wasn’t something that he had considered. As much as most might feel inclined to be wary in the presence of a vampire, Sam was not. Sure, there was that stir in his stomach that now seemed to be mostly past, but that was a physical reaction to her presence. Not once had the boy’s mind told him to be on guard. D’rorah had spoken for the vampire and Sam trusted her judgment. Wysteria was an ally and he wouldn’t insult her by staring at her and noting every small thing about her.

He listened closely when she began to speak, finding himself genuinely interested in what she wished to share. Sam couldn’t say that vampires were something that he had encountered or done much reading on before this meeting. In truth, the boy didn’t do reading on much of anything. However, while he may have tended to distance himself from raw academics, those things that he could truly see and affect did interest him. It was for this reason that transfiguration and wandwork in general came so naturally. With an actual vampire now as an acquaintance, the Gryffindor had no problem finding the attention to spare on the subject.

Sam’s brown eyebrows rose in surprise at her admission of thirst. It certainly hadn’t been what he expected to hear, but it wasn’t enough to send him for the nearest exit either. After all, it was just a voiced desire that had passed, nothing would come of it he was sure. Not feeling his usual need to swiftly respond, Sam pondered the thought of being sampled by a vampire. He couldn’t say the idea was at all appealing. Sure, he would probably step up as a team player and aid the vampire should there be an emergency of some sort, but the boy wouldn’t be volunteering himself for the donors list any time soon.

”It’s definitely different,” he mentioned, not being able to have ever known someone to desire his blood before. ”But nothing to be ashamed of. You are what you are and there are things that come with that. What matters is what you do with it.” He looked closely up to her, taking note of the shade of her eyes. ”You don’t seem like you want to be a monster, I’d say that’s probably the biggest part of it.” No where near experience in the ways of the vampire, Sam’s words were pure speculation, but he hoped she would take a bit of encouragement from them if that was what she needed at this moment. His voice betrayed how relieved he was to not have been bitten a moment earlier.