Gathering: New Guest Reception

[concierge]

The black sign positioned in front of the Dining Hall's main entrance reads:

New Guest Reception
TODAY
6 PM - 8 PM

All guests welcome

In the Dining Hall itself, the chairs have been pushed up against the walls and the long dining table turned into a buffet stocked with finger foods. At the far end of the room is a small bar serving beer, standard cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks.

Comments

[vampire_shield]

"Thank you," Bella responded automatically, then stilled her body before the chill along her spine showed visibly. She kept her face as blank as she could, through she wasn't too sure how well she did on that one. "It's against our laws to turn children, anyone found having made an immortal child is killed outright. Where I come from, there was something of an epidemic of them in the middle ages and whole covens were destroyed."

It was still a little too close, a little too recent, for her not to feel the near-loss of her daughter and everything that went along with it.

[vikingvamp]

"We should have a rule. Apparently The Authority doesn't care if we turn children or not, though I always thought it was cruel to turn someone before their personality fully developed."

Godric had been a teenager when turned but that was infinitely preferable to the child vampire who sat on the Authority before everything went to shit.

"I find that child vampires make irrational decisions. It's best to exclude them from the bureaucracy."

[vampire_shield]

"I think its because our bites are fatal that they crack down so hard on covens that create them. The immortal children can't control their impulses, especially when they're newborn vampires, and that makes them a risk for exposing us to the humans."

That part she understood, but it was still too close to the fight with Aro over her own. And while it raised her apprehension level, it also made her miss her daughter, and her husband.

"Your ruling body is called the Authority? Not the Volturi?"

[vikingvamp]

"It was, yes," Eric said, shrugging slightly. "They are no longer due to certain circumstances. It...is complicated."

Eric had never heard of the Volturi but given the differences between himself and her, it wasn't surprising.

[vampire_shield]

"I think we come from very different places, ah," Bella said then paused, an expression on her face an odd twist of sheepish that would have been a blush if there was blood in her body left to redden her cheeks. "I"m sorry. I've been rambling and didn't even find out your name. I'm Bella," she smiled, then extended an ice cold hand.

[vikingvamp]

"Eric," he offered in kind, taking her hand. It was cold, as all vampire hands were, though he found if he fed shortly before fucking someone he didn't seem quite so cold to the touch.

"Have you been here very long, Bella?"

[vampire_shield]

Because she'd learned one thing from Emmett, she squeezed his hand tight. She was five months away from being a full newborn, but she knew the strength that let her pummel her new brother in an arm wrestling match. And she didn't want this vampire thinking she was weak.

"Not long. Two days. I was home with my family and walked into the main house, or so I thought, and landed here. It was just a little disconcerting."

[vikingvamp]

"A few weeks for myself," Eric said, thinking back over what had happened since his original arrival. All told, the Nexus Hotel was a much better place to take up permanent residence than Louisiana at the time.

"I'm currently a fugitive so it's for the best I remain here as much as possible. The only issue is feeding, of course, and other than one obliging soul, I haven't found anyone."

[vampire_shield]

At the mention of feeding, Bella put a hand to her throat. The burn was there, as always, just muted. She and Edward had hunted a few days before she'd stepped through the door. It wouldn't get bad for another week, so she had time. But time for what?

"That's never an easy way to live," Bella agreed somewhat absently, most of her mind occupied with the problem of her thirst and how she could possibly manage it here.

[vikingvamp]

"No. But luckily when I bite someone, I don't poison them," Eric pointed out. "So I can take volunteers. As long as you don't drain them dry, it works out splendidly."

He had enough control to be able to feed from voluntary donors indefinitely, which was the ideal situation. He'd prefer someone like Sookie, of course, but anyone would do in a pinch.

[vampire_shield]

"Yeah," Bella said absently. "That's lucky for you."

But left the lingering question for her. What was she going to do when she got thirsty?

[vikingvamp]

"It is going to end up being difficult. But hopefully there is some option for you."

Eric had to wonder if there was something like TruBlood to supplement her diet like his. "What if someone donated blood? Hardly any fun in bags but you won't die."

[vampire_shield]

Bella's head was already shaking. "No. I can't drink anything human. I've got unusual control for a new vampire, but I don't want to kill anyone, or turn them, and drinking anything human would probably test that too much. Thankfully, I don't need to hunt that often, once a week maybe. I just need to find a forest, or any place with wildlife."

[vikingvamp]

"Plenty of doors," Eric said, gesturing toward one. "I'm sure you can find something to your liking. The idea of eating an animal is absolutely insane to me, just so you're aware."

[vampire_shield]

"You're not alone there." Bella laughed, just a little. "Most of the vampires where I come from feel the same way. They think my family as a bunch of freaks because we don't hunt humans, but we want to live in peace with humans instead of treating them like cows, you know?"

[vikingvamp]

"I can imagine it has to do with your mechanism of feeding," Eric said, mulling it over.

"I have always preferred to have a few voluntary humans to feed upon than to kill them. They can occasionally be good company."

[vampire_shield]

Bella thought about her human friends. She couldn't say she really missed Jess, or Mike, but she did miss Angela. Even when the other girl didn't know a thing about the supernatural part of her life, she'd still given great advice. And she'd been the only one to welcome her back after she'd gone crazy.

"I had to cut ties to all of my human friends after I changed. Well, not all of them, but I'm not sure the pack counts as strictly human. We're too different for one, and one of the few hard line rules is that humans not find out about us. If they get too suspicious, we have to move on to somewhere else."

[vikingvamp]

"Oh, right. I remember secrecy. It has been a long time since vampires in my world have had to remain hidden, though."

Eric wasn't entirely certain that being out of the coffin was any better but at least he no longer had to hide who and what he was.

[vampire_shield]

"You're...you're out in the open where you're from?" Bella considered that for a moment, then nodded. "I suppose it could work, for your kind of vampire, ones that can feed without killing or turning the human. I don't think it would be quite that simple for us. Still, it would be nice to be able to see my mom again, some of my old friends."

Bella smirked inwardly. What she wouldn't give to see Mike's reaction to her new look.