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]

"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.