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I got up when I heard Mary and Sean stirring in the next room after spending the night resting staring at the ceiling, enjoying the feeling of being wanted and cared for. It was so rare, since I became a vampire Jane was always the one 'minding' me and 'keeping' me 'safe' from anyone who could hurt me as a result of this I became a shell of me. Since Sarah had come along I found a part of me that I had hidden away and wanted to bring out again. My human side. I started to understand Cullen a bit more how it was easy to fall in love with the prey. I went downstairs and found Mary cleaning out the range so I offered to help her.
"Good morning Alec, how are you this fine morning, did you sleep well?" She asked me
"Yes Mary I slept like the dead, is that how you say it?"
"Yes, it is indeed. Sean is gone down to bring up the cows from the lower field for milking. Would you like to give him a hand rounding up the cattle?"
"Sure that would be nice I said licking my lips." Hmmm what's this interest in cow's blood? Wow, what's happening to me at all? First not drinking my prey and now the cows am I going soft?
"I'll go down so" I said as I went out the door.
"Hang on you'll be perished Alec put this coat on you."
"Ok" I said smiling as I pulled on a big black jacket with leather on the elbows, it was about 2 sizes to big for me and I felt dwarfed in it. Mary smiled at me obviously seeing the funny side of me in her husband’s massive jacket too. So I left and went to find Sean.
"Hi Sean, Mary sent me down to give you a hand rounding up the cattle. What does that mean?" I asked shyly.
Sean gave a great bellow of a laugh and bent over with his hands on his knees he was laughing so hard. After about 2 minutes of this he stood up and collected himself and apologised to me saying he'd never heard anyone who didn't know what that meant before and he found it hilarious. He cleared his throat a few times and spat out some yellow looking phlegm. I looked at him and saw his eyes crinkle and a big smile crossed his face.
“Come on so then young Alec and I’ll show you how us Irish round up the cattle” he said beginning to giggle again. I smiled at his amusement beginning to see the humour in it myself. We walked towards the cows at the bottom of the field and Sean started saying something that sounded like How How How as he walked after the cows. The cows began to get into lines and walk towards the gate. I was amazed at this it was like watching magic in action.
“See those big bags under the cows with the four teats hanging down they’re full of milk and we must help the cows to empty them to make room for more. It’s called milking them. You put one teat in each hand and pull it down and the milk comes out. There is a way to do it right without hurting the cow and I’ll show you if you’re interested.” This was the most words I heard from Sean since I met him. I nodded at him. He smiled back to me.
We went up to the dairy I think he called it and I watched him as he hooked each cow up to four pipes on the teats. Fascinating how the humans entertain themselves I thought to myself.
“Here take this in your hand” he said to me pointing at the teat in his hand. So I took hold of it. The cow jumped a bit when my cold hand touched her.
“Easy there Betsy, he’s new at this” said Sean.
I tried again but got the same reaction. She could sense I wasn’t human. Sean said
“T’is alright young Alec, you can go to the barn and getting their hay ready.
“What’s hay? I asked him.
“Hang on I’ll show you what I want you to do and I’ll leave you to put it out. Sean came and showed me where the hay was in big bales in the barn and how to cut the string and spread it out for the cattle. So I told him I could do that. He left then after patting me on the shoulder and smiling at me. I didn’t need the knife to break the string like Sean did it was as easy as breaking a blade of grass for me. I scattered the hay out quickly and was done in mere seconds. Sean had said there was some silage too for the cattle but it wasn’t ready yet. I have no idea what silage is but didn’t want to look even more ignorant than what I do already so just nodded and acted like I knew what he was saying. He giggled at me and knew but stayed quiet so as not to embarrass me. I was thankful of that. I was surprised by my lack of thirst, there were 2 humans and at least 30 cows and I had no interest in drinking any of their blood. Very unusual for me.
I got distracted when I saw Mary coming out of the house with a huge basket of clothes. I was beside her in an instant, much to her surprise and delight. I took the basket from her with ease.
“Hello there young Alec, how did you get on with Sean and the cows?” She giggled at me when I told her how the cow had jumped.
“Don’t mind Betsy, she’s always been nervous, pay no mind to her!”
“Ok!” I replied.
“I put out the hay for the cows.”
“Good lad Seamus.”
“What did you call me?”
“Alec” she replied.
“No, you called me Seamus.”
“Oh” she said and paused, looking down she said
“I’m so sorry, but you remind me of our boy Seamus, he died.” She let out a huge sob and burst into tears. I felt terrible for making her cry and so I put my arms around her shoulders but I may as well have wrapped a wall around her. I was too stiff and cold. Sean came up to us then and asked what was going on. I explained what had happened because Mary was crying so much she was unable to speak. Sean put his arms around her and all but lifted her into the house.
“C’mon lovey, its okay, have a good cry.
I stood back letting Sean comfort Mary. I felt totally helpless and felt the need to escape and let them have their privacy, so I slipped out to the clothesline and continued hanging up clothes like Mary had been doing. I finished quickly…..vampire speed. I knew that they wouldn’t be able to see me from where they were. I could hear them talking.
“I don’t know why I called him Seamus, Sean; he just came over to help me with the basket of laundry.”
“Sure it’s only natural, he the first boy Seamus’ age that has been here in over 30 years Mary. You and I both keep hoping and expecting him to come walking in that door any minute. Isn’t it true even though we both know he’s gone it doesn’t’ matter and then on the eve of his anniversary in walks Alec, a lovely young man who’s clueless about farming but exceedingly polite and helpful and willing to help out just like our boy was.”
I felt terrible causing more harm than good here and on the eve of their boy’s anniversary….. Bad timing! I went into the house, bringing the basket in with me and told them it was time for me to leave and that I was very sorry for inconveniencing them and sorry for upsetting Mary and thanked them for their hospitality.
“You don’t have any place to go do you son?” said Sean as I was halfway out the door.
I paused “No” I replied, “not at the moment I can’t go back there.”
“Well can you stay here with us; it’s such a pleasure to have a young man such as yourself around us again after all these years. Our son Seamus died thirty years ago today and that is why Mary is upset. He drowned in the river nearby…He was a simpleton but a lovely boy and well, we’ve never really recovered from the loss of our boy so if you’ve nowhere to go and we’ve the spare room maybe you could stay and help out for awhile what do you say? Said Sean.
“You’d be a welcome distraction for us.” said Mary.
I thought about it and thought it would take a bit of time for Demitri to trace my scent so why not. So I accepted their offer. They offered me some food but I refused and told them there were some berries in the wood that I needed to find, they would be good for baking with. I was honestly so proud of myself for that comment. Made me seem human. The back of my throat had suddenly caught fire and I knew then that I needed blood, but didn’t want to drink my new ‘parents’ they were kind people and had been kind to me, a stranger and welcomed me into their home. So Mary scuttled off to get me a basket to collect the berries in it, I thanked her and left and ran quickly once I was out of their viewing range. I found a wolf and drained it quickly, its taste was rusty and tasted rotten but as there were no other humans nearby it would have to do.
"Good morning Alec, how are you this fine morning, did you sleep well?" She asked me
"Yes Mary I slept like the dead, is that how you say it?"
"Yes, it is indeed. Sean is gone down to bring up the cows from the lower field for milking. Would you like to give him a hand rounding up the cattle?"
"Sure that would be nice I said licking my lips." Hmmm what's this interest in cow's blood? Wow, what's happening to me at all? First not drinking my prey and now the cows am I going soft?
"I'll go down so" I said as I went out the door.
"Hang on you'll be perished Alec put this coat on you."
"Ok" I said smiling as I pulled on a big black jacket with leather on the elbows, it was about 2 sizes to big for me and I felt dwarfed in it. Mary smiled at me obviously seeing the funny side of me in her husband’s massive jacket too. So I left and went to find Sean.
"Hi Sean, Mary sent me down to give you a hand rounding up the cattle. What does that mean?" I asked shyly.
Sean gave a great bellow of a laugh and bent over with his hands on his knees he was laughing so hard. After about 2 minutes of this he stood up and collected himself and apologised to me saying he'd never heard anyone who didn't know what that meant before and he found it hilarious. He cleared his throat a few times and spat out some yellow looking phlegm. I looked at him and saw his eyes crinkle and a big smile crossed his face.
“Come on so then young Alec and I’ll show you how us Irish round up the cattle” he said beginning to giggle again. I smiled at his amusement beginning to see the humour in it myself. We walked towards the cows at the bottom of the field and Sean started saying something that sounded like How How How as he walked after the cows. The cows began to get into lines and walk towards the gate. I was amazed at this it was like watching magic in action.
“See those big bags under the cows with the four teats hanging down they’re full of milk and we must help the cows to empty them to make room for more. It’s called milking them. You put one teat in each hand and pull it down and the milk comes out. There is a way to do it right without hurting the cow and I’ll show you if you’re interested.” This was the most words I heard from Sean since I met him. I nodded at him. He smiled back to me.
We went up to the dairy I think he called it and I watched him as he hooked each cow up to four pipes on the teats. Fascinating how the humans entertain themselves I thought to myself.
“Here take this in your hand” he said to me pointing at the teat in his hand. So I took hold of it. The cow jumped a bit when my cold hand touched her.
“Easy there Betsy, he’s new at this” said Sean.
I tried again but got the same reaction. She could sense I wasn’t human. Sean said
“T’is alright young Alec, you can go to the barn and getting their hay ready.
“What’s hay? I asked him.
“Hang on I’ll show you what I want you to do and I’ll leave you to put it out. Sean came and showed me where the hay was in big bales in the barn and how to cut the string and spread it out for the cattle. So I told him I could do that. He left then after patting me on the shoulder and smiling at me. I didn’t need the knife to break the string like Sean did it was as easy as breaking a blade of grass for me. I scattered the hay out quickly and was done in mere seconds. Sean had said there was some silage too for the cattle but it wasn’t ready yet. I have no idea what silage is but didn’t want to look even more ignorant than what I do already so just nodded and acted like I knew what he was saying. He giggled at me and knew but stayed quiet so as not to embarrass me. I was thankful of that. I was surprised by my lack of thirst, there were 2 humans and at least 30 cows and I had no interest in drinking any of their blood. Very unusual for me.
I got distracted when I saw Mary coming out of the house with a huge basket of clothes. I was beside her in an instant, much to her surprise and delight. I took the basket from her with ease.
“Hello there young Alec, how did you get on with Sean and the cows?” She giggled at me when I told her how the cow had jumped.
“Don’t mind Betsy, she’s always been nervous, pay no mind to her!”
“Ok!” I replied.
“I put out the hay for the cows.”
“Good lad Seamus.”
“What did you call me?”
“Alec” she replied.
“No, you called me Seamus.”
“Oh” she said and paused, looking down she said
“I’m so sorry, but you remind me of our boy Seamus, he died.” She let out a huge sob and burst into tears. I felt terrible for making her cry and so I put my arms around her shoulders but I may as well have wrapped a wall around her. I was too stiff and cold. Sean came up to us then and asked what was going on. I explained what had happened because Mary was crying so much she was unable to speak. Sean put his arms around her and all but lifted her into the house.
“C’mon lovey, its okay, have a good cry.
I stood back letting Sean comfort Mary. I felt totally helpless and felt the need to escape and let them have their privacy, so I slipped out to the clothesline and continued hanging up clothes like Mary had been doing. I finished quickly…..vampire speed. I knew that they wouldn’t be able to see me from where they were. I could hear them talking.
“I don’t know why I called him Seamus, Sean; he just came over to help me with the basket of laundry.”
“Sure it’s only natural, he the first boy Seamus’ age that has been here in over 30 years Mary. You and I both keep hoping and expecting him to come walking in that door any minute. Isn’t it true even though we both know he’s gone it doesn’t’ matter and then on the eve of his anniversary in walks Alec, a lovely young man who’s clueless about farming but exceedingly polite and helpful and willing to help out just like our boy was.”
I felt terrible causing more harm than good here and on the eve of their boy’s anniversary….. Bad timing! I went into the house, bringing the basket in with me and told them it was time for me to leave and that I was very sorry for inconveniencing them and sorry for upsetting Mary and thanked them for their hospitality.
“You don’t have any place to go do you son?” said Sean as I was halfway out the door.
I paused “No” I replied, “not at the moment I can’t go back there.”
“Well can you stay here with us; it’s such a pleasure to have a young man such as yourself around us again after all these years. Our son Seamus died thirty years ago today and that is why Mary is upset. He drowned in the river nearby…He was a simpleton but a lovely boy and well, we’ve never really recovered from the loss of our boy so if you’ve nowhere to go and we’ve the spare room maybe you could stay and help out for awhile what do you say? Said Sean.
“You’d be a welcome distraction for us.” said Mary.
I thought about it and thought it would take a bit of time for Demitri to trace my scent so why not. So I accepted their offer. They offered me some food but I refused and told them there were some berries in the wood that I needed to find, they would be good for baking with. I was honestly so proud of myself for that comment. Made me seem human. The back of my throat had suddenly caught fire and I knew then that I needed blood, but didn’t want to drink my new ‘parents’ they were kind people and had been kind to me, a stranger and welcomed me into their home. So Mary scuttled off to get me a basket to collect the berries in it, I thanked her and left and ran quickly once I was out of their viewing range. I found a wolf and drained it quickly, its taste was rusty and tasted rotten but as there were no other humans nearby it would have to do.
