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dawla ([info]dawla) wrote,
@ 2008-10-15 00:17:00


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Harrison, Leah
Harrison was lying on a bench outside under a streetlamp. The halogen bulb spilled cool light around him and he looked as if he could have been on stage instead of just out on a curb. He didn't have a home to speak of, and most nights he just roamed around, dodging cops and talking to people. It helped that he was a vampire; the talents that came along with that unnatural blood were helpful tools to have for a street kid.

But with the advantages came the disadvantages, namely the whole burn in the daylight caveat. He did his best each morning to find a suitable hiding spot, whether it be in a cemetery, or under the streets he walked at night. There were a few homeless shelters he frequented to get showers, but he always turned down the offer of food or clothing, much to people's dismay. Tonight, his hair was wet from a recent trip to the Ninth Street shelter facilities. When he heard footsteps on the otherwise silent sidewalk, he sat up quickly, hoping it wasn't a cop bent on moving him along.


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[info]dawla
2008-10-21 06:31 am UTC (link)
This was that moment that would change everything. Or at least it would change a great deal for Leah if she believed him. Pulling back the veil between reality and what most thought was fantasy was a big decision to make for someone else. But he was tired of being alone in this and if he was going to tell anyone, he wanted it to be her.

Drawing up his knees to his chest, he wrapped lanky arms around them. "I wasn't in jail. I met this guy, actually. Well--I didn't meet him, he just sort of ran into me. I mean, he attacked me." A quick evolution from 'meet' to 'attack,' but it was all still blurry in Harrison's head and probably always would be.

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[info]crucio
2008-10-21 06:43 am UTC (link)
The word 'attack' brought out a different emotion in Leah, and it quickly shifted from fear to worry in the span of three seconds. No wonder he was acting strange, something bad had obviously happened to him, something so bad that he'd felt the need to lie about it in fact.

"Oh my God," she said softly before she moved to drop down to her knees beside him. "Attacked? What... should I get Leo?" she asked, reaching out to touch Harrison's shoulder gently.

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[info]dawla
2008-10-21 06:47 am UTC (link)
"No!" He barked in panic, but quickly reigned himself back in. "No, don't get him." Voice much softer the second time around, Harrison took her hand from his shoulder and held it with both of his own, partly to anchor himself and partly to make it so she couldn't get away.

"The guy bit me. He killed me, actually. I'm dead, or I was dead." Harrison was having trouble explaining it. "You're thinking I'm crazy right now, but I'm not. He brought me back from the dead and then he just left. He just fucking left me."

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[info]crucio
2008-10-21 06:57 am UTC (link)
When he said no like that, it only made her worry more about just what had happened to him. A part of her really wanted to go and get Leo because this was the sort of thing he dealt with all of the time, helping people who had been hurt. But the more Harrison explained, the more confused she got as he held onto her hand.

"That..." she said softly, "That's crazy, Harrison."

It was, it was crazy. But she had dreamt about someone hurting him. That was why she'd been so worried. She had seen someone hurt him and then he had been dead, and now he was telling her this. And it matched up... but vampires weren't real.

"Vampires aren't real..."

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[info]dawla
2008-10-21 07:12 am UTC (link)
He tried not to make his grip hurt her, but as he stared at her hand in his, his fingers tightened. "I'm real." His voice had gone reedy, thinned out by nerves and the truth of what he was saying. Leah knew things, and Harrison had no lies hanging about him, not anymore.

Glancing up at her, he stopped breathing. The rise and fall of his chest ceased, making him look unnatural.

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[info]crucio
2008-10-21 07:22 am UTC (link)
When his grip tightened, she winced a little bit and furrowed her brow. Her arm twisted a little as she tried to pull it back, but he wasn't letting go so she went still as her blue eyes drifted up to look at his face.

"Harrison," she said softly, her voice almost a whisper. "You... I..."

She didn't know what to say. He'd stopped breathing. She blinked and opened her mouth a little in surprise before she shook her head, unable to process what he was telling her.

"This is nuts. You need to breathe," she reached up with her free hand and shook him a little as she gripped his shoulder.

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[info]dawla
2008-10-21 07:45 am UTC (link)
Refusing to start the comforting habit of breathing again, Harrison just kept his eyes on her to prove he was still very much alive and aware without oxygen. "That blood on my hand wasn't mine. There was a man that I found and drank from so that I wouldn't be tempted to--I mean, not that I would! I'd never hurt you."

Once he remembered her hand in his, he released it because he realized he might have been squeezing it too tightly.

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[info]crucio
2008-10-21 07:55 am UTC (link)
Leah didn't even realize she was holding her breath, she was so focused on Harrison and his breathing as well as he what he was saying. When he let go of her hand, she pulled it back and cradled it against her chest as she watched his face, her brow furrowed together in worry and confusion. This was all too much to take, and she didn't know what to believe.

She dreamt things before that came to pass. She'd done it ever since she was little, but they had slowly progressed and sometimes she even saw things when she was awake. The only person she had ever told was Ezra, but that was because he was like her. He didn't think she was crazy. She spent so much time worried that people would think she was crazy if they knew, and here she was thinking Harrison was crazy because he was telling her something as far fetched as her gift was.

"I dreamt it," she said after a moment, her voice quiet. "I dreamt that you were dead."

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[info]dawla
2008-10-21 08:04 am UTC (link)
Before all of this happened, Harrison might have been skeptical if Leah had revealed to him what she was telling him now. Dreams weren't premonitions, things like that didn't happen. But the fact that he was sitting there not breathing and still talking made thing just a tad easier to accept.

With a frown, Harrison looked her face over, searching for signs of a joke. "Was I walking around after it?" The frown very slowly turned into a bit of a smile at how funny that sounded. Maybe it wasn't the right time to find humor, but Harrison didn't have much else left.

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[info]crucio
2008-10-21 08:12 am UTC (link)
Leah shook her head a little and she got back up to her feet. While he was finding humor in the situation, she didn't. She couldn't. Things were too complicated at the moment for her to find anything about them laughable.

"No," she answered, "No just... dead. I had Leo look for you, I asked him to find you because I... I thought you were dead, and then tonight I ran into you and I thought I was wrong but I'm not wrong. I'm not because you are dead."

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[info]dawla
2008-10-21 08:22 am UTC (link)
His laugh faded quickly when he realized Leah wasn't experiencing the same sense of lightness he was beginning to feel. Bringing someone else into his secret made it easier to bear, but he realized what a burden he'd put on her.

"I'm sorry." He finally said, though he wasn't sure for what. Sorry that she'd been right? Sorry he'd told her the truth? Harrison mulled those questions over in his head, shoulders slumping forward a little.

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[info]crucio
2008-10-21 08:33 am UTC (link)
Leah closed her eyes and shook her head a little, just trying to clear it so that she could focus. She wet her lips and sighed, opening her eyes again so that she could lean down and help him up.

"Come on, up," she said softly. "Lets get you situated for the night and then we can talk."

She turned to go towards the linen closet, but then she paused to look back at him. She wasn't sure how this was suppose to work.

"Does the light bother you? Sun.. I mean.. I don't," she laughed then, finally. "This is so... I don't... there's a lot of explaining you're going to have to do."

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[info]dawla
2008-10-21 08:42 am UTC (link)
"I think maybe you're a better friend than I deserve." He let her help him, even though he could have gotten to his feet perfectly fine on his own. It was just nice to be helped when he'd spent so long being ignored, or taken advantage of.

At her question about light, he nodded, pleased with her chuckle because the sound of it was so perfectly complex to his improved sense of hearing. He could hear layer upon layer of sound hidden in her voice and he liked it a great deal. "I learned the hard way. I had burns all over and had to sleep for days." It had gone away eventually though, but he didn't want to experience that kind of pain again.

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[info]crucio
2008-10-21 09:11 am UTC (link)
Leah lifted a hand up to her head and ruffled her fingers through her hair in thought, still shaking her head a little in disbelief. It was so very bizarre, she didn't know what to say, and that was why she laughed even though the subject matter was heavy.

"All right well," she sighed, "You should probably sleep in my room because it's darker."

It was almost five in the morning now, and the sun would be coming up soon. She was going to be tired, but she'd at least get a few hours of sleep in before she had to go to class.

"There's a couch in there, uh," she nodded, "I'll make you a little bed on it, okay?"

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[info]dawla
2008-10-21 06:31 pm UTC (link)
With an overwhelming sense of happiness welling in his chest, Harrison beamed with her acceptance of the situation. He couldn't have hoped for a better reaction and now he was bursting at the seams to show her what he could do and tell her all about his experiences. But the sun was looming and the mention of sleep made him moreso aware of it. It tickled at the back of his neck, sending warning shivers down his back.

"Okay. That sounds perfect." And so much better than his usual sleeping arrangements. He couldn't help it and burst forward to wrap her in his arms. "Thank you."

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[info]crucio
2008-10-23 05:23 am UTC (link)
The hug had been entirely unexpected, but it was welcome, even if her movements were slow because she had been taken off guard a little bit. She wrapped her arms around him and stood up on her tiptoes to hug him back, trying to ignore the well of conflicting emotions that came with the act. He was still Harrison, he was. But it was still complicated and the entire situation was a hard pill to swallow. If it weren't for her own experiences, she would have never believed him. She would have told him he was absoluetly crazy and she would have screamed for Leo.

"You're welcome," she said softly, giving him a squeeze before she pulled back to get some blankets and an extra pillow out of the linen closet. "Can you open the door for me?" she asked with a laugh, trying to peer over the mountain of fabric in her arms.

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[info]dawla
2008-10-23 07:55 am UTC (link)
Before he launched into action, he just sort of stared at her. "You're a giant pillow with legs." He commented with a laugh before finally opening the door for her. It was nice that she trusted him enough to let him sleep in her room. He knew he could honor that trust and refrain from hurting her. Harrison had an unprecedented amount of control over his hunger, even for a neonate.

Once inside, he helped her as best he could, having a lot of experience with making couches into cozy beds. Before he was a vampire he spent a great deal of time couch surfing.

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[info]crucio
2008-10-23 08:08 am UTC (link)
Leah managed to maneuver herself into the bedroom with ease, though she had to walk a little slow. Once she reached the couch she dropped the blankets and pillow and started to help Harrison get everything situated.

"You said you don't kill people," she said softly, glancing over at Harrison. "Are all vampires like that, then? Or... well, I guess that's a stupid question, isn't it?"

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[info]dawla
2008-10-23 08:21 am UTC (link)
"I don't think any question is stupid at this point. I kind of wish I had someone to ask. I sorta just had to figure it out on my own. But from the others that I've met--well, some of them like to kill, some of them don't." They were as diverse as all the personalities in the world as far as he could tell.

"I always stop though. Just little drinks. Just enough to make them pass out." And perhaps think the whole experience was just a bad dream.

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[info]crucio
2008-10-23 08:32 am UTC (link)
"Sounds as complicated as the human race, just more... complicated," she said with a faint laugh. "I just... it's so... I don't even know," she shook her head with a sigh. "I keep thinking you must be crazy. You know?

She bit down on her lower lip as she fluffed the pillow and sat it down, then she turned her gaze over to him. "It's a little scary. It must be scary for you, too."

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[info]dawla
2008-10-23 08:42 am UTC (link)
The sun was starting to itch at his bones, making them feel like lead in his limbs. "I think it's just scary you dreamed I was dead, and it's true. If you ever dream about meeting someone else like me, be sure to lock yourself in your room. I've met more horrible ones than nice ones." He still spoke as if he wasn't a part of the whole thing, an outsider from the get go.

Sitting down on the couch, he started to look tired, growing from drowsy to exhausted in moments as the sun eked its way into the sky.

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[info]crucio
2008-10-23 08:46 am UTC (link)
"Now you sound like Leo," Leah teased with a half smile. "Warning me about bad guys, except the type you're warning me about are more dangerous. Maybe," she shook her head and covered him up before she went over to pull the curtain shut over the tiny window. It was ground level, but still she didn't want to chance any sun getting in.

"All right, I'm gonna go get changed and brush my teeth," she told him as she gathered her pajamas up out of the dresser and headed for the bathroom. "I have to go to class in a few hours, but I'll be back after that. I'll try not to wake you up."

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[info]dawla
2008-10-23 08:52 am UTC (link)
Harrison laughed a little at the prospect of Leah waking him up. "Trust me, I won't be up until the sun goes down." She could set off a bomb and he wouldn't stir. He felt bad that she wasn't going to get much sleep, so he fell silent after that, letting her get on with her bedtime routine.

But when she came back, before he drifted off completely, he whispered another thank-you to her, whether she heard it or not.

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[info]crucio
2008-10-23 09:11 am UTC (link)
Leah came back into the room and made sure he was settled one more time before she went to go and crawl into her bed. She heard his thank you, and she smiled a little before she laid down and closed her eyes. She was exhausted, but there was so much going on in her head that it took a while for her to finally drift off to sleep, but once she was out, she was out.

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