Sponsored Fiction: The Donor House: Caleb: Entering the House (part 3)

[k_a_webb]

Sponsored by Elizabeth Barrette (LJ user ysabetwordsmith)

Trigger warning: addiction

Part 1Part 2

Caleb found himself smiling at Blake. “Really? When I first walked in I thought I’d made a huge mistake, because I didn’t think that anyone would help an addict.” Caleb sighed. “I heard about them long before I ended up in an auction and it seemed like some people assumed that the addiction was the fault of the human being bitten. Like they should have been able to fight the vampire off somehow.” He bit his lip. “All I wanted to do was survive.”

“We all did, Caleb, but if a human hasn’t been through what we have then it’s impossible for them to understand.” Blake shrugged. “The vampires here, especially Alice, seem to want to learn what it’s like to be in that position and what they can do to help the addicts who may walk into the donor house.”

“Alice seems… different.”

Blake smiled. “Alice is different. I think it’s probably because she’s a relatively young vampire and still remembers what it was like to be human.” The smile faded. “She also nearly ended up at one of the auctions, so I think she wants to help people like us because she knows she could have been one an addict.”

“Should you be telling me that?”

“She’s never kept it a secret from anyone, so I can’t see it being a problem. The thing with Alice is that she tries to be totally open with people and I think that’s why all the donors seem to trust her. Even those who turn up here hating vampires usually get along with her.”

Caleb looked away from Blake, uncomfortable with what he was about to say. “She sounds almost too perfect to be real.”

Blake laughed. “Alice is nowhere near perfect. She just gets on with people. You need to see her when she’s in a bad mood with Nick. Then you’ll see what she’s really like.”

“Who is Nick?”

“One of the other owners and the vampire who changed Alice. He’s in charge of interviewing everyone who applies to be a donor. Then there’s Issac, who is control of the building and the money, and Lewis, who understands the money lending part of all this. Lewis is a silent partner, but he’s not very good at it. He ‘s much more involved in this place than he ever thought he would be. It’s actually kind of funny.”

“Thanks,” a voice said from the door, making Caleb jump. “I’m so glad I amuse you.”

“You amuse everyone, Lewis,” Blake replied, reaching out and taking hold of Caleb’s hand. “I’m just the only one with the guts to tell you that.”

“If you expect me to be grateful for that, then you have another thing coming.”

“Stop arguing, children,” a female voice said from behind Lewis, a voice Caleb recognised and was grateful to hear. “We’ve got more important things to talk about right now.”

Alice pushed gently past Lewis and smiled at Caleb. “Are you okay?” she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

Caleb nodded, but couldn’t say anything. He felt uncomfortable with Lewis being in the doorway and hoped that he would go away soon, even though Caleb didn’t think that was going to happen. It was nice to have someone hold his hand in the comforting way that Blake was.

“Lewis is here because Issac and Nick are both busy,” Alice explained, and glanced at Lewis before looking back at Caleb. “To be honest I think Lewis is the best person to be here. He understand the science behind vampirism much better than I do.”

“It’s a subject no one truly understands,” Lewis said, “but I know enough that I can explain it to you in a more eloquent way than Alice could.”

“Thingy is a perfectly eloquent description,” she muttered.

Lewis laughed. “No, it’s not.” He looked at Caleb. “Do you know the name of the vampire who bought you?”

Caleb thought for a moment, trying to remember what her name was. When he’d first been purchased the vampire had told him her name but it had faded from his memory during the years. It did seem a good way of making sure that no one ever got prosecuted.

“I think her name was Bianca,” he replied finally, even though he wasn’t totally sure.

Lewis raised an eyebrow. “Red hair, blue eyes, and a scar down her left arm?” Caleb nodded. “She is not one of my favourite people.” Lewis sighed. “No wonder you can only last for three hours between feeds. Bianca is one of the oldest vampires I know, and before you ask Bianca isn’t the name she was born with, which means that the chemicals in her saliva are very strong.” He shook his head, looking at Alice. “She’s the vampire who changed Issac, so I suggest you don’t mention it to him.”

“How long has her name been Bianca?” Alice asked.

“Since the time of William Shakespeare.”

Alice looked at Caleb. “There are some vampires who change their name regularly because they want to or have to, vampires who change their name when their current one goes out of fashion, and those who don’t bother at all. In order to make sure that no vampire we know to be dangerous enters the house we’ve been attempting to learn their current names.”

“Sounds difficult,” Caleb said.

“We’ll get there.” Alice sighed. “It’s just going to take some time.”

“Of course we will,” Lewis replied, smiling. “There really aren’t that many vampires out there.”

“It doesn’t seem like that.” Caleb bit his lip when Lewis looked at him. “In the auction it seemed like there were hundreds of vampires.”

Lewis nodded. “I’m thinking in terms of the number of humans compared to the number of vampires, but when you’re in that sort of situation it can seem like there’s lot of vampires. The auctions often draw in vampires from all around the world.”? He looked at Caleb for a long moment. “Most vampires will be found in first world countries because we live a much easier life here. Generally we favour Europe and North America, but you will find a few in place like Japan, China and Australia. Living in Europe means that it’s very easy for vampires to travel to the UK, which is the main hub for the auctions, in order to buy humans.”

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.