Milo is a Kaw-Sekhmu who has been dormant for over 150 years, waking up to a world that has changed beyond recognition. When he awakens in a morgue, he realizes that he can no longer stomach blood and has nowhere to turn for support. Milo's decis...
Amy held her hands to her mouth as she stood against her door. It had felt like a dream. No, not a dream, a nightmare, one she was just waking from it. She didn't know how long she stood there, trying to suppress her tears. Just like a dream, it made little sense. Soon, the memories were mangled. And like a dream, leaving nothing but feelings of dread, a bleakness that there would be no joy in her life as long as she lived.
When the feeling faded, she turned the light on and pushed herself off the door. She hardly remembered getting back there or what she was doing before. She stumbled to the bathroom, where she splashed water on her face. It was at this point she would have believed she was just going crazy. But the red marks around her neck made it brutally clear she had not just imagined it all.
She slowly traced the red lines. It wasn't nearly as painful as it looked. But she got lost in what it was. How had he done that? Then a pounding at the door. Her roommate forgot her key again? She jumped, trying to hide the marks. It was no good. "I know you're in there. Open up." It was Justin. He sounded angry. She didn't want him to see her like this. After turning the light off, she hid under her blankets as if he could somehow see her through the wall.
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Amy rubbed her eyes as she awoke. There was a chill in the air as her vision slowly cleared up. She quickly discovered she wasn't in her bed, but on a grass path that comprised a mix of dark and light checker patterns. She didn't question the blue lolita dress with black and white trim that matched the stockings she wore. She had never seen the dress before, but somehow felt at home in it. Mindlessly, she walked. Not questioning where she was, just knowing she had to be somewhere.
She found in an unmeasurable amount of time, that was both slow and quick, she could see a large red-wood table in the distance. The middle of the woods seemed like such a strange place for it but as with everything else, she didn't question it.
Beams of the sun reflected off the dishes of food and teapots, of which there were many. When she got closer, she recognized the man sitting at one side of the table as Milo, sandwiched between two others. The table had been about 16 yards away, but when she blinked, she was sitting in front of them.
Another man with shoulder-length light brown hair, chubby cheeks, and a button nose sat next to Milo. He had his feet resting on the table as he leaned back in the chair. He fiddled with some kind of puzzle box. Casually he looked up at Amy, "There's no room," He barked.
Milo turned his head slowly to address the new man. "What are you talking about?" In a slow, drawn-out voice, he glanced at the ample amount of empty seating. "There is plenty of room."
The other man pulled his legs down to look down the length of the table, "oh? I guess there is." Leaning back to the same position, "Well, she still wasn't invited. It's not safe for just anyone to be here, you know. She could get hurt."
Milo paused, contemplating this. "I suppose that's also true." Looked up at Amy for a moment. "Why are you in my dream?"
As he spoke to her, a violet rabbit jumped up on the far end of the table. No one seemed to notice or mind it.
"I believe this is her dream dear." the woman to his left spoke up. All proper, wearing a deep blue Victorian dress topped with a lace hat.
Milo stared at her momentarily. "Then why is she dreaming about you two? She doesn't know either of you."
"True, that is, unless she's sharing a dream with you. Did you touch her? I mean, with your true self, that is?" She turned to Amy with a frown, "Poor girl, stuck in a fever dream with the scary demons." Milo turned to her once more. Her frown turned into a broad smile, bearing all her teeth in a wicker way before bursting out in laughter. "Oh, lighten up, it's a joke." she tapped his arm with the back of her hand before pulling a fan out, hiding behind it well slowly fanning herself.
"What is he then?" Amy asked the woman, pulling herself forward and watching her intensely.
She turned to Amy, a softer but no less intimidating smile on her face. "What do you think he is? Look around?" she waved gently across the table.
This time, when Amy looked at the table, it was different. The pastries she originally didn't put any thought into all had a red tint. The cups in front of the three of them were a deeper, thinker red than she had ever seen. The woman took a sip from her cup, a smug look on her face. "Its blood, dear."
As she set the cup down, the rabbit sniffed at it. Still, no one seemed to pay any mind to it.
"Vampires." Amy found the words coming out before she could think about them.
The two on each side of Milo's eyes widened, exchanging a worrisome look at one another before looking away.
"Now that is more offensive than being called a demon," Milo said in a drawn-out voice as he took a sip from his cup.
"Why?" Amy asked, preferring to speak to Milo and then to further examine what was on the table. With closer examination, she now noticed organs and eyes thrown into the mix.
The man to the right pulled himself up to one of the multi-layered dessert trays, plucking an eyeball up by the veins. He examined it for a few seconds before turning to Milo. "I don't get it. We only drink blood. Why are there body parts?"
"I already said," the woman leaning forward, looking past Milo to the other. "She's dreaming. She is only getting the feelings, not the facts. It's a metaphor for us being killers."
"So what do I call you?" Amy watched the two of them as they turned to her and then back to Milo.
"You mid as well tell her," the woman said in a stern voice. "That's the least you could do after what you did to her little boyfriend. Turning him into a Ka-shekem." her grin grew as she turned to wink at Amy.
"Why did you tell her that?" Milo asked as she rolled her eyes.
"I didn't, you did. Remember, I'm not really here. That goes double for him." She pointed to the other man, who was squishing the eyes, turning them into green grapes. "We are just whispers of who you once knew."
As he did this, the rabbit made their way past Milo and over to him. He patted it a few times before flicking an eyeball at it.
"Aw, how sweet. You're worried about her," the woman said in a mocking tone. "You just used my likeness to tell her because you think I would worry about her. You know a lot of time has passed, you have no idea who I even am now. Maybe I have grown to hate you. Or maybe I'm dead. Maybe he's gone as well."
