An Extra Vampire

Multiple choice quiz:

The Greens and the Roses are...

A.) Suicidally insane
B.) Never going to have normal lives
C.) Probably eventually going to need to learn that not everything can be our problem to deal with
D.) Never going to run out of vampires

or

E.) All of the above!

Hi, this is Bree. Summer, Blakeney, and I are back home now, after a fun trip. I can't say it was uneventful, though. Especially not at the end.

The last weekend of our trip, we went down to Pennsylvania to spend time by the creek where our relatives have a little vacation place. We kayaked, went for walks, went wading, and read our books outside. It was a lot of fun.

A day or so in, though, we got a call from Inna, saying she'd heard rumours that the mean vampire hunters we (unfortunately) met here in Canada were hanging around nearby where we were. That was, of course, worrisome news. One thing we weren't quite sure of, though, was whether it had anything to do with us. Were they looking for us? Were they looking for me because I lied to them about where Clare was? But how would they even know where we were? How could they have found us? And yet, it seemed like too much to be just a coincidence.

So of course, we did the only thing we could: we spied on them. What we found out was at first reassuring. They didn't seem to be looking for us. They didn't seem to know we were around. We still didn't know why they were there, though... or why they built a big fire by their camp, like they were issuing a threat to someone rather than lying low. That had to be something we wouldn't like.

Inna called us again; she had figured out why they were there. It wasn't about us, but it wasn't entirely a coincidence either. They were hunting someone. It just wasn't us. Inna had heard from her "contacts" that there was vampire activity nearby. More specifically, a vampire, a red-haired girl... and from the reports of the chaos, Clare and Inna thought this vampire was newly-turned and confused. And now, to further add to her confusion, she had hunters after her, hunters that so far she'd managed to evade successfully. Eventually, though, her luck would run out.

Vampire problems tend to multiply very quickly, or so we're told. But it makes sense, because they can just bite people instead of killing them, and make more vampires. You want to get a lid on this kind of situation while it's still just a small number, if you can. That's what the hunters seemed to be trying to do.

Clare was in the background of the telephone conversation, and said she wanted to talk to Blakeney. It sounded like she was crying. I could only hear one end of the conversation, but Blakeney said, "I know," and then, "We'll take care of it." At the time, I wasn't sure I was going to like what that entailed. Then she got off the phone, and told us we were going to have to deal with the situation. (Actually she sang "I've got a theory we should work this fast/Because it clearly could get serious before it's passed," because if you can quote Buffy, you should quote Buffy. My sisters and I have decided that sometime we're going to try going a whole day speaking entirely in pop culture quotations. But anyway, what she meant was that we were going to deal with the situation.)

It would have been nice if we'd had the whole "team" there. It's easier to handle stuff like crazy vampires as a family. We'd just have to do our best, with Inna and Clare to give consultation on vampires over the phone. It was better than nothing.

I was still nervous, though... especially when we finally found her, after combing the creek and woods for several hours. It's not like I haven't hung around vampires, but I'm used to Clare, and she doesn't really act much different from the rest of us, except in the dietary sense. This girl looked totally out of it. She was crouched like an animal, her hair was tangled, her clothes were filthy and bloody... and she'd obviously already been attacked by something. She was badly hurt. One of her legs looked like it was just about torn off. I think if she'd been human, that alone would have killed her - but she was hanging on, just not very pleasantly. I was kind of scared of her. But I also felt really bad for her. I hoped she was going to be okay. Somehow...

We called for advice. The first suggestion Inna gave us was to try to reason with the vampire girl, and get her to stand down. It didn't work. At all. Summer optimistically refers to this attempt as "the time that at least we didn't get eaten." It ultimately involved a lot of running away. Fortunately she couldn't move fast with that leg.

We got out of range of the teeth - it was a close call, especially for poor Summer - and phoned Inna back. Her next suggestion was to drug the vampire with animal tranquilizers set up in a trap. That... actually worked pretty well. Pretty soon we had a drugged, sleeping vampire. For the first time, she actually looked peaceful, and I realized she had a sweet face when she wasn't snarling. I think she's about the same age as Felicity and Clare.

Shipping a drugged, tied up vampire back to Canada was easier than you might think. We couldn't leave her there. As soon as we left, she'd just break free and start going crazy again, maybe kill someone - and definitely get herself killed, with vampire hunters around. We needed to get her as far away from the scene of the craziness as possible so they wouldn't be able to track her, and someone needs to look after her. We didn't have much choice but to bring her back with us.

While we were sitting in the Toronto airport waiting for our plane, I asked Blakeney if this was what she had in mind when she told Clare we'd take care of it. Blakeney gave me a raised-eyebrow look and said I'd misheard her - she'd said we'd take care of her. Because Clare remembered what it was like to be scared and freshly vampiric, and she was worried. This was the plan all along. Well, not the drugging part - they'd hoped to just buy her a seat - but the general idea of bringing her back. I felt a lot better about that than what I had thought we were going to have to do.

Now she's in the Roses' basement, sleeping it off. She'll still be restrained when she wakes up. Inna said not to expect her to be too coherent. So far we don't even know her name. It may take time before she'll be normal like Clare. We'll just have to take care of her in the meantime, and try to help her.

So we're home... and we have an extra vampire.

Love,
Bree