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Post by Sherlock Holmes on Aug 11, 2008 10:36:14 GMT -5
Continued from: THE+BALLROOMHolmes swallowed. "Shall we go, then?" he asked quietly. He didn't know what he was going to do. Or how she could bear to look at him. But he knew it was no good leaving her here. Holmes unlocked the door without taking his eyes off Irene. He was almost convinced he was dreaming--both the situation she was in and the fact she did not immediately shy from his gaze were both hideous mockeries of what he'd thought the world should be. "Here we are," he said softly, ushering her in. "I'm sorry the accommodations are not up to your standards--or mine. But no one will look for us here." He couldn't take her back "home," regardless. Not where that had happened. And with his wrist broken, he had not been able to make his living to supplement what he could draw from England.
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Post by Irene on Aug 11, 2008 20:12:48 GMT -5
*As soon as they were inside, Irene removed herself from his arms*
"I'm sorry, it's not your fault, I just...I can't."
*She went over and pulled down all the curtains, squinting as if the tiny amount of sunrise visible was stinging her*
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Post by Sherlock Holmes on Aug 12, 2008 10:28:39 GMT -5
Holmes' arms dropped to his sides, helpless. He had not meant to touch her at all; it had been instinctive.
You fool! Better not to look at her at all, after what you've done.
He watched her behavior carefully. The sunlight...
"If you are tired, you may take the bedroom," he said. "I will leave you alone as much as possible, but I must keep you safe. The bedroom will afford you some privacy." He paused. "If there was any other way to do this. A way that meant you could dispense with my services... But I can trust no one. Not even myself, no, but... I am all I have."
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Post by Irene on Aug 12, 2008 15:42:50 GMT -5
"There's another reason- I don't know how well I can handle myself. How long it's going to be before the hunger takes over."
*She looked back at him*
"I can't promise you'd be safe around me."
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Post by Sherlock Holmes on Aug 12, 2008 18:06:18 GMT -5
Holmes' smile was grim, and did not touch his eyes.
"Then we have that in common, at any rate," he said. "I will risk it."
He did not cross the room to her, but stayed on the other side. Careful.
"I must ask you about your... time with them," he said at last. "Can you talk about it now, or do you need to rest?"
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Post by Irene on Aug 25, 2008 12:07:43 GMT -5
*Irene nodded*
"It's alright. Ask what you want."
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Post by Sherlock Holmes on Aug 25, 2008 13:38:44 GMT -5
Holmes nodded grimly, preparing his thoughts.
"If I am to help you, I must know exactly what we are up against. Which means I must ask you to tell me what happened after... Since we last saw one another. I trust you to include the relevant details."
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Post by Irene on Aug 25, 2008 16:19:01 GMT -5
"It's a bit hazy...but I know that I left the apartment to-"
*She paused*
"To kill myself. He found me by the river- or one of his servants or friends did, I don't even remember. I didn't try to run, and when he made his intentions clear I didn't struggle."
*She felt dirty when she put it like that, and avoided his eyes*
"After he bit me, he gave me some of his blood to drink. He told me that I would soon forget everything of my old life, that I wouldn't know pain or sorrow or loss."
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Post by Sherlock Holmes on Aug 25, 2008 16:31:07 GMT -5
Holmes shuddered. He had done this to her--he'd been one of the men to make her into this shivering thing. How could he have touched her, knowing as he did the treatment she'd had before? How had he dared?
"But you are not yet a vampire," he stated. "The mechanics escape me; you crave blood, you say. Or at least you considering yourself a danger to others. But you are not the creature he describes."
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Post by Irene on Aug 25, 2008 16:31:58 GMT -5
"No, not until I kill. I was weak, and I couldn't make myself."
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Post by Sherlock Holmes on Aug 25, 2008 16:35:03 GMT -5
Interesting. It was an odd mechanism, and one he did not quite understand, for it seemed to have no actual bearing on one's physical nature. Killing was done by all sorts--it did not change the body, but the character.
Vampirism, as far as Holmes could see, was not a matter of personality transformation alone.
"I see. So until I discover a way to reverse this process, you must merely refrain from killing. Have you heard any talk of such a reversal? Have you ever heard a hint that it was possible?"
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Post by Irene on Aug 25, 2008 16:38:06 GMT -5
"I've heard that it is possible by killing the sire, but I don't knwo if that is true."
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Post by Sherlock Holmes on Aug 25, 2008 16:51:52 GMT -5
Holmes nodded.
"Of course," he said, for it made the sort of logic everything did these days, which was not at all except in some esoteric, tangential sense. "But all such efforts have, of late, failed. Even those when place you in danger to acquire our ends." He gazed out a window grimly. "He should have died long ago, Irene. Had I been granted my will."
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Post by Irene on Aug 25, 2008 21:26:26 GMT -5
*Just then, Irene remembered a duo she had met a while back*
"There were two men I met not too long ago in the city who were experts on vampires. Of course, they were rather..."
Incompetant and oblivious
"...eccentric."
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Post by Sherlock Holmes on Aug 26, 2008 9:23:33 GMT -5
Holmes raised an eyebrow.
"You might be describing me, my dear," he said, the endearment escaping without thought. He grimaced. "Any expertise in this area is a boon I cannot refuse. Could you find them again?"
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