Butterfiles and Hurricanes {Sam}

[Sephora Forrest]

Sephora groaned a little as she came around. She was all stiff, like she had been lying in an awkward position for a while. She blinked several times, startled. Her own movements were suddenly so much louder. Why was that? And the colours were so bright! So vibrant! Sephora decided they were funny. Her giggle was high pitched and excited, like the laughter of a small child after having far too may red lollies.

A bright smile crossed her face; and anyone who knew her well enough would likely to have just keeled over at the sight of Sephora Forrest actually smiling. And laughing.

She took in a deep breath - everything smelt so strong all of a sudden, it was overwhelming - and was alerted to the presence of another in the room. Oh yes, that was right. She had almost totally forgotten about Sam. Everything was so funny and distracting.

“Oooh, Sammie,” she said, her words slurring slightly with a giggle thrown in here and there, “Did you know that you look so funny? Everything looks funny.” She looked around. “Where am I?” She didn’t recognise the room, but it did look… similar to her own. Except everything in here was so bright and wonderful… kind of like magic. Again, Sephora found this little revelation positively hilarious, so she threw back her head and laughed hysterically, almost causing herself to hyperventilate.

Sephora crawled over to the edge of the bed, and tried to push herself to her feet, only to use a little bit too much force and threw herself to the floor with an audible thump instead.

“Wow,” she commented as she stood up and dusted herself off, apparently unfazed, “You taste really good - better than Silas almost. I just hope you don’t give me a headache too. Why are you standing by the door?”

She frowned slightly, her woozy and overindulged brain trying and failing to concentrate. “What happened tonight?”

[Samuel Jacobs]

After laying her in the bed, Sam had taken up station by the door. It was a perfected pose: feet a shoulder-width apart, arms crossed and eyes forward. Samuel’s usual job was to stand sentry and guard things. He was quite good at it after eight hundred years. He noticed the moment her breathing and heart rate changed, signalling her consciousness would be imminent. Though dark hazel eyes flicked to her, and he watched as she came to.

His blood would have had some effect on her. Her wounds would have healed for the most part, but he was still not sure how they would have helped the unexplained pain in her chest. If she’s been human, his blood would have had a detrimental effect. On a vampire, his blood was merely a very energy-packed meal. But half-vampires were a little different. Being already contaminated by the evil that created a vampire, she was able to digest his blood but as she was not a full vampire, his blood could run rampant through her system in its attempt to change her without harming her like it would a human.

For a limited time, she would have much the same characteristics of a new vampire. Stronger, faster, more attune to her senses. The only downside was that with such a power running through her, she would be a little overwhelmed. Her body could not tolerate all of the new senses, and so the bombardment had an effect not unlike narcotics. It seemed Sephora coped through laughter, and he indulged her with a smile.

“You are in a room at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade.” He answered her first question. He began to warn her not to stand so quickly but she’d lost her balance before he could. He stepped toward her to help but she was already standing. Not that she’d have needed his help. With that much of his blood in her system, she would be on perfect form for days. “I have learnt over the years that even though my intentions are sincere, people tend to run away from unfamiliar situations. I am standing by the door so you cannot leave.” He told her, matter-of-fact.

“What happened tonight is the reason you cannot leave. You were attacked. I fed you my blood to heal you.” He’d phoned his coven in the short time she was unconscious – a wonderful invention the telephone – and they thought it best to not mention why he was there in the first place. Sephora was first and foremost a liability, albeit a useful one. “Please, call me Samuel, Sam if you must.” He crossed the room, took her shoulders and sat her back on the bed. “You might feel a little strange, my blood in different to a human’s.”

He had to wonder what she meant about Silas’ blood. It was no wonder he had pegged her as that woman’s attacker if she’d already bitten him. Apparently Silas and Sephora had a history. Sam briefly puzzled over what in a humans blood could cause a headache. He knew for certain Silas was not a werewolf. Vervain, perhaps? Certain potions had been known to make blood taste bad without harming its host. Perhaps Silas had been researching.

Putting the thought aside for later contemplation, Samuel stood before Sephora, arms crossed again. “Tell me about tonight, what happened?” He asked, voice concerned but stern. Sephora had to cooperate if he was going to get his answers.

[Sephora Forrest]

Sephora cocked her head slightly at the mention of the Three Broomsticks - that was why the room seemed familiar. Though what she had been doing in an alleyway apparently beaten up was still a mystery to her. Clearly Sam did not wish to harm her; but perhaps the reason he had been called in to heal her was more sinister. The ‘evil swarm of vampires hanging around Hogsmeade’ that Silas had warned her about. That still didn’t explain why she couldn’t remember what had happened though…

She was momentarily distracted by the noise of someone coming up the stairs - but she was sure she had never been able to hear this well before. How strange. She took in a deep breath as they passed by the door, and all of a sudden ravenous hunger slammed into her stomach like a wrecking ball. Fuck. Where had that come from? She blinked several times and took in another slightly shaky breath to steady herself. It was then that she picked up a slightly more subtle scent on her clothes - which turned out to be the smallest dribble of blood.

Sephora was puzzled. That could only mean that she had fed earlier that night, although she couldn’t remember it. So why the hell was she so hungry now? Normally she’d have to go for weeks without blood for her stomach to complain this much. This was just getting frustrating now.

“I don’t know what happened tonight,” she replied, her brow furrowing in concentration as she racked her brains. Still nothing. Unbelievable. She never had memory lapses - certainly not for this long! What was wrong with her?

She had the impulse to stamp her foot all of a sudden, or perhaps break something, but she restrained herself to simple furious huff before beginning to pace around the small room, only to discover that it was surprisingly a lot easier to do than before as well. Wow. She was distracted once more by whizzing around at speeds she had never thought possible, when it occurred to her that this was all because of Sam’s blood. Wow; what a kick. She paused, the frustration over her missing memories flooding back. She scowled now; the temptation to break something growing stronger by the second, egged on by her starving stomach.

“I can’t remember anything before running into you!” Sephora wailed desperately, sweeping around rather suddenly to gaze out the window. “What the hell is wrong with me?”

Apparently the street lights from outside were even brighter than the colours in the room and she shoved the curtains together again. She turned to face Sam, getting surprisingly worked up about the whole ordeal. “Was I attacked by vampires?” she whispered quietly, sure that Sam would hear. She wanted to know the truth - so if she had to get out of here as fast as possible she could at least know all the facts.