And we don't know where we're going and we don't know where we've been (Amnesia plot post)

[dredefulchilde]

23 February, Early Morning

He wakes up in the middle of a field - actually, a football pitch in Hounslow, but it seems vast and strange to him. He feels a nagging sense that he's lost something important, but he can't remember what it is. On further thought, he realizes that it's not the only thing he can't remember. He has no idea who he is, where he is, or why he's standing in the cold rain. The only thing he can remember is the feeling of an old ring hanging on a chain against his chest, under his sodden clothes. It's familiar and safe, and he knows that if he removes it something very bad will happen.

So the boy crouches in the mud and puzzles through his odd predicament.

A woman at a bus stop opposite the park is the first to see the small figure in the rain. She approaches the pale child and asks him what he's doing out so early, offering her umbrella, but he doesn't seem to understand her questions, growing increasingly agitated and confused the more she tries to help him. He's obviously lost, and the thinness of his arms and legs concerns her. She calls the police.

That night, the evening news broadcasts a picture of a boy, believed to be between nine and eleven years of age, who has been taken into care by Child Protective Services. They are looking for anyone who may recognize him since he does not seem to recognize himself. It generates a bit of buzz online, but it's hardly a leading news story with everything else going on in the world.

There's a follow-up the next morning, but this time it leads the program: a nurse in the mystery boy's hospital room was found dead late last night, drained of blood, her throat ripped out. The child is nowhere to be found.

[Specific prompts in the comments!]

Comments

[dredefulchilde]

Is he safe? He's not so sure. Nancy's been nothing but kind and welcoming, and he wants so desperately to trust her but he's still too traumatized to relax, let his guard down. He's still hungry and that terrifies him.

"I guess," he agrees quietly. "Maybe if you give me a few names I can see if it helps me remember mine."

[stauncherhearted]

She doesn't blame him for not trusting her. she didn't trust easily herself, she would have liked to say. So she won't hold it against him.

"Sure- I'll just list some? tell me if I'm getting closer: John, James, Harry, William, George, Richard..." she listed a few others, studying his face for sign of recognition.

[dredefulchilde]

Nothing. He recognizes that those are common names, but none of them hold any meaning for him. He shakes his head.

"None of those sound familiar." It doesn't mean they couldn't be his name, of course. Maybe he just can't remember. He feels panic rising up again, threatening to turn into a fresh bout of tears. He tries to choke it down.

"Why can't I remember?"

[stauncherhearted]

"hush, hush now," she says, and scurries around the edge of the table so that she can be closer to him. Gently, she pulls him toward her again in a warm embrace. "it's alright, love," she coos. "Let it out, it's okay. There's nothing wrong with not remembering. It'll all come back, just you wait."

she had to have some sort of memory jogging charm in one of her books. She'd just have to wait till he was asleep or something to page through them.

"did you have anything else with you? anything that would give you any idea of anything at all?" A watch or something even.

[dredefulchilde]

The people at the hospital had tried to take away his ring, when he'd first gotten there. He'd fought them, harder than he thought he should be able to, and eventually they gave up. His ring is the only part of him that feels familiar.

So maybe it's safe to show Nancy. She wants to help him, right?

Shakily, he reaches under his shirt (well, Nancy's shirt) and brings up the ring. It's very old and very battered, but it's set with an unmistakable red stone, the kind worn by all high-ranking vampires who want to go out into daylight without burning up.

The boy doesn't know that, though. He just knows that he feels safe with it around his neck.

"This."

[stauncherhearted]

"oh." Her mouth forms a small 'o' shape as she looks at the ring on his necklace. That- she doesn't need to touch it to feel the magic coming from it. A daylight ring. She'd made them herself.

This... explained a bit.

"That helps," she tells him, smiling again. "here- I think I've got something that will help you." She stands and goes to her fridge. From there, she pulls out two bottles. One she takes a deep sip of immediately- a blood toxin. She didn't know how old the boy was but if he was indeed a vampire she wanted to not die should he try to feed on her. the other was filled with an unmistakable substance: blood.

She poured a bit of the blood into a cup and microwaved it for about thirty seconds before turning back to the boy. "Maybe this will help?" If it does, then... then honestly she should probably just call Jean-Claude.

[dredefulchilde]

"What is it? What does it mean?" He's panicking again, especially as Nancy putters around the kitchen, heating something in the microwave. The smell of it...he can feel his heart beat faster and faster because he knows what it is. The same hunger he'd felt before the nurse...no...

He crumples to the ground, hugging his knees to his chest.

"I can't," he says over and over. "Please don't make me remember."

[stauncherhearted]

shit shit shit. she sets the blood down and runs over to the boy, wrapping her thin arms around him.

"shh, shhh," she cooed, stroking his hair, holding him to her. "I won't make you, you don't have to. It's okay, I promise." Without thinking she presses her lips against the top of his head, humming absentmindedly to get him to calm down somewhat.

[dredefulchilde]

"I hurt her," he whispers hoarsely, keeping his eyes screwed shut. "It was me. I hurt the nurse."

[stauncherhearted]

she holds him tighter, stroking his back with the same motherly affection she usually used on her brothers.

"it's okay- it was an accident, love. Just an accident. The nurse will be okay." it had been a lot of blood. "Everyone has accidents."

[dredefulchilde]

The boy's voice breaks. "I killed her. She's dead because of me. I'm a monster."

[stauncherhearted]

He pulls at her heart strings right there on the kitchen floor. Nancy holds him tighter to her chest, nearly cradling him against her breast- most boys his age would be quite happy with this position.

"shhh it's okay. Cry all you want, love. You're not a monster, don't ever think that. You lost control and it happens. But it was a mistake- you'll be alright. I won't let anyone hurt you." Jean-Claude would surely understand: it had been an accident. the poor boy was frightened and didn't know what he was.

"Don't blame yourself; you didn't want to hurt her. It's okay, sweetheart. Nancy's got you."

[dredefulchilde]

He's a sobbing mess again, and though part of him knows it's unseemly--particularly at his age; it's not like he's a baby, even if he's not certain how old he really is--he doesn't care. He lets Nancy hold him, leans his head against her chest (in a mostly innocent way), and cries.

"What's wrong with me?"

[stauncherhearted]

This sweet precious child. She doesn't care how old he is, or anything. He's scared and it's natural to cry when you're afraid. No matter who you are, she knows it's true. She would never try to squash it.

"Nothing, love. Nothing's wrong with you at all. You're- listen to me, you, you're special. You've got a talent. And me, too. It's not like yours, but, it's a talent."

[dredefulchilde]

"A talent...?" He sounds dubious, though Nancy's odd reframing of the act of murder he'd committed not six or seven hours before catches him so off-guard that he suddenly isn't crying at all. How could that be a talent? He'd ended a life.

"What is your talent?"

Wait, is Nancy a killer like he is?

[stauncherhearted]

"Watch." It was a simple charm, creating a ball of light in her hand. She kept it small, but showed it to the boy. "I can do magic. And you," she said softly, "are very strong, and very fast. And unless something happens, are going to live for a very long time."

It suddenly occurred to her that maybe this boy had been a vampire for, well, a very long time. She hadn't even considered the thought, despite knowing first-hand how deceiving the physical ages of the supernatural could be.

"And maybe, you'll even be able to read minds." She taps the side of his head, all the same. Until they learned otherwise, he was only his physical age.

[dredefulchilde]

The boy's blue eyes go wide when Nancy casts her spell. "That's..." impossible. "How are you doing that?" Magic isn't supposed to be real, is it? Does he have magic too?

...Apparently not. But the being strong and fast makes sense. It had taken four nurses, two orderlies, and a doctor to subdue him when they'd tried taking his necklace off at the hospital. And after he'd killed the nurse...well, he'd gotten away quickly, before anyone could find out what he'd done.

Though mind control sounds cool, too.

"Do lots of people have talents like this?"

[stauncherhearted]

Nancy nods, and passes the ball of light to him. He can do with it what he wants, it's just a ball of light. "It's a spell."

She nods. "Lots. My boyfriend- he's just like you." He's calmer now, and she's thankful for it.

[dredefulchilde]

"He is?" The boy doesn't quite know how to feel about that. Even though he likes being fast and strong and is heartily intrigued by the whole reading minds thing, the prospect of meeting another person like him is a frightening one. Is Nancy's boyfriend a monster too?

Is Nancy safe around either of them?

He cups the little ball of light in his hands, entranced by its glow.

[stauncherhearted]

She nods. Some would say they were monsters- all three of them. They'd burned witches at stakes for centuries, after all. But she didn't see it that way. "He is. His name's Cooper." Nancy can't help the stupid smile that comes across her face when she mentions him.

She's content to let him play with the light until it inevitably fades. It's sweet, watching him look at it.

"He's at work right now, but he'll be back later." They should be okay until he got here, especially now that she'd taken the blood toxin. Still, she'll send him a text. It's only fair to give him a heads up that hey, she's kind of adopted a ten-year-old vampire.

And if he gave her trouble about it, well, would he have rather her brought the boy to Fagin, of all people?

[dredefulchilde]

He sits and talks with Nancy, or--well, listens to her talk, mostly. He's starting to feel powerfully tired, eyes like leaden weights after the nonstop confusion and trauma of the last twenty-four hours. Being an amnesiac child with "talents" is very hard work.

They move to the couch at some point, and it feels very soft and inviting. He soon drifts off to sleep, still holding onto Nancy for dear life.

[emotioneater]

Cooper's been off at a meeting for the Night Council the whole day when he gets the text from Nancy. Only she would consider taking a child vampire back to their apartment a good idea. He's alarmed by the very prospect. Either it's a new vampire who will have no impulse control or there's now a very old predator sharing space with the woman he loves. Both scenarios are enough for him to make his excuses to the other members and head for home.

He barges through the door looking for both of them. "Okay, Nance, you wanna tell me what the heck--" Then he spots the little vampire, looking rather different without his usual expression of bored arrogance on his face. "Joss? What're you doin' here?"

[stauncherhearted]

Somewhere along the line, the boy started to fall asleep, and Nancy did nothing to stop him. Instead, she got herself comfortable, and soon abandoned talking for humming, letting him sleep on her as she strokes his hair and back in a soothing manner. She'd even managed to float a rather fluffy blanket over for him to sleep under. Other than that, she's too afraid to move, not wanting to wake him up. Poor thing.

When the door opens, she's jerked out of her reverie, and looks up. "Cooper, shush!" she scolds him, gesturing with one hand to the boy using her as a pillow. "He's sleeping. Poor thing's had an awful day."

[dredefulchilde]

There are voices interrupting his nap and the boy scrunches up his face, beginning to stir. But he doesn't wake fully. For the moment he continues to sleep, looking quite angelic as he does so. A perfectly picturesque little waif.

[emotioneater]

Cooper crosses his arms, a flat look on his face. He's not fooled by that innocent face. "Poor thing my foot. He probably had it comin' whatever happened to him." Why does it seem like half the members of the Nest eventually end up in his apartment? He should just install a revolving door.

He comes closer, wanting to be close in case Joscelin is startled when he wakes up with Cooper's girlfriend right there next to him. "I know he looks all cute 'n little. But Nancy, do you realize Joss is one of the oldest vampires in the Nest? Like, old as JC." Cooper was also strongly reminded of Joss' M.O. of bewitching adults to take him in. Is that what he'd done here? It didn't make much sense. He had to know this was Cooper's apartment.