The Difference of Daylight (CASSIE)

[Molly Beck]

((I figured this would be "after" the post with Ina?))

She rubbed her shoulder, her body twinging with a soreness that had almost faded entirely. Still, the memory was fresh and terrifying, and she had shied away from taking calls at night, and those that had come through on her shift, she had insisted that an officer stay with her. Molly hadn't told anyone why she suddenly had this aversion. No one had noticed the conflict at the water's edge, and Molly was just grateful to still be alive. The idea of an exsanguination was fun until it was the idea of her being exsanguinated was not so amusing.

It wasn't as if it was the first time Molly had been faced with her own mortality. She had gotten herself mixed in with people who didn't care for her well being frequently enough that she was accustomed to the bumps, bruises, and scrapes that came with associating with the selfish. If not that, she was a bit of a risk taker otherwise with her adventures that cropped up when that anxiety in her stomach was too much to push away. Danger, she had to admit, was a great release of energy. A woman who had seemed more than happy to munch on her was a little more than danger. Being okay with that was akin to being okay with suicide.

In short, Molly hoped to never meet the woman again, though she suspected she wouldn't have such great luck. Of the thousands of people in New York, that one vampire had not only her scent, but, in all practicality, her name. All one needed was a name these days and the entire sense of privacy upon a person was completely lost.

Groaning, Molly slid further down the tree she was leaning on. The sunlight still didn't quite feel warm. She had been shaken to her core, and it would take some time before she started to feel warm again. Still, any day away from the office seemed like a blessing, and so she was taking the opportunity to spend some time in the sun. The park wasn't crowded, but it wasn't empty, either. For the most part, people were at work. Just because Molly was playing hookey didn't mean everyone was, but there were a handful of people, enough that the brunette at the bottom of the tree trunk didn't look out of place.

[Cassandra Black]

(Yes, Cassie has also just been bitten by Desdaemona, my own character, so I'll be writing about that)

It had taken a few days to heal the wound on her neck. Sometimes it bled if it was touched. Sometimes it sent a pang of pain throughout her body. All the other time it throbbed. Cassie had been bitten the second time by Desdaemona. She wasn't sure if Des was actually good now. She had been, They had been friends for a few months. Then Des began calling herself Cassie's mistress and ordered her around. Des had bitten her twice, and Cassie really hated it. She had passed out, like the first time Des had bitten her.

Cassie was in town, and she had decided to visit the park. She noticed a girl - looked pretty human to Cassie - rubbing her shoulder as if it ached. Cassie could just smell Ina's scent where the girl was rubbing. It was Ina, she thought. It had to be her. She had made a meal of this human. Cassie's kind, bright eyes faced the woman, then she walked over.

"What's wrong with your shoulder?" she asked, wanting to test whether she was willing to reveal that information.

[Molly Beck]

Molly's attention, previously drawn inward, turned outward as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Someone had begun to move toward her, and though it might have been just a walker or runner passing by, she was still hypervigilant. Essentially, the physician had been blood raped, forced to give up something that kept her alive without her permission. Though she was fairly certain vampires, not full ones anyway, could walk about in the daylight, her nerves had been fried, and she had been on edge ever since.

When the woman spoke to her, the knot that had formed in her stomach tightened making her feel nauseous. "Hm?" she mused, not sure she had understood the woman. There was something distinct about her, something Molly recognized, though she had never seen the woman before. "Oh, this?" She massaged her shoulder one last time before letting her hand drop. "Just a work related incident, no big deal." Technically, it had been a work related incident. If she hadn't been working that night, she likely wouldn't have been bit. That wasn't necessarily true, but the sanctity of her home had yet to be violated by the undead.

As far as telling a perfect stranger that she had had the life scared out of her while a woman roughly her own size had decided that she was a perfect candidate for a midnight snack went, Molly wasn't likely to reveal as much information. She hadn't even told her coworkers. In fact, she had gone back to the morgue after it was all over that night, cleaned up her own wounds, thrown away her now ruined clothes, and bandaged the bite as best that she could given that it was on her shoulder and slightly awkward. Granted, she was now mostly certain her boss wasn't human. He had called her into his office to review one of her reports with her as an annual one on one training and refresher that was mandated just that morning. He hadn't pulled his chair close to her to review the report. In fact, he seemed to have been staying away, eying her with some level of mistrust that she didn't understand but definitely made her feel as though she were now someone else's property and was off limits to other people.

Something about that thought resonated against the woman before her. Maybe they did share something in common, but Molly wasn't going to try and dwell on it. Still, her mind wandered momentarily, and she realized she didn't want the woman to just walk away. If they had something in common, something like that in common, maybe it would be good to share that kind of secret. Though, Molly didn't know if the woman had been attacked as well. She was sure if she looked into it, there were group therapy classes for people who had survived a vampire attack, but she didn't want to look into it. She felt awkward and exposed, but if her gut was correct, maybe she could find out more information about the predators of the night. Or, maybe she could just find a friend. She had done a good job alienating herself from the ability to make friends, tying herself up at the morgue all of the time. But, until then, she hadn't really wanted friends. Now, she didn't want to be alone.

Fingering the cruciform around her neck-- she had been raised Catholic and believed in God, though she didn't go to church religiously, just when she needed it most-- she nodded to the woman, her eyes scanning her form. "What about you? You kind of look like you've been in a fight." Not physically. She wasn't bruised and covered in scratches that Molly could see from her angle. It was her stance. Despite not having been an ED physician for long, Molly had seen all walks of life come through her department, and she had grown to recognize those who had fought and lost, whether the battle was physical or emotional. Even before she had been indoctrinated into the world of medicine, she had seen the same kinds of people at the bars and clubs she had frequented. It had been in the stance of many of her coworkers when she had been a stripper. And, she recognized it, too, when seh sometimes looked into the mirror, and she hadn't even been fighting anything.