once, i dreamed.

   She’d seen enough from that little peek inside the girl’s mouth — she’d seen enough to know that all the signs were true. Her canines were sharp, much sharped than those of a normal human. But if she was still unaware of what she was, then had she fed yet?

              §— “Yeah, that helped. Did you know that                          some of your teeth are sharper than                          the others?”

    "I don't exactly get a clear imagine in mirrors."

    She's not trying to be clever, or mocking. She's just honestly desperate, absolutely honest, and exhausted. It was bad enough to notice the sun burning — and mostly, it wasn't unlike she didn't want to realize. 

               ”Enough about me, I’ll start sounding self-indulgent. Tell me about yourself.”     Hemlock Grove rarely gets newcomers, so a fresh face is always good news to Nadia. If it could be considered a consolation, the innocence reflecting off her uniquely colored hues didn’t go further then that. Just by looking at someone she could crush their skull and cave in their head. Not… not that Nadia wanted too, of course! Twice as much control was merely paramount, and harder to ascertain. 

                "Oh, I don't mind."

    She really doesn't — and she wonders what she is supposed to tell about herself, anyway. Hi, I'm Felice, I died due to lung cancer and woke up half a year later buried with flesh restoring, and now I'm some thing out of stories? That doesn't seem like something to tell a stranger, she supposed. There's a light shrug following. Her words are hesitant when she speaks either way, so she doesn't worry much about the pause before she raises her voice again.

            "Well, not too much to tell, I fear. I'm Felice — I have been studying medieval history in Europe before I had to take a break out of sickness and got referred to the hospital here. Apparently they are real magicians with that — and I just sort ended up staying here." 

   In turn, Destiny pursed her lips. Knees bent, head tipped to the side slightly, so that seeking eyes could view her upper row of teeth. The lighting wasn’t good — it was never good, considering light was hard-pressed to reach that top of the mouth — but a small amount showed her just what she needed to see.

   Slowly, she straightened herself back up, troubled frown set carefully in the crease of her forehead, and was silent.

      The last days had been both creepy, and strange, and this right now is no exception. She wonders just what this means — maybe she should wander into a library and try to find out herself, those she could enter with no problem, but she wanted to talk to someone and that was hard when you didn't know anyone around.

     So what was she supposed to do, anyway?

                      "Did that help any?"

   That was a bit of news that came as a shock to Destiny. All signs — returning to life after months in the ground, sunlight burning her skin, invisibility, hunger cravings that were not satiated by food — pointed to… VAMPIRISM. At least, the vampires that were spoken about in spooky tales. 

   Unfortunately, she didn’t have anything even close to blood in her refrigerator. 

                §— “You have all those problems now?                          … Can I see something?” 

   Destiny stepped closer to the other, gesturing hesitantly towards her mouth. Her teeth — she wanted to see her teeth.

                  "Uhm — yeah?"

   She's even more confused now — to the point of being unsettled and scared. Why would she want to see into her mouth now? Felice really didn't like to think about where this might be going now.

                "Why?"

   Still, after a moment of hesitation, she opens her mouth. 

   She only wished she could aid the helpless girl with what she wondered about, but she knew that she mentally couldn’t.

              §— “I don’t know either. I can’t tell you what                        happened. I can’t tell you anything that                        happened in the past. Has anything else                        strange taken place since you somehow                        came back to life?”

     She's not sure if she even expected help — or just needed to talk about things. She doesn't even belong here, she just ended up here, with nobody she knew. If she hadn't been sent over to this hospital and died here, she wouldn't be wandering around, most likely. The thought didn't even come before. 

                   "I can't be out long in sunlight without it burning                     me, and apparently I'm sometimes invisible, even                     though I haven't yet found out why. These sort                     of things? — Food doesn't really help my hunger,                     too, it's driving me near the edge of insanity." 

Well, who needs ‘em anyway? Does this mean you need a place to stay as well, doll?

       She hadn't even thought of that yet. So far, she had barricaded herself in the cellar of abandoned buildings near sunrise, after it burnt her the first morning.

                  "I'm not sure — "

"It’s okay. It’s brand-new. I’m guessing you haven’t seen it before."

She offers the other girl a small smile, hoping to reassure her. She seemed a little lost, and she didn’t want the girl be upset.

                      "I'd guess."

    She's giving a just as small smile in return. In fact, she's more than thankful for not being left alone completely right now.

   She was still barely skeptical about the circumstances surrounding the stranger: the one who had come to her — anxiously — and was probably just as confused as she was.

              §— “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who                       came back to life. Not until now, anyways.                       What made you come here? Did you wanna know…?”

    "Me neither."

  The small laugh she gives is desperate, just like she wraps her arms around herself as if seeking comfort in her own touch. 

                       "I don't know what happened. Or why.                         Or what I am, now. I'm — confused."

                                                                        what the fuck?

   The clairvoyant innate drew her shoulders up against the invisible shiver that quavered and shook the disks of her spine. This girl WAS supposed to be dead, and she could think of nothing that explained why she was alive now, if what she said was true.

               §— “Are you… sure about that?”

   Is she sure about waking up upon the feeling of suffocating in entire darkness? Is she sure about feeling how her partly rotten flesh healed itself? Is she sure of drawing her nails into wood over her, being greeted by a flow of warm earth falling onto her?

   Yeah, she is pretty sure about that.

                   " — yes."

   Several seconds went by without a sound of acknowledgement from the fortune teller. For a split second, she couldn’t tell whether or not the girl was telling the truth. Then again — it wasn’t out of the question. She knew STRANGER.

              §— “You’re supposed to be dead? What, did                        someone shoot you and miss or something?”

    If she would have been another person, she might have laughed at that. She isn't, though, and she is not sure if the woman is mocking her or not, but now it's too late to back out of it now, anyway.

             "I mean I've been buried six months ago and                    had to free myself out of a coffin last week."

         ”Wonderful. It’s a little up the road.”

"Sounds alright. Thank you."

         ”No worries. How do you feel about Greek food?”

"Anything, really. I feel like starving."

       “It’s ridiculous and annoying, especially in such a small town.”

    Where everyone knows everyone, and your personal business is constantly center stage. Encased behind pearly whites, an irritated huff, packed away for a more useful situation. Complaining will only make Nadia sound more a spoiled rich brat.

               "It would sound so. I'm sorry."

She wouldn't mind complaining, in fact. Even in life, Felice had always been a very empathetic and caring person, and this seems to only have gotten stronger now, where the hopes and dreams of people are like a weapon in her hands. One she doesn't necessarily want to use to hurt.

          ❝ maybe try starting out           with a compliment? might           help your chances. ❞

"People usually only do what I'd like them to do when they sleep, so yeah — maybe." 

"That’s because they’re new. They did some construction in this district. New stuff everywhere, actually."

              "But I don't — "

Don't what? Remember the time in which they were built? Missed out few months? Doesn't seem to be the thing to tell a stranger.

   She watched as the girl stepped inside, waiting until she was clear of the door before pulling it back shut. Her body twisted around to keep watching over her even as she raised her hand in order to turn the locks back shut. Her guest was nervous, timid, somehow, and it just made her even more curious as to what she came to ask.

              §— “So, what did you need?”

   Truth be told — she wouldn't be a lot more relaxed if she wasn't confused to hell and beyond. But that is not a thing that the other might know, and the fact she is playing with the buttons on her sleeves probably don't help chasing that image, either.

    "I — I'm supposed to be dead."