Chapter 28: Involuntary insomniac by DoubbleDutch.
"Okay then, what about fire? I've seen that used lots in movies, maybe-"

Tier smiled grimly. "Hold out your hand then." Michelle did as she was told. Calmly Tier picked up the small lighter by the table, lit it, and held it beneath an outstretched digit, after a few seconds it blackened, a short while later the sulfurous smell of singed fur permeated the air. Michelle removed her hand and stared at it, where the flame had flickered was barely charred, as they watched the fur regrew. "You're moist, as in, mostly water, you're gonna need one hell of a fire to do anything, and believe me I know, besides, this condition comes with instincts, if she knows it'll kill her, they'll take over."

He stared at the group, it was quite a cozy setting; everyone clustered around the fireplace, deep in discussion about Michelle’s condition. They’d considered everything, from crushing to freezing, fire to magic, and every time they’d come to him, asked, and been disappointed. If there was a way to end his condition, he hadn’t found it in a thousand years, but they never gave in, it was a characteristic of the living.

Tier walked off, leaving the group in further discussion. Michelle had taken a shine to the vampire, and they spent a lot of time talking, which was only to be expected, they were in the same situation, more or less. She hadn't had to go through the hell of regular feeding, the estrangement, lack of sleep, but she knew what was coming, she had immortality and all its horrors to face. They'd tried to talk to him of course, since he had a lot more experience, but the conversations always died, ebbing away into those uncomfortable silences, he knew he could never tell them what it was like, they were too alive to understand.

He smirked, a vampire? Too alive? I bet that hadn't been said too often. He sighed; it sounded like someone squashing a wet sock, and went back to work. Work, he was good at that, just as long as he had something to do, no matter what, or how long it'd take he'd get it done, even if it took a hundred years, literally.

"Hey, thought you might want these, take a bit of filling out of course."

Tier turned to face the rabbit behind him. His mind flickered a bit, ah yes, Thomas, the one who read books. He stared at the rabbit’s outstretched hand.

"Citizenship papers? What for?"

"Well, I just thought-"

"That I might want to vote? When everything will be the same in a hundred years? And I'll be around to see it? Hell, why not? Who's the guy you want to win?

Tier spent the next half hour filling out the forms, it was just something else to do, people got all excited about the most insignificant things, he'd seen good government, and bad, and all that really mattered was that everything came to an end, eventually. After that he went back to rebuilding the wall, then clearing out the basement. As he worked his mind plodded on thinking of the upcoming civil war. It seemed everyone was always fighting one another; no sooner had the last battle finished before people were rushing off to another. He remembered...

A red sky, not sunset, but at night, fire from the ground spiraling into the air. The world was thick with noise, and blood and life. The dog was ahead of him, then behind, slumping to the ground, a rabbit on his left, a quick swipe and nothing more. They were too busy fighting each other to notice the red streak of death that cut through their ranks. Another there, and there, slash! Stab! Feed whenever possible, the battlefield filled with those like himself, but alive, at least for now. Shots rang out, he felt pressure, but moved on, no need to stop, no need to think, this was home.

Michelle stared up at the ceiling and counted the cracks in it for the hundredth time. Geez, even the vampire could sleep, this was going to take some getting used to. She felt something, in that strange way she'd got used to in the last few days, sitting up slowly she saw a rat, black and sleek nibbling her big toe. They never ate anything living she noticed, at least if it was bigger than them. She let it get about halfway through before almost unconsciously swiping out at it and biting it in two. Hell, why not? Apparently this was her future diet. She'd tried normal food; it made her sick just to put it in her mouth, even raw steak tasted foul. It had to be living. She'd already got the nickname 'rattrap', something she was oddly proud of.

She sat back and let her mind wander, exploring her new ability to detect life. She could see in her mind the little lights, each one a rabbit or rat, scuttling about their own business. She wondered if Louie was one of them, how alive was a vampire compared to her really? She felt around, assigning names to the specks, feeling rather oddly like an invisible spy. There was a rat nest, young ones in it too, have to see about that tomorrow, over there was Thomas, with his wife, more late night reading, and there were the refugees, the first early arrivals, and the place hadn't even been cleaned up yet! She sighed, so much to do, so much activity, she'd never been good with people, because she'd never had the chance to meet any. This was all so new, so exciting, for now her condition could wait, it wasn't like many people noticed, or cared, several had been forced to eat rats themselves, most were just glad of a warm place to stay. She named every single one she could remember, recalling her brief talks with them during the past day.

She focused on that one speck, currently in the basement, the only one her instincts said 'like me' the only life signature she wouldn't attack no matter how hungry she got, the others... There was something out in the forest; it pricked her mind, another taste of life, no several, a group. She focused muzzily on it; watched figures half a mile away meet, interact and then disperse. She wondered idly what they had been; she'd spent a lot of time in the woods, all her life. She'd been expected to be able to work since she'd been five, and had spent many hours before that repairing family equipment in the hut, even more so after mother had died. They tracked down the bandit together, her and father, the werewolves had found what they left, and that’s what he had deserved. Werewolves, was that them? She held on to this thought; there were said to be some around, she'd have to start stalking the woods, her new condition offered, possibilities even if they were werewolves. She laid back and thought of sunny forest days until the soft dawn light told her it was time to get up. People would want breakfast, and she was a good cook.