Harper

"Okkaaaaay let's see here." Said Huginn

The three of you sat in a circle by the fire, Muninn handing her brother books which he swished through with ease; he literally flickered through the pages before making a note on a pad and setting it aside.

You puzzled at the spectacle, your eyes widening "Y-You can read really fast too! so it is a vampire thing!-"

"Shhhh" Hughie promptly hushed you, his face fixed with an otherworldly focus.

Moonie sat beside you, leaning in and whispering "best not disturb him while he's flicking, he likes to time himself." She said with a smile.

"hmmhhmhmhmhmmmhmhmhmmmmmbmbmbmbmbllmlmlmlmlmlmlmlmlm" Huginn flickered his tongue between his lips as he read faster and faster and faster and faster "And time!" His hand dove into his pocket, where he retrieved a beautifully engraved vintage stopwatch of gleaming steel, flicking it open and frowning "Ugh, 50 books in 60 minutes. strewth." He grumbled

"You want me to fix this guy?" Talk about impossible.

She smiled a little sadly, the corners of her mouth twitching "I need you to *Pop Pop* ahem... ugh ...Fix both of us."

Smiling softly as you looked into those dark grey eyes, she was so warm and soft like a toasty butter croissant, it made your fingers curl around her soft hand, "You're sexy." Welp, that just slipped out, damn she blushed a lot for an undead.

"Alright, checklist complete, shall we begin, or would you like to make-out first?" Huginn mocked.

Muninn folded her arms, "just get on with it, moron."

You gave her brother a mean eye, and he cringed, mouthing a quick 'sorry'

Not cool, bird boy, not cool.

"Alrighty, so what I have here is a list of every symptom, power and ability attributed to the curse I could find, the drawbacks too, and we'll go through them and see how in-tune your fiddle is. Sound good?"

"Ugh really, a vampire quiz? Go on then." You sighed.

"Okie dokey, first, have you been experiencing any form of unrelenting solar degeneration?"

"Wat?"

Moonie rolled her eyes ,"have you been experiencing any discomfort with sunlight? Hughie stop messing around, this is serious!"

You frowned... today was particularly, uncomfortable, and it wasn't even sunny.

"Yes."

Huginn ticked the box next to his incredibly neat handwriting "Okay... Have you recently crushed anybody's hand during a casual shake? Or pulled the handle off of the fridge... Moonie?" He scowled.

She scowled with identical annoyance. "How many times do I have to tell you, it was an ACCIDENT!"

For a while, you went over the basics, and while many of the abilities and disadvantages of being a bloodsucking demon were thankfully absent from your being... a disturbing amount of being a Ruler of the Shadows applied distinctly to you.

"Right then, summary so far:
Strength like Super Saiyan Blue Dwayne the Rock johnson: No
Faster than Hilary deleting emails: Nada
Fangs and Claws: Yes yes... ummmm
Sunlight: no
Silver: noooope
Mesmerisation: maybe?"

Huginn clearly wasn't satisfied with your answer.

"I'm pretty sure I'd know if I could control people with my mind, Hal." They'd asked that like 5 times now.

"You don't seem sure about much, these days, Charlie..." Muninn said softly. "Here..." the beauty shifted around sitting in front of you crossed legged as she smiled. You gulped, seeing the adoring promise in her stormy eyes. "Try it."

SHWING!!!!

"Is that like an open offer? like, try kissing me furiously or try taking me out for dinner?" Okay... that was actually suave? JESUS WHO ARE YOU!?

Moonie sucked in a smile "J-Just reach out with your mind, slow and steady. I'll not resist."

"Not even a little?" You grinned.

"Barf." Hughie muttered.

Muninn gave you an encouraging look and you took a deep breath, narrowing your eyes. You tried to imagine rooting around in her head, tensing up as your eyes narrowed, holding your breath and "yep no this isn't working, I guess I can't do it."

"Charlie." Her hand mingled with yours as she soothed you with her stare, "It's okay to be afraid of what we are, caution with these powers is important, they are a dangerous weapon but a useful tool also, people have always doubted you, you told me that yourself... and I won't let you doubt yourself too."

You frowned, looking to Hughie who gave you a wink. "All those people looking down on you, go on boss, show them who you are, show us who you are." He whispered.

They were right... you knew they were right, as odd as it was, these two were loyal as hounds and you knew it... you didn't have to be afraid, not with them. Nodding with a newfound conviction your eyes locked back with Muninn.

In the poppy fields to the south of young Wallacia, that's when I mesmerised another for the first time. I met a farm girl, blonde as the sun, face dotted with freckles just like I love. I pushed into her mind, and felt her innermost thoughts, and felt at every atom of her body as I fed on her blood... I envied her, her heat, her life, and I took what I wanted.

You'd never seen eyes like hers before, like the dark clouds of an angry snowstorm, you got lost in them, falling into their abyssal pupils as the fire flickered against her ashen skin. Fingers crept into the darkness of her mind, long, boney, jagged talons reaching slowly so that they just touched at the prism of her consciousness. Your talons did not touch the fleshy surface of her brain, but was instead met by... well it was difficult to describe, like a resistance, magnetically trying with all of it's might to pull you away, to cast you back into your body like an angry whirlwind that tried to tear you back, but you fought on, the muscles in your spirit flexing until finally, your sharp claws sunk in between the fleshy folds of her mind, and the world opened up to you.

Muninn's eye went a little dopey, her face smitten in a trance as you spoke lowly. "Have we been intimate before, Ramona?"

Her eyes continued to cross dozily. "Yes..."

You raise an eyebrow. "Were we lovers?"

Her face became a little sad. "No... b-but... nearly..."

Your eyes narrowed further, pushing deeper. "Why not?"

Huginn eyed you carefully, his face sharp with an unknown suspicion. His sister's mouth opened gently. "W-we... w-we..."

"Okay easy there tiger, you might scramble her brains if you're not careful." Hughie cut in. Snapping you free of her mind, and snapping Muninn out of her trance.

She immediately looked sad. "You didn't have to ask me that." She said lowly.

But you lent in, feeling her stiffen a little as you kissed her cheek, bewitched by your smile. "I know." You said.

"Right then that's that, mesmerisation is a yes." Hughie cut in, clearly a little discomforted by your intimacy with his sister. Although... you did sense, no... no way. "So that just leaves two things..." He was a smiler. Hughie seemed cheerful, if not a little sarcastic and slightly, just a little crazy, but it was not a smile that was on his face now, nor his sister's.

Muninn scooted closer, speaking with the devil on her lips. "Have you felt it?"

You hadn't. Thank god....

"No." You answered.

"Are you sure?" Huginn asked pressingly.

"Yeah." You nodded certainly. "Is it really that bad? I-I ran into Belle today..."

"SHE TRIED TO EAT YOU!?" Moonie cried, her face contorting angrily as her eyes flashed red.

"Ramona." Hughie called for his sister's calm, but it did not come.

"UGH, I SPENT WEEKS TRAINING HER, JUST FOR HER TO TRY AND DEVOUR YOU!? OH GOD, YOU MUST HAVE BEEN TERRIFIED, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HER I'M GONNA... I AM GONNA..." Her teeth were sharp, eyes blazing as her cheeks began to constrict. You tensed, instinctually preparing for a fight.

"Enough Moonie, please... look at me--look. At. Me." He took her arms and held her tight, her teeth bared, breaths heavy. "You need to get a hold of yourself, we swore to each other... we swore.... what did we swear?"

Muninn's eyes sizzled out as she saw her brother's eyes glaze over. "Hughie?"

"What was I talking about?" His voice was as a lost and confused child's, his grey eyes lighting up as he suddenly shuffled away. "W-Who are you!? What are you doing in my... WHERE AM I?"

You frowned, shifting forward "It's us Huginn, it's me Charlie, and Ramona; you're sister, what's wrong?" the look on his face was disturbing, so confused and afraid, not anything like himself as he thrashed backwards.

"Just stay back! Just stay back-EUUUGGHHCCCCCCHHHHHHH-UGH, HEHE NUGGET IN A BISCUIT-BABYBACKRIBS-OHMYGODTHEYWEREROOMATES-IT'SABOUTOTGODOWNNBAIHBCHBHBHHDHDHHD" His face was contorting becoming less and less like Huginn and more like a terrified wolf, snarling as it backed itself into a corner.

Moonie sprung into action, her anger forgotten as she grasped your wrist. "Easy does it, I need to get to the watch, can you distract him?" She asked.

Your mouth opened, but you ended up just nodding. The two of you moving carefully towards Huginn who now seemed eerily calm as he looked confusedly around the room, then to himself, like something was fundamentally wrong... and then to his sister. "Ramona? where are we?" He jolted at the sound of his own voice. "What's going on!? what the hell is wrong with me?"

Your eyebrow raised, Hughie seemed oddly lucid although he looked at his sister in a dark panic. Moonie raised her hands. "Just... calm down Henry... everything is going to be okay."

He seemed even more confused "Henry? who the fuck is henry? Mona.... w-why..."

The two of you crept forward slowly, hands subtly ready like you were preparing to catch a bullet or something. Something was very wrong here, the look Muninn kept giving you, she wasn't just concerned with Huginn... she was hiding something.

"What is your name then? Huginn?" You asked quickly; Moonie twisted around to you, her face wrought with panic as her brother answered rather directly and with a slight annoyance.

"Harper... Harper Reid... I'm Ramona's sister... a-and who is this big handsome beast?" Huginn asked sitting up straight and smiling at you.

Oh..... oh....... That's fucked up.

....

........

.............

You crouched in front of Huginn and smiled "I'm Charlie, Charles Drake. It's nice to meet you." You grinned, outstretching a hand to the vampire who you realised now... was... rather feminine for a man.

He took your hand gently.... you noticed how he held your fingers rather than at your palm. "Nice to meet you, Pft I didn't realise Moonie had a boyfriend, she's like a 2 at best and you're like a 10!"

Muninn smiled weakly, though you saw the red welling a little in her eyes as she eyed you sadly.

You gave her a wink and then looked warmly at Hughie. "Thanks... um, how old are you?"

His face crinkled up, "rude! --23. Is it cold in here? I feel really cold." He said rubbing his arms, Muninn stalking around him slowly but surely. He looked puzzled as his arms curled around his chest, and then his eyelids widened, his head lowering to look down at his body, the shadow of Muninn creeping behind him.

That girlish face of his twisted in disgust. "WHAT THE FUCK, WHERE ARE MY BLOODY TITS! I HAD FANTASTIC TITS WHERE ARE THEY!? MONA?! DID YOU SELL MY TITS ON THE BLACK MARKEETETEEETETEEKKEKEKEKEKEEECHCHCHCHCHCCCCHHHHHH"

Moonie's hand slipped around his forehead smoothly, while the other dexterously slid into his pocket where she drew out the gleaming stopwatch and press it against his ears.

Huginn began to shimmer as the ticking struck into his ears. "TICK-TOCK-TICK-TOCK-TICK-TOCK-TICK-TOCK!!!" He screamed as she held him tightly in place, hushing him and holding him, his eyes sliding into the back of his head as she penetrated his mind, and compelled him to.

"Shhhhhhhhh shhhhhhh sleeeep, sleep, it's okay, Mona's got you."

He was out like a light in less than a second, and she'd flicked the switch. Holding him close and stroking his hair as she closed her eyes and began to whisper into his ear. "Let's go back to Station 63... who are you?"

You jolted as his eyes opened, their pupil's huge and dozy. "I am Henry Reid, Huginn. A Vampire." He said in a droning voice.

Tears fell down her face as she cuddled him closer, "...and who are you not?"

His eyes twitched and her brows creased like there was some resistance though she pushed through and Hughie whispered "Ramona Harper."

She nodded, leaning her head on his "Good, come on, let's come back from Station 38... you must be tired. get some sleep okay?"

Huginn's eyes gently closed as he fell asleep; Muninn looked up at you, pressing her hand to her nose as she sniffed back tears, "I'm sorry... I uh... We should probably go..." Her grey eyes looked up at you.

"Yes, you should." You said, placing your hands on your hips as you smiled. "Into my bedroom, come on, It's nice and dark up there, my bed's comfier than any of the others's too, memory foam."

"W-What?"

"W-WOT?" You copied mockingly. "Stop sulking and carry him up there, ugh, come on Moonie, come on." You lent down and helped her pick up Henry's gangly form.

Each holding one of his arms, you and Muninn carefully ushered Hughie down the hall, up the short staircase into the West wing and through the black door.

Moonie looked around the small room, it was no bigger than maybe a small office, and the bed took up most of the room. The blinds were drawn thank god and you helped tuck the **** Huginn into your bed and falling into your chair at your desk.

Muninn pushed her blonde hair back as she sniffed, refusing to make eye contact with you.

"So... I'm going to guess that either he's absolutely mad... and thinks he's a girl... or...."

She shook her head, folding her arms tightly. You'd never seen anybody like her before, the subtle nuances of her movements, how every expression painted her face in beauty, even distressed and upset. "She was beautiful... even more beautiful than me." She whispered, "you can still see her in there sometimes, the way he moves, the way he dresses..."

"Jesus... how the hell does someone even do that... well, there is the usual route but-"

Her face twisted, "It is nothing like that, he is a man, in every aspect, right down to the chromazones."

"Then how?" You asked.

She sighed, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed, looking forlorn. "We used to be apart of this clan... The Gerix." Muninn told it as a tale, the Tale of two Hippy sisters from New Zealand who had run away from home to explore the world turned at the hand of an old Lord, the Great Urantus, of how he was betrayed by a disgusting little weasel called Corvus. Sounded like a real asshole... anyway... This guy was a real sick puppy, got off on exercising power that he (A blooded) should never have possessed.

But it wasn't like anybody could stop him, this guy was the most powerful hypnotist in the city, with a mere click of his fingers the man could crush your mind and ruin an already pained existence... He hated stupidity and silliness, and freedom was a quality that he enjoyed crushing.

"Nobody was... _is _as free and as stupid and silly and funny as Harper was, or Huginn is." She pointed to her sleeping brother whose mouth was wide as she whispered in his sleep.

"Uh uh, they're eating her... and then they're gonna eat me.... oh my goooooooooooood...... *Snores*"

You both smiled, but her face became sad and lost again, "Harper clowned on Corvus one too many times..."

"And he made Her pay for it?" You extrapolated.

Her eyes darkened. "He did more than that."

2 years, Harper was locked in that breaking chamber with that old twisted psycho. There was ****, flesh flayed from the skin, acid bleached his shattered bones... with nothing but a steel stopwatch to count the hours, tick-tocking away in her ear, the only grasp on reality that she possessed as she fell into the abyss of madness. But it was with the Blood magic that Corvus did the real damage.

"Blood Magic?" You asked curiously.

She scowled at the words. "Evil shit, Blood Runes, have you heard about those? They are tools, they perform a coded action, like a command on a computer. But Blood magic... It does freaky shit, transmutes the flesh, adds and subtracts qualities... Alters the body, down to the atom." Her mouth opened as if to gasp in pain at the memory, clutching her head as she began to gently cry.

You took her hand and she fell into you, her tears soaking your shirt with red as your lip twitched.

Hmmmmm we should have killed that fucking rat even slower then we did, after a lifetime of crushing degenerates, I have never regretted punishing one less than that twisted freak.

Your eyes cast over to Huginn, that poor-poor motherfucker... You clutched your head, lightly as it rumbled slightly, grimacing as Moonie looked worried. "What's wrong? Charlie?"

"Ugh, my head just kinda hurts a little-" *SNAP* "AH! OW WTF?" You winced as something painfully clicked back into place, it felt weird like.... like a hole was poked in a dam... You puzzled, feeling at the jet stream that just burst free in your mind. "Wait... wait hold on?"

"What?" She asked, confused.

"Did he... dress up as Pepsi man and kill a bunch of dudes?" The memory was foggy and odd...

"This is totally gonna blow their minds boss!" Hughie said, pulling on the gleaming silver and blue suit.

Soaking in the wrath of the... um? You were angry, very angry, that much was clear, you scowled; eyes burning as you prepared to lay siege to the Alexandrov mansion. "Stop fucking around, Hughie... this is serious," Muninn growled, seeing the murderous ire that arouse from your form like a sinister fog, black and angry.

But Hughie was not afraid of the horror that you once were, he instead rocked up and gave your face a little playful slap... your gaunt, shallow, pale face, that ran dark with black veins.

"Cheer up, boss, if I was a cute as you, I'd never look so grumpy, here zip me up?" Hughie turned so that you could zip up his back.

Everybody froze, most of the... you couldn't remember the name of the group? some of the faces were blurry, but Belle was cringing deeply as you stared at Huginn.

_But despite how monsterous you felt, you cracked a little smile, and pulled up his zip, the blonde twisting around and grinning as he snapped his fingers and pointed. "Alright party people!! let's go eat some scummy fuckers! now from the top: THRILLER"

"You remember that!?" Moonie said with a smile "You... remember us?" Her eyes blazed with hope; you nodded.

"A little? This happened with Belle too, like, she calls me master, that's extremely weird I recognize that but, I don't know, it just feels normal. I felt the same when I met you two, it's like I've always known you?"

She lent forward "Are you having any other weird feelings? Deja Vu? Having skills that you haven't experienced before? Weird dreams...."

"Feeling intimately attracted to girls that I met an hour ago?" You cut in.

She smiled and then didn't smile and then flushed. "Oh... yes, I guess."

You rubbed your chin. "Hmmm let me think-YES YES LITERALLY ALL OF THOSE THINGS!"

She jolted, "SSSHHH you're gonna wake him up. Okay... well that's good, that means your memories are coming back."

"Really? Fooled me, I still have no idea what the fuck is going on?" You grumbled.

Her hands mushed your cheeks as she put on a faux-angry face. "Don't be so impatient, you can't rush these things. Now I don't know why you showed up here, but I won't have you sulking, you're always smiling and joking, it's why you and Hughie get along so well. Why are you here exactly?"

You looked back to Huginn and smiled a little before looking back "I uh... came to check on Daisy."

She dipped head back. "Oh thank god!"

"What?"

"What?" She said snapping back. She crumbled quickly under your gaze "Ugh I'm sorry, she just... it's really hard to focus on reading while she wails like a banshee next door."

You frowned, "that bad?"

Muninn detected the worry on your face. "You two have really become close, huh ?" Her nudge was playful but a little too powerful, making you grimace as you held your ribs, she cringed; "Sorry, Vampire strength."

"I uh, If I'm honest, she is actually one of the most delightful women I've ever spent time with, she's kind and sweet, doesn't have a bad bone in her body. It's just, so pure, being around her, it sounds corny I know-"

"Strewth! If I had a guy talking about me like that, 'corny' wouldn't be the highest of my worries, mate." She cut in, and then she smiled that warm smile of hers "Choice! I love romance, you should romance her. Sweep her off her feet!"

You cringed,"gay."

"Hey! it's 2019, that's not very PC." She grumbled.

"You literally eat people. I assume you do so in a non-bigoted manner?"

Muninn laughed, giving you that look again as things went a little quiet. She played with her fingers, "I um... I... ugh I... I'd really like to spend more time with you. We didn't spend a lot of time together, you know, before."

You nodded. "Well that was very rude of me." Jesus Christ, this was some unimaginably powerful sexual tension going on here, "okay, don't freak out, but I think we should kiss."

She beamed, shifting closer. She smelt of spring, like flowers fresh in bloom. "You really want to kiss a dead chick with Tourettes? Talk about low standards."

"I haven't heard much so far?" Your breath brushed against her face, your opposing forces; warmth and cold.

Her white teeth sunk lightly into her red lips, oh how they called to you like a siren at sea, sometimes, you really loved amnesia, finding pre-existing relationships with immensely beautiful women, it was like Christmas. She nodded "No... I guess not."

There was a hesitation between you, in the small space between your lips was a sudden spark of a long put off romance and as the sun kisses the trees in the black woods, your lips touched. Muninn hummed as you pushed your tongue into her mouth, her hand holding your face, filling herself with your warmth. You held at each other wantonly, gently but desperately, her blonde hair migling with the dark monochrome of your own, the scent of her satisfaction filling the air as you carefully parted, a rope of spittle breaking between you.

She smiled, her hand holding yours as she lent on you "I can't be put on the backbench again, Charlie, I can't wait for you anymore." She whispered.

Up close, you noticed that her eyes had little white streaks in them that splayed out like the ivory roots of a birch tree. You didn't plan to let these eyes drift away any time soon, "give me some time, and we will do everything we can to bring Harper back, together, I swear it on my father's grave and on our blood... I may not know what kind of man I was, or even now, but I will die before I break my word."

Muninn lent forward pecking your cheek as she whispered. "You're Joy in the face of Pain and Suffering..." Her lips pressed against your other cheek, "You're the one that laughs at the darkness" She kissed the bridge of your nose, making goosebumps flush under your eyes, "You're the one who takes weakness and turns it into strength, wields chaos as a weapon instead of chaos..." The plumpness of her cold maw finally met your lips, "You're the one who takes hatred and turns it into love." The cold winter of her fingertips caressed you, "You are Charlie Drake, now, go and fix whatever you did with that bloody Half-blood, before I throw her out a window."

Chuckling, you nodded "Yes Ma'am."