An ancient vampire, Eilidh Moss, is suffering from The Tediums, a condition that occurs when a vampire has lived so long they are, literally, bored out of their minds. Her human daylighter, Miriam, runs her errands, cleans her home and tries her best to keep Eilidh alive. Or rather unalive. This serialized tale follows Eilidh and Miriam as they come to terms with their new lives. Or unlives.
Our story so far…
The funeral for Reagan is over and Miriam is in despair as she believes that Reagan's murder is her fault.
Miriam woke a few minutes before her alarm was due to go off at 6am. She lay there thinking about what she needed to do that day and planned out her timetable in her head.
As much as she enjoyed Eilidh's company, she loved the quiet hours in the morning before the store got busy. She always had. Well, as far back as she could remember anyway.
Miriam got up, showered, dressed, and had a couple of pieces of toast with her morning coffee. The first and the last cup of the day always tasted the best to her.
When Miriam entered the Quill & Query she turned on the coffee machine on her way to the counter. Her regulars wouldn't be far away and they wouldn't be happy if they couldn't get their free coffee. But they were out of beans, she must have forgotten to stock up last night before she finished work. Eilidh wouldn't have thought to check.
Shit. She couldn't sneak out to the store to grab coffee this early in the morning but she was sure that Eilidh would have enough coffee upstairs to tide them over until she could take a break from customers.
She was nearly at the top of the stairs when a sudden pain bent her double. She felt like her whole body was on fire.
What the fuck is this?
She had never experienced anything like it before.
Miriam dropped to her knees and crawled up the next few stairs. The pain was becoming unbearable, it felt like her blood was literally boiling.
She managed to get Eilidh's door open while still on the floor but there was no answer to her shout. Miriam wouldn't have called for Eilidh normally, there was usually no point at sunrise, but by this stage, she was desperate for help and Eilidh was her only option.
Then she saw her. Eilidh. Standing in the morning sun.
The sliding doors were open and Eilidh was standing in the doorway. Just standing there, burning.
Burning!
Afterwards, Miriam couldn't explain how she'd managed it, but before she knew it, she was at the door and she was dragging a weakening Eilidh back inside.
"Eilidh! What are you doing!"
There was no answer. Eilidh was dead.
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