Havermouth, Present Time, 1.5 weeks after Retaking Havermouth From the Van HelsingsMen were yelling. The sounds were distant, echoed off stone, but he knew that they were hunting him. He did not know how it was that he knew that, but the knowledge was ingrained, the bone within his flesh, the blood within his veins. They sought him, and he needed to wake up and pull himself together, or they would find what they sought.He lay upon stone in a wet place, the drip of water a constant rhythm to pace his heart against. It was wet, filthy, and it stank.His body hurt. It was more than an ache and less than an agony. Not the soft pain of a bruise, nor the sharp pain of a slice – he knew both although he could not recall suffering either. This was a pain that began deep in the marrow and seeped outwards. The wrongness began within. Poison, his brain told him. He was suffering the after-effects of poison.He knew those after-effects well but could not recall how it was that he had come to kn

Havermouth, Present Time, 1.5 weeks after Retaking Havermouth From the Van HelsingsIt was disconcerting when Lyric surfaced from another period of time in which her body had taken over, leaving her mind behind. They happened with increasing frequency. She would be in the middle of a task such as tending the fire or scavenging the water edge, and resurface what felt like much, much later covered in blood with her belly heavy with meat. She had tried to keep track of the days on the island, scratching lines onto a sheltered section of a rock, but it was almost impossible to know if she was tracking actual days, or just when she was herself.This kill had been recent enough that the sheep had not yet reanimated, and she used a rock to smash its legs quickly before scrubbing the blood from her arms and face and climbing the hill to where Niarthen was. The little fire that she tried to keep going near him was smoldering out. She fanned it to get the wool burning again. Wool was very flamm

Havermouth, Present Time, 1.5 weeks after Retaking Havermouth From the Van HelsingsLyric wanted to trust the three men who crossed the flood to the island, but she recognized the risk in doing so. She did not know them or their motivations, and Arthur would recommend caution in such circumstances, so she kept her story light on details and her answers to their questions short as she led them around the island to where Niarthen lay.The little fire beside him was starting to go out again. She knelt by him and placed her hand on his chest. He was still breathing. Relief was heavy and she closed her eyes, her forehead sagging forward to rest against his.“A merman,” the taller blonde man with the longer hair murmured as he saw Niarthen. “I have rarely had the opportunity to get so close to one. They are very defensive and hostile even to other supernaturals.”“Not Niarthen,” she sat up and shook her head, wanting to assure them that Niarthen wasn’t a danger to them. “Niarthen isn’t host

Havermouth, Present Time, 1.5 weeks after Retaking Havermouth From the Van Helsings“No biting, and no chewing,” Harry cautioned the zombie-woman sternly as they held a knife to their wrist. “Are we absolutely clear on that? This,” they gestured to their body. “Is an artwork. You do not maul it. That would be very rude of you, and we would have to rethink the hospitality that we are extending you.”“I’ve… eaten recently,” the woman grimaced slightly. “I think you’re safe from me. I’m not so thrilled about this blood thing, but…” She glanced towards the doorway to the room in which her green-haired man and Jules were. “It seems to work.”“Mhm,” Harry used the knife. “Open up.”“Heath and Talen are bandaging that other woman, and Rhett’s snuck out for a smoke,” Cameron commented wrapping his arms around Aislen’s waist and nuzzling into her hair. “How are things here?”“We put the big green-haired man in the bathtub like she insisted we do, along with a kilo of salt, and your dad’s in th

Havermouth, Present Time, 1.5 weeks after Retaking Havermouth From the Van HelsingsVampire blood was sourced from two locations.There were a number of Van Helsing prisoners, survivors of the attack on Haven Farm or rounded up from around Havermouth and the surrounding area, who occupied scavenged and re-built cages in one of the hospital wards. They “donated” every couple of days, and their blood was packaged and distributed around the vampires in Havermouth for convenience.There were also volunteers from the Havermouth civilians who, as they came to understand the needs of the supernatural amongst them, saw that they could give back to those who protected them. Gratitude was not universal. Many of the humans were hostile, suspicious, and reluctant to interact with anyone who was “out” as supernatural.Those who did volunteer sometimes did so with ulterior motives. It had not escaped Havermouth’s human residents that the supernatural were generally better looking, stronger, and fas