Wednesday, March 7, 2012

After the Storm


Hi, this is Kaya. I realize the post title probably seems like an overblown metaphor, but it isn't... there was a literal storm. It started around midnight last night with ice pellets and high wind, then it turned into a blizzard by early morning. Before long the roads were covered, and we were snowed in. There was no school for anyone today, and most of the non-vital businesses were closed, because the city officials wanted as many people off the road as possible so they could just send the plows through without anyone in the way.

We were all home, and we enjoyed an unexpected break and playing in the snow. Afterward we came in for hot chocolate (for the non-vampires, at least) and plopped down in front of the television to watch the local news. Maybe it's geeky, but when we have a big storm, we always find it interesting to see on the news what other areas of town look like all covered in snow, because we won't get out to see it in person.

They showed footage of a few different parts of town, then they cut to a shot of the reporter standing in front of Gia's apartment complex. Apparently during the storm, some limbs had come off the nearby trees and broken windows in a number of the ground-floor apartments, letting in a bunch of snow.

We didn't mean to snoop on Gia. We honestly and truly didn't. 

We were trying to help - since we didn't know when she'd be getting back from her sudden trip to Italy, we didn't want her to return to a ruined apartment. Maia has a key to her place, and since as far as we knew she wasn't home, we decided to go check on her apartment and make sure it wasn't her window panes that were broken. If it was, we would clear out the snow and the debris and put boards over the windows like the other tenants were doing, so her place wouldn't be totally wrecked before the building super got a chance to fix it.

By this point the roads were pretty well clear but there wasn't much traffic, so we walked over and let ourselves in with Maia's key. The windows weren't broken.

And Gia wasn't in Italy...

We hadn't even thought to question whether she'd really left or not. When we tried phoning and knocking on the door, there was no answer. She had told her boss that she was leaving the country for an undefined absence. Maybe we're naive, but we just assumed she was actually gone.

Gia was in the apartment, huddled in a nest of blankets in the corner of the living room, between the arm of the couch and the wall. She was shaking like she was cold, but the heat was turned all the way up, and she was burning up with a fever. We eventually talked her into letting us look at the bite injury on her arm, and it seemed a lot worse. It was swollen and looked infected. 

She wouldn't tell us what was going on, though - she only answered our questions with a nod or a shake of the head if at all. She refused to let us take her to see a doctor. Fortunately, Gia did agree to come stay with us until she's feeling better, though. We couldn't have forced her, but I couldn't imagine leaving her alone and sick in her empty apartment.

Kiwi and I helped her up the porch steps and into the house. Clare took one look at Gia, and hissed at her. We all stopped what we were doing and froze, shocked.

I've never heard Clare hiss before. Now, Tabitha does that stuff all the time. (Sorry, Tabs, but you do!) Practically whenever she gets frustrated or irritated, or feels remotely threatened, Tabitha will hiss or growl or snarl. It's a new-vampire thing, and Inna says she'll "grow out of it." Clare has been a vampire for over a year now, and she's mostly over those animal-like reactions.

"What was that?" I asked Clare quietly.

Clare shrugged, clearly embarrassed. "I don't know," she said. "I just lost it for a minute. Something about her... I don't know. It's probably nothing."

Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I think it must have something to do with Gia's illness. A couple of days ago Gia played games with us, and Clare seemed to have a good time. There was no hissing. Not even any sign of discomfort. The only thing I can think of that has changed are the bite and the fact Gia is sick. Something about that has to have triggered a vampire reaction in Clare.

I'm not sure what will happen now. Gia is sleeping on the couch. Most of us kind of hovering, especially Maia - but Clare and Tabitha are giving her a wide berth, and neither of them can explain why. Marie-Grace and Cécile don't seem to be having a problem, for some reason.

I wonder what's going on? Hopefully when Gia gets better, things will go back to normal.

Love,
Kaya

14 comments:

  1. Hi Kaya! I think what you girls did for Gia was really nice of you. I wonder why told everyone that she had gone to Italy! I also wonder why Clare had such a strong reaction to Gia! Has anything like that ever happened before with Clare? Hope things get more clear soon! :)

    Love, Reese <3

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  2. Kaya says:

    Hi, Reese. I'm not totally sure why Gia lied about going to Italy... but I think she did it because she didn't want anyone to come check on her. She didn't want anyone to find her like that, sick and scared. Normally, if everyone thought she was gone, she would have been left alone until she was ready to see people - she just didn't expect a snowstorm to damage her apartment building in the meantime.

    I'm just not sure why she wanted to hide that, or why she won't go to the doctor. I'm not sure why she didn't feel like she could trust us enough to come to us for help in the first place.

    Nothing like this has happened with Clare before. She's pretty good at keeping her vampire nature under control. She still isn't sure what made her hiss; she said she just had "an uneasy feeling."

    Love,
    Kaya

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  3. Wow, sounds like you guys are having a rough time over there, too! I hope Gia gets better soon, I hate being sick.
    Maybe you should try to convince her to see a doctor? That bite sounds awful!

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  4. Kaya says:

    Hi, Edie. Things have been crazy here - although not as much as at your place! We've been following your story eagerly.

    At least things aren't as bad for us right now as when we had to fight a big battle against evil vampires. ;-)

    We've been trying to get Gia to go to Emergency, or at least make an appointment with her doctor, but she keeps saying no. She seems a little better now, though. She slept all afternoon but woke up at around sunset, and she seems a lot more alert and with it. Her fever seems down, too.

    We'll pass on you well-wishes to Gia! :-)

    Love,
    Kaya

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  5. Tell Gia to get well soon and remind her that she has all of you guys to trust. I hope that she can feel safe enough with you guys to share what is really going on. I still have a feeling, but will not voice again my thoughts ..

    Take care,
    Brya

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  6. Kaya says:

    Hello, Brya. We'll tell her you wished her well. It made her smile when we said our blog friends were hoping for her to feel better.

    We're still trying to figure out what's going on, but... Summer told me what you said in your other comment, and you may be right.

    Love,
    Kaya

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  7. Wow. I don't even know what to say. I (Rogue, no 'dolls' speaking at this point) just went through and read the entirety of this blog for the past two days. I'm sure my girl, Sam might end reading it eventually as well. Coincidentally, I've got my own 'Kaya' on her way, though she may choose to go by something else. If not, hey, shared names!

    I wouldn't to congratulate all the girls on their fantastic writing skill. It was a pleasure going through all the entires. I only wish I'd been along longer and had gotten to see the change of banner.

    (And a note for Blakney: AMAZING writing. I cannot) wait for more. I'm TheWriterRogue over at the AGPT forums.

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  8. Kaya says:

    Hi, Rogue! It's great to see you. Thanks for commenting. Congrats on your upcoming new addition. It's always fun to hear of someone else out there who shares my name. ;-)

    Thanks so much for the compliments! Blogging has been a lot of fun, and we've made some great friends. :-)

    Love,
    Kaya

    (Note from Blakeney: Thanks so much for your kind words! I recognize your name from AGPT, and I appreciate your taking the time to read here.)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for the reply! Just one quick question. Would you all (the Greens and the Roses) ever consider posing for a complete family picture?

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    2. Kaya says:

      Hi again. We'd be happy to pose for one except that someone (*cough* Blakeney *cough*) dropped our camera and broke it, and still hasn't replaced it!

      Hopefully this will be remedied at some point. :-)

      Love,
      Kaya

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  9. Hi Kaya,
    First off I love watching the news after a storm, too! It's sort of morbidly entertaining. I also like watching the news when a storm is approuching and hearing all the warnings.

    Do you guys think that maybe Gia got bit by a werewolf? They're supposed to be mortal enemies of vampires, aren't they? Maybe that's why Clare was upset. I hope she turns out alright.

    Emily

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    Replies
    1. Kaya says:

      Hi, Emily.

      Brya suggested that possibility yesterday, too, and honestly... I think you may both be right.

      It would all fit: the strange animal, the fact no one else has seen a big dog (because it could have turned back into a person,) why Gia got sick, why she doesn't want to see a doctor, and why Clare was upset when she saw her.

      The girls and I agree that might be what happened. We just have to figure out how to break the news to Gia.

      Glad to hear we have a fellow storm footage watcher! ;-)

      Love,
      Kaya

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  10. You do not need to post this one you can delete it .. lol .. but here is the sets of sweaters, and if you do not see one that just jumps out and grabs you, then you can wait and see the next bunch I do as I got some pretty colors of yarns to do some more sweater outfits while we were out of town.

    https://picasaweb.google.com/116556883806913742657/SweaterOutfits

    talk later,
    TracAn

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    Replies
    1. Hi TracAn!

      Thanks so much - we're so excited to have won your contest! :-)

      Our favourite is #12.

      Do you need our address, or do you have it? Blakeney can't remember if she ever gave it to you.

      We're so excited! Your sweaters are so cute!

      Love,
      The Greens and The Roses

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