Around the worlds 1 - A tale of vampires

Michela looked at him, lost in her thoughts for a second. "... You're right, that makes no sense. I'll transform everyone myself. I can endure that." She couldn't trust that hot-blooded man to become the leader of such a large group yet. Not of a group of vampires of her kind anyways.

Zihar held back a smile. "That was just a question. I'm already their leader, it won't make much of a difference," he said, already biting into his wrist. Now that was dangerous.

Michela stepped forward again, now getting really close to Zahir. Inside, she was already starting to regret what she had done. 'This is no good. I have to do something to keep him under control.' She was looking at him straight in the eyes, without even blinking. She hoped with all her heart to be intimidating enough, in that moment. She really did.
"Careful, Zahir", she said, her voice forcefully sweet. "I'll be keeping an eye on what you do, from now on. You sure don't want me to take back what I gave you, do you?" She smiled. Oh, of course she was totally lying. And with how much nonchalance! (Give this woman an Oscar.)

Zahir frowned, and straigthened up yet again. He was indeed feeling threatened. "How can you take this back?"

'I can't believe he actually believed me-' Michela studied her nails, with a bored expression on her face. "That's why I insisted on the fact that I am your elder before. Being your elder, I can easily take back what it is rightfully mine: the blood that flows in your veins. As for the way..." She smiled widely. "I can't let you know, just now." She looked at him, a weird glint in her eyes, as if saying 'Just give me an excuse...'

Zahir's face turned grim, but he didn't protest anymore. He was actually believing her, of course, and as long as she wouldn't be proved wrong, well... He wasn't left with much of a choice. "I'll go get the blood, then, while you transform everyone else. How about that."

Michela smiled. "That's a good idea. We will be waiting for you then." She gestured for the other people to get in a line, if they wanted to be helped. "Don't worry about this compromising your leadership", she added with a second thought. "I am not interested in guiding a coven. You just need to remember to be careful with me, that's all that matters."

Zahir smiled at her, and moved closer to her, to whisper to her ear. "That's too bad... I hope you'll stay longer with us, though," he said in a low, suave voice, before he straightened up. As a reflex, he flexed his knees to jump in the air, and...
Actually, his ribs growed back into wings in an instant, carrying him, as he flew all the way back to the city.

Neos looked at Zahir's silhouette fading away with sheer horror, then looked down at Michela. "....Your child is creeping me out," he blurted out.

Michela looked as Zahir's shadow disappeared in the direction of the city, her uncaring expression shifting to one that was a mixture between impressed and very, very worried. He could fly already. He could. Fly. Already.
She had mastered a couple of metamorphosis, but she had had to work for YEARS on them! That made Zahir quite dangerous indeed. And what was that before. Was he trying to seduce her? She frowned, confused.
"My child creeps me out too- let's not call him like that please, it's weird", she scoffed, with a small laugh. "Well, I hope I won't have to fight him anytime soon", she muttered, turning towards the other people. She had work to do.

Neos nodded. "Are you going to be ok with giving all of that blood to people? I mean, you just ate, but... will that be enough?" He actually was worried he would need to give her more blood to make up for it.

"I'll need to eat soon afterwards", Michela answered tiredly. "I guess you aren't all that eager to be my dinner again, are you?" She looked at Cathy. "Um... if it doesn't disturb you too much, could you help me, afterwards?" She felt a bit shy asking it to someone she didn't know all that well, but it was important that she was at her best, if she wanted to keep Zahir in check.

Cathy seemed really, really hopeful. "If you can cure my family, I'll give you all the blood you need," she promised her. "Should I... Can I fetch grandpa?"

Neos grunted, and mumbled something about not saying 'no'. But not too loud.

Michela chuckled slightly, hearing Neos grumbling that. Then she nodded at Cathy. "Just make sure he understands what he is getting into. And... well, I hope it's not too late for him, if he will accept." She bit on her wrist again, getting ready to transform the other people. She looked at the crowd. "So. Who comes first? Remember you don't have to accept."

Michela had a lot of job waiting for her, for, well... Everyone was lining up, getting ready for their blessed cure. Everyone. For at some point, Cathy finally came back holding her grandfather up thanks to Karl's help. His body had actually been too much altered for him to stand up, and they had a hard time to make him drink a bit of Michela's blood.
But the results were beyond expectations. His transformation was by far the slowest, but it was impressive to see that pile of bones and damaged flesh shrink back to a human form. He still looked old, with a few wrinkles, and short white hair. But his face cracked into the brightest of smiles as Cathy jumped on him for a hug, crying.

"Are you alright, Michela?" asked her Karl in a soft voice. After all, at that point, she had been giving a lot of blood to those around.

By then Michela was feeling as weak as a common human being would have after working for two days straight without sleeping. Of course she was swelling with pride at how her blood seemed to cure all of those people, and she was positively beaming when she saw Cathy's grandfather acquiring back a normal appearance.
Now she understood how her creator should've felt. That seemed almost like God's job! ... better not start to think like that, or next she would've wanted a temple all for herself.
She looked at Karl, giving him half a smile. "... I am hungry, to be honest", she said. "I have to get back my strenght before Zahir comes back."

The moment she finished her sentence, Neos was in front of her, is sleeve rolled up to reveal his wrist. And he was looking away. Without saying a word. Alright, maybe had he felt a bit jealous when she had asked Cathy for help.

Michela blinked, taken aback by that gesture. After a moment, her surprised expression disappeared, replaced by a wide smirk. "Aw, that's so /cute/ of you to offer~", she purred, taking a hold of his wrist, licking it to find a point where to bite. "I'll need a bit more this time", she said, her tone apologetic.

"Just do it. And ask your friends to carry me if I pass out or something," Neos grunted. He especially glared at Karl, who was now looking at them with a renewed interest.

Michela nodded, her teeth finally breaking Neos' skin. She couldn't help the satisfied noise that came out of her throat as she felt her strenght coming back, and the taste of fresh blood invading her mouth. She needed to keep up for a whole minute, which probably felt like an eternity to poor Neos.
"Thank you", she said then full of gratitude, licking her lips and fangs clean.

"N-no probs," answered Neos, who almost collapsed on the ground, his legs weak under him. Thankfully, Karl had some quick reflexes, and could catch him before that happened. "... Should I help him to lie down?" he asked Michela.

"Yes, please", Michela answered, reaching out to help Neos too. She searched for a long time inside her pockets, finally finding a candy. She gave it to the magician. "Sugar will help you a bit", she said with a small smile.

Neos vaguely nodded, and ate the candy right away, looking more exhausted than ever. "Next time... think twice before transforming 50 people in a row," he grunted, as his eyes closed.

Michela scratched the back of her neck, looking away, muttering a couple of 'sorry's as she patted Neos' arm a bit. She looked around though, still feeling mightly satisfied with her job.
She smiled at Karl then. "Seems like you won't have to keep making the transferring fail, hm?" She gestured to Cathy, still in the arms of her grandfather.

Karl seemed a bit... embarrassed, to say the least. "I know this was very low of me. Had I been a proper living being, I probably wouldn't have done something like this.

"Had you been a 'proper living being' you'd have done the exact same thing, I assure you", Michela told him, crossing her arms. "I can't blame you for wanting to keep being alive. ... well, being yourself. It is only natural."