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31_days2005-09-19 11:12 pm
of-carabas.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2005-09-19 11:12 pm
[September 19] [Near Dark] A Thousand Miles (15/26)
Title: A Thousand Miles (15/26)
Day/Theme: September 19th/Dante in hell
Series: Near Dark
Characters: Jesse, Severen, Diamondback, Homer
Rating: PG13
Jesse had never set out to become the leader of a gang of murderers. It wasn't really until after Homer turned that he realized that was just what was happening.
It wasn't that he was against the killing, exactly. He was what he was, pure and simple, and everything on this earth killed to live. But there was a difference between a lone wolf making his way through life and a whole pack descending on a shepherd's flock. He'd never thought about creating a pack like that; turning Severen, turning Diamondback, that hadn't been about making them into killers. He'd just wanted someone else on this road with him. His family.
Which, he supposed, was the same thing his Diamondback had been wanting when she turned that little boy. He couldn't blame her for that. It was just a little strange to suddenly realize how the number of killers had grown - with him starting it all. Every body they left behind them over the years, that was because of him. A man who'd lived far longer than he'd ever had reason to hope for.
But every body they left behind them, they just meant he got to keep on going, with Severen and Diamondback, and now Homer too. Well. Fair trade.
The new boy seemed to be adapting to that trade well enough, which was good. It had seemed a damn fool thing to do, turning someone that young; too dangerous, relying on a child to help keep the family going. Then again, Diamondback hadn't been around to see what happened when a new family member didn't get along.
Jesse'd never been certain whether Severen thought he'd fallen in love, or if it had just been a whim when Severen turned that girl around the turn of the century. Either way, it'd been clear right from the start she wasn't going to work out.
Bad enough that she wouldn't kill, that Severen'd had to force her mouth up against a man's slit throat to get her to drink. Worse when she'd tried to kill herself. Jesse'd taken a few bullets himself in his time, but he'd never seen what a bullet to the head could do to someone like him. He would have sworn that girl was dead for a minute there; first few minutes afterward, when she wasn't moving right, her eyes weren't focusing, that was one of the strangest sights he'd ever had to witness. But the worst of all was when they'd woken up to find a whole troop of police officers outside their door.
They ran, and Severen had dragged the damn fool girl along, with her sobbing and cursing them every step of the way. They hadn't realized, that first time, that she'd been the one to turn them in. But she did it again. And again. The girl was a walking time bomb, not just for herself; for all three of them. She'd screamed at them, railed at them - didn't they realize this was Hell they'd brought her to? Jesse might've even had some sympathy for her, if she hadn't made such a damn harpy of herself. As it was, he just wished they could leave her behind. But risky as she was to have around, it was even riskier to leave her on her own; it was secrecy that kept him and Severen safe, and there was too much of a chance that left unattended, she'd blow that all to hell.
She'd burned slow, that girl. Jesse'd forgotten how slow the sun's burning had been, back when he'd just been turned; an uncomfortable prickling, the smoke. These days if he peeked out a window he'd burst into flames, but for the younger ones, it took a while. He couldn't watch, not without getting killed himself - but he heard every minute of it. When the sun set, there was nothing left.
Even then, Jesse thought of those minutes after she'd put a gun to her head, those minutes he could have sworn she was dead - yet she'd lived. And he wondered.
He didn't wonder too hard. He didn't put what he was wondering into words. If what sunlight did to them wasn't death, he didn't want to know.
Either way, it wasn't a surprise that Severen hadn't turned anyone since, and he hoped for Diamondback's sake that this Homer boy worked out. The chance that a person wouldn't be able to make a home in the night, the chance that it'd be their Hell instead - it wasn't a gamble to make lightly.
Day/Theme: September 19th/Dante in hell
Series: Near Dark
Characters: Jesse, Severen, Diamondback, Homer
Rating: PG13
Jesse had never set out to become the leader of a gang of murderers. It wasn't really until after Homer turned that he realized that was just what was happening.
It wasn't that he was against the killing, exactly. He was what he was, pure and simple, and everything on this earth killed to live. But there was a difference between a lone wolf making his way through life and a whole pack descending on a shepherd's flock. He'd never thought about creating a pack like that; turning Severen, turning Diamondback, that hadn't been about making them into killers. He'd just wanted someone else on this road with him. His family.
Which, he supposed, was the same thing his Diamondback had been wanting when she turned that little boy. He couldn't blame her for that. It was just a little strange to suddenly realize how the number of killers had grown - with him starting it all. Every body they left behind them over the years, that was because of him. A man who'd lived far longer than he'd ever had reason to hope for.
But every body they left behind them, they just meant he got to keep on going, with Severen and Diamondback, and now Homer too. Well. Fair trade.
The new boy seemed to be adapting to that trade well enough, which was good. It had seemed a damn fool thing to do, turning someone that young; too dangerous, relying on a child to help keep the family going. Then again, Diamondback hadn't been around to see what happened when a new family member didn't get along.
Jesse'd never been certain whether Severen thought he'd fallen in love, or if it had just been a whim when Severen turned that girl around the turn of the century. Either way, it'd been clear right from the start she wasn't going to work out.
Bad enough that she wouldn't kill, that Severen'd had to force her mouth up against a man's slit throat to get her to drink. Worse when she'd tried to kill herself. Jesse'd taken a few bullets himself in his time, but he'd never seen what a bullet to the head could do to someone like him. He would have sworn that girl was dead for a minute there; first few minutes afterward, when she wasn't moving right, her eyes weren't focusing, that was one of the strangest sights he'd ever had to witness. But the worst of all was when they'd woken up to find a whole troop of police officers outside their door.
They ran, and Severen had dragged the damn fool girl along, with her sobbing and cursing them every step of the way. They hadn't realized, that first time, that she'd been the one to turn them in. But she did it again. And again. The girl was a walking time bomb, not just for herself; for all three of them. She'd screamed at them, railed at them - didn't they realize this was Hell they'd brought her to? Jesse might've even had some sympathy for her, if she hadn't made such a damn harpy of herself. As it was, he just wished they could leave her behind. But risky as she was to have around, it was even riskier to leave her on her own; it was secrecy that kept him and Severen safe, and there was too much of a chance that left unattended, she'd blow that all to hell.
She'd burned slow, that girl. Jesse'd forgotten how slow the sun's burning had been, back when he'd just been turned; an uncomfortable prickling, the smoke. These days if he peeked out a window he'd burst into flames, but for the younger ones, it took a while. He couldn't watch, not without getting killed himself - but he heard every minute of it. When the sun set, there was nothing left.
Even then, Jesse thought of those minutes after she'd put a gun to her head, those minutes he could have sworn she was dead - yet she'd lived. And he wondered.
He didn't wonder too hard. He didn't put what he was wondering into words. If what sunlight did to them wasn't death, he didn't want to know.
Either way, it wasn't a surprise that Severen hadn't turned anyone since, and he hoped for Diamondback's sake that this Homer boy worked out. The chance that a person wouldn't be able to make a home in the night, the chance that it'd be their Hell instead - it wasn't a gamble to make lightly.