An episode of Snow Blood: A Not Quite Dead Story

IN WHICH: a starving, panicked Alfie and put-upon but indulgent Neige bring a guest to the safehouse where Alfie has been storing medical equipment. keeping him alive is complicated, for more reasons than one.

Content Warnings

• violence
• strong language
• sounds of laboured breathing
• medical procedures performed outside of a medical setting
• sounds of blood and viscera
• sounds of medical equipment (oxygen concentrator, ventilator, infusion pump)
• scenes of a sexual nature
• explicit threats of bodily harm
• references to death
• references to killing

Transcript

[A CAR APPROACHES]

ALFIE
Ah, Neige!

[ALFIE HEADS OUTSIDE, THE CAR ENGINE BRIEFLY LOUDER BEFORE IT CUTS OUT. WAVES CRASH NEARBY]

ALFIE
Oh my god. I was so sure you’d be here before me. It took me so long to get everything together I was starting to think you weren’t coming.

NEIGE
There were people outside. He is unconscious and covered in blood, I had to wait to carry him out, non?

ALFIE
Yeah, that makes sense. Uh. Where is he?

NEIGE
In the car.

ALFIE
I can’t see— oh my god. Did you put him in the boot?!

NEIGE
It made the most sense.

ALFIE
How?!

NEIGE
He was covered in blood and I did not want to get pulled over!

ALFIE
He has a head injury! He could have— oh my god. I told you to keep him alive!

NEIGE
Oui, and he is breathing and he has a pulse? Pas de problem!

ALFIE
There is a problem, actually! If he’s got brain damage, then—

NEIGE
Ugh, you are such a drag! Just give him some blood and he will be fine.

ALFIE
You are impossible!

NEIGE
Non, just improbable. This would all have been so much easier if you had just let me kill him.

ALFIE
No. Now get out of the way.

NEIGE
Ugh, you are no fun!

[INTRO MUSIC: This is Snow Blood, a vampire story by Eira Major. Episode Two, Safe as Houses]

[STRUGGLING BREATHS, A BODY IS PLACED ON AT TABLE]

ALFIE
Okay, he’s breathing but there’s fluid in his lungs, and even where you’ve sealed the gash on his scalp it’s still going under the skin. He’s got a pulse but it’s thready. He needs fluids and blood. Give me a hand?

NEIGE
With what?

ALFIE
Tear him out of his shirt. I’m going to need central line access. I can’t tell what is wrong with his blood, but it’s not clotting. His veins are shot, but he needs something to make the bleeding stop.

[MOVEMENT, OPENING DRAWERS, TEARING CLOTHES AND PACKAGES]

NEIGE
You’re going to give him your blood?

ALFIE
Not yet. I gave him some already, any more and—

NEIGE
He will pass the tipping point. Oui, I understand.

ALFIE
Great. Ah, this is all so much easier now I hear better. There’s the right vein.

[SPLATTER OF BLOOD]

NEIGE
Ah, fuck! It’s spraying everywhere! I thought you wanted to stop the bleeding not make more of it!

ALFIE
I am, I am!

NEIGE
Lick the wound shut! It’s on the fucking ceiling!

ALFIE
I can’t, not yet, I need to get to— yes! You hear that?!

NEIGE
The way his heart just fucking quivered? Yes.

ALFIE
I’m in the right spot.

[SOUNDS OF EFFORT, MOVING EQUIPMENT]

[LICK]

NEIGE
Ha. Thank fuck.

[THEY BOTH BREATHE HEAVILY]

NEIGE
What now?

ALFIE
Uh. Breathing support, clotting factor, IV blood and fluid.

NEIGE
Tell me where you need me.

ALFIE
In that drawer behind you. Look for midazolam.

NEIGE
How much?

ALFIE
I’d say he was about 13 stone, do you think?

NEIGE
Depends how big the stones are.

ALFIE
83 kilograms!

NEIGE
Ah, oui, about this, maybe a little less.

ALFIE
Then let’s do 5mg, just to be on the safe side.

NEIGE
5mg of benzodiazepines straight into his blood stream?!

ALFIE
I’m sedating him.

NEIGE
Makes no sense to me, job is already done. He is already unconscious!

ALFIE
And I need him to stay that way because I’m going to shove a tube down his fucking throat, okay?!

NEIGE
Fine. Here’s your drugs.

ALFIE
Thank you.

NEIGE
I hope you are not so pissy with your clients.

ALFIE
Only when I have to be. We don’t know what level of consciousness he’s at. You wouldn’t want to wake up in the middle of this.

NEIGE
No. Not again.

ALFIE
Neige. I. You don’t need to stay. It’s alright, I can manage it now.

NEIGE
Would it be easier with two of us?

ALFIE
Exponentially, yes.

NEIGE
Then I’m staying. I’m sorry. For arguing with your judgement.

[ALFIE MOVES THE VENTILATOR CLOSER]

ALFIE
It’s okay. It’s good. Good nurses push back when they think a decision doesn’t make sense.

NEIGE
I’m no nurse.

ALFIE
We’ll get you there.

NEIGE
You are a terrible flirt.

ALFIE
Shh, I’m concentrating. This place is pretty well equipped but I don’t have an endoscope so I’m going to have to go blind.

[PLASTIC RUSTLES AS ALFIE GETS READY TO INTUBATE THE CALLER]

NEIGE
Where?

ALFIE
Tilt back his head. Slow and steady, and— there.

[ALFIE CHANGES THE MACHINE’S SETTINGS, AIR HISSING RHYTHMICALLY]

ALFIE
Beautiful.

NEIGE
I’ll take your word for it.

[A TEAR OF PLASTIC AS ALFIE SECURES THE VENT IN PLACE]

ALFIE
God, I do not like that bubbling and crackling.

NEIGE
C’est dégoûtant.

ALFIE
He can’t help it. And he’s right there.

NEIGE
No way he can hear me. He was already unconscious before you gave him all those drugs. What next?

ALFIE
I’ll set up an IV infusion pump. Grab some saline and some blood from the fridge. It’s all O negative, it doesn’t matter which. Then I’ll show you how to program the pump.

---

[WAVES AGAINST THE SHORE]
[DOOR SLIDES OPEN]
[ALFIE SIGHS AS HE SITS DOWN]

NEIGE
Hi.

ALFIE
Hi.

NEIGE
How’s the patient?

ALFIE
He’s stopped actively bleeding. Only after a scary amount of clotting factor and another dose of my blood, though.

NEIGE
Not enough to push him over the tipping point though.

ALFIE
No. I think he’s bled most of it out.

NEIGE
Ungrateful.

[ALFIE SCOFFS]

NEIGE
Oh my love. Are you alright?

ALFIE
Mm.

NEIGE
Your eyes are red.

ALFIE
Lot of blood.

NEIGE
You should eat.

ALFIE
What? There’s nobody for three miles in any direction.

NEIGE
There’s him.

ALFIE
I just put quite a lot of work into getting him to keep what’s left of his blood. I’m not going to drink it.

NEIGE
How’s the taste?

ALFIE
Mm. Dizzying. Delicious. There is vampire blood in him, in very trace amounts. Like I thought. I don’t recognise any of it.

NEIGE
Concerning.

ALFIE
Very.

NEIGE
How small of a trace?

ALFIE
See for yourself.

NEIGE
Hmm. Very strange.

ALFIE
I think he’s been… I think he’s been being dosed in very small amounts for a long time.

NEIGE
Like how you treat your patients?

ALFIE
My patients are all dying.

NEIGE
And he isn’t?

ALFIE
Well, yeah. Maybe. But he’s… I don’t know. It’s not cancer, it’s not any of the other systemic issues I’ve come into contact with. I think it might be haemophilia.

NEIGE
Blood love? He seemed pretty keen on getting it out of him for someone who loves it.

ALFIE
Ha. No. It’s a clotting disorder. It can range in severity. In some people it’s pretty stable, but in others it’s progressive. It gets worse over time.

NEIGE
I know what progressive means. You think that’s what is wrong with him?

ALFIE
I’d need to test him to be sure.

NEIGE
Send a sample to Haley, then.

ALFIE
That’d take too long.

NEIGE
Ah. You want to break into another lab.

ALFIE
Not break in, necessarily. I don’t think I can run these tests by myself. I know a couple of people who are pretty local. They let me sterilise my blood there. They might be able to help.

NEIGE
And yet you have not left.

ALFIE
They don’t exactly know what I’ve been doing. I’d been waiting for the right time to bring them in.

NEIGE
Ah. They don’t know what you are.

ALFIE
No. And there’s enough of my blood in that guy now to raise suspicion. I don’t know if it’s worth blowing what could potentially be important working relationships for this. Especially not if…

NEIGE
Quoi?

ALFIE
I’m keeping him alive to find out what the fuck is going on. And he’s full of vampire blood.

NEIGE
Ah. You think we’ll need to kill him.

ALFIE
I’d prefer we didn’t, but…

[A MOMENT OF QUIET]

ALFIE
The sun’s going to be coming up soon.

NEIGE
This house has a lot of windows.

ALFIE
They have shutters.

NEIGE
Where?

ALFIE
Between the panes of glass. They’re digital.

NEIGE
Oh la la, this place is very high end.

ALFIE
Yeah. It was a client’s. He left it to me.

NEIGE
I remember. It’s so fancy and you use it as a warehouse.

ALFIE
No. I use it to store equipment and supplies, and as a safe place to retreat to in an emergency. I thought you liked our flat, anyway.

NEIGE
I do.

ALFIE
So why are you complaining?

NEIGE
I wasn’t. I was just taking the piss.

ALFIE
Oh.

NEIGE
Are there beds?

ALFIE
…yes. But I need to make sure I’m—

NEIGE
Ach, for sleeping in, mon raleur! You have a one track mind.

ALFIE
As if you don’t.

NEIGE
I am very complicated actually.

ALFIE
Sure.

NEIGE
Will he need more medication?

ALFIE
No. The pump should cover him for the next six hours. But he could crash.

NEIGE
You would wake up.

ALFIE
I mean probably. I still want to watch him, though.

NEIGE
You are wilting. If you do not eat, you’ll kill him by mistake.

ALFIE
I won’t. I’m good at this.

NEIGE
I don’t doubt it. But you’re still a vampire. You need blood to live, as much as he does.

ALFIE
You’re worn out. We both need to eat and I don’t want to leave him.

NEIGE
I can make it to the city before dawn, but making it back, I don’t know. I don’t want to leave you hungry.

ALFIE
Honestly, it’ll probably be easier to focus if you left. I can manage a few hours.’

NEIGE
At least have a bite of me. I am okie, I can take it.

ALFIE
If I bite you, I’d worry about you driving. Come back as soon as it’s dark enough to drive?

NEIGE
And you will be okie alone with him?

ALFIE
He’s basically a hunk of meat right now. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll tie him to the bed.

NEIGE
I would feel even better if you let me do it.

ALFIE
Alright. I’ll show you the restraints, then.

NEIGE
Flirt.

ALFIE
Shut up.

---

[MUFFLED SOUNDS]
[BLEEPING ALARM]
[ALFIE GASPS AWAKE]

ALFIE
Shit, oh my god, I’m sorry— I. I. Fuck. I—

[SOUNDS OF DISTRESS, CHOKING]

ALFIE
Hey, hey. Don’t try to talk, there’s a tube in your throat. It’s helping you breathe.

[MORE THROTTLED, CHOKING SOUNDS]

ALFIE
Yeah, I know, I know! It’s uncomfortable, I get it. I get it. Oh shit, I’m sorry. I slept longer than I should have. Let me just… fuck. You’re bleeding again.

[CHOKING]

ALFIE
Yeah, yeah— I. Yeah.

[HE PROGRAMS THE PUMP, PRESSING BEEPING BUTTONS. IT WHIRS BACK INTO LIFE]

ALFIE
Better?

Good. That’s good.

Yeah, I’m sorry. We had to— or. No yeah, we did have to tie you to the bed. It’s okay. You won’t even notice in a minute. You’re drifting already. Back to sleep.

Very good.

I think you’ve got a bit of swelling in your brain. Need to let it heal. I— ugh fuck. There’s blood in your urine. You are dying.

I’ll give you some more of my blood. Just a bit. To stop the bleeding…

[MOVMENT AS ALFIE PREPS HIMSELF TO DRAW MORE BLOOD FOR HIM]

This is it, isn’t it, the information you thought would be important? Microdosing vampire blood.

Yeah you’re fucking gone.

[ALFIE FINISHES DOSING HIM, THROWS THE SYRINGE IN THE BIN.]

Maybe the swelling in your brain will go down enough in the next eight hours for me to let you wake up.

[ALFIE SITS DOWN HEAVILY]

God I’m tired. I miss caffeine. And coke. And fucking sedatives. You know how much midazolam it takes to knock out a vampire? About 5mg per kilo of body weight. And you need to re administer it every hour. Every fucking hour. Do you know how dead you’d be, if I gave that much to you?

[ALFIE YAWNS]

Very dead.
Mm.

[RUSTLING FABRIC]

You smell so good.
God what is wrong with me.

---

[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES]

NEIGE
Alfie?

Alfie.

ALFIE
Mm?

[KISS]

ALFIE
Mm.

NEIGE
Sorry I woke you. You must be exhausted.

ALFIE
Starved. You’re not.

NEIGE
I am so full I feel like a water balloon.

ALFIE
How many?

NEIGE
Ugh, I lost count.

ALFIE
Bet they were pretty for you.

NEIGE
Not as pretty as you.

ALFIE
May I?

NEIGE
Of course.

[BITE. SOFT SUCKING SOUND. NEIGE HALF LAUGHS, HALF MOANS, DEEP AND GUTTERAL. ALFIE MOANS TOO, SOFTER, NEEDIER, MUFFLED AGAINST NEIGE’S SKIN]

NEIGE
You said there were beds.

ALFIE
Mm.

NEIGE
Let— let go so we can find one.

ALFIE
Mm-nn.

NEIGE
I will let you gorge yourself, mon cherie, I just need— ah! Don’t— fuck.

ALFIE
Fine, come on. Go. Move.

[TUMBLING, FABRIC RUSTLING]

NEIGE
Ah, wait—

ALFIE
Neige.

NEIGE
Does he have enough drugs?

ALFIE
Ugh!

[DRAWERS OPEN AND CLOSE. THE IV PUMP BEEPS]

ALFIE
Okay?!

NEIGE
Okie. Which way?

ALFIE
Can’t you smell the fucking silk?! That way!

NEIGE
‘Smell the silk’, we do not all have such talented— ouch!

ALFIE
Faster.

[THUDDING, FUMBLING.]

[ALFIE INHALES DEEPLY. NEIGE CHUCKLES]

NEIGE
I should let you go hungry more often.

ALFIE
No. Evil.

[NEIGE CHUCKLES]

NEIGE
Well behaved though.

ALFIE
Sh.

NEIGE
Okie, okie, you can bite me when—

ALFIE
Neige!

NEIGE
When you’ve taken off that disgusting shirt.

ALFIE
Shower?

NEIGE
Good idea.

ALFIE
Now.

NEIGE
Where?

ALFIE
Fool.

[NEIGE LAUGHS AS ALFIE PULLS HIM THROUGH ANOTHER DOORWAY. THE SHOWER POURS TO LIFE. NEIGE STARTS TO UNDRESS, CLOTHES RUSTLING]

ALFIE
Stop.

NEIGE
I’m not getting in in my—

[TUMBLING THUDS]

NEIGE
Putain de merde.

ALFIE
Sh.

{NEIGE BITES OUT A RAGGED CRY AS ALFIE BITES HIM AGAIN]

NEIGE
This shirt will be ruined.

ALFIE
Mm.

NEIGE
I will be ruined.

ALFIE
Mm.

NEIGE
Parfait. Exquis. Mon amour.

[ALFIE FINALLY LETS GO, PANTING]

ALFIE
I love you.

NEIGE
Oui, je sais.

ALFIE
Tais-toi.

[NEIGE LAUGHS FONDLY]

[ALFIE SIGHS]

NEIGE
You are still exhausted.

ALFIE
I don’t know how. I fell asleep at least three times whilst you were gone.

NEIGE
Can’t have been for long.

ALFIE
Long enough that I managed to let him wake up a little. He freaked out. I felt terrible.

NEIGE
I’m sure he will live.

ALFIE
I’m not.

NEIGE
Non?

ALFIE
No. I think I’m right about the haemophilia. And I think he’s been treating it with vampire blood for a long fucking t— time.

[THE BATH SQUEAKS AS NEIGE GETS ONTO HIS KNEES]

ALFIE
What are you—

NEIGE
Keep talking.

ALFIE
This isn’t a very— erotic subject?

NEIGE
Mm?

ALFIE
No. You look good like that. So pretty on your knees. Ah. Fuck.

NEIGE
Shh. You’ll wake the baby.

[ALFIE LAUGHS A LITTLE HYSTERICALLY]

ALFIE
Don’t say that, it’s so fucked up.

NEIGE
You love it when I’m fucked up.

ALFIE
Yeah. Oh— Neige. Wait, Neige, I— mngh. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck—

[GASPING]

NEIGE
Good boy.

ALFIE
Jesus fucking Christ.

NEIGE
Non. Just me.

[ALFIE TRIES TO LAUGH BUT MOSTLY GASPS]

NEIGE
Help me wash my hair?

ALFIE
Give me a minute. Fucking hell.

---

[STEADY, MECHANICAL BREATHING]
[NEIGE HUMS, QUIETLY FILING HIS NAILS]
[LTITLE HISSES AND CHOKES AS THE CALLER FIGHTS THE TUBE IN HIS THROAT]

NEIGE
Are you waking?

[SOUNDS OF DISCOMFORT]

Oh good. You see me? Yes? Mm. of course you cannot answer with that thing in your throat. Squeeze my hand if you hear me?
Good.
Very good.

[MORE SOUNDS OF DISCOMFORT]

Painful, is it? I imagine so. Alfie went to great lengths to make sure you didn’t wake up like this before. I will let you sleep again. I saw him dose you earlier, I know how much to use so that I don’t kill you.
Ah, mon amie, don’t look so afraid. I will send you back to pretty sleep, empty the piss from the drain at the end of your bed. I will even feed you once you are dreaming again, if Alfie says we ought to. I think he will. You are hungry, I can tell. Your poor body has been through so much these past few hours. So much stress for a soft little human.

[MORE DESPERATE CHOKING]

Sh, sh, sh. Don’t panic. I am not going to kill you. I promise. If I did, Alfie would not forgive me inside of a decade and I am simply too fond of his company to risk it. Know that, petit chou. Know that you are alive because I allow it, and I only do so for him. If he were not here there would be nothing left of you for all of your little friends to find.
Oh yes, I know about them, of course I do. You think I only left to eat? Non.
That is a mark against you. You put both him and yourself in a not insignificant amount of danger by trying to suck him dry with your useless human throat. But it did give me an excuse to leave, which I found convenient for two reasons. One, it is boring and tiresome to me that I am not to kill you. Two, I wanted to know who the fuck you are.

[BUBBLING RASPS]

You can sneak about so much but you got here, you arrived in this country, you found somewhere to stay. You needed medical support, food, utilities. Every single one of these things introduces a point of failure in your secrecy. I know this because I understand where every single one of those points exists in my own life. I know the names of every person who works at the company which comes to clean the windows on the building across the street from mine and Alfie’s flat. I have followed home the employees of every bar, shop and club along the same street as my night club, and the one behind, too, with whom we share an alleyway. I know everyone involved in every one of Alfie’s little medical supply chains right up to the names of department heads in the manufacturing facility that makes his fucking syringes.
I am good at finding, mon amie.
Which brings me to you.
It was not so difficult. Even before I brought you here, I found your passport in that safe at the house where you were staying. Vassily Petrovich. This did not ring any bells, but I have friends, you see, who can help with this. They told me something curious; this passport is a new one. A forgery. I do not judge you for this, it is practical under circumstances and I eight passports myself. But it is curious you would choose to do this, Evgeniy Pavel Vassily Ivanovich. That is your real name, isn’t it? And quite the name too it is. But of course it would be, given the kind of family you come from.
Ha. Oh, this upsets you? Imagine how I feel. The risk you have brought upon us by coming here.

[THE CHOKING HISSES ARE FASTER MORE DESPERATE NOW]

[A DOOR OPENS, ALFIE RUSHES IN]

ALFIE
Neige, what— what are you doing?!

NEIGE
Talking to our guest.

ALFIE
His heart rate is insane. Fuck. I’m sorry, you’re okay. Neige! Get me the fucking drugs!

NEIGE
Oui.

[ALFIE BEGINS TO PREP THE IV PUMP AGAIN]

ALFIE
Here. It’s alright. Just sleep. It’s okay. He’s not going to hurt you, I promise. He’s just talking shit.

NEIGE
You know I would not hurt him, not without your permission.

ALFIE
I know bringing him here was a risk, okay? I know.

NEIGE
I just wanted him to make sure he understood—

ALFIE
You do realise he’s not going to remember most of that, if any?!

NEIGE
He was conscious.

ALFIE
Barely! Can’t you smell how much of the drugs are still left in his system?

NEIGE
He was trying to fight the tube thing.

ALFIE
Yeah, because it’s uncomfortable! It’s reflexive, automatic! Jesus Christ. You want me to fucking show you?!

NEIGE
Non, merci.

ALFIE
Ha. Mercy indeed. Fucking hell, Neige.

NEIGE
I want to keep you safe.

ALFIE
So do I! This is a risk, but so is having him walking around. We need to understand where that vampire blood came from, and get him to tell us whatever the fuck it was he wanted to talk to us about.

NEIGE
Zut alors.

ALFIE
I’m not being stupid. This is— the moment we’re at, it’s fragile, right now. You understand this. We talk about it all the time. We don’t have the kind of protection we really need yet. We’re not ready to deal with the kind of threat this might pose.

NEIGE
So why are we engaging?!

ALFIE
We’re not! He came to us. He found us. Because he’s scared. The blood I could taste in him, it was old. It’s been weeks since he’s been dosed. Weeks. I think that’s why he’s been having such a medical disaster right now. If he’d been using it to treat this bleeding condition, he’s lost access, or cut himself off. I don’t understand why he would do that, but… he needs help.

NEIGE
For crying out loud, Alfie! He is the son of a fucking Russian oil barren and a Ukrainian ballerina who fell off a bridge. His uncles and cousins have a nasty habit of falling out of windows. This is not the kind of person you get mixed up in.

ALFIE
He is my patient. That’s what this is.

NEIGE
Non, mon amour, he is your fucking prisoner.

ALFIE
This is medical care.

NEIGE
Which I was able to interfere with because you did not take him to an hospital. You brought him to a fancy beach house in the middle of nowhere. You’re not helping him, you are kidnapping him!

ALFIE
I told you, I understand there’s a risk here. I’m trying to mitigate that. But it doesn’t change the fact that for now, before everything else, he is my fucking patient, and I am his fucking nurse. Okay? Same as any of my other patients. My job is to keep him comfortable.

NEIGE
So, what? You are going to start dosing him with your sterilised, filtered blood instead of just drawing it straight from your veins?

ALFIE
Ach. I don’t know that there’s much point switching now, not when he’s… but I suppose it would mitigate some of the danger. I’d have to get back to the flat to get it.

NEIGE
I will watch him.

ALFIE
Not happening.

NEIGE
You need to take his blood sample to be tested anyway, to confirm whatever it is that is wrong with him. I won’t kill him. I promised.

ALFIE
It’s not that I don’t trust you, I just—

NEIGE
Alfie, Alfie. I am not going to eat him without you.

[ALFIE SIGHS]

NEIGE
You are tired.

ALFIE
I’m fine.

NEIGE
You are not. You’re still exhausted. You need to sleep.

ALFIE
I did! It’s just. It’s like I can’t sink deep enough.

NEIGE
You are on edge.

ALFIE
Because I—

NEIGE
Non, not because of me, or the other risks, not because of any of that! It’s him.

ALFIE
Because of the risks.

NEIGE
Non. You feel it, here. In your blood. In your bones. This is the most of your blood you have ever given to a living human, the most you’ve drunk from them in return. It is still weak for now, but it is already forming. A bond.

ALFIE
Shit.

NEIGE
It is inevitable this would happen to you eventually given the nature of your work. The radiation you apply to your blood normally before you give it to people, I assume this has gone some way to prevent it forming until now. That and the fact you rarely drink from your patients until you intend to kill them.

ALFIE
I hate it when you put it like that.

NEIGE
Oh la la, desole, I mean before you let them drift off into a peaceful sleep with your teeth in their fucking neck.

ALFIE
I don’t usually bite them at all, actually.

NEIGE
I know! I am, how they say? Pulling on your leg.

ALFIE
I don’t want a bond with him.

NEIGE
And yet you have one.

ALFIE
I. I keep dreaming that I’ve killed him. I dream that I’m waking up and I’m sitting on his chest and I’m covered in his blood and his eyes are staring at me and my heart is racing as his is slowing down and I can’t stop, even though I know he’s dying, I can’t stop, and I wake up and— and it’s sticking to me, it feels so real.

NEIGE
It does this, the bond. You know this.

ALFIE
Can I stop it?

NEIGE
You can drain him dry right here. He would never know. It really would be like drifting away in his sleep.

ALFIE
I don’t want to kill him.

NEIGE
But you do. That is part of it.

ALFIE
Ach! I don’t want to kill him, Neige!

NEIGE
You have made him your thing, now. Your mark. You will find him anywhere, sense his discomfort as your own. You are a hunter and you have made him your prey. He is a half-finished meal. That is how he will remain to you.

ALFIE
Ugh.

NEIGE
Do you still think it—

ALFIE
Yes I still think it’s primarily a protective mechanism to reduce the amount of human beings walking around with vampire blood inside of them, yes. Don’t distract me by making me talk about the science.

NEIGE
Aww, but I love it when you talk all clever.

ALFIE
Oh, shut up.

NEIGE
You should get away, for a while. You need to know you can trust me with him, or things are only going to get more difficult.

ALFIE
I do trust you.

NEIGE
But your body isn’t certain. You need to remind yourself you are in charge of it, of this feeling. Go. Take a sample of his blood and have it tested, pick up some of the blood you usually use for your patients. Get away, just for a little while. Drink from some other people. It will do you some good.

ALFIE
I hate it when you’re right.

NEIGE
Non, you do not.

[END]

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Created with thanks to the show’s supporters on Kickstarter.