My Vampire Queen

Nathan took me into the shower when I woke up, then to the closet to dress me asking what style I wanted to go with today. I was feeling tired and hungry so I settled for a tank top, sweatpants, and some thick socks. After I was dressed and my hair put up in a messy bun Bjorn makes his way into the room and takes the opportunity to pick me up to take me downstairs to the kitchen. Vinny was mid-way through heating all of the leftovers - a salad, mozzarella sticks, and a soda set aside for me. I don’t care if what I’m eating for breakfast is considered ‘breakfast food’ or not. Food is food, I only eat specific things when I’m craving them.

Tabitha shows up not much longer after I start eating, I’m guessing one of the guys is in contact with her and set the timing for her to come. She sits at the counter next to me, putting a bag down on the counter. “I have some updates.”

“And I have questions about something,” I said.

She gives me a questioning look. “Which would you like to discuss first?”

“We can do updates first, the questions might be too serious to go first.” Plus I would have to go over my sleepwalking and everything I have learned from that. Adding on to that I’m eating and I don’t want to talk at this moment.

“Alright.” She looks at me curiously, she doesn’t bug me to ask the questions now though. She begins opening the bag as she starts speaking. “Walter and Ester will be here in an hour to talk to you, Maggie is already on her way to the house with contractors and inspectors.”

Tabitha pulls out a leather file filled with papers when she opens them and takes out one paper that unfolds into the size of four papers put together. It’s one floor of the blueprints. She pulls out four more papers, and Bjorn helps her put them out on the counter. The basement and first floor, the second and third, and fourth. The fourth floor is small, it looks like it’s mostly attic space. Tabitha looks pleased with all the large papers. “I closed on the house, as of this morning you are the new owner.”

I felt a burst of joy in my chest, Bjorn wraps his arms around my waist from behind and I feel him calm. We were one step closer to a nest which would make us all safer. “When can we start moving?”

Tabitha gives me a sad smile. “The house needs a lot of work still, which is why I brought the blueprints. The sooner we can give building instructions the better.”

“We could get give it a couple of days for them to get the basics done, then start the move,” Bjorn said. “Sleeping in an unfinished nest is safer than being out here.”

“I can have them focus on one area of the house to get it completed or a majority of the way completed,” Tabitha said, looking down at the blueprints. “Maggie will be sending us photos once she is there, we can pick out an area then.”

I look down at the blueprints, I knew what most of the things on them meant because I had always been interested in interior design or interior architecture. “You said it was over a hundred years old?”

Tabitha nods when I look back at her. “It is.”

“Do you know when the electric and plumbing have been updated?”

She cocks her head. “Long enough ago that we should replace most of it.”

“We should just tear out all the walls, the floors anything that would get in the way and rewire and put all new plumbing in. I want all of that to be as new as we can get, also can you look into what the internet would be like there? Is there a way to get fiber brought to the house?” I ask, and like I’ve seen her do many times she breaks out her laptop to take notes.

“I’m sure we can get internet to the house, it just might take a while.” She taps away at the keyboard after it loads up.

“I’d also like to consider putting some solar panels on the house,” I said. Bjorn squeezes my hips before going over to where Vinny was pulling hot food out of the oven. The boys were leaving me to speak with Tabitha so they could fight over leftovers.

“Did you want the house to run off solar power?” She questions, I shake my head.

“We can run off of the regular power, but I’d like it to have solar just in case something happens. I’ve also seen some people who have these big tanks that store rainwater that’s been filtered on the way to the tank.”

“Are you planning on waging a war to where we will need to bunker in?” Vinny questions me. I don’t think it was meant to be some snarky comment, he was genuinely asking me. For some reason, he didn’t seem perturbed by the idea either.

Shaking my head I said. “No, but in the case, something does happen, whether it be a storm or a war I want to be somewhat prepared.”

“It is a good idea,” Bjorn says, fighting with a long string of cheese from the pasta he’s trying to get. “I remember a story my mother had told me. There was a Queen that had settled somewhere in Asia I think it would be in modern China. The Queen that ruled a large part of China at that time didn’t like that but wasn’t strong enough to get through the nest barrier. So instead she surrounded the barrier. Anyone that left died or was taken, after a month or so the Queen and her nest had no water or food left. She had to submit to the Queen or let her people starve.”

That horrified me. That was a possibility though, a situation I never wanted to be in. It was also something I had never thought about, granted I had only a few days that I’d had to think about stuff like this. It scared me how much different things are in just a few days. And honestly, I still wouldn’t go back, even with the threat of other Queens, thralls, and humans. At least now I had something to live for.

Tabitha nods while typing. “We can add that into the plans.”

A plate of pasta is set in front of me, I take a few seconds to eat the last bite of salad and to think of other things for the house. I think the issues I already brought up were a good start, everything else I want to do can wait. Looking back down to the blueprints I see there’s a bar down in the basement, and I remember the pictures of it.

“We can do the basement first, there’s a bar we can put a small fridge in to for a makeshift kitchen. It’s mostly open but looks like there are two bathrooms we can just set it up like a large studio apartment.”

Nathan laughs. “Just throw down some blankets and pillows, we can have a puppy pile.”

The idea of that makes me smile and shake my head. I catch Tabitha smiling at that too and I ask her. “Where are you staying? Does a consort live in the nest?”

“The head consort normally does, while the house is being fixed though I will be staying at a hotel with Walter and Ester.” She answers me. “If you are comfortable with it all three of us we will be living in the house once we can.”

“I don’t see a problem with that.” I wouldn’t care if Tabitha lived with us, Walter and Ester I didn’t know. Though don’t super rich people have butlers and people live with them? Because it’s much easier that way?

After a few more seconds of typing, Tabitha looks up and adjusts herself on the stool. “Did you want to ask your questions before Walter and Ester get here?”I ask and get Tabitha a drink of her choice while Bjorn starts the conversation by explaining Luna’s sleepwalking trips. It gives our Queen time to eat her breakfast, and I get to finally hear all of what happened in detail. Luna adds details here and there, then tells Tabitha her thoughts of the girl being abused. It was a sad thing to possibly be happening, why was my Queen the one to be pulled into it though? It seemed odd that her Goddess was pushing her to this shifter girl to what? Help her maybe? What if we could never find her? What then?

“Do you know of any supernaturals around us that might have the girl?” Bjorn asks Tabitha.

The consort hums a little and nods. I feel relief from our Queen and hope she doesn’t get her hopes up too much. The world is a big place and there is only so much we could do, plus most supernaturals have figured out great ways to hide. The consort pulls up something on her laptop and turns it to our Queen. “That’s where the local shifters mostly hang out, there’s another place in Springfield but if you want to start closing that’s where it would be.”

“Are you sure that’s right?” Luna asks her staring at whatever was on the screen.

“Yes, it’s been packed owned for years,” Tabitha said pulling back the laptop to click on something else to show Luna. “Your mother was very set on keeping general locations of every pack and Queen nest we could. I’m sure other Queens do the same.”

“That’s interesting to note.” I had the feeling our Queen knew something we didn’t, and she wasn’t going to tell us at least yet.