@The Shining
Namjilyn Nergüi
It had been a week since the waters had subsided and, as Nergüi had foreseen, there was a distinct increase in people hounding after her business in the aftermath of the tsunami. Not were patrons; in fact, quite a few of her patrons had not yet returned. There had been many who were injured by the disaster as well as by the savages who had attacked both during and after the event. With that much fresh blood out on the streets, she understood what the absence of certain familiar faces meant. Filling their seats were hoards of angry, frantic people instead, trying to buy blood from her in order to take to the hospital or those who were in need of transfusions.
"Sir, we are most certainly not a blood bank!" She was saying, not for the first time, to a man who had all but hauled himself over the counter to speak with her. "I am sorry but I cannot sell my product to you."
His eyes were wide and his body reeked. "Look, it's only a little bit!" The man pleaded with her. "I'll pay whatever price you want me to. I h-have money! See!" Indeed, at a little pocket at his breast, she could see the green of bills there, surely enough for a few pints. He hunched over that compartment like an animal guarding its territory. Perhaps it was all that he had left in wake of the tsunami.
"You misunderstand," Nergüi said calmly. "Money is not the issue, sir. If I were to sell to you, then I would have to sell to every other person who sets foot in this bar."
He paused for a moment and then his voice fell down a pitch. "I'll pay you double," he said. "Triple, even. I have friends, friends who are out there somewhere. Once everything gets fixed up on their ends, I can pay you an extra installment later."
Oh, money was such a tempting thing, wasn't it? Unfortunately for him, Nergüi was aware that some things were worth much more. Her eyes slid to the side. "Since you have failed to grasp my logic, allow me to tell you straight out- This is a blood bar. We, of course, sell blood. Our patrons are blood drinkers and by this cycle of us selling blood and them drinking the blood we sell, we are perpetuating a perfectly legal operation."
With the back of one of her hands, she turned his head towards a booth of vampires, touching only the hair so that the chemicals on her skin would prove least irritating. "This is a normal scene for the Ganerdene," she said. "Do you understand?"
The man was slow, obviously still not seeing her point. "Well, yes, but I don't see how-"
She interrupted him. "Now imagine what would happen if I ran out of product. Where would all of these people go?" There was an entire city out there of cold, scared, and tired people -easy pickings for most beings who drank blood.
Slowly, she could see the understanding bloom in his mind. His eyes stared forward and his jaws moved without saying anything at all. Nergüi went back to what she had been doing before, running emails out to those associates of hers who had considerable state in the island's current state of affairs. "Good day, sir. I believe our business is concluded."
Namjilyn Nergüi
It had been a week since the waters had subsided and, as Nergüi had foreseen, there was a distinct increase in people hounding after her business in the aftermath of the tsunami. Not were patrons; in fact, quite a few of her patrons had not yet returned. There had been many who were injured by the disaster as well as by the savages who had attacked both during and after the event. With that much fresh blood out on the streets, she understood what the absence of certain familiar faces meant. Filling their seats were hoards of angry, frantic people instead, trying to buy blood from her in order to take to the hospital or those who were in need of transfusions.
"Sir, we are most certainly not a blood bank!" She was saying, not for the first time, to a man who had all but hauled himself over the counter to speak with her. "I am sorry but I cannot sell my product to you."
His eyes were wide and his body reeked. "Look, it's only a little bit!" The man pleaded with her. "I'll pay whatever price you want me to. I h-have money! See!" Indeed, at a little pocket at his breast, she could see the green of bills there, surely enough for a few pints. He hunched over that compartment like an animal guarding its territory. Perhaps it was all that he had left in wake of the tsunami.
"You misunderstand," Nergüi said calmly. "Money is not the issue, sir. If I were to sell to you, then I would have to sell to every other person who sets foot in this bar."
He paused for a moment and then his voice fell down a pitch. "I'll pay you double," he said. "Triple, even. I have friends, friends who are out there somewhere. Once everything gets fixed up on their ends, I can pay you an extra installment later."
Oh, money was such a tempting thing, wasn't it? Unfortunately for him, Nergüi was aware that some things were worth much more. Her eyes slid to the side. "Since you have failed to grasp my logic, allow me to tell you straight out- This is a blood bar. We, of course, sell blood. Our patrons are blood drinkers and by this cycle of us selling blood and them drinking the blood we sell, we are perpetuating a perfectly legal operation."
With the back of one of her hands, she turned his head towards a booth of vampires, touching only the hair so that the chemicals on her skin would prove least irritating. "This is a normal scene for the Ganerdene," she said. "Do you understand?"
The man was slow, obviously still not seeing her point. "Well, yes, but I don't see how-"
She interrupted him. "Now imagine what would happen if I ran out of product. Where would all of these people go?" There was an entire city out there of cold, scared, and tired people -easy pickings for most beings who drank blood.
Slowly, she could see the understanding bloom in his mind. His eyes stared forward and his jaws moved without saying anything at all. Nergüi went back to what she had been doing before, running emails out to those associates of hers who had considerable state in the island's current state of affairs. "Good day, sir. I believe our business is concluded."