Call for allies, points update

I saw Doc again on Monday.  He gave me some new serums to try -- the previous ones, while effective, were burning up my system.  He wants me to try these new ones to defend against the vampire's infection, and to keep my Wolf in check.  I was doing pretty well - until today. Today pain flared up in old wounds, and I'm losing my hard-won balance.  Today, I need help to fight the enemies that surround me.

Calling all allies - Battle underway!

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My infectious disease doc took me off the IV antibiotics and pulled my PICC line on Monday (is this an achievement?) He said after 8 weeks, the drug just starts doing more harm than good, so he switched me to oral antibiotics and is waiting to hear what the surgeon says.  I was doing pretty well, and even people at work were commenting on how I looked better and seemed in better spirits, but today my face swelled up and has been getting increasingly painful.  I plan to call the surgeon tomorrow, but I just feel really discouraged and worried again, and that's why I'm calling on you, my allies, to help me.

I don't really know how - make me laugh, give me little missions to take my mind off of it, or just call/txt/message me to BS. I know you'll come through - you always do, and that's the beauty of this game.  We can put the pain, the worry, the fear in a different context.  I just need a little help doing that. 

For an update of points, here's where I'm at:
Sunday: 35 XP
Monday: 44 XP (work, PICC line out, picking up prescriptions, doctor's appointment, cello practice)
Tuesday: 55 XP (work, site I've been working on for months at work launched [FIERO!], doctor's appointment)
Wednesday: 35 XP (work, doctor's appointment, cello lesson)

I've had a doctor's appointment every day this week, and as a result, I've not been doing much in the evenings besides resting and playing cello and WoW.  I'm not sure if resting earns me points, haha.

They had to draw 7 vials of blood today, and without the PICC, that was a long and somewhat painful endeavor.  This was for an immunology panel to try to see why I have no immune response to anything.

The points scale can be found in the comments in the previous post.

Oh, and as a random update - I changed the settings so all the contributors should be notified when there are new comments as well as new posts.  Let me know if you find this really annoying.

Character: Lydia Englewood

Sorry for coming late to the character-party! And also, sorry for the length... It's super long. Sorry!

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Character: Lydia Englewood

So, here's the thing: I've been followed by the darkness my entire life.

I met him when I was 13: charming, smart, attractive... did I mention charming? He oozed charm. It came out of his pores. He was 16 and he liked me, gods know why. He held my hand under tables. He had these very soft, girlish hands. Like velvet. I loved them. The first time we kissed... I know this is like the dumbest thing to say ever, but fireworks went off. They really did. In my head, anyway.

One day, we were sitting on his bed, talking about...I don't know, something silly probably (we never talked about anything important), and he said to me, I wanna try something. I agreed. He took my arm, gently, lowered his mouth to my wrist and... Well. You can figure out the rest.

I think I cried out, but I couldn't hear myself over the sudden sound of beating blood. One two, one two, one two, pounding in my head like drums, like African tribal drums pounding in my head. My arm seized up; when I tried to move, I couldn't, so...I looked at him, panicked, and he looked at me, and...suddenly, I just didn't want to move anymore. And gradually, that African drum in my head became two African drums, and I realized I could hear his heart. I could hear it, feel it beating, our bodies pulsing a syncopated duet.

I was hooked.

At first, it was innocent...you know, once a week or so. He'd finger my wrist with that wry little smile, and I couldn't refuse.

Then it became more frequent. Probably because I...started asking for it. I'd nibble on his ear, brush my wrist against his lips--something subtle. He'd catch the hint immediately, probably because it was on his mind too (obviously. duh.), and he'd...you know.

Eventually we got creative. He started feeding on other parts of my body: my neck, my thigh, my breasts... I began to crave the throb of his blood coursing together with mine, the sharp slice of his teeth into my skin. He consumed me, ran circles in my brain. Like a drug. Like air. I would beg him, plead with him, please please please take my blood! And he did. How could he not?

I'm not proud of it. I'm really, really not proud of it. I lost a lot of weight. I was often sick, missed a lot of school... I almost didn't graduate. I looked in the mirror one day and thought, I don't know who I am anymore.

It was Jessica who saved me.

She was the sister I never had. When I cried, she was there. When I obsessed, she was there. She reminded me who I was. And with her support, I found the strength to leave him. I didn't know why he let me go then. I still don't. Maybe he really did love me, I don't know. But I'll tell you this: if I ever see him again, I'm putting a stake in his heart.

Jess didn't know what he was. I didn't tell her. I couldn't. I didn't want to taint her with the knowledge I now had: that shadows lie beneath. I didn't wish that on her. I didn't wish that on anybody.

When it happened...her change...I was devastated. The shadows had fallen again, this time on my best friend, and this time there was no escape. The Wolf was in her now; she was the Wolf. There was no running away, and no simple stake-in-the-heart solution.

Over the years, I've battled many creatures of darkness. They kind of follow me. My dad says it's because I'm so sweet. Heh. I have this theory it's because I knew about them now. They could smell it, that knowledge. I've struggled for a long time against the darkness. It's been a difficult road. And I've grown stronger.

When Jess was...changed...I made a vow: I would support her as she had supported me. I would help her through the darkness. And help her kick the ass of any vampire that comes her way. You know, I get behind him, you stake that sonofabitch!

We don't always keep in touch, but I am always there. I think she knows that. I hope she knows that. I am there in a pinch. When needed, I drop everything I'm doing and show up strong. I am there with support and aid. I am the Sidekick.

Our lives are totally badass.

Character: Madadh-alluidh

I met Jessi during my third year in college. The year I transferred to a new school. A new state. A new beginning. We met at a club full of different people. People who were searching for meaning in their lives and ways to express themselves. Many of the people in this group were scarred for various reasons. Jessi was full of love and light. Like a shining beacon in the darkness. I knew we would become friends. I knew she would understand.

I had been struck by Abiding Evils early in my life. Each time a little worse than the next. I had a darkness in me that I had no idea how to control. Or if I even wanted to control it. It felt so good to let the animal loose. To let myself go. To lose the human inside of me and let the animal have free reign.

Jessi was one of the few people that accepted both the animal and the human sides of me without question. She supported me during all my dark times. After my second year there we became roommates. Her and her now-husband but then boyfriend were part of my pack. I felt safe. I was always afraid that my darkness might be infectious I never dreamed of what would really come to pass.

I woke in the middle of the night to screams of agony. I recognized that sound. The air was still and pregnant with the Abiding Evils. I knew she had been claimed but not by my Wolf. By a far more sinister Wolf instead. We took her to the hospital, not knowing if there was anything they could do for her. Eventually her physical wounds began to heal. But I know as well as any other beast that the physical wounds are only the start. It is the emotional wounds—the wounds to the soul itself—that are the deepest and most difficult to heal. She had stayed by my side when few others would and so I would do for her. The Abiding Evils continue to strike out at her—trying to tear out her soul. But we won’t let that happen.

Together with our other allies we work to control our own dual-natures as well as to find and help others. Remember you are not alone. There are many others just like you and me. Every day I learn new ways to reconcile my two natures and prove that good CAN come from the animal within and that the Abiding Evils can be slain.

I am Madadh-alluidh a Night Huntress. You can call me Mad.