The Home

Maxwell turned his body to Blyme, locking his eyes onto his. He felt his hand clench into fists at his sides and he straightened himself, trying to appear as tall as he could. The voices in his head egging him on. He could feel the flow of his magic go through his body and he felt the sparks of white electricity spill through his hands.

"Well, first things first,” he held up a finger, the electric sparks softly radiating off of it.I hardly pray, especially to narcissistic Gods like you. Secondly, what is a God doing here? You seem full enough of yourself to manage. What? Not enough people worshiping you anymore?"

"You dare mock me?" Blyme growled. "My followers are plentiful in number! Mortals tremble when they speak my name, and their prayers will add to my power! Do not think you can incur my wrath and survive." He took a step towards Maxwell, raising one arm threateningly and causing sparks flying from his fingers again. "I will not hesitate to smite you down."

Maxwell chuckled, taking another step forward to Blyme, bridging the small gap of personal space they had left. "Why don't you try, Blyme? I'd hate to burst your bubble when I just come rising back from the grave though." He smiled devilishly. "Immortal, remember?"

The werewolf looked between the two 'powerful beings' and shook his head. What was the point in this? He wanted to go and search for the maker of the sandwich he smelt a couple of minutes ago instead. He was hungry and being hungry was never good for the wolf. The chicken sandwich he heard being made also included pickles... His mouth watered. What he could remember from when he lived with his old pack is that pickles were, in his opinion, the second best part of a sandwich. His mind went blank for few seconds when he smelt the lingering scent of chicken, his tongue met the sharp ends of his canines.

His vision sharpened, and he knew that he was no longer alone in his mind. Yellow eyes shifted his view from the arguing immortals to the human who called herself a doctor. A small bang from behind the doors to the room interrupted his wolf's growing hunger for raw meat. He stood up in a rush, the plastic chair tumbling back.

"Okay, this is fun...but I'm hungry."

"Mr. Rollin, you will sit down!" Abby stood quickly, arms raised in front of her, fingers spread. "Please, everyone, stop this! There will be no incurring of wraths or smitations here! In fact, no threats at all, Mr. Blyme! And no goading of other residents, Mr. Maxwell! And no one will be trying anything! In fact, if everyone can just remain silent for a moment, that would be wonderful. Yes, of course, that's just what we need, a moment of quiet reflection. Eyes closed, everyone! Deep cleansing breaths! In...and out....in...and out..."

(In a harsh whisper to Rocio, "What in God's green pasture is that banging sound?") Louder, so everyone can hear, flustered and red faced, "WHICH ONE OF YOU IS MAKING THAT GOD-AWFUL BANGING SOUND!"

[@ dylan o'brien; - Since we're both going to be therapist in this story, feel free to jump in and corral these lunatics whenever you want - like if you want to lead them into a specific direction for the group discussion or whatever or if you want to take control of the group at anytime.

@ everyone - I think everyone in the group has spoken up now, do we want to start pushing this towards individual experiences (the individual chapters) or do you want to do a little more character interaction here for a bit?]

The vampiress's blood was boiling already, and just when she was about to snap, the sound of the room's door opening made everyone in the room turn to see who it was, the bloodthirsty vampire turned as well. No one was causing problems anymore and no more annoying noises could be heard.

A beautiful girl pushed the door open along with two bags filled with what seemed to be clothes. ''Oh, hi,'' the girl said, leting her bags on the floor and pushng with her right leg the door to close. ''I'm sorry I'm so late,'' she said and picked up her big, red bags again. She set them at the corner of the room before she walked towards the rest of the group.

''I'm sure you were waiting for me,'' the girl smiled and took a seat while she examined carefully everyone in the room. She pushed the hair that bothered her behind her ears and crossed one leg over the other. She looked so sweet with her long, straight, honey brown, hair and her small, dark blue eyes. ''I'm Marina, I was supposed to arrive tomorrow but- well, things changed.''

[That's my way to say I'd like a bit more of character interaction.]

"Well, I'll be damned. Finally someone with taste." Maxwell mumbled to himself, over his anger as quickly as it came. The voices in his head retreated back into silence and he took a seat, blinking at the appearance of the woman.

"You missed one heck of a show." Maxwell smiled towards her, intrigued by her sweetness. He leaned himself back in his chair and stretched his arms over his head. He nodded towards Blyme, smirking. "I almost took on a conceited God, but my interests have finally been peaked. Name's Maxwell Alchemy." He focused his green eyes on hers. "What are you in for, Princess?"

Rocio let out a breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. It was much easier to deal with the supernatural one at a time then shoving so many in one room, especially when there were types like Blyme and Maxwell. She looked at Abby, and clicked her tongue, standing up and clapping her hands to gain everyone's attention.

"Hi Marina, welcome, have a seat," Rocio began with a kind smile, gesturing to an empty chair to her right. "Obviously we all come from different sides, some egos are rather…inflated," Rocio glanced at Maxwell and continued, "Just remember why you came here, and remember everyone has a different motive. But the one single defining reason you all came here to Abby and I, is so we could help. And we can't help if you choose to act like Neanderthals. So let's try to make it through lunch without killing each other or insulting each, hmm? Seem like something you can do?"

"Yes." Rollin growled out through his teeth, he's been controlling himself from launching at the human doctor to quench his hunger. "I want lunch, I want food now," his vision sharpened before going back to normal. The newcomer's presence didn't help him either... especially when she looks so much like Caroline. She was a devious little wolf, and was also his ex-alpha's sister. She was the reason he was in this stupid building they call 'a home'.

He needed to leave, and he was going to leave whether the human liked it or not.

"Be quiet, foolish wolf," Bylme snapped at Rollin. "Your hunger does not give you the right to be rude to our guest." He turned towards Marina and bowed. "Greetings. My name is Blyme Brodim; you may of heard my name spoken in temples." He gestured to the other members of the group. "I do hope this... riffraff do not cause you harm."

''Such a gentleman,'' the young woman said to Blyme whose mind she could perfectly hear in her head, like an honest melody. ''Nice to meet you, I'm Marina Austin.'' They shook hands and she turned to Maxwell in order to reply to his earlier question. She was about to speak, when she realized she couldn't hear anything coming from him. His mind was sealed, with a wall sort of. ''I'm here to change my ways. For the record, I am a mind reader.''

The vampiress smiled at the young girl, she seemed like she was going to be her best friend in here. It wouldn't be so bad for the two of them to be good friends, especially seeing as everyone in the room liked her already. That could work to her advantage in the days to come. ''I am Mariaxielle, but please, do call me Rogue. I perfer that name more than my ancient one,'' the vampire said while getting up from her seat and walking towards the young woman whose sky blue dress went along nicely with her dark blue eyes.

After shaking hands, the vampiress took a seat beside Marina leaving her old seat that was in between men. ''You won't be able to read my mind though, I'm a vampire.'' The vampiress showed her perfectly white teeth along with her fangs, and then she winked playfully.

The young lady was taken by suprise at first before she calmly said, ''Oh, is that why I can't read his mind as well?'' She turned her eyes towards Maxwell and Mariaxielle nodded her head. ''So, when will the first session end?'' The young woman asked, eager to go to her room and meet her roommate if she was supposed to have any in this place.

''I think right now!'' The vampiress said with a serious look on her face as she turned towards the doctors.

"Please," Maxwell stressed, standing up out of his seat. He flicked his leather jacket out, fixing it to a more tidy look. He could hear his motorcycle's keys jiggle in the inside pocket, along with the remains of leftover sunflower seeds from his long drive here. He darted his eyes from Rocio and Abby, impatiently, and started walking backwards towards the exit as he spoke."This has been way too much conversation for me in one century combined and I'm still itching for that free food."

His wolf had yet to turn his attention away from the old dwarf. The dwarf may be old, and he may have magic, but Rollin convinced himself that the dwarf wouldn't have been able to survive years in the wild. Without magic, food, or clothes to help. The well-built male gilded his tongue along his teeth, and continued to stare at the dwarf. He snorted, lifted his chin and turned away when the mind reader spoke. He cared nothing for her, and so he followed Maxwell, passing him and straight to the doors. He didn't need permission to eat.

[I was gonna have Rollin leave, eat, and then come back all happy "puppy-like", but... I wasn't sure how it'll go after the last two replies, so I'll follow whatever.]

With a heavy plop, Abby returned to her seat. Leaning forward, pressing the heel of her hands into her eyes, she let out a deep breath to calm herself. "Okay," she sighed, "I guess it couldn't hurt if we took a moment's break." She waved her hands dismissively towards the door leading out of the sitting room. "Refreshments can be found in the kitchen. We've tried to make as much dietary accommodations as possible but if you can't find anything to your liking, please do let Ms. Rocio or myself know."

(Turning to face Rocio. "The um...stuff for Ms. Hartsong...we did put that in the cooler, didn't we?")

[This might be a good place to end for Chapter 1. I've added all that's said so fair into a word doc and it's coming up at about 4,000 words/7 pages. Then we can start back after the lunch break - or during the lunch break - with Chapter 2?]

[November 10, 2016: Okay, I'm starting from here.]

Abby stepped from the library, gently closing the doors behind her. Stalking into the hall, she made her way towards the other residents, standing quietly just around the corner from the kitchen's archway, listening. She could hear voices softly talking, and leaned in closer to try to decipher their words. But the quiet murmur was just to low to hear.

Stepping into the kitchen, Abby looked around. It seemed some new residents had arrive and a few of those who'd attended the first meeting were gone. Perhaps they'd decided to eat privately in their quarters, she thought. Trying not to startle anyone, she quietly cleared her throat before speaking.

"I hope you're finding the food to be satisfactory. I see a few of you have arrived a little late. We didn't get a chance to meet before. Hello, I'm Abby Peston. Welcome to the home."

Okay a tad bit of a backstory, Alexander is Italian and a total play boy. He witnessed some things as a kid and has difficulty dealing with them.

Alex glanced up from where he was analyzing the food. Most of it smelled disgusting and he didn't feel hungry anyway. The other newcomers shuffled their feet awkwardly, unhappy about their new home. He gave them side glances and smiled at the woman.

"Alexander Aita," he said, puffing out his chest. "Pleasure to meet you, Abby."

Khloe decided that it was her best bet to stay a bit further back from everyone. Even though she had been a Vampire since she was 16, she still found it hard to control her urges for Human Blood. There were days where she was able to control her urge and there were days where she slipped up. But today was the day where she was meeting her other roommates so she couldn't slip up.

As everyone was introducing themselves, Khloe just watched them interact. She sometimes wishes she was normal like them. Being a Vampire was never easy for her. But all she could do was try to introduce herself and hope things would be okay.

Stepping out from the corner, she made her way to the front. "Hi, I'm Khloe. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Lana sat in a chair, actively trying to ignore the people that were beginning to gather around her. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her lips were pursed in a bitter grimace.

She glared at the ones standing by the food, making pointless chatter and spilling crumbs all over the place. She wondered if she kept herself from eating long enough, that they might have to transport her outside of this facility.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Abby introduced herself. Lana couldn't help but mumble under her breath, running a hand through her loose curls. She continued to sit in misery until she felt someone standing over her. She looked up o see Abby, reaching out a hand.

"I'm Abby, we're happy to have you here. What's your name?"

Lana looked down at Abby's outstretched hand and then back up at Abby, keeping her arms tight to her chest.

"Lana. Lana Bristow. And that's all the conversation I'll be having today."

Finishing his fourth sandwich, Rollin leaned back in one of the stools against the wall and sighed happily. It wasn't the kind of meat he craved, but the pickles was enough to satisfy him. The wolf took the time to observe the newcomers, not interested his eyes continued their path and landed on the human therapist, Abby. His lip twitched, his rage no longer blinding him he was able to admire what she gave. Her appearance was calm and professional, but he witnessed first hand of the bite she had.

He shook his head with his eyes closed and cursed himself. Stop it, mutt. Don't you dare go there. Tugging his hair, he huffed. He didn't like that he was out of control, he could hurt someone and he wouldn't know about it until he "woke up". He needed a pack, or a mate. He snorted, yeah right.

Abby sighed internally at Lana's terse response. She understood, of course, that not everyone had come to the Home voluntarily and even among those who did, not everyone would be open to the group right away. Smiling tightly, Abby nodded stiffly to Lana and then turned to the other new, more cooperative residents.

"Mr. Aita. Ms. Khloe. It's lovely to meet you both." Quickly recalling the details of their paperwork, she led the two to the small freezer-chest against the far wall. "This," she said, tapping the lid of the freezer, "is where we keep the...um...bags for people like you." She leaned in close to the two and quietly mouthed, "The blood." Backing away again, she continued, "We've stocked a variety of types and they are appropriately labeled. If you feel need to warm them up, I can get a pot of water boiling for you right away. Just let me know."

Abby placed another nervous smile on her face and left the two to it.

Eyes fluttering around the room, Abby tried to make sure everyone was as comfortable as possible. Most people seemed to be eating or chatting, which was good, but she noticed they were mostly standing awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot. Oh, damn! she thought, Chairs! I need more chairs.

Scurrying quickly towards the dinning room, she spotted the wolf - Rollin, was it? - perched on one of the few stools she had thought to bring. She thought, for a moment, of asking for his help, but he seemed a little lost in his own thoughts. No worries, she thought, I can handle a few chairs.

Sorry, champion. Abby is a bit scatterbrained and has mistaken your elf for a vampire.

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