Chapter Text
It’s hard to become a vampire involuntary, even harder to get food when you don’t want to force people to feed you their blood.
Rey sighed and looked up at the rain falling down onto the small town. The night stretched on its sixth hour on this cold October night as Rey kept herself unmoving on the old church roof. Trying to gather her courage to enter the house of God, hoping that a priest at least wouldn’t turn her down. Maybe and that was a big maybe in her estimate as well as risk to expose herself like this.
Her stomach growled and she felt light-headed. Should that even be positive? No one had told her how to be a vampire or the specifics so lightheartedness and stomach growling was just another thing on her list of things to figure out. Right now it was food on the very top of that list. Rey stood, to leap down onto the ground below her, but in her woozy state her foot slipped on the wet roof, causing her to loose balance. Her last conscientious thought as she fell over the roofs edge and plummeted towards the ground, was how much she really sucked at being a vampire.
...
Ben Solo, priest in the small Parrish on this island, had yet again spent the evening past midnight puttering about in his church. Latest thing on the this nights list was trying (again) to fix the pesky electrical... thing... that had not been functioning for almost a week now. Wires hanging loose and taunting him.
Ben sighed and closed the old fuse box. He went back towards his earlier project of the night, polishing the old wooden benches in the basement. Now that the last few was done, Ben was finally done with days worth of work.
Everything that had to be done was on him, or if the church could afford it (witch it couldn’t) hire help from outside. Of course it wasn’t entirely necessary to have lights in his office, he thought sarcastically. Just a luxury to have, in a church that had been falling apart for the last sixty years or so.
Ben sighed heavily, reminding himself that he shouldn’t let this get to him. Taking over from his uncle Luke, had been a privilege as well as the mans dying wish. To ‘be where the need is greatest’ uncle Luke had told him on his deathbed. Not that the church was flooding with people on Sundays, neither in the office hours for those in need of a priest.
Ben wasn’t doubting his choice to come here, to live in the little outskirts of a small island. Its only inhabited a few hundred people spread out over this little town and few houses up the mountain. But... once every blue moon, Ben found it hard not to despair. To not feel lonely in his small church just up the hill from the little town.
Ben shook his head and ignored the depressing thoughts for now. He lived a simple life but looking over his hard work made him smile satisfied. This was enough, he smiled to himself. This was okay.
Ben gathered the dirty paper towels to be discarded and walked outside the cellar door and up the stairs to where the bins stood. Tossing it, Ben noticed a big lump laying on the cobblestones a few feet away. Ben froze when his eyes adjusted to the darkness and heavy rain and realized that the pile of clothes was a person. He rushed over, his heart pounding behind his ribs, while franticly checking for injuries.
A girl, or a young woman, dressed like she was going to a costume party. Ben frowned, weird. He checked for a pulse but found none on her ice cold skin. His blood rushes in his ears, figuring the girl must have jumped from the rooftop.
Ben sat back grief-stricken, the rain still pouring down on him. What could have driven this young woman to do such a thing? Hands in his hair, Ben screamed frustrated into the night. His heart breaking for this young life stolen away in such a brutal manner. His screams however caused the girl to groan softly, though not yet open her eyes. Ben looked her over, perplexed and choked. Perhaps he was more inept to check for a persons pulse than he thought. Perhaps... perhaps she was simply drunk?! Had just passed out next to the church on her way home from whatever costume party that she came from. Ben carefully lifted her up and carried her down into the basement and closed the door.
Inside where the light thankfully hadn’t given up (yet, anyways) he could see a rather nasty bruise on her face. Ben placed her carefully onto a dry church bench and looked around for his phone. The local doctor had to be called no matter what, drunk or not, especially with that kind of bump to the head.
She groaned again and Ben’s eyes found her face again, phone momentarily forgotten. This time he noticed her bruise had nearly shrunk to half its size on her face. His eyes widened and he stepped back in fear. A vampire! He had heard drunken tales about them them being real, that they wasn’t just in movies and books, but as a man of faith Ben never really thought such nonsense could be true.
Seeing her lying on the old church bench, injures shrink into nothing, Ben’s world went sideways. What should he do? Could he even do anything? He wasn’t violent and the thought of staking this young lady made his stomach turn. No, he would just have to wait and hope to plead for his life, because taking a life, immortal or not, was a path he would never take. His cross around his neck was perhaps harmful to her, so perhaps he could use it as a shield. Ben clenched it protectively in his hand and silently watched the girl slowly waking.
Rey groaned and touched her head. She was still dizzy but she assumed that was more from hunger than the actual fall. It wasn’t the first time she had taken a leap and fallen, only to wake soon after again. She hadn’t eaten in days and even then it was only a little squirrel, that made her puke most of the blood back up. Apparently animal blood was not her diet and seeing the tiny animal, no longer alive because it’s lack of blood, Rey had cried heartbroken for hours, sobbing into the brown fur. No, no more animals, so that’s why she was... the church, the fall. It all came back to her.
Rey sat up and blinked a few times, disoriented to where she was. Someone cleaned their throat next to her and her panic and survival instincts kicked into high gear. She jumped up and gestured wildly with her fingers like they were actual claws “I’m a VAMPIRE. Grrr... I need blood. YES! uhm... Blood! Blood! Blood! I’m... I’m VERY dangerous”.
A snigger causes her to look in the direction of... oh, the priest. But he didn’t look scared. His head was tilted a bit to the side and there was a smile tugging on his soft lips. His face shined compassion and empathy, a breathtaking relief from ‘No, please don’t kill me’ or ‘I will stake you, filthy demon spawn’. Rey visible relaxed and sunk back onto the bench. Less worried but still not enough to take her eyes off the priest, instead of looking for a possible exit. He seemed safe... for now.
Ben let go of his cross and let his arms rest along side his body in a none-threatening way. The girl was anything but scary and he had to bite his tongue to not outright laugh at her, at her little show of trying to be scary. She looked even younger now, vulnerable and outright tired. He wondered shortly if vampires even slept, but stored that question to another time.
Very gently he walked to the bench and sat an arms length away from her. “So, you are a dangerous vampire” his lips quivering with laughter. Rey pouted and crosses her arms over her chest “yes, I am! And you best behave.. or else!” She stated, looking like a child trying to act brave. Ben smiled and tried his hardest to not snigger again. Instead he respectfully nodded and agreed “of cause. What may I call you miss?”
She unfolded her arms and frowned. “You... you’re really not scared of me, are you”. She almost looked devastated to Ben but realizing that if vampires really excised, then the dangers like sunlight and wooden stakes (witch was all around them basically in form of various wooden objects) was most likely to be true as well.
Ben took a look around the basement and then met her eyes. Nervously her eyes flickered around them as well, clearly alarmed by her ‘wooden’ environment. Ben slowly lifted one hand towards her, to gain her attention “you have nothing to fear from me miss. My name is Ben. How did you come to be here of all places”. It was a small island and even smaller town, so how she ended up here was remarkable for a vampire, since boats was the only transportation and they only sailed in the daytime.
Rey tried a small smile, thankful for the kindness in his eyes. Perhaps she could ask after all, even without him being afraid, witch was a better alternative than she could have imagined. “I was hunted on the mainland, so I snug onboard on the first boat I saw to hide. They didn’t find me and I kinda stayed put and hoped it would end up somewhere, where they couldn’t find me.”
Ben looked concerned “them?” Rey nodded and looked down at her fingers, nervously fiddling with them. “Yes, hunters. I was stupid enough to not realize who I asked for food, until it was too late and she pulled a stake on me. Apparently they had been a group of hunters in the area, hunting vampires, but I didn’t know.” She looked up with tears in her eyes “I just try to keep my head down and survive, you know”.
Ben glided along the bench to sit next to her and carefully took her small hands in his. “So, you... ask for bloo... uhm, nourishment” Ben asked politely, to avoid that word, like the girl did. She nodded and looked down again with a little sniffle. She seemed to be embarrassed of that fact, but why she would be; to behave more human than vampire, Ben could not fathom. She should feel pride in keeping her humanity and not succumb to the monster that she was made into.
She still hadn’t lifted her head again and kept quiet. Perhaps waiting for him to continue. “So... you ask every time?” Ben asked softly, afraid he would disrupt this fragile balance between them. She nodded to his question and Ben noticed that she was shivering. Perhaps it wasn’t embarrassments to her acting human, but her being a monster. Living with a humans continence but a vampires hunger, Ben couldn’t imagine many people would let her...
“Are you hungry miss”? This time she nodded urgently, but still didn’t look up. Ben pauses and stroke his thumb over her cold hand. Poor, brave thing, Ben mused. She could have overpowered him in seconds and still she hadn’t. Clinging desperately to her humanity. “Would you like to feed on me”. Ben almost didn’t finish his sentence before she looked up, tears streaming down her face and choked out a thankful “yes” that sounded more like a sob than anything else.
His heart broke for her, he couldn’t imagine what she had been going though. Ben slowly took one hand away from hers and raised it up to remove his clerical collar. Ben placed the white slip of plastic behind him on the bench and moved his hand up to unbutton the top of his cassock. All done very slowly to not frighten her with sudden movements.
The young girl looked so hopeful, so unbelievably relieved when Ben tilted his head to the side. She looked at his exposed neck, licking her lips nervously and then back into his eyes seeking permission. He gave her a small smile, nodded and closed his eyes.
Rey swallowed, sat up on her knees and leaned in. Her fangs emerged, hesitating a second more to take in his body language; it was completely relaxed and trustingly waiting for her to bite him. Her fangs sank into his warm flesh and a rush of ecstasy roared through her body. The sweet taste of sustenance filled down her throat and she moaned softly, while her fingers clenched the priestly robe to draw herself closer to his solid chest.
Ben tried not to blush at the sweet, little moans coming from her. Not only was she beautiful, but she wasn’t like any vampire he had ever imagined would be like. He had excepted her to entice him with her looks and then attack him to feed when he let his guard down. Instead she had crumbled when asked about her ‘rare nutritional diet’.
Ben listened to her sounds and let his mind drift. Unthinking, he lifted a hand to stroke her hair. She purred happily before he realized just what he had done to conjure that sound. He stilled his hand, taking stock of the situation, but when she whines and pulled his robes, Ben relaxed and continued to stroke her hair.
Perhaps next time he should be more careful, Ben though. He hadn’t even thought about the consequences for touching her while she fed. For all he knew, touching her out of nowhere while feeding could have the same dangerous effect as trying to pet a lioness during feeding time. Not very thoughtful, Ben chided himself.
Ben took a relaxing breath and could smell the scent of rain on her. Ben frowned. Now that he thought about it, was her hair also still wet. It just hit him that they both were completely soaked through from being outside. When she was done feeding, he would suggest her a warm bath and some borrowed clothes. Perhaps she would like to sleep in the basement during the day. Well, if she wanted to stay for the day of cause. Ben didn’t know what most normal people did, let alone what vampires did.
Rey felt relaxed and almost full, when she felt his pulse slowly drop. She learned that the hard way, how one should always be mindful of how much blood humans could be without. Her bag with the normal juice boxes was most likely still in the alley where she met the hunter, but seeing as they were in a church, Rey was confident that she could find the kind priest something to drink. Alter whine if all else failed.
The girl only nibbled on the wound now and then pulled away. She gave him a tight lipped smile, most likely to hide her teeth stained with blood. It would probably be a frightful sight if not for the fact that he felt completely safe with the little vampire. “Thank you Ben. I regret that I lost my bag with bandages and juice in it, but if you wouldn’t mind, I’d be happy to find some for you”.
Ben smiled and stood, determined to be a good hosts and find it plus some dry clothes for both of them. He didn’t get further than up and then tilted back, his large body slammed back onto the wooden bench. The girl reached out for him panicked and grabbed his sides to steady him. “I’m so sorry” she burst out.
Ben frowned a her outburst and looked at her. Her beautiful, smiling face was contoured into misery and hurt. “I’m so sorry” she repeated. “Please don’t move. I... I...” her lips quivered and her eyes started to shine with tears. Ben panicked and grabbed out to hold her cheeks in his hands. “Hey. Hey, listen, it’s not your fault. I should have listened when you told me to stay put. It’s not your fault, okay”.
Ben looked into her shining eyes. She was so fragile and all he wanted was to hug her and never let her go. He never felt this protective about anyone. It was silly really, Ben knew that. Especially seeing as she was much stronger than him... or at least he thought she was. She still hadn’t used any vampire-super-human-strength on him, so really he was just going by the books and movies at this point.
The girl looked somewhat nullified by his words, though still a bit weary. “You sure?” she implored him. Ben smiled reassuringly “yes I am. I promise you. I have been busy working inside for hours now so I might have forgotten to hydrate myself.” Ben sat up straight “how about this. We wait a bit, after your professional advice, how long it takes before I can stand and we go find something together. I’ll even bury my pride and let you catch me should I fall”.
Rey was all lean muscles before she was turned and now she could easily carry him bridal-style up the stairs if need be. That mental image and what he joked about his pride, nearly made Rey doubled over giggling. Ben looked at her like he suddenly remembered something. “So, let’s try this again. Hi, I’m Ben” and held out his hand. She beamed at him and took his hand. “I’m Rey.”
...
With the blood loss and no fluids replenished in his body, Ben ended up with his promise upheld and leaned on Rey’s shoulder the whole way up to the kitchen. Rey found the light switch right away and Ben had to wonder if there was something about the ‘fact’ that vampires could see in the dark or she simply had a good intuition for light switches placed in weird places. A few clicks without anything happening Ben realized that Rey still tried to turn on the light. “Don’t bother” he smiled at where her face would be, his eyes still not adjusting to the darkness. “It’s only half my church that there’s light in”. Rey hummed and placed him down onto a chair. “Luckily the fridge and oven still works though”.
Rey took out a pincher and showed it to Ben, silently asking if that one was okay. “That’s fine; it’s lemonade. It’s freshly made by the way, you want some?” Ben winched right after he asked. Rey just smiled and walked to the shelve with glasses and poured him a glass. Standing sentry in front of him, she looked at him. “Sooo, why aren’t your lights fixed?” She asked politely.
Ben shook his head, smiling bitterly and gulped half a glass down right away. “That, my dear, is the eternal fight between me and my nemesis: the electric... thingie in the basement.” Rey lifted an eyebrow and crooked her head to the side “electric thingie?? Oh, you mean a fuse box?” Rey said with an eagerness he couldn’t place. “Yes I believe so, but before you say it’s easy: there is a ton of old wires hanging loose left and right and it’s not just changing a fuse” he sighed defeated. “Lets just say it has won more times than I care to admit”.
The little vampire stood tall and proud in the dark kitchen with her hands firmly placed on her hips. “Well, I can fix it” she stated with fiery passion. He frowned, “you can?” It would be wonderful to not have to work with paperwork and laptop on a church bench, where his parishioners normally sat every Sunday, or on the floor in the narrow hallway where the light was still working as well. His back had been killing him for the past week.
Once he even tried to sit in the basement to work but even if the light still worked there, it was still too dark for reading in the large basement (and a bit creepy, not that he would ever admit to that). But lights out or not, that would not stop Ben Solo with all his other projects in the church. His church was falling apart and he had to fix this ol’ gal’ up in tip top shape for all her parishioners to enjoy.
“Well, alright” Ben poured another glass and drank it down just to be sure he wouldn’t pass out as they would venture down to the basement again. He wasn’t sure his pride could survive her outright carrying him. Looking at her form, he realized once again that they both was in wet clothes. “Uhm, how about we get you some dry clothes first. Perhaps a warm bath? I don’t want you to get sick.”
Rey shook her hands in front of herself “oh , it’s sweet of you but I don’t get sick.” She looked like she thought it over. “Though getting cleaned up and having some dry clothes on does sound nice. You think you can wait a bit with the wires”? Ben smiled and nodded “of cause, then I can find you some blankets and a mattress” he looked at her thoughtfully “you do still sleep, don’t you?” Rey’s face lit up. “Yes... you’re letting me stay?”
Ben’s chest clenched at her happiness for such a small gesture and he stood slowly, making sure he could balance himself again. “Of cause I’m letting you stay, Rey”. He looked at her with sincerity. “You can stay for as long as you like”. He didn’t manage to see her reaction before Rey nearly toppled him over with a tight hug. Mumbling ‘thankyouthankyouthankyou’ into his still damp robe.
He placed his arms around her, hugging her just as tightly back. Luke had always refrained from most psychical touches outside their own family, except a firm handshake to greet parishioners every Sunday morning. It ‘could send the wrong message and bring thoughts of intimacy’ his uncle once said. Of cause back then Ben though his uncle to be just too paranoid, but now... having Rey’s small body tugged into his embrace, Ben could definitely see how it could send an entirely wrong picture. A picture clear as day that now lingered in his mind.
Clearing his throat, Ben reluctantly let her go. Rey stepped away and he could see the outline of her smile. They walked out into the lit hallway to the back of the church, to his living quarters. He spotted Rey keeping an eye out for him, should he stumble and fall. This time however it went a lot better, luckily for Ben’s wounded pride. When they entered his bedroom both of them kept a bit of distance to each other. Both of them eying the queen sized bed nervously. Ben never thought of taking a wife and his wild youth has been years behind him, but having Rey here was... distracting to say the least.
Towels and clothes were found quickly to distract his stupid brain and Ben hoped Rey wouldn’t notice. He gave her a T-shirt and one of his pair of training pants with a string. That would have to suffice for now he hoped. Rey said she lost her bag on her run to escape, so Ben only imagined it would mean clothes as well. He thought of the small clothing store in town. Surely they had something of use and he could surprise Rey tomorrow night once the sun went down.
Distracted by his musings, he hears Rey clearing her throat next to him. She looked slightly amused, her face bathed in the light from the hallway. “Sorry” Ben said embarrassed. He quickly gave her the small pile of fabrics and she looked to the small bathroom and frowned. “You go first” nodding her head in the direction of the shower. Before he could argue, she continued with a small smile “I can’t get sick, but you can”. Oh, he hadn’t even thought about that.
...
A quick bath taking in turns and a few more shy looks when she gave him her wet clothes through the small opening of the door so it all could be tossed into the dryer. Ben found his old mattress he uses on visits, while Rey used the shower and a spare toothbrush. He smiled remising. Ben couldn’t believe Luke had saved that old thing for so long. Well, it would do just fine for now.
He placed it next to the door, waiting patiently till Rey was done and dressed and then they could both go down there and get her settled in for the night. Despite her strong vampire body, something told him that abandoning her while she wasn’t looking would not be received calmly. Ben couldn’t even imagine how she must have lived life. Turned into something she clearly didn’t want to be; on the run; he could see it in her eyes, she was so lonely.
The shower stopped running and moments later Rey emerged. She looked so small and adorable in the oversized clothes. She had to fold up the length of the pants and she was swimming in his T-shirt. “Ready to see your new bedroom” he asked with a smile. Rey smiled and gave him a curt nod “yep”.
Of cause the little firecracker had insisted on lifting the mattress. Ben had let her and walked behind her, amused with her borrowed blankets and pillow in his arms. He noticed how she almost bounced along the hallway and down the stairs. Happy to help and to be able to stay. ‘Will you let me stay’ she had asked. Of cause I would, sweetheart, Ben though to himself and smiled.
...
Despite the hordes of old church benches and a ton of other various items taking up space beneath the old church, the basement still had more than enough space to make a small area for Rey. Ben’s mind already running thirty miles per hour, having ideas on a new bed for her, making sure the basement door to the outside would be either closed off or having to build an extra wall inside so sunlight would never touch her, should the door by mistake get opened during the day.
Rey walked around, looking for a spot to call her own, she turned and asked about a few things. Ben knew how every item down here came from, what they used to plan with them and what items were most likely never to see the light of day again. Rey had smiled sadly “just like me” and looked at him with those big, sad eyes. He placed her linens on a church bench and took the mattress off her, tilting it against the benches. Then he drew her into a hug. “I will be right here with you, Sweetheart”.
Rey squeezed him tighter and nodded into his chest. They stood there for a long time, silently embracing each other. When they finally parted, he could she had a tear running down her cheek. He thumbed it away and stroke her cheek. “I’ll be right here. No one knows you’re here, right”. Rey sighed relieved “no, no one knows. I don’t think they even saw me turn towards the harbor when they...”. He hugged her again. “Hey, shhh. It’s okay. It will be okay, Rey”.
Ben looked past her, trying to figure this out. She clearly had trouble being left alone and he couldn’t really blame her. He took a deep breath. “Rey”. He waited a bit. “Yes?” She sounded meek and scared. Okay, this solution could go sideways if she doubted his intentions. Ben cleared his throat “would you... would you like me to stay with you”? Her quick nodding into his chest and her blushing tip of her ears shouldn’t make him smile as much as it did.
They made another trip to gather more blankets when there wasn’t another mattress to be found. Rey had blushed and asked if Ben as a priest was still okay. She tried to seem like it was okay to leave her alone down there but he waved it away with “it’s not like I haven’t been intimate in my wild youth. Lying fully clothed is completely fine, even if we should be a little squished”.
They took his phone, some crackers and water for Ben, his bible and a few books in case one or the other woke and didn’t want to wake the other. Rey had quickly build a small nest of the few materials they had, while Ben double and triple checked that the door to the outside was locked.
Rey smiled and started to tug in for the remainder of the night. Ben laying down next to her, glad they took his thick duvet down as well. It was chilly but not enough that he worried he would get sick. Not that it mattered. He wouldn’t leave Rey alone, no matter what would happen to him.
They tried to settle down, shuffling around and burying into duvet and blankets, but the mattress was simply too small. Rey sighed and Ben suddenly felt afraid that she would insist that he should go back to bed to get proper sleep. They laid on their sides, facing each other. The soft light from the old light bulbs along the wall letting Ben see all the emotions painted clearly on her face. rejection, fear, loneliness.
“Rey, do you trust me”? Ben whispered. Hope shined in her eyes while she nodded slowly. “Let’s get some sleep, okay”. She frowned and for a moment was about to ask, when Ben laid down, tugged her body to him and folded his duvet over her body as well. He could feel her smile against his chest and felt her body finally relax. “Okay. Goodnight Ben” she whispered. “Goodnight...” he answered softly, a smile tugging on his lips as he kissed her hair. “Sweetheart”.