Desjardins Family Farms One thing about living in Ridgefield I never could stomach; all the damn vampires

After this
cw: some PTSD feelings

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It took Catriona forty-five minutes to get home at this time of night. It was better than her commute in the morning and at rush hour, so she’d take it. Her conversation with Ronny about his vampire friend rolled around in her mind during the drive back to Hollowstone. She had made sure to text Liam when she first got back to the car to let him know she was on her way. Just… just in case?

She still felt uneasy as she mulled over what she had to speak to Liam about. When she did find herself driving down familiar dark roads the closer she got to the farm, she felt unsettled again. Couldn’t help but think back on unfortunate events that had happened in the woods south of the Ridgefield county border. How the trees along the road looked like those trees late at night. She tried not to dwell on it while driving. Thought about the fact that Liam would be home when she arrived. That everything was okay. Better than okay.

She was glad Ronny had been open and honest with her about his friend. It meant a lot that he trusted her too, even if it was uncomfortable to talk about the subject with her. They’d gotten past it and talked about other things, of course. But she still appreciated it, and she was trying her best to have an open mind as she neared the farm. It wasn’t just her safety and comfort she had to think about here, however.

As she pulled up to park in front of the big house, Catriona shut off the engine and sat in her feelings for another moment. Oddly a little fearful of stepping outside the vehicle. She took a breath, shoved her binders and laptop into her satchel and slipped it over her shoulder. Another breath. She could do this? She could do the very familiar, very comforting walk toward the house. It wasn’t that far! She felt silly. She was a grown woman, not a child trying to turn off the light and jump into bed as quickly as possible. No monsters were going to attack her. Not here. Not now. Ugh. Silly.

Cat opened the door and let her boots fall onto the gravel, taking a moment to adjust the strap over her shoulder before she locked the car. Then made her way calmly - slowly - toward the front door. She could hear the crickets in the field. The stars shone overhead. There was nothing to be afraid of here.

As she stepped into the home, Catriona untied her boots and hung up her jacket, placed her bag at the door for now. She locked the door behind her and took another breath. She was home and nothing bad had happened. It was much better to know about a vampire ahead of time than not. It wasn’t like she could avoid them all forever, not if her friends were friends with them. She couldn’t help but think of her conversations with Wallace either.

Catriona heard movement behind her and turned to see Rabbit, his tail wagging in his excitement. She crouched to greet the puppy with pets and kissed his forehead. Whispered her hellos, not wanting to wake anyone up. She hoped Liam was in bed, that he didn’t wait up for her but there was also a part of her that really hoped he was still awake. She turned her head in time to see the love of her life joining them in the hallway. Catriona smiled at the sight of him, relieved to be home, to be here with him.

"Hi," She said softly as she stood up, giving Rabbit a few more pets before she stepped toward Liam to wrap her arms around him. Needing a moment to just hold him and feel safe. To provide that safety, too. There was nothing quite like coming home to greet him at the end of the day. Even when her head felt heavy.

It wasn’t that the day hadn’t been draining; most of them were during harvest season, especially with festival preparation; but he just didn’t feel right going to bed without Cat home. A combination of wanting to be able to properly greet her when she arrived, and a suppressed anxiety about her driving the dark county roads. He’d stopped being so sure of their safety after that night with Kayce.

So he stayed up for her on the couch, definitely not dozing with Rabbit’s head in his lap.

The dog perked up at the sound of the door unlocking, and Liam smiled to himself as he leaped down and hurried to be the first to greet his mama. Liam followed shortly after, slower and a bit sore from the day’s work, but just as enthused to see Cat in the doorway. Even after a long day, she still looked incredible.

He opened his arms to her as she approached, pulled her close. Let his shoulders relax and his head droop so he could press a kiss to the top of her head. “Hi.” He said into her hair after a moment, ”How was your day? Ronny?” He added, pulling back a bit to look fondly down at her.

Catriona squeezed his back lightly, not really wanting to let go for a few more moments. She'd rather stay here, head pressed against his shoulder as he spoke softly into her hair. As he pulled back to look at her, she looked back at him and smiled a little. The question should have been easy to answer. Nothing had happened, after all! But it was hard to shake the feelings after their chat. Ronny had been so supportive and understanding that she knew whatever conclusion they came to, he would accept but it still unnerved her to talk about it.

"My day was good. Ronny is good. He's excited about the festival." Her smile remained but there was a slight pull of her brows together as she looked at a spot on the wall beyond Liam for a moment. Then her gaze flicked back to him and she rubbed his back gently.

"How was your day?" There was more to say but it could wait till morning, if needed. She also needed a moment to exist in normalcy. To not immediately jump to a discussion about vampires.

The good news was he was in absolutely zero rush to let her go. They could stand here all night if she needed them to.

Her day was good, and Ronny too. Excitement for the festival that he could already tell would be drawing a lot more people out to the farms this year. It took more work to make sure things were prepared for it, but he didn’t mind when he could tell it made Cat so excited.

Though the typical gleam in her eye she got when they talked about the festival wasn’t there tonight. She was smiling, but there was distance. Maybe it was just that she was tired from the day and the drive.

Before he could ask, she prompted him, and he pulled in a slow breath as he recounted all he’d done since sunrise. There was… a lot, one of those days that you just sort of put behind you so that you didn’t dwell on how exhausting it was.

“Long, but productive. I made progress on the maze.” A slow process he’d been taking in small chunks, mapping out a new part of the maze each day and bringing the tractor through. He’d gotten it almost finished, but he still needed to take a smaller mower through and refine the path. They still had time.

He ran a palm down her back, “You alright? Need anything from the kitchen?” Tired as he was, he didn’t want to rush her up to bed. They could decompress downstairs for a bit, and chat more about their days.

Long but productive. She had no doubt he'd spent the majority of the day hard at work. With the harvest and the festival, there was a lot to be done. She wondered if her help on weekends was enough, then quietly reminded herself that he had people helping. He would have asked for more help, if he needed it.

Still, she admired how much he was able to do. Hoped he took breaks in between it all. She rubbed his back some more and smiled fondly up at him just as he asked her if she was alright.

"It's alright," She said softly regarding needing anything from the kitchen. "Ronny and I just had a chat about something that brought up some old stuff for me tonight."

Okay, if she kept on with her rubbing of his back, maybe he couldn’t keep standing here. The soothing touch could absolutely put him to sleep.

It seemed she was ready to retire upstairs anyway, but it came with the heaviness of an apparently hard conversation. Brows lowering, he searched her face a bit more, “Yeah? You want to talk about it?” He questioned gently. It was just as well if she wanted to sleep on it and wait for morning.

Catriona could wait till morning. Could let herself sleep on it and maybe talk without feeling as deeply about it. But he offered and maybe it would be better to get it all out now. It just wasn't fun to talk about. For either of them probably.

"Aye, think so." She offered a small smile as her brows pulled together. "I'm still kind of feeling a little uneasy from it." She took another breath. "It's about, um, vampires." She said quietly, figuring they should probably go sit down somewhere to talk it out. "Nothing happened, just. Aye." In case he jumped to any conclusions that they'd had a run-in with a vampire or something.

She did, and Liam was ready to listen, no matter how heavy the subject was. Which, it turned out, was rather heavy. He could deny the raised hairs on his arms at the mention of vampires, triggered by her past experiences and Kayce’s attack. To say the idea of them made him uneasy would be fair, even if he didn’t have it in him to be outright adverse.

She and Ronny must have spoken about some of the things she’d gone through tonight. Maybe he had his own story, too. Nothing happened this evening, but recalling harmful events could still be upsetting.

Liam ran another soothing hand down Cat’s spine as he nodded, kissed her forehead, then made space enough to grab her hand. “Come sit.” He bid, moving backward to lead her into the living room, figuring she’d tell him if she wanted to go upstairs and get comfortable first.

His touch really did a lot to soothe her nerves. Her eyes closed briefly as he kissed her forehead, then she looked back at him and took his hand in hers. Gave it a light, appreciative squeeze. It was hard to talk about these things but it was made easier knowing she was talking to Liam about it. He would probably never judge her for what she had to say about vampires, or at least he'd be understanding and supportive.

She followed him to the living room and had a seat on the couch beside him, aiming to let them both get comfortable first. There was some older part of her brain that needed to put a bit of distance between them in order to talk about it. To clinically map out how she was feeling without letting it get to her. She ignored it. Took comfort and solace in the fact that Liam was there beside her. That he was safe. She wrapped an arm over his middle and pulled her legs up on the couch.

"Ronny was talking about practicing magic with his friend, um. He's a vampire." She took a breath. "I discussed my, um, discomfort with vampires a bit, and he understood. Mentioned that this friend is really, uh. Trustworthy. That he, um, invited him to the festival before he knew I had such strong feelings about vampires."

They retired to the couch, Rabbit on their heels, and settled in. Liam wrapped one arm behind her head and draped it over the back of the couch, the other hand resting on one of her knees.

Listened carefully as Cat elaborated on what she and Ronny had discussed at dinner. It wasn’t exactly what he’d expected, honestly. Ronny had a friend who was a vampire. One he was close enough to that he felt comfortable practicing magic with. Oh!

It wasn’t that Liam assumed that every vampire was some ancient, socially distant being, but somehow it just felt surprising to hear that Ronny was casual friends with one. Trusted him implicitly, apparently. Enough that he’d invited him to the festival before he’d known how Cat would react.

Liam didn’t blame Ronny for not knowing, and in fact appreciated how open he’d been about telling her. He didn’t think Ronny was out to make Cat uncomfortable nor did he seem like the kind of person that would judge someone else for their past traumatic experiences. It just made things a little difficult. Awkward for Ronny and clearly unsettling for Cat.

In terms of having a vampire on the property, well, Liam had put a bit of thought into it. They were throwing a public event that would operate well into the night, with an open invitation to any and all who wished to come.

Could they have made a statement about vampires not being welcome? Yes, of course, but there were a handful of reasons he hadn’t felt right about it. Namely, he didn’t want to potentially anger a vampire and inspire them to come out of spite and cause mischief. Second of all, unless they had someone posted at the gates and even patrolling around the property, it wasn’t likely they’d even be able to spot a vampire from the rest of the crowd all night.

They simply couldn’t realistically stop it from happening. All they really could do was keep their eyes and ears peeled, and be ready to intervene if they noticed anything suspicious happening.

Thus there came the moral dilemma that made this whole scenario with Ronny’s friend the hardest to navigate. To deny every vampire was to make a clear statement that none could be trusted, based on the actions of a handful that had done bad. And while those that had victimized Cat and Kayce would never be forgivable or welcome on the farms, he couldn’t in good faith apply that sentiment to every single one.

The trouble was being able to discern which could be trusted and which couldn’t. Ronny trusted this vampire enough to call him a friend, to be vulnerable with practicing magic, and even invite him to an event where he knew there would be all sorts of people; psychics, Weres and children; present. Liam didn’t think that Ronny would take the safety of anyone else lightly.

There were a lot of conflicting feelings about it, but Liam knew that whatever he was feeling, Cat must be feeling it ten times over. Ronny was her friend and pact mate, and surely she didn’t want to hurt Ronny’s feelings. But she’d been through so much, and those experiences weren’t ones she could easily look past no matter how much she trusted Ronny. Ultimately, it mattered to him how Cat felt about it before he could make a definitive judgement.

He considered all of this within a quiet moment, drumming his fingers on her knee to make it clear he wasn’t ignoring her, just thinking.

“How do you feel about it?” He asked gently, “Do you want him to take the invite back?”

cw: thoughts regarding consent and vampires

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Catriona frowned a little thoughtfully, taking it in and how she felt about it. She couldn't help but immediately think the worst possible scenario, even about this trusted friend. He still fed off people to survive. Hopefully, with, uh, consent. But how consensual could a feeding ever be when the other person could kill you so-

Nope. Ronny's friend was not the same vampire in the woods. Probably. That guy had looked young. Too young, really. But Ronny probably wasn't hanging out with a teenage vampire.

She appreciated Liam's question in this moment. That he was open to having this discussion. Catriona didn't want there to be awkwardness with Ronny. She didn't want him to have to hide his vampire friend from her. But she still felt bad about it. Not enough to say yes to Liam's question, however. She didn't think she wanted him to take back his invite

"I don't... I don't think so?" Her brow furrowed. "I feel weird about it mostly. Uneasy. Like my brain keeps jumping to worst case scenarios but it's not like we can really stop people from attending either?" That felt... wrong. It wasn't a private event.

"And if Ronny trusts him, and I trust Ronny, then I should also trust this vampire, right?" Like logically? Ronny was vouching for him and that meant something too. Catriona wanted to know what Liam felt about it too, and she looked back up at him, wondering what he might have to say. Weirdly nervous but getting through it.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to make Ronny rescind the invitation, and Liam found himself in agreement there. Despite the discomfort surrounding vampires and their potential to cause harm, it didn’t seem right to bar someone specifically from coming on the basis of knowing before hand that they were a vampire.

Still, the worst case scenarios were very real, and very scary. Vampires were capable of a lot of harm, both physically and psychologically.

“I don’t think Ronny would invite someone he thought could ever be a danger.” He agreed. ”I’m sure he knows what sort of threat some vampires could be.” He added, not doubting that Ronny was well informed. Even if he hadn’t been aware of the sort of experienced Cat had been through, there were plenty accounts of attacks on the news, and general knowledge that was available.

It came down to trusting Ronny, which he did without any doubt.

“Do you think it would help to meet his friend beforehand?”

Catriona nodded as Liam reaffirmed her train of thought. That Ronny knew what was up with vampires. Knew they could be dangerous and trusted his friend. It was... it was supposed to be reassuring. It should set her mind at ease. But she, uh, couldn't help but linger on moments she remembered and would rather forget and moments she forgot because someone made her forget. Couldn't help but think of Kayce too. Would he want to know in advance? It was a public event, Cat. Anyone could go. People who were probably far worse than a trusted vampire. So.

Hopefully not? But.

"I'm not sure." She replied quietly. "Would you, um, prefer that?" She asked, wanting his feelings on meeting a vampire. Was that something Liam was comfortable with? Catriona had had many interactions with vampires, especially before her attacks. Her thoughts drifted to Bird. Kesi. Those interactions had been... okay?

She didn’t know. The idea must be terrifying for her, even if she would be meeting someone Ronny vouched for. The things she’d been through weren’t that easy to forget. In his humble opinion, she was being incredibly brave by even considering it. Her prejudices didn’t stem from hatred, but fear, and her willingness to take Ronny’s word on this was a huge show of strength.


As for himself, Liam shrugged one shoulder, head tilting as he considered it. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a vampire.” He observed. At least not knowingly. “I’ve only heard the bad things. But I want to believe that the people who hurt you and Kayce aren’t part of the majority.” Because believing that there was an entire species of supernaturals out there that existed on a razor’s edge between control and bloodlust was a terrifying thought. It was scary enough to make him never want to let anyone he loved out of his sight after sundown, and to shut the gates to the farms forever. He didn’t want to live like that.

“I just want you to be comfortable.” Ultimately Cat would always be his main concern. Her safety and comfort were one of his highest priorities, especially within her own home. “If you’d rather just trust Ronny’s word but keep your distance then that’s alright, too.” He decided. It had to be up to her, in the end, and he’d follow suit.

He'd never met one, not knowingly at the very least. Catriona nodded thoughtfully as he considered it, as he remained to have the most open heart of anyone she knew. It was admirable and something she found she... well, she wanted to have too, ultimately. It was just a little harder to not want to lump all vampires in one category these days. To not let her fears get ahead of her. Thought of Asha's baby shower and how that went down. Thought of the vampire she'd run into at her favourite drive-in. There were a lot of vampires in Ridgefield. At least, it felt that way. She couldn't avoid them all forever. God, what would Wallace think of her for even considering it?

Her attention focused back on Liam, who just wanted her to be comfortable and reassured her that keeping her distance was alright too. Would this friend even want to meet her if he knew she had reservations? Her lips pulled downward in a small frown and she gently squeezed Liam's side in her hand. She wanted to rest her head on his shoulder but she refrained for now. Instead, she let herself sit in the uncomfortable emotions.

"I could ask Ronny if his friend would be open to meeting us." If Liam wanted to be there? As much as she preferred to just avoid vampires, she couldn't do so forever if he was a good friend of her pactmate's. He was important to Ronny and that meant something.