Colin's posts

"....is that so." Vito responded after a moment.

"Well, that IS certainly good news." he commented.

"All right. I can get there, and do it quickly." he told her.

"Now... I do have a few questions." he then said further.

"What sort of book am I looking for? Any... special or notable physical characteristics?" he asked her. "And what do I do when I find it?" he inquired.

"The hospital is under quarantine, and that's where ground zero is, right?"

"....I don't know." Darrel replied.

"I... wish I did." he said.

"But nobody's talked to him for a while." he sighed.

"Well... odds are Vicki has." he then said.

"But... she's unreachable right now." he lamented.

"Damn." he murmured.

Darrel watched her go, and then sighed.

"Sorry if I scared you, Sammy." he apologized.

"But I had to keep that burst of panic in check. Otherwise things could have gotten violent." he told her.

"But... but it's fine. I'm fine." he assured her.

"I should finish that smoothie to keep it that way, though..." he then added.

"......your sense of taste..." Darrel said quietly.

"And Lily's suffered the same fate as Luke?" he asked further.

"Oh... dear." he said.

"That must be... stressful, to massively understate it." he muttered.

"Well... I mean... I won't keep you any longer." he then said.

"If there's anything we can do, please let us know."

"............" Darrel was silent as he heard that.

"Uhhh.... hm." he mumbled.

"I... I see." he said.

"Actually, I don't." he admitted. "I'll need to think about it." he told her.

"Anyway, if you're headed out, go on and do so." he then said.

"We'll talk to you later."

Darrel nodded in response.

"All right." he replied.

"We'll do that." he told her.

"In the meantime, just... take care of yourself." he said, before pausing.

"Wait..." he mumbled.

"You haven't been affected by this magic yet?" he asked her.

"Kelly." Darrel said.

"Thanks." he said again.

"Seriously. This is wonderful. I can feel myself calming down, still." he told her.

"I'll be sure to finish this smoothie, as well." he went on.

"And it tastes really nice." he added.

Darrel just sighed heavily.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." he said.

"I'm feeling better than before. Much better." he told her, as he got into the chair again.

"Seriously, I'm all right, Sammy." he then assured Samantha.

"I wasn't poisoned or anything. I'm just fine." he said further.

"Thank you, Kelly." he then said to Kelly.

"Ah... ah..." Darrel stammered.

"N... n-no..." he said, before pausing again.

He then let out... a whisper-scream, was the best way to explain it. Both Sammy and Kelly could hear the strain and the panic and the pain in the noise, but the decibel level was barely over a whisper.

He then started breathing heavily for a few seconds, before exhaling loudly.

"Right." he said.

"Sorry... if I freaked... you out." he told them.

"My vampire side apparently... tried to have a massive freakout... before it calmed down."

Darrel was silent for a moment, before quickly setting the smoothie down. Once he did, his eyes widened and his pupils shrank, before he stumbled back a little.

"Ah... I..." he stammered.

"Stay back! Both of you!" he warned the two females.

"Something's happening inside me!" he told them further.

With that, he fell to his knees and grabbed at his hair, as though he had a massive headache.

Darrel looked at the food, before taking a bite of the mac and cheese.

"Yep." he said.

"Tastes absolutely wonderful." he told her.

"Which is why this is so... weird and unnerving. Generally, when your sense of smell is on the wonk, it affects your sense of taste. But my taste is still just fine. As this mac and cheese proves." he continued.

"By the way, love the addition of the sage in it." he told Kelly.

With that, he grabbed the smoothie, and took a drink of it. He held it in his mouth a bit, seemed to freeze for a moment, and then swallowed it quickly.

Darrel looked at the smoothie, and quirked an eyebrow.

"Really." he said.

"Huh." he muttered.

"Well, I've never been one to avoid taking unnecessary risks." he chuckled.

"Besides, half of me REALLY needs to calm down." he went on.

"The longer I try to ignore it, the worse it'll get when it inevitably gets too strong." he sighed.

"And I'm sure this all smells delightful." he then added, a bit of sadness to his tone.

Darrel just smiled softly.

"And without you, I'd go insane." he told her.

"Insane with paranoia, anyway." he said.

"You're pretty much what's keeping me as level as I am." he went on.

"You mean so much to me."

"Oh yes." Darrel agreed.

He then sighed, and shook his head.

"Man... this is tense." he muttered.

"But at least we have each other right now." he told her.

"And I'm not going anywhere, anytime soon." he assured Sammy.