200

Doug: 200
I’m going to show off my geek here. Stargate SG-1’s 200th episode was the main characters all sitting around making inside jokes and reminiscing. I thoroughly enjoyed it, being an SG-1/sci-fi geek. Anyone not in on the joke was probably really bored. But screw them. They’re not in on the joke.
That’s pretty much how I feel about this two hundredth blog. We started this thing for a couple different reasons. Keep in touch, post our writing, get closer to one another, because we’re all close friends, and a million other reasons, stated and otherwise. Over the last year and some change we’ve managed to post a novel’s worth of blogs about everything from the indiscriminate slaughter of annoying roommates to true love to requiems for those we’ve lost.
We’ve changed. Like the stars we’ve drifted a little, gravity and motion pulling us apart. This blog has seen darkest moments, greatest victories. Funny stories and bitter loss. I have seen more of the soul of The Fearsome Fivesome than I ever thought I would. I have learned things about my best friends that I would never have had the privilege of knowing without this medium. So, even though the bodies drift apart, the bonds between us remain strong.
This is a grand experiment. I am proud to have been a part of it, and to remain a part of it. I do not know where this is going. I know not what adventures await us in the future. I do know that the Curse of Heron Lake will inevitably drag me back there. I know that the origin story of Abe and Doug will be continued. I know that Sarah will undoubtedly speak of the mysteries of Love. And I know that Jasmine will eventually find the road to Immortality, and share it with all of us.
For now though, this is our Immortality, this Fivesome.
-Doug
“It was a beautiful day
Don't let it get away”
“Beautiful Day” U2


Abe:200

Doug. You've done a fantastic job of summing things up. There is no way to express what all we've been through together. Science says every time you remember a memory, it fades just a little bit. Here's one way to make sure those memories never fade.

We will ride again. And soon.



Meghan: 200

“GOD DAMN IT DOUG!!!” I stomped into his throne room, practically giving of licks of flame in my rage. His attendants scuttled out of my way, crouched down in a bowing retreat.
Doug lounged on a huge, ornately carved throne. Luxurious furs draped over his shoulders and onto the floor. His hands lazily twisted apart a new weapon that had been brought to him.
“Meghan? What’s wrong?” he asked innocently.
I halted in front of his chair, baring my fangs in anger, “What’s wrong? You send an army into Quorbec and you ask me what’s WRONG!?”
He clicked ammunition into his new toy, “Oh relax, I was just playing with you.”
“That is not playing, the city is mine.”
“For now.”
I growled and placed my hands on the arms of his chair, leaning down inches away from his face.
“Don’t fuck with me.”
His mouth twitched, “But darling, that’s what we do.”
I grabbed the assembled weapon in his lap and slammed it across his face. It might have knocked the head clean off of a human man, but Doug’s face just showed the barest blush of red from the blow. He turned his face slowly back to look at me.
“Ow.” He said.
“Oh you baby, it’s only a—“ I stared down at the twisted metal in my hands, “a…metal bludgeoning thing.”
He made a strangled noise as he took the shattered weapon from me, “This was the newest in design from the central province! And you…” he stared at me with heartbroken eyes.
“Now we’re even?”
He stood up and glared down into my eyes, “We will never be even.”
I grinned at him, “Fine. Prepare to eat fire. Same stakes as usual?”
“Of course.”
“See you at the next summit meeting.”
He ran a hand through my hair, fingers catching on the random braids woven into it, and pulled me to him. I kissed him fiercely and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Eventually we broke for air, and I kissed him again lightly before walking back out of the room.
“See you later.”
“Are you going to see any of the others?” he called after me.
“Yes, I’m making the rounds.”
“Say hello for me will you, and…you know.”
“Of course.”
His attendants stood awkwardly in the background as I blew out of the room. They were used to the strange ways of their lord, but that didn’t mean they understood them.

“GOD DAMN IT JASMINE!!!”
Jasmine’s eyes rolled up to see me as I strode into her chambers, “Do you always have to enter that way?”
“I just like it.” My breath caught as I looked at her, or, more specifically, the thing in her arms.
His head lolled to the side, and the bindings that held him to the chair were probably the only things holding him upright. His shirt was torn into long ribbons and a delicate wound in his neck poured blood. Jasmine wore a mask of red that covered her jaw and neck, and dripped down her chest. Her hands stroked her victim gently, as if soothing him to sleep. My back was pressing against the wall before I even realized that I had backed up. My breathing deepened as I watched the blood drip slowly from his prone form.
I swallowed, “One of yours?”
Jasmine let him go and walked towards me, “A spy, a traitor. He was caught selling information to the States.”
She held her glistening hands out to me, “You want?”
I shuddered, but not from disgust, “You know how I get on blood, if you want him alive it’s not such a good idea.”
“It’s okay,” her red face hovered in front of mine, “I got what I needed from him.”
I pressed myself against the wall, “You’re sure?”
“Sure.” She slid a finger into my mouth.
The ecstasy of the taste is impossible to describe; rich wine, sweet berries, chocolate, nothing could compare. I quickly sucked her finger clean then picked her up and kissed her with a little growl. Her hands and body glided the blood over me, the smell driving me nearly insane. I licked and kissed along her jaw and neck, falling onto the bed with her. Small moans from beside the bed made me freeze and slowly turn my head in their direction. It was the man in the chair.
“Help me,” he whispered, “Please—“
“You really should have stayed quiet.” Jasmine said.
My eyes focused on him and my muscles tensed to spring. His eyes widened in fear and I was on him, falling forever into that sweet taste.

“Hey Abe.”
“Hey…Meghan?” His eyes narrowed suspiciously as he looked me over, “You didn’t break down my door and start yelling. What’s…?” He took in the relaxed posture of my limbs and the lazy cast to my eyes, “Oohhh…So you finally got some.”
I glared at him, “I have been getting some for a while now.”
“Not that,” he waved a hand, “The blood, I heard you were going cold turkey.”
I rubbed my arms uncomfortably, “No. Well, kind of. I just wanted to try it. I mean, we’re old enough now to go without right?”
“Right, technically, but you’re kind of irritating when you go without. It’s easier on the rest of us if you’d just feed.”
My mouth twitched as I recalled the number of times I had broken things in my friends’ homes since my fast began. Maybe he was right…
“Well Sarah—“
“Wait, Sarah put you up to it? I knew it, did you happen to visit her during your little time of self denial or were we the only ones who suffered?”
“Yeah I visited her. Hey, I do have free will you know, I can choose to go off it if I want to.”
He snorted and took a long pull from his cigar, the smoke circles he blew clearly telling me I had no idea what I was talking about.
I blew out a lungful of air and turned to leave, “Believe what you want. I’ll see you at the meeting next year. Oh and Doug wants to know if you want to start another war with the coastal countries, and Jasmine said to stop eating her human sacrifices. Ciao.”

I paused outside Sarah’s door, wondering if I should start breaking things to disguise my uncharacteristic good mood. In the end I decided against it, she would know that I had hopped off the wagon, even if I tried to hide it. I could only hope that she wouldn’t care too much. I walked silently through the trees of her forest, looking around for signs of life. I sort of knew where her home was, but the location seemed to always be changing. Finally the trees broke and I was walking on the edge of a sparkling lake. A family of swans trumpeted angrily at my arrival, just in case their master didn’t already know I was here. A castle loomed at the lake side but I kept walking, taking in the scenery, and knowing that I would run into Sarah eventually.
“MEGHAN!!!” I heard her tiny voice scream from very far away. I looked around, and was caught off guard when she slammed into me, carrying me several dozen feet before we stopped.
“It’s great to see you; you haven’t been by in forever, how are you?” She said in rapid succession.
“Can’t—breathe.” I choked out.
She snorted, not relaxing her grip an inch, “We don’t breathe dummy, you can’t get away that easily.” She proceeded to tow me in the direction of her castle, “Come on, we have to have tea.” I made a token effort to walk on my own, but was ignored as usual. We sipped from china that she set out in her kitchen herself. Having shunned the presence of humans for a while now, Sarah lived in her castle without the edible entourage that the rest of us kept around. Part of her abstaining thing; none of us really got it, but that was Sarah.
“So what are the rest up to?” she asked as I sipped the warm herbs and sighed in contentment.
“Oh the usual.” I felt a guilty drop in my stomach, “blood, mayhem, inter-city warfare.”
She sighed and set down her cup, “I know you’re off the wagon Meghan.”
“What? How?”
“I can smell it all over you,” She laughed, “Don’t worry; I’m not mad, just a little…disappointed.” I fidgeted in my seat like a guilty four year old, “I just wish there was another one like me, you know?” she said wistfully. And I did know; my vegetarian sister needed someone just for her. To live forever without someone to share your soul was a terrible thing. I couldn’t be her soul mate, but as her friend I should at least be able to not eat people with her.
“You…“ I cleared my throat cautiously, “you could turn someone to—“
“No.” She said sharply, “We’ve talked about that, it’s impossible, I can’t. I won’t.”
I pulled my hair back from my face in a gesture of frustration. She was lonely, but she wouldn’t bring anyone over to break the loneliness. It was an endless cycle that just ended in emotional turmoil and chocolate binges.
I sipped my tea again, then set the cup down with a click, “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do; I’m going to turn someone. There’s nothing you can do about it, I’m going to turn someone and sick him on you, so you might as well pick someone you like for me to turn so it won’t be too unpleasant.”
She made a face, “The others wouldn’t let you.”
I glared at her, “We’ll see.”
She sighed and looked dreamily into the air, running her fingers through her long brown hair and pulling out leaves that had interwoven into the strands.
“I’m waiting for him.” She announced after a pause.
I frowned, “Waiting for who?”
“For that person who is my other half, for the one I’m willing to kill for so that we can stay together. That’s who I’m waiting for. When I find that one, I’ll turn him.”
I blew out a breathe, “Honey, when was the last time you even saw a human?”
She blinked, “I saw one. A few years ago…maybe a couple decades? Not long.”
“Uh huh, so where is this magical man of yours going to come from?”
“Maybe he’ll wander in and…” She hesitated.
“And you’ll kill him on site because you can’t restrain yourself from the blood?”
Her lips twisted and she took another sip of tea.
I stood up and grabbed her wrist, catching the cup as it fell from her hand, “That’s it, we’re going out.”
She made a sound of alarm.
“Yes, out. No, you have no choice.”
She looked at me with terrified eyes, “Meghan, I can’t!” She clawed at my grip with the terror of a wild animal but I didn’t let go.
“You can learn to control it.” I said carefully, “You can learn to not drink.” She stopped clawing at me and eyed me suspiciously.
“A lot of time has passed since we were children, we’re not controlled by our thirst anymore.”
“It’s possible not to drink? To see them, touch them, talk with them and not kill them?”
I shrugged a shoulder up and down, “Yes. It tends to turn the abstainer in question into kind of a bitch, but it is possible. And with your control? I would bet on it.”
She smiled at me, the barest slip of teeth glinting from her lips, “All right then, let’s go.”
I linked my arm in hers and led her from the castle where she had spent the last half-century.


“A conclusion is simply the place where someone got tired of thinking.”

-Meghan


Sarah: 200

665 Days have past since Graduation

A Proposal – We all need to hang out. SERIOUSLY. Like, in person. I miss you guys. So however it happens; it needs to. Tis how I feel.

Tea and Love

For it has been said that love eludes us. It confuses us as a pleasant leash that leads us to different places in our hearts; joy, jealousy, pain, loneliness, contentment- are among the pit stops along the highway of life. They remind us that we are human and we are meant to feel. That we cannot help but feel. However, for all that has been said about love, we often find it where we aren't looking for it. We often expect it to be in a lover. But really most love isn't romantic. Its something better. For me its in a brother, a tea-lover, a cat woman, and a Jew.

I've found it in Meghan who will call, cry, and talk with me, sharing our feelings over carrot cake cupcakes and tea. Who can travel to Europe with me and put up with 200 clocked hours of the exact same Dashboard Confessional album. Who will shop with me for cute underwear and girlie things, destroying any resemblance of hesitation or shame I had about things I didn't understand. Lastly she is the best friend who never ever fails to rescue me from castle surrounded by a fire-breathing dragons that I've locked myself in.

I've found it in Doug, a brother who I ate white fresh baked Smith's bread in the cab of my truck, who was there for me through thick and thin, who made summer night trips to Hinkle, who screamed when he discovered tampons in my backpack our freshman year of high school (like a girl).

I've found it in Jasmine, who fights with me but also fights for me, who may occasionally bother me but never ever says anything less than the truth. She helps me focus my emotions instead of wallowing all out on my own. She shares secrets and listens to mine. We talk, and we laugh, and we miss "her people." We do it together.

I've found it in Abe, too, back in the day. Between the walks to the park, or Smiths, hanging with Doug at Hinkle, speech and debate (kicking his ass at impromptu btws), or the long phone conversations from his old prison, there was friendship. Even now, it may seem like we squabble, and there may be some deep hurt in both directions, but while we fight, I care.

Friendship. Its a love that we can understand, that we do have, and that is a bond we'll always share.

Sincerely,
With love,
Sarah

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. ~Elisabeth Foley

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer



Jasmine

“We're weird,” Meghan finished ladling the last of the gravy into the gravy boat and walked it to the table.

“Meh, weird is relative” I carried a tray of baked yams slathered in a brown sugar sauce topped with lightly toasted marshmallows. They were going to sit next to me even if I had to move someone’s green bean casserole, I wanted those yams.

“Explain.”

“Well, compared to some, like your brother, yes were very weird, but compared to others like Michael Jackson, not so weird.”

The table was large for five people. But we’d covered it with food. From one side to the other the only blank spaces were the empty plates in front of each chair. Doug and Abe were already sitting. I smiled at Abe and he narrowed his eyes at me knowing he would be doing dishes in a couple of hours. Doug was too distracted by the food he couldn’t touch yet to realize the danger he was in.

“Michael Jackson’s dead…” Doug looked up briefly from the gravy.

“Yes and one day you will be too.” Sarah had finished placing a napkin and was looking around for something else to put on the already overburdened table.

“That’s the spirit! One day we’ll all be dead and on Jasmine’s table.”

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the bird for being dead and on my table.” Everyone gazed longingly at the half carved golden bird of fat joy.

“Everything’s done. Let’s eat.”

“You sure?” Sarah hesitated.

“Yes. Put your ass in that chair so we can eat.”

She grudgingly sat, and then began to smile at the piles and piles of food.

“Do we say grace?” I asked no one in particular.

“No?”

“Ashes to ashes, dressing to dust, turkey turkey, we’ll eat till we bust, cause we hella want to.”

“Yes Abe, beautiful.” Doug was already reaching for the mashed potatoes.

A large spoon flew from Sarah’s hand smacking Doug’s hand out of the way. “What the hell Sarah, if you wanted them first you could have asked.”

“No, we have to say what were thankful for… it’s tradition.”

“Well I recently saw a show where they did that and then the father tried to kill everyone. So I’m okay with skipping that part.” I thought back to that episode of Dexter… god I need to get a life.

“No TV references for forty-eight hours, you promised.” Meghan looked as sad as I felt at my lack of life. “Now we have to start over again.” We’d been trying this particular game for almost a week now. But she hadn’t made it two days without mentioning Hera either so we were even.

“Forget the TV guys, this is tradition. Jasmine you go first”

I looked around the room making sure that this season’s killer wasn’t actually lurking behind the clock waiting for me not to mention him in my thanks so he could strangle me while my friends watched. He wasn’t there.

“I’m thankful to have you four. In my life I’ve never made many friends. I’ve met a lot a people and maybe liked a quarter of them, but many fewer than that have I ever managed to care about. Doug, Meghan, I love you, you are probably the two people in the world who know me the best, and you’re still there, so I guess that means something. Sarah, we may never be as close as you and Meghan, and you hope never as close as me and Meghan, but I care about you, I care when you are happy and sad, even if you vacillate between the two a lot, and I will fight for you when the time comes. Abe, we’ve never been close, I don’t know you half as well as Doug or Sarah, but with what I do know about you I care about you, and I respect you, maybe because of Doug and Sarah. You are someone who will be there if he can, and that is more than a lot of people I’ve had in my life can say. Thank you for being my friends.”