AU Donor House: Monty: Vampire T.V.
Oct. 24th, 2016 08:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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kawebbwritingThere were days when Monty wished he’d never let himself be talked into doing something so monumentally stupid, but it was past time the world learnt the truth about vampires. All of the dramas were quite obviously fictional and they all made sure to include a romance between one of the vampires and one of the humans. Even though it wasn’t all that unusual for a vampire to fall in love with a human, or at least lust, most of the time it didn’t go well. None of the script writers seemed to understand how close a vampire family could be, which meant that there were plenty of occasions when the human ended up dead, or a vampire, or sometimes, if they were particularly unlucky, an addict. Of course not all vampire families were that bad and he knew he was more than lucky to have been created by one of the more unusual vampires.
It was Monty’s vampire father who’d convinced him that the reality show was a good idea. Ulrich, with the help of his long-term lover Anastasia, had somehow managed to get everyone involved. That even included his siblings, who had, in the end, agreed to it, because of their long dead father, a vampire who had never bought into the belief that they were meant to be predators, no matter what anyone said. His determination to pass that on to others was what had led to his death, unfortunately, and if it hadn’t been for the creation of the Donor House none of them would have accepted that they could get away with what they were planning.
With one last word Monty finished the email he was sending to Nick. If they were going to be recording a reality show Monty thought they deserved to know in advance, so they could be prepared for what might happen. Their entire family knew that their choice could lead to their death, either due to vampires or humans, and he thought that the backlash could affect the House. When his phone rang he knew that it was probably going to be Nick.
“I didn’t realise you still had my number,” Monty said.
“Of course we do.” It was a surprise to hear Alice’s voice, but he wasn’t entirely certain why he was surprised. “You’re our friend.”
“Was your friend.”
“Still are friends.” Alice sighed. “Nothing that happened changes the way Nick and I feel about you, Monty. I promise you if you turned up at the House Nick’s reaction would be entirely positive.”
Changing the subject seemed to be the best option.“Why are you reading Nick’s email, anyway?”
“Nick and I always read each other’s emails. Today I’m checking them because he’s travelling and doesn’t have any way to access them himself, even if he wanted to. Having to leave the House is difficult for him, so he has a tendency to blinker himself, which is something he has, finally, accepted, so he asked me to make sure he didn’t miss anything important.”
“Do you know when he’ll return?”
“Three days, maybe. It depends on how well everything goes while he’s interviewing new prospective donors. Now, what exactly is is that Ulrich talked you into doing?”
“From next month we’ll be followed everywhere we go by a film crew, which is something I don’t doubt they’re going to end up finding terribly boring because we don’t do anything.” Monty shrugged. “Ulrich thinks it’s a good idea to prove to the world that we aren’t all evil, even if we don’t chose to visit the Donor House, because the House very much is for vampires who don’t have a family like ours.”
“Ric’s right about the House. Is he around?”
“I have no idea. He didn’t know I was emailing you.”
“Monty, he already emailed us.” Alice laughed. “The moment he came up with the stupid idea he emailed us, we told him how stupid it was, and waited for one of you to get in contact to say he hadn’t listened to us. Go find him.”
“He really emailed you?” Monty stood and started walking in the direction of the room he thought Ulrich was most likely to be in. “I didn’t think he would have done.”
“Of course he did. He wanted us to be prepared, the same way you did, for any backlash that might affect us. Ana emailed the next day… oh, and now I have an email from Faye warning me about what Ric’s doing.”
“At least you’ve been warned.” Monty couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “I’m glad about that.”
Ulrich saw the phone against Monty’s ear the moment he walked into the room and held out a hand, asking for it. “Ric wants to talk to you.” Without giving Alice a chance to reply Money handed the phone over, planning on leaving the room until Ulrich switched it to speaker phone. “You’re on loud, Alice, so don’t say anything you might regret.”
Alice laughed again. “You’re a moron, Ric.”
“Maybe, but it’s my choice, Ally. This is the right choice to make for us and that’s what I have to think of first, but I do realise that this might affect the House adversely. I’m sorry if it does.”
“Of course it will affect the House.” She still sounded amused, which was a good thing. “We didn’t try to talk you out of it because we were worried about us. It’s something we know we can deal with.” She sobered. “Are you certain you can deal with the repercussions of this?”
Ulrich bit his lip. “As certain as I can be. I know it’s not enough, not really, but it’s all I can be, because I don’t know what might happen. Right now the plan is to do one season, nothing more, until I really am sure how things are going to work out for us.”
“Do you need help?”
“What sort of help?”
“Vampire help, donor help, any bloody help, Ric?” Alice’s amusement had turned to exasperation, which was something Monty often felt when dealing with Ulrich. “We have plenty of people here who could do something to make sure you’re all safe if you really are determined to go through with this mad idea.”
“Everyone agreed.”
“Of course they did. It’s you. They all love you and they’re going to do this, in part, because it’s what you want to do. You’re so determined to show the world the true face of a vampire that you’re putting everyone you care about in danger. Fortunately I think it’s much less danger than it would be if we hadn’t opened the House, but if I can help to make this safer for you then that’s exactly what I want to be doing.”
“Why do you want to help when you’re so against this?”
“They aren’t the only people who love you, Ric. Nick is terrified that you’re going to get hurt, which is why I rang when I got Monty’s email, and the last thing I’m going to do in this sort of situation is put my own feelings first. Yes, I think you’re making a mistake, I think you’re putting your family in danger, and I think you’re going to end up regretting this, but none of that matters, especially not when you’re involving people that I care about.”
“Alice, we don’t want your help.” He sighed. “That doesn’t mean we might not need it, and, honestly, it terrifies me too. I do think it’s the right decision to be making, but at the same time…” He shook his head. “We need to show the world that vampires are people. You’re taking a step in the right direction, and I just want to take another one. Yet I know there are people out there, both humans and vampires, who aren’t going to be happy with what we’re doing. I talked to the producers about what we could do to protect them and us, so I think they have something planned, but I won’t know what it is or whether it will be enough if someone does choose to attack us.”
“I get it. Honestly I do. We were in the same position when we opened the House and we know we’ve been lucky. The time will come when someone chooses to really attack us, but I think now that we’re much more able to cope with it than we were before. With every day that passes we have more visitors, most who don’t choose to stay for long – they’re just glad to know we’re here if they need us in the future. Some have chosen to stay close, some have needed to, and then there are those who want to but aren’t ready yet, because there are still things they want to do.” Alice sighed. “For a while Nick hoped that your family would choose to join us, even though I told him it was unlikely. You all have lives there and coming here would mean leaving them behind.”
“Should our show end up causing more problems than I anticipate we might end up at the House. Would you have space for us?”
“Yes, we would.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“Lewis.” Alice sounded like she was smiling. “The wonderful thing about our silent partner is that he’s not the sort of person to actually be in the background. When we first started all this it did seem simpler, but then he realised he wanted more from this and more from the world, so he started buying property. I think he owns half of Bognor now, so we rent out flats, houses, and shops to vampires or humans who are willingly to help with our vision of the future.”
“You’re saying we could rent one of those houses.”
“Exactly, or more than one, if that’s what you need. Just give us some warning so we can get it ready for you, as most of them are unfurnished right now. All we need is the time it will take you to get here on the train.”
“Do you really think it will go wrong?”
“I don’t know, Ric. We’ve been okay, but things are different for us. You’re a family of vampires and I know how much losing one of you would affect everything.” Alice sighed. “I want to tell you that I think it’s all going to work out fine – I just can’t. I’m too worried that it would be a lie, even though I wouldn’t know now that it was a lie.”
Ulrich nodded. “Would you be happy to send some vampires over to keep an eye on us?” He glanced at Monty and then back at the phone. “I’m not certain how many you can spare, but even a couple of extra pairs of eyes would really help.”
“When I’ve already offered you don’t need to ask the question. I have a few I can spare, who’d really enjoy getting to know your family, although the more I send the more donors I’ll have to send with them, so they don’t end up dying of starvation.” She sounded thoughtful. “Blake would be helpful, but I can’t ask him unless Caleb feels like he’s capable of making the journey.”
“The addict?” Monty was surprised that she would have thought of sending him. “Is that really a good idea?”
“Mont, love, he’s lived in a building full of vampires for the last year and a half. Being around your family isn’t going to make things any harder for him, but I do know that he can find travelling difficult. I have some ideas of who I can send, though, and I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve had a chat with them, because it’s up to them if they want to help you. Hopefully I’ll be able to get hold of Nick as well, but I’m not certain when his interviews were booked in.”
“I do appreciate the help, Ally, even though I might not seem like I do.”
It was Monty’s vampire father who’d convinced him that the reality show was a good idea. Ulrich, with the help of his long-term lover Anastasia, had somehow managed to get everyone involved. That even included his siblings, who had, in the end, agreed to it, because of their long dead father, a vampire who had never bought into the belief that they were meant to be predators, no matter what anyone said. His determination to pass that on to others was what had led to his death, unfortunately, and if it hadn’t been for the creation of the Donor House none of them would have accepted that they could get away with what they were planning.
With one last word Monty finished the email he was sending to Nick. If they were going to be recording a reality show Monty thought they deserved to know in advance, so they could be prepared for what might happen. Their entire family knew that their choice could lead to their death, either due to vampires or humans, and he thought that the backlash could affect the House. When his phone rang he knew that it was probably going to be Nick.
“I didn’t realise you still had my number,” Monty said.
“Of course we do.” It was a surprise to hear Alice’s voice, but he wasn’t entirely certain why he was surprised. “You’re our friend.”
“Was your friend.”
“Still are friends.” Alice sighed. “Nothing that happened changes the way Nick and I feel about you, Monty. I promise you if you turned up at the House Nick’s reaction would be entirely positive.”
Changing the subject seemed to be the best option.“Why are you reading Nick’s email, anyway?”
“Nick and I always read each other’s emails. Today I’m checking them because he’s travelling and doesn’t have any way to access them himself, even if he wanted to. Having to leave the House is difficult for him, so he has a tendency to blinker himself, which is something he has, finally, accepted, so he asked me to make sure he didn’t miss anything important.”
“Do you know when he’ll return?”
“Three days, maybe. It depends on how well everything goes while he’s interviewing new prospective donors. Now, what exactly is is that Ulrich talked you into doing?”
“From next month we’ll be followed everywhere we go by a film crew, which is something I don’t doubt they’re going to end up finding terribly boring because we don’t do anything.” Monty shrugged. “Ulrich thinks it’s a good idea to prove to the world that we aren’t all evil, even if we don’t chose to visit the Donor House, because the House very much is for vampires who don’t have a family like ours.”
“Ric’s right about the House. Is he around?”
“I have no idea. He didn’t know I was emailing you.”
“Monty, he already emailed us.” Alice laughed. “The moment he came up with the stupid idea he emailed us, we told him how stupid it was, and waited for one of you to get in contact to say he hadn’t listened to us. Go find him.”
“He really emailed you?” Monty stood and started walking in the direction of the room he thought Ulrich was most likely to be in. “I didn’t think he would have done.”
“Of course he did. He wanted us to be prepared, the same way you did, for any backlash that might affect us. Ana emailed the next day… oh, and now I have an email from Faye warning me about what Ric’s doing.”
“At least you’ve been warned.” Monty couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “I’m glad about that.”
Ulrich saw the phone against Monty’s ear the moment he walked into the room and held out a hand, asking for it. “Ric wants to talk to you.” Without giving Alice a chance to reply Money handed the phone over, planning on leaving the room until Ulrich switched it to speaker phone. “You’re on loud, Alice, so don’t say anything you might regret.”
Alice laughed again. “You’re a moron, Ric.”
“Maybe, but it’s my choice, Ally. This is the right choice to make for us and that’s what I have to think of first, but I do realise that this might affect the House adversely. I’m sorry if it does.”
“Of course it will affect the House.” She still sounded amused, which was a good thing. “We didn’t try to talk you out of it because we were worried about us. It’s something we know we can deal with.” She sobered. “Are you certain you can deal with the repercussions of this?”
Ulrich bit his lip. “As certain as I can be. I know it’s not enough, not really, but it’s all I can be, because I don’t know what might happen. Right now the plan is to do one season, nothing more, until I really am sure how things are going to work out for us.”
“Do you need help?”
“What sort of help?”
“Vampire help, donor help, any bloody help, Ric?” Alice’s amusement had turned to exasperation, which was something Monty often felt when dealing with Ulrich. “We have plenty of people here who could do something to make sure you’re all safe if you really are determined to go through with this mad idea.”
“Everyone agreed.”
“Of course they did. It’s you. They all love you and they’re going to do this, in part, because it’s what you want to do. You’re so determined to show the world the true face of a vampire that you’re putting everyone you care about in danger. Fortunately I think it’s much less danger than it would be if we hadn’t opened the House, but if I can help to make this safer for you then that’s exactly what I want to be doing.”
“Why do you want to help when you’re so against this?”
“They aren’t the only people who love you, Ric. Nick is terrified that you’re going to get hurt, which is why I rang when I got Monty’s email, and the last thing I’m going to do in this sort of situation is put my own feelings first. Yes, I think you’re making a mistake, I think you’re putting your family in danger, and I think you’re going to end up regretting this, but none of that matters, especially not when you’re involving people that I care about.”
“Alice, we don’t want your help.” He sighed. “That doesn’t mean we might not need it, and, honestly, it terrifies me too. I do think it’s the right decision to be making, but at the same time…” He shook his head. “We need to show the world that vampires are people. You’re taking a step in the right direction, and I just want to take another one. Yet I know there are people out there, both humans and vampires, who aren’t going to be happy with what we’re doing. I talked to the producers about what we could do to protect them and us, so I think they have something planned, but I won’t know what it is or whether it will be enough if someone does choose to attack us.”
“I get it. Honestly I do. We were in the same position when we opened the House and we know we’ve been lucky. The time will come when someone chooses to really attack us, but I think now that we’re much more able to cope with it than we were before. With every day that passes we have more visitors, most who don’t choose to stay for long – they’re just glad to know we’re here if they need us in the future. Some have chosen to stay close, some have needed to, and then there are those who want to but aren’t ready yet, because there are still things they want to do.” Alice sighed. “For a while Nick hoped that your family would choose to join us, even though I told him it was unlikely. You all have lives there and coming here would mean leaving them behind.”
“Should our show end up causing more problems than I anticipate we might end up at the House. Would you have space for us?”
“Yes, we would.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“Lewis.” Alice sounded like she was smiling. “The wonderful thing about our silent partner is that he’s not the sort of person to actually be in the background. When we first started all this it did seem simpler, but then he realised he wanted more from this and more from the world, so he started buying property. I think he owns half of Bognor now, so we rent out flats, houses, and shops to vampires or humans who are willingly to help with our vision of the future.”
“You’re saying we could rent one of those houses.”
“Exactly, or more than one, if that’s what you need. Just give us some warning so we can get it ready for you, as most of them are unfurnished right now. All we need is the time it will take you to get here on the train.”
“Do you really think it will go wrong?”
“I don’t know, Ric. We’ve been okay, but things are different for us. You’re a family of vampires and I know how much losing one of you would affect everything.” Alice sighed. “I want to tell you that I think it’s all going to work out fine – I just can’t. I’m too worried that it would be a lie, even though I wouldn’t know now that it was a lie.”
Ulrich nodded. “Would you be happy to send some vampires over to keep an eye on us?” He glanced at Monty and then back at the phone. “I’m not certain how many you can spare, but even a couple of extra pairs of eyes would really help.”
“When I’ve already offered you don’t need to ask the question. I have a few I can spare, who’d really enjoy getting to know your family, although the more I send the more donors I’ll have to send with them, so they don’t end up dying of starvation.” She sounded thoughtful. “Blake would be helpful, but I can’t ask him unless Caleb feels like he’s capable of making the journey.”
“The addict?” Monty was surprised that she would have thought of sending him. “Is that really a good idea?”
“Mont, love, he’s lived in a building full of vampires for the last year and a half. Being around your family isn’t going to make things any harder for him, but I do know that he can find travelling difficult. I have some ideas of who I can send, though, and I’ll let you know as soon as I’ve had a chat with them, because it’s up to them if they want to help you. Hopefully I’ll be able to get hold of Nick as well, but I’m not certain when his interviews were booked in.”
“I do appreciate the help, Ally, even though I might not seem like I do.”
