Fic: Fire prompt #52 Fire

Written for 100originalfics




Title: Fire
’Verse: Servants Journals
Characters: Ceecee, (pronounced seesee) and Annabel Lee Copper. (At least that’s what she is calling herself this century.)
Prompt: #52 Fire
Word Count:1324
Rating: gp
Notes: I plan to have a lot of fun with these two new characters. Especially around the times the suffragettes, and prohibition. (Thanks Heather for the proofreading.)
The San Francisco earthquake struck at 5:12 am on April 18th 1906.



Ceecee had gone to bed around four in the morning. She’d been up all night with her mistress. They had been using the brand new Singer Sewing machine that had been delivered the day before. The front parlor looked like the inside of a milliner shop, with silks and ribbons strewn about. Two dress makers’ manikins each wore new dresses, one for her and one for Annabel. All they needed were the hand sewing of the hems and buttons.

Annabel had gone down to the cellar and locked herself in the room she slept in during the daylight. Ceecee had picked up the scattered ribbons and lace before carefully putting the cover over the new machine and seeking her own bed. She opened her bedroom window to let in the fresh April morning air while she slept. It was strangely calm and quiet that morning. She wasn’t aware of it then, but there weren’t any birds singing.

It seemed that her head had just hit the pillow when she suddenly found herself wide awake and on the floor beside her bed. Sound like a freight train roared around her and everything was shaking, not just shaking, but jerking back and forth and up and down. Ceecee didn’t have much time to gather her wits about her as she curled into a ball and tried to shelter under the bed.

Living in San Francisco it was normal to feel tremors now and then. But they were nothing compared to this. From out the window she could hear the neighbors children scream as they were shaken out of their beds. She could hear the furniture in the house falling. There was a loud crash when the brick fireplace on the house across the street fell down. She was chanting “Oh God. Oh God please.” It seemed to go on forever, and just when she thought it might be stopping it would start again.

Ceecee didn’t move for a long time after the ground stopped moving. When she did move it was like one in a trace. Without thinking she started picking up the mess, starting with the book and water glass that had been on her bed side table. The glass hadn’t been broken, but the water had made a puddle, and since Ceecee had been laying in it her gown was all wet. Her hair brush was still on the table, like it had never moved. For a moment she stared at it, the normalcy of her brush on the night stand made her laugh. Laughing broke the daze she was in and she was able to get on with the chore of putting the house back to rights without further hysterics.

Grabbing her robe and finding her shoes she went to inspect the house. There were no gaping holes in the floor, so she figured the cellar where Annabel slept was intact. “I guess it takes more than an earthquake to wake the dead.” Ceecee thought amused. Annabel would not be too happy to wake from her daytime stupor on the floor, but it could have been a lot worse.

There were some strong aftershocks that sent Ceecee running outside more than once during the morning as she swept up broken glass and put books back on the shelves. The Singer Sewing machine had been heavy enough to stay upright, but everything else in the room was in a shambles.

As the morning progressed, people started checking in on each other. More than one neighbor stopped to see if she and Annabel were okay. She found out there had been injuries but fortunately no fatalities on her street. A few of the older lads went to find a doctor. At first no one noticed the smoke. By noon black smoke covered the sky. The young men who had gone looking for a doctor came back with tales of horror and tragedy throughout the rest of the city. But the most frightening news was that the fires were out of control, the water system was not working and they were heading this way.

The street was in panic. People abandoned their homes, packing and carrying as much as they could before running ahead of the fire. Ceecee didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t abandon her mistress. Maybe the fire would miss this street. Fires were unpredictable, some houses could be completely destroyed and others beside them perfectly okay, but she couldn’t take that chance. They had to get out!

Ceecee’s mind bond with Annabel was not very strong but she had to try. Some Master/servant pairs could go days without speaking aloud to each other, but Annabel didn’t like talking mind-to-mind unless it was necessary.

She got the key to Annabel’s sleeping chamber from where it had been hidden in the bottom of the flower bin in the kitchen. Annabel had given it to her for emergencies only. This definitely qualified as an emergency to Ceecee. Lighting a lamp, she went to the cellar. Boxes and chests were tumbled like children’s blocks around the small room. “At least nothing is left to fall on me but the ceiling itself” she thought as the ground shifted again, almost softly in comparison to the first violent shakings of the morning. She moved a few boxes out of the way to get to the door hidden behind a false shelf, and started to open it slowly. There was something blocking it from the other side.
Carefully she pushed against it. It had to be Annabel; there was nothing else it could be. Feeling the blockage move, she pushed harder. When she had the door open enough so that she could squeeze through, she did, being careful to step over Annabel. The room was only a little bigger than a closet, with just enough room for the cot Annabel slept on during the day. Annabel was on the floor, the cot on its side.

Ceecee put the lamp on the ground; she wasn’t strong enough to lift Annabel back onto the cot. She sat on the floor beside her and concentrated as hard as she could on her bond with her mistress. She projected her fear and worry and pictures of the smoke.

It is not a safe thing to wake a vampire up during the day. Annabel was moving before she was fully conscious, and her first actions were wholly instinct when, with no warning she grabbed Ceecee roughly and sank her fangs into the girl's neck. Without time to prepare herself for the pain Ceecee cried, but didn’t try to pull away. It was easer to show Annabel what was going on while she was feeding than to try to explain it to her after.

Less than a minute passed before Annabel released her, and helped her to her feet, and hurried her up the stairs. They quickly gathered as many of the valuables as they could and hid them in the secret room. Then they bundled up all the jewelry and cash in the house and tied it into scarves and tied the scarves around their waists, under their clothes. This was not the time for corsets.

Annabel pulled out a heavy, dark hooded cloak that covered her head to toe. With extra scarves around her head and thick gloves on her hands she was ready to go. Ceecee also donned a cloak. They both carried a carpet bag stuffed with extra clothes and important papers. There was no way of knowing when or if they would be coming back.

The two women fled down the street with hundreds of other refugees. The sky was so dark that Annabel almost didn’t need the cloak to protect her from the sun. Ceecee held a wet handkerchief to her face to keep from choking on the thick smoke. The sun was an eerie orange ball over their heads, and they could see flames not far behind them.