In From The Cold

**In From the Cold** is the first episode of Season One of the **permanently** revived **Tales of Bianca**. It is the first episode of the series overall.

## Synopsis

Immortal vampire Bianca Velasquez is walking toward a new destiny; A tiny town called Jade Creek. Will she find friends in this new place…or new enemies?

## Plot

It was midday, the sun hidden behind grey snow clowds. The only person walking this road was a Hispanic woman who looked barely into her thirties. She had a black backpack slung over her shoulder and was chugging warm hot chocolate from a canteen. She had been walking for a few hours now, hoping to find a town to stay in. She was walking away from a bad place and wanted to wipe her hands of it. She stopped chugging and wiped some excess hot chocolate off of her mouth. It seemed silly, being all bundled up for the cold. She wasn't even affected by the cold but wearing a coat was a good way to look more human. If a car passed by and saw her walking in the freezing cold without a coat, it would probably draw a few unwanted questions.

She looked around for any buildings. A gas station, a diner, any place where she could recupirate and lay low for a few minutes or even a few days. She needed that after she had gone through. She needed...a shelter where she could in from the cold of the world. She kept walking and eventually saw something in the distance. Maybe this was finally her big break. She jogged towards the building and saw what it was. It was an old gas station. A bit ramshackle, its blue paint gradually peeling. Bianca didn't care too much however. She would just go in, get something to snack on, and then leave.

She walked inside and felt a small rush of warm air from the store's heater. She looked around and saw aisles on both sides of the spacious cash register counter. There was only one employee at the register. It was a girl, probably early 20s. She was pale and goth with black lip gloss applied to her lips and onyx black nail polish applied to her nails. She paid no attention to Bianca as she walked in, her face glued to her phone. Bianca slowly moved to the station's bathroom and closed the door behind her, locking it. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked fine for the most part. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a hair tie. She tied her dark brown hair into a ponytail so that it would stop getting into her eyes as she walked.

She was about to walk to the door when she noticed something. It was a small, red smudge on her heavy trench coat's sleave. She sighed in frustration…but before she could do anything else, she heard the door to the gas station swing open and the girl let out a brief but loud scream. She placed her ear to the door and listened, the conversation clear as day to her.

"Robbie, I said we were done!"

"No way. We're not fucking done yet. You're gonna get in my car and I'm gonna take you home right now."

"No. No, I'm not going with you!"

"You little bitch!"

Bianca then heard the small click of a gun loading. The girl screamed louder this time and Bianca threw open the door, her eyes red. Literally. They were no longer the pretty, auburn brown color. They were blood red. She opened her mouth slightly and her canines morphed into sharp fangs. She dashed over to Robbie and pinned him against the wall, making him shout "What the fuck?!" Bianca hissed at him and he pressed the gun against her belly, shooting her a few times. She stopped and looked down at her stomach which was leaking blood. She growled in frustration, "Grrr!! Seriously?!" She sank her fangs into Robbie's neck, making him scream in pain. The girl at the cash register watched in terror as Bianca drained Robbie of all of his blood.

The taste of blood was said to be unique to every vampire. Some found it meaty and nutty in a pleasant way. Others found it to be overly sweet or salty. But to Bianca, it was metallic and earthy. It was like eating a bowl of pennies. She kept draining him. She hadn't drained a human completely in so long. She didn't like doing it but…these were desperate times and she hadn't fed in a few days. The last thing she drank from were a few seagulls. She drained him until he was completely empty and his body went limp. She dropped his lifeless body and closed her eyes, taking in the surge of power she felt in her body. It was a blood high. A really good blood high.

The blood high was disturbed, however, as the girl behind the counter started to scream in terror. Bianca quickly collected herself and stared down at his body which was rapidly shriveling up. She quickly took off her blood stained coat and stuffed it in her bag before taking off Robbie's jacket. It was a little big for Bianca but she could make it work. After trying on the new coat, she turned her attention to the girl. "What the hell did you do to him?!" She screamed. Bianca grabbed the girl by the shoulders and said "Look at me."

The girl stopped screaming immediately and looked at Bianca. It was like she had just entered a trance. Bianca continued "You will forget everything you saw here. You will forget ever having met me. Do you understand?" The girl nodded slowly, saying "Yes…I…understand…" Bianca nodded and then grabbed three bags of chips for the road. She walked out of the store, leaving the girl to come out of her trance. As soon as she left, Robbie's body crumbled to dust. Once Bianca got outside, she saw that snow was beginning to fall. She sighed. She needed to get to the nearest town quickly. She took a swig of hot cocoa before hearing a metallic chirping sound above her. She quickly looked up and saw a small, mechanical bird made out of gold. It stared down at her with piercing blue eyes. Bianca sighed and picked up a nearby rock. With a hefty throw she chucked the rock at the bird. The rock collided with its little body and it fell to the ground where it shattered. "Damnit, Veronika…" Bianca cursed under her breath. She stomped the bird for good measure until its body was completely shattered then she tossed it into the snow bank. Once it was dealt with, she restarted her long walk

After what felt like an eternity of walking, Bianca came across a sign for a town. The sign read Welcome to Jade Creek! Where the people are kind and the cyder is always warm come winter. Bianca stood there in thought for a moment. Could this Jade Creek finally be the salvation she was looking for? Or would it be just another dead end? She knew the only way to find out was to go into town. With a deep breath, she zoomed down the road at enhanced speed. Everything flew past her. The hills, the road, the white snow. It felt like she was flying.

Her eyes widened in shock as she muttered, "oh shit." That was when a howl sounded in the distance. She ran into the nearby woods as she started hearing things, lots of things, running towards her. She kept running until she came to a clearing where she started surveying her surroundings. She could see shiny yellow eyes staring at her from the bushes and soon…they finally bounded out. It was a pack of wolves but these were no ordinary wolves. How did she know? She wasn't an expert but she was pretty sure regular wolves weren't the size of horses. This must've been one thing.

"Werewolves..." Bianca whispered. There were four of them and the moon light helped her make out the colors of their fur. There was a dirty blonde wolf and a dark grey wolf. There was also a jet black wolf which looked the meanest out of all of them. It snarled and barked loudly which made the other wolves jump a little. Bianca bared her fangs and hissed loudly in order to intimidate the beast but it only seemed to make it angrier. It would've pounced on her if it wasn't for the cinnamon colored wolf that leapt from the bushes. It barked sharply at the black wolf, making it back off. The cinnamon colored wolf looked at Bianca and laid down on the grass.

It started to change back into human form with its bones cracking and rearranging, its fur disappearing, and it regaining its human appearance. The wolf, now in total human form, stood up. It was a woman and she looked gorgeous. Light brown skin, brown eyes, and she was currently only in her underwear. "I'd normally enjoy seeing a half naked woman in front of me but I can't really enjoy it when I'm surrounded by snarling werewolves." Bianca quipped. The woman blew a piece of her dark brown hair out of her face and rolled her eyes. "Vampires. Always so sarcastic. I'm Nova, Alpha of the Jade Creek pack. What are you doing here?"

"I just really need a place to stay. I've been walking around for miles." Bianca explained. "This town seemed alright... until I got jumped by werewolves." Nova sighed and glared at the members of her pack before looking back at Bianca. "My apologies. I and my pack make sure to come to every vampire who arrives in Jade Creek. We ask what they're doing here and if they don't mean any trouble, we let them in." Nova explained. Bianca said, "Look, I don't want any trouble. I just need a place to stay. You have my word that there won't be any trouble." Nova nodded and said, "Alright, good. But just know that if you do start trouble, we'll chase you out of town." Nova then crouched down and quickly transformed back. She howled and then bolted into the woods, her pack following her. Bianca sighed and walked back to the main road. There was one thing that cheered her up a little though; She wouldn't be the only vampire in a town with werewolves in it.

\*\*\*

Kyle Parker drove down the main road into Jade Creek. He smiled once he saw that familiar town sign with the cheesy smiling apple painted on it. He was coming home from a three week Thanksgiving vacation in Buffalo. He had an incredible time visiting his parents and eating all that good food. It was lovely and it felt good to see them smile. But now it was time to head back home and...he wasn't excited to go back. It's not that he didn't enjoy living in a small town, it was just he felt lonely there. He didn't have much if any friends there nor did he have a girlfriend. All he had were the few people that worked at his car shop and the big house his father left him. What he really wanted was a friend. Someone that would grab a beer with him or play video games with him on his days off from work. There was one girl he had his eyes on though. Danielle Shepherd, the richest girl in town. He loved her and she had no idea. Sometimes he would day dream about her. About that raven black hair, those hazel eyes, and that laugh. That laugh that could make any bad day into a great one. He sighed happily as he thought of it.

Playing on his truck's radio was Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones. It was probably his favorite song ever. "War…Children…It's just a shot away. It's just a shot away!" He sang along to the song. As he kept singing, he looked forward and could see someone walking along the side of the road with his headlights. It was…a woman. A hitchhiker? He thought about picking her up but then remembered that you shouldn't let strangers into your car. But…she didn't look dangerous. She looked a little beaten down more than anything else. He couldn't imagine why someone would want to be caught dead in this kind of cold. He pulled over to her.

Bianca stopped immediately when the gray pickup truck came to a stop. The passenger window rolled down and she looked inside. The driver was a Caucasian twenty something guy with spiky brown hair. He had a worried expression on his face as he asked, "Excuse me, miss, do you need a ride?" Bianca studied him for a moment. He didn't look dangerous. But then again, she was definitely more dangerous than he was. "Maybe. You aren't going to try and hurt me, are you?" She asked. Kyle shook his head and said "I won't, I swear. I'm not the kind of guy to hurt someone. The only things I've ever hurt are flies and the last time I checked, not a lot of people like those little bastards."

Bianca couldn't help but chuckle at that. She knew he couldn't really hurt her and she needed a ride into town so she slowly opened the passenger door and climbed in. She really had nothing better to do. She sat in the admittedly comfy chair and smiled. It was the first time in a while where she could just relax and rest her feet. Kyle resumed driving. As he drove, he picked up a water bottle from the cupholder and asked "Do you need some water?" Bianca shook her head. "So…where are you coming from?" Bianca asked, becoming curious about him. He nodded, "Buffalo. I went up there to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family."

"Your family? Hmm. I hope they were thankful to have you there." Bianca said. Kyle could hear a slight saddness in her voice and didn't pry. They eventually made it into town, driving down main street. Bianca smiled a little as it was a nice, homely little small town. There were antique stores, an ice cream place, a shopping center, and many other places. Bianca asked, "Is there a good hotel room here?" Kyle said, "Yeah, but it's pretty expensive. Not just the rooms but the food too. I heard the soup they sell is ten fucking dollars."

"Jeez. That's insane!" Bianca exclaimed. Kyle nodded in agreement. "Well, shit. I have no money." Bianca said, "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"You could stay at my place for a while. I got a guest room that I don't use." Kyle offered kindly. Bianca thought about it for a moment. This could finally be what she'd been wanting. A shelter, a place in from the cold of the world. A place where she could maybe make everything better for herself. The choice was clear and so she said, "Sure. I'll only stay for a few days. A week tops." Kyle said, "You can stay as long as you need to. All I ask is that you pitch in from time to time on certain stuff. Cleaning, getting groceries, that kind of stuff."

Bianca said, "Okay. That sounds fair enough." Soon they pulled into Kyle's driveway. Once the truck came to a stop, they both hopped out. Bianca couldn't help but smile at the house. It was a two story house painted a lovely cream color. So simple yet so pretty. Kyle grabbed his bags from the back of the truck and they walked inside the house. He set his bags down in the kitchen and let her walk around the place for a bit. She loved how homely it all looked. Above the couch was a framed picture of a handsome looking, brunette man. Kyle brought her a small cup of iced water. "Here you go. You've been walking for so long, you must be parched." Bianca politely declined the water. After hiking for so long and drinking nothing but a lot of hot chocolate, she actually really needed to use the bathroom. Damn, I should've done that at the gas station, she thought to herself.

She then pointed at the picture. "Who's that guy?" Kyle glanced at the photo and hesitated for a moment before smiling what looked like a forced smile. "He's...my brother. His name's Tyler." Bianca replied "He's handsome. You kind of look like him." Kyle looked at the picture and smiled a little. This time it wasn't forced but...it wasn't happy either. Kyle then said "I...I know this is a little sudden but could we be friends?"

Bianca was a little taken aback by this. "Friends? But...we just met. We barely know each other. We don't even know each others names" She said. Kyle said "Oh yeah, you're right. Let's fix that, why don't we?" He held his hand out to her in a friendly way. "I'm Kyle Parker. And you are?" Bianca slowly took his hand and introduced herself; "Bianca Velasquez. It's a pleasure meeting you, Kyle." Kyle smiled and the two broke the handshake. "So...what do you want to do? Watch a movie? Get some food? I know a great pizza place in town that makes the best mozarella sticks in Pennsylvania." While that did sound delicious right now, Bianca said "Actually...I could use some sleep." Usually vampires didn't require sleep but Bianca didn't care. After everything she had been through, she earned some Z's.

"You go ahead then. I'm going to stay up and game for a little while. Tomorrow I could make waffles for breakfast. You like waffles?" Kyle asked kindly. She chuckled and darkly joked "Waffles are fine but I really have a thing for blood sausage." Kyle laughed a little and Bianca smiled. So naive. So innocent. It broke her heart a little that she'd have to tell him one day what she really was. "The guest bedroom is upstairs. Right on the top, at the left. Enjoy your sleep." He said. Bianca nodded and walked upstairs, stepping into her new room. It looked a bit bland with no posters and a single TV on a dresser. She'd definitely have to spruce it up a little. But that didn't matter now. Bianca jumped into the creaky bed and got under the covers. She smiled softly and pulled a small photo out of her pocket. It was in black and white and showed a beautiful blonde woman, dressed in a 1940s style dress. She gently caressed the photo and whispered "I've finally found my place, Lenore. I'm finally in from the cold."

That night, Bianca Velasquez slept like the dead.

Outside of town, a teenage boy slowly walks into town, a duffel bag strapped on his shoulder…