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Description
Moonblood

"It's such a strange metal, isn't it?" the brown haired boy asked his friend. He was holding a small ring that gleamed in the daylight. The piece of jewelry looked like a coil of wire twisted in on itself, the loops and bends forming a complex web of symbols. "Silver really has no other use than looking nice, yet it has so many legends and myths tied to it."
"I think some medicines use it," his friend replied, "what does the symbol mean?"
"It's the Norse symbol of Odin, the chief god of Asguard. He's also known as the 'All Father' and the 'All seeing one'. Want a closer look?" the boy asked, offering the silver ring to his friend.
"Woah there," the raven youth replied, sliding a little further down the plastic bench they were sitting at, "Careful man, I'm allergic to silver."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Well, it's a mild allergy, but the rash is still rather unpleasant.".
"I never knew you could be allergic to silver."
"It's really no different than someone being allergic to latex."
"I would imagine that would be unpleasant."
"Oh yeah. Imagine not knowing you are allergic, and then putting on a condom."
"Dude! Don't even joke about that! " the brown haired boy said, clenching his blue eyes and almost instinctively putting his hands protectively over his crotch.
"Lighten up Jake, it's not like you're allergic. Or are you?"
"Heck no. Thank god there's nothing like that in my family. Though I think my second uncle can't eat shellfish."
"Not to get off topic, but could we please talk about something more pleasant? No offense, but talking talking about how unpleasant allergies are is, well, very unpleasant.
"Alright, alright. Have it your way Adam. We'll talk about something else. Have some other topic in mind?"
"Well," Adam started, his green eyes once again looking at the ring his friend held pinched between is fingers, "tell me a little more about silver."
"Anyting in particular? There is a lot of territory ot cover."
"What did you mean with 'it has a lot of myths tied to it'?"
"Ah," Jake said, holding the ring up to his face, "I'm sure you already know a few of them. To start, there is the story of Judas, who sold Jesus to the Romans for thirty pieces of silver. When he hung himself after the betrayal, it is said that he and his lineage were cursed to forever walk the earth and never find peace. This is said to be the origin of vampires."
"How does silver tine into this?"
"Well, what are the weaknesses of vampires?"
"What version? Are we talking about Dracula Vampires or Twilight Vampires?"
"Dracula Vampires," Jake said with a frown, "Twilight is blasphemy and you know it. True vampires are mysterious creatures of the night that sit brooding inside whatever lair they own, enjoy fine wine, have great powers of seduction, and are able to control bats, wolves, and even humans they turn into thralls. They are not whiney emo wimps that get all mopey and depressed when they are with a girl instead of just biting them and sucking their blood. And most of all, VAMPIRES DO NOT SPARKLE!"
"Preaching to the quire man," Adam replied, putting his slim hands defensively between the two of them, "but seriously, weaknesses are a stake to the heart,..."
"Only if it's ash."
"Huh?"
"The stake has to be made of ash wood in order to kill a vampire. Comes form the part where Judas hung himself on an ash tree. Go on."
"Then there was holy water."
"Judas betrayed Jesus, holy water and crosses are symbols of Christianity, the religion he betrayed. Some kind of guilt thing. Continue."
"Let's see," Adam began rubbing his temples, "There's sunlight."
"He hung himself at sunset, therefore he was cursed to stay in darkness."
"Ah. Then there's fire."
"That's a mystery to me actually," Jake paused, "I think it comes from how Jesus was betrayed by the light of a torch, or something."
"Oh! Right! Silver hurts them too!"
"Ding! Yep. Comes from how Judas betrayed him for sixty pieces of silver."
"Alright, enough about vampires, what else is there?" Adam asked with a slight yawn, the warm sunlight was starting to make him drowsy.
"The other obvious one is wherewolves," The other boy began, "and I think that comes from silver being closest associated with the moon, and since the moon gives wolves their power, it can hurt them."
"That sounds like a stretch." Adam said, raising one of his thin eyebrows.
"It is." Jake admitted, "although it hasn't been part of the legend until the ninetheenh century."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah. With both vampires and werewolves. Turns out originally, vampires were not weak to crosses, steaks, or silver. Most as that was added in later by the church."
"Get out of town."
"No really. Also, vampires were originally created though means other than bites. Most believed they spawned of a cat walked under someone's coffin before they were burried. Also, the only victims were the immediate family and neighbors."
"So, a cat walks under my dead body and I become a vampire?"
"In short yes."
"Wait, what did they change about werewolves? We only have one legend."
"They weren't weak to silver. That was changed by the church."
"Then what the heck were they weak to?"
"Rhye and mistletoe. It was changed later for two reasons: one is that mistletoe is quite widely associated with pagan beliefs."
"What's the other?"
"Those things are hard to come by, they needed something everyone had, and silver was it."
"Man, you need to stop researching all this stuff, it's way too complicated."
"That's because the most you've ever looked up is how to kill zombies."
"What's wrong with killing zombies?"
"You mean besides always carrying around he 'Zombie Appocolypse Survival Guide?"
"Hey, you never know when it will happen."
"You really need to stop playing 'Left for Dead' before going to bed man."
"It's a great game!"
"Never said it wasn't."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Dude, you have an ax under your bed. If you don't call that being paranoid, I don't know."
"Gah, fine! Ok, so I am a little paranoid! Can we talk about something else, please?"
"Alright, alright. But I gotta go grab something from the shed," the blue-eyed youth announced, pushing himself off the step he was sittinng on.
"Oh, I'll come with you," Adam added, following his friends example. Jake led the other boy across the freshly cut lawn. The shed was still in good condition, the red paint just barely dry from the redo two days earlier. Jake reached into His pocket and pulled out a small key and unlocked the door. The shelves inside were packed with containers of all kinds.
"What does your dad keep in here?" Adam asked, looking at the numerous silver tins stacked on the shelf.
"Mostly his crafting supplies. Let's see, ah! Here it is," Jake answered, reaching for a tin on the highest shelf.
"Hey, wait, that shelf looks a little,...Agh!" Adam cried out as a tin further down the line fell over, spilling all its contents over the boys face. "Shit! Ahhhh! What was in that thing?"
Jake reached down to pick
p the tin and stared in horror at the lable written in black marker on yellow-white tape. "Adam, come with me quick," the boy comanded, dropping the the tin as he reached for his cell. "Get to the sink, now!"
The brown haired youth flipped open his cell, dialing 9-1-1 as he ushered his best friend towards the kitchen of his house.
"9-1-1 what's your emergency?" came the operators voice over the speaker.
"Hello? Yeah, I need an ambulance. My friend just got silver dust on him, and he's allergic to silver." there was fear in his voice as he watched his best buddy rinse his eyes over the empty sink. His face was beginning to swell around the eyes and cheeks.

Jake watched as Adam was loaded into the white van. The boy's face looked like an overstuffed red tomato that was ready to burst. Dread would not go away, even as the van pulled out of his driveway. There was nothing more he could do, except pray and hope for the best.

Description
Moonblood

"It's such a strange metal, isn't it?" the brown haired boy asked his friend. He was holding a small ring that gleamed in the daylight. The piece of jewelry looked like a coil of wire twisted in on itself, the loops and bends forming a complex web of symbols. "Silver really has no other use than looking nice, yet it has so many legends and myths tied to it."
"I think some medicines use it," his friend replied, "what does the symbol mean?"
"It's the Norse symbol of Odin, the chief god of Asguard. He's also known as the 'All Father' and the 'All seeing one'. Want a closer look?" the boy asked, offering the silver ring to his friend.
"Woah there," the raven youth replied, sliding a little further down the plastic bench they were sitting at, "Careful man, I'm allergic to silver."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Well, it's a mild allergy, but the rash is still rather unpleasant.".
"I never knew you could be allergic to silver."
"It's really no different than someone being allergic to latex."
"I would imagine that would be unpleasant."
"Oh yeah. Imagine not knowing you are allergic, and then putting on a condom."
"Dude! Don't even joke about that! " the brown haired boy said, clenching his blue eyes and almost instinctively putting his hands protectively over his crotch.
"Lighten up Jake, it's not like you're allergic. Or are you?"
"Heck no. Thank god there's nothing like that in my family. Though I think my second uncle can't eat shellfish."
"Not to get off topic, but could we please talk about something more pleasant? No offense, but talking talking about how unpleasant allergies are is, well, very unpleasant.
"Alright, alright. Have it your way Adam. We'll talk about something else. Have some other topic in mind?"
"Well," Adam started, his green eyes once again looking at the ring his friend held pinched between is fingers, "tell me a little more about silver."
"Anyting in particular? There is a lot of territory ot cover."
"What did you mean with 'it has a lot of myths tied to it'?"
"Ah," Jake said, holding the ring up to his face, "I'm sure you already know a few of them. To start, there is the story of Judas, who sold Jesus to the Romans for thirty pieces of silver. When he hung himself after the betrayal, it is said that he and his lineage were cursed to forever walk the earth and never find peace. This is said to be the origin of vampires."
"How does silver tine into this?"
"Well, what are the weaknesses of vampires?"
"What version? Are we talking about Dracula Vampires or Twilight Vampires?"
"Dracula Vampires," Jake said with a frown, "Twilight is blasphemy and you know it. True vampires are mysterious creatures of the night that sit brooding inside whatever lair they own, enjoy fine wine, have great powers of seduction, and are able to control bats, wolves, and even humans they turn into thralls. They are not whiney emo wimps that get all mopey and depressed when they are with a girl instead of just biting them and sucking their blood. And most of all, VAMPIRES DO NOT SPARKLE!"
"Preaching to the quire man," Adam replied, putting his slim hands defensively between the two of them, "but seriously, weaknesses are a stake to the heart,..."
"Only if it's ash."
"Huh?"
"The stake has to be made of ash wood in order to kill a vampire. Comes form the part where Judas hung himself on an ash tree. Go on."
"Then there was holy water."
"Judas betrayed Jesus, holy water and crosses are symbols of Christianity, the religion he betrayed. Some kind of guilt thing. Continue."
"Let's see," Adam began rubbing his temples, "There's sunlight."
"He hung himself at sunset, therefore he was cursed to stay in darkness."
"Ah. Then there's fire."
"That's a mystery to me actually," Jake paused, "I think it comes from how Jesus was betrayed by the light of a torch, or something."
"Oh! Right! Silver hurts them too!"
"Ding! Yep. Comes from how Judas betrayed him for sixty pieces of silver."
"Alright, enough about vampires, what else is there?" Adam asked with a slight yawn, the warm sunlight was starting to make him drowsy.
"The other obvious one is wherewolves," The other boy began, "and I think that comes from silver being closest associated with the moon, and since the moon gives wolves their power, it can hurt them."
"That sounds like a stretch." Adam said, raising one of his thin eyebrows.
"It is." Jake admitted, "although it hasn't been part of the legend until the ninetheenh century."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah. With both vampires and werewolves. Turns out originally, vampires were not weak to crosses, steaks, or silver. Most as that was added in later by the church."
"Get out of town."
"No really. Also, vampires were originally created though means other than bites. Most believed they spawned of a cat walked under someone's coffin before they were burried. Also, the only victims were the immediate family and neighbors."
"So, a cat walks under my dead body and I become a vampire?"
"In short yes."
"Wait, what did they change about werewolves? We only have one legend."
"They weren't weak to silver. That was changed by the church."
"Then what the heck were they weak to?"
"Rhye and mistletoe. It was changed later for two reasons: one is that mistletoe is quite widely associated with pagan beliefs."
"What's the other?"
"Those things are hard to come by, they needed something everyone had, and silver was it."
"Man, you need to stop researching all this stuff, it's way too complicated."
"That's because the most you've ever looked up is how to kill zombies."
"What's wrong with killing zombies?"
"You mean besides always carrying around he 'Zombie Appocolypse Survival Guide?"
"Hey, you never know when it will happen."
"You really need to stop playing 'Left for Dead' before going to bed man."
"It's a great game!"
"Never said it wasn't."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Dude, you have an ax under your bed. If you don't call that being paranoid, I don't know."
"Gah, fine! Ok, so I am a little paranoid! Can we talk about something else, please?"
"Alright, alright. But I gotta go grab something from the shed," the blue-eyed youth announced, pushing himself off the step he was sittinng on.
"Oh, I'll come with you," Adam added, following his friends example. Jake led the other boy across the freshly cut lawn. The shed was still in good condition, the red paint just barely dry from the redo two days earlier. Jake reached into His pocket and pulled out a small key and unlocked the door. The shelves inside were packed with containers of all kinds.
"What does your dad keep in here?" Adam asked, looking at the numerous silver tins stacked on the shelf.
"Mostly his crafting supplies. Let's see, ah! Here it is," Jake answered, reaching for a tin on the highest shelf.
"Hey, wait, that shelf looks a little,...Agh!" Adam cried out as a tin further down the line fell over, spilling all its contents over the boys face. "Shit! Ahhhh! What was in that thing?"
Jake reached down to pick
p the tin and stared in horror at the lable written in black marker on yellow-white tape. "Adam, come with me quick," the boy comanded, dropping the the tin as he reached for his cell. "Get to the sink, now!"
The brown haired youth flipped open his cell, dialing 9-1-1 as he ushered his best friend towards the kitchen of his house.
"9-1-1 what's your emergency?" came the operators voice over the speaker.
"Hello? Yeah, I need an ambulance. My friend just got silver dust on him, and he's allergic to silver." there was fear in his voice as he watched his best buddy rinse his eyes over the empty sink. His face was beginning to swell around the eyes and cheeks.

Jake watched as Adam was loaded into the white van. The boy's face looked like an overstuffed red tomato that was ready to burst. Dread would not go away, even as the van pulled out of his driveway. There was nothing more he could do, except pray and hope for the best.