The blood
Feeds the hunger
That threatens everythingIt starts when Claudia offers her a yellow rose.
Immy has been in love before – many times, across many lifetimes. But never as deeply, as intensely as this.
Claudia has never been in love this before either. But then, this is her first time with a vampire.
The forbidden thirst for blood runs deep in Immy. And within her mind clamour the voices, of all the others she has been, their desires, and their wrongs.
“Claudia
Has a green thumb
Green fingers
Green palms and green wrists
Dirt beneath her fingernails
The smell of outside
Following her
Fresh and alive
Fresh and alive
Claudia
Wears her hair in a plait
Down her back
She ties it with a ribbon
Or string
Or elastic
Whatever she can find
I like the ribbon
It soothes a part of me I don’t recognise
Calms some old self
Makes them feel at home
I give her ribbons sometimes
Saying oh
I found this
Isn’t it nice
Like that dusty, lonely self
Hadn’t put its palm over mine
Gripped my fingers with a tired desperation
Old bones begging
And snatched up the ribbons
And the coins in my pocket
And marched me to the till”
This is one of my favourite passages from Baby Teeth. It shows how Immy sees Claudia, as someone so alive and real and lovely. I love writing about how they fall in love, it’s so complete and all-consuming. They are completely enamored with each other and that was really fun to write! This passage also explains a little about how my vampires work, they don’t live one long life but life after life. They live a whole life then are reborn as a new person. Their past selves don’t just disappear however, they all live inside them. Inside Immy lives every person she’s ever been and she can hear them lamenting the lives they lost. I love how this passage implies that even the past selves inside of Immy are fond of Claudia though, insisting on buying her ribbons for her hair. This passage shows the control they hold over Immy too, they can be so loud and strong that they’re nearly impossible to ignore. This was such a fun way to explore identity, how are you to figure out who you are when so many versions of yourself are taking up space inside you? I like this extract a lot, I’m proud of it!
Meg Grehan is a young writer originally from County Louth but now hiding away in Donegal in the northwest of Ireland, with a very ginger girlfriend, an even more ginger dog and an undisclosed number of cats (none of whom is ginger). She has written for online newspapers and journals such as The Arcade.
@megcathwrites
BABY TEETH is out now!
Luna's Little Library 