my first fic, hope you enjoy it! (constructive critisism is always welcome!) ps: sorry i couldn't think of a better title
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
GRACE
Grace lay face down in her pillow, letting her tears flow freely. Her mother had just disappeared into oblivion for the second time. It seemed as soon as she had come, she gone. Grace replayed what her mother had said over and over again in her mind. "I love you always. I love you always." They were the words Grace always wished she could hear, the words that proved that her mother loved her and Connor. Of course, deep down, she had known it before, but now it was better, because it wasn't just in her mind.
CONNOR
His mother, their mother, had disappeared just like all the others. Even though he new she would have to, it still caught him by surprise. He looked around. That fleeting moment of joy was gone, as was his sister. She had run out of the room after their mother faded away. He met the gaze of the vampire who he had forgotten was in the room. Lorcan had a look in his eye that Conner couldn't really place. It was somewhere between mystified, and scared. Lorcan spoke, "I must go find Grace." That snapped Connor out of his daze.
"No," Connor said, quietly but firmly. "I'll go." Lorcan, who was in front of the door, stepped aside and let him pass.
Connor suddenly appeared at a door. He didn't really recall getting there, the past few minutes becoming a blur in his mind. But he knew it was the right one. He knocked twice.
GRACE
There were two knocks at her door. "Grace?" a voice said from behind it. She recognized it as her brother. She didn't respond, knowing he would come in anyway. Sure enough, he did. She felt him sit on the side of her bed and sigh. Then sniff. He was crying too. She repositioned herself to face him and as soon as their eyes met, she began to sob again. Connor embraced her in a hug as she shook. He then said quietly, "Let's go for a walk."
LORCAN
"No. I'll go." The words struck him slightly but instead of protesting, he stepped aside and watched Connor Tempest go. He thought to himself, "It wasn't my place to go. I shouldn't have said anything. I mean, he's her brother. And what am I?" it wasn't really a question. He knew he could never hold that kind of place in her heart. He had grown accustom to being Grace's number one, her go to, but now Connor was here. A hint of jealousy started to flood his mind but then immediately resented himself for it. Jealousy was an awful feeling to have, especially towards someone he had known for so many years. Especially towards someone who could help Grace more than he ever could.
He stepped out of the room and looked left to right. To the left, rooms. To the right, more rooms. And Grace's room. He turned to the left. His thoughts raced rapidly through his mind, swooping in and out of his ears. "Grace is fine, Conner's with her. Sally's fine, she is finally free. Everyone's fine because all the rouge vampires have left, no longer getting the chance to influence those at Sanctuary. If everyone is fine, then why do I feel so uneasy?"
He kept walking.
He stopped. He was infront of a room with no door. The doorway was an arch of intricately carved wood. There was a plaque next to the door that said something in another language: la chambre de pensee. He peered inside. There was nothing but a small, red mat in the center of the room. His instincts told him to keep walking, but his gut told him to go in. "Well," he thought to himself," it is a bit curious…"
He followed his gut.
GRACE
She and her brother we walking through the garden she had been through so many times before. Snow was falling lightly on their heads. It seemed odd to her that this place could be so peaceful when the last time she was there, she had been attacked by someone who was supposed to be her friend. "Poor Johnny," she thought, "being so manipulated by Sidorio." That thought was quickly followed by "If he hadn't tried to drink my blood, I would feel sorrier for him." Then she thought of Lorcan, who so bravely saved her. Again. Lorcan, her friend, her savior, her l-
She stopped walking. "Was I just about to think what I thought I thought?" she murmured to herself. Then she was a bit confused by all the forms of the word "think" she had just said. Connor, who was a few paces ahead of her, looked back, alarmed by her sudden pause. His eyes questioned her. "Nothing." She said as she caught up to her twin. She was still shocked about the fact that she had romantic feelings about Lorcan, let alone being in love with him.
Loved him. It sent chills down her spine just as his kiss on her forehead had done.
Love him, the man who had looked at her mother in such a way that it looked as if he-
No. she couldn't think it. He had said he had feelings for her, did he not? "But what if he didn't mean feelings feelings?" she thought. What if they were only "going to talk" because he wanted to let her down gently? The thought brought a new batch of tears to her eyes.
LORCAN
He had sat down on the red mat inside the room. He waited for something to happen…
Nothing.
He shut his eyes and breathed in and out slowly.
Nothing.
"What am I supposed to do?" he asked the ceiling.
"Think!" a voice reverberated throughout the room. Lorcan sat up a bit, startled. The voice seemed familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. He looked around to see who it was, but no one was there.
"About what?" he asked. He thought he must seem foolish, talking to nothing.
There was no answer. The first thought that popped into his head was Grace. Then his uneasiness he had felt earlier. That was just the beginning. His thoughts began to race, faster and faster and faster until-
"There we go!" The voice said again. "Would you like some help organizing your thoughts?"
Lorcan, startled again, answer tentatively "Okay…"
"Why do you think you're so uneasy if 'everything's fine?'" the voice asked.
"I-I…I don't know." Lorcan replied.
"I think," the voice started again "that you're worried about what happens next. You're worried about the future. Sure everything's fine now, but what about later? What will happen to you? The Captain?" it paused. "Grace?"
Lorcan looked around uneasily at the mention of something bad happening to Grace.
"You really do think a lot about Grace." The voice continued. "Remember when she left? She was all you thought about. You couldn't even sleep, and the seldom times you could, you awakened with dreams of her."
How could this voice know so much about him?
"I know why you wouldn't take blood. Everyone thought it was out of depression for your "Blindness". It wasn't. You secretly hoped you would become weak. You hoped that you would become so weak, that you couldn't feel the pain anymore."
Lorcan was suddenly overcome by welling tears in his eyes. It was true. It was all true.
"But then!" shouted the voice, "She was back! She said she would stay! It was what you wanted all along! But then," the voice quieted to a whisper "you pushed her away. But then!" the voice louder again, "she still came back! You brought her back!"
"That's what Johnny meant. Hurting her." Lorcan thought aloud.
"But now you've confessed that you do have feelings for her. You said that you would talk. Are you really going to talk, or are you going to push her away again?" the voice sounded angry.
"Of course we are going to talk!" Lorcan replied defensively. "I promised!"
He always kept his promises.
The voice was silent. Lorcan realized that the voice didn't need to tell him anymore. He knew what he had to do. He had to find Grace and they were going to talk. He could not, would not push her away again. But he had one last question.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The voice was silent. He waited, and still nothing. He couldn't waste any more time. He had to find Grace.
It was only once he had stepped out of the room, he realized he knew who the voice was all along.
It was him.
CONNOR
Connor saw Grace crying. He pulled her into an embrace and held her for a few minutes. When she had stopped shaking, he released her. They stood looking at each other when he said "I am going to sail on Cheng Li's ship now." Grace looked at him quizzically but did not speak. He continued. "In light of what just happened, with our mother and everything, I wanted to ask you," she continued to look at him in the same way. "Will you come with me?"
GRACE
The question had shocked her indeed. Go with him? With her mother here then gone, it would be nice to have family around who wouldn't disappear in the mist. But then what about the Captain and Darcy?
And Lorcan? Well, if he didn't love her, then maybe it would be best for her to go, to save both of them from further embarrassment. But then again, even if he didn't love her like she hoped, he was still her best friend. After she had gotten him into this, how could she leave him? But then, how could she let Conner go after she had just lost her mother for a second time? She didn't know what to say. She just stood there in silence, her mouth slightly agape.
LORCAN
He was at the entrance to the garden. He had heard every word. Would she leave him? It was a thought he could not bear. He loved her, loved her more than anyone else in the world. He knew how it felt to loose her. He couldn't let it happen again.
But with Connor, she would be safe and happy. "Maybe if I hadn't kept my feelings from her, she would have said no by now." He thought to himself. Even if it killed him inside, he would have to let her go. He watched them stand there in silence for another moment, but then turned away, not wanting to hear her answer.
He whispered "I love you, Grace." and was gone.