Losing her was the hardest thing in his whole life, all hundred and seventeen years of it. The knowledge that he had failed her so spectacularly. She'd screamed and he'd heard it. She'd cried and he'd felt it. Felt her pain as she clawed at the ground. All the time shouting for help, for George. And that hurt nearly as much as her disappearance the fact that she'd called for George and not him. Once, a long time a ago he was the one she ran to when she was scared. He was the one who protected her when Tully scared her. He was the one who held her close when she found out the truth behind her death. Why hadn't she screamed for his help?
He knew the answer though. He'd scared her more than any of those others combined. He'd broken that beautiful girl's trust in him. He'd always been her friend and she had seen no reason not to trust him. So when she'd walked into the kitchen a sad look on her face that instantly turned into a soft smile when she saw him, she hadn't known that she run. Run from the one she called friend and the one who could hurt her worse than all the others. He could still see her there in the kitchen of the quiet pink house.
"Hey" She'd greeted as she walked into the room. He'd raised his head up to look at her and said the very first thing that had come into his head.
"It's the ghost" Confusion flickered across her face.
She gave a small sound, a tiny laugh, unsure of what she was meant to say to that. "Did you have friend stay over?"
He ignored her and asked his own question. "I kissed you once do you remember?" And he could remember that was sure. He would never forget the feather like touch of her lips on his. She'd smiled and laughed about it later but in that moment in the kitchen, he needed to know if she had thought about it as often as he had.
"Yeah" She responded quickly still standing away from him. "Sort of" She added to try and make it sound like the answer hadn't come to her that quickly.
"You know sometimes I can hear you moving about in a different room" Now the vampire stood approaching the grey-clad ghost. And he smirked, not the smirk he normally gave that was full of affection and warmth this was just lust. "And I think about your body." Her eyes widened, shock and confusing written across her gentle face. She pulled her jacket closer to her. "Underneath those clothes." He continued not much was going to stop the vampire in him now. "I think about your skin" That was also true, he had on certain occasions when he'd come home from a night of trying to control the vampires of Bristol thought about what it would be like to rip at her clothes, to see what lay underneath them, to feel the cold touch of her skin against his. Would she feel pain if he gripped her arms too tightly, would she scream? Could ghosts even be hurt?
"What!" She'd cried confusion in her voice as she took another step back from the lounging vampire. "Mitchell stop it! Shut up!" She was at a lost to where this was all coming from as the vampire ignored her words and stood up and moved towards her again.
"Do you want to kiss me again?" He asked seeing the panic that now ran through her eyes. He wanted the answer to be yes and he knew that it was possible he wouldn't take a no. He was right in front of her now as he repeated the question. "Do you want to kiss me?"
She ran from the kitchen as the front door opened "George!" She called out. "Hi" her voice was a little shaky as she looked at the kitchen and back to him. He'd heard as she said "There's someone in the kitchen" She hadn't said his name she knew he was too far gone. And it was only later that he realised that ghost's could be hurt if not physically then they could emotionally at least he knew Annie could be hurt by him. She'd looked back from the car as George drove her away from him with that pain clear on her face.
He violently shook his head. He wasn't going to think about it. He couldn't think about the awful things he'd said to her. George had the luxury of knowing that the last time he had talked to her he had told her he loved her. So there was no question as to why she would shout for the one she knew she could trust rather than the vampire who had scared her.
And there was no doubt in his mind about attacking Kemp. The mad priest was the reason he had lost everything. The reason he lost Annie. He wanted to rip out the bastard's throat as the sick man taunted him.
After George had dragged him away from Kemp appealing to the name Mitchell listened to. George was right Annie never wanted him to kill and there was no way he was going to smear her memory with blood. They'd staggered back to the pink house. Mitchell didn't say anything just cast a glance at the kitchen hoping to see her standing there with a cup of tea in her hand and a smile on her face. But the kitchen was empty and the house was quiet. "We need to leave" He spoke for the first time since leaving the facility.
"This is our home" George said quietly looking at the house with thousands of memories.
"No it's Annie's home" The Irish man responded before walking up the stairs and entering her room. He looked at the chair where they had shared their only kiss. He saw the teapot she used on special occasions and photo of her and her sister framed on the mantle. He grabbed the photo and the teapot and carried them down stairs.
"Do you want to take anything else?" Nina asked quietly.
"Her chair. That's all that's important here." He didn't say anything else as George helped him carry the chair down and pack it on the roof of the car. He ignored the pitying looks that Nina and George sent him as he sat there staring at the picture of her. All was silent as they drove away from the no longer haunted house. He didn't feel the cold bite of the air or the marks on his hands from holding the photo too tightly. All he could feel was the loss.