Disclaimer: Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer
This was going to be a one shot, but it looks like it'll be in at least three parts now. For those of you who have read 'When the Snows Thaw' I'm sure you've guessed from the title what this is about ;)
This is set a few months after where WTST ended so it predates the current timeline in 'Dhampir Hereafter'. I had intended to put this up before DH, but WTST ran on for a few more chapters and I didn't want to leave the cliffhanger from 'Dhampir in Disguise' hanging too long.
Prue
It was a Thursday in June and I was a little bored I guess. Who knew having a big old house complete with swimming pool and spa would be such a drag? I liked the pool and spa, and I liked all the space, but something felt a little off. I guess it was nothing without someone to share it with and I was uber horny anyway. Maybe I could go into town, or maybe down to Ridgeborough and pick someone up. But that seemed a little disrespectful to Essie and Tobias, not to mention my little friend Billie. This was her home and I wouldn't degrade it in that way. Her parents had been good enough to let me have the house for the week because they knew how much I loved the pool, and I'd use it just for swimming. I owed it to Billie.
She's such a smart kid, and hard to believe that this time last year she wasn't even born. Not even conceived. But she's a half vampire and that's how these things go, apparently. I was her official minder, but for the week she was off with her parents to the great vampire summit to get registered. So was my sister Grace, but her story was a lot different, and I still hadn't got my head around it properly.
I had free run of Tregarran Hall and I was starting to see how doing your favourite thing every day could be bad. I got out of the pool and run water into the spa. I'd have a nice time in the hot tub. I could even bathe in it properly as I'd always wanted to since the first time I saw it.
The tub was full and I started the bubbles, pulling off all my clothes. I climbed into the tub and sank delightfully into the water. It caressed my body and I relaxed for a long while. After an hour I decided to wash my hair.
I washed my hair and after washing the conditioner I decided to just get up out of the tub and dress to watch a movie. I rose to my feet, pushing back my hair, which was down past my shoulders now.
"Great Venus it's you!" Someone gasped and I looked to the guy who'd spoke.
My mouth fell open when I saw that tall, dark, handsome, muscles rippling, beautiful man.
"My angel." I murmured.
The man gasped, then turned away from me. Somehow I realised it was my nakedness that bothered him. I quickly grabbed the bathrobe and pulled it around me as I stepped out onto the tiles.
"Don't. Please look at me." I said, touching his arm. "It's Tibbi isn't it? Now I can thank you properly. If it wasn't for you I'd still be in that field in Iowa, doped up to my eyeballs and letting men do what they want with my body."
"They defiled you?" He asked, looking at me in shock.
"They might have done. Not that I know. I don't remember much of that time. Except you cleared my mind and I could finally come home." I said with a smile.
"Why would a divine being like you open yourself up to such dangers?" He asked in astonishment.
"Look Tibbi, I'm no more the goddess Venus than you are an angel. I'm Prue Pearson and your Tiberius, well I don't know if you got a surname, but that's not important. What's important is that we're alive and we're real and I've been hoping to meet you ever since that day in the field in Iowa." I admitted.
"You have?" He asked as if he didn't quite believe it.
"Yes. I even found out your name from your sister." I pointed out.
"Which one?" He asked.
"Lilly."
"She…" Tibbi chuckled and shook his head. "She treats me like a child. Did she think I'd shy away from this place if I knew you were here? On the contrary, I would have come sooner. I was asked to meet Lilly here and she said to come straight in."
"Lilly isn't here. She's at the big vamp conference."
"Oh…" Tibbi looked confused.
"Why don't you go sit down on the couch and watch TV while I get dressed and then we can talk." I stated, pointing into the rec room.
Tibbi looked toward the couch and the TV as if kicking back and veging in front of the box was something alien to him. Possibly it was, Lilly had said they grew up on an island with no other people around, well other than… I didn't want to think about that right now. I needed to get dressed so we could speak properly.
"Just go stand then. I won't be long." I told him and gestured him out into the room.
Tibbi nodded and stepped outside the bathroom. I closed the door to the rec room, and the one that led to the pool too in case there were any more unexpected guests. Not that I did expect that, this had all the hallmarks of a set up. Lilly was trying to make this all covert and romantic, but so far it was just awkward. And not on my part, I like my body and got no objection to people seeing it, especially handsome dark skinned angels, but it was Tibbi's shy reaction that made it awkward.
I dressed in the clothes I'd put ready earlier, nothing fancy, just sweats and a t-shirt since I'd planned on lounging about the place after my morning of swimming. I would have preferred to wear something more spectacular in my first encounter with Tibbi, but I guess this was a step up from the scarecrow I'd been in that field in Iowa.
I wrapped a towel around my hair to stop it dripping on my back and stepped out into the rec room. Tibbi had sat on the couch, but he didn't lounge into it, he sat up straight as if he didn't know how to relax. He was sat in the centre of the half circle couch so I sat on the coffee table so I could face him.
"So what did Lilly tell you exactly?" I asked.
"That it was time I came to visit her and she wouldn't take no for an answer." Tibbi replied, his deep brown eyes moving over me as if he was committing me to memory. "You look different now." He stated.
"Yeah. I'm dressed." I returned and he frowned. "You mean from the field? I clean up well don't I?"
"You were a sight, but there was something within you. A light I wished to see, but it was obscured. Obscured by the fog of the toxins with which you had abused your body. I wanted to make the light brighter, and now it's at the surface it's blinding." He said intensely still looking into my eyes.
"I'm happy now, really happy with my life. That's probably what makes the difference." I stated.
Tibbi looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Yes. I think you're right." He said and he smiled, his teeth bright white in contrast to his skin and I felt my heart flutter.
"Oh you're beautiful." I whispered. "No wonder I thought you were an angel. How could you not be?"
Tibbi was just like Lilly, he didn't know how to handle a compliment, he probably thought he didn't deserve any.
"You are a handsome man Tibbi, and if this was a year ago that would have been enough for me to seduce you. I wouldn't be doing any of this talking crap; I probably would have pulled you into the tub with me. Whatever, I'd be showing you more pleasure than you could imagine right now."
"If you could have seduced me." Tibbi said with a grin and that slight hint of Italian showed through in his voice.
"I would have." I said with a shrug. "I'm Prue Pearson, there's not a man on earth I couldn't mould into mine if I set my mind to it. But I'm tired of meaningless sex and empty relationships. I want something real. I want friendship and loving, even if it's just a fraction of what I've seen between all you supernatural types."
"You want me because I'm supernatural?" He asked, jumping to the wrong conclusion, although I could kind of see why from what I'd said.
"No no no, that's not what I meant at all." I assured him. "I want you because you're one hot hunk of man, but that's not what I need. I need to take step back and use my head for once. I want to get to know you for the person you are before there's any sex involved."
"You want sex? With me?" Tibbi asked in amazement.
"Don't be such a kid." I said, and then cursed myself. "I bet you've never actually been with anyone have you? Probably got some standards or…whatever. And of course the vamp women of Volterra wouldn't be interested in a half blood. To tell the truth if I was a Volturi woman I'd turn right off men given how they treat women as objects for their own gratification. You don't have those views do you?"
"I grew up outnumbered by sisters. I know not to vex ladies or they are likely to react… well not very ladylike." He said with a chuckle then pointed to a mark on his forearm, it was almost unnoticeable, a slight line of discoloration. "I've still got the scar from when I stole Ninian's diary and read it to our brothers. She's the best fighter of us, but also has the mushiest soul. She doesn't like to be reminded of it even though we all know it is true." Then Tibbi looked sad. "I miss Nin, she was fun when you got her angry, but she was also a good doctor and she stayed behind as the wolves' physician."
"Are there many of your siblings left in Volterra?" I asked softly because Lilly hadn't told me some got left behind.
"Four of my sisters." Tibbi stated. "Three of them stayed for noble reasons, but Clara…" He shook his head. "Such idiotic romantic notions she got from those rubbish books she was always reading. She lost her heart to the first vampire who took a fancy to her. Demetri." He growled. "He bewitched her somehow. She wouldn't leave and now I don't know if she's still alive. I know Ninian, Jewel and Preston are safe, they are needed in their role with the werewolves, but poor Clara." He shook his head sadly again. "Does that cad Demetri love her enough to vouch for her and plead for her life? Is his love strong enough to withstand Chelsea's influence? Or will he just turn her over to the brothers without a thought because she's nothing more than a bauble?"
"Isn't there any way you can contact her to find out?" I asked tentatively.
"Relations between the Coalition and the Volturi are strained after Father defected and took us children with him. It was a slap in the face for Aro, despite the fact Father had been out of favour for over a decade by the time we made our escape." Tibbi explained.
"No matter how mad you are at your kids it still hurts when they leave you." I said. "I did that enough times to my mother to know that." I stopped and thought for a moment. "I want to show you something but it's not here. It's back at the Stables. At my house. I can drive us there now."
"In an automobile?"
"Jeez Tibbi, you really need to update your vocabulary, or at least pull it out of main land Europe. It's called a car. A Pontiac G6 GT Convertible in hot red to be exact. Now get your butt out of that chair and come with me. You need to see something." I said, getting to my feet and holding out my hand to him.
Tibbi looked at me with a little amusement on his face, obviously finding the fact that little old human me was offering to help perfectly in control of his every muscle dhampir him to his feet. He didn't comment though just took my hand and let me imagine that I was helping him to his feet. Weird as it was, that earned him brownie points. He wasn't trying to lord his physical superiority over me. He was willing to let me, a human, feel needed. That's how I decided to read it anyway and stuff you if you think different. It's my life, my choices, my decisions, and that's what I decided in that moment.
Tibbi got to his feet, making a show of me helping him up and then he was there an inch taller than me. I thought that was about enough, I didn't know how Grace could stand having Tony tower a whole foot above her, and look at Liza with, what was his name again? Some type of stone? Malachite. That's it. Malachite is like a foot and a half taller than Liza, that begs all manner of wonderings of how they actually got down and dirty. When I asked her all Liza would say was that it worked brilliantly and Mal made her feel things that no words could express. She was boring in the details department, but hell I had a soft spot for my little deputy and well Mal was her first and Liza was stiff and old fashioned, it would take a lot to get her to talk to me.
Anyway, Tibbi was the right amount taller than me, or should I say the height I liked. He couldn't tower over me, but I could still wear heals. He was perfect in that respect. I felt the urge to kiss him, but I was the new Prue, the Prue who listened to her head not her body.
"I'm parked down in the garage." I stated. "Follow me."
I led him down to the garage and the way he was looking around it was clear he'd never been in Tregarran before.
"How did you get in anyway?" I asked.
"Through the glass room that houses the swimming pool." Tibbi replied. "The door at the far end was unlocked, just as Lilly promised me."
"And that makes me a very bad house sitter. I've been on my own here almost a week and I didn't think to check if any of those doors were locked. I just assumed they were because I don't think I've ever seen them open." I stated.
"I could go lock them for you if you would like?" Tibbi offered.
"Nah. Nobody would dare steal from the Blacks. Not that they've ever shown any streak of violence or anything, but people know not to mess with them. Guess humans pick up on the vamp vibe without really realising it." I said with a shrug. "So what do you think?" I asked, indicating my car.
"It is very red." He said. "Very sleek and very red."
"You really don't know much about cars do you?" I said with a laugh.
"I can run as fast as a car, and our island home was so small we didn't need such devices. We saw them in movies, but they weren't something we could experience until we were ordered to Volterra. We went in a limousine, and only once. It took us from the port to the castle of Volterra and there we stayed until we escaped."
"So I guess you've never been in a car like mine." I said with a smile. "And lucky for you it's just overcast today and not raining. We can have the top down."
"I'm sorry, I'm lost." Tibbi said softly.
"Like this." I said, pressing the button on my key and the roof of my car began to fold up and away into the little compartment on the back.
"I see. That's amazing that it fits away like that. How does it work?" He asked, inspecting it.
"How the hell should I know? I'm not an engineer. All I know is that it does and looks really cool." I replied, before gesturing into the car. "So hop in."
Tibbi nodded and then jumped from where he was standing and vaulted smoothly into the seat. He made it look effortless and I was a little jealous of the control he had over his body. All the dhampir had it and it seemed so unfair. I probably could have done that when I was seventeen, but I was out of practice and the other side of thirty, those things weren't possible for me now. Especially with my knee. It was times like this I found myself wondering if maybe I should ask them to turn me, but Grace didn't want me to. She'd been dealt a lucky hand in the fluke that made her a half vamp instead of a full one, she wanted me to stay warm and avoid the cold if possible. But when I thought about growing old and dying while everyone in my life was now somehow immortal, well sometimes I just wanted to go up to the nearest vamp and say 'bite me already'. I looked at Tibbi and I had a moment of struggle where I was about to ask him, but I'd heard it takes a lot of control and I wasn't sure if he had enough yet, he did drink human blood…
"Prue? Are you ok?" He asked.
I blinked and refocused on him.
"Yeah. Just having a moment." I stated. "You need to move into the other seat cause judging by your reaction to just seeing a car I doubt you know how to drive. Not only that, only I drive my girl."
Tibbi nodded and moved into the passenger seat. I opened the door and got behind the wheel.
"Seatbelt." I stated, pulling my own seatbelt on and Tibbi obeyed. "Let's go."
I started the car and pulled out of the garage. The door closed behind the car as I made my way around the house and on to the long winding drive. Once I was out on the main road I opened her up, not that we had far to go, but I wanted to show Tibbi fast travel my way.
Tibbi chuckled as the wind whipped around us.
"This is fun." He said.
"Yeah. I probably should have taken my towel off." I said, having to push it back up as I slowed down and I pulled onto the gravel in front of my house. "Well this is where I live. The Stables."
"It doesn't look like stables." He remarked.
"There's some round the back. We used to have a riding school but Mom and Dad had other things to do and it went out of business. We didn't run out of money, Mom just run out of interest and got rid of the horses even though I loved them. She did it just to spite me, or at least that's what I thought at the time. I know better now, but that was one of many misunderstandings between us and she probably thought I hated her when she died." I stated as I parked the car and got out. "Worst thing about that, I probably did." I admitted and I hit the button to close the roof as I walked up to the door of my house.
Tibbi was suddenly beside me and he was looking into my eyes with his hands either side of my face.
"You really believe that." He said. "There's no fog of confusion, you hated your mother. Why?"
"We never got on. We were too similar. We clashed." I said and I pulled away from Tibbi and opened the door and stepped inside. "And she blamed me for what happened to Grace."
"Grace?"
"My sister." I said as I threw my keys into the dish and led Tibbi to the stairs. "We're going to my room because that's where my computer is." I stated. "We won't be doing anything else, do you understand?"
"I have never been in a lady's bedchamber before." Tibbi mused.
"Then I guess it's a first for both of us." I stated.
"How so?"
"I've never had a guy in my room without it ending in the horizontal tango." I quipped.
"You are a…" He began.
"Think before you finish that question." I said, giving him a steely look before I climbed the stairs.
"A very passionate woman who likes to fulfil her need for sexual thrills but has yet to find the partner that truly deserves her?" Tibbi ventured.
"I guess growing up with all them sisters did teach you something." I said as I reached the landing and led him to my bedroom and I paused by the door. "We're only using the computer." I repeated. "Please remind me if I…"
"I'm not sure if I could." Tibbi said. "I'm attracted to you and it's only the fact that I am too inexperienced to initiate anything that is stopping me from seducing you. If you proposition me I will not be able to stop myself from acquiescing to your wishes."
"Oh wow." I gasped as I looked up into his eyes that weren't as dark as I thought, they were dark at the outer edges but around the iris they were a warm caramel and I was melting as if I was those candies myself. "Then I guess I'll just have to risk it." I stated and pushed open my door and stepped into my room.
Tibbi stopped at the door.
"What is this Dracula? Do I have to invite you in?" I demanded as I dropped into my desk chair, the same one I had since high school, and hit the on button of my laptop.
Tibbi was beside me and I looked up at him with my eyebrows raised.
"I really wish you wouldn't do that." I said. "I can't hear you approach when you use vamp stealth mode. I'm human remember?"
"Unfortunately yes." Tibbi replied.
"Unfortunately? You got a problem with me being human?" I demanded.
"None, apart from one." He stated calmly.
"Which is?" I prompted.
"That you will expire in but eight decades, perhaps nine and I will no longer be able to look upon you." He said sadly.
"Oh." I said, feeling a little flustered by those remarks. "And thanks."
"For what?" He asked with a frown.
"Well you must think I look younger than I am because going off your predictions I'm gonna live until I'm a hundred and thirteen, possibly a hundred and twenty three. Thank you."
"You are…" Tibbi paused a moment calculating. "Thirty three?"
"Yes."
"Oh." He stopped and frowned. "You look younger."
"And you think you can't chat up girls." I mused as I typed in my password.
"Sorry?"
"Room just across the hall, you'll find a chair in there." I said, indicating with my thumb.
Tibbi took a breath as if he was about to say something, but then he let it go and moved into the room across the hall, the other guest room. He came back carrying the desk chair and set it next to mine before sitting down as my laptop, ancient piece of crap that it was, finally warmed up.
I opened the drawer to my left and pulled out an old wooden jewellery box that had contained the watch the 'rents gave me on my sixteenth. Now I used it to store my flash drives. I picked out the one that was just plain black, I usually went for the more pleasant designs, but the Ingrid had always gone for efficiency.
I pulled out the only plain black USB clip in the box and inserted it into the drive. I clicked on the video that I wanted and hit play. The video began, the one with Mom's apology. I'd downloaded it from You Tube and removed the video so that I had access to the only copy, at least that I knew of, Ingrid probably had it saved somewhere else, but wherever it was I didn't know.
I was trying to think of anything but what was said in the video because Mom sounded so sorry and it made me feel so confused. On the one hand I was touched that Mom had made this apology, I was upset that Mom died before we got to reconcile our differences and I was angry that Ingrid had cast me out in the first place over something that was way beyond my control and that she didn't come apologise to me straight away. She did it via video will.
"Your mother disowned you because you nearly died?" Tibbi asked with a frown after the video had ended.
"Yeah." I replied. "Although part of it was because I didn't tell her I'd nearly died."
"Why would you not tell your mother that?"
"Because…" I sighed and shook my head. "I really didn't get on with Ingrid, like I said, we're too similar. And she always looked down on my sleeping around and I was usually so careful but then I was in this relationship and we were good together, until I got pregnant. Well I think he would have stayed with me if there hadn't been any problems." I held back a sob and then I felt my anger take hold. "Who am I kidding the guy was a rat. He accused me of getting pregnant on purpose, hello I was high on cough meds and kinda forgot that antibiotics cancel out the effects of the birth control pill, he was the one who was against other forms of contraception. Anyway, doesn't matter, he was a rat, he left me. Then Ingrid thought I was as promiscuous as ever and more or less said it was my fault and I'd ruined her chances of ever being a grandmother. That if I couldn't continue on the family line then there was no point in me still being in the family. It was…"
"How could she say such things to her own daughter?" Tibbi demanded in disgust.
"She was never what you'd call warm and fuzzy, not even to Grace and she was the good one. Ingrid was your typical ice queen and I have some of her tendencies, but I also got a passionate streak that I never got before because Brigham was every bit as distant as Ingrid was cold. I never really got Grace either, she didn't seem to fit in the family at all, but then we discovered that Garry was our father. That makes a lot more sense now." I babbled on. "What point was I trying to make by showing you this anyway?" I asked with a frown.
"I can't quite recall." Tibbi said.
I harrumphed as I removed the towel from my hair, rubbing it to get off the last of the excess water. "That's gonna bug me all day now."
"If it's important you will recall it." Tibbi said and he handed me my hairbrush that I stored on my nightstand and I gave him a curious look as I took it from him. "Nine sisters who are all older than me. They trained me well." He said with a wink and placed the brush in my hand.
"I guess they did." I said with an amused smile as I began pulling the brush through my hair, I was really loving the fact that it was down to my shoulders again; I should never have started those dreads. No matter what Liza said, short hair just wasn't me.
"That it hurts parents when their children leave them regardless of any falling out." Tibbi blurted out.
"What?" I asked, looking at him from beneath my de-tangling hair.
"That was the point you were trying to make by showing me this video." He clarified.
"Right." I said. "Yeah. Well like I said, me and Ingrid never saw eye to eye, but at the end of the day she's still my mom and even though she'd exiled me she really was worried when I dropped off the grid. And I kinda knew she'd been searching for me, some of my old people told me when I caught back up with them after you saved me from my own destruction. I didn't like to admit to that though, I came back because Grace had been trying to contact me to tell me my parents were dead. I came to keep her company, but she didn't need it. She had Tony, but I realised I needed her. You woke me from the fog and Grace healed me the rest of the way. I guess everyone here did, especially after I found out the big secret. Being absorbed into the family was the best thing that ever happened to me."
I finished brushing my hair and placed my brush aside. I stared at my laptop screen for a long moment before I set it to shut down and then I turned to Tibbi.
"Are you hungry?" I asked.
"A little." He admitted. "I haven't ate since early this morning when I set out on my journey."
"Then let's go get something to eat." I said, shooting to my feet and leaving the bedroom because I'd been spilling way too much to him and now I needed space to breathe.
"I have parental issues too." Tibbi said, following me down the old servant stairs to the kitchen. "I don't like my father."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because he abandoned us when we needed him most to chase his own desires."
"I think you'll have to elaborate there." I said as I began looking through the cupboards trying to decide what to eat.
"He helped us escape from Volterra and brought us safely to America, but then he went off on his own whim to find some girl from his past before he saw us safely to our aunt. If he had but got us to Wyoming then I would understand, but he left us in New York with the entire territory of the carnivorous nomads to cross and without any knowledge of the danger we were in. We were left in the care of vegetarians who had hired a bus for us, but we were too much of a rich picking. A bus full of dhampir was too great a prize to pass up. Had Father been with us he could have defended us all, through reputation alone perhaps, but definitely with his power, but he wasn't there and we had to run and they caught us all. I will never forget those months locked in those pits…"
"What happened?" I asked, placing my hand on his arm.
"Stuff that should happen to nobody." Tibbi said darkly. "Lilly was treated the worst of all of us, she is the oldest and feels she must protect us all. And the times I stepped in to defend her then we were both punished." He said, rubbing absentmindedly at his side.
I looked up at him for a moment then pulled up his t-shirt and there was an area of puckered shiny skin on his side, it could almost have been an appendectomy scar, only they were usually neat and not as ugly as that.
"Oh god. They cut you deep and often didn't they?" I gasped, since I knew enough about dhampir healing to know that. "Oh god." I murmured again as I placed my hand over it as if I could heal it or something.
When I took my hand away it was still there, of course it was. I didn't have any magic powers, or anything at all. I was just a plain old human. But I could give comfort and I placed my lips to his scar in a gentle kiss before I straightened up and wrapped my arms around his warm solid chest and hugged him.
"I wish I could remove all that." I said. "Or better still, stopped you from experiencing it in the first place."
"We can't change the past." Tibbi said huskily as he very hesitantly put his arms around me. "Just learn and grow from our experiences."
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
"For what?"
"If you hadn't stopped to help me…"
"They would have caught me regardless." Tibbi said. "And the mist I took from your mind I stored away and used it to buffer me against the worst of the pain."
"Don't lie to make me feel better." I growled angrily.
Tibbi pushed me away from him and looked down into my eyes.
"I am not lying." He stated in a steady voice. "It's how my power works. I clarify minds and store the mist. I can use it to cause mists in the minds of others or I can use it to numb my own mind. Unfortunately it doesn't work on vampires or I could have numbed them all long enough for my siblings to escape." He said, stepping back from me and dropping his hands.
"But not you?" I realised.
"I would have crashed after that." He said. "I would have been a hindrance to my siblings."
"But they wouldn't have left you behind." I stated. "Especially Lilly."
"Lilly would not have left me." Tibbi conceded. "Thankfully the guard saved us, but lo our Father was elsewhere and has not wished to see us safe."
"Who is your father anyway?" I asked. "Lilly has never said."
"His name is Alec." Tibbi said.
"Wait. Little Alec. Sandy haired Alec who looks like a kid. Jane's brother Alec?" I exclaimed.
"That would be him." Tibbi stated.
"Oh my god! He's a father?" I asked in astonishment.
"What's so surprising? He is over fifteen hundred years old." Tibbi said with a shrug.
"I just can't imagine… Well I mean… He's got at least ten kids?"
"There are fourteen of us all together."
"Wow." I gasped. "That's a lot."
"Yes."
"So he's some kind of vampire stud?" I ventured.
"Yes, but not in the way you are implying." Tibbi replied. "You're using the slang term yes? Stud as in a handsome man who woos all the girls?"
"Yeah."
"He was not that, he was more a stud in the way of horses."
"Oh. They bred him out?" I asked, some weird pictures going through my mind of a vampire locking two people in a room together and encouraging them to mate.
"Yes. He was the only vampire Aro could trust not to kill the girls used as baby factories. He wanted to experiment making dhampir, impressed by Renesmee's powers. But other than Lilly and I, none of our siblings have powers. And the ones Lilly and I have are ones Aro wasn't interested in. That's why he abandoned the project and all I can say is good riddance. All those poor girls who died to make us, and who knows the others that died without falling pregnant?"
"But Lilly's mother is still alive. I know she's a vampire, but she's still here." I stated.
"Because Layla was the first girl Aro used and he kept his promise. Immortality as a vampire for bearing him a Coven Child. He wanted Lilly for his own end and sought to remove Layla's memories of ever having a child. He did it mid transformation and it shattered Layla's mind. Aro decided it was easier to discard the women like sweet wrappers once he had what he wanted from them."
"And Alec just want along with this time after time?" I asked in disgust.
"He had no idea." Tibbi said. "Aro had his memories removed each time and convinced him that each time was the first time he was attempting the experiment."
"Oh god." I gasped. "That's awful."
Tibbi nodded.
"He found it hard to deal with us at first, these grown-up people all his own children that he never knew he had, but once he accepted it he protected us as best he could."
"See, you don't totally hate your farther or you wouldn't be defending him." I stated. "So you're Italian right?"
"I think so." He replied with a frown.
"Then I'll cook you my old family recipe, dried spaghetti and Ragu." I said holding up the packet and the jar.
"Are these supposed to hold some significance to me?" Tibbi asked.
"Come on, you're Italian, this is pasta, you gotta like." I scoffed.
"I don't know what this pasta is." He observed.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes." Tibbi said with a serious face but then it split into a grin. "I am teasing. But I like pasta for pasta's sake, and not because I am Italiano." He added, winking as he really forced his accent.
I laughed.
"I guess I'm gonna have to watch out for that humour of yours." I remarked. "So Ragu and the dried stuff ok? Or do you have some secret cooking skills you want to impress me with."
Tibbi shook his head.
"I am not allowed in the kitchen. Lilly's orders. I tend to leave stuff cook too long, and then they burn. Not so good when your food stores are limited." He explained.
"Yeah. Well I won't leave you near the stove then." I said with a smile and turned to put down the pasta and sauce and got out some saucepans. "Oh and this is the no garlic recipe, I really can't stand that stuff."
"Really? I thought I was the vampire." He remarked.
"Hey, you're kinda funny now you lost all that shyness." I observed, shooting him a smile over my shoulder.
"I feel comfortable enough to try humour." He said with a smile, still standing in the middle of the kitchen floor.
"Glad to hear." I said as I tipped the sauce into one pan and filled the other with water to boil. "You can sit down if you want to. You're making me itchy hovering like that."
"Sorry." He said as he dropped into a chair, my chair, I decided not to point that out.
"No need really. I don't like people just standing behind me when I'm doing stuff. You didn't know that but now you do."
"I'll try not to hover in future." He promised and I nodded my head as I fed handfuls of spaghetti into the boiling water and stirred the sauce. "So is there any dislikes you have that I should know about?" I asked, turning to him.
"I hate garlic. Something we have in common." He said with a grin.
I laughed as I turned back to the pan and stirred the sauce and checked on the pasta.
"Anything you like?" I asked.
"I like you." He replied.
I smiled without turning, he sounded like a kid right then and it was something I've come to realise that the dhampir can be like that, stuck in the kid rut until they decide to grow up. I guess it was the being fully-grown at eight and having parents who would never age or die that did that. And I always got the impression from Lilly that Aro had wanted her to stay more like a child. I guess it was easier to get them to stay on the island if they felt like kids who couldn't survive out in the world by themselves.
"Well that's a given." I replied as I reached down two serving plates and placed them ready. "Everybody likes me. I'm just so darn likable."
I got out the strainer and poured out the pan with the spaghetti to drain it. I hummed a little as I shared the spaghetti between the two plates. And then took the sauce off the heat. I started pouring that over the pasta.
"You don't really think that." Tibbi said suddenly. "You jest. You don't think you deserve to be liked. Why?"
"You seem to be the mind reader you figure it out." I growled, slamming the pan down onto the stove.
"Sorry." He said and I turned to see that he had his head bowed in shame.
"Look. I can do cute and bubbly, but I'm also a bit of a bitch, always have been. But then I was Prue Pearson, head cheerleader, queen bee of Olympic High. People liked me because if they didn't I put them down. Does that sound like someone who deserved to be liked?" I demanded.
"You were Cornelia?" He asked.
"What?" I demanded, completely lost.
"I was referring to a character in a show." He said. "Matters not really. She was a bitch, but she was decent beneath. The bitchiness was a defence I suppose, to keep her place as the queen of the school. She should have been un-likable, but something about her, about the fact that she could put it aside in times of need and when she loved she loved deeply. I must say I was quite taken with her, and not just because she was a beautiful woman."
I carried the plates over to the table and put one in front of his and I dropped down opposite him.
"I was a bitch, pure and simple. Still am." I said as I wound spaghetti onto my fork. "I'm never gonna change. Trouble is, a lot of people find it endearing. I have no idea why. Guess people just like to be insulted or something. Idiots." I growled and stuffed the forkful of spaghetti into my mouth so I didn't have to talk.
It was an idiot move, there was a little boiling water caught between the spaghetti and the sauce burned my mouth, but I chewed and chewed before I swallowed.
"I think they see what's beneath. They take your insults as gentle teasing. You just don't like to admit you're nice." Tibbi said, ducking his head until he caught my eyes.
"Eat your food, or we won't go swimming later." I said firmly.
"Pardon?" Tibbi said with a blink.
"That's my usual threat to Billie when she's being difficult about eating. She's a young dhampir and not quite up to realising the benefits of eating human food yet." I explained.
"Billie would be…"
"The little girl I look after. I guess you could call me the nanny. That's her parents' house, Tregarran. She's a good kid, and so smart. Hard to believe she's just about seven months old." I mused.
"Sounds like you love her." Tibbi observed.
"She's hard not to love. But then I like kids." I stated. "I did intend to become a child carer until my life took a swan dive. Kind of weird how it's happened now in a round about way."
"You are happy with your life now."
I gave that some serious thought.
"Well apart from not having a man to satisfy all my sexual cravings, yeah I'm happy. For the first time since high school I have a place in life to call my own. There's no greater satisfaction than that." I stated and scooped up the last of the spaghetti before I picked up my glass of coke and drank it back.
"How's the pasta?" I asked.
"It's…good." He said, taking another mouthful.
"You don't have to lie, you hate it." I said. "I would have done some proper food if I'd known you were coming, but I was starved."
"It's much better than what I could have cooked." Tibbi stated.
"Flatterer." I deadpanned and then sighed. "I really don't know what I should do with you now Tiberius." I murmured.
He laughed softly and took a sip of his coke.
"What's so funny?" I demanded.
"Nobody ever uses my full name." He explained. "They like to keep me the baby brother."
"I'm sure that's not the case." I said as I got to my feet to clear the plates. "Although Tibbi is kinda cute." I said and because I was so near I kissed his forehead like I did with Billie from time to time, his skin had that same furnace temperature to it, but it had an entirely different effect on me.
I didn't think as I put my hands to his cheeks and then I was kissing him, and god his lips were big and soft, and he was a little unsure, guess he didn't have a lot of make out practice at home. Then I remembered my promise and I managed to pull away and his eyes were closed for a moment, but when he opened them I saw amazement and also that spark of lust I was so familiar with in the eyes of guys who got close to me.
"Sorry." I said. "Forgot my promise for a minuet there. I'm not going to try to seduce you."
"Why?" He asked, and he looked crestfallen, like I was rejecting him, and in a sense I kind of was, but not because I didn't want him.
"Because I got dishes to do." I said, and picked up my plate and turned from him.
"I can wash." He said, whisking the plate out of my hands quickly and I jumped a little.
"Can you slow down a little?" I asked. "I'm slow bumbling human remember? Not all of us can whoosh around the place."
"Sorry. I'm not used to being around humans." He stated.
"Well you want to start getting used or how else are you gonna fit in?" I asked as he began to run a sink full of soapy water.
"You will have to teach me." He said and he turned a smile on me that stopped me in my tracks, or else I'd have to kiss him and things would go a lot further.
"I will if you're planning on sticking around." I said carefully.
"I wasn't going to. I was merely stopping by to pay my sister a visit, but I have the sudden urge to stay for as long as it's allowed." He said as he carefully placed a plate in the drainer.
"You sure you've never flirted with girls before?" I asked, giving him a sidelong glance as I started wiping the plates he was washing.
"I just have natural charm, apparently I inherited it from Father." He said with a grin that faltered quickly.
"Let's forget about parents and talk about us." I said. "Do you watch movies?"
"Yes. I stated that earlier." He replied and I had to do a quick recap over all the things we'd shared so far.
"Oh yeah, you did." I realised. "You wanna watch a movie once we're finished here? That's what I was planning to do this afternoon, just veg out, maybe kill some brain cells with a few beers. You up for it?"
"I have never drunk beer. It will be an experience." He mused.
"Seriously?"
"I am from Italy, it's wine all the way bambino." He declared and then frowned. "Not that we were ever given much in the way of alcohol, Aro wanted all our pleasure to come from the blood."
"That sucks." I said, putting the last of the clean dishes away.
"I believe his intention was for us to suck." Tibbi said dryly and I realised he was making a sarcastic joke. "After all, we are vampires."
"Lilly never calls herself a vampire." I observed, "Neither do Grace or the twins."
"You know Ithaca and Icarus?" He asked in surprise.
"No." I replied with a frown.
"But they are the twins."
"Not the twins I know." I stated. "The Black twins. Tony and Liza. Billie's older sibs."
"I forget there are more than one set of twins in the world because on the island they were the only ones." Tibbi observed.
"And I forget there are other twins beside Liza and Tony. I guess I should have just used their names." I said with a sigh. "Anyway, they call themselves half vamps or dhampir, why don't you?"
"I decided I am not half of anything. I'm a whole person and I refuse to be called half. Dhampir might not sound as bad, but it still means half vampire. Is vampire not a reference to creatures that sup on blood? In that case I am a vampire, only a lot safer to be around."
"Did you ever drink human blood?" I asked.
He turned to me, looked down into my eyes for a very long time, then sighed and turned away. He placed the washcloth carefully over the faucet then turned to the door and began moving toward it.
"Wait! Where are you going?" I demanded.
"I am leaving here before my illusions are shattered." He said mournfully.
"What illusions?" I asked.
"That you could ever love me." He replied, pausing with his hand on the door handle. "How could you when I have killed so many people? Even though we prayed for another way we were told that human blood was the only true food source and anything else was a perversion. None of those excuses matter because I am a murderer; there is no denying that. Worse, I am a cannibal."
"How?" I asked, not getting where he was coming from.
"I am part human too, is a cannibal not a creature that feeds on its own kind?" He whispered then moved closer to the door to turn the lock.
"I think you actually have to eat the flesh for that." I said, then paused. "Please tell me you didn't do that."
"That would be perversion indeed. With the blood gone what appeal does the flesh hold?" He asked, and opened the door to step outside.
I moved as fast as I could across the kitchen and took hold of his hand to stop him. He turned to me and looked at me in confusion.
"Look, we're getting to know each other." I stated. "And you're a vampire hybrid raised on an island by the designs of one of the bad vamps. That you escaped that and are trying to lead a better life is much more of a testament to your true nature than something you were made to do from birth."
"My nature is to feed on the blood of mortals." Tibbi said darkly.
"Do you do that anymore? Ever since you learned it's not so freaky to feed on animal blood?" I demanded.
"No." Tibbi said and he looked directly at me as he said it. "When Father told us that an animal diet was sufficient I fully embraced it. I am the youngest, but I was the first. Lilly followed me and where she led our siblings fell in behind."
"Then you were a victim of circumstance. You had no more control over what you ate than a prisoner. Me on the other hand, I might never have killed any one, but I've done some pretty shady stuff in my past. I even broke this girls face open and didn't feel an atom of remorse; I thought it was karma, served the bitch right for picking on my little sister. They used to call me psycho Prue. I got no excuse for that, no dietary requirements I can't ignore to excuse my behaviour. I was just a little psychotic in my young days."
"You hurt her to protect your sister." Was the thing Tibbi decided to take from that confession.
"Yeah. But it was in the worse way possible." I replied.
"What did you do exactly?" He asked.
"Tripped her up as she run along the side of the pool and she fell and smashed her face on the tiles. Didn't know it at the time, but Liza was close to turning her into the party punch, but Tony was more immune to the scent of blood and rushed her out of there. That would have been an interesting one for them to explain."
"You didn't know of the supernatural then. You could not have known the danger a young vampire would pose, or even that there was one among you. And when you tripped this viper did you know she would hurt herself so grievously?" Tibbi rationalised.
"Not really." I conceded, because I hadn't known Naomi would hurt herself quite so spectacularly. "Just thought it would be satisfying to see the bitch fall on her ass."
"Then it was a childhood prank turned serious, but not the actions of a psychopath surely?"
"I liked that she split her face open though." I stated.
"So you have a ruthless streak." Tibbi said with a shrug, then he leaned close to me until his eyes were an inch from mine. "Who hasn't?" He whispered and then he placed his lips to mine.
Despite myself I leaned into him, into his hot, strong body and his arms went around me, he had a lot more confidence now. I had my hands up on his cheeks, stroking his shaven hair that was soft like felt beneath my fingers before I remembered myself and I pulled my face away from his.
"That should not be the cue for us to be kissing." I stated.
"Taking advantage of our ruthless streak?" He asked.
"No." I said firmly and I pulled away from him, but only because he allowed me too he was about ten times stronger than me and I suddenly wasn't sure it was good to appeal to his ruthless side.
"I have spooked you." He said apologetically.
"I think I spooked myself." I said, stepping away from him. "Why don't we just back up a little here."
"Would you like me to give you platitudes of love? Bring you flowers and chocolate? Take you out to view an opera?" He suggested.
I laughed.
"Oh god, you're making it so hard for me to keep my resolve you know. You're just so damn cute."
"Bravo, I am cute." He said with a heavy sigh.
"Fine. You're hot and sexy and I want to jump your bones." I corrected.
"Then why don't you?" H challenged with that hungry light in his eyes again.
"I told you, I'm being a good girl for a change." I said primly. "I want to prove to myself that I can get to know a guy before sex is involved."
Tibbi straightened up when I said that and he looked troubled suddenly.
"Do you have sex with every man you meet?" He asked.
"If he's available." I said with a shrug.
"You have met Father." Tibbi said in horror.
"What?" Then I realised what he was hinting at. "God no. He looks like a kid. I did flirt with him, but that was to redirect the lustful twinges I was having for Liza's boyfriend who is such a hottie. I came on to him a little strong not realising who he was and Liza got all territorial so I had to reassure my little deputy that I was not after her man. I don't steal guys, that's my one rule, he has to be single."
"I am single." Tibbi said with a smile that quickly fell. "Very much single."
"Which is a good thing, but I really need to test my resolve, last until tomorrow at the very least." I stated.
Tibbi watched me for a long moment, it was kind of eerie because he had Jane's stare, but then he blinked and settled his hands down at his sides. Then he crossed his arms and gave me a playful look that again reminded me of Jane, right before she did something that was either amusing or dangerous.
"So what film were you planning on watching?" He asked.
"Dracula." I said.
He raised his eyebrows.
"Not really. I was just gonna play potluck on the TV channels. Bound to be something on." I said with a shrug.
"Then may I choose?" He asked.
"Sure." I said. "I'll grab the beers."
I got two bottles from the fridge, they were mine, Tony and Grace didn't drink apart from the odd toast. I led Tibbi into the back den. This was the room for Grace and me to crash in when we were kids so we didn't ruin any of Ingrid's pristine visiting rooms.
"Well there's the video library." I said, indicating the large array of DVDs. "Take your pick." I said as I dropped onto a beanbag.
"There are a lot of movies." Tibbi said looking along the shelves.
"Grace and me had a lot of time with the electronic babysitter when we were kids." I said, popping the cap off my bottle with an opener.
"I have picked a film." Tibbi said and held up the Lion King.
"Disney? Really?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at his choice.
"I have never seen this and I like lions." He stated without a trace of irony.
"Knock yourself out." I said, indicating the equipment.
Tibbi turned on the TV and inserted the disc into the DVD and then he came over to me and stood patiently waiting.
"Pull up a bean bag and pop a beer." I said, passing the beer to him.
He nodded and pulled the other beanbag closer to mine as the DVD run through it's warning messages to pirates. Tibbi sat down and he looked at the beer for a long moment before popping the cap with his thumb as if the top was nothing but foil. It was weird because I knew the vamps were strong, even little Billie could lift me no problem if she really put her mind to it, but the thing about the vamps I knew, even the full ones like Tobias, was that they never displayed how strong they really were. They were all so careful, Tibbi barely hid his, guess it was not really being around humans.
I pushed the thoughts away and hit the fast play to skip to the main menu. Then I hit play.
"You do realise this is a cartoon and there's singing." I stated.
"Yes." He said and leaned forward, his eyes reflecting the screen and a smile turned up the corners of his lips as the opening of Circle of Life began, and then it clicked.
"You don't know much about your African roots do you?" I said.
"No." He said. "I only know my mother came from that country. Was kidnapped by one of Aro's hunting parties and brought back as food, but Aro acquisitioned her into his plans for making children. There's not even a picture of her for me to know her face. There's no records, Aro made sure of that."
I thought about that for a moment, wondering how horrible it would be to not know where you came from. That there was nothing for me to look at and know that was my mom. How could I help Tibbi, I couldn't go back in time. There had to be some way…
"Alec know what she looks like?" I asked.
"Yes. How else do you think I am? But what good does it do me? I doubt he can draw from memory and I'm not a mind reader." Tibbi said sadly.
"No. But lucky for you my little sis's BF is a very powerful mind reader and can project images into other people's minds. I'll ask Tony if he's willing to do it, and Liza will get Alec to comply." I said firmly, because once I set my mind on something I usually got my way.
"How?" Tibbi asked.
"She's like his probation officer or something." I said, because I still wasn't one hundred percent on that. "He has to obey her or he gets the chop, or however they kill vampires."
"He was sentenced to death?" Tibbi asked, and he clearly hadn't known that.
"Yeah."
"Aunt Jane never said." Tibbi said with a frown. "She's been very cryptic about Father to tell the truth. She implied that he didn't want to see us children."
"Yeah, I got that impression from Lilly too. She missed him by like a week because he had to go back to California. It's part of his parole; he's not allowed to stray too far from Liza. It's something to do with some guy called Tantalus."
"Tantalus?" Tibbi asked.
"Yeah. Does it mean anything to you?" I asked.
"Tantalus was cursed by the gods to be forever in the presence of his hearts desire but never quite within reach." Tibbi said, and he frowned deeply this time. "She is the strumpet he abandoned us for."
"Liza is not a strumpet." I said firmly. "She's my deputy and I'd appreciate it if you didn't insult her. She doesn't want Alec fawning all over her, she's only interested in Malachite."
"That makes it better? That my Father abandoned his children for girl who doesn't love him?" Tibbi demanded.
"No. It doesn't make it better." I agreed. "But it means you can't blame Liza for this. The only one to blame is Alec, but maybe you should hear him out before you completely cut him off. I wish I'd had one last chance to talk things out with Ingrid. Now all I got is that video of her apology. That should have been face to face and we could have hugged and made up afterwards. I could have told her that I wasn't a complete loss, I can still give her grandkids, it might be a long shot naturally, but there's still a chance. There's so much we could have done, even if that meant killing each other. But the point is I could have told her everything I'll never get to say now."
"Can we forget about unreliable parents now and enjoy the talking animals. This song is good…I just can't wait to be king." He sang along.
"Yeah. Kind of a cold song for such a cute little lion cub when you think about it though." I observed. "If only he knew that dear daddy had to die to be all high and mighty."
"Are you seriously criticising a film aimed at children?" Tibbi demanded.
"Well a little more realism would be helpful." I remarked.
"Perhaps the young prince doesn't know what is required for him to become the king." Tibbi suggested.
"He might not, but his Uncle Scar sure does." I said. "He sings my favourite song in the whole film, even if it is a little off kilter. He sure knew how to call his men to arms. Or at least a sneaking coup using Simba as bait."
"You have just spoiled the movie for me." Tibbi complained, but he was teasing.
"Nah. That's the midway point. This is sort of like Hamlet." I said with a shrug.
"Interesting. Hamlet with talking animals." Tibbi mused.
"I'm gonna get another beer." I said and drained the bottle. "You want one?"
Tibbi glanced at his bottle, it was still half full, but he bolted that.
"If you are offering." He said with a wide grin.
"Just sit there kid, I'll go get you one." I said, pushing myself up to my feet from the beanbag, seriously the older you got the harder it was to escape the big bad bag of beans.
"Thank you Prue." Tibbi said with a nod of his head. "But can I ask one thing?"
"What's up?" I said, pausing on my way to the door.
"I'm at least twenty years older than you, perhaps you should not call me kid."
I grinned my dangerous smile and I stalked toward him and placed my hand to his cheeks from behind.
"I call everyone kid, don't think it makes you special." I said, and kissed the crown of his head. "So just sit tight kid and I'll get you another beer."
He grabbed my wrist, gently but firmly, and then he pulled me around until I was in his lap looking up into his face.
"Don't call me kid." He said in a low voice, all smooth and dark like velvet. "Or I'll begin to think you're one of my sisters and that's an outcome I'm sure neither of us want." He added, then placed his lips to my forehead and while I was still caught up in the delightful shiver, as Liza had put it to me once, it was a moment before I realised I was on my feet and I opened my eyes to find that Tibbi was watching me with, well I guess it could be awe. Probably amazed he'd managed to get me all flustered.
"Keep that up kid and I might not need to seduce you." I said with a wink, and then I moved quickly out of his way, running to the kitchen with a giggle, and he grabbed around me, turning me to him.
"You do not want sex today, but everything you do seems set to seduce me." He stated.
"Sometimes it seems like that when you've only got one thing on your mind." I said.
"Have you got one thing on your mind?" He asked suggestively.
"I'm a woman kid, we can have a million and one things on our mind and still function." I said as I tapped his nose lightly.
"Well as long as that one is the same as the one thought I have." He remarked.
"Oh god. I'm just gonna give in. You're way too hot and I'm much too horny." I said, and I placed my lips to his, and Tibbi melted into me for a moment, but then he pulled away.
"This is wrong." He said, looking upset. "You told me you wanted to test your resolve. I should support you not do everything in my power to counter it."
"We could always fool around a little and leave the love making for another day." I suggested.
"No." Tibbi said and stepped away. "You wish for us to be platonic today. I'll acquiesce to your wish." He added and he took my hand and kissed it. "If I try to go further, jab me right here." He said, placing my fingers to the place of his scar. "It will shock me out of my passion."
"And it won't make you turn on me?" I asked, because I'd heard enough stories along the lines of if you strike a vampire make sure it's enough to kill him otherwise the pain will piss him off more.
"You hit me hard enough in that spot I'll curl into a personal ball of pain on the floor." He stated. "Well there's that spot or the more traditional deterrent to errant men."
"I'll aim there instead." I said. "At least I know the area better, and that will be generic. I wouldn't dream of hitting you here." I stated, placing my hand gently to where I remembered his scar to be. "That's personal hurt and I wouldn't go there."
Tibbi was looking down into my eyes and then something seemed to settle on his face, possibly wonder.
"You really wouldn't take such a callous advantage." He whispered. "You're not as ruthless as you claim. That is most becoming."
"I don't hurt people unless they deserve it." I stated.
"Now that I believe." Tibbi announced.
"Weird thing is, nobody ever thought that about psycho Prue, despite the evidence that proved it." I stated.
"Sometimes people rather believe their own assumptions than to view the truth. But I will never make that mistake with you Prue. Despite your claims to ruthlessness, I know you for what you are." He said, still holding my hand to his lips.
"What am I?" I demanded.
"Someone who puts the bullies in their place to protect those who can't speak for themselves. Even if you are loathe to be cast as the hero. I would like to know more of you Prue." He kissed my hand once more. "Shall we get the beer and talk more of who we are, and nothing of abysmal parents?"
"Yeah." I said and I managed to pull away from him. "Why don't you go back to the den and I'll…I'll o grab the beer."
Tibbi nodded and headed back to the den. I managed to take a breath, and then I was able to move to the fridge to grab a couple of beers. I glanced at the bottles for a very long while, what should I do next?
Thanks for reading
I'm not sure if I'll post the next chapter next week, I want to concentrate on DH and this is just a side project. I'll announce in the a/ns of Dh when I'm planning to post next.
Gemma x