Elijah looks down at the sleeping form on the large bed, her face peaceful, but tainted with tried mascara tears as he sits in a chair across the room, he can't help but ponder on how they got here, sitting in a hotel room with a young blonde, bloody clothes thrown in the trash and a small ach in his heart at the memory of her tears…
It all started three weeks ago, the original had settled in a small town for a short stay and was waiting to have a suit fitted in an upmarket store when he bumps into a girl, her hair is wild berry blonde, long and curled down her back, her skin was porcelain with rosy cheeks, fair freckles scattered over her nose and cheeks, her eyes a silver lit pale green and her dress was a floral pink, but she had heavy bags under her eyes and a grey duffel bag over her shoulder "I'm sorry…"
He smiles down at the girl and nods "it's alright…"
He watches as she passes him, her face so full of sadness, like so many humans but he brushes I off and continues with his day, however a half hour later as he stands on the podium getting fitted he sees the girl being dragged by her arm into the fitting room by a gruff looking security guard "Excuse me Sir, I'm sorry about this but it seems your wallet has been stolen!"
Elijah gives him a confused look as the man hands out his wallet to him "this little thing seems to have sticky fingers!"
He takes a step down from the podium and finds the sad, fearful eyes of the girl glued to the floor, a slight tremble on her skin and he smiles, he doesn't know why he does it but he can't seem to stop himself as he says "I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding… this is my niece!"
Instantly the guards hold on the girl is liberated and her head snaps up, wide eyes meeting his brown ones "she picked it up from the dash of the car for me and well… I just forgot to get it back"
"I…um, I see… well, I'm sorry miss for this, um, misunderstanding!" the guard mutters an a apology and leaves promptly
The girl looks to him and asks nervously, clutching the handle of her bag tightly "why did you do that?"
"Well you don't appear to be a danger to society… however you look as though you could use a decent meal!" he smiles tenderly to the girl, he now notices is slightly to slim for her frame
She can't help but back away from him lightly, not making a run for it as the security guard would find that suspicious and this man was her only escape "what are you insinuating, what do you want from me?"
"Nothing my dear… you just seem like you could use some help and food!" he says earnestly
She finds her mouthwatering at the promise of nourishment and herself looking into his eyes, searching them for a fault in his intentions but finds none, she nods lightly and says with a weak smile "yes…thank you…um.."
"Elijah…" he offers his hand to the girl
With a timid hand she takes it and says "thank you Elijah, I'm Mary!"
A short while later the pair sit in a small café, Elijah taking small bites as the young woman wolfs down the food on her plate, but surprisingly she keeps her elbows off the table, holds her knife and fork correctly and doesn't talk with her mouth full, she has manners, he also notices as she tucks some of the bread and biscuits into her bag discreetly… probably for later. He also notices that her dress has a small rip in at the seam, light spots of dirt here and there "so Mary, do you wish to tell me why you we're stealing my wallet?"
The blonde swallows hard, licking at her dry lips as her eyes sift from him to her lap "I'm sorry, I know it's wrong, a sin to steal… but I… I get so hungry! …cold…"
His heart clenches at the tears forming in her eyes, he feels sympathy for the human "I see… do you have anywhere to go?"
She nods lightly, eyes glued to her hands resting on her lap "I've been staying at a shelter on the edge of town, its first come first serve so I usually just hang around there to make sure I get a bed!"
He nods; she seems too innocent to be here, this timid little thing he finds himself wanting to help "well, in that case why don't I give you a ride… its getting dark out and I'm not sure about if you'd make it if you were to walk?"
She looks at him, tempted to take the offer but also frightened, she's heard stories of girls going missing, getting into cars… "No, thank you… I'm sorry but I just…"
"You have my word, nothing will happen to you…" she bites her rosebud lip, looking out the window to the darkening sky and then to this man who has shown her kindness
"alright, I suppose…" he gives her a gentle smile and stands, lifting her bag for her and taking her to the car.
He opens the door for her like a gentleman, her duffle in the back seat and she raps her arms around her frame, on edge the whole ride, casting the odd glance to Elijah nervously, but when a song comes on the radio she doesn't realize as she starts singing lightly along with the tune…
"So I'll be waiting for the real thing, I'll know it by the feeling, The moment when we're meeting, will play out like a scene, Straight off the silver screen, So I'll be holding my breath, right up 'til the end, Until that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend…" she hears a small laugh from beside her and quickly stops laughing turning from him with a red lit face
However se turns back on hearing his voice "Cause nobody wants to be the last one there, Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares, Someone to love with my life in their hands…."
She smiles brightly, her embarrassment floating away as she joins in "There's gotta be somebody for me like that, Cause nobody wants to do it on their own, And everyone wants to know they're not alone, There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere, There's gotta be somebody for me out there…"
They laugh happily together, all the girls unease gone as they pull up to a familiar house, its tatty and rundown with bars on the windows. He smiles to the blonde as she tucks a stray curl behind her ear and smiles over to him "thank you… for your kindness…"
He pulls out his wallet and hands her a few bills "here, take this…"
She does with a nervous hand and says with wide eyes "there must be a hundred dollars here!"
"You seem like you need it…" he smiles over to her
She can't help the tears in her eyes and the smile on her lips "you don't even know me! …why?"
He finds himself drowning in her eyes as he answers "like I said before … you seem like you need it!"
She nods, pocketing the money as she grabs her bag and climbs out of the car, she looks back at him when she's halfway up the drive and they share a tender smile, an understanding of sorts, he waits until she's inside the house and then leans into his headrest reasoning that she was just a passing fancy, a pretty face his humanity helped in order to live with the centuries of blood shed… so why is her sad little smile echoing in his head as he drives off
Meanwhile in the shelter Mary walks past a few of the nights residents after signing the log book and walks into one of the free rooms, she takes a seat on the bottom bunk and pulls some of the bread from her bag, picking at it lightly, as she does something else falls from the bag, a picture, as she raises it to her breath catches in her throat, it's a family picture of her and her parents, both blonde and beautiful, standing behind her, a young boy, with freckles and dark blonde hair, standing beside her, all outside a white bricked suburban home, they seem happy… she looks from the picture to her current home, a tear falling from her eye and hand raised to the white gold crucifix hanging around her neck. She closes her eyes and prays "please God… give a sign, something… just let me know you still love me, I don't want to be alone!"